Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19...
Illustration
Object:
Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19
The ark is wherever people come together because this is a stormy world where nothing stays put for long among the crazy waves and where at the end of every voyage there is a burial at sea. The ark is where, just because it is such a world, we really need each other and know very well that we do. The ark is wherever human beings come together because in their heart of hearts all of them ... dream the same dream, which is a dream of peace -- peace between the nations, between the races, between the brothers -- and thus ultimately a dream of love. Love, not as an excuse for the mushy and innocuous, but love as a summons to battle against all that is unlovely and unloving in the world. The ark, in other words, is where we have each other and where we have hope.
(From Frederick Buechner, "A Sprig of Hope," in The Hungering Dark [New York: Seabury Press, 1968], pp. 41-42)
Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19
We all know the story of Noah and the ark, and we give our children wooden toys of the boat and the animals -- two elephants, two ostriches, two hippopotamuses -- and we sing fun songs about the animals marching in, two by two.
But the setting of the story is anything but fun. The people of this earth had become so violent that the Lord God decided to wipe them all out (well, most of them) and start over.
We also all know the story of Anne Frank, the Jewish girl who hid out with her family in Amsterdam, Holland, during World War II to escape the violence of the Nazis.
Recently, the Institute for Jewish Research in New York City found papers showing that Anne's father had asked a friend to help him bring his family to safety in the United States, but the US was reluctant to accept refugees. So Anne and her family ended up in a Nazi concentration camp, where they later died.
How much are you and I willing to do to try to stop the violence?
Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19
The movie, Evan Almighty, is a story of a modern-day Noah. God instructs Evan to build an ark in his suburban neighborhood. Like Noah, Evan begins building, much to the amusement of his friends and neighbors who think he is crazy. There is a reason why Evan builds the ark. One of the recurring themes of the movie is that people can help to change the world through "Acts of Random Kindness" -- or ARK, for short. Through his actions Evan actually empowers people to make a difference in the world.
Churches across the country participate in a website (Arkalmighty.com) which lists ways people from the church and community can help other people within the church and community. One church lists the need for food for the community food bank. According to the pastor, people from the community have responded by donating food items for the needy. An elderly woman asks for help cleaning her house and again people respond. An after school program for elementary age children started in another church where people from the community assist by playing games, helping with homework, and reading to the children.
Together people can bring about change through Acts of Random Kindness -- ARK.
Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19
The most devastating river flood in the United States was the Mississippi flood of 1926- 27. From the time that the flood began in the summer of 1926 until it abated in late summer 1927, the Mississippi had breeched the levee system in 145 places, and flooded over 27,000 square miles of land in the states of Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Illinois, Louisiana, and Tennessee. Water in some areas was thirty feet deep. The flood claimed the lives of 246 people, displaced 700,000 others, and caused over $400 million in damages.
As devastating as the Mississippi flood was, it was a trickle compared to the flood of Noah's time, which covered the whole earth and killed every single human and land animal save Noah and his family.
Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28 (29-31)
As Jews in France during the Nazi occupation, Aaron Jean-Marie Lustiger's family had sometimes taken shelter with a Roman Catholic family. Aaron Lustiger converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism at the age of fourteen. He became a priest and died as a cardinal. He never gave up his Jewishness. Some Jews called him apostate. Some French slandered him as not "truly" French.
Paul the apostle, explaining the relation of Christianity to its Jewish roots, asked: "Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also?" Lustiger's witness could turn those questions around: "Is God the God of Gentiles only? Is he not the God of Jews also? Yes."
As Paul held together the Jewish and Christian faiths, so did Lustiger. He died August 5, 2007. He wrote his epitaph: "I was born Jewish. I received the name of my paternal grandfather, Aaron. Having become Christian by faith and baptism, I have remained Jewish. As did the apostles."
Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28 (29-31)
"It's the power of God for salvation for everyone who has faith." It's the heart of Jesus' message. It's what the apostles fearlessly and unflinchingly preached. Something bad has happened to the gospel, though, the news that we have resurrection life through repenting of our immorality and hearing by faith of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. What I mean is we almost never hear it. The gospel has been muted.
Why? Many of us are clearly ashamed of it. We must be. We rarely tell it anymore. We're preoccupied with trying to make people feel good about themselves, designing popular ways to attract people, and attempting to build mega-churches. The Jerusalem church experienced rapid growth. But the sermons of Peter and John were good-news centered, not feel-good focused. I pray that we will repent of our success orientation and unabashedly tell Jesus' good news as we warn people of the judgment. Otherwise, neither the world nor we will know God's rescue force.
Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28 (29-31)
An elderly widow, who in her younger years was sought after as a pianist, was restricted in her activities. She was still eager to serve Christ.
She thought the best thing would be to visit house to house and share her love for God and love for those visited. But she was unable to do that. Then she thought "Maybe I can share by telephone my love for God and some joyous music." The next day she placed a small ad in the local paper, "Pianist will play hymns by phone daily for those who are sick and despondent -- the service is free."
When people called, she would ask what hymn they would like to hear. Within a few months she had played for several hundred individuals. Many of them, as well as asking for a hymn, poured out their hearts and hurts to her. It was transforming! It was the most rewarding service she had ever given.
How is God calling you to live by faith, and to help others to multiply their faith by faithful witnessing, maybe even boasting of what God has done for you?
Matthew 7:21-29
There's a story about a man who volunteered to serve at a soup kitchen run by nuns in Chicago. Afterward, he confided to his parish priest, "I didn't feel any love for the men there."
"So what?" replied the priest. "The church says nothing about that. The nuns go there to feed people. We go to the soup kitchens to be loved, and think we're going home feeling so warm and cozy inside about how righteous we are. But Jesus just said, 'Feed my sheep.' "
Søren Kierkegaard observed, "Jesus wants followers, not admirers." It's a question we'd all do well to ask ourselves: Are we Jesus' followers or just admirers?
Matthew 7:21-29
Our gospel for today gives us Jesus' final words from his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. Jesus has told us how he wants us to live as his followers, and he concludes by saying, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock" (7:24).
New Testament scholar, Marcus Borg, in his new book Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary, points out that in the original New Testament writings, "believing does not mean believing in doctrines about Jesus, but 'beloving,' the believing that is a combination of commitment, loyalty, faithfulness, allegiance to the beloved, and trust in the beloved."
Borg then goes on to say, "Christianity is a 'way' to be followed, more than it is about a set of beliefs to be believed."
That sounds like Jesus when he told us that the most important thing for us to do is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to live that out in our lives, today and every day.
Matthew 7:21-29
Three years ago, Dalmar moved to the United States from his native Africa. He witnessed the horrible genocide in his country. He welcomed a new life and a fresh start in a new country. Along his journey he became a Christian. He saw the powerful witness of Christians risking their own lives to bring about justice in his country. He began reading about Jesus and soon became a believer.
Once established in a new home he began visiting churches. For the most part, he felt welcome in the churches he attended. However, he felt that something was missing. It became apparent that most of the churches were not concerned with helping other people but were more concerned with meeting their own needs. As he read the gospels he could not understand how these people could claim to be followers of Jesus and not care for the plight of the poor living in their community.
Eventually, Dalmar joined a church with an inner city ministry, which provides breakfast and tutoring programs for school students. People from the church help find jobs for people by providing training as well as babysitting. What impressed him the most was that the entire church was involved in ministry, from the youngest to the oldest. That was the kind of church that Dalmar was looking for -- one that touches the lives of people in need.
Jesus warns, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." Our faith calls us to action.
Matthew 7:21-29
Jacob recounts his grandfather's experience in pre-World War II Germany. His grandfather was a prominent banker and an important man on the town council. He sat on the financial committee and represented the town in negotiations with other communities. He won recognition for his good work and he regularly took junior counselors under his wing to guide them in their civic education. All that changed with the election of Hitler. No longer was Jacob's grandfather allowed to travel on behalf of the city, his job as counselor was scaled back, and finally he seat was taken away from him. It was only a matter of time before he was fired from his job at the bank and he and his family ordered to move into the Jewish ghetto. Fortunately, Jacob's grandfather was able to spirit his wife and children out of the country to safety with the promise that he would follow. He never made it.
In a perverse way (because he was excluded on racist grounds), Jacob's grandfather illustrates how the workers in Jesus' parable will feel. They believe they are securely within the kingdom, doing great kingdom work, only to find that the door of the banquet has been shut to them.
The ark is wherever people come together because this is a stormy world where nothing stays put for long among the crazy waves and where at the end of every voyage there is a burial at sea. The ark is where, just because it is such a world, we really need each other and know very well that we do. The ark is wherever human beings come together because in their heart of hearts all of them ... dream the same dream, which is a dream of peace -- peace between the nations, between the races, between the brothers -- and thus ultimately a dream of love. Love, not as an excuse for the mushy and innocuous, but love as a summons to battle against all that is unlovely and unloving in the world. The ark, in other words, is where we have each other and where we have hope.
(From Frederick Buechner, "A Sprig of Hope," in The Hungering Dark [New York: Seabury Press, 1968], pp. 41-42)
Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19
We all know the story of Noah and the ark, and we give our children wooden toys of the boat and the animals -- two elephants, two ostriches, two hippopotamuses -- and we sing fun songs about the animals marching in, two by two.
But the setting of the story is anything but fun. The people of this earth had become so violent that the Lord God decided to wipe them all out (well, most of them) and start over.
We also all know the story of Anne Frank, the Jewish girl who hid out with her family in Amsterdam, Holland, during World War II to escape the violence of the Nazis.
Recently, the Institute for Jewish Research in New York City found papers showing that Anne's father had asked a friend to help him bring his family to safety in the United States, but the US was reluctant to accept refugees. So Anne and her family ended up in a Nazi concentration camp, where they later died.
How much are you and I willing to do to try to stop the violence?
Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19
The movie, Evan Almighty, is a story of a modern-day Noah. God instructs Evan to build an ark in his suburban neighborhood. Like Noah, Evan begins building, much to the amusement of his friends and neighbors who think he is crazy. There is a reason why Evan builds the ark. One of the recurring themes of the movie is that people can help to change the world through "Acts of Random Kindness" -- or ARK, for short. Through his actions Evan actually empowers people to make a difference in the world.
Churches across the country participate in a website (Arkalmighty.com) which lists ways people from the church and community can help other people within the church and community. One church lists the need for food for the community food bank. According to the pastor, people from the community have responded by donating food items for the needy. An elderly woman asks for help cleaning her house and again people respond. An after school program for elementary age children started in another church where people from the community assist by playing games, helping with homework, and reading to the children.
Together people can bring about change through Acts of Random Kindness -- ARK.
Genesis 6:9-22; 7:24; 8:14-19
The most devastating river flood in the United States was the Mississippi flood of 1926- 27. From the time that the flood began in the summer of 1926 until it abated in late summer 1927, the Mississippi had breeched the levee system in 145 places, and flooded over 27,000 square miles of land in the states of Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Illinois, Louisiana, and Tennessee. Water in some areas was thirty feet deep. The flood claimed the lives of 246 people, displaced 700,000 others, and caused over $400 million in damages.
As devastating as the Mississippi flood was, it was a trickle compared to the flood of Noah's time, which covered the whole earth and killed every single human and land animal save Noah and his family.
Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28 (29-31)
As Jews in France during the Nazi occupation, Aaron Jean-Marie Lustiger's family had sometimes taken shelter with a Roman Catholic family. Aaron Lustiger converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism at the age of fourteen. He became a priest and died as a cardinal. He never gave up his Jewishness. Some Jews called him apostate. Some French slandered him as not "truly" French.
Paul the apostle, explaining the relation of Christianity to its Jewish roots, asked: "Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also?" Lustiger's witness could turn those questions around: "Is God the God of Gentiles only? Is he not the God of Jews also? Yes."
As Paul held together the Jewish and Christian faiths, so did Lustiger. He died August 5, 2007. He wrote his epitaph: "I was born Jewish. I received the name of my paternal grandfather, Aaron. Having become Christian by faith and baptism, I have remained Jewish. As did the apostles."
Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28 (29-31)
"It's the power of God for salvation for everyone who has faith." It's the heart of Jesus' message. It's what the apostles fearlessly and unflinchingly preached. Something bad has happened to the gospel, though, the news that we have resurrection life through repenting of our immorality and hearing by faith of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. What I mean is we almost never hear it. The gospel has been muted.
Why? Many of us are clearly ashamed of it. We must be. We rarely tell it anymore. We're preoccupied with trying to make people feel good about themselves, designing popular ways to attract people, and attempting to build mega-churches. The Jerusalem church experienced rapid growth. But the sermons of Peter and John were good-news centered, not feel-good focused. I pray that we will repent of our success orientation and unabashedly tell Jesus' good news as we warn people of the judgment. Otherwise, neither the world nor we will know God's rescue force.
Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28 (29-31)
An elderly widow, who in her younger years was sought after as a pianist, was restricted in her activities. She was still eager to serve Christ.
She thought the best thing would be to visit house to house and share her love for God and love for those visited. But she was unable to do that. Then she thought "Maybe I can share by telephone my love for God and some joyous music." The next day she placed a small ad in the local paper, "Pianist will play hymns by phone daily for those who are sick and despondent -- the service is free."
When people called, she would ask what hymn they would like to hear. Within a few months she had played for several hundred individuals. Many of them, as well as asking for a hymn, poured out their hearts and hurts to her. It was transforming! It was the most rewarding service she had ever given.
How is God calling you to live by faith, and to help others to multiply their faith by faithful witnessing, maybe even boasting of what God has done for you?
Matthew 7:21-29
There's a story about a man who volunteered to serve at a soup kitchen run by nuns in Chicago. Afterward, he confided to his parish priest, "I didn't feel any love for the men there."
"So what?" replied the priest. "The church says nothing about that. The nuns go there to feed people. We go to the soup kitchens to be loved, and think we're going home feeling so warm and cozy inside about how righteous we are. But Jesus just said, 'Feed my sheep.' "
Søren Kierkegaard observed, "Jesus wants followers, not admirers." It's a question we'd all do well to ask ourselves: Are we Jesus' followers or just admirers?
Matthew 7:21-29
Our gospel for today gives us Jesus' final words from his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. Jesus has told us how he wants us to live as his followers, and he concludes by saying, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock" (7:24).
New Testament scholar, Marcus Borg, in his new book Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary, points out that in the original New Testament writings, "believing does not mean believing in doctrines about Jesus, but 'beloving,' the believing that is a combination of commitment, loyalty, faithfulness, allegiance to the beloved, and trust in the beloved."
Borg then goes on to say, "Christianity is a 'way' to be followed, more than it is about a set of beliefs to be believed."
That sounds like Jesus when he told us that the most important thing for us to do is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to live that out in our lives, today and every day.
Matthew 7:21-29
Three years ago, Dalmar moved to the United States from his native Africa. He witnessed the horrible genocide in his country. He welcomed a new life and a fresh start in a new country. Along his journey he became a Christian. He saw the powerful witness of Christians risking their own lives to bring about justice in his country. He began reading about Jesus and soon became a believer.
Once established in a new home he began visiting churches. For the most part, he felt welcome in the churches he attended. However, he felt that something was missing. It became apparent that most of the churches were not concerned with helping other people but were more concerned with meeting their own needs. As he read the gospels he could not understand how these people could claim to be followers of Jesus and not care for the plight of the poor living in their community.
Eventually, Dalmar joined a church with an inner city ministry, which provides breakfast and tutoring programs for school students. People from the church help find jobs for people by providing training as well as babysitting. What impressed him the most was that the entire church was involved in ministry, from the youngest to the oldest. That was the kind of church that Dalmar was looking for -- one that touches the lives of people in need.
Jesus warns, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." Our faith calls us to action.
Matthew 7:21-29
Jacob recounts his grandfather's experience in pre-World War II Germany. His grandfather was a prominent banker and an important man on the town council. He sat on the financial committee and represented the town in negotiations with other communities. He won recognition for his good work and he regularly took junior counselors under his wing to guide them in their civic education. All that changed with the election of Hitler. No longer was Jacob's grandfather allowed to travel on behalf of the city, his job as counselor was scaled back, and finally he seat was taken away from him. It was only a matter of time before he was fired from his job at the bank and he and his family ordered to move into the Jewish ghetto. Fortunately, Jacob's grandfather was able to spirit his wife and children out of the country to safety with the promise that he would follow. He never made it.
In a perverse way (because he was excluded on racist grounds), Jacob's grandfather illustrates how the workers in Jesus' parable will feel. They believe they are securely within the kingdom, doing great kingdom work, only to find that the door of the banquet has been shut to them.
