9th Sunday after Pentecost Proper 13 Sermon

9th Sunday after Pentecost

Proper 13

John 6:24-35

The Work of Faith


24 So when the people saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?"

26 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal."

28 ¶ Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?"

29 Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

30 So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform?

31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

32 Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world."

34 They said to him, "Lord, give us this bread always."

35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. RSV

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen

Far away in a lonely desert stands a water pump in the sand. You are a solitary traveler, and your canteen is empty and you come upon that pump. Tied to it is a hand written sign put there by some pilgrim. The sign reads "I have buried a bottle of water to prime the pump. don't drink any of it."

"Pour in half of it to wet the leather. Wait, and then pour in the rest. Then pump. The well has never gone dry, but the pump must be primed to bring the water up. Have faith, believe. When you are through drawing water, fill the bottle and bury it in the sand for the next traveler.

Having come upon this pump in the desert with this sign and being out of water, what would you do? Will you dig the water bottle from the sand and drink from it? Or will you believe and believing dare to pour that water, trust to put water into pump every drop of it down into the old trusty pump? Because you trust, you take a risk, both for yourself and for the next person who will pass that way.

What will you do?

That story possess an interesting question for all of us. Do we believe and trust in that written message by the water pump, or do we only worry about our own thirst and drink from the water bottle knowing that the water will give us enough strength to go on? What would you do?

Now in the same way think about the words in the Bible. They are our words of salvation in the desert of life. They are our source of life, life for eternity. Do you believe in them, or will you try your own way?

Think about Jesus in the same way as the note in the desert and the words of the Bible. He is our salvation in the desert of life, our source of life, life for eternity. Do you believe what Jesus says is true for Your life, or do you go your own way?

Our lesson this morning concerns faith. Someone in the crowd asked Jesus, "What must we do to be doing the works of God?" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God that you believe in him who he has sent." Then Jesus goes on and says, "I am the bread of life; he who come to me shall not hunger, he who believes in me shall never thirst."

Faith can be defined as an obedient attitude to the will of God. And Jesus says faith is the work a follower of his should be about, having an obedient attitude in the will of God. Trusting and believing that the promises God has made for us through Jesus Christ are true.

Sometimes you and I get our work all mixed up. We think our work is salvation and so we try our hardest to save ourselves instead of trusting in God and being obedient to his will. It is as if we drank that bottle of water beside the pump instead of using it to prime the pump. We would be trusting in our own selves, our own resources for living, instead of trusting and believing in God and his promises.

Jesus tells us in this passage that salvation is a gift that is Bread of Life.

In verse 27 Jesus says:" Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal."

Notice especially these words, which the Son of man will give to you, give, as the dictionary defines that word, says " To make a present of a gift, To place in the hands of so as Jesus is the Son of Man will give us food, or salvation.

It is a gift, a present, something that is handed over to us with no strings attached. Something that God through his Son wants us to have, salvation. Notice Jesus doesn't say anything about us working for this gift, or earning this gift, or achieving this gift for ourselves, but Jesus says he will give it to us, it is ours, a free gift.

Salvation is a free gift from God. sometimes we want to try to earn that gift of salvation. But I ask you, when can you and I do enough for God to say to us that we are ready for salvation?? When would we be ready for God to say come?

I would dare say that none of us would ever be ready enough for God. None of us would be pure enough for God through our own efforts. But through Christ, God makes us ready for him.

Listen again to the words of Jesus: " But through Christ," God makes us ready for him. God is doing the work, God is doing the action, God is giving us salvation through the body and blood of Christ. It is God's gift to the children that he loves.

Our work as Jesus says is to believe in him who he has sent . Our work is to have faith in Jesus Christ who will give us salvation.

We don't need to worry about our salvation, we don't need to try and obtain it for ourselves. Our work is to believe that this promise of salvation is true for us. It is God who is steering the ship of life, it is God who is in control of our salvation, it is God who will welcome us home to him when our pilgrimage on this earth is ended. Jesus wants us to believe that our salvation is secure in the hands of God.

It is like a ship which was returning from an oversee voyage entering the St. Lawrence River. A heavy fog enveloped the ship on all side, completely concealing the shores and all objects from the view of the passengers. Much to their amazement, the ship continued at full speed. They became frighten considering such speed as extremely reckless on the part of the captain.

Finally, one of the passengers expressed concerns to the mate, demanding that the ship be slowed down. The mate listened, then replied with a smile: ''O don't be afraid, the passengers need not be uneasy in the least. The fog extends up only a short way above the water, and the captain is at the masthead, and is up above the fog and it is he who is directing the vessel."

In the same kind of way, Jesus is asking us to believe and trust in God as the captain of our ship directing us above all the foggy situations of life that we cannot understand. God is directing our ship of life because as captain God loves us and wants us to have a life that is abundant with all of his blessings.

Faith receives the gifts that God offers us. Faith believes in the promises of God, faith accepts God's work of salvation as a gift.

It is like this pencil I am holding in my hand. Let us pretend this is God's gift of salvation. God places it in our hearts. We can do several things with it. We can let it sit there, and ignore God's gift for us, we can close our heart around it a little bit, or we can grab a hold of it for our salvation. Or we can reject God's gift for us.

But notice the pencil doesn't fall. That is because God never takes his gift away. We may reject it, we may ignore it, we may only slightly embrace it, but God's gift remain true for us .

God's gift remains in our hearts, because God is a loving God and God wants all people to be saved. As it says in John. 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." God wants us to accept this gift of salvation, God wants us to be his children, God has worked hard at convincing us of his good intentions for us. He showed us those good intention in the form of his son. He let the world kill his son so that he could show us his great love, by raising him up on the third day. God is a god of love and he wants us to trust in that love, to believe in that love, to live with that love while we walk our journey on this earth.

Jesus says, "Believe in him whom he has sent." Believe in Jesus and believe in God the Father who sent him.

Far away in a lonely desert stands a water pump in the sand. You are a solitary traveler, and your canteen is empty and you come upon that pump. Tied to it is a hand written sign put there by some pilgrim. The sign reads "I have buried a bottle of water to prime the pump. don't drink any of it."

"Pour in half of it to wet the leather. Wait, and then pour in the rest. Then pump. The well has never gone dry, but the pump must be primed to bring the water up. Have faith, believe. When you are through drawing water, fill the bottle and bury it in the sand for the next traveler."

You are a traveler upon the planet earth. You come across a book, a book with 66 other books in it, as you read it you see that it can give you the assurance, the strength and the conviction to live life to the fullest. But it asks you to surrender yourself to someone else, to trust in the gifts this person is willing to give to you. What will you do?? Surrender, or rely on yourself.?

What will you do?

Amen

Written by Pastor Tim Zingale July 30, 2006

You may freely use this as is or in parts. Please somehow give credit if possible, thanks! Not for commercial use.

8th Sunday after Pentecost Proper 12

8th Sunday after Pentecost

Proper 12

John 6: 1-21

Making Much of Little


6:1 ¶ After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

2 And a multitude followed him, because they saw the signs which he did on those who were diseased.

3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there sat down with his disciples.

4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, Jesus said to Philip, "How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?"

6 This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.

7 Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little."

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him,

9 "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?"

10 Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place; so the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.

12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost."

13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten.

14 When the people saw the sign which he had done, they said, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!"

15 ¶ Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,

17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

18 The sea rose because a strong wind was blowing.

19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat. They were frightened,

20 but he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."

21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.RSV

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen

This morning we are going to look at the first story in our gospel lesson, the story of feeding the 5000 as found in John's gospel.

Andrew said to Jesus, "There is a lad here who had five barley loaves an] two fish; but what are they among so many?" But what are they among so many, isn't that the age old question. We look at what we have then we see the many who need more than we can possibility give so we ask, but what are they among so many. This lad didn't realize how much he had until he gave it over to the Lord. Sure he saw he had only 5 loaves and 2 fish, but the Lord saw it as a gift to be used to feed the hungry people. The Lord made much of the little the boy was willing to give.

Notice, who did the action in this lesson, Jesus and the boy. This is an interesting lesson because it shows the faith of the boy and the power of Jesus to use our gifts to a great purpose.

Notice how this all begins. The crowds had gathered and it was time to eat. The crowds numbered about 5,000 men not counting the women and children. And Jesus says to Philip,"How are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?" Then notice the respond that Philip makes, he looks in the money bag to see they have only two hundred denarii and says there is little that can be done because they don't have enough money. Philip never once asks Jesus what he can do about the situation . Philip never turns to Jesus and asks him to do something, he relies on his own resources and because of that he fails. Philip is like many of us, we rely on our own resources we rely on me, myself and I so when the tough situations t. life life come along we have a difficult time coping with them. Philip viewed the situation hopeless even though Jesus was right there, he didn't turn to him

Philip could not see that Jesus could have helped this situation. Philip could not see beyond his own power to do something with the physical resources he had. Because 'Philip could not see beyond his own power, he could not help in this situation.

Many times you and I are like Philip. We see need, we look at our resources, and we decide that we are powerless to help, so we don't do anything. We never think of turning our resources over to Jesus, we never think that maybe he can do something with our little gifts in a way we would never think of doing. Our faith as Philip's faith in the power of Jesus to change situations is often lacking. We would rather trust our own resources, our own power, our own pride and maybe even fail, instead of turning everything over to Jesus and letting him be in charge.

Now let's look at Andrew. Andrew saw the same problem, he saw all the hungry people and he knew there wasn't enough money to buy food. So Andrew went out among the crowd to see what could be done. He found a boy who had a picnic lunch. It was only enough food to feed one hungry, growing boy, but Andrew decides instead of this being a hopeless situation, he goes and tells Jesus what he had found.

I would imagine Andrew might have had thoughts similar to this: "Well, this boy has only a limited amount of food? but maybe Jesus can do something with it. Yes, I will tell Jesus, if he can calm an angry sea? if he can heal people, if he can turn water into wine, surely he can do something with this bread and with this fish."

So, Andrew takes his knowledge, his resources to Jesus. He turns over to Jesus what he has found out. He lets Jesus be in control of his resources.

Then notice what Jesus does with the resources that were brought to him, he turn the little into much. Jesus takes the 5 loaves and 2 fish and he turns it into enough food to feed 5,000 men plus their children and wives with 12 baskets of food left over. Andrew knew that Jesus could do something very special with the limited resources that were present. Jesus took a few fish, some loaves of bread and turned it into a feast for over 5 000 people.

Andrew is like the boy in the following story:

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of Root Beer and he started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man. The man was sitting in the park just feeding some pigeons.

The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the man looked
hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie.

The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at boy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root
beer.

Again, the man smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around,
ran back to the man, and gave him a hug. The man gave him his biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?

"He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? God's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the elderly man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked," Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?"

He replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." However, before his son responded, he added," You know, he's much younger than I expected."1

The boy shared what he had and he felt like he was sharing with god. The old man ate what was offered and felt like he was in the presence of God as the boy shared what he had.

Andrew took what the little boy had and shared it with Jesus and look what happened
Andrew did not understand exactly what Jesus could do with the boy's few loaves and few fish, because of his question, but what are they among so many. He really wasn't quite sure what Jesus could do, or how this could help the crowd, but it is important to note even with his doubts, even with his wondering he still gave this resource over to Jesus, he still surrendered his own will to the will of Jesus.

You and I are called upon by Jesus to do the same thing. Even if we cannot understand what Jesus will do with our resources, even if we think what we have is very little, we must have faith that Jesus can do something special with our gifts. Remember the story of the widow's mite. She gave the smallest coin, but Jesus said her gift was special because she gave all she had. She was willing to turn her resources over to God so that God in his mysterious way could do something very special with it. It is this kind of faith and trust in God that we are called upon to possess. It is this thinking that everything we have is a gift from the creator, and it is our responsibility to give to him those resources which he has given us for him to use in his way to further his kingdom. He doesn't want us to give with strings attached, with conditions, but he wants our free gifts, he wants our gifts because of the great love we have for him. He doesn't want them because we think we are influencing him in our lives, or because we think we will achieve a greater reward in the after life, no God wants our gifts because that is our way to respond to his great love in our lives.

We tend to look at ourselves as people who have worked to get everything we have by ourselves. Sure, most of us have worked hard to reach the kind of level of living we have, but just think about those gifts, those talents, those people in your life who were there when you needed, maybe, a helping hand or an encouraging word, or a piece of advice, all of those kinds of things I feel are God's hand working in our lives. So, yes, we have made ourselves what we are, but at the same time we have not done it alone, because God's hand was in there guiding the process whether we were aware of it or not. Now then If is it not appropriate for us who have been given so much to in some way thank the provider? Isn't it appropriate for us to give back to him some of what he has so generously given to us?

That is what this lesson is all about. Giving back to God what he has given to us so that God can make out of our little much. Philip saw the hungry and didn't know what could be done, Andrew saw the hungry and brought a little boy to the Lord hoping that the Lord could do something. He wasn't sure how the Lord would use his gift, his resource, but he gave it the Lord, anyway .

And finally I would like to look at the young boy for just a few moments. Here was a boy who had a picnic lunch, in it contained the poorest bread, and some pickled fish. That was to probably be his whole meal for the day. And now these men want him to turn it all over to a man named Jesus? Can you imagine what must have gone through his mind? There must have been a lot of thought, a lot of questions, a lot of hoping that it would all work out.

But the one thing that definitely went though his heart and mind was some faith in this man Jesus not to cheat him or hurt him or let him go hungry in any way for he was willing to hand over to him the only food he had. Here was a boy with a simple faith. He must have heard Jesus teach, he must have felt some love, some kindness, some compassion from Jesus. He must have felt that Jesus would not let him go hungry, This little boy had faith to turn over to Jesus all the resources he had at that moment. He turned over to Jesus not only his bread and fish, but his entire life. He turned over to Jesus his physical resources and then himself, he turned his life over to Jesus at that moment for he trusted Jesus to take care of him, to not let him go away from there hungry.

And Jesus provided, didn't he? He provided for this boy and for more than 5,000 people. What if all of us turned over our resources to Jesus, what if we surrendered to him our entire lives, what if we trusted him to provide for us, can you imagine what he could do!

Amen

Written by Pastor Tim Zingale July 24, 2006

1 ~author unknown~ from FavoriteStories


"You can't always beat what is difficult in your life. Sometimes you have to let it win and shout hallelujah anyhow."
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7th Sunday after Pentecost Proper 11

7th Sunday after Pentecost

Proper 11

Mark 6: 30-34, 52-56

"Compassion"


30* The apostles returned to Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught.
31* And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
32* And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves.
33* Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns, and got there ahead of them.
34* As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

52* for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
53* And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore.
54* And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him,
55* and ran about the whole neighborhood and began to bring sick people on their pallets to any place where they heard he was.
56* And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the market places, and besought him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well.

Grace and peace to your from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen

"A two year old boy was tired and fretful, all out of sorts, and so was his mother. It was a unusually trying day. Nothing was going right for them. As the day wore on things became even worse. To him everything seemed to go wrong. Mom was yelling at him at every turn he made it seemed. It seemed that life had become one big mountain of frustrations.

Finally, towards the end of the day, when it seemed he couldn't take any more, he toddled over to the telephone, took the receiver off the cradle and without dialing anything, said to nobody in particular, in a voice of despair, of wanting of desiring some tender loving care, "Give me my Daddy, please."

The two year old boy wanted his Daddy to rescue him from the frustrations, all the hurts, all the trouble, all the brokenness he was feeling in his life. He needed someone else besides his mother to turn to, he needed someone to bring some needed change into his life. He needed someone to care for his feelings, his hurts, his inability to handle the challenges of life, so he asked, "Give me my Daddy, please!"

In our gospel lesson this morning, the people came to Jesus with that same kind of attitude. They needed someone to care for them.

The text says: 33* Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns, and got there ahead of them.
34* As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

They saw Jesus and ran to him with all the frustrations, the hurts, the troubles in their lives. They ran to Jesus and in a sense said as that boy in our story, "Give me my Daddy, please!"

And notice what the text said 34* As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

Jesus saw the throngs of people and though he was tired, he had compassion on them. Jesus saw that they needed a shepherd, they needed a guide. They needed a guide and he had compassion on them.

Jesus is like the policeman in the following story:

A pastor wrote, " I was on Time's Square in New York during rush hour. Thousands of people were thronging and pushing at the corner ready to cross at the intersection. Ten lanes of cars were backed up for blocks screeching their tires and racing their motors waiting for the light to change.

And, suddenly, a mother cat came out of an alley followed by her four little kittens. She started across that busy intersection. The policeman on duty dashed out in the middle of the traffic, at the expense of his life stopped the cars and the people and allowed that mother cat and her kittens to cross in the rush and excitement of life. Everyone stopped and watched this brave act exhibited by the policeman and the calm manner in which that cat and her kittens crossed the busy intersection, because of the sacrificial caring of that policeman."

The policeman had compassion for the mother cat and her kittens, so he guided them across the street. Jesus has compassion for us as a shepherd does for his flock, and he guides us across the busy intersections of life.

The most important verse in our gospel text is compassion. He had compassion for the people. He showed it in the beginning verses of the gospel text and in the later ones, verses 50 and so on.

What does compassion mean? The dictionary says: sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others . And the dictionary says to see the word mercy which means compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.

Jesus had compassion for the people. He had concern for their suffering. He had mercy, forgiveness for the people.

Jesus is like the man on the horse in the following story:

There’s a story told about a bitter, cold evening in northern Virginia many years ago. An old man sat by a river, waiting for a ride across. His beard was glazed by winter's frost and the wait seemed endless. His body became numb and stiff from the frigid north wind.

He heard the faint, steady rhythm of approaching hooves galloping along the frozen path. Anxiously, he watched as several horsemen rounded the bend. He let the first one pass by without an effort to get his attention. Then another passed by, and another. Finally, the last rider neared the spot where the old man sat like a snow statue. As this one drew near, the old man caught the rider's eye and said, "Sir, would you mind giving an old man a ride to the other side? There doesn't appear to be a passageway by foot."

Reining his horse, the rider replied, "Sure thing. Hop aboard." Seeing the old man was unable to lift his half-frozen body from the ground, the horseman dismounted and helped the old man onto the horse. The horseman took the old man not just across the river, but to his destination, which was just a few miles away.

As they neared the tiny but cosy cottage, the horseman's curiosity caused him to inquire, "Sir, I notice that you let several other riders pass by without making an effort to secure a ride. Then I came up and you immediately asked me for a ride. I'm curious why, on such a bitter winter night, you would wait and ask the last rider. What if I had refused and left you there?"

The old man lowered himself slowly down from the horse, looked the rider straight in the eyes, and replied, "I've been around these here parts for some time. I reckon I know people pretty good." The oldtimer continued, "I looked into the eyes of the other riders and immediately saw there was no concern for my situation. It would have been useless even to ask them for a ride. But when I looked into your
eyes, kindness and compassion were evident. I knew, then and there, that your gentle spirit would welcome the opportunity to give me assistance in my time of need."

Those heartwarming comments touched the horseman deeply. "I'm most grateful for what you have said," he told the old man. "May I never get too busy in my own affairs that I fail to respond to the needs of others with kindness and compassion."

With that, Thomas Jefferson turned his horse around and made his way back to the White House.
Source: Author unknown

When the people looked into Jesus' eyes they saw the same thing. When he looked into the eyes of Thomas Jefferson he saw kindness and compassion. When we look to Jesus, we see the same kind of thing, compassion and kindness.

In the movie Greatest Story Ever Told we see the young man Jesus standing in the shadow of a doorway in a town in Palestine observing the misery of mankind such as could be found on any street, in any town in that part of the world, in that day or in ours: the lame, the sick, the mentally deranged, the mean, the cruel, all the inhumanity of the world.

He watched it all. For years he watched it - and it rubbed his feelings raw, but he developed no callouses. He kept his sensitivity intact, and that's what made him the perfect vehicle through which the divine compassion could enter the world. . .

As he was growing up, Jesus saw the human condition all around him. he saw sickness, he saw death, he saw poverty, he saw broken relationship, etc. He saw it all. So when his time for ministry began, he had already developed the compassionate heart that was needed. now he could do something about the human condition. He healed the sick, he gave support to the grieving, he told the people that God loved them as they experienced the human condition.

So when the crowds followed him, he did not send them away but he had compassion on them. He saw their brokenness and he extended the compassion of God's Son to them.

And that brings us to the question, if Christ had compassion on the crowds, what are we to do?

Luther says in his commentary to Galatians " To love means to bear another's burdens. Christians must have strong shoulders to bear the burdens of their fellow Christians. "

We must have strong shoulders to bear another burden. We need to have compassion like Christ. Luther says we are to be like "little Christs" in the world.

In the closing story we see that kind of compassion in our world.

The NY Times had a story about a little boy who was riding the bus. He sat so close to a woman dressed in a gray suit that everybody assumed he was her son and she his mother, until finally another lady sat down on the same seat with them.

When the little boy put his feet up on the seat & got the other lady's dress dirty, she turned to the women in the gray suit and said, "Would you please tell your son to put his feet down because he is getting my dress dirty?"

The lady in the gray suit pushed the boy away and said, "He's not my son. I've never seen him before in my life."

The second lady looked at the little boy sadly for a moment and then started talking with him. She asked him if he was traveling alone.

"Yes," he said, "I always travel alone. My mommy and daddy are both dead and I live with Aunt Clara. But Aunt Clara thinks that Aunt
Mildred ought to take her turn in taking care of me too. So whenever she gets tired of me, she sends me to Aunt Mildred. I'm going
to Aunt Mildred's now."

The woman said, "It must be tough traveling alone."

"Yeah," said the little boy, "it is. But I never get lost.

But," he said, "sometimes I do get very lonesome. So whenever I see someone with a kind face I sit close to them, and pretend that I belong to them and that they belong to me."

He continued, "I sure hope that Aunt Mildred is home when I get there, because it looks like it is going to rain and I don't like to be outside when it rains."

The woman reached over and grabbed the boy, hugged him so tight that it almost hurt and wished for a moment that this little boy who wanted so much to belong could belong to her. 1


"and pretend that I belong to them and that they belong to me."

he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them

Amen

Written by Pastor Tim Zingale July 17, 2006

You may freely use this as is or in parts. Please somehow give credit if possible, thanks! Not for commercial use.

1 Contributed by: MELVIN NEWLAND from SermonCentral Newsletter


"You can't always beat what is difficult in your life. Sometimes you have to let it win and shout hallelujah anyhow."
Bebe More Campbell



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6th Sunday after Pentecost Proper 10

6th Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 10
Mark 6:14-29
"Giving in to Pressure"


14* King Herod heard of it; for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; that is why these powers are at work in him.”
15* But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”
16 But when Herod heard of it he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
17 For Herod had sent and seized John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife; because he had married her.
18* For John said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
19* And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not,
20* for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly.
21* But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and the leading men of Galilee.
22* For when Herodias’ daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will grant it.”
23* And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.”
24 And she went out, and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the baptizer.”
25* And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
26 And the king was exceedingly sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her.
27* And immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard and gave orders to bring his head. He went and beheaded him in the prison,
28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.
29* When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb. RSV

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen

Do you like flash back movies? Last night, July 4th, there was classic flash back movie, Yankee Doodle Dandy with James Cagney playing George M Cohan. Cagney is invited to the White House and sits with the President and tells the story of his life. When the story is over, we are brought back to the present time when Cohan is given the metal of honor by the President.

In our gospel lesson this morning, we are given a flash back by Mark. We are in the middle of Jesus' ministry. We have seen miracles and healing, but now all of a sudden we are brought back to John the Baptist. Mark seems to think we need to know what exactly happened to John the Baptist, so we flash back to this point in history. Mark talks about John's arrest in Mark 1:14a.

Herod has heard of Jesus and is wondering who he is. He asks, Is he Elijah? Is He a prophet? But Herod says is it john whom I beheaded, has been raised.

And then we get the story of the beheading of John the Baptist.

We need to take a look at this story to understand it.

"Herod the Great was King when Jesus was born. He was responsible for the massacre of the children in Bethlehem as he sought to kill the Child who was a threat to him. Herod the Great married a number of women and had a number of sons by them. Some were actually murdered by their father. Among those who were not was Herod Antipas, the Herod of this passage, and Herod Philip. They were half-brothers. Another half-brother was Aristobulus. Aristobulus had a daughter named Herodias. She married Herod Philip. They, in turn, had a daughter whose name was Salome.

Now comes a storyline that reads like a near-eastern version of Peyton Place. On a visit to Rome, Herod Antipas met his brother Philip's wife, Herodias. She was a deceitful and ambitious woman who saw in Antipas a way to fulfill her own selfish desires. So he took her away from his brother and they came back to Palestine together. Of course, this sordid affair had already begun. You see, what you have to remember is that Herodias was Aristobulus' daughter, who was Philip's half-brother. That made Herodias Philip's niece. Philip had married his own niece. And now his other half-brother had stolen her away from him."1

And now that brings us to today's text. John found out that Herod had married his brother's wife and said, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

Herodias wanted to kill John the Baptist, but having been arrested by Herod to keep him safe, she could not attack him. Herod would go to the jail cell to hear John preach. And I imagine that John would tell Herod what a bad fellow he was and his wife was just as bad.

So, Herodias hatched a plan involving her daughter, Salome, to kill John the Baptist. Herodias invited a large group of very powerful men to a banquet.

The men were enjoying themselves with fine food and drink. Then Salome came in to dance. She mesmerized the audience. She danced so well in fact that Herod said, "and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will grant it.”
23* And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.”

Herod was so enamored with Salome he was willing to give her half the kingdom. So Salome runs out to see her mother to ask what should she do. And Herodias knew now she had what she wanted all along. She told her daughter Salome to ask for the head of John the Baptist. As text says: And she said, “The head of John the baptizer.”

So Salome runs back to Herod and says “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

Herod is now confused. He really likes John but how can he go back on his word with all the important men sitting around the table.

The text says: 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her.
27* And immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard and gave orders to bring his head. He went and beheaded him in the prison,
28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.

So Herodias had her revenge. She silenced John the Baptist.

But Herod must have felt guilty about the whole affair, because when he heard about Jesus' teaching his first reaction was that John had been raised from the dead.

Herod was in a sense a tragic figure. He was boxed into a corner by his own pride. He could not retreat from the promise he made to Salome in front of all those powerful men. He couldn't retreat so he had to follow through with granting the promise. He was sad, he was guilty, he was ashamed, but he could not back down. But he had to follow through so he ordered the beheading of John the Baptist.

Herod gave in to pressure, period. He had no back bone. He was pressured by his wife, by the important men at the party. So instead of standing up to them and saying that John was a decent kind of guy, he caved in to the pressure and had John the Baptist beheaded.

In our lives when the world clamors for us to do this, to do that, we need to have a back bone and stand up to those pressures.

Brian Stoffregen tells a story about two men and how they handled pressure in their lives.

There were two brothers in Georgia during the 1950's. One decided that in opposition to the dominant culture of the day, he was going to support and participate in the formation of a multi-ethnic community. The other worked as an attorney for a prominent law firm. Both were Christians and attended church regularly.

As the multi-ethnic community formed and social pressure forced them into court proceedings, the one brother asked his attorney brother to help them with the legal work. The brother refused, saying that he could lose his job. The pressure increased to help with a reminder that he was a Christian. The lawyer responded, "I will follow Jesus to his cross, but it is his cross. I have no need to be crucified." To this his brother replied, "Then you are an admirer of Jesus, but not his disciple."

The one brother was willing to follow Jesus and his teaching no matter what happened to his life. He would not bow to the pressures of segregation. He wanted to see people from all walks of life living and working together.

A disciple of Christ needs to be his own boss. A disciple needs to be free from the pressures of the world. A disciple of Jesus needs to be award of peer pressure and when it goes against the teachings of Jesus, a disciples needs to steer clear of it.

Salome was pressured by her mother to ask for the head of John the Baptist. I would imagine that she might of wished for something else. Riches. A glamorous house. Servants. But she caved in to the pressures of her mother, Herodias, and asked for the head of John the Baptist.

And Herodias gave in to the pressure of hate in her live. She hated John for telling the truth. She was living in a sinful marriage. She wanted power that came with living with Herod and she did everything she could to marry him.

The main characters in our gospel lesson gave in to pressure.

In the following modern parable each person gave in to their own internal pressures.

"There are six people gathered around a dying campfire on a dark and bitter night. Each one has a stick which they might place on the fire. But, sadly, one by one they decide not to give what they have to keep the fire going. The lone woman does not give because there is a black man in the circle. The penniless tramp does not give because in that circle there is a member of the idle rich. The rich man does not give because he reasons his contribution would obviously help someone who was lazy and shiftless. Another didn't give because one of the six didn't belong to his church. The black man hung tight to his wood, because it was his way of getting even or back at all the whities. Still another would not give because he believed in giving only to those who also gave. And each one felt if he or she were asked to give with a personal invitation, or if they knew the need was really great, then they would give.

The parable ends with these words: "Six logs held fast in death's hand was proof of human sin, the sin of pride, ego, and selfishness. They didn't die from the cold of that night, the cold without, they died from the cold within each heart." author unknown

Giving in to pressure can lead to death. These six people gave in to the inner pressures in their lives. They were not willing to back away so they died.

Jesus and John on the other hand stood their ground. John preached a message of repentance till the day he died. Jesus was not pressured by the religious leaders of his day to conform to their ideas or practices. He did not jump through their hoops. Jesus led his own life which eventually led to the cross. But the resurrection followed.

John and Christ knew they drew strength from their own lives rooted and grounded in Christ.

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer says: "Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ."2

Living with and in Christ can help us avoid pressure. Living with and in Christ can help us not to follow the pressures all around us. Living with and in Christ can help us live a life that we can be proud of.

Amen

Written by Pastor Tim Zingale July 12, 2006

You may freely use this as is or in parts. Please somehow give credit if possible, thanks! Not for commercial use.



1 Copyright © 1997 J. David Hoke. This data file is the sole property of the copyright holder and may be copied only in its entirety for circulation freely without charge. All copies of this data file must contain the above copyright notice.

This data file may not be copied in part (except for small quotations used with citation of source), edited, revised, copied for resale or incorporated in any commercial publications, recordings, broadcasts, performances, displays or other products offered for sale, without the written permission of the copyright holder. Requests for permission should be made in writing and addressed to J. David Hoke, Pastor, New Horizons Community Church, 2303 Evesham Rd. Voorhees, NJ. 08043.

2 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "The Cost of Discipleship"

Pastor Tim Zingale
"You can't always beat what is difficult in your life. Sometimes you have to let it win and shout hallelujah anyhow."
Bebe More Campbell



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5th Sunday after Pentecost Proper 9 Sermon

5th Sunday after Pentecost

Proper 9

Mark 6:1-13

2nd Corinthians 12:2-10

"A Paradox"



6:1 ¶ He went away from there and came to his own country; and his disciples followed him.
2 And on the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard him were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands!
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
4 And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house."
5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them.
6 And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.
7 ¶ And he called to him the twelve, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts;
9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.
10 And he said to them, "Where you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place.
11 And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them."
12 So they went out and preached that men should repent.
13 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them.RSV

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen

We like winners. Our culture, our country, our society are caught up with the idea of winning. Winning, succeeding, getting ahead, overcoming great obstacles these are the ideals, these are the goals that society places on all people. We can see this as evidence by our preoccupation with sports. We like to see our team win. We like to follow a winner. I get caught up in that mentality each basketball season as I watch closely the progress of the Iowa Hawkeyes on the their road to the final four. I cheer when they win and I become sober, down cast when they loose.

Not only in sports, but through out all of life, we like to see and know about people who have succeeded. We like to read, or watch stories on TV of people who have overcome great mental or physical obstacles, then making a success of their lives. In the Reader's Digest, I get caught up in the stories, "Drama in Real Life" as someone overcomes great odds to succeed. We like to see the underdog get ahead and become a winner.

In 1982 a story appeared in the Des Moines Register about a high school basketball player who hurt himself while weight lifting, and how he had broken and strained something in his back to a point where the doctors didn't know if he would walk again. But the feeling in his legs returned, and now the boy is at the gym trying to learn to run and shoot baskets again. The article talked about his winning attitude, about the way he has overcome his accident, how he was making himself a winner again.

I wonder if they would have printed the article, if this boy had remained paralyzed from the neck down and then had to live the every day unglamorous struggle of having someone feed him, dress him, help him in the toilet. I wonder if they would have printed this article showing the frustration, the hurt, the helplessness that someone who is paralyzed feels. I wonder if they would have told about the pain of isolation, the hurt of rejection, the feeling that society doesn't like losers only winners? I wonder they we only hear about those who make it back, and not about those who are daily struggling with the brokenness of life? There are many people who live lives of quiet brokenness and frustration, sensing, feeling the strong cultural preoccupation with winning, getting ahead and knowing they have given their all, they have tried, but cannot break out of their individual brokenness and have to live day in and day out with the consequences of this struggle.

A paradox is taking place in their lives. A paradox which says those they are weak in the eyes of society, they are strong in God's eyes.

Our lessons this morning speak of a paradox. They speak of being strong while being weak.

A statement in our lesson from 2 Corinthians is a paradox, it says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." How can a person have power when he or she is weak? According to our human standards, this is a paradox.

But as we study our 3 lessons this morning, we will see an element of truth to this statement about power in weakness.

Ezekiel lived with this paradox. He was called by God to be a prophet. to the nation of Israel, to a people who God said had rebelled against him, who would probably not even listen to this new prophet. Our text says when God called Ezekiel he was to stand upon his feet before God, the spirit of God entered him and set him on his feet. Ezekiel in his human weakness was given power by God to be a prophet to the rebellious nation of Israel. Ezekiel was given power in his human weakness to speak the word of God to a stubborn people, a sinning people, a people who had turned away from God.

'For my power is made perfect in weakness." In Ezekiel weakness God' s power became perfect. Out of the weakness of this human being, God gave him strength to speak to a nation, to speak about the love of God for his chosen people. But notice even after the call, the results of this prophet's work was not going to be successful. God told Ezekiel that the people may even refuse to listen to him, but God would be with him even in this weakness because God wanted the people to know a prophet would be among them. In weakness, Ezekiel brought the word of God to the nation of Israel even though they did not want to listen.

Ezekiel lived a paradox. He was weak but God made him strong.

An author says: "Let your weakness be what it will; one of the strangest paradoxes and, at the same time, of of the most encouraging facts in human life is that your weakness can be your greatest asset. People, like kites and airplanes rise against and hot with the wind."

Jesus lived in the weakness of God and in that weakness he became strong. He lived in the paradox of live.

There is a paradox between the demands of our world, and the demands of our God. Our world calls us to be strong, to succeed, to be upward mobile, but our God calls us to surrender, to be dependent on him, to worry about our neighbor, to treat others with kindness, humility and honesty.

Yes, this a paradox that has been around for a long, long time.

Jesus was a paradox to the people in his time.

His life style, his birth, this death was a paradoxical statement of how God's power would be manifested on this earth. Jesus himself appeared weak to many of his contemporaries. They were expecting a kind of Superman. They anticipated spectacular signs and unmistakable evidence of his divinity. They saw only a carpenter's son, a local boy, a prophet without honor.

Our text says this of the people: "Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands!
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?"

Our text says: Yet all the power of God came to expression in that "weakness".

The weakness of God proved mightier than the strength of men. .

Jesus didn't fit the image people had of the Messiah. They expected a mighty king after the fashion of king David. A man who would lead a mighty army, a man who would make this small nation of Israel strong and powerful. A leader who would defeat the Romans.

But they got a babe born in a stable, a carpenter's son who for approximately 30 years didn't even make a stir among the people. When Jesus did finally go about his ministry, he walked, he lived with outcasts, he ate with sinners, he made enemies of the priests and the rulers.

He had a band of only twelve men who were uneducated fisherman, or tax collectors, or religious radicals. He didn't say anything to the Romans but talked to the house of Israel. He healed people, he forgave sins, he made wine, he calmed the sea.

He talked about the love the Father had for his children, and he said he was the Son of God. Jesus died because he didn't fit the expectation and did not have the value system the people of Israel expected. Jesus came as a servant to men. He came to show that God didn't want men of superhuman ability, but he wanted men who would believe in God's power for their lives. He showed that God wanted people who would live in this paradox. He showed that when you are weak, believing in God and not self, then you are really strong.

Jesus lived the ultimate paradox.

Paul says: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

If we are true to ourselves, we must admit that we do live by the paradox. God's grace is sufficient for us, period. When we have sinned, when we grieve, when we are tossed about by the circumstance of life, God's grace is sufficient for us.

In our weakness moments, God's grace is sufficient for us.

In my life I have seen the power of God to work in my weakness. When I had to leave the parish ministry because of my disability, I thought ministry was over for me. But somehow God worked in my weakness and helped me to do this Internet ministry. Instead of preaching to a congregation orally, I preach to a virtual community with my fingers. In the weakness of my voice, God gave me the grace to use my fingers to preach a different way.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

A closing story brings this truth alive in our lives.

Making Pancakes

Six -year-old Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair to the counter,opened the cupboard and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor.

He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten.

Brandon was covered with flour and getting frustrated He wanted this to be something very good for Mom and Dad, but it was getting very bad. He didn't know what to do next, whether to put it all into the oven or on the stove and he didn't know how the stove worked!

Suddenly he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the floor. Frantically he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped on the eggs, getting his pajamas white and sticky.

And just then he saw Dad standing at the door big crocodile tears welled up in Brandon's eyes. All he'd wanted to do was something good, but he'd made a terrible mess. He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a spanking. But his father just watched him.

Then, walking through the mess, he picked up his crying son, hugged him and loved him, getting his own pajamas white and sticky in the process!

That's how God deals with us. We try to do something good in life, but it turns into a mess. Our marriage gets all sticky or we insult a friend, or we can't stand our job, or our health goes sour.

Sometimes we just stand there in tears because we can't think of anything else to do. That's when God picks us up and loves us and forgives us, even though some of our mess gets all over Him.

But just because we might mess up, we can't stop trying to "make pancakes" for God or for others. Sooner or later we'll get it right, and then they'll be glad we tried...1


"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Make pancakes

Amen

Written by Pastor Tim Zingale July 3, 2006
You may freely use this as is or in parts. Please somehow give credit if possible, thanks! Not for commercial use.

1 from inspirational-stories@yahoogroups.com Richard K. Heinz"