Created in Christ for Good Works

Matthew 25:31-40

God the Surprising Worker of Grace

Place side by side: “We’re God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” And Jesus’ portrayal of his judgment on the whole world: “I was hungry and you gave me....”

The relation of Faith to Works is often seen as a problem. What gets us to heaven? “Just believe, pray, that’s it!” or “Believe, confess, be baptized.” or Bap., Confirm., Sacraments. We seek a minimal formula. What do I have to do for God to give me salvation? Enough.

God’s work is bigger since the human problem is bigger. In Ephesians, Paul speaks to Gentiles: “You were dead....” Your sins were walking with the times, the breath/spirit breathed by everyone. Paul soon shifts to “we” – Jews like himself are included. “We were all dead...” but didn’t know it. Living out wrath of our own choices. God’s response is mercy, love.

God did all the work, what no one could imagine, creating life in Jesus for all of us: Grace. We could not have done it by anything we did! God did it! But that love and grace sets the direction of real life for us. As we share Jesus’ story, we’re newly created for works that embody that good grace and love: Loving God, loving neighbor. God is the doer, the creator. We are the creatures – with purpose. We live his love toward all around us.

Power and Humility: Jesus and the Roman Centurion

Contrasting images on the ethnicity of Jesus. The sermon for this week explores why our understanding of Jesus as a Jewish man who was poor and part of an oppressed minority matters deeply in how we understand the faith of the Centurion.

Matthew 8:5-13

When the need of another person is made plain to us, we can enter into the universal experience of being human, and all distinctions disappear. But we need a humbling power to help us. We need a power greater than our own so that we can adequately relativize whatever authority has been given to us. And the only power that works on the privileged and the underprivileged alike is the divine power of Jesus.

We come at it from different places. Jesus comes to preach good news to the poor and the captive, all the while offering those of us who are not poor, who are not oppressed a place at the table if we can have faith like that of the centurion. However, we have to remember that the faith of the Centurion came at a cost. His faith moved him to an action of humility and letting go of power in the service of another person, that in his day would have been unimaginable.

Following Jesus in an Age of Many Faiths

John 14:1-10

Nearness – The Challenge and Mystery of other Faiths
As a child, I grew up in a sectarian world. We joked about being the only ones going to heaven, but thought it likely true. A small heaven. The religious “others” were Baptist, Methodist. The Nat. Geographic still explored unknown regions of earth. Now we’re all next door.
I’ve learned a lot by study and relationships: Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, vast cultures and literatures. I’ve learned the vast variety in Christianity. There’s so much I’ll never grasp because I don’t live inside the world of Vishnu or Pure Land Buddhism or Greek Orthodoxy. We can’t escape human limitation. A continuing journey, drawing on resources of faith.
We live in a secular world that deals with faiths by saying none/all are “true.” I partly share in that. I put little trust in “religion” as a general phenomenon in human culture. It’s both good and bad. My faith stakes all of life on Jesus, on the God of Israel known in Jesus, on the God who as creator is the source of all existence, the lover of all, giver of life and hope.
Modesty – Learning from other Faiths

Fear, Faith, and Love: The Rock – Building a House for Storm and Calm

Matthew 7:24-29

Learning to Build: Hearing and Doing Jesus Words
We've talked about fear, anxiety, and love. Now let's think together about building. Jesus uses the image of two builders as the climax of the Sermon on the Mount. One person hears Jesus' words and does them. Another hears and does not do them. He says it's the difference between a house founded in bedrock and one sitting on sand. The fearsome storms hit both. One stands. The other collapses. "Doing" Jesus' words is the difference! How? Is this Grace?
This "doing" is not "earning;" it is participating: Jesus' words / life become my own real life.
It reflects our unity as embodied creatures (as Jesus came in body) uniting mind and action. Doing also changes the way we hear: Hearing a chef's recipe on TV or really cooking the dish. We come to know and trust God's love in Jesus, abide in it, complete that love -- boldness! It's a process: We hear and do. We listen again; we do more. We abide, grow, share life.

Fear, Faith, and Love: “Perfect?” The Love that Throws Fear Out

1 John 4:7-21

Fearless Love in a Fear-filled World
“Fearless?” We live as vulnerable physical creatures in a dangerous world. Death is part of being human. In our bodies, in our circumstance, we’re often beset by anxieties. We all struggle.
1 John 4:18a (ESV) “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear!” It’s strange to say! In common experience, love and fear/anxiety can be close companions. “Love” often means someone/thing has become deeply important to me. I need it/them. My “love” creates fear that I might lose the beloved. Love is deep emotional vulnerability. I hover, protect, worry!
What does John mean? Many in his day advised keeping distance from emotional ties as the way to life without fear. But he stresses love! Maybe I don’t have “perfect love.” A new fear! John challenges us, but not to perfectionism. He calls us to participation in God’s life/love.

Fear, Faith, and Love: “Don’t Worry!” Looking at Life with Anxiety

Philippians 4:4-7,11-13

Anxiety, Vulnerability and A Secret
Anxiety, worry, fear is a deep problem of human life. What can "Fearless" mean? Anxiety tends to point to uncertainty of many kinds. Often magnified in my own mind. Fear of loss of control or unfettered choice. I create worst case scenarios. Merging into anxiety disorders/phobias.

It's amazing that Paul in prison, uncertain of sentence, can say, "Don't be anxious about anything." Or that Jesus, talking to poor farmers and laborers, says "Don't be anxious about your life."

What can they mean? We all are vulnerable to death, disease, danger -- the human condition! Paul himself is explicit not only on the dangers he faced but also the worries that plagued him. We today are far healthier/wealthier/long-lived than ancients, but still we all worry and all die.

Fear, Faith, and Love: “Don’t You Care?” - Fear in the Storms of Life

Mark 4:35-41

Can I be Fearless in a World full of Fear?
Our retreat theme starts from the word “Fearless.” What can that mean? Fear has myriad forms. We all experience fear. It’s built into us as creatures (Gen 3:10 “I was afraid.”). Fear touches every scale of life from war and terrorism, to pollution and ferocious weather, to injustice and corruption in society, to unemployment and poverty, to broken relationships and loss of one we love, to our children’s future and our own death, to failure in doing something and peer pressure, to flying and germs, to what friends will think if I wear this. Even the best things bring fear.
You are the only expert in your own fears. The experience of fear is a given. Fear is not a sin. But our experiences of fear teach us that it can be awful and disabling. It distorts reality and often produces bad responses to situations. We want to avoid it and will do almost anything to keep fear at bay. Fear often isolates us, makes us strike out, and see others in the worst light.