Let's Be Real

Have you seen Bruce Almighty? It's a halfway decent movie about God going on vacation and leaving a man by the name of Bruce in charge while he's away. It's a relatively funny movie, which delves into such theological issues as free-will, omnipotence, God identifying himself with the 'least of these,' and maybe most importantly 'prayer.'

There are several scenes in the movie that deal with prayer. In one scene Bruce is driving around Buffalo, New York with his life in shambles, screaming for God to show him a sign. He drives by a flashing street sign saying, "Wrong Way!" He again asks for a sign. A public works truck carrying street signs saying "Stop" Go Back" "Danger" pulls out around him and passes him. Bruce doesn't get it. God is send him a sign, and he doesn't see them. And so, oblivious to God's help, he crashes his car.

But, one of my favorite scenes in the movie is toward the end. Bruce has had several encounters with God - several rather intimate conversations. And then Bruce needs something, and so God tells him to pray. Bruce takes a loop of prayer beads in his hand, furrows his brow, and lets out this rambling prayer complete with 'thees' and 'thous' and a request for world peace. Bruce opens his eyes and asks God how he did. God said, "Fine. . . that is if you're trying to be Miss America."

The point is pretty clear - God wanted Bruce to be real with him, not contrived and formal. He made Bruce, he knew his inmost thoughts, he discerned him from afar - he didn't need to stand on pretenses. God wanted an honest relationship with Bruce, not some beauty queen version of Bruce.

Whatever you think of the movie, that's not a bad message.

Our Old Testament lesson this morning is from the 15th chapter of Jeremiah. This chapter is one of the "Confessions of Jeremiah" - one of seven times in the Book of Jeremiah where Jeremiah lets his hair down and lets God know where he really stands, and how he really feels. This is one of those times.

Jeremiah lived at a difficult time in Israel's history. They were bracing for certain defeat and annihilation by the most powerful military force in the world. They were going to 'get it,' they just didn't know when.

Jeremiah, a prophet, was trying to get Israel to listen to God: he was trying to get them to honor God, worship him, and ask God for forgiveness for their unfaithfulness to him.

The thing was, Israel didn't want to hear it. They didn't want to hear what God had to say, and they certainly didn't want to hear it from Jeremiah. And so he was abused, and accosted, and beat up, and pushed away - and generally his life was made a living hell.

And Jeremiah got tired of it. Here we was working for God, and God was seemingly letting him hand out to dry. And Jeremiah had all he could stand, and he couldn't stand it anymore.

He tells God that he's been faithful - that's he's done right by God - that he's done everything that has been asked of him. And then he says: Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Truly you are to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail.

Jeremiah was so worked up that he called God 'deceitful' - he called God a 'liar.' He said that God had failed, that was a 'failure' to him.

Is this anyway to talk to the Creator of the Universe? Is this anyway to talk to the One who made us, gave us life, and who sustains us through each day? Is this anyway to talk to the One who set the stars in the sky, and set the planets, suns, and moons in their orbit?

Yes. If it's honest. If it's where you're really at.

And it was where Jeremiah was really at.

This wasn't time for Miss America world-peace stuff with a few thees and thous thrown infor good measure. This was time for honest prayer. This was time to be real.

God answered him by saying, "I am with you, and save you and deliver you."

The Bible is littered with people who let their hair down before God Almighty. Job. The prophet Habakkuk. The Psalmists. Jonah.

The message is clear: God wants us to be real. God knows our inmost thoughts, he made us to be who we are, he discerns our thoughts from afar, he loves us are we are. He doesn't want some hollow relationship.

I don't talk to my wife Karen with thees and thous. I don't act like someone trying to be Miss America with my friends. So, why would I do that with God?

He wants to have an intimate relationship with us, where we're willing to bear ourselves to him, as he has born himself to us in so many ways throughout human history, and throughout our lives.

Let's Be Real

Have you seen Bruce Almighty? It's a halfway decent movie about God going on vacation and leaving a man by the name of Bruce in charge while he's away. It's a relatively funny movie, which delves into such theological issues as free-will, omnipotence, God identifying himself with the 'least of these,' and maybe most importantly 'prayer.'

There are several scenes in the movie that deal with prayer. In one scene Bruce is driving around Buffalo, New York with his life in shambles, screaming for God to show him a sign. He drives by a flashing street sign saying, "Wrong Way!" He again asks for a sign. A public works truck carrying street signs saying "Stop" Go Back" "Danger" pulls out around him and passes him. Bruce doesn't get it. God is send him a sign, and he doesn't see them. And so, oblivious to God's help, he crashes his car.

But, one of my favorite scenes in the movie is toward the end. Bruce has had several encounters with God - several rather intimate conversations. And then Bruce needs something, and so God tells him to pray. Bruce takes a loop of prayer beads in his hand, furrows his brow, and lets out this rambling prayer complete with 'thees' and 'thous' and a request for world peace. Bruce opens his eyes and asks God how he did. God said, "Fine. . . that is if you're trying to be Miss America."

The point is pretty clear - God wanted Bruce to be real with him, not contrived and formal. He made Bruce, he knew his inmost thoughts, he discerned him from afar - he didn't need to stand on pretenses. God wanted an honest relationship with Bruce, not some beauty queen version of Bruce.

Whatever you think of the movie, that's not a bad message.

Our Old Testament lesson this morning is from the 15th chapter of Jeremiah. This chapter is one of the "Confessions of Jeremiah" - one of seven times in the Book of Jeremiah where Jeremiah lets his hair down and lets God know where he really stands, and how he really feels. This is one of those times.

Jeremiah lived at a difficult time in Israel's history. They were bracing for certain defeat and annihilation by the most powerful military force in the world. They were going to 'get it,' they just didn't know when.

Jeremiah, a prophet, was trying to get Israel to listen to God: he was trying to get them to honor God, worship him, and ask God for forgiveness for their unfaithfulness to him.

The thing was, Israel didn't want to hear it. They didn't want to hear what God had to say, and they certainly didn't want to hear it from Jeremiah. And so he was abused, and accosted, and beat up, and pushed away - and generally his life was made a living hell.

And Jeremiah got tired of it. Here we was working for God, and God was seemingly letting him hand out to dry. And Jeremiah had all he could stand, and he couldn't stand it anymore.

He tells God that he's been faithful - that's he's done right by God - that he's done everything that has been asked of him. And then he says: Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Truly you are to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail.

Jeremiah was so worked up that he called God 'deceitful' - he called God a 'liar.' He said that God had failed, that was a 'failure' to him.

Is this anyway to talk to the Creator of the Universe? Is this anyway to talk to the One who made us, gave us life, and who sustains us through each day? Is this anyway to talk to the One who set the stars in the sky, and set the planets, suns, and moons in their orbit?

Yes. If it's honest. If it's where you're really at.

And it was where Jeremiah was really at.

This wasn't time for Miss America world-peace stuff with a few thees and thous thrown infor good measure. This was time for honest prayer. This was time to be real.

God answered him by saying, "I am with you, and save you and deliver you."

The Bible is littered with people who let their hair down before God Almighty. Job. The prophet Habakkuk. The Psalmists. Jonah.

The message is clear: God wants us to be real. God knows our inmost thoughts, he made us to be who we are, he discerns our thoughts from afar, he loves us are we are. He doesn't want some hollow relationship.

I don't talk to my wife Karen with thees and thous. I don't act like someone trying to be Miss America with my friends. So, why would I do that with God?

He wants to have an intimate relationship with us, where we're willing to bear ourselves to him, as he has born himself to us in so many ways throughout human history, and throughout our lives.

Enough is enough.

Just this week a thirty year crime was put to rest: The BTK killer who alluded the police for so long, and who sent an entire region of the country into a lengthy state of fear, has been found, convicted, and sentenced to 175 years in prison.

BTK - stands for "bind, torture, kill." Doesn't need much explaination does it?

Maybe you've seen movies about serial killers: Silence of the Lambs, Seven, Murder by Numbers. They all show serial killers as shady people who live in shadows. People who avoid the public, and who seem to spend more time underground than above.

But, this was not Dennis Rader. He was a known member of his community. He was adog catcher. He was a community compliance officer.

But, the most shocking point in his life to anyone who has followed this case at all, is that he was a church-goer. And, not just any church-goer - he was the President of his Lutheran Church. This is a position that mirrors our "Senior Warden."

People thought enough of him to nominate him for the position, and then elect him as their leader. They saw him as a spiritual leader. A friendly fellow. Someone they trusted to help run their church. His wife sang in the choir.

If Dennis Rader, the BTK killer can teach us anything, he should stand as a glaring example that just going to church isn't enough. Sitting in the pew, singing the hymns, listening to sermons, and putting our envelopes into the plate isn't enough. Reciting the Nicene Creed, the confession, and even taking Communion week by week, isn't enough.

There's more. Much more. And it's all in our heart, our soul, and our honest relationship with God.

This morning, in our Gospel lesson, Peter gets it right. Jesus asks him who he thinks he is, and Peter tells him that he is the Messiah.

The Greek word for "Messiah" is Christos. Remember that "Christ" isn't Jesus' last name - it's his title. It's who he is. "Messiah" - "Christ" literally means "the annointed one."

What Peter is saying here, is that he believed that Jesus was the one that God annointed to save the world, and Israel in particular. Israel was in deep, deep trouble - oppressed by Rome and under social and political pressures to become more worldly and secular. Peter saw Jesus as the person God annointed to keep Rome at bay, and keep Israel faithful to the ways of God.

This is usually one of those biblical passages where we remind ourselves how great a disciple Peter was. He got the answer right. He knew who Jesus was. He got the gold star that day. And then Jesus tells him that he will be the rock on which the Church will be built.

This should be one of those days when churches like the one in Lonaconing should rejoice: Peter here is lifted high. He got the answer right.

But, before we put Peter on too high of a pedestal, we must read on in the 16th chapter of Matthew. Because, in the very next paragraph Peter's world comes crashing down.

Jesus tells him what being God's annointed one - Messiah - Christ means: he will have to suffer and die. Peter flies off the handle, and tells him, "No!" "This can't be" "God forbid it!" And Jesus retorts, "Get behind me Satan."

You see, Peter got the answer to the question right: he knew Jesus' title, but he didn't understand what being God's annointed meant. He didn't know what God was requiring of Jesus, and quite obviously by Peter's later denial of Jesus, he didn't know what God would require of him either.

Having all the answers wasn't enough for Peter. It wasn't enough to know Jesus' name. It wasn't enough to take a few steps on water before he fell through the surface. It wasn't enough to pretend he was Jesus' best friend, until Jesus needed him the most.

There was more. Much more. And that 'more' needed to be in his heart, his soul, and his honest relationship with God.

We don't need to be perfect - that is impossible. What we need though is the willingness to foster and grow a relationship with God. If having the right answers, and logging in Sunday morning church time isn't enough, what we need to do is actually connect with God.

I have to believe that if Dennis Rader had actually connected with God, and honestly sought a relationship with Him, there's no way that he could have done the things he did. I have to beleive that if Peter took the time to connect with Jesus, and honestly seek a relationship with him on Jesus' terms instead of his own, he would have been more understanding of Jesus' mission and would have claimed him not only as his friend but as his Lord, when Jesus needed him the most.

And, I have to believe that we too can go deeper into God. Like a good marriage where both people come to know each other better, more intimately, and deeper as years go on, so can we do the same with God.

Being here this morning is a good thing. But, it's only a start.

Worshipping, reading the Bible, and saying the Creed are good things. But, they are only the beginning.

The deepening of one's understanding of God in the heart and soul is what we should most desire. That the Creator of the Sun, moon, and stars offers this intimacy is amazing. But, it is only a start.

We must return the offer of intimacy, and grow in God as God then grows in us.

So, who's in?

So, who gets to go to Heaven? Who's in and who's out?

Or, here's a more interesting question: who's going to Hell? Who's in and who's out?

When I was in seminary I had a class with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The Nobel Peace Prize winner one class asked us point-blank whether or not Adolf Hitler was in hell. He asked the question, and the class was dead silent. What was the Archbishop up to? No one dared answer.

And so he pressed us - 'Is Hitler in jail, come on, someone answer!'

Some brave soul from the back of the class - no me! - spoke up and said, "Yes!" Then a whole flurry of "Yeah" "Sure" "You bet he's in Hell!"

The Archbishop smiled. We had taken the bait.

"How do you know?," he answered. "How do you know what was in his heart when he died? How do you know whether God chose to have mercy on him or not?"

His lesson was clear: It wasn't up to us whether or not Hitler was in Hell or not.

He said that if it were up to him, or us, sure, he'd be in Hell. But, it wasn't up to us, and it wasn't up to him. Hitler's fate is up to God, and we won't know whether he's at the party until we get there to see for ourselves.

There is a common human trait to want to separate people into groups: who's in and who's out. We separate people by designations of rich and poor, black and white, educated and uneducated, liberal and conservative, right and wrong, smart and not-so-smart. One of the most dangerous of the distinctions that we make though is: who's in God's favor and who isn't.

In our three lessons today there are several kinds of distinctions - separations - that present themselves. In our Old Testament lesson from the book of Isaiah, we find Isaiah talking about foreigners and eunuchs. In ancient Judaism, foreigners weren't just annoying out-of-towners, they were also most certainly pagans: people who did not regard or honor God as we know him. They rather worshipped at the altars of pagan gods and idols.

Eunuchs, well, if you don't know what they are, ask your parents, or ask me after the service! They didn't just have a major handicap/ deformity, biblical law determined that they were unclean - unable to participate in certain religious ceremonies, and forbidden to serve as priests.

Isaiah tells us that God has declared foreigners and eunuchs welcome in His Kingdom: My house shall be a house of prayer for all people.

In our Gospel lesson we find Jesus with a Canaanite woman. First of all, she's a woman and so she's already 'out' in the standards of those days. But, she is also, as a Canaanite, a pagan. After their conversation Jesus declares: Woman, great is your faith!

Just to realize the enormity of that statement, remember last week when Jesus was walking on the water, invited Peter to join him, and Peter went out and began to sink: what did Jesus say? O man of little faith! - the exact opposite that he says to a Canaanite woman!

And then, in our Epistle lesson Paul is talking about another great distinction that was being made in the year after Jesus' death: the distinction between Jews and Christians. People who regarded Jesus as the Messiah and God, and people who didn't.

In the eleventh chapter of Romans, Paul talks about the "mystery" of how God handles his chosen people, Israel. He says that all - Christian, Jew, man, woman, eunuch, foreigner - all are disobedient. All have sinned. No one is perfect. No one is blameless. But, God is merciful. And he is merciful to all, according to Paul.

This is one of the most curious verses in the whole Bible. Does this mean that everyone goes to Heaven? When Paul says that God is merciful to all, does 'all' include Buddhists, Muslims, atheists, etc.?

Well, that's a pretty deep question, a question that theologians have wrestled with for a long time. But, here's a clue: just asking the question is missing the point.

The point isn't for us to figure out who's in and who's out. The point is not for us to decide who God likes and who he doesn't. The point is to realize that God is merciful. That he is merciful to us.

And to realize the incredibly amazing gift that that is. 'Mercy' is when God doesn't give us what we deserve. The flip-side of mercy is grace, which is when God gives us what we don't deserve.

God is gracious and God is merciful, and when God looks down on us from heaven above he doesn't see the distinctions that we make, and the separations that we buy into. God doesn't see rich and poor, or black and white, or man and woman, or eunuch or foreigner. God looks down on us and sees people that he loves, people that he choses to be show mercy to. People he choses to be gracious to.

All that we're asked to do is realize God's gracious and merciful love for us, and love him in return. Be thankful for that incredible gift, and all the gifts that God showers down on us. And then were asked to let other people know that thy have been given the same gift, and that all they have to do is open it.

Is Hitler in heaven? I don't know. It's not up to me. - and thank God for that.

But, I do know that if God wanted to be merciful to him, he could have. And if God could be merciful to merciless dictators, then he could probably be merciful to a sinner like me.

That's what's amazing about grace.