SCRIPTURE: Judges 4:1-7
TEXT: THEME: INTRODUCTION This year my thinking has been looking at Thanksgiving from the perspective of native peoples. The native people are ‘Akamai,’ smart, ma’a to the land, ocean, weather, hunting, fishing, farming and the seasons. They are welcoming, seeing the humanity of the stranger upon their shore, crossing into their boundaries. Native people shared what they have, taught what they knew, and help immigrants who were different from themselves. Distinctive, kind, hospitable, generous, and gracious. The immigrants were weary from their travels, hungry, unhoused, disoriented, frightened, sick, poor, adventurist, opportunist, religious, escapees from oppression, in survivor mode, or colonizer. Together we could blossom, create something blended but these are examples of the stranger taking possession of the lands of their host. In a culture that could not conceive of an audacity of any person to think that they could possess what The Creator had given to all. Then refuses these first inhabitant the right to own land, representation in courts or even the right to vote. I was thinking about the native Americans and the Hawaiians. This seems to be the biblical model of Joshua. A model that was prevalent in their day. A model that continues to persist today with boundaries defining possessions rather than responsibilities. We see this with Abraham as head of the homestead, to Joshua recapturing and re-inhabiting abandoned lands, to Judges who execute justice and later Kings who reign. Yet Contrary to this model, is Jesus the Messiah. Not conquering territory but proclaiming the nearness of the Kingdom of God, in every nation, in every country and in every principality, where those who believe find citizenship in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is something blended together, with a future all could appreciate, be fulfilled, have joy, hold the value of our cultures, be in mission together and in relationship with God and with each other. I am not thankful because immigrants have taken over native lands and now rule. But by listening to the Prophet’s voice, all of these citizens could create a community beyond nationalism, race and lost native lands. We can find our common ground in belief in God and pursuit of justice over evil. A community that is not afraid of the new immigrants on our shores thinking that they are here to rob us of what we have, just as they did to their hosts. SCRIPTURE The pattern of our human-ness repeats itself. From thinking about God and others, to only thinking only about ourselves and using others to get what we want. Our Prejudice, selfishness, greed, insecurity, desire, and anger divides our nation and weakens our community. Divisions makes us susceptible to attack and defeat. Our manipulation, bickering and blaming creates mistrust and suspicion. This time King Jabin of Canaan conquers a weaken Israel and holds them captive them for 20 years. Having a common enemy, a common cause, a common hope for freedom and a common value unified these people around the unusual. Amongst themselves is a prophetess, whose is not identity by who she is married to, but as ‘a woman of fire.’ A woman judge of Israel. She calls her assistant Barak to rally the troops for a battle against King Jabin, telling them that the Lord had said, “I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his 900 iron chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hands.” Deborah is like a Joan of Arc. Ironically, she would not be allowed on some pulpits in our ‘modern-day’ churches because of their view of God is too small, egocentric, sexist, and racist. This common enemy was beyond, sexism, race, land, ideology, creed, foods, and people. A coming together, a fusion into strength, a movement to change the course of history, as 10,000 from the tribes of Israel respond to the call and defeat King Sisera. APPLICATION What is God calling us to do beyond our comfort, to trust in God’s designs of goodness? The promise land that Abraham and Sarah chased with their descendants, is the same place where the fighting between Israel and Hamas is now. But the promise land of Jesus is the Kingdom of God. As we understand it, it is in every kingdom, in every nation, in every rule, and in every principality. Not confined to a physical piece of real estate but to its citizens who believe in God and its people. Then Heaven, become more about where God dwells than a place where we go to after we die. We are at a turning point where the door to many of our pasts have been closed. And what was, will never be able to rise again. But we are here, with those memories, with those values, with that culture, with our belief, with our hopes and together with others, whether strangers, kamaainas, or newcomers we can fuse something together to that does not lose our distinctiveness but becomes a part of something that we all have a part in creating. Honoring the past, respecting each other with value and joy. It comes with discerning the voice of God, in faithful people. Sometimes we see the differences first, before we decide to listen. Listen first then decide if that was the voice of God or not no matter what the people look like. Then we could hear the voice of agape in aloha, the voice of shalom in namaste, the voice of compassion in suffering. The people, God is building, is way bigger than what we can think of. There is a church, compiled mostly of newcomers who have embraced the local customs, ways, ideologies, love, culture, and respect. The church has maintained their culture although multicolored. They have taught those from someplace else, to be like us, to think like us, to value the things that we hold in our hearts like us. So, no matter what color their skin maybe or where they are from, they can be a part of us. Then learn from others, discover what is wise, good, insightful and adapt it into our ways and blend the orange with the lilikoi and guava, to make the People of God. CONCLUSION I am thankful that God is not welded to the past. God moves and builds on the foundations of old into the something new. We can get stuck just trying to keep the old going and miss where God is leading today. God is leading in household, through families, speaking to us as through prophets, the Bible, worship, and prayer, to advocate for justice and join others in the struggle against evil. I am thankful for the community of the church, that we can be this together.
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SCRIPTURE: Joshua 34:1-3a, 14-25
TEXT: “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” THEME: Trusting in God to live as stewards of God’s blessings. INTRODUCTION When I was growing up, there was a bowl where my Dad would empty his pocket change. On Sundays when we went to Sunday School, we could take a coin and put it in our offering envelope for worship. My family provided everything I needed with even a portion that I could use for worship. I know only a few jokes but it feels like once a year I tell my Charlie Kaneyama joke on Stewardship Sunday…when Charlie was but a wee little lad, his dad gave him a dime for offering and a dime for ice cream after Sunday School. He was so happy. Walking to church like any little boy, coins do not just sit on the bottom of a pocket, so he was playing with them until one of them got away from him, rolled down the sidewalk, and into the storm drain. It was irretrievable. Poor Charlie looked up to heaven and said, “Dear God, I’m so sorry what happened to your dime.” SCRIPTURE The gods of old were used to try and make sense of the world around us. Our limited science yielded few explanations. There was so much that was a mystery, wonder, uncontrolled and powerful. So we made gods of the forces of nature around us and other gods that we could appeal to dad influence these greater forces to help us. Sometimes we gave these uncontrollable forces human like characteristics, Anthropomorphism was a way for us to understand their wild nature. But now with God’s call of Abraham and Sarah, the people of God have a relationship with the Creator of all things. They are given a promise and begin to journey together from land of Ur to Canaan, then their descendants migrate down to Egypt and back again to Canaan where they learn and relearn the dynamics of their God and being the people of God. The last few Sundays completed their 40-year travels in the wilderness with Moses, we had the So, first words of his successor Joshua as they cross the Jordan to recapture the land of Canaan and to today, where we have Joshua’s last words to the People of God as he nears life’s end. Through Joshua, God conquered the Canaanites and settled the Israelites in the land. We read the redacted version of this text, but it could be categorized as their joining the movement of believing in God; Abraham, Sarah and their family -They too. Josh and his family - Me too. The people of God - Us too. Joshua making sure you sure you sure - Them too, and all of us together being sure - We too. In essence of what they wanted from their old gods is all wrapped up into their relationship with God, who calls and reveals God’s self to those who travel with God. Then through their journey together the image and understanding of God is refined and deepen. Don’t go back to the old version of gods, they don’t work. They only are a distraction of our self-centeredness, move on with what God is showing us, with those around us, to move into the community of the people of God. This is the covenant the people of God are making with God and each other. APPLICATION As part of inclining our hearts to God is a weekly reminder of God. The Sabbath and our tithe. This past week an old friend dropped by to listen to clergy who are serving on Maui during this difficult time. He retired from his church and is now devoting himself full tine to the ministry of Hawaiian Islands Ministry and wanted to listen to what the needs are here for clergy, to see if there was something Hawaiian Island Ministries could do to help, us especially in the area of mental health. At the end of his visit with us he gave me a HIM pen and said use it when you journal. Inadvertently what this did, was reminds me of Dan every time I update my calendar. Sneaky Dan. But this is what a tithe does for us. A weekly offering, even if just going through the motions, has us look at our check book balance, see how God has provided, what we need, and then a portion to worship God with this week. Don’t get caught up on the amount. We already have God’s favor and are not trying to pay for it. It is the heart behind the offering and worship that is important. So we provide pledge cards for you to fill out. But we don’t use them to figure out the church budget. They are for you to do your own accounting of your blessings and worship. This is kind of what Joshua is doing here, he is taking in account of all that God has done, from the time of Abraham to the end of Joshua’s life. Looking towards where they are now, making his commitment and seeing if there are others who are committed to do the same into the future. We can’t do the work of God on our own, to do this we need each other. So there is a commitment of self, to each other and to God. The offerings we have contribute to the work we do together, putting our old gods behind and journeying with God into the not yet. CONCLUSION When we are able to see, what we have as a product of how God loves us, then we can also trust God for a portion, out of everything to give as an act of worship. Like a pen, that we journal with that reminds us to pray. Just for fun. These are a few old gods we can put behind us. I have walked in Keopulani Park and have numerous black cats cross my path that have not determined how good or bad my day has gone. Black cats don’t have the power to make a bad day, that is all up to me. Same thing with Fridays, They are my days off so always good so it doesn’t matter when it falls on the 13th day of the month. I haven’t tried this, but I am don’t see what power a banana has that would cause fish not to bite on a particular day. Look at it. The only power it has is potassium. I don’t know what it is about washing my car or doing laundry that brings rain. Pennies don’t bring good luck, all it does is make me a penny richer, which is good. But at my age sometimes I have to consider if it is worth bending down to pick it up. Avoiding cracks makes me walk funny but hasn’t done anything for my mother’s back. It has helped me be aware of floor level changes and find the occasional penny. Our lives are not about avoiding bad luck, but it is about living into the grace and loving ways of God with our neighbors. Putting those old gods behind, there is nothing casual about living as witnesses of God’s liberation and justice. It is a daily commitment, putting aside our confidences of the past for our confidences in God, with a readiness to respond, trusting in the assurances of God, knowing God journeys with us now and in the generations to come. SCRIPTURE: Joshua 3
TEXT: THEME: INTRODUCTION The lectionary readings through Genesis, Exodus and Deuteronomy highlighted the Compassion of God for the family of Abraham and Sarah. Even before they were slave to Egypt, God initiated plans of love and compassion. Moses’ birth, adoption, and success in negotiating the release of God’s people, showed how powerful God is, in comparison to the rulers of Earth. God sees and knows of Israel’s suffering and initiates their liberation from oppression. They were spiritual but not religious, like those ‘nones’ of today. In 2021 the Pew Research Center identified a drop of those in the United States who identified themselves as Christian. Roughly 3 in ten adults considered themselves as ‘religiously unaffiliated’ and fewer than half of Americans pray every day, ‘Nones’ were turned off by the behavior of abuse in the church, churches that only ask for money and organized religion. Initiating their escape from slavery, and wandering for 40 years in the wilderness fostered Israel’s relationship with God. Israel has reconnected with their ancestral heritage, experienced their own stories with God, that has informed them about who they are, who God is and how they are to treat their neighbors. SCRIPTURE Moses died and Joshua is the new leader. He is not a negotiator like Moses, but was a military strategist and warrior. The style of the mission will change and be shaped by the capability and skill set of the new leader that is available. We each bring our own set of skills, talent, abilities and interest, to the God’s call of us. In each mission we participate in, we leave an imprint of who we are. It maybe that to God, participation in a mission is important, but it does not need to be done in the exact same way. Joshua has been shadowing Moses, but his talent, skill and leadership is different from Moses. If anything, this means that we don’t all need to be the same to participate in God’s mission, and that there are parts of mission that God will require different kind of skills from one season to another. We need to appreciate all and welcome all. The promise we have from God is “I will be with you …” so through us, we will be able to see God’s handiwork. For example, in the crossing of the Jordan River to get to the Promised land, they cross on dry ground but it is not a sea, but a river and the water flowing in one direction is dammed (not parted) causing it to overflow onto the banks while the people crossed on dry ground. Similar to the crossing of the Red Sea but different, under the leadership of Joshua, it is enough to prove that our same God is with Joshua. APPLICATION On this All-Saint’s Sunday we recognize the contributions of many among us who in their own way and style added their handiwork to the life of this church or who have left their mark on our lives. Here is illustrated in a Maui New article of the church in 1912. Saints are named in this article: The first building of the Wailuku Union Church was erected in the early part of 1867. Mr. Christopher H. Lewers, Mr. Edward H. Bailey and several others then living in Wailuku were interested in its erection, and assisted in the work. “The Friend” of a somewhat earlier date speaks of the work of the ladies of Wailuku in raising nearly $400 toward the new building. Rev. Thomas Gardner Thurston, was the first pastor of this Church. He was ordained in the Kaahumanu Church, and ministered to both English-speaking and Hawaiian congregations, beginning his work in the month of October, 1866 The Wailuku Union Church was organized, January 15th, 1867. Rev. W. P. Alexander was moderator of that council, Rev. S. E. Bishop, D. D., was the scribe. The papers of incorporation were issued the year before, on October 10th. on April 4th, 1880, Mr. Edward H. Bailey united with the Church; that from that date to the time of his death, on November 5th, 1910, he faithfully served the Church in many ways, and for a time was the only living member of the organization; on the first Sunday in November, 1905, the house of worship was opened after it has been closed for several years, and that at the request of many of the former attendants of the Church, Rev. Rowland B. Dodge, the Agent for the Hawaiian Board, for Maui County, was engaged to hold service. In December, 1910, the property of the Church was condemned by the County; land and buildings were appropriated for Government use. The work on the new edifice began in February, 1911. The Corner Stone was laid with fitting ceremonies on May 7th, 1911. The address on the occasion was delivered by Hon. Selden B. Kingsbury. The floor plan was first worked out by the Minister of the Church, and the result of the careful work of Mr. W. R. Patterson, who, from the very day the Board of Trustees of the Church accepted his liberal offer has put his whole heart into the work of the erection of a suitable building for the worship of the Church and congregation of which he has been a member since July 1st, 1911. The firm of Emory & Webb, of Honolulu, very generously reviewed the plans. Mr. Hugh Howell acted as consulting engineer, and has done faithful and efficient service. The furniture was selected by the Minister while in New York last winter. It was purchased through the firm of Alexander & Baldwin. Mr. R. E. Smith, the New York buyer, chose the color scheme for the windows assisting the maker, Mr. Charles E. Hogeman, in the selection of the designs. The stone for the Church was found on the fields of the Wailuku Sugar Company and in the Iao Valley. The cross was cut by Japanese workman out of a single stone from the land of Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Field in Iao. The asbestos shingles and ohia flooring were furnished by the firm of Lewers & Cooke; other materials by the Kahului Railroad Company. The many gifts to the Church from loving friends, the memorials make the building in every sense a true monument to the work of the early missionaries, their sons and daughters, and those who in noble lives. We join our names to this list of faithful saints who serve God through the ministry of this church. CONCLUSION “None’s” say they don’t go to church because the ones they have gone to are unpersuasive and unwelcoming towards their lifestyle. The church was not a ‘good fit’ for them. When we start to list the names of the Saints of this church, past as well as present, they are persuasive in the way they live their faith. And they are welcoming in the way they embraced us, reaching out to take our hand. A church that is a good fit is hard to find. But it is our Saints that make us a ‘good fit’ for just about anyone. God’s compassion continues through us. SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy 34:1-12
TEXT: THEME: INTRODUCTION When Moses was born, midwives saved his life by letting him live. When his parents set him in a basket in the river, Pharaoh’s daughter drew him out of the water and raised him in the palace. Later when he was called by God to free the Israelites out of the bonds of slavery, God leads him back into the Palace to negotiate with Pharaoh. He was God’s tour guide in the wilderness, and provided escape, food, water and protection for God’s people. A survivor for 40 years and he fostered Israel’s relationship with God in the wilderness. The promise land is across the next river. So God takes Moses up to the mountain and shows him the horizon. SCRIPTURE There are three horizons in this passage. One is of the ancestral land from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. One is of heaven, dwelling with God and lastly, one is of a new mission that Is being laid out with a new leader. On the edge of the 40-year wilderness is a great expanse of land for their taking. These will become generationally contested lands of conflict, blessing, unrest and promise. Moses’ life has been in proximity with God. Heaven, so to speak, is not a place as much as it is a place with God. Moses was God’s prophet, God’s leader of the people, God’s liberating agent, and God’s human portrait for the people’s understanding. Genesis takes the people of God into Egypt. The book of Exodus delivers these people out of Egypt and back to the edge of their ancestral lands of Canaan. These lands were promised to Abraham and Sara and their descendants. This promise holds true today as a tangible sign of God and God’s people. The rest of the stories in Pentecost will be one battle, after another in regaining the real estate lost after being absent for the last 400 years. It will show God being with Israel and how this is what God wants, but…just because this is good for Israel then why isn’t it good for everybody else? Could re-habitation of ancestral lands have been accomplished in some other way? Sitting back in Babylon writing their history, could the authors also be writing in a future hope for in returning to Judea? Complete military dominance proves who is right. But We are still reeling from the ramification of colonization practices that followed these patterns. The wars that erupt between Israel and Palestine are like that of an active volcano. APPLICATION What is the horizon of peace in the land with neighbors that we see? What is the horizon of peace with God that we see? What is the horizon of a mission that brings the peace of God into the world look like? Maybe the 85-year-old Israeli hostage saying ‘shalom’ to her Hamas captor, as they leave is not propaganda but her understanding of what it means to be God’s prophet in this time and space. The political nation of Israel whose citizens are made up the spiritual people who wrestle with God. (I Stopped here to pray for peace between Israel and Hamas) As I look over my last 33 years of ministry, I wanted church growth, but that didn’t work out, I wanted new people and we got lot of broken people, we ventured into providing services to the deaf community, which was important as many still remember our sign language vocabulary, we have a food pantry, a Preschool, and music ministry that continues. In recent years we been surviving under the shelter of God, so when God takes me up to the mountain top to see our future, it is not about inhabiting the land as far as my eye can see, but it is about seeing hurt in each of these pockets of our community. It is about seeing good in each one of these pockets of the community and it is about seeing us, in some way, through offerings, our members, our jobs as being a part of each one of those pockets of our community. When the missionary came, it could be seen that they came to conquer the islands for Christ. But now, 200 years later, we don’t need to have a Joshua to militarily dominate us into submission, but we need a Jesus who comes to dwell among us, who lives the peace of God among us, with us and through us. The mission field is not about surviving to be there in the future. The mission field is about being out there bearing the peace of God with us where ever we go. In what we do, in how we live, in our work and in the relationships we foster. This is Living the three horizons in one. For the Wailuku Parish, we don’t need one church to dominate us, but we need a vision of mission that incorporates all of who we are into a common mission of being. Not one pastor but many, not one culture but many, not one setting but many, not one language but many, If Legion can do this to wreak havoc in one person’s life and threaten an entire community, the church can do this to be a blessing by being many people who carry the name of Jesus with us and make changes that transform our community. So if the church can exhibit this change, by working together, doing something different, then we can be an example for our community to change to do things differently and to try something new. But if we are still waiting for something to happen in our horizon, we may have to die on this side of the river and lose our opportunity to do something amazing today. CONCLUSION War, violence, military dominance, systems of oppression take away our ability to connect with each other across boundaries and we become like the people of Noah’s day and cease to see the humanity in each other. We lose our connections as human beings. Destruction by chaos is not the answer to start over. Forgiveness is. This is the vision Jesus gives us in the horizon. SCRIPTURE: Exodus 33:12-22
TEXT: THEME: we are favored by God because of GOD’s character INTRODUCTION When we summed up the Ten Commandments last week, the commandment about carrying the name of God seemed to encompass all of the other commands of loving God and loving others. Desmond Tutu expressed this by calling women from his church in South Africa “God carriers.” Not only are they made in the image of God, but as the ones who carry the Name of God for all the world to see, by what it means to live in relationship with God. Israel is growing in their relationship with God. They have an incredible heritage and a homeland that they are returning to. They have God’s involvement in their lives, liberating them from Pharaoh, providing in the wilderness. But now Moses has been away from them as he went up the Mountain to spend time with God. They feel insecure, frightened, nervous, and abandoned. Fear causes them to feel anxious as they wait for Moses’ return. They soon reach the point where they are ready to abandon all of the headway they have made in their relationship with God. They resort back to what they are familiar with. They go to Aaron, sensing their evil intent, he initiates a grand gesture to appease their fears. He collects their gold and forge it in the shape of a calf, a symbol strength and wealth. While on the mountain, God gives Moses a heads up of what is happening down below. God is ready to throw in the towel with Israel but Moses restates the intents of God and God stays the course. This doesn’t prevent Moses from being livid when he arrives and sees the revery and smashes the stone tablets. God would step back and let some other heavenly agent take oversights over these people. But Moses, in the passage for today, convinces God to remain and have favor with the people God. SCRIPTURE Moses’ negotiations with God are clever. He is not making God do anything God doesn’t want to do. Actually all Moses does is restates what God has said, God wanted to accomplish. How can Israel show that they are a favored people if God is not with them? How can God show Israel the way of God if God is not with them? How can God be distant from them if they are to carry their relationship with God to other people? This brings us to the importance of this passage, of being favored by God. I listened to a Pod cast this week by Mo King who interviewed African American Astronaut Leland Melvin. Leland Melvin is also a former NFL athlete, scientist, engineer, photographer, musician, author, and an inspiration to the next generation of explorers to pursue S.T.E.M. careers. As he tells the story of his life, at critical points there were people who helped him, stepped in, gave guidance, and encouragement. He described them as the man in the Yellow hat from Curious George books. The man in the Yellow Hat was always there and always had Curious George’s back. We have people who have done that for us, and this is what it means to have God’s favor, to have God present, to be in relationship with God. It is living our lives as Curious George and knowing that God, will be the person in the Yellow Hat, who always has our back. This is what it means for us to be God Carriers, this is what it means to be God’s People, distinctive for the rest of the nations of the world to see. God has our back. APPLICATION In our evolution of theology, of what it means to be the church, is being shaped by changes in our society. Certainly technology is shaping us. The younger generation not finding our present form of the church relevant, is changing us. We are more than a century and a half of being the church in Wailuku, with stories of God, and faithful people who have shaped us into who we are today. Building upon that foundation, we are trying to position ourselves to be ready for the next thing God is going to be doing as the church. How do we continue to build upon where we have come to and not find comfort in the old models of how we used to be? Moses negotiated for the presence of God to continue to be with the people of God as a sign of God’s continued favor upon them. As God is present, there can be a continued understanding of what it means to live according to God’s ways. There can be a continued discovery of the many facets of the character of God, there can be the building of our live on truth with a deeper of appreciation of its wisdom. Our relationship with God has never been on where we ask and God gives. It has been a mission, a calling, an equipping, sending and engagement. Our God cannot be manipulated or managed. This is not the kind of God that makes life or religion easier, but the Certainly, kind of God that travels with us, moves us towards others, wrestles with us, builds and forms better communities. Seeing God face to face, as equals is not the goal of our life with God. It would be the death of us. But being able to see the glory left in God’s wake is. To see the activity of God in love, compassion, making accommodations for others to participate, God’s listening to our cries and God’s initiation of good towards us is all part of living in God’s favor. CONCLUSION God’s Compassion and favor towards us is not based on how good we are, but on the character of God, just like how our parents loved us when we were good and bad. It is God’s character that shapes and forms us to evolve as human beings. I talked with Josh, our Hoku I’wa consultant this week and he asked how things were going with the working of the Three churches. I said we are at three very different places. And then came the fear. When I retire or die in the pulpit, whichever comes first, and the church is without pastoral leadership for a couple years, A few well intended members will go to the Council and say, “we want things to go back to the way they were.” Then the Council will say, “lets collect all of your gold rings, earrings, bracelets and chains and melt them down into a mold of an idol of the past and have a revival.” Or will the church say, “We have come all this way with God, theologically, structurally, in being the faithful people of God and in what we are doing in the community. And yes, it is uncomfortable to feel this anxiety and discomfort, with the calling of the new minister taking so long (because there are less ministers out there, and those in seminary don’t want to work with congregations, and not all are theologically trained to consider other theological theories of salvation) but God has brought us here this far. So let us keep on keeping on, trusting in God, in ourselves and each other until the next part unfolds.” When things take longer than we think it is okay to sit in the discomfort and resist the temptation to snap back to how things used to be and wrestle with God, because if we do, we see God, like the Person in the Yellow Hat being with us. I hope there would be some in the congregation who would shout out “No golden calf.” And the historians in our group who would say “remember, Edmund Bailey when he was the only member for 10 years, remember when E.K Fernandez cut the price of their soda at the County Fair and how God provided. Remember how God kept us going during the Pandemic. Remember when we got the new organ. Remember when we needed money to fix the roof on Ritter and Sanderson Hall. Remember that God has been there like a person in a Yellow Hat and God is there for us today.” And then someone will say let’s turn to the TNCH 25 and sing, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” and all kinds of prayer would erupt as we would be church. WUC would be in many forms incarnate in Wailuku, and we all would be praying. and would be the church following God. SCRIPTURE: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
TEXT: 7You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. THEME: INTRODUCTION The events of the attacks on Israel and the retaliation on Hamas made me reflect on the story of Noah. The details of the story are not as important as the themes. Avivah Zornberg says that the people in Noah’s day stopped connecting with each others and lost their humanity. In the story before the ark, their intermarriages created offspring that were considered monsters. A monster is label given, to make another human being deemed as less than, with diminished respect and treatment. One of the basic characteristics of being human is connecting with each other which is exemplified in the story of Noah while he doesn’t even utter a single word. The flood represents a reset to start over because of the irreconcilable relationships. This story ends with God promising not to destroy the world in this fashion again. Some say not by water but the next time by fire. Actually, it could mean that vengeance for vengeance’s sake has no end. The only things that can bring this cycle of hurt to an end is forgiveness. The capability to forgive the hurt inflicted upon us, by giving up our right to hurt back can open up conversations, restores our humanity and has the potential to bring about peace. A group of supporters for Israel showed up at our state’s building to encourage support to Israel, while a smaller group of supporters for Palestine gathered. This reminded me of the Egyptians who perished at the closing of the Red Sea. These souls were also loved by God. The shouting from one group drowned out the other. When we lose the ability to communicate with others, we lose our ability to connect with other human beings. There is a long history of hurt inflicted on each side along the Gaza Strip, of claiming the land for their own, and losing it, and reclaiming it. Both sides have legitimate claims to it with a long list of generational hurts. Reparations will not sooth these deep wounds, only the forgiveness of hurt will. SCRIPTURE This brings us to the passage for today. We can see it as the commandments of God given to a people to stay the course. But it is not obedience to a set a rules that saves us. These are the acts of a God who loves us. So Jesus sums up these ten commandments into two; love God and love each other. But we can simplify these commandments even further, to just one, verse 7; “not to use the Lord’s name in vain” or to “Carry our relationship with God as an example of what it means to be in relationship with God.” How do we carry our relationship with God? In its original language, Hebrew uses the verb ‘to carry’ or ‘bear.’ The same verb used to ‘carry’ or ‘bear’ the ‘ark of the covenant’ across the Jordan into the promised land. How do we carry our relationship with God in our lives? Through the book of Exodus we have captioned the compassion of God. Initiating a rescue for these slaves in Egypt. God’s feats of strength that cause a Pharaoh to relent. Protective cloud and warming pillar of fire guide and form the people of God out of slaves. Fed daily by God and living water to drink these people are ready to know what the rules of this Compassion. It is for them to be compassionate with; Love, relationships, stewardship of resources, sharing, generosity, kindness, help, forgiveness, respect and living in peace. Carry this Compassion of representing God to the rest of the nations. It is as if we have an Invisible brand or tattoo that identifies us as God’s. So everything we do is a feature role as God’s representatives. God is not seen in our obedience to the So, commands, but in our living of them So, This is what Jesus does. Jesus is not living a life that is obeying a bunch of commands, but is gracefully living his relationship with God among us. This is where we have gotten our relationship with God wrong. We think it is about settling our account with God in a balance of sin and grace. It is not. It is about a compassionate God who loves us and this compassion that helps us to improve the quality of our love with others. APPLICATION Yesterday Carl and Becky Ashizawa, from Logos Book Store in Honolulu were the conduit for Bible publishing companies to donate Bibles to those affected by the Lahaina Fire. They shipped Bibles out to us and we stored and displayed these Bible in our sanctuary for churches to come and get what they wanted. Their generosity, hard work, cheerfulness and devotion to get the word of God into the hands of those whose lives could find meaning and life from the word of God was displayed in what they did. They didn’t have to wear a Christian T shirt, or cross around their neck, they carried the name of Christ in what they did. Our sanctuary, in its beauty and stained-glass windows, carries the name of a compassionate God. Its light and color speak about a resurrected Jesus in its main panel, not a debt canceling payment. How differently we live our lives when we focus on the living as people who are loved to live with resurrection promise rather those who have a paid admission. I was surprised by the number of people who dropped by and came in, just because we had the doors of the church open. Some had theological conversation, others wanted to know History, another came to pray and connect with the holy, and others came for Bibles to share with their fellow sojourners of the fire. CONCLUSION After 400 years in Egypt, the descendants of Abraham are returning to Canaan and discover that there are people who are living where their family used to live. This represented the God of Babylonian times, and Israel’s culture and physical needs. The bloody battles to reclaim ancestral lands become the demonstration that Israel carries the name of God. A part of their Humanity is lost, as there are no connections, conversations, negotiations, treaties, or alliances made with the present inhabitance of ‘their’ land, only hostile take overs. Israel is unified at this time but as they settle in and spread out over the land, their interest move towards other things as they once again become captives in the future by the Roman Empire. War and hostile takeover is not the only way to show that God is with them. This is the result when we fail to connect with others and lose our humanity. Seeing the image of God in others, gazing upon their wounds, seeing their humanity restores our humanity. Understanding that their needs are the same needs we have, and the wrongs we have done in the past, we both have much to be forgiven for, so that we can begin to figure out a future. Or else, the more powerful violence will prevail, for a false peace, while beneath hurts will festers into another retaliatory strike for justice is made towards some other false peace. Listen to the hurt and feelings being expressed, see the humanity of other human beings, and carry the name of God in this chaos towards creating a shared hope through the mending of relationship in forgives. SCRIPTURE: Exodus 17:1-17
TEXT: 15And Moses built an altar and called it, The Lord is my banner. THEME: Our compassionate God is present with us. INTRODUCTION As we looked at the passages in Exodus we have discovered the compassionate love of God for those chosen by God; the family of Abraham and Sarah. There is no specialness other than the distinguishing quality of belief in God. Abraham believed and so did Sarah. Belief in God is not exclusive to them, but the way we live with God should invite others to explore and discover their own relationship with God. Following God they ended up in Egypt. When that turned sour, following God led to their exit from Egypt and into the wilderness. God has been compassionate towards them with liberation, rescue, escape, food, and now with water. SCRIPTURE Did you know that you can live for 40 days without food (as a fast) but probably for only 3 days without water? But we can feel thirsty and hungry every few minutes all day long. In the wilderness, the fear of dying makes the people edgy. They are unfamiliar with the territory, not knowing where the water is going to come from makes them anxious. Short of going out there to dig around for water, the only thing they can do is to go their leaders to complain. Their power is the people. I think they number about a million plus people needing water. Their complaint, carries a lot of weight. Especially when our leaders are elected officials. This is what community organizers use to be heard in the public arena. When an issue is not supported by Power or Money, it can be heard if the people organize to make themselves heard. Their numbers voting in one way, for a single purpose will get those in power or with money’s attention. People can sway an election in one direction or another, especially if the masses think you are on their side. This is the strategy I see our former president using to his advantage by not participating in any of the debate, this way, without saying anything, the people will think that he is on their side. Power and Money will take the mass’ concerns seriously when they realize that their unitary focused can disrupt their power and money. In this case, the masses have an anxiety about water and take their complaint to Moses with the same argument, that if God wanted to kill them of thirst in the wilderness, it would have taken less time and effort just to have killed them while they were slaves in Egypt. Of course, this is not what God wanted to do. God knows that complaining is one way that the people are expressing their fears, their worry, their anxiousness, and their thirst. Like with the lack of food, God already had a provision for water in mind. Here is the confusing part, it is not the staff of Moses that has power, but the presence of God that execute change for Israel. It is not the cross around our necks, the oil we anoint with, even the prayers we articulate, it is the presence of God that initiates a change in our lives. But the staff becomes a prop to see the works of God, almost like a wand a magician uses to make things appear, but really, we know the wand doesn’t have any power, it’s the magician’s ability to create the illusion, just as the staff focuses our attention to see what God is doing. Ah then God’s help in the battle against the Amaleks was not contingent on how long or how high Moses could hold the staff up as much as it was for the Israelites to know that God was present and helping them win this battle. The staff was a visual aid to help us focus on what God was doing for Israel. What we then do in the presence of the Lord is the Amalek’s banner by which we live. When people ask what happened to the people who used to live in the wilderness, the Amaleks, the answer will be about how the banner of the Lord is over the Israelites. APPLICATION How is the banner of the Lord over us? I got this from Josh, who wanted to share this encouragement with the church Council. (I edited it to fit my sermon) “There are so many churches who, when seeing challenges in the world or neighborhood are focused on: 1. Serving - contributing towards the needs we see in our community. The needs of the community are overwhelming, but do not address the causes of this disparity. 2. Studying - many churches believe that the best way to engage the needs in the world is through studying what the problems are. These usually result in a committee that is tasked to do a study that ends up on a shelf somewhere. 3. But Wailuku Union Church has taken their study on what it means to be a missional church and is living out what it means to solve problems. This is an unusual and highly needed stance towards the issues in the world. Your willingness to actually do something about it is both rare and scary. Thank you for letting me be a part of it” –Josh The banner of the Lord is seen over us in what we are doing and by how we are living. Last year I was. Invited to hold signs in front of the County Building for “Stand Up Maui” waving signs to encourage the County Council to prioritize the building of Affordable Housing. As I stood there waving, and saw those waving with me, I realized that these people are speaking up, but WUC were the only ones actually doing something with what we had. We are rare and scary to take what it says in scripture and to live by with even in regards to a piece of property we own, using what we have to Love our Neighbors. Then when we took a vote a couple of weeks ago to give the Council the authority to negotiate the sale of that property, the congregation’s vote was rare and scary but one of stewardship, faith and trust in God. The banner of the Lord is seen over us in what we do and in how we live. CONCLUSION Water from a rock was the story at chapel time for our preschoolers this week. The banner from the front of the church was showed to them. “Be the church: Protect the environment. Care for the poor. Forgive often. Reject racism. Fight for the powerless. Share earthly and spiritual resources. Embrace diversity. Love God. Enjoy this life.” This is the banner over this church. This is a banner of what can be expected from us. This is a banner of what can be expected of God. It is the staff of Moses directing our attention to what the presence of God is doing, so everyone can believe in God; the Israelites as well as those asking questions about the Amaleks. SCRIPTURE: Exodus 14:19-31
TEXT: 31Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses THEME: Severing ties with the past the people of God get to begin again. INTRODUCTION Three years of seminary, 40 years of pastoral ministry and decades of life experiences, keeps my theology evolving. I have a couple of friends who feed me articles, pod casts, webinars and books. Old Biblical stories are now revealing new punchlines. So I have taken a few children’s bibles and began writing down new observations and conclusions for the retelling of these familiar stories. For example, Krista Tippet on her On Being podcast interviewed Avivah Zornberg (Oct 6, 2011) : She describe the world that Noah lived in as one where people had lost connection with each other and God. Their lack of interpersonal communication with each other made them less than human. Although Noah finds favor with God, he is silent all throughout this saga. This loss of connection between humans may be why, when Noah is building an Ark in his garage; no one confronts him with curiosity, challenges him with building code or is concerned about how his collection of animals may affect their property values. Humans were isolated from each other, creating their own kind of chaos. So God deals with this human chaos with the “chaos of water,” a flood to reset human existence. The ark, becomes a box that contains the seeds for life to begin again. This chaos is repeated again in destruction of Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea. The chaotic attempt of evil against God’s seeds of hope, are drowned in the chaotic waters of a flash flood refilling the Red Sea. God creates out of chaos, in order to create a new beginning for the people of God. SCRIPTURE What were the Egyptians learning about God, about their desires, and about their consecutiveness to humanity? God is all about relationships, When the Egyptians were pursuing the Israelites through the wilderness, they learned that God protected them with a pillar of fire and kept their location hidden from them with a cloud. They might have thought that God was not very good with directions, but their path kept the pursuing army off their scent as they travel south instead of north. And now with their backs against the wall, their God created a path right through the sea like the ocean does for Moana. As the Egyptian army follows them into the sea, They began to panic. Mud clogs their chariot wheels and as they tried to make it back onto shore, the sea closed up on them. There is something about Israel and the relationship they have with their God. God liberates slaves. The practice of slavery is wrong. The Israelites are not less than human but worthy of God’s attention. The Egyptian may have also thought that Moses was a little weird. What were the Israelites learning about God, about their desires, and about their consecutiveness to humanity? God listens to the Israelite’s cries even before they became prayers. God initiated an answer to their prayer for freedom that took years in the making. God is more powerful than Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s army. God protects, God provides, God leads, God liberates, and God Saves. The people of God are beginning to bond with each other with common experiences and with God. As slaves living on the edge of existence they are now free, with possibilities, even as they survive in the wilderness, The people of God are beginning to learn how to live with a God and with others in a community. In the next few chapters, the people of God will develop the values they need to build their future. APPLICATION When Egyptians die in Red Sea, it is like when God destroyed humans in the flood with Noah. It was because they had become disconnected with each other. “In the depths of the story of Noah, Avivah Zornberg finds a drama about language and civilization. The real crisis of human beings is, she says that “they have become so open that they are closed to one another.” Seeing the Hebrews, only as run away slaves loses Egypt’s connection between human beings. Blinded by rage, nationalism, loyalty to Pharaoh, the army pursues the Israelites to the sea floor. What does it mean to live in connection with God and in connection with others? No matter where we are, God is still speaking to us, and initiating something for our benefit. God will have a Noah, a Moses or a Jesus for us to follow. God will use us to participate in what God is doing and sometimes we will have to be the Noah or Moses to others. In what ever we are doing, there will be God Signs along the way to keep us on God’s way. Believe in God and then our faith will open us up to the signs of God along our journey; in answered prayers, chance meetings, how things work out, balanced check books, peace in chaos, healings, and when death passes over. The God who was there when they were slaves in Egypt, will be with them here in the wilderness. It is in the church, where we can Stay in contact with other humans and practice being on our best behavior, so we can do so in our most challenging situations. A community where there is acceptance and belonging. Last week I attend the activities of my 50th class reunion. I met articulate, interesting, accomplished people at each event. Then there were two people not from our class that were there. I asked who they were. One person was a kid from Kalaheo but went to Eleele Elementary school because that is where his mom taught. He graduated from Kauai High but they let him come. The other guy grew up in the camp town of Kaumakani but he graduated from Kamehameha Schools as a boarder in Oahu. He was invited and came to the picnic. Just because we graduated in 1973 from Waimea, or would have, or could have, they were accepted and included in our 50th reunion. This felt like church. Part of a loving caring community. CONCLUSION God seems to disregard Egyptian lives swallowed up in the Red Sea. Going back to Noah, and using this template, we have the chaos of the water, destroying the chaos of evil, with seeds of a new life preserved. God’s people have a chance at a new beginning. The old is gone, in order for something new to begin. The collapsing waters provides a pathway into the future, where the Egyptians threat is ended, but will later have their chance to join into the inheritance the Hebrews created with God. God cares about their lives too but in order for this to happen, Israel must survive their escape from Egypt and grow in their relationship with God. God has a long answer to this prayer. What we understand as a loss ends one chapter for a new one to begin. Pacific School of Religion offered a Certificated Theological Educational Leaders class on the Old Testament. As an assignment their professor had them write a poem following the crossing of the Red Sea (like the ones we find in the next couple of chapters from Moses and Miriam) from the Egyptian Army’s perspective. I didn’t take this class but found this as an interesting assignment; Clouds shelter them from the sun. A pillar of fire kept them warm from the cold. Who are these people? Who is this God that cares for them? They seem lost in the desert, But it is we who can’t seem to find them. They evade us at every turn. We will get our hands on them in the morning. The Red Sea will be their doom. In the morning light the fog has lifted, But they are on the other side. Rage, anger, frustration, fuel our pursuit Into the sea as fast as we can. But in our hast, Mud stops our progress. Foot soldiers amass around us, The congested chaos is now added to by the collapsing water. Our resolve has turned to fear As we know this is where it ends. Who are these people? Who is this God that cares for them SCRIPTURE: Exodus 3:1-15
TEXT: 10So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’ THEME: INTRODUCTION The theme of God’s compassion will be featured in the next series of lectionary sermons. As we saw in first chapters of Exodus, when Israel fell under the harsh policies of racial discrimination, oppression and forced labor, God was sympathetic towards their sufferings. Compassion for children, human life, for others beyond their kind, thwart Pharaoh’s plans of systematic racism. Midwives, mothers and families risked their lives with acts of subversion. Moses was delivered, hidden away, released in an ark of hope and the compassion of Pharaoh’s daughter drew Moses out of the water. Moses’ mother was hired to nurse and care for him but later he was raised in Pharaoh’s household. Moses is a long answer to Israel’s suffering cries, that will take a few more years to unfold and develop. God will work through him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. SCRIPTURE Several years later, after a series of events that lead Moses fleeing from Pharaoh, he finds himself in the land of Midian tending sheep. He leads his flock beyond the wilderness to Horeb, where God gets his attention. The ever-attentive God, who has been following the plight of the Israelites and their continued groans in Egypt piques Moses holy curiosity. Even when we are not paying attention, God is paying attention. Moses may have thought that he distanced himself from his past, his family, his people and escaped the sufferings of Egypt, but God uses unconventional means to get his attention and raise compassion in his heart, as God has for the Israelites. We all want a holy encounter like this burning bush and Holy Ground so we can know with certainty that this is what God wants us to do. But if we did, would we be like Moses and second guess God at the daunting task before us, be insecure at the abilities God thinks we are capable of, and wish that there was someone else that God could send instead of me? God see abilities in us, beyond what we see in ourselves and calls us to participate in God’s compassionate activity. Here’s the thing. Yes God has the power and the ability to do all of this stuff without us, but whose greater goal, is to have us join God and do it in and though us together, growing and deepening our relationship and knowledge of each other. So at creation there are Adam and Eve as partners in the skillful mastery of everything. Noah as an agent of new beginnings. The family of Abraham and Sarah as an example of what living in relationship with God looks like with our ups and downs, function and disfunction. And now when God’s people are subject to an evil beyond themselves, God wants Moses to participate in the acts of compassion that will lead to their liberation. It’s not the ground that is holy, but our encounter with God that is. This is how I know that God is Japanese (in case you were wondering). Moses had to go “hadashi” barefoot, as respect for entering in this small corner of God’s House. Called by God, Moses will go back to Egypt and ask Pharaoh for Israel’s freedom. The combination of experiences, people that he knows, his abilities, strength and God being with him, there is no one like Moses who will be able to do what God wants him to do. This is the same for us, for the callings we have from God to participate in the compassionate liberating God is doing. Our church may not have been a first responder to help the people in Lahaina, but we will be part of the long answer to that prayer, with help, care, and love. So far, we have been involved in several prayer services, we have given up our Hall to shelter the Red Cross volunteers, individuals have given to those they know, we are beefing up our food pantry for the long haul, we have resources from the Hawaii Conference and the National Church at our disposal. We have been contacted by trusted attorneys and architects who have offered their services to help. People will ask, “can we trust these people who want to help us?” We will say, “This is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” in other words, “We know them, we trust them, you can trust them to.” God is using our unique combination of gifts and skills in the way that God has called compassion in our hearts to help. The answer to these cries of Israel lasted a generation. Pharaoh came to power and died. During that time Moses was born and has become a man, and it is only now that he receives a call to free the people of God. Some traditions have Moses at 80 years old at the burning bush. Too bad if you thought you were too old to receive a call from God. But this goes to show, how in our culture we want immediate answers to our prayers, but the reality is that some prayers take a life time as God works out and plans all of the details of a multifaceted answer. And while working all of this through the people God has called to participated in this. We have an ever-present God who is always working through the process of accomplishing what God wants, while including us in what ever God is doing. Oh yeah, one more thing, Israel has been in Egypt for 400 years. They must be very Egyptian by now, and in what God is doing, it will be towards the formation of the Israelites into the being the People of God. APPLICATION God calls us to participate in what God is doing. Sometimes what God is doing is beyond our comfort level. What does not mean that God is committed to work through us to accomplish what God wants? How does God’s compassion call us to overcome what we are afraid of? And what happens when prayer takes a long time to be answered? Our compassionate God hears our cries. God sees our suffering. God knows our misery. We may have had a burning bush experience once but God has our attention, and we are aware that God is always with us and present. We are more attentive to see God’s signs of compassion, provision, protection, love, help, compassion, and call to join God in what God is doing. We are not always the goal of the mission but called to join God in mission. CONCLUSION We have a compassionate God who is always present working for our good. When I was 8, I was asthmatic and spent the entire summer indoors. I was fed a diet of banana, hamburger with salt, peas, and rice. I prayed for my Asthma to go away. My family even moved away from the damp Hamakua Coast to dry Waimea on Kauai because they thought it might help my Asthma. I used to walk to the dispensary for shot once a week. I must have been in the 9th grade when I realized that I wasn’t asthmatic any more. It didn’t go away right away. There was no definitive moment when I was and I wasn’t. This prayer took years to be answered and I didn’t know that it was answered until I looked back at it. Last story, I was the band president of our Intermediate band. Washington Intermediate Band came to play a concert in Klum gym and I was appointed the task to introduce them. I was shy, introverted, and asked Mr. Suga the Music teacher repeatedly, “Isn’t there somebody else who can do this?” He said “no”, He might have said that I was capable and he knew that could do this, but I don’t remember that part. I borrowed Mr. Kajihara’s coat. And even at the last moment, as the band was setting up, I asked to be liberated from this public speaking, (which they say is one of the most fear producing things a person could do). Mr. Suga stood his ground and said “no.” He was not sympathetic to my anxiety. I suspect he knew me better than I did myself. I have no other memory about speaking in the mic or anything. But now I do this all of the time. God knows more about our own capabilities and overcoming our fears than we do. Just like Mr. Suga did. SCRIPTURE: Genesis 45:1-15
TEXT:15And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him. THEME: God works through our circumstance to bring about God’s good. INTRODUCTION In the ‘good’ Garden of Eden, the fruit had been picked, bites have been taken and the dynamics of our relationship with God, the dynamics of our relationship with each other and the dynamics of our relationship with creation had been changed. The devastation happened so quickly and now, in our humanity, we are looking for someone to blame. Just like in the garden, “I wasn’t me, it was my partner,” “it wasn’t me it was the serpent.” No one fessed up and took responsibility for how they might have contributed towards the destruction. Blame will not stop the hurt, blame will not stop the displacement, the sorrow, or bring the dead back to life. Why do we think that if we can blame someone (other than ourselves) that we will feel better? To absolve ourselves from guilt. To find an enemy to bring down and destroy. To funnel our energy and focus away from our sorrow, grief, and the feelings we harbor. We do this over and over again, we look for blame, then move towards efforts of revenge. We fail to do the contemplative work of grieving, or figuring out what we are feeling, or admit responsibility of how we may have contributed to this situation. Relationships are destroyed in the process. SCRIPTURE When last we saw Joseph, his dreams were shattered. Sold by his brothers into slavery, an Egyptian official, Potiphar, buys him. Joseph is successful in the house of his master, a Captain of the guard, head of Pharaoh’s ‘secret service.’ Joseph is a system thinker. When he sees things, he immediately is able to see systems of how things work in relationship with each other. He is an organizer and knows how to get along with others. When he communicates his ideas, others appreciate his insights and values his observations. He lacks wisdom and is a bit naive, but he will learn with experience and God’s help. His dad Jacob saw this in him and favored him over his brothers. Potiphar’s wife saw this in Joseph, and found this attractive in this handsome young man. This landed Joseph in jail, being falsely accused. Isn’t it interesting when the perpetrator accuses someone else, of the exact crime they should be accused of, as a deflection? Our focus is diverted away from what we really should be paying attention to and this diversion has Joseph end up in jail. While in Jail, he organizes things there, interprets a few dreams and has developed quite a few trusted relationships. Long story short, Joseph ends up second to Pharaoh and manages Egypt through a terrible drought and famine. This famine is also affecting his family as they have traveled to Egypt to see if they can buy food here. This brings us up to speed with the passage for today, where after toying with his brothers, Joseph finally takes off his Egyptian mask to reveal who he really is. 3b “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” There is dismay, distress, and the hand of God, that preserves, persists, and calls us to participate in God’s mission of salvation. We can use who we are, our position, what resources we available to us, in a time such as this. But this is only this part of the story, the next part is to get his father Jacob to Egypt, and reconcile the brothers with kisses, weeping and talking. APPLICATION When we look back with eyes of faith, we can see the hand of God. That although we think we were on our own, God helped us navigate where we are. This is important because the story is not finished yet. This is for assurances so we can call and depend upon God in the situation we are currently in and benefit from God’s help and guidance as we move along the journey into the future. We don’t have to wait until later to appreciate God’s guidance, leading, wisdom, protection, provision as we activity live our lives. How does God help us to reconcile and reunite with those we have been estranged from? God is all about relationships. We must always move towards reconciliation and never revenge because how we treat each other is important to God. We are protecting ourselves from feeling grief and lost right now because there is so much to do. Navigating through the maze of paperwork and services takes persistent vigilance, but when we feel safe enough to let our guard down, we may find space enough to feel our sorrow and cry. Who is to blame for the fire in Lahaina? Is the electric company to blame for the freakishly strong winds? Is the homeless encampment to blame for power lines that swayed in the force of those winds and broke off. Is an arson to blame for the brush that grew in the place of groomed fields of sugar cane or pineapple? Who do we sue and for what? Higher electricity bills for everyone? We need to move away from a culture that punishes and move towards a culture that takes responsibility for our part for how we got to where we are, and build relationships, forgive offenses, and create productive solutions and communities. Joseph gave up his right to hurt his brothers as they hurt them and was able to see the works of God continuing the promise of Abraham, through Isaac, His dad Jacob and now through him. The community and the preservation of family was more important than getting even or destroying those who have hurt him in the past. CONCLUSION God is more about relationships than about righteousness. As humans we will always be in relationships of hurt, anger, discontent, frustration, and jealousy. If we can admit how we have contributed to this situation, then we can take responsibility for our actions and change what we did, our responses, our perception and apologize for that, to bring about some peace to our relations. Our Abrahamic family carried a lot of distress and dismay, because of how they treated each other. Sometimes even running for their lives from each other. But when they have the courage to have those uncomfortable conversations, they were able to talk and move on towards reconciliation, companionship, support, affection and caring in their relationship. Last week I went walking in the park. Around the field and the parking lot were 4 angry looking guys. We had to walk pass them to continue on our walk. One of the guys approached me about my walking sticks. I asked about the Lacrosse sticks the other guy had. Later he told me they had a run in because they wanted to exercise on the field but they did not have permission and was asked to leave. They were disappointed, angry, but were really nice guys. My first impression, just by how they were postering was “abunai!” Dangerous, as I watched one of our groups leave early through the parking lot. But after talking with them I understood why they were angry and my reaction towards them changed. We have to be willing to discover the hurt in people’s live so we can respond to them with understanding. And as people of faith, we will be able to help them see how God was a part of their story all along the way. |
Pastor robbSermons Archives
May 2024
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