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Welcome to Hillsboro United Methodist Church! If you are searching for deeper meaning in your life that includes lasting relationships, spiritual growth and service to the world you have come to the right place. We offer a safe place in which to ponder important life questions within an atmosphere of support. Our hearts, our minds and our doors are open. We hope that as you visit with us that you will find a place to call home.
Sermon - February 21st, 2010
Enticing Choices
Rev. Gwen Drake
Scripture: Luke 4:1-13
Prayer of Preparation: We give thanks, O God of sacred stories, for the witness of your word today. Through Scripture you challenge our assumptions, increase our awareness, nurture our imaginations, and touch our feelings. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our creator and redeemer. Amen.
Lent, the word, is not in the Bible. Christians did not have a time of Lent in biblical times. The tradition of spending 40 days in prayer and self-denial did not start until later—a few centuries later, when Christians got tired of waiting for Jesus to come back and the world to end, and their faith became rather ho-hum. Believers stopped expecting so much from God and from themselves. They hung a wooden cross on the wall and settled back into their more or less comfortable routines. Their passionate devotion to God became only a memory, like the enthusiasm of their youth.
Gradually, Christians became devoted to comfort and safety—the soft couch, the flannel sheets, a leg of lamb roasted with rosemary. These were the things that made them feel safe and cared for—by God and by themselves. A gradual shift happened. It was no longer a contradiction between being comfortable and being Christian, and then it became very difficult to pick them out from the population at large. They no long distinguished themselves by their bold love for one another. They did not get arrested for championing the poor. They blended in. They avoided extremes. They decided to be nice more than holy. And God surely moaned out loud.
Someone heard God moan, suggesting it was time to call Christians back to their senses. They looked to the Bible for clues on how to do that. And they found where Israel had spent 40 years in the wilderness learning to trust the Lord. Elijah spent 40 days in the wilderness before hearing the still, small voice of God on the same mountain where Moses spent 40 days listening to God give him the law. There was also Luke’s story we heard today about Jesus going into the wilderness for 40 days and being tested by the devil.
So, the early church announced a season of Lent. The word came from the old English word Lenten, meaning “spring”. It was not just a reference to the season before Easter. It was also an invitation to a springtime for the soul. Forty days to cleanse our system and open our eyes to what is left when comfort is gone. Forty days to remember what it is like to live by the grace of God alone and not by what we can supply for ourselves. Forty days to remember who we are and what our holy purpose is on this earth.
Jesus went into the wilderness, the desert, and there he was confronted and challenged with the question who he was, and what his holy purpose was going to be. Was he going to be a magician who could turn stones into bread? He was certainly hungry enough at that moment, after a long fast. And think of all the people he could feed, simply by waving his magic wand and turning stones into bread. And what a great cause-- walking around the countryside, feeding the hungry? How tempting…
Was he going to be a king, a monarch, a god ruling the kingdoms? If he were the ruler of the land, think of how much more good he could do? Being in charge of everything could be a shortcut to not only feeding the hungry but re-arranging the economy so everyone could fed themselves. He could rule with justice and mercy. He could do so much more if only he were sitting on a throne of sovereign power. How tempting…
Or, perhaps he was going to be someone who walked around with angels looking after him, saving him from certain death, like having his own personal superheroes watching out for him. Think of all the good Jesus could do if he had a multitude of angels following him around, stepping in whenever they were needed to save him from danger and death. The hungry could be fed. He could rule with justice and mercy. And he would have his own group of body guards to keep him alive and in power for a long, long time—long enough to save the whole world. How tempting…
Wasn’t he special enough—entitled to have it all? It would be so tempting… because it just doesn’t seem like we get what we deserve, sometimes. Aren’t we entitled to more than what we have? We work hard all day, we are basically good people, above average. Couldn’t someone roll out the red carpet for us at least once in our life? Don’t we deserve a break? Just think of all the good we could do in the world if only we had the means, if only we, well, won the lottery. If only, if only, if only…
The church is not exempt from the same line of thinking, are we? If only we had ten more families coming. If only we had a dozen more youth. If only we had twenty more people who just loved volunteering for everything—you know those young retiree-type who are just looking for something to do and someway to serve. If only every member gave 10% in their income…or not even that…5%! Wow! Then we could make a difference! Then we could do so much more! Then we would be the church that everyone wanted to come to.
Do you know whose voice we are listening to when we think this way? Luke calls the voice the devil. We just love to personify this voice as something outside of ourselves--this little red cartoon creature with a forked tail and horns poking out his head.
Most of you know that I have embarked on this year long process to be certified as a life coach. It means that I have 3 more weekends of classes to attend in Vancouver B.C. and then I will need people to coach to complete the certification process. The classes I’m taking are exceptional, taught by The Coaches Institute—not related to any church and I’m the only pastor in this particular class. I’m having a great time!
In these classes I am learning about something they call the saboteur. The saboteur is something we all have inside of us. It is neither good nor bad. It just is. It’s part of our human-ness. It is always with us. The Saboteur concept embodies a group of thought processes and feelings that maintains the status quo in our lives. It doesn’t like change. It keeps you from taking risks. It’s not our conscience. It’s that voice in us that sabotages us, preventing us from moving forward and getting what we truly want in life. The more unaware we are of its voice, the more power it has to sabotage our life, our growth, our sense of purpose.
Jesus was in the desert with his Saboteur. It wasn’t a separate being—it was that part of him who was enticing him away from who he was. And the Satoteur was telling him something like this: Take the easy way out. Take over the world. Do your magic. You think you can change people by walking around and talking to them and loving them? You are crazy! People don’t want to change! You need to use power and force and magic! Then they well follow you! Who wants to follow a guy who talks about love all the time, especially loving enemies! You’ll get yourself killed doing that! And then what? You can’t do anything when you are dead!
They argued over Scripture. The Saboteur was clever and devious and knew how much Jesus loved people. The Saboteur tapped right into Jesus’ messiah complex and told him the best way to change the world. And Jesus responded: I do not live on bread alone, God is the only voice I listen too, so go to hell and stop putting God to the test. I am who I am.
Jesus was so clear and direct, at least according to Luke, he was. The more aware we are of how we sabotage ourselves, the more clear and direct with our own Saboteurs. We all have them. It’s that little voice in my head that asks me, who do you think you are anyway, standing in the pulpit talking to people. You think they are really listening? Are you sure it’s not going in one ear and out the other? Maybe they are sleeping. That’s the voice of my Saboteur and I just have to tell it to move out of the way, so I can be who God has called me to be!
And then the more we try to change, the more active our Saboteur is. A great example of this is the church. Reggie McNeal says the church is in a time of “missional renaissance.” He writes, “To think and to live missionally means seeing all life as a way to be engaged with the mission of God in the world.” Not just through the church—a way of life in all of life. And, he says, this is an undoing of Christianity as a religion, the undoing of Christianity as a religion. And the voices of the Saboteurs are having a hay day! What? You can’t say that! What do you mean the undoing of Christianity as a religion? Sounds heretical to me. That Reggie McNeal, guy, he must be some radical, huh! What does he know, anyway? Saboteur-talk—don’t change, we have to go back the way we were! Saboteur-talk!
I think the church is in the wilderness. We are once again trying to figure out who we are. And there is no feeling of a safety net left. It is not comfortable. Our prescription has run out and it is hard to know where to turn. In fact, we really have nowhere to turn but to God. Yet many of us are clinging to the way we have always done it. Remember the 50’s when church was easy. We built it and they came. Well, it’s been a gradual decline ever since and we are finally waking up! The Satoteur has been telling us—oh, it’ll get better, it always does. Don’t worry about it. And the decline continues.
And it’s not because we haven’t tried things. We are always trying things. If only we had the right program, the right words, then, finally ….. they will come. So, tempting. Try this…and they will come.
When Reggie McNeal goes to a church to teach or preach, he comes right out and tells the people: (listen to this, because I’m going to say the “E” word) Reggie says, quit evangelizing. Seriously, it’s in his book. Quit evangelizing. Okay, he admits that he says this somewhat tongue in cheek because he is trying to make two points. First point, he says the church has made evangelism a program or an activity or a committee. Its purpose is to present a way of enticing people to come to church. In this model, Jesus, God, Church is the commodity and you just have to get out there and sell it, be persuasive, and they will come. Second point, he says, people don’t want to be evangelists. It’s true, isn’t it? How many of you see yourself as an evangelist? How many of you would just love to be an evangelist? How many of you want to be on that committee, if we had one? I have done this for 23 years and I have not met one Methodist who wanted to be an evangelist. I confess, I have failed to be an effective evangelist.
So, Reggie McNeal writes, “We need a better alternative…instead of having an evangelism strategy, I urge congregations and people to develop a blessing strategy.” A blessing strategy! What is that? Reggie McNeal challenges the people in the church to go out and “bless three people this week.” And then he adds, (and I love this one) “And make sure one of them doesn’t deserve it!”
Reggie has heard back from people and churches who have done this. It’s a covenant that has been around since Abraham and Sarah when God said to them in Genesis, “I am blessing you, so you will be a blessing to others.” What happens when the people of God decide to live out their covenant to bless those around them? Pretty amazing stuff, Reggie says. Random acts of kindness—blessing others. Reaching out to a stranger—a blessing. Conversations happen, listening happens, relationships happen. And right now I can hear the Saboteur asking, “What’s a blessing?” “How can I bless someone?” Believe me, we know how to be a blessing to someone. I talked about it for three Sundays. It’s about sharing kindness. It’s not about trying to get someone to come to your church. It’s about reaching inside of yourself and being authentically a blessing where you are, with whoever you are with. It’s a shift in perspective. And that shift is everything. The Church is not something you do on Sunday. The Church is not an institution. The Church is a movement. The Church is a way of life. Where you are, the church is present.
Three people. Be a blessing to three people this week and make sure that one of those three did not deserve it.
When Jesus came out of the wilderness, he was more clear on what his mission was. The Gospel of John says it best, I think when Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the fullest. (John 10:10). Jesus came out of the wilderness wanting to help people get a life! And that didn’t mean finding a full, abundant life somewhere off in the future. It was here and now. Jesus went about practicing his own abundant life in full view of everyone. He went about blessing people, even those who were undeserving of a blessing. He went about telling the truth, too. His way of being in the world was about blessing others with truth and love.
I know that we all have these voices inside of us, the voice of the tempter, the devil, the Saboteur, whatever you want to call it, that says, change is hard, you can’t do that, what difference is that going to make, you are going to look like a fool if you do that. Tell that voice, thanks for your opinion, I’m doing it anyway, you are done running my life, get out of my way.
And one more thing that Reggie McNeal says that is really important, don’t just believe in God, believe God. We partner with God when we go out into the world as a blessing, looking for ways to bless others. We are not alone. God is already at work out there. God is already working in lives of people (even if they don’t know it) and will continue to do so. So, put God on the line, trust that God has already showed up. Go out and practice the blessing life—and tell that Saboteur to go to hell.
Amen.