Whose Authority?
We do a lot of things with authority…One can speak with authority…One can behave with authority…Some respect authority…Some reject authority…We all have different ways of stating our own authority in different situations…Ways of letting others know that we have the situation under control and we are in charge here. And of course there’s nothing quite like someone questioning your authority…Children question authority quite a bit! Maybe you can remember the last time a child said to you, “You’re not the boss of me!” and to be honest there are times when we just never grow out of that! Think about it…When was the last time you let someone know that they weren’t the boss of you? Was it when you missed curfew? Was it when you were speeding on 71? Did you talk about someone behind their back? Oh even as teens and adults, we have a lot of ways that we still say to people, “You’re not the boss of me!” When was the last time you said it?
In our passage from Exodus, we are continuing to follow the Israelites through the wilderness as they seek the Promised Land—the land that God promised them flowing with milk and honey…They had come from being slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt….After a series of plagues and a daring escape crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites were free from the oppression that they had been under for so long…Knowing that they were free and headed toward the promised land, you would think that they would be rejoicing and happy and full of life and energy…But as we heard last week from part of their story—they complained about food and even said that they wish that they had never left Egypt….Because certainly being oppressed but full was better than being free and hungry! Well, God met their needs for food with manna & quails and they were satisfied…So you would think that after that amazing miracle and knowing that God would meet any need, they would be rejoicing and on their way to the Promised Land! But in our passage for today…As the Israelite camp out, they camp in a place that has no water…Which, let’s face it—if you were camping and spending the night in a place that had no water and you’d been walking all day in the hot sun, wouldn’t you be a little cranky too? But you’d think that they’d remember what God had promised and had given them…Instead of waiting on God or trusting that God would take care of them—they start to complain again…They say to Moses—“Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us, our children and our livestock with thirst?” Because certainly it is better to be slaves, but have water to drink, instead of what they were…In asking Moses this question—or rather making this statement…they were questioning Moses’ authority…and even more than Moses’ authority—they were questioning God’s authority…In their statement that Moses brought them out of Egypt just to die, they may as well have said, “You’re an idiot for not thinking about everything that we might need! How can you possibly be the boss of me?”
Moses had to be getting tired of these Israelites…I mean he didn’t want to lead them in the first place—God had to do a lot of convincing to get him to lead God’s people out of Egypt…He’d already asked God for food and now the Israelites were once again questioning his authority—which they had seen with their own eyes what Moses could do with the power of God…And also more importantly that Moses’ authority—they were questioning God’s authority…The same God that Moses knew that he could do nothing else through was being questioned by the Israelites…So Moses cries out to God…”What do I do with these people?” A cry that I would bet many of us has cried out a few times in our lives! “What do I do with these people? They are ready to stone me!” Moses recognizes God’s authority and power over his life and Moses has seen over and over again what God can do—the plagues, crossing the Red Sea, providing manna & quail…He knows that God will provide what they need.
So God tells Moses to strike a stone with his staff and water would come out…A pretty amazing and miraculous feat—something that only God can do! So Moses does what God said and does it in full view of the elders of Israel…And he strikes the stone and water comes out…He did this in full view of the elders of Israel so that they knew where this water came from…it came because of the authority that God had given him…
Authority was something that Jesus had to wrestle with often…Jesus was doing such radical things that many people who were in the positions of authority in the temple were afraid of what he was doing and how he was challenging the status quo…So they questioned his authority often…Much like the direct question that Jesus got from the chief priests and elders of the Temple…”By what authority are you doing these things and who gave you that authority?” Which is a really challenging question—If Jesus says the authority comes from God, well he’s being blasphemous because certainly God only grants authority to the priests! And if he says from the people around him…well, that is fleeting because some people will believe and others will not….Now Jesus is one smart fellow…He doesn’t give them the answer, but instead asks them a question…He tells them that he’ll tell them where his authority comes from if they tell him if John’s baptism was from heavenly origin or human origin…Well, they’re just as stuck as Jesus! If they say heavenly then they have to admit why they don’t believe what John says and preaches…If they say human—the people in the crowd will revolt because they believe differently! So how do they answer the question? “I don’t know” and Jesus tells them that he won’t reveal where his authority comes either.
The Gospel of Matthew does a lot of comparison with Jesus…He is compared with Moses all throughout the Gospel of Matthew…This is mostly because Matthew’s Gospel was written to a largely Jewish audience and for them to begin to understand the scope of Jesus and his authority, they had to do it through a lens that they already know…Moses was a hero to the Israelites—the Jewish people. Although they questioned his authority often, he proved that he did many things through God and eventually, after a lot of wandering, they arrived at the Promised Land...All of God’s promises had been fulfilled. Moses was a hero to them and someone that they knew had authority, had been gifted by God, and did great things…The closest person that Jesus could be compared to was Moses…Now, Jesus had a whole different authority that Moses because Moses was just a human being…Jesus is God made flesh—both human and Divine…So, Jesus has the authority…For the Jewish people to begin to comprehend who Jesus was, they started from a place that they understood and from a person that they granted authority to!
Jesus’ question to the priests is an interesting one…He asks them about baptism…What happens in the waters of our baptism? Is it of heavenly origin or a human origin? As we pray the Thanksgiving over the water, the pastor prays for the Holy Spirit to come upon the water…So, it’s a heavenly origin…And through the waters of our baptism we are made new creations…Whether you were baptized as an infant or as an adult…You were changed through the waters of your baptism…It was in those waters that you were claimed as God’s own and cleansed and called into ministry. Yes, you heard me right…Through the waters of your baptism you were called into ministry…The ministry of all Christians…Now there are some who are called into ordained ministry or to be pastors…And through that calling a different skill set is needed and learned…I began my process of ordination 10 years ago and have since received my undergraduate and graduate degrees and have undergone several interviews with the Board of Ordained Ministry and am currently a commissioned and provisional member for 2 years before I will go up for more interviews for ordination. As Bishop Will Willemon has said, “By the time we have one pastor; we could have made 2 brain surgeons.” Being called into ordained ministry is not what everyone is called into…But every Christian is called into ministry. The mission of the United Methodist Church is to make and create disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. It doesn’t say that only pastors can do that…Nowhere does it say that only pastors are supposed to talk about their faith or faith in Jesus…Nowhere does it say that only pastors should pray…Nowhere does it say that pastors are the only ones responsible for ministry…Now as United Methodists our Book of Discipline is very clear on what a pastor or clergyperson can and should do…But it is also just as clear about what all Christians should do…All Christians are called into ministry to make and create disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
That’s the authority that you have been granted by God—you have been given authority to share what God has done in your life…You have been given authority to share the Gospel with the whole world! You have been given authority to claim Jesus as your Messiah, your Savior! That’s the authority that you have been given through Jesus Christ.
Too often in churches we get caught up with who’s in charge…We play more games of “You’re not the boss of me” than we do accepting the real authority that God gives us…And every time we play those games of “You’re not the boss of me” we call into question God’s authority…Because certainly God would not have called that particular person into that form of ministry…God calls who God calls…We shouldn’t be like the Israelites and need them to strike a stone and water to come out…God has the ultimate authority…we should trust that God knows what God is doing…Because God is the boss of us…When we claim Jesus as Lord, we claim that Jesus is Lord over all aspects of our life, not just the ones we want him to be! Jesus is Lord and not because we claim but because God has claimed it…That’s who has the authority…
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
On a Corner in Memphis
Todd Agnew
Saturday on Beale St. with the drunk and the searching
I hear an old man playing guitar
I can't make out what he's saying
But I can tell you that he's suffered
And that he means every word from the bottom
Of what's left of his heart tonight
A few hours later, I slip into church
Singing songs about saving grace
One guy's nodding off and another hates to be here
And we all mouth the words to save face
It's 11:15 on Sunday morning
And I wish I was
On a corner in Memphis listening to the old man
Singing out his sorrows and laying down his pride
He's telling me his story or at least his side
With no need to pretend and nowhere to hide
'Cause we are all broken here
We are all ashamed
I couldn't fool you if I wanted to
Our stories are too much the same
And what about this Jesus?
They say He drank with the poor and the blind and the lame
Do you think He'd like the songs that we sing?
Or would He feel the same as I do?
What if Sunday School was on Saturday night?
What if their heart-breaking cries of pain
Are the first hymns of tomorrow's saints?
On a corner in Memphis, we're singing with the old man
Crying for his sorrows and laying down our pride
He's telling us our story, or at least his side
With no need to pretend and nowhere to hide
On a corner in Memphis
We're singing out our sorrows
He's telling us his story
With no need to pretend and nowhere to hide
On a corner in Memphis
I hear an old man playing guitar
I can't make out what he's saying
But I can tell you that he's suffered
And that he means every word from the bottom
Of what's left of his heart tonight
A few hours later, I slip into church
Singing songs about saving grace
One guy's nodding off and another hates to be here
And we all mouth the words to save face
It's 11:15 on Sunday morning
And I wish I was
On a corner in Memphis listening to the old man
Singing out his sorrows and laying down his pride
He's telling me his story or at least his side
With no need to pretend and nowhere to hide
'Cause we are all broken here
We are all ashamed
I couldn't fool you if I wanted to
Our stories are too much the same
And what about this Jesus?
They say He drank with the poor and the blind and the lame
Do you think He'd like the songs that we sing?
Or would He feel the same as I do?
What if Sunday School was on Saturday night?
What if their heart-breaking cries of pain
Are the first hymns of tomorrow's saints?
On a corner in Memphis, we're singing with the old man
Crying for his sorrows and laying down our pride
He's telling us our story, or at least his side
With no need to pretend and nowhere to hide
On a corner in Memphis
We're singing out our sorrows
He's telling us his story
With no need to pretend and nowhere to hide
On a corner in Memphis
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Forgiveness & Forgiven-ness
Forgiveness & Forgiven-ness
Adam Hamilton recently used these statistics in a sermon at Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City….In a survey done of married couples and couples whose marriages didn’t last that there were 3 words spoken twice as often with the married couples than the ones who didn’t last…Think about what those 3 words might be, but here’s another hint…In a study done by the University of Michigan Health Care system, they instructed their doctors to say these same 3 words in certain situations and what they found was the letters of intent to sue for malpractice declined 50% and the legal fees declined from 3 million dollars to 1 million dollars…Can you think of what those 3 words are? (Wait) I am sorry…Those are the 3 words that were said twice as often with married couples and also that caused letters of intent to sue for malpractice to decline 50%...
I am sorry…Now for sometimes and some situations, those words are easy to say…Sometimes we say them without really thinking about it…Like the last time that you had your foot stepped on, did you say that you were sorry to the person who stepped on your foot? But then there are those times when saying “I’m sorry” just isn’t that easy…
Peter approaches Jesus and asks him how often he should forgive if someone does something against him…Peter comes up with the number 7…not completely arbitrarily…He was actually being very generous. It was in the Jewish laws that one needed to forgive another 3 times…So, Peter more than doubled that and asked if 7 times was enough to forgive someone…Because certainly if 3 times was good, then 7 must be even better! And Jesus comes back with saying, that seven isn’t enough, but forgiveness should be offered 70 times 7 times…Now that’s not an exact equation from Jesus that we forgive someone 490 times, but it’s such a large number that we don’t even keep track of how many times we forgive…Can you imagine how life would be if we only had a limited number of times we could forgive? And even though it seems absurd to have such a limited number of times to forgive, aren’t there times when we refuse forgiveness?
Now there are all kinds of justifications that we can give as to why we don’t forgive… “But you just don’t understand, what they did was terrible!” “Well, I only won’t forgive them because they won’t say that they’re wrong.” Or you can put your own reason in there…We have justifications as to why we can’t or don’t forgive someone…
Now, I want to acknowledge that there are situations for some that are incredibly difficult to forgive—there are times and circumstances that I can’t even begin to imagine how one would forgive… Forgiveness doesn’t always mean saying that what happened was okay because there are certainly some situations and circumstances that it is not about saying that what happened was okay. If you have been abused, raped, molested, or physically hurt—those things are not okay and it is not acceptable to say that what someone did was okay…If those are situations that you are dealing with right now, know that it is not okay for someone to tell you that you just need to forgive and all will be okay.
Even if we ask for forgiveness or give forgiveness, there are still consequences for our actions. Like if you get into a car accident with someone else’s car, they may forgive what happened, but won’t let you borrow their car again…Or if you betrayed someone’s confidences by telling a secret, they may forgive you, but won’t trust you with anything personal again. If you have been physically harmed by someone, you may forgive them but can’t ever be in the same room with them again. Our actions do have consequences…
Last week, our passage from Matthew talked about reconciliation…Forgiveness is a step into reconciliation. It takes acknowledging that what happened was wrong and that someone feels badly about it…I admit that I did something wrong and ask for forgiveness…a step in the reconciliation process…
In asking for forgiveness, we should always admit what we did that was wrong…Without any excuses—none of the, “I’m sorry, but…” Admitting what we did that was wrong or hurtful…and promising to try and not be hurtful again…then, ask what we can do to help the reconciliation process…How can we make up for what we did…
When we grant forgiveness, we acknowledge that hurt that has been done to us and as we grant forgiveness, we promise not to hold it against the offender…So, if an argument happens two years after you’ve granted forgiveness, you can’t bring it back up…
Sometimes forgiveness is hard…it almost seems impossible at times…And yet, we know it means to be forgiven ourselves…Can we pass that forgiveness on to others or are we like the debt collector that Jesus talks about whose debts were forgiven, but turned around and treated another harshly…Do we forgive trespasses as our trespasses have been forgiven? We pray that every week…Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…Do you really want to be forgiven the way that you have forgiven?
There are stories of forgiveness that seem so extraordinary…Like stories of families whose children were murdered and they forgive the murder…Or the stories from the Amish community who cared for the gunman’s family after their children were brutally murdered…Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…
Steven Curtis Chapman is an award winning Christian singer. He and his wife Mary Beth have three biological children, Emily, Caleb, and Will Franklin and have adopted three girls from China—Shohannah Hope, Stevey Joy, and Maria Sue. On May 21, seventeen year old Will Franklin was driving his SUV in the driveway when Maria Sue ran to greet him. He didn’t see Maria and hit her with his car…As the Chapman family reacted to what happened, and called 911 and held on to their 5 year old daughter as she struggled to live…As the ambulance took Maria Sue to the hospital, Will in anguish tried to run from what happened when his older brother Caleb tackled him and held him to the ground and just held him…As Steven Curtis Chapman followed the ambulance to the hospital, he made the driver stop as he shouted out the window… “Will Franklin! Your dad loves you! Will Franklin! Your dad loves you!” Maria Sue died from this tragic accident…As the family continues to grieve the loss of the youngest child and come to grips with what happened…Will Franklin struggles to forgive himself. At Maria’s funeral, Caleb share that God healed Maria in ways that the family didn’t really like, but Caleb knew that God was going to heal Will in ways that everyone would really like…Mary Beth & Steven Curtis Chapman said in an interview that not once did they ever blame Will or do they hold what happened against him…They called it a tragic accident…Will has talked about his journey to find peace in what has happened and it is a journey that will last for a long time.
Sometimes it’s not someone else that we need to forgive, but it’s ourselves…We are our own worst critic at times…We are harder on ourselves than others are…Sometimes it may be deserved and other times, it’s more than we really deserve…As Jesus shared what he considered to be the greatest commandments—Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as you love yourself…If you don’t love yourself enough to forgive yourself—how are you going to be able to love someone else enough to forgive them?
Why is forgiveness so hard? Why is it something that we deny to others or deny to ourselves? Why does it make the stories like the Chapman family seem so extraordinary? There are really lots of reasons why…Sometimes the circumstances are just so extraordinary…Sometimes the people are extraordinary…Most times it’s because the grace of God flows freely…Forgiveness is given freely to us…It only seems right that it should flow freely from us…
There may be something or someone that you are thinking about right now that you need to forgive…Maybe you’re not ready to admit what you have done wrong or what you’d like to do to make amends…Maybe you’re not quite ready to repent…You can say that…But studies have shown that people who forgive more often are usually healthier…less heart problems, less stress…The longer that you hold on to that forgiveness, the more it eats you up inside…Forgiveness is as much for you to let go as it is for the other person to be forgiven…
Or maybe you’re thinking about someone that you need to ask for forgiveness…Someone that you have hurt in some way…And you might be thinking that too much time has passed or you don’t know how to get in touch with that person…Those are really good excuses…About a year ago I went to lunch with a friend and as we caught up on life, I shared with her that I thought that I may have hurt her in a particular situation and they only reason that I thought that I may have caused her that pain was because I had felt it myself…As we recounted the situation that had happened almost five years earlier, I apologized for any hurt that I may have caused her. She said that there was none, but she appreciated the apology…I could have not said anything and I could have not offered apology…But I can’t tell you how much better I felt to have known how she felt and that we could be honest…An apology can come at anytime…
So, how many times should one forgive? 3 times? 7 times? 490? How many times have you been forgiven? 3 times? 7 times? 490? As you have confessed your sins to God, God hears your prayers and in the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven…Thanks be to God…You have been forgiven freely…Freely give…
Adam Hamilton recently used these statistics in a sermon at Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City….In a survey done of married couples and couples whose marriages didn’t last that there were 3 words spoken twice as often with the married couples than the ones who didn’t last…Think about what those 3 words might be, but here’s another hint…In a study done by the University of Michigan Health Care system, they instructed their doctors to say these same 3 words in certain situations and what they found was the letters of intent to sue for malpractice declined 50% and the legal fees declined from 3 million dollars to 1 million dollars…Can you think of what those 3 words are? (Wait) I am sorry…Those are the 3 words that were said twice as often with married couples and also that caused letters of intent to sue for malpractice to decline 50%...
I am sorry…Now for sometimes and some situations, those words are easy to say…Sometimes we say them without really thinking about it…Like the last time that you had your foot stepped on, did you say that you were sorry to the person who stepped on your foot? But then there are those times when saying “I’m sorry” just isn’t that easy…
Peter approaches Jesus and asks him how often he should forgive if someone does something against him…Peter comes up with the number 7…not completely arbitrarily…He was actually being very generous. It was in the Jewish laws that one needed to forgive another 3 times…So, Peter more than doubled that and asked if 7 times was enough to forgive someone…Because certainly if 3 times was good, then 7 must be even better! And Jesus comes back with saying, that seven isn’t enough, but forgiveness should be offered 70 times 7 times…Now that’s not an exact equation from Jesus that we forgive someone 490 times, but it’s such a large number that we don’t even keep track of how many times we forgive…Can you imagine how life would be if we only had a limited number of times we could forgive? And even though it seems absurd to have such a limited number of times to forgive, aren’t there times when we refuse forgiveness?
Now there are all kinds of justifications that we can give as to why we don’t forgive… “But you just don’t understand, what they did was terrible!” “Well, I only won’t forgive them because they won’t say that they’re wrong.” Or you can put your own reason in there…We have justifications as to why we can’t or don’t forgive someone…
Now, I want to acknowledge that there are situations for some that are incredibly difficult to forgive—there are times and circumstances that I can’t even begin to imagine how one would forgive… Forgiveness doesn’t always mean saying that what happened was okay because there are certainly some situations and circumstances that it is not about saying that what happened was okay. If you have been abused, raped, molested, or physically hurt—those things are not okay and it is not acceptable to say that what someone did was okay…If those are situations that you are dealing with right now, know that it is not okay for someone to tell you that you just need to forgive and all will be okay.
Even if we ask for forgiveness or give forgiveness, there are still consequences for our actions. Like if you get into a car accident with someone else’s car, they may forgive what happened, but won’t let you borrow their car again…Or if you betrayed someone’s confidences by telling a secret, they may forgive you, but won’t trust you with anything personal again. If you have been physically harmed by someone, you may forgive them but can’t ever be in the same room with them again. Our actions do have consequences…
Last week, our passage from Matthew talked about reconciliation…Forgiveness is a step into reconciliation. It takes acknowledging that what happened was wrong and that someone feels badly about it…I admit that I did something wrong and ask for forgiveness…a step in the reconciliation process…
In asking for forgiveness, we should always admit what we did that was wrong…Without any excuses—none of the, “I’m sorry, but…” Admitting what we did that was wrong or hurtful…and promising to try and not be hurtful again…then, ask what we can do to help the reconciliation process…How can we make up for what we did…
When we grant forgiveness, we acknowledge that hurt that has been done to us and as we grant forgiveness, we promise not to hold it against the offender…So, if an argument happens two years after you’ve granted forgiveness, you can’t bring it back up…
Sometimes forgiveness is hard…it almost seems impossible at times…And yet, we know it means to be forgiven ourselves…Can we pass that forgiveness on to others or are we like the debt collector that Jesus talks about whose debts were forgiven, but turned around and treated another harshly…Do we forgive trespasses as our trespasses have been forgiven? We pray that every week…Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…Do you really want to be forgiven the way that you have forgiven?
There are stories of forgiveness that seem so extraordinary…Like stories of families whose children were murdered and they forgive the murder…Or the stories from the Amish community who cared for the gunman’s family after their children were brutally murdered…Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…
Steven Curtis Chapman is an award winning Christian singer. He and his wife Mary Beth have three biological children, Emily, Caleb, and Will Franklin and have adopted three girls from China—Shohannah Hope, Stevey Joy, and Maria Sue. On May 21, seventeen year old Will Franklin was driving his SUV in the driveway when Maria Sue ran to greet him. He didn’t see Maria and hit her with his car…As the Chapman family reacted to what happened, and called 911 and held on to their 5 year old daughter as she struggled to live…As the ambulance took Maria Sue to the hospital, Will in anguish tried to run from what happened when his older brother Caleb tackled him and held him to the ground and just held him…As Steven Curtis Chapman followed the ambulance to the hospital, he made the driver stop as he shouted out the window… “Will Franklin! Your dad loves you! Will Franklin! Your dad loves you!” Maria Sue died from this tragic accident…As the family continues to grieve the loss of the youngest child and come to grips with what happened…Will Franklin struggles to forgive himself. At Maria’s funeral, Caleb share that God healed Maria in ways that the family didn’t really like, but Caleb knew that God was going to heal Will in ways that everyone would really like…Mary Beth & Steven Curtis Chapman said in an interview that not once did they ever blame Will or do they hold what happened against him…They called it a tragic accident…Will has talked about his journey to find peace in what has happened and it is a journey that will last for a long time.
Sometimes it’s not someone else that we need to forgive, but it’s ourselves…We are our own worst critic at times…We are harder on ourselves than others are…Sometimes it may be deserved and other times, it’s more than we really deserve…As Jesus shared what he considered to be the greatest commandments—Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as you love yourself…If you don’t love yourself enough to forgive yourself—how are you going to be able to love someone else enough to forgive them?
Why is forgiveness so hard? Why is it something that we deny to others or deny to ourselves? Why does it make the stories like the Chapman family seem so extraordinary? There are really lots of reasons why…Sometimes the circumstances are just so extraordinary…Sometimes the people are extraordinary…Most times it’s because the grace of God flows freely…Forgiveness is given freely to us…It only seems right that it should flow freely from us…
There may be something or someone that you are thinking about right now that you need to forgive…Maybe you’re not ready to admit what you have done wrong or what you’d like to do to make amends…Maybe you’re not quite ready to repent…You can say that…But studies have shown that people who forgive more often are usually healthier…less heart problems, less stress…The longer that you hold on to that forgiveness, the more it eats you up inside…Forgiveness is as much for you to let go as it is for the other person to be forgiven…
Or maybe you’re thinking about someone that you need to ask for forgiveness…Someone that you have hurt in some way…And you might be thinking that too much time has passed or you don’t know how to get in touch with that person…Those are really good excuses…About a year ago I went to lunch with a friend and as we caught up on life, I shared with her that I thought that I may have hurt her in a particular situation and they only reason that I thought that I may have caused her that pain was because I had felt it myself…As we recounted the situation that had happened almost five years earlier, I apologized for any hurt that I may have caused her. She said that there was none, but she appreciated the apology…I could have not said anything and I could have not offered apology…But I can’t tell you how much better I felt to have known how she felt and that we could be honest…An apology can come at anytime…
So, how many times should one forgive? 3 times? 7 times? 490? How many times have you been forgiven? 3 times? 7 times? 490? As you have confessed your sins to God, God hears your prayers and in the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven…Thanks be to God…You have been forgiven freely…Freely give…
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Reconciliation at the Table
Reconciliation at the Table
Okay, by a show of hands—how many have had a disagreement with someone in your life? (hands)…That’s kind of what I thought—most people in the world have had a disagreement of some kind with someone before…It’s bound to happen that personalities will clash, or miscommunication will happen, expectations won’t be spoken or met…As human beings we have a problem at times getting along with people…Now as you think about a person that you have had a disagreement with….For some it might be the most vivid person and that disagreement may have been awhile ago and for some it might be the most recent person…Now that you have that person in your mind, how did you handle your disagreement and have you reconciled with that person?
For the past month, we’ve been thinking about our legacies and what it is that we want people to remember about our lives as individuals and our legacy as the church…We’ve talked about legacies not being about our death, but the way that we live our life because our legacy is only our legacy if that’s truly how we lived…We have thought about the importance of deciding what’s important—that people and relationships are more important that stuff…Humility is an admirable trait…The importance of being in community and that as human beings we are addicted to being in community and meant to be in relationship with others…Then last week, we thought about what it’s like to be a Tigger—a positive or optimistic person or to be an Eeyore—a negative or pessimistic person…Now this week’s idea didn’t come directly from Randy Pausch’s book, The Last Lecture, but it may as well have…The lesson that Jesus teaches us in the Gospel of Matthew is one that is important and one that really does help us to think about our legacy…It helps because it’s important to think about how we relate to other people, but it’s important because reconciliation is also helpful for our own personal well being.
Reconciliation is something that is important, but something that we don’t always do…Sometimes it’s easier to stay angry at someone rather than admit where we have been wrong or where we have been hurt…But what is reconciliation? Is it just letting go of whatever it is that bothers us or forgetting a disagreement with a person? That’s not really what Jesus says in the passage from Matthew…
As Jesus is talking to the disciples, he says, “If one member of the church sins against you go to that person first to point out what happened.” Jesus very clearly doesn’t say go and tell everyone else but that person…or spread nasty rumors about that person around town…Jesus says to go to that person directly. Now, that’s just good solid advice from Jesus…I mean the best way to clear up a disagreement or miscommunication with someone really is to go directly to that person to make sure that everyone knows what exactly is being talked about and what exactly happened…It’s really just logical advice…Most people would agree that the best way to solve the problem is to go directly to the source…And yet although that is the best solution and the most logical advice, that seems to the be the least likely to happen…It’s so much easier to tell everybody else rather than tell that one person…For some it’s because they hate conflict and avoid it all costs…Then there are the people who love conflict and intentionally cause fights…Do you know which one you are? I’ve found that those who are in favor of conflict don’t usually recognize it themselves…If you think about the interactions that you have had in your life around reconciliation, how have those interactions turned out? Jesus doesn’t just give the one piece of advice and then says, well that’s the way to handle these kinds of things…Jesus continues giving some scenarios if reconciliation doesn’t happen yet…
Then Jesus says that if that doesn’t help things and you aren’t heard, then take one or two people with you to be witnesses. Now the witnesses that come with you are people that are able to help you sort through what just said…Sometimes in the middle of our pain and hurt and anger it’s hard to hear someone else just as much as it’s hard to be communicate ourselves…Having those two or three other people might help to allow communication to happen and to happen better…
Then, finally Jesus says if neither of those two things help to build reconciliation, our next option is to tell the church…So, now comes the time where you air your hurt and disagreement…But not in a way that you just tell random people everywhere…There are specific ways to handle that communication so that both parties involved are given dignity and an equal opportunity to both be heard and to communicate themselves…Kind of like how our justice system is supposed to operate—innocent until proven guilty…If the community of believers already has their mind made up because of rumors being spread, neither party gets an equal opportunity to reach that level of reconciliation…
Reconciliation really wraps up all of the thoughts about legacy that we have had throughout the past month…Reconciliation is important within a community because it’s about restoring relationships…Sometimes it takes humility in relationships to admit that we have been wrong and seek reconciliation…Deciding that people and relationships are more important than stuff…All ways that we build our legacy…
A couple weeks ago, I shared a story about a time when I had felt hurt and devalued at a meeting…As a result of what happened, I was driven to tears with a friend… After a while, I came to the point where I said, “well, now all that’s left to do is suck it up and deal with it.” And he offered me another kleenex and quietly said, “Can I offer something else? Instead of sucking it up…Offer it up…Give it to God.” It was a way that he was intentionally caring for my well being, but it was also a first step in reconciliation…I would love to be able to stand here right now and say that I have reconciled with each person at that meeting…but it’s not true…Actually I have not reconciled with any of them and to be quite honest, I don’t think that any of them know how I feel about what happened…I didn’t tell any of them what they did to hurt my feeligns…I didn’t even attempt to begin the process of reconciliation. Now some people say that if they don’t reconcile it’s easy for them to just not care anymore…I’d also like to be able to say that, but in my case, everytime I see or hear from those people, I get angry all over again…Reconciliation is as much about our relationships with other people as it is about ourselves…Reconciliation helps our own spiritual and emotional well being as much as others’….
There is a sentence that is repeated often in meetings, prayer circles, services…I’m sure that I’ve used it multiple times myself. You don’t even need to say the whole thing, but everybody always knows what you’re saying when you say, “Where 2 or 3 are gathered…”
Now, there are several things that are going on in this passage…You know Jesus, he likes to mix things up a little bit. This verse comes at the end of the passage where he has been explaining how to handle disagreements or disputes within the church. After giving the specific instructions on how to handle them, the number of people to take with, who to involve and how to react….The process of reconciliation… At the end of this passage, he says, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” So, in the midst of that dispute or disagreement, Jesus makes it clear to the people, that he will still be present. Jesus, God made flesh, will not disappear because there’s a little spat…He will still be present. It’s going to take a whole lot more for Jesus to not be present in the midst of life.
The other thing is the clever way that he makes that statement. “I am there among them.” Do you remember back in the Old Testament, when Moses first encountered God in a burning bush, what name God told Moses? God told Moses, “I am, I AM.” God’s name is “I AM”… And Jesus just said, “I am there among them.” I AM there among them…I AM there…I AM…It’s a bold claim, strong and daring, but so comforting at the same time. It’s comforting to know that God is with us at all times…No matter what happens in life. There can be the disputes or there can be something that’s exciting or something that’s mundane and ordinary….God is there…There can be those things that just take your breath away and those things that are so devastating that you can’t bear to talk about them or face what’s just happened…And God is there…There are devastating events that happen…And God is there…
This morning as we celebrate the 2 sacraments in the United Methodist Church—Baptism and Communion…We are reminded once again about reconciliation…In the waters of our baptism, as we are cleansed from sin, we are also reminded that in the midst of that, God has claimed us as God’s child…That as we die to ourselves and rise with Christ, we are reconciled back to God…Then as we come to the Table, we are reminded once again of the reconciliation of ourselves to God through Jesus Christ…God showed us how to participate in reconciliation…Because in the middle of a dispute, God chose to come to those who God was in disagreement with…All human beings…As God came in the form of flesh and blood—in the form of Jesus…The words that Jesus was passing on weren’t just words, but how Jesus lived…
As you come to the table this morning, think about that person that you need to be reconciled with…Maybe it was someone from recent or someone from long ago…As you think about that person and come to the table of reconciliation, pray for the wisdom to be reconciled with that person and for the ways that will happen…And remember that as you go that God is present in the midst of what happens…God calls us to be in a right relationship with God, but also with all people…Let’s follow what God has offered to us in grace so that we may go to others and share that same grace and love…
Okay, by a show of hands—how many have had a disagreement with someone in your life? (hands)…That’s kind of what I thought—most people in the world have had a disagreement of some kind with someone before…It’s bound to happen that personalities will clash, or miscommunication will happen, expectations won’t be spoken or met…As human beings we have a problem at times getting along with people…Now as you think about a person that you have had a disagreement with….For some it might be the most vivid person and that disagreement may have been awhile ago and for some it might be the most recent person…Now that you have that person in your mind, how did you handle your disagreement and have you reconciled with that person?
For the past month, we’ve been thinking about our legacies and what it is that we want people to remember about our lives as individuals and our legacy as the church…We’ve talked about legacies not being about our death, but the way that we live our life because our legacy is only our legacy if that’s truly how we lived…We have thought about the importance of deciding what’s important—that people and relationships are more important that stuff…Humility is an admirable trait…The importance of being in community and that as human beings we are addicted to being in community and meant to be in relationship with others…Then last week, we thought about what it’s like to be a Tigger—a positive or optimistic person or to be an Eeyore—a negative or pessimistic person…Now this week’s idea didn’t come directly from Randy Pausch’s book, The Last Lecture, but it may as well have…The lesson that Jesus teaches us in the Gospel of Matthew is one that is important and one that really does help us to think about our legacy…It helps because it’s important to think about how we relate to other people, but it’s important because reconciliation is also helpful for our own personal well being.
Reconciliation is something that is important, but something that we don’t always do…Sometimes it’s easier to stay angry at someone rather than admit where we have been wrong or where we have been hurt…But what is reconciliation? Is it just letting go of whatever it is that bothers us or forgetting a disagreement with a person? That’s not really what Jesus says in the passage from Matthew…
As Jesus is talking to the disciples, he says, “If one member of the church sins against you go to that person first to point out what happened.” Jesus very clearly doesn’t say go and tell everyone else but that person…or spread nasty rumors about that person around town…Jesus says to go to that person directly. Now, that’s just good solid advice from Jesus…I mean the best way to clear up a disagreement or miscommunication with someone really is to go directly to that person to make sure that everyone knows what exactly is being talked about and what exactly happened…It’s really just logical advice…Most people would agree that the best way to solve the problem is to go directly to the source…And yet although that is the best solution and the most logical advice, that seems to the be the least likely to happen…It’s so much easier to tell everybody else rather than tell that one person…For some it’s because they hate conflict and avoid it all costs…Then there are the people who love conflict and intentionally cause fights…Do you know which one you are? I’ve found that those who are in favor of conflict don’t usually recognize it themselves…If you think about the interactions that you have had in your life around reconciliation, how have those interactions turned out? Jesus doesn’t just give the one piece of advice and then says, well that’s the way to handle these kinds of things…Jesus continues giving some scenarios if reconciliation doesn’t happen yet…
Then Jesus says that if that doesn’t help things and you aren’t heard, then take one or two people with you to be witnesses. Now the witnesses that come with you are people that are able to help you sort through what just said…Sometimes in the middle of our pain and hurt and anger it’s hard to hear someone else just as much as it’s hard to be communicate ourselves…Having those two or three other people might help to allow communication to happen and to happen better…
Then, finally Jesus says if neither of those two things help to build reconciliation, our next option is to tell the church…So, now comes the time where you air your hurt and disagreement…But not in a way that you just tell random people everywhere…There are specific ways to handle that communication so that both parties involved are given dignity and an equal opportunity to both be heard and to communicate themselves…Kind of like how our justice system is supposed to operate—innocent until proven guilty…If the community of believers already has their mind made up because of rumors being spread, neither party gets an equal opportunity to reach that level of reconciliation…
Reconciliation really wraps up all of the thoughts about legacy that we have had throughout the past month…Reconciliation is important within a community because it’s about restoring relationships…Sometimes it takes humility in relationships to admit that we have been wrong and seek reconciliation…Deciding that people and relationships are more important than stuff…All ways that we build our legacy…
A couple weeks ago, I shared a story about a time when I had felt hurt and devalued at a meeting…As a result of what happened, I was driven to tears with a friend… After a while, I came to the point where I said, “well, now all that’s left to do is suck it up and deal with it.” And he offered me another kleenex and quietly said, “Can I offer something else? Instead of sucking it up…Offer it up…Give it to God.” It was a way that he was intentionally caring for my well being, but it was also a first step in reconciliation…I would love to be able to stand here right now and say that I have reconciled with each person at that meeting…but it’s not true…Actually I have not reconciled with any of them and to be quite honest, I don’t think that any of them know how I feel about what happened…I didn’t tell any of them what they did to hurt my feeligns…I didn’t even attempt to begin the process of reconciliation. Now some people say that if they don’t reconcile it’s easy for them to just not care anymore…I’d also like to be able to say that, but in my case, everytime I see or hear from those people, I get angry all over again…Reconciliation is as much about our relationships with other people as it is about ourselves…Reconciliation helps our own spiritual and emotional well being as much as others’….
There is a sentence that is repeated often in meetings, prayer circles, services…I’m sure that I’ve used it multiple times myself. You don’t even need to say the whole thing, but everybody always knows what you’re saying when you say, “Where 2 or 3 are gathered…”
Now, there are several things that are going on in this passage…You know Jesus, he likes to mix things up a little bit. This verse comes at the end of the passage where he has been explaining how to handle disagreements or disputes within the church. After giving the specific instructions on how to handle them, the number of people to take with, who to involve and how to react….The process of reconciliation… At the end of this passage, he says, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” So, in the midst of that dispute or disagreement, Jesus makes it clear to the people, that he will still be present. Jesus, God made flesh, will not disappear because there’s a little spat…He will still be present. It’s going to take a whole lot more for Jesus to not be present in the midst of life.
The other thing is the clever way that he makes that statement. “I am there among them.” Do you remember back in the Old Testament, when Moses first encountered God in a burning bush, what name God told Moses? God told Moses, “I am, I AM.” God’s name is “I AM”… And Jesus just said, “I am there among them.” I AM there among them…I AM there…I AM…It’s a bold claim, strong and daring, but so comforting at the same time. It’s comforting to know that God is with us at all times…No matter what happens in life. There can be the disputes or there can be something that’s exciting or something that’s mundane and ordinary….God is there…There can be those things that just take your breath away and those things that are so devastating that you can’t bear to talk about them or face what’s just happened…And God is there…There are devastating events that happen…And God is there…
This morning as we celebrate the 2 sacraments in the United Methodist Church—Baptism and Communion…We are reminded once again about reconciliation…In the waters of our baptism, as we are cleansed from sin, we are also reminded that in the midst of that, God has claimed us as God’s child…That as we die to ourselves and rise with Christ, we are reconciled back to God…Then as we come to the Table, we are reminded once again of the reconciliation of ourselves to God through Jesus Christ…God showed us how to participate in reconciliation…Because in the middle of a dispute, God chose to come to those who God was in disagreement with…All human beings…As God came in the form of flesh and blood—in the form of Jesus…The words that Jesus was passing on weren’t just words, but how Jesus lived…
As you come to the table this morning, think about that person that you need to be reconciled with…Maybe it was someone from recent or someone from long ago…As you think about that person and come to the table of reconciliation, pray for the wisdom to be reconciled with that person and for the ways that will happen…And remember that as you go that God is present in the midst of what happens…God calls us to be in a right relationship with God, but also with all people…Let’s follow what God has offered to us in grace so that we may go to others and share that same grace and love…
Monday, September 1, 2008
Tigger or Eeyore?
Tigger or Eeyore?
Well, we continue with our journey looking at our legacies…As we’ve been journeying together, we’ve talked about legacies as not being about our death, but how we live our life…We’ve talked about the importance of deciding what’s important—that it’s people and relationships that matter above stuff…That humility is a wonderful trait to have and one that will help throughout our lives…That as human beings we are meant to be in community with one another and to share our lives together, and the importance of Christian community…And this morning as we also continue to learn from Randy Pausch’s lessons found in his book The Last Lecture, most of these lessons although Randy Pausch doesn’t proclaim them to be a Gospel lesson or a faith based lesson, most of these lessons seem to have a root in faith…And so logically, this morning we’re going to talk about Tigger & Eeyore…Because of course we can find Tigger & Eeyore in the pages of Scripture right?
Well, maybe Tigger & Eeyore aren’t in the pages of Scripture in specific, but their characters are…How many are familiar with Tigger & Eeyore, the characters from Winne the Pooh? Let’s start with Eeyore…What do you know or remember about Eeyore? (Wait for responses)…Eeyore was usually introduced as “gloomy old Eeyore” and had an almost permanent scowl on his face…Maybe it’s because he’s made of sawdust or kept losing his tail…but Eeyore is not known among Hundred Acre Woods as the most cheerful resident…Then there’s Tigger…What do you know or remember about Tigger? (Wait for responses)…Tigger arrived at Winne the Pooh’s house on a blustery night and literally bounced his way into Pooh’s house and the life of all the residents of Hundred Acre Woods…Their tops are made out of rubber and their bottoms are made out of springs…Their bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun…Tigger takes great pride in being the only Tigger and often finds himself in interesting situations because of his bouncing…
Within the characters of Tigger & Eeyore we have some classic and somewhat extreme examples of someone who is positive and someone who is not…And sometimes that’s used in different terms too—an optimist and a pessimist…A Tigger & an Eeyore…As you think about yourself for a moment, what would you consider yourself to be—a Tigger or an Eeyore—an optimist or a pessimist—a positive person or a negative?
Here’s a story that might help to see the difference…There were two twins—one an optimist and one a pessimist…Their differences were so extreme that for their birthday, their parents decided that they would cure them both of their extreme optimism and extreme pessimism…So, for the pessimist, they filled her room with all the fanciest and newest toys and for the optimist they filled her bedroom with horse manure…As they walked into their bedrooms to see what happened, they walked into the pessimist’s bedroom and found her crying in the middle of the room… “Why aren’t you playing with your toys!?!” They asked her… “I’m afraid if I touch any of them, I will break them!” she cried…so they continued on to the optimist’s bedroom and found her diving and searching with a giggle and big grin in the manure in her room… “What are you doing!?!” They asked her… She beamed at them and said, “There’s got to be a horse in here somewhere!!!”
Now there are some people who take great pride in being an Eeyore—they take great pride in raining on everyone’s parade…Sometimes they might acknowledge that they are proud to be an Eeyore and sometimes they don’t even recognize what they’re doing…In the same way there are people who take great pride in being a Tigger—they take great pride in pointing out the positives in any situation…Sometimes they might acknowledge that they are proud to be a Tigger and sometimes they don’t even recognize what they’re doing…Have you stopped to think about which one you are? Or have you stopped to think which one you would like to be?
Now all of this talk about Tiggers & Eeyores, there might be some who are thinking…Okay, how does this tie into faith? Well, all throughout Scripture there are people who can be identified as Tiggers or Eeyores…And this morning we have 2 stories of a Tigger & an Eeyore…Our story from John tells the story of Thomas…Now Thomas is not usually referred to just as Thomas, but as “Doubting Thomas”…Because of his most well known encounter with Jesus after Jesus’ resurrection…Thomas wasn’t with the rest of the disciples when Jesus appeared the first time and told them that he wouldn’t believe that Jesus was truly alive until he put his finger in his hands and side…Now, that had to be discouraging for the other disciples…They were going to have to face some rejection from the world, but here they were facing the rejection right within their own community—someone who was supposed to be their friend and someone who was supposed to support them…And instead Thomas doubts that Jesus is alive and rains on the disciples’ parade? Is Thomas a Tigger or an Eeyore? (response)…Well, a week after Jesus was raised from the dead, he is in a locked room with the other disciples when Jesus appears again…And Jesus tells Thomas to put his finger in his hand and side…Thomas does and then believes…Now, although we may know him as “Doubting Thomas,” it is important to point out that Thomas didn’t always doubt Jesus…He needed proof that Jesus was alive…That even in his Eeyore-like state, Thomas was still able to hear the Good News that Jesus had defeated death…
And our story from Matthew is the story of Peter walking on water…Now if Thomas is an example of an Eeyore—Peter is an example of a Tigger…After Jesus had preached a sermon and taught the crowds, he went away to refresh himself because as everyone knows if you give all of yourself, you don’t really have much to give again! And Jesus knew that it was important to spend time in prayer and renewal…Well, as Jesus is practicing Sabbath, the boat with the disciples starts to drift away and so of course Jesus makes the logical approach to walk to the boat on the water…As Jesus is walking on the water to the boat, the disciples think that they are seeing a ghost walking toward them because certainly a human being can’t walk on water!?! Now one would think that after seeing Jesus perform miracles and teach people, they would know who Jesus was—that Jesus was God in flesh…But, they cry out to this figure and Peter in particular asks that if it truly is Jesus, that he would command Peter to come out to him on the water…Jesus does and Peter walks on the water toward Jesus…A move that took a great deal of faith and knowing that Jesus had called Peter to walk out and therefore nothing would happen to him…Maybe all of those thoughts didn’t have time to run through Peter’s mind…Maybe he just bounced out of the boat toward Jesus! Now, it is true that as Peter realized what was happening, he began to doubt and started to drown…So, some might think…Oh, well there went that Tigger—he’s really an Eeyore in disguise! Well, you could make that assumption…But who was the only one who walked out toward Jesus? And when Peter was drowning, did he give up and say, “Oh well, my own fault…might as well drown here?” No, he cried out in a loud voice and Jesus saved him! It took a lot of faith on Peter’s part both to get out of the boat and to reach for Jesus’ hand…
What are you? Are you a Tigger or an Eeyore and is that what you want to be? Because you can change if you’d like—that’s your decision! Now, Tigger & Eeyore are fictional characters and even throughout their stories, they don’t always fit the mold of being an optimist or a pessimist—there are times when they aren’t always positive or always negative…Even like our stories this morning—Thomas didn’t doubt forever and Peter didn’t bounce all around on the water…But it’s their basic outlook on life that is what matters…Do you look on the bright side of life or are you always looking for life’s tragedies…The truth of the matter is that if you’re only looking for either—you’ll certainly find them…If you look for the tragedies in life you will find them all over the place…and if you look for the celebrations in life you will find them all over the place…Life is full of celebrations and tragedies, but it’s how we deal with them that’s important…
God doesn’t call us to life in the doubt, but Jesus came so that all might have life and have it abundantly! Instead of living in what we don’t have—let’s live in what we do…I went to a youth ministry training and one of their words of wisdom was to eliminate the words “just” and “only” from our vocabulary…Instead of saying, “We only had 2 youth who came to the event.” We should say, “We had 2 youth who came to the event.” Or “We just have 4 in youth group.” Instead, “We have 4 in youth group.” Because by eliminating the “just” or “only”, we give importance to those who are present—we live with what we do have and not constantly looking for what we don’t…We celebrate what we have and don’t mourn what we don’t…If we focus on whatever it is that we don’t have, we still won’t have it…but if we focus on what we do have, we can celebrate it…Jesus calls us to be Tiggers…To live life abundantly…Sometimes it means that we have to get on the boat and walk on the water…and those times that we might start to drown—cry out to Jesus to save us…That we recognize that we can walk on the water…That we can put our finger in Jesus’ hands and side…
So, which are you? A Tigger or an Eeyore? As a church, what would you say that we are? Are you happy with that? If not, what are we going to do to change that? Jesus came so that all might have life and have it abundantly…Let’s live that life and not worry about breaking the pieces…Let’s celebrate what we have and keep reaching out for what we need…Let’s live life abundantly as Tiggers!
Well, we continue with our journey looking at our legacies…As we’ve been journeying together, we’ve talked about legacies as not being about our death, but how we live our life…We’ve talked about the importance of deciding what’s important—that it’s people and relationships that matter above stuff…That humility is a wonderful trait to have and one that will help throughout our lives…That as human beings we are meant to be in community with one another and to share our lives together, and the importance of Christian community…And this morning as we also continue to learn from Randy Pausch’s lessons found in his book The Last Lecture, most of these lessons although Randy Pausch doesn’t proclaim them to be a Gospel lesson or a faith based lesson, most of these lessons seem to have a root in faith…And so logically, this morning we’re going to talk about Tigger & Eeyore…Because of course we can find Tigger & Eeyore in the pages of Scripture right?
Well, maybe Tigger & Eeyore aren’t in the pages of Scripture in specific, but their characters are…How many are familiar with Tigger & Eeyore, the characters from Winne the Pooh? Let’s start with Eeyore…What do you know or remember about Eeyore? (Wait for responses)…Eeyore was usually introduced as “gloomy old Eeyore” and had an almost permanent scowl on his face…Maybe it’s because he’s made of sawdust or kept losing his tail…but Eeyore is not known among Hundred Acre Woods as the most cheerful resident…Then there’s Tigger…What do you know or remember about Tigger? (Wait for responses)…Tigger arrived at Winne the Pooh’s house on a blustery night and literally bounced his way into Pooh’s house and the life of all the residents of Hundred Acre Woods…Their tops are made out of rubber and their bottoms are made out of springs…Their bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun…Tigger takes great pride in being the only Tigger and often finds himself in interesting situations because of his bouncing…
Within the characters of Tigger & Eeyore we have some classic and somewhat extreme examples of someone who is positive and someone who is not…And sometimes that’s used in different terms too—an optimist and a pessimist…A Tigger & an Eeyore…As you think about yourself for a moment, what would you consider yourself to be—a Tigger or an Eeyore—an optimist or a pessimist—a positive person or a negative?
Here’s a story that might help to see the difference…There were two twins—one an optimist and one a pessimist…Their differences were so extreme that for their birthday, their parents decided that they would cure them both of their extreme optimism and extreme pessimism…So, for the pessimist, they filled her room with all the fanciest and newest toys and for the optimist they filled her bedroom with horse manure…As they walked into their bedrooms to see what happened, they walked into the pessimist’s bedroom and found her crying in the middle of the room… “Why aren’t you playing with your toys!?!” They asked her… “I’m afraid if I touch any of them, I will break them!” she cried…so they continued on to the optimist’s bedroom and found her diving and searching with a giggle and big grin in the manure in her room… “What are you doing!?!” They asked her… She beamed at them and said, “There’s got to be a horse in here somewhere!!!”
Now there are some people who take great pride in being an Eeyore—they take great pride in raining on everyone’s parade…Sometimes they might acknowledge that they are proud to be an Eeyore and sometimes they don’t even recognize what they’re doing…In the same way there are people who take great pride in being a Tigger—they take great pride in pointing out the positives in any situation…Sometimes they might acknowledge that they are proud to be a Tigger and sometimes they don’t even recognize what they’re doing…Have you stopped to think about which one you are? Or have you stopped to think which one you would like to be?
Now all of this talk about Tiggers & Eeyores, there might be some who are thinking…Okay, how does this tie into faith? Well, all throughout Scripture there are people who can be identified as Tiggers or Eeyores…And this morning we have 2 stories of a Tigger & an Eeyore…Our story from John tells the story of Thomas…Now Thomas is not usually referred to just as Thomas, but as “Doubting Thomas”…Because of his most well known encounter with Jesus after Jesus’ resurrection…Thomas wasn’t with the rest of the disciples when Jesus appeared the first time and told them that he wouldn’t believe that Jesus was truly alive until he put his finger in his hands and side…Now, that had to be discouraging for the other disciples…They were going to have to face some rejection from the world, but here they were facing the rejection right within their own community—someone who was supposed to be their friend and someone who was supposed to support them…And instead Thomas doubts that Jesus is alive and rains on the disciples’ parade? Is Thomas a Tigger or an Eeyore? (response)…Well, a week after Jesus was raised from the dead, he is in a locked room with the other disciples when Jesus appears again…And Jesus tells Thomas to put his finger in his hand and side…Thomas does and then believes…Now, although we may know him as “Doubting Thomas,” it is important to point out that Thomas didn’t always doubt Jesus…He needed proof that Jesus was alive…That even in his Eeyore-like state, Thomas was still able to hear the Good News that Jesus had defeated death…
And our story from Matthew is the story of Peter walking on water…Now if Thomas is an example of an Eeyore—Peter is an example of a Tigger…After Jesus had preached a sermon and taught the crowds, he went away to refresh himself because as everyone knows if you give all of yourself, you don’t really have much to give again! And Jesus knew that it was important to spend time in prayer and renewal…Well, as Jesus is practicing Sabbath, the boat with the disciples starts to drift away and so of course Jesus makes the logical approach to walk to the boat on the water…As Jesus is walking on the water to the boat, the disciples think that they are seeing a ghost walking toward them because certainly a human being can’t walk on water!?! Now one would think that after seeing Jesus perform miracles and teach people, they would know who Jesus was—that Jesus was God in flesh…But, they cry out to this figure and Peter in particular asks that if it truly is Jesus, that he would command Peter to come out to him on the water…Jesus does and Peter walks on the water toward Jesus…A move that took a great deal of faith and knowing that Jesus had called Peter to walk out and therefore nothing would happen to him…Maybe all of those thoughts didn’t have time to run through Peter’s mind…Maybe he just bounced out of the boat toward Jesus! Now, it is true that as Peter realized what was happening, he began to doubt and started to drown…So, some might think…Oh, well there went that Tigger—he’s really an Eeyore in disguise! Well, you could make that assumption…But who was the only one who walked out toward Jesus? And when Peter was drowning, did he give up and say, “Oh well, my own fault…might as well drown here?” No, he cried out in a loud voice and Jesus saved him! It took a lot of faith on Peter’s part both to get out of the boat and to reach for Jesus’ hand…
What are you? Are you a Tigger or an Eeyore and is that what you want to be? Because you can change if you’d like—that’s your decision! Now, Tigger & Eeyore are fictional characters and even throughout their stories, they don’t always fit the mold of being an optimist or a pessimist—there are times when they aren’t always positive or always negative…Even like our stories this morning—Thomas didn’t doubt forever and Peter didn’t bounce all around on the water…But it’s their basic outlook on life that is what matters…Do you look on the bright side of life or are you always looking for life’s tragedies…The truth of the matter is that if you’re only looking for either—you’ll certainly find them…If you look for the tragedies in life you will find them all over the place…and if you look for the celebrations in life you will find them all over the place…Life is full of celebrations and tragedies, but it’s how we deal with them that’s important…
God doesn’t call us to life in the doubt, but Jesus came so that all might have life and have it abundantly! Instead of living in what we don’t have—let’s live in what we do…I went to a youth ministry training and one of their words of wisdom was to eliminate the words “just” and “only” from our vocabulary…Instead of saying, “We only had 2 youth who came to the event.” We should say, “We had 2 youth who came to the event.” Or “We just have 4 in youth group.” Instead, “We have 4 in youth group.” Because by eliminating the “just” or “only”, we give importance to those who are present—we live with what we do have and not constantly looking for what we don’t…We celebrate what we have and don’t mourn what we don’t…If we focus on whatever it is that we don’t have, we still won’t have it…but if we focus on what we do have, we can celebrate it…Jesus calls us to be Tiggers…To live life abundantly…Sometimes it means that we have to get on the boat and walk on the water…and those times that we might start to drown—cry out to Jesus to save us…That we recognize that we can walk on the water…That we can put our finger in Jesus’ hands and side…
So, which are you? A Tigger or an Eeyore? As a church, what would you say that we are? Are you happy with that? If not, what are we going to do to change that? Jesus came so that all might have life and have it abundantly…Let’s live that life and not worry about breaking the pieces…Let’s celebrate what we have and keep reaching out for what we need…Let’s live life abundantly as Tiggers!
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