1st Sunday in September (Week 36) (Exodus 1,2,3 and Luke 5:27-32; 6:12-16; 8:1-3, 19-21)
Can you feel the rhythm speed up? Imagine a worship service beginning with easy listening music and lovely lyrics, suddenly changing in mid-hymn to a driving beat so loud that it drowns out the melody. That’s how many people experience September. It is not just a sudden change in tempo, but an acceleration of tempo to the Nth degree. Summer is over; let the work, the study, the competition, and the frustration begin. Two things would make the tempo of life livable. First, it would be nice if we could just hear the melody underneath the music; second, it would be nice if that driving beat was going somewhere.
Team Meditation (Luke 5:27-32; 6:12-16; 8:1-3, 19-21)
Most people come to worship seeking to sew new pieces into old garments. They want to keep what they wore over the summer … and just add some warmer clothing. Sort of like wearing sandals with your business suit, or stitching a tie onto your T-shirt. It is hard for them to let go of the past and start fresh. At some point, they fail. The stitching unravels. Life falls apart. On one level, worship leaders need to help them make a psychological shift toward healthy living. Start afresh. On a deeper level, worship leaders can use their predicament as a metaphor for a deeper spiritual transformation. Be born again.
Worship Theme (Exodus 1,2,3)
The “born again” experience of the New Testament occurs first in the Old Testament. Moses is truly born again. Former spoiled child of power, turned murdered and refugee, Moses has an entirely new life thrust upon him. It is not just a task. Sure, God asks him to do the impossible and lead a ragged band of slaves to a Promised Land against all odds. As terrifying as that sounds, it is nothing compared to the necessity of reinventing himself, or allowing himself to be reshaped, to become a spiritual leader of Israel. God’s fire may not consume the bush, but it does consume Moses. It burns away what he was, and creates a new person. He proclaims a new message; leads people on a new journey; and points to a new way of life.
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2nd Sunday in September (Week 37) (Matthew 5,6,7 and Luke 6)
This is the fifth anniversary of “911”. Last August, the prevention of terrorist plots to destroy aircraft in England shocked the world. As I write these words, I am in the midst of an extended trip. I confess my own anxiety (echoed by so many business people and travelers). Originally I decided to stay an extra day in Kansas City so that I would not have to fly on Sept. 11 … but then my plans changed. I discovered that airplane tickets on Sept. 11 were so cheap the airlines were practically giving them away. Obviously, the world is anxious. There is a sense in which flying on Sept. 11, 2006 is an act of courage. It is a statement of conviction.
Team Meditation (Luke 6)
Luke 6:27-31 27 "But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. 31 And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.
People who are afraid become prejudiced, bigoted, or hateful toward those they think wish them harm. It is a “natural” and “human” reaction. However, it is not a Godly, Christian, reaction. Christians are called to behave contrary to the “natural” inclination. When someone wishes us harm, our “natural” inclination is to hit back … harder. Yet Jesus calls us to forgive. Pray for the persecutor. Give to the beggar. Do to others, not what they do to you, but what you wish they would do to you. Model an alternative morality … even if you suffer for it. This is a hard lesson for the average Christian. They need leaders to show them the way … who can demonstrate the risk of love. That leader is you.
Worship Theme (Matthew 5,6,7)
Jesus Christ blesses people. He does not curse people. That is one of the most remarkable and unique features about Christianity. Some religions are all about getting what you deserve, and giving what you get. And some religions are all about enduring evil and hoping for the best. But Christianity is proactive about love. It is unique in the world religion marketplace, because it is not about fairness, and not about neutrality, but about aggressive, assertive, radically generous grace. Christ loves despite suffering. God redeems despite mistakes. You are accepted, even when you are unacceptable. Christianity really is the religion of the second chance and the fresh start. It really does repay evil with good, and pain with forgiveness.
Only a real saint could be Christian … and I bet you are not that saint! The good news is that you do not have to be a saint. God can make you a saint. God does not expect you to behave perfectly. God can make you perfect. It’s not up to you to be that good. It’s just up to you to surrender to Christ. He will make you that good!
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3rd Sunday in September (Week 38) (Ezekiel 37:1-14 and Luke 8:4-15, 22-56)
A couple weeks ago a tornado cut a swathe of destruction just a few miles away from our home. Reporters subsequently interviewed two of the hardest hit farming families. Both families had seen their barns and houses shattered. They were both pictured standing in the midst of the rubble. The first family was in tears of despair. They talked about how they had lost everything, planned to move away to the city, and felt abandoned by God. The second family was in tears of gratitude. They talked about how the friends and relatives had rallied to help them rebuild, planned to renew their lives, and felt blessed by God. Using the metaphor of Ezekiel, the first family saw only dry bones. The second family saw the potential for new life. The second family heard in the hearts the rattling of bones and the breath of God. The first family was deaf to the spirit.
Perhaps the most interesting fact in the story is that both families belonged to the same church. Both families experienced the same worship services. They both listened to the same scriptures, and heard the same sermons, and attended the same Sunday school classes. They had lived as neighbors all their lives, and considered each other as friends. Yet when the crisis came, they reacted completely differently. I wonder what the pastor thought. He was never interviewed by the reporters. He had planted seeds of faith … in one family they perished, and in another they thrived.
Which kind of family are you? Which kind of family do you want to become?
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4th Sunday in September (Week 39) (Luke 9:10-17 and Luke 14:15-24)
Celebrations are usually marked by feasting. Sharing food is symbolic of the essential, open-hearted generosity of true friends and extended families. Almost every religion includes ceremony about eating, and the pagan world is particularly fond of fellowship around food, whether it is the coffee house, restaurant, or dinner table. The critical issue, however, is always the guest list. Who is included and who is excluded? Who is invited and who is left out?
Team Meditation
“Including everybody” is one of the most pervasive, hidden, and profound oxymoron’s in contemporary culture. The very necessity to “include” implies the reality of being “excluded”. There is the immediate family … and those “who are included”. They are “included”, yet they carry the identity of requiring a deliberate decision to “be included”. A decision to include reveals that there is in fact a division. No matter what we do, someone is in and someone is out. Church leaders must face the reality that some criteria of selection is always at work in the church. Jesus’ criterion is the most unusual and challenging. He welcomes any who really want to come. This is the crucial distinction. And the great irony is that the people who ought to desire to be included, are the very ones who beg off! Church members find an excuse to be absent; but strangers to grace yearn to get in. Indeed, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will spend more energy compelling the stranger to come, than persuading the member to come.
Worship Theme
God’s grace is sufficient for your need … no matter how big that need might be. This is treated with some skepticism by most seekers. Part of that is ego. “Surely my need is bigger than anybody else’s!” Part of that is reality. Surely the need of the poor, the sick, the lonely, the lost, and the oppressed is bigger than for most of us. Yet regardless, whether ego or reality dictates our skepticism, Jesus says and demonstrates that God’s grace is sufficient. His grace seems small, but it expands. It starts small, but it multiplies. It really does satisfy your whole hunger, and quench your whole thirst. God’s grace eventually answers all your questions, and heals all your brokenness.