First Presbyterian Church
Waving to God
Sermon for May 24, 2009
by Pastor Susan Barnes

The book of Acts was written by the same person who wrote the gospel according to Luke. Acts is the story of the early church, of how the disciples continued to follow Jesus Christ and spread the good news. Our reading today is from the first chapter, on page 118.

After Jesus ascended to heaven, the eleven disciples and the women including Jesus' mother Mary returned to Jerusalem, and went into the upstairs room. They prayed constantly. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Acts 1:15-26.

15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, 16 "Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus-- 17 for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry." 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

20 "For it is written in the book of Psalms, 'Let his homestead become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it'; and 'Let another take his position of overseer.' 21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us-- one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection."

23 So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed and said, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place."

26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

This ends our reading from Acts. Can you imagine us choosing elders and deacons by rolling dice? Or deciding our church budget by cutting the cards? It seems a little crazy that they cast lots to decide who the twelfth disciple would be. But in this case, they had two well-qualified people. Either one would be fine; they just had to choose one, so they cast lots. When you have to make a decision and it's six of one and a half dozen of the other, the important thing is not to dither, but to decide. But those eleven didn't just decide by chance among themselves. They got all the believers together, the 120 persons which included Jesus' mother Mary, the women, Jesus' brothers, and the eleven. They announced it, discussed it, and prayed about it before they drew lots. They wanted to find a fair way to decide.

Our psalm is about being fair and righteous. Our unison reading is found on page 489. This is the first song in the psalter. Belonging to God, delighting in studying God's law brings life. The law is not made up of obvious rules that must be followed--the law requires interpretation that is both courageous and even playful. Because the world changes and people change, the community of faith must decide how to follow God's law in new situations. 1Listen for the word of God as we read it together from Psalm 1.

1 Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;

2 but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night.

3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.

4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

6 for the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

This ends our reading from the Psalms.

According to the psalm, when we focus on God's law, we “are like trees in an oasis.” You know that in an arid climate like ours, the native plants are small and low to the ground. The lands of the Bible are also arid, so the psalmist knew that by the rivers and streams, big trees grow. The law of God, the torah, “provides sustenance and deep abiding resources” 2 the way water provides for trees.

For us Christians, Jesus came to fulfill the law, and his teachings also require courageous and playful interpretation.

Our gospel reading is found on page 111. It is called Jesus' farewell prayer. Jesus does more than just say good-bye. He talks with God, putting the church's future into God's hands, and invites the disciples and us to listen in on the conversation. He prays about the unity of God, himself, and the believers. Listen for the word of God as it is found in John 17: 6-19.

6 "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.

11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.

14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

This ends our gospel reading.

Let's respond to God's word with joy and sing “Alleluia, Alleluia! Give Thanks,” Hymn #106. Please rise as you are able.

Jesus prayed that God would sanctify the disciples in the truth. The truth is God's word. For Jews, God's word is the torah, the law, and the prophets, the rest of the old testament also called the Hebrew Bible. For us Christians, Jesus is the word and wisdom of God--God's word also includes the new testament, the Greek Bible. For us reformed Christians, “the proclamation of the word” is one of the six great ends of the church, and it's the one we emphasize in worship.

This week I was talking to a layperson who wanted to do more preaching in his church. He asked me about how he would dare to preach God's word. It made me reflect on the work of the church. I remember what Harvard chaplain Peter Gomes said about Christian truths.

“There are truths that are always there, but there are moments when you hear those truths as if you had never heard them before, although in fact you have. Those are teachable moments… I make no pretensions to novelty. I think originality is greatly overrated. It's very hard to be original, for one thing. But in some respects the job of a priest or minister is like that of a custodian who has to polish the silver. If you keep the stuff polished, once in a while somebody is going to notice.” 3

And so preaching is about reminding us of the truths of God's word. It doesn't mean you have to be original or profound. It's enough to say, “This is what I learned. This is what helps me. I hope it helps you.” One day, someone who desperately needs to hear that word of God will hear it from you, because you were telling it. Still and again.

In our reading from Acts, Matthias was chosen by lot. The apostles wanted twelve, and they only had eleven; Matthias and Joseph were equally qualified, but there was room for just one. At least this time. Later on in the new testament, other people are given the title of apostle, like Paul and Junia.

In our gospel reading, Jesus spoke a lot about unity: “protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one” and “ all mine are yours and yours are mine.” A long time ago I read an anonymous saying that “God is in us, not like a raisin in a bun, but like the ocean in a wave.” I like that because I think of the ocean as vast and roomy, and that's what I think of God. I don't know much about the ocean, but that doesn't stop me from admiring it and being astonished at what scientists discover, like a salt lake on the ocean floor that ripples underwater, or like the animals that can live near the sea vents where the water is hundreds of degrees hot. Raisins or beaches remind me that “God is in us, not like a raisin in a bun, but like the ocean in a wave.” We are waves in God's ocean, moving and changing.

And because we are moving and changing, we have to learn new ways of doing ministry and loving the people that God has sent us to.

People change all the time. Children get older, a day at a time. When they are learning to walk, we cushion the corners of our coffee tables and hearths. Once they've learned to walk, we take off the cushions but put safety latches on the cupboards or doors.

Our parents age, one day at a time. We start driving them to their doctor's appointments, keeping track of their medications, and calling them every day.

Sometimes it's our spouses we have to care for differently. I read a doctor's account of a medical dilemma. Dr. Peter Ubel wrote about a patient of his who had incurable lung cancer and couldn't swallow anything at all. All the doctor could do was slow the cancer's progression and give him a few extra months. Dr. Ubel wrote about visiting his patient: I “asked him how he was feeling….It was his wife who replied—angrily. She lashed out at her husband for having sneaked off that morning for a cigarette. He glared back and told her to mind her own business.

She looked toward me for support—I was the physician after all—and I found myself in a common medical quandary. Was it my duty to tell this patient what to do, or, instead, to give him the medical information he needed to make up his mind?…

…going by the book, I should have informed my patient about the pros and cons of tobacco. But I couldn't stand by, in the role of a dispassionate educator, and let this man hurt himself. Instead, I felt compelled to give him advice that would promote his best interests.

I advised him to smoke.

‘You two obviously love each other very much,' I said. Then I turned to his wife. ‘I know that you are trying to keep your husband from smoking because you love him and don't want him to get sicker….But those cigarettes aren't going to hurt him now. If anything they'll help him relax. What matters is that you two stick together, because the next few months are going to be really difficult.'

I reminded them that the cancer wasn't curable, that we were hoping to improve his quality of life, and that the best way to do that was to spend quality time with the people he loved.” 4

We want to be helpful, but sometimes it takes awhile to figure out what is the most helpful thing to do in unfamiliar circumstances.

That's why I like to read about case studies and advice columns. In times of trouble, it's hard for us to know what to do unless we've been in that exact same situation. I read about Oregon's grim unemployment statistics last week, and Baker County's in particular.

So I was glad to read Alina Tugend's column about what to say to those who have lost their jobs. First, here's the list of what not to say:

“This could be a huge opportunity!”

“When one door closes, another opens.”

“Have you tried looking online?”

“What's wrong, why is the job search taking this long?”

“You know that things happen for a reason.”

It is this last one that as a pastor I feel honor bound to comment on. Sometimes people do lose their jobs because they were incompetent. But sometimes it's because of budget cuts, or management short-sightedness, or an unforeseen drop in customers or enrollment, or bad decisions made by far-away corporate honchos. It's hard for me to see highly-qualified people lose their jobs for reasons not of their own making.

Jesus prayed about not belonging to the world. By world he meant the status quo, the domination system, where the rich get richer, the poor get poorer; where nepotism and cruelty seem to trounce fairness and kindness; where power begets power and power is not shared, only bought and sold; where God's law is not followed nor God's truth known.

So I don't believe everything happens for a reason. Sometimes events are due to carelessness or malice aforethought, or just plain randomness. God does not send every flat tire we get or gopher hole that makes us trip or every cell that metastasizes. But that doesn't mean that God can't use the flat tire to help us pay more attention to vehicle maintenance or learn to watch where we're going or be grateful for the preciousness of life. God can do all those things. But just because God can bring good out of hardship doesn't mean that God sent the hardship in the first place.

And when hardship happens, we as the people of God, as followers of Christ, are sent to protect and guard and love one another. So when friends lose their jobs, we can say things like “How do you want to handle this? Do you want me to ask every time [I see you] because I care, or would you rather I didn't?” or “I heard the news. Can I help?” or the ever-popular, “When can I take you out to lunch?” 5

Jesus prayed that God would protect and guard his followers, that they would be sanctified in the truth. It's daunting to think that we are so special to God, that we are made holy by God. We belong to Jesus the same way that Jesus belongs to God. We are sent into the world as Jesus was, to witness to God's truth and share God's love. Amen.

1 Brueggemann et al, Texts for Preaching, p. 339-340.
2 Brueggemann et al, Texts for Preaching, p. 340.
3 Gomes, Peter, “Polishing the Truth,” Christian Century, 2-22-02.
4 Ubel, Peter A., M. D. “When Bad Advice Is the Best Advice,” New York Times, April 28, 2009, p. D5.
5 Tugend, Alina, “Navigating a Delicate Subject: The Layoff of a Friend,” New York Times, April 25, 2009, p. B6.