Ashamed?

Ashamed?

Good Morning Friends,

The Lyndon Johnson War on poverty is 50 years old. We lost because we did not really know what we were doing. The world of poverty is so alone. We attempted to fix it in isolation…perhaps fearing that if we got too close we would take self-affirming joy in others suffering. Maybe though now that we know we do not know, we might come to the real journey. Here we must be patient as a farmer tilling the soil…putting our faith in dirt…in God’s nature….God’s timing. We must marvel at the grace we have been given and show the generosity of being thankful that the place we call home is to be holy ground that is not to be desecrated. Here the farmer looks in the mirror at the isolated churchman and wonders if we are to be Ashamed?

Scripture: Jesus said, “If anyone is ashamed of me . . . the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Mark 8:38 (NIV)

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, “Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Luke 22:54-62 (NRSV)

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9 (ESV)

He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Psalm 126:6 (ESV)

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.

James 5:7(ESV)

Message: There is a cost for following Jesus. We always have a choice to follow him some of the time, most of the time or all of the time. There is a strange logic we Christians have that sometimes does not really serve us well on this. We think we deserve grace. We know something is wrong and we do it anyway. We forget the importance of process and buy into something that hurries what we think God’s will into completion. We think aah technology! This is the answer to reduce our work load. Bigger is better and then wonder why we have unemployment. I cannot predict the motions of your mind but I think we have been left signs of unintended consequences that mark the false trails. But here is the challenge. In all this we secretly smile at others failures. We enjoy the misfortunes of others. If you and I are honest you would have to affirm that sometimes, but perhaps not always, our own self-esteem is boosted at the failure of others. But God can use that too. The way of the process goes something like this…from guilt…comes grace…then generosity. That is what happened to Peter and that is what happens to us too if we allow the process to come to fulfillment without substituting our own claim on it. Giving back is so difficult for here is the forethought of loss and the obligation of grace both looking at us demanding attention. Friends, we cannot impose the answers on a seed as to why it must sprout. We can only nurture it.

Pray we are thankful for the inspiration but also for the realization that this is so much harder than we first thought. Pray we not be deceived into thinking we have succeeded. Pray we keep on doing all the good we can. Pray we realize that sometimes we reap what others before us have sown. Pray we realize that we reap in kind with what we sow. Pray we realize that we reap in a different season that in which we have sown. Pray we reap more than we sow. Pray we realize that we reap in proportion to what we sow. Pray we persevere to the harvest. Pray we realize that we cannot reap in the past but only in the future. Pray we are generous when it comes to building community that sustains.

Blessings,

John Lawson