Sermon May 24th 2015

Well, another week has come and gone here in Lake City.  Thursday morning the High School will wrap up their year and honestly, we'll be sad to see them go.  It's been great to have so much excitement in the building.

This past Sunday was of course a combined day of recognition of both Memorial Day and of course for all of us Christians it was also Pentecost.  I addressed the occasion of Memorial Day in the opening announcements and prayers, then I focused on Pentecost in the sermon.

I've attached the manuscript for the sermon, though I did ad-lib quite a bit in this sermon.  Gail recorded it, but it's on her phone and I won't be able to start trying to download it and clean it up until this weekend.  Until then, here's the manuscript.

God's Grace Upon You,

Roy

Sermon - Lake City, Iowa - May 24th, 2015:

Well, I have to tell you that given the weather the last couple of Sundays, it is with no small amount of reluctance that I come to you today to talk about a mighty wind blowing.  Of course it is Pentecost Sunday and not only are we going to be talking about wind but flames as well.  So, let's get started and and I guess we'll just have to hope for the best.

But before we go any further let's go before God in prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, Abba, we ask for you to be with us here today, to once more let us be in your Holy presence.  Father, please work within our hearts and our minds to let us draw closer to you. Creator God, open our ears and soften our souls that we might hear your word and come to know you more fully.  Ancient Lord, lead us on the path towards a deeper and fuller relationship with You.  For these blessings, we pray in your Holy and Grace filled name.  AMEN

Today's scripture comes to us of course from the Book of Acts, Acts 2:1-21.  The Book of Acts also know as The Acts of The Apostles is overwhelmingly believed to have been written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke.  The most likely date for the writing is sometime near to the writing of Luke's Gospel, which is believed to be somewhere around 85 ad.

As I believe I've told you all before I have long thought of the author of Luke & Acts as a peace maker.  When one compares conflicts between the Apostles in the Book of Acts, particularly between James and Paul, with what appears to be the same incidents in Paul's letters, Acts always makes these events seem less dramatic.  In the case of the Jerusalem Council, Acts presents the problem as being resolved when it appears in Paul's letter to the Galatians that it is anything but settled.

Both Acts and Luke are addressed to 'Theophilus' a name which means “God's Friend”, Theo means God and as we discussed a couple Sundays ago Philos means friend.  Whether this is the actual name of a Patron that financed the author in his writings, or if it's a honorary title given to this patron, or... if this is a letter addressed to anyone who might consider themselves a 'friend of God' we just don't know.  Personally, I like the later... these are writings to all of us, all who are seeking a relationship with God.

Who wrote these books, we again do not know.  Church lore has assigned these pages to the physician Luke who traveled with Paul.  The sections of Acts that are known as the “we sections” might seem to bolster this claim but certainly not sufficiently to erase all doubt.  The writings are done in very good Greek and this is one of the reasons that it has long been suspected that these books were written by a gentile convert.  

And after all of that history, let's now look at our scripture verses for today:

Acts 2:1-21  Revised Standard Version (RSV)
The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.2 And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and wondered, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?9 Par′thians and Medes and E′lamites and residents of Mesopota′mia, Judea and Cappado′cia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phryg′ia and Pamphyl′ia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyre′ne, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day; 16 but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days
I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth beneath,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20 the sun shall be turned into darkness
and the moon into blood,
before the day of the Lord comes,
the great and manifest day.
21 And it shall be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Above me here we have a beautiful banner hanging.  As I sat in the pews the other morning praying, I noticed the dove and the flame.  The dove of course represents the 'spirit' that we have in our scripture verses today, but here in Acts there is no mention of a dove.  The spirit is portrayed here as like a mighty wind.  But these verses are not the first time that the author of Luke and Acts has mentioned the Holy Spirit.

Luke 3:21-22 Revised Standard Version (RSV)
The Baptism of Jesus

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form, as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.”

It is from these verses that we get our imagery of the Holy Spirit as a dove, and of course it is also the first occurrence of the Holy Spirit in the writings of the author of Luke & Acts.

Let's look closer at our verses for today. 

2 And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. 

The wind is reminiscent of the spirit of God moving over the waters of creation. 

Genesis 1:1 & 2  New International Version (NIV)

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And actually, the word translated here as spirit can also be translated as wind.  God has breathed life into His creation.

The tongues of fire are reminiscent of the spirit of God speaking to Moses through the burning bush.  It also reminds us of the 'Pillar of Fire' leading the Israelite's in the wilderness.  Paul also speaks of fire as a refining and even saving element.

Much has been made about the many languages being spoken and understood as a reversal of the Tower of Babel.  And this was actually a dream of the ancient world, to discover a universal language supposedly from the ancient past.  Interestingly enough there is some merit to this idea, as most languages from the old world are thought to be related to the hypothesized 'Indo-european' language which is estimated to have originated 10,000 years ago.

One of the more interesting points about the whole many languages being spoken is that we all know that if you have a room full of people speaking in different dialects, you won't be able to understand any of them.  The whole thing will just be one big unintelligible mess.  It would seem that here the miracle is in those that are hearing, each is able to understand the Gospel on their own terms.  Whether you want to take the story literally or not, this metaphor of all being capable of hearing the words of our Lord is a beautiful thing.

And if we go further into the metaphor, we see that not only are all these different cultures and languages able to hear the word of God, but that ultimately this word was taken out to them by these humble Galilean's.  These rough men, largely uneducated, men who worked with their hands in their livelihoods, men from this backwards and looked down upon region know as Galilee are the ones that God has given charge to take his message to all the world.  These individuals have truly spoken the word of God to all these languages.

The Book of Acts was as I mentioned earlier, likely was written approximately 50 years after the Crucifixion of Christ.  And whether we want to believe this story is or isn't history remembered, it stands as a tribute to what had indeed happened by that time, the preaching of the Good News to all these various people.

And interestingly enough, the Good News is still amazing and perplexing people today.  Even though 2,000 years have nearly passed since this incident at Pentecost, the work is far from done.  We cannot sit back on our haunches and rest, we must still take the Good News out into this wanting and wandering world.  Like the disciples at Pentecost we must be able to speak the Gospel to individuals in terms and on a level which they can understand and appreciate.

Here in Lake City, we'd be hard pressed likely to find someone who has no understanding of the message of Christ.  But it is certain that we will and do encounter those whose view of Christianity and Christians has been skewed by the Christians they've known in their lives.  Far too often we as Christians come off as high and mighty and condemn those who sin, all the while we ourselves are sinning in plain view.  It is no wonder that the world thinks Christians are hypocrites... because we are.  Many of you have already heard me say that we are all hypocrites, we just all find different things to be hypocrites about.

What we cannot do is project to the world that we are better than they are because we are striving to have a closer relationship with our Creator.  We cannot come across as judging and condemning others, we are all just as lost as the worst sinner among us, for there is no hierarchy of sin.  James tells us that if we've committed one sin it is as if we committed them all.  Let us not judge or hate another just because they sin differently than we do.

As I've preached before, the best witness we can have in my opinion in a small community like Lake City and the surrounding region is to witness silently.  We must live a life of love and grace that stands as a testament to all that encounter us, this is the Bible in one verse.  And as I've said before it's the verse you'll find on the backside of my cards.  “live a life of love”

Having witnessed the clean up after the tornado, I can say that this town understands this message and I'm impressed how many are living it. While Ryan and Emily and I were walking along during the clean up we had two different ladies stop and offer us sandwiches, water and homemade bars or cookies.  Now, I don't remember either woman's name but Ryan and Emily know who they are.  These women were witnessing for a loving and caring Creator even if they aren't known as Christians.

You all are doing a wonderful job as witnesses here in Iowa.  But, we all have areas in which we can improve as individuals and as an organization.  Let all of us here at Woodlawn work together to round off these few rough edges and to continue to project our Lord's message of love and grace to this community. Together we can speak to all those very different minds, hearts and life experiences that we will encounter day by day.

Someday I'll preach to you all about my Grandfather Fletcher, the man who I am named after.  Grandfather stands in my memory as the example that I try to live up to.  An individual that was widely loved and admired because he loved and admired and appreciated all he came in contact with.

When we leave here today, let's all be a living testimony to the love of our God.

Even though we already said it once today, let's end this sermon with the Lord's Prayer and let's think strongly about the words as we pray them together.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done,
in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who have sin against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

Random Thoughts.... funerals, death, marriage, life & love.

This week and next we have the High School students using our building to finish off the school year.  As I reported earlier, the High School was damaged beyond use during the tornado that hit Lake City on Mothers Day.  Hopefully, the building will be completely repaired before late summer and school starting up once again.  It's going to be a very busy summer for the school administrators.

This week I attended the funeral for the mother of one of our church members.  Marilyn Seeden, mother of Donna Westcott passed away suddenly last Friday.  Her funeral was at the Pilgrim Lutheran Missouri Synod Church here in Lake City.  Fortunately, they are not one of the locations that the High School is using for classes, so there was no interference in the planning of the ceremony.

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I've always been a big believer in attending funerals, and even though I never met Marilyn I attended the service to support her daughter and son in law Clyde.  There are in my opinion several reasons to attend a funeral.  First is to show your respect and commitment to the individual that has passed away, second and I believe more importantly, is to show support and love to those that have survived the individual.  The primary thing we need to remember at a funeral is that we're celebrating our loved ones new life in God's Heavenly Kingdom.  Our loss is painful, but it should be more than offset by our joy that our friend or family member has been reunited and reconciled to our Creator.

I have of course blogged about death and grief before in this blog.  Here are a couple links to posts about death and grieving.

Past Post About Death and Grief
Lowell Surat's Funeral and Thoughts on Death

A thought on grief:
“Within each of us there is a cemetery of sorrow. It is a legitimate place where the losses throughout our lives accumulate and one we must visit repeatedly to do our grief work. Grief is often untidy. We can’t wrap our losses in fine stationery and tie it up with a bow. Instead, they come layered in memories, regrets, and unresolved conflicts. So to revisit our cemetery is healthy because grief is often ongoing and done in seasons. Visits are necessary for our well-being, as long as we don’t’ take up residency among the tombs……..We serve a gracious and compassionate Savior, who understands our heartbreak. And while we must grieve he doesn’t want us to live in the cemetery. Christ longs to help us expand our zip code that we might reenter life more able to offer grace.”

~From Twirl...A Fresh Spin At Life

I have also discussed one of my favorite books on this blog before, the book is entitled "All Our Losses / All Our Griefs" and it is by Kenneth Mitchell and Herbert Anderson.  I have multiple copies of this book in my personal library and I tend to loan them out frequently.  Currently, I do have two copies which have been returned.  If anyone nearby would like to read this book just let me know and I'll be happy to loan you a copy.  If you'd like to purchase a copy (I'd suggest you do as it's a great book) here is a link:

Book "All Our Losses / All Our Griefs"

I found this book to be very revelatory, especially in how we are all sculpted by past grief.  It not only helped me to understand others in my life, but it made me finally understand many of the things I've gone through and done myself.  

I have blogged a fair amount about this book in the past, and even started posting an outline of the Chapters.  I got as far as Chapter Four before I just got too busy (and distracted) to finish.  Here are links to past posts about this fantastic little book.

All Our Losses / All Our Griefs
Chapter 1: All Our Losses / All Our Griefs
Chapter 2: All Our Losses / All Our Griefs
Chapter 3: All Our Losses / All Our Griefs
Chapter 4: All Our Losses / All Our Griefs

One of the things that this wonderful book points out is that grief isn't only about death.  Grief can and does originate from any sort of loss real or perceived.  A major form of loss comes from divorce, which is another subject (along with marriage) that I have blogged about in the past.

Past blog posts concerning marriage and/or divorce:

Reflections on marriage and divorce
Another bloggers reflections on marriage (very good)
Solemn Vows and Oaths

Here is a great and moving video that has been going around online for a while now.  It comes out of China but it has subtitles and it is very impactful.  The scenario that the young woman utilizes in the story would in my opinion be one that all couples contemplating divorce should perform as a part of counseling.  I hate the idea that any couple goes into divorce proceedings without exhausting all avenues of counseling.  My opinions on divorce and marriage are pretty stringent and are outlined in the links 'Reflection on marriage and divorce' and 'Solemn Vows and Oaths' above, so I won't retype them here.

There's really no end to the articles online concerning how to have a good marriage; I think that these all have valid points and are worth reading and considering.  They're also good for us old married folks to read and be reminded about a thing or two.

Two traits needed for a successful marriage

Woman realizes what she's doing to her marriage

Men this is what we tend to do wrong

This one is very good also but, be forewarned there is some rough language in this article.  Of course, I'm not at all certain that a little rough language isn't needed in a frank discussion of compatibility and long term survivability in a marriage.

Love is not enough

One thing that I think is absolutely required in a marriage is something that I don't believe any of the above articles sufficiently relay.  The one thing we absolutely cannot get around is the need for grace and forgiveness.  During a marriage we're all going to come up short from time to time and without grace and forgiveness we won't last long.  Depending on the severity of the failure, the couple may well find themselves in counseling to repair the damage.  I'm of the mind that couples need to make a commitment to each other from the very beginning, that if a need arises later in a marriage for some counseling, that both parties agree to pursue that avenue.  Of course, I'm not naive and I certainly realize that folks might well renege on this agreement when confronted with actually going to counseling; but having discussed and agreed prior just might make it more likely that the couple will actively pursue counseling.

Another area that I'm a big believer in is personality compatibility.  We are often swept away with the idea that in love opposites attract and that one spouse can fill in for what the other might be lacking.  The reality in my experience is that opposites just tend to drive each other a bit batty.  I think a very helpful tool would be for both partners to take an actual (I mean the full blown, not an online mini version) Myers Briggs Test.  I've actually formally taken this test twice and I have always come in as an INTP (I've also taken it once online with the same result).  Armed with this information and also knowing the test results for the rest of my family I know why and how we make each other crazy.  This information is invaluable in working out differences as they arise.  

Here is a link to a site online where you can learn more about this particular test and even make arrangements to take the formal test.

Myers Briggs Test

Of course, I absolutely believe that there has to be a great deal of romantic love involved in a marriage.  There is no way a marriage will last if there is no 'spark' to light a fire so to say.  But one has to be in love with the other individual spiritually, mentally, and emotionally as well as physically.  If there is love on all of these levels the love will remain no matter how or how much we age.  I envy those among us who found their true loves early in life and who have stayed together for so many years.  Too few of us in my generation can lay claim to this gift.

Science has discovered that a woman retains cellular material from their sexual partners.  These men's cells literally become a part of the woman for the remainder of her life.  This is a startling realization... that one-night stand or poor decision remains with one for a lifetime.  On the other hand, for those among us who waited for marriage to become sexually active, have a beautiful (even spiritual in a real sense) connection with their spouse.  For these spouses are literally a part of one another, their purity one to the other is real and emotionally and spiritually touching.  This purity is a beautiful and honestly sacred thing, again something that far too few in my generation can lay claim to.

Too few individuals in my new profession have adequate knowledge of science to know this little tidbit, and those in the science world rarely have enough of a spiritual and religious base to understand or appreciate the spiritual side of this phenomenon.  I find this hopelessly sad, as it has great meaning to a relationship for those that were committed enough and wise enough to have accomplished it through their youthful and continued morality.   These individuals, God bless them, have accomplished this hallmark absent the knowledge that we have today thanks to modern science.

As an aside, women also bear in their bodies cells from each of the children which they have carried in the womb.  This is also a very beautiful thing and for those that have lost children they can perhaps find some tiny bit of comfort knowing that a part of that child is with them for the remainder of their lives.

In closing, I look forward to the days ahead when I have the chance to work with couples asking to be married.  Hopefully, with God's guidance I'll be able to provide them with the tools and proper expectations that they need in order to have a long and happy marriage.

May you all find yourselves well and richly blessed.

In His Love and Grace,
Roy

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Church photos from:
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Our excitement on Mother's Day here in Lake City

Photo from 'Prairie Sanctuaries Facebook Page
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The absolute best FB page for Country Church Photos!

Well, as you may or may not know back a week ago Sunday (May 10th) our little town here in Lake City was hit by a tornado.  It did some damage to the buildings at the High School, and this week and next the local HS students are attending classes in our Church as well as the Union Church and several other buildings around the town square.

I happened to be at the High School when the twister hit and in all my years of being around these crazy storms this is the first time I've actually been in a building as it was hit.  Pretty incredible experience and I got to share it with over 100 other folks.

There are several videos on Youtube but I can't plug them in here directly as they're for limited broadcast, so here are links to a couple on Youtube.

Video of Tornado in Lake City, Iowa 5/10/15

Video of Tornado near Lake City, Iowa 5/10/15

Likewise, here are a couple of news stories about the tornado, the second link has a video where one of my youth (Ryan Daisy) and I are interviewed by a local reporter.

Article and a video of the storm

Article and video of our interview

Added 5/19 an article about the school using the various buildings in Lake City

This past Sunday I preached from notes rather than a manuscript.  I had Kimberly Daisy video it on my phone, but it didn't turn out well.  She was too far back in the pews and also had some issues with working a strange phone.

It wasn't a bad sermon if I say so myself.  We recognized the graduating HS Seniors and I gave each of them a pew Bible that had been in the Church for 42 years.  I then asked them to go through the pews as I continued to preach and to have everyone at church sign the Bibles for them.  Everyone really loved that we did this for the graduates and hopefully, the graduates will (or do) appreciate the sentiment as much as everyone else did.

Well, it's late and I have to get up early and let the teachers into the Church so I'm going to turn in.

In God's abundant grace and constant care,
Roy

Sermon at Woodlawn Christian Church, May 10th, 2015

Today is of course "Mothers Day", and during the Childrens Conversation at Church we had the children help distribute to all the mothers and grandmothers present, containers of hand lotion that had scripture verses upon them.  It's always fun to watch the little people hand out items to the congregation.  Some figure it all out easily and some need a bit more coaching and guidance.  But, it's great to see and as anyone who's followed this blog should know I have always loved children and I'm always happy when we have a large group in Church.

Today's sermon was pretty heavy on scripture references, but I have never felt that to be a weakness for a sermon.  Personally, I'd rather draw my illustrations from scripture.

It's a rainy day here in Lake City and I'm busy getting things ready for the Bible Study/Worship Service tonight.  Norma has graciously agreed to run the Study tonight as I have been invited to go up to the High School this evening and be a part of the Baccalaureate Program.  This year, we have four youth who are graduating from the local High School that are members of our Church.  Next Sunday, we'll be recognizing each of them in our worship service.

I've attached the manuscript for the sermon today.  This was a continuation of my sermon given last weekend.  I need to get back to work in preparing for tonight, so with that I will leave you all.

May God's gracious and abundant blessings be upon you!

In Christ,
Roy

Sermon 5/10/2015 at Woodlawn Christian Church by Pastor Roy Karlen:

Good morning, I pray that this day finds us all well and richly blessed.  It's Mothers Day, and what better day to preach over the second part of a two-part sermon series on 'Love'.  So, today we're going to expand a bit further on the theme from last week's sermon.  If you remember the sermon was entitled “We Must Love One Another”, and it was based upon the scripture found in 1st John 4: 7-21.  To paraphrase these verses it very pointedly told us that we must love our brothers and sisters.  If we don't love our brothers and sisters whom we do know and have seen, then we can't truly love God who we don't fully know and whom we have not seen.

As I said last week, it seems to me anyhow, that God's given us a pretty 'tall order' here.  Certainly, there are times when loving our brothers and sisters seems to be outright impossible.  It would seem that we're called to something pretty simple to understand, but terribly difficult to implement fully.

Before we go any further though, let's go before our Lord and God in prayer:

Heavenly Father, Abba, Creator, we lift up our hearts and minds to you for your guidance and care.  Allow the words that we speak and the lives that we live to be fully devoted to you and to carrying out your mission and purpose for this wanting world.  Lord, we ask that you bless us at this time with your presence and gracious love.  In your holy and sacred name we pray.  Amen

Today we're once again in the Gospel of John.  Just as we were the Sunday before last where we were reading and contemplating the scripture verses John 10:11-18 about Jesus as the 'Good Shepard'.  In that sermon, I also referenced John 21:12-17 which is very nearly at the end of the Gospel of John and concerns Jesus asking Peter three times if he loves him.  Interestingly, this past week in Norma's Bible Study we were covering these very same verses.  Norma mentioned that she had seen somewhere that the three requests by Jesus “do you love me” were all three different Greek words for love.

Well, I'd never heard this before so I had to check it out for myself to see if this was, in fact, true.  Interestingly, it turns out that there are two different words in these verses used by Jesus for love rather than three.  The first two questions that Jesus poses are using the Greek word 'agapas' which we all have heard many times before.  Strong's concordance translates this as;
I love, wish well to, take pleasure in, long for; denotes the love of reason, esteem.
When Peter replies though he uses all three times the Greek word 'philo' which Strong's concordance translates as; 
friendly: a friend, an associate.
In Jesus' final query, he uses the Greek word 'phileis' which Strong's translates as;
I love (of friendship), regard with affection, cherish; I kiss.

It is very interesting that Peter doesn't seem to be returning to Jesus the same level of affection that Jesus is requesting.....

Have you ever been in a relationship where you loved the other person far more than they could find it in their heart to love you?  Though here with Jesus, Peter and the rest of us we're not talking about romantic love but rather brotherly love.  We all can likely look back to our days of 'courting' and remember a particular relationship within which we either weren't loved as much as we loved or perhaps the other way around.  I can recall relationships where I was the one loving more and relationships where I was the one that was loved more than I could reciprocate.

In one relationship that ended badly, I am still amazed that the young lady could have loved me so very much.  That's the same sense I have about God, how is it that God can love me so very, very much when all I seem capable of doing is disappointing Him.  For those of us who are married the reality is that generally it goes back and forth during the relationship as to who is capable of loving the other more.  This isn't the case in our relationships with God, God will always love us more than we are capable of returning.  As I said last week, God doesn't love us because we love Him adequately, but He loves us because He loves us perfectly.

But we'll get back to this in just a little bit.

Let's listen to our scripture verses for today.

John 15:4-17 (NRSV)
4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

Okay, what's one of the first things we notice in these verses?  Well, for one thing there's a whole lot of 'abiding' going on... either abiding in or not being able to abide in.  Last week we saw this trend of 'abiding in' didn't we.  Here we have a total of twelve references either positively or negatively stated about 'abiding in'.  As I pointed out to 'abide in' means someplace you dwell or live.  It's simply where you call home.  Jesus is calling us to live in God and for us to allow God to live in us.  

Most likely the next thing we notice is the command at the end.  A command that we must love one another.  Of course that was the topic of last weeks sermon.  Did you notice that we received this command twice here?  In both verses 12 and 17 we are commanded to love one another.  We are called to love our brothers and sisters.  And this isn't of course just our biological siblings but is a metaphor for all people.  Every single one of us humans running around on this earth is a child of God.  God created each of us and His greatest desire is a genuine relationship with each and every one of us as well.

1 John 5:1-6 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments.

And what seems to be the most important command of all...

2 John 1:3-6New Century Version (NCV)
3 Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, will be with us in truth and love.
4 I was very happy to learn that some of your children are following the way of truth, as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, this is not a new command but is the same command we have had from the beginning. I ask you that we all love each other. 6 And love means living the way God commanded us to live. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is this: Live a life of love.

John 13:34-35 New Century Version (NCV)
34 “I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. 35 All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other.”

John 15: 12 & 17 (NRSV)
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

And we find almost identical exchanges in all three synoptic gospels, Mark, Matthew and Luke.  Here is the exchange in Matthew's Gospel

Matthew 22:36-40New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Perhaps the best known verses in all of scripture about 'love' come from the pen of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Church in Corinth.  A Church that suffered great disruptions and divisions within their numbers.  Even though these verses are normally utilized as how we are to love our spouses... that's not at all what Paul was trying to convey.  He was addressing the Church as a whole and instructing them to love each other, to love each and everyone.

1 Corinthians 13:1-8 New Century Version (NCV)
13 I may speak in different languages of people or even angels. But if I do not have love, I am only a noisy bell or a crashing cymbal. 2 I may have the gift of prophecy. I may understand all the secret things of God and have all knowledge, and I may have faith so great I can move mountains. But even with all these things, if I do not have love, then I am nothing. 3 I may give away everything I have, and I may even give my body as an offering to be burned. But I gain nothing if I do not have love.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. 5 Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. 6 Love takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices over the truth. 7 Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always endures.
8 Love never ends.

Remember that part earlier about Jesus and Peter.  Twice Jesus asks Peter if he loves him and Peter responds oh, yeah I'm fond of you Jesus.  Finally, Jesus asks Peter are you fond of me and Peter says yes Jesus, you know I am fond of you.

Even after everything Jesus and Peter had been through, after seeing Jesus arrested and crucified... after seeing Jesus come back from the grave, and seeing him on multiple occasions.... still Peter can't return in like kind the affection that Jesus has for him.  Seeing this brings new meaning to these passages at the end of John's Gospel, and I thank Norma for making me aware of this additional layer to this bit of scripture.  Peter can't manage to match Christ's love for him, what hope do we have of ever loving God adequately?  

We'll never love God nearly as much as he loves us, just like I said earlier we are doomed to forever disappoint our Lord. Fortunately, God, as we see in Christ's example of his exchange with Peter understands all too well that our relationship with him is largely one-sided.  As much as we may try to love and please God we're destined to always come up short.  But, as I pointed out last week that should never be an excuse for not even trying.

John 15: 12 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

We are called to love one another as Christ has loved us.  To love those that will never, can never love us as much as we love them.  To love those that are entirely unlovable, to love those that very well may never like us, much less love us at all.

4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. 5 Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. 6 Love takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices over the truth. 7 Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always endures.
8 Love never ends.

Let's please close with a prayer...

Dear Father, Abba, we come to you humbly, and freely accept the grace that you provide to us, grace given despite our sins against you in thought, word and deed.  Lord, we thank you for your love and forgiveness and we cherish above all else our relationship to you, we also thank you for the relationships that you have blessed us with in our families, our friends, our fellow believers and all our fellow human beings.  Truly, all are a part of your grand design and creation.  Dear God, let us always be mindful of your directions in this world and let us be your hands and feet in this place.  Father, we look forward to the day when through your direction all shall be reconciled to you and to each other.

We pray this in your most Holy and Blessed name, AMEN.

Sermon from May 3rd - Woodlawn Christian Church

Well, here is the manuscript for the sermon that I gave here at Woodlawn Christian Church last Sunday (May 3rd, 2015).

Gail was here for the service along with my brother Merrill, Jr and his wife Karen.  We all had a good visit over the weekend and went out to eat at the Carnegie Cafe here in Lake City on Saturday night. Hopefully, Jr and Karen will be able to come and visit us here on a regular basis.  It's always great to see them and have some time to spend together.

I had an interesting week last week with getting to help out a stranded motorist, getting to go and visit with all of our elderly up at Shady Oaks (the retirement center here in town), and going to the Upper Midwest Disciples of Christ's Congregational Gathering on Saturday in Newton, Iowa.  I'm looking forward to learning more about the Region which is made up of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa.  It's a huge territory and I feel sorry for the Regional Staff for all the miles they have to travel.

With that, I need to work on this weekend's sermon so I'll just post below the manuscript from this last week's sermon.

God's Blessings & Joy to you all,
Roy

Good morning once again.  It was a beautiful week here in Lake City and it was an interesting week.  We were able to help a stranded motorist, Leon took me out to Shady Oaks and introduced me to all of our members who are residents out there.  Also Jeff and I yesterday spent the day in Newton, IA at the Disciples Congregational Gathering.  I was able to finally meet in person Bill Spangler-Dunning and Julie Gibson who were instrumental in getting you all and myself introduced to one another.  

Today we're fortunate enough to not only have my lovely wife Gail with us but also my older brother and favored sibling, Merrill Junior, or JR as I call him, is here with us as well.  JR also brought along his long suffering... I mean, I mean..... his wonderful and loving wife Karen.  In all honesty, Gail is the one that we could most accurately describe as long-suffering. Fortunately, for both of us Karlen boys we married up, so to speak.  Remember as I mentioned last week, to not believe any stories about me that my brother might tell you.  Unless of course they're stories where I was being good and behaving myself.

Sanctuary of Woodlawn Christian Church, Lake City, Iowa
WmRoy Karlen photo

One of my earliest memories, I suppose I was about 4 or maybe 5 at the time, involves my older brother JR.  Who is not only older than I but wiser as well... though I am better looking. Anyways, it was springtime and the snow was melting and the creek near our home was running high.  JR and myself along with my older sister Laura were playing down by the creek.  We decided to have 'stick races' in the creek; we'd throw a stick into the water and then run alongside and see who's stick got to a certain spot downstream first.  Well, my stick got hung up along the bank and I went down to dislodge it... well of course I fell into the creek.  My loving sister came and tried to pull me to safety, which ended up in me pulling her into the creek with me.  

Well, now both of us are in the water and screaming for JR to rescue us.  That is when my wiser and older brother said those words that we'd all do well to remember in times of trouble.  He said to us “stand up”, for you see the water was only a bit over knee deep even on a little boy like I was at the time.  And isn't it so often in life that when we're feeling swept away, that if we'd only just “stand up” we would find that the raging waters are only knee deep.  Once we stood up, we just walked out of the creek.

Before we go any farther though, let's pause and go before the Lord in a moment of prayer and reflection.  

Creator God, Father, Abba, as we turn to your Word let the light of your love, grace and being, be upon us here. That through your love for us we may grow in our relationship with the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  In the name of Christ Jesus our Lord we pray. Amen 

Okay this morning we're going to be taking a look at some verses in the very short but extremely impactful book of 1st John.  As I mention last week, 1st, 2nd and 3rd John are all believed to have been written by the same author, an individual who identifies himself in 2nd & 3rd John as 'The Elder'.  The traditional opinion is that these letters or epistles were written by someone from the same community as the author of the Gospel of John.  The date of these writings is unknown, but 1st John was alluded to in the writings of Polycarp in the year 135 ad.  There is though, no known mention of 3rd John until the middle of the third century.  But the writing style and vocabulary of the three speaks to them having a common author.  Because of the strength of 1st John, all three epistles eventually made their way into the accepted canon.

With that, let's take a look at our scripture verses for today.  If you have the 'Good News Bible' in front of you, you will find these verses on page 327 of the New Testament.

1 John 4:7-21
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

Okay, let's go through this now bit by bit...

Verses 7 & 8:
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 

Well... I don't know about all of you, but for me 'The Elder' has just put forth what we might call a 'Tall Order'.  
1) Let us love one another
2) Love is from God
3) Whoever loves is of God & knows God
4) Anyone who doesn't love, does not know God
5) God is Love

One of my own personal sayings is this:
"If when reading scripture you never feel convicted, if you never see the hairy hand of God pointing a fat finger right back at you... well then you're not paying close enough attention."

I think these few verses do a pretty good job of convicting all of us.  Is there anyone among us who can honestly say they are filled with love always?  I doubt even the most kindly and gentle among us can live up to the standard that God has relayed to us through 'The Elder' here in 1st John.  If we do not love one another, we do not truly know God.  Fortunately for all of us, God loves us in spite of our struggles to love each other.  The reality is that this is an area that we all need to work upon.  And let us NEVER use the excuse that just because few can live up to this directive, that it means we do not have to try.  We have declared to be followers of Christ, that means trying our very best to walk in His path.  We are to try to model our lives and love around his example.

My late mentor Jesse used to say that Jesus never told anyone to worship him, but he did time after time tell people to follow him.  Jesse was afraid that we've gotten so concerned with worshiping Christ, that we've forgotten  to follow Christ.  Heck, all too often we don't even try because after all Jesus was perfect.  We fail to realize that following Christ is the most sincere and important way that we can worship him.  Will we be able to do it perfectly, no I rather doubt we can... but we sure as the dickens need to give it our best shot.

Verses 9 - 11:
9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 

God sent Jesus to live among us not because we loved him adequately, but because he loves us perfectly.  He sent Him to us that we might live through him.  Of course there is the obvious over-tone of the substitutionary sacrifice here but there is also the idea that I just was hitting upon.  We live through Jesus because he has shown us the 'WAY' to live.  As we likely all are aware the early 'Jesus Movement' back when it was just the newest Jewish sect was called 'THE WAY'.

We are called to live like Christ and the first step in that is to 'love one another'.  

Verses 15 & 16:
15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.

To 'abide in' means someplace where we reside, where we live, where we are at home.  If we love each other, then God lives in us and we live in God.

Verses 17 - 19:
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.

Well that right there, is the basis for a pretty long sermon all on it's own.  Maybe someday we'll come back to these verses.  But for right now... let's just leave it that this pretty much dispels any idea of being scared into a relationship with God.  A relationship with God is based on mutual love and not fear of any kind.

Verses 20 & 21:
20 Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

If you were here with us last Sunday for the sermon, you might remember that I referenced the ending of the Gospel of John were John instructs Peter, and this directive is to all of us and not just Peter by the way... anyway he told Peter after asking

These verses here today are further proof-texts for my position that really the only way we can demonstrate our love for God is to love his children.

Here God is telling us that if we don't love our brothers and sisters 'who we have seen', that we can't truly say that we love God.  Loving God means loving his creation and that include those among us that are seem to be unlovable.  If we love God we will love our brothers and sisters, in spite of themselves and in spite of ourselves.

Let's please close with a prayer...

Dear Father, Abba, we come to you humbly, and freely accept the grace that you provide to us, grace given despite our sins against you in thought, word and deed.  Lord, we thank you for your love and forgiveness and we cherish above all else our relationship to you, we also thank you for the relationships that you have blessed us with in our families, our friends, our fellow believers and all our fellow human beings.  Truly, all are a part of your grand design and creation.  Dear God, let us always be mindful of your directions in this world and let us be your hands and feet in this place.  Father, we look forward to the day when through your direction all shall be reconciled to you and to each other.
We pray this in your most Holy and Blessed name, AMEN.