Little Country Church Poem

Little Country Church

Wooden, white, weathered and worn,
surrounded by hard pack, thistle and thorn.
Whitewash fades from warping walls.
The steeple bell no longer calls
the faithful in to find their pews
and be inspired by God’s Good News.
Stained glass memories of better days
create a multi colored haze
on unused pulpit, dust-caked floors,
a broken chair and open doors.

Tractor tracks gouge the gravel drive
where farming families once arrived
on Sunday morning and Wednesday night.
But now, the economic plight
has forced those families off the land
and into lives they never planned.
Weeds grow through the picket fence
that surrounds the congregants
who lay beneath once well-kept sod.
Headstones proclaim their faith in God
and say they have gone on to Glory.
But, no one’s here to read their story.

The scene is quaint and some say, sad.
An empty church. But it’s not bad
because the seeds of faith they grew
have been transplanted someplace new.
The good news soon to be revealed
is of the increased harvest yield.
God’s field hands have been moved to where
they can witness, love and care
for those whose lives are in the lurch.
See, that building’s just a building.
God’s people are The Church.

Poem by, Jeff Hildebrandt 

Stained glass window in the Grant Park Chapel
at the Christian Conference Center near Newton, Iowa.

Yesterday Jeff Frank and I attended the Christian Church in the Uppermidwest's 2015 All Congregational Gathering in Newton, Iowa.  A large part of the gathering was the dedication of the various parts of the new Worship Center.

Some of the funding came from Churches that had closed their doors and the congregations gifted to the region remaining funds to go towards the construction of this wonderful worship center.  Hearing their stories reminded me of the poem that I linked above.

Tomorrow I'll post up the manuscript for the sermon today at Woodlawn Christian Church and tell you more about my week and weekend.  For tonight, I'm a bit tired and I need to get some shut-eye.

Remember to "Be A Blessing To Someone Today"!

In His abundant love & grace,
Roy

Parsonage at Woodlawn Christian Church, Lake City, Iowa - Spring of 2015
WmRoy Karlen photo

Windows in the sanctuary at Woodlawn Christian Church, Lake City, Iowa.
WmRoy Karlen photograph

April 26th Service at Woodlawn Christian Church

Yesterday was my second Sunday as the Pastor here at Woodlawn Christian Church.  The service went well and the sermon seemed to be well received.  I've attached the manuscript from the sermon at the end of this short blog post.

Gail didn't make the trip up to Lake City this weekend so there is no video of the sermon this week.  Hopefully, next weekend Gail will be here along with my older brother Merrill and his wife Karen.  Gail got a new cell phone this last week and it's supposed to have a fantastic video camera, so we'll try it out and see how well it records next weekend's sermon.

I'd like to encourage everyone to pray for the folks in Nepal concerning the earthquake there the other day, and also please pray for calm and common sense in Baltimore.  It seems that there is now a faction in our society that will glam onto any excuse to loot and destroy.  This kind of behavior does nothing for anyone, except this faction which feeds off of chaos and destruction.

Please pray for the police and the good people who are being endangered by this faction of evil and hatred.  Pray that the minds of those who are causing all the injury and destruction are softened and changed.  May God reach into these dark hearts and bring their souls into the light of love and peace.

In God's abundant Love & Grace,
Roy

Good Morning!  And isn't it a beautiful day here in Iowa. It was a busy week of just trying to get my bearings here in Lake City and I'm looking forward to starting to doing some visitations very soon and getting out and walk around town, hopefully, meeting people as I go along.  If there is anyone here who would like me to drop in for a visitation just let me know as I'd love to stop over and get to know you all better.  Also, if you know of anyone who needs a visit from the Pastor for whatever reason, also please let me know.

This Sunday Gail isn't here with us, so you are all stuck with the lesser of the two halves of the whole.  But, next Sunday Gail will be in worship with us, as well as hopefully my older brother Merrill and his wife Karen.  Now I will warn you that my big brother is a terrible liar and just remember to not believe anything that he might tell you about me.  Actually, Merrill Jr., is a wonderful man and I'm sure you'll all enjoy getting to meet him and his wife.

Before we get started with today's Sermon, let's go before the Lord in a moment of prayer.  Please bow your heads and open your hearts.

O' God we desire your presence with us here today.  Lord, still our restless spirits, that with quiet minds and reverent hearts we may hear your voice and genuinely worship you.
Prepare our minds and hearts O' God, that through your word, read and proclaimed, Christ may come to dwell within us, and ever rule over our thoughts and affections as the Lord of our lives.     AMEN

Today we're going to be looking at a bit of scripture in the Gospel of John.  John is the Gospel that sort of, well... does its own thing.  It's not one of the synoptic gospels and is often just called the “Fourth Gospel”.  As I mentioned last Sunday it is almost unanimously thought to be the last Gospel of the four canonical gospels to be written.  The date I personally believe to be the most likely for this writing is to be approximately 90 to 95 ad.  The earliest references to the Gospel of John are in writings between the church fathers in the second century.

Unlike the Synoptics where Jesus' ministry is approximately 10 months in duration, John gives us a three-year long ministry.  John's Gospel has other variations from the Synoptics as well, one worth noting is the difference in the portrayal of the last supper where the washing of the feet takes center stage.  John's emphasis rather than the substitutional sacrifice is the service.  Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve.  We are called to continue this service.

Whereas most scholars agree that the writers of Luke and Matthew almost assuredly had copies of the Gospel of Mark at their disposal, most scholars don't believe that the author of John had access to any of the synoptic Gospels.

Today's scripture concerns sheep and shepherds, as someone who grew up on a cattle ranch, I don't have any personal stories to allow me to relate to the sheep in these verses.  The only story I have is one told to me by my father.  My grandfather was a very industrious man and besides ranching he had other endeavors, one of these was that he owned a grocery store on one of the Indian Reservations in South Dakota.  Now my father was a youngster of only twelve when my grandfather had dad running the day to day operations of this store.  Well, one day grandpa traded the store for a herd of sheep.  My father was put in charge of the sheep, and he became a shepherd.  Dad quickly discovered that compared to cattle, sheep aren't the brightest animals there is.  He hated sheep for the rest of his life, he wouldn't allow one on the place honestly. (LOL)  So I guess we can't say that Dad was a 'good shepherd', but he was a very kind and generous soul, one you got past the crusty Rancher veneer. 

But with that, let's take a look at today's scripture verses. 

John 10:11-18
11 “I am the good shepherd, who is willing to die for the sheep. 12 When the hired man, who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees a wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away; so the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hired man runs away because he is only a hired man and does not care about the sheep. 14-15 I am the good shepherd. As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know my sheep and they know me. And I am willing to die for them. 16 There are other sheep which belong to me that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them, too; they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
17 “The Father loves me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again. 18 No one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back. This is what my Father has commanded me to do.”

All right now, let us take a closer look at these verses.  First the word in Greek that is translated here as 'good' actually is probably better thought of as 'faithful' or 'beautiful' or 'noble'.  So rather than 'good' he is the 'faithful' shepherd, one who we can count upon, as he clearly outlines in these verses.  He is the shepherd that will even die for his flock.

When you are looking at scripture, you should always take a look back at what comes before, and also look and see what comes after the verses that you're contemplating.  Now immediately ahead of the story about the 'Good Shepherd' we find the story about the man born blind.  Remember that story?  The man was born without his sight, Jesus encounters him and even though it was the Sabbath, Jesus heals him, much to the great displeasure of the Pharisee leadership.  And this isn't the first time Jesus has violated the Sabbath.  He seems to be making a habit of it.  Likely to drive the point home to the Pharisees.  The religious leaders and elders are on the warpath for anyone following Jesus because, “This man does not keep the Sabbath day, so he is not from God”.  The Jewish leaders question the man and then his parents.  His parents want nothing to do with any of this as they feared the elders. So they put it back to their son saying that he is of age and can answer for himself.

Well the blind man ends up thrown out of the Temple and excommunicated.  Jesus comes upon him and in their dialogue, Jesus states;
John 9:39-41
39 Jesus said, “I came to this world to judge, so that the blind should see and those who see should become blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were there with him heard him say this and asked him, “Surely you don't mean that we are blind, too?”
41 Jesus answered, “If you were blind, then you would not be guilty; but since you claim that you can see, this means that you are still guilty.”

We have here another one of those reversals that Jesus seems to use so often.  The people that are truly spiritually blind, are the individuals who were thought by the populace to be the ones that can see the most clearly.   The religious leaders are entirely blind to Jesus' message and mission.  The leaders are blind to who Jesus is and this blindness will lead them to persecute and to ultimately hand Jesus over to the Romans to be executed.

In verse 8 of chapter 10, Jesus states that 'all the people who came before him, are thieves and robbers.  We really don't know if he meant the other people that had claimed to be the Messiah in and before his time.  For you see, Jesus wasn't the first nor the last person who was thought to be, or who claimed to be the Messiah.  There were numerous Messianic movements, all of which died out once their leader was killed by the Romans.  Or it may be that these thieves and robbers are a reference to the religious leaders of the time.

I think it's most likely that the thieves and robbers were these other false messiahs and that the references to the 'hired hands' who run away and do not protect the flock from the wolves are the religious leaders.  These leaders are only workers, Christ is the son and truly cares for his flock.  He will shortly, as we know, literally lay his life down for his flock.

It is likely also that this story is included in the Gospel as a none too subtle stab at a faction that had split off from the Johannine Community.  The books 1 & 2 John appear to be addressed to leaders in Churches that are undecided as to the direction they are going to swing.  These letters are urging them to stay with the majority of the Community and to not go the path of those that have split away.

It is debated what the “other sheep, in the other sheep pens” is supposed to mean.  It seems that the general conclusion is that it points to the gentiles, which would be everyone but the Jews and Samaritans.  There is the possibility also that again this story is relayed in part to speak to the faction that has left the community.  Could these other sheep also be considered as those who have left the fold?  Is the author using one of Jesus' stories to let them know that Jesus still loves them in spite of them splitting away.  Scripture has many layers and we can in turn take these verses and consider whether it might point towards all of the various factions and divisions that we have in Christianity today.  Having come to you from the Baptist tradition, I can tell you there are dozens of different Baptists alone, much less all the rest of the various protestant denominations, the numerous forms of the orthodox church, as well as the several divisions in the Catholic movement itself.

Jesus is the Shepherd of all of these very many 'sheep pens'.  He knows his sheep and they know his voice as well.

We have to remember that as I said last week, even the early church had it's share of turmoil.  The Johannine Community was a group struggling with some deep theological issues that make the things that we tend to allow to divide us look pretty darn trivial.  A long time Pastor once told me that the number one thing that he'd seen split congregations was the music and the number two was what color should the new carpet be.  I think we can all agree that this is pretty sad to say.

Of course we all know that the imagery of a Shepherd is a common theme in the Gospels.  This is of course because the people of the time would have been able to relate to these illustrations.  And it serves to connect these lessons and messages with the stories of the Old Testament as well.  Every Jewish individual hearing these stories from Jesus would recall that the great King David himself was a Shepherd, and had been a 'good shepherd' to his people Israel.  Remember that the Messiah was to come from the house of David, and both Luke and Matthew include genealogies to solidify Jesus' claim as a descendant of King David.  The Messiah would come from the house of David and would lead his people like no one had done since the time of David, who was again a shepherd.

When we first read these verses in Chapter 10, we can't help but to be reminded of the parable of the 'Lost Sheep' found in both Matthew and Luke.

Luke 15:3-7Good News Translation (GNT)
3 So Jesus told them this parable:
4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them—what do you do? You leave the other ninety-nine sheep in the pasture and go looking for the one that got lost until you find it. 5 When you find it, you are so happy that you put it on your shoulders 6 and carry it back home. Then you call your friends and neighbors together and say to them, ‘I am so happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate!’ 7 In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine respectable people who do not need to repent.

The good shepherd, here isn't about to let any of his flock go missing.  He cares for them and will search tirelessly for them.  Remember that the story of the lost sheep is followed immediately by the story of the lost coin.  Both parables speak of the great joy and celebration over recovering that individual which was lost.  Both parables also speak to God's single minded determination to pursue these lost sheep.  God will keep knocking on the door whether you answer or not.  Let us not forget that as his hands and feet in this world, God is often sending us to knock on these closed doors.

The imagery of tending to sheep continues to the very end of John's gospel where we read this exchange in Jesus' last appearance to the disciples.
John 21:12-17Good News Translation (GNT)
12 Jesus said to them, “Come and eat.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13 So Jesus went over, took the bread, and gave it to them; he did the same with the fish.
14 This, then, was the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from death.
Jesus and Peter
15 After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Take care of my lambs.” 16 A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 A third time Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter became sad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” and so he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!”
Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.

Some of you were in the Bible Study class last Sunday night.  There I mentioned that it is my opinion that the main way we can display our love for God is to take care of his people.  It's these verses here at the end of John's Gospel which I point to to reinforce this thought.

If we love him, we will tend his sheep.  And if we love him we'll be good and loving shepherds to his lost and wandering sheep.  Like him we will not give up on those that are lost, not ever.  We'll search for these lost sheep no matter how late the hour, and we'll celebrate over finding each and every one.

Let's close with a word of prayer, please bow your heads and open your hearts.

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.

First Service at Woodlawn Christian Church

Woodlawn Christian Church, Lake City, Iowa

It was a great first Sunday here at Woodlawn Christian Church.  And we are all looking forward to many, many, many more Sunday's here.  The building is just absolutely gorgeous and the people are so excited for us to be here.  I'm certain it's where I'm supposed to be and I'm excited to see what God has in store for all of us here in Lake City.

I've attached a copy of the sermon manuscript to the bottom of this blog post.

Here are some more photos of Woodlawn Christian Church in Lake City, Iowa.

God's Blessings!
Roy

Woodlawn Chrisitan Church, Lake City, Iowa

Woodlawn Christian Church, Lake City, Iowa

Chapel Mosiac at Woodlawn Christian Church, Lake City, Iowa

Window in the Chapel
Woodlawn Christian Church, Iowa

Chapel Window
Woodlawn Christian Church, Lake City, Iowa

Chapel Window
Woodlawn Christian Church, Lake City, Iowa

Chapel Window
Woodlawn Christian Church, Lake City, Iowa

Good morning, I really cannot possibly tell you all how pleased Gail, Maddie and I are to be here with you.  It's been a long process for us in searching for a church to serve, and I know it's been a very long process for you all in finding a settled pastor as well.  Praise God that he has brought us all together and I pray that ours shall be a long and mutually beneficial as well as an enjoyable relationship.  Gail and I look forward to growing spiritually here with you all, and to developing many deep and loving friendships as well.

During the time that I have been searching, I've maintained a blog called “The Path to the Pulpit”.  Well, the path has led me here, and what an incredibly beautiful pulpit the Lord has led me to.  What an incredibly beautiful Church, and what wonderful Christ-filled people. I am so looking forward to celebrating with all of you the wonderful heritage of this congregation as we celebrate together 150 years of service by the Woodlawn Christian Church here in Lake City.  It's a remarkable accomplishment and one that is worthy of a grand celebration.

As I said I have maintained, and I'll continue to maintain a personal blog.  If you're interested in looking at it please feel free to do so.  I've left some of my old cards along with some of my new cards by the back door leading to the hallway to the fellowship hall.  Please feel free to grab one or more of either or both cards.  My old cards have the address to my blog printed on them.  I will normally post the manuscript of my sermons on the blog, and you can go back and look to see how far I strayed in my presentation.  Perhaps you'll find yourselves saying “If only he'd have stayed on script, it would have been a decent sermon...”

Now... before I get into our sermon I should tell you a bit about my general style of preaching.  First of all I don't consider myself an eloquent nor polished speaker, but I do preach from the heart.  I have and will always consider myself to be more of a teacher than a preacher, and therefore generally my sermons contain some element of teaching within them.  I will also try in my sermons to leave you with something that you can use in your faith walk, or perhaps something that as you ponder it, will draw you nearer to the Almighty.

But, before I dive too deeply into this sermon... let's go before the Lord in a moment of prayer, please bow your heads and open your hearts...

O' God we desire your presence with us here today.  Lord, still our restless spirits, that with quiet minds and reverent hearts we may hear your voice and genuinely worship you.

Prepare our minds and hearts O' God, that through your word, read and proclaimed, Christ may come to dwell within us, and ever rule over our thoughts and affections as the Lord of our lives.     AMEN


All right now... today we're going to be looking at a passage in the Gospel of Luke.  Luke is of course one of the three synoptic gospels; Mark, Matthew and Luke.

Most scholars consider Mark to be the oldest of the three, likely written after the destruction of the Temple in 70 ad.  Matthew and Luke were most probably written somewhere around 10 years after the writing of Mark.  John is considered the most recent of the four gospels that we find in our New Testament and most likely penned just prior to the end of the first century.

The author of the gospel of Luke is unknown though Church tradition assigns it's authorship to the physician Luke who traveled with Paul.  Nearly all scholars agree that whoever it was that wrote Luke, that person also wrote the book of Acts.  Luke and Acts contain what is regarded as the second best Greek in the New Testament.  Which book contains the best?  Well as strange as it may sound, that would be Hebrews.  But we'll go into that on another day in another sermon.

I will tell you that the gospel of Luke is my personal favorite of the four Gospels, and I like to call the author of Luke the 'Peace Maker'.  There are a number of reasons for this and I'll share them with you as we go from sermon to sermon.  Just realize that just like today the early church was made up of people, and where you have people you occasionally will have discord.  There were differences of opinions in the early church, just as there are today.  Reconciliation was a key part of this author's motive for writing these two books and soon enough you'll learn that reconciliation is a key part of my own personal theological beliefs.

Today we're going to be looking at the story in the 24th Chapter of Luke concerning the two people that are traveling back to Emmaus from Jerusalem.  They encounter Jesus along the way and in what is one of the more surprising verses in Luke, they don't recognize Christ even though they were apparently, close followers of his ministry.

How can this be that they don't recognize him?  And if you're like me and you suffer from a bit of an attention deficit disorder mindset, and your mind likes to make big jumps then, one of the things that pops into your busy mind is well... I wonder what Jesus actually did look like?

The New Testament tells us virtually nothing about Jesus' appearance.  We can surmise though that as a first century Jewish male he wouldn't have been overly tall, he would have had a darker complexion than we normally portray him as having, he would almost certainly have had brown eyes and dark brown hair.  The fashion for Jewish men at the time was to wear their hair short and to have a short to moderate beard.  He would have likely had a beard more like mine, or a bit longer than say a beard like the fellows in ZZ Top.

Though it is worth noting that as I told the children the earliest depiction that we can identify as being of Christ  shows him with short curly hair and no beard.

We know that Jesus was a carpenter, but the Greek word for carpenter can also mean a stone worker and given the region where Jesus lived it's much more likely that he worked with stone.  Now these wouldn't have been little stones, they would have been stones that were physically challenging to work with.  Therefore, it's a reasonable assumption to think that Jesus would have been a fairly muscular and well-built man.

Now I said that there is virtually nothing about Jesus appearance in the New Testament and that's true.  But there is one place that just might, just maybe, and it's a long drawn out maybe, tells us something about his appearance.

That verse is found here in Luke in Chapter 19.  Do you remember the story about Zacchaeus, the short little tax collector.  Remember that he heard Jesus was passing by, and in wanting to see him he climbed a tree... he climbed a tree we are told 'for he was short'.  Well, in this passage where the Greek tells us that 'he was short' it is impossible for us to know if it's telling us that Zacchaeus was short or that Jesus was short.  So just possibly, Jesus was shorter than the average male in the first-century Jewish population.

At any rate it doesn't seem that Jesus' appearance was of little concern to the writers of the New Testament, it is obvious that Jesus' appearance... was of NO concern to these writers.

This also reveals to us just how charismatic Jesus must have been.  It doesn't seem that he drew people to him because of his rugged good looks but rather because of his message and how effectively he delivered that message.

Now let's take a look at the scripture verses.
Luke 24:13-35 
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
The Walk to Emmaus
13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19 He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.  Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” 25 Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

So now, let's break this down just a little bit.  What do we have going on in this story.  Well, the first thing that stands out to me is that we have another in the long line of stories in the Gospels about not seeing, or not seeing correctly.  These two who are identified as 'two of them' in other words two of Jesus' followers don't even recognize the Christ when he's walking along with them.  This is a continuation of an ongoing theme, tales about the healing of the blind men, the Disciples even Peter not understanding what Jesus was all about, and Peter drawing a sword in the garden, because he did not understand how the Kingdom was coming to be.  Blindness, an inability to see or understand. Now here we again have two of Jesus followers blind to what is right before them.  They were in the very presence of Christ and did not realize it.  

One of my commentaries tries to explain away this 'blindness' as being caused by the fact that they were traveling west and into the sunset.  They go on to proclaim that since it was resurrection day the sunset would have been particularly brilliant and this brilliance blinded the two followers. Well there are several problems with this, first of all we don't actually know where Emmaus was located.  There is speculation as to what village it identified, and even the distance quoted in the scripture is debated, so we don't know if it was east or west, north or south of Jerusalem.

Frankly, trying to explain away this blindness as being something mechanical is done at the cost of the deep theological meaning that it is meant to portray in the scripture.  These followers are blind to the significance of what has transpired and it is through the instruction of Jesus himself that their 'eyes' are opened to him.  This 'sunset explanation' also totally misses the point that they have gone inside and they still don't recognize Christ until, he breaks and blesses the bread.

Which brings us to the second point, here we also have another of a long line of dinner or food oriented stories.  There is so much power in the sharing of a meal, in breaking bread and the act of community that comes from this act.  I can scarcely believe that the very first sermon I am to give as a Pastor in a Disciples of Christ Church is this very passage of scripture.  These verses that essentially underline, mark in bold letters, and draw a great big red circle around the importance of the last supper.  The importance of this remembrance as an ongoing and regular act and not as an occasional sacrament.

William Barclay in his well known and often utilized commentary says that this meal at Emmaus isn't a sacrament like the Last Supper but just a normal meal.  I really, really could not disagree with him more.  The scripture says “whenever you eat of the loaf or drink of the cup”, it doesn't say that whenever you sit down for communion in Church.  We need to bear in mind that in Paul's letters to the church in Corinth we learn that this meal originally was an actual meal, and not just a symbolic remembrance.  And in Acts the community is actually living together and taking all their meals together.

It's my opinion and you're completely free to disagree, but I'll ask you to consider that we're supposed to 'remember' Christ, his life, his ministry, his repeated emphasis on meal ministry whenever we sit down together with fellow followers of Christ and 'break bread'.  Unfortunately, it our modern rush, rush, rush world we've really forgotten this remembrance.

We've forgotten to remember the miracle at the wedding, the feeding of the 4 and 5 thousand.  All of the meals with sinners and tax collectors.  The meal with  Zacchaeus, where his eyes were opened and he came to see Christ and his ways.  His ways which would become “The Way”, as Christians were first identified.  This shared meal where Zacchaeus was forever changed.

It is here at this table that these two followers of Christ discover him for who he is, just like Zacchaeus before them.  The very reason that this table is such an integral part of our way of worship here as Disciples, is because it was such an integral part of Jesus ministry.  This meal that we share weekly is one of the ways through which Christ reveals himself to us.  But please consider that it isn't just during this meal, taken here as one body when we are to remember Christ and his work.  Rather I feel, it's in every meal that we share with fellow believers.  In each of these meals we are re-enacting the meal ministry of Christ.  Let us do this in remembrance of 'Him'.

We also need to bear in mind that this brings another meaning to these meals.  It's not just about the blood and the body, but also about the community.  We are all together one body, we are together in Christ.  Let us always remember this in our actions and interactions with each other.  We are all connected parts of one body, the followers of the way of Christ.

As I told the children, we as believers carry Christ with us each day.  He lives, he lives within our hearts.  And our eyes and our actions should display this living Christ to each other and to the world at large.  I see him alive and well as I look out across this loving congregation.
As I said earlier, too often in today's world we're so focused on our busy, busy schedule that we forget our fellow travelers.  We're so very focused on this journey, this journey to Emmaus.  We're focused on getting to Emmaus and we all too often don't recognize just who we're traveling with.  Let's try and pay less attention to the road and more attention to our fellow travelers.  Look around you, do you see Jesus in the hearts and eyes around you?  It's never about the destination, it's always about the journey... and we're taking this journey with Jesus.  Praise God!!

Let us close with a word of prayer, please bow your heads and open your hearts and minds.

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.

Completed Commission Pieces - Artwork

Yesterday I installed the two pieces of artwork that I've been working on.  They both look fantastic in their new home.

Tomorrow will be my first day at Woodlawn Christian Church.  I'll blog about it in a day or two.

Please continue to follow along with the adventure.

God's Blessings!

Roy

Original artwork by Wm Roy Karlen (a/k/a Klaude Montier)
This is a 52 x 75 inch acrylic painting on board.

Original artwork by Wm Roy Karlen (a/k/a Klaude Montier)
This is a 110 x 88 inch wall sculpture.

If you like the church photos

If you are interested in the photos I use, many of them come from this Facebook page, check them out if you love old church photos.

Pairie Santuaries on Facebook

ANNOUNCEMENT of CALL!

Woodlawn Christian Church, Lake City, IA

I am very excited and happy to announce that the long journey to finding a permanent pulpit has ended.  This past Sunday, Gail and I accepted a call to serve at 'Woodlawn Christian Church' in Lake City, Iowa.  This is a Disciples of Christ congregation and the Church is a part of the 'Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Upper Midwest' which is made up of 154 congregations from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa.  The Church has a magnificent building and a lovely parsonage.  One of the major things that we'll be working on together is the celebration of the congregations 150th anniversary this coming September.

My official first day on the job will be April 19th and I couldn't be more thrilled to be working with such a beautiful facility and such absolutely wonderful people.  I consider myself among those most richly blessed.

I've attached many photos of the Church and I will be back to blog more in the very near future.  Right now I'm working overtime trying to prepare for the changes ahead this month.

May this blog post find you all well and blessed abundantly!

In Christ,

Roy

Link to website for 'Christian Church in the Upper Midwest'

Woodlawn Christian Church - Facebook Page

Link to Google Maps Street View of Woodlawn CC

(you can click on the photos and it will bring up full sizes for your review, blessings!)

Sermon at Parkside Baptist Church, March 22, 2015

This morning Gail and I went up to visit the congregation at Parkside Baptist Church in the Florence area of Omaha.  I was invited to come up and provide pulpit supply while their Pastor was away for a few days of vacation.  Parkside has a smaller congregation but a beautiful little sanctuary.  They have some wonderful stained glass windows that were well lit today and were just beautiful.  Gail forgot to start recording the sermon today until it was well underway and so she decided to just skip trying to record it at all.  In the absence of any video, I've attached a copy of the manuscript to the end of this blog post.

I spent a little bit of the day working on some artwork that I recently received a commission to complete.  The commission is for one large painting and another extremely large wall sculpture.  Today I was working on the pieces that will be attached to the front of the sculpture.  I will be working in earnest on these pieces for the next three weeks and, therefore, my goals for getting my bodyweight down a bit will have to wait.  In fact, I will be lucky to even get in a couple of workouts in the next three weeks.

Our Landlord at the Gallery has been kind enough to agree to let me use an empty bay in the shopping center in which to assemble and make the final preparations of the wall sculpture. The piece is simply too large to work on in my normal studio space.  Fortunately, the customer that I'm creating the art for runs a trucking company and they are going to provide a truck to haul it from the space to their home for installation.  It's always fun and exciting to take on these bigger pieces, but they do present logistic and physical problems that more normal sized pieces do not.

I don't have too much more that I can share at this time, so I will end this blog post here.  Please do read through the manuscript of the sermon today, it was very well received by the good people at Parkside Baptist.

May you all be well and richly blessed.

In His Grace & Love,
Roy

Sermon March 22, 2015 – Parkside Baptist Church

Good morning, my name is Roy Karlen my wife Gail is here with me this morning and we are both very happy to have this chance to be with you all today.  We regularly attend Benson Baptist where I also help with the Sunday School program.  But, both Gail and I very much enjoy visiting different churches and we admittedly have a special fondness for smaller congregations.  So we both thank you for the invitation to come and have this time to worship with you this morning.

Please let me tell you a little more about who I am.  My wife Gail and I own Leonardo's Art & Prints which is an art gallery and custom framing shop located at 120th and West Center Road here in Omaha.  I am a graduate of Cotner College's “Educating Lay Ministry Program” or ELM.  ELM is a three-year program here in Nebraska designed to train lay people to take on roles in formal ministry.  ELM is a multi-denominational or ecumenical program with students from the Presbyterian Church, the United Church of Christ, the Disciples of Christ and, of course, the American Baptist Church.

Stained Glass at Parkside Baptist Church, Omaha, NE
WmRoy Karlen photo

In addition to my ELM training, I studied for a number of years with Jesse Brown who was my mentor.  I'm sure that at least a few of you were acquainted with Jesse.  After Jesse's death Bob Molby took over the formal role as my mentor but, I have also received spiritual and personal guidance from Dick Peterson, Susan Gillies, and Kathy Brown, as well as others.

I will confess that I am not necessarily a smooth nor an eloquent preacher, rather I consider myself more of a teacher than a preacher.  In all of my sermons, there is an element of teaching thrown in with the sermon.

The verses we're going to be looking at in just a little bit concern the healing of blindness.  Of course, we find this metaphor in the Gospels in several places.  And the metaphor doesn't necessarily mean we are completely blind but that we cannot see adequately or correctly.  In order to see properly we need adequate light.

Parkside Baptist Church, Omaha, NE
WmRoy Karlen photo

Not long ago my daughter was having problems with her car and we decided that it was time to get her a different used vehicle.  One of the cars, I went to look at the gentleman selling it told me that he had repaired the hood and the front fender.  The car was parked in the shade and where it was the repairs looked very good.  So I asked to drive it and when I had completed the test drive I parked the car in a different location.  The man asked me to pull it in where it had been and I told him I wanted to see the car out in the full sunlight.  Well, of course with adequate light, I could see that the paint on the hood and fender did not match the rest of the car.

It looked fine in the shade, but in the fullness of the light it was obviously not.  The difference in the light changed the way I saw the car, just as the light of God changes the way we see the world.

Before we go any further though, let's please go before the Lord in Prayer:

O' God we desire your presence with us here today.  Lord, still our restless spirits, that with quiet minds and reverent hearts we may hear your voice and genuinely worship you.
Prepare our minds and hearts O' God, that through your word, read and proclaimed, Christ may come to dwell within us, and ever rule over our thoughts and affections as the Lord of our lives.     AMEN

Parkside Baptist Church, Omaha, NE
WmRoy Karlen photo

Today we're going to be looking at a bit of scripture found in the Gospel of Mark.  As you all may be aware, the Gospel of Mark is accepted by the vast majority of Biblical Scholars as the earliest of the four Gospels that are found in the New Testament.  The exact date of its composition is unknown and the estimates of its age do vary, however my personal opinion is that the book dates to sometime shortly after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD.  The Gospels of Matthew and Luke were likely written around a decade later and the Gospel of John was probably completed very near to the end of the first century AD.

The verses that we will be taking a closer look at this morning are found in the Gospel of Mark 10: 46-52.  In this story, we find Jesus on the way to Jerusalem to observe Passover and to face his destiny with the Roman Empire and the Jewish Leaders.  With that let's listen to these verses and then we'll examine the verses themselves as well as those verses that frame them.

Mark 10: 46-52 - Jesus Heals a Blind Man
46 Then they came to the town of Jericho. As Jesus was leaving there with his followers and a great many people, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that Jesus from Nazareth was walking by, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many people warned the blind man to be quiet, but he shouted even more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Tell the man to come here.”
So they called the blind man, saying, “Cheer up! Get to your feet. Jesus is calling you.” 50 The blind man jumped up, left his coat there, and went to Jesus.
51 Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man answered, “Teacher, I want to see.”
52 Jesus said, “Go, you are healed because you believed.” At once the man could see, and he followed Jesus on the road.

Parkside Baptist Church, Omaha, NE
WmRoy Karlen photo

Okay, now let's unpack this just a little bit.  Jesus and his followers are leaving Jericho on the way towards Jerusalem.  Here along the road a blind beggar learns that Jesus is passing by and he cries out to Jesus repeatedly, even though the crowd tells him to be quiet.  The blind man is persistent, and ultimately it pays off for him.

For a moment let's consider this man's name 'Bartimaeus'.  Often in scripture there is a message hidden in the names utilized.  Now when we see a name that begins with 'Bar', it means in Aramaic 'the son of' whatever name follows.  We see this here and we'll see it again later in Mark Chapter 15 where we encounter 'Barabbas'.  Pilate offers up to the crowd the choice to set free either Jesus 'the son of God' or Barabbas, Bar 'the son of' Abba 'Father'.  Barabbas 'the son of The Father'.  Now Barabbas is considered to be a man of violence here in scripture and of course we know Jesus was a man of peace and non-violence.  It is thought by some scholars that Barabbas may well have been attempting to lead, or was at least participating in a revolution of sorts against the Romans.  Given the choice between the peaceful 'Son of God' or the violent 'son of The Father', the people choose violence.  A very telling event, but one for another sermon on another day.

'Bartimaeus', what does this name mean in Aramaic?  Well again 'Bar' is son of and 'Timaeus' in Aramaic means unclean, impure, an outcast.  This blind beggar crying out to Jesus is the son of the unclean, the child of impurity.  Rejected, marginalized and ignored by society, but not ignored by Jesus.  Bartimaeus' name is so important that it is even translated within the scripture itself, 'Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus'. Jesus summons him to his side, and what does the beggar do?  He jumps up and hurries to Jesus, leaving his coat behind.  This is an important detail, he left his coat behind.  Now obviously, it would be difficult if not impossible for this man to find his way back to what is likely his only source of protection from the elements.  Leaving his coat behind is a great display of faith, faith that Jesus could and would heal his affliction.

Generally, when we're contemplating scripture it is advisable to consider the verses that directly follow and those which directly precede the verses we're studying.  Now immediately after these verses we find the 'triumphant entry' into Jerusalem.  I'll be very careful and not tread too far as that's for next week, when we celebrate Palm Sunday and Jesus procession into Jerusalem.  But that's what we find immediately follow this passage, the entry into the city and the beginning of the chain of events that would forever define Jesus' ministry.
What do we find preceding our chosen verses?  Well let's back up to the passage that was read earlier as our scripture verses for today.  Mark 10: 13-16

Jesus Accepts Children
13 Some people brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch them, but his followers told them to stop. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was upset and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to people who are like these children. 15 I tell you the truth, you must accept the kingdom of God as if you were a little child, or you will never enter it.” 16 Then Jesus took the children in his arms, put his hands on them, and blessed them.

Now in Jesus' time, children were not regarded the way children are today.  They were to be honest a marginalized component of the society.  Certainly, they were not supposed to impose upon a teacher such as Jesus.  Just as in the story of the blind beggar, we have a marginalized section of society seeking out the blessing of Christ.  And just like our earlier story here an attempt is made to prevent them from having access to Jesus.  But what we find in both stories is Christ calling out to those deemed lesser by society and calling them to him.  In one he heals and in the other he blesses, but in both his behavior and attitude towards them is frankly unexpected by society.

I'm going to skip over for the moment the story of the 'Rich Young Man' and first look at Mark 10: 35-45

Two Followers Ask Jesus a Favor
35 Then James and John, sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want to ask you to do something for us.”
36 Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”
37 They answered, “Let one of us sit at your right side and one of us sit at your left side in your glory in your kingdom.”
38 Jesus said, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I must drink? And can you be baptized with the same kind of baptism that I must go through?”
39 They answered, “Yes, we can.”
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the same cup that I will drink, and you will be baptized with the same baptism that I must go through. 40 But I cannot choose who will sit at my right or my left; those places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
41 When the other ten followers heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.
42 Jesus called them together and said, “The other nations have rulers. You know that those rulers love to show their power over the people, and their important leaders love to use all their authority. 43 But it should not be that way among you. Whoever wants to become great among you must serve the rest of you like a servant. 44 Whoever wants to become the first among you must serve all of you like a slave. 45 In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”

One could argue that the Apostles are just as blind as poor Bartimaeus, perhaps even more so.  The Apostles have been literally walking side by side with Jesus and yet here they are concerned with where they will sit in the Kingdom to come and not about serving people here in this world as the world was then and as it is still today.  Immediately however, Jesus puts them straight and with no uncertain terms.  Jesus did not come to be served but to serve, and he calls those that claim to follow him to do the same.

Let us now go back to the verses about the Rich Young Man.  Mark 10: 17-22

A Rich Young Man’s Question
17 As Jesus started to leave, a man ran to him and fell on his knees before Jesus. The man asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to have life forever?”
18 Jesus answered, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. 19 You know the commands: ‘You must not murder anyone. You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not steal. You must not tell lies about your neighbor. You must not cheat. Honor your father and mother.’”
20 The man said, “Teacher, I have obeyed all these things since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus, looking at the man, loved him and said, “There is one more thing you need to do. Go and sell everything you have, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”
22 He was very sad to hear Jesus say this, and he left sorrowfully, because he was rich.

Let's contrast this 'Rich Young Man' with our poor soul 'Bartimaeus'.  In both stories, we have a man seeking out Jesus.  Both have requests to put before him, one seeks salvation and the other sight.  In both cases Jesus gives them exactly what they ask for yet to surprisingly different results.

Bartimaeus, the 'Son of the Unclean' leaves behind even his coat to join Christ on the road headed to Jerusalem.  This man who is clearly an outcast and 'impure' recognizes Jesus for who he is and joins his procession.  And again, the story leaves us to believe that he has left behind his coat, likely his major worldly possession.

Now the 'Rich Young Man' by his own profession has obeyed all the laws and commandments since he was a child.  He is certainly ritually pure and if we can believe his confession he is without sin.  Yet, when told what he needed to do to have riches in Heaven, he could not follow through.  Unable to let go of what he has in this world, he turned and walked away, leaving behind Jesus and the gift that had been offered to him.

My late mentor Jesse used to like to say that Jesus never asked us to worship him, but he did repeatedly ask us to follow him.  Here in these two stories we find one man who is specifically asked to follow who declines and another who seems to take it for granted and just joins right in with the procession towards Jerusalem.  And of course it is important to note that it is the unclean man who has faith and follows and the pious man, the man who is accepted by society who falls away.

These are all stories with unexpected elements in them.  Children who recognize Jesus for who he is, the unclean who are crippled and marginalized willingly following Christ, the Apostles allowing their egos to get in the way of understanding Christ's message, and a man who claims to be extraordinarily pious unable to let go of his worldly wealth to gain treasures in heaven.
As we read these stories we have to ask ourselves, are we going to focus on the things of this world, our egos, our possessions, our status or position... or are we going to open our eyes as Jesus commands and then join the procession into Jerusalem on our way to Palm Sunday and beyond.  For you see the message in the story of Bartimaeus isn't only about seeing, more importantly it's about faith and doing.  Rising up and following Christ all the way to Jerusalem.

God bless you all and again, thank you so very much for asking me to come and worship with you.

Let us 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.

Parkside Baptist Church, Omaha, NE
WmRoy Karlen photo