Go out into the world...

I will be away for two weeks. My wife and I are taking a two week trip with our 13 year old grandson to Glacier and Yellowstone Park. It is one of our ways in taking care of ourselves. I hope you will do the same.

8. In a world that only listens to others make music; the church invites us to sing together as a community of praise.

7. In a world where children are controlled and the elderly are warehoused, Christ says the children are a key to the kingdom and the elderly are God’s beloved children.

6. In a world where everyone seems out for themselves, Jesus invites us to love our neighbor and even pray for those who persecute us.

5. While we sometimes bicker and fight like the rest of the world, the final word for us is not who wins but who forgives.

4. In a world that makes us feel insignificant, Christ tells us we each are a valuable part of God’s plan for the entire universe.

3. In a world that treats ethics loosely, the church offers us the opportunity to think deeply about what God says is right and wrong.

2. In a world that tries to eat us alive with all its demands, we have a savior that loves us alive with grace and forgiveness.

1. In a world that dismisses God as unimportant and mocks God’s son on the cross, God doesn’t try to get even but seeks to redeem us for eternity.

And so in this world of excuses, hear again in the announcement that Christ is risen, that God, not death has the final word.

10. Once when I was sick the church didn’t visit me, so I’m not going to visit them.

9. The church is always talking about issues of life and death. I’ve got more important things to do.

8. The church is always talking about money. I may give 20% to the waitress but I don’t understand why I should give 10% to God.

7. I’m busy 24/7 with important things, why should I waste precious time praising God.

6. Like I said to my neighbor, I heard the church is full of gossips and from what I’ve heard some church members don’t have such great reputations either.

5. The music is too loud, or too soft, I don’t remember which but they never play the one note that I can sing.

4. The church is full of hypocrites, why should I spend time with people like me.

3. I can’t stand their holier than thou attitude. I’m just too good a person for that.

2. I can pray to God just as easily on the golf course. In fact I often use God’s name out there.

1. The church is always involved in controversial issues. Don’t they know that type of activity got Jesus killed.

This whole issue of sin in a congregation is a little confused. Think about how different the expectation with respect to sin are for clergy and for members of the congregation.

It is assumed that clergy are experts on sin but never enjoy it.

It is assumed that members of congregations are ignorant about the nature of sin but enjoy all its benefits.

If a congregant comes to the pastor and says, “I’ve sinned and done terrible things. I don’t know why I did such horrible things.”, the pastor is to respond, “There, there, my child, don’t be so hard on yourself. God understands that we are fallible humans and God forgives you. Try to do better next time.”

If a pastor is discovered to be sinning, especially with respect to sex or finances, the congregation responds, “Fire the so and so. Run him out of town on a rail.”

“We expect better from our clergy. How dare they expect to be saved by the grace of God.”

I’m not very technologically sophisticated and I have never twittered. I understand that to twitter you must compose your message in 140 characters or less. At first I thought why would anyone want to compose a message in only 140 characters. It can’t be that important. Then I began to think about where twittering began. I did research and discovered the first twitter messages:
“Let there be light”
“Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
“Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.”

And so it continued. I guess you can do a lot with 140 characters.

Of course the problem is that such short messages can lead to misunderstanding. So when the first twitter discovered that the message had been misunderstood. A second set of twitter messages were sent out.
“You shall not murder.”
“You shall not commit adultery.”
” You shall not steal.”
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

At least in one case, this twitter broke the 140 character rule. The commandment on the Sabbath went way over the limit. Do you suppose this is why that commandment is so little understood?