I would say the church for many years now has been having an identity crisis.  In the constantly changing waters of our lives, where technology and information are advancing faster than our ability to use them responsibly, where too often we find ourselves with the ability to do things before we can ask whether we should or shouldn’t do them, where issues of morality have been relegated to personal choice and not Divine mandate, we often find the Christian community faced with this identity crisis:  far too often we Christians are worth a dollar, but look like a quarter!  So what do we do about this?

Jesus gives us the answer in our passage today.  Jesus tells us our identity in relation to our surroundings, and in relation to Him. Listen to what he says: (read passage)

First, we are SALT.  And salt has two functions:

As a preservative – to stay God’s wrath

Genesis 18:16ff  Abraham barters with God for Sodom and Gomorrah – God reveals his plan to destroy Sodom & Gomorrah for their wickedness (which, by the way, was NOT their ‘inhospitality’ as some would have you believe) and Abraham begins to barter.  “God,” Abraham says, “If you were to destroy the cities, and there were righteous people in those cities, you would make it look like those righteous people were just like the unrighteous, and that’s not like you.  Tell you what:  give me a few days, and if I find 50 righteous people in the city, would you save the city for the sake of the 50?”

“For the sake of the 50, I will spare the city” God said.

”How about 45?  Surely if you’ll spare it for 50, you’ll spare it for 45.”

“For the sake of the 45, I will spare the city” God said.

“How about 40?  Will you spare the city for 40 righteous people?”

“For the sake of the 40, I will spare the city” God said.

“How about 30?  Or maybe even 20?  God, if I may be so bold, would you spare the city for 10 righteous people?”

“For the sake of the 10, I will save the city” God said.  “Now go and find them.”

We know the rest of the story.  Abraham went and found only one household that was righteous; it was Lot’s house.  Now Lot was a righteous man, (2 Peter says, “his righteous soul was vexed by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)

But Lot’s righteousness can only be considered in the terms of personal health and prosperity; for he was certainly not interested in the corporate welfare of the city.  For the city was destroyed because there were not 10 righteous people there:  if Lot, his wife (2) his 2 daughters (4) and his future sons-in-law (6) would have each shared the good news of God’s covenant with just one each, 6+6 is 12, 12 is more than 10, and the city would have been saved, and Sodom and Gomorrah would still be on the map!

Question:  who is pleading for our city? Who is pleading for our generation? Will God find 10 righteous here?  Will God spare us?  It has been said if God does not judge 21^st century America, he owes Sodom & Gomorrah a big apology.

So the righteous act as salt, as a preservative.

Secondly, salt creates thirst. If I would go into a bar, and plunk down $2 for a drink, as I was drinking, if it were a decent establishment, I wouldn’t have to look far to find a bowl of pretzels.  I would eat the pretzels, and then I would notice that my thirst was not quenched by the first drink.  Another $2, another drink.  More pretzels.  It seems odd, but the more I drink, the thirstier I get.  Another $2, another drink, more pretzels.

See, what the bartender knows is this:  Salt creates thirst; he doesn’t put out peanuts and pretzels and popcorn to be NICE, he does it so you’ll plunk down your cash to quench the irresistible thirst created by those salty snacks!

-Our job as Christians, as the salt of the earth, is to present Christ to our environment as IRRESISTIBLE; we must live in such a way that it creates a thirst in those around us so deep that they must say, “whatever he’s drinking, I want some of that!”

-the truth is this:  Jesus is the most attractive, most irresistible person in the universe; but is that how others see him through us?

Jesus then gives us a non-sequitur:  saltless salt.  He says salt cannot lose its saltiness.  If you are a Christian, you are salt.  Period.  We cannot stop being salt or lose our flavor.  Na and Cl, once joined, cannot be unjoined.

Except in one way.  See people back in Jesus’ day would gather on rooftops like we use porches.  They would use that as a meeting place, as a party place, etc.   But when holes would appear in the roof, they would mix salt with gypsum and dirt and create a plaster to patch the roof/floor. So what Jesus is saying is this:  when salt gets too intermingled with contaminating elements, and too mixed in with the dirt, it is difficult, no, impossible to see the difference, and its identity is no longer salt, but plaster that is good for nothing except to be walked upon.

Likewise, we must be very careful to retain our saltiness; to not get too intermingled with the dirt and contaminating elements of the world and lose our Christian identity and witness.  We are always witnesses for Christ; the question is this:  what KIND of witness?

Matthew 5:14 – We are light.

Light only has one purpose: to dispel darkness.

It is bright in here this morning, but if we were here in the evening and the power went out, people would be bumping into one another, into the pews, into the altar; running into walls trying to find the way out.  IN the midst of the confusion, if I turn on a flashlight, I AM NOW THE LEADER!

A ship traveling at night through dark waters saw in the distance another light.  The captain of the ship radioed ahead and said, “approaching at 25 knots.  Change your bearing 30 degrees starboard.”

The radio squawked back, “Negative.  You change your bearing 30 degrees starboard.”

“I am a captain in the U.S. Navy,” the captain replied.” Change your bearing 30 degrees starboard.”

“I am an ensign first-class, sir.  Change your bearing 30 degrees starboard.”

Indignant now, the captain yelled into the receiver.  “I am a U.S. NAVY BATTLESHIP.  Change your bearing 30 degrees starboard!”

The reply came calmly. “I am a lighthouse.  Change your bearing 30 degrees starboard.”

The captain complied.

Jesus says we are light – in a world fumbling in darkness, tripping over every sin that so easily entangles, running into walls at every turn; in a world that is just looking for a way out of the darkness we have a distinct job to do:  LET OUR LIGHTS SHINE!

One comment:  Why are we so concerned about saving our light for ourselves?  Why are we selfish with it? Are we saving it until we get to heaven?  What good will a little extra light be in a place with no shadows?

Jesus says we are salt; we are light.  Our role in relationship to our surroundings is clear; we are to act as preservative, as thirst-instigators, and as leaders in a dark world.  And for what purpose?  Verse 16:  So others may see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven.

A couple of years ago, we had a power outage during a storm.  I went to the closet to get some candles, and as I picked one up and began to carry it outside, it spoke to me!

“Whoa, whoa, where do you think you’re taking me?”

“Well, outside to light up the place.”

“Oh, that’s not  my job.  My job is to study luminescence; enlighten our circle within about light’s properties.”  Not wanting to argue with a candle, I put it down and reached for another one.  “Oh, not me either,” a feminine voice chirped.  “My calling is to sing of the light – but I’m not good enough to share my song outside the closet.  I stay in here and encourage our little gathering.”  Again, not wanting to argue with a candle, especially a female one, I reached for another.  “Now listen here,” a gruff voice said.  “I’m the administrator of this closet and it’s my task to discern what are the proper uses of light within its setting, and form new legislation on the uses of light for the good of the closet.  Now put me down; I’m needed here.”

One by one they each had a reason to stay in the closet; so I left the closet empty-handed.  Soon the lights came back on, and I asked Denni, “where did we get those candles in the closet?”

“Those candles?  Oh, those are from that old church that closed down.”

Now I get it.

We live in a great country, where those who penned the Declaration of Independence penned these great words: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The difficulty we have, in that phrase, is that we assume that our right is to HAPPINESS, and not the reasonable pursuit thereof. What’s the difference? Well, if happiness is our RIGHT, then we can, in good conscience, justify all kinds of unjust and immoral action and behavior because it serves our right “to be happy.” And we use a lot of energies and resources seeking happiness

Why did you go buy that ____ (car, dress, any other thing that you couldn’t afford)? “Because it made me happy.” Why did you leave your husband for another man? “He made me happy.”  But those happinesses, let me tell you, are fleeting. They last a while, but the car gets a scuff or ding, or needs major repair; the dress, well, you wore it to that party; you can’t possibly wear it again. And that guy? He has the same issues as the one you left: he’s HUMAN. And so you find yourself pursuing an even more elusive happiness.

But the truth of that phrase is this: we have the right to PURSUE happiness, or as Thomas Jefferson intended in his time, the right to a public happiness, or a free and measurable contentment of society. He intended, in that phrase in the preamble, not the individual’s happiness at all cost, but rather, the contentment of a person in harmony with others of similar character and values.

When Jesus spoke this, the “preamble to the Sermon on the Mount”, he did not intend that we would be individually happy; that is not the meaning of the word He used. His word, “happiness” or “blessed” is makarion, which is a very specific word. In fact, the word “happy” as we mean it is not found in the New Testament. The word “Happy” comes from the word “hap” which at its root means luck or circumstance.  Jesus did not ever intend that we would be lucky or circumstantially favored!  What he meant, and what it still means for us today, is that True happiness comes from experiencing the  fullness  of Christ

From “Greek Thoughts” on Makarion:  “The idea embodied within this word is satisfaction from experiencing the fullness of something. Makarion refers to the believer in Christ who, even in the midst of life’s hardships, is satisfied and secure because of the indwelling fullness of the Spirit.”

What Jesus was talking about was not some utterly unattainable brass ring, one that is just out of reach no matter how hard we try, but rather a total change of perspective; a change of attitude in knowing that these things, on our own, are unattainable. This can only come from a character change

A re-orientation of character (a 180) from being self-focused to being Christ-focused. We must surrender ourselves, orient ourselves to God’s will, and only then will we be truly happy and blessed.

I want to look at these one at a time, delving into the meaning of the blessing, and  looking at its opposite

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

so to be blessed, you have to be poor? Well, Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all he had and give it to the poor, but that’s not the poverty Jesus intended. It is a poverty of spirit: to recognize that we, on our own, are spiritually BANKRUPT. We can do nothing on our own to achieve this Makarion, this blessedness. We must acknowledge that it is through God and God alone!

the opposite of this is not wealth of spirit, but of pridefulness. We must admit that we are not capable of making this change on our own!

1. I admit that I am powerless to change my past – it hurt, I remember it, but I cannot change it.
2. I admit that I am powerless to change other people – I try, using all kinds of gimmicks, but I can’t.  I’m responsible for my own actions, not theirs. I can’t control other people.
3. I admit that I am powerless to cope with my harmful habits, behaviors, actions.  Good intentions are not enough; I’ve tried and failed too many times. I need a source of power bigger than my own.  I need God, and he created me to need Him.

⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,    for they will be comforted.

this one has a couple of meanings: the obvious one is that if you are mourning, if you have experienced painful loss (of a spouse, parent, child, friend), in Christ you will find comfort. He will wrap His arms around you and your loss of a loved one, and will comfort you. The Latin word is “con-fortes” which means “to stand beside and give strength.”  I like that idea. That in my times of weakness, grief, and pain, that God will stand beside me and give me His strength to get through the day.

But the second meaning is the one I want us to focus on today: it is connected to the first, that we can do NOTHING about our spiritual lives, and that our lives have become unmanageable. And in so doing, we have committed, or omitted, actions and attitudes that are contrary to God’s will and God’s way. And for that, we feel great sorrow. We mourn. And when we are willing to admit, to confess, our sin, when we are truly sorrowful for our sins, we will find that God blesses us with the comfort of knowing that our sins are forgiven. 1 John 1:9 “if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from unrighteousness.”

The opposite of mourning is INSOLENCE: “contemptuously rude or impertinent in behavior or speech” (from dictionary.com). If you are aware of your sin, yet persist in excusing it or allowing it because of its perceived usefulness to you, you are nothing less than INSOLENT. Again, “he makes me feel happy, so I can justify adultery.”

An editor to a series of articles asked the question “What is wrong with this world?”   Do you ever ask that question?  We all ask that question when we try to puzzle through the horrible events of terror.  But author and Christian apologist G. K. Chesterton gave a very short and surprising answer to the editor.  The letter to the editor read this way:

Dear Sir:

Regarding your article “What’s Wrong with the world?”  I am.

  Yours truly,

  G. K. Chesterton.

Until we mourn our sin, we will not be set free from it.  Until we see ourselves as part of the problem, we cannot find the solution.  Until we ourselves go through the process of receiving the answer to our problem, we will not be able to offer the answer to anyone else.

⁵ Blessed are the meek,    for they will inherit the earth.

again, this has an obvious meaning, telling us that those who are meek (popularly defined as overly submissive or compliant, spiritless, tame; doormat.  NOT the meaning Christ intended!

What is intended by “blessed are the meek” is humility, a willingness to trust and submit to God’s will, God’s way, and God’s plan.  And if we are not willing to take these in order: recognizing our spiritual poverty, mourning our sin, and humbly submitting to Christ, we will not inherit the earth, but rather the wind.

⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,    for they will be filled.

In John 4, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman in the heat of the day by a well. He asks her for a drink; she says “why are you even talking to me? I’m a Samaritan, you are a Jew.” Jesus said, “I have water that, if you drink it, you will never thirst again.”  Soon after, his disciples came back from town, and offered him something to eat. “I have food you don’t know about” was Jesus’ reply. John 4:34 “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.

Jesus tells us to hunger and thirst for righteousness; for the things God and God alone can provide. And that when we truly hunger and thirst for the things that God and God alone can provide, only then will we be satisfied.

⁷ Blessed are the merciful,    for they will be shown mercy.

Most will agree that mercy is a blessing when you receive it, but here Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful … ” those who give it.  We want to receive mercy, but when injustice strikes us, that’s probably not the thing we want to extend.

A grandmother, celebrating her golden wedding anniversary, once told the secret of her long and happy marriage.  ‘On my wedding day, I decided to make a list of ten of my husband’s faults which, for the sake of our marriage, I would overlook,’ she said.  A guest asked the woman what some of the faults she had chosen to overlook were.  The grandmother replied, ‘To tell you the truth, my dear, I never did get around to listing them.  But whenever my husband did something that made me hopping mad, I would say to myself, Lucky for him that’s one of the ten!’

Happiness is found in strange places.  You may have been unhappy for years because of the hurt that was inflicted upon you.  Hear this, and it’s the truth: You will never feel peace until you finally forgive the person who hurt you.  Maybe that person didn’t even know, or didn’t even care, but you knew, and you cared, and forgiveness was the way you were finally released.

Since Christ could forgive you what you did to him, you can forgive others.  As you have been extended mercy, you become empowered to extend mercy to someone else. And in so doing, you find blessedness.

⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,    for they will see God.

Purity isn’t popular.  The popular movies and videos aren’t rated “G”.  Why is that?  TV and even radio is turning more and more blue; impurity in most sit-coms today is seen as virtue, not vice!  People have stimulated that part of their flesh that craves fleshly things and as a result people are craving things that are not pure.  But Jesus says “Blessed are the pure in heart.”  The pure in heart are morally pure, honest and sincere.  What is true on the outside is true on the inside as well.  In fact if we follow Paul’s advice, we will “have the same attitude as Christ.”  If we focus on a heart like Christ’s we will find that our actions will follow suit.  We will become people of integrity.  This is the formula for happiness.  But guess what, you can’t get there by your own effort, you have to go through the steps we’ve already mentioned.

 ⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Everyone here knows someone they would call a peacemaker. It’s a nice way of saying they don’t like conflict, and when there is conflict, will do just about anything to smooth it over, even if it means it costs them. “peacemaker” is a nice way of saying “doormat”. This, my friends, is not Jesus’ definition of a peacemaker. It’s the definition of codependence!  What Jesus intends is that the title “child of God” comes to those who are willing to enter into the chaos of conflict and discord and do the hard work of reconciliation, not unlike how Jesus himself came to this world of sin and brought reconciliation.

 ¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  ¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Don’t miss the surprises in Jesus’ statements.  Each one of his statements was surprising.  This one is surprising because everyone viewed suffering as an indicator that something is wrong.  But Jesus shows that suffering mistreatment like this may be an indicator that something is right!  This kind of suffering does not indicate God’s displeasure.  This kind of suffering marks people as truly those who are like Jesus, and approved by God.  Christians are citizens of another kingdom, yet we live in this hostile kingdom.  This fact results in clashes and mistreatments.  It’s like the old Bruce Carroll song, “something good is bound to happen, or the devil wouldn’t be working overtime!” Jesus says, don’t look around and wonder what you are doing wrong when you are mistreated.  You might be doing it right.  Those who are effectively living the Christian life will be living through difficulties and hardship.  Some of these hardships will be caused directly because of the stands we take.  I can’t help but think of _enver Broncos QB Tim Tebow (I said it right- they showed last night they have no D!): like him or not, you have to admit he has caused a few waves, not just because of his late-game heroics (which didn’t pan out yesterday!) but because of the unwavering stand he has made for his faith. And for it, he has been both praised and vilified. When you are willing to not only proclaim this 180 character, but to LIVE it, you will be too!

Jesus has confronted us with the radical difference in His perspective on “blessings” or “happiness” and the very human perspective.  Our human tendency is to gauge our blessings by the health we have enjoyed, the material possessions we have acquired, or the favorable circumstances we have experienced during the year. The problem with that is when we encounter difficulty. Many of us are in Christ, but we have experienced severe health problems. Many of us are in Christ, but have no material possessions to speak of. Many of us are in Christ, yet we are going through difficult circumstances. When facing these realities, it is difficult to see that we are actually blessed unless we understand from Scripture the true meaning and measure of blessing. The Biblical teaching on God’s blessing instructs that true blessings are not gauged by outward conditions and circumstances. The blessing of God is to experience all of the fullness of the indwelling Spirit of God while living through the hardships of life. Paul expressed this result when he declared, “…for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content” (Philippians 4:11);

Register!

Click above to register for this year’s Vacation Bible School!

July 16-20, 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. at Elm Springs United Methodist Church

 On September 18, 2007, computer science professor Randy Pausch stepped in front of an audience of 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver his last lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” With slides of his CT scans beaming out to the audience, Randy told his audience about the cancer that was devouring his pancreas and that would claim his life in a matter of months. On the stage that day, Randy was youthful, energetic, handsome, often cheerfully, darkly funny. He seemed invincible. But this was a brief moment, as he himself acknowledged.

Randy’s lecture has become a phenomenon, as has the book he wrote based on the same principles, celebrating the dreams we all strive to make realities. Sadly, Randy lost his battle to pancreatic cancer on July 25th, 2008

My preaching plan this year is very simple: I am approaching each Sunday as if it were my very last sermon to preach. No, I don’t have cancer or another life-threatening illness; I am just sensing some greater urgency in the task that is before me as your pastor, and us as a church.  It could be the whole Mayan calendar thing, or it could be, as I have had several conversations, the signs we are experiencing that according to the Bible are predictors of the end times. Whatever the case, I am approaching this sermon as if it were my last.

And to do this, I simply went to the best: Jesus. You see, we only have one sermon from Jesus in what we can assume to be its entirety: the Sermon on the Mount. We have many other parables, stories, and quotations, but this is the only full-body sermon that is available to us, some 2 millennia later. And, by most accounts, it is the best sermon ever preached. One noted psychologist wrote that “In the Sermon on the Mount we have then, not only a directive for spiritual well-being, but the model of a manual of mental health as well.”

In it, Jesus covers a wide range of subject matter:

First, the preamble: the Beatitudes, the path to true contentment. Each starts with “blessed” or “happy” are those…

Second, the identity of the believer: you are SALT, you are LIGHT.  Then, the identity of the preacher (Jesus) – the FULFILLMENT of the LAW. Not a rebel, not an anarchist, but one who upholds and fulfills the law.

Jesus then goes about talking about different elements of the law that he is fulfilling: murder, adultery and divorce, the swearing of oaths, matters of justice (an eye for an eye); treatment of your enemies (he says to LOVE them!)

Then Jesus goes to meddlin’:  he talks about MONEY (giving to the poor, storing up treasures in heaven, RELIGION (prayer and fasting), and two of our principle preoccupations: WORRY for ourselves, and JUDGING others. I was told you never talk about three things at the barber shop: money, religion, or politics. Unless you want to walk out bald!  Yet Jesus says these are exactly the things that matter in His new Kingdom!

He then gives instruction for living with wisdom: ask, seek, knock;  enter through the narrow gate (or don’t take the easy way).

 And then, at the end of Jesus’ sermon, He gives three examples:

 A tree is known by its fruit: Jesus begins by pointing out that there is such a thing as truth; that we do not live in a moralistically relative society where I have my truth, and you can have your truth, and if our truths oppose each other, well that’s OK.  NOT SO!  There are such things as absolutes, and Jesus uses words like “True/false” and “good/bad”.  Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. (7:17). And furthermore, there are consequences to living a false or bad life:  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (7:18)  And just as false prophets will be known by their fruit,

 A disciple is known by following the will of God

Jesus begins this part by saying, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…”

That tells us 1. that there is a Kingdom of Heaven, and 2, there will be those who do NOT enter it. Even if they “prophesy in Jesus name and drive out demons and perform miracles’!  It all comes down to doing the will of the Heavenly Father. What is that will? Well, Jesus just laid it out for us!  How do you relate to others, even your enemies? How do you spend your energies? How do you spend your money? How do you practice your faith?  These are the marks of discipleship.

 Jesus then concludes with this parable, prefacing it with these words:  Those who are wise will put these words into practice.

 We know this story because we learned the song in Sunday school: oh the wise man built his house upon the ROCK…oh the rains came down and the floods came up…

 The wise and the foolish are separated by one thing: their actions

 Jesus assures us: there will be those who hear these words and put them into practice, and those who hear these words and don’t put them onto practice.

You may hear this message today and walk away totally unaffected. You will keep on living your life just as you had before; it won’t change how you look at relationships, your enemies will still be your enemies, you will have biases and prejudices against others; you will still store up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy; you won’t pray or fast, and inside, you will be driven to succeed out of a near-pathological fear of failing, of being poor, of being alone. You, my friend, are a fool. Not my words, blame Jesus.

But there are, maybe a few, hopefully more, who will become wise today:  you will turn over your will and your life to Jesus Christ, and put HIM first in all you do. And when you do that, when you seek to every day conform your will to His, then Jesus’ priorities become YOUR priorities:  you will love your neighbor, AND love your enemy. You will take Jesus’ words on money and its proper use seriously. You will begin to tithe, and if you just can’t get to the tithe (that’s 10% of your paycheck) you will decide TODAY to move TOWARDS tithing. You will commit to daily turn over all your cares and worries to Christ, for He cares for YOU. Then you, my friend, will be able to count yourself as one who hears these words and puts them into practice. You will be identified among the WISE. And your feet will stand on the ROCK, unmovable.

Those kinds of changes don’t come all at once; but they do come. That’s why, even though this is my “last sermon,” if God gives us another week, I will begin going through these different areas in the Sermon on the Mount so that we all can be WISE.

I said last week this sermon was going to be about turnaround in the Elm Springs church. You may say, all you’ve talked about is individual turnaround. Well, that’s right.  But I believe that the challenges that face the Elm Springs church:  seeking those without a family of faith to introduce them to Christ (reaching);  deeper knowledge of God’s Word (teaching); seeing the needs in our community and world and acting on them (sharing) and spreading the love of Christ for all (caring) will be met by the turnaround each of us receives as we turn away from our foolish selves and turn toward Christ, following His will, His way, and His lead. And when the rains do come (and they will), we will be able to stand.

It’s what we sing for every New Year; it is a tradition from the Scottish, and written by poet Robert Burns. It means “old times since” and the full body of the poem talks about how friends have been parted, some by busyness, some by “seas between us broad a’roarin” (translated to mean bad feelings or conflict) but that those things should be put aside and only remember the good times: drink a pint together, join hands and agree.

It would be great if we could just remember the good times, right? Our text from Jonah today, it is a remembrance of the good times. Unfortunately, the writer chose to include chapters 1, 2, and 4!

If we take Chapter 3 of Jonah all by itself, that is sort of what is happening with today’s scripture. All the good stuff, none of the bad stuff. We pick up this famous story in chapter three, and if you knew nothing else about Jonah, all you would know was this: God calls Jonah, and he immediately answers; he runs into Nineveh to proclaim God’s message, and the entire town – even the king! – is compelled to repent and follow God. It’s ALL GOOD!

But there is much more going on in this story. In a good news/bad news kind of story, this is the shiny good news in the middle. But there is a lot of bad stuff surrounding this passage that can’t be ignored. We can’t just focus on the good, because without the bad surrounding it, this passage makes little sense at all. Without the bad, we can completely misunderstand the good. It’s like a few of these examples from the world of Pastors – the good and the bad:

Good news: You baptized seven people today in the river.
Bad news: You lost two of them in the swift current.

Good news: The congregation voted to send you a get-well card.
Bad news: The vote passed 21-20.

Good news: The Staff-Parish accepted your job description exactly the way you wrote it.
Bad news: They were so inspired by it, they formed a search committee to find somebody capable of filling the position.

Good news: Mrs. Jones is wild about your sermons.
Bad news: Mrs. Jones is also wild about soap operas, the “Gong show” and the “Texas Chain Saw Massacre.”

Good news: The women’s softball team finally won a game.
Bad news: They beat your men’s softball team.

Good news: Church attendance has been up the last three weeks.
Bad news: You were on vacation.

Our story from Jonah is a little bit like that:
Good news: God is finally going to clean up that wretched city Nineveh.
Bad news: He’s sending you to do it!

Good news: You are going on a long trip!
Bad news: It’s for work, not vacation.

Good news: You’re being sent to an exotic location.
Bad news: It’s to the most despicable place you can think of.

Good news: You survived a terrible storm.
Bad news: You are in the belly of a whale!

Good news: The entire town is being converted because of your preaching.
Bad news: This means God will actually forgive them now.

One could read chapter three filled with positives: God called… Jonah listened… Nineveh repented! But that would neglect so much of this story going on in the background. You see, while this story is only four chapters long, Chapter 3 is only a small part of the whole story. So we need to remember the other chapters as well. The first time God called in Chapter 1, Jonah told him no way! When God pushed him, Jonah finally got in a boat…GOING THE OTHER WAY! In Chapter 2, when God sent the storm to persuade him, Jonah chose to be thrown overboard INSTEAD OF FOLLOWING GOD’S CALL!

It is only in Chapter 3, that we find Jonah working with God…RELUCTANTLY.  It is one of the funniest lines in print:  “Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time…³ This time Jonah obeyed…” He agrees to go, he heads to the city, and he proclaims God’s message: with an eight word sermon! “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” And I’m betting it wasn’t in the Charlton Heston voice; it was more like the Charlie Brown voice!  I wish I could do that… [counting on fingers] “Jesus Christ, the son of God, lives… today!” Ta-Da… No? It was worth a shot.

Now here is the most amazing thing in this entire story: God was able to use Jonah’s 8 word sermon! “The people of Nineveh believed God’s message…”  God was able to use Jonah’s 8 word sermon! Despite his unwillingness, and his rotten attitude!

Now, many scholars have argued why Jonah was so unwilling.  Some say it was just simple bigotry and hatred against the people of Nineveh.  “I don’t like THOSE PEOPLE.”  Perhaps it was some insecurity on Jonah’s part; perhaps he thought, “There has to be someone MORE qualified than ME.”

Despite what any of us may think of Jonah, maybe we can  sympathize with him a little. Who hasn’t felt unqualified to carry out God’s work? We don’t feel adequate; we don’t feel prepared; we don’t feel like were good enough to do the task in front of us. Jonah’s story should comfort us: God is able to use us! We may indeed be inadequate, unprepared, and not good enough… but our God is a God who chooses to use the broken, the imperfect, and the unprepared.

But you know… maybe that isn’t you. Maybe you are adequate… prepared… and good enough… maybe … you just don’t like the direction you are being called. I am your humble and faithful servant, and I don’t always like the direction I’m being called! But like Jonah, sometimes with some pretty persuasive maneuvers, God gets me going the right direction. Because another thing we can learn from Jonah is this: God’s call doesn’t change; our response does.

In Scottish tradition, when singing the last verse of Auld Lang Syne, you gather together in a circle, cross right hand over left, grab the hand of the person next to you, and at the end of the song, you turn outward, doing a 180, to symbolize turning in a new direction (do this with volunteers)

And there’s a hand my trusty friend! And give us a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-will draught, for auld lang syne.

 180. It means to turn around. It means a half-circle. To do a 180 means to go in a totally different direction. Make a U-turn.  We talk about people doing a 180, companies doing a 180, even churches doing a 180. It is also the meaning of the word “repent.”  It was what Jonah was sent to call the people to do, but in so doing he himself had to do a 180: he had to turn physically around, and also had to turn mentally, and even spiritually, around.  Go a new direction. Repent.

This number is meaningful on a day like today. We do a 180 from the things that have weighed us down in the previous year; we vow that this year will be different. But most New year’s resolutions fail in the first two weeks!  Why?  We don’t do a 180; we don’t turn around from those things; we don’t REPENT.

180 is also the number of years this congregation has been in existence. In 1832, 8 years before the town was founded, a group came here and settled, and began worshiping in homes as a Methodist group. It took them about 18 years before a dedicated meeting house was built on these grounds, and about 12 years later, union soldiers burned the church because the confederacy was using it as a munitions depot. Then, in 1866, a revival broke out and people came from miles around. The Elm Springs church became a pivot point for other churches as they turned around.

Next week, I’m going to be preaching on 180 again, how each one of us can be a part of the 180 here in Elm Springs, as we turn around our lives to reflect God’s will and God’s character as we seek to reach, teach, care, and share in Christ’s love. In the meantime, I want to leave you with this: where is God calling you to go that your first response has been “NO WAY!” It may not be to Ninevah, it may just be to cross the street to visit with someone who has lost a loved one. It may be to cross the hall to reconcile with that person at work. It may be to befriend that person at school that others make fun of. What does it take? YOU have to do a 180. It’s time.

This statement has been adopted by the “Occupy” movement. Since September of this year, started in NYC, as Occupy Wall Street. By October, it had caught fire, up to 600 cities in North America; 92 other cities in 85 countries.  As of today, in America, 2,720 cities have an “occupy” movement in their town. They are protesting things like government irresponsibility, corporate greed, a number of other things. Some I’m sure show up just to protest something.  And they use the phrase in their literature, “the needs of the many (the 99) outweigh the needs of the few (the one).

This movement has become so pervasive, in fact, that Time Magazine, who normally names a person of the year in December, this year, 2011, named as person of the year “The Protestor.”

Tonight I want to talk about another “Occupy” movement.  It is centered in a small Judean town, where different groups of people, all converging on this town to occupy it.

• There is the general population converging to occupy Bethlehem by government edict.
• There is an angelic host, coming to occupy the airspace of Bethlehem
• There are shepherds who then come and occupy Bethlehem upon the pronouncement of the angels

This occupation is not anything like the modern occupy movement…from a human perspective, it is because the king has required a census, “so that all the world should be taxed.”

But from a spiritual perspective, this “occupy” movement is one that is going to affect the world in a way that no other “occupy” movement has, or ever will.

I think the first thing we can dismiss is the notion that it was a “silent night.”  Sure, we love the song, we will even sing it tonight; but I don’t think it was quite accurate.

So let’s go to the story, as it is told in Luke 1:  First, we hear the noise in Nazareth, a low rumble about this young girl, 14 or 15 years old, who was betrothed, but not married to Joseph. They traded a more elaborate traditional wedding for the more vegas-style. And people were talking!  So when the news of a census came down, I bet Joseph was very relieved!  I can get outta this town!

So Jesus’ family, Mary and Joseph, occupy Bethlehem as strangers.  Joseph’s family was from this town, but he hadn’t lived there in who knows how long. He was a distant relative of King David, but he was a commoner. And like all the others who had come to Bethlehem for this census, they were away from home; they were out of place.

There are only two reasons to take a census at this time:  first, for military reasons; to know how many men they could muster in order to dispel foreign attack.  The other reason, simply put, was because the government needed the money. The Roman government was just like our modern governments; when governments can’t live within their means, they tax the people to get more. And by doing a census, they can make sure they count every person, and get all the tax they can!

The Roman government brought good things to the people:  the Pax Romana, the Roman Peace, but you gotta pay for it.

The Romans also built roads and buildings all over the world “all roads lead to Rome,” and if you visit that part of the world today, you will still find some of those ancient roads and buildings.  (find picture) here is a picture of me in Zurich, Switzerland, standing on top of some Roman ruins, from the 4^th century.

There was a woman screaming for help, and a man ran up to find her over her young child who was obviously choking.  The man picked up the child and shook him by the ankles until a quarter came out. “Oh, thank you!  You must be a doctor; you knew exactly how to get that quarter out!”  “Oh, I’m not a doctor,” the man replied, “I work for the Internal Revenue Service.”

Rome also knew how to get it out of people!  Gaius Octavius Caesar, given the name Augustus, had an incredible amount of power. So when he said “everyone has to be registered” he turned everyone into occupiers; he put a lot of people out of place.

For Mary and Joseph, it meant a trip of 90 miles. An average person, traveling by foot, would make that trip in about 5 days. Mary, very pregnant, took probably double that. No protestors along the road; (if anyone had tried it, they would have just killed them).

“There was no room in the inn…”  You’re thinking, Days Inn, Holiday Inn, but you’d be wrong!  Possibly a caravanserie, where caravans would stop and rest, using their own bedding, and the animals would stay outside. But more likely they had tried to stay in a relative’s home.  The typical home in those days was a small two-story dwelling, often built into the side of a hill, usually with four rooms in the upper chamber: a living room/dining room, a kitchen, and a couple of bedrooms. And by bedrooms, I mean a space not much bigger than a bed. The whole thing would probably fit in half of the choir area.  Then the lower chamber was used to house the animals; where they would feed and bed down. The warmth from the animals during the colder months would actually help to heat the home!

It was here that the Messiah was probably born; envision Joseph going from relative’s home to relative’s home, and at each one, you find a distant cousin or uncle has already pre-occupied the guest room; he found one relative, having compassion on them (but not enough to kick the indwellers out and give the pregnant lady a proper bed!) who invited them to use the lower chamber. So Mary and Joseph were most likely in this lower chamber, not a separate dwelling, but sharing the space with animals and using a feed trough (a manger) as a crib.  Out of place, to be sure.

What they found was a bunch of “pre-occupied” dwellings.  I’m sure there were many who in that day were “preoccupied” with the issues of the census, or being hospitable to guests, or in making some extra coin from the tourists that were occupying the town.  “He came into his own, and his own received him not.”

An aside: that story hasn’t changed in 2000 years.  I’m sure all y’all have been quite busy the last several days and weeks; it is a busy time of the year. You might even go so far as to say you have been “pre-occupied” with certain things. But it doesn’t come just at Christmas. Busy-ness has become a part of our culture:  we respect busy-ness;  we value busy-ness!  Like it is a badge of honor to say “oh, I’m SO busy!”  So busy, so hyper-connected, that we have become more distant in the real relationships in our lives; even so busy that we’ve pre-occupied ourselves from a real relationship with God.  And so it is to the out-of-place that the true Messiah comes.

The second occupiers:  the announcing angel and the Heavenly Host

Came to shepherds; the outskirts of town. If it was a silent night for these shepherds, it wasn’t any longer!  Imagine the shepherds, nice, quiet, sheep sleeping, and all of a sudden, it was like the scene from Close Encounters! Lights, sound!  And the first words: “be not afraid!”  Well duh!

34 books of the bible refer to angels (17 in the old, 17 in the new, interestingly enough).  The word angellos means “messenger.”  They do two things: one, they worship, and second, they do God’s work. They bring messages to earthly beings. But here’s something: we have all these songs, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and the like, but nowhere in the Biblical story of Christ’s birth do the angels sing!  They SAY.  In fact, only two times in all of the Bible are angels recorded as SINGING: once in Job, and once in Revelation.  Once to praise the act of Creation, once to praise the act of Consummation. Why don’t they sing?  Well, I don’t know this for sure, but that may be OUR job.

Where was the singing on that amazing night?  Where were the Joy to the Worlds, the Sing We Now of Christmas, the First Noels?  They were overshadowed by the events of the day.  The oppression of the Roman government, the onus of being far from home, the ordeal of eking out a day-to-day existence.  There wasn’t much singing going on because there wasn’t much to sing about.

And today, there are millions of people around the world, and even in this room, for whom the joy of the Birth of the Messiah is overshadowed by the needs of the now. And the angels, the same angels who occupied Bethlehem’s skies on that night, those angels who are just ACHING to sing, and say to themselves, “why don’t they SING?!?”

Third group of occupiers:  the shepherds.

The first group, Mary and Joseph and all the people who came by government edict.

The second group, the Angelic occupiers, who filled the airspace around Bethlehem. And the third group: it says “let’s go to Bethlehem to see what the angels told us about. “and they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby in a manger. And when they had seen it, they told it widely what they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.”

The shepherds weren’t there for the moment of the birth; they probably came first thing in the morning. Now, truth be told, if they weren’t in the story, we wouldn’t give a second look to the shepherds!  They were smelly, dirty, even ceremonially unclean because of the work they did. They were, by all accounts, overlooked.

Every culture, even ours, has overlooked people. Not the “popular” overlooked people: the homeless, the hungry.  I’m talking about the average, everyday people that you see often. The 99. The grocery checker at Harps: what’s her name? The person who gives you your coffee in the morning or works the drive-thru, where are they from? Have you taken the time to get to know your trash collector?  THESE are the overlooked; the everyday, blue-collar workers.

And THESE are the ones to whom the message of Christ’s birth was given!

It says “they came with haste.”  The first Christmas rush!  They saw, and they left!  But they left having found Christ!  They left with Christ having a place of great prominence in their life!  And it says, “After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.”

There are only two recorded responses to the birth of the Messiah:  the shepherds were astonished, and left and told everyone what the angel had said;  and there was Mary’s response: “Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.”

So we have these occupiers: the out-of-place, the overwhelmed, and the overlooked. The out-of-place have a place in the new Kingdom; the overwhelmed are given a Prince of Peace;

Does Jesus occupy a place of prominence in YOUR heart? If so, what are you doing about it?  Or, more to the point, who are you telling?

As we light these candles, as we sing Silent Night, as we celebrate the birth of the Christ, I want to encourage you to first find the light of Christ in YOUR life. And if you have the light of Christ in your life, I want you to light this candle for the out-of-place,  the overshadowed, and the overlooked, and vow to bring the Light of Christ to them in some way.

For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.

A quick review of the Legends of the Bible (from this fall’s sermon series)

God gave a PROMISE to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

That promise was to Abraham, a childless old man, that he would make him a “father of many nations.” That he would give him descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. And “Abraham believed, and it was credited as righteousness.”

God gave PROVISION  to Joseph – at a time when it didn’t make sense, and in a manner that seemed cruel and hateful, Joseph, that young upstart, braggart dreamer, was made a captive to the Egyptians. But in time, God used that captivity to provide not only for Joseph, but to all the sons and daughters of Abraham. Through Joseph’s hardships, God provided during a time of famine so that His people survived.

God gave a PATH  to Moses

This stuttering murderer was called to lead God’s people: he provided a path not only out of captivity, through the Red sea, and through the wilderness to the promised land of provision; God also gave Moses the path to civil peace through the Ten Commandments.

God gave a PLAN  to David

It was to David that God revealed that He would not live in a house made with hands, but that God Himself would provide a descendant of David that would rise as a mighty king.

2 Samuel 7:12-14 For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. ¹³ He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever. ¹⁴ I will be his father, and he will be my son.

Christ fulfilled the PROMISE  – through MYSTERIOUS INCARNATION

One of the “reality” shows to make a hit 2 years ago was called “Undercover Boss.”  In it, a president or high-level executive of a company goes undercover to see how their company runs from a different perspective. They take on the identity of a common man (or woman) and pose as if they are trying to get a ground-floor job in the company. In so doing, they encounter some very touching personal stories, as well as some corporate decisions that have had very negative effects on their employees. They then go about fixing some of the problems they found, as well as meeting some needs they uncovered through hearing people’s stories.

Christ came so that He, the BOSS, would be among His people. He was fully human: he ate and drank, he felt joy, suffered pain, endured grief,

Christ gave the PROVISION  – through DIVINE HUMILIATION

God provided – by humbling Himself. It wasn’t just a pronouncement from an angel, or a dream; it wasn’t a visit to a fiery mountain with a cloud. This was a voluntary adoption of Himself into the human family.

John 1:14  So the Word became human^[d] and made his home among us.

As Paul writes in Philippians 2:7-8 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave  and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, ⁸ he humbled himself in obedience to God  and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Christ provided the PATH  – of SALVATION

The SOLE purpose of Christ’s incarnation was our redemption!

Without this incarnation, redemption is impossible.

If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator.
If your greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.
If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.
But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior.

And in so doing, the incarnation provided us one more thing:

Christ laid out the PLAN  – for A GLORIOUS CULMINATION

Jesus came so that we might have life – and life ABUNDANT. So much life that it spills over into eternity! John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

 Christ came so that we might, as God promised Abraham, have a family of faith; Christ came, as Joseph experienced, so that we might have our every need provided for at just the right time. Christ came, as God showed Moses, to give us not only a way to salvation, but a way to live in light and godliness, And Christ came, so that we might know the plan for the glorious culmination in His second coming!  That he will make all things right if we patiently and persistently live in the light.

But here’s one thing about light:  it exists to be shared. You’ve heard of greedy actors “hogging the spotlight” but let me tell you, if you’ve ever been camping, you can’t shine a flashlight that only YOU can see!  Don’t try to hide your light; shine it out!  Be as Jesus was the light for all the world to see!  There are those living in darkness, and they’re longing for some light. Shine your light!

Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, the baby’s mother, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, but he will be a joy to many others. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. ³⁵ As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.”

Things said to a new mom:  what a cute baby!  How are YOU doing? How can I help?

Things NOT to say to a new mom (from thebump.com) and some sometimes-snarky replies:

“I can’t believe you’re not… (insert nosy comment here)! How can you do that to your baby?” What to say back: “Not that it’s any of your business, but how I ________ my baby is MY choice — don’t judge me for it.”

“Here, let me do it. You’re not doing it right.” What to say back: “I know you’re just trying to help, but I’d rather get constructive criticism than just plain criticism.”

“You don’t need to feed her every time she cries. You’re going to spoil her!”  What to say back: “I didn’t know that feeding my child was spoiling her.”

“‘He looks just like his daddy!’”  What to say back: “Yep, it’s true, I wasn’t having an affair.”

“You think you’re tired now? You have months of sleepless nights ahead of you.”  What to say back: “And I can’t wait!”

“Your baby’s huge…what are you feeding her?”

What to say back: “Your leftovers.” (Okay, we wouldn’t really say this, but we might think it.)

“My son never cries.”   What to say back: “I guess you’re just very lucky.”

“So when are you going to give him a sibling?” What to say back: “Let’s see how things go with this one first.”

“Oh, you’re just hormonal.” What to say back: “No, actually, I’m not.”

“So when are you due?”  What to say back: “I just had my baby, but when are you due? Maybe our kids will be in playgroup together.”

“Are you finally going to get your tubes tied?” What to say back: “Are you finally going to get some manners?”

“What’s its name?”  What to say back: “‘It’ is a person, just like you, and I’d prefer you address her that way!”

And from our text today:  Things NOT to say to a new mom:  “a sword will pierce your very soul”

Like all pious Jews, Jesus’ earthly parents carefully carried out the provisions of the Law of Moses. Specifically, after eight days (as called for in Leviticus 12), they circumcised Jesus (which, like baptism today, was a sign that he belonged to God). Thirty-three days later, in Jerusalem, they offered a sacrifice that the law allowed the poor to present (Lev. 12:8). This gives us some idea that Joseph and Mary were not wealthy; the required sacrifice was a young lamb and a turtledove; if they couldn’t afford a young lamb, they could provide two turtledoves or pigeons, which is what they provided.

Simeon was “led by the Spirit” to the Temple area. The text implies that the Spirit must have also led him to Mary, Joseph and their infant son rather than to any other parents who brought infants to the Temple that day. For Simeon, this was a “dream come true.” God had promised Simeon that he would see God’s anointed one, the Messiah, before he died, and now that promise had been fulfilled! Oh how happy Simeon was!

If Mary was like most young mothers, she must have felt a little uneasy as this elderly man, probably a stranger, took her baby in his arms. Simeon amazed her by saying Jesus was a savior for “all peoples,” even Gentiles (verses 31-32), and a “glory to your people Israel!”

Then Simeon turned to Joseph and Mary, and specifically to Mary, he warned her that her “blessed” lot would not always be easy: that even though Jesus would bring God’s saving grace to all people, and bring glory to Israel, that many would oppose him, and “a sword will pierce your innermost being too”.

Now that may seem odd, but sacrifice has always been the way of redemption. Even in our passage today, in order for Mary to be purified after childbirth, someone had to shed blood. In our story today, it is of note that Joseph and Mary did not have money for a lamb to sacrifice, but only doves. Yet, they brought the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

And thus it is a harsh reminder in this season of celebration and gift-giving that the reason we celebrate is not that a baby was born, but we celebrate that a baby was born to take away the sins of the world!  And how did that happen?  We cannot divorce the manger from the cross; we cannot, even very carefully, dismiss the scene from Bethlehem from the scene at Golgotha. The two are horribly juxtaposed. And Simeon’s words to Mary reflect that juxtaposition:  “A sword will pierce your very soul.”

Imagine being Mary, the mother of the Messiah, as she daily had to live with the knowledge that her son, that precious boy playing in her front yard, would bring her such pain and yet such pride:  pain in seeing him naked and alone on that cross, but pride in that in so doing He was restoring the glory of God to its rightful place. Pain in being undeterred in his march to Jerusalem, the very city she was standing in when Simeon gave his pronouncement, and pride in that he did so with the knowledge and grace that can only come from God.

So as we celebrate and revel, let us remember that the sweet treats we taste are mixed in a bitter cup. And Mary knows too well the tip of the blade.