Tithing Rap - Word up.

Rest in Peace, Tom

"The idea that Keith Richards could survive me in death is so ironic.......humor me with this one - it's really funny."

- from the journal of Tom Lawrence, read at his funeral this morning.

"The Contest"

I like the show “Lost.” It’s creatively written. It’s got lots of surprises. And most of all, it’s just a good story. There’s really nothing better than a good story. Today’s Word from God is a story. But the thing about stories is we can only tell a little portion of them at a time. And if you come into the middle of a good story you’re going to have a hard time figuring out exactly what’s going on. If you try to watch the show Lost without going back and watching some previous episodes you’re going to be, well, completely lost. So before I read you the story for this morning, let’s do a little background.

At the moment our story opens a struggle for the soul of Israel is taking place. You remember that the Israelites first became a nation when the Lord God rescued them from slavery in Egypt. The Lord brought this motley bunch of slaves out from under Pharaoh’s thumb and into the Wilderness. There the Lord made a covenant, an agreement with them. They would be his people and worship only him. The Lord then led this new people into Canaan, the Promised Land, where they settled down and lived.

But they didn’t live happily ever after. You see, there were already people living there and these people worshipped different gods. Now we, as good and open minded Americans, might not think that this would be a problem. We live in a society where people worship all kinds of things and we agree to live and let live. But the people who lived in Canaan worshiped a god called Baal. They worshiped him by celebrating, um, “fertility rites” with priestesses in his temple and by giving him their firstborn children to be burned to death. And from the moment the Israelites first entered the land they had trouble refraining from worshiping Baal and turning their backs on the Lord who had done so much for them.

As we read the stories we might be tempted to say to ourselves, “How could they have been so unfaithful to God? Look at all the things the Lord had done for them! I would never have done what those Israelites did.” But that’s easy to say. When everyone else lives and thinks in a certain way, is it easy for you to be the only one who is different? When you went to that new school and everybody believed that you could not be cool unless you were sleeping with your girlfriend, was it easy for you to be different? When you transferred to that new company was it easy for you to criticize management policies you felt to be wrong? It’s easier to do what everyone else is doing, isn’t it? Well, Baal was the god you worshipped if you wanted to be a farmer in Canaan. If you wanted rain on your crops and your livestock to multiply you “worshipped” with the priestesses in the fertility temple. If you wanted lots of children to help you on the farm and to ensure you were taken care of when you were old, you gave the first one back to Baal to show you trusted him to give you lots more. It’s just what everyone did.

To make matters worse, the Israelites were not getting good leadership. Good King David, who had worshipped only the Lord, was long since dead. Semi-good King Solomon who had built the Temple in Jerusalem was dead. The later kings began to worship Baal. In our story the present king is a man named Ahab and he’s not worth much. His wife is named Jezebel and she is a devout Baal worshipper. The prophets of Baal are her favorite subjects. They eat at her table which is a mark of privilege. In fact, Jezebel is so devoted to Baal that she has begun killing off the people who worship the Lord. She has murdered most of the Lord’s prophets. The only one left of any consequence is a man named Elijah.

King Ahab and Queen Jezebel are not very happy with Elijah as our story opens because for the past three years there has been no rain in Israel. Through Elijah, the Lord has said there would be a drought. God’s thinking was that a drought should prove to people that it’s not Baal who gives the rain that provides their food – it’s the Lord. But after three years it hasn’t worked. The people continue to worship Baal and King Ahab is put out with Elijah who he thinks is a rabble-rouser and an all around pain in the neck. Now, as our story begins God tells Elijah to meet with Ahab and tell him that even though nothing has changed, the Lord is going to send rain. But Elijah is less patient than God and decides to make King Ahab and the Israelites choose once and for all between Baal and the Lord. Listen now to the Word of God.

(Read 1 Kings 18: 17-40)

My favorite part of that story is when the prophets of Baal are jumping around the altar, trying to get Baal to light the fire and Elijah is making fun of them. “Woo! Shout a little louder, guys! I don’t think Baal can hear you! Maybe he fell asleep or maybe he had to go to the bathroom! Maybe he wandered off and got lost! I hear that happens to him sometimes! Ha ha!” I guess Elijah could be a little obnoxious from time to time but the taunting reminds us of something very important. This is not a contest between Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal. It is a contest between Baal and the Lord God of Israel. Which god sends the rain? Which god controls this world? Which god really has the power to help and protect us? Which god has the right to our loyalty and our worship? The contest, Elijah thought, would settle things once and for all.

Now you might say that while this has been a very interesting lesson in ancient history, what does it have to do with you? Obviously, you are not going to start worshipping an ancient Canaanite god, right? Well, actually very little has changed. It would be a difficult thing to prove by looking around us that the Lord won that contest. There is still a struggle going on for the souls of God’s people and the Baals of our world often seem to have the upper hand. The ancient god Baal was a prosperity god that demanded his followers demean themselves if they wanted to survive and get ahead. We are constantly pressured to demean ourselves and others – to see ourselves as less than what we were created to be: You are a productive worker to be used and discarded when you are no longer needed. Ever felt like that? You are a consumer to be manipulated and squeezed dry. How about that one? And what about other people? If you want to get ahead and survive, how are we pressured to treat other people? They are competitors, markets, labor pools. What god do we worship?

Baal was a god who demanded the deaths of his worshippers’ children. The average child in this nation sees something like 100,000 acts of murder on television before she is eight years old. Girls are conditioned to value themselves only if they fit a certain scrawny hollow-cheeked beauty. Who cares about their souls, their spirits, their hearts? Which god do we worship?
And just like in ancient Israel, our leaders are not much good. I’m not even going to talk about our politicians. They often seem to belong to whoever gives them the most money. What about television executives? What about the people who are responsible for the fact that children’s shows average more acts of violence in any given half-hour than any other kind of program? When questioned about the content of the shows and asked if they thought it had an effect on kids, television executives regularly say that watching things on television does not affect people’s behavior. Who really believes that? Then why do advertisers spend billions of dollars every year in commercials which are designed to do one thing – change your behavior. Buy my product. The leaders in our society seem to worship the great Baal of I’ve-got-mine-who-cares-how-many-children-I’ve-got-to-throw-on-the-fire-to-get-it. Who won that contest on Mount Carmel 3000 years ago? It’s hard to tell.

We can go on and on about how this culture does not worship the God of Scripture but let’s get down to brass tacks. Worshipping Baal meant people no longer gave their full allegiance to the Lord. Their loyalty was divided. Elijah said that the people hobbled between two different opinions. What keeps you from fully committing yourself to the Lord, wholly and fully? Whatever it is, that is your Baal. Each and every day there is a struggle for your soul. Who is God of your life?

What does it take for God to finally prove himself to us so that we will full accept and commit ourselves to him? “Well,” we say, “it would be nice if God would do what he did for Elijah and work some nice obvious miracles on demand. If God would make fire fall from the sky or just appear and speak in plain English to us rather than make us operate on faith, then we could accept him and do whatever he wanted. Give us a clear proof – a miracle captured on camera – then we would believe.” Well, maybe. But then again maybe not. God worked a miracle in this story in front of King Ahab and all the people of Israel. Did that work? Did Ahab suddenly become a good king and follow the Lord? Nope. The people of Israel, having seen once and for all that the Lord had the power to save them and Baal did not, did they stop worshipping Baal. Nope. As the story continues, Ahab goes right on being a rat most of the time and the people go back to their idols. The miracle didn’t bring faith.

Have you ever noticed that in the New Testament Jesus always refuses to show forth the power of God for those who have no faith? Those he heals and helps always believe in him first. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “if you don’t believe, no supernatural sound and light show is going to change things.” If you were healed after someone prayed for you, you would say it was coincidence. If you asked God to avert a great tragedy, later you would say it probably wouldn’t have happened anyway. If you don’t want to believe then it probably wouldn’t matter if Jesus in all his glory were to meet with you face to face and tell you all the secrets of the universe. You could just say you had hallucinated the whole thing.

Elijah tried to force people to believe and worship by getting God to prove himself to them. It didn’t work and Elijah should have known better. The people should have needed any proof. The great long story of their lives and all their history was full of God’s loving care – as they were rescued from Egypt, as they were brought to the Promised Land, as again and again they were rescued and taken care of and led. They should have known who to give their hearts to. No further proof should have been necessary for them. Or for us. God has loved us and provided for each of us since before we were born, shown us forgiveness and love through his Son Jesus.

It really was no contest at all, that duel on Mount Carmel. We are not called to choose between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. It wasn’t even a choice between the Lord God of Israel and the god Baal. Baal wasn’t a real god. Neither are all the little Baals in our hearts. The choice for us is between worshipping the Lord God and emptiness in this life. Choose the God who loves you.

Amen

Undead Cause Traffic Jams in Austin

Fox News reports that some hackers have had some fun with the road signs in Austin. Or maybe they really have risen and now we know where.

via The Reformed Pastor

The Power of Prayer....to Burn Stuff Down

Here's a story that's floating around the internet. I don't know if it's true or not but it's in keeping with the current theme of prayer.

In a small Texas town, (Mt. Vernon) Drummond’s bar began construction on a new building to increase their business. The local Baptist church started a campaign to block the bar from opening with petitions and prayers. Work progressed right up till the week before opening when lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground.

The church folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church was ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, either through direct or indirect actions or means. The church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection to the building’s demise in its reply to the court.

As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork. At the hearing he commented, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to decide this, but as it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that does not.'

A Step by Step Guide to Praying using the Lord's Prayer as a Format

Here is something I put together and handed out on Sunday morning as a part of the sermon. The sermon posted below explains it (sort of). The format isn't pretty but it still might be helpful. Questions are always welcome.

Daily Prayer Using the Lord’s Prayer as a Model

1. “Our Father Who Art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name……..”
Praising and Thanking God

a. Name or write down some things you are thankful for – be specific
b. Sing a hymn or a praise song
c. Do something special for God to say “thank you.”

2. “Thy Kingdom Come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Intercession – Praying for others and our world

a. Keep a list of people and situations you are praying for
b. Date when you begin praying for each need
c. Date when you receive an answer to the prayer
d. Several lists may be used : – family, business colleagues, friends, community issues, church, wider world issues

3. “Give us this day our daily bread….”
Petition – Prayers for ourselves

a. Keep a dated list
b. Several lists might be used – finances, relationships, tasks for the coming day
c. Date when you receive the answer to your prayer

4. “ And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors…..”
Forgiveness - of others and ourselves

a. Name people who have wronged you and ask for God to bless them – be specific and concrete in your blessing (pray for their marriage, their health, their family, their faith)
b. Ask for the healing of the wounds that have been caused
c. Keep at it over time until you feel a sense of release – forgiveness is a process
d. Ask for God’s forgiveness for your sins and help to turn away from them.

5. “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil”
Prayers for Protection -

a. Name some of the things that threaten your faith and ask for God’s help
b. Lift up any worries or anxieties you have

Teach Us to Pray

“Teach Us to Pray”
Based on Matthew 6: 9-13
Preached at lifepath church on January 25, 2009

You can see by the title in your bulletin that this sermon is going to have something to do with prayer. Perhaps that interests you greatly and you are sitting on the edge of your seat. Perhaps the thought of a message on prayer makes you sigh and grit your teeth, steeling yourself to endure a half hour of boredom. The subject of prayer produces a lot of mixed feelings in us. That’s because prayer is full of paradoxes. It is the easiest thing in the world to do – prayer is simply talking to the God who is all around us - but it is also seems strangely complicated and we often feel like we’re not doing it right. And very few of us would admit to being much good at it. Prayer taps into the most powerful Force there is and sometimes when we pray mountains are moved; and yet our prayers often feel weak and ineffective. Prayer can be the most uplifting of experiences, filling us with a peace that passes understanding and a sense of fulfillment and yet our mind often wanders while we’re doing it, don’t they? Prayer is at the heart of our most important relationship but we often find ourselves making excuses to avoid it. When you stop to think about it, prayer is simple and complicated, easy and difficult, powerful yet expressed in weakness, deeply fulfilling yet often a labor. Prayer is full of paradox.
And while we know we should pray, we really feel like we need a bit of help if we’re going to do it. Many of us struggle to set aside time to pray. When we pray it feels shapeless and unfocused. We’re not really sure what we’re supposed to do. What are my prayers supposed to look like? We’re not sure how to begin and we’re not sure when we’re done. Often we’re not sure if we’re praying the right way. Am I supposed to do it this way? Am I missing something? The first disciples of Jesus were just like us. The Gospel of Luke tells the story in chapter 11, “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples’” (Luke 11: 1). Hey, Jesus, we really could use some practical instructions when it comes to prayer. Jesus then proceeded to teach them what Protestants call “the Lord’s Prayer.” If you grew up Catholic, you know it as the “Our Father.” It’s the prayer we recite each week in church, “Our Father, who art in heaven…...” And while it is a good exercise to say it together as a fellowship, another way to use it is as a structure – an outline – for all our prayers. And if we want to know better how to pray, it’s worth looking at.

So what we’re going to do is go through the Lord’s Prayer – we’re going to travel fast and light and get through the prayer in its entirety. We could devote a whole sermon to each little portion of the prayer. But this morning we are going to focus on doing something very simple and very practical: we’re going to use the Lord’s Prayer to create an outline for how you do your prayers each day. So if it feels like I’ve rushed through a section of the prayer that you’d like to have spent more time discussing, shoot me an email and send me your question. But by the end of the sermon you should have a practical step by step process to structure your daily prayer time.

I’m going to ask the ushers to pass out something that you can take home with you to use as a step by step guide.I *(I'm posting this on the blog as well)

Let’s turn to Matthew. There are two versions of the Lord’s Prayer, one in Luke and one in Matthew. We’ll look at Matthew because it’s closer to the one we recite each Sunday. Also, I’m going to read from a different translation than I normally do. The New Revised Standard Version uses language that is a bit closer to what we recite while still being modern English. I’ll read the whole thing and then we’ll go back and look at it verse by verse. Listen now to the word of God. (Read Matthew 6: 9-13 NRSV)

“Our Father in heaven…..” (verse 9). Knowing what to call God and how he wishes to be addressed is both important and controversial. Calling God “Father” is natural to some people and very difficult to others. Our view of God is often shaped by how good a father our dad was. Some people had earthly fathers who were harsh or uncaring or weren’t there at all and so the image of a father may be more emotionally tricky for them. A couple of quick words. Don’t measure God’s fatherhood by the frailties of earthly fathers. There is an interesting line in the prophecy of Malachi which talks about a coming prophet of God whose mission will be to “turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children” (Malachi 4: 6 NLT). Why would such a mission be necessary? Because as earthly fathers, our hearts naturally incline away from our children to other things. God’s desire is to turn our hearts back to our children. Why? Why is that his desire? Because his heart is always turned toward his children. He is constantly bending his love toward his children. And who is a child of God? What does the Bible say? “But to all who believed (Jesus) and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1: 12 NLT). The reason why we can approach God in prayer is because our faith and acceptance of his Son makes us brothers and sisters of Jesus. When Jesus instructs us to pray to God as “Father,” he’s saying to his followers, “Because you have placed your faith in me, you are now full members of my family. God is not abstract and unknown to me. He is my Father. My Heavenly Father is now your Father as well. You are accepted and welcome. My Father’s heart is always turned toward his children.” When you pray you don’t have to call God “Father” every time but it’s a great reminder that now we are a part of the family. And God loves his kids.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6: 9 NRSV). Hallowed be thy name. Hallowed is an old word for holy. If we were to put this line into simple language it might sound something like, “God, may you be treated according to your true worth. May you be honored and loved and respected and thanked because of who you are and what you do.” Before we know God very well our prayers usually consist of asking for things. Asking for things is good and we’ll talk about it in a moment, but as we begin to know God better we sense that prayer should be more than me asking for things. Jesus says the first component of prayer is to honor God - to praise him and thank him for who he is and what he has done. Starting off your prayer by saying thank you is a spiritually healthy thing. Whether you are thanking him for the beauty of the day or perhaps thanking him for answering a prayer you said yesterday. Saying thank you lifts us up and out of ourselves. Saying thank you takes our focus off our own problems and helps to focus on the Solution. There’s a promise in the Bible that says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand…..” (Philippians 4: 6-7 NLT). Do you hear the promise there? Make praising and giving thanks a part of your prayer time and you will experience the peace of God. Praise is the first element of prayer. I’ve given you some suggestions for how to do that in the little handout. I find singing to be the best way for me. I sing quietly – off key – sometimes I use a song I learned in church. Sometimes I just kind of make up the words. You may not be that dorky. There really are a million ways to praise him.

We’re traveling fast and light. Let’s move to the next line of the Lord’s Prayer. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6: 10 NRSV). God has a plan for this world. He is bringing his kingdom into it. That’s why Jesus came. His death and resurrection began to establish the kingdom of God. The Bible says the future the kingdom is consummated and fully realized. But the present time is a time of already and not yet. The kingdom has begun to arrive but it’s not fully here. The Lord is King but not everyone recognizes his authority. In the meantime those who are loyal to the king serve him and carry out his orders and his work. We are the King’s people. And one of the things he has told us to do is pray. We pray for others. We pray for the sick. We pray for peace. We pray for God’s purposes to be carried out – his will to be done. We wonder what good prayer does. Doesn’t God already know what needs to happen? Wouldn’t he do it anyway? Why does he need to talk to him about stuff that he needs to be doing? Think about it this way. Why does God ask us to do anything? He could do everything himself. Yet he tells us to care for each other and help each other. And we do. We feed the hungry. We buy school supplies for disadvantaged kids. We help people in need. And when we do something good, we realize God did it those things through us. Yes, God could do all things alone, but a part of God’s love for us is that he gives us the dignity of sharing in his good work. Prayer is not much different. We are not just physical creatures. We are spiritual creatures. Prayer is sharing in the spiritual work of God’s kingdom. When we pray for others God works through those prayers just as much as when we take someone a hot meal, God uses that action.

There’s a ton of other stuff I could say about the nature of prayer but we’re moving quickly and I want to convey to you how important our prayers for others are. You see in the little outline I gave you some suggestions for how to pray. I keep a prayer journal. It’s nothing elaborate. It’s just a three ring binder with a section for each part of the Lord’s Prayer. There’s a section where I write down things I’m thankful for. Maybe you don’t need to do that. But I would encourage you to keep a prayer list. You can keep the list in your daily planner, or on your laptop, whatever works. Have it handy so that when you pray you have the list. What goes on the list? I just write the date, the name of the person and a word or two about their need. Each day I use it to make sure I haven’t missed anyone. I keep a list for my family, one for church members and issues, and one for the wider world. I usually keep my prayer for each need quite short. And then when the prayer is answered, I put the date on which it was answered and draw a line through it. There’s nothing that gives encouragement like seeing a list of answered prayers.

What’s next in the Lord’s Prayer. “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6: 11 NRSV). Ah, finally we get to what we normally think of when we think of prayer: God I need some help! You could keep a list of these things too - or several lists for several areas of your life. Or if you’re someone who has your day planned out, you could go through your day and ask for God’s blessing on each component of your day. The point is that there is nothing wrong with asking God for very practical help. God help me deal with this client. God help me get my kids out to the bus stop without losing my mind. Don’t be afraid to ask God to help you with little things. Daily bread isn’t a big thing. But it’s a pretty important thing. We learn to trust him by walking with him through our day. And our days are filled mostly with little things. By helping us with little things, God helps grow our faith so that we can trust him with big things. Give us this day our daily bread.

Moving fast and traveling light: “And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6: 12 NRSV). This is one part of the Lord’s Prayer that people memorize differently depending on which church they go to. Some churches say “forgive us our trespasses…” Both are fine because both are using slightly different language to say, “ask God’s forgiveness for the things we do wrong and forgive others for the wrong they’ve done to us. In the Matthew version of the Lord’s Prayer the Greek word really is best translated as debt. The idea is that when someone sins against us, they incur a debt, which is why we talk about “getting even.” But be that as it may. The main point is that Jesus says a huge component of our prayer should be asking for and offering forgiveness. I used to wonder why God made our forgiving others so important. Right after he gives the Lord’s Prayer he says, “If you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6: 15 NLT). But the Kingdom of God is all about forgiveness. God is reconciling the world to himself. If we want to participate in the kingdom we have to participate in what the kingdom is all about – forgiveness. You can’t bring your hate and bitterness into heaven with you. It wouldn’t be much of a heaven if you could, would it? But enough of the why of it. Let’s have a little how. I have a section in my prayer journal where I write down the people who have wronged me or wounded me. And pray for those people. I try to make the prayers specific if I know of specific needs. Bless their marriage. Give relief them from their arthritis. Things like that. I don’t always enjoy that part of it. I don’t always “feel” forgiving. But I tell God that I release the debt. I forgive the debt that person owes me. I also spend some time asking for forgiveness for the wrongs I’ve done. I don’t always like listing those either. But putting the two together sometimes makes it easier for me to forgive others. Because I’m not so perfect myself.

And finally we see, “And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one” (Matthew 6: 13 NRSV). This is the only part of the NRSV that really sounds different from the one we recite – “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” But the basic point is this. There are a lot of things in this universe which are bigger and more powerful than we are and many of them threaten us spiritually or emotionally or physically. If you get to the end of your prayers and there is still something you are anxious about. Lift it up and ask for God’s protection. I love the line in the Bible that says, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5: 7)

So there you have a simple structure for how you can have a rich and full prayer life. If you go quickly through this you can do it in 15 or 20 minutes. Of course you can spend quite a while with it too. I realize that there are lots of paradoxes and mysteries about prayer we didn’t talk about. And I’d be happy to get a few emails with questions. But the best way to learn about prayer is not to talk about it. It’s to do it.

Amen