“Faith Like Never Before”

Meditation on Luke 7:1-10

June 2, 2013

***

      After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.’ 

    And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ 

    When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.’ 

    When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

***

      In a few hours, another class of seniors will graduate from RCW.  Ebenezer is excited and proud that four of the new graduates are members of our congregation—children who were baptized here and nurtured in our church family since they were small.  They attended our Sunday school.  They were confirmed here.   And just a few weeks ago, the elders gathered to pray a blessing over them during worship.  We prayed that the Spirit would continually guide and protect them as they seek God’s Will for their lives.

    But what we really want for our young people, nurtured in the Lord since birth, is that they would have what researchers at the Fuller Youth Institute call a “sticky faith.” 

       A recent article in The Christian Century magazine tells how the institute conducted a comprehensive study of teens and faith from 2004 to 2010.  The findings are published in a 2011 book, Sticky Faith: Practical Ideas to Nurture Long-Term Faith in Teenagers by Kara E. Powell, Brad M. Griffin, and Cheryl A. Crawford.

       The authors define “sticky faith” as one that is part of a student’s inner thoughts and emotions and is also externalized in choices and actions that reflect this faith commitment. It celebrates God’s specific care for each person in the global and local community of the church and shows marks of spiritual maturity but is also in the process of growth.

      Why bother to do such a study?  Because 40 to 50% of kids involved in youth group in high school fail to stick with their faith by the time they are in college—or as young adults, if they do not go on to college.   That’s about half of our kids in churches today who fall away from the Lord!

       This news makes the hearts of Christians everywhere sink to a new low.  Because it is not like we haven’t talked about this problem before.  We have been talking about young people’s declining church attendance since the 1980s!  And it is not that we haven’t tried to keep them in church—and in the faith.  But we have still failed.     

       Jen Bradbury, the youth minister who wrote the article on sticky faith for The Christian Century, speaks of the failed efforts of churches and youth leaders, in spite of their good intentions. Some churches have sought to attract children and youth by offering programs that are more entertaining, sometimes at the expense of Bible learning and prayer. Some leaders have made the mistake of assuming teens already know the Bible and they worry about boring the kids with the stories of Jesus. They have focused on teaching the Christian lifestyle and group activities and outings, rather than staying centered and focused on Christ Himself and seeking to draw the youth nearer to Him.

     “In scripture,” Jen writes, “teens discover that Jesus’ message is neither fire and brimstone nor the string of never-ending niceties that they expect. By examining Jesus’ relationship with his disciples, they realize he wants more than their happiness and demands more than their half-hearted allegiance.  He wants their very lives, something that appeals greatly to a generation looking for a leader worth following and a cause worth committing their lives to.”   

      Jen suggests that instead of the usual ratio of one adult leader to every five students, it’s better to aim for connecting every teen with five or more adults who are willing to invest in the teen in some way.  Research shows that teens connected to five or more adults in the church from the ages of 15 to 18 are less likely to leave the church after high school.

    They are more likely to have a sticky faith!

***    

     In our Luke reading today, a centurion, a commander of a hundred troops, seeks out Jesus, sending some Jewish elders to ask Jesus to come and heal his slave.

     This account is surprising on many levels.  One, a centurion is not a Jew; he is an uncircumcised Gentile who has become a believer in the God of Israel.  He has earned the trust and respect of the Jewish elders because of his faith that led him to pay for the construction of a synagogue for his community.

     And two, it is surprising that the centurion, a wealthy man, cares so much about a slave that he seeks a miraculous healing for him—and that the Jewish elders are willing to comply with his request!  Slaves were property.  They were rarely “highly valued” and never loved like your family or friends. The biblical writer, in not telling us the name or even gender of the slave, emphasizes the almost unbelievable truth that the one for whom healing is sought is a mere slave! 

    And three, this centurion, who is obviously rich, powerful, and respected in his community by Jew and Gentile alike, is so humble that he believes he is not worthy enough for Jesus to come to his home, though the centurion likely had a beautiful home, with many servants, and Jesus had few earthly possessions and did not have a home at all.

      And four, this centurion believes that Jesus needs only to say the word and his slave will be healed. Jesus is amazed when he hears this. This man who was not born into the faith better understood the power, love, mercy, and compassion of God than those who had been born Jewish and raised in the synagogue. 

     “I tell you,” Jesus says, “not even in Israel have I found such faith!”

    ***

       God’s Word today, as it often does, leads us to question our own faith as individuals and as a church.

       Friends, is our faith sticky enough? Will it remain unshaken despite any trials that may lie ahead?

       Like the centurion, we must believe in the power, love, mercy, and compassion of God. Didn’t God love the world so much that He gave His only Son—so all who would believe on Him would not perish but have everlasting life? God loves the children of this community more than we do!  He most certainly wants them to be healed and saved. 

        Brothers and sisters, keep on reaching out to the youth! That smile or hug you give them or little note or package of cookies you send them when they are away at school or in the military means more than you can know.  Don’t be discouraged when you hear about young people’s declining church attendance. That was yesterday.

       Today is a new day—for the youth and for the Church!

       Keep your eyes and your lives centered on Christ! Come to Jesus and you will find peace.

       Pray for the children and the Church. 

       Pray believing in the God of miracles who cared enough about a dying slave to make them well again.

       Pray we will all have faith like never before!

Let us pray.

Lord God, we thank you for your love, mercy, and compassion for sinners like us.  We thank you for Jesus, who draws us ever nearer to Him and desires a personal relationship with us. Forgive us for having too little faith and for becoming discouraged when we don’t see the immediate fruits of our labors or hear an immediate answer to our prayers.  Give us faith like the centurion who believed Christ for the healing of his slave.

Lord, help us to reach out and connect with the young people in our community. Lead us to share the gospel with our lives. Open our hearts to love you and one another more.  Strengthen us by your Spirit so we are quick to obey when you reveal your Will. Keep our eyes and our lives centered on Your Son, in whose name we pray.  Amen.  

“Suffering Produces Hope”

Meditation on Romans 5:1-5

May 26, 2013

***

       “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5:1-5)

***

      Just two weeks ago was Mother’s Day.  For the children’s sermon that Sunday, I called the kids forward with their mothers and grandmothers. I asked them what presents they had given their mothers.   Some said flowers.  One said pajamas. Another said he gave his mom an air freshener for her car!  That was Ami!  Others said they had given their moms cards—some they had made themselves.

       I told the children about my son, Josh, stationed overseas in the Air Force. How he sent me a note saying he wasn’t going to forget Mother’s Day.  That I should expect something exotic, like fish paste, which apparently is popular in Korea!  I told him no presents were necessary!  Just send me a nice card.

       Then I asked the children what 3 little words did their mothers want to read in their cards. They quickly answered, “I love you!”

       That night, I thought about Josh.  I hadn’t heard from him on Mother’s Day, after all. No card.  No present. But like every other mother with a son or daughter serving in the military, I just wanted to know he was safe. I prayed and thanked God, once again, for restoring my family to wholeness last November.

    When Josh left for Basic Training in 2008, he was angry at Jim and me. He cut off all communication with us. For the next several years, I sent him cards and notes.  Gifts for his birthday and Christmas.  He never responded.  He was corresponding with his brother, Jacob, so I knew he was having a hard time in Basic Training.  Harder than he thought it would be.  And with all the hurts that he had carried with him into the military, something hard would be even more difficult to bear.

     Many nights I worried about him and cried over him. I had nightmares that something bad would happen to Josh—before we had been reconciled. In every card I sent, I made sure to tell him that I loved him. But after 3 or 4 years, without any response, I stopped sending cards and gifts.  It was just too painful anymore.

     Then, last November, Josh called me.  He asked to come and stay with us at Thanksgiving. The Spirit had been working in us throughout all the years of suffering. Our hearts were ready to forgive and be reconciled. We had a joyful reunion for one week. And then we said “goodbye” with heavy hearts as he left for his yearlong tour of duty in Korea. 

      I experienced more suffering after that—the pain of missing him, now that we were finally reconciled! But the suffering I had experienced after he left for Basic Training had made me stronger. I was determined that instead of worrying about him as he served his country overseas, I would pray for him. God had been faithful to us!  We could trust the Lord to continue to be faithful to do His loving, healing work.

     The Spirit moved our hearts from suffering to hope.  Now I look forward in faith to when—not if—we will be together as a family again!

      ***

       In our Epistle reading today, Paul speaks of our access to God’s grace. He uses the legal term, “justified.”  Because of Jesus, we are no longer condemned to the punishment that our sin deserves—death!  Through Christ, God has restored us to a loving relationship with Him, as if Adam and Eve had never eaten the forbidden fruit. As if we had never sinned at all!

     But being justified doesn’t mean the work of our spiritual transformation is over. It’s just the beginning.  Throughout our lives of faith, we are engaged in the painful work of suffering.  In this pain that all Christians experience, we share in the glory of Him who suffered beyond all our imagining, being stripped, beaten, humiliated, and hung on the cross to die a cruel death in our place.

    When Paul speaks of suffering, he uses the Greek word thlipsis. This means anything that puts undue pressure on us; the things that are thrown at us to steal our joy and make us doubt God’s love and providential care.  Thlipsis can refer to persecution, imprisonment, ridicule, poverty, hunger, sickness, great sorrow, anxiety, and depression. Through the work of suffering, Paul becomes stronger in his faith and less concerned with his situation.  He says he learns to be content, despite everything. He learns to endure, to be patient, in his suffering. His faith that God has made peace with us through Jesus Christ keeps Paul in perpetual peace.

       Suffering produces endurance or patience, which produces character. Suffering moves us to become the people God wants us to be! It equips us with the personal characteristics that allow us to be God’s humble servants and do things for Him we never thought we could do!

       Then character produces hope, a hope that does not disappoint!  What is hope but faith with joy attached? We look forward with joy to the sharing in Christ’s glory. A hope that does not disappoint is not a maybe thing.  Our glory in Him will certainly happen. We will be resurrected with Him!

       

 ***

     The days following Mother’s Day passed quickly. Then one day, a pink envelope arrived in the mail. A card from Josh!

      The front said, “Mom, being a guy and all, I don’t like long, gushy cards.  So let me say this in my own brief, manly way.” Inside, hearts danced around the simple, 4-word message, “I love you, Mommy!”

      The Spirit was using my children’s message from 2 weeks ago to remind me of His own love and faithfulness! God was reaffirming the Spirit’s work in my family.

      Then, as I prepared for the funeral Thursday, I received a mysterious package from Josh. The Spirit was speaking again—but this time, through the adult sermon from Mother’s Day.

     Does anyone remember what it was about? We are new creatures in Christ, being transformed from ugly caterpillars to beautiful butterflies.

     Josh had sent me a white ceramic, teakettle shaped, scented oil burner.  Painted on the outside are delicate pink flowers and one beautiful butterfly.  It was as if God were reminding me again that what was ugly and broken in our family has been healed.  The suffering has done its work!

       Friends, I know you have suffered, too.  Some of you are going through a time of great suffering right now. Let me assure you that the suffering has a good purpose—and that you and I are being changed into new creatures of enduring, patient hope—a hope that does not disappoint!

       God has been faithful to us! And we can trust Him to continue to be faithful to do His loving, healing work in us, our families, and our lives. His grace has redeemed us! His love has been poured into our hearts! And Josh and I –and all of you—are becoming the people God wants us to be!

Let us pray.

 Holy God, thank you for giving us your Son so we could be forgiven for all our sins and restored to a loving relationship with you!  Thank you for pouring your love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, so that we would be able to walk in Christ’s loving ways.  Help us to endure the suffering that is ahead with faith and joy.  May we be now and forever a people of hope—a hope that will not disappoint. Prepare our hearts, minds, and lives so we are ready for when your Son returns for us, His Church—and our transformation into His likeness will be complete.  In Him we pray. Amen. 

Meditation for the Funeral for Ina Raske

If you'd like to read Pastor Karen's meditation the full text is here.  If you'd like to hear her preach it, click on this audio link:
https://www.box.com/s/28nlnp3029lb5ymoq5v5

May 23, 2013

***

     ⁴ And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Jesus from every city, He spoke by a parable: 

     ⁵ “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶ Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. ⁸ But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” 

       When Jesus had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

      ⁹ Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”

       ¹⁰ And Jesus said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that

‘Seeing they may not see,
And hearing they may not understand.

      ¹¹ “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. ¹² Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. ¹³ But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. ¹⁴ Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 

      ¹⁵ But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.   (Luke 8: 4-15)

***

       I met Ina when she and her daughter, Cathie, came to worship one Sunday afternoon in the chapel at RenVilla, the nursing home in Renville. Ina moved there in January from Granite after a stroke greatly weakened her.  She was a widow; her husband, Ralph, died in 2007, after they moved from Renville to Alexandria to be closer to their son Kevin, and daughter-in-law, Marilyn.

       When they lived in Renville, Ina had worked in the laundry at the nursing home for 36 years.  So in a way, moving into RenVilla in January was like coming home. Many folks knew her. Some were related or their kids had gone to school with hers. She had enjoyed her job and walked or rode her 3-wheeled bike to work each day, unless someone offered her a lift. She never had a driver’s license.

     As a little girl, she dreamed about having a career in music. She could play piano by ear. But it was only a dream, she wrote in a memory book for her granddaughter Shannon. She was content. Nothing was more important to her than her family and her faith.         

      Not ashamed of the gospel, she sought to bring her faith into every conversation in order to help someone else. She read her Bible daily. She was also a prayer warrior, glad to pray for anyone who requested it, and praying with her own children before meals and at bedtime when they were small.

      If she “still blew out candles” on her birthday, she told Shannon, she “would wish for peace and happiness for her family always,” and for her children, “God’s protection and wisdom to choose a good life.”

***

       At this time of year, especially, the parable of the sower is a vivid and dramatic illustration for us as farmers and home gardeners plant seeds and then watch and wait, praying for deep roots and abundant growth and fruit. 

      So many things can go wrong when one plants seeds! We can have too much rain.  Or not enough. It can be too hot. Or too cold!  And then there’s the never-ending battle with insects and weeds.

      What strikes me, when I consider this familiar passage in Luke, is how difficult it is to be a faithful Christian one’s whole life—given the example of the sower and all the things that can go wrong, things that may prevent the seed, the Word of God, from taking root in one’s heart. And how so often the seed lacks the right conditions to grow, mature, and bear good fruit—the evidence of one’s faith and devotion to Him.  

       Jesus says in Luke that some people hear the Word, but the devil steals it away, before it can take root in their hearts. Others hear the Word, and feel joy, but their faith is shallow and short-lived.  The hearer gives in to temptation and falls away. Still others hear the Word and believe!  But the seed doesn’t put down deep, strong roots. It cannot withstand the challenges and cares of this world. Or the would-be believers abandon their faith for the pursuit of riches and the pleasures of this world!

     Scripture teaches us not that we are saved by our good fruits or good works; rather, if we believe in Christ for our salvation, if we love Him with all of our being, then others will know our heart-felt faith by the good fruits we bear.  It is a warning to those who might be tempted to get too comfortable in this world and feel that they have “arrived” at their salvation in Jesus Christ, and there is nothing more “to do.” We must seek to strengthen and live out our faith wholeheartedly every day—searching the Word for His Will and to be nurtured, fed, and led, by the Holy Spirit through prayer.

      If we were to look for an example of one upon whom the seeds of faith had fallen at an early age, sprouted, put down deep roots and grew to maturity, we needn’t look any further than Ina, our faithful sister in the Lord.  She was the “good ground,” as Jesus describes—someone who hears the Word of God with a noble and good heart, keeps His Word, and bears fruit with patience.

       Let me share part of a letter that Ina wrote in her granddaughter’s memory book.  While it is written for Shannon, I think you will find that her message is meaningful to us all.  And whenever you are tempted to get too comfortable in this world or be distracted by its cares or pleasures, think of Ina, the prayer warrior, who sought to bring her faith into every conversation in order to help someone else.

         Ina writes,

         “When I was a little girl, I never realized how poor we were.  My mother always had a big garden, (and) canned for the winter.  My house was cold, but so were a lot of houses.  There was no medicine for tonsillitis, but we survived. I loved getting hand me downs. After things got better, after the depression, we went to war.  We were used to going without so we didn’t mind no cars, gas, coffee, (or) meat… and sharing our home with someone who did not have a room to live in.  Your concerns are different, but if you have faith in God, who understands all our problems, I know you, too, will survive.  Wait on the Lord and He will give you strength to fly like that eagle. God bless you!”

Let us pray.

   Lord God, thank you for your Word, the seed of faith you have given us today.  With your Spirit’s help, nourishment and protection, may the seed put down deep roots, grow, mature and bear good fruit in all of us.  Forgive us if we have been too comfortable, at times, with this world.  Remind us to nurture and feed our faith by reading your Word and through prayer.  Give us such passion for the gospel that we seek to bring our faith into every conversation to help someone else.  Thank you for the example of Ina and so many other Christians with good and noble hearts; who keep your Word; demonstrate patience, perseverance, and contentment in all things; and bear good fruit.  In Christ we pray. Amen.