Sunday, May 27, 2012

Acts 2:1-21; I Corinthians 12:1-13

Gracious God - bless now the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts. Breath your Spirit into us and grant that we may hear and in hearing be led in the way you want us to go. Amen. I heard a story the other day, an amusing story, about a boy who was wandering around the narthex of a cathedral church in Central one Sunday morning and stopped and examined a large bronze plaque that was hung on the wall. "What are all those names up there?" he asked one of the ushers. "Those are the names of people who died in the service." the usher replied. Curious, the boy asked the usher - "which service, the 9:00 service or the 11:45 service?" I am happy to report today that we are about, what we are celebrating, is a birth - not a death - the birth of the church - the birth of Christ in you and me - and in all who call on his name. It is a significant day - the day on which the first believers came alive in their faith, the day when the Rock upon which Christ planted his church began to support and uphold an incredible new life - a life that has existed since the world began, but which was poured out in a special fashion and took on flesh in you and me much as it took life in Jesus, the son of Mary, the son of God so long ago. Pentecost is an event that the world has long been promised and which the people of God have long awaited. Pentecost is the reversal of what occurred at the Tower of Babel when, because of our sinfulness, we became unable to understand one another. It is the gifting of God to make us one - and to make us one in the way he is one. Pentecost is our becoming Christ in the world. It is God taking on flesh - not only in the least of those to whom we give water to drink or clothes to wear; but taking on flesh in us. Praise be to God. God keeps all his promises. Pentecost gives us the eyes to see and the ears to hear. The eyes to see that God is in the details, that God is in the flesh - as well as in the Spirit. And the ears to hear him speaking in our hearts and upon the lips of others - in the rush of the wind. The eyes to see and the ears to hear - as one - and as unique persons valued and treasured so much by God that God comes to us as we are and makes us even more truly who we are when we are His. The story of the birth of the church, of that day some fifty days after the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus that Jews and Christians call Pentecost - tells us that this what God has done - and is yet doing. The followers of Jesus are given the ability to speak the languages of all those who are assembled in the city and beyond. God grants that we might understand one another and that we might understand the good news - in just the way we need to hear it. Much as God communicates to each one of us here today. We hear the gospel in our own language, in our images, with our own metaphors, with our own ears. Some today will be encouraged to spend more time in praise and wonder to thank God for blessings, others will hear that the power that they need for tomorrow's trials and tribulations will come, still others will take heart - knowing that God is present to them at all times. Whatever it is - it will be filled with God - and uniquely yours. Pentecost is the birth of the Church. It is God amongst us in power making us not simply a group of believers but Christ in the world , unafraid, empowered, bearing the cross out of love, and being raised from the Grave in glory. I began with a story - I would like to end with another. One that I pray that God will use in your life as you meditate upon it from time to time. It is a very simple, but true story about a man called Yates, but who could be you and me - and this congregation - or any of a thousand and one other congregations, a thousand and one other persons. The story is told of a man called Yates who, during the Great Depression, owned a sheep ranch in Texas. He did not have enough money to continue paying on the mortgage - in fact he was forced like many others to live on government subsidies. Each day as he tended his sheep he worried about how he was going to pay his bills. Sometime later a seismographic crew arrived on his land and said that their might be oil on his land and could they test drill. After a lease was signed they went ahead. At 1115 feet a huge oil reserve was struck - subsequent wells revealed even more oil than the first well revealed. Mr Yates owned it all. He had the oil and mineral rights. He had been living on relief - yet he was a millionaire. Think of it - he owned all of that oil with its tremendous potential, yet for many years he did not realize it. How often are we like Mr. Yate's? Considering ourselves poor and helpless all the while unaware of the extraordinary power that we have available to us - that which is lying just below the surface in our minds and our hearts. We here today are a Pentecost People. The Spirit has been and is being poured out upon us. The gift of God is just below the surface in our minds and hearts, and to the right and to the left of us - above us and below us, to the front and to the rear. Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and blessed be the church which his victory has won. Amen

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Acts 1:6-14; Psalm 68; 1 Peter 4:12-14,5:6-11; John 17:1-11

O Lord, we pray, speak in this place, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen. Last words are important words... In a court of law deathbed statements, even though they are unsworn and the person no longer present to validate them, are admissible as evidence. And in the arena of our lives what we last said to someone before they leave us, and in turn what they may have said to us, are very often the occasion of much joy and encouragement - and sometimes, unfortunately, of much regret and remorse. We normally take very seriously the last words that our loved ones have uttered to us; - we turn those words over in our minds, - we consider them carefully - we store them up in our hearts and ponder them - much as Mary stored up the words of the angel and of the shepherds and of the magi in her heart after her encounters with them. If the last words of a loved one to us are uttered in the form of a declaration, if they are uttered with any seriousness - in the knowledge that soon time and space will separate us, if they ask of us anything, we are inclined to do everything in our power to both remember those words and to do that which was asked of us. Last words are important words. Knowing that - today I want to consider with you the last words of Jesus. If you ask most people what the last words of Jesus were, chances are they might tell you that his last words were: "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do" - or perhaps - "Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit". When most people think of the last words that Jesus spoke here on earth we tend to think of those words that he spoke upon the cross - those words he spoke just before his death - and not of the words that he spoke to his disciples, and to all of the church, after his resurrection, on the day that he ascended into heaven. The last words that Jesus uttered while still on earth in physical form while still walking about in his resurrection body were these: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." You shall receive power, you shall be my witnesses... The story is told of a man who was called to the witness stand in a local court case. The lawyer was questioning the man about the events surrounding the crime... What time was it? Who were you with? Where were you going? The questions went on and on and finally the lawyer asked... "did you see the accused enter the store...?" "No". "Did you see a man with a gun enter the store... " "No." Becoming exasperated the lawyer shouted, "Well, please tell us what you did see..." "Nothing." "Nothing?" shouted the lawyer. "No. Nothing." said the man. "When I saw the man with the gun, I was afraid and I put my hands over my eyes..." In a court of law a witness is one who has seen the event in question and can tell the story. The court is not usually interested in the character or personal attributes of a witness. All the court wants to know is what the witness has seen and heard. We use the word witness in a two-fold sense. A witness both witnesses an event and then, when that witness tells someone about the event, he or she witnesses to others about the event. "You shall be my witnesses, in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." "You shall be my witnesses, in Jerusalem [right at the centre], and in Judea [out among the family in the hinterland], and Samaria [the land of our distant cousins], and to the ends of the earth." The Christian Gospels themselves are early Christian preachers' attempts to witness to what they have seen and heard. The Gospel, as a literary form, was unknown before Mark invented it. And as gospels, as attempts to witness to the person and life of Jesus Christ, they are not so much history, poetry, or fact - as they are stories. In the Gospel, we aren't just getting information and data about Jesus - we are hearing a story about Jesus and how his life touched the lives of the people around him. And as with any good story we find we are drawn into it, just by listening. Our lives become caught up in his life and his in ours... "You shall be my witnesses, in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Not... you may be... or you might be... "you shall be" "Look, I really like you, really like you. You make me feel feelings that few women have made me feel. Let's stop by my apartment," he said. "No, I really don't think we're ready for that. After all, we just met. We've got to spend a lot more time together before getting that close," she said. "Is there anything wrong? Have I said something wrong?" he asked. No, its just that I am not going to your apartment," she said. "Why?" "Well..." she said, without really thinking, "well, because I'm a Methodist." "What's that?" he asked. "Well, a Methodist is a kind of Christian," she said. "And what's that?" he asked. "A Christian? Well, its somebody who believes that some things are right and some things are wrong, that God has plans for each of us and we ought not violate God's plans," she said. And he, having never had anyone lately say "No", in a society in which everyone is encouraged to say "Yes"; having never met anyone with such self-possession and presence of mind; asked if he could go with her to the Methodist place called "church" sometime. And he did. Witnessing - telling others of our faith in God, need not be loud and boisterous to the point where it threatens and offends others... in fact, this is not witnessing at all - but proselytization... Witnessing is most often done through loving care and personal story telling, through the kind of thing that you do all the time... - A phone call when a friend loses a loved one... - a cup of coffee with a neighbour who is going through a difficult time... - a visit with a relative who is in a nursing home or hospital... And in the course of the visit, over that cup of coffee, you express your concern, you offer your prayers...you share the hope that you have found in God... As believers in Christ - as people baptized by water and by the Spirit we have the power, a power given to us by God above, to make a difference out there: to bring people to the knowledge and love of God through what we say and do in their presence, through the story we have to share - in love. "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." After Jesus had said this, he was taken up before there very eyes, and cloud hid them from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee", they said, "Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." Why do you stand looking into the sky? That same question might just as well be put to us...Why do we stand looking up to the heavens...Why do we consider so much those things over which we have no control - the times and seasons of Christ's return, the future of the world, the economic crisis? Why do we spend so much time among those who are already a part of the family of God when there are many to need to hear the story of God's love for the world when so many need the hope and the healing that we have found in Christ, when so many need not only a kind deed, but what has been revealed to us through Jesus Christ. Paul Harvey, the well known radio broadcaster, once said, "Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men but keepers of the aquarium." I take that to mean that we are more concerned about the Church than we are about touching the lives of other people, more concerned about preserving our "religion" than we are about helping people discover the source of wholeness, the fountain of living water that wells up to eternal life. "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Again I say, as believers in Christ, as people baptized by water and by the Spirit, we have the power - a power given to us by God above - to make a difference out there - to bring people to the knowledge and love of God through what we say and do in their presence. One final story, An artist, seeking to depict on canvas the meaning of evangelism, painted a storm at sea. Black clouds filled the sky. Illuminated by a flash of lightning, a little boat could be seen disintegrating under the pounding of the ocean. People were struggling in the swirling waters, their anguished faces crying out for help. The only glimmer of hope appeared in the foreground of the painting, where a large rock protruded out of the water. There, clutching desperately with both hands, was one lone seaman. It was a moving scene. Looking at the painting, one could see in the tempest a symbol of humankind's hopeless condition. And true to the Gospel, the only hope of salvation was "the Rock of Ages", a shelter in the time of storm. But as the artist reflected upon his work, he realized that the painting did not accurately portray his subject. So he discarded the canvas, and painted another. It was very similar to the first: the black clouds, the flashing lightning, the angry waters, the little boat crushed by the pounding waves, and the crew vainly struggling in the water. In the foreground the seaman was clutching the large rock for salvation. But the artist made one change: the survivor was holding on with only one hand, and with the other hand he was reaching down to pull up a drowning friend. That is the New Testament picture of witnessing - that hand reaching down to rescue the perishing. Until that hand is extended, there is no Gospel - and there is no hope for the world. Let us ponder seriously the last words of Christ, let us store them up in our hearts and let us go forth as witnesses to the faith - let us go forth and tell our story so that others might believe. Blessed be God, day by day, Amen

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Acts 10:44-48 Psalm 98 (UMH 818) 1 John 5:1-6 John 15:9-17

"Gracious God - bless now the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts. Breath your Spirit into us and grant that we may hear and in hearing be led in the way you want us to go. Amen. Some children are especially blessed. They are blessed by good and loving parents - by parents whose love is like that of God - by parents who, by the power of their love are spiritually present with their children at all times - parents who, even when physically absent, leave notes in lunch boxes, signs of love on fridges and blessings upon pillows so that their children may know that they are loved deeply. I know that when I was a child I really appreciated these things. But I also know that as a child I was occasionally grounded, restricted, and cut off from the fullness of the blessings my parents sought to pour out upon me. My parents still loved me when I was grounded, they still loved me deeply, but things did not go quite as well for me as they did when I was not grounded. And this kind of experience continues on into adult life - into all our relationship of love. We find that when our love is well expressed in consideration and in respect, in holy humility and in divine giving, that blessings flow abundantly, and we know fully the love we are supposed to know, we know the secret of the universe as it were; God is as completely revealed to us as he can be this side of heaven. But when we hold back, when we do not do all that love asks us to do, something goes missing inside us - we begin to ache and pain even though the love of our lover is still all around us, still calling out to us, still seeking for us the very best. What I am saying my friends is simply this: - there are spiritual laws at work in the universe - laws that God works with and which by his mercy operate at all times. Christ speaks of one of these laws or principles in today's Gospel reading, a reading which is part of that which is often called his last will and testament because it is the final teaching he gives to his disciples before he is crucified. As part of that testament he speaks of his final and ultimate gift to all who are a part of God's family - of his family - the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells the disciples the night of his betrayal that if they love him, they will keep his commandments. And he promises them his Spirit unconditionally - a Spirit that will advocate for them, and comfort them, and lead them, and watch over them. He promises them that the Spirit of God will live in them. Jesus also tells his disciples that not everyone will receive the spirit. He tells them that those in the world, those who love only themselves, those who sneer at holy things and scorn the law of God cannot receive the receive the Spirit because they do not know the Spirit, because they do not desire it. Jesus assures his disciples on the night of his betrayal that they will see him again - that because he lives and will continue to live so will they - and that they will know that he is in the Father and that they are in him and he is in them. Then he goes on to remind them of what he had said before "They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them." A promise and a reminder. The promise of his eternal and holy presence urging and supporting and comforting us no matter what. And the reminder that we will see and feel the full glory of that gift when we are in the right space - that space which is the righteous space, the loving space, God calls us to. Jesus gives us the gift of his eternal love and reminds us of how love works: of how while there is unconditional affection and care there is as well the hope that the love will be returned - so that we will know the fullness of the love we are receiving. Jesus reminds us that love needs to be returned - not just directly, in expressions of devotedness, but also indirectly, in actions whereby we pass on the love to others. Jesus makes us promises and he gives to us reminders, reminders that there are consequences to what we do, wonderful consequences and sometimes not so wonderful consequences. Reading past verse 21 of today's gospel reading we find the question asked of Jesus "Lord how is it that you will reveal yourself to us - and not to the world." Jesus answers "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." As adults we know that is what always happens when there is a deep and intimate relationship of love - people move in together, they live together and enjoy themselves together and work together and do many things together - and all of a sudden - because of this relationship there are both inlaws and outlaws to deal with. Consider the inlaws all the people around you who seek to do God's will. Consider the outlaws all those who couldn't care less about God or you. Jesus, as our lover, asks us to keep his commandments and to love all of them, both the inlaws and outlaws, as if they were him; he tells us that this is what the life he offers and shares with us is all about, he tells us that when we obey him we will truly see him and know him. The truth about life is revealed to us by the Spirit of truth that Jesus sends to us from the Father - and that truth is love - love expressed and shown to others in the way God shows love to us - a love expressed and shown according to the word sent to us by God from the beginning and incarnated in Christ Jesus our brother and our Lord. You can't go wrong by following Christ. You can only go right. The apostle Peter suggests to us in verse 15 of today's epistle reading that the secret of the spiritual life - of the life that gives life - of the life that is worth the living - is found in sanctifying in our hearts Jesus as Lord. This means pretty much the same as what Jesus meant when he said to the disciples "if you love me you will keep my commandments." To sanctify something means to make that thing holy - to make it special - to make it different - to make it wonderful - to dedicate it to the divine purpose - to dedicate it to the divine One - to allow the Spirit to transform it from one degree of glory to another. Sanctify, in your hearts, Christ as Lord. Don't just say I believe in and love Christ - show that love. Take the time each day to know him, to treat him as a friend, to talk to him and to make him special to yourselves. Treat his wishes as your deepest desire, his every suggestion and hint as your life giving law and your greatest yearning. To "Sanctify Christ in your heart as Lord" means... - it means to really hold on to him and to hold his word in your awareness, - it means to really listen and then to really do. It is all so simple a child can get it and do it, and so wonderful and so rich that it gifts all the years of our lives with awe and with power. All these things the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have told us so that we might have the fullness of God's blessings - that we may know the true glory of love and the eternal joy and strength that life in Him brings. God is with us - Christ is in us - the Spirit is all around us. Look and see - love and abide in him - be true and obey him as your Lord - and life will blossom all around you like flowers in the spring and God will be revealed in his fullness to you and to the world around you Praise be to God, now and forevermore - Amen

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Acts 8:26-40 Psalm 22:25-31 (UMH 752) 1 John 4:7-21 John 15:1-8

"Gracious God - bless now the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts. Breath your Spirit into us and grant that we may hear and in hearing be led in the way you want us to go. Amen. Peter begins the second chapter of his first letter to God's chosen people with an exhortation: He writes: "Rid yourselves then, of all evil; no more lying or hypocrisy, or jealousy, or insulting language. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by drinking it you may grow up in your salvation." In the last verse of today's gospel reading Jesus says: "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." What do you crave? What do you yearn for? What blessing do you ask God for? A couple of items for you to ponder as you think about that question. Some years ago a well-known televangelist sent green prayer cloths to thousands of his viewers. God supposedly told him that the prayer cloth would be a point of contact, between him and the audience, for releasing God's blessing - with one essential condition. His viewers needed to send lots of money with the prayer cloth, or as he put it, "Sow your very best seed." To those who returned the green cloth with some money, the televangelist promised great prosperity: "Send me your green prayer cloth as my point of contact with you!" he pleaded. "When I touch your cloth, it will be like touching you! When you touch this cloth, it will be like taking MY hand and touching me. I want the anointing that God has put upon my life for miracles of finances and prosperity to come directly from my hand to yours... You can reign in life like a king!" According to this televangelist, within months of sending in her prayer cloth, one woman received $286,000 in bonds and $65,000 in cash. Also, as a bonus, her husband was delivered from alcoholism. That's interesting. Get rich and have your family problems solved in a moment by just sending for a prayer cloth. It seems like a good deal. I heard of the following story a while back: The Rev. Patrick Leary is the rector of the Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer in Las Vegas, Nevada. He says visitors to the cathedral there often make the same request. Can you guess what it is?? "Father, will you pray for me to win?" I heard that Father Leary pointing around at the beautiful church and said to the people who asked him with this request, "if it was that easy, do you think we'd still have a debt on this place? I believe in the power of prayer, but even prayer has its limits." "Even prayer has its limits." Do you believe that?? If you do - what do you do then with these words of Jesus: "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it"? Think of the possibilities - a new car, a new home, a cure for baldness. All we have to do is ask. "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." Dr. Leslie Weatherhead, a well know preacher many years ago, said that once, when he was a high school student, he had a very difficult examination. But he had discovered that verse, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do..." He believed that verse meant that all he had to do was ask and he would pass the exam. He told God he was believing God's promise, and he wanted a good grade. The next day young Weatherhead took the examination, but when the grades were in, he had failed. He was disillusioned. He rebelled and almost lost his faith. He came to the conclusion that the promises of the Bible were not good - all because God had not granted his wish for a good grade. The next year he repeated that course. He worked hard, and he passed. This time he decided that he did not need God, that he could get along by himself. I think that this is a conclusion that many of us reach - we need something, we want something, we and we pray for it - and - when we don't see the results that we want we come close to losing our faith. At the very least - we conclude as did Dr. Leslie Weatherhead that we can, or we must, get along by ourselves. Fortunately, Leslie Weatherhead changed his opinion over the years. Fortunate because his life touched hundreds of thousands of people, bringing to them the blessings of God in a way that the televangelist I mentioned earlier has not. After some years had passed, Dr Weatherhead came to understand that his own powers and abilities were in reality the power that God had given to him. He began to realize that God had already given him the power to pass the examination, but he had not used that power the first time. God never gives us more power than we need. As Dr. Charles L. Allen has said, "Until we are willing to use what God has already given us, there is no need to ask for any more." "If you ask Me anything in My name," said Jesus, "I will do it." Quite a claim. But let's examine it a little closer. Notice first of all that Jesus is talking to his disciples. "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?", Jesus asks his disciples. "The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me.... I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son...." Jesus is giving his disciples words of encouragement." You've seen the blind recover their sight," he is saying. "You've seen the lame made whole. Hey, You're going to do greater works than that!" Jesus was talking to the church. He was not talking about new houses or new cars or passing examinations. He was talking about the work of the Kingdom. He was saying that when his disciples decide to get into action doing the work God has called them to do, and when they enlist God's help, nothing is impossible! And that's true. Nothing is impossible for the church of Jesus Christ! What do you crave, what do you desire the most? Do you thirst for pure spiritual milk? Do you yearn to do the works that Jesus did? Do you desire that the church, that the people of God, that you yourself, might make a great witness to the world and bring glory to God's name? Dr. Robert Schuller, that legendary advocate of Possibility Thinking, says that there are two words that have killed more God-inspired dreams and hopes than anything else he can think of. The two words are "Be realistic!" If we Christians, Dr. Schuller says, were "realistic" then nothing would be accomplished. He cites the example of Tom Dempsey - a young man who was born with half a right foot and deformed right arm but a ton of faith. Dempsey wanted to be a football player - in spite of his considerable handicaps. And he did play football. He became a kicker for his high school team. But that wasn't enough. He wanted to play college ball. And again, he became the kicker on his college team. But when he graduated from college, his dream became even wilder and more fantastic. He wanted to be a professional football player! A professional football player with half a foot and a deformed right arm. Impossible! No coach would accept him. They all shook their heads. All except one, and it is ironic and more than coincidental that Dempsey became a kicker for the professional football team, The New Orleans SAINTS! The rest, as they say, is history. In 1972, Dempsey kicked the longest field goal ever - 63 yards! All because he was not realistic! All because, Schuller tells us, Tom Dempsey had faith in Jesus Christ who gave him the strength to do what he dreamed. Amazing things are accomplished in this world by people who believe and will not give up. Our text for the day says that you and I are capable of amazing things when we set out to serve Jesus Christ. Jesus was speaking to his church when he said, "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." Nothing is impossible for the church of Jesus Christ. But there is something else just as important... Jesus adds a qualifier: "And whatever you ask in My name," Jesus promises, "that will I do, that the Father may be glorified..." Christ will do anything we ask if it glorifies the Father. Here is where we generally stumble. Not everything we do in the church is done to the glory of God. Isaac Asimov, familiar to many as a noted scientist and author, once told a hilarious story about a Rabbi Feldman who was having trouble with his congregation. It seemed they could agree upon nothing. The president of the congregation said, "Rabbi, this cannot be allowed to continue. Come, there must be a conference, and we must settle all areas of dispute once and for all." The rabbi agreed. At the appointed time, therefore, the rabbi, the president, and ten elders met in the conference room of the synagogue, sitting about a magnificent mahogany table. One by one the issues were dealt with and on each issue, it became more and more apparent that the rabbi was a lonely voice in the wilderness. The president of the synagogue said, "Come, Rabbi, enough of this. Let us vote and allow the majority to rule." He passed out the slips of paper and each man made his mark. The slips were collected and the president said, "You may examine them, Rabbi. It is eleven to one against you. We have the majority." Whereupon the rabbi rose to his feet in offended majesty. "So," he said, "you now think because of the vote that you are right and I am wrong. Well, that is not so. I stand here" - and he raised his arms impressively - "and call upon the Holy One of Israel to give us a sign that I am right and you are wrong." And as he said this, there came a frightful crack of thunder and a brilliant flash of lightning that struck the mahogany table and cracked it in two. The room was filled with smoke and fumes, and the president and the elders were hurled to the floor. Through the carnage, the rabbi remained erect and untouched, his eyes flashing and a grim smile on his face. Slowly, the president lifted himself above what was left of the table. His hair was singed, his glasses were hanging from one ear, his clothing was in disarray. Finally he said, "All right, eleven to two. But we still have the majority." We all know that not everything that is done in the church is done to the glory of God. But wouldn't it be great if we had a dream for this church that was big enough that we would have to depend on God to accomplish it? And wouldn't it be great if we searched our hearts and souls with prayer so that our dream would match God's dream? Wouldn't it be great if we yearned for the pure spiritual milk that will helps us to grow in our salvation - and which affects the whole around us? George Barna, a church-growth specialist, asked a group of pastors how they believed Christ would rate their church if He were to return today. Fifty-three percent of those pastors said Christ would rate their church as having little or no positive impact on souls or society. How sad. How very sad. Wouldn't it be great if we could see concrete evidence that our community is a better community and our town is a better town because this church is here? Christ tells us we can see such evidence - if we dream great dreams and if those dreams are to God's glory and not our own. What do we crave? What do we yearn for? What do we desire? All prayer is answered my friends. Even the prayers that we ask strictly for ourselves and for our families. Sometimes the answer is no - I have plans - trust me in this. Sometimes it is - no, not yet, the time is not right. Other times it is yes - I thought you'd never ask, and still other times it is yes - and just wait to see what else I have in store for you. What God does for the faithful - what God allows to happen to them - how God answers their prayer - always works for the good. As that is true for each of us as individual believers is doubly true for us as the church - for us as the people who gather in God's name to worship and work together the works he calls us to work. If we dream a dream for this church and if it is truly God's dream, then great things will happen and each of us can be part of it. What is your dream? What do you desire the most? Is it pure spiritual milk that you may grow in your salvation and continue to know that God is good? Is it to do the works of God - even greater works than Christ did - that God's name may be glorified? I started this message with the first words from today's reading from the First Letter of Peter. I would like to conclude with the last words from that reading - where Peter writes: "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy; but now you have received mercy." We have a purpose - and we have the tools that we need to accomplish that purpose, so much so that we can do even greater things than did Christ - should we desire to. "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." Why not put Christ to the test? Blessed be God, day by day. Amen