tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47585822893517019802024-03-14T00:38:39.371-07:00The Rev. W. Frank AllenThe Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-42904746536727960842013-05-07T10:43:00.000-07:002013-05-07T10:45:24.465-07:00Fearlessness Begins with an Open Heart to God<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Introduction: Open Heart Surgery<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
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We’ve been focusing
on our mission as a church this year by paying attention to living the Christian
life fearlessly and by allowing hope to well up in our lives making ourselves
more open to God’s power at work in us. And what has struck me again and again
over this past year of readings and sermons and conversations with many of you
is how much of this fearless life is really a matter of the heart; of having an open heart to God, a heart
restored by God, and a heart willing to let God make a home in our lives and take
away our fears.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I had the opportunity
a while back of visiting one of our parishioners the morning after he had
undergone open heart surgery. I came
into his room in the Intensive Care Unit expecting him to be barely awake, and
instead found him sitting up and finishing some very bland eggs getting ready
to be moved into a regular room. The timing of my visit matched his move and so
I followed him in his wheel chair as he talked about how good he felt, and how
blessed and lucky he was that things had gone so well. <span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>I waited outside his room as the new set of nurses
got him situated, took
his vital signs and made him comfortable and upright in bed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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When the nurses left,
I came in and sat down beside him to talk more and to pray together, he took my
hand, drew me close, smiled into my face, and whispered again, “How blessed I am. How thankful
that God has been there with me, is with me now. From the time I came into the
hospital,” he said, “to the moment I woke up, I was confident and at peace.” And then he squeezed my hand as tears formed
in the corner of his eyes, and he whispered, “I feel God’s grace and was never
afraid.”</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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We thanked God
together and prayed for his speedy recovery and for everyone in that hospital, and for a mutual friend who was
battling cancer. I left to come back
to St. David’s, thankful to God for His goodness and mercy and presence in our
lives, and I was reminded of another’s experience of God’s presence facing
open-heart surgery some years ago. I was freshly out of
seminary with my new collar and black shirts, and was visiting a man I had
never met the day after his open-heart surgery. He too was deeply thankful that
all had gone well, but his fears before the surgery had been overpowering. He
told me “I was crying and shaking in fear in my room, all alone, but somehow, I
got the nerve to pray and ask God for help. And that’s when a
young nurse came into my room. She took hold of my hand and told me to feel it,
to hold it.”</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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“ ‘Now’, she said, ‘during
surgery tomorrow you will be disconnected from your heart and will be kept
alive by machines as they work to repair your heart, and when the operation is
over and you’ll wake up in recovery, you may be unable to move or speak or even
open your eyes, but you’ll be perfectly conscious and you’ll hear and know
everything going on around you. During all those hours, I’ll be at your side
and I’ll hold your hand exactly as I’m holding it now. I’ll stay with you until you’re
fully recovered and although you’ll feel helpless, when you feel my hand,
you’ll know that I’m there and won’t leave you.’ ”</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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He chuckled and said,
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It happened exactly as the nurse told
me, I felt her hand as they put me into sleep and I awoke and could do nothing
but I could feel the nurse’s hand in mine. I could feel it first in my mind and
then in my hand Her promise and her presence made all the difference and I was no
longer afraid.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Open hearts, literally open hearts
in these cases, are all God needs to calm our fears and lift us up into a life
that’s really life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">God Looking For Us<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
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In all the Gospel
stories about Jesus healing people and bringing new hope, there is one common
thread that links them all. The people have open hearts and come to Jesus. He
doesn’t go to them uninvited. Their
hearts are open to Jesus, but they have to come to Him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The leader of the
synagogue, Jairus, comes to Jesus to beg Jesus to heal his daughter and by the
time Jesus arrived, the girl has sickened and died, but Jesus prays and
restores her to life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The woman who had
been bleeding for twelve years and is an outcast as a result spproaches Jesus
to merely touch the hem of His robe to be healed, snd the power comes forth
from Jesus to heal her.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The ten lepers by the
side of the road beg Jesus to save them, to heal them and Jesus does.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Blind Bartimaeus cries out, Jesus
Son of David, have mercy on me, and Jesus does.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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The Centurion sends
one of his men for Jesus to bring healing to his servant, without actually
coming to heal the servant and at that moment the servant is made well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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In all of the healing
stories in the Gospels, people come to Jesus in the hope of healing, in the
hope of being restored and lifted into a new life. In all of them they come to
Jesus, except in the Gospel today, when Jesus breaks the pattern of healing and
comes to this man first. And so you and I need to understand that there is a
very important purpose for John to include this story of all the healing
stories John knew about Jesus. There is an important purpose because there is
something in this story that is important for us to understand about open hearts
and the power of hope, so that
we, too, may be healed and be changed by the presence of God.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In Jesus’ day, the
pool of Beth-Zatha, or Bethesda, was known for its healing powers. The legend
was that once each day and angel would stir the waters and if you were the
first person to enter the waters, you would be healed. So, if you had a disease
of a condition that couldn’t be cured by human hands or by time, you hung out
by the pool in the hope that you might get lucky and be the first one in.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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On this day and every
day apparently, the pool is surrounded by hurting people – the blind, the lame,
the paralyzed all hoping that today they would be the person to be healed, that
they would be restored to the life they hoped to live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in this crowd of trouble, and uncertainty,
and sorrow, and pain, there’s a man lying near the pool who had been there for
thirty-eight years, hoping that today he would be the first one in.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now that’s a long
time to wait to be healed, a long time to be facing his troubles alone, and I suspect
that his hope was pretty thin by this time. Because
when Jesus asks him is he wants to be healed (and note Jesus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">does</i> ask), he doesn’t say, “Yes, please,
thank you very much,” but rather gives Jesus all the reasons why he won’t be
the lucky one: <span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>he
doesn’t have a friend to lift him in,<span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span>he’s
not fast enough, he’s not near enough.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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But he does have some
hope in his heart, otherwise he wouldn’t even be by the pool, and Jesus takes
this poor man, with so little hope and commands the man to stand up, take your
mat and walk, and he does just that. And that man’s miniscule, tiny, barely
existent sense of hope is what allows Jesus to heal the man and restore him to
life. Hope is the one quality required for God to act and when there is hope,
God will act in your life and in mine. Because the power of hope, however
small, opens the way for God, and when you and I have hope in our hearts, we
open the way for God to calm our fears, to change the direction of our lives
and to restore us to the life God wants us to live.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Open Hearts of a Different Kind<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The Friday morning
men’s Bible study has been doing some work with Ignatius Loyola, the founder of
the Jesuits and a spiritual guide to all kinds of Christians for centuries. Ignatius once said, “The most powerful
force in the world is the love of God, at work in the heart of a believer; And
the weakest force in the world, is the love of God seeking entry into the human
heart.”</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Thus our Lord’s
pattern of healing people who come to him rather than going to anyone and
everyone, he will not force His way in, but waits to be invited. God will not
coerce or force any of us into a living relationship of love with Him, but He
will come alongside and wait for us to allow Him in and when we do, God makes
His home with us and does a kind of spiritual surgery on our hearts and lives. <span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>To give us peace
and fill us more and more with hope, so that God can live in us and work
through us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 0in;">
The Christian life,
the fearless life lived with God, is all a matter of the heart; amatter of
having a heart that hopes in God. <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It
doesn’t have to be a lot of hope, apparently, but any hope is the doorway to
more life with God. So, as you look at your life today and the lives of the
people you love who are in some need because of sickness or job problems or
family problems; or if you’re feeling a little burned out and would like some
refreshment, then let me remind you to hope, even though it may seem very feint.
Hope so that God may come into your life and the lives of those you love in a
new way.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Today is a good day
to open your heart in hope for the first time or to open it again. And if you
will, then you will be drawn into the life that is really life and the Risen
One will come to you and touch your life. And your hope and the hope of those
around you will grow, and your fears and mine will be no more; because, it’s
all a matter of the heart.</div>
<!--EndFragment-->The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-64974915208344777782013-04-18T13:19:00.002-07:002013-04-18T13:19:31.785-07:00Being the Light<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">I pray that you and yours are well, especially in a time when chaos and darkness have risen up again in our midst. The tragedy in Boston is so heartbreaking and sad. People’s lives, innocent lives have been torn up and their lights extinguished in the midst of one of our country’s great events. As a parent of a former cross country runner and a person who attended a lot of running events in support, it feels even darker to me since these races are such gentle, genial events where everyone cheers runners of all abilities and gifts.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Events like the chaos that rose up in Boston can challenge one’s faith and one’s practice of being a Christian. When bad things happen to good people, or when sickness or death or real difficulties come our way, our faith and trust in God can take a hit. We wonder whether God is really there and, if there, whether God really cares. We wonder if we can trust in a God who would allow others to do such dark acts. For myself, I wonder how to practice Jesus’ call to forgive and pray for our enemies, when my mind is moving away from mercy and more toward vengeance and retribution.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">We do not know all the mysteries of how God set up this world and what the effect of free will can have on our lives in these dark moments. But we do know, particularly in this Easter season, that violence and darkness do not have the last word. We believe—</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><em>we know</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">—that Jesus’ resurrection from death means that sin and chaos and death itself have been overcome and will be overcome by God’s grace and God’s power. And even though that day has not come in all its fullness, there are signs that the light is overcoming the darkness, even in moments like these. There is light and goodness and beauty and love all around us; a greater power than the darkness will ever be. When we look to the light, we can find a peace and a purpose that enable us to press on in our lives with God.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">And you and I are part of that light. Jesus is the Light of the world, but we are lights, too. We, who have some sense and experience of the light and love of God in our lives, are called to share that light and love with others. We are called to act and live in ways that bring more light into the world by our lives as individuals and by our lives in community. We are a people who look to the Light and who are light ourselves. And the more we act as lights in the world, by God’s grace and power, then the faster the darkness and the chaos will be overcome.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Please pray with me for those who have been so affected by the events in Boston and for all who are suffering, that God may touch them and heal them and restore them with His presence. And may all of us remember that we, too, have been called to act and be lights in the world. May God give us the hope and the strength to be such lights.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Grace and Peace</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">WFA</span></span>The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-74046829400792456392013-04-11T18:12:00.005-07:002013-04-11T18:12:54.422-07:00Dedicated<em>“All things come of thee O Lord, and of Thine own have we given Thee.” </em>1 Chronicles 29:14<br /><br />
I
pray that you are well and are enjoying these beautiful spring days.
The flowers and blossoms on some of the trees are literally bursting
forth in this warmer weather and I am reminded of all the many gifts
that God has given us so freely and abundantly to enjoy and to use for
God’s good purposes.<br /><br />This Sunday, we have an opportunity to
remember all that God has given us and how we have used some of those
gifts to complete part of the building program we started back in 2004.
The lower level, below the new Chapel, has been completed! We now have a
fine choir rehearsal/meeting room, a new classroom, real offices for
our music staff, and a place for our choirs and acolytes to robe. The
completion of this important space is a tangible example of how we, as a
community, have given back to God some of the gifts that God has given
us for God’s purposes. I am excited to think of all the lives that will
be formed up through music and learning in that space and want to thank
everyone for their prayers and financial support in making this a
reality.<br /><br />And because this space is a concrete example of using
some of the gifts for God’s purposes, we will be dedicating the space
with prayer and some refreshments after the 9:15 service (followed by a
shortened segment of my class on prayer). I hope you will come to give
thanks with us and dedicate this space for God’s purposes at St. David’s
and in the world.<br /><br />Dedication is one of the ways that churches
and individuals can focus on their true purposes, but more importantly,
when we pray in dedication we open the way for God’s Spirit to renew us
and empower us for the purposes and lives we are about. In fact, each
day is an opportunity for you and me to dedicate ourselves to God, to
our families, our work or learning and to whatever path we are walking
with God. When we dedicate we keep in mind what we are about and open
the way for God to come in.<br /><br />So allow me to share my favorite
prayer of daily dedication with you and invite you to pray it regularly.
It comes from our Prayer Book (page 461):<br /><br /><em>This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring forth,</em><br /><em>but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I am to stand</em><br /><em>up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly.</em><br /><em>If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently. And if I am to do nothing,</em><br /><em>let me do it gallantly. Make these words more than words, and give</em><br /><em>me the Spirit of Jesus. Amen.</em><br /><br />May God continue to bless you with all God’s gifts and the courage to use them wisely for God’s purposes. See you Sunday.<br /><br /><br />Grace and Peace<br />
WFA The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-91218207261593066082013-03-28T14:12:00.004-07:002013-03-28T14:12:55.878-07:00A Different RealityI pray that you are well and that this has been a fruitful Lent and Holy Week in your life with God. Like me, you may not notice a greater presence of God at work in your life. Because the spiritual life follows the physical life, we can expect that God will use our desire for a deeper life with him, to draw us closer.<br /><br />This Sunday, Easter Sunday, is the day of days for Christians. All the hoopla around Christmas and Jesus’ birth and all the teachings and healings and miracles in His earthly ministry, find their power in this singular turning point in the history of the world. Because Jesus is resurrected from the dead, His birth has meaning for us. Because Jesus is resurrected from the dead, His teachings and power can continue to work in our lives today. Because Jesus is risen from the dead, we live in a different reality and know a love in our lives that has no end.<br /><br />You see, there are two realities at work in our lives as followers of Jesus. One reality is the world we all live in. It is a world that is both filled with wonder and heartache. We know the wonder of human love and the magnificence of the creation around us. We also know heartache, difficulties and endings, many of our own making, that leave us wanting.<br /><br />When Jesus is resurrected from the dead, God opens us up to a different reality. Yes, the gift of human love and the magnificence of creation continue to bless our lives. But the heartache of broken relationships, failed ventures, and death itself begin to be restored by the presence of the Risen One in our lives. For just as Jesus offered a living relationship with God, forgiveness, healing, and restoration in His earthly ministry, we believe and know that He offers them to us now, when we follow Him. It is a different reality and a reality that offers us the fullness of life now and the promise of life for all time.<br /><br />So, as we draw closer to Easter, I encourage you take hold of this different reality. Allow God’s forgiveness, love, hope to work in your lives and live without fear, for Jesus is risen.<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Grace and Peace,</div>
<div>
WFA<br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-48442730135377516552013-03-04T19:08:00.000-08:002013-03-04T19:08:05.566-08:00Running Your Own Race with God<b>Introduction: The Best Messages Don’t Always Touch Us, We Think</b><br />
<br />Someone once said that the definition of a good sermon is that it’s not only short, but also it’s a sermon that goes over our heads or a message that goes past us, and hits our neighbor squarely in the heart. Think about it, how many times when we read the ten commandments in Lent, or listen to the scripture readings and the sermon and how it seems to apply less to your life and your situation and would be better heard and applied to one of your neighbors. Or to the preacher himself?<br /><br />
For instance, when we say the ten commandments together; and we get to the commandment about not coveting, does it make you squirm a little over the times you’ve wanted what someone else has, or do your tell yourself that that applies to everyone but me. Or when the readings and the sermon and the announcements are about stewardship and the preacher is talking about God’s call for us to tithe, to give away ten percent; does that make you tense up a little, or do you assume he’s talking to someone else because you’ve already written your check for today to put into the plate, and college tuitions and retirement plans are expensive? Or a lesson and sermon about loving your neighbor and<br />you check that box and zone out a little because just last week you moved your neighbor’s trash can out of the road and into their yard. Or the challenge comes to use your gifts on behalf of God’s kingdom, the call to use your time and talents more for St. David’s, more for God, and you let the call pass because you once taught Sunday School two years ago and you brought a can of soup for St. Mary’s in Chester just last month.<br /><br />
I learned this concept of a good sermon passing you by when I was in 8th grade. I was president of the middle school youth group and felt like I was doing a good job. Even though I had a tendency to disrupt things a little and make jokes at inappropriate times (something I now have under full control.) We went away on retreat in the fall and on Saturday afternoon, before we returned home. The priest in charge gave a sermon during the closing communion service that was pretty harsh about our behavior in general. He promised that some of us had better straighten up, or we’d be out of the youth group. I listened and thought about how some of my friends didn’t take this seriously enough,<br />and how the youth group would be better if a couple of them weren’t there, because they<br />often caused trouble and disrupted our meetings.<br />
<br />As we piled into cars to go home, Father Swann invited me to drive home with him; and as we were driving he asked what I thought about the sermon. I told him I thought it was a good sermon and that there were some kids who needed to straighten up or that they should leave. He pulled over to the side of the road we were traveling together, looked me in the eye and explained that he was talking specifically about me, and that if I didn’t use my gifts and leadership for good going forward he’d have to ask me to leave the group. That was a long drive back home.<br />
<br />It’s so easy to assume that these commandments we say together and that the message in Sunday’s readings and Sunday’s sermons have little to do with you and me and much more to do with those other people, especially those who don’t happen to be with us today. But that assumption can keep you and me from entering into a deeper life with God, and hearing the truth about our lives and the life God is calling us to live. The race each of us has been called to run. You see, we are all running our own race as Christians in the world, as followers of Jesus, but until we listen up and turn to God’s commands and God’s calling we are running a race that is very unlikely to speed us to a deeper life with God and a life that’s really life.<br /><br /><b>Jesus and the Gospel</b><br />
<br />And that’s what Jesus is emphasizing in today’s Gospel—the call for us to repent, the call for us, to turn our lives toward God and God’s purposes and to stop paying attention to whether other people are following rightly and to pay attention to the race we’re running because that’s the only race we’re responsible for.<br />
<br />In Jesus’ time, there was a common understanding that when bad things happened to people or someone was blind or ill, that there was some kind of correlation or connection to the kind of life they were living. A person who was a living a good life, a Godly life, received good things, and a person or persons who weren’t living such a good life or Godly life received judgment in the form of sickness or disease or even early death. So, when people come to Jesus asking about the Galileans who were executed, and had their blood mixed with the blood of the Roman sacrifices, they were asking Jesus about whether these people deserved what they got. Were they such bad people that they<br />deserved to be killed off? And by asking the question, they were trying to justify the lives they were living, because they weren’t among the ones who were killed.<br />
<br />
Jesus preaches a very brief and very directed sermon to them challenging them about their own lives, basically telling them to run their own race don’t pay attention to their status with God. But unless you repent, unless you turn your life more toward God, you would perish as well. To make sure that they understood that that short sermon was meant for them, Jesus goes on to emphasize the point about running your own race by reminding them of the tower of Siloam that fell by accident and killed eighteen people. How, unless they repented, unless they turned their lives toward God they would perish as well.<br /><br />
It must be part of the human condition to compare ourselves to others and the races they are running, rather than to pay close attention to our own race, to our own following after God (which I’ve noticed is a pretty full time job.) But the ten commandments we’ve been reading in Lent as the decalogue, the scriptures and Sunday sermons, the messages from Jesus in the Gospels are not for others. They’re for you and for me; so that we will not only turn our lives more toward God but also run and live our lives in such a way that we turn and respond.<br /><br />
You see, this God who forgives us for everything. So that we can start over each day with a clean slate to try again. This God who came and lived among us and suffered for us on a cross, and rose again that first Easter revealing for all time that God loves us and wants us and forgives us, is also the God who wants us to run our race in a certain way, a certain direction.<br />
<br />Following Jesus is not a life where anything goes, but a life with boundaries. A course for<br />racing that has a starting line, a set course, and a finish line that is both directed by God<br />and connected to God at every step we take. And following the commandments and<br />allowing the Sunday Scriptures and sermons to speak to your life is often the best starting<br />line for a race that will keep you connected to God and for allowing room for God to<br />direct you on your way.<br />
<br /><b>Running Your Race So That You May Know a Life That’s Really Life</b><br />
<br />There are so many races to be run in the Christian life, as many races as there are people<br />in this room. But all of them are directed by the word of God, by listening in prayer, and<br />sometimes, even by the sermon. When we were starting the capital campaign for this Chapel ten years ago, a twelve year old in the congregation heard the call to share what she had, so she broke her piggy bank and brought $42.86 for the campaign. It was one of the most important gifts we received; because she gave all she had at that time for God. Last year a senior in high school from this church, hearing the call to love his neighbor as himself, broke up three boys who were bullying a ninth grader, and he befriended that ninth grader for the rest of the year. Many of the men of the church heard the call to use their gifts for God and have dedicated thousands of hours along with thousands of dollars to rebuild the rectory at the Church of the Crucifixion, and that church has been encouraged and is coming alive because of their commitment. An elderly member of our congregation, who couldn’t come to church for years before she entered into glory last fall; used the gift of her time and her ability to knit to make chemo caps and prayer shawls that we have blessed and shared with children and persons recovering from illness.<br />
<br />So listen up in church and in your daily prayers because it’s meant not just for the person<br />sitting behind you, it’s meant for you. Then, run your race whatever it may be, following<br />the commandments of God and allowing God the primary place in your life, so that you<br />can hear God’s voice and follow in His ways to run the race that is set before you with<br />the power and presence of God working in you every step of the way. This is the way of<br />life and the path that will allow you and me and the person over there to enter more fully<br />into a life that is really life—the life that is lived with and lived for God.<br />
<br />Amen.The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-28525240797292346322013-02-28T12:35:00.002-08:002013-02-28T12:49:07.146-08:00Sharing the Load<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-waLWV3dvVLw/US-_EwJ8GBI/AAAAAAAAACE/j4Z9SjOtNZo/s1600/dogs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dogs playing" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-waLWV3dvVLw/US-_EwJ8GBI/AAAAAAAAACE/j4Z9SjOtNZo/s1600/dogs.jpg" height="266" title="Sharing the Load" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I pray that you and yours are well and want to thank you for your prayers for me. It’s so important in this Christian life to remember to pray for others; to share their burdens; to lighten one another's loads by a kind word or text or a prayer to God. Sometimes the burdens we bear and the struggles we face can be overwhelming; can take so much thought and energy that we simply don’t have the ability to pray.<br />
<br />
Knowing that others are sharing our burdens and doing the praying on our behalf not only encourages us, but opens the way for the power and the hand of God to enter into our lives. This came home to me recently while talking with a friend who nearly crushed his hand when he was changing a flat tire on his car. He was making good progress, but the jack slipped and his hand got caught underneath the wheel. He was rushed to the hospital where he had emergency surgery to repair his hand. His hand was saved, but it would involve several more surgeries and a lot of hospital time.<br />
<br />
As I spoke with him and prayed with him, he told me how much he appreciated my calls and visit. He told me he hadn’t been able to pray in the pain and during the process of recovery and therapy, which was a problem, he reminded me, since he was a pastor. I knew what he meant, having experienced similar times of struggle when I had a hard time praying. I reminded him of St. Paul’s understanding about our need to share one another’s burdens and we decided that this was very practical advice, since there are times when our burdens make it too difficult for us to go it alone. And more than that, prayer opens the way for God to intervene into our lives and into the lives of the people we are praying for.<br />
<br />
So thank you, again for your prayers for me in the midst of my struggles and remember that there are people praying for you and willing to share your burdens to make the load a little lighter. Please continue to pray for others and to look for ways to lift their burdens when you can. It will make all of our loads lighter and bring us into the closer presence and power of God.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/saintdavidsradnor" target="_blank">Happy St. David’s Day (March 1) </a>and I look forward to worshiping God with you and praying together on Saturday night and Sunday morning.The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-40397088048633052792013-02-21T17:35:00.000-08:002013-02-21T17:35:12.989-08:00You Belong to MeI pray that this note finds you well and that there is some part of your spiritual life that is being fed by the season and opportunities of Lent to open the way for God to come into your life more fully. If like me, you have fallen short of some Lenten discipline you intended already, no worries. God is a forgiving God and you may take up your practice again without fear or punishment because we belong to God and He wants us. In fact, God chooses us.<br /><br />Now being chosen is a high honor in life. When I was a kid growing up and at times in my adult life, there are times when we want to be chosen. As a child, we would pick teams for street football or for a pick up basketball or baseball game and choosing teams was sometimes the most critical moment of the competition. The two best players were usually the captains. After all, you didn’t want one team to be loaded unfairly. If you were a good player or older, you usually got picked first and that was a great feeling. If you weren’t so good, you usually got picked last or not at all if there were too many kids for the game. That was the worst moment. To go unchosen was humiliating and as a “fat kid” who was a little uncoordinated, that happened with enough regularity in my life that I still remember the feeling.<br /><br />As an adult, it’s a great feeling to be chosen by another person as a friend or as a partner. It’s encouraging to be chosen for a job or a promotion. We like being chosen because it reminds us that we have value, that we are worthy because of who we are. And when we are passed over or outright rejected, it causes heartache that either drives us to try harder or diminishes who we are. Enough rejection and we can become less than the person God created us to be.<br /><br />Well, with God, you and I are chosen. He chooses us just as we are to enter into a life with Him. He chooses us because we have unique value and gifts that no one else has. That’s Jesus’ way in the Gospels and God’s way throughout the Biblical record. God is always choosing persons just like you and me to be in a living relationship with Him. God is choosing us to live our lives with Him and for Him. God is choosing us and because He has, we know that we are loved and we are important to God.<br /><br />So, as you go about your life this Lent and throughout the year, keep in mind that you’ve been chosen. You are important. You have value. You belong to God. Allow that reality to seep into your heart and mind and live your life without fear because you have been chosen by God.<br /><br />See you Saturday evening or throughout the day on Sunday for weekly worship.<br /><br />Grace and Peace,<br /><br />WFA<br /><br /><br />The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-71461083296034292092013-02-18T10:51:00.000-08:002013-02-18T11:00:44.677-08:00Facing Up to Temptation, Becoming Children of God<br />
<b>Introduction: Knowing Temptation </b><br />
Years ago, in my former life in the construction industry, I was delivering a proposal for a major hospital expansion. The Director of Facilities was out of his office, but his assistant told me he’d be right back, to have a seat. There on his desk were the proposals from the other three companies. I walked over to the desk and out my hand on the first one to open it and see how our proposal matched up to theirs and adjust ours as needed. I was tempted to open it and look, but sat back down. <br />
<br />
Driving down I-95 in Maryland a few months ago, I was going the speed limit, and then passed a series of state troopers, six of them, each giving out tickets or warnings to other drivers. The guy in the car next to me smiled and sped up as they drifted out of our sight, <br />
<br />
I thought what he thought, that’s got to be all the troopers for miles. And like him I sped up, thinking I could get to my appointment early. When I looked at the odometer as it was pushing 75. I saw that the car next to me continued to accelerate, and was tempted to press on well past the safe speed, but I slowed down. <br />
<br />
I was speaking recently with some parents, who had been planning a long weekend to get away from their busy lives, to take a healthy break from parenting some place warm and sunny, but they told me they decided not to go because they’d have to leave their teenage children home alone. They trusted their children in most things, but with the party scene and the stories they’d heard about what can take place when parents are out of town, they felt like they couldn’t place them under that kind of temptation, and stayed home. <br />
<br />
Several years ago when the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition arrived at our house and went directly into the paper recycling bag, much to the dismay of some of the male members of our household interested solely in seeing what swimsuit styles might be in this summer. One of our sons asked me later, in private, if I was going to retrieve it from the recycling, “I don’t know, I’m tempted,” I said. <br />
<br />
Most of us think that if there’s one thing we know about in this life, it’s temptation. If there’s one church word that doesn’t need to be rescued for our modern ears, that connects firmly and clearly to our everyday experience, temptation may be that one church word. We may not know about grace and mercy or a peace that passes understanding; we may need some explanation about trespassing and atonement; but temptation we know. We face temptations all the time, and in this season of Lent, when we’ve gone out of our way to give something up or to take something on to try to lead a more committed, Christian life, it almost feels like we’re tempting temptation itself.<br />
<br />
St. Paul writes that he didn’t know about sin until he read the law. To put in our terms,<br />
he didn’t know all the sinful things he could do until the scriptures told him they were<br />
not allowed. Temptations can grow. We’re tempted to break our Lenten disciplines if we haven’t already — to break our diets, to cheat on our taxes, to gossip about a friend, to lie our way out of difficulties. We’re constantly being tempted to do what we shouldn’t do. Most of us don’t need any instruction about temptation, temptation we know. But do<br />
we really? <br />
<br />
Twenty years ago, Robert Fulghum, had a best seller book entitled, All I Reall Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, and in this very popular book, he argues that the deepest wisdom he knows came from the kindergarten classroom and the sandbox. Wisdom like sharing, playing fair, cleaning up your own mess, don’t hit people, hold hands and stick together. So, if Fulghum’s theory about wisdom is hold true, then maybe we should go back to Sunday School to learn what temptation is. <br />
<br />
Truthfully, I don’t remember too many specifics about what I learned in Sunday School, beyond Jesus loves me. But I do remember most of the people who taught us, and one of these teachers said something that has always stuck in my mind. And that is that the best measure of a person is what they would do if no one else were around, is what they would do if there was no one there to reward or to punish them. It strikes me now that this is more conventional wisdom than Christian wisdom, but it’s pretty close, because we Christians believe that what we do in life as Christians comes not from a sense of reward or fear of punishment but out of who we understand ourselves to be and the kinds of persons we are becoming.<br />
<br />
In that light, we probably have too shallow a view of temptation. In our minds we think temptation is the urge to do something. What we would really like to do, but shouldn’t do – one more piece of cake, one more juicy rumor, one more Sunday morning in bed. But the deepest level of temptation is not this urge to misbehave, but the temptation to be less than who we are called to be as God’s children. The temptation to not become who we are, but someone else.<br />
<br />
<b>Gospel: Jesus’ Temptations, Our Temptations </b><br />
And that’s the issue at stake in this Gospel reading from Luke. The devil is not tempting Jesus to misbehave, he’s not tempting Jesus to break his fast or steal a piece of candy, or cheat on his taxes or pick a fight with his neighbor. It’s much deeper than that. The devil is tempting Jesus to deny who He is, tempting Jesus to forget His baptism, to set aside the truth that He is the child of His Father in heaven, who has been sent to restore humankind through the cross. <br />
<br />
You see, it’s significant that Jesus is tempted, immediately after his baptism, Right after the skies opened and the dove descends and the voice proclaims, “You are my beloved Son, the one with whom I am well pleased.” You are the one I am sending down to reveal my heart of love, of grace, of forgiveness. You’re the One who will restore people to faith and to life with me. You’re the One who will walk the long, painful road to Jerusalem. You are the one who must endure the cross to save the world. It is here, then, right after His baptism, when Jesus’ vocation and identity are most clear that He comes to this time of tempting in the wilderness. And it’s Jesus’ identity that the devil seeks to destroy. That’s what temptation is really about.<br />
<br />
The three temptations—to turn stones into bread, use all the powers this world to shortcut God’s plan; to throw himself down from the temple as some kind of circus trick — are not temptations to do bad things necessarily; Any of these actions provide an opportunity for people to know about Jesus; And perhaps even speed the process of gaining followers. <br />
<br />
They are, at their very core, the temptation to be somebody else. The temptation to live some life other than the life of the beloved Son of God, to deny who He has been called to be and to be someone else. But Jesus remembers and knows who He is. And He chooses to be the person He is called to be and follow God’s plan, the plan that will require Him to accept the cross. With every temptation of the devil, Jesus chooses God’s way and remains who He is, the beloved Son of God. Because Jesus resists the temptation to be someone else, you and I have been freed from our sins and know for all time that God loves us. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Tempted to Be Less than Children of God </b><br />
Now, because we belong to Jesus by nature of our baptisms, because we have been called to be the children of God in the world in our own day, we, too, have been given a life to live, a role to play, an important part in God’s plan of salvation. We who have been marked as Christ’s own forever, marked as the children of God Have been called to bring peace where there is strife, called to offer love in the presence of hatred, called to stir hope where there is despair, and to embrace faith where there is fear. <br />
And because we have been called to this way of life, we are also tempted; Tempted to live out another story, a different plan; tempted to be someone other than who we have been called to be. <br />
<br />
There’s a moment in Tolkien’s Lord of the Ring series when one of the Elf Queens is offered the ring of power. The temptation is that she would wield the ring well and for good. She is tempted, but after considering all the possibilities, she lets the temptation pass and decides to be who she is instead. You see, to give in to temptation is far more serious than misbehaving. To give in to temptation is to say, I am not a child of God, I will not take my part in God’s plan of salvation, I will not seek to know Christ and to make Christ known; I will be someone other than who I am.<br />
<br />
And so in this season of Lent, when many of us are paying closer attention to our spiritual lives and giving up those habits that push God away, taking on habits that open the way for God to enter in, I invite you to remember who you are and to remember whose you are, to remember that you are the beloved children of God, that you belong to God.<br />
<br />
Success or failure in a spiritual or physical habit is not the end goal we worship a God who forgives, even when we break our promise to live a certain way. No, these attempts on our part to change our habits are for a change of heart, a change of heart so that we can remember who we are and get about becoming the persons God created us to be. That’s what the season of Lent is all about.<br />
<br />
<div>
And when the tempter whispers in your ear to be someone else, invite the power and presence of Christ to work in you all the more. Say no thanks and become who you really are, God’s child.<br />
<br />
Amen.</div>
The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-66044746476706457512013-02-14T13:02:00.003-08:002013-02-14T13:02:58.057-08:00First Things
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<br />
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I pray that you are well and want to encourage you to keep a
holy Lent. I want for you the peace and hope that come from setting aside
(that’s what holy means) these next forty days as a time to get your priorities
straight. I pray for God to move in your life and mine so that we will live in
such a way that there will be an opening for God and God’s peace to fill our
hearts like never before.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now getting our priorities straight is no small task for
most of us. Too often in life we are presented with different priorities that
compete for our attention and our resources. Like standing in front of the ice
cream counter on a warm summer evening, we often have some very good choices in
front of us. Or when the alarm rings and we have to choose between catching an
extra forty minutes of sleep or getting up for some exercise. Both choices have
their benefits for living a healthy life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We are constantly being pulled in good directions by
different priorities. It’s not always clear cut that one priority is good and
one is bad. On our better days choosing among a good and a bad choice makes for
an easy decision and we usually make the right choice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The problem arises when we have two or more good choices in
front of us and how we choose matters.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Well on this one, God is clear. The first thing, the first
priority we are called to choose is God. That’s what the first of the Ten
Commandments establishes as the priority. God wants to come first in our lives.
God wants our relationship with Him and living our lives with an eye toward
God’s purposes for us and for our world to be our first priority. God comes
first, before all other “gods” or priorities.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And what sounds harsh in some ways is actually the path
toward fearlessness and a deep peace about how we are living our lives. Jesus
puts it another way, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will
be given to you as well.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we make
God our first priority in our hearts, in our minds, with our time, with our
wallets, then we get our priorities straight and the secondary priorities will
take their rightful place as secondary.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Check it out this Lent as you make room for God and seek the
first thing. Make the decision to put God first in your life. Ask God to show
you how you can make God your first priority. For when we do, we will be filled
with a peace that passes understanding and a life that’s really life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
See you in Church on Saturday at 5 pm or throughout the day
Sunday.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Grace and Peace,</div>
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WFA</div>
<!--EndFragment-->The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-8783275666863452782013-02-08T05:59:00.000-08:002013-02-08T05:59:01.978-08:00A Reconciling Love<br />
I pray that you are well. I am looking forward to entering into the holy season of Lent with you, beginning on Ash Wednesday next week. I say I am looking forward to entering this season with you, not because I particularly enjoy fasting or giving up habits I apparently love. I am looking forward to the season because it is a time when each of us can be a little more reflective about the quality of our lives and the health of our souls. And, even though this is not always the lightest work we can take on, it is the path that leads to light and joy and the power of God’s forgiveness.<br />
<br />
For most of us, confession is a difficult moment. Most of us prefer not to face our failings or the ways we fall short. Better to keep a blind eye to our foibles and failures and just move along, trying to forget what we’ve done. The problem, of course, is that at some level we are not able to forget fully and we need to choose a different way of dealing with our sin.<br />
<br />
Left to our own devices, we rarely ask another person to forgive us. And if you’re like me, you simply read along with the Confession of Sin without a whole lot of self-reflection or honesty, when said during Sunday worship. But if we confess, as St. John writes in his first letter, then we will be forgiven. We know this truth in our close relationships with others, as confession followed by forgiveness reconciles or reunites us to the other person. It may be a partially broken reconciliation because all our deeds have consequences, but in almost every case, the confession and forgiveness actually deepens the love and bond we have with the other person.<br />
<br />
And so it is with God. When we confess, God forgives us and we are drawn closer to God’s heart, and God is drawn closer to ours. And when I say confess, I’m not talking about the comedian George Carlin’s caricature of his confessions. I’m speaking of being honest with God and speaking the truth about your life and, once spoken, receiving God’s forgiveness so that you may set your fears aside and know only God’s love for you. That’s the power of confession when we freely submit our lives to God.<br />
<br />
This Lent, inspired by The Rev. Hillary Raining’s doctoral work on reconciliation and the class she will be teaching on Tuesdays in Lent, St. David’s will be offering the Rite of Reconciliation (personal confession) on Friday afternoons and Friday evenings. It is not a requirement for any of us. It will not be everyone’s “cup of tea.” But for those of us who would like to see whether this might be a gift for us from God to lead us closer to God, come and see. For when we confess and receive forgiveness from one another or from God, then our fears will grow small and our faith and confidence in the life before us can only grow.<br />
<br />
Grace and Peace,<br />
WFA<br />
The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-39390197574310990522013-01-29T14:28:00.000-08:002013-01-29T14:28:02.377-08:00Christ to Liberate is Our Mission, Too
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<br />
<b>Introduction: Inaugural Addresses, the Beginning</b><br />
<h1 style="line-height: normal;">
<o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Last week’s inaugural address
reminded me of a conversation I had with a history buff who
told me that every single Inaugural Address From
George Washington to Barack Obama has been preserved in written and
now recorded forms. And in every one of these speeches,
most of which were over an hour in length,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Presidents have laid out the dreams
and goals and aspirations of their presidencies—they
have set forth their mission for the next four years,<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>words
they intend to live by, words they intend to lead by, words
to measure the effectiveness of their presidency.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
George Washington spoke of the power of
that Almighty Being who rules over the universe that
would guide his hand and advance the character of an independent nation, and
expressed his goal for a nation independent, but under God.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Abraham Lincoln, in a more
difficult time in the history of our country, challenged
those who would destroy the nation through secession saying
“You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government while
I shall have the most solemn one to
preserve, protect and defend it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
And
so he did, even to the point of conducting a war to preserve the Union.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Franklin Roosevelt, addressing the
crisis of a nation and a world in the throes of
a deep economic depression, promised to endure and work to revive the nation reminding
us that the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
And, notably, as America reached
the status of the world’s great power, John Kennedy invited us to take on
the role of leadership in defending freedom, challenging us to ask not what your country can do for us, but
what we can do for our country. And
to the world, ask not what America can do for you but
what together we can do for the freedom of mankind.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
At every turn in the progress of
this democratic republic presidents
have sought to lay out a mission in their inaugural addresses so
that we may have some idea where we may be going and
what is expected of us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
The Book of Proverbs states that
“without a vision, the people will perish," so
having some kind of vision is important for leading a good and effective life. Presidents and people, businesses
and social groups, families
and churches need words to live by, an
inaugural address to set forth their goals and
to measure their work along the path to meeting those goals in a hope-filled,
persistent manner.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<h1>
<o:p></o:p></h1>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
We have something
like an inaugural address in this morning’s Gospel. No, Jesus hasn’t been elected president of
Israel, but the people gathered in Nazareth
are expecting something from Jesus. They know that something
different has been happening in the lives
of the surrounding communities and
there was a buzz about who Jesus was and
whether He might be the Messiah. Reports about Jesus
had spread throughout the region of the Galilee. Reports about His baptism and the
voice from heaven; reports about his
teaching in other synagogues and other towns; perhaps
reports about the wedding feast in Cana just down the road from Nazareth. Could Jesus be the
Messiah that they had been expecting for so long?<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Could Jesus be God’s chosen now that
he was all grown up, the one who would free
them?</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
You see the Hebrews
had been expecting a Savior for as long as they’d been a people they longed for God to save them and
restore them and Nazareth was a
community, according to scholars, where there was a special emphasis paid to waiting, praying for the Messiah to come. And there seemed to
be two forms of this expectation; One,
would be that the Messiah would be a great king who would throw out the
foreign powers, in this case Rome, who would restore
the fortunes of Israel; and would establish justice and peace
throughout a physical kingdom. The other
expectation was that the Messiah would restore the people to God, would live life in direct contact
with God, sinless, in God’s will at all times,</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
and would show the
people the ways of God and the way to God, whether
there was a physical kingdom or not. Jesus has the power
to become either one of these Messiahs and it’s in today’s Gospel, that He reveals what
kind of Messiah He has grown up to be, what we might expect from His Lordship in our lives, and the kinds of lives He may be calling us to live.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.5in; tab-stops: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
In some sense, Jesus
gives an inaugural address in the synagogue at Nazareth, outlining His platform</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
and telling the people
what they can expect from His administration. Jesus stands and
takes the Isaiah scroll and reads, <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed
me to bring good news to the poor; sent me to
proclaim release to the captives, the recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim the year of the
Lord’s favor.” Jesus will not be
the great king who wields a sword to establish a kingdom on earth, but will be the one who uses the
knowledge of God’s love for Him and all the power in the universe in
order to liberate all who are in physical and spiritual bondage. He will be the one
who shows the way of God and the way to God. Jesus will be a
liberator</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
and all the miracles He performs to
heal and restore and bring people back from the dead, all the teachings and
stories provide a pathway for people to wake up
to our lives and to God’s presence, as well as to be free so that we may become the persons God
made us to be.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.5in; tab-stops: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Jesus is a liberator
and at the end of his earthly ministry, as He hangs on the cross<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus liberates us from our sins and
the power they hold over us by taking them on
Himself.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And
when He rises again on Easter morning, He frees us from the bonds and the fear of death so
that we are free indeed, to grow up to become who God made us to be.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; tab-stops: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Unlike so many of
our presidents and other leaders over the course of time, Jesus’
inaugural address is one that He actually fulfills by the way He lived, by the life
He gives, and His purposes change lives like ours and call us to take up His purposes in our own day.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.5in; tab-stops: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<b>Taking Up Jesus’
Goals<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Some time ago, I had
a conversation with a friend about the fact that for all that
Mother Teresa did and worked for all her life, when she died, there
were still poor people and sick people, still people
without hope in Calcutta and around the world. And
that it was the same when Jesus ascended into heaven.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
For all the good
news Jesus brought to the poor snd all the captives that He
released snd all the healings of
the blind and the lame and the sick snd all the
prisoners who were freed there was much more to do, there was
much more to be done.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
It doesn’t mean that
Jesus’ life and ministry or the Mother Teresa’s life and ministry were failures in any sense; they
were world changing, but it does mean that
there’s more to be done. And that’s where you
and I come in. <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For
we are called today to take up Jesus’ ministry inaugurated in Nazareth, the work he began that day and renews in you and me this day. For we, too, are
loved by God and we, too, have been anointed
through our Baptisms with the Holy Spirit and in that love and
with that power we can be and do anything. But what God calls
you and I to do and to be, what God calls us to become as we
grow up, are Jesus’ hands and heart and feet, so that the work He
inaugurated in Nazareth will continue today and people
will be freed from their captivity.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Accept the
liberation Christ offers you and each one of us. Receive the
forgiveness, the healing, and the freedom from
being less than God made us to be and then look around your life to find a way to use the love and the power of God working in
you to free people in your own family,
in our community, and in the world from the spiritual
and physical struggles they face. Each of us can make
a difference in Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit and that is who we can become when
we are willing to grow up in the love and in the power of God and follow our Lord and His purposes.<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; tab-stops: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
WFA<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-2439864588326683542013-01-24T12:51:00.002-08:002013-01-24T12:51:29.633-08:00Finding Rest and Peace
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<br />
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I pray that you are well and are finding ways to enjoy this
“brisk” winter weather, and I ask your prayers and support for those who are struggling in these winter months, both physically and
emotionally.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This Sunday past, I preached a <a href="http://www.stdavidschurch.org/worship-and-music/worship/sermons" target="_blank">sermon</a> about the sovereignty
of God as it relates to our prayer life and our prayers – about how God is not
our “errand boy” when it comes to asking for what <u>we</u> want and how God is
calling us to conform to God’s will, so we pray, “thy will be done” in the
Lord’s Prayer. It’s important and enlivening to try to pray with God and see
that the way God answers prayers gives us better clues about what God’s will
may actually be in our lives and in the lives of the world around us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I thought it was a pretty straightforward message and might
prove helpful. After the service, a long-time and faithful
parishioner came up to me to talk. They stated that they really enjoyed the
message and appreciated the teaching and sentiments expressed (I liked the
sound of that.) Then their tone of voice turned more serious and quiet as
they asked, “How do you pray like that? I mean you have a seminary education
and all, so it must be easy for you. I have never known how. Can you teach us
so that we can pray with God?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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My heart went out to this pillar of our community and I drew
them aside and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>told them this secret, “It’s
not up to us. It’s up to God." All we have to do and all we can do is try to
come to God. He will take care of the rest. Whether you read the Bible as a way
to come to God or sit quietly and seek God’s presence; whether you read prayers
or say prayers out loud or sing your prayers; God will come and make Himself
known to you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In other words, if you want to be in a relationship with God
and find real rest and peace and fearlessness, seek God. Come to God. Be quiet
with God. Sing to God. There are any number of ways, but the critical truth is
that you and I have to come to God for God to be with us. God has this “thing”
about not overpowering our free wills, that’s true, but if we will seek Him in
some place in our lives, He will do the rest.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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So, if you’re feeling a little fearful about your life or
you’d like to have a living relationship with God or if you want to deepen that
relationship, come to Him. He may not make Himself known immediately, but He
will draw you close and you will know Him in your life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Grace and Peace and good Praying.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
WFA<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-47535210460476721452013-01-20T18:09:00.006-08:002013-01-20T18:09:59.128-08:00Tie the Cat<i>"Be still, then, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:11</i><br />
<br />
I pray that you are well and are finding time in this new year to spend time with God. So many of us want to live the Christian life, to be connected with God, and feed our faith instead of our fears, but often, other people and activities compete for time with God. The result of not spending time with God is that our lives are less than they could be. We miss out on noticing how connected God is in our lives, and our fears grow. So this week, I invite you to "tie the cat." Here's what I mean.<br />
<br />
A certain woman decided that she wanted to have a spiritual life. She began by setting aside fifteen minutes at the very start of the day to read the Bible and to pray. This particular woman shared her life with a very affectionate cat, who, during this time of prayer, rubbed against her and too often distracted her from her time with God. So she began her prayer time by tying the cat's collar to her bedpost so she wouldn't be distracted from her time with God.<br />
<br />
Her son, watched his mother grow in faith, peace and understanding, and swore that when he became an adult, he too, would set aside time with God to grow in the faith. His life was a little busier than his mother's life and he could only spend ten minutes with God each morning. He began his prayer time by tying up his cat, then opening the Bible and praying. His life changed dramatically from the time he spent with God and the son grew as a Christian.<br />
<br />
The granddaughter grew up with a faithful, praying grandmother and father and vowed that, she too, would be a person of faith. Her life, though, was so distracted and busy that she had even less time for God then her father. So, early each morning she would rise, tie up her cat, and jump in the shower to get ready for her day.<br />
<br />
Like all relationships of value, spending time with the person or persons you love is crucial. And it's not always the quality of time we spend. More often, deep relationships form with the quantity of time we spend with the beloved. A good amount of time spent with a partner, a child, a friend, and especially with God, almost always yields a deeper love and understanding, as well as a greater sense of peace and purpose.<br />
<br />
So, tie the cat in your life and go into your room alone to spend time with the Lord. Walk away from one of your distractions and activities that overfill your time and be still in the presence of God. Your fears will fall away and that peace that passed understanding will fill your soul and bring you closer to a life that's really life.<br />
<br />
Grace and Peace,<br />
WFA<br />
<br />The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-33878278169051472562013-01-10T16:15:00.003-08:002013-01-10T16:15:33.251-08:00Heart Healers<i>"Everyone will know you are my followers, if you love one another." John 13:35</i><br />
<br />
<br />
I pray that you are well want to invite you to a renewed sense of who we are and what we are about as followers of Jesus.<br />
<br />
Everyone, including you and me, is walking around with a hole in their heart that can be filled by only one thing. Some of the holes are little. We're feeling a little lonely or left out. Something in our life didn't quite go the way we wanted it to go and we're disappointed. We're under the weather or aren't quite sure what's coming next in our lives and have a heightened sense of anxiety as opposed to peace.<br />
<br />
Some of the holes are large. We have big holes in our hearts when we are grieving over the death of someone we love. We have large holes in our hearts when we there are troubles in our lives or in the lives of those we love. Our holes grow large when we're unemployed or underemployed or when the road ahead seems difficult and God seems somehow absent.<br />
<br />
All of us have holes in our hearts and everyone you and I meet has some hole that is waiting to be filled with love and compassion from God and from God's followers - you and me. That's what Jesus claims to be the mark of discipleship, our love for one another.<br />
<br />
And you know that makes a lot of sense with all of us walking around with holes in our hearts. We have an opportunity to help God fill other people's holes and hurts by showing them love and allowing God to fill the hole in our hearts by receiving love from others.<br />
<br />
So the next time you see someone acting out or being rude or looking sullen, remember that that's the expression of the hole in their heart and find some way to offer love to them. And the next time you come to St. David's to worship or to participate in some activity or fellowship event, look for some way to love another person to help fill up their heart hole. If we will, then we will be known as Jesus' disciples and we will become heart healers and open ourselves to God healing our hearts at the same time.<br />
<br />
Grace and Peace,<br />
WFA<br />
<br />The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-37061475396146475742013-01-03T15:48:00.002-08:002013-01-03T15:48:19.889-08:00Fearless Seeking<br />
<i>"Wise men from the east came asking, 'Where is the child born to be king?' Matthew 2:1</i><br />
<br />
I pray that you are well and that your Christmas was both joyous and loving and that you are beginning to consider how you will be living in this new calendar year. For many of us, the New Year is a time to reconsider our lives and to make plans and resolutions about how we intend our lives to be better, richer, more fulfilling or, alternatively, more peaceful, less confusing, and more in line with the life we believe God is calling us to lead. It is both exciting and daunting to look ahead to our lives in the coming year and I have one strong word of advice: be fearless. Oh right, that's our theme for the year at St. David's Church, Fearless: Living our Lives in Hope.<br />
<br />
Be fearless in the knowledge that God is with you and is calling you to become the person He created you to be. Be fearless in the knowledge that though you and I will certainly fall short at times and have to struggle through some difficulties. But we are not alone, God is with us. Be fearless in striving and seeking to reach beyond yourself to find new ways of living because God is ready to empower you to do just that. Be fearless in loving God and loving others. That is what we are made for and we never fail at that.<br />
<br />
Be fearless, like the Wise Men who sought the Christ child, who sought the nearer presence of God, by setting aside their lives and seeking Him with all their heart. It's an interesting part of the Nativity Story to me, these Wise Men. For though we don't know much about them, we do know enough to say that once they set their sights on their goal, their resolution, their star, they did whatever it took to reach it. They left their lives behind. They traveled an incredible distance. They faced a ruling power who was at odds with their quest. They arrived and they found what they sought - the Christ child.<br />
<br />
As you read through their little story in the second chapter of Matthew's Gospel, one gets the sense that they were at peace with their quest and that nothing would keep them from accomplishing it, fearlessly.<br />
So, as we begin the New Year, I encourage you to be at peace as you set about your life and especially as you seek God's presence. Remember, God is with you and He will never leave you to seek alone!<br />
<br />
Grace and Peace,<br />
WFA<br />
The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-49024724990071783672012-12-25T17:27:00.000-08:002012-12-27T16:51:48.839-08:00Christmas All Year Long<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b>Introduction: Christmas Begins Tomorrow</b></div>
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<br />
Finally, finally Christmas has come, and the busy world around us is hushed for the moment; the frenzied activities of the days and weeks of preparation are ended, or almost; the fears and darkness and uncertainties of the world are set aside and the great promise of the season of life opens before us as we gather together this night to worship God; open our lives anew or for the first time to the gift of Christmas. To open our lives to the gift of God’s love for you and for me, and to remember God’s love for the entire world.<br />
<br />
I love Christmas. I love the sights and sounds and smells of Christmas. I love filling up the space between the floor and the Christmas tree with presents. Stuffing stockings so full that the hooks on the mantle won’t hold them. I love the thought that our extended families and friends are receiving little signs of our love for them though the mail; Thank God for the internet. I love the Christmas cards and the greetings of the season; I love seeing how many of you are doing; how beautiful your families are, and the creative ways we express the progress of our lives over a year. I love the food - too much; I love the special cookies and treats, the dinners and gatherings. I love the gracious fellowship and friendship that Christmas inspires.<br />
<br />
I love, too, the way that people reach beyond themselves at Christmas time. I love how we reach beyond our families and friends to do something for someone else. How many of us do something for someone we may never meet this side of heaven? The gift to someone who may never give us something in return-food for the homeless in Norristown and Philadelphia; Christmas presents from our Christmas pageants for children who may receive no other presents this Christmas; World Gifts for the children and our partners in Guatemala and in Uganda; letters and packages to our men and women in uniform around the world.<br />
<br />
But even more than the physical gifts that reach beyond our homes and around the world, I love the gentle kindnesses we show to one another in this season. Like the gentle consideration to the widow or widower on their first Christmas alone who receives a phone call, a visit or are invited to come for Christmas dinner with people who offer love to fill the cracks in their hearts. There’s something in the air at Christmas time. A freedom, an openness, a fearlessness to reach beyond ourselves to others to share our gifts with others and show them just how important they are to us, how much we cherish and love them, even if we don’t use the words.<br />
<br />
Ahh, but the spirit rarely lasts. The season of unchecked generosity and unafraid love passes all too quickly like a dream or a fleeting thought. And some time Christmas night, when we’ve eaten our fill, put the presents away, and hung up on the last phone call to a family member or a friend, we’ll begin thinking about when the tree should come down. Our thoughts and our energies will begin to turn toward the next day of our regular lives and the rest of the year. Christmas will come and Christmas will go and we’ll pick up where we left off from our colder, quieter, more fear-filled lives putting Christmas and the spirit of love and generosity back in the box and allowing the spirit and love of the season to simply drift away.<br />
<br />
But that’s not what God has in mind for us at Christmas. For God, Christmas is not a brief season of love and generosity that we pick up for a time and then set aside for our real life. For God intends that the gift of Christmas, God with us, to be our real life and this Christmas Day is only a beginning.<br />
<br />
The Baby in the Manger<br />
<br />
Every year at Christmas, in the midst of all of our other activities and celebrations we stop for a moment to gather together around the manger in Bethlehem, drawn in some way to the gentle poetry of Luke’s Gospel about the birth of Jesus and that first Christmas centuries ago. We are also drawn to the hope of the world, drawn to the hope of God revealed to us in the form of this baby child, born in a stable.<br />
<br />
With no room in the inn where respectable people would stay, we enter the dusty, noisy, fragrant stable with Mary and Joseph and Jesus.We hear the pronouncement of the angels that a Savior has been born and walk with the poor, scared shepherds to Bethlehem to try to catch a glimpse of what started all of this. And it’s here, in the oddest, dirtiest of places that it all begins. Like our hearts and our lives, which are not always the cleanest, tidiest of places, God first reveals Himself in Jesus in a common stable. God comes to the lowest place to remind us that however muddy, sinful and fear-filled our lives may have become, He’s willing to come to us and to dwell in us — to be with us.<br />
<br />
And what we don’t see fully as we linger by the manger on Christmas Eve, what we don’t know when we first make room for Jesus in our hearts, we find out soon enough. And that is that Christmas is only a beginning. For this child who is born in the lowliest of places grows up to be a Teacher, the likes of which the world has never known. A Teacher who will show us the way for living our lives today. This child born in a stable grows up to be a Healer who cures the lame who comforts those who mourn and who will bring healing and comfort to our lives today. This child grows up to show us how to live fearless lives, trusting in God moment by moment; becoming the persons God created us to be.<br />
<br />
And this child in the manger grows up to show us the face of God, the face of the God who loves us so much that He will do whatever it takes, even suffering death on a cross to take away our sins, giving us a resurrection that promises us life beyond the door of death to draw us close, to save us, to love us. The child of Bethlehem grows up to promise to be with us always. He promises to send His Spirit of love, hope and forgiveness to dwell in our hearts so that the love He shares with us we can share with others at Christmas and every day of the year.<br />
<br />
You see, Christmas — Christ coming into the world — is not an end in itself, not something that happened once upon a time that we remember fondly once a year. Christmas is the beginning of the promise of a life lived with God now and always for there is no place and no life and no one that is not worthy of His presence. If we are willing, He will come to us. He will come and make His home in our hearts tonight and always, so that we may keep Christmas every day of the year.<br />
<br />
Christmas All Year Long<br />
<br />
Keeping Christmas every day of the year may be a lot harder than it sounds. Certainly it doesn’t mean that we need to decorate our houses with trees and lights and manger scenes and Christmas stockings on the mantle day in and day out. It doesn’t mean that we need to give and receive physical presents every day, or send cards and flowers and fruitcakes to everyone we know (and you can definitely keep the fruitcakes to yourself, anyway.) Keeping Christmas throughout the year means that we make room for Christ to enter into our lives in some way, and that we remember Christmas is both Christ’s birthday in the world as well as a new birth for our lives.<br />
<br />
Keeping Christmas throughout the year means that you and I remember this truth and make a place in our lives, however grungy or inelegant they are at the moment, that we make a place for Christ — for God — to dwell with us so that we know His love and generosity each day and can share that love and generosity with others fearlessly and hopefully all through the year.<br />
<br />
Keeping Christmas throughout the year will look different in all of our lives, but the Spirit and love and gift of Christmas that we know this night is ours always. It is ours when we open our lives to God’s presence and the Christmas love and spirit we share will not fade from our lives, but only grow stronger as Christ comes to live in our hearts.<br />
<br />
So this Christmas may God grant you the gift of the light of Christmas, which is faith;<br />
The gift of the belief of Christmas, which is hope;<br />
The gift of the warmth of Christmas, which is love;<br />
The gift of the radiance of Christmas, which is truth;<br />
The gift of the joy of Christmas, which is God.<br />
<br />
May be peace in your heart and over all the earth, and good will for all in God’s love this night and every day through the year.<br />
<br />
Merry Christmas!<br />
</div>
<!--EndFragment-->The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-23074240200370746032012-12-25T16:38:00.000-08:002012-12-25T16:38:05.053-08:00Merry Christmas to All!
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<b>Introduction: God Welcomes Everyone<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Merry Christmas! That’s got to be
one of the sweetest greetings of the whole year: a greeting of hope, a greeting
of joy and good humor, a greeting of love. And it’s a greeting that draws our
hearts and our thoughts in some way to this night with Mary and Joseph, with
shepherds and angels, and most importantly with the child, lying in a manger —
with Jesus.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Every year we’re drawn in some way by
the gentle poetry of Luke’s story about the birth of Jesus and that first
Christmas in Bethlehem; drawn to
the hope of the world, drawn to the hope of God to the hope and the light that
pushes away the darkness of our fears revealed to us in the form of a baby
child, born in a stable. Now some of us are drawn to the manger this night
because we believe in our heart of hearts and in the way we live our lives, we
believe. We believe that God came down in human form to show us who God is a<span style="line-height: 150%;">nd
to save us from ourselves, to save us from our sins and our loneliness and our
fears, </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">to save us so that we can really
live.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">We believe and are here this night
to pay homage, to give thanks, to offer our lives anew for this great gift of
God’s love revealed in the child. And I bid you Merry Christmas!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Now others of us are drawn here
because we once believed & we’d like to believe again; we come with some kind
of remembrance of the love, the peace and the hope that comes to us only from
God’s presence and love at work in our lives.
We long to know and to live that fearless reality again. We’ve come
because we long for our lives to be different. We want to know in our heart of
hearts that God loves us and that we are His. We come, hoping for God to touch
our lives, our souls, our hearts — to touch us in some way with His grace and
goodness. And I bid you Merry Christmas!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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And others of us are drawn here
tonight because, Although we’ve never
believed or even hoped to believe in Christ as Savior; or to become involved in
a Christian community and Christian life; we still respect the tradition or
honor the wishes of family and friends. <span style="line-height: 150%;">We come because we wouldn’t by our
absence tonight, spoil the holiday for our loved ones. And I bid you all a very
Merry Christmas!</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Welcome this Christmas Eve, for
behold, along with the heavenly hosts of God; behold, I bring you tidings of
great joy for <u>all</u> people — for
those of us who believe, for those of us who long to believe again, and for
those of us who are here for other reasons. Fear not, for all of us a Savior
has been born; for all of us a gift has come into our world and it’s good news;
better still, it’s saving news. Christmas, the coming of God into our world as
one of us, reveals God’s love for all people, for everyone, including you and
me, and it’s a gentle love; a love that overcomes our fears, but a love that won’t
overcome our free wills.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
For God has not come to us tonight
in His power and glory to force us to love Him. Instead God comes in the form
of a baby child, helpless to overpower anyone; but willing to offer His love,
His hope, and His saving grace for everyone. And we are just the people He
wants to touch tonight — people He loves enough to come for Himself.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b>We Are in the Story<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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That God has come in human form for
all people is one of the most incredible parts of the story tonight. And we
know that God has come for all of us because we’re all there; we’re all there
in the story. There are believers in the story, at least two of them – Joseph
and Mary. Joseph sets aside his fears and believes. Believes that this child
would be the Savior of the world, the Son of God. He had received a powerful
message in a dream and was willing to take Mary as his wife and to care for the
child as his own. <span style="line-height: 150%;">Mary allowed the power of God to
take away her fears because the angel had announced God’s favor on her — God’s
love for her — and she’d been willing to offer herself in return to bear this
child. The child who would save the world and offer the way back to God.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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There are also people there in the
story who once believed or who wanted to believe again. Every day people who
were keeping watch over their flocks by night, watching, looking, longing for
something more, ready to accept God’s grace and promise of a new life if
offered. Even though the angels terrified them they overcame their fear and
followed the angels’ calling and went to Bethlehem in the hope that their
longing would be fulfilled.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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And, like some of us here tonight,
there are people in the story who didn’t believe at all. People who had no idea
anything important was taking place in Bethlehem. From Emperor Augustus and the Governor, Quirinius, to some of Mary
and Joseph’s fellow travelers in Bethlehem to be registered by Rome for the census.
It was just another day in their lives.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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And the Christ child comes for all
of them in the story;<o:p></o:p></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]-->He comes without regard to their position in
life,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36.15pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->He comes without regard to their beliefs and
practices,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 36.15pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->He comes without regard for whether they deserved
God’s love or not, <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->He comes for His own purposes,<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->He comes to take away their fears and lift their
burdens,<o:p></o:p></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]-->He comes to draw them to a life that’s really
life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
And He comes for all of us here
tonight, too in the stories, in the reality of our lives. He comes to let us know
that we are all His and He loves us. He comes to you and to me tonight to take
away our fears, to lift our burdens. He comes to offer you real life, life in
all its abundance.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b>God Showing Love as We Show Love<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Now, like most of you, I like to
communicate my love in some outward way. It doesn’t really do much good to keep
our love quiet or hidden away. People
won’t know the depth of our feelings if we keep them to ourselves. And
so we communicate, we show our love for others.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Whether it’s a friend to a friend,
a couple falling in love with one another, parent to a child, a child to a
parent, we want to communicate our love
and the most common way is to say those three words, <i>I love you. </i> Or to use some other words that let’s
those we love <span style="line-height: 150%;">know that they are in our hearts.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
But we also like to act in some way
to show our love for another person. We offer our hand in friendship; we give a
hug or a kiss, make a special dinner on a birthday; send a card or give a
Christmas present. We spend time with people we love, listening and talking, and
sometimes just being quiet together. If we have love in our hearts for another <span style="line-height: 150%;">we become pretty good at finding
physical ways to show our love for them so that they know they have our hearts
in some tangible way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
And it’s the same for God. God
wants to communicate and show His great love for us in words and deeds. God’s
communicated His love in thousands of ways throughout history — through the
wonder of creation and the gift of your life and mine; through words in the
scriptures and through human representatives who have a word of God’s love for
us. But apparently the wonder of
creation, the gift of life, the words weren’t enough for us to really know
God’s <i>I love you</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
So God did something new, something
surprising; something mysterious, something very physical. God communicated His love for us by
taking every ounce of that love every beautiful sunrise and sunset, every word
of hope and promise and sent it to us in the most fragile and vulnerable of
packages in the form of someone like us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
</div>
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You see, Jesus Christ is nothing
less than the full and physical communication of God’s <i>I love you</i> in word and in action for all people, not merely for those who believe but
for those of us who once believed and for those of us who have never believed
or just aren’t sure. Whoever we are, whatever we believe, however we’re living
our lives, God loves us and wants to communicate His love for our lives tonight
and to give His love to you and me, just as we are, in our own lives. It’s what
draws us to the manger, it’s what draws us here tonight. It is a love that we
don’t deserve, that we can’t earn. And best of all, it is a love that we can’t
lose, because it comes to us as gift from God, as the greatest of gifts for all
people. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b>Receiving God’s Love<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
So whether you’re here tonight
because you believe or because you want to believe again <span style="line-height: 150%;">or because other purposes, not
wholly your own, have drawn you to the manger. Remember that this story is your
story, too, that the Lord of life who came that first Christmas night is here
at our sides, beckoning us into a life with Him now offering us the gift of His
love; and a life free from fear.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
So now may God grant you the gift
of the light of Christmas, which is faith. The gift of the belief of Christmas,
which is hope; The gift of the warmth of Christmas, which is love; The gift of
the radiance of Christmas, which is truth; The gift of the joy of Christmas,
which is God; That there may be peace in your heart and over all the earth <span style="line-height: 150%;">and good will for all in God’s love
this night and every day throughout the year.</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Merry Christmas!<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-88088386549904099892012-12-21T05:49:00.000-08:002012-12-21T05:49:02.987-08:00Light in the Darkenes<br />
<i>"The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." John 1:5</i><br />
<br />
Dear People of St. David's,<br />
<br />
I pray that you are well and that as the great day of Christmas draws steadily closer, that your plans and preparations are coming together. I pray also that your hearts are light and open to the coming of God among us this Christmas.<br />
<br />
This has been a very hard week for light hearts. For along with the cares and struggles of our every day lives and long running conflicts and dangers around the world, the darkness that is still in the world broke out in such violent horror and death last week in Newtown, Connecticut that we are all still reeling. There are no words to describe the sadness and the heartbreak of the loss of so many young, innocent lives. The waste and brokenness caused by the actions of one person sent shockwaves around the country and through all of our hearts. It's enough to make you wonder about God's creation and the ongoing darkness and outright evil that flare up in our lives all too often.<br />
<br />
But it is into just this kind of darkness that God's light shines. Sometimes we have a tendency to wrap Christmas up into neat little packages and into a celebration that rarely touches the struggles and darkness in the world and in our lives. We have nice decorations and Christmas worship services and we have times with family and friends that don't always reach into or even touch on the darkness around us. But the light of Christmas is not just another decoration at mid-winter. The light of Christmas, Jesus the Christ, shines light upon the real darkness of human sin and brokenness. The light of Christmas stands in opposition to a power that is seeking to undo and thwart God's purposes in our lives and in the life of the world. The light of Christmas came into the world in another dark moment and comes to us in our darkness. It is a light that seeks and one day will overcome the darkness we know all too well this week.<br />
<br />
So, as we put the finishing touches on our Christmas holiday this year or race to the finish on Christmas Eve, look to the light. Invite the light of Christmas to shine on the dark places in your life to bring healing and hope and thankfulness. Invite the light of Christmas to fill you and direct you to be a person who brings light. Then find some way to let that light shine through you to others at St. David's, in your families, in your work or at school, and in every place where the shadows of darkness linger in our world. God's promise is that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it.<br />
<br />
May the blessing of the Light of Christmas be yours and may we all allow that light to shine through us so God can use us to bring more and more light to the world.<br />
<br />
Merry Christmas!<br />
The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-49396524776503988932012-12-11T05:58:00.000-08:002012-12-21T05:59:05.041-08:00Begin the Journey
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<br />
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<b>Introduction:
Making our Way to Bethlehem<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Several Christmases
ago the Allen family made a journey. It was long journey that took the better
part of a day to get there and the better part of a day to return to our home,
to Devon. It was tiring and the lines in the airport were particularly long,
but it was worth everything we had to endure to be there.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
“There” was my
family’s home in Texas and “there” was the place where we were surrounded by
the love and the closeness of family members of all ages, some of whom,
including my sister, we hadn’t seen very often over the years. And when we came
back, we weren’t the same people we were before our journey. For though we were
tired out from the travel, there was a sense of renewal and life and an
assurance for me that even though the location of home had changed as my Mother
was living in a different house than the one on Lively Lane Where I grew up,
the love we remembered and expected to find was still there and the journey
made all the difference.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Each year during the
season of Advent, we Christians begin a journey to take us home, to take us
home to Bethlehem; to take us home to God. It’s an interior journey, a journey
of the heart and we hope that this month-long journey will prepare our hearts
for the coming of the Christ-child so that the road to our heart will be clear,
so that this time there will be enough room for Him to be born in our lives
again or to be born for the first time.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Now most of us think
that we know the way to Bethlehem this Christmas. We can find it on the map,
just a little way outside Jerusalem. It shouldn’t be a problem. But there is a
problem; and the problem is that so much has changed since our last visit, that
many of us have forgotten how to begin the journey much less remember where we
are going.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
A whole year has
passed; a year that has brought many changes to our lives some of them good;
some of them not so good; some of them heartbreaking. We’re literally different
people than we were a year ago. So the starting point of this year’s journey is
different, too.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; tab-stops: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Bethlehem is still
there, waiting for us to come, but the geography, the location of our lives has
changed so much that we may need a little help starting off on our way that is,<br />
if we’re willing to set aside our fears and go there.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<b>Meeting John on
the Way<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Now, if you were to
ask the Gospel writer, Luke, the way to reach Bethlehem, the way to come home
to the Christ-child and to God’s magnificent love for you, he would tell you to
go out to the desert, to go out into the wilderness. “Keep going until you get
to the Jordan River, you can’t miss it and there’ll you’ll find a man, a
strange fellow standing knee deep in the water, just baptizing people as fast
as he can.That’ll be John the Baptist. <span style="line-height: 150%;">You ask him how to
get to Bethlehem because if you want to go there he’s the only one who can help
you to find your way.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
All the Gospel
writers say the same thing. If you want to go to Jesus, if you want to walk the
path that will take you home; if you want to live a fearless, hope-filled life
with God then you’ve got to meet with John on your journey there you’ve got to
meet John to hear and respond to John’s call to repent to change your life so
that the road is open for Christ to enter in.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
You see the season
of Advent belongs, not to Jesus, but to John the Baptist, it belongs to God’s
prophet in the wilderness munching on grasshoppers and wearing a camel hair
shirt calling people to repent, calling people to change their lives because
the Kingdom of God is at hand, calling us to turn away from the hardness of our
hearts so that we can accept God’s forgiveness and find our way home to
Bethlehem.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Now, I don’t know
about you, but I’ve never been very comfortable with people</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Insisting that I
repent of my stubborn, selfish, sinful ways. After all, those ways are not
really all that stubborn or selfish or sinful, are they? I’ve attended enough
tent revival meetings with one of my grandmothers to last a lifetime, and they
always left me unchanged, or even more committed to the way I was living my
life. And John reminds me of those tent revival preachers, yelling at the top
of his lungs to repent, to change, to turn your life around. And you could
probably hear John long before you saw him, hearing his one sermon, “repent”,
echoing off the barren desert landscape.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
But whether we like
to go to the wilderness to see John and hear his one sermon or not, the reality
is that John’s message <u>is</u> the start of the journey to Bethlehem. It <u>is</u>
the beginning that every one of us must make if we intend to find room for
Jesus this Christmas and allow God’s love to bring us home. For it’s when we’re
willing to admit that we’ve lost our way, a little or a lot; when we’re willing
to admit that we’ve allowed other things to come first in our lives before God,
that God will come to us. He will forgive us and will walk with us on our way
to Bethlehem, banishing
our fears and offering us real life.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<b>Repentance is the
first step and the daily step</b></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
When we lived in
northern Virginia, I had a friend who was Roman Catholic priest who worked in
the hospital at Georgetown University. He was a hospital chaplain, visiting the
sick, the mending, and the dying. But once a month he made journey to the city
jail, and after that to a convent of nuns to hear confessions. He told me that
on these days when he journeyed to the jail and the convent, he probably met
with thirty people over the course of the day, hearing
their confessions and offered God’s forgiveness and grace. In the jail, he
heard a lot of hard things from the people who came to repent of their sins.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
He heard people
confessing to hurting other people, to killing other people. He heard people
confessing to stealing to support their addictions, and to stealing to support
their wealthy lifestyles. He said it felt like being hit over the head with a
club, because these were such shocking sins. But in every case, with every
person who truly sought a different life he offered forgiveness as the sign of
God’s love and the promise of new life in Christ. And he told me he could see
the look of complete relief and wonder on many faces relief, because their
repentance had made room for God to move in their lives <span style="line-height: 150%;">and they could begin the
journey again with God.</span></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
In the afternoon, he
heard confessions in the convent. The sisters would come to him one by one and
confess their sins in order to move on in their lives with God. He heard the
nuns confessing to taking an extra piece of bread at lunch one day when they
didn’t really want it and it left too little for the other nuns. He heard nuns
confessing to having evil thoughts about another person. And he heard them
confessing to letting their minds wander during daily church or during a talk
someone was giving.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
He said that it felt
like cotton balls bouncing off his face after being in the jail, but for these
women, who had devoted their entire lives to God, who sought God’s way in all that they did, these were real sins and came
with all the hardness of heart, with
all the separation from God and the loneliness,
of the hardest criminal in the jail. And just as in the jail, he said, when he
heard the confessions and offered God’s forgiveness, grace and the promise that
they could begin their walk with Christ anew, freed from their sins, the look
on their faces conveyed utter relief.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
I suspect that most
of us here this morning would find ourselves somewhere in between these two
groups of people most days—somewhere between being a convicted criminal and a
nun. But we do have sins to
confess, you and I. We do have patterns in our lives and ways of living that keep us from
living with God in our lives, and from beginning our journey to Bethlehem this
year.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
And so I invite you
this morning to repent, to change. I ask you to admit to God where you’re
falling short in your relationship with Him, to admit to God where you’re
falling short in your relationship with others. Because when you and I confess,
when we ask for God’s forgiveness, He promises to forgive us and to touch our
hearts with His grace and love. Promises to come to us and lead us by another
road in life; a road that offers hope and light and love. A journey that will
bring us home.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 1.0in; tab-stops: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Repentance, turning,
seeking the forgiveness of God in your life is the map to Bethlehem that John
the Baptist offers each one of us this morning. And it’s the first step on the
journey to Bethlehem the step that will make room for the Christ-child to come
this Christmas and every day of our lives.</div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
So when we get to
the confession of sin in the service today, don’t just read along; <span style="line-height: 150%;">be honest, say it as
though you mean it. </span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">For
if you and I will confess our sins, we will begin the journey to Bethlehem in
earnest where we will find God Himself, the merriest of Christmases, and</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">life that is really life.</span></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Amen.</div>
<!--EndFragment-->The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-1362751174615497912012-12-06T11:26:00.002-08:002012-12-06T11:26:37.284-08:00The Promise<br />
<i>"Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God." Luke 1:30 </i><br />
<br />
I pray that you are well and want to thank all of you who have made commitments to give and to care for those in our community who will have very little Christmas, except for people like us making sacrifices for them. We fed over 1,000 people over Thanksgiving and the giving for Christmas outreach looks equally promising and generous. Bless you for being a blessing to others.<br />
<br />
I've been getting ready for Christmas in my heart and in my mind by pondering and reflecting on the God who promises us a life of hope and a life that is connected to Him in some real ways. It's really quite a fantastic story, and not in the imaginary sense. It's fantastic that God would show the depth of His love for us by coming down and living among us. It's amazing that God would reveal His promise in the birth of a child, born to a "nobody" from "nowhere" in the darkness of a lowly stable, a child who would grow up to show the world the face of God's love in His life, His death, and His resurrection.<br />
<br />
The promise starts out so small, in the visit of the angel Gabriel to a young woman, who is favored by God, not because of her wealth, or her intellect, or her experience in birthing and raising children, but favored only because she was willing to accept God's presence and follow God's call for her life. Oh, I know that the stories that have surrounded Mary through the centuries raise her up to a place where she appears to be "worthy" to be the one to be the first to bring Christ to the world and she may have been. But the scriptures suggest otherwise. A worthy person would not have to be told by Gabriel to set aside her fears. She's just like us in that respect. No, Mary is worthy because she accepts the promise of hope and God's presence in her life and is willing to follow in God's way, a way that brings light and life to the world in the most beautiful form we know - a baby.<br />
<br />
And the promise of a life of hope and God's presence is available to you and to me in this busy Advent season. We don't have to earn the promise. We do not have to have some earned measure of success in our lives. We don't have to "be somebody" for God for Him to be present with us. You and I only have to be ready and open to receive God's promise and the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives when it comes our way. Now, it's not likely that our openness in following God's call on our lives will make us 'famous" like Mary. But it will make us stand out for those to whom we bear Christ - to those souls we reveal the presence of Christ to through our giving, through our loving, and through our hopefulness. To those souls we will be revealed as God's people. We will be like Mary, living in hope and God's presence, making our little difference in God's kingdom.<br />
<br />
And so in these days of Advent, listen carefully to God's call on your life. Don't be afraid, as Gabriel commands us, for you have found favor with God and God is coming to fill you with hope and life and the ability to share the love of Christ with the world.<br />
<br />
<br />
Grace and Peace,<br />
WFA<br />
<br />
P.S. Drop by the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/saintdavidsradnor" target="_blank">St. David's Facebook</a> page each week for a special Advent message, and please leave a message of blessing for your St. David's family.The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-82719553644405047742012-11-29T11:29:00.001-08:002012-11-29T11:29:37.917-08:00Living in the Presence<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 23:6 <br />
<br />
I pray that you and yours are well and that some of the glow of thankfulness of the past week is still keeping your hearts warm as the days grow colder.<br />
<br />
For the past several weeks, we've been meditating together on the 23rd Psalm and some of the promises of God that encourage us to lead fearless, hope-filled lives as God leads us, walks with us, and follows behind us with His goodness and mercy. In this last phrase of the psalm, we are offered the ultimate promise of living in God's presence forever.<br />
<br />
Now, one way to look at that promise is that it is for a time to come. It is the life beyond the door of death promised by Jesus in John 14:1-6, "In my Father's house there are many mansions....and I go to prepare a place for you." It's the promise that comes to us through Jesus' resurrection from the dead. One day, you and I will be with God in paradise, in a fuller life beyond the door of death. That's a promise that allows us to live in confidence as we face our own demise and the passing of the people we love. This life is not all there is and by God's grace we will experience an even greater life beyond the veil.<br />
<br />
There is also a more immediate aspect to this promise as well. There is a "now" that suggests that we are invited to dwell in the living presence of God today and every day as we turn our lives over to this Good Shepherd and live in the green pastures and still waters and at the banquet where our cups are running over. The eternal life promised in this psalm and by Jesus is for a time to come, yes, but also for today and every day of our lives as God's presence touches us; guides us; lifts us up when we're knocked down; makes us whole; inspires the best we have to offer with our lives; and gives us a taste of love that is above and beyond any other that we have known. It is the Lord's house that is open to us today and forever and it is good.<br />
<br />
So, as you go about your day today and any day, remember the Good Shepherd, the Lord, who is with you now and always. Set aside your fears and come into the house.<br />
<br />
Grace and Peace—<br />
WFA</div>
<!--EndFragment-->The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-77733332828912213212012-11-27T18:08:00.001-08:002012-11-27T18:08:44.707-08:00Seeing and Seeking the Kingdom of Fearlessness
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<i>For those of you who have made requests, here is my sermon from Thanksgiving.</i></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Introduction: Thanksgiving Grace<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Happy Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for today and in
my life and I hope you know that you do, too; for we are a people who have been
blessed by God. We have been blessed by God to be part of this Christian
community. That cares for one another and is on a mission to know God in Jesus
Christ and to make Christ known; we have been blessed by God to live in a
nation of great opportunity; we have been blessed by God to have family and
friends; we have been blessed by God with the gift of life itself; and today,
we give thanks.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I love this day, I love
Thanksgiving Day, among all our national days and Holy Days, <span style="line-height: 150%;">because it’s the one day when we as
a nation and, frankly, when we as Christians, come closest to getting it right.
Thanksgiving, though a civic holiday is the one day in the year </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">when we come closest to getting our
priorities and our focus in the right place as we set aside an entire day to
give thanks to someone or something — usually God in some </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">way — to thank one another for the many gifts t we have been given in our
everyday lives.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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In some sense, it’s both profound
and strange that we would set aside only one day in a year to offer thanks. Profound
because our nation and our way of life come to a virtual standstill for a few
hours, as people of all sorts gather around some table to eat, <span style="line-height: 150%;">to offer thanks, and to share the
gift of life. Strange, because for some of us, it’s the only time when we feel
comfortable enough, even encouraged enough, to count our blessings; </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">to say thank you to God and to say
thank you to one another for gifts great and small.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I know around our Thanksgiving
table this afternoon, I’ll ask everyone to share at least one thing that
they’re thankful for. It’s a tradition
my parents instilled in me <span style="line-height: 150%;">and it’s always a lovely moment
during the meal to talk about the people and the things and the events that
have touched our hearts in some way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
When this moment comes, you can
sense a change in the energy around the table. <span style="line-height: 150%;">Oh, there’s some performance
anxiety as people wonder what they’re going to say </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">and whether it will measure up to
what others may say. But after that little worry passes and thanks are being
shared people’s faces soften; worry lines fade; smiles emerge and broaden; and
eyes twinkle as the trivial and silly gifts of life are revealed; or as major
events, sometimes hard moments, are spoken of in quieter tones, drawing us all
too briefly into the poignant moments of grace and transformation of life.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
I think sometimes that
Thanksgiving—that this moment of sharing our thanks is the most nourishing part
of the meal. For in offering our thanks, our souls are fed, our fears released
and we are changed. In offering our thanks, for gifts great and small, we come
closest to seeing God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness in our midst, as we
remember that all we are and all that we have come to us as gifts from God. And
if you and I can learn to live every day in thanksgiving to God and one another
then we’ll come much closer to getting it right beyond Thanksgiving Day, and we’ll
come much closer to having our life in the right order. And our worries and
fears will become the passing problems they really are as we’re drawn closer to
the presence and the peace of God and God’s kingdom.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<b>The Gospel and
Days of Thanksgiving<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
I think Jesus would
like this part of Thanksgiving Day, the part that includes giving thanks and
focusing on what’s truly important, the importance of finding a place for
everyone around the table and listening to people waking up to the blessings in
their lives. You see Jesus, knows that we worry about life. Jesus knows that
it’s easy for us to focus on the things of life, on what we’ll eat, what we’ll
drink, what we’ll wear, instead of focusing on the source of life. Jesus knows
that we can so easily focus on the created and not the Creator.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
And Jesus knows that
we worry about what’s coming next in our lives, Jesus knows that we’re afraid
and that our fears can shove aside our trust in God and God’s plan for our
lives and cause us to put the things of life first because they help us through
some of our struggles.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Jesus knows because
He walked among us and lived as one of us. He lived in a family, spent time
with friends, worked at a job, loved and was loved, wxperienced all that we
experience in this life. And Jesus wants us to have a spiritual strategy and a
life’s focus <span style="line-height: 150%;">that frees us from
worrying about the things of life and what’s coming next </span><span style="line-height: 150%;">so that we may more fully enjoy the goodness
and the blessings of each day and know that God walks before us and behind us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
So, Jesus says,
strip it all down and see life for the gift that it is; see that God has given
life to you because He loves you; understand that God is caring for you, though
you may know nothing about it. And then give God thanks and seek after this
Giver of gifts, so that you can know life’s blessings and God’s love for you
every moment.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Thanksgiving is the
way to enter into life more fully; it’s the beginning of prayer. I<span style="line-height: 150%;">t’s the beginning
of getting a balanced perspective on your life it’s the beginning of setting
aside your fears and trusting in God; it’s the doorway into the kingdom of God.
Thanksgiving acknowledges God’s greatness and love for each one of us and allows
us to face the triumphs and trials of this life as the passing moments they are
and find it in our hearts to teach others to say thanks, by the way we share
our gifts with them.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Giving Thanks</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Thanksgiving Day has become a
particularly special day for me as you and I started our ministry together sixteen
years ago today and the life and love and mission and ministry that we have
shared have been beyond my wildest imaginings for our life together. And as I
reflected on our ministry together, I was reminded of a Thanksgiving moment <span style="line-height: 150%;">that happened in my first year of
ordained ministry, in Roanoke, Virginia.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Part of our ministry there was to
lead worship services each Wednesday at the various retirement and nursing
homes. And on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I was responsible for leading
the service at one of the poorer homes, a home where people who had very little
lived out their last days in a simple, but dignified facility.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Struggling to come up with an
appropriate way to acknowledge Thanksgiving Day, I invited them to share what
they were thankful for before we started the service. For the next thirty
minutes, these men and women, who had very little by the world’s standards gave
thanks to God in the most eloquent way:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Thank you for another year;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Thank you for having something to
eat every day;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Thank you that I’m not living on
the street any more;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Thank you for my new teeth that allow
me to chew my food again;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Thank you for my son;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Thank you for my daughter coming to
visit this afternoon;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Thank you that I will be going to
my sister’s house tomorrow for dinner;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Thank you for my husband of 47
years;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Thank you that the cancer is all
gone;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Thank you for my new great granddaughter;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Thank you for Jesus.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
It was like waves of grace washing
over the room as these children of God gave their thanks and laughed a little
and cried a little over all their blessings.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
That was pretty much the whole
service for that Wednesday before Thanksgiving; we sang a hymn and left each
other with smiles and a few hugs, changed by the moment of magnificent
thanksgiving. It’s so easy to forget how much God has given us, so easy to get
caught up in wanting and needing something more. So easy to let worry and
distractions rule our hearts and take for granted the inventory of gifts that
make up our lives.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
And so today I
invite you to take some time to count your blessings, to make an inventory of
all that you have and all that you are; take some real time to give thanks to
God for all that you’ve been given, for what you’ll be eating and drinking and
wearing, for family and friends here with you and those gone into glory, for
this parish community, for the beauty of creation and the wonder and mystery of
life, and especially for God’s saving grace in His Son, Jesus.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
And then do it again
tomorrow and the next day and the next. You may not want to eat as much, but if
you want to feed your soul again and again, and lead a fearless, hope-filled
life in the kingdom of God, Give thanks to God; and let others know the power
of God’s kingdom at work in you by sharing your thanks and your gifts with
them, too.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFooter" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: .5in;">
Amen.<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-33740805367178098302012-11-26T08:30:00.000-08:002012-11-26T08:31:13.458-08:00Surrendering Our Lives to Christ the King<br />
Today is the last Sunday in the Church year, the last Sunday before we begin a new cycle of seasons to help us to grow in the faith and learn more about this Lord who loves us so; so that we can set aside our fears, put our trust in Him, and take up our lives in hope and love.<br />
<br />
For many centuries, this Sunday has been known as Christ the King Sunday — a Sunday to remind us one last time about the core of our faith and about the reality of Christ’s lordship over the Church and over our lives. It’s always interested me, then, that at the end of the Church year ae find ourselves at or near the cross of Christ, so, this morning, we find Christ before Pontius Pilate. Apparently Christ’s Kingship is connected to His death and resurrection, and so, represents a different kind of authority for our lives than we normally associate with rulers, who usually expect to be served rather than to serve.<br />
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It’s no wonder then, that Pontius Pilate keeps asking Jesus, “Now what kind of king are you? I know kings and how they wield power through violence and raw politics but here you, a king, stand before me and I have power over you.”<br />
<br />
But the One we call King is a Lord who came to serve; who came by setting aside all His heavenly glory and power to reveal the face of the God who loves us, who wants us, who forgives us; who came to take away our sins and the fear and the power of death so that we may have life and have it in abundance. The One we call King has power over us and over our lives but only when we’re willing to give that power over to Him; only when we believe in Him; only when we give our hearts to Him in some way; only when we’re willing to set aside our fears at losing control of our lives, and place our lives in His hands; only when we surrender to the King who only has our best interest at heart.<br />
<br />
<b>What’s the Point of Surrendering?</b><br />
Now surrender is not a word we often associate with a sense of goodness; It’s usually associated with failure or losing or being overpowered. I can remember as child being tickled mercilessly or wrestled to the ground with some other kid sitting on my chest until I called out, “I surrender!”<br />
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But in God’s upside down and sometimes backward way to real life surrender is the start and the basis for all of our life with God. In fact, if we won’t surrender, then we can’t experience all that God has in store for us because God is gentle and will never overpower our free will; never overwhelm our ability to choose Him or not. Because the relationship God desires with you and with me requires a free choice on our part. God has chosen to surrender Himself to you and me and we may or may not choose to surrender to our lives to God.<br />
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Some of you know that I like a good evangelist and it’s not just the hair; I like when a woman or a man has a gift for telling the Christian message with grace, with good stories, with clarity, with purpose. Now, I don’t go out of my way to watch them on television, but I have; and while they make me uncomfortable with their directness at times and with some of the ways they take hold of the scriptures;<br />
I always love what comes at the end of their talk – an invitation. An invitation into the Christian life or into a deeper surrender of our hearts to God. They always ask the listener to surrender their lives to God; to set aside their fears and give their lives over; to answer Jesus’ call, “Come, follow me.”<br />
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It’s a life changing moment for some of us who’ve never known that personal and intimate experience of God with us. But even though I expect that I am following Christ the King in my life, I always love bowing my head and do it every time I’m asked to because it helps me remember that surrendering to Christ needs to happen day by day for every one of us. Sometimes I feel a warmth taking hold of my heart. Sometimes there are tears as I realize how I’ve taken too much control of my life and need to give my life back over to God. Sometimes, I feel nothing, but expect that I am changed.<br />
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Surrender doesn’t happen all that often, in your life or in mine; because we want to maintain our sense of self-destiny and self control and we want to be in charge of our own lives. But mostly we won’t surrender because we’re a little afraid that God might actually come into our lives and touch us or change us or call us to tasks or to ways of living that are way beyond our comfort zones and our life’s plans; I mean life is pretty good for the most part, why would I want to change?<br />
<br />
I have pretty regular conversations with parishioners and friends outside this church who are being touched by God in some way, people who sense that God is stirring something up in them. It may have been you at one point or someone sitting near you this morning. They come to me to talk about it, which is a very exciting part of my life, by the way and the conversation usually goes something like<br />
"Frank, I’m having these feelings of God’s presence and they’re great, but I need your help so I don’t get too weird."<br />
<br />
I tell them that this is very exciting and wonderful and then assure them that God usually draws us closer in our every day lives and rarely changes everything at once; That God has been near you up to now and wants to let you see all the blessings and goodness have come from Him. That usually gives them reassurance, but then I have to tell them the truth. And the truth is that I can’t guarantee them that God won’t call them to a new life and that they might get a little weird as God calls them to a deeper spiritual and physical commitment that is often a little out of step with the world around them.<br />
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When the Lord of all that is, the Lord who loves us and forgives us, comes to call on our lives and we surrender to His call, then our lives are filled with a grace and a sense of well being and a peace that is beyond anything we can imagine because these are the gifts of the King.<br />
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><b>The
Decision to Fall Into God’s Hands</b></span><!--EndFragment-->
<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
Even in life’s most difficult moments, when our worlds are falling down around us, God brings a love and a peace and a grace and a power to endure and overcome because we’re willing to make Jesus Lord or King of our lives. One of the illustrations of surrender to God I’ve found compelling through the years come from C. S. Lewis’ book, <i>Mere Christianity</i>. Lewis is probably one of the most popular Christian writer of the last fifty years but you may not know that he was an active atheist for most of his life and came to surrender his life to Christ rather late.<br />
<br />
In this book, Lewis writes about his personal conversion and says that you cannot say that Christ was merely a good man, or a prophet or a great teacher because some of the things he claimed were outrageous like: “I am the light of the world, those who believe in me, walk in the light,”<br />
or “I am the resurrection and the life,” or from this morning’s Gospel, “My kingdom is not of this world.” According to Lewis, then, we are left with three choices: One, Jesus is a mad man.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
Two, Jesus is wicked. Or, three, Jesus is who He says He is and we have a decision to make.<br />
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Now, no world religions or scholars have ever claimed that Jesus was a mad man; and from the Gospel accounts of healing and forgiving and loving and sacrifice, we know that He’s not wicked and so we are left with the choice that His claims are valid and we have the opportunity to safely surrender our lives to the God who loves us, protects us and cares for us in good times and bad.<br />
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Becoming a Christian involves more than coming to Church every once in awhile or doing something good for others and for God during the week. What it really involves is realizing that God’s love for you is such that you don’t have to do anything at all to earn it. We are saved by the grace of the living God who is with you and me at every moment of our lives. What God wants for us first and foremost is to surrender to Him; To be still and to acknowledge that He is God, to make a commitment every day to live for Him and with Him to acknowledge that Jesus is indeed our King.<br />
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It’s a struggle every day for us to make Christ our King, but if it’s a life of fearlessness, a life of hope we long for; if it’s life and love and peace and real power that we seek, then I invite you take a moment<br />
and pray some kind of prayer of surrender to God today and every day to say something as simple as “God, I give my life to you.” And then accept the saving grace of God’s love for you and for me<br />
And follow Christ the King into a life that is really life.<br />
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Amen.<br />
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WFAThe Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-67602390531901583242012-11-21T10:07:00.001-08:002012-11-21T10:07:39.874-08:00God Before and Behind<br />
"Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life," Psalm 23:6 <br />
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Happy Thanksgiving! I pray for you all today in the hope that the blessings of your life may be foremost in your hearts and minds so that the cup of your soul is indeed overflowing with the knowledge of God's great and particular love for you. I pray, too, that as you look around your table, you may give thanks for the gifts of the people in your life here, with you now, and those we love who have entered into the closer presence of the Good Shepherd.<br />
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This week the Psalmist presents an interesting promise about the life we are offered with God. The 23rd psalm begins with the images of a shepherd who leads us into real life and in this verse a shepherd who follows us over the course of our days with goodness and mercy. It's an image of God before us and God behind us, guiding us, but also picking up the pieces of our lives and crowning them with His goodness, mercy, and forgiveness.<br />
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I believe this to be a right insight because I more often see God's goodness and mercy in my life and in your lives from the backside. That is, we rarely see God going before us. But when we turn and look back over our lives, we see God's hand at work directing us, picking us up when we've fallen, blessing us with gifts that are more than we can ask and more than we deserve most of the time. To bring it closer, we rarely thank God before going into a difficult time because we're not quite fearless enough to trust that God is with us. It's much easier to give thanks after we've gotten through to the other side and see God's hand before us and behind us.<br />
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God promises to walk before us and behind us leading us into a fearless, hope-filled life. We can grow in our walk with our Good Shepherd if we will practice inviting God to lead us in our lives and trust that He is in fact leading us. We can grow even more as fearless Christians when we stop and see the goodness and mercy that follow us and allow our hearts to be filled with thanksgiving.<br />
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So, as you are filling your body with good food and your heart with the people in your life, allow God to fill your soul with hope because He is going before you and behind you today and every day of your life.<br />
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Grace and Peace,<br />
WFA<br />
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The Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758582289351701980.post-73714587535836731872012-11-15T10:00:00.000-08:002012-11-21T10:05:18.741-08:00Overflowing Blessings<br />
I pray that you and yours are well and that your thoughts, like mine are turning to the Thanksgiving celebration next Thursday. Thanksgiving is one of the days when we as Americans begin to catch a glimpse of all the blessings in our lives and actually pause and take note of them.<br />
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For some of us who are in a time in our relationship with God where we sense His closer presence we give thanks. For those of us who are looking forward to spending some quality time with family, with children coming home, or with those we know and love, we give thanks for them. For those of us inspired to feed the hungry on this day, we can give thanks for blessings great and small that inspire us to make a difference and to remind everyone that they are loved. And for those who we are just looking forward to a meal that includes some of our favorite foods, we give thanks. Thankfulness is at the very heart of a life lived connected to God. It reminds us of the many ways that God gives life and touches us with His grace and presence. Even when life is not going all that well for us or for someone we love, thankfulness can strike a different tune in our hearts and theirs, opening the way for God to enter in.<br />
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And the blessings, when we stop and count them, are so numerous for every one of us, by God's grace, that it is almost embarrassing. I was at a function in Center City recently in which we all got to enjoy a kind of rubbery chicken dish and overcooked vegetable - hard to feed 500 people at one sitting. At one point, a server came by to refill water glasses and must have gotten a little distracted as they filled my glass to the brim and then overflowing across the table. The server was embarrassed, but it made me chuckle inside because the overflowing cup of water and the chagrined embarrassment at the table sort of came together in my mind as I reflected on the way God's blessings overflow in all of our lives, especially when we take time to notice them. God's love and God's gifts to every one of us overflow the heart when we acknowledge them and cherish these blessings for what they are.<br />
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So over the course of today and this next week, take some time to notice and to give thanks for blessings great and small in your life and I know that you will see that your life is overflowing with blessings and gifts, too many to number. It may be hard for some of us to see at first, but if you will look at your life, really look at your life and the life you have lived, the acknowledgement of God's overflowing blessings will come to your mind and your heart. You will know once again or for the first time the generosity of God in your life and give thanks.<br />
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Grace and Peace,<br />
WFAThe Rev. W. Frank Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06075554831635841485noreply@blogger.com0