Sermons in Glass 4: Butterflies and Sea Otters

Sermons in Glass: 4. Butterflies and Sea Otters

The Church of the Wayfarer

Dr. Norm Mowery, Pastor

September 29, 2013

Psalm 42

          A man who went to the Methodist Pastor and said, "Pastor, I want you to say a prayer for my dog."
          The pastor was indignant. "What do you mean, say a prayer for your dog?"
          "It's my pet dog," said the man. "I loved that dog and I'd like you to offer a prayer for him."
          "We don't offer prayers for dogs here," the pastor said. "You might try the denomination down the street."
          As the man was leaving, he said to the pastor, "I really loved that dog. I was planning to offer a million-dollar stipend for your church."
          And the pastor said, "Wait a minute. You never told me your dog was a Methodist."

          Today we celebrate the Festival of St. Francis and thank God for all living creatures and, yes, we will offer prayers for our animal friends. You don’t even have to give a million dollars for me to do so!

          A 5-year-old at the beach ran up to his grandpa, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore. There a sea gull lay dead in the sand.
          "Grandpa, what happened to him?" the little boy asked.
          "He died and went to heaven," the grandfather replied.
          The boy thought for a moment, and then asked, "And God threw him back down?"

          This is the fourth in a series of sermons based on the stories in our stained glass windows. Today we look at the four windows in the fourth lancet.

          Each week I am focusing on the top window of each lancet because these tell the story of the life of Jesus. We have seen the birth of Jesus, Jesus in the Temple and the baptism of Jesus. Today we have the Temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.

                  

          The other three windows tell of the four horsemen of Revelation, St. Peter the fisherman with the keys of the kingdom and the first Pilgrim Thanksgiving.

          It is interesting for me to note that the artists and lay persons of the church over 30 years ago decided to include sea otters and butterflies among these rather serious topics.

          But that makes sense. When we are surrounded by darkness—temptation and the apocalypse off we need to add the beauty of the natural world.

          Butterflies and sea otters and all of God’s creatures are needed in our lives to bring balance.

          On Friday morning after the walking group Linda, Pixie and I sat on my bench at the beach and watched a pod of dolphins frolic in the surf. We needed that moment to balance some of the stress of life.

          1. Jesus tempted in the wilderness

          Jesus' ministry was characterized not only by great expectations but great refusals.

          During every stage of our lives, our actions and attitudes are curtailed by a certain number of what might be called "necessary no's."

          For example, yesterday I took my granddaughters Emma and Kira for a walk around the art Galleries of Carmel. I thought that they needed a quick ‘appreciation of art’ course but the whole time I kept saying, “No. Don’t touch.” Some of the clerks were not so sure about a four year old and a six year old hanging out with grandpa surrounded by thousand of dollars of paintings.

          We say:
                    -"No" you can't run into the street for your ball.
                    -"No" you can't reach for that steaming pot on the stove.
                    -"No" you can't have Peanut Butter Cup ice cream for breakfast.
                    -"No" you can't have a slightly squashed earthworm for lunch.

          We drum these necessary no's into our kids' skulls while we have them at home, hoping and praying that our lectures and lessons will sufficiently sink in.
What did Jesus refuse to say? What did Jesus refuse to do? Morrison studied the silences of Jesus, his refusals, in order to understand what these "no's" were actually affirming.
          How can we say "No" to the powers and principalities of this world? By saying "Yes" to the ultimate power and authority, God.

          In fact, the necessary no cannot be invoked without the affirming yes.

          Jesus said no to the Devil because he had already said yes to the Father.

          Jesus said no to the seductive words of the tempter because he said yes to the authority of Scripture.

          You say to your child, no, you cannot play in the street.

          That necessary no is only possible because you, as a loving parent, have already said yes to your commitment to safeguard the health of your child.
          You say no to drugs because you have said yes to clean living.
          You say no to revenge because you have said yes to forgiveness.
          You say no to temptation because you have said yes to self-control.
          You say no to Satan because you have said yes to the Spirit.
          You say no to racism because you have said yes to love.
          You say no to oppression because you have said yes to justice.
          You say no to crankiness because you have said yes to kindness.

          Once several members of a Hasidic congregation had become hopelessly lost in a dense forest. They were delighted when unexpectedly they came upon their rabbi who was also wandering through the woods. They implored, "Master, we are lost! Please show us the way out of the forest."

          The rabbi replied, "I do not know the way out either, but I do know which paths lead nowhere. I will show you the ways that won't work, and then perhaps together we can discover the ones that do."

          For Jesus, temptation meant flirting with more than illusions of grandeur. Problem was the plan involved humble service, not awesome political dominance. If Jesus did not think of these enticements himself, a tempter was on hand to remind him.

          While in the throes of his spiritual retreat up there in the Judean wilderness with little to do and nothing to eat, the devil reminds him, "You know, you could turn these stones into loaves of bread.

          Crusty, chewy, extraordinarily tasty bread."

          Of course he could. Water into wine. Stones into bread. What's the difference? But Jesus was up in some down time. Wilderness time meant personal time, spiritual time. He could turn stones into bread, sure, but bread is not everything. One does not live by bread alone.

          The devil flatters him. "You could fling yourself off the pinnacle of the temple, and armies of angels will swoop down and save you at the click of a finger. How cool is that?" But Jesus knew better than to test God with such games.

          The devil tempts him: "You're the man. You have the power. You could take control of the world." With an arm casually tossed around his shoulder, the tempter eggs him on saying, "One day all this could be yours," as if the devil were the one who could bequeath it. Jesus could have trumped The Donald, out-monopolized Bill Gates, crushed the power of the world's most sophisticated armies, richest treasuries and smartest think tanks. But instead, he waved Satan off like a pesky fly, remembering the commandment: "Worship the Lord your God and serve only him."

          For us to challenge a temptation, you can ask yourself a series of questions:
                   Does this bring me genuine power?
                   Will this make me more loving?
                   Will this make me more whole?
          Each time you challenge a temptation successfully, you empower yourself.

          It is not what we eat, but what we digest that makes us strong,
          Not what we gain, but what we save that makes us rich,
          Not what we read, but what we remember that makes us learned,
          Not what we preach or pray, but what we practice that makes us disciples.

          2. John, the writer of the Book of Revelation and the four horsemen

          The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are described in the last book of the New Testament of the Bible, called the Book of Revelation.

 of Jesus Christ to Saint John the Evangelist at 6:1-8. The chapter tells of a "'book', or 'scroll', in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals". The Lamb of God, or Lion of Judah (Jesus Christ), opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons forth four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses. Although some interpretations differ, in most accounts, the four riders are seen as symbolizing Conquest,[1] War,[2] Famine,[3] and Death, respectively. The Christian apocalyptic vision is that the four horsemen are to set a divine apocalypse upon the world as harbingers of the Last Judgment.[1][4]

          3. St. Peter, the fisherman, toils a his craft. Pictured with him are the kesy of the kingdom of heaven granted him by Jesus.

         

          4. The First Pilgrim Thanksgiving

Merciful God,
your Son was tempted as we are,
yet without sin:
Be with us in our weakness,
that we may know your power to save;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
—Church of the Province of Southern Africa, An Anglican Prayer Book, 1989 (London: Collins, 1990), 166.

Prayers of Confession General

Eternal God,
Your love for us is without end,
yet our love for you and for one another is weak,
often interrupted by self-centeredness ... distrust ... vindictiveness.
Whenever we come together to pray to you,
we have to acknowledge that much of our life deserves your displeasure,
that our life together is too often disfigured by our selfishness and self-love.
Forgive us, we pray, and restore us to fellowship with you and with one another.
For Jesus' sake.

Sermons in Glass 2: Family

Sermons in Glass: 2. Family

The Church of the Wayfarer

Dr. Norm Mowery, Pastor

September 15, 2013

Luke 2:41-52

                This is the second in a series of sermons based on the stories in our beautiful stained glass windows.

          Last Sunday we learned about the stories in the first lancet—

                   The Manger Scene

                   Elijah on Mount Carmel

                   Johann Sebastian Bach          

                   Saint Augustine

          Today we learn about the second lancet—

                   Jesus in the temple (Picture)

                   The Tree of Jesse (Picture)

                   Saint Boniface (Picture)

          Sometimes as I am delivering my sermon I see some of you looking at the windows—and that’s okay! I figure that if you are looking at them you should know what you are looking at. I want you to know the ‘sermons in glass’ that surround you.

          The top panel of the twelve lancets is the story of the life of Jesus. These are the windows that I will focus on each week. I want us to see Jesus in a new way through these messages and I hope that as you look at the windows you will relive the life of Jesus.

          The theme that I see in our lancet this morning is family.

         

          1. Jesus in the Temple 

          In the top window of this the second lancet we see Jesus in Jerusalem at the age of twelve with his family. However, he leaves his family and hangs out with the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

          All the while Mary and Joseph worry that he is lost. They wonder—

                   Was he kidnapped?

                   Was he in an accident?

                   Was he ill, cold, hungry?

          Mary and Joseph come across as good, concerned parents in this story.

          When they go to check on him, he is nowhere to be found. The fear Jesus’ parents experience is the same fear that drives parents today in their concerns about cyberspace — the fear that somehow the child will be lost or exploited.

          Their search was a frantic one.

          When the parents finally find their little boy he is not acting so little. He has taken his place among the teachers in the temple, engaging them in a very adult manner and taking part in the dialogue.

          The thoughts and words coming from this child revealed that he was not your typical 12-year-old.

          Instead, Jesus was fully focused on who he was and, even more so, whose he was. “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” responds the youngster to his scolding mother.

          Even at that young age, Jesus was being driven by a relationship with God and revealed that God’s call was already being enacted in his life.

          Even at that Jesus was still growing and still in need of parenting.

          In Anne Rice’s recent novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt she frames this scene with an interesting twist. In response to Jesus’ rhetorical question about his purpose, Mary tells him:

                   “And now, you come home with us to Nazareth.

                   Not back to the temple.

                   Oh, I know how much you want to stay at the temple.

                   I know.

                   But no.

                   The Lord in heaven did not send you

                             to the house of a teacher in the temple

                             or a priest in the temple

                             or a scribe or a rich Pharisee.

                   He sent you to Joseph bar Jacob, the carpenter, and his betrothed, Mary of the tribe of David in Nazareth.

                   And, now, you come home to Nazareth with us.”

          Even the Son of God needed vigilant, loving parents to protect and nurture him as he worked out his calling.

          So Jesus went home,

                   was obedient to his parents,

                             honored them according to the Law,

                                      and “increased in wisdom,

                                                and in divine and human favor”.

          While it’s true that part of adolescence is learning how to differentiate oneself from parents, it is also true that parents are still the primary influence in a young person’s life.

          That circle of influence expands to include other people and groups, including the church.

          I like to think of the church as ‘family.’ In fact, my Doctoral Dissertation was titled, The Church as Family. 

          The church is the Family of God. We are a part of a great line of persons of faith who have gone before us.

          I believe that as technology and culture increasingly promote virtual relationships and isolating self-identities,

          it becomes more and more important for those who care about young people to provide space,

          time

                   and real relationships that will enable them to engage in a real relationship with God —

          to hear God’s call,

          to become passionate about their identity as God’s children,

          and to find their life’s purpose.

          Our children need to know that serving God isn’t just a Sunday deal and that dedicating their lives to God is a live option.

          Instead of asking our children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” we should be asking them,

          “Where might God be calling you to use your gifts to accomplish God’s purpose for the world?”

          I believe that all of us should see ourselves as a mentor, an encourager, for someone else in the faith. And I believe that we all need a mentor as well.

          When is the last time that you gave a word of encouragement to a young person?

          When is the last time you complimented a young person?

          When is the last time you stopped and just simply listened to the dreams of a young person and encouraged them to ask questions?

          2. The Tree of Jesse 

          This window depicts the genealogy of Jesus.

         

          Do you know who Jesse is?

          As you look at this window it will have little meaning to you if you don’t know that Jesse was King David’s father.

          The Bible says, “From Jesse’s loin springs his son, King David, wearing a crown and holding a harp.”

          In this window, Ruth, the Moabite woman is holding the ears of grain. She will marry Boaz, and become King David’s great grandmother, all of whom are the ancestors of Jesus.

          This window represents Jesus’ family.

          This window shows the ancestry of Jesus.

          This the picture is of the great cloud of witnesses—people of faith who have gone on before.

          Just this week I received an email from a distant relative who has been researching the Mowery heritage. He even had his DNA tested along with that of a long deceased Mowery. He is convinced that my Mowery relatives came from the Alsace region of France.

          To be honest with you I never cared that much about my heritage but when I got this information I immediately googled Alsace to see where it was and discovered a lot of interesting things. For some reason I feel like I have learned to know myself better because of this information.

         

          The seven doves in this window stand for the seven gifts of the spirit. What are the seven gifts of the Spirit? They are found in our Call to Worship taken from Isaiah. It is one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible.

          L: A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
          P: And a branch shall grow out of his roots.
          L: The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him,
          P: The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
          L: The spirit of counsel and might,
          P: The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
          L: His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
          P: With righteousness he shall judge the poor
          L: And decide with equity for the meek of the earth.
          P: The wolf shall live with the lamb,
          L: And the leopard shall lie down with the kid.
          P: The cow and the bear shall graze,
          L: Their young shall lie down together;
          P: And the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
          All: For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.                                                    -Based on Isaiah 11:1-9

          3. St. Boniface 

          St. Boniface lived in the seventh century. I did not know who St. Boniface was until I started preparing these sermons.

         

          Here we see St. Boniface cutting down the Oak of Geismar and thus challenging the pagan religion of Germany. Legend says that the fir tree in the background is to become the tree of the Christians, pointing to heaven.

          Could this be the first Christmas Tree?

          This saint’s martyrdom is depicted by the sword piercing the book when he was attacked in Friesland where, at his death, he held the book over his head to preserve it from the sword blows.

          St. Boniface was the Apostle of the Germans. He was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz, Germany.

          This is getting close to my heritage and Linda and I were there a few weeks ago as we took a river cruise on the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers.

          St. Boniface was killed in Frisia in 754, along with 52 others. His cult is still notably strong today.

          According to his early biographer Boniface started to chop the oak down, when suddenly a great wind, as if by miracle, blew the ancient oak over. When the God did not strike him down, the people were amazed and converted to Christianity.

          However as he was evangelizing, a group of armed bandits appeared who slew the aged archbishop and 52 others because Boniface persuaded his (armed) comrades to lay down their arms: “For we are told in Scripture to overcome evil by good."

          Having killed Boniface and his company, the Frisian bandits ransacked their possessions and got drunk on the wine remaining among the provisions, and then started killing each other, arguing over the division of the booty.

          The surviving bandits found that the company's luggage did not contain the riches they had hoped.  When they broke open the chests containing the books they found to their dismay, that they held manuscripts instead of gold vessels.

          We are all a part of the Jesse Tree.

          We are the family of God.

          We are the Body of Christ!

          Will we be faithful in this day to preserve the faith for future generations?

          The nominating committee of the church is beginning its work to recruit the very finest leaders for this church next year.

          I told the group this past week that:

          As your pastor I want leaders next year who:

                   Love Jesus with a passion.

                   Love this church and believe in its mission.

                   Love the church universal and particularly the United Methodist    Church.

          As your pastor I want leaders who have a ‘can do’ attitude and will do their work with enthusiasm and joy.

          As your pastor I want leaders who will keep their membership vows which ask:

          Will you support your church with your

                   Prayers

                   Presence

                   Gifts

                   Service

                   And Witness?

          Witness was just added a few years ago.

          Will you tell others about the good things they can experience in the church and will you be a positive spokesperson for your church?

          Today, I am thrilled to introduce to you several new members.

          We rejoice to welcome you as members of Christ’s holy church, and welcome you to this congregation. With you we renew our vows to uphold it by our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness. With God’s help we will so order our lives after the example of Christ that, surrounded by steadfast love, you may be established in the faith.

 

          Faithful God, we have gathered as your people,

                   trying to be committed to you in thought, word and deed.

          When we turn to our own desires for power and prestige, for money and influence, we know that our commitment is not true. Forgive us.
          Help us, as your people, to recommit ourselves to you this very day.

          We give you our lives, our service, our stewardship, our families and all that we have.
          These we commit to you.
          We commit to you those lives we do not touch as we could - the poorest of
the poor, the addicted, the victimized, the starving, the alienated.

          Help us, even when we feel separated from others, to continue to pray with them and lift them to you.

          We lift our own weakness to you.
          Grant us your strength for true commitment to you, we pray. Amen.

Sermons in Glass 3 Chosen

Sermons in Glass: 3. Chosen

The Church of the Wayfarer

Dr. Norm Mowery, Pastor

September 22, 2013

Mark 1:9-11; 10:13-16

          There’s a story about President George H.W. Bush.

          It seems the senior President Bush was touring a nursing home. As he walked down the hall with his entourage of aides and reporters, he came upon one elderly man who was slowly making his way in the opposite direction.

          The president reached out in his friendly way, took the patient’s hand, and asked gently, “Sir, do you know who I am?”

          The man stared back blankly for a moment and then shook his head, “I don’t know who you are. But if you ask the nurses, they can tell you.”

          Our ‘Sermon in Glass’ this morning tells us who we are.

                   The windows tell us that we are chosen children of God.

                   This is not just Jesus who is chosen… it is each one of us.

                   Precious. Beloved.

                   Our true identity.

          This is the third in a series of messages based on the stories in our stained glass windows. Today we look at the third lancet —
          Jesus being baptized

          Jesus and the Children

          John Calvin

          Last week we saw Jesus in the Temple, the Tree of Jesse and St. Boniface.

          Two weeks ago we experienced the stories behind the manger scene, Elijah on Mt. Carmel, Johann Sebastian Bach and St. Augustine.

          Maya Angelou once said,

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said,

people will forget what you did,

but people will never forget how you made them feel.

          All three windows that we are looking at today have a great deal of feeling. They tell us:

          That we are chosen,

          That God knows who we are,

          That we are God’s children.

          The top windows the whole way around tell about the life of Jesus.

          (Picture 1) The top window in this lancet depicts Jesus’ baptism.

          The Bible says that when Jesus came up out of the waters of baptism—

The heavens opened

The spirit like a dove came down

A voice said: “You are my beloved son;

I am well pleased with you.”

          WOW!

          Wouldn’t it be wonderful to hear God say that of us?

You are my beloved child.

I am well pleased with you.

          For Jesus this was--

                   1. The Moment of decision—as Lowell says:

“Once to every man and nation

comes the moment to decide

In the strife for Truth with falsehood,

for the good or evil side.”

                   2. The Moment of identification—from this time forward Jesus is           identifying himself with his mission.

                   3. The moment of approval—this was God’s seal of approval.

          The Gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. I have been there and I know that the Jordan River is muddy and dirty. None of that mattered this day because a new emotion emerges: joy.

          In this picture the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descends.

          This is the meaning of baptism: Jesus is God’s Son, the Beloved. Jesus is now, for us, the Word of God in human form …

the Way, the Truth and the Life … God from God,

Light from Light, true God from true God.

          We don’t have to wonder any longer about who Jesus is. We know his true identity.

          The very same is true for us, as we remember our own baptism. In this sacrament, we are connected to the body of Christ — the universal community of Christians that’s nothing less than the flesh-and-blood physical presence of Jesus in the world today.

          In this sacrament, we become children of God, no less loved and accepted than Jesus Christ himself.

          “If I say, ‘I was married,’ you will likely assume that my wife has died or I am divorced. But if I say, ‘I am married,’ you will assume I have a wife and that on a certain date I was married and still am. Even so we can assert, ‘I am baptized’”

          More than anything else, baptism marks our birth as Christians. It involves a process that is every bit as wet and messy as the physical birth that brought us into this world, but it is also every bit as permanent.

          Through baptism, we are identified as children of God who are both loved and lovable,           chosen by the Lord to be his people in the world.

          “The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now,” wrote the Dutch priest Henri Nouwen,

“Is that I am the chosen child of God,

precious in God’s eyes,

called the Beloved from all eternity

and held safe in an everlasting embrace.”

          The chosen child of God.

This is not just Jesus … it is each one of us.

Precious.

Beloved.

Safe in an everlasting embrace. Our true identity.

          (Picture 2) Jesus and the Children

          Of all the panels in the windows this is one of my favorite ones. Here the children are from all the races of the earth.

          The Bible says: “They brought little children to Jesus that He might touch them. Did you notice that word—touch!

          Who touches children anymore? I don’t—unless they are my own or my grandchildren.

          A pastor friend of mine visited a school recently and a child came running up to him to greet him because he was that child’s pastor. When the child did so the pastor patted him on the head. As a result the principle called my pastor friend into the office and scolded him.

          The disciples scolded the children for troubling Jesus. 

          Jesus said to them:

          “Let the children come to me and don’t try to stop them for of such is the Kingdom of God.”

          “I tell you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child will not enter into it.”

          And then Jesus took the children up into the crook of his arm and blessed them.  

          This is what we see in this picture—children of all races in the arms of Jesus. The Christian life is really simple—as simple as a child.

          A few simple words is all we need. For example:

                   I am sorry (three words, 8 letters).
                   Please forgive me (three words, 15 letters).
                   I love you (three words, 8 letters).

          Or, like the little guy who'd just had this huge fight with his childhood girlfriend.

          Then he sends her a text:

                   I want to come back.

          She texts:

                   I need 3 words, 8 letters.

          He texts back:

                   I got food.

          She writes:

                   Get over here now!

          This window tells us a great deal about Jesus.

          It tells us that Jesus was the kind of person who cared for children and for whom children cared.

          It tells us the kind of human, caring person Jesus was.

          (Picture 3) John Calvin (1509-1564)

          Calvin was a French reformer and head of the Reformed Branch of Protestantism. He combined theology with his political leadership in Geneva.

          His Institutes of the Christian Religion established him as a theological leader of the Reformation and is still widely read by theological students today. It vigorously attacked the teachings of Roman Catholicism.  He wrote commentaries on most books of the Bible.

          Calvin was a tireless writer who generated much controversy.

           

          He was influenced by the Augustinian tradition, which led him to expound the doctrine of predestination and the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation of the human soul.

          Predestination is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. To him predestination meant that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others.

          The law of a Christian state, according to Calvin, is the Bible. The task of the clergy is to interpret and teach that law, while the task of the state is to enforce it.

          Under this principle, while the clergy were not civil magistrates, they held enormous authority and the conduct of all citizens of Geneva was examined and regulated by 5 pastors and 12 lay elders.

          They had the right to visit every family annually and search its home;

                    to excommunicate, which meant virtually automatic banishment from      the city by the council;

                    to force attendance at weekly sermons;

                    to prohibit gambling, drunkenness, dancing and immodest dress.

          It was a criminal offense to speak ill of Calvin or the rest of the clergy.

          The press was severely censored.

          Fornication was punishable by exile, and adultery, blasphemy and idolatry by death.

          Education, which Calvin regarded as inseparable from religion, was very carefully regulated.

          Charity was placed under municipal administration to eliminate begging.          Thus the whole life of Geneva was placed under a rigid discipline and a single Church from which no deviation was permitted.

          Needless to say there were some ugly moments in theocratic Geneva.

          The positive side of predestination for me is that I believe that God has a wonderful plan and purpose for each life—but I also believe in free will.

         

          In other words God has a plan but sometimes I mess up!

          The longer I live the more I believe that it is my job to love and God’s job to judge. Thus, God and I get along just fine.

          Like Jesus I believe that we are chosen—the chosen family of God.

                   We are chosen to be Christ’s hands and feet.

                   We are chosen to serve.

                   We are God’s chosen adopted children.

          Linda and I have two adopted children. We chose Nathan and Lori.

          Likewise we are adopted into God’s family. God chose us.

          And Jesus gathers us his children around himself and says:

You are my beloved!