Advent Chapter One - Leaving Home

 Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25; Luke 21:25-36 

As many of you know, I once owned an orchard. Apples, peaches, pears, cherries, even persimmons grew in my orchard. When a derecho, a horizontal tornado, came through, I lost a small apple tree completely, broken off level with the ground, and a large pie cherry tree went down. I cut that cherry tree off about two feet above the ground, because that was where the trunk broke.

Over the next months, a green shoot grew up from the trunk, using the stored energy from the roots to send out new leaves, for the heart and power of a tree is in the roots. The energy is stored in the roots, the power of life is in the roots. Left by itself, the shoot would develop into an entire tree, as strong as the first one. In fact, every year, to ensure that orchard trees and grapevines continue to bear well, the branches of old wood are pruned off, cut off, and new shoots are encouraged to grow. Most orchard trees are pruned to lose a quarter to a third of their old growth. It is necessary for the tree to bear new fruit consistently.

With many grapevines, it is common to cut off 90% of the old growth and only leave 10% as a basis for the new growth, for it is on the new growth that the fruit grows. And so a spring vineyard looks like it has been attacked by locusts, with only a couple of vertical trunks per vine, and a short stub of horizontal. Yet in the fall, the vine is overwhelmed with new growth, bearing much fruit. And the people of Israel understood grapevines…

In ancient Israel, the greatest the kingdom of Israel ever grew was under the leadership of King David and then his son, King Solomon. Israel’s control extended from the Sinai though modern Israel, the “West Bank”, the area known today as Jordan, most of Lebanon, Damascus in Syria, and even up to the Euphrates River in northern Syria. Israel dominated the Middle East trade routes.

However, after Solomon, Israel became weak and divided because of a civil war (which divided the country into Israel in the north and Judah in the south) – and the fact that the new kings turned away from God. Other kingdoms began to reclaim parts of Israel. Eventually, even Jerusalem was conquered by outsiders and the people were taken into captivity. The kingdom had been cut down – only the root was left – But God was the root. God was the power and heart of Israel. From God, a new shoot, a new branch, a new, living growth would come forth. Jeremiah saw this destruction of Israel, but God spoke to Jeremiah in Chapter 33:

“Look, the days are coming”—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“when I will fulfill the good promises
that I have spoken
concerning the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
In those days and at that time
I will cause a Righteous Branch
to sprout up for David,
and He will administer justice
and righteousness in the land.
In those days Judah will be saved,
and Jerusalem will dwell securely,
and this is what she will be named:
Yahweh Our Righteousness. (from Jeremiah Chap 33)

Jeremiah spoke of a branch of the family tree of David sprouting up from the roots like that shoot growing from my cherry tree, like new growth coming from a pruned grapevine. And so the people of Israel began to look forward to a coming Messiah, a Savior, a man who would rescue Israel and make Israel and Judah great again, a place of peace, a place of safety, a place of beauty!

The Land and the Characters

When the Romans conquered the area we know as Israel about 50 BC, during the civil war that started with Julius Caesar, they established several garrisons around the country. One of these was established a short distance from Capernaum, near the village of Nazareth, which was located about two thousand feet above and 15 miles southwest from the Sea of Galilee. This location was defensible, and guarded the road from Galilee to the coast. A few hundred Jews built up the small village of Nazareth, partially to provide goods and services to the Roman garrison, and partially because it was just a good place to live. Among these was a carpenter named Yo’sef ben Yacob – Joseph, son of Jacob.

A carpenter in those days held some prestige. His skills were in demand, much as an engineering degree has some prestige today because of the difficulty in mastering the profession and the resulting above-average pay that an engineer today – and a carpenter back then – received. Joseph was not wealthy – but he was not poverty-stricken either.

He had a fiancée, a woman named Miriam – or Mary. She was a descendent of Aaron, the first High Priest of Israel. Her older cousin Elizabeth was married to an important priest at the Temple in Jerusalem, a man named Zechariah. So she, too, had connections. But neither Joseph nor Mary owned any significant farm land, so Joseph spent his time in his carpentry business. She was in her mid-teens, a normal marrying age for women of that day. We don’t know how old Joseph was.

Around the year 4 BC, the carpenter and his young fiancée began the journey from Nazareth, a village near the Sea of Galilee, to the village of Bethlehem about 3 miles from Jerusalem. (What? Not in the year zero, you ask? No, for the monk who 400 years later would calculate the date made a mistake, but by the time the mistake was discovered, it was over fifteen hundred years too late.)

The entire area was under control of the Roman Emperor, and the rulers of the Empire had decided it was necessary to count the number of people in the different territories, so men had been asked to bring their families to the ancestral homes of their clans. Our carpenter was part of the clan descended from King David’s father, Jesse of Bethlehem, so it was necessary for this man and his family to travel for the counting to Bethlehem.

The man was Y’osef and his young fiancée was Miriam. These were solid, traditional names. Joseph had been the name of one of the sons of Abraham. Joseph had rescued the entire family of Abraham because God had allowed Him to rise to a very high position in the government of Egypt just as a famine hit Israel.

The original Miriam had been Moses’ sister, who rescued Moses with her quick thinking and had him raised by Pharoah’s daughter when Moses was found floating in the Nile River. Joseph – and Miriam, both strong leaders of Israel.

Later English-speaking people would change the names to the more familiar Joseph and Mary. Both man and woman were also descendants of King David, the great king who had lived some 1000 years earlier. Mary was scandalously pregnant with her first child, so tradition has it that Joseph put her on a donkey for the journey rather having her walk.

Their family was still missing something – a child. But the child would arrive soon. Meanwhile, Joseph and Mary had a journey of about a hundred miles to travel on dirt roads that would scarcely hold a single cart. The roads were unpaved, dirt and mud and rock and ruts.

Do you remember when you were young and beginning your life with your husband or wife? Do you remember how difficult things were – and how you did things that were physically demanding, things you wonder how you ever survived, things you simply could not do today? But you were young and you were able – and willing – to work hard to make it, weren’t you?

The Comfort of Nazareth

Nazareth lies above and south west of the land of Galilee. Galilee is the land around the freshwater Sea of Galilee in the north of modern Israel. The Romans called the lake the “Lake of Tiberius”. This lake is mainly fed by snow melt from the mountains north of the sea, in modern day Syria, the disputed territory of the Golan Heights, and the mountains of Lebanon.

Because of the geology of the area, the surface of the lake is almost 700 feet below sea level, about 13 miles long north to south, and about 8 miles wide from east to west. The Sea of Galilee is about 140 ft deep and contains many fish, similar to what Americans commonly would call tilapia. To the south flows out the lower Jordan River, which leads down to the Dead Sea. It is down the Jordan Valley that the road lie to the Jerusalem, because it was down this valley road that people could count on having water and being protected from cold wind and weather. It was to this road that Joseph and Mary walked and rode, about 15 miles from Nazareth.

The land around the lake has long been a farming area. The land is well-watered, and the low elevation means that the area stays warm even in the winter. In ancient Israel, Galilee was considered to have some of the best farmland in the Holy Land. By ancient standards, living in Galilee, even living in Nazareth was comfortable. Very comfortable.

But the journey down the Jordan Valley would not be comfortable for Mary. Mary’s discomfort began the day she realized she was pregnant, for at that time she was not married. Her society was much less tolerant of single mothers than our society, for they blamed the mother for everything that had happened, never thinking about the responsibilities of the father.

But the Father of Mary’s child would always be with her, even before and after Joseph found out and accepted her pregnancy, for her child had been conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit of God, as she explained many years later to a man named Luke, who, in turn wrote about this in the first chapter of his gospel (Luke 1). No man’s flesh had become intimate with her. Yet people still talked. “And SHE says she is pregnant from the Holy Spirit! – SHE says an angel showed up!” For now, Mary was not comfortable. She was not comfortable at all. Falsely accused of doing what she should not do, Mary was not comfortable in that society – and now, nine months later, she was not comfortable on the donkey that Joseph had so kindly provided.

Life was uncomfortable for Joseph, too. The sweet, kind, beautiful girl he had planned to marry had turned up pregnant – and Joseph knew he was not the father, no chance, un-uh, no way! So he thought he might quietly send her off, perhaps with a bit of money, for he had heard – as all men heard – of deadly diseases being passed on from women who had slept around. Plus, she might hurt his business – so he thought. Until he had a dream where an angel appeared to him and told him not to be afraid to take Mary home as his wife, confirmed that the child was supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit, would give a son, and that Joseph should name the boy “Y’shua”, or Joshua, which means “The Lord saves”. The ancient Joshua had been the great Jewish leader who led the people into the Promised Land after Moses died. The boy would do the same. The name was rendered in Greek as “Jesus”. But his neighbors would make Joseph uncomfortable, having to defend Mary’s honor. Yet Joseph stood up and kept Mary with him. You see, a man with character takes care of his family, even if it makes him uncomfortable. For Joseph also wanted a family.

In our lives, we live in comfort. However, just like Joseph and Mary, we often discover that we are missing something in our lives. We have an emptiness in the comfortable lives we live. We work – but why? To make money to keep our comforts? We spend tremendous time and money on leisure activities – watching television, on social media, looking at our phones, crafting, upgrading our homes and property, preparing food for family get-togethers. But what is our purpose in life?

Mary was not comfortable, but she undertook the journey because she had a purpose for this trip. Both Joseph and Mary knew they had a purpose common with many people during this trip. At one level, their journey to Bethlehem was simply for the purpose of following the order of the government, an order to return to the home of their family to be counted, and since Joseph was from King David’s family, he was to return to Bethlehem, the home town of his ancestor, King David. This was their general purpose, common to many people.

But Joseph and Mary both also knew that their baby who was soon to be born was special, conceived by the Holy Spirit of God, and thus was very special, perhaps even the promised Messiah, the Savior of Israel. Mary had received the Holy Spirit inside her. They had each encountered an angel, and God had given them a particular purpose, a purpose they would not fully realize for many years as that son grew and ultimately began his ministry to the world. Their purpose was to protect the child growing within Mary, the boy they would eventually know as God on the earth, allowing Him to grow as an ordinary human boy as much as possible.

Each of us has two purposes as we journey through life. The first purpose, common to all people who have been baptized and received the Holy Spirit inside them, is to gradually let that shoot of God grow in our heart, to let that life of God expand into every fiber of our body, mind, and soul, to help God take over our life so that we can live eternally with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. But we each have a particular purpose which we can only find in Bethlehem, as Mary and Joseph did.

Each of us needs to journey to Bethlehem from our comforts in Galilee. We need to find our particular purpose, our calling, our life which God has planned for us. Each of us needs to understand why God is sending us on journeys that are difficult, that take us out of our comfort, that beat us up as we walk over difficult roads.

Joseph knew that no wood ever became a beautiful piece of furniture while remaining on the tree.

But there is a purpose simply to leaving home. No one has ever become great who did not leave the comforts of home. No tool of metal ever became tough without being placed in fire and beaten by the hammer of the blacksmith. No tree ever bore good fruit without being pruned. Joseph knew that no wood ever became a beautiful piece of furniture while remaining on the tree. The hero must undertake a journey if the dragon is to be slain and the princess rescued. Change begins when we walk out our front door, not knowing when – or if - we will return. We leave our comforts and that is when we begin to find our purpose.

I think we instinctively realize this, for many teenagers know that they must move away from home, they must travel to another town to live and learn, to work, to marry. Perhaps this is why our small-town young people who move out generally become independent and successful, while many of those who remain in their home town, living with parents, have a difficult time succeeding in their lives. But this leaving home and beginning the journey was not just the journey of Joseph and Mary. It was not just the journey we each undertake.

Jesus left His comfortable home in Heaven to be vulnerable among us, to be hungry in a cradle, to walk barefoot on the earth, to experience the cruelty of children to each other, to work and sweat and thirst, to be taunted by people, to be beaten, to bleed, to hang upon a cross, to suffocate, and to die. He had a purpose in leaving home – that we could become reconciled with God the Father once more, that we would live eternally in comfort instead of suffer eternally in pain. That’s why Jesus left his comfortable home and came to be with us. That was His particular purpose. He left his comfort in Heaven to ensure our eternal comfort in Heaven.

And so Joseph and Mary packed their bags, loaded Mary on the donkey with their most precious cargo in her womb, and began the walk to Bethlehem. This day, they would travel downhill 1500 feet and walk about 10 miles. It was the beginning of a long journey, for they were leaving home – and would not return for several years. But soon, very soon, they would watch – and Mary would feel – the arrival of God upon the earth, Jesus the Christ.

Many years later, as Luke recorded, Jesus would tell His followers about the day of His return: “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars… People will faint from terror…At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

As we look forward to the arrival of Christ once more, I ask you to take your Bible out of the bookcase or from under the coffee table, to open it up to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, to read a chapter in each every day– one every morning, one every evening.

And ask – “Lord, what is here for me this year? What is my purpose over the next twelve months? What shall I do for you, Lord, in this terrible time of waiting?”

As we enter the time waiting that is Advent, as we wait in this time of COVID, I ask you to bow in prayer with those questions:

• “Lord, what is here for me this year?”
• “Lord, what is my purpose over the next twelve months?”
• “Lord, what shall I do for you?”

And listen for the answer in all reverence. Then write down what the Lord whispers back to you. And you will see that the Lord is indeed good. And like Mary, you will feel the arrival of Jesus in your life.

Prayer

Let us pray: Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the lessons about life that you teach us about yourself. Thank you for your consistent, perfect love that was with us even when we did not know you. Thank you for sending your Son, the One who left home for us – Jesus Christ. Show us the next step in our long, long journey to learn about you. Please grow each one of us in Your ways. Help us to Praise your Son to our family, friends, and neighbors. We pray this in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Song: O Come, O Come Emmanuel  

Benediction

Now walk into the world on your life’s long, long journey, listening to the Holy Spirit, declaring the Word of God and speaking of the glory of Jesus our Guide. And our God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Long, Long Journey with God

Sing: “We gather together to ask the Lord’s Blessing”

Thanksgiving is coming. We think about turkey, about sweet potatoes, about pumpkin pie, about Pilgrims.

We think about how the Pilgrims were fleeing from a country that had made style of worship a political issue. We think about the great fights that were going on at this time in Europe between Catholic and Protestant, the fights in England between the High Church of England and the dour Puritans. Every time the Crown changed, the acceptable religion changed. Imagine being put into jail because you believed in praise bands and they were outlawed. Or five years later they were required by law and choirs were outlawed. And it all gets confusing, for the Pilgrims were none of the above. They were neither Catholic, nor Anglican Church of England, nor Puritan. They were Separatists, a tiny group with no political power, but only a half-dozen or so small congregations in their denomination.

We know that they left England in 1609 and moved to the very tolerant country of Holland. It was the same year that Captain John Smith and others founded the Jamestown colony in Virginia, Just like the Israelites who crossed the Red Sea, the Pilgrims had crossed the English Channel. And they were happy, for they could worship as they thought best. Just as Moses and Miriam sang in Exodus 15, the Pilgrims were happy and thankful, filled with gratitude! 

“I will sing to the LORD,
for he is highly exalted.

But after a few years, they saw that their children were becoming Dutch – and they did not want that. They were English and they wanted to stay English. They faced a problem much like the Amish do in Ohio today. But because they were so small, and because they remembered the problems that happened to the Israelites who settled next to the Canaanites, they chose a different solution – they decided to move as a group - to Virginia, where a new colony was getting started.

“The LORD is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.

You know that they sailed from Holland to England, where they picked up remnants of another congregation, and that they started for America in two small ships in September, very late in the year for such a journey. And when the Speedwell sprung a leak and the two ships were forced to return to England, they decided to crowd everyone on the tiny Mayflower and continue onward to Virginia.

Well, as we know, God made the winds blow them farther north than they expected and they found themselves off of Cape Cod in early December, in the snow, where they landed, explored a bit, and finally found a clearing and built a small village of tiny huts for the winter. And they began to die from cold, from starvation, and from scurvy sickness because they did not know about the necessity of consuming Vitamin C in their diet, and they had no preserved fruits. It had been a long journey from England, and most of the Pilgrims died that winter. More than 4 out of 5 Pilgrims died that winter.

And once in a while in this story, we remember a guy named Squanto.

You remember Squanto. He was the Native American Indian who walked out of the woods one day in March of 1621, after that first terrible winter had killed most of the Pilgrims. He was the guy who taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn, by putting minnows in the hills with the corn seeds during planting. He spoke English!

Did you ever wonder how it came to be that an Indian in that country spoke English? And did you ever wonder why he chose to help the Pilgrims, instead of simply letting them die like most of his countrymen were willing to do? Have you ever wondered where God was in all of this?

Let me tell you his miraculous story today. It is another story of a journey – a long, long journey with God at each step, a journey much longer than that of the Israelites or the Pilgrims.

He was born around 1590. In those days, many Europeans ships were coming to fish off the coast of New England. After fishing, they would often dry and salt their catches on the beaches and trade for furs and food with the Indians, who in those days were very numerous in Massachusetts, a population of perhaps a half-million people.

In 1604, when Squanto was about 14, looking for adventure, he voluntarily sailed with an English vessel that came calling, to England, where he lived for a few years.

Enter Captain John Smith, of Pocahontas fame, Captain John Smith who had been at the Virginia colony. Smith met Squanto in England and took him back to Newfoundland, in Canada to assist with a new colony there. There, Squanto learned the problems with establishing English colonies in the New World. He learned how much trouble the English had with the winter – and the lack of Vitamin C containing fruit – and the troubles they had with growing food. He saw mistakes made and he saw what fixed the mistakes.

11 Who among the gods
is like you, LORD?
Who is like you—
majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
working wonders?

Captain Smith got the bright idea of using Squanto to set up trading relationships with his village back in Massachusetts. So Smith arranged for Squanto and another man, Captain John Hunt, to visit the Cape Code area.

In 1614, when Hunt and Squanto reached the area, Hunt showed what a greedy, nasty man he was. Hunt lured about 27 Indian men on board his ship (including Squanto) and kidnapped them. He sailed to Malaga, Spain, where he began to sell the men as slaves. One story tells us that a group of Catholic Dominican friars found out what was going on and broke up the slave selling, taking the Indians (including Squanto) into their monastery. There, Squanto became a Christian.

2 “The LORD is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.

After a couple of years, Squanto was able to leave Spain and catch a ship for London, where he lived for a few years with a man named John Slaney. Squanto was Slaney’s servant and walking, talking, museum piece. Slaney showed off Squanto at dinner parties. Meanwhile, Squanto improved his English skills.

Meanwhile, in America, things were happening.

When Squanto was born, there were over 100,000 Native American Indians who lived in New England, perhaps as many as a million. His village had over 2000 people. Europeans had thought about establishing colonies there, but there were far too many people already living there. However, that all changed when a French ship wrecked at Cape Cod in 1616. There were five survivors of the wreck – and one had smallpox. Within three years, the population of Massachusetts had dropped to about 10,000 Indians. Entire villages had been destroyed, including one large town that formerly had over 20,000 inhabitants. Southeastern Massachusetts lost almost all its inhabitants in the great plague. And the Indians blamed the power and the wrath of the English God:

15 The chiefs of Edom will be terrified,
the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling,
the people of Canaan will melt away;
16 terror and dread will fall on them.
By the power of your arm
they will be as still as a stone—
until your people pass by, LORD,
until the people you bought pass by.
17 You will bring them in and plant them
on the mountain of your inheritance—
the place, LORD, you made for your dwelling,
the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.

Squanto once again came back to America with another English captain, John Dermer in the late spring of 1620. This time, after arriving in Massachusetts, Squanto and Dermer discovered that his home village was gone. Completely. 2000 people had died. There were skeletons all over the place. The homes were still there, the grain was still where they had stashed the corn. But stillness. A great stillness. No one remained alive.

Imagine coming home to discover that the entire Parkersburg area had been wiped out. Homes empty. Bones glistening in the sun where people had died and not been buried. Weeds growing over everything. Food still in pantry cupboards.

Squanto was devastated. After all his journeys, crossing the ocean repeatedly, he had arrived home and there was no home to come to. He must have hurt deeply. But despite this, God was not through with Squanto. God had a plan and a purpose for Squanto.

Squanto spent the summer and fall living with a neighboring tribe, the most powerful one remaining in the area. He told them of what he had learned in his travels, including the God-man Jesus who had died and rose again. Squanto became friendly with the chief of the tribe and with other tribes in the area.

In early December, members of the tribe watched Englishmen and women land and settle close to Squanto’s old village. The English had a bad winter. They did not have enough food, nor the right kinds of food, such as fruit.

And so, in March of the next spring, after a hard winter that killed all but one of the women and all but 19 of the men, when everyone was sick and starving, when there was serious question whether or not the strength could be found to even begin farming - imagine the blessings when Squanto, speaking fluent cultured English from his years in England, understanding the problems of colony planting from his time in Newfoundland, and understanding Christianity from his time with the Dominicans in Spain, imagine when Squanto walked out of the woods to teach the Pilgrims how to survive and to negotiate a peace treaty with the Massachusetts Indians that lasted for 50 years. He even brought them a basket of eels as a present and taught the Pilgrims how to catch eels in abundance.

13 In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
to your holy dwelling.

For you see, God had been involved all along with Squanto’s journey and the Pilgrims’ journey:

· He had cleared the way for the Pilgrims by removing the previous inhabitants and putting a literal fear of God in those who remained.

· He had provided a clearing – Squanto’s old village - with good, cleared land ready for planting corn. Those of us that have lived in Marietta, OH know the story of how the first corn crop at Marietta failed because it took too long to clear the huge trees, and the crop failed for lack of sunlight.

· God had provided a stock of seed corn and seed beans in the old village.

· God had provided Squanto to be a teacher, with the perfect background.

· God had also provided Squanto as an interpreter who had the connections to be a diplomat.

· God had used Captain Hunt, the would-be slaver to accomplish good even though Hunt had intended evil.

· God had used Captain John Smith from Jamestown.

· God had used the Catholic Dominican friars in Spain.

· God used unknown sailors who gave Squanto passage from Spain to England.

· God used John Slaney, at whose home Squanto lived for those years in England.

And God used even the smallpox germ. I do not claim that God caused the plague, but I do know that God took advantage of it. You see, we know that the land was already cleared – we see that. But do we also see that the tragedy which took Squanto’s friends and family from him also set him free to serve God completely and gave him a purpose for all those wanderings?

Well, we know the story of the next few hundred years. We know how the Pilgrims were soon overshadowed by a huge number of Puritans who moved to America. We know how New England became the most populous part of America – and the part that led the rebellion against England. We know how the descendants of those rebels eventually went back to Europe and saved England in a huge, devastating war with Germany. Twice.

And we know that the descendants of those Pilgrims and Puritans spread throughout the colonies, preaching and teaching and making America a Christian nation. It was a descendent of those people, by the name of Jonathan Edwards, who preached a great sermon in Connecticut which was written down that caused people to wail and moan and beg for God’s mercy. A man back in England, John Wesley, heard and read about the sermon and asked why the church in England couldn’t be half as excited about the salvation of God and so he began a movement that eventually became the Methodist Church. And those Methodists and their German-speaking friends, the United Evangelical Brethren established small churches in nice little hollows between the hills in West Virginia, one of which is the place we are meeting at today. And someone heard this story today and historians of the future will record that he or she did great things on behalf of the same God who brought Miriam and Moses through the water, who brought the Pilgrims over the water, and who brought Squanto on a long, long journey back and forth across the Atlantic, to walk into the village of Plymouth in March of 1621.

18 “The LORD reigns
for ever and ever.”

As for Squanto, he lived with the Pilgrims for about a year and a half. Then, while on a trade mission with the Pilgrims to the Rhode Island area, he died of a fever, most likely the same disease that had killed the other members of his village a few years earlier. Captain John Bradford, head of the colony, wrote that Squanto asked that prayers be said to the God of the English to allow Squanto into the English Heaven as he lay dying.

But Squanto did not die until a year after the Pilgrims celebrated their great thanksgiving feast – which they shared with their new friends, the Native American Indians and their joint friend, Squanto. Each person in the colony now had three bushels of shelled corn to survive the next winter. A week of wild birds could be shot in a day. They now knew which plants were edible and which were poisonous. They knew the good cranberries that would provide the needed Vitamin C to prevent scurvy And they had a peace treaty with their neighbors, a peace treaty that lasted 50 years. They had much to be thankful for.

· They had crossed the great sea and left their enemies behind, just like the Israelites.

· They had found that God had gone before them, just like the Israelites.

· And they had found food and peace in a new land, provided by God, just like the Israelites.

I ask you – what do you have to be thankful about this year, a year of impeachment, of COVID, of riots, of murder hornets, of election tension? What do you have to be thankful for in this long, long journey called life?

How has God strengthened you, blessed you, tested you, loved you, held you, been proclaimed by you?

And when you look back over your lives, do you see God’s hand in work in your past, leading you to where you are today?

Perhaps God led you to certain people, away from a course of action that seemed so GOOD at the time but wasn’t right for you. Perhaps God put obstacles in your path that cause you to change direction, like a huge boulder in the middle of the road. Perhaps God showed you the way to walk down hill, gave you an easy path because you were in the center of His Will. Perhaps you made a decision that looked good at the time, but put you into slavery – to a job, a relationship, a chemical, a debt?

What did you learn while you were in slavery?

Perhaps you learned how to be persistent. Perhaps you learned a skill. Perhaps you learned to make do with little. Perhaps you learned how to “shut your mouth.” Perhaps you learned it is okay to cry. Perhaps you learned how to plan for the future. Perhaps you were forced to move away from your home.

What did you learn while you were away from your home?

You may have learned new ideas, you may have learned to be more dependent on God and less on your family, you may have learned that home is actually a nicer place than you once thought. Perhaps you found tragedies which chained your priorities in life.

What tragedies in your life have set you free to be of service to God?

Perhaps you have a lost a job, lost a friend, lost a wife or husband because of COVID. Perhaps you have lost money, a retirement account, a car. Perhaps your tragedy meant that you lost a bad habit. Perhaps COVID has given you a chance to change your life for the better, time for learning, time for new things closer to God to replace the old things in your life.

Perhaps COVID has been a blessing for you, a blessing that you don’t recognize – yet, but a blessing still the same, for God wants to bless you eternally, and sometimes that takes a hard change before we can move closer to Him. We need to trust that God is right beside us in our long, long journey of life – even when the events in our life hurt. Our most wise God is ready – if we will trust Him – to replace our old life with one even better. For God who loves us has a purpose in everywhere He leads us to along this long, long journey.

So when you set down to Thanksgiving dinner or just an evening together this year, consider the story of Squanto that we have heard today. This sermon can be found in written and video form on the Cedar Grove UMC website or Facebook page online if you want to tell Squanto’s story to your children or grandchildren.

Consider your life’s journey and the blessings where God has led you.

Consider the words of Paul to the Ephesians:

16 I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.

Oh, that the eyes of our heart may be opened so that we can have peace knowing that God has the wisdom and power and strength to protect us!

What peace! Remember that peace of God when the turkey is burning and the gravy is lumpy, when the rolls catch on fire and the Kool Whip is frozen, when the something is left in the microwave and the vinegar bottle is empty, when the house is a mess and your mother-in-law’s feet are on the steps. Remember these verses from Philippians Chapter 4:

6Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Do you want peace in your home? Follow this prescription. Peace followed Jesus wherever He walked. Peace follows those who follow Jesus and speak to His Father. Squanto followed Jesus and ensured peace for his country for 50 years.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father,

Thank you for the lessons about life that you teach us about yourself. Thank you for your consistent, perfect love that was with us even when we did not know you. Thank you for sending your Son, the peace maker – Jesus Christ. Show us the next step in our long, long journey to learn about you. Please grow each one of us in Your ways. Help us to Praise your Son to our family, friends, and neighbors. We pray this in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Benediction

Now walk into the world on your life’s long, long journey, listening to the Holy Spirit, declaring the Word of God and speaking of the glory of Jesus our Guide. And our God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Now consider the words of Psalm 100 which we began with today. Do you enter His gates with thanksgiving in your heart?

Talented and Miserly

I want to talk briefly about our current events before I get into the sermon. We are now seeing a doubling of Wood County COVID cases about every week. According to the Health Department, this is because of four principle reasons: Not enough people wear masks when in buildings, too many people are at restaurants and bars without masks, children and families are spreading it amongst themselves and at school, and several local churches have bent the rules. At one church, they followed the rules very well, but at an outdoor event, two older women hugged. One was infected and the virus quickly spread through both their families. At another large church, masks were worn into the building, but people took off their masks at their seats and sang. They had a large Halloween party, and they had a Gospel sing, once again without masks. The Health Dept has closed both churches for two weeks. Even the Warehouse Church has been closed because of an outbreak.

We’ve had several people associated with our church infected, but they were wise and avoided the church both before they were diagnosed and after. Call them up and ask them for their testimonies of how bad this virus is. And pray for them to recover.

I’ve also talked with people who don’t seem to understand one thing about the virus. Perhaps they were notified that they had been exposed – and they went to get tested. And then, there are people who seem to think that they aren’t contagious until they get that positive report back. NO! If you have been exposed, you need to assume that you are contagious until you get that negative report, so you can protect others that you love from danger. A key reason the virus is spreading is that people assume they can’t spread the virus until they get that positive result. No, you can start spreading the virus the day after you get exposed. And because people are waiting until they test positive, the number of cases continues to increase day after day.

Folks, it is not safe to go out. Go online and order your groceries be delivered. Sam’s will deliver groceries and medicines. Stay away from crowded stores. Sanitize your hands after you get back in the car, even if you just filled up your car with gas.

Our plan right now is to continue holding Sunday services just as we are because you have been so good to wear your masks, to not hug, to sit apart. But if you don’t feel comfortable, please stay home and watch on Facebook or listen to the 9 AM service on V96.9. One day we will be able to hug each other again without fear. But that day, according to the most optimistic estimates, is sometime around May or June. We’ve waited 2000 years for the return of Christ – surely we can wait 6 months for the return of normal church. Until then, our tech and worship teams will continue to bring you the best services we can. Until then, call those people in the directory and pray with them.

Well, the election appears to be over. I realize that most of you were disappointed with the outcome of the presidential election – but recognize that some of your friends are happy about the outcome. Most of you are happy with the outcome of the elections in West Virginia – but some are not happy. Regardless of which way you are feeling, the important thing is this: In general, the overwhelming number of people were able to express their opinion on each of the candidates, and, despite the accusations, the slander, the possibility of outright fraud – all of which we hear every election – those smart people who were elected to their offices know the truth about what and who the voters preferred, and that, combined with the knowledge that there will be another election in two years – that is what keeps our governments from going too far, year after year. It is the sure knowledge that the voters must be faced that keeps our government officials in line.

Some pastors will portray a given election as a fight between the godly and the ungodly; I’ve grown up in a political family and I know better. For there are godly men and women on both sides – and scoundrels on both sides. There are always men and women who are out for their own ambitions – and there are always those men and women who are truly sacrificing their time because they feel they are doing good.

And just like in all walks of life, in all businesses, in all professions – some of the politicians are honest and competent – and others are stupid and liars. The problem we voters always face, of course, is that sometimes the liars are the smart ones while the honest ones are the stupid, incompetent ones. Telling the difference is our job, it is where our God-given wisdom must come in.

The Apostle Paul, who lived at the time of the Emperor’s Nero and Caligula says in Romans 13 that “the authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” Paul, who lived during the times of some of the harshest, most corrupt leaders ever seen, is telling Christians to obey the rulers. What should we do, when even the most suspicious of believe that this election was essentially a tie, when the arguments over the votes are over who won three or four states by 1% or less?

We need to accept that half the nation voted one way and half voted the other way and accept the results – and vote again in two years. Our leaders need to accept this also, and govern accordingly. This is not a situation where two-thirds of the people preferred one candidate over the other. No, this was essentially a tie – just like the results were essentially a tie four years ago. We will vote again in two years. Election power only holds for two years, four years at most, for even senators with six year terms can quickly find that they are in the minority if they overstep what they promised the voters.

But Jesus never dealt with the short-term issues of government. Jesus worried about thousand year periods and eternity. He never called for the Roman Empire to be destroyed – He called for individual people in the Empire to follow His teachings and put their primary allegiance to Him and His Father. And so, after 200 years, an Emperor conquered the Empire with the cross as his banner – Constantine the Great – and founded a great city, Constantinople, which eventually became even more important than Rome and became the capital of the Empire.

And after Constantine, the Roman Empire remained Christian for the next 1200 years until the great capital of Constantinople was defeated by the Moslem Turks in 1453. The city was renamed Istanbul. But by that time, Christianity was spreading across the remainder of the world. Jesus always looked at the long term, never worrying about the short-term, for He knew that He would win in the long term.

In fact, Jesus specifically told parables about the kingdom of heaven, and what people in the kingdom should do while awaiting His return. After talking about the destruction of Jerusalem, which was almost 40 years in the future, Jesus told a series of parables, like the one last week about the ten virgins who fell asleep.

This week, He tells us another parable, a teaching story.

The kingdom is like a man who, going on a journey, called three servants to him. To one, he gave 5 talents of gold, five bags worth about $2.5 million. Another he gave two bags or a million dollars to. The third, he gave just a half-million dollars worth of gold to. Jesus says he gave to each according to his ability.

And so, the first two put the money to work and doubled their investments. But the third dug a whole in the ground and hid the owner’s money.

Then, “after a long time”, the owner returned and settled accounts. The first two were commended for their excellent work and were put in charge of even more things.

But the third man when he returned his single bag of gold, sad that he was afraid of losing the gold, so he had buried it. And the owner scolded him for not at least putting it in the bank where it would have earned interest. He called him “wicked and lazy.”

And he took the bag of gold from him and gave it to the first man who had doubled his gold from 5 to ten bags so he now had eleven bags. And Jesus uses this phrasing: “For whoever has will be given more and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

So what does this mean?

Jesus is the owner. He has given each of us gifts – talents and treasure and time. And He expects that we will put those gifts to work for His purposes, like any good servant should. In fact, the word translated as “servant” is more properly translated as “slave”. We are to take Jesus’ gifts and immediately put them to work for the kingdom, spreading the Good News of Jesus’ sacrifice and His promises for us to everyone we encounter.

What has Jesus given us? Perhaps you understand office work, perhaps you are a whiz at marketing, at advertising, at public relations. Maybe you can write, maybe you can speak or produce a video. Maybe you absolutely love to talk on the telephone or write letters to people to cheer them up. Perhaps you can teach our older members how to find our Facebook Livestream on their phones or computers. Maybe you can cook or bake and can take food to people who have trouble cooking or baking on their own. Maybe you can fix cars or build handicap ramps. Maybe you can repair furnaces or maybe you just have been blessed with an abundance of money that you could donate to cover our expenses or buy the new set of microphones we need. Maybe you can pray daily for me for doors to be opened and for my protection and the protection of others. Perhaps you are able to come in to the church once a week and fold bulletins or straighten up the sanctuary. Maybe you can help the video and sound booth guys so they have a backup person. Maybe you can deliver Bibles to people who need them. Maybe you can play a guitar.

You see, we are working hard to accomplish Jesus’ mission, to grow His investment in us – those bags of gold are worth far more than gold, for those bags of gold are souls that will live forever. Our task as the church is to lead more people into the kingdom of heaven. Those who do so will be rewarded in the next life. They will be put in charge of many things.

But there are always some people who are like the third servant. There are always people who choose to set aside the gifts Jesus has given them, burying them out of fear they will lose them. They are misers, perhaps of money, but perhaps of their talents. And that is sad, for Jesus makes it clear that He does not want us to simply sit on the gifts He has given us. We are to do something with the gifts Jesus has given us.

You know, in farm country, particularly up north where it gets very cold in the winters, cattle are often kept in a large barn during the winter. And farmers have to bring them hay and remove the results of the cattle’s digestion from the farm. They often pile those results into a large pile, a pile of manure.

Then, in the spring, that winter’s pile is spread on the fields because that will make the fields more productive. For some reason, none of the farmers like to keep that pile of manure year-after-year. Because, kept in a pile, manure is worthless, like gold buried in the ground. It is only when it is spread around that it is worth something. Have you been keeping your gifts from Jesus buried in the ground, piled up like a pile of manure? Or have you been spreading your gifts around so they can grow something, like the kingdom of heaven?

Perhaps all we can do is make phone calls to other church members – then we should be making phone calls, checking up on our friends, cheering them up, reminding them that Jesus is still there even in this time of COVID. Perhaps you can see a family down the street from you. Can you call them once a week and lead the conversation toward prayer and God and Christ? It could make an eternal difference in their lives. Remember that we are running a marathon and not a sprint. Jesus doesn’t expect overnight success – He always plans for the long term.

We once lived in New Jersey in an apartment complex. This was many years before we were pastors, back in the early 90’s. We met the woman who lived upstairs, an older, single woman, about ten years older than we were. She had never married, she had a dog, and few friends. When she was a girl, she had attended a Catholic church, but she had not attended church in thirty years, since she was in college. We talked with her; Saundra and her became close friends. We moved to Georgia, but continued to talk with her over the phone. She developed diabetes, the diabetes gradually destroyed her kidneys. We prayed with her; she visited a couple times. We moved to Ohio. She made quilts for our children. We continued to talk over the phone; she asked us for prayers when her dog died. We gave her a new puppy a few months later. She ended up in a nursing home; we prayed with her and we were there the day she walked out of the nursing home. Notice I don’t say we prayed for her – we prayed WITH her. She went on dialysis; We prayed. She finally got a transplant. She talked a lot about God with Saundra. She lived another few years, but one night she died in her sleep, but she was on good terms with God again. All this over a period of 25 years. For the gifts Jesus gives us are for a long term investment, a marathon we run beside others. If it weren’t for this long-developed friendship, it is doubtful that this woman would ever have come back to God.

That’s how we use the bags of gold that Jesus gave us. We invest our gifts in other people and their lives and we gradually lead them to God.

A few months ago I asked you to make a list of a dozen people you know who probably don’t have a good relationship with God or Jesus. I asked you to pray for them regularly and I asked you to try to talk with them weekly or at least monthly and mention God or Jesus or a sermon in the conversation. Are you still doing that? That is investing in the kingdom for Jesus, and it is something anyone can do, it doesn’t take a special skill or any money. Yet it can make a great difference as we invest in friendships that lead people to Christ.

Did you notice what happened to the servant who buried his talent? The master had him thrown in the darkness, many translations say, into the “outer darkness”.

Remember last week when I described how dark it was in ancient Israel, with no streetlights, no electricity, only fire, the stars, the moon, and simply olive oil lamps to light the night? When there is a wedding, everyone brings their lamps to the center of town for the festivities – and if someone is acting in an unacceptable way, they are thrown into the outer darkness, the darkness outside the town where it is dark, dark, dark. Jesus says those who bury their talents and don’t invest in the kingdom will be tossed into the outer darkness, away from the great marriage feast of Jesus and His church. They will be in the dark, all alone, away from God and all the good people, out where the jackals and wolves roam, where bandits slink around, where trouble lurks. Don’t be one of these people who focus solely upon your own needs – invest in the kingdom. Stay in the light.

Folks, take what Jesus has given you, whether a simple skill, a fancy talent, or simply some cash, and use it to grow the kingdom of God. Christianity is not a spectator sport – it is a time for “all hands on deck”, for the storms of the dark time are coming, it is time to spread the Gospel to a new generation of people who have not heard that Gospel. As long as we are working to tell the Gospel story to new people, we will be in the light, living a life of joy, for it is remarkable and wonderful when a soul that has been walking in darkness sees the light that you are carrying! It is time to make new friends and tell them of the love of Jesus!

It is time to tell them that Jesus claimed to be God walking on the earth, that He was crucified for this claim, and that he arose from the dead three days later and then was seen by over 500 people in at least eleven appearances, he talked, he walked, people touched Him, they ate with Him and He even prepared breakfast for a group of friends. And so, through His resurrection, God proved that Jesus’ claims to be God were true and therefore, everything He said was of immense value, underlined and in bold. Jesus’ words are mostly recorded in the first four books of the New Testament, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

If you want to know more about this, contact us through our Facebook page at Cedar Grove United Methodist Church or join us any Sunday at our live service at 10:30 AM, just across from WVU Parkersburg. Remember to wear a mask.

In the meanwhile, invest your time and your talents and your money to grow the Kingdom of Heaven. And one day, you too may hear, as the first two servants did, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy!’”

Amen?

Father God,

I pray for the people of this church and all those watching and listening online and on the FM radio. I pray especially for those who have been feeling isolated or left behind. Let them feel Your presence beside them every day. Help them learn to listen to Your Holy Spirit and read Your Holy Scriptures, so they will recognize You have been with them every day and are ready to refill their lamps of faith every evening to allow them to travel through the long night, with bright lamps even at the end!

This we pray in the name of Jesus the Christ, Your Son. Amen

Benediction

Now Go into the world, listening to the Holy Spirit, declaring the Word of God and speaking of the glory of Jesus our Redeemer. And be blessed by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Wise and the Foolish

I once owned two cats. I purchased the first one when I was single, living alone in Johnson City, TN and working as a product manager for Texas Instruments. In the comic Pink Panther movies, Cato is the bumbling Inspector Clouseau’s manservant whom Clouseau instructed to attack him just to keep the Inspector on his toes. As a kitten, my new kitten liked to pounce on me as I walked through the apartment in the dark of the night, so I named her “Cato”. She was a delicate calico, and learned quickly. She could walk along a mantle filled with items and never knock anything over. Later, after Saundra and I married and Saundra did an in-home daycare, even when awakened from a deep sleep by a two-year old’s slap, she never harmed any of the children, simply walking away from troubling toddlers, even protecting the children by driving away another cat. And she always appeared wise and dignified.

She had a litter of kittens and I kept what appeared to be the wisest, most active. Unfortunately, other than her coloration, this kitten did not get the attributes of her mother. She could jump a distance of about 8 inches from the table to the couch and miss. She could knock over a full glass of water without even trying. And when the neighbor cat walked in front of the large sliding glass door, she repeatedly tried attacking that cat – bashing her head against the glass repeatedly, day after day. The neighbor cat even brought over another cat to watch my foolish cat. I named this younger cat of mine “Inspector Clouseau” for obvious reasons if you remember the movies. And she was far from delicate – Clouseau grew into a 16 pounder!

So for many years, I had a wise cat and a foolish cat. 

In Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus tells of the wise and the foolish.

After speaking of the coming fall of the great temple of God in Jerusalem and the terrible end times, Jesus speaks again of the kingdom of heaven “at that time” and tells the parable of a set of wise and foolish girls who will be the maids at a wedding, ten in all. Their job was to have a set of oil lamps to provide light for a late night wedding. You see, in those days, after dark in that dry land, the night was very dark. There were no street lamps, people did not have porch lamps, no electric lights were found, there was no blue glow of the television in the window. Even candles were fantastically expensive, for they had to be made from beeswax, not cheap paraffin. And because it was Israel, there were few clouds in the sky to reflect any lights that burned in a nearby town. Therefore, the only lights after dark were fires, the stars, perhaps the moon – and oil lamps that burned olive oil or the fat rendered from cattle or sheep. Most ancient oil lamps looked like a covered gravy server with a wick laid in it. They were much dimmer than our kerosene-based oil lamps of today unless a large wick was used, which meant the oil burned quickly. But even that little bit of light made a difference, for remember that at night in ancient times, after the sun had set and the twilight had faded, it was dark!

The five foolish girls took their lamps with them, but no extra oil. The five wise girls took their lamps and an extra jar of oil. But the bridegroom was late in arriving and so all of the girls fell asleep.

In ancient Israel, it was necessary that a synagogue have ten people present for all festivities. Of course, at a wedding there would probably be more than that. The ten girls were to arrange themselves with their oil lamps on either side of the entrance to the house of the bride, five on either side, lighting the path. They would then follow the groom into the home and the door would be shut so that no one would disturb the ceremony.

It should be noted that these girls were all said to be virgins. This will become important later on.

At midnight, finally someone calls out: “Here’s the bridegroom. Come out to meet him!”

All the girls woke up and turned up their lamps. But the foolish ones had already burned their oil – their lamps were going out. So they asked the wise one for some oil. But the wise ones knew that there was only enough oil for their lamps to burn through the ceremony. They told the foolish ones – go to the sellers of oil and buy some oil.

While they were running to the oil sellers, the bridegroom arrived. The wise girls lit the path and went inside to the wedding banquet. And BOOM! The door was shut.

Later, the foolish girls finally got back from the oil merchants. “Lord, Lord, “they said, “open the door for us!”

But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.” They were left outside in the darkness, with their lamps slowly going out.

And Jesus ends the story with these words: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

Commentators throughout the ages have realized that Jesus was letting the girls in the story be the stand-in for His followers. He is the bridegroom, and He is pointing out that everyone of the time will fall asleep – they will die. But when He returns, perhaps after a considerable time, it will be time for a great celebration as everyone awakens from their death sleep. All of His followers are to be like virgins, pure and not committed to anyone else or any other god.

But some of His followers are wise and some are foolish. The wise think ahead. They take extra oil to keep their lamps burning when He arrives. The foolish don’t think ahead.

In this story, the oil is what is needed to keep the lights of the followers burning. And our lights are our witness, our passion, our love and respect of Christ the bridegroom who has not returned as the darkness has settled over the land. We KNOW HE WILL RETURN! The oil is our continued faith in Christ! The wise plan for a long night while the foolish do not plan. They hold onto their faith, no matter what! The foolish expect the bridegroom to arrive just as the sun is setting. But the wise realize that the bridegroom, a powerful and important leader, may be delayed, and plan accordingly. They plan to keep their lights burning throughout a long night.

But who are the foolish virgins? There are people who believe, and then when God does not answer their prayers in the way and in the speed they desire, they give up on God. There are also people who look at different signs and say, “Jesus will return within the next year.” My son Andrew, age 23, points out that the world has ended 5 times in his short life alone, if we listened to the people who publicly predicted the end. And when He doesn’t return on their schedule, they lose faith. Then, there are people who decide that they will wait for Jesus to return and then will believe that He is Son of God -IF He returns. All of these people will be like the foolish girls, who have used up their light, their hope, their passion, their faith, and died giving up. And they will knock on the door after Jesus returns and Jesus will reply, “Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.”

It is possible to declare your desire to follow Jesus and find yourself locked out at the end, despite what some people say. Our salvation is a journey, not a single decision, a life-long walk toward holiness and not just a simple one-time statement of belief. Paul points out that our life of faith is a marathon – not a sprint, or just a single event. We are to plan to keep our light of faith shining for the future, learning and studying, always striving to be pure and holy as we await the arrival of Jesus, the bridegroom.

Some people say “Once saved, always saved.” But this is not biblical, but is instead a slogan. The Bible specifically talks about keeping the faith until the end, about not falling away from the faith. Plus, there is our passage today: “Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.” At the other extreme, other people say that you must continually stay in a state of grace, walking a tightrope across the fires of hell, dying eternally with one misspoke word, one wrong deed.

But the historical church, particularly those who accept the interpretation of John Wesley such as the Methodist movement, have a long term outlook on salvation.

To us, our life is like a walk along a path through the forest. Belief and baptism are the gates into the forest and put us on the path, but they are not the end of the path – they are the beginning. We walk along the path toward holiness. Sometimes the path is wide and easy to follow – sometimes the path is narrow and difficult to see. We step on the path and sometimes step off the path, particularly where it is difficult to see. Sometimes we wander off the path, distracted by a wonderful blueberry bush – and then, after a while, we decide to go back to the path.

Accidents happen, we step off the path, but those accidents do not keep us from the path if we brought the extra oil with us for our lamp of faith to look for the path and find the path again. The important thing is that we are trying to follow the path that Jesus has made, looking for the path, for if we are looking for the path we will eventually find our way back onto it. If, that is, we hold onto our faith that Jesus is waiting at the end. And Jesus will be waiting for us at the end to greet us at the wedding of Christ and Church.

But it is possible to decide to leave the path and never again worry about the path. Our oil of faith has run out. We have turned our back on the path because it is too difficult, we cannot see it in the darkness of the forest, or we have decided to spend the rest of our life in a patch of blueberries and don’t ever desire to return to the path. That is when we are lost. That is when the door is shut to us. It is because of our foolish choice…If we wanted to find the path, we would, and Jesus would welcome us back. But some foolish people who followed the path for a while decide that they no longer want to follow the path – it is not an accident, they didn’t sin their way off the path, they decided. They chose to let their lamps run out and they chose not to bring the oil of faith with them. They didn’t plan to bring the oil and now they have run out of oil and when they awaken after death they will be shut out of the wedding.

Salvation, you see, is not an event, but a lifelong journey. “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” Paul tells the Philippian church in Chapter 2 of his letter to them. Walk the path, find the path, lose the path, find the path again and walk the path. Jesus will welcome you back! Bring the oil of faith to light your way back to the path each day. [repeat]

By this parable of the ten virgins, Jesus is also telling us that He may be delayed and we should be prepared for a delay, yet be ready to stand up and welcome Him back. It is likely we will fall asleep or die before He returns. But we must be ready, with a sure stock of oil to refill our lamps when the trumpet sounds. Don’t give up! Have faith! Have your light filled to overflowing and an extra supply of faith ready for His return!

In another place, I Thessalonians 4, the Apostle Paul says that he has word from the Lord that those who remain alive will not be ahead of those who have died and now sleep, awaiting Jesus’ return. Paul says, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.’

I’m not going to go into details about all of the back and forth of the end time, the details of the Book of Daniel and Revelation. For while the Left Behind books made popular one interpretation of Revelation, I know of at least five additional interpretations of Revelation, anyone of which may be right.

But I do know this. Follow Jesus, listen to the Holy Spirit, read your Bible daily until the end of your life and proclaim the Good News! That is how we refill our lamps with faith!

Proclaim that Jesus claimed to be God, was crucified dead and buried for that claim, but rose again and was seen by over 500 people in at least eleven different appearances and made us two key promises: First, that those who follow Him will receive a resurrection to eternal life, and second, that He will return again to claim His rightful throne. Have faith in this gospel throughout your life. Tell this to everyone you meet in life and your lamp will be shining brighter than a 400 watt LED lamp!

Saundra and I have moved around many times from house to house. One day, we moved to a new home near Loganville, GA. Clouseau, the foolish cat, lost faith in us. She walked away, never to return. We never found out what happened to her. Cato, though, the wise cat, continued to stick with us, traveling with us to our peaceful home on the Muskingum River near Lowell, Ohio. There, she was able to chase mice and moles and voles, living a beautiful life until she died, age 14.

You know, this week is Veteran’s Day. I don’t like to be partial to the service branches, for all six branches are important – Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard – and the Marines. But the Marines probably best understand the message of this sermon, for their motto is the message today. Semper Fi! Semper Fidelis. Always Faithful.

Follow Jesus faithfully to the grave – and He will faithfully take you beyond the grave.

Amen?

Father God,

I pray for the people of this church and all those watching and listening online and on the FM radio. I pray especially for those who have been feeling isolated or left behind. Let them feel Your presence beside them every day. Help them learn to listen to Your Holy Spirit and read Your Holy Scriptures, so they will recognize You have been with them every day and are ready to refill their lamps of faith every evening to allow them to travel through the long night, with bright lamps even at the end!

This we pray in the name of Jesus the Christ, Your Son. Amen

Remembering the Saints - Thoughts on Matthew 5 and All Saints Day

Those of us who are shepherds in the Kingdom of God know that from time to time God asks for sheep of our flock to move from this flock to the great flock in Heaven. Or, as it has sometimes been put, it becomes time for people to leave the Church Militant and join the Church Triumphant, to transfer from active participation this local church to the Church of Heaven.

And people grieve. People miss their loved ones. And this is not limited to the family – In most churches, people grow close over the years. There are people in this church whom we’ve known for 20, 30, even 50 years or more. And pastors are not immune to the grief. This week, Saundra and I received word that the woman who taught our children how to play the piano had transferred to Heaven from one church, and a dear friend who used to keep our puppy when we’d travel transferred to Heaven from another church. We will miss Dee and Virginia.

Today is All Saints Day, a Christian holy day that dates back to the fifth century. “It is a day for giving God solemn thanks for the lives and deaths of his saints.”

So who are the saints?

In the New Testament, the saints are those people who have chosen to set themselves apart from the world to follow Jesus. The word is hagios, which means “those who are set apart.” Unlike Catholic practice which requires that two miracles be attributed to a particular person after their death before they are called a Saint (with a capital S), most Protestant practice takes the original Biblical meaning of the word as essentially a synonym for “followers of Christ”. In other words, most of the people in this church are saints.

All Saints Day recognizes that the Church is an eternal organism, composed of those saints who have died – the Church Triumphant and those saints who are now alive – the Church Militant. This is the day that the Church Militant – you and I – remember the Church Triumphant – those who have experienced the victory of Christ. We each belong to the Church Militant and fight the great war for good by leading ourselves and others to the protection of Christ – and one day, we will each belong to the Church Triumphant and live in the visible presence of God and Christ.

But how should we live in this world? Jesus has words for us:

One day, Jesus walked up on a small hill and spoke to a crowd assembled on the slopes. He was creating the Church Militant as He spoke these words, the sermon known as the Sermon on the Mount:

He said:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

If your spirit is weak and broken, if you are humble and not arrogant, you will find the kingdom of heaven, for the entrance gate has a bar beneath which you must bow to Jesus as wiser and worthy of being followed.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.

If you mourn it is because you care about another, and you have the interconnectedness of spirit which is asked for by Jesus. You do not have a hard heart which cares for no one. You have already begun to love others, and so you will be comforted one day in Heaven by the love of Christ.

5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

The Greek word translated as meek was used to describe a powerful stallion which is under control – great strength under control. It does not mean “timid” – that is a change in our language over the centuries. It is those with strength under control who will inherit the earth – not the wild, not the timid, but those with a quiet strength.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.

Do you want righteousness – or do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Has it become your passion? If so, you will find that righteousness as you follow Christ.

7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.

The vengeful will be destroyed, but the merciful will find mercy as God gives it to you who have shown it to others.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

Are you deceitful or wicked, do you harbor mean desires? Or is your heart pure? Purify your heart so you will see God one day.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.

Those who make peace with others will be respected for their efforts. They are the ones who will be recognized throughout the centuries for representing God’s will.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

What an honor to be persecuted for doing the right thing! This will lead you into the kingdom of heaven, for you held to good principles even when attacked.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Do people attack you and lie about you because you represent Christ truly? Then be glad, for Jesus is awaiting you in heaven with a great reward, just as the prophets of old before you!

When we sit and think again about each of these verses, we can begin to understand what Jesus asks of us.

First, we don’t walk into Heaven with our head held high. We bow to Jesus, recognizing that we are not as smart, not as wise, not as strong as we think we are. We must become humble, recognizing that everything we think we can do well is something that we do well only because of the gifts of God – and God has someone else who can do better than we can. We should always be looking to learn more from people who have wisdom, people in high places and people in low places. Always look to others with an attitude of “what can this person teach me by their words and deeds and attitudes?” We must be poor in our spirit if we are to be accepted in the kingdom of heaven, for God has eternity to teach us all things – if we can be taught! Are you poor in your spirit – or are you too sure of yourself to bow to Christ?

After we have entered the kingdom of heaven, do we mourn for those we’ve left behind? For all of us have friends, family, and neighbors, people we love, who have chosen not bow to Christ. Do we mourn for them? Don’t fear – Christ will comfort us as He takes our hearts and accepts them for the goodness they hold. For those people who do not mourn will not be comforted by Christ, since mourning is inherently an emotion of caring about others – and we must care about others before we are following the path of holiness. Don’t be afraid to mourn, for it tells something about the strength of your character, that you care for others.

And there are the meek, those who have great strength of character which is under control. Long after the arrogant but wild leaders of the world and each community have died, those with that gentle strength will still remain on the New Earth, for Revelation tells us that the old earth and heaven shall pass away and be replaced by a New Earth and heaven. Character is very important in the kingdom of heaven. Is your character growing toward meekness, a quiet strength?

I see many people today who want righteousness. But how many hunger and thirst for righteousness? Righteousness begins with following Jesus – and it grows as we work to have a righteous character inside ourselves. Only then does righteousness spread to others – Are you one who wants others to be righteous, but does not work very hard at becoming righteous yourself by following the commands of Jesus? Take in righteousness, strive to make it part of your body, soul, and mind, and you will be filled with righteousness.

But the next step as our righteousness fills us is to remember the mercy that God has given us – and become merciful to others. We all know that SELF-righteousness destroys. And so, the more righteous we become, the more merciful we must become to those who are not righteous. After all, compared to Jesus, the finest of us are but filthy rags, while He wears the snow-white robes of purity.

It requires purity to see God. God will not allow the impure to see Him. His gaze is like a powerful laser; any impurity in the individual upon whom He looks soaks up so much of His power that the individual explodes. Only a pure, crystal-clear heart can stand in front of God and see Him. God must be able to shine through us, not blocked by any blemish. Only the heart which has been cleansed by a complete devotion and following of the perfect Son of God can stand in His presence. But the pure in heart will see God.

And those who make peace in the world – and first in their own souls – will be called children of God. For it is the fruit of the Spirit to have peace – and only those who have peace can help others achieve peace. It is perhaps the most difficult task – even pastors fall prey to the desire to fight against others. It is easier to fight evil people than to lead those people to peace with goodness. But making peace is the key to being known as children of God. Peace comes by following Jesus.

And of course, the Enemy of souls leads people to persecute those who follow Jesus. Consider it a great compliment when people persecute you for your Christian beliefs and attitudes, for your righteousness, for your peace-making. For the Enemy has seen that your faith is genuine – and others have seen this too. Most importantly, Jesus has seen this – you are persecuted, yet persist in your faith. And so, no matter what the persecutors do to your body – you will have entered the kingdom of heaven and will be with Jesus forever.

And what happens to you if you die for your great faith in Jesus, if you persist until the end, if you become a martyr?

You become one of the “great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” The Apostle John, in his great vision of Heaven, tells us in Revelation 7 that “They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

And later an angel explains that these people, perhaps you among them, “are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’

‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’

Today we honor those people who belonged to our local fellowship and have transferred to heaven in the last year. And we remember that we shall soon be with them – in just a few years, or months, or perhaps even in a few hours. Let us be worthy of being among them.

Consider this Psalm. This is a Psalm with testimony from the people who have chosen to seek God, who have followed the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, and now reside with Jesus. Imagine your departed friend speaking to you from Heaven, beside the author of this poem, David the King. From Psalm 34 (NIV):

1 I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.

8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

22 The Lord will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

And so remember those who have led you in the faith to Christ.