Pentecost: Come to the Party

Texts: Acts 2:1-21; Romans 8:12-17

God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! 

 15-17This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. 

What kind of church do belong to? I mean, what describes our church? 

This morning I want to talk to about belonging to a church that is adventurously expectant, that is exciting, that is festive, that celebrates. I want to talk to you about belonging to a church where all kinds of people are welcome; not just your kind of people, or my kind, but where all kinds of people are welcome. 

I want us to think about belonging to a church that is more like a party than a meeting. When you think about church, I want you to think about inviting all kinds of people to a wonderful party. Where people say, “what's next, Papa?”

Let me share a story about that kind of church.

Tony Campolo is a sociologist at Eastern College in Pennsylvania. I want to share a Tony Campolo story. Once he was invited to speak at a conference in Honolulu. He flew from the East Coast to Honolulu and found himself wide awake at 3:00 am. So, he went out for something to eat. He found a little greasy spoon restaurant open and went in and sat down on one of the stools at the counter. 

The fat guy behind the counter came over and asked, "What d'ya want?" 

"A cup of coffee and a doughnut."

He poured the coffee, and put a doughnut on the counter. Then, the door of the diner flew open and in marched eight or nine provocative and boisterous prostitutes. It was a small place, and so they filled the counter stools all around him and started talking.

Just about the time Tony got up to leave, the woman sitting next to him said, "Tomorrow's my birthday. I'm going to be thirty-nine."

Her friend responded in a nasty tone, "So what do you want from me? A birthday party? What do you want? Ya want me to get you a cake and sing 'Happy Birthday?"

"Come on!", the first woman said, "Do you have to be so mean?" I was just telling you, that's all. You don't have to put me down. I don't want anything from you. Why should you give me a birthday party? I've never had a birthday party in my whole life. Why should I have one now?" 

When Tony heard that, he made a decision. He sat there until the woman left, then called over to the fat guy behind the counter and asked him, "Do they come in here every night?

"Yeah," he answered.

"The one right next to me, does she come in here every night?"

"Yeah! That's Agnes, yeah, she comes in every night. Why d'ya want to know?"

"Because I heard her say that tomorrow is her birthday. What do you say you and I throw a birthday party for her-right here-tomorrow night."

A smile came across his face and he said, "That’s a great idea. Lets do it."

So Tony agreed to get decorations, and Harry, the guy behind the counter, agreed to make a cake. At 2;30 the next morning Tony was back in the restaurant with crepe paper decorations and big cardboard letters that said "Happy Birthday, Agnes." The whole dinner was decorated from one end to the other.

They must have put the word out on the street, because by 3:15 it seemed like every prostitute in Honolulu was there. Wall to wall prostitutes, and Tony.

At 3:30 the door opened in in came Agnes with a girl friend. Tony gave the signal and everybody screamed, "Happy Birthday."

Agnes was flabbergasted...stunned....shaken. Her mouth fell open. She sat down on one of the stools, and everybody sang "Happy Birthday." Her eyes got all misty and moist. Then they carried out the cake with all the candles aflame, and Agnes lost it and just cried.

Finally Harry said, "Blow out the candles Agnes. Come on. If you don't I will." She sat and looked at them, finally she did. Then Harry handed her a knife and said, 

"Yo, Agnes, cut the cake. We all want some cake."

Agnes looked at the cake. Then slowly said, "Look Harry, is it all right with you if I...I mean is it okay  if I kind of...well, is it okay if I keep the cake a little, I mean, if we don't eat it right away?"

Harry, shrugged and said, "Sure! If you want to keep the cake, keep the cake. Take it home if you want to."

Agnes looked around and said, "I just live down the street. I want to take the cake home. okay? I'll be right back. Honest!"

She picked up the cake, and carrying it like it was the Holy Grail, walked slowly toward the door. Everyone just stood there motionless. She left.

When the door closed there was a stunned silence. Not knowing what else to do, Tony broke the silence and said, "What do you say we pray?"

Well, Tony admits it was kind of a dumb thing to do. But he prayed for Agnes, for God to be good to her, for her life to be changed.

When he finished, Harry leaned over the counter and said with some hostility in his voice, ""Hey, you never told me you were a preacher. What kind of church do you belong to?"

Tony said, "I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning."

Harry waited a moment, then almost sneered as he said, "No you don't. There's no church like that. If there was, I'd join it. I'd join a church like that!"

Wouldn't we all?

Wouldn't we all love to join a church that throws birthday parties at 3:30 in the morning  for the outcasts and the left out ones, and those who have never had a party?"

Wouldn't we all love to be a part of a church where grace reaches across barriers and divisions and touches the lives of all kinds of people to give them joy and worth and dignity? 

Did you notice in Luke's story in the reading from Acts who was in Jerusalem that day? Did you notice who came to the party ? 

Luke says it was everybody. People from all nations gathered at Pentecost, the celebration of the Feast of Weeks. This was a harvest festival bringing the first fruits of harvest to offer to God. Jewish males gathered from all over the world to bring their offering to the Temple. It was a holy day. 

Luke gives us a role call of the nations. Strange nations with funny sounding names; 

Persians, Parthians, Cappadocians, Phrygians,  

Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians. Cretans

What the author is telling us in this passage is that people were there from everywhere, every tongue and tribe. The Tower of Babel is reversed in this story.  Once God scattered the proud.  Now God reunites all people and all tongues.  The fractured, broken, divided, alienated people who did not speak the same language, and often were at war with each other-they were all there.

And then, at something like 9:00 that morning, while they were gathered in one place, the wind came up, and that holy wind blew through the room and 

blew across their nationalities, and 

blew through their differences, and 

blew into their nostrils and filled their divided hearts with fire and set their tongues in motion, and 

they spoke words to each other, and 

everyone understood, for the fire burned the words into their hearts, and 

they wept, they sang, they remembered who they were:

they were the children of the God of Love, 

they were the chosen people of the God of Joy; 

they were the holy people of the God of Jesus, the Christ.

That mighty Wind of Fire and Spirit created the church that day. 

A church that was born when the Holy Spirit overcame the divisions and barriers that keep people apart, and made them one body in Jesus Christ. 

On that day of Pentecost, the celebration was so joyful, the carrying on was so remarkable, that outside observers thought they were drunk even though it was early in the morning! 

Well, that is the kind of Church Jesus came to create. That is what this morning's texts are all about. The church is a party where everybody is included. 

People from all the nations: 

the Mexicans, the Indians, the Germans, the Ethiopians, the Koreans, 

the Pakistanis, the Viet Namese, the Iraqis, Iranians, and the Americans

People from all stations in life—prostitutes, and lepers, and tax collectors, lonely people, old people, awkward adolescents, gay and straight, stressed out business people, professors and teachers, janitors, jailors and musicians. 

Jesus came to have a party. 

He included the people who have been left out. 

So he ate with them and drank with them, and told stories to them, and did whatever was necessary to make them feel accepted and whole and worth a party. 

The kind of church I think you and I want to be a part of began with Jesus including everybody. And before he was finished, he prepared a feast for everyone to be invited to gather around the table, and eat and drink and become one in the love they shared in God. 

And then, when he left us, he sent the Holy spirit to break down the barriers between us, to open our hearts so we can understand each other, and love each other, and continue the party in his name. 

That's the kind of church Jesus had in mind. 

Is that the kind of church you want to belong to? 

Is that the kind of church you could invite others to belong to?

 

Madison Square can be that kind of “adventurously expectant church every week of the year if we do just three things. 

First, We can be that kind of church if we let this same Holy spirit lead us in sharing our faith in Jesus Christ with each other. Open your hearts to each other. Share your story of pain and joy and faith.  Meet together, Talk together   about your faith in God.  All kinds of people can join Madison Square Presbyterian Church. When there is caring and sharing of faith, there is  fire of the the Spirit.

Second, we can be that kind of church if we let the Holy Spirit lead us in sharing our faith with folks outside our church. Open your hearts to those you are with during the week. People are waiting to hear good news. Tell them the exciting good news about Christ, about your faith.  People want to hear your good news. Tell them what you have found to be true.

Third, invite them to the party. Tell them you would like them to come to a wonderful party, and invite them to come with you to Madison Square.  Everyone is welcome here. We are all here because the Holy Spirit brought us together. No one is excluded. Who do you know that you can invite to the party? They are welcome here.

"There's no church like that," Harry said. "If there was, I'd join it."

And so would I. And so would you. 

Open your hearts to the Holy Spirit. 

Come to the party. This party is for you.

Sermon preached May 29th: When Christians Must Say No

TEXT:    1 Peter 2:11-17 (The Message)

 11-12Friends, this world is not your home, so don't make yourselves cozy in it. Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they'll be won over to God's side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives. 

 13-17Make the Master proud of you by being good citizens. Respect the authorities, whatever their level; they are God's emissaries for keeping order. It is God's will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think you're a danger to society. Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government. 

(Take box out and stand on it.)What do you see?

Yes, I am standing in a box.  Let's say this box is my religion. It is the set of beliefs and perspectives, prejudices, values and hopes that I use to interpret and make sense of my world. As I grow, the box grows. Everyone has their own  worldview, their own religion, their own box. Most of the time we see the world and ourselves from within our box of beliefs. Sometimes we change change boxes. We convert or adopt a  different set of values and beliefs. Then we stand in a different religion box. 

(Step out and step on the box).   Now, what do you see?

Yes, I am standing on the box. I have stepped outside my box, my religious values hopes and beliefs, and am now standing on them.  I haven't left them, but now I am viewing the world rather outside that  perspective. Furthermore, I have turned my views upside down, and so the world looks different.  This allows me to compare my values, beliefs and world view with other religions, other views.  I have my own perspective on which I stand, but now it doesn't confine, but allows me to make comparisons, choices, changes, analyze and evaluate.

With this all too simple illustration, I want to make several quick points about the boxes we all have, and how they function in our lives.

1. Most of us grow and mature in our religious beliefs and values and perspectives, and  therefore we must often get larger or different boxes. Look back over your years, and you might see boxes you left behind.  Our  boxes offer peace, clarity and protection—but often when we are fearful we use the box of our beliefs to hide or to fight.  
2. Most religious talk, and religious confessions of faith are written from inside a box in order to make sense of the world outside. Theology and confessions are attempts to make the box and the world compatible for believers. Often  confessions are written to strengthen the walls of the box when there is confusion, major threats or change. Such language is often used to teach and pass on the world view gained in the struggle to make sense. 
3. Learning how to stand outside and on  top of the box enables analysis, evaluation, and change. Dialogue with other religions and views is most possible from this position. In fact it is what great reformers have done, in order to bring great changes. It is pretty much what Jesus did. It is also what good teachers do—they help people stand outside their box to see options, possibilities and answers that they can then bring into their box with new insight.  
4. If you don't know how to stand on your box, or don't know where to stand, it is hard to make change, make progress, to grow with insight and understanding. Christians need to be comfortable both standing in their belief box, and on their belief box. That is how we gain spiritual maturity in a changing world.

Now, I want to talk about one of the great struggles Christians have in dealing with the world, and one of he great church confessions written as a result.   

Is there a time when we as Christians  must say "No"  as well as "Yes" to the culture and the government in which we live?

Is it harder to live as a Christian in a country where the Government and culture is contrary to the values of the Christian faith?  Or where the Government  and culture seems friendly to the values of the christian faith?

You read those words with me from the ancient text of 1Peter:

Friends, this is not your home, so don't make yourselves cozy in it…

Make the Master proud of you be being  good citizens.  Respect authorities whatever their level; they are God's emissaries for keeping order.  Exercise your freedom by serving God, and not breaking the rules….Revere God.  Respect the government.  

This is not your home so don't get cozy, but don't rock the boat. 

Can you sense the tension between the first part and the second part of  Peter's  advice to the early church?  It is the tension of the Christian living as an alien in a culture whose values do not conform to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That was the wisdom for the first century Christian church which was struggling to survive in a hostile culture. If you were Christian, you may lose your life. The apostle Peter was crucified--but he insisted on being hung upside down, not seeing himself worthy of dying like his Lord and Master.

Learn to say yes. "Don't rock the boat."

Live at peace with those around you.  The government is there to keep order.  It is how God works in the world to make life possible.

For the most part, you and I have grown up in an America assuming that American values and Christian values are the same.  We have been raised to think that  being a Christian and being a Successful American are the same thing.

It has not been hard to say "yes" to the American culture, or our political leaders.

But, this morning, we have a much more significant question to answer.

At what point in our life as a Christian, must we say "No"?

At what point do we say "no" to the authority of our leaders?

And at what point do we say "no" to the underlying cultural values of our society that  empower our leaders?  When and How do we say "no""

For all the Presbyterian Churches in the World--all the Churches that have their history in what is called the Reformed Faith, for all these churches, this weekend has a special meaning. For all of our Church family, we remember May 29-30 as the  Anniversary of the Declaration of  Barmen.

The Barmen Declaration is a part of the Book of Confessions which we Presbyterians use to define who we are as a Christian Community.  It is part of our constitution, and it is part of the story we tell ourselves.

On May 29 1934, there were 139 clergy and lay persons who met in Barmen-Wuppertal in northern Germany.  Because of the growing totalitarian reach of Adolf Hitler's government, and his hostility to the church, these Christians felt compelled to take a stand to resist. They needed to be clear about about several issues:

Who is Lord over our lives-God or the state?

What is the relation of the church to the state--servant or separate?

How is God revealed to us--in the bible or in history? 

The Barmen Declaration is the statement they made in answer to these questions.

Most of you know the story of the rise of Hitler. As a young man in 1919 right after World War I he founded the National Socialist Party dedicated to "race, blood and soil."

As the Nazi Party gained strength, many Christians joined the party and formed a faith movement in 1932 under the Party, called "German Christians."   They believed in the principles of the party, and in a strong German state.  They did not seek God's revelation of truth in the scripture, but in history: God's saving work could be seen in Hitler, and the divine election of God for the place of the German people in history. 

What did these Christians believe?

• Germany shall rise to new strength; 
• Germany shall lead the nations into a world order; 
• Germany has the divine favor of God on her side. 

(If this sounds familiar to Americans, it should.  These same ideas have been goals for our own country at different times in our history.)

In public Adolph Hitler was a strong advocate of The Christian faith and the church. Christianity and German culture were almost equated.  In one of his speeches he promised,

"The national government ... will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality." - Adolf Hiter, The Speeches of Adolph Hitler, 1922-1939, Vol. 1 (London, Oxford University Press, 1942), pg. 871-872. 

Later, he made an even stronger appeal to Christians, equating the Christian faith with the strong moral position of Nazi Germany, against the immorality identified in society. He said 

"Today Christians ... stand at the head of Germany ... I pledge that I never will tie myself to parties who want to destroy Christianity .. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit ... We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theater, and in the press - in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess during the past ... (few) years."  Adolf Hitler. Ibid, pg. 871-872. By Michael Hakeem, Ph.D. 

One of the amazing realities of Nazi Germany was that most of the people, most of the Christians, bought this kind of talk making an alliance between Christianity and Nazi ideology.  If you look at what Christianity teaches, you wonder how German Christians could support Naziism, Hitler's wars and the Holocaust. Not only did they occur, but with insignificant and wavering exceptions, neither theologians, clergy, nor ordinary Christians as individuals, nor churches as corporate bodies, objected. In fact they overwhelmingly supported them. Three of the most distinguished German Protestant theologians--Gerhard Kittel, Paul Althaus, and Emanual Hirsch.  were highly respected, extremely erudite, uncommonly productive, and internationally known professors, each at a different, first-class university. Yet  these and other Christian leaders,  each supported Hitler openly, enthusiastically, and with little restraint." 

Kittel and a group of twelve leading theologians and pastors issued a proclamation that Nazism is "a call of God," and they thanked God for Adolf Hitler. 

By 1933 Hitler appointed Ludwig Muller, who was the leader of the "German Christians" to create a State Church, the "German Evangelical Church."  All Protestant Churches were united into this single Evangelical State Church.  

In September, 20,000 German Christians gathered in the Berlin Sports Palace to affirm the alliance between the church and the Nazi Party. One of the tasks of the Church was to keep the Arayan Race pure and free Germany from all non-German  persons. That excluded  Jews, gypsies, communists, and homosexuals.

It was against this overwhelming and large-scale movement  of the German Christians into a State Church that a few pastors and churches began to form resistance that resulted in the Barmen Declaration.

Already in January, 1933, 21 pastors met and begin to develop a dissenting voice to this whole "German  Christian" movement.  They called themselves the "Pastor's Emergency League." By the September  meeting in the Berlin Sports palace, there were 2300 pastors who had joined this resistance; and by January, 1934 there were 7000.

So, 139 pastors and leaders  met in Barmen, May 29-30, 1934 to organize and alternative church to the state church.  At that meeting they would adopt their own position, and become known as the Confessing Church.  Turn to the part in the Order of Service, and lets look at the Declaration.

The first and second affirmation of the Declaration center on Jesus Christ as Lord. In Jesus Christ we see God and understand who we are. It is Jesus Christ we trust and obey in life and in death.  It is in Jesus that we learn who we are and what is true.  It is in Jesus that we find the freedom to serve God and others. The second affirmation states that the claim of Jesus on our life is total.  No area of our life is outside his claim.  Not our spending, not our buying, not our schooling and intellectual life, not our sexual life nor our loving; not our political life nor our citizenship; not our church life, nor our values. We can not be Christians, and hold out parts of our living as out of bounds. Jesus Christ accepts you totally; Christ forgives you totally; Christ heals you totally.

In contrast,  the Germans looked to history to discover their destiny. They looked to the Arayan race to restore their purity. They looked to the military to find their strength.  

So, Barmen raises issue the of where we find authority to  in our lives, and affirms that it is with Jesus Christ, and not with lesser authorities.

The Christians in Barmen lead us to affirm Jesus Christ as the  Word of God and Lord of our life.

The second lesson comes from the last four truths in the document. The Declaration of Barmen reminds us that our biggest problem is not atheism, but idolatry.  Presbyterians have always believed that every person knows God. We believe God plants that knowledge within every human heart.  But it is our sin and brokenness that covers it and suppresses it. And so instead of worshiping God, we create idols. We fill our lives with other loves to worship: the nation, a political party, our ethnic heritage, our family, or money, or alcohol, or drugs, or our business. We love our idols, and the sin of idolatry is always tempting us.

Four times the Declaration says:  "We reject the false doctrine that...."  Four times it names the false gods that swept a nation under their influence and led them into evil and destruction.  Four times it takes a stand on the only one and true God, known in Jesus Christ. Four times it says, we belong only to God. 

In short, Barmen said, "There is No führer but Jesus.  No authority but the Scripture, and the church shall not function as a part of the state.

What does it take for us to join those Christians  who gathered in Barmen and reject the idols that crowd into our life to claim our allegiance? 

The Declaration of Barmen is powerful not because it was a good statement, because in some ways it wasn't. For instance, they didn't even address the issue about what was happening to the Jews, or those who were gay or lesbian.  It was much too late to be of any consequence to Hitler and Nazi power.  Nor did it greatly alter the life of the church. 

But its power comes from the struggle of those Christians to live up to their principles.  Its power is in the struggle to put faith into practice in a concrete historical moment and then to move from words to deeds.  

Ultimately, this is the importance of Barmen for us today.  The lesson from the Barmen Christians is about making our faith come alive in our daily struggle against power and authority that suck us along paths we can not affirm, nor believe in. Barmen gives us a lesson about engaging the politics and culture we live in. 

We tend to think that our freedom is a political gift from the state.  No, the reality we learn from Barmen is that religious freedom is prior to political freedom. Our Presbyterian Confession teaches us that our freedom is found in the grace and goodness of God.  That is the basis of political freedom, not the other way around. 

Once we are clear about that, we have the basis to engage our faith with the political struggles in our nation, and with our culture.

I am now asking the the ushers to hand to each of you a more modern statement. This is called “A Social Creed for the 21^st Century”. One hundred years ago in 1908 the Federal Council of Churches adopted a “Social Creed for the 20^th Century.”  Many of its goals and values were addressed and achieved in the past century.  This new  creed  was put together under the leadership of  the National Council of Churches for the American Church community as a response to the overwhelming social issues that we have at the beginning of this century.    This is not a “confession” of our church like the Declaration of Barmen. But it is a statement of our values and beliefs that was adopted by our General Assembly in 2008.  Like most creeds, it is offered from inside the Christian  box  to guide Churches and individuals as they struggle to make a strong witness to their faith.   

Like all creeds, it is not perfect.  Read this one and you will note some issues are not addressed. It has been pointed out that as inclusive as this statement is, it has nothing in it about the LGBT community. But it does focus on a wide range of  social issues.

For instance,  look at its statement of support for the rights of unions—a timely statement after the recent political attacks on labor union's right to bargain.

I commend this Social Creed to you for your study and guidance in the days ahead, hoping that as Christians we can make a difference in the outcome of  so many of these issues. Notice the power of the final paragraph;

 We — individual Christians and churches — commit ourselves to a culture of peace and freedom that embraces non-violence, nurtures character, treasures the environment, and builds community, rooted in a spirituality of inner growth with outward action. We make this commitment together, as members

 of Christ's body, led by the one Spirit-trusting in the God who makes all things new. 

Our opening scripture today said, This is not your home so don't get cozy, but don't rock the boat. 

So, where do you stand on the tough issues of today?  Do you have a good box to stand in, and a good one to stand on?   How does your box of faith prepare you to handle the many voices of our day pushing against us?

May this anniversary of the Declaration of Barmen inspire you to take a stand

that is not cozy with the world but a strong witness of your faith.1 Peter 2:11-17 (The Message)

John 14:15-21

15”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. 

18”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” 

Sermon from May 22nd: Jesus is the Way

Text: John 14:1-14; 1 Peter 2:2-10

It was in 1915 that a young poet by the name of Robert Frost published his small book of poetry titled, North of Boston.  It's a remarkable collection. You probably know his poem "Mending Wall" that begins, "Something there is that doesn't love a wall."   One of the other memorable poems in this collection is titled, "The Death of the Hired Man".  The poem tells the story of Silas, the hired man, who comes back to the farm after having left during harvest time when he was needed.  Mary, the wife meets him, and later says to her husband when he returns that Silas has come back. She says,  

“He’s worn out. He’s asleep beside the stove.

When I came up from Rowe’s I found him here,

Huddled against the barn-door fast asleep,        

A miserable sight, and frightening, too—

You needn’t smile—I didn’t recognize him—

I wasn’t looking for him—and he’s changed.

Wait till you see.”

“Where did you say he’d been?”        

“He didn’t say. I dragged him to the house,

And gave him tea and tried to make him smoke.

I tried to make him talk about his travels.

Nothing would do: he just kept nodding off.”

Mary and Warren continue talking about Silas, and the difficult life he has had, and how he couldn't quite be counted on when work was to be done. He would leave, and then come back wanting a handout, but offering to do some work for money, just to keep his self respect. Warren comments that the one thing Silas could do well was bundle hay. Give him credit for that.  Mary then says,  

Warren,” she said, “he has come home to die:

You needn’t be afraid he’ll leave you this time.”        

“Home,” he mocked gently.

“Yes, what else but home?

It all depends on what you mean by home.

Of course he’s nothing to us, any more

Than was the hound that came a stranger to us        

Out of the woods, worn out upon the trail.”

“Home is the place where, when you have to go there,

They have to take you in.”

“I should have called it

Something you somehow haven’t to deserve.”

That's strong isn't it?  Home, the place where when you go there, they have to take you in.

It's something you somehow haven't to deserve."  Robert Frost has captured so much emotion in these lines. Robert Frost tells us the story of Silas coming to his home to die where he knows Mary and Warren will accept him unconditionally—they will take him in no matter what his condition.  And then Robert Frost enlarges the meaning beyond the home of Mary and  Warren and says it is that universal place where they will take you in and offer you unconditional acceptance. I suppose that we could use church language and say home is the place of abundant grace given without reservation.  

When I read the Madison Square web page that invites everyone who reads it to come home it is a remarkable statement of the meaning of “home.” I would guess that anyone reading it would be moved. 

Home is where you put your foot on the porch

and before the other foot ever touches the landing

the door dances open. 

and the first thing you see is a huge smile

and the first thing you feel is a huge hug

and the first thing you hear is your own name

spoken with excitement and elation and jubilation and so much love.

Home is where you don't have to be anybody but you. 

You don't have to be good enough or smart enough

or strong or pretty enough or think only right thoughts

or  believe only right beliefs or guard your heart\

or deny your mistakes or hide your  wounds

or silence your needs or measure your hopes and dreams.

You don't even have to  pretend to be somebody your are not.

So you can belong, because at home you belong already.

You are a child of God.

So we say to you, Come on in, Come as you are. 

Come on in, child of God.

This is a warm and welcoming statement that draws us in.  I feel welcome here. And I would trust that others are drawn here by this invitation.

So here is my question:  what is the home into which we are welcome? 

   Once here, where are we?

What are the marks, and signs and words that identify the home?

The morning gospel reading is from the 14th chapter of John.  You may already know that the Gospel of John is very different from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  These three are all telling the story of Jesus in very similar ways. Indeed, both Matthew and Luke pattern their story after Mark, and much of the content in these three is similar. But John is different. 90% of John's Gospel is unique to John. In chapter 14 we begin a long passage that goes through chapter 17 where Jesus is saying farewell to his disciples.  In this morning reading you will hear Jesus say, “I am the Way, Truth and the Light.”  Last week you heard Rueban preach on another verse where Jesus said, “I am the gate for the sheep.”  In fact in John, Jesus uses this “I am...” language  seven times.. I am the bread of life.  I am the vine... I am the Resurrection and the Life.  

So listen to Jesus speak intimately to his disciples as he tells them that he is going to  prepare a home for them, and what it means for him to leave them, and how he addresses their anxiety and fears by telling them that even though he will leave them,  they will know the way  to live the abundant life with God.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’

 Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? 

The Word of the Lord.

I am going to prepare a place for you.

You know the way.

Lord, what is the way?

Thomas, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.

No one comes to the Father except through me. 

If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.

This is the powerful message of John's Gospel.  He says it over and over again in many different stories.  John wrote his Gospel after 90 AD. That is some 60 years after the death of Jesus, and the early church was going through great struggle.  They were being persecuted by the Romans, and the Jews didn't want anything to do with them.  They early followers of Jesus were dying or dead, and the young churches started by Paul were growing but were very much a minority.  Many of those members of the church were slaves and former slaves, they were artisans and peasants, they were gentiles in Jewish territory and made up of the poor and marginalized. 

And so John writes this story of the good news about who Jesus is in order to encourage and focus the early church. 

  Let me state his message succinctly; Jesus is the way home. 

It is where you want to be—the heart's desire.  

It is from this and similar passages that made it natural for The early Christians to be called “Followers of the Way.”

You want to live the abundant  life?  Jesus is the way.

You want to know God? Jesus is the way.

You want to be unburdened from your past?  Jesus is the way

You want to live a God-filled  life?  Jesus is the way.

You want to be enlightened? Jesus is the way.

John tells us that it is the words of Thomas who speaks out of the anxiety and fear of the early church about being left alone  with persecution, division, doubt, insecurity swirling around them that Jesus begins his farewell address with these magnificent words: 

Do not be afraid. I am going to prepare a home for you with God. 

And where I go, you will follow. 

Thomas speaks, “Jesus, how can we follow, we don't know the way. 

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. Follow me.

If anyone wants to find home, this is the way home. Follow me.

Eugene Peterson encapsulates Jesus’ point in John 14 by saying,                                     “Only when we do the Jesus truth in the Jesus way do we get the Jesus life.”      More important is the “Jesus Way” of loving God and loving neighbor.

C.S. Lewis tells the story of Jesus Christ and the Christian faith in his famous "Narnia Chronicles."  It is the story of children who discover the entrance into this new world of faith, and are finally introduced to Christ, who is in the form and figure of Aslan, the Lion--who, we are told, is certainly dangerous, but he is good. Listen to this first meeting between Aslan and the girl, Jill:

"Are you not thirsty?" said the lion.

"I'm dying of thirst," said Jill.

"Then drink," said the Lion.

"May I -- could I -- would you mind going away while I do?" said Jill.

The lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

"Will you promise not to -- do anything to me, if I do come? Said Jill.

"I make no promise," said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.

"Do you eat girls? she said.

"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.

"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.

"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."

"There is no other stream," said the Lion.

No other stream?  Is that true?  Is that what we Christians believe--that for all the people of the earth, for all those who search for God, for all who thirst for God, there is only one stream--and it is called Christian faith; or even, "The Church"

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life," he said, and the whole history of the world might be different if he had stopped right there, but he didn't. "No one comes to the Father except through me," he went on to say, giving his followers all the warrant they would ever need to turn his way into the way of crusades, inquisitions, and holocausts. 

It did not happen immediately. When Jesus first spoke these words the followers of the Way were still a small, persecuted band living on the edges of society. No one was telling them they were right to follow Jesus. On the contrary, people were lining up to tell them they were idolatrous, deluded, damned for following Jesus. Nothing could have sounded sweeter to their ears than Jesus' assurance that they were on the right track——the only track——to God. Their faith in that was what allowed them to go willingly to their own deaths, and even to forgive those who punished them. By imitating Christ, they embarked on the way, the truth, the life that would lead them home. 

All that changed in the fourth century, when the persecuted band became the official religion of the Holy Roman Empire. All of a sudden, "No one comes to the Father except through me" was backed up by an army, an emperor and an increasingly powerful church, which was not at all bashful about using some of the same tactics it had picked up from its tormentors. Over the next fifteen hundred years, Jesus' sweet words of assurance around a last supper table became a banner under which countless Muslims, Jews and even Orthodox Christians were killed. 

When people believe theirs is the only way, then they believe they must eliminate other options, and even do it in the name of the sacred.    This is a problem no twenty-first century Christian can ignore, but it is such a difficult one that most of us do not know what to do about it. Shall we demote Christ, conceding that his truth is one among many——a way, a truth, a life——or shall we insist that his way is definitive and that all other ways are thereby lacking? 

When Jesus said he was the way, the truth, the life, he was not addressing an interfaith tribunal as the central figure of a dominant world religion. He was speaking to a small circle of his friends on the night before he died. Jesus was not thinking about the Muslims, the Hindus, Buddha or Moses. He was loving his friends and telling them not to let their hearts be troubled. They would be okay--for the way of love he had shown them was the path to God.

We know that language, don't we? It is not objective truth, but intimate, subjective truth we state in that love language:

You are the best daddy in the world.

You are the best mother anyone ever had. 

No one has ever loved a child the way I love you.

If we try to take these intimate statements of faith and love language into absolutes, it becomes silly are distorted. Can you measure which daughters daddy is the best in the world?  The same is true of Jesus response to Thomas—that is faith and love language given for reassurance to anxious Christians trying to follow the Jesus Way in troubled times.  

In 2003 the Presbyterian Church adopted a confessional statement title, Jesus, the Hope of the World” in which we said that we believe and proclaim that Jesus is the Way home: or in the common theological language, the way to salvation.  But we were clear to say that this is not an exclusionary statement. At the beginning of our morning service, you can read the critical phrase in our statement. It reads. 

Although we do not know the limits of God’’s grace and pray for the salvation of those who may never come to know Christ, for us the assurance of salvation is found only in confessing Christ and trusting Him alone. We are humbled in our witness to Christ by our realization that our understanding of him and his way is limited and distorted by our sin. Still the transforming power of Christ in our lives compels us to make Christ known to others."    

Our confession as Presbyterians is that we stand on the reality we Trust  that Jesus is the Way home.  That is our witness. But in humility we realize that God may provide other ways for other  people. We can only speak of what we know, nothing about what we don't know.  For us, Jesus is the way home.  We do not know the ways of God for others.

So, here I am, a guest in your home.  You have invited me and others

to share your hospitality;

to be hugged and called by name,

to be accepted unconditionally,

to believe something, or nothing, or anything,

to make this my home along with the rest of you.

But might I share with you what answers I would give to my initial questions.

What is this home into which I have been welcomed?

It is the fellowship at Madison Square.  Yes.  But certainly it must be more.

It is the Madison Square Church. Yes, But certainly it must be more.

It is the Madison Square Presbyterian Church. Yes. That but more.

It is the Madison Square Presbyterian Church in the Protestant family. Yes, but more.

It is the particular home that Christ has prepared for all who seek the abundant life as a follower of Jesus.

O my, yes!  Does it not bear the marks and signs and words and works that nurture us all in the Truth, Life and Way of Jesus Christ?

Is this not the home of Christ, and are we all not guests?

O my yes.  I would think it must be so.