Sermon: Just A Word From Jesus Is All It Takes

A Sermon on Mark 1.21-28 by Fr. Scott Homer

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Just a word from Jesus is all it takes to set us free. He has not come with flowery language and persuasive arguments. He has come with divine power and authority and there is no power in the universe that can stand against him. When Jesus commands healing in our life we experience healing.

You really can't look at a passage like this without being confronted with some pretty uncomfortable stuff. Over the course of these three paragraphs we are told that there are evil spirits that possess people and they apparently are intelligent and have personalities. And they are able to speak out and to make decisions. We are also told that Jesus speaks with authority. Now what exactly that means we are not told but authority is something that makes most of us uneasy. Jesus we are told has authority unlike the teachers of the law AND he has the authority to command the demons to leave and they leave.

Evil is an unfortunate reality in this world. It is a very real and ugly part of reality. This is the first lesson we can derive from our reading this morning. Even in the midst of the congregation evil spirits work to destroy lives, wreck homes, distort the truth and lead people away from the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. We see the power of evil operating in our lives wherever we see dishonesty, anger and manipulation. It is made manifest in addictive behaviors, in broken relationships and in disease. We see it working in unaddressed poverty, in acts of war and in the abuse and neglect of our young and our elderly. And make no mistake about it. Evil is essentially a moral problem. Moral failures are the primary expression of the power of evil in our lives. You may hear people saying that God does not care what you do with your body. Don't believe them. It is a lie. God is supremely moral and righteousness is what he seeks from us.

The second lesson this morning is that evil is right here in our midst. Jesus goes to the synagogue to teach, and that makes sense doesn't it? The Son of God, God's promise fulfilled, wants to share the good news with God's people. Well, religious people meet in religious places and so Jesus goes to the synagogues but please note, that it is not just God's voice that is present and heard in the religious places. The voice of God's enemies are also found there. In fact, God's enemies are always most active in communities that are devoted to God because people devoted to God are the greatest threat to the enemy and so that is where he spends his time—working to defeat the people of God.

We, as a faith community, must be alert to the enemy in our midst…and I do not mean that we need to be searching it out in the lives of our neighbor. I mean we need to be searching it out in our own lives. To the extent that we leave it unattended it will be a destructive force for the church. It will be a means of limiting God's work among us. It will be demonstrated in division and discord—gossip designed to damage reputations, factions that include some people while excluding others. We must be alert to the enemy in our midst, in our very own lives, and be conscientious about bringing Jesus into our midst and asking him to cast the evil out.

We all have areas in our lives where evil reigns. I don't care if you are the Archbishop of Canterbury or Joe the Plumber. I don't care if you are the most saintly grandmother, or the most wayward teen, the most respected member of your community or the least. Anger and domestic violence, street drug and prescription drug abuse, pornography, gambling, greed and avarice, a problem with lying, spending money you don't have, hard-heartedness towards people in real need…the list seems endless. Every human being has trouble that seems to be beyond their control—and that is because it is beyond our control. There are aspects of our lives that we simply do not have the power to fix. We try and try and try…or we give up and ignore it…or we blame others for it but the force of evil, in that particular area of our life is greater than our capacity to overcome it. That, by definition, means that the evil we are experiencing is supernatural evil and it has power over us.

If you can not identify with what I am talking about perhaps you can try an experiment. Jesus told us to love God with all your heart, all your mind and all your spirit and love our neighbor as ourselves. Do that for one full twenty-four hour period. Be absolutely like Jesus for 24 hours and observe how you are doing. Look for the little self-centered thoughts that cause you to ignore God's work. Pay attention to the ways that you prefer what you want over what other people want. What you will be observing is evil exerting its power in your life and you will be unable to overcome it.

If there is a force in our life that is more powerful than we are, what can we do? How can we possibly hope to overcome it? The truth is that we can not. In fact, no human power can. We are powerless to stop it, period. This gentleman in the synagogue is not in charge. He is a victim. In those areas of our lives where evil has a foothold we are not in charge. We too are victims and it is not until we acknowledge that fact that any healing can occur because it is only in acknowledging our complete and utter inability to correct our failure that we may become willing to allow Jesus charge over our lives. You see, as long as you hold on to a shred of hope that you can find some way of solving the riddle yourself you will not surrender to Jesus' power.

I think it is interesting to note that when the Gospels speak of evil spirits, the evil spirits are always fully aware of who Jesus is even if the people are not. It is only the human beings who seem confused by the identity of Jesus. The demons and unclean spirits are always clear, "Jesus is the Holy One of God." They recognize him as the enemy and they fear Him because they know that He holds all authority. They are always wanting Jesus to go away and leave them alone because as long as Jesus is held at a distance and as long as he does not speak the evil spirits are able to do their damage in the world. They are free to continue wrecking people's lives but once they have been confronted by Jesus they are forced to flee. And all Jesus ever does is speak a word of rebuke to them. They must respond to His rebuke, like it or not, because Jesus is the Son of God and He holds all authority.

The hope for us does not lie in our abilities. The evil spirits are not impressed by our talent, our genius or our determination. They may play with us, allow us to believe that we are in charge but it is just an illusion, just another means of manipulating us and using us. Our hope does not lie in our own abilities. Our hope lies in the power and authority of Jesus Christ and it is by being in His presence that we are healed. It is in allowing Him to speak int o our lives and our situations that we know freedom. Jesus is both willing and able to overcome the power of darkness in our lives. That is why he came. That is what He came to do—to heal us and restore us to righteousness before His Father.

The great failing of religious people in Jesus' day was that they did not welcome Him into their midst. They refused to embrace his words. They would not allow him to rule over their land. They would not love Him in their own hearts. The people who did welcome Jesus experienced healing and came to know God's salvation but most refused and it was not until after Jesus' crucifixion, death and resurrection that they realized who it was who had been in their midst. We are always in danger of making the same mistake.

Welcome Jesus. Listen to what he is saying to you. Acknowledge and accept his authority over your life. It is rightfully his. His Father has already granted it to him…but Jesus, in his incredible humility, still awaits permission to take the throne in your life. It is the one thing that you can do to gain victory in life. You can begin to accept Jesus' authority to tell you what to do. You can welcome his authority to govern your daily activities. You can step down from the throne, take off your crown and hand them over to their rightful owner.

Just a word from Jesus is all it takes to set us free. He has not come with flowery language and persuasive arguments. He has come with divine power and authority and there is no power in the universe that can stand against him. When Jesus commands healing in our life we experience healing. Amen.

Sermon: Valentines Day at SALTworship

A sermon in John 15 by Fr. Scott Homer

Happy Valentines Day! It was originally a pagan holiday which was later renamed for Christian martyrs named Valentine. Traditionally it has been a day on which lovers exchanged handwritten notes avowing their undying love for one another. In the nineteenth century a few industrious folks started printing and selling Valentine's Day cards and today there are more cards sent for Valentines Day than any day other than Christmas. The estimate is that over one billion cards are sent worldwide.

Valentine's day is devoted to love and so tonight want to take a look at love—what our culture has told us about it—what God has told us about it—how we can know we are receiving it and how we can know that we are giving it. When Scott Jessel sent out the musical agenda for tonight I had not decided on what I was going to say and so he just jokingly put on the plan "Love American Style." and so that provides us with a place to start.

When I think about "Love American Style" here are some images that come to mind: I get images of men on one knee holding a bouquet in one hand and a ring in the other and a starry eyed girl saying, "Yes, yes, of course I will marry you! I love you desperately!" I get images of Cupid striking someone with his magic arrow and them falling head over heals in love with whoever happens to be in front of them at the moment; images of passion on the beach as the surf engulfs the couple in their embrace; or of a sultry dance in a crowded ballroom, two people consumed with passion for one another and oblivious to everyone else in the room; images of beautiful people desperately pursuing each other and finding perfect joy and perfect fulfillment in their embrace.

We have all grown up with these images; Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed; Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers; Ali McGraw and Ryan O'Neil; Tom Cruise and Kelli McGinnis; Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan; Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie—Hollywood has been selling this model of love for at least three or four generations now. And I do not want you to walk out of here tonight thinking that I am opposed to romantic love. I have been smitten by it myself. But there is a downside to the "Romantic Love" thing. Not because there is something wrong with romantic love in itself but because romantic love is incomplete love at least as our culture understands it; because at the root of romantic love is the false idea that if we could only be with our beloved we would be complete, completely fulfilled. Romantic love acknowledges the empty place that exists in each of our hearts. It recognizes that we are incomplete in ourselves but it makes the mistake of thinking that the hole can be filled by another human being. It can't.

There is another love that is more complete. It will sustain us forever. It is a bigger love, a more all consuming love, a love that can fill the hole in our hearts not just for a little while but forever. There is another love—a love that transcends romantic love.

God loves us with a perfect love. The famous passage in John 3.16 says, "God loved the world so much that He gave his only begotten Son so that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have life everlasting." We may get glimpses of love in romance but we can never find a perfect expression of love anywhere other than on the cross of Christ. It is in Christ's passion—his death and his resurrection—that we see God's perfect love for us. God's love is sacrificial love. God's love is forgiving and merciful love. God's love is wholly devoted to doing what is best for the beloved. No price is too great. We can only see perfect love in God. Human beings simply can not imitate it. But we can "Abide" in God's presence and we can learn from his example and when we abide with God we can actually act in truly loving ways, sometimes.

I met Jim and Mary Lou Beers about eight or nine years ago. They were speakers at a retreat I was attending in Parma, Ohio. Jim and Mary Lou were the speakers there. They had been married some forty years. And they had struggled for much of their married life. There was always financial hardship. Jim was not a good provider. Mary Lou worked hard to care for all her husband's wants and needs and sometimes she felt overworked and underpaid. At one point in their marriage lawyers and social workers had recommended to her that she divorce Jim for her and the four children's sake but when she prayed about it God never blessed the idea. And so she struggled on. Now it is not what you think. Jim didn't have a drinking problem. He wasn't lazy. Jim was a quadriplegic—paralyzed from the neck down. He could not even speak. He had been a good worker—a salesman—but one morning he left for work complaining of a headache and a half an hour later he was being rushed to a hospital with a massive stroke. He was twenty-nine years old and Mary Lou was six months pregnant with their fourth child. So, for the next thirty-six years Mary Lou and Jim suffered hardship. Mary Lou cared for Jim and the four children alone with virtually no money. You see, because she was married she was ineligible for public assistance. But somehow, through an amazing series of miracles and the aid of caring Christian friends Jim and Mary Lou lived a blessed life, a life full of joy, and a life they knew to be filled with love. Jim died about two years ago. His was a heroic life. And Mary Lou grieves his death in the same way and with the same intensity that she might have had he been a star athlete or a bank president.

Mary Lou and Jim truly loved one another. And they were able to sustain that love because they were both deply in love with Jesus. And this is a different kind of love—it is a love that is not so much about what we feel towards somebody who is beautiful and perfect, who knows how to light our fire, who brings us joy through the ways they meet our needs. This love is devoted to someone when they are not very attractive, when the passion is a distant memory, when our needs are not being met.

Earlier we listened to Jesus talking to his disciples about love. (John Chapter 15) And if we are listening to his words and we are trying to apply them to our lives then we are his disciples too and he is speaking to us. First Jesus talks about our relationship to Him and to God the Father and He makes it clear that our success in this life depends upon that relationship. He says, "Abide in me." So it is living in relationship with Jesus that we know relationship with God the Father and when we are in relationship with the Father and the Son, when we abiding in them, we are able to bear fruit. We are able to really love one another, and to show the world that true love is a reality for those who abide with God. And he says something in the midst of his words that is really quite surprising. He says, "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you." And then he defines what He means by love. He says, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." The most perfect model of love is someone willingly sacrificing their own life to save the life of someone else. This is our touchstone. This is the principle upon which we can measure our love for others. Are we losing our own life for their benefit?

Someone truly loves you not when they insist that you become something other than who you are. (Why can't you be more like your sister?) It is not true love when you must first do something that brings them joy. (I would really love you if you would do what I ask). It is not true love when we are loved for the way we look or the way we dress or the way we walk. Love is not a bargaining chip we use to get what we want from someone else. If we are withholding our love until we get something—it is not love it is self-centeredness. True love is sacrificing for someone else's welfare, in order that someone else gets what they want and need. Husbands and wives—boyfriends and girlfriends—neighbors and friends: Do you love one another? You do if you are giving up your rights. You do if you are finding ways to serve them. You do if you are shaping your life's goals around requiring less of them and offering more of yourself, striving to put them first and yourself last.

This is the love, in its perfect form, that God has for us. Can you imagine the Creator of all that ever was and all that will ever be, the Master of the entire universe, all knowing, all powerful God sacrificing himself for a human being? It is absurd. When has a President of the United States ever given up his dinner to feed a homeless person? When has a king ever cut a construction worker's grass? And yet, that is the good news—that God Almighty has come down from heaven and sacrificed himself to save you.

My dad has just embarked on an act of love for his great grandchildren. He has set up investment accounts for both of them. The plan is that instead of buying a bunch of toys they will break or that will be lost amongst all the other toys and instead of sending them to Chuckie Cheese for another party Great Grandpa will deposit a sum of money into their investment account and with compound interest the kids should see a pretty substantial sum of money in that account when they get to be adults. Now the kids may very well misunderstand. When they don't get the toy they had hoped for, or when Grandpa won't give them twenty bucks to throw into vending machines they may make the mistake of believing that Grandpa doesn't really love them or care about them. But he does care. He cares so much, in fact, that he is devoted to making sure that their long term future is guaranteed. He recognizes that the momentary pleasure derived from the cheap toy or the momentary thrill will not be of much lasting value but later on, when something really important comes along the kids will have the means to enjoy it.

I think this is also what our Father's love is about. He is not so concerned about how prosperous we are. He doesn't see much lasting value in satisfying our passions and our desires right here and right now. He recognizes that we are looking at a very bleak future if we continue to insist on life on our terms. And so God has given us a greater gift. He has sent his Son to open the way to eternal life and he is designing our days to help lead us into a strong relationship with his Son Jesus. Sometimes that means denying us something here and now. Sometimes that means actually preventing from getting what we want right now. But God has promised that at the end of the day we will receive a greater gift than we can even imagine.

Valentines Day is about love and love is a lot more than a fiery attraction to another human being. St Augustine said that "love is desiring the best for another human being." And that is what God does. He desires the best and is seeking out the best for each one of us. We can trust him. We can rest in his promises. And we can spend the rest of our lives knowing that "getting what we need" is not about us grabbing it or wrestling it away from someone else or manipulating to get it. God has prepared it for you. He is giving it to you and all we need to do is to abide in Jesus. And since we do not need to care for our own needs we are free to care for the needs of those around us. We are free to truly love them, to do what is best for them, and to sacrifice to help them.

Happy Valentines Day. I hope you will have a blessed time with your beloved for the remainder of the day. I hope that together you will rest in God's love for you and celebrate in the blessings that He is showering upon you and will teach other to trust in the promises He has made to you. In Jesus' name. Amen

Brenda with son Scott and Grandaughter Ava

Anglicans Reaffirm Uniqueness of Christ

Anglicans Reaffirm Uniqueness of Christ

http://christianpost.com/Intl/Church_bodies/2009/02/anglicans-reaffirm-uniqueness-of-christ-12/index.html

The Church of England reaffirmed its commitment to sharing with people of all faiths and of none the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the only savior.

A motion passed by the General Synod – the legislative body of the Church of England – commits bishops to drawing up new guidelines on the uniqueness of Christ in multi-faith Britain and to offering examples of good practice "in sharing the Gospel of salvation through Christ alone" with people of other faiths and of none.

The motion, approved Wednesday, was put forward by lay member Paul Eddy, who said the motion was not about targeting one particular faith group.

"It is talking about sharing Jesus Christ with people of o! ther faiths and of none, including in this country loads of people who are atheists [and] for whom we need examples of good practice."

The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt. Rev. Michael Nazir-Ali, said Christians had an obligation to witness the transforming love of Christ to all people.

"We should not target anyone but no one is excluded either," he said.

Andrew Dow, a vicar in Cheltenham, warned against putting bishops through "a sort of theological or doctrinal Ofsted."

"Of course we would love to know what they think. But why just them? This is something for the whole church – laity, clergy and bishops – to wrestle with afresh."

Dow told the Synod that the Church needed to recover its confidence in Jesus as the only savior. "We need to recover our nerve. We need to refute the lie that to be evangelistic is to be a religious bigot or fundamentalist fanatic."

He urged Anglicans to be more explicit about their desire t! o convert people to the faith. "The dreaded 'C' word, we! 're te rrified of it. But why? It only means turning and both Jesus and Paul used the word to describe the very DNA of their ministries."

Other Synod members spoke of the difficulties Christians were facing in speaking publicly about their faith in Jesus.

Representing the black-majority churches in Synod, New Testament Assembly minister the Rev. Nezlin Sterling said the church was being marginalized at a "rapid rate" in multi-faith Britain.

"Why should we as Christians have to walk on egg shells to preserve community cohesion [and] accommodate everyone else, when the world around us is becoming more aggressive to Christianity and the mere mention of the word Jesus Christ is an offense to so many with whom we are seeking a working relationship?"

Sterling urged the Church not to compromise on its mission to proclaim Christ for fear of being labelled politically incorrect.

"Every person in my mind is a potential convert," she said.

The Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu, spoke of the responsibility of Christians to proclaim Christ but stressed sensitivity.

"Because Christ is unique we owe it to our nation that nobody in this land should not hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, should not be invited to share within it, but we do it with great respect."

Posting Comments-Building Community

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Commenting on articles is a great way for us to have a conversation with one another about the important events in our church. Please, lets share our opinions but lets be civil, kind and charitable about it. I have not placed any restrictions on comments and I hope I don't ever need to. Thanks for visiting the site. I hope you enjoy your experience here.

SALTworship, Valentines Day Edition

At 6PM Saturday, February 14th, the Valentine's Day edition of SALTworship will take place. We will sing, pray and celebrate together along with a special Valentine's Day message. Please ask a friend to come and join us for Spirit-filled, contemporary worship.

Archbishop of Canterbury, "Deeply Divided but no Schism" in Anglican Communion

Archbishop Rowan Williams refuses to declare the Diocese of Pittsburgh "out of communion" in his statement following the recent Primates Meeting in Alexandria. You can read all his remarks by clicking on the headline above.

Wild at Heart--Men Roughing it in the Wilderness of NY State

Bishop Duncan Comments on the Primates Meeting

Bishop Duncan has issued a statement on the primates meeting. He reports that he is encouraged by the continuing commitment of the communion to resolve the crisis in North America even as the Common Cause partnership remains committed to standing for the cause of orthodox Anglican Christianity. Read it all by clicking on the headline above.

Anglican Primates Report on their Meeting in Egypt

The Archbishops of the worldwide Anglican Communion met in Alexandria last week to pray together, to discuss issues of common concern, and to consider the problems and possible solutions within the Anglican Communion. As you might imagine, there was a good deal of disagreement on how to proceed (although it is very hard to tell from the way they phrase things). We are disappointed by the "newsspeak" nature of their final communique but we are encouraged that the Global South Primates continue to insist on the Episcopal Church in the US being held accountable for their actions over the last seven years. You can read it all by clicking on the headline.

Trinity Men Form Band of Brothers

Twelve men ranging in age from 18 to 73 made a trek together to Lake Chautauqua, NY last weekend. They participated in the Wild at Heart Men's study written by John Eldridge. The men explored the ways our culture has prevented them from living out their God-given gifts and talents and how they may reclaim those gifts for the benefit of their families and the Church. Together they shared intimate stories about their lives, they broke bread together, they offered support and encouragement to one another and they found out just how exhilerating it is to ride on a motorized sled going sixty miles per hour! A special thank you to David Edelstein for providing the vision and the leadership for this event and to Geoff Taylor for providing a venue that was beyond anything we could have asked. (I will try to attach a photo as soon as I can figure out how to do that)

Reading the Bible Together in Lent, a pastoral letter from Bp Duncan

Click on the link above to read about this pilot program. Our own Scott Jessel is instrumental in the production of the Watchword Bible. It would be great if a bunch of us agreed to take on this discipline during Lent this year. Check it out and send a note if you would like to participate.

Anglican Primates Conclude Meeting Today

The Archbishops of the Anglican Communion have been meeting in Alexandria, Egypt this week to discuss the outcome of last summer's Lambeth Conference, to discuss plans for an Anglican Covenant, an to hear about matters of common interest. Reports from the closed door meeting are mixed with some bishops saying things are going well while others expressing difficulties. After the final communique is issued we will begin to get some detail about the meeting and I will report to you on the content meeting then.

Healing Prayer Training--Cancelled and Resceduled

The fourth and final training session in healing prayer was cancelled last Weds due to bad weather. It has been rescheduled for Weds February 18th at 7:30PM here in the parish hall.

The Kid's Doing Fine

Brenda and I had a chance to visit our son Scott near his base in Fort Campbell last week. Scott is an E6 (Staff Sergeant) in the Pathfinder unit of the 101st Airborne Division. Many of you have been praying for him over the past year as he completed a tour of combat duty in Khowst, Afghanistan. He is very well. He has readjusted to life with his wife Candi and two daughters, Laney and Ava and the best news of all is that he has just received a new assignment as an instructor for the Pathfinder School at Fort Campbell. That is especially good news because it means that he will be exempted from the next round of deployments. At last, he may have a couple years to spend with his family. It was a short but great visit. Thanks for your prayers. Oh, and by the way, he and his team were thankful for the peanut brittle they received from our men's club in December.