Readings FIRST LESSON The first lesson is from “Reducing Spirituality to Moral Benchmarks” by Jim White The word hypocrite comes from an old Greek word that refers to the wearing of a mask. In ancient Greece, actors often wore masks according to the character they played. Their character’s appearance on the stage was a façade, an “act.” Hypocrites, then, are mask-wearers. They appear to be one thing but it’s all a front—behind the mask they are someone else. The only way this will be addressed is if Christians themselves get a grip on what it means to follow Christ, and then convey that authenticity to the world. What is behind many—not all, but many—charges and accusations against the character and integrity of Christians is the demand for perfection in the life of anyone who claims to be a Christian and urges others to consider Christianity as well. This is not, of course, the true meaning of a hypocrite, but even more to the point, it is not an accurate understanding of what it means to enter into the Christian life. Yet the world holds us to it, because we hold ourselves—and others—to it. We fall prey to the charge of hypocrisy because we have reduced spirituality to a list of moral benchmarks coupled with a good dose of judgmentalism. The only way to regain our footing is to remind ourselves—and others—that an authentic Christian is simply someone who has made the decision to believe in Jesus as their forgiver and then attempt to follow Jesus as their leader. But nowhere in this series of events is perfection or sinlessness. Rather, there is simply the intentional effort and sincere desire to recognize God as … well … God. And then we must convey that to the world. Simply put, we must stop presenting ourselves as the message and begin presenting Jesus as the message. There will be disappointment with Christians as long as there are imperfect people. Since all Christians are imperfect, there will always be disappointment. So we must stop having the message of Christ tied to our butchered efforts.
SECOND LESSON The second lesson is from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 10 verses 25 through 37 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
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This Week's Sermon Date: July 11, 2010 Title:Christianity Made Easy Message Delivered By: Rev. Dr. Joe McMurray A professor stood before his philosophy class and placed a few items in front of him. As the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty industrial-sized mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He asked the students to look carefully at the jar, and asked them if they thought it was full. They all agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He asked the students again to look carefully at the jar. He asked if they thought it was now full. They said yes, that it was. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up all the spaces between the golf balls and the pebbles. He asked the students once more if the jar was finally full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.' The professor then produced a couple of unopened beer bottles from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty spaces between the sand. The students laughed aloud. “Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “think of this jar as a representation of your life. The golf balls are the important things—family, children, health, friends, and your favorite passions—and if everything else was lost and only these would remain, your life would still be full. “The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. If only these remained with the important things, your life would be very full. “Meanwhile, the sand is everything else—the small stuff in life—your cell phone, your TV, your computer, the furniture in your house. With all those things that matter, along with the small stuff in your life, life would be pretty good. “But,” he said, “If you were to put the sand into the jar first, there would be no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same is true of life. “Spend time with your children, with your parents, and with your grandchildren. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another round of golf. Go and see a double-feature with your family. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal and do all those other things that need doing. “Take care of the golf balls first—the things that really matter. Set your priorities. Because all the rest is just sand.” One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled and said, “I'm glad you asked that question. The beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers with a friend.” Please pray with me: God, help us to focus on the important things of life—on the things that really matter to us. One of these important things is our relationship with you, Beloved Creator. Help us to nurture and cultivate our connection to you—so that the path to you does not fall in shadow, but always remains in light. With you as our guide and our comforter, no matter what befalls us, we know we will always be safe and secure in you. May my words and all of our thoughts be filled with honor and praise to you. Amen. You know, there’s a misnomer that just because Key West is small, and an it’s an island, that life here is slower than in other places. There’s a an even deeper misconception that in the off season, Key West is just a laid-back paradise, and everybody just gets to take time off and relax. I’d sure like to know how to do it if it is true. The real truth is, life is complicated. Even though we live in the nuclear age with technology changing every day rather than every decade or every few years, there are responsibilities we have that our ancestors did not have. They did not find a need to be in constant contact with one another. (It’s worth saying that some people who are in constant contact really shouldn’t be and don’t need to be. They choose to be, for whatever reasons.) Being busy can, in many cases, be an addiction—as drugs and alcohol are addictions—to keep us in a safe bubble where we no longer have to be responsible for certain duties or feelings we may have. We need to feel secure, and nothing makes us more secure than finding that special antidote to our pain. It is true that some of our busy-ness is useful, productive, and life-giving. But in reality, this is a good indication that we’re running away from something—because no person was put on this earth to do one thing and one thing only. Life is too diverse and we have been blessed with too many gifts to live such narrow lives. But when we get so busy, when we draw ourselves in so tightly, when we deaden the pain of everyday life, we also cut out huge pieces of our lives that we should be living and feeling and touching. We know that growth comes from pain and suffering—we should not eliminate all of it from our lives. Change comes to us only when we can stop, think and feel our experiences—to resist change is futile and creates more harm and suffering than change itself. Creativity flows when there are gaps between the walls we erect to keep out that which we fear—walls are never as impenetrable as we hope that they are. When we refuse to face life head-on—and in its natural state—we are actually refusing to accept the fullness of the gift of life God has given to us. In our first lesson, Jim White focuses on hypocrisy. And as we know, nobody knows quite how to do hypocrisy as well as the Christian church. “Hypocrites,” he says, “are mask-wearers: they appear to be one thing but behind the mask they are something else.” He says that the remedy for that is a simple one: Christians need to let go of everything else and just follow Christ. But there are a few problems with this. But the truth of the matter is, they never had Jesus in the first place. They thought they did. And they want us to think they still have him. But all they have is a display window dummy dressed up in Jesus’ clothes and using language that Jesus would never speak. And do you know something else? They know they don’t have him. And in their heart of hearts, when it occasionally surfaces and flickers a sign of life, they know that they never did. But here is another truth that might make us just a little uncomfortable: Jesus is not “ours” either. We have to be careful when we talk about Jesus, and when we talk about God. Because whatever we believe about them, all we can do is make a fair assessment. We can look deeply at our lives, use caution with our words, analyze our actions, and through these pullings, these yearnings, these callings, determine if what we are doing is life-giving and of God. And only then, when we have that feeling inside, can we think about Jesus’ presence among us, that he would be proud to be with us, and in the silence of our hearts, celebrate that knowing. The account of the Good Samaritan is not about people different from us; it is about people just like us—people who keep to their own lives and mind their own business; people who don’t want to interfere and don’t want to get involved; people who are keeping busy and are also keeping themselves distracted, not only from their own pain, but from the suffering and pain of others. The priest may have thought the man lying in the street was one of the undesirables: a leper, a mentally disturbed person, an alcoholic, or a homeless person. The other man, the Levite who passed by, might have thought it was a trap and that he, too, would fall victim to robbery or a beating if he stopped. But then, there’s always a good reason to pretend not to notice; to keep one’s eyes focused ahead; and not get involved. Meanwhile, the Samaritan, who was an outcast simply because of who he was—an outcast even among other outcasts—acted on his own set of morals and beliefs; he acted out of his own faith system to ensure that not only was the injured man cared for, but that he would be taken care of, no matter the cost, when the Samaritan came that way again. The priest and the Levite practiced their own brand of hypocrisy by not practicing what they preached. The Samaritan simply did what he knew was right: helping a brother obviously in need; and sacrificing from his own means in a life-giving way that was clearly an action of service and an action of God. Too often, we forget how this story came to be told—the context within which Jesus told the story: “You shall love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Christianity made easy. It’s really as simple as that. We must recognize this in all things—demonstrate this love in our thoughts, our words, our actions—and love our sisters and brothers. Therein shall we find the realm of God. May we continue to follow where God is leading. Amen..
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Selected Past Sermons