SO this was supposed to be posted last week, and somehow just wound up being saved. WHOOPS.
Here is last weeks brief post.
I have decided to use Rob Bell's video series, NOOMA, for my HS group this fall. I purchased 001-020 and have watched them, and overall I am impressed. If you haven't seen them you should go to the website and check out the previews. I like them, though i will not use them all, nor will i use them in the order produced. They are designed for the 20-40 crowd but i think most of it will work with our group.
Rob Bell is the pastor of Mars Hill. A large church, but i think they have a great statement of faith. check them out if you are interested.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Sermon 8-17
I preached at our Contemporary Worship Service this past Sunday. It went well, once again i think people were surprised that a "Youth Minister" might have something worthwhile to say to the congregation.
The Text was Matthew 15:10-28. It is the story of the Canaanite woman whom Jesus calls a dog. When I saw that it was the lectionary text I thought "What else might I preach on..." But I stuck with the text because it is our Scripture and we can't hide from it even when its hard.
If you don't know, the Lectionary is a 3 year cycle of weekly scripture readings. Each week consists of a Gospel, a NT Letter, an OT reading and a Psalm. There is no strict enforcement of these scriptures, You never have to use it, but it is a way to keep you honest, and keep you from only preaching what you think is important. It is designed to help scripture shape us, and not let us shape it. Over the three years you get about 60% of the entire bible. Which is pretty Good. The only downside is that there is about 30-40% that does not show up in the lectionary ever. But no system is perfect. for more information look up Revised Common Lectionary.
Anyways here is the sermon i preached:
Could you imagine if FOXNEWS got a hold of this story. What would the talking heads say if that had a verified account of Jesus treating this foreign born woman so rudely. “Boy Jesus’ numbers really seem to be taking a hit in light of these new allegations that he used some sort of racial slur. The self-proclaimed freer of the oppressed gave a Canaanite woman the cold shoulder and all she wanted was some help for her demon possessed daughter. This is just another example of Jesus’ tendency to flip flop on the gentile issue.
Truth be told, when I read this story for the first time I thought why is Jesus being a jerk? I could not understand this story. And if you were paying attention then you probably wonder why Jesus didn’t know he should heal gentiles. We know the whole story, that Jesus was often caring for gentiles and healing them, so how do we explain this story where he doesn’t seem like he wants to. We have some options. One is that Jesus was tired and just wanted to rest for while without having to heal anyone. He is tired of the house of Israel and even his own disciples not knowing who he was and he was just frustrated. He was a person, he was allowed to have bad days, right? Or A second a option. Perhaps he didn’t at this point in Jesus’ life he didn’t yet see his role as messiah reaching the Gentiles. And it isn’t until this encounter that he sees that they too are going to be brought into the fold. Perhaps this woman is responsible for helping him understand his role as Messiah. Or third, we can assume Jesus spoke like a normal person, using humor and irony to make points. If so then every sentence Jesus spoke shouldn’t be read like the 10 Commandments. Perhaps he spoke these words, which taken literally seem cruel, to teach the disciples a lesson. If you are like me then what you need is to go back and examine this story again.
Lets look back at the first part of the reading. Jesus explains to the Pharisees and disciples that the idea of being unclean is not really about physical things. Its not about what types of foods you eat or even if you have washed your hands before eating. Because if you eat Kosher foods and have an evil heart you are unclean. The words we say to one another are much more likely to make us unclean than the things we eat. Jesus is telling people that our words and our actions, the things that stem from our heart and our soul, determine whether we are clean or unclean. Cleanliness is a matter of the heart.
And then they go for a walk across the gentile part of Galilee. As they walk, a woman begins to cry out for Jesus and Jesus says nothing. This causes the disciples to come over to him and ask that he send her away. Jesus responds to them and I wonder if his words are a more of a question. You think I was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel. I would guess the disciples nod there head as if to say of course. The woman cries out again refusing to be ignored. And the disciples hear Jesus say a common saying. The gentiles were often called dogs by Jews for they were unclean. Where they came from made them “unclean” and untouchable. Jesus calls her a dog because she is a gentile, because she is unclean. But he just tried to change the meaning of unclean earlier that day. The disciples hear this contradiction and yet they apparently nod in approval forgetting the lesson that had just heard. They are still without understanding. They do not get it. But this woman does. She knows that God’s blessings spill off the table and fall to floor. Even “unclean” dogs are fed from the table of the Lord. And it is because she gets this that she proves that she has a clean and faithful heart. Her being born a gentile does not cancel out the cleanness of her heart. The disciples show themselves to be without understanding. They think Jesus was only talking about hand washing and food not heart and soul. So they cannot deal with this woman, they cannot hear her cries for mercy, they cannot see her clean and faithful heart.
But we too are in danger of overlooking this woman. Because in this story we mainly just want to know about what Jesus was thinking, and forget all about that woman. Whether she was sick or her daughter was sick or possessed or something. So let’s stop pretending that we would have made this connection if we were there, and let us look at exactly what it was this woman was saying that proved her Great faith, and revealed ours and the disciples misunderstanding. These are her words:
She calls him Lord, Son of David. She has heard of him and knows him. She humbly calls him Lord, which is Master, in every address. She has faith that this Jesus is who people claim he is, the Christ, the promised messiah of Israel. She makes this claim before Peter. Yes, before the rock of the Church knows who Jesus is supposed to be, this gentile woman calls him the Lord Son of David. She has come and called him Lord, not letting her gentile status hold her back. She won’t let being an outsider seek her from calling Jesus, “Lord”. She has faith because she comes to Jesus and says Kyrie Eleison, Lord have mercy. Lord help me. Her being a gentile and him being a Jew were no more important to her in this time of desperation than washing your hands were to Jesus when it came to having a clean heart. She wasn’t around to hear Jesus speak about clean hands versus clean hearts, like the disciples, but she knew that when it comes down to it, God cares more about her suffering than her nationality. She had faith that God is more about bringing things back together, than segregating them. This woman has faith that God is in the business of redeeming the whole world, and that this Jesus, the Messiah, came to do just that. So yes, Great is her faith.
But she does more than just call Christ Lord. She also gets insulted. Jesus calls her a dog. She doesn’t know his motives, she doesn’t know if he is joking, serious, proving a point or just being mean. But instead of worrying about who she is, whether she is a dog or a woman, or a Canaanite, she focuses on who Jesus is, her Lord and Master. She says I may be a dog, but masters let their dogs eat crumbs from the table, Jesus you’re my master, so where are my crumbs? She does not complain about her place but accepts that that place offers her access to the Lord. It may be as a dog, it may be as an outsider, but she still gets access, she still gets help.
She was willing to be called a gentile, and outsider a Dog, She was willing to not be one of the Chosen ones. How foreign is that way of thinking. Like this Canaanite woman, I am a gentile, yet I spent so much time thinking that Jesus came just for me. Not even for us but me. He is My personal savior. I have my personal relationship with Jesus and you are not a part of it. Christ died for me. He is the lover of My soul. God is going to give me MY best life now. We forget that this is the Son Of David, King of the Jews. I am an outsider. We are outsiders. We are only allowed in the Church, we are only the people of God, because God has stretched out his arms wide in order to pull all of creation back to God.
It is by grace that we are saved. It is by grace that we the dogs, can feast on the crumbs of God’s table. And perhaps that is why Jesus calls this woman’s faith Great. She knew that the crumbs were enough. God’s grace is enough, the crumbs that fall to us are all that we need; they are our Daily bread. God’s grace will not fail. It is all we need. This woman saw that even the crumbs that Jesus, her Lord, the Son of David, even the crumbs that Jesus offered would be enough. Just one dose of God’s grace would save her daughter. Her faith is great because she knows it is better to be a dog in the house of the Lord, than a Queen on her own. Great is her faith.
Are we willing to say that we are the outsiders, the foreigners? That we are guests invited to another family’s family reunion. In so many ways it is something that we should fear. The reason we too can make this claim, is that though we seem to be outsiders we are not on the outside looking in. God sent the Christ to reclaim Israel and while he was down here he was to go ahead and redeem the entire world. This was God’s plan from the beginning. Israel only existed as a people who might help the world find God. It was part of Abraham’s blessing. It was not something that was made up on the fly. We as gentiles were always supposed to be brought in. Israel was always to Care for the foreigner. Because God cares for the foreigner. When they received the Law on Mt Sinai, God told them to protect the rights of the foreigners and in Isaiah 56 we read:
These others of whom Isaiah spoke, the foreigners that are allowed to enter God’s house, that’s us, we are the others. We are the dogs. But we are dogs who eat the crumbs from our masters table. And these crumbs are the bread of life. These crumbs were enough to heal the Canaanite woman’s daughter. These crumbs were enough feed Israel in the desert. These crumbs were enough to feed 5,000 men and their families in Galilee. These crumbs were enough to turn Saul into Paul. And these crumbs are enough for me. And the crumbs are enough for you. God is not offering you your best life now, he is offering you the crumbs from his table. And these crumbs are nothing but the grace of God. This grace may not get you nicer house upon the hill, but it will make you a member of the family of God. This grace may not give you the promotion you want, but it will give a mission in this world. This grace may not change what you look like but it will change the way you see. This grace is the grace of God and its more than enough for me. It’s more than enough for us all. This grace not only washes away our guilt, but gives us the power to break free from sin. With this grace we can love, we can forgive, we can have Joy and Peace and patience. So we feast on crumbs, crumbs that fall from our masters table, but our master, our Lord, is the Son of David, the Lord of Lords. Do you believe that Christ is who he claims to be? Do you believe that what Christ offers is enough? Then great is your faith. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Text was Matthew 15:10-28. It is the story of the Canaanite woman whom Jesus calls a dog. When I saw that it was the lectionary text I thought "What else might I preach on..." But I stuck with the text because it is our Scripture and we can't hide from it even when its hard.
If you don't know, the Lectionary is a 3 year cycle of weekly scripture readings. Each week consists of a Gospel, a NT Letter, an OT reading and a Psalm. There is no strict enforcement of these scriptures, You never have to use it, but it is a way to keep you honest, and keep you from only preaching what you think is important. It is designed to help scripture shape us, and not let us shape it. Over the three years you get about 60% of the entire bible. Which is pretty Good. The only downside is that there is about 30-40% that does not show up in the lectionary ever. But no system is perfect. for more information look up Revised Common Lectionary.
Anyways here is the sermon i preached:
Could you imagine if FOXNEWS got a hold of this story. What would the talking heads say if that had a verified account of Jesus treating this foreign born woman so rudely. “Boy Jesus’ numbers really seem to be taking a hit in light of these new allegations that he used some sort of racial slur. The self-proclaimed freer of the oppressed gave a Canaanite woman the cold shoulder and all she wanted was some help for her demon possessed daughter. This is just another example of Jesus’ tendency to flip flop on the gentile issue.
Truth be told, when I read this story for the first time I thought why is Jesus being a jerk? I could not understand this story. And if you were paying attention then you probably wonder why Jesus didn’t know he should heal gentiles. We know the whole story, that Jesus was often caring for gentiles and healing them, so how do we explain this story where he doesn’t seem like he wants to. We have some options. One is that Jesus was tired and just wanted to rest for while without having to heal anyone. He is tired of the house of Israel and even his own disciples not knowing who he was and he was just frustrated. He was a person, he was allowed to have bad days, right? Or A second a option. Perhaps he didn’t at this point in Jesus’ life he didn’t yet see his role as messiah reaching the Gentiles. And it isn’t until this encounter that he sees that they too are going to be brought into the fold. Perhaps this woman is responsible for helping him understand his role as Messiah. Or third, we can assume Jesus spoke like a normal person, using humor and irony to make points. If so then every sentence Jesus spoke shouldn’t be read like the 10 Commandments. Perhaps he spoke these words, which taken literally seem cruel, to teach the disciples a lesson. If you are like me then what you need is to go back and examine this story again.
Lets look back at the first part of the reading. Jesus explains to the Pharisees and disciples that the idea of being unclean is not really about physical things. Its not about what types of foods you eat or even if you have washed your hands before eating. Because if you eat Kosher foods and have an evil heart you are unclean. The words we say to one another are much more likely to make us unclean than the things we eat. Jesus is telling people that our words and our actions, the things that stem from our heart and our soul, determine whether we are clean or unclean. Cleanliness is a matter of the heart.
And then they go for a walk across the gentile part of Galilee. As they walk, a woman begins to cry out for Jesus and Jesus says nothing. This causes the disciples to come over to him and ask that he send her away. Jesus responds to them and I wonder if his words are a more of a question. You think I was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel. I would guess the disciples nod there head as if to say of course. The woman cries out again refusing to be ignored. And the disciples hear Jesus say a common saying. The gentiles were often called dogs by Jews for they were unclean. Where they came from made them “unclean” and untouchable. Jesus calls her a dog because she is a gentile, because she is unclean. But he just tried to change the meaning of unclean earlier that day. The disciples hear this contradiction and yet they apparently nod in approval forgetting the lesson that had just heard. They are still without understanding. They do not get it. But this woman does. She knows that God’s blessings spill off the table and fall to floor. Even “unclean” dogs are fed from the table of the Lord. And it is because she gets this that she proves that she has a clean and faithful heart. Her being born a gentile does not cancel out the cleanness of her heart. The disciples show themselves to be without understanding. They think Jesus was only talking about hand washing and food not heart and soul. So they cannot deal with this woman, they cannot hear her cries for mercy, they cannot see her clean and faithful heart.
But we too are in danger of overlooking this woman. Because in this story we mainly just want to know about what Jesus was thinking, and forget all about that woman. Whether she was sick or her daughter was sick or possessed or something. So let’s stop pretending that we would have made this connection if we were there, and let us look at exactly what it was this woman was saying that proved her Great faith, and revealed ours and the disciples misunderstanding. These are her words:
“Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.”
“Lord, help me.”
“Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
“Lord, help me.”
“Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
She calls him Lord, Son of David. She has heard of him and knows him. She humbly calls him Lord, which is Master, in every address. She has faith that this Jesus is who people claim he is, the Christ, the promised messiah of Israel. She makes this claim before Peter. Yes, before the rock of the Church knows who Jesus is supposed to be, this gentile woman calls him the Lord Son of David. She has come and called him Lord, not letting her gentile status hold her back. She won’t let being an outsider seek her from calling Jesus, “Lord”. She has faith because she comes to Jesus and says Kyrie Eleison, Lord have mercy. Lord help me. Her being a gentile and him being a Jew were no more important to her in this time of desperation than washing your hands were to Jesus when it came to having a clean heart. She wasn’t around to hear Jesus speak about clean hands versus clean hearts, like the disciples, but she knew that when it comes down to it, God cares more about her suffering than her nationality. She had faith that God is more about bringing things back together, than segregating them. This woman has faith that God is in the business of redeeming the whole world, and that this Jesus, the Messiah, came to do just that. So yes, Great is her faith.
But she does more than just call Christ Lord. She also gets insulted. Jesus calls her a dog. She doesn’t know his motives, she doesn’t know if he is joking, serious, proving a point or just being mean. But instead of worrying about who she is, whether she is a dog or a woman, or a Canaanite, she focuses on who Jesus is, her Lord and Master. She says I may be a dog, but masters let their dogs eat crumbs from the table, Jesus you’re my master, so where are my crumbs? She does not complain about her place but accepts that that place offers her access to the Lord. It may be as a dog, it may be as an outsider, but she still gets access, she still gets help.
She was willing to be called a gentile, and outsider a Dog, She was willing to not be one of the Chosen ones. How foreign is that way of thinking. Like this Canaanite woman, I am a gentile, yet I spent so much time thinking that Jesus came just for me. Not even for us but me. He is My personal savior. I have my personal relationship with Jesus and you are not a part of it. Christ died for me. He is the lover of My soul. God is going to give me MY best life now. We forget that this is the Son Of David, King of the Jews. I am an outsider. We are outsiders. We are only allowed in the Church, we are only the people of God, because God has stretched out his arms wide in order to pull all of creation back to God.
It is by grace that we are saved. It is by grace that we the dogs, can feast on the crumbs of God’s table. And perhaps that is why Jesus calls this woman’s faith Great. She knew that the crumbs were enough. God’s grace is enough, the crumbs that fall to us are all that we need; they are our Daily bread. God’s grace will not fail. It is all we need. This woman saw that even the crumbs that Jesus, her Lord, the Son of David, even the crumbs that Jesus offered would be enough. Just one dose of God’s grace would save her daughter. Her faith is great because she knows it is better to be a dog in the house of the Lord, than a Queen on her own. Great is her faith.
Are we willing to say that we are the outsiders, the foreigners? That we are guests invited to another family’s family reunion. In so many ways it is something that we should fear. The reason we too can make this claim, is that though we seem to be outsiders we are not on the outside looking in. God sent the Christ to reclaim Israel and while he was down here he was to go ahead and redeem the entire world. This was God’s plan from the beginning. Israel only existed as a people who might help the world find God. It was part of Abraham’s blessing. It was not something that was made up on the fly. We as gentiles were always supposed to be brought in. Israel was always to Care for the foreigner. Because God cares for the foreigner. When they received the Law on Mt Sinai, God told them to protect the rights of the foreigners and in Isaiah 56 we read:
Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”
The foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to him to love the name of the Lord and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath and do not profane it- and hold fast to my covenant,
These I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples.
Thus says the Lord God who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.
These others of whom Isaiah spoke, the foreigners that are allowed to enter God’s house, that’s us, we are the others. We are the dogs. But we are dogs who eat the crumbs from our masters table. And these crumbs are the bread of life. These crumbs were enough to heal the Canaanite woman’s daughter. These crumbs were enough feed Israel in the desert. These crumbs were enough to feed 5,000 men and their families in Galilee. These crumbs were enough to turn Saul into Paul. And these crumbs are enough for me. And the crumbs are enough for you. God is not offering you your best life now, he is offering you the crumbs from his table. And these crumbs are nothing but the grace of God. This grace may not get you nicer house upon the hill, but it will make you a member of the family of God. This grace may not give you the promotion you want, but it will give a mission in this world. This grace may not change what you look like but it will change the way you see. This grace is the grace of God and its more than enough for me. It’s more than enough for us all. This grace not only washes away our guilt, but gives us the power to break free from sin. With this grace we can love, we can forgive, we can have Joy and Peace and patience. So we feast on crumbs, crumbs that fall from our masters table, but our master, our Lord, is the Son of David, the Lord of Lords. Do you believe that Christ is who he claims to be? Do you believe that what Christ offers is enough? Then great is your faith. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Messy Day
Let me give you some pics of Messy day so you can truly see what happened:
In the end, it was a good day.
Here is a before picture:
Don't we look great
And now here we are after the Shaving Cream Fight:
We also played a Musical pies. Its like musical chairs except you end up looking like this:
And I cannot forget the Slime Slide:
Don't we look great
And now here we are after the Shaving Cream Fight:
We also played a Musical pies. Its like musical chairs except you end up looking like this:
And I cannot forget the Slime Slide:
In the end, it was a good day.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
The Dog Days August
I must say, it is nice to have a pay check. I am not the kind of guy who worries about money. Or balances a checkbook. or keeps receipts. or pays taxes.....j/k. Anyways I got paid at the end of April from Edenton Street. I then got paid here at Wesley on the 30th of July. That's about 90 days w/o income. Luckily Jodie got paid in June so we didn't starve. But over the summer we lived on Daily Bread. It makes me kinda glad i didn't go buy myself a Wii for my birthday. Now however I have to really start putting a dent into those student loans. Which shouldn't be too hard since we are DINKS (Dual Income, No Kids). I suppose we are officially settling in. Jodie has been working for 2 months, and i for 1. We have a dog. I am using her to gauge when to mow the mountain of lawn we have. When Daisy starts to dispear, in the grass I decide its time to mow.
Last Sunday we had Messy Day. IT consisted of water-balloons, egg tossing, Shaving creme fighting, Pies to the face, and finally a slime slide. It was fun. If you don't mind being covered in the fore mentioned items. The kids had fun. I did too. I will post some pictures shortly so everyone can see. It really is something you most see to really understand.
I preach this week. If I can I will try to get at least an audio recording. If that can't happen i will just get a written copy, and maybe post it here.
Last Sunday we had Messy Day. IT consisted of water-balloons, egg tossing, Shaving creme fighting, Pies to the face, and finally a slime slide. It was fun. If you don't mind being covered in the fore mentioned items. The kids had fun. I did too. I will post some pictures shortly so everyone can see. It really is something you most see to really understand.
I preach this week. If I can I will try to get at least an audio recording. If that can't happen i will just get a written copy, and maybe post it here.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
A Family Grows
Well, i just want everyone to know that the Ihfe family is expanding (not just my waistline). Perhaps if you come visit us this spring you will meet our newest member. Although you could come meet her right now. Her name is Daisy. And she is a yorkie. Yorkshire Terrier for those who aren't down with the dogspeak. She is about 2 years old, and she belonged to members of Jodie's church but they needed to get rid of her. So we now have a dog! This is her.
I she is real sweet, and not too crazy, and even a little smart.
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