Luke 1:68-79

68“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. 69He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, 70as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, 71that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. 72Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, 73the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us 74that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, 75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 76And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. 78By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, 79to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Luke 3:1-6

3In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

Philippians 1:3-11

3I thank my God every time I remember you, 4constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, 5because of your sharing (partnership [NIV], fellowship [KJV]) in the gospel from the first day until now. 6I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.

7It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.

9And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight 10to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Reverend Billy Graham tells of a time early in his ministry when he arrived in a small town to preach a sermon. Wanting to mail a letter, he asked a young boy where the post office was. When the boy had told him, Dr. Graham thanked him and said, “If you’ll come to the Baptist Church this evening, you can hear me telling everyone how to get to heaven.”

The boy replied, “I don’t think I’ll be there… You don’t even know your way to the post office.”

            We all need directions from time to time, don’t we?  As much as we hate to admit it, even the most gifted navigator needs help getting where they want to be from time to time.  And we might have maps, atlases, even GPS equipment in our cars, but you can’t beat good directions from a local person.  A local person can give you landmarks to look for, like drive to the water tower and turn left.  If you get to the fire station, you went too far.

            As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to give directions to people traveling through this world.  And today we are going to look at one way that we can give direction to people that are wandering, by paving the way for them, by pointing out the way that God is active already in their lives.  Today we will look at the ultimate way-paver, John the Baptist, to see how we too can pave the way for Christ.

            Our first text from Luke 1 is commonly called Zechariah’s song or Zechariah’s prophesy.  The first eight verses of our scripture from Luke chapter 1 talk about what God has already done, even though verse 67 calls this “prophecy”.  I would say that the first eight verses are praise and then the rest of the verses are Zechariah prophesying over his new born child.  Notice how he is speaking in the past tense, saying things like God has redeemed his people, looked favorably upon his people, shown mercy to his people, rescued them from their enemies.  What Zechariah says here is that truly God has been with his people from the very beginning, helping them along the way.  Zechariah does not deny that God’s people have often failed to serve God from time to time.  But the point that he is making is that God kept his end of the agreement and has seen them through the thick and through the thin.  So since God has been with his people all along, God will continue to be with them.  God is with them, even now as Israel is under the occupation of the Roman Empire.  God is with them, even now when they are slaves in their own land, the land that God had promised to them long ago.

            Then Zechariah changes the focus of his song.  He goes from talking about what God has done to what God is doing right now.  Zechariah knows that God is upholding his end of the covenant by giving him a son.  He speaks to his son and says, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.” V. 76.

            That’s no small job for this baby who is only a few hours old!  You are going to prepare the way of the Lord, little man.  I am sure that everyone that has ever had a child has set high goals for their offspring, “Yeah, he is going to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or president…”  But what Zechariah is saying here isn’t just his desire for his son.  He is passing on the word of God that came to him from the angel Gabriel nine months earlier.

            Gabriel told Zechariah that he and his wife, who was getting up in age, were going to have a son and he was going to prepare the way for people to turn to God.  Zechariah didn’t believe Gabriel, so Gabriel gave Zechariah some time to think about it.  Zechariah became unable to talk until the birth of his son, and I assume that is why he was able to write such a beautiful song.  He had nine months without talking, which gave him time to compose this!

            But this passage of scripture raises a few questions for me.  As I read this scripture, I have to ask, Why does the Lord need someone to prepare the way for him?  Isn’t he God?  I thought about this for a little while and I came to the conclusion that God chooses to use people like John the Baptist to prepare the way because some people, both in John’s day and in our world today, have gotten so far away from God that they wouldn’t even recognize God if he took on human flesh and walked around with them, healing the sick, raising the dead, and performing other miracles as well.  One who prepares the way, or a way-paver as I like to call them, is someone that draws people’s attention to the way that God is moving in their day and age so that they will not miss an opportunity to experience and worship God.

            And this is what John did, he was a paver for Christ.  He prepared the way.  He told people about the forgiveness that was available to them through the repentance of sins.  He told them that a different world was available to them and that they should change their ways.  But I think that they role of one who is preparing the way of the Lord is much more than proclaiming the Good News.  The role of one preparing the way of the Lord requires living the Good News.

            In chapter 3, Luke quotes the prophet Isaiah as a reference to John the Baptist.  In verses 4-6 he writes, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

            Pavers don’t just proclaim the Good News, they live it.  Make the paths straight, the valleys, mountains, and hills level, smooth out the rough spots.  And then, THEN, all flesh will see the salvation of God.

            We too often look at salvation as being forgiven for our sins.  And yes, it is forgiveness of sins, but it is much more.  God doesn’t just want to forgive us of the mistakes that we have made, God wants to save us from making those same mistakes again.  Salvation is not just forgiveness of sin, but being led by God out of a life that does not glorify him.  And John the Baptist, and we as followers of Jesus Christ, are called to pave the way for other people to be able to see the life-changing, life giving salvation that Jesus offers.

            Close to where I grew up there is a small town that had an interesting historical downtown area.  And in the downtown area they had uncovered a brick sidewalk from probably 100 years ago.  By the time the renovations were done, this sidewalk was beautiful.  The red bricks lined the road on both sides and led you right up to the storefronts.  However, there was a problem with this reclaimed sidewalk.

            When I walk, I tend to keep my feet pretty close to the ground.  I do not lift my legs high like I was marching in a band, but rather I just kind of shuffle around.  So if there is any kind of rise in the direction that I am walking, I tend to drag my feet a little. 

            So as a young man, I am walking along this reclaimed brick sidewalk dating back to the 1800’s and sure enough, my foot catches a brick and I end up stumbling into the person walking in front of me.  Pavement is a great way to ease someone’s travels.  But pavement gone bad becomes a stumbling block.

            So my difficult question for you all today is Are you making the path to God easier or more difficult?  Are you placing stumbling blocks between other people and Christ or are you making the way straight, level, and smooth? And if we are making the way smooth, do we ever make that path too smooth?

            Following Christ is difficult enough as it is.  Following Christ may require that we sell all of our possessions, give the money to the poor, and live a life of poverty.  Following Christ means that we put nothing before our relationship with him, not money, fame, fortune, even family.  Unfortunately, I think that some people in an effort to be a good paver for Christ have reduced Christianity to praying a simple prayer and not requiring anything of the “converts”.  But as Luke says in chapter three verse three, John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  Repentance means not only acknowledging sinfulness, but making an attempt to change our ways.  Repentance means asking for forgiveness for your past mistakes and making an effort to break your sinful patterns.

            When I talk about being a paver for Christ today I think we need to be careful not to reduce what Christ has called us to do, but we also need to not put any additional stumbling blocks in the way.  Unfortunately, the way some Christians live and the things that some Christians say so often become stumbling blocks to those who are not in the church.  In their book UnChristian, Dave Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons report on their findings from a large poll of people outside of the church.  They wanted to know what people outside of the church thought of those that are inside of the church.  These are the words that those outside of the church used to describe Christians: hypocritical, too focused on getting converts, anti-homosexual, sheltered, too political, and judgmental.  They say something along these lines in their book, “To say that we as Christians have an identity problem is an understatement.”

Now I understand how and why we Christians come off to non-Christians in such a way.  And some of these things are justifiable.  But if someone was asked to describe me as a Christian, I would hope that none of those six words or phrases would come to mind.  Those are not paving words.  Those are stumbling blocks.  I would hate to be accused of being so focused on saving souls that I neglected the present needs of a person.  I believe it was Shane Claiborne that said A gospel that isn’t good news to the poor is no gospel at all.

If someone was asked to describe me, this church, or Christians in general, the word that I hope that they would use is “love.”  In John 13:35, Jesus tells his disciples, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  Those words or phrases that Kinnaman and Lyons found non-Christians using to describe Christians did not include the word love. 

            You may have noticed in today’s bulletin that we have a new line item revealing a local relief fund that has been started.  Currently that fund contains $1,700.00.  This fund is designated for a project here in town for a young couple.  I got a call from Pastor Luke, one of the pastors at Harrisonburg Mennonite, saying that a friend of his knows this couple and was wondering if there was any way that we could help them out.  I didn’t agree to do anything at first except for to look into the situation and see if there was any way that we at Staunton Mennonite could help.

They purchased a house in the city at the beginning of the summer with the intentions of renovating it and being able to live in it by the end of the summer.  The house had been condemned and is one of the oldest houses in Staunton.  So they got it pretty cheap.  But just because they got it cheap doesn’t mean that they got a good deal on it.

            They had to replace the entire foundation of this house by jacking it up and putting new concrete pillars underneath it to bear the weight of the entire structure.  They gutted the house, carrying out lathe and plaster, old electrical work dating back to when electric was first put in homes, plumbing, all this was torn out and hauled away in a garbage truck.  They had purchased supplies like drywall and insulation for the home.  Then something happened.  They ran out of time and their experience with construction was no longer adequate for the work that they had left to do.

            When they purchased the home, they only took out a large enough loan to cover what they had estimated to be the cost of renovation and enough money for them to live on for the period that they believed it would take them to fix up the house.  But when they ran into problems with the foundation, they found that they were going to need more time and they were going to need more money and they were going to need more experience.

So this friend of Luke’s that lives in Maryland, his name is Levin, started talking with me about how he would be willing to do some fund raising if we could be in charge of dispersing the money.  Essentially, people are donating money to the church with the intention of the church using those funds to help this couple.  And as I spoke with Levin on the phone, he told me a little more about this young couple and their three-year-old boy.

They are not Christians.  In fact, I have been told that they have been hurt by Christians in the past and are somewhat suspicious of Christians.  I hope that they have had some good experiences with Christians as well.  Glenn and I have been out to help give some direction to the young man trying to figure all of this out.  Money has come in from Christians to help them in their project.  And all of this has been done with out of Christian love.

My friends, we have the opportunity to pave the way for Christ.  If you remember, the definition that I used earlier was “A way-paver is someone that draws people’s attention to the way that God is moving in their day and age so that they will not miss an opportunity to experience God.”  I hope that I, that we can be way-pavers as we point out to this couple the way that Christ is moving through so many people to help them establish a home. 

In Philippians 1:3-6 the Apostle Paul says that he gives thanks to God every time he thinks of the Christians in Philippi.  He prays with joy because they are sharing in the gospel, participating in the gospel, living in and living out the gospel.  My friends, there is no better way to pave the way for Christ than to do just that.

I love the idea of living in and living out the gospel.  As redeemed people seeking to follow Christ, we dwell within the grace of God daily.  As workers for God’s kingdom, manifesting the kingdom here on earth, we are living out the gospel.  We are making the high places low, the valleys high, the rough places smooth.  We are removing the stumbling blocks so that all people can come to know Jesus as Lord.

Tomorrow we’ll be hosting the first-ever Snack Friday at Pufferbellies. (It might be the first Snack Friday anywhere – I don’t know!)

Here’s how it works: Free snacks. All day long. You show up, we feed you. Pretty simple right?

Won’t you join us? It’s this Friday, November 27th, from 10AM to 9PM.

In addition to all the delicious free snacks, we’ll be offering a few while-supplies-last specials. Here they are:

• Purchase a Calico Critters Cloverleaf Manor at the regular price of $199.99 and get a FREE $50 Pufferbellies gift card to spend on anything in the store.
• Purchase a Twilight Turtle, Twilight Ladybug or Twilight Sea Turtle at regular price and get a FREE relaxing CD — choose from Maternal Whispers or Raindreams.
• Purchase a Nilo N51 Activity Table at our regular price of $199 and get a FREE Nilo Theasel (a $55 value). A Theasel is a combination puppet theater and easel and is truly cool.
• Purchase a Melissa & Doug standing puppet theater at our regular price of $99.99 and get a FREE $25 Pufferbellies gift card to spend on anything in the store.

(Obviously, some restrictions may apply to the Snack Friday specials listed above. See store for details.

In editorialul “Football Made In UK” semnat pentru <Fotbal Vest>, punand cap la cap o serie de stiri provenind in doar cateva zile din diverse tabere, ce mi-au ridicat mingea la fileu sa intreb daca nu cumva convocarile devin pe zi ce trece un deranj tot mai pagubos, am constatat cum conflictul cluburi – selectionate nationale s-a ascutit la varf ca lupta de clasa in fotbalul in varianta globalizata.  

Ambitia si visul sublim al oricarui fotbalist de a imbraca tricoul reprezentativei tarii sale n-au palit nicidecum dar, in functie de circumstante, unii jucatori isi reevalueaza tot mai atent lista prioritatilor.

Iar in lumina ghinionului lui Robin Van Persie de a se accidenta destul de serios in minutul 10 al recentului joc amical Italia – Olanda, intr-o toamna in care “tunarul zburator” fusese mai dezinvolt si prolific ca niciodata in rolul sau majorat in angrenajul lui Wenger, s-ar putea gasi fotbalisti din natiuni mai putin capabile sa sclipeasca pe scena mondiala ori din nationale redutabile in ale caror echipe n-ar fi destul de buni sa incapa, intrebandu-se daca mandria de a fi convocat nu e cumva eclipsata de “deranjul” ce implica o asemenea responsabilitate.

Asemenea dubii nici c-ar fi existat sa zicem acum un deceniu. Dar de cand recompensele au explodat in fotbalul de club, ce ofera nenumarate posibilitati de afirmare, si gandul de a sunta o convocare ce s-ar putea solda cu o accidentare punand in pericol o cariera si asa nu foarte lunga s-a infiripat in planurile unora. La putine zile distanta, doi jucatori din lotul lui Manchester City, club cumparat anul trecut de bogatasi arabi, si-au exprimat indoielile in privinta continuitatii lor pe scena fotbalului la nivelul selectionatelor nationale.

Craig Bellamy, un plimbaret in fotbalul de club, s-a intrebat in public daca mai are rost sa se chinuie la capitania Tarii Galilor intr-o increcare de accedere la un turneu final neconcretizata peste ani de compatriotul sau Ryan Giggs. Desi n-a smuls deloc aplauze, galezul a fost inteles de exemplu de Allan McInally, fost international scotian, ce a opinat ca pentru unii fotbalisti in varianta globalizata a jocului, ajunsi la o anumita varsta si cu sacii de galbeni incarcati in caruta, dorinta de a continua in paralel la echipa nationala a capatat o nuanta mai opaca.

Avantaj Ashley Williams, un fundas oarecare ce nici nu si-ar fi imaginat acum un an si jumatate, la debutul in nationala Tarii Galilor, ca va deveni capitan al “Dragonilor”, si nici atat in urma cu 6 ani, cand nu evolua la divizionara secunda Swansea City, ci la amatoarea Hednesford Town, in paralel cu slujba cu jumatate de norma ca ospatar. Foarte improbabila o asemenea ascensiune intr-o nationala de calibru si s-ar putea crede ca orice Van Persie si-ar dori mai ales un triumf global cu reprezentativa sa pe cai mari, insa o alta voce a venit sa infirme aceasta supozitie.

Poate ca Tevez, celalalt recrut al lui City punand la indoiala dorinta de a mai juca pentru tara sa,  a aruncat castana tocmai pentru a-l sensibiliza pe Maradona sa-l ia in considerare pentru FIFA 2010 World Cup, dar iesirea sa ar putea fi intr-adevar onesta. Spunand ca s-a saturat de fotbal, inclusiv de cel de club, si ca si-ar dori sa-si intoarca fata spre viata de familie, Carlos a subliniat ca argentinienii de lot nu s-au menajat nici pe departe cand a fost vorba sa “dea totul” pentru echipa nationala.  

Cei doi i s-ar putea asadar alatura in exil septarului lui City, Stephen Ireland, ale carui minciuni legate de decesul bunicilor sale, strecurate managerului Steve Staunton in speranta de a-si scurta sederea la lot si a-si vizita prietena dar dezvaluite ca atare de mass-media, au dus la ruptura mijlocasului de lotul national al Irlandei. Ireland, pe urmele altui mijlocas ajuns la cutite cu reprezentativa verde, candva al ei capitan Roy Keane. Ulterior, in campania abia incheiata, Trapattoni si Liam Brady au incercat sa-l scoata pe Ireland din cochilia ce si-o armase in urma excluderii sale din lot dar, cu toate ca pe alocuri septarul cochetase cu ideea revenirii, antrenorul n-a fost convins ca mijlocasul ar dori cu ardoare sa imbrace din nou tricoul verde. De fapt, in cazul lui Ireland, totul s-a rostogolit spre un deznodamant previzibil, odata ce a intrat in conflict cu selectionerul Brian Kerr, la nationala sub 18 ani, si a trebuit sa dea din nou ochii cu acesta la preluarea reprezentativei de seniori. Ireland a trebuit sa astepte instalarea lui Staunton pentru a fi din nou convocat… 

Iar cam pe cand Van Persie gemea in Pescara, un rival in fotbalul de club era déjà inapoi in Londra, cu o potentiala sedere pe tusa de cateva saptamani. Frank Lampard doar a facut deplasarea la Doha, pentru remarcabilul amical Anglia – Brazilia organizat insa in inedita gazduire din lumea araba, dar nici nu s-a mai pregatit pentru alinierea in fata sud-americanilor, lasata pe umerii a doar doi potentiali titulari, Barry si Rooney, ingrosand in schimb infirmeria lui Ancelotti. Sir Alex Ferguson si-o freca pe de-o parte mainile pentru necazul italianului si-al lui Wenger, dar va atrage probabil pe de alta parte atentia la vorbele sale, mereu in disonanta cu “nevoile” selectionerilor de lot. Frecusurile lui Fergie cu Sven sunt binecunoscute si n-au mirat pe nimeni deciziile unor Scholes ori Neville de a spune pas pentru Albion. Miza era prea mare in Premier League si Champions League.

Iar pe cand Van Persie calatorea spre “Cizma”, nebanuind ce-l asteapta, din sanul lui West Ham United razbatea vestea ca Dean Ashton, cumparat de club la inceputul anului 2006 pe o suma record de peste 7 milioane lire sterline, e in prag sa-si agate ghetele in cui. La 25 de ani. Masivul varf chiar marcase pentru “Ciocanari” in memorabilul 3-3 al finalei de Cupa Angliei cu Liverpool, din 2006, dar trei luni mai tarziu, la chiar primul antrenament al convocarii sale in premiera la lotul national, isi rupea glezna. Un an pe tusa si o recidiva, coincidenta stranie, la prima sedinta a visiniu-albastrilor sub bagheta lui Gianfranco Zola. A trecut un an si Ashton, un potential varf pentru Albion, tot nu vede luminita de la capatul tunelului. Totul i se trage insa de la acea convocare in premiera, o onoare cu doua taisuri.

De la alt club, in acelasi timp, un comunicat de presa raspandea vestea retragerii din fotbal a unui jucator lovit de accidentari. La 26 ani, John Kennedy a aruncat prosopul dupa un deceniu petrecut la Celtic Park, drama sa conturandu-se in minutul 18 al meciului sau de debut pentru Scotia, in 31 martie 2004, cand era faultat de Vio Ganea intr-un amical castigat de Romania cu 2-1. Fundasul era monitorizat la vremea respectiva chiar de AC Milan, o postura onoranta tinand cont de numele de calibru ce au consolidat peste ani defensiva rosso-nerilor, insa John n-a mai vazut luminile rampei internationale pana in februarie 2007, la un joc de Champions League tocmai cu… milanezii, la care a luat loc pe banca de rezerve, revenind dupa ani pierduti prin sali de recuperare. Paguba era insa produsa si genunchiul i-a dat ulterior din nou in primire. Federatia a despagubit-o pe Celtic dar un alt club si-a vazut un potential lider irosit sub flamura steagului national.

Asa cum corporatiile preiau tot mai mult rolul statelor, estompand granitele, si fotbalul de club castiga teren pe zi ce trece, in detrimentul nationalelor, ghinion ca al vedetei Van Persie ori al “sperantei” Ashton dand apa la moara carcotasilor.

Iar scurtcircuitele lui Van Persie, Lampard, Bellamy, Tevez, Ashton ori Kennedy au venit in cascada intr-o saptamana fotbalistica indoliata de tragedia lui Robert Enke. Un om ce a intors spatele vietii cu 4 zile inaintea jocului Germania – Chile, la care nu fusese convocat. 

Here are the shots I got sitting next to Pete on the Shenandoah Pizza boat. Fun times. Check out Monday’s News Leader for a column on our adventures.

We’re so excited. For the first time ever, Santa Claus himself will be visiting Pufferbellies in downtown Staunton, Virginia, this December! Santa will be here on the following dates:

Sunday, December 6 — 1PM – 3PM
Friday, December 11 — 6PM – 8PM
Sunday, December 13 — 1PM – 3PM
Friday, December 18 — 6PM – 8PM
Sunday, December 20 — 1PM – 3PM

Our goal is to make this a relaxed, low-pressure time with Santa. Santa will visit with children one at a time in our book department, and parents are welcome to bring their own cameras to record the moment. Please note that there might be a wait to see Santa depending upon how many children arrive. We will assign everyone who wants to visit Santa their own number, and call them when it’s time. No standing in line, and plenty of opportunities to shop and play while you wait. All the children who visit with Santa will get a special treat from Pufferbellies, too.

We’re thrilled to welcome Santa to our store this year, and we can’t wait to see you here, too.

Great news! We’ve passed the 100-book mark in our 2009 Warren H. Drumheller Memorial Book Drive. Since October 25 of this year, Pufferbellies customers have donated 107 new books to local school libraries and child-care centers. THANK YOU! You have until December 31st to donate books — let’s make it to 300 books this year!

1 Kings 19:4-16

4But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” 5Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” 8He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

9At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” 11He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” 15Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place.

            There was an older woman who lived by herself and found herself to be growing more and more lonely as she got older.  So one day she decided to go to the pet store and buy a parrot so that she could have a conversation partner in her home.  But when the lady got the parrot home, the parrot just started to curse and swear.  The old lady wasn’t going to take this ‘foul’ language, so she put the parrot in the freezer for two minutes.

            After the bird had served its penalty, the lady told him, “If you don’t clean up your language, I’ll put you right back in there, this time for 5 minutes.”  So the parrot agreed to watch his mouth.

            The very next day the parrot was at it again, cursing and swearing, complaining about the food he had to eat.  So being true to her word, the old lady grabbed the parrot and put him back in the freezer for five minutes.  After the time had passed the woman pulled the bird out, frost forming on his beak.  And she told him again, “If you don’t clean up your language, I’m going to put you right back in there.”  This time the parrot seemed scared and he promised to clean up his language.

            Months passed and the parrot kept his promise and cleaned up his language.  The old lady asked him one day what it was that made him change his ways.  The parrot replied, “Well I knew you were serious when I asked the turkey what he had said to be put in there and he didn’t reply.”

            Loneliness is something that we all deal with from time to time, isn’t it?  We were created to be relational beings, to live in communion with one another.  But sometimes we find ourselves separated from other people and that can be difficult.  Today we are going to look at the life of Elijah and see that God does not intend for us to be alone, though sometimes he does call us to moments of solitude to connect with him.

            Our text for today picks up soon after Elijah’s confrontation with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah that we looked at last week.  Elijah stood strong against these other prophets, outnumbered 850 to one.  He has his victory over these prophets, but when all of the excitement (and bloodshed) is over, Elijah finds himself right back where he began: by himself.  He wanders for a day into the wilderness and he sat himself down under a tree.  He has no friends, he has no family, he doesn’t even have a pet to keep him company.  He is alone.

            And I am sure that there are a number of factors that are playing into his emotions, one of them being loneliness.  And as Elijah sits there by himself under a single broom tree, Elijah asks God to take his life.  This man who has stood up against the king and against these 850 other prophets and had a convincing victory is so depressed that he wants to die.

            But God wasn’t done with Elijah, there was still work for him to do.  So God provided food and drink for Elijah so that he could make a forty-day journey to Mt. Horeb, which is also known as Mt. Sinai.  And as Elijah is taking shelter in a cave at Mt. Horeb, the word of the Lord comes to him and asked him, What are you doing here?  And Elijah replies in verse 10, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword.  I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

            Whoa, right there, that says something to me.  Elijah knows that his life is in jeopardy.  He knows that people in high places are seeking after him to kill him.  So if he really wants to die, why is he running away?  I would say that Elijah didn’t want to die.  What Elijah wanted was a different life.  What Elijah wanted was friends, people he could count on, talk to, share with, break bread with.  It wasn’t that Elijah wanted to die, he just didn’t want to keep on living in the same way that he had been living.  The lonely life of a prophet is good for no one’s soul.

            Is there anyone out there that gets lonely from time to time?  You don’t have to raise your hand, because I am sure that we all do.  I know I get lonely.  In Genesis God says, It is not good for man to be alone.  So what does God do?  God creates a friend for Adam.

            Now some people will take this passage and twist it a bit and make it into something that it is not meant to say.  I get pretty frustrated when I hear someone talk about how we are not “complete” until we find a mate, a husband or a wife.  For some parents, marrying off their daughter seems to be the ultimate goal.  It is not good for a person to be alone, I agree 100%.  But this does not mean that a person needs to be married to be complete.

            We look at people in the Bible such as the apostle Paul.  Paul says that he is glad that he is single because…it frees him up to do more ministry!  If Paul was married with a wife and three kids, he wouldn’t have been able to travel all around telling about his encounter with the risen Jesus Christ.  No, he would have had to stay put, working at his job as a tentmaker, paying the mortgage, putting food on the table because women did not often work outside of the house in the first century.  This is why Paul encourages people that are unmarried to stay that way in 1 Corinthians 7.  So when someone says about needing to be married to be complete, I look at the people in the Bible that we know were single: Paul, Jeremiah, and Jesus, for example.  I say that if you are single, you are in good company!

            I had some single friends in Seminary and they shared with me the hurt that they had experienced being single in the church.  And the hurt that they experienced was not that they felt incomplete.  The hurt that they felt was coming from church people that were always trying to “fix” this perceived problem; people wanting to set them up with other individuals.  And these were well-intending people, but my friends were quite comfortable being single and they realized the opportunities that singleness presented them in serving the Lord.

            My sister-in-law is twenty seven years old and single.  She doesn’t seem to be interested in getting married any time soon.  Stacy is in her first year of medical residency in family practice in Omaha, Nebraska.  She really doesn’t know where she wants to work when she finishes up her residency, but she wants to have a flexible schedule because she has always wanted to be able to work on medical mission teams to third world countries.  Two weeks, month-long, whatever length trips to Guatemala, remote parts of Africa, or even working locally in free clinics.  These are the things that appeal to Stacy.  Near or far, high or low, she wants to be able to travel and help other people with the gift that she has been given.

            If Stacy would have gotten married in her early 20’s like her sister did, these opportunities would probably not be available to her.  Paul was a single man and being a single man freed him up from home responsibilities and allowed him to serve God in ways that some of us could never do.  The same is true for Stacy.

            Does Stacy get lonely?  Absolutely.  But loneliness is not a good reason to get married.  God said that it is not good for a person to be alone, but God never said that every person must get married to avoid being alone.  We need friends, relatives, loved ones that can fill that emptiness.

            One of the most challenging things about my job is that I may go all day long without seeing or talking to another human being.  When Sonya comes home after work in the evening, she will often ask me, Did you talk to anyone today?  And sometimes I have to think long and hard about that.  Sometimes I remember, Yes, I spoke with a telemarketer on the phone for awhile.  (Telemarketers hate me because they will call and talk with me for about 10 minutes until they find out that I have absolutely no intention of buying whatever they are selling.  I just like to hear the sound of another person’s voice sometimes.)  It is so amazing to her that I can go all day without speaking to another human being!

            But I am thankful that the church does not require that I spend all of my day in the office at the church.  I know of one church that the pastor is expected to be in his office for 40 hours each week.  I would go nuts.  Thankfully I can go and sit at a coffee shop and at least be among other people.  And a part of my job includes going out and visiting with other people, seeing them in the nursing homes and at their private homes.  And yes, sometimes it is a challenge to go into the nursing homes but I know what it is like to be lonely, and I don’t want people to have to endure that.  Especially during difficult times.

            Last Monday, a man from our congregation had a simple out-patient surgical procedure done to remove one of his toes.  He is going through a lot right now; he is confused and suffering.  But on top of all of this, he is alone.  He hasn’t had any family around since his wife died a number of years ago.  No siblings, no children.  Really, he has nobody but the people of this church.  And I am thankful for the way that Danny and Frances have cared for him over the last couple of months.

            So when this man needed surgery, he was going through all of this alone.  And for a man who is already confused, this was surely scary.  I am glad that he did not have to go through it alone. 

            But there are times when being alone is a good thing.  In verses 11-13 from our scripture this morning, we find that Elijah is at Mt. Horeb where he is to meet God.  And as he stands there at the opening of the cave, a great wind passes by.  This wind was splitting mountains and breaking rocks into pieces.  But we are told that the Lord was not in the wind.  Following the wind came an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  Then there was a fire, but again, the Lord was not in the fire.  Where did Elijah meet the Lord?  V. 12-13, “And after the fire a sound of sheer silence.  When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.  Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah.’”  God met Elijah in the silence. 

Solitude, silence.  The Bible tells us that there are times when it is good to be alone.  If we look at the life of Jesus, we see him slipping off alone from time to time.  Before he began his public ministry, Jesus went out into the wilderness, into the silence, by himself to fast and pray.  He often snuck away from his disciples and those who were following him so that he might have some time alone with God. 

            Silence and solitude are great things.  I know that I am personally hardwired to want noise in my life.  When I walk into my house or sit down in my car or work in the office, the first thing that I do is I turn on the radio.  I never drive anywhere without music or talk radio going on in the background.  If I am working outside I strap my iPod to my arm, put the headphones on, and jam out to something, anything, just to make the silence go away.  But sometimes, silence is a good thing.

            When you read the Bible or pray, it is good to not have anything else going on to distract you.  That is why some people have prayer closets and this is why some people go on spiritual retreats to secluded places where there isn’t another living human being within sight.  This is why some religious people have joined monasteries and convents and take a vow of silence.  Jesus modeled for us that sometimes you just need to get away from all of the hustle and the bustle and the noise to focus on hearing God’s voice.  But Jesus also models for us that this is never meant to last forever.  God calls us to join with other people, to fellowship with one another and serve him together.

            Getting back to our scripture for this morning, we find that God meets this depressed, lonely Elijah in the silence.  And after Elijah explains to God what he is doing there (as if God didn’t already know), God does something about Elijah’s condition.  He gives him something that will help with his loneliness.  God gives Elijah a job, or three jobs to be precise.  Go to the wilderness of Damascus and anoint Hazael as king of Aram, anoint Jehu as king of Israel, and anoint Elisha as your successor as God’s prophet (vv. 15-16). 

            Now anointing these two people as kings isn’t going to take very long.  The longest part of the task is going to be in finding these people.  Then you pray over them, pour some oil on their heads, and you leave.  There is no long-term commitment from Elijah needed here.  But this third part, this anointing of Elisha, this does not end when the oil has flowed from the horn and onto Elisha’s head.  What God has called Elijah to do is on-going mentoring, teaching Elisha how to be a prophet of the one true God.

            Now that God has given Elijah work to do, Elijah can feel like he is serving a purpose.  His life has meaning because he is serving God.  And through his service to God he has gained a partner, a companion, and a friend.  Loneliness will no longer be a problem for Elijah.  And if we look forward in the life of Elijah, we can see that even when Elijah was uncertain of his future, when he was about to be taken up into heaven on a chariot of fire, Elisha was the kind of friend that would stand beside his mentor.  Elisha says, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” (2 Kings 2:2)

            My friends, I know that I am not the only one here that gets lonely from time to time.  And while, yes, I do believe that God calls us into solitude for periods of time to spend time with him, I do not believe that God intended us to be alone all of our days.  And I believe that one of the best things that we can do to overcome loneliness and the sense of worthlessness that sometimes comes with it is to serve the Lord.

            Volunteer at the Valley Mission, serving food to the homeless, cleaning the facilities, whatever you can do will be appreciated.  Visit the homebound people that you know would love to have company.  Or even better yet, move in with them and care for them.  You can benefit financially by sharing living expenses and you both gain a conversation partner.  Go to the nursing homes and talk to people you know and meet some people that you don’t know.  If you can’t leave your home, call an old friend.  Knit sweaters for the homeless.  Serve the Lord by loving other people and that loneliness will start to disappear.

            It is not good for a person to be alone.  Marriage, children, family life…these things don’t make a person complete.  What makes a person complete is a relationship with God, serving Him and loving others.  The next time you find yourself being lonely, and we all get lonely, perhaps this is God calling you to something.  Perhaps God is calling you to be a blessing to others.

According to the article on the website of the American Shakespeare Center, Shakespeare may have really been an optometrist.

Check out the evidence:

William Shakespeare was clearly some kind of eye doctor. And since there is clear evidence in his writing that he cared greatly for measure, we’ve determined that Shakespeare was, beyond any doubt, an optometrist. Here are ten quotes that prove our thesis:

1. “To hear with eyes belongs to love’s fine wit.”

   Sonnet XXIII

2. “Bless thee for thy vision!”

   Pericles: V, ii

3. “How desirous of our sight they are.”

   Titus Andronicus: V, i

4. “Bear thine eyes straight, though thy proud heart go wide.”

   Sonnet CXL

5. “Why have you any discretion? have you any eyes? Do you know what a man is?”

   Troilus and Cressida: I, ii

6. “Your light grows dark by losing of your eyes.”

   Love’s Labours Lost : I, i

7. “I will undo this hateful imperfection of her eyes.”

   A Midsummer Night’s Dream: IV, i

8. “Men’s eyes were made to look, and let them gaze.”

   Romeo and Juliet: III, i

9. “Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?”

   As You Like It: III, v

   And the number one quote proving Shakespeare was an optometrist is…

10. “Gaze where you should, and that will clear your sight.”

    Comedy of Errors: III, ii

The article can be found here.

I may need to search the canon and figure out what other jobs he could have had…maybe there is evidence that he was a hit man or something…that would be interesting. Must investigate. Maybe that will be my next project after I’m done re-reading the entire canon, as I mentioned a couple entries back…

This is the most colorful street in Staunton, Virginia. Robert Miller (LynchburgVirginia on flickr) and I headed up to Staunton a couple of days ago and spent awhile shooting and meeting people on this street.

© 2009 D L Ennis, All rights reserved.

NOTE: Permission for the use of my images is granted for personal websites and blogs but is to include a link back to this site and proper credit given to me, D L Ennis. Link to be used…(Visual Thoughts http://dlennis.wordpress.com/)

NOTE: Commercial use, and the creation of prints, must be purchased! For more information you can contact me here.

VIRGINIA STORE LOCATIONS

Ten Thousand Villages features products from more than 130 artisan groups in an about 38 countries. This fair trade network contains more than 150 retail outlets in the United States that sell Ten Thousand Villages products. Seven stores are located in Virginia. Below are the locations, hours of operation, and upcoming events for our retail outlets located in Alexandria, Dayton, Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Newport News, Richmond and Staunton.

Alexandria

Ten Thousand Villages in Alexandria

 Ten Thousand Villages in Alexandria  is a fair trade retailer of hand crafted home decorations, personal accessories and gift items produced from artisans around the world. Ten Thousand Villages in Alexandria is Northern Virginia’s oldest Fair Trade retailer, since 1994. Ten Thousand Villages in Alexandria is on Facebook

Hours of Operation:

Monday-Saturday 11-7

Sunday 12-6.

Events:

Dec. 03 Shopping Night

Dec. 05 Shopping Night

Dec. 06 International Craft Fair

Dec. 12 Shopping Night

Dec. 13 International Craft Fair

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Dayton

Dayton's Rug Gallery

 The Dayton Farmers Market for Ten Thousand Villages is one of two retailers in the US to sell Ten Thousand Villages Oriental Rugs. There are six rug stores. The other four are located in Canada.

Hours of Operation:

Thursday - Saturday 8-6

Events:

Nov. 17 Holiday hours begin

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Bag Sale

 Fredericksburg

Transportation Ten Thousand Villages in Fredericksburg is available for UMW students during the academic year. Ten Thousand Villages in Fredericksburg is on Facebook.

Hours of Operation:

Monday - Thursday 10-7

Saturday 10-9

Sunday 12-5

Events:

Nov. 14 Holiday Bag Sale

Nov. 15 America Recycles Day Celebration

Dec. 02 “More with Less” Origami

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 Newport News

Ten Thousand Villages sell Equal Exchange fairly traded products

Ten Thousand Villages in Newport News carries fairly traded products from Putumayo (music) and Equal Exchange (coffee, tea, chocolate, cocoa)

Hours of Operation:

Monday – Saturday 10-9

Sunday 12-6

Events: 

Nov. 14 Holiday Bag Sale

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Richmond 

Recyled & handcrafted gift

Ten Thousand Villages in Carytown was awarded Best Eco-Friendly Home Accessories by Richmond Magazine’s reader survey. The Richmond store is walking distance from Virginia Commonwealth University and has jewelry, gifts, and home decore all throughout the shop. Ten Thousand Villages in Richmond is on Facebook

Hours of Operation:

Monday – Thursday 10-6

Friday & Saturday 10-7

Sunday 12-5

Events:

Nov. 19 Volunteer Shopping Night

Nov. 25 Happy Thanksgiving!

Dec. 03 Presentation

Dec. 02 Presentation

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 Harrisonburg

TTV sells Equal Exchange goods, including chocolate

 Artisans’ Hope in Harrisonburg sells handicrafts and food items from countries across the globe. They purchase from many fair trade retailers, including Ten Thousand Villages.

Hours of Operation:

Monday-Wednesday 10-6

Thursday & Friday 10-7

Saturday 10-4

Events:

No events have been posted.

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Staunton

TTV tapestry

East to West gifts, located in Staunton, opened up in 2008. The store sells handmade home decor, personal accessorie and gift items. 

Hours of Operation:

Monday – Saturday 10-5

Events:

Dec. 03 Community Shopping Night

1 Kings 18:20-40

20So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel.  21Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” The people did not answer him a word. 22Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets number four hundred fifty. 23Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. 24Then you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord; the god who answers by fire is indeed God.” All the people answered, “Well spoken!” 25Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made. 27At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” 28Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. 29As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response.

30Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come closer to me”; and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down; 31Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name”; 32with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. 33Next he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” 34Then he said, “Do it a second time”; and they did it a second time. Again he said, “Do it a third time”; and they did it a third time, 35so that the water ran all around the altar, and filled the trench also with water. 36At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. 37Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench. 39When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.” 40Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” Then they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon, and killed them there.

            A Sunday school teacher was telling the story about Elijah’s confrontation with the false prophets of Baal to her elementary-aged students in class one day.  She told them about how he cut and prepared the bull for an offering and then how he had 12 barrels of water dumped over the offering.  The teacher asked her students, “Does anyone know why Elijah had them dump all of the water over the offering?”  An eager girl in the back started waving her hand in the air because she knew the answer.  When the teacher called on her, the little girl replied, “I bet they were in charge of making the gravy!”

            Today we are going to look at the story of the confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal and I hope to show you that we are called to be like Elijah and stand up for what we believe in, even when the odds are against us, 450 to 1.  But I also hope to show you that unlike Elijah, we are called to respect all people even when we disagree on what we believe to be foundational to our lives.

            I remember in elementary school when we were asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  Of course, many of my classmates threw out the usual answers like: a cowboy, a football player, an astronaut, a teacher, and president of the United States.  Not once did I hear anyone say, “I want to be a prophet one day.”  Oh sure, the whole talking with God thing.  That was great.  But the hours were long, the pay was nothing, and there was a really good chance that the people in town were not going to like you and would possibly seek to kill you.  Prophets ate weird things, often cooked over questionable fuel sources, and dressed a little on the funny side.  Plenty of reason why one would not choose to be a prophet.  That is why the role of prophet is given by God, not chosen by the individual.  It was a tough line of work with few earthly perks.

            In the text leading up to our scripture for today, we find that Elijah has been hiding out in the desert for somewhere between two and three years.  They were in the third year of a drought and God told Elijah to go to King Ahab and tell him that the drought was about to end.  King Ahab has been searching for Elijah for these two to three years and why was he searching for Elijah?  Not to invite him over for tea, but to kill this dude.  And here he is, waltzing into Ahab’s home.  And Ahab accuses Elijah of causing the drought.  Elijah tells him, No, you are the reason for the drought.  Because you have worshiped the false god Baal, you and your people have suffered.

            So Elijah comes up with a bit of a contest to prove once and for all that Baal is nothing and that Yahweh is God.  They are to gather the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah at Mt. Carmel for a showdown.

            You have to love those odds, don’t you.  850 versus 1.  Now we don’t hear about the 400 prophets of Asherah once they get to the mountain, but our text tells us that the 450 prophets of Baal are there.  And Elijah challenges them to prepare an offering of a bull on a pile of wood next to an altar to Baal and he would do the same thing on an altar to the Lord.  They would each get their own opportunity to call to their god and to see which god would set fire to and consume their offering.  And whoever’s god was able to do this would be known throughout the land as the one true God.

            The prophets of Baal went first.  They called to their god and cried out to him, but nothing happened from morning through noon.  The prophets cut themselves with swords and spears, pouring their own blood out on the offering and showing their earnest desire for Baal to come to that place and consume their offering.  But nothing happened.

            So it came time for Elijah’s offering to the Lord.  He rebuilt the altar to the Lord, placed the wood on the altar, prepared the bull offering, and then he drenched the whole thing with water.  Twelve large containers of water were dumped on the offering until it was soaked and water was pooling all around the offering, the altar, and the wood.  Then Elijah offered a simple prayer to God and fire came from the sky and consumed the offering; the wood, the stones, the dust, and even the water was burnt up.  And our text tells us that the people turned back to God and said, “Indeed, Yahweh is God.”

            So that’s all cool, right?  I love that Elijah was bold in his faith and that he stood up for what he believed in, even among 850 other people.  I know that it can be difficult to stand up for what you believe in even when the odds are 2:1, even 1:1, or even in your favor.  And my life has never depended on it.  I’ve never been threatened.  Elijah knew very well that Ahab had been looking for him, wanting to kill him, and that if things didn’t go Elijah’s way, he was a goner.

            The prophets were often not the most poplar people in their time.  Rarely did they single out an individual and critique that person, but they often called attention to the sins of the community around them.  When Israel was prosperous, yet forgot about the widows and the orphans, Isaiah called the people out on the carpet.  He said “This isn’t right!  You know it, I know it, and I’m not going to stand for it any longer.”  People usually don’t like to hear that stuff.  So I have much respect for Elijah and the other prophets who were willing to sacrifice their popularity, their personal comfort, and even their lives for what they believed to be right.

But Elijah is not perfect; Elijah is a human being just like you and me.  And there are some things we see here about the character of Elijah that I don’t think are helpful for us as Christians today, things that we should not emulate.  And it isn’t just Elijah that fails God from time to time, we all do!  Even the greatest leaders in the Bible stumble from time to time.

            The Bible is full of imperfect people trying to follow God’s perfect will.  Some of the time we are called to do as these people did, and some times we are to learn from their mistakes as well.  And sometimes we are left to figure out who falls into which category.  We look at guys like Moses and we know that he was a great leader, but he also was a murderer.  David was called a man after God’s own heart, but he was an adulterer and also a murderer.  Jesus said that there was never a greater man born of a woman than John the Baptist, but John was a doubter and questioned Jesus as to if he was the messiah.  These are all godly men, with an emphasis on men.  They are not God.  Neither was Elijah.  I think that Elijah did great things.  As I said last week, he is one of my favorite prophets.  So while I think we can look at him and admire his bravery in standing up to the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah, I think we can skip the mocking of people from other religions.

If we look at verse 27, we find a little humor coming from Elijah.  I like humor, I tell jokes.  Elijah is being sarcastic, calling out to the prophets of Baal, “Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.”  When Elijah says that Baal must have wandered away, this is a Hebrew idiom referencing wandering into the woods to do his business.  I can tend to be a little sarcastic myself, so I laugh a little bit when I read these things.

            But the Bible tells it like it is in verse 27.  It says that Elijah “mocked” the prophets of Baal.  He is demeaning them, making fun of them, laughing at their expense.  To be honest, I would say that Elijah was being a bit of a jerk to these other prophets.

            I think the Elijah did well to stand his ground when it was one versus 450 or even 850.  Stand up for what you believe.  But don’t be a jerk about it.  I sometimes hear Christians laugh about what people from other religions believe.  Yeah, Mormons believe that Joseph Smith translated a golden book that nobody else ever even saw.  And how heavy would that book be if it were made entirely of gold?  Right, like that could happen.  L. Ron Hubbard wrote that human existence came into being from aliens planting life on earth (or something like that).  We hear these things, and we laugh.  But are some of the things that we believe that much easier to believe?  That Jesus was born of a virgin, walked on water, and rose from the dead? 

            Now don’t get me wrong, I do believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, walked on water, and rose from the dead.  My point is, if we believe something as abnormal as these things, then why do we make fun of other religions that believe certain abnormal things as well?  Or why do we single out a religious group and mock them as Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal?

            I went to a very white, very middle class, very culturally Christian high school in Ohio.  And most of us had never even met a person of a different religion.  Then in the sixth grade, a family from India moved to our school district.  I believe that school was pretty rough for Kunj.  He spoke differently than the rest of us, his skin was darker, and he was shorter than most of the kids his age.  So we made fun of him for these things.

            But it wasn’t until we got to high school gym class, after over two years of being made fun of for his physical characteristics, just when the other kids were starting to accept him, we found out something else about Kunj.  Kunj was and is a Hindu.  We first noticed in the locker room after gym class that he had this string that ran from his shoulder around his waist.  This was new to us, so we asked about it.  It is what is called the janoi, or the sacred string.  When a Hindu child turns about 13 years old, they go through a rite of passage ceremony, like a Jewish boy would have a Bar Mitzvah.  This string was something that Kunj wore all of the time, under his clothes, in the shower, in class. 

            So now religion became one more thing that we could make fun of Kunj about.  Thankfully, none of us really knew what a Hindu was.  But when we had hamburgers for school lunches, we would give Kunj a hard time saying things like, “I think I’m eating your grandma!”  Man, we were so mean to Kunj.  And as bad as it is when kids make fun of other kids, the really sad thing is that some of us never grow out of it.  I don’t think Elijah was right in his mocking the prophets of Baal.   

            If we are to follow any individual from the Bible, let us follow Jesus Christ.  If we look at Jesus’ interactions with other people in the Bible, we find that he is kind of harsh to some people, and often loving and accepting toward others.  Who is he harsh toward?  Those that think they have everything figured out, those that criticize other people’s actions, those that condemn others because of their lack of religious zeal.  Jesus is most critical of the Scribes, Sadducees, and the Pharisees.  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.  It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.” (Mat 23:23).  It was the people that thought that they had it all together who were missing the point!

            But how did Jesus interact with those outside of his religion?  We don’t have many examples in the Bible, but in one instance, Jesus describes a Samaritan as “good” and uses that Samaritan as the example of how all people should act.  When he meets the Samaritan woman at the well, he does not mock her, but he enters into a conversation with her.  The only example we have of Jesus speaking poorly of a person of a different faith background is when he encounters the Syrio-Phoenician woman and he calls her a dog.  I really don’t know what to do with that scripture, to be honest!

            So when I hear Elijah mocking the prophets of Baal, I don’t think that we are to mimic his actions.  We are to stand tall when we are in the minority, but we are to respect all people, and that means respecting their beliefs, even when we don’t believe what they believe at all.  Now this doesn’t mean that we don’t have conversations about faith and that we can’t invite people of other faith to consider the foundations of their faith and whether they should be following Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  This doesn’t mean that all religions are the same.  But it does mean that we should treat all people with the same amount of dignity and respect that they deserve as people created in the image of God.

            Elijah took it one step further than simply mocking the prophets of Baal.  He then went to the extreme measure of massacring all 450 of them.  When the people saw that the Lord was indeed God, they repented of what they had done, they repented for having worshipped Baal and Asherah.  They new that they had been in the wrong and they were willing to do whatever they needed to do to make things right.  So Elijah said, “Kill them” and the people did just that.

            The Bible doesn’t tell us that God told Elijah to kill the 450 prophets of Baal, but if you just read through the text, you might assume that Elijah is doing God’s will.  But we have seen time and time again throughout the Bible that people that are following God do make mistakes, they do act out of their own emotions, and they do often miss God’s intentions.

            I don’t know that Elijah needed to have those prophets killed.  I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them who had seen this great act would have converted and given their lives right then and there to follow the one true God.  But instead it is often our first response to just kill the other people.  Now that the power is in our favor, we are going to exercise that power!

            Just over a week ago, thirteen American soldiers lost their lives on US soil at Ft. Hood in Texas.  The gunman was a major in the Army, and the gunman is a Muslim.  When things like this happen, especially on our home turf, Americans tend to retaliate in an extreme way.  After September 11^th, 2001, Muslim mosques were bombed by everyday people, property was defaced, messages of hate were sprayed on homes and cars belonging to Muslims.  On our televisions and computers we hear messages from Christian leaders saying that we need to attack back.  If they take 13 American lives, we will take 1,300 of their lives.

            Let’s stop this cycle of hate!  I follow the Prince of Peace, Lord of lords, who told us to love our enemies, turn the other cheek, and to pray for those that persecute us.  A friend of mine has a bumper sticker that says, “Love your enemies, it messes with their heads!”  Indeed, it does.  When we love our enemies, it does mess with their heads.  And sometimes, they end up loving us back.

            I saw Kunj a couple of years ago at a high school football game.  He was still just as short as ever, but yet he seemed to be walking a lot taller.  He walked back into his old school where he was mocked and persecuted by the jocks, the preppies, the rich kids, even the nerds.  And now, as the jocks had seen their waistlines grow and their hairlines recede, Kunj, a successful software engineer with a beautiful wife and child, could have turned the tables on those jokes, I mean jocks, and mocked them.  But he didn’t.  He approached them as friends, shook their hands, and caught up with them.  He asked them about their lives and showed an honest interest in what they were doing.  And I’m glad he did.  You’ve gotta love it when a Hindu teaches how to be Christ-like.

            Standup for what you believe in.  Even if you are outnumbered 850 to 1, even if it might cost you your life.  But if you find yourself in a power position where you can persecute others, mock them, or even slaughter them, remember the teachings and life of our Lord and love those people instead.

Update to the update: As of 11/15, we have collected 43 books! We have new wish lists, too — check out the navigation bar on the right to see them.

So! Our 2009 Warren H. Drumheller Memorial Book Drive kicked off on October 25, and we’re off to a fantastic start. So far, our customers have donated 27 books to nine local schools and child care centers. Last year we collected more than 200 books — this year, we’re aiming for 300. CAN WE DO IT? I think we can! Let’s rock and roll.

Need a refresher on how the Book Drive works? Here you go. And here are some quick links to the wish lists we’ve collected from area librarians so far:

Beverley Manor Elementary School
Beverley Manor Middle School
Hugh K. Cassell Elementary School
Clymore Elementary School
Covenant Nursery School
Grace Christian School
Thomas C. McSwain Elementary School
Shelburne Middle School
Staunton Montessori School – Miss Nancy’s Class
Staunton Montessori School – Miss Susan’s Class
Verona Elementary School

PS — if your school or child care center doesn’t have a wish list, it’s OK! Here are two things you can do: 1. Come in and choose a book from our in-stock selection. We’ve got thousands of titles to choose from, and we will be pleased to recommend something if you need help deciding. 2. Tell your librarian to send us a list!!

1 Kings 17:7-16

7But after a while the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

8Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9“Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” 11As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” 13Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. 14For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” 15She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. 16The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Two cannibals meet one day. The first cannibal says, “You know, I just can’t seem to find a tender missionary. I’ve baked ‘em, I’ve roasted ‘em, I’ve stewed ‘em, I’ve barbequed ‘em, I’ve even tried every sort of marinade. I just cannot seem to get them tender.” The second cannibal asks, “What kind of missionary do you use?” The other replied, “You know, the ones that hang out at that place at the bend of the river. They have those brown cloaks with a rope around the waist and their sort of bald on top with a funny ring of hair on their heads.” “Ah ha!” he replies. “No wonder…those are friars!”

What do you think of when you hear the term “missionary”?  I would bet that most of us have at least some understanding of what a missionary is.  We often think of a missionary as the people that the church supports financially and prayerfully to send them into the remote parts of the world to work with indigenous people, teaching them about Christianity and trying to teach them what we believe to be better ways to live (reading, writing, arithmetic).  And indeed, this is mission!  But mission is so much more!

            I would define mission as joining with God to bring shalom to all of the world.  We often hear shalom translated as “peace”.  And that is somewhat correct.  Peace is an aspect of shalom, but the definition of shalom is much bigger than peace.  Shalom means “well-being.”  So when I say that mission is joining in with God to bring shalom to all of the world, I am saying that mission includes economic development in third-world countries, mission includes feeding the poor, clothing the naked, sharing God’s redemptive message, the forgiveness of sins, digging wells for fresh water, teaching inner-city school kids, working with AIDS victims in Africa and in our neighborhood, prayer, and financial support.  Mission is joining in on what God is doing and not just sitting back in our easy chair, going to church once a week, and saying, “It’s all good, I’m under grace.”

            Rob Bell was asked once what the mission statement for his church is and he replied, “We are disciples, who are making disciples, who are making disciples, who are making disciples…”  I like that!  Because to bring about God’s shalom, we need followers of Jesus Christ.  Now I did not say that we need believers in Jesus Christ.  The Bible tells us that even the demons believe.  When Jesus gave his great commission in Matthew 28 he tells his disciples to go out into all of the world and make more disciples, more followers, not just believers.

            Today we are going to look at the prophet Elijah and we will see on this Missions Sunday that if we are doing what God has called us to do, God will supply us with what we need to work for God’s shalom.  We will also see that sometimes answering God’s call requires a leap of faith.  So let’s jump into the scripture to see what we can learn about joining God in his mission.

            Elijah is an interesting character who leads an interesting life.  In the scripture leading up to our text for today we find that King Ahab has come to power and married a woman named Jezebel.  Ahab begins to worship the god of his wife, who is named Baal, and builds a temple and an altar for Baal, and then puts up an Asherah pole.  So we have the new king of Israel and many of the people breaking the first commandment “You shall have no other gods before me.”  God doesn’t like it when his chosen people reject him, so God sends the prophet Elijah to Ahab and tells him that because of his sin, that there will be a great drought in the land. 

            God then speaks to Elijah telling him to move east of the Jordan, and it isn’t clear why God told Elijah to do this.  It is either to keep him safe from Ahab, to lead him to water, or likely both.  So this is what Elijah does, he picks up and moves to the Jordan.  And God led him to water to drink and the ravens, birds from the air, brought him bread and meat twice a day.

            Elijah was doing God’s work, was he not?  He was a prophet of the most High God, working to bring God’s shalom to the world.  And God sent him to a place where he would be safe and God delivered food for him.  God provided what was necessary for Elijah to do the things that God had called him to do.  And I believe that is true for people that are doing God’s work today as well.  Now God never promises to keep us safe when we are doing God’s work.  We have large volumes of books naming people that died serving God.  One of which is the Martyr’s Mirror.  But we have probably all heard stories of how God supplies for those who are committed to his service.

            We in Virginia Mennonite Conference have a wonderful mission organization just up the road in Harrisonburg.  Virginia Mennonite Missions supports around 200 mission workers every year in at least fifteen countries, often in partnership with other mission agencies.  They tend to concentrate missionaries in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean region, and some Asian and European countries.  Not only do they participate in overseas ministry, but Virginia Mennonite Missions is also very involved in local ministry as well; planting churches and equipping the established churches for ministry in a rapidly changing world.  I get a monthly newsletter from Ed Bontrager informing us of resources for those in pastoral leadership in these times.  VMMissions is a great organization, and I am glad that we as a church support this organization.

            Now as many of you probably already know, the past year or so has been a pretty tough year for many people financially.  Many people have lost jobs, lost hours at their work, taken a pay cut, lost homes, and so on. We are in a recession; times are tough.  So when times get tough, non-profit organizations like churches tend to take a hit financially.  It makes sense, when your constituents are making less money, less money will be donated.  This is true for most churches, and it is often true for organizations like Virginia Mennonite Missions.

            VMMissions has an annual budget of about $2,000,000.00 and they operate on a September 1-August 31 fiscal year.  During this past year individual and congregational giving was down 6%, which is not really that much when compared to other mission organizations.  But that wasn’t their only hit financially.  One thing that we often overlook is that the exchange rate of the US dollar to the Euro has not been in our favor recently.  So even if VMMissions is able to raise money, it is worth less when it is sent into other countries.

            But perhaps the biggest hit that VMMissions took last year was in their long-term investments.  We often refer to these investments as endowments.  They put a large sum of money in a high-earning account, like a money market or CD, and use the interest off of these accounts for their operating expenses.  VMMissions usually depends on 10% of their income coming from endowments.  That’s $200,000 that they usually rely on from endowments.  This year they lost money on their endowments.  I don’t know many non-profit organizations that can take that kind of hit and survive.

            So VMMissions was looking for ways to save money in the upcoming year, as we all should.  Pay cuts for staff personnel, elimination of staff positions, elimination of missionary positions; all were considered.  Chris and Melody Riddle were home on furlough this past summer after only 2 years of ministry in Italy.  They believed that they were just getting settled in their community, just getting comfortable with the language, their kids were just starting to connect with other kids, they were finally feeling like they were doing ministry, and they were told that there might not be enough money to send them back.

            Perhaps God was saying that the work of VMMissions and the work of the Riddles was no longer needed, because God provides for those who are doing His will, right?  Maybe this was God’s way of saying, “It is time to find something else to do.”  But in August, and remember that this is the last month of the fiscal year for VMMissions, approximately $600,000.00 in unexpected donations came in, mostly from bequests.  Now not all of this money was made immediately available for VMMissions, but it gave a huge boost financially to VMMissions as well as a huge boost to the attitudes of the 200+ workers with VMMissions.  There was still a need to reduce this year’s budget by 9%, but Chris, Melody, and the boys have been able to return to Italy to continue in the work that they have begun.  God provides when we are doing God’s will.

            Now this is not a call to complacency.  I am in no way suggesting that we sit back and do nothing and just expect that God will take care of things.  No, we are called to action.  We are called to service.  We are called to give of our time, we are called to give of our energy, we are called to give of our money, and we might be called to give our last bit of food.

            In our scripture for this morning, Elijah goes to the town that God directed him to.  And Elijah approaches a widow that God told Elijah would provide food for him.  But when Elijah asks her for bread, she tells him her sad story.  She only has enough flour and enough oil to make a small loaf of bread.  When that is gone, every thing is gone.  So she is going to go home, make what bread she can, share it with her son, and then die of hunger.

            But Elijah informs her that God has a different plan.  God wants to use her and God will make sure that the small amount of flour and oil will not run out until the drought is over and there is food in the region once again.

            How many of you know what an impala is?  Now I’m not talking about the Chevy Impala, I’m talking about the African antelope-like creature called an impala.  Impala’s are herbivores, meaning they eat plants.  They are not a predator to anything but grass and shrubs.  However, impalas make a pretty tasty treat to lions, tigers, and other carnivores.  Impalas grow to about 3 feet tall at the shoulders, and can weigh up to 170 lbs. so they are quite comparable to our white tail deer that so many of us like to eat.

            Now the interesting thing about an impala is that God gave them the ability to escape danger in an amazing way.  Impalas can jump over 10 feet high into the air, and over 30 feet long.  So when a predator approaches an impala, they just start jumping around, covering long distances in a single bound, until they reach safety.  To put that in perspective, if you put an impala on a basketball court, an impala could jump high enough to land on top of the basket and it could jump far enough to go ten feet beyond the three-point line. 

            Now if you go to the zoo, you will see impalas enclosed in an area with only a short wall around it that is about three, maybe four feet high.  And it doesn’t take a physicist to figure out that an impala should be able to jump out of a pen that has a wall that is only three feet high.  And having grown up on a farm, I know exactly how difficult it can be to keep an animal within the confines that you choose for it.  So why don’t the impalas jump out of their pens?

            Well someone figured out that impalas will not jump somewhere if they can’t see the place where they are going to land.  In order to have the confidence to leap over that wall, they need to see what is on the other side.  So as long as the wall is at or above eye level, they will not jump over it because they are afraid of what’s on the other side.

            We have the ability to do great things.  We have been called to join God in his shalom making mission to this world.  We have been called to join in what God is doing, but so often we are afraid because we are uncertain of what might happen.  We refuse to jump out of our pens because we don’t really know what is on the other side of the wall.  It is safe in our pens.  We have food to eat and a place to sleep.

            And this is understandable.  We all fear the unknown.  The woman from our scripture hesitated to give Elijah the last of her food and there is good reason to hesitate in this situation.  I would hesitate too.  Wouldn’t you?

            Now the interesting thing to me is that in verse nine God tells Elijah that he has instructed a widow in the town to feed Elijah.  But when Elijah comes to the woman, she says that she can’t feed him.  She only has enough to feed her son and herself one more time, and then they are going to die.  But Elijah instructs her to first make him something to eat, and then she will see that God will provide for her until the great drought is over.  They will not run out of flour and they will not run out of oil.  There will be plenty.  And evidently the woman listened to Elijah because what Elijah had said would happen did happen.

            See the thing that makes God’s calling so much easier to answer is when other people are hearing the same thing as you are.  God had told this woman to feed Elijah, but she didn’t listen.  She was like that impala, not knowing what was on the other side of the fence, afraid to jump because of the unknown.  But when Elijah comes along and confirms what she has heard, then she knows that her original call from God was authentic.  Someone else has heard it as well.

            Now I know that the Bible shows us some special cases where an individual is called by God and nobody else seems to know about it.  We don’t know that anybody else was able to confirm Abram’s call to leave Ur, we don’t know that anybody confirmed Moses’ call to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.  But I believe that when God calls us today, God does so by speaking not only to us, but to other people as well.

            Diane Zaerr Brenneman worked for Mennonite Church USA in a role that the business world might call human resources.  She was in charge of getting pastors to fill out what is called the Ministerial Leadership Inquiry documents which are then matched with a similar document that churches that are looking for a pastor fill out.  So Diane was in a position where a lot of pastors would come to her to say, Hey, can you help me find a job? 

            Diane told me that quite often she would have newcomers that would come to her office, call her on the phone, or send her an email saying, “God is telling me that I should be a pastor.”  And her response was always, “Great.  Who else is telling you that?”

            I encourage you to ask the same question of yourself when you sense that God is calling you to do something scary, life-changing, life-altering, or new.  If you sense that God is calling you to join in on God’s mission, ask friends and family to help you discern if that calling is truly from God.  If the impala would only ask the neighboring orangutan if it was safe to jump over the fence, then maybe it would find the confidence to do just that and explore new territory.  And maybe, just maybe, if we partner together, affirming God’s call on our lives, we might be able to join together to seek God’s shalom for all of the world, disciples making disciples, who make disciples.

We’re getting ready for one of our favorite annual events — Sparkles & Sweets. It’s coming up this Friday, November 6, from 6 to 9PM. Nearly all of downtown Staunton’s shops, galleries and restaurants are participating. It’s an opportunity for you to enjoy free sparkling beverages and delicious treats at all the stores, take advantage of food and drink specials at the restaurants, and meet up with your friends and family to see everything that downtown has to offer. A lot of folks use this as a kick-off to their holiday shopping — we’ve got our Christmas and Hanukkah wrapping paper ready to go, so bring it on! This year there will be street entertainment, too, including live music and … FIRE JUGGLING. Yes! Any questions? Give us a call at 540-886-3516.

Hebrews 9:11-14

11But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), 12he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, 14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!

            I went to a pastor’s appreciation dinner on Tuesday, and I decided to wear my navy blazer, which most of you have never seen before because I so rarely wear it.  I was looking classy that evening with my starched-white shirt, navy blazer, and khaki pants.  I was, that is, until the lady next to me asked me to pass the sweet and low and I reached a little too low for it and dragged my sleeve through the chocolate cake on the table.  But of course I did not know immediately what I had done.  So I rested my arm at my side, I sat it on the table in front of me, I put it on the back of my chair.  And by the time I noticed what I had done, I had spread chocolate all across the right side of my fancy blazer, the chair, and the white table cloth.  By this time I was not looking as classy as I had when I left the house.

            So what did I do to clean it all up?  I rubbed some blood and ashes from a burnt heifer on the chocolate stains.  No, of course not!  I’m still looking for a good dry cleaner in the Staunton area.  Blood, ashes, what are these things going to clean?  I’ve cut myself enough times and cleaned enough fire pits to know that these things do not clean, they do not purify.  They stain.  I saw a joke on the internet this week saying that the best thing to do when you get a blood stain on a t-shirt is to spill more blood around the stain so that it doesn’t stand out as much.

            So there is something counterintuitive about God’s cleaning agent, because it is by the blood of Christ that we are made clean.  It doesn’t make sense, and perhaps that is one that we can chalk up to the humor of God.  I did not choose today’s scripture because it is an easy one to preach on or because it makes sense, but I hope that we can all be challenged to grow by looking at God’s cleaning agent.  Today I want to look at two different things that have come about because of the actions of Jesus: the atonement and purification.

            Today’s scripture is full of references to Judaism, which we might expect by the name of this particular book of the Bible: Hebrews.  The author of Hebrews is writing to Jewish people and is attempting to show them how Jesus is the fulfillment of the Jewish messianic expectations.  So in order to understand today’s scripture, we need to understand Judaism a little better.  Actually, I would say that in order to understand scripture at all, we need a pretty good background in Judaism.  So it might seem like today’s sermon is a little heavy on the Jewish teachings and practices, but I believe that this is essential for us to understand what scripture is intended to teach us.

Verse 11 begins by telling us that Jesus came to the greater and more perfect tabernacle or tent.  This is a reference to the old, portable tabernacle that the Israelites took with them as they wandered from captivity in Egypt to the Promised Land over a period of 40 years.  Then, as they set up in the Promised Land, they continued to worship in the tent style tabernacle up until Solomon built the temple just after the year 1000 BC.  So we have a couple hundred years where the Israelites worshiped God in a moveable tent, or more precisely a series of tents.

            When Solomon built his temple, it in many ways was structured the same way that the tabernacle made out of the series of tents was to be assembled.  Both had a holy place inside where the priests would perform the religious practices and then there was the Holy of Holies, or the Most Holy Place where only the high priest could enter one time each year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, to make sacrifices to God to atone for the sins of the people.  To atone for something means to compensate for something done wrong, ie the forgiveness of sins.  These two rooms, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place were separated by a curtain, or perhaps two curtains.  God was believed to dwell within the Holy of Holies and if anyone other than the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies they would die.  If the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies without first going through the correct rituals to purify himself, he would die.  I’ve even heard it said that the High Priest would tie a bell around his neck and a rope to his leg that way if they were struck down dead by God when they entered into the Holy of Holies the other priests would hear that the bell stopped ringing and they could pull the priest out with the rope.

            Before the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement they were to get two goats and a bull and bring them into the temple.  The High Priest would then take the bull and slaughter it as a sin offering to atone for his own sin and the sin of his household.  If he didn’t do this, he didn’t live through the whole process.  A sinful person could not enter the Holy of Holies and have direct contact with God. 

So this now-atoned-for priest takes the goats and one of them will be sent out into the wilderness as a scapegoat, a symbolic carrier of the sins of the people away from the camp, and the other one is slaughtered for the sins of the people.  The High Priest then takes the blood of the goat and blood of the bull and smears it on various things within the Holy of Holies and within the tent of meeting.  The bodies of these animals are then burned as an offering, and the remains are taken out of the camp and disposed of.  Then they did it again the next year, and the year after that, and so on.  Every year, on the Day of Atonement, they went through this process.

But the author of Hebrews says that Jesus came as High Priest in a perfect tabernacle.  And in verse 12, “he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.”

That, my friends, is what we call the Good News.  No longer do we need to slaughter a goat and cast our sins upon another goat and send it out into the wilderness to atone for our sins.  But Jesus came and acted as both the High Priest and as the sacrifice, atoning for the sins of all those that would know him as Lord.

Now there is a clear division between verses 12 and 13.  Verse 12 is comparing the Day of Atonement in the Jewish tradition and the way that Jesus has served as both priest and sacrifice in his death on the cross atoning for the sins of his followers.  There is a stipulation here.  If you are a follower of Jesus, then this atonement is for you.  It’s not just for Jews, it’s not just for Mennonites, but it is for those that know Jesus as Lord.  However, I would say that verse 13 changes gears a bit and goes from the atonement and transitions to purification. 

The Israelites had a fair number of purity laws concerning what they could and could not touch, what they could or could not eat, with whom they could or could not eat it with.  You cannot touch dead people or you will be ceremonially unclean for a week and you can’t enter into the temple for worship, you can’t be in contact with other people.  You can’t eat shellfish, pork, and other animals, or else you will be unclean and you cannot enter into the temple and you can’t be in contact with other people.  Don’t eat with a Gentile, or…you get the idea.

In Numbers 19 we find an interesting ritual that was used for the purification of the people when they became unclean.  The priest was to slaughter and burn a red heifer, and the ashes of the burned heifer were to be mixed with water and dumped on the unclean person.  Then, after the prescribed time had passed, that person could enter into the Jewish community and into worship, into the presence of God once again.  This is what the author of Hebrews is referring to when he says, “13For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, 14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!”

I would say that atonement is contingent on making Jesus your Lord, but this purification is universal.  These are separate acts that took place through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We often focus in the church on the atonement aspect of Jesus death and resurrection, but we should not take lightly this purification that took place.

It is because Jesus has purified all people that we can approach God without going through the High Priest.  At Jesus’ death, the Gospel of Luke says that the curtain that separated the common people from the Holy of Holies was torn in two.  God does not reside in the Holy of Holies.  Now God lives with us, among us, and within us in the form of the Holy Spirit.  And again, there is nothing that we have to do to acquire this.  Jesus already took care of it.  So whether you are the finest, clean cut, church-going Christian, or a drug-dealing, thieving, lowlife, God will hear your prayers.  Jesus bridged the gap that once divided God and humanity, the gap that once could only be bridged by a High Priest who had gone through the purification rituals.  And I believe that Jesus bridged that gap because Jesus, as God incarnate, came and dwelled among us, among the sinners, the tax collectors and prostitutes.  Now all can come directly to God.

Would you not agree that all people can come to God in prayer?  Or does God only hear the prayers of those who are righteous and upright?  If God does not hear the prayers of sinners, then when I prayed to God and asked him to be Lord in my life, that prayer was not heard.  I was not a Christian when I dedicated my life to following Jesus.  If I had already been a Christian, then I would have already made that decision.

In Luke chapter 18, Jesus tells a parable about two men that went up to the temple to pray; one a Pharisee and one a tax collector.  First the Pharisee stands up to pray, makes a big show about things, and prays out loud, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”

But then we hear from the tax collector, the un-holy one, the one that the Pharisee used as an example of what he was glad to not be like.  And the tax collector beats his breast and says, “God have mercy on me, a sinner.”  And who does Jesus say is heard by God?  Trick question!  They are both heard by God.  But the tax collector is the one that goes home on God’s good side.

Yes, I believe that God hears all prayers.  If we truly believe that God is all-knowing, then God must hear all prayers, regardless of our outward piety.  Righteousness is not a criteria in the New Testament for being heard by God and righteousness in not a criteria in the New Testament for God answering your prayer.  The criteria in the New Testament that we are given for God answering prayers is when we ask for things according to God’s will in Jesus’ name.  And it was God’s will to forgive the tax collector in Jesus’ parable.

This was not the case in the Jewish way of thinking.  If we look at John chapter 9, the story of the man born blind and healed by Jesus, we find that the Pharisees were questioning this now-healed man about Jesus to see if he sinned by healing on the Sabbath.  And this man born blind says that Jesus could not have sinned by healing him because God does not hear the prayers of sinners.  Chapter 9:31, “We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will.”  He is saying, Jesus couldn’t have been a sinner because God answered his prayer.  We find scripture in the Old Testament that confirms this in Proverbs and Psalms.  But because Jesus has come to this earth in the form of a human being, spent time with the sinners, and torn the curtain separating the Holy of Holies, now all can come to God in prayer.

            This is hard for some of us to understand today.  We want to believe that we are the ones that God hears and nobody else.  We want to be like the man born blind and say, “God does not hear the prayers of sinners.”  We feel like we are entitled to God hearing our prayers and not the prayers of the sinners, not the prayers of riff-raff and vagabonds.  We have dedicated our lives to serving God!  We have sacrificed money, fame, power, prestige.  We have given to the poor, loved our enemy, forgiven people that did not deserve to be forgiven.  God must hear our prayers; God must hear my prayers.  It just doesn’t seem fair to think that God would hear the prayers of all people.

            But then we realize, Christianity isn’t about what I have done.  Christianity is about what God has done through Jesus Christ.  And to be honest, sometimes that scares me.  That scares me because I like to be in control.  If I just do this, and if I just do that, then God will love me more, then God will hear my prayers, then God will answer my prayers.  But no, it is not about what I do.  It is about what God has done.

One thing that I get from time to time when people find out that I am a pastor or a church-going man is that they will ask me to pray for them.  And it is not that they are asking me to pray with them as they pray, but to pray for them because they think that they are not good enough to pray to God.  They believe that they are sinners and that there is this separation between them and God and that God can not hear them across that gulf.  I try to assure them that my prayers are no better than their prayers.  God will hear you whether you are the pope or a prostitute, a reverend or society’s reject.  Perhaps the best thing that I could do for people in that situation is to say, Yes, I will pray for you.  Will you pray for me?

Today is All Saints Day.  We in the Mennonite Church don’t often make a big deal about All Saints Day because we don’t like to venerate individuals.  Perhaps that is a good thing, because as I have said, it isn’t about what we do, but about what God has already done that deserves veneration.

But yet we do have a decision to make.  We are faced with the decision to accept the gift of grace and follow Christ, or not.  And to be honest, accepting grace is the easy part, following Christ, what we call discipleship, is not.

In his letters to the Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, Paul addresses his recipients as “saints”.  To the saints in Corinth, to the saints in Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae.  Paul doesn’t call them saints because they are perfect, but because they have made the decision to follow Jesus, accepting the atonement brought about by his blood, and not the blood of goats and bulls, and dedicating themselves to a life of service.

As I look out upon the faces of the saints of Staunton, we know that we are not perfect, but we are here today because we seek to serve the living God.  Maybe you wouldn’t think of yourself as a saint.  Maybe you can think of a grandparent or a neighbor that was truly a saint.  But me, a saint?  Come on!

If that is where you are today, praise God, because we serve a God that came to this earth in the form of Jesus Christ to bridge the gap between sinful humanity and a holy God.  Now sinners like you and sinners like me can come to God to ask for healing, to ask for guidance, to ask for forgiveness so that we can work toward becoming the saints that we are called to be.

Blood and ashes leave stains.  I’ve got the shirts to prove it.  But the blood of Christ has cleansed us.  Is this counterintuitive?  Yes indeed.  Is it effective?  I’m counting on it.  And I am thankful that everyone, sinners and saints, can come to our Lord.  Praise God.

New, indoor or outdoor, modern vibrant water features.  4 different colours including red, green, orange and grey.  These are great little gifts ideal for christmas.  Each feature has integrated LED lights for fantastic night time viewing.

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This was the scene yesterday morning when we unpacked our first shipment of Melissa & Doug cupcakes. (Or as we call them, CUPCAAAAAKES!!)

Big news! Pufferbellies is hosting our first annual Costume Parade on Friday, October 23 at 6:30PM. We’ll meet at Pufferbellies, parade around the block, then come back to Pufferbellies for a snack and a spooky story. Wear your costume, and feel free to bring a noise maker to use during the parade. All kids must be accompanied by a grown-up. What a fun way to celebrate Halloween in downtown Staunton, Virginia!

This weekend, we brought in a special assistant (OK, my Dad) to help us test out two new bouncy balls. We pitted a $4.99 Galaxy Ball against a $7.99 Diamond Air Ball. Check the video to see the winner!

-Erin B.

It’s almost time for one of our favorite annual events — Trick or Treat in Downtown Staunton. This year it will be better than ever, because Halloween falls on a Saturday! So come on Downtown on Saturday, October 31 for tricks, treats, and lots of fun. Don’t forget to wear your costume!

Here’s the schedule:

9AM – 11AM: Create a trick-or-treat bag and meet the SDDA witch outside Children’s Art Network on the Wharf. Register for prizes and get your photo taken, too.

10AM – 12noon: Visit participating stores all around Downtown for free candy. Does it get any better than that?

(PS — Pufferbellies will be hosting our own spooky Halloween party on Friday, October 23. Stay tuned for all the details.)

Today we got a shipment of something very cool — Crayon Rocks. Our friend and customer Deanna told us about these — they’re chunky crayons made of soy wax that are perfect for developing the kind of fine motor control that kids need to write with pencils. They’re made in the USA, and are free of petroleum products. We like ‘em! Take a look:

Darlington appoint former Republic of Ireland boss Steve Staunton as manager until the end of the season…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: footbal soccer. For a different topic see use it in a sentence. The blog is also related to: scottish soccer.

So, hey! We had great fun at Game Night last Friday. Erin S. and Emily taught us all how to play Backseat Drawing Jr., a fantastic family game that’s featured in our holiday catalog (watch your mailbox this week — the catalog is on the way).

We’ll be hosting our next Game Night on Friday, November 6th, from 6PM to 8PM. It’ll be pretty rollicking, since Erin S. is planning to feature Capture the Gag, one of her very favorite active games. The November Game Night will be the last one for 2009, though — in December, Pufferbellies will be playing host to a very special guest on Friday evenings. A little hint: our special guest will be flying in from way up north via an unconventional mode of transportation. Stay tuned for more details.

-Erin B.

Before I left Mary Baldwin for the Summer I filled out one of those “tell us what you think” pamphlets Starbucks always has siting around. I wrote that I was disappointed that the store was closing. I received this letter last week:

James 5:13-20

13Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest. 19My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, 20you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

There were these two boys who lived with their Grandma. They were about to go to bed but before they slept they prayed. The older grandson started to pray. He prayed about the day he had and about everything he had done. The younger grandson then started to pray, he prayed much louder than his elder brother, he prayed for bikes and toys, and when he finished the older brother asked him “Why are you praying so loud? God is not deaf.” The younger son responded and said “Yea but Grandma is.”

I am not advocating that we pray to God as if he were a genie in a bottle, existing to grant our three wishes.  But today I would like to search the scriptures to see that God is a God of compassion who cares deeply about us and therefore is a God that hears and answers our prayers.  So we will start today by looking at some background stories leading up to our scripture for today.

They say that God never changes, that God is immutable, which is not to say that you can’t mute God, but that God does not mutate.  Not only do “they” say this, but God says this.  In Malachi 3:6 we read, “I the Lord do not change.”  It doesn’t get any clearer than that, my friends.

We also believe that Jesus is the manifestation of God on earth; Jesus is God incarnate, in the flesh.  Jesus says “If you have seen me, you have seen the father.”  So if Jesus is God and God does not change, Jesus does not change.  Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. 

What does that mean?  What does it mean that God does not change?  It means that God does not stop being like God.  There are characteristics about God that do not falter or fail.  One of the most challenging thoughts that was given to me in seminary is that there is one thing that God cannot do: God cannot act outside of his character.  God cannot stop being righteous, just, and loving.  These are things that describe the God that we serve and because God does not change we can always count on God to be righteous, just, and loving.  And I want to add one more item to the list of God’s characteristics: God is compassionate.  Now prepare yourself for this, I’m now going to throw a little confusion into the equation.  Because God is compassionate, God does change.

Now you’re probably thinking, “What in the world are you talking about?  You just got done telling me that God does not change and now you are telling me that God does change?”  And if that is what you are thinking then you are hearing me correctly.  You see, I believe that the characteristics of God do not change, but that does not mean that God does not change his plans, his will, and his mind.  In fact, I would say that because God has the unchanging characteristic of being compassionate, God will change his plans, his will, and his mind.

We find a number of examples of God’s compassion causing God to change his mind in the Bible.  The first one that comes to my mind is the story of Abraham pleading for God to spare the city of Sodom from destruction.  It was announced to Abraham by his three visitors that God was going to wipe out this city because of the sinfulness of the people.  Abraham didn’t like this, so he began to plead with God to spare the city because it wouldn’t be right to wipe out the righteous with the wicked.  Abraham began pleading with God saying, If there are fifty righteous, will you spare the city?  And this bargaining went on until Abraham got God to agree to spare the city if there were only 10 righteous men to be found in the city. 

Some have minimized this story by saying that God knew that there were not 10 righteous in Sodom and therefore he already had his mind made up that he was going to destroy the city.  But this wasn’t the first time that God changed his mind, and it won’t be the last either.

Beginning in Genesis chapter 6 we find that humanity had strayed far away from their creator.  There was a huge division between God and people, which was not the purpose for which God made humanity.  No, God made humanity so that they might be in fellowship, in communion with God.  So God decides to wipe out all of humanity.

Some people have said that God wanted to wipe out humanity and start again, but Genesis 6:7 says, “So the Lord said, ‘I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”  There is nothing in that verse about starting over again.  This is about God scrapping the entire plan and giving up on humanity.

But there was a guy named Noah that found favor in the sight of the Lord, and God decided to spare him.  And not only did God change his mind and not eradicate all of humanity, God also chose not to scrap all of creation.  That seems like a pretty big change in plans to me.  We may not be sitting here today if God had not changed his mind.

            Jesus as God incarnate even shows us how God changes his mind when given the opportunity to be compassionate.  We find in Mark’s Gospel the story of Jesus walking on water.  If you remember the story, Jesus had sent the disciples on ahead of him to cross the sea.  Then when evening came, Jesus looks out on the sea and sees the disciples struggling at the oars, fighting against the wind.  So he walks toward them on the water.  Then verse 48 tells us that Jesus intended to pass them by.  But the disciples were scared and they were tired and Jesus had compassion on them.  So Jesus changed his plans and joined them on the boat, calming the sea.

            We also read about how Jesus was ministering to the Jewish people when a foreign woman of Syrophoenician decent approaches him and asks him to heal her daughter of an unclean spirit.  Jesus responds to her by saying that he came to feed the children, that is the Jews, and that it would not be appropriate to take the children’s food and give it to the dogs.  The woman responds that even the dogs eat from the scraps of the master’s table.  Jesus’ heart was moved by this woman’s faith and he did as she requested.

            Contrast these examples to a different understanding of God.  There is a school of philosophy known as Deism that claims that God created the world and all that is in it.  But then God stepped away from the world and allowed the world to function on its own.  The view of God within Deism is often referred to as “God the clockmaker” where a clockmaker would make a time piece and then not have to mess with it again.

            Deists do not believe that God has ever intervened for the people that he has created.  Deists deny miracles, deists deny the incarnation of God in the form of Jesus Christ.  They believe that God created the world and then turned us loose on our own.

I believe that the examples from the Bible reveal that God does change because there is a part of God that does not change.  God is compassionate.  That does not change.  And because God is compassionate, God sometimes intervenes and changes things up a bit.

            So what does any of this have to do with the passage that we started with from James chapter five?  I think this answers the question of why we pray.  We pray because we serve a compassionate God that does hear our prayers and does change his mind and his plans.  We serve a God that does break into this world and intervene on behalf of those that he has created and loved.  If God did not care about us and if God did not care about what was important to us, then prayer would be nothing but a waste of time.  But no, our God is a compassionate God.

            James 5 tells us when to pray and how to pray.  In verse 13 we find that if any are suffering, they should pray.  James is encouraging us to pray for ourselves.  Now he doesn’t go into detail as to how these people are suffering that should lead them to pray for themselves.  But I would assume that he is not talking about being sick, because he gives instructions for how to pray when you are sick separately in the next verse.  So these sufferers are suffering from more than a flu bug.  They are suffering physically from oppression, slavery, life situations, and very likely persecution.

            I’ll be honest with you all, this is when prayer is the most difficult for me.  When life is tough, when things are not going the way that I want them to go, I am supposed to pray?  Prayer is the last thing that I want to do when times are tough, and I really don’t know what suffering is.  I hear some of your stories and all of the things that you have been through, the sicknesses, the loss of loved ones, and I know that I do not know what it truly means to suffer.

            Last night Sonya and I went to a benefit auction for a couple of our friends, Dawn and Paul, that have been trying to get pregnant for about 2.5 years.  They are trying to raise money to adopt a child from Russia.  They both come from a very family-oriented background and they both want children very much.  So when things didn’t happen naturally they underwent numerous fertility treatments; they have gone to numerous doctors.  They have been poked, probed, stuck with needles, and questioned. 

Dawn shared with me one day that every month they go through a time of mourning, mourning the loss of opportunity, mourning the loss of another child not born.  They have suffered, they have prayed, and I know that they have struggled to pray as they know that they should.

            One of the hardest things that I have had to do in a long time was to tell Dawn and Paul that we are expecting a child in January.  Having known their struggles and knowing Dawn’s role at her church as the pastor of youth and family ministry, I realized that our news would be tough for Dawn to hear, even though I also knew that she would support us full heartedly.

            Prayer is tough when you are in the middle of suffering.  And people mean well, telling you things like, “God will see you through this.  God will help you.  God will (fill in the blank).”  But when you are in the middle of suffering, it can be hard to believe in God at all.  But I believe that God can and often does intercede.  We serve a God of compassion.  That is why we pray. 

But prayer is not just something that you do on your own behalf.  Look at verse 16, which says, “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.  The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.”  I don’t want to focus so much on the confessing your sins to one another now (though I do believe this to be a good practice), but the praying for one another.

            There are times when we just cannot bring ourselves to pray.  When we are hanging on to our lives by a thread, when our faith is dwindling, that is when we need prayer the most.  James instructs us that when we are sick to invite the elders of the church to pray for you.  I don’t believe that James instructs us to do this because our own prayers are not effective, but because our prayers might not be happening.

            I think that verse 13 lifts out another important aspect of prayer that we find on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, and that is how to pray when things are going well.  James says, “Are any of you cheerful?  They should sing songs of praise.”

            We have a lot to be happy about.  Each one of us.  I am thankful for the rain we got this weekend.  I am thankful for an abundant harvest from the fields and gardens in the area.  I am thankful for a roof over my head, clothes on my back, a loving wife that is carrying a healthy child in her womb.  I have much to be happy about.  And that…is…dangerous.

            We might think that James is simply stating the obvious here when he tells us to sing songs of praise when things are going well, but he says it for a reason.  I know that when things are going well that I tend to take God for granted.  God becomes a distant deity that I know is there if I need him, but I don’t take the time to thank God for what I have.

            I think part of this is because we live in a capitalist society where we have self-made men and self-made women.  We see the rich and the powerful and we hear stories about how Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, went from a college drop-out to one of the richest people in the world. 

So I end today by asking the question, does prayer work?  I say yes, prayer works.  And you don’t need to be a pastor and you sure don’t need to be perfect in order to have your prayer answered.  James lifts out the prophet Elijah as an example, saying that Elijah was just a plain human being, like you and me.  Flesh and blood, bone and hair.  He put on his tunic one leg at a time, just like anyone else.  But Elijah prayed, and he prayed fervently.  And because of his prayers, God made the rain stop and start again.

We all posses that kind of power with our prayers.  We can control the rain and the sun, the wind and cold.  Jesus told us his disciples that if they have faith the size of a mustard seed that they can move a mountain.  So if our prayers have that much power, then why do we so often not see any results?  Why can we pray and pray and pray some more, and a loved one still dies?  Why have Paul and Dawn prayed and been prayed for for years, and still not find themselves pregnant? 

Tony Campolo tells a story about being in a church in Oregon where he was asked to pray for a man who had cancer. Campolo prayed boldly for the man’s healing. That next week he got a telephone call from the man’s wife. She said, “You prayed for my husband. He had cancer.” Campolo thought when he heard her use the past tense verb that his cancer had been eradicated! But before he could think much about it she said, “He died.” Campolo felt terrible.
But she continued, “Don’t feel bad. When he came into that church that Sunday he was filled with anger. He knew he was going to be dead in a short period of time, and he hated God. He was 58 years old, and he wanted to see his children and grandchildren grow up. He was angry that this all-powerful God didn’t take away his sickness and heal him. He would lie in bed and curse God. The more his anger grew towards God, the more miserable he was to everybody around him. It was an awful thing to be in his presence.

But the lady told Campolo, “After you prayed for him, a peace had come over him and a joy had come into him. Tony, the last three days have been the best days of our lives. We’ve sung. We’ve laughed. We’ve read Scripture. We prayed. Oh, they’ve been wonderful days. And I called to thank you for laying your hands on him and praying for healing.”

And then she said something incredibly profound. She said, “He wasn’t cured, but he was healed.” (Tony Campolo, “Year of Jubilee,” Preaching Today Tape #212)

            The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.  God never promises to answer our prayers in the way we want him to, but God has promised to hear and answer our prayers.  As Paul and Dawn prepare to adopt a child from Russia, I know that they would say that there have been times when they have become frustrated, angry, and questioned God’s motives.  But yesterday as we sat at the benefit auction for them, we could see the love of God poured out through their many friends and family members.  Sometimes, even in moments of sorrow, God surprises us with blessings too great for us to even anticipate.

God you are unchanging, and for this we give you praise.

God of compassion, hear our prayers.

You have given sight to the blind and hope to the hopeless.

God of compassion, hear our prayers.

You are the great healer of physical, mental, and spiritual ailments.

God of compassion, hear our prayers.

You have loved us, redeemed us, and called us to follow you.

God of compassion, hear our prayers.

Help us, Lord, for you alone are holy.

God of compassion, hear our prayers.—Amen