Pentecost Sunday Audio

Second Sunday after Pentecost Audio

King David, after his great sin that would have brought him and the nation down if it had not been for God's grace - wrote these words in Psalm 51, "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings - the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." God didn't want all the sacrifices - but they were necessary for us to see the cost of our sin. A metaphor - a story - but a powerful one. A thousand year's later St. Paul connected the dots when he wrote these words in Hebrews 10, "Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am - it is written about me in the scroll - I have come to do your will, O God.' " Only one sacrifice was ever necessary - and as we look into the eyes of our Jesus on the cross - we see the love of God - and know that we are forgiven and free. Now we give from the heart - sacrifices of thanksgiving - and the BBQ is just a place for friends and family.

Holy Trinity Sunday Audio

I love that what Gamiliel said, "You may find yourself fighting against God." And how would you know? It is as simple as "last one standing wins." If God is God - then "He will build His church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it." I know we love those old Sunday School stories - Shadrach, Meschack, Abednego and the fiery furnace, Daniel in the lion's den, Moses crossing the Red Sea, Joshua fighting the battle of Jericho - because our side wins and the other side loses and we get to say, "nanny, nanny, boo, boo" - our God is bigger than your god." But God doesn't always work that way. The entire book of Lamentations - where the people of Israel are in captivity and crying out for God to rescue them - God just patiently listens until the nation has learned its lesson and are ready to be restored. There was never a doubt that God had the power and willingness to rescue them - the only question was timing. In Lamentations 3:22 Jeremiah says, "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him." When the world talks about god Apollo or god Zeus or goddess Athena - or says there isn't a god or that god is nature or god is a universal consciousness - those are not fighting words. We do not need to take up our swords and be like Hulk and smash everything. Either Jesus is God and He died and rose again and will eventually take us home - or He isn't, didn't and won't. We're in it for the long game - like Jeremiah.

Pentecost Sunday Audio

You are filled with the Spirit to receive God's love. Being the church reminds us God promises to always be with us - even when we feel we don't deserve His love and forgiveness or aren't up to the work He has set before us. The Spirit keeps breathing into us - reviving us and bringing us back to life because a life - especially one that is unique and unreproducible as yours - should never be wasted.

Sunday of the Ascension Audio

Jesus told His disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit before they went out to change the world because there is nothing worse than a bunch of people without candles or flashlights running around in the dark - bumping into things, bumping into each other and not getting anywhere. But there is nothing better than a bunch of people with candles or flashlights helping people find their way in the dark. Once the disciples had the Spirit - it was time to push back the darkness. Back in the old days when you hiked Diamond Head - there were no lights in the tunnel part. One time I forgot my flashlight and had to wait until someone came along so I could follow them. The next time I remembered my light - and it was my turn to lead the way. Every time Ascension Day rolls around, I hear Jesus say, "you know the way to the place I am going." And I do. I know who Jesus is. I can't fully comprehend what that means - but I know enough to know if I want spend eternity with Jesus - the only way is to follow Him home.

Fifth Sunday of Easter Audio

And this gets back to our calling. Rarely can we change all the things we think need to be changed to make us happy - whether we're talking about changes to our body or changes to the world or changes to the people around us. We aren't in charge of everything - and even if we were, we can tell people what to do - but they aren't any better at changing things than we are. As Bob Goff said, "Most people need love and acceptance a lot more than they need advice." The one thing we can do - the one thing that is within our power - is to learn to accept the people and events and even ourselves when change isn't possible. Change is a process. "How many times do you want me to forgive my brother?" Peter asked Jesus. And Jesus basically responded, "to infinity and beyond." And that goes for us too - "how many times can I be forgiven - especially if I keep doing the same, dumb things?" "To infinity - or at least eternity - and beyond" Jesus replies.