Just under a year ago, several local churches in Southern Ocean County, NJ committed to ban together to provide shelter and food for local families in need.
With barely a year under it's 'belt' the Family Promise program has grown. The list of participants waiting to get into the program continues to increase.
The churches that are 'host sites' are plugging along. However, as anyone in service work knows, volunteer burn-out is common. The men and women who give freely of their time, talent and resources need a break too.
Now is the perfect time for churches and civic groups to come together and offer support to the host sites. Help can come in many different forms.
Supplies are always in need, prepared meals, volunteers to spend the night, set-up & break-down crews...you get the idea.
No action or donation is too small. Please consider giving of yourself to this program.
To find out how you can get involved go to http://www.familypromise.org/
Monday, September 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Christians in an Un-Christian World - the Book of Acts, 15:
“Increasing the Circle”
Acts 11:1-18
Rev. Clark Lynn Callender, 8/3/08wki
Acts 11:1-18
Rev. Clark Lynn Callender, 8/3/08wki
www.ManahawkinMethodist.org
Mother Teresa was once asked by an interviewer: “What is the biggest problem in the world today?” Without hesitating she replied, “The biggest problem in the world today is that we each draw the circle of our family too small. We need to draw it larger every day.”
Drawing larger our “circle of family” – the family of God - this is something of what I’d like to talk about this morning...
Over the last few weeks we’ve been studying the dramatic changes God has been working in the life of a young, zealous Pharisee named Saul – turning him from a person who opposes Christ to become a leader in the church. Well, while this has been going on, the Lord has also been working some equally great changes within one of the established leaders of the church, one who has been there from the very beginning, namely: SIMON PETER. Like Saul, Peter experiences a dramatic moment in his faith that will not only alter his personal life but also the course of church, and world, history forever; and our focus today shifts to him...
In our reading, Peter is being questioned by his fellow disciples in Jerusalem. Actually it’s more of an ACCUSATION: “Peter, you went into the house of gentile!” This is something that good, devout Jewish man would never do! So Peter sets about explaining his actions. And the story he tells is this:
It all began a few days ago with a man named CORNELIUS – a Roman Centurion – a pagan, a gentile (that is: anyone who is not Jewish) – who happens to believe in the God of Israel and who gives regularly to the Temple to support the Jews. Well, this day, while in prayer, Cornelius has a VISION: He sees an angel who says to him, “Cornelius, your prayers have risen to heaven. Send some men to the city of Joppa, there they will find a man named Peter, he will tell you what you must do.” Cornelius doesn’t know what to make of this, but in obedience to the vision, he sends off a few of his men to find this man, Peter.
While this is going on, Peter is in the midst of his own daily devotions. Up on the roof praying (as many did in those times), he has a VISION – an image comes before him: It’s a large white cloth, a sheet, and at the four corners of the cloth there are animals – each of these being animals which, according to Jewish law, are UNCLEAN – must never be eaten. One of the clear distinctions between Jew and Gentile. A voice says, “Peter, rise. Take and eat.” Peter replies, “No, never!” The vision repeats itself three times.
While Peter is struggling to make sense of this, the Holy Spirit speaks to him, saying, “Peter, three men are seeking you. Go with them, fear nothing, for I have sent them to you.” Right then, the three men Cornelius has sent arrive and they ask Peter to go with them, which he does – along with a few of the other disciples.
They all arrive in Caesarea and Cornelius is waiting for them. He has gathered his entire family and friends together and he invites Peter into his house. Peter makes it clear that it is wrong for Jew ever to enter the house of a gentile, but as he also makes clear: God has instructed him to do this, to “make no distinction”, so he enters the house.
There Cornelius begins to describe his vision, and as he does it all comes together for Peter: Clean, unclean... “Take and eat”... Jew and gentile, “no distinction”, breaking down barriers, entering homes, being together... Peter says, “I suddenly realize that God shows no partiality – whomever gives their life to God in righteousness is acceptable to him. Jesus Christ is Lord of ALL!” With that, the Holy Spirit fills the room. The gentiles begin speaking in tongues and Peter baptizes them, saying, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we?”
It’s a crucial scene within the story of Christianity, a pivotal moment marking the SHIFT from Christianity just being a SECT – a minor subdivision within Judaism; to Christianity being a WORLD RELIGION – offered to ALL! And in this, notice some of the key lessons this moment contains:
First, that in Christ NEW LIFE is never done happening. That is, we are always called to be GROWING and CHANGING. Think about it: Peter was one of the original followers – you’d figure he has it all “down” by now. But no, he still has major growing to do! Strong beliefs that needed to be challenged and overturned! A message to us all when we get too settled in our faith. You know, we may sing, “Give me that old time religion, it’s good enough for me”; but here God says IT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR HIM! In Christ, we should be continually growing to new understandings and new outreach and new service. New ways of living out our faith!
In this, the scene also, of course, vividly demonstrates that GOD’S WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS. Let’s face it, God “hangs a bend” here that nobody expected: Breaking down some of the most ancient rules of the faith; in effect saying that, in Christ these laws have been fulfilled and are no longer binding – that a NEW COVENANT has been formed: A covenant of FAITH in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone. It asks of us: Are we holding on to rules that no longer apply? And even better, as God’s ways can be most surprising: Is God on OUR AGENDA or, are we, rightly, ON HIS?!
Most of all, though, what this scene ultimately serves to establish is that God’s LOVE IN JESUS CHRIST is RADICALLY INCLUSIVE. This is what this whole scene is truly all about: That EVERYBODY IS WELCOME! EVERBODY!!! I mean, make no mistake about what happens here: the BOUNDARIES of WHO CHRIST’S LOVE IS FOR are BLOWN OUT entirely! Those deemed the most excluded are included! The saving work of Christ is shown to be not just for the Jews, for a select few, for the faithful; but for everyone: the Jew and the gentile, the clean and the unclean, the righteous and the failed... This love means to EMBRACE EVERYONE – even those some find the most sinful and unworthy of love! A radically inclusive love that seeks to bring everyone IN – everyone into the FAMILY - even the most “out”... especially the most “out”!
And in this, I think it’s great what Peter says in defending his actions to his fellow disciples who are questioning him – he says:
“Who was I that I should hinder God?” Notice what he’s saying: He’s wrestling with this. It pushes him much further than he’s ever gone. He’s still struggling to come to grips with it. But he realizes that God is at work here, offering love – and he must not stand in the way of this. That this is the greatest danger (as a follower of Christ): of HINDERING God’s radical love in Jesus Christ! A challenge the text then also seeks to place before each of us – simply put:
Are we hindering God’s love in Christ? Getting in the way of someone knowing that they are loved by God? It happens so easily and so often! Understand, this is the heart of our faith and of our Christian discipleship: God’s love in Jesus Christ is a radically inclusive love that aims to embrace everyone. Our job is simply to ENABLE this to happen, to “grow the family”. The very worst thing we can ever possibly do is BLOCK this.
Is this happening?
Who are we excluding? The individual we dislike? The group we dismiss as outside God’s love?
I’d like to offer a couple of thoughts that we need to keep in minds always to keep from hindering Christ’s love – the heart of our Christian discipleship...
(I)
First: We need to strive to SEE THE DIVINE IN EVERYONE.
As mentioned, one of the central points Peter makes (in defending his actions to his detractors) is that he has witnessed the Holy Spirit enter these gentiles. He knows that these people have GOD IN THEM TOO. And this, I believe, is where truly enabling – not hindering - God’s love in Christ begins – very simply: By SEEING THE DIVINE IN OTHERS. That each person, no matter how fallen or wrong or lost or misguided is still a child of God. It’s looking for the good, for the Godly, the “spark of the divine”, in everyone. Do we only see what is wrong with other people; or how God is in them? A famous preacher writes:
“Throughout my ministry I have tried to do just one thing: to see the face of Christ in everyone – most especially in those with whom I differed. When this spirit actuates us we shall be preserved at once from a narrow bigotry, from passionate vindictiveness and everything that would mar or injure our testimony for Him who came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”
God is at work in everyone’s life. Do we look for this? We tend to spend so much time writing people off – individuals, whole groups. Imagine what would happen instead if we saw one another as “filled with the Lord” – the presence of the Lord with us!
Author William White tells the story of a famous monastery that had fallen on hard times. Formerly its many buildings were filled with young monks, but now it was all but deserted. People no longer came there to be nourished by prayer, and only a handful of old monks shuffled through the cloisters serving God with heavy hearts. “On the edge of the monastery woods, an old rabbi had built a little hut. He would come there, from time to time, to fast and pray. No one ever spoke with him, but whenever he appeared, the word would be passed from monk to monk: 'The rabbi walks in the woods.' And the monks would feel sustained by his prayerful presence. “One day the abbot, the leader of the monastery, decided to visit the rabbi and open his heavy heart to him. So, early in the morning he set out through the woods. As he approached the hut, the abbot saw the rabbi standing in the doorway, as if he had been awaiting the abbot's arrival, his arms outstretched in welcome. “The two entered the hut where, in the middle of the room, stood a wooden table with the scriptures open on it. They sat for a moment in the presence of the Book. Then the abbot could not contain himself and began to weep. When the tears had ceased, the rabbi lifted his head. 'You and your brothers are serving God with heavy hearts,' he said. 'You have come to ask a teaching of me. I will give you a teaching, but you can repeat it only once. After that, no one must ever say it aloud again.' “The rabbi looked straight at the abbot and said, 'The Messiah is among you.' “For a while, all was silent. The rabbi said, 'Now you must go.' The abbot left without a word and without ever looking back. The next morning, the abbot called his monks together. He told them he had received a teaching from the 'rabbi who walks in the woods' and that the teaching was never again to be spoken aloud. Then he looked at the group of assembled brothers and said, ‘The rabbi said that one of us is the Messiah.’ “The monks were startled by this saying. ‘What could it mean?’ they asked themselves. ‘Is Brother John the Messiah? Or Brother Matthew or Brother Thomas? Is it one of the visitors? What does this mean?’ They were all deeply puzzled by the rabbi’s teaching, but no one ever mentioned it again. “As time went by, the monks began to treat one another, and every visitor, with a new and very special reverence. A gentle, warm-hearted, concern began to grow among them which was hard to describe but easy to notice. They began to live with everyone as people who had finally found the special something they were looking for. “When visitors came to the monastery they found themselves deeply moved by the life of these monks. Word spread, and before long people were coming from far and wide to be nourished by the prayer life of the monks and to experience the loving reverence in which they held everyone. Soon, other young men were asking, once again, to become a part of the community, and the community grew and prospered. The rabbi who walks in the woods was never seen again. But the monastery was never the same.”
(II)
The Messiah is among us. To keep from hindering God’s love in Christ, first, SEE THE DIVINE IN EVERYONE. Then, secondly: QUIT BEING SO RIGHT.
Once again, in this famous scene, Peter is having some of his most closely-held, fundamental beliefs challenged. He’s being forced to give up things he believes are right. He’s wrestling with this; but what we ultimately see him do is be willing to put aside being right in favor of someone else knowing the love of Jesus Christ. And this is the second key lesson for us:
Are we willing to put aside being right in favor of someone else knowing that they are loved by God? You know, we all tend to be so hung up on “being right”: on never being wronged, on pointing out what is wrong in others. We do it constantly to the people closest to us and to whole groups we dismiss as sinful. Ultimately making this the main issue of life: GET RIGHT! But is this really the “main issue”? Make no mistake, essentially we have REVERSED THE GOSPEL. The Gospel says: “Jesus loves you. Receive that love and be changed by it.” But we have turned this around into: “Change yourself and then Jesus will love you!” And then we wonder why our experience of faith and its effect in the world are so lacking!
Understand: Yes, there is right and wrong that must be fought for and against. But what this text seeks to teach us is that there is something MORE IMPORTANT than simply “being right” – namely: BEING LOVING. GETTING OTHERS INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD! We don’t have to be so “right”! God will take care of that! It’s more important to help other know they’re in – that they are loved by God right as they are!
It has been said: “People need love – most especially when they don’t deserve it. The true test of love is not how one relates to the saints but to the sinners.” Are we willing to put aside being right to simply love someone into the kingdom of God? Think of it this way:
Author Amy Sutherland offers some interesting ideas about husbands and wives in an article she wrote for the New York Times called, “What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage.” Sutherland begins by explaining that, after 12 years of marriage, she became dismayed that her husband still exhibited several irritating habits. She writes:
“These minor annoyances are not the stuff of separation and divorce, but in sum they began to dull my love for Scott. I wanted – needed - to nudge him a little closer to perfect, to make him into a mate who might annoy me a little less, who wouldn’t keep me waiting at restaurants, a mate who would be easier to love.
“So, like many wives before me, I ignored a library of advice books and set about improving him. By nagging, of course, which only made his behavior worse: he’d drive faster instead of slower; shave less frequently, not more; and leave his reeking workout garb on the bedroom floor longer than ever.”
A breakthrough came when Amy began traveling to a school for exotic animal trainers in California in order to research a book she wanted to write – she reflects:
“I listened, rapt, as professional trainers explained how they taught dolphins to flip and elephants to paint. Eventually it hit me that the same techniques might work on that stubborn but loveable species, the American husband.
“The central lesson I learned from exotic animal trainers is that I should reward behavior I like and ignore behavior I don’t. After all, you don’t get a sea lion to balance a ball on the end of its nose by nagging. The same goes for a spouse.
“Back in Maine, I began hugging Scott if he threw one dirty shirt into the hamper. If he threw in two, I’d kiss him. Meanwhile, I would step over any soiled clothes on the floor without one sharp word. I quit trying to make him perfect and just tried loving him, and strangely enough, my love grew for him. And as he basked in my appreciation, the piles he left became smaller and smaller and smaller.”
(III)
In keeping from hindering God’s love in Christ: SEE THE DIVINE IN EVERYONE, QUIT BEING SO RIGHT – and finally: KNOW THAT SOMEONE IS PRAYING.
In the end, remember where this story began? With a Centurion named Cornelius PRAYING. Now, we don’t know exactly what he was praying for; but, as most scholars note: Judging from the response he receives, namely: that his prayer has been answered – and he is then welcomed into the community of Christ; his prayer would have seemed to have been that, as an OUTSIDER who loved the Lord that he might be INCLUDED WITHIN – that he might JOIN THE FAMILY. A prayer that Peter then fulfills. And this is the final lesson here:
That all around us, every day, are people praying to know the love of God. They may be praying this directly – seeking the Lord; but, more often, they’re praying it INDIRECTLY: Not even knowing that they are seeking this, not even knowing they’re praying – but just reaching out somehow for acceptance or forgiveness or belonging or love. We can fulfill these prayers if will simply take a moment to reach out in some way with what we have received in Christ.
Today, each of us can answer someone else’s prayer to know the love of God. Will we? A noted preacher writes:
“Every employee deserves to know they are unique and valuable to their boss. That’s the message of Tim Sanders, leadership coach and former Chief Solutions Officer at Yahoo! who urges managers and supervisors to let their subordinates know how much they appreciate them. Sanders advocates leading through loving in his book Love Is the Killer App, and from the platform of multiple leadership conferences. He often tells the story of a young manager named Steve, who was challenged by one of Sanders’s radio interviews. He writes:
“Steve resolved to visit each of his employees, all six of whom he had not seen face to face in over six months even though they worked in the same building and on the same floor. Steve wanted to tell each of them how much he appreciated them, and name one thing they did excellently.
“After the visit from Steve, one of his software engineers, Lenny, presented him with an Xbox gaming console. Steve was taken aback, as he knew Lenny had taken pay cuts over the last year. But he was more surprised to learn that the money had come from the sale of a nine-millimeter pistol - a pistol Lenny had bought months earlier with the intention of killing himself. Lenny told him of his mother’s death the previous year, and of his ensuing loneliness and depression – he said:
“’I started a routine every night after work: eating a bowl of Ramen noodles, listening to Nirvana, and getting the gun out. It took almost a month to get the courage to put the bullets in the gun. It took another couple of months to get used to holding the gun in my hand. I was getting so close, Steve - so close. Last week, you freaked me out. You came into my cubicle, put your arm around me, and told me you appreciated me because I turn in all my projects early, and that helps you sleep at night. You also said that I have a great sense of humor in my e-mails and that you are glad I came into your life.
“’That night I went home, ate Ramen, and listened to Nirvana - and when I got the gun out, it scared me silly for the first time. All I could think about was what you said - that you were glad I came into your life. The next day I went back to the pawnshop and sold the gun. I remembered that you had said you wanted the Xbox more than anything, but with a new baby at home could not afford it. So, for my life, you get this game. Thanks, boss.’
So many people, all around us every day, are praying to know the love of God – and we can answer that prayer.
“The biggest problem in the world today is that we each draw the circle of our family too small. We need to draw it larger every day.” This is the job of the Christian.
This week, may we not hinder the radically inclusive love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; but, instead, draw the circle of family larger.
See the divine in everyone. Quit being so right. And know that someone is praying.
Mother Teresa was once asked by an interviewer: “What is the biggest problem in the world today?” Without hesitating she replied, “The biggest problem in the world today is that we each draw the circle of our family too small. We need to draw it larger every day.”
Drawing larger our “circle of family” – the family of God - this is something of what I’d like to talk about this morning...
Over the last few weeks we’ve been studying the dramatic changes God has been working in the life of a young, zealous Pharisee named Saul – turning him from a person who opposes Christ to become a leader in the church. Well, while this has been going on, the Lord has also been working some equally great changes within one of the established leaders of the church, one who has been there from the very beginning, namely: SIMON PETER. Like Saul, Peter experiences a dramatic moment in his faith that will not only alter his personal life but also the course of church, and world, history forever; and our focus today shifts to him...
In our reading, Peter is being questioned by his fellow disciples in Jerusalem. Actually it’s more of an ACCUSATION: “Peter, you went into the house of gentile!” This is something that good, devout Jewish man would never do! So Peter sets about explaining his actions. And the story he tells is this:
It all began a few days ago with a man named CORNELIUS – a Roman Centurion – a pagan, a gentile (that is: anyone who is not Jewish) – who happens to believe in the God of Israel and who gives regularly to the Temple to support the Jews. Well, this day, while in prayer, Cornelius has a VISION: He sees an angel who says to him, “Cornelius, your prayers have risen to heaven. Send some men to the city of Joppa, there they will find a man named Peter, he will tell you what you must do.” Cornelius doesn’t know what to make of this, but in obedience to the vision, he sends off a few of his men to find this man, Peter.
While this is going on, Peter is in the midst of his own daily devotions. Up on the roof praying (as many did in those times), he has a VISION – an image comes before him: It’s a large white cloth, a sheet, and at the four corners of the cloth there are animals – each of these being animals which, according to Jewish law, are UNCLEAN – must never be eaten. One of the clear distinctions between Jew and Gentile. A voice says, “Peter, rise. Take and eat.” Peter replies, “No, never!” The vision repeats itself three times.
While Peter is struggling to make sense of this, the Holy Spirit speaks to him, saying, “Peter, three men are seeking you. Go with them, fear nothing, for I have sent them to you.” Right then, the three men Cornelius has sent arrive and they ask Peter to go with them, which he does – along with a few of the other disciples.
They all arrive in Caesarea and Cornelius is waiting for them. He has gathered his entire family and friends together and he invites Peter into his house. Peter makes it clear that it is wrong for Jew ever to enter the house of a gentile, but as he also makes clear: God has instructed him to do this, to “make no distinction”, so he enters the house.
There Cornelius begins to describe his vision, and as he does it all comes together for Peter: Clean, unclean... “Take and eat”... Jew and gentile, “no distinction”, breaking down barriers, entering homes, being together... Peter says, “I suddenly realize that God shows no partiality – whomever gives their life to God in righteousness is acceptable to him. Jesus Christ is Lord of ALL!” With that, the Holy Spirit fills the room. The gentiles begin speaking in tongues and Peter baptizes them, saying, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we?”
It’s a crucial scene within the story of Christianity, a pivotal moment marking the SHIFT from Christianity just being a SECT – a minor subdivision within Judaism; to Christianity being a WORLD RELIGION – offered to ALL! And in this, notice some of the key lessons this moment contains:
First, that in Christ NEW LIFE is never done happening. That is, we are always called to be GROWING and CHANGING. Think about it: Peter was one of the original followers – you’d figure he has it all “down” by now. But no, he still has major growing to do! Strong beliefs that needed to be challenged and overturned! A message to us all when we get too settled in our faith. You know, we may sing, “Give me that old time religion, it’s good enough for me”; but here God says IT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR HIM! In Christ, we should be continually growing to new understandings and new outreach and new service. New ways of living out our faith!
In this, the scene also, of course, vividly demonstrates that GOD’S WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS. Let’s face it, God “hangs a bend” here that nobody expected: Breaking down some of the most ancient rules of the faith; in effect saying that, in Christ these laws have been fulfilled and are no longer binding – that a NEW COVENANT has been formed: A covenant of FAITH in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone. It asks of us: Are we holding on to rules that no longer apply? And even better, as God’s ways can be most surprising: Is God on OUR AGENDA or, are we, rightly, ON HIS?!
Most of all, though, what this scene ultimately serves to establish is that God’s LOVE IN JESUS CHRIST is RADICALLY INCLUSIVE. This is what this whole scene is truly all about: That EVERYBODY IS WELCOME! EVERBODY!!! I mean, make no mistake about what happens here: the BOUNDARIES of WHO CHRIST’S LOVE IS FOR are BLOWN OUT entirely! Those deemed the most excluded are included! The saving work of Christ is shown to be not just for the Jews, for a select few, for the faithful; but for everyone: the Jew and the gentile, the clean and the unclean, the righteous and the failed... This love means to EMBRACE EVERYONE – even those some find the most sinful and unworthy of love! A radically inclusive love that seeks to bring everyone IN – everyone into the FAMILY - even the most “out”... especially the most “out”!
And in this, I think it’s great what Peter says in defending his actions to his fellow disciples who are questioning him – he says:
“Who was I that I should hinder God?” Notice what he’s saying: He’s wrestling with this. It pushes him much further than he’s ever gone. He’s still struggling to come to grips with it. But he realizes that God is at work here, offering love – and he must not stand in the way of this. That this is the greatest danger (as a follower of Christ): of HINDERING God’s radical love in Jesus Christ! A challenge the text then also seeks to place before each of us – simply put:
Are we hindering God’s love in Christ? Getting in the way of someone knowing that they are loved by God? It happens so easily and so often! Understand, this is the heart of our faith and of our Christian discipleship: God’s love in Jesus Christ is a radically inclusive love that aims to embrace everyone. Our job is simply to ENABLE this to happen, to “grow the family”. The very worst thing we can ever possibly do is BLOCK this.
Is this happening?
Who are we excluding? The individual we dislike? The group we dismiss as outside God’s love?
I’d like to offer a couple of thoughts that we need to keep in minds always to keep from hindering Christ’s love – the heart of our Christian discipleship...
(I)
First: We need to strive to SEE THE DIVINE IN EVERYONE.
As mentioned, one of the central points Peter makes (in defending his actions to his detractors) is that he has witnessed the Holy Spirit enter these gentiles. He knows that these people have GOD IN THEM TOO. And this, I believe, is where truly enabling – not hindering - God’s love in Christ begins – very simply: By SEEING THE DIVINE IN OTHERS. That each person, no matter how fallen or wrong or lost or misguided is still a child of God. It’s looking for the good, for the Godly, the “spark of the divine”, in everyone. Do we only see what is wrong with other people; or how God is in them? A famous preacher writes:
“Throughout my ministry I have tried to do just one thing: to see the face of Christ in everyone – most especially in those with whom I differed. When this spirit actuates us we shall be preserved at once from a narrow bigotry, from passionate vindictiveness and everything that would mar or injure our testimony for Him who came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”
God is at work in everyone’s life. Do we look for this? We tend to spend so much time writing people off – individuals, whole groups. Imagine what would happen instead if we saw one another as “filled with the Lord” – the presence of the Lord with us!
Author William White tells the story of a famous monastery that had fallen on hard times. Formerly its many buildings were filled with young monks, but now it was all but deserted. People no longer came there to be nourished by prayer, and only a handful of old monks shuffled through the cloisters serving God with heavy hearts. “On the edge of the monastery woods, an old rabbi had built a little hut. He would come there, from time to time, to fast and pray. No one ever spoke with him, but whenever he appeared, the word would be passed from monk to monk: 'The rabbi walks in the woods.' And the monks would feel sustained by his prayerful presence. “One day the abbot, the leader of the monastery, decided to visit the rabbi and open his heavy heart to him. So, early in the morning he set out through the woods. As he approached the hut, the abbot saw the rabbi standing in the doorway, as if he had been awaiting the abbot's arrival, his arms outstretched in welcome. “The two entered the hut where, in the middle of the room, stood a wooden table with the scriptures open on it. They sat for a moment in the presence of the Book. Then the abbot could not contain himself and began to weep. When the tears had ceased, the rabbi lifted his head. 'You and your brothers are serving God with heavy hearts,' he said. 'You have come to ask a teaching of me. I will give you a teaching, but you can repeat it only once. After that, no one must ever say it aloud again.' “The rabbi looked straight at the abbot and said, 'The Messiah is among you.' “For a while, all was silent. The rabbi said, 'Now you must go.' The abbot left without a word and without ever looking back. The next morning, the abbot called his monks together. He told them he had received a teaching from the 'rabbi who walks in the woods' and that the teaching was never again to be spoken aloud. Then he looked at the group of assembled brothers and said, ‘The rabbi said that one of us is the Messiah.’ “The monks were startled by this saying. ‘What could it mean?’ they asked themselves. ‘Is Brother John the Messiah? Or Brother Matthew or Brother Thomas? Is it one of the visitors? What does this mean?’ They were all deeply puzzled by the rabbi’s teaching, but no one ever mentioned it again. “As time went by, the monks began to treat one another, and every visitor, with a new and very special reverence. A gentle, warm-hearted, concern began to grow among them which was hard to describe but easy to notice. They began to live with everyone as people who had finally found the special something they were looking for. “When visitors came to the monastery they found themselves deeply moved by the life of these monks. Word spread, and before long people were coming from far and wide to be nourished by the prayer life of the monks and to experience the loving reverence in which they held everyone. Soon, other young men were asking, once again, to become a part of the community, and the community grew and prospered. The rabbi who walks in the woods was never seen again. But the monastery was never the same.”
(II)
The Messiah is among us. To keep from hindering God’s love in Christ, first, SEE THE DIVINE IN EVERYONE. Then, secondly: QUIT BEING SO RIGHT.
Once again, in this famous scene, Peter is having some of his most closely-held, fundamental beliefs challenged. He’s being forced to give up things he believes are right. He’s wrestling with this; but what we ultimately see him do is be willing to put aside being right in favor of someone else knowing the love of Jesus Christ. And this is the second key lesson for us:
Are we willing to put aside being right in favor of someone else knowing that they are loved by God? You know, we all tend to be so hung up on “being right”: on never being wronged, on pointing out what is wrong in others. We do it constantly to the people closest to us and to whole groups we dismiss as sinful. Ultimately making this the main issue of life: GET RIGHT! But is this really the “main issue”? Make no mistake, essentially we have REVERSED THE GOSPEL. The Gospel says: “Jesus loves you. Receive that love and be changed by it.” But we have turned this around into: “Change yourself and then Jesus will love you!” And then we wonder why our experience of faith and its effect in the world are so lacking!
Understand: Yes, there is right and wrong that must be fought for and against. But what this text seeks to teach us is that there is something MORE IMPORTANT than simply “being right” – namely: BEING LOVING. GETTING OTHERS INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD! We don’t have to be so “right”! God will take care of that! It’s more important to help other know they’re in – that they are loved by God right as they are!
It has been said: “People need love – most especially when they don’t deserve it. The true test of love is not how one relates to the saints but to the sinners.” Are we willing to put aside being right to simply love someone into the kingdom of God? Think of it this way:
Author Amy Sutherland offers some interesting ideas about husbands and wives in an article she wrote for the New York Times called, “What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage.” Sutherland begins by explaining that, after 12 years of marriage, she became dismayed that her husband still exhibited several irritating habits. She writes:
“These minor annoyances are not the stuff of separation and divorce, but in sum they began to dull my love for Scott. I wanted – needed - to nudge him a little closer to perfect, to make him into a mate who might annoy me a little less, who wouldn’t keep me waiting at restaurants, a mate who would be easier to love.
“So, like many wives before me, I ignored a library of advice books and set about improving him. By nagging, of course, which only made his behavior worse: he’d drive faster instead of slower; shave less frequently, not more; and leave his reeking workout garb on the bedroom floor longer than ever.”
A breakthrough came when Amy began traveling to a school for exotic animal trainers in California in order to research a book she wanted to write – she reflects:
“I listened, rapt, as professional trainers explained how they taught dolphins to flip and elephants to paint. Eventually it hit me that the same techniques might work on that stubborn but loveable species, the American husband.
“The central lesson I learned from exotic animal trainers is that I should reward behavior I like and ignore behavior I don’t. After all, you don’t get a sea lion to balance a ball on the end of its nose by nagging. The same goes for a spouse.
“Back in Maine, I began hugging Scott if he threw one dirty shirt into the hamper. If he threw in two, I’d kiss him. Meanwhile, I would step over any soiled clothes on the floor without one sharp word. I quit trying to make him perfect and just tried loving him, and strangely enough, my love grew for him. And as he basked in my appreciation, the piles he left became smaller and smaller and smaller.”
(III)
In keeping from hindering God’s love in Christ: SEE THE DIVINE IN EVERYONE, QUIT BEING SO RIGHT – and finally: KNOW THAT SOMEONE IS PRAYING.
In the end, remember where this story began? With a Centurion named Cornelius PRAYING. Now, we don’t know exactly what he was praying for; but, as most scholars note: Judging from the response he receives, namely: that his prayer has been answered – and he is then welcomed into the community of Christ; his prayer would have seemed to have been that, as an OUTSIDER who loved the Lord that he might be INCLUDED WITHIN – that he might JOIN THE FAMILY. A prayer that Peter then fulfills. And this is the final lesson here:
That all around us, every day, are people praying to know the love of God. They may be praying this directly – seeking the Lord; but, more often, they’re praying it INDIRECTLY: Not even knowing that they are seeking this, not even knowing they’re praying – but just reaching out somehow for acceptance or forgiveness or belonging or love. We can fulfill these prayers if will simply take a moment to reach out in some way with what we have received in Christ.
Today, each of us can answer someone else’s prayer to know the love of God. Will we? A noted preacher writes:
“Every employee deserves to know they are unique and valuable to their boss. That’s the message of Tim Sanders, leadership coach and former Chief Solutions Officer at Yahoo! who urges managers and supervisors to let their subordinates know how much they appreciate them. Sanders advocates leading through loving in his book Love Is the Killer App, and from the platform of multiple leadership conferences. He often tells the story of a young manager named Steve, who was challenged by one of Sanders’s radio interviews. He writes:
“Steve resolved to visit each of his employees, all six of whom he had not seen face to face in over six months even though they worked in the same building and on the same floor. Steve wanted to tell each of them how much he appreciated them, and name one thing they did excellently.
“After the visit from Steve, one of his software engineers, Lenny, presented him with an Xbox gaming console. Steve was taken aback, as he knew Lenny had taken pay cuts over the last year. But he was more surprised to learn that the money had come from the sale of a nine-millimeter pistol - a pistol Lenny had bought months earlier with the intention of killing himself. Lenny told him of his mother’s death the previous year, and of his ensuing loneliness and depression – he said:
“’I started a routine every night after work: eating a bowl of Ramen noodles, listening to Nirvana, and getting the gun out. It took almost a month to get the courage to put the bullets in the gun. It took another couple of months to get used to holding the gun in my hand. I was getting so close, Steve - so close. Last week, you freaked me out. You came into my cubicle, put your arm around me, and told me you appreciated me because I turn in all my projects early, and that helps you sleep at night. You also said that I have a great sense of humor in my e-mails and that you are glad I came into your life.
“’That night I went home, ate Ramen, and listened to Nirvana - and when I got the gun out, it scared me silly for the first time. All I could think about was what you said - that you were glad I came into your life. The next day I went back to the pawnshop and sold the gun. I remembered that you had said you wanted the Xbox more than anything, but with a new baby at home could not afford it. So, for my life, you get this game. Thanks, boss.’
So many people, all around us every day, are praying to know the love of God – and we can answer that prayer.
“The biggest problem in the world today is that we each draw the circle of our family too small. We need to draw it larger every day.” This is the job of the Christian.
This week, may we not hinder the radically inclusive love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; but, instead, draw the circle of family larger.
See the divine in everyone. Quit being so right. And know that someone is praying.
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