A Cold and Broken Hallelujah

Audio Here

I mentioned at the start of this series, the most difficult aspect of Christianity is servanthood. I would prefer to dance around, shout halleluiah and amen, preaching on the life giving mercy, love, and forgiveness of Jesus, than to face the absolute, undebatable truth, those who follow Christ must be servants to others. They are to roll up their sleeves, get their work boots on, and get their hands dirty helping others get out of the muck of life. It is what Jesus requires of those who wish to follow him. They are to forsake everything and serve as he served, love as he loved, and so on and so forth.

It starts off exciting. The idea of serving others, providing care for their needs, helping others in distress, being a mentor, aiding the sick, feeding those who are hungry, giving a cup of water to the thirsty. It starts off exciting but then one thing happens and another. You realize some people cheat the system and you wonder if the person you’re helping really needs the help. The sick never get better, in fact, it seems they only get worse. There is never a ‘thank you’ or a return investment from those who you help. Slowly, with each day, you become more and more of a cynic, aided by news agencies. The service narrative gets spun into a narrative that condemns the poor and the helpers, while praising billionaires who rob their clients. It is like walking along the beach, and you see one starfish, so you pick it up and throw it back into the water. You walk a few more feet and another washes up on shore, so you pick it up and throw it back.  You walk a little further and another washes up on shore, then another, then another, and all of sudden, what seemed as a noble task has become a redundant, never-ending cycle. Weariness sets in and you just wonder if it is worth it.

Writers call this the middle. It’s the middle of the story in which the character goes through a lull in which they are taken to the edge. It is when the conflict becomes the toughest. Frodo is overtaken by the power of the ring; Superman learns what it’s like to live normal, Rocky loses Mickey, Jesus undergoes the crucifixion. The middle of the story is the most difficult to get through because the end seems so far, the conflict feels unresolvable, and hope starts to fade. It is at that moment we need the tune to change, that word of encouragement to come and raise us up to continue on with our task.

The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens—wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backwards. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty? All of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up. (Isaiah 50:4-9)

In our third song, we learn the chosen servant has been given the tongue of a teacher. He knows how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning, he wakens with his ear to listen as those who are taught. The servant gives his back to his assailants, turning the other cheek to those who strike his face. The servant chooses not to hide. He keeps moving, even when it’s uncomfortable, even when it’s a crawl, the servant keeps moving. The servant believes the Lord God helps him. He believes the Lord God is with him and he will not be disgraced. He believes the Lord God is with him and trusts he will not be put to shame. In his speech, he calls out to those who struggle with him. He reminds the other servants, those who have accepted the call of the Lord to go forth, to be a beacon to the nations, to stand with him. To believe as he believes, to know those who claim to be adversaries will wear like garments left to the moths.

The third song offers a bit of hope. The servant struggles to be heard, he is beaten and abused; yet he holds on to the belief that God will raise him up. We are left to believe others have taken their place beside him, we think we can start to sing, “O victory in Jesus,” yet our final song reminds us that love is not a victory march. It reminds us that not all of God’s tasks end with joyful hallelujah singing, Ms. Andrews, as you cross the Austrian Alps. Sometimes, more often than not, the task of the Lord ends in a cold, broken hallelujah.

See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. Just as there were many who were astonished at him—so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals—so he shall startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate. Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)

This time the servant will command our attention for much longer than third song. This fourth song is the most elaborate and poignant of them all. This emotional song creeps up on us silently and slowly; suddenly we find ourselves amidst a scene of unrelenting violence. It is as though we were in danger of forgetting, the servant steps forward and reminds us of his central presence. Yet, as when we first met him, the servant is silent. My pastoral heart breaks in the reading of the final servant song. Much like the first one, this song is solely about the servant. The adversaries the Servant spoke of in the third song have finally taken hold. They have cut the servant off from the land of the living. The servant is a cold silent, broken hallelujah.

While our hearts break as we realize the servant had no form or majesty that we should look at him, there is nothing in his appearance that we should desire him, we search for some form of hope. We look for hope in the song of one we held of no account, claiming he is stricken, struck down by God, afflicted for a crime. And it feels like there is none. We return the beach and there lined up in a row are all the starfish washed upon the shore, it feels hopeless.

You’ve been there haven’t you? We’ve all been there at some point. The darkness sets in, hope’s candle flickering, and there is no sign of life. The excitement of life, of service, has worn off. We become bogged down in the middle. It becomes uncomfortable to move, and we need to hear the servant’s words for the weary, because we are weary; yet they do not come. Instead the servant is silent. The servant is beaten, crushed by the oppressor, and all we feel able to do is to slip off our kayaks and sink to the bottom.

It is there in that moment of silence, we feel an honest connection to the servant, and we hear the prophet say, the servant’s silence isn’t overlooked by God. The servant will be exalted and lifted up. It is the kings, the powerful, who will shut their mouths because of him. The ones who are the most powerful and whose speech is most grandiose become powerless and speechless on account of this servant. Although the servant’s mission seems to be a failure, he will attain great success. The crowds turned away not to look at the servant because his appearance was beyond human resemblance. The silence of kings shows us God’s favoring of the least. It is the powerless, oppressed, loser servant who gets lifted up. Those with power are forced to recognize the greatness of someone who is not worth more than a penny.

The powerless, the voiceless are given a voice. They find their voice heard and lifted up, “I have heard the cries of my people.” The Lord says. The Lord God has chosen to lift up and exalt the weak, the broken, the lost, the abused, the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the addict, the lonely, and the questioner. God brings them up, lays their head to his chest and calls us his own.

Through the servant, God brings the kingdom of God to earth. No longer are the wealthiest, powerful, and influential at the front of the line. No longer do they eat cake and dine at the table of excess while Lazarus sits at the gates, fighting for scrapes with the dogs. No, it the voiceless who are raised up to the front of the line. It is those whose cold and broken hallelujahs who are heard, lifted, and exalted. The ones trampled on by the greediness of life, are given new life in this kingdom. They find themselves sitting a banquet that does not end, and with a well that does not run dry. They stand before the Lord of song with nothing but hallelujah.

Let us be reminded of the voiceless as we wade through the middle. Let us remember those who are silent among their oppressors. The children victimized by our laws of greed and excess. The lost searching for a place where they are welcomed as children of God. The lonely searching for companionship. The hungry searching for food. The hurting searching for compassion. Let us look down the shoreline, and hear the servant say, “Though you may not think you are making a difference. Think of the starfish you just returned to the sea. Do you not think it is grateful?”

Earlier this week, in conversation with other ministers, I was asked to define a successful church. I answered: A successful church is one filled with members who show up to church with their boots covered in mud because they’ve been at work for the kingdom of heaven. Let us wrap the towel of service around our waist and let us get to work. Amen.

 

Go Forth To All Nations

Audio of Sermon here

 

Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ But I said, ‘I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.’

And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honoured in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength— he says, ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’

 

The voice of the servant now speaks aloud, crying out to the coastlands to hear his voice. This particular song focuses on two parts: the first focuses on the servant’s calling (49:1, 2) and the second focuses on the servant’s formation (49:3-4, 5, 6).[1] There are three stages of the servant’s call: First (v1b-3) the election, call, and equipment of the servant; Second (v4) his dejection; Third (5-6) his new task.[2]

 

The servant declares to the nations, ‘God said to me, “I make you a light to the nations.”’ ‘God called to me to be his servant that he might perform a work on behalf of his chosen people through me. I, however, became despondent, and regarded the work as in vain. But then—in spite of this—God extended the scope of my commission to include the Gentiles, in order that his salvation might reach to the ends of the earth.’[3]

 

The speaker is addressing the far away coastlands, those being other nations, and we know the speaker is the servant from Isaiah 42. The words addressing the foreign nations are built around three sentences: Listen to me, you coastlands (v1); and now the Lord says (to me) (v5); I will give you as a light to the nations (v6). Therefore, exposition of the song has to remember that everything it says has reference to the nations.[4] The servant speaks to all nations; he has a word from God and wishes to speak it to them. The second part of verse one indicates that the Lord called the servant from birth. The words, “while I was in my mother’s womb he named me” (v1) shows us that before the servant’s birth, while still being nourished by his mother, God had named him. God had chosen this servant from the beginning to be God’s servant to all nations. It is very important for us to recognize God naming, calling choosing the servant.

 

In last week’s sermon on the first song, I mentioned that we should not allow that question to control us, we should allow the identity of the servant to remain anonymous so we could place ourselves in the role of the servant. Verse 3 and 5 add a dilemma. Isaiah 49:3 reads, “And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel’.” It can be argued that clearly verse 3 is stating the servant is Israel herself; but verse 5 claims that servant is going to bring back Jacob to God.  So, how can the servant be Israel and have a mission to Israel? It is possible Israel was the servant until she failed and then a prophet became the servant. While others claim that is God speaking in verse 1-3 and then in verse four the prophet begins to speak[5]; there is a predicative force to the sentence: “You are my servant; you are now Israel. There is a naming that is taking place, something of importance.

 

God gives this new servant the name Israel, just as God di for Jacob in Genesis 32:28. You may recall Jacob wrestling with “God” throughout the night, at daybreak God dislocates Jacob’s hip, yet Jacob still hangs on, refusing to let go until this stranger blessed him. God then blesses Jacob with a name change, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.”

 

The blessing of the name change in our scriptures is an important blessing that takes place when something monumental happens. Abram becomes Abraham and Sarai becomes Sarah after God establishes his covenant. Simon becomes Peter after his declaration of Jesus as Messiah, as the Christ. Saul becomes Paul after his conversion on the road to Damascus. Jacob becomes Israel after wrestling with God.

 

The blessing of the name change indicates the individual has become a new person, a person who will be God’s messenger, the parents of an entire nation; the namesake for the nation; the confession of which will sustain the church through the centuries to come.  Sometimes, though, the individuals struggle to fully live into their new names. Paul is still as stubborn, arrogant, and zealous (for better or worse) as Saul. Peter is still as brash and ignorant as Simon. Abraham is still Abram when he gives Sarah to the pharaoh to save his own skin. Sarah is still Sarai when she sends Hagar and Ishamel away. And Israel is still Jacob when he sends his family over the river of Jabbock to encounter Essau before he crosses over. He still chooses a favorite wife and a favorite son. He still tricks and deceives. Jacob struggles to ever fully live into his name change.

 

Like their namesake, the nation of Israel struggles to fully live into their role as God’s chosen people. They are faithless, quick to align themselves with the powerful and wealthy nations leaning on their support instead of God’s; deceivers, oppressors of the weak. They prefer to be slaves of Egypt than to be a people of God. They struggle to live into the commands of the Law and of the prophets. So, it makes sense that God would name the servant as Israel because this servant is going to strive with both God and humanity and will prevail. The servant will be God’s chosen one, and the servant will embody everything God had hoped pre-exilic Israel embodied when God freed them from Egypt.

 

What is important, beyond knowing who the servant is; is what the servant embodies. The servant embodies God’s justice, God’s mission to the ends of the earth. The servant is a figure that embodies all that the nation of Israel should look like and called to be and therefore one who is truly worthy of the name—“God’s perfect Servant. As such he is far greater than Jeremiah, or any other Old Testament prophet for that matter. He is the prophet par excellence.”[6] What matters more than the identity of the servant is that the servant is to be a light to all nations. God gives the servant the mission, the purpose to shine for all nations.

 

The servant receives two assignments. The first is to, “raise up the tribes of Jacob” (v6a) and the second is to be a bearer of light to the nations (v6b). The second servant song’s purpose is to extend God’s salvation to the ends of the earth; God has given this servant to others as a beacon to guide them in the ways of the Lord. And what are the ways of the Lord? Micah writes, “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:1-8).

 

The servant is to see where God has been at work since creation, and goes to the people of every nation, of every race, of every gender, of every social class, to the ends of the earth, to the hungry and thirsty, to the oppressed, to the poor, to the blind, to the deaf, to the sick, to the imprisoned, to the widow, to the fatherless, to the lost, to the lonely, to the forgotten, to the lame, and to the shut-in, and brings them in.

 

From birth, the servant is called to bring God’s justice to the nations. The servant is called to be a beacon of light that would lead all to the one true God. Is that not our call today? Is that not what Christ means when he says we are to go out into the world and make disciples of all nations? Are we not called to bring God’s justice to an unjust world? Israel’s light didn’t come from their power, or the power of Assyria, Egypt, or Babylon. It came from God. The servant’s ability to endure, to speak with truth all came from God. We are reminded time and time again, it is through the weak that God’s light shines to all not the powerful, not the wealthy, but the weak. “Let the little children come to me,” Jesus says, “for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” (Mark 10:14).

 

Are we not God’s servants today? Have we not been tasked with the purpose to serve the broken, the beaten, the forgotten, the lost, the lonely, the poor, the misfit, the outcast, the sinner, the Lazarus at our gates? “Truly I tell you, just as you did to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40). Then let us take up our beacons and let our light shine before all people, for God is with us, God dwells among us, God’s spirit is upon us and we are his servants.  Let us have the courage to say, “Here am I, Lord. Send me.”

---

[1] Friesen, Ivan pg 67

[2] Westermann, Claus pg 207

[3] Westermann, Claus pg 207

[4] Westermann, Claus pg 207

[5] Linafelt, Tod. Speech and Silence in the Servant Passages pg 204

[6] Webb, Barry pg 194

And the Joy They Share as They Tarry There

My last semester in seminary I took a class entitled Hymnology. It was, you guess it, the study of hymns. It was an all encompassing study on hymn composition, what qualifies certain songs as hymns, a few stories behind some of the more well-known hymns, along with debates over old hymns and with what they considered to be contemporary church music such as praise and worship and hymns written in the twenty years. In our final exam we were tasked with identifying meter, tunes, which are very difficult for someone unable to read music to do, and we had to answer a few theological questions on a few hymns. 

One in particular stood out was this: Do you recognize the theological problem with the hymn "In the Garden"? It is a familiar hymn, mainly for the chorus: And he walks with, and he talks with me, and calls me his own, and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known. Now being the good Baptist I am, I was puzzled by this question. Nothing out of the ordinary stood out to me, I had nothing in my notes, so I googled the hymn to see what others had said. 

The hymn was written in 1912 by Charles Austin Miles. Miles was a pharmacist turned hymn writer and church music director, and an amateur photographer. The story goes like this: One day in his dark room, Miles had a vision in which he saw Mary Magdalene leaving the empty tomb. As she left the tomb and wandered into the garden, she sees Jesus (who she mistakes as the gardener) and he speaks her name. Miles awoke from the vision and quickly wrote the words to the hymn. 

Once I learned the story, I understood the hymn and made a case that there were no theological issues with the hymn. He had a vision, one based on a story that occurs, in some form, in all four gospels, and he is sharing Mary's experience. I could not find anything wrong with the hymn. Of course my answer was not correct. I wish I could remember exactly why it wasn't correct. I believe it had something to do with the chorus itself. It is a first person hymn, and if sung in community with one another, it conveys the message that Jesus only walks with ME, talks with ME, and tells ME I am his own. And that no one else will ever experience such a thing.

I have since learned that several of my contemporaries dislike the hymn for those very reasons. But yesterday I had a thought come into my mind that simply said, "So? So what if they have a theological issue?" And here's the story as to how that thought came:

Every first Sunday of the month, our church goes down to the local nursing home and sing with the residents. That's all we do. We pick out anywhere between 5-10 hymns, and take requests from the residents. Often the residents will request a hymn we do not know and just start singing, the pianist starts playing and we all join in. Yesterday we sang several of the good ol' hymns and I witnessed something spectacular. 

A majority of the residents have been abandoned by their families, or do not have any family, and they are confined to a wheelchair, heavily medicated, and some are so advance with Alzheimer and dementia, and other debilitating health issues. During a few of the hymns, one gentleman who cannot speak and only lays his head on the table, began to make a small noise, the noise a baby makes when he/she is happy. It started off slow until we sang "In the Garden", suddenly his noise grew louder and louder. I look over and I see him hitting the table with a smile. It appeared he recognized the hymn and it brought him great comfort.

I understand the argument against the hymn. I agree it should stop being included in corporate worship song books and I understand how it conveys a simple, selfish understanding of faith. A faith void of any acts of service. But when it comes to the dying, to the ones who cannot speak because their mind has reverted back to that of an infant, they need to be reminded there in their dark garden, as they await their last breath, Christ indeed walks with them, talks with them, and calls them his very own. And the joy they share as they tarry there, none other has known. At least not until we are there in our dark garden waiting for death.

A Charge to Serve

(Audio available here)

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching. Isaiah 42:1-4

There are difficult aspects of being a Christian I find to be very difficult. I understand for the most part we equate Christianity with morality meaning we vote against this or that, we abstain from this or that, etc. The morality clause of Christianity is not really in how we treat each other but what we put in our bodies or what we do with our own flesh. I do not find those parts of the faith a struggle. In fact I’m not entirely sure that’s even close to what it means to be a Christian. It is the descriptive of God’s servant in Isaiah I find the most difficult; perhaps because it is a more accurate depiction of a Christ follower.

Jesus came, he tells us, not to be served but to serve. God’s chosen one comes as a servant not as the master, and it is that part of Christianity I find the most difficult. I find the grace and forgiveness aspect of Jesus fascinating, inviting, and loving. I can be completely sold out to such a thing. Require me to get on my knees and wash another’s feet? That is a struggle.

Over the next few weeks, we will be exploring the four Servant Songs in Isaiah. In this morning’s text is the beginning of the four songs, and it is here we find the Lord of hosts calling for a servant to carry forth God’s mission to the nations. The servant is called by God to bring God’s justice to all nations, on earth as it is in heaven. The identity of the servant is unknown. While we may, being followers of Christ, attach the songs to Jesus (we do see how Jesus serves as an example of the servant), the servant is not named. Isaiah does not intend to answer the question, “Who is the servant?” Meaning, the answer to the question can be freely answered this morning as deacon, if we feel the need to identify the servant. As our chairperson said in a recent meeting, “As deacons, we do not run the church, instead we are servants of the church.”

Isaiah tells us God has a servant and this servant has been bestowed with the Lord’s spirit. This first song emphasizes the spirit of the Lord as a gift. This gift of the spirit works itself out as a mandate to bring God’s justice and to foster God’s teaching among the nations. In other words, the spirit of God brings about God’s justice and when bestowed upon the servant, the servant’s task becomes to help bring the kingdom of heaven to earth; on earth as it is in heaven. The servant is to bring justice to all nations, to those who are bruised, who are weak and tired. This servant is a human agent of God. The servant is acting on God’s behalf and is still filled with God’s spirit; therefore, one might say, the servant is a representative of God. On earth as it is in heaven.

In the latter verses we are told the character of this human agent of God, this chosen servant. The servant is not to follow custom and cry aloud in public. “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:1). The servant is humble and does not bring about selfish attention, “Those who exalt themselves shall be humbled, and those who humble themselves shall be exalted” Matthew 23:12). The servant shines a light onto those suffering; the servant brings attention to the need of God’s justice. The servant shows mercy to the bruised and empathy with the faint. The servant moves about with gentle poise and humility, unhurried in the pursuit of justice. As stated before, the objective of the servant’s mission is to bring God’s justice to the world, on earth as it is in heaven.

The word justice isn’t being used as we normally think of it. In the Book of Isaiah, justice means something rather big and not our normal understanding. So what does God’s justice mean? It means not trampling on the poor for a pair of sandals, knowing theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It means being a peacemaker, for they are the children of God. It means feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, giving the thirsty something to drink. God’s justice means giving care and aid to the widow, the orphaned, the lost, the lonely, the exiled, the stranger, the immigrant, the leaper, the blind, the lame, the deaf, the mute, and loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you. God’s justice means to go and do likewise, go and do like Christ, on earth as it is heaven.

The servant in Isaiah brings hope as well. The nation of Israel has endured an exile and those who have survived are desperately seeking hope. They need this servant, not for salvation alone, but to show them how to live out justice. Through the servant, God’s justice prevails in such a way that the servant’s actions contradict the harsh law of the world, which says the broken and battered inevitably perish. It is the lifestyle and the teachings of the servant that will bring about this change. Indeed, we too need this servant. On earth as it is heaven.

Isaiah tells us the servant will be able to endure everything the world will do to him. Verse 4 states, “He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.” The servant’s mission will not end until God’s justice is brought forth to all nations. The coastlands might serve as a reference to alien nations. Thus making servant’s mission to all people, not a select few. It is here that God’s justice to the nations will be seen through the servant’s teachings (v4). The servant does not just teach, he is not just God’s messenger, the servant engages in the teaching as well. This servant acts as God’s agent to lead the way for God’s kingdom on earth. The servant does not simply teach about God’s justice, God’s servant models justice in his or her own behavior and personality. On earth as it is heaven.

I can understand the resistance or hesitation to accept the nomination to be a deacon in the church. On one hand it is an honor to be held in such respect by your fellow members; yet on the other hand it comes with lofty expectations, and at times unhealthy expectations. I can understand and empathize because let’s be honest, it is difficult to be a deacon, a set apart servant of the church. On earth as it is heaven.

Deacons work full-time jobs, even if some are retired, take care of their families, try maintain their homes, their selves, all while trying to live into expectations such as making difficult decisions regarding church business, help with hospital visits, keeping up with those in need, being the first one at a church function and the last to leave, and the whole other host of duties that come with being a deacon. Duties one doesn’t know about until they arise such as crawling through a doggy door or when the basement floods. On top of all those duties, they encounter from time to time, expectations from others that are unhealthy. Such as expecting a deacon to be at your house on a Saturday to visit you when they’ve worked 50 plus hours a week and have not had any quality time with their family or any quality quiet time. I can understand and empathize with the difficulties of being a chosen, set apart leader in the church.

Yet, the church needs people who are courageous enough to accept those responsibilities of servant-hood. The church needs members who are willing to wade through the unhealthy expectations of others and serve. We need members who are not asking, “What can the church provide for me?” instead they are asking, “What can I do for my neighbor?” We need members who are willing to wash the feet of others. We need servant leaders.  On earth as it is in heaven.

My charge this morning to each of us is this: Are we willing be God’s servants? Are we willing to go out and get our hands dirty, doing the work of Christ? Are we willing to be the kind of servant Isaiah describes? Are we willing to trust that God has been at work in this place, this community, long before we ever took our first breath? Are we willing to trust that God will continue to be at work long after we take our last? Are we willing to join with the clouds of witnesses and continue the work of God as servants? For if we are, we will find a community in need of such servants. On earth as it is in heaven.

2014 Is Going to Kick You in the Junk

Life never goes as planned. Some days it raises our hopes causing us to believe life will be perfect, mistake free, and blessings will shower upon us. We start off the new year with our resolutions, our goals, our fifty-two week money saving challenge, and everything goes smoothly for about a month, a week, a day. Then one morning the water heater bursts, the roof collapses, Firefly is cancelled, and the car breaks down. You walk over to your change jar, smash it, pay what you need to repair the roof, the car, buy a new water heater, and sulk because Firefly just isn't going to be renewed.

Life never goes as planned. It's the spontaneity of a gift we never asked to receive, yet every day we do our best to make the most out of it and every January 1st we celebrate or mourn the passing of an old year. I am more of a home by 7, pants off by 7:30, watching Justified at 7:30 kind of New Year's Eve person myself.  For some, though, they ring in the new year as loudly and joyfully as they can. They post their resolutions or goals for 2014, and the blogospheres (if that's still a thing) and social media explodes with good tidings of cheerful hope. Most of the posts make for a good read if you don't care to watch all the bowl games on television.

I read about a church in California that has their nativity scene painted by a member who is a brilliant artist. Every painting contains some social commentary from the previous year, and this year the artist made a gutsy decision to paint a bloody Trayvon Martin laying dead in the manger. When asked about such a decision he said he wanted people to remember that Jesus was born into a violent world, one in which King Herod massacres every boy under the age of two. His purpose was to remind his community of the harsh realities that do not disappear during the Christmastide or on New Year's Day. And being an artist, he did so in a very provocative way.

The point being, life is not full of rainbows, puppies, and unicorns. It is life, even during Christmastide and New Year's Day. One moment you are joyfully celebrating life together and the very next you are burying your child. Life ebbs and flows with each day bringing it's one set of possibilities. It does not take off for the holidays.

I say all that to really say, you are going to get punched in the gut at some point in the year. My prayer is that you are one of the lucky ones and the only tragedy coming your way is the impending cancellation of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD. The odds, though, are not in your favor nor in mine. At some point in 2014, Life is going to sneak up behind us and knock us in the junk. When the inevitable happens, remember the answer to this question: Why do we fall?

So we can get back up.

Do your very best to get back up.

Believe in yourself and in others, take a chance and believe in the One, we are told, who gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Believe you can recover when you get punched in the mouth. Believe you can get back up. If you are struggling to get back up, ask for help. Do not be afraid to ask for help. Do not be afraid to seek out a friend, a loved one, a doctor, a sponsor, a treatment center, or support. Ask for help when you need it. Even if you just need someone to sit beside you while you catch your breath.

You are going to struggle at some point in 2014. You are going to start off strong and before you know it, the shoreline will be in the distance behind you, but you won't be able to see past the horizon in front of you. Eventually you will feel like you are moving in place and all you'll want to do is lay down, and slip off. In those dark moments, know you are not alone. Know there is one who suffers alongside you and have the courage to wait. We are told that even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:30-31).

Please, in the words of Dory, just keep on swimming and know you do not swim alone.

May 2014 be a blessing to everyone.