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August 2015 Sermons:
The Reverend Joyce Smothers

"More Than We Can Ask or Think" — August 2
"If You Could Ask For Anything" — August 16
"How To Be A Christian Survivor" — August 23
"Gifts of Grace and Truth" — August 30


“More Than We Can Ask or Think”
August 2, 2015
First Presbyterian Church of Hokendauqua
The Reverend Joyce Smothers

John 6:28-35

Jesus had just performed His most spectacular miracle to date—feeding the five thousand. Word had spread. So when Jesus mentioned “bread,” the crowd got excited and asked Him to make more bread. These people knew what hunger was like. Middle Eastern farmers in Jesus’ time worked every day in the hot sun, to put bread on the table for their families. The miracle of instant bread—those five thousand people felt like they’d hit the jackpot when they got free food. You can imagine how excited they became when Jesus spoke about bread again. “Give us this bread, always!” they chanted. They were hungry, yes, but they didn’t understand who He was, or what the miracle of the bread was all about.

We all have hungers and thirsts that mere food cannot fill. We’re fortunate in this congregation not to be physically hungry or thirsty. Even in this land of plenty, there are people who go to bed hungry—particularly the very old and the very young. Worldwide, 33,000 children starve to death a day. One-fourth of the world’s population lives in poverty.

Whether or not we experience physical hunger, we can find ourselves spiritually starving. We can have hungers of the heart. How do people deal with those hungers? Some try to "fill up" on fame and fortune. The early- nineteen-twenties were a prosperous but corrupt period in American history. In 1923 a meeting was said to have occurred in secret, in the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. A clique of powerful tycoons, who controlled more wealth than there was in the US Treasury, met there: Charles Schwab, President of America’s largest independent steel company; Samuel Insull, President of America’s largest electric utility; Howard Hopson, President of the nation’s largest gas company; Arthur Cutten, America’s premier speculator in wheat; Richard Whitney, President of the New York Stock Exchange; Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall; Jesse Livermore, Wall Street’s most aggressive investor; Leon Fraser, President of the Bank of International Settlement; and Ivar Krueger, head of one of the world’s largest monopolies.

Each man had invested decades pursuing wealth and prestige. But were they spiritually fulfilled? A quarter of a century later, how did these same men turn out? The president of the largest independent steel company died bankrupt; the president of the largest electric utility died of a heart attack in a Paris subway with twenty cents in his pocket; the head of the largest gas company was insane; the biggest wheat speculator died abroad with no money left to his name; the president of the New York Stock Exchange had just been released from prison; the Secretary of the Interior had served time for his part in the Teapot Dome scandal; Wall Street’s biggest investor had committed suicide; the president of the international bank also took his own life; the head of the monopoly committed suicide, too. Wealth and prestige don’t fill hungers of the heart.

So maybe we can fill that inner emptiness with performance. Tom Landry, the late coach of the Dallas Cowboys, knew a lot about peak performance. He was a college football star, and then played for the New York Giants. Later he coached the Cowboys. Landry had twenty straight winning seasons at Dallas, and two Super Bowl victories. He was twice elected NFL Coach of the Year. Peak performance. But did it make him happy?

Landry said in an interview: "I wanted to be a good football coach, so my whole life was absorbed in that. As I went up the ladder all the way to becoming a professional football player and winning world championships…I discovered that after the excitement of winning or being successful, there was always an emptiness that stayed with me afterwards." He continued, "I didn’t understand that. I thought that somewhere along the way you ought to win a victory that would sustain you for the rest of your life. But I never discovered that kind of satisfaction.” Peak performance alone cannot fill our inner hunger, Landry discovered. From the day of his retirement until he died of leukemia fifteen years ago, the former coach served as a volunteer Sunday School teacher at his church. In his work with young people, Don Landry found the greatest satisfaction of his life.

We all have spiritual hungers. Pleasure, possessions, performance, and popularity will not fill them. But those hungers and thirsts can be good. They tell us that something is wrong with us. Tossing and turning at night, wondering who we are and where we’re going, can be a good thing. When that happens, we realize that something is missing. We are hungering and thirsting for a relationship with God.

How blessed we are, every week, to be able to come to church and worship as we wish! How blessed we are to acknowledge our need for forgiveness, and to have the chance to renew our lives! How blessed we are to hear Jesus’ words: "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty". How blessed we are to baptize Emily Joan, and to welcome her into Christ’s own family! Today she becomes a citizen of God’s great kingdom that transcends every nationality, language and race.

For 36 years, Don Hewitt was the king of one of television's most powerful news shows. As creator and executive producer, he made the final decision about what went on the air on the 60 Minutes news magazine program. Don Hewitt could make or break a reputation by what he allowed to go on the show. The famous 60 Minutes clock ticked on for Don Hewitt for sixteen years beyond what most Americans think of as retirement age. One would think that at the age of 81 -- with a wall full of trophies and honors, letters from presidents, and shelves lined with Emmy awards -- that Hewitt would be satisfied. However, he admitted that he felt deeply depressed when he left his job. He lacked a spiritual relationship with God. "Where do I go now?" he asked. "What do I do now to feed my soul?"

To the Don Hewitts of this world, and to all of us, Jesus comes and says, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." Jesus is the work of God. Work isn’t only what Jesus does. It’s what He is! Christ pulls us out of our worldly concerns and lifts us toward heaven. But before we can experience the spiritual nutrition He offers, we must believe that it will endure, and will complete us.

The bread we receive at Communion not only fills us, but also commissions us. The bread and the cup represent the gift we are to become. We are called to be the ambassadors of Christ in a world that is spiritually hungry and thirsty. Whatever we accomplish as Christians will not be our own achievement. It will be God’s work in us.


Generous God, we thank you for the Bread of Life that satisfies our hunger. You give us what we need. Help us to know that you are always providing bread in the person of your Son, Jesus Christ. We thank you for the gifts of baptism and communion in His name. Amen.


“If You Could Ask God For Anything”
August 16, 2015
First Presbyterian Church of Hokendauqua
The Reverend Joyce Smothers

I Kings 2: 10-12, 3:3-14

When Solomon was twenty years old, God spoke to him in a dream. In that dream, God made the young king an offer: "Ask me what I should give you." What would you have asked for? Wealth? Fame? Perfect health? A long life? Solomon asked for “an understanding mind.” We find those words in our pew Bibles, in today’s reading from the First Book of Kings.

The New International Version of the Bible translates Solomon’s request, a bit differently. In that version, the new king asked for “a discerning heart.” I like those words better. The ancient Israelites considered the heart, not the brain, to be the center of intelligence. At any rate, it’s clear that Solomon wasn’t making a selfish request. He was admitting that his new job was huge, and that he had a lot to learn. Solomon wanted to be a good leader. He was asking for a heart to hear God’s justice and the wisdom to carry out that justice.

It seems that Solomon got his wish, at least in the first years of his reign. His rule began well. He made wise decisions and obeyed God. In those days before the temple was built, Solomon worshipped faithfully at a shrine near Jerusalem.

The expression, "the wisdom of Solomon," has become a catch phrase. But the gift Solomon asked God to give him, was not wisdom. It was discernment. Discernment is different from wisdom. It is the capacity to see the difference between good and evil.

If Solomon wanted the gift of discernment in 1000 B.C., is that gift relevant for us today? Sure; it’s important for any leader, voter, parent, or public servant. Here's why: Discernment is the ability to make sound spiritual decisions. It’s important to distinguish between discernment and everyday common sense.

Good judgment is a practical ability. We use it when we hang up on “robocalls” that say, “You have just won an all-expense paid trip to the Bahamas!” I use it when a seemingly needy person comes to the church door, and I have to decide if he or she is really in need, or just working the system. We like to think we have common sense. Spiritual discernment takes a hearing heart. Discernment is the ability to tell the difference between, in some cases, good and evil, and in other cases, what is God's will and what is not. Discernment helps us decide whether or not a wish or an idea, comes from God.

Ignatius of Loyola, the sixteenth-century priest who founded the Jesuit movement within the Roman Catholic Church, tells in his Autobiography about his first experiences of discernment. He said that when he dreamed of doing heroic acts and of winning the hand of a wonderful woman, he felt happy and enthusiastic. Those feelings never lasted very long. A feeling of discontent eventually took over. When Ignatius dreamed of doing great things for God, he also felt happy and enthusiastic, but those feelings stayed with him. That difference helped him to develop a sense of discernment. It was his first step toward a lifetime of distinguishing between self-centered wishes and ideas inspired by God.

Scott Peck is a psychiatrist and committed Christian. You may have read his book, The Road Less Traveled. He wrote another book, called People of the Lie, which is a study of evil. In it, Peck asserts that a few of the clients he had tried to help, in counseling, were driven not by mental or emotional problems, but by evil itself. Peck describes ways a counselor may begin to make that diagnosis—that is, to discern evil intent. One of his suggestions comes under the heading of what psychology calls "countertransference." That term refers to the feelings a counselor has toward his or her client. In the case of a client motivated by evil, Peck says that what the counselor is likely to feel toward the client is revulsion and confusion. When we have the same feelings of revulsion and confusion about a stranger, Peck suggests, we can discern what kind of a person we may be dealing with -- and decide whether we should even be dealing with that person.

The biggest difference between discernment and simple good judgment, is that discernment relies on consciously seeking God's direction. God uses our feelings as one way to communicate with us, but He also uses our thinking processes. Here are some questions to ask yourself: Does the idea seem to be "given" to you, instead of being desperately sought after? Does the choice encourage your willingness to meet the world more fully, or does it seem to be more an escape? Does it foster feelings of self-importance, or does it deepen your own humility? Does it enhance your compassion? Does it seem to conform with the mind and heart of Jesus? Does it fit with the ways God has been active in your life?

God helps us to develop discernment through our prayer life. In 1000 B.C., people believed that if you slept near a place of worship, God would speak to you while you slept. Ancient people took their own dreams very seriously because they considered them messages from God. God spoke to Solomon in a dream. The conversation they had was very much like a prayer. That is one thing prayer is for -- to tell God what we’re thinking, and ask His help in figuring out His will.

Can we know God's will about everything? No. Can we completely avoid mistakes in discernment? Probably not. But can we discover God's will for our own spiritual lives? Absolutely.

Next year is a presidential election year, and we’re already hearing a lot about that. Because we live in a democracy, we have a responsibility to make good decisions. In the months ahead, may God grant us listening hearts to tell truth from falsehood. As the campaigns start to heat up, and the debates begin, it’s hard for us to avoid cynicism. We will need discernment, as well as determination, in the year to come.

God wanted a wise leader to guide His people, after the death of Solomon’s father, King David. We may not have the wisdom of the young king, or his wealth or power. But we do have a relationship with God, and He wants to work through us. May God grant us the wisdom to want most what His people need most.


Let us pray. O Lord, how often we find ourselves in over our heads! Give us the skills we need to overcome what we're facing. Give us listening hearts and open minds. May your Holy Spirit guide us as we reflect and pray and praise today and in the week to come. Amen.


“How To Be A Christian Survivor”
August 23, 2015
First Presbyterian Church of Hokendauqua
The Reverend Joyce Smothers

Ephesians 6:10-17

Fifty years ago, every Protestant hymnal had it. Now it’s much harder to find—if you don’t save the old hymnals. In the eighties, one Protestant denomination had a controversy over "Onward Christian Soldiers.” The United Methodist Church’s 1966 hymnal had included it. As a committee of pastors and musicians prepared the 1989 Methodist hymnal, word got out that the group planned to eliminate "Onward Christian Soldiers.” Methodists from all over the world spoke out against their decision. I remember how shocked my mother was. Only after a nasty debate did the old hymn make it into the 1990 of the United Methodist hymnal, and just by the skin of its teeth. The 2013 edition of the Presbyterian hymnal doesn’t include it. It’s not in the latest edition of the Evangelical Lutheran hymnal either.

Our congregation’s main hymnal does include "Onward Christian Soldiers.” The music by Sir Arthur Sullivan, of “Gilbert and Sullivan” fame, is great for when the choir processes, but the words are outdated. It mentions brothers and not sisters, for one thing. But most of all, the church of God isn’t a mighty army any more. Fewer people are marching in the front ranks of Christianity. It’s tough to be a mainline Protestant in 2015.

The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians urges us to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His power.” We must stand firm for our faith. Today’s epistle lesson uses the word, “stand,” four times in the first five verses. Two of our hymns for today have the word “stand” in their titles. That’s why I chose them for today, even though I didn’t pick "Onward Christian Soldiers.”

Why do Christians need to take a stand? School athletic events, brunches, and bridal showers are scheduled on Sunday mornings. For many families, obligations like these take priority over worship. We keep hearing that congregations are closing. A Presbyterian church in Easton, and a UCC church in Allentown, closed this past spring. These days, there’s no place for a toned-down preacher or a timid prophet. Evil exists. Some of us have seen it in workplace bullying, in unrestrained domestic violence, and in the exploitation of the powerless. Christianity is drowning in idolatry and piles of cheap junk. We see our friends, our neighbors and families going with the flow, turning away from their churches for reasons that sound like weak excuses. Believers must equip ourselves for the daily struggles we face. We need the strength God gives us. Christians don’t get a lot of respect any more.

What thoughts come to your mind when Paul tells you to “put on the whole armor of God, the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit?” Paul was a man of peace, but if you can picture the world in which he lived, you’ll understand the armor imagery he uses. The ancient city of Ephesus was full of occupying Roman soldiers. When he wrote this letter, his prison cell probably had a Roman soldier standing outside.

This past week, I’ve tried to interpret Paul’s “armor of God” in a new way. For American Christians today, not every suit of armor is military. Each person faces personal challenges by putting on protective swords and shields. What armaments do you choose to wear? I’m not just talking about seat belts. Smart phones arm us against getting lost or being out of touch. Our resumes show us in the best possible light. We set up our Facebook profiles with nice photos, so people will want to be our friends. Our clothing expresses, even more than our Facebook pages, who we want to be. Planning what we’re going to wear tomorrow, with socks that match, making sure our pants and shirt are ironed—those daily habits are our suits of armor.

I was shocked last Tuesday night, when a colleague admitted to her friends that she had once failed an ordination exam. Pastors hardly ever admit such things. It makes us vulnerable. Self-image is really important for pastors. It takes self-confidence to stand up for God. Pastors have to maintain a strong self-image as their suit of armor.

As for me, I’ve never worn a uniform other than that of a Brownie and a Girl Scout. I have no weapons. I’ve never even carried pepper spray. But my black notebook for Sunday mornings is my suit of armor. Seven sheets of double-spaced sermon manuscript give me confidence to preach the Word. I write out prayers so I won’t go blank when speaking to God for myself and for this congregation. Only in nightmares do I come here, unprepared. Every day I walk into this church, I’m ready to stand. That’s the way I suit up for the battle of faith. My preparation is my suit of armor.

Paul lists six armaments that comprise the armor of God. The weapons and shields are mostly for protection, not for killing. The sword of the Spirit is the only exception. The armaments aren’t given to us for waging a holy war—just for holding our ground.

We can’t see God, but our faith must be embodied in us because we are His people. Being a timid, self-effacing Christian won’t work these days. We must be self-confident and bold, using the gifts God has given us. What’s more, we must fight the spiritual enemy together. Roman soldiers were protected only if they stayed in ranks with their mates, with their shields locked together. If one soldier broke rank, either to fight or to run, he was vulnerable. Paul urges his congregation to suit up and strengthen its connections between members, if they are to stand firm against evil.

The Christian warrior doesn’t take up the final two pieces of armor. He or she receives them. Salvation and the Word of God are given to us as gifts, according to Paul. The helmet of salvation protects our heads, in the certain knowledge of the gift of salvation. Victory is already assured in Jesus Christ. The sword represents the power of the Holy Spirit, as given to us in the Bible.

Paul states, in verse 12, that “our struggle is against the cosmic power of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces in the heavenly places.” Just one day after France surrendered to Nazi Germany, a pastor preached this lesson to a small village congregation. He told them: “Your responsibility is to resist the violence that will be brought to bear on your consciences—through the weapons of the Spirit.” During the war, these Huguenot villagers would hide five thousand Jews.

Human strength isn’t enough to protect us in our battle against the principalities and powers. But God provides all we need, and with Him, all things are possible. Prayer and the Word are the weapons He promises to all who believe.


Let us pray. Great God, we confess that we are often tempted to give in to feelings of doubt and fear. We present our whole selves now—our strengths, weaknesses, and all—before Jesus Christ. Open our eyes, to discover in Him, power to tread where the saints have trod. AMEN


“Gifts of Grace and Truth”
August 30, 2015
First Presbyterian Church of Hokendauqua
The Reverend Joyce Smothers

James 1:17-25

You can do a lot of good, just by taking the time to listen to what people have to say. A federal judge told about a time when he listened as a young man poured out his tale of woe for an hour and a half. The judge didn’t interrupt the story a single time. At the end, the young man told the older man, "Thank you. You have been the greatest help of anyone I've ever known. No one else has ever taken the time to listen to me." By offering his compassion, the judge was telling the young man, "You are important enough for me to take an hour and a half to pay attention to you."  The judge who listened to that young man, went on to start one of the most successful probation programs in America. Christians are not just hearers of the word, but we are also doers of the word.

James, the brother of Jesus, may or may not have written this letter, but he is the traditional author. The letter of James reminds us of a commandment we know, but don’t always follow. The epistle passage Donna read to us this morning, isn’t hard to understand. That's the point. Knowing what to do is not as important as doing what we know we ought to do.

The fact that we have ears to hear, means almost nothing, unless we act on what we hear. God gives us our hearing, and our faith, as gifts. But with faith, do you ever feel like there are strings attached, and that what God has given us isn’t really free? When you were a child, did you ever get money for a birthday present and then were told what you had to buy with it? Didn’t that take the fun out of your gift? It wasn’t the same as having the freedom to do whatever you wanted with the gift you received.

God has given us the gift of being able to hear and listen. But James seems to tell us, “Okay, you’d better use God’s gift to you, the way I tell you, or else.” Fortunately it isn’t as simple as that. Most of us were born with the ability to hear, so we feel entitled to hear well. When our hearing starts to fail, we get angry, because we’ve taken our ability to hear for granted. We forget that all of our senses are gifts. We only recognize our ability to hear, as a gift, when something miraculous draws our attention to it—like hearing the Philadelphia Orchestra in concert. We have no memory of a time when we couldn’t hear. The same is true of our faith. Even if we came to faith later in life, as adults, still, we understand it as something we’ve achieved. We forget that faith is a gift from God.

We have the choice of receiving the gift of faith, or of refusing it. How do we get around this perception that it is a gift with strings attached? Because, I think, that’s where many of us get stuck. We’re afraid to receive the gift too enthusiastically, because we don’t know what may come next. What if God decides to send you off into the jungle to be a missionary? What if God asks you to sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and then to go live under a bridge?

Maybe we need to shift our perspective. When someone you love, gives you a gift, don’t you want to respond—perhaps to send a thank-you note, or give a gift in return? You don’t necessarily feel obligated; you just want to reciprocate.

And likewise, if you give someone a gift and they don’t respond, doesn’t it worry you? Maybe the post office lost it! Maybe she didn’t like it! When God gives us the gift of faith, if we have truly received that gift, we’ll want to respond, out of gratitude, not out of obligation. And so when James talks about being doers of the word and not just hearers … we have to understand that faithful Christian work is our grateful response to God. Faith is free, with no response demanded. Just as, when we give a gift to one we love, we don’t do it thinking, “Now they’ll have to do something nice for me in return." And yet, unless we get a response, we don’t know if the gift has truly been received.

James isn’t saying that we’re all failures at faith. He’s just telling us that if we aren’t doing the word, we haven’t really heard it yet, and we don’t understand the gift of faith. I think all of us could understand that gift better.

James gives examples that must have been real issues in his community. The first one makes us feel guilty: "If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues … their religion is worthless." How many of us have never said something we wish we could take back? William Beaverbrook, a British newspaper publisher, once wrote an insulting editorial about Edward Heath, who was then a young member of Parliament. Days later the two men had an encounter in a men's room. Beaverbrook had by then had second thoughts and apologized to Heath. Heath replied, "Next time I wish you'd insult me in the washroom and apologize in your newspaper." 

In the passage that follows the one Donna read, James talks about visiting widows and orphans. That’s an ancient way of saying that we need to reach out to people in need. All of us have occasionally avoided opportunities to do caring ministry, because we hoped somebody else would do it! At one time or another, we’ve all looked around and said to ourselves, “Other people haven’t done as much as I have. Let them step up for a change.” Doesn’t that sound like the kind of comment James is warning us against? The way God works is by giving us opportunities, giving us the sense to know what jobs we can take on, and for how long. Churches are shrinking fast, and members are getting older. There are fewer people to do volunteer work in congregations, so sometimes we are called to do more than we think we can manage. It’s a tough time. James would tell church leaders to listen with open minds, to think before we speak, and to have reasonable expectations.

James won’t let us off the hook. Christians are challenged to live righteously; we can’t just go through the motions. It’s nice that we attend church every Sunday. But if hearing the word makes no impact on how we live Monday through Saturday, our hearing has been in vain. It’s helpful that we give the church offerings to support ministry. But if our faith has no effect on how we spend the rest of our money, our hearing has been in vain. What we hear in a worship service must be lived out in the marketplace, or there’s no point in hearing it. It’s good to know the Bible. But if it makes no difference in they ways we treat other people, our hearing has been in vain.

Today we baptize Annabelle Marie. When we baptize a child, we thank God, who created us, and we honor those who formed us in our faith. We claim the gifts that were given to us long ago. We look to the future, and to the gifts God is giving this little girl. Shall we open our ears to God’s gifts, today and always? God has plenty to tell us as soon as we’re ready. May we have the grace and courage to hear.


LET US PRAY. Creator God, we hear in scripture that "in the beginning was the word." You spoke into the silence, and a universe came to be. So eager were you for someone to listen that you created human beings in your own image. We acknowledge, Lord, that we don’t always listen well to you: but we believe you always listen to us. Help us to be faithful in listening to one another: for such is the way of Christ. Amen.


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