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April 2016 Sermons:
The Reverend Joyce Smothers
"Holy Doubters" — April 3
"Risky Business" — April 10
"What A Sheep Needs" — April 17
"A New Commandment" — April 24
“Holy Doubters”
April 3, 2016
First Presbyterian Church of Hokendauqua
The Reverend Joyce Smothers
John 20:19-31
The very first Holy Week had turned the disciples’ lives upside down! One moment the crowd had welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem with palm branches and hosannas. A few days later, He had been crucified. No wonder they hid behind locked doors. They were sure they would be next.
Sunday’s shocking events had started with Mary. She
had found Jesus’ tomb empty. Peter and one other disciple had raced to the garden to investigate. Mary said she had spoken with the resurrected Jesus. We can imagine her excitement—and we can also understand how difficult it must have been for the disciples to believe her story. That evening they gathered again in the upper room. Jesus stood among these confused men and said to them, "Peace be with you."
Jesus had been their future. Now they feared that they would also be crucified. For the disciples, just when everything seemed at its worst, Jesus had come to give them hope. That night behind locked doors, Jesus had restored their confidence in God's love for them.
We can understand the way Thomas must have felt. He had missed seeing Jesus going through the locked door of the upper room. He had missed hearing the voice of the One who was no longer dead. He hadn't seen the scars, the holes in Jesus' hands, or the wounds in His sides. He hadn't experienced the life-giving breeze that was the Holy Spirit. He had missed hearing Jesus’ words: "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." He’d missed it all. His hopes had died. Thomas said, “Unless I see for myself, I will not believe. Unless I can feel the marks of the nails with my own fingers and touch the wound in His side with my own hands, I will not believe." Can you sense Thomas' misery and pain? We have all gone through the same experience. We have trusted and been hurt. We have reached out to others, only to have them reject us. Thomas had gotten more cautious now, for good reason. He needed to see the Risen Lord for himself.
When terrible things happen to good people, we can understand that their faith will be shaken. Dave Dravecky, former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, lost his arm to cancer in 1991. It was a devastating experience for a young professional baseball player. It’s bad enough to have cancer, let alone to face the amputation of an arm. His career was destroyed, and, as it seemed, his life was ended.
Naturally Dravecky, a strong Christian, began to have doubts about God’s love for him. During his time of struggle, he got hundreds of letters of encouragement. Some people wrote to him looking for answers. They knew he had been faithful all his life, and wanted to know how he was holding on. Unfortunately, he got some unwelcome attention, too. One day he received this letter:
“Dear Mr. Dravecky, If there is a God who cares so much about you, why did he allow you to have the surgery in the first place? I have lived 41 years in this world and have yet to see any genuine evidence that there is anything real about any of those religious beliefs you talk about. God certainly does not love me and has never done a single thing to express that love for me. I have had to fight for everything I ever got in life. Nobody cares about what happens to me and I don't care about anybody else. Can't you see that religion is nothing more than a crutch used by a lot of weaklings who can't face reality and that the church is nothing but a bunch of hypocrites who care nothing for each other and whose faith extends not to their actions or daily lives but is just a bunch of empty phrases spouted off to impress others? “
How would you have responded to this letter? Dravecky wrote the man back, and said that he had faced the same doubts. He, too, had wondered if God had abandoned him. But when things seemed the worst, Jesus had been there. "I am convinced," Dravecky wrote, "that there is a God. That no matter what happens to me, there is a purpose for it and behind that purpose stands a loving, caring God."
It was the support that Dravecky received from his family and the church, in the darkest days, and the love of the Lord, which enabled him to face his losses. Now he is a best-selling author and motivational speaker.
When doubt dominates our lives, we aren’t at peace with God, nor are we at peace with ourselves. Thomas knew what it was like to live without peace. He had struggled emotionally, for a week after Jesus’ execution. When Thomas had refused to believe, it was not just the other disciples’ words that he had doubted. He refused to believe that life can go on after death.
Most cynics have been hurt by false promises, in contrast to the eternal promises of Jesus. The story of Thomas reminds us that the key is to know where, and in what, to place our faith. The story of Thomas shows us that there is no way to make sense of our earthly existence without God—no way to hope for afterlife.
Doubting is actually healthy. If you get an email from a friend who says he or she is stranded in Turkey and needs you to wire $300.00 overseas, immediately, to an address you don’t recognize, and you have a gut feeling you shouldn’t do it, that’s a good thing! It’s healthy skepticism. But when you allow doubt to dominate your life, you’re walking down a dead-end road.
Listen to what Jesus said to Thomas when, on the week following Easter, the Lord appeared to him. The gospel reading says, "A week later, Jesus’ disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' He said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.'"
Thomas had made the mistake we often make. Because of his doubts, he had left the other disciples to go it on his own. He had believed he could restore trust by himself. But his doubts were answered in the presence of the others. In the fellowship of believers, Thomas had found assurance. "Put your finger here," Jesus said to him. "Do not doubt but believe."
In the midst of doubt, Jesus is there for us, as well as for Thomas. When doubts cloud our vision, we need to move closer, not further, from God! We need to worship and to pray regularly, and to reach out to brothers and sisters in faith.
Mature faith never has all the answers. It constantly searches! Jesus can be found in the middle of every search. He said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." That's His promise for us -- for, in believing, we have life in His name. Amen.
Let us pray. Living Lord, you not only rose from the dead, not only defeated sin, but you came back to us and overcame our doubts. Keep coming to us, Lord Jesus, keep raising us from the dead, keep empowering us with your life-giving Spirit. AMEN
“Risky Business”
April 10, 2016
First Presbyterian Church of Hokendauqua
The Reverend Joyce Smothers
Acts 9:1-20
Have you have heard the expression, "Something got lost in the translation?" On the Internet, there’s a program called “Google Translate” that instantly creates a translation of any English language document into another language. All you do is type in a phrase and click on the language you want. It works the other way, too—translating French or Sanskrit into English, and so on.
But how accurate are these Google translations? After all, they are done by a machine! A linguist had the same question and decided to test it out. He typed in the lyrics to the old song, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game": “Take me out to the ball game. Take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack. I don't care if I never get back. Let me root, root, root for the home team. If they don't win, it's a shame. For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out, at the old ball game.”
Then he clicked on the keys to translate the song into German. He read and spoke the German language well; that’s why he chose it. When he read the translation he found on the computer screen and translated thre German it back to English, word by word, he could see how weird the lyrics to this song had become. Talk about meanings being lost in translation!
“Take Me Out to the Ball Game” had been completely distorted. It went like this: “Execute me to the ball play. Execute me with the masses. Buy me certain groundnuts and crackerstackfusig. I'm not interested if I never receive back. Let me root, root, root for the main team. If they don't win, it is dishonor. For there are one, two, three impacts on you. At the old ball play.”
Something similar can happen with the ninth chapter of Acts. The first part of this New Testament passage is the part everyone knows. It’s a great story! Saul, a rabbi from eastern Turkey, is determined to wipe out the Christian branch of the Jewish faith. But a surprising thing happens to him on the road to Damascus. A light from heaven flashes, and Saul falls to the ground. Jesus’ voice says, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Saul falls off his horse. He is struck blind by the light. Saul’s companions lead him by the hand to Damascus. He stays by himself in a dark room for three days. During that time he cannot see, eat, or drink anything.
When we read the story of the Apostle Paul's conversion and call, we get so caught up in the high drama of the first few verses, that we tend to ignore the last fifteen verses. Saul, the prosecutor of Christians, turns his life around and becomes Paul, one of the greatest Christian evangelists of all time.
Ananias is a supporting character in the Book of Acts. You may never have heard of him. But Ananias is the real hero of the story of Paul’s conversion. He falls into a deep sleep, and in his dream God speaks to him. He sees a vision and hears God saying, “I want you to go and lay your hands on Saul of Tarsus, so that he can regain his sight." Can you imagine how shocked Ananias feels? He is probably saying to himself, "God wants me to do what? Please tell me this is a nightmare." But the voice in his dream simply says, "Go! This man, Saul, is to be one of my most powerful instruments." Because Ananias trusts God, he does what he is called to do.
Put yourself in Ananias' shoes. Imagine finding out that Jesus wants to use you to recruit a future missionary who has been arresting Christians. You’d be terrified! Whenever I watch films about the Holocaust and see the tortured victims and the gas chambers, I wonder what kind of human could do that to another human. In the ninth chapter of Acts we meet a person who could do such a thing—Saul of Tarsus.
What is so miraculous about this story is that Ananias ends up following God’s command. He takes his life into his hands, because He trusts the Lord's wisdom. Ananias is truly a brave man. Do you have enough courage within you to follow Jesus into a dangerous situation like that?
If we follow Jesus Christ, we are going to be called to places we don’t want to go. The Holy Spirit will push us to change in ways that may be painful, but rewarding. We are willing to receive the unconditional love of Christ but we don’t always want to share it with others. We want justice to be served but we don’t want the unjust to begin serving our Lord Jesus Christ. We are bold enough to claim Jesus Christ as our Savior, but not always bold enough to go to the places where His command may take us.
When we think there are too few heroes who will to take risks in the name of Jesus Christ, we read about Ananias who did exactly that. Despite the risk of losing his life, he willingly walked into his worst nightmare. How could he do such a thing?
The answer to that question is found in verse 18. When Ananias enters the house of Judas and sees Saul of Tarsus, the first word he says to him is, "Brother." Can you believe it? He calls a man he fears "Brother!" Compare this to an African-American attending a Ku Klux Klan march and telling the marchers, "You are my brothers!" When Ananias looks at Saul, he sees him the way Christ sees him --- as Paul, the future Christian missionary. Christ has helped him see this man as another Child of God. We are not prepared to love the unlovable. Can you look upon your own enemy with the eyes of Christ? Can you pray for the wisdom to see the boss who has humiliated you, the friend who has betrayed you, or the parent who has hurt you, as Children of God?
Ananias, at God’s command, evangelized a total stranger who had been his mortal enemy, because he was able to picture him as a co-worker for Jesus Christ. The same opportunity that was given to Ananias is given to us today. If we can see each new person we meet, through Jesus’ eyes, perhaps our hearts can be transformed as radically as Paul's was, on the Damascus road.
What is often lost in the translation of Paul's conversion story is the understanding that two people were changed. Jesus didn’t give His life only to help the people we know and love. He has given His church the power to break down the walls between strangers, to make enemies into brothers and sisters. In the gospels, we find His instructions for building pathways to peace. Christ gives us the Spirit, which makes the impossible, possible for us. So, now that we know we are empowered, what are we waiting for? We have work to do.
Let us pray. Jesus, before you died, you prayed that we would be one, and that the world would know we are yours by our love for one another. Lift our eyes to see your movement and work in the world. Give us the joy of finding your work and joining the movement of the Spirit. Make us one, Lord, here, there and everywhere AMEN
“What A Sheep Needs”
April 17, 2016
First Presbyterian Church of Hokendauqua
The Reverend Joyce Smothers
Psalm 23
John 10:1-21
If a fire started in your home and you were told that your family and your pets were safe from the flames, what would you grab before you left the house? It's a dumb question really, because if there's a fire you shouldn't stop to grab anything. You should run as fast as you can! But, for the sake of argument, what one item in your home would you try to grab?
Did it ever occur to you that there is only one thing we truly need? One Bible writer, Israel’s great King David, believed this. In Psalm 23, he writes: "The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want." In other words, as long as he has the Lord, he doesn't need anything else. David became a king, and ancient kings had everything they wanted. But we think he wrote the twenty-third psalm when he was a boy and a lowly shepherd, so maybe this was a real act of faith. He had been a shepherd when he used his slingshot to slay Goliath. Shepherds in 1000 BC, lived simple lives. In David’s time, their work was demanding, dangerous and often boring.
A shepherd needs endurance, because nothing happens and it happens for hours. But when a wolf attacks, a shepherd needs to act quickly, to fight off predators. A shepherd needs to know what the sheep need and know how to get it fast.
At the heart of today’s psalm and gospel readings is the biblical recognition that Jesus is Lord and that the ideal king is a shepherd, not a ruler with an iron fist. God is all powerful, but that power is tempered with mercy. David, the author of the 23rd Psalm, saw himself as a shepherd with a lower case "s" while he regarded God as the real shepherd. Biblical kings like David placed the welfare of the people ahead of their own. Kings were expected to provide protection and tranquility. The people of their kingdom were their sheep. They were not supposed to have to worry about anything because the shepherd-king was filling their every need.
In David's day being a shepherd was highly regarded. By the time Jesus spoke about the shepherd in His own day, the reputation of shepherds had gone downhill. Shepherds of old had owned their flocks, and their financial well-being had depended on the safety of their sheep. They were sheep farmers and skilled workers.
But then a thousand years passed. Predatory lending practices during the time of Jesus had driven many farmers from their land and shepherds from their flocks. The failing economy favored the very rich at the expense of the poor. Sheep farmers were forced to seek loans to keep their operations afloat. When they couldn’t keep up with their loans, they lost farm and flock. When Jesus spoke about day laborers, He was speaking to an audience that included people forced to hire out their services on a day-to-day basis—many as shepherds-- with no guarantee of future work or fair treatment. Shepherds were now hirelings, and as Jesus suggests in the passage from John. They were poorly paid and lacked motivation to lay down their lives for someone else's property. They were working for wages, not for the benefit of the flock.
The Apostle John wrote the gospel story for new Christians who were, like shepherds, on "guard duty," suffering persecution. Not only did they have to deal with the customary distresses of life, but they faced questions such as, would they be arrested? If so, would they be whipped to death, forced to fight the gladiators, or fed to the lions? They were trying to protect themselves, not their flocks. And we know that fear, especially the level of fear these early Christians felt, can make sheep of all of us. John reached out to minister to the temptations and insecurities of the new Christians by telling the story about Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
Jesus tells us, in the gospel story, that He is both shepherd and gate. He is the way. He loves the sheep and has compassion for them. He wants to gather them together and keep them safe from predators who would take advantage of them. This is especially hopeful when the shepherd leads the sheep beyond the still waters, the stagnant waters, filled with pollution. Instead we are led to the springs of the water of life. Think of what clear, cold water must have meant to the people who traveled in the desert.
Jesus wants His sheep to listen to Him, to make right choices now, sound choices for eternity. We are called to be good shepherds in imitation of Jesus, but there are those among the flock who choose to take advantage of other sheep. They see their stewardship not as a chance to exercise power. There are predators outside the flock and they’re even more dangerous.
Shepherds appear in many other stories in the New Testament. You’ll remember the story of the birth of Jesus. In Luke, the first witnesses at the manger were shepherds. Angels did not appear to the Emperor in Rome—they visited the lowly shepherds in the hills to proclaim the good news. Shepherds went to see the baby Jesus for themselves, before rushing back to watch over the flocks. When Jesus called himself the good shepherd, He was identifying with the poor, the outcast, and the laborer. He reminded people that shepherds had been regarded as noble in Old Testament times.
A final word on sheep. It’s a lesson in humility to be compared to a sheep. I’d rather be an eagle or a tiger, and I’m sure you would too. I wish Jesus would have chosen almost any animal other than a sheep, to represent His followers. Sheep have a reputation for not being intelligent and there is basis for this in fact. In other words, they’re stupid. They can’t think for themselves, either. You’ve heard that if one sheep jumps off a cliff, the rest will follow. It’s true. Having said all that, if we are the sheep of Jesus, the good shepherd, it's good to know we are loved by God for who we are, not for the perfect people we wish we were.
Though we’re not perfect, we are more than sheep. We are heirs to God’s grand and glorious kingdom. Think of the people who have shepherded you, and forgiven you, all your life, despite the mistakes you’ve made. Those people were good shepherds. God saved you, but your shepherds helped, too. Give thanks for them all.
Have you thanked Jesus recently? Do you realize how lucky you
are? If, heaven forbid, you ever have to run from a fire, you won’t
need to grab anything at all. That’s because, if you have God, you
don't need anything else.
Gracious and loving Lord, we all walk through deep valleys. We know these valleys are a part of life, but they are not the destination. We know the One who has faithfully led his followers through these valleys. For, you, O Lord, are our Shepherd; you lead us beside the still waters. You lead us in the paths of righteousness, for you, O Lord, are our Shepherd. Amen.
“A New Commandment”
April 24, 2016
First Presbyterian Church of Hokendauqua
The Reverend Joyce Smothers
John 13:31-35
Today's Gospel passage is short, but there's a lot in it. And it's simple to understand. John knew he had an important message—some call these verses the heart of the New Testament. He chose to write it in everyday Greek, not fancy Greek. Greek was everyone's second language in Jesus’ time. John tells the story so clearly that even folks like me, who need to go to training seminars to operate a Smartphone, can understand it.
Love is the central theme of this chapter of John. Jesus is about to demonstrate what love means -- first in the upper room, and then on the cross. He will be showing God’s love in the face of an agonizing betrayal. Judas is mentioned in today's passage, as “He.” He has left the building. It’s not a secret, what Judas is up to. Jesus knows that His former friend has set out on a terrible mission.
Yet Jesus says, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in Him. If God has been glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself and will glorify Him at once.”
The disciples had thought God's entrance into history would drive the Romans out of Judea and establish the Messiah’s reign as King of the Jews. That’s the worldly definition of glory.
Jesus demonstrated what love means, with foot washing. In the ancient Near East, people walked barefoot or in sandals; so they would arrive at banquets with dirty feet. They would want to clean up before they ate. Upper class homes had basins for people to wash their own feet. No one wanted to wash the dirty feet of another person. Even slaves had to be forced to wash the feet of other people.
When Jesus girded Himself with a towel and washed the feet of His disciples, they sat in silent shock. Only Peter could bring himself to speak in protest. Jesus made His point-- that if anyone wanted to be His disciple, He would need to be ready to do humble tasks that most people refused to do.
Love is not just the subject of valentines and romantic songs. Love is a challenge in the toughest times. In the gospels, love is something you DO, not just something you feel. This reminds me of my husband and the way he cares for our two old cats. He is their private-duty nurse, giving them medications, each twice a day, and cleaning up hairballs on the rug and worse things. He uses eye droppers and syringes and never forgets a dose. I love our cats, but I don’t do these tasks. I say I don’t have time, but that isn’t the only reason. They are the pet-care equivalent of foot washing!
Having shown His disciples what love means, Jesus wants to talk about what He has been doing, and why. After addressing His good friends as "little children,” Jesus explains that He is going away. "... I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.'” If these words puzzle them, they don’t say so.
Then Jesus continues: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
You might ask, how is this a new commandment? It first appears in Leviticus, and turns up a few more times in the Old Testament and in the gospels. God tells the people, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself", and Jesus demonstrates this commandment by the way He lives. Washing the feet of His disciples is only the beginning. Soon His friends will be confronted by the ultimate act of love -- the crucifixion.
We are commanded to love one another as Jesus as loved us. It sounds simple. But are we ready to show sacrificial love for each other and for the world? We struggle with this. We have excuses. We think about our limitations. And yet it happens in churches all the time. I remember a good example of congregational love from ten years ago in a church in New Jersey. In this story, an entire Presbyterian congregation did wonderful ministry.
Over the years, Robert and Shirley had drifted away from their church. They were not upset with anyone. No one in the congregation had hurt their feelings. They just lost interest in church activities. They attended worship on Christmas and Easter, but that was the extent of their involvement.
They decided not to tell anyone when Shirley was scheduled for routine surgery. She originally planned to be home the next day. However, she experienced life-threatening complications from her operation and spent a week in the intensive care unit of the hospital. That Sunday in the worship service, one of their friends requested prayer for Shirley. All it took was one person, paying attention, to get the pastor and the members of that church mobilized to care for Robert and Shirley. People began visiting her in the hospital. Many old friends sent get-well cards and flowers. Meals were delivered to Robert at home, while his wife was in the hospital. Church members cleaned their house and mowed their lawn one afternoon while Robert sat with Shirley in the ICU. Robert and Shirley were overwhelmed by the love they received from the church.
The defining mark for all believers is love. Jesus instructed the disciples, "By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." The love that Robert and Shirley experienced, in their medical crisis, brought them back as active members of that congregation. And they ministered to others, as they themselves had been cared for.
We live a way of life that requires sacrificial love. It’s not just a suggestion that Jesus makes; it’s a commandment. All congregations consist of imperfect humans. All congregations grieve when active members drift away. We live in a volatile social climate. It’s an election year. Presidential candidates gain support by promoting the differences between people. They capitalize on resentments and demonize opponents. This is a struggle for me, personally. But I see church members rise above disagreement to care for each other. Eight years ago, I was told, in my first interview for this call, that this congregation that accepts differences of opinion. For the most part I have found this to be true.
When churches demonstrate how to love each other, the world can see that we follow Jesus. This church has shown that it has the key to succeeding as Christians -- showing the kind of love that doesn’t stop at cleaning up messes, and doesn’t stop at loving the unlovable, and doesn’t stop at doing ministry as a way of life--when it seems we have no time to fit in one more thing. It doesn’t stop at loving people with whom we disagree—because, after all, it doesn’t even stop at the cross itself.
Let us pray. All that we have and all that we are is by your grace alone, O God. We commend ourselves, our time, and our caring to your use. Encourage us in our commitment, we pray. AMEN
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