There is something to be said for enthusiasm but zeal sometimes has its issues. Some time ago I was at a Presbytery meeting in which there was a discussion about changing worship styles and providing support for churches which were seeking to learn and grow in their worship experiences. An elder came stomping forward, took the microphone and unleashed a tirade. He said, “You all are not Presbyterian, you’re not EVEN CHRISTIAN!!” He continued to yell of our lack of spiritual depth, ending with expletives that I have not generally heard in Presbytery gatherings. The moderator eventually brought the hostile barrage to an end and the elder was ushered outside to cool down. Shortly afterwards another member of the Elder’s church stepped forward and said: “I have to apologize on his behalf; he is just so zealous for the Lord.” Another, older elder came to the microphone and said, “I disagree. I’ve seen zeal. He was a self-centered jerk.”

Many of us have experienced this phenomenon of the person who is so passionate about what he or she believes that she or he is willing to be obnoxious, hostile, and uncaring about other people’s feelings. It’s a pretty common experience. Unfortunately far too many people have seen this type of hostility and turned away from Christianity or fellowship of the Church. Behaving as an obnoxious and angry idiot is the opposite of showing Christian maturity. But some then ask, “Then what’s up with Jesus thrashing the money changers?”

It becomes a challenge for many of us to see Jesus’ behavior at the temple and not be confused. For some, the idea of Jesus being forceful and direct in this manner contradicts the “nice guy” Jesus they have in mind. Part of the problem is we don’t understand why the money changers were there in the first place.

The Money Changers were there because the Roman coins bore the image of Caesar and an inscription identifying Caesar as “god almighty.” This would be considered a graven image and could not be brought into the temple. The solution became to provide “Temple Coins” that could be exchanged for Roman coins. And in the process, why not make a few dollars for the Temple? But unlike bake sales, this meant that those who were poor were going to have a harder time buying what they needed in order to be right with God. The exchange was repeated again when one bought an animal for sacrifice, and again when one offered gratitude offerings. The money changers became a means by which relationship with God was exchanged for profitability.

It’s the danger that comes with zeal. Passion and zeal tend to flow from our egos and not from our relationship with Christ. The money changers fulfilled a role of maintaining law and providing funds for what appeared to be good things. But in the process they were insensitive to the destruction and pain they were causing.

The solution was to sensitize them. More specifically it was to show that nothing that separated people from God would be tolerated. So what’s the difference between that and someone forcing their point of view? Well, this is Jesus which has to count for something. And in this case the cause merited the force. In Jesus’ mind, nothing could be tolerated as a barrier between the people and God. Jesus accepted the consequences of this action; and Jesus stood with those who were on the outside, seeking to be acceptable to God. Jesus was willing to die on behalf of these people. To be safe in terms of relationship with Jesus, it’s a good idea not to get in the way of people being right with God.

The fact that Jesus was passionate and zealous for what is right is not the same for our desire to “fight for what is right.” Jesus was deeply concerned for those unable to experience God’s grace – not about his own feelings or personal opinions. Jesus was motivated by love and compassion for those who were on the outside, not offended by not getting his way. In some ways the differences are subtle, but important. They mark the difference between caring deeply and acting; and lashing out selfishly. But that difference is very important. We need to be people who act out of deep feelings of caring and sense of compassion. We need to live as faithful Christians who are willing to put their hearts into the relationship with Christ. In that way we can be people of real faithfulness.

Peace,
Pastor Jack

Music Coordinator / Praise Team Leader;

Children’s Music Director;

Choir Director

Organist

If you know of someone interested in applying please contact the office, or Nate L., or Dave W. of the Personnel Team.  Individuals interested in applying are welcome to submit a resume and cover letter.  We hope to begin interviews in coming weeks.

“Sixth Sunday of Easter”

Scriptures: John 21:1014, Romans 10:9-15

Questions:  We are continuously filled with joy and hope. Who do we share the Easter story with? The story of the 153 Fish impresses on Christians that we are to share the story with everyone.

Vision: “Growing in Christ.”

10:30 Service:  ”Children’s Musical.”

Guest Preacher:  Chaplain Darren Beachy

A service for remembering those who have gone before us.

How much do we have to do in order to be OK with God? How much commitment is required to convince others that we are good people – we don’t want to knock ourselves out and we don’t want to look like we’re not serious about our faith; but honestly, what’s the minimum we can get away with? It’s not that we don’t care. We do. There’s just a tendency to substitute superficial obedience for love (at least when we’re not having as much fun as we think we should be having). As a result, instead of commitment flowing from our hearts, we struggle with giving out of obligation. This is potentially toxic because acting out of obligation has a danger of creating resentment, bitterness, and hostility. Acting out of obligation has the potential of choking all of the joy or celebration out of what we do.

Of course the topic here is paying taxes, and there are probably some among us who are less than joyful and celebrative about paying taxes. We are definitely firmly in obligation territory here. And that is unfortunate because we lose perspective as to what benefits we receive because of participating in our community together. I’m not pushing some socialist agenda but the bulk of us do benefit from what we share in as community assets. We may discuss what appropriate uses of public funds should include. But when we allow obligation to spill over into hostility there is a tendency to move from reasonable discussion to ugly name calling and personal attacks. In our case it’s not only “should we pay them” but it’s also, “how should we relate to them.”

The push to reduce taxes has taken on an edge in which some individuals and groups have become harsh, hostile, and clearly disrespectful. What makes this particularly difficult is that underlying these more juvenile outbursts there are some significant and crucial discussions that are going to need to be made. The aging of our society is going to change the dynamics of healthcare delivery and how it is going to be funded. There are issues with funding pensions; and particularly what to do among individuals whose assets will not cover their expenses in the coming years. We will need to be thoughtful as to education, and the impact upon communities depending on the level of education, as well as how education is delivered. We also have some serious infrastructure issues as well as the choices in terms of how large of priority to make defense, research, and protection of consumers. In each of these discussions there are impacts regarding taxes.

A great many have responded by becoming angry and resentful at the government. Some of this anger spills out between family members, among friends, and in various other groups. For some, the tendency has become to focus on one particular issue or set of issues; so that it becomes a test – “Either you agree with me or you are a bad person.” Sadly this not only ruins relationships but doesn’t tend to generate any effective strategies for solving problems either.

So what is Caesar’s portion here? What makes this even more challenging is realizing that the Roman tax did not fund roads or schools among the Jewish people. The main purpose of the tax was to enable Roman citizens to live more privileged lives, far away from where the taxes were being assessed. In the region where Jesus did much of his preaching the people were bled white by the taxes, and when they could not pay, horrible persecutions and atrocities took place to force compliance. A very good argument could be made for cheating Caesar out of his portion. But Jesus said pay what is owed; and to give to God what is God’s.

What is God is all of who we are. God created us and gives us life; there is nothing that we can claim that we have not received from God’s steadfast love. What we owe God is everything. What we need to pay God is joy and appreciation for all of the good gifts that fill our lives, including roads, community, and (brace yourself) taxes. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t work towards changing the government, the priorities of our community, or our ultimate burden of how much we are going to have to pay. But we need to keep in mind that relationships are more valuable than money.

This means we do not treat people with alternative points of view with hostility or disrespect. This means we do not buy into the fear and anger based rhetoric. This means that we do not allow ourselves to become part of the rancor and divisiveness. What we owe to God is see the humanity in all people and always “Speak the truth with love.” We owe to God to be more concerned about finding ways to bring healing and wholeness rather than just winning.

It’s a long time until the elections are going to be over this year. And if the last few years are any indication, we’ll probably see the campaigning for the next election kick off as soon as the next set are over. If we are going to be healthy, wise, Christians, it’s going to be by making sure we are very conscious about the portion we pay to God.

Peace,

Pastor Jack

Sermon: “Cleaning Out the Closets”
Theme: God did not create us to be “hoarders” and wants our lives to be complete – to have enough to be full of joy and not so much that we are overburdened and miserable.

Scripture
Philippians 3:7-16 What is “refuse” and what we need to hold onto that we have attained.
Matthew 6:19-24 Do not store up treasure on earth – no one can serve two masters.

Questions: What is worth pursuing, and worth dedicating our time and energy to seeking? Are there things that have begun to fill our lives that now dominate our time and our thinking, robbing of wholeness and life? How is it we chase after what is not worth while and waste our energy on what is not of value?

Other Activities Communion
Compassion Sunday – Minute for Mission

Message from May 6th 2012 - Click here to listen to the message