LISTENING FOR GOD'S CALL

A Midweek Lenten Meditation
by Laura Gentry

For this evening's Lenten meditation, we will be listening for the call of God through scripture. I've created this liturgical painting as a visual component to the meditation, to help you focus more deeply. I've simplified the forms into a stained glass type of design. It is meant to show the action of one person turning toward God and moving into the light of Christ. May it inspire your heart to do the same.

We'll listen to each of the following scriptures and spend some time in silence after each one. Listen carefully for the call of God in these silences. Simply be open to how the Spirit may be speaking to you, calling you into a more vibrant faith life. (All scriptures below are from the New Revised Standard Version)


Psalm 95:2-7
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
O come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice!

Isaiah 43:1-3
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Luke 8:4-15
When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that ‘looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.’ “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.

Psalm 85:8-9
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts. Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.

Isaiah 6.1-9
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.
And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”

Proverbs 8: 32-35
“And now, my children, listen to me:
happy are those who keep my ways.
Hear instruction and be wise,
and do not neglect it.
Happy is the one who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting beside my doors.
For whoever finds me finds life...”

© Laura E. Gentry 2007

INTO THE WILDERNESS

A Sermon for the First Sunday in Lent
February 25, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry

Photo to the left is the devil puppet Laura designed and created for the children's sermon.

Luke 4:1-13
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'" Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. (New Revised Standard Version)

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In our Gospel lesson from Luke, we hear about what happens after Jesus is baptized. Normally, when we have baptisms here at church, they are followed by family dinners—usually lovely luncheons with a pretty cake for dessert. While Jesus gets baptized, however, he gets no lunch and certainly no dessert. Instead, he gets the desert. That’s right. The Spirit him drives him to the wilderness.

Still dripping with the blessing of his baptism, Jesus is thrust right into Satan's clutches against a desolate backdrop of the Mediterranean desert. This is the place that many people went to fast and pray in order to listen more closely for God’s voice. We don’t know exactly where Jesus went but tradition has it that he climbed up into a cave of Mt. Quarantal, where the Monastery of the Temptation is located today. There, he is without food or any of the other standard comforts. There, he is tempted by the Adversary three times, yet he withstands these temptations. Then, he emerges after his 40 day fast, a stronger man of faith, ready to proclaim the good news.

This is not the first time the bible tells of difficulty in the wilderness. Jesus' temptation echoes the bitter, painful wanderings of his ancestors on their 40 year journey of deliverance from bondage in Egypt into the freedom of the Promised Land. The wilderness is the haunting place in the long story of God's beloved people from Noah to Abraham to Moses and Elijah, and now Jesus himself struggles in the wilderness. So the history of God's chosen people floods into this story of the 40 days Jesus spends in the wilderness being put to the test.

And Jesus' temptation does not mark the end of wilderness struggles. The Desert Fathers and Mothers were Christians who lived in the Egyptian desert during the fourth and fifth centuries. They rejected the prevailing culture of their world, a world—they declared—that preferred darkness to light. So they escaped to the desert to keep themselves from conforming to the ways of the world. Thomas Merton explains: "Society was regarded by the Desert Fathers and Mothers as a shipwreck from which each individual had to swim for their life...They believed that to let oneself drift along, passively accepting the tenants and values of what they knew as society, was purely and simply a disaster."

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to say that that was a problem of the fourth and fifth century Egyptian society only? Alas, prevailing attitudes in our own time and place could also be considered a shipwreck. Our culture tempts us to abandon God’s will, to become entangled in forces of darkness that threaten our souls. Have we been sucked into the seductive powers of our modern wilderness, so much so that we've forgotten to swim for our lives?

Mother Theodora, one of the Desert Mothers I described, explains: "You should realize that as soon as you intend to live in peace, at once evil comes and weighs down your soul through boredom, faintheartedness, and evil thoughts...It dissipates the strength of soul and body, so that one believes one is no longer able to pray. But if we are vigilant, all these temptations fall away." These temptations fall away? But how? How did Jesus do it? How in the world did he pass through the wilderness of temptation and escape unharmed? This is what we long for our Gospel lesson to teach us.

Remember that he is baptized immediately before all this begins—he is claimed as God’s beloved child and filled with Holy Spirit. Each time the Adversary tempts Jesus, he responds by quoting from the book of Deuteronomy. In doing so, he is connecting himself to Israel's history—to the long story of God's people. Each time he rejects the way of worldly power and domination. And in the end, his weakness, humility and compassion prove to be the strongest power.

We, too, are surrounded and guided by the Holy Spirit through our baptism. We, too, are connected to the men and women of the Bible, our ancestors in the faith. Like them, we are set apart to be light in this dark wilderness. We do not belong to this world. We shouldn't grapple for power as the world does! Our true identity is that we are God's own daughters and sons. We belong to God—not the world. And we see by Jesus' example that in our weakness, God's power is made manifest.

So what does all this mean for our Lenten journey? In the ancient tradition, pagans converted to Christianity by preparing for holy baptism during the 40 days before Easter, that they, like Jesus, would be tested to see if they proved worthy. They would follow the ancient Jewish method of repentance: covering their head in ashes, wearing a sackcloth, refraining from bathing, and fasting and praying as they openly repented of their sins. They embraced weakness in order to be empowered by Christ.

The Christians were struck by the joy and radiance on the faces of the newly baptized, and so they decided to join in. They too, wanted to experience the thrill of new birth, of new life, of new strength rising from their weak, human bodies. They wanted to rekindle their faith, apologize for their lukewarmness, and experience deeply the joy of the resurrection. That's how Lent came to be a part of our church year. And this scripture of Jesus' temptation always kicked it off.

To conclude, I bring you the story of Desert Father, Abba Arsenius who also longed for this new life. He prayed to God, "Lord, lead me in the way of salvation." God's voice came, saying to him, "Arsenius, flee from the world, be silent, and pray always...these are the sources of salvation." I think these commands so beautifully summarize the spirituality of the desert:

• to flee —that is to resist being shaped by the temptations of the world; to swim for lives so that we may instead be shaped by the Spirit of God at work within us.
• to be silent — that is to make time in our busy schedules for God, especially during this Lenten season, and to seek God in the silence
• to pray always — to descend with the mind into the heart and there to stand in the presence of God and be transformed by the Holy Spirit.

Our Lenten journey is a time of repentance and of resisting temptation. As we seek to deepen our inner life and prepare to experience the Easter resurrection, my friends, let us boldly to flee from the world, be silent, and pray always.

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

© Laura E. Gentry 2007

RELEASE IN US A PASSION

A Sermon for Ash Wednesday
February 21, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry

Joel 2:1-18
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near— a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come. Fire devours in front of them, and behind them a flame burns. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, but after them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. They have the appearance of horses, and like war-horses they charge. As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. Before them peoples are in anguish, all faces grow pale. Like warriors they charge, like soldiers they scale the wall. Each keeps to its own course, they do not swerve from their paths. They do not jostle one another, each keeps to its own track; they burst through the weapons and are not halted. They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls; they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The Lord utters his voice at the head of his army; how vast is his host! Numberless are those who obey his command. Truly the day of the Lord is great; terrible indeed—who can endure it?

Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” Then the Lord became jealous for his land, and had pity on his people. (New Revised Standard Version)

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Tonight is one of the most solemn church services of the year: Ash Wednesday—the night we get ashes smeared onto our heads with the sobering words: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

Ashes in ancient times were used to show repentance. If you’d see a guy walking around so gray with ash that you couldn’t even recognize him, you would know that he was repenting for something. I picture it being something like the Peanuts character "Pig Pen" wafts dust wherever he walks. Repenters preparing for baptism would continue to dump ashes upon themselves without washing for the full 40 days. Can you imagine how they would have smelled by the end of Lent? It was a ritualized way of showing the foulness of their sin, of their desperate need for God’s redemption.

But repentance is not so outwardly demonstrated these days, except for Ash Wednesday and you’ll be glad to know that we don’t dump a whole bucket of ash on your head like in ancient times. We simply give you an ashen cross in the middle of your forehead.

So why is this necessary? I mean, have we really been that bad that we should have to be marked with such a dirty cross? I believe our Lenten repentance is necessary not simply for our own sins, but for the world’s collective sins.

Mercy Amba Oduyoye, a theologian from Ghana, writes about God being agitated. This agitation—described in many places throughout the bible—is born out of compassion. Most of all, Oduyoye says, God is agitated at suffering and injustice. And yet our world is so full of it. God must deeply agitated with us.

There is an Ash Wednesday prayer that goes like this:

O God,
you have made us for yourself,
and against your longing there is no defense.
Mark us with your love,
and release in us a passion for your justice in our disfigured world;
that we may turn from our guilt and face you, our heart's desire,
Amen. (Janet Morley, All Desires Known , Expanded Edition, Morehouse Publishing, 1994.)

Release in us a passion for your justice, it says! That is what we ask for tonight. For we have lost that passion. Bit by bit, we have gotten "compassion fatigue" and with all the horrors pronounced to us on the nightly news, we've become incapable of feeling sad about the state of the world. We are numb to the suffering. Hearing of senseless and violent deaths hardly even warrants our notice anymore. It become normal.

But it is not normal to God. It will never be normal to God who loves each one of us more deeply than we can fathom. Suffering and death and injustice are deplorable to God! Our Creator is saddened, upset and agitated that we have become so heartless, so resigned about all that is wrong.

And so the ancient church developed this special day, this day of ashes when the trumpet was blown to wake the world from sleep, to invite them to leave their numbness behind, to enter God’s agitation, to lament together and the misguided direction of the planet.

We continue this tradition today—sans the trumpet—because of it’s power to wake us from our slumber. Yes, it is an awakening to sorrow but this sorrow leads us to the profound realization that we are in need—desperately in need of God’s grace and mercy. This repentance day and this 40 day Lenten journey are not easy, comfortable or fun, but they open our hearts in a mysterious and amazing way to the saving love of Jesus. These days are meant to turn us—turn us away from the powers of darkness that have laid claim to us and our world and turn us again toward the light of Christ, the bright and morning star.

During these 40 days, we must return to God through spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting and almsgiving. In this Lenten journey, we will allow ourselves travel with Christ, through our agitation and tears, to the cross, the grave, and on to the Easter victory of new life. May this journey release in us a passion for God’s ways! Blessings to you on the journey. Amen.


Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

© Laura E. Gentry 2007

ONE DEGREE OF GLORY TO ANOTHER

A Sermon for Transfiguration Sunday
February 18, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry

Luke 9:28-36
Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"--not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen. (New Revised Standard Version)

2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. Therefore, since it is by God's mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God's word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God. (New Revised Standard Version)

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

This morning, we celebrate Transfiguration Sunday. We hear Luke’s Gospel account of this amazing event in which Jesus takes Peter and James and John up the mountain with him and then is transfigured before their very eyes. His face changes and his clothes become dazzling white. In the original Greek, this word is closer to “lightning”. That’s some pretty impressive pyrotechnics, now isn’t it?

Not only that, but the great Moses appears as does Elijah and the three of them begin to converse. Moses, who represents the law God gave to the people, and Elijah, who represents the prophets through whom God spoke and guided the people, appear from beyond the grave and talk with Jesus on the mountain top. No wonder the disciples are awed by the experience. The glory must have been completely overwhelming.

Though we hear this story every single year, I think it is hard for us to relate to. I mean we’ve never seen Jesus in person, let alone see him transfigured in all his glory. We get a sense of this scene being a spectacular, supernatural event of Biblical times that is unfathomable to us in our modern world.

In this way, it become a difficult story to interpret. Peter doesn’t even seem to be able to interpret it correctly and he was an eyewitness. With great enthusiasm (and not too much insight), he blurts out: "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He wants the glory to keep on going. And why wouldn’t he? He doesn’t want Jesus to stop glowing or for Moses and Elijah to go away so he thinks if he can just get some booths constructed quickly for them to hang out in, if he can just get some contractors to throw them up, these two might stick around a while longer. This moment might last. But just that quickly, a cloud covers them and God’s voice says: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" And then the transfiguration is over.

Luke has written the story in this way because, I believe, he is inviting us into the experience. He beckons us to stand with Peter and James and John and to encounter the lightning-laden glory of the transfiguration. But he doesn’t want us to get fixated upon this event like Peter did, as if it were the only revelation of God’s glory that ever would be. You see Luke is showing us that in the transfiguration, Jesus pulls away the veil for a moment and reveals what our every day lives tend to conceal: that we we are never far from the dazzling and miraculous glory of the everlasting God.

This glory is too wonderful, too omnipresent to pin down. That’s why Peter couldn’t go through with his booth plan. You cannot turn the glory of God on and off like a faucet, as if it were something we could control.

And this uncontrollable and marvelous glory didn’t end when John set down his pen after writing the final book of the Bible—it is ongoing. Through the ages we’ve seen God’s glory continue. We’ve seen glory in the survival and growth of the early Christian church. We’ve seen it in the saints and martyrs, who gave it all for the sake of the Gospel. We’ve seen it in the missionary zeal that spread the good news around the globe.

We encounter this glory today whenever we see a magnificent art work or architectural structure or hear beautiful music or read a moving piece of literature. We experience God’s glory in each glowing sunset, in each glance at the mighty Mississippi that runs through our town, in the dawn of each new day. We see the glory of God in the gift of parents, children, friends, community.

God’s glory is here to inspire us and fill us with awe. It is here to engage us and keep us steadfast in our faith. It invigorates us for doing God’s will. It calms us when we are filled with anxiety. It comforts us in our sorrows.

And the glory of our almighty God calls out to us in this very moment. How dare we think that the glory of the transfiguration was only for that time and place? This glory is the force of truth eagerly waiting to set us free, to transform us into the image of God.

The transfiguration merely reminds that the veil that separates us from God’s revelation of glory is wafer thin. This is what Paul is talking about in his letter to the Corinthians in our second lesson for today. He recalls the story from our first lesson about how Moses had to cover his face because it was still glowing from his encounter with God and how God’s people hardened their hearts to this glory. And there are those who still veil their minds from God’s glory. But when we turn to God, the veil is removed. “And all of us,” he writes, “with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” This is why we have hope, why we do not lose heart, why we can act with boldness!

And so today as we contemplate Transfiguration Sunday, we are invited to contemplate the glory of God in our own lives. What can we do to unveil our minds so that we can truly be present to the times when God shows up? How can we participate more fully in the Spirit’s work to transform us into that same image of the transfigured Christ—to move us forward from one degree of glory to another? How can we live with deeper hope? These are exciting and glorious questions to explore. May we do so boldly.

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

© Laura E. Gentry 2007

WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED

A Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
February 11, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry

Jeremiah 17:5-10
Thus says the Lord: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord. They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit. The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse-- who can understand it? I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings.(New Revised Standard Version)

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah began his ministry in Jerusalem around 627 BCE and he witnessed the final years of Jerusalem before it fell to Nebuchadrezzar in 597 BCE. He had a very difficult job because he had to declare a lot of warnings to the people of God. For this reason, he is known as the weeping prophet. In this prophetic statement, he declares a timeless curse and a blessing to the people of God of every time and place. I am going to paint the illustration that he gives us as I talk about it in hopes that this visual can bring the message home, so it can make a difference in our lives today.

First, he says “Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord.” In some way or another, this applies to all of us. We so often place our trust in things other than God. These are all unreliable things to trust. They are like branches of a tree without root, without stability. When trouble comes, they cannot help us. Let’s explore some of these branches as I paint them.

STRENGTH
We try to rely upon our own strength. Jeremiah calls it “flesh”. It might make sense to trust in our strength to protect ourselves, but even the most strong body builder in the world cannot save himself with his strength alone.

INTELLECT
In our technological world, intellect seems a more important commodity than just strength. We try to think our way through life. And while thinking can do a lot for us, it cannot save us.

SENSE OF HUMOR
Many rely upon a sense of humor to get through life. Laugh it off. Joke with people and make them feel comfortable around you, that’s all it takes. Jeremiah reminds us, though, that nothing but God can be truly trusted.

POSITIVE THINKING
Sometimes, we turn to positive thinking to get us through this difficult life, to make it through the desert. I love positive thinking and I’ve read many books on the topic but it is a trap to think that it can save us. The idea that if you just think about things the right way, if you just put a positive spin on it you’ll be fine, is a myth. No matter how “right” our thoughts may be, we are saved by the grace of God alone.

FINANCES
I think this is one of the biggest traps of all. Every bit of advertising tells you that you need money to be secure. Our culture values it so much that we tend to think that finances can save us. But not even the best 401K plan or ROTH IRA can get us through the deserts we will surely face.

OTHER PEOPLE
What would we do without our family and friends? We love them and appreciate them and there is no doubt that they help us. But this is another trap, another empty branch to think that people alone can save us. If we can just find the right friends, marry the right person, have the perfect children, then we’ll be fine. This line of thinking doesn’t hold up. The perfect friends, spouse, and children simply don’t exist.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
As a culture, we put a lot of eggs into this basket. Science keeps finding more cures for the diseases of the planet. They say that if this keeps up, life expectancy in the future can extend well beyond 100 years, maybe even 200 at some point. And with our technological advances, we have more and more gadgets to do our work. But sometimes these good innovations tend to produce more problems than they solve. Now that we can genetically alter a human being, for example, is it a good or ethical thing to do? We simply cannot trust these things alone to save us.

HUMAN INSTITUTIONS
We love to trust our human institutions. But even the best schools or systems of government cannot save us. Not even the church can save us. Though we do God’s work together in the church, we are human beings and we don’t always get it right. If we trust in the church, it can become an idolatry. God alone deserves our worship.

Not one of these things can help us when we encounter the deserts of our lives. They are like this tree without roots, without future. Why do we think we can put our trust in anything but God? It simply does not work.

But the prophet goes on to offer a blessing:

“Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, says Isaiah, whose trust is the Lord. Notice the repetition for emphasis. It is about trusting in the Lord. Those who do so shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.”

When we trust in the Lord, our trees send out spiritual roots to give us support, to give us real stability and nourishment. As Jeremiah says, our roots are like those of trees planted by streams of water. Then when the storms and droughts come, we do not not wither or perish.

In my painting, you see there are streams flowing underground and the roots spread out deep into these waters. This is a powerful image of those who trust in the Lord.

It is like the song we are about to sing, “We’re like a tree that’s planted by the water, we shall not be moved.” When we trust in God above all else then no storm can move our faith. We are firmly planted.

May Jeremiah’s image give us inspiration to be like this tree, rooted and nourished by God alone. We shall not be moved!

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

© Laura E. Gentry 2007


(Above) Pastor Laura Gentry in the midst of preaching and painting

WHO'S GOD GONNA CALL?

A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
February 3, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry

Isaiah 6:1-13
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!" And he said, "Go and say to this people: 'Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.' Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed." Then I said, "How long, O Lord?" And he said: "Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate; until the LORD sends everyone far away, and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land. Even if a tenth part remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains standing when it is felled." The holy seed is its stump.(New Revised Standard Version)

1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you--unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them--though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe. (New Revised Standard Version)

Luke 5:1-11
Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." {When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. (New Revised Standard Version)

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In a popular eighties film, the theme song would describe all kinds of ghost scenarios and then pose the question: “Who you gonna call?” to which there was the great big response: “Ghostsbusters!” Ever since, the phrase “Who you gonna call” is really overused, especially in advertising.

And yet, as I was thinking about all of today’s scripture readings, that silly question and tune kept popping into my head—because these stories are all about callings. They give us examples of the kinds of people that God calls to carry on God’s amazing work. So they are fascinating stories to explore.

In our Old Testament reading, who’s God gonna call? Isaiah! In the Jerusalem temple, Isaiah has a vision, which reads like a science fiction thriller. It is so overwhelming that it is downright scary. Understandably, Isaiah is terrified about encountering the glory of the Lord and responds: "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” God’s not going to take no for an answer, it seems, and so an angel takes a smoldering coal from the altar with a pair of tongs and sears Isaiah’s lips it to purify them so he will be ready for his prophetic career. Then God asks, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And Isaiah responds: "Here am I; send me!"

Then, we have another calling described in first Corinthians. Who’s God gonna call? Paul! Now this guy, like Isaiah does not see himself as worthy of the calling. Paul thinks back about how he had persecuted and killed many Christians before his conversion. He is horrified about his past actions and explains, “I am the least of all the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle." Even after he answers God’s call and is busy doing God’s work, it seems his violent predisposition plagues him and he says—in present tense—”I am the worst of sinners!" It is only because of God’s grace that Paul’s effective ministry is happening.

Finally, we have the story of Jesus inviting the men to become disciples and follow him. Who’s God gonna call? Simon Peter! You see the fishermen have worked all night and caught nothing, but then Jesus comes along and tells them to sink their nets into deeper waters. When they do so, their catch is enormous. Archeologists recently uncovered a fishing boat from that region and era that was 26.5 feet long, 7.5 feet wide, and 4.5 feet high. We must assume that this was about the size of Simon Peter’s boat. People in those days were smaller and most stood no taller than 5’5”, which made the boats extremely deep for them, with great capacity to hold fish. This story says that two boats were so filled with fish that they began to sink. A phenomenal amount of fish, this is indeed.

It so impresses Simon Peter that he says to Jesus, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" Like Isaiah and Paul, he does not feel worthy to be called by the God of the Universe. But Jesus isn’t really interested in taking no for an answer. He presses him: "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." And so Simon Peter and his friends leave their boats and everything else to answer this calling.

Is it any wonder that these three stories from different time periods in the bible were put together for today’s lectionary readings? I can see the theme, can’t you? Who’s God gonna call? Normal people! People like you and me. People who are not perfect. People who didn’t sign up for this sort of thing. Still, God calls.

Sinfulness, failure, and inadequacy—none of these is an obstacle to God’s call. God can use broken people. God can transform our shortcomings into useful qualities. God’s grace, as Paul discovered, is sufficient.

That is the epiphany, the shining truth in these lessons. God has been and is continuing to call us and it doesn’t matter how unworthy we may feel. God is ready and eager to use us. We are invited, like Simon Peter and the other disciples, to leave it all behind and follow. Just what does that mean in our modern world? Most people don’t drastically change their lives when they receive Christ, unless, of course, they decide to move to the other side of the globe and become a missionary or pull up stakes and go to seminary.

And it is easy for us to read these dramatic callings and think about how nice they are, but feel they simply don’t apply to us. So we go back to our old fishing nets, so to speak, instead of answering the call to a deeper discipleship that God is offering us. I mean, isn’t it possible that we could be transformed right where we are? Isn’t it in God’s power to completely revolutionize our hearts so that the way we interact with the people in our lives is different? Our God is an ever-present God and a God who’s ways are unexpected. God surprises us by accepting us as we are, healing us and then sending us forth to carry on the mission.

I remember reading a story in Reader’s Digest about a jewelry store employee named Melodie Hartline. She described how she would help couples ordering wedding bands to decide about putting a special inscription on the inside. She once asked a bride-to-be what she would like inscribed inside her fiancé's ring.

"We aren't very romantic," she replied. And she even explained that they were marrying on her fiancé's birthday just so that so he wouldn't forget the date!

Melodie persisted, "Isn't there something you'll want him to remember as he looks inside his ring?"

"There sure is," she said. And that's how "Put it back on!" came to be inscribed inside her husband's ring.

I think as we hear the calling stories of Isaiah, Paul and Simon Peter, we hear a call from God for us to recommit to our own callings, to “put it back on.” We so easily want to wiggle out of the call that God has placed upon our lives. It is a demanding call and we struggle with feeling inadequate. “Get someone else, God! Get someone who can do a better job.” But God says, “No, I want YOU! Put it back on. Put on your commitment to your calling. I have the grace to take you all the way!”

Who’s God gonna call? YOU! Today, let us answer this incredible invitation with the willingness of Isaiah: “Here I am Lord, send me.” Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

© Laura E. Gentry 2007