September 29, 2024 JESUS AND INDIVIDUALS 2 “More Than Enough!” (Ordination Reflections)

Readings: Psalm 19:7-14 , Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, James 5:13-20, Mark 9:38-42, 49-50
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, September 29, 2024

On September 26th, 1984, in Pembroke, United Kingdom, I was ordained as a minister of Word and Sacrament by the Presbyterian Church of Wales. I had taken on my first churches three  months earlier, but because the denomination only held one ordination service a year, I had to wait before I could administer communion or baptism. Thankfully a previous minister was still around and was able to take care of the sacramental duties.

This means that I’ve been a minister within the Presbyterian Church for a little over 40 years. 40 is a significant number in scripture. David reigned on the throne for 40 years. After Noah built his big boat, it rained 40 days and 40 nights. Following His baptism Jesus was sent into the wilderness to be tempted for 40 days and nights. The Israelite's wandered in the desert under Moses leadership for 40 years before ever reaching their promised land.

Have 40 years of ministry felt like 40 years in the wilderness? Do I feel ministry has been like 40 days and 40 nights when the rain has never stopped? For sure there have probably been at least 40 days or nights when the temptation to and pursue a different occupation has seemed a most attractive proposition!

Scripture expects a lot from everybody who seeks to be in ministry. Our reading from Mark tells us we will be ‘salted with fire.’ That, like John, who gets fired up when he saw things he did not agree with, and came to Jesus saying “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us,"  we will encounter people who are doing stuff that just seems wrong to us.

Even with the best of intentions we will sometimes get it wrong, and our actions can cause harm rather than good. There’s a chilling warning, in Mark 9:42,  "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.”

Then there are the expectations! In the Book of James, Elijah is described as “a human being like us” yet was such a powerful prayer warrior that he could stop the rain coming and decide when it was going to fall. And though in this passage he talks about prayers that will be answered, every person of faith I have ever met is aware that they have made many prayers that don’t seem to have been so fruitfully and positively answered! Expectations. Can we ever do enough? Is all that we do ever enough? Can we ever be enough?

Today, as I recognize 40 years since my ordination, there are more than enough things I could say, but I want to reflect on just three things, that relate to expectation. The first is this.

Throughout my ministry I have never been enough.

I don’t mean that in any self-depreciating way. In our society we are encouraged to “Be all we can be” and it can sound like an admission of defeat or weakness to talk about not being enough. I make that as a statement about the nature of Christian service, and in particular, ministry.  

We were given the advice in seminary to never try and please everybody. There are days when you start to question if you can please anybody! Your theology is always too far to the left or to the right. If you speak out about something, there is somebody to tell you, you should have kept quiet. If you don’t speak out there is somebody to tell you should have said something. Whatever you do, there is somebody who has the opinion that you should be doing it differently. Folk can be quick to point out your failings, but slow to recognize your achievements. It can be mentally, spiritually, and physically exhausting.

Part of the problem is that in ministry there are no measurable results. You are constantly sowing seeds and rarely get to see the harvest. A pastor colleague shared with me how his favorite thing to do was mow the grass. It was so quantifiable. There is grass that needs cutting. You cut it. A job well done with recognizable satisfactory results. Like many other similar professions, ministry does not offer that instant sense of gratification.

One of the things that has kept me going is acknowledging, from my earliest days of seeking to serve the church, that whatever I did in ministry, it would never be enough. That I, for many people, would never and could never and will never be enough.

I hope that doesn’t sound like I am being defeatist or complaining, about what really has been an amazing four decades of unexpected blessings and encounters. It is simply this. You need to know, that if you are thinking about being active in kingdom life that you are placing yourself in a situation where, to some of those you work alongside and share your life with, it will never be enough. Why do I put it that way? Think for a moment, what the bottom line of being a Christian is. A Christian is somebody who follows the teaching and example of Jesus Christ. And one thing about the ministry of Jesus, that it is crystal clear…

 Throughout His ministry, Jesus was never enough.

Jesus was so ‘not enough’ for the people of His day, that the political and religious authorities demanded His execution, one of His closest followers handed Him over to their hands to do with Him whatever they wished, the crowds cried out “Crucify Him, Crucify Him,” and His closest friends and disciples denied Him and abandoned Him. For them, He wasn’t enough.

Nobody had the authority and understanding and insight and discernment of Jesus. Nobody else offered such a radical transformation of ideas regarding who God was, who we are and how the world can be changed. Nobody did the miracles Jesus did. Nobody delivered people like Jesus delivered people. Nobody healed people like Jesus healed people. Nobody told stories like Jesus told stories. Nobody preached like Jesus preached. Nobody loved people like Jesus loved people. Not just His own people. Loved all people. And it wasn’t enough.

Throughout His ministry, Jesus was never enough for the world He walked through. Nor for this world we travel through. “Love your enemies.” “No thank You Jesus, we prefer hate.” “Forgive those who trespass against you. “No thank You Jesus, we need to pay them back”. “Serve one another as I have served You.” “No thank You Jesus, we are way too important for that!” “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God,” “No thank You Jesus, we have a kingdom of our own making to put first.”

As I follow a “Never enough” Jesus, I am content to say that throughout my ministry, I have never been enough. If He was never enough, after all He did and said, then it would be both arrogant and foolish to believe I could do better.

Hold on. I am looking at expectations from the human side of things. As a person of faith there is another perspective to consider. We go through our lives often overly concerned about how we look in each other’s eyes. The real question should be, “How do we seem in God’s eyes?”

If we accept what Jesus taught us, then there will be a time, when all the things we hold onto so tightly, even life itself, will be snatched from us and we will stand before God. Where is the good news, where is the gospel message that Jesus died to deliver to us, in all of this? I would state it quite simply.

In God’s eyes, we are more than enough!

The great reformation understanding is that we are saved, by grace through faith. That we can never do anything worthy of redeeming ourselves. That our only hope in this life and the next is to throw ourselves upon the mercy and forgiveness of God. We can do that with great assurance because God believes we are more than enough.

We are important enough in God’s eyes for God to send God’s only Son, to die upon a Cross, to break down the barrier of sin that we create between ourselves and God. We are forgiven. We are set free. We are blessed with eternal hope. We, who are never enough for each other, are more than enough to God!

The resurrection of Jesus assures that God’s love is a force even death cannot destroy. As we invite the Holy Spirit to transform our lives, we participate in the life of God, in the dance of the Trinity, and in the abundant life that God desires us to experience.

It is within this framework that we are freed from the worry of being enough. The little things we do become the big things. In our reading today we heard Jesus telling us “For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”

That is what I am celebrating as I look back over the 40 years of ministry since I was ordained. I have been able to do the little things. Little things that have never and will never be enough for some people but are precious and beautiful … and enough… in God’s eyes

Never be discouraged. In God’s eyes we are more than enough for the tasks God will lead us to accomplish. Some we will do well. Others, maybe not so well. But that’s OK. We are learning how to be disciples; we are not training to be masters of the universe.

Do not be dissuaded by those who will insist that what you have to offer is not enough. Remember how in His life, after all that He did and said, Jesus was not enough for those who were blind to the light of God’s revelation. When He declared on the Cross, “It is finished” it was not a statement of defeat but a declaration that everything God had sought to accomplish through His earthly ministry had been completed.

In God’s eyes we are more than enough. We are loved. We are loved so much that God sent Jesus to die upon a cross for our salvation, that we may enjoy the abundant life of God’s Kingdom. So just keep doing the little things that remind those around you that they are also children of God that God longs to embrace.

I am so very thankful for every person who has been part of my 40-year journey since ordination. It has not been 40 years in a wilderness. Even though the rains have fallen, they have never fallen for 40 days and 40 nights. I have been tempted to pursue other paths, as Jesus was during His 40 days in the wilderness, but God has been faithful, and to prove it, 40 years after ordination, here I am Lord!

40 years that have flown by so much quicker than I could ever have anticipated. 40 years when God has provided everything I needed. 40 years that feel like they are not enough, but in fact have been spent in the loving presence of the God who wants us all to know, we are more than enough!

To God’s name be all the Glory, Honor and Praise.
To Jesus, my Lord, my Savior, my hope, my provider, be all the Glory, Honor and Praise.
To the Spirit who guides us, leads us, teaches us and feeds us, I give thanks.
To the Trinity that invites us to dance in the love of God; “I am the Lord of the dance says He, dance on, dance on till eternity.”
Amen and Amen.
To God be the Glory!

The Reverend Adrian J Pratt B.D.

September 22, 2024 JESUS AND INDIVIDUALS 1. "Simon And the Sinful Woman"

Readings: Psalm 1, Proverbs 31:10-31, James 3:13-4:3, Luke 7:36-50
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, September 22, 2024

I'm stepping away from the usual Lectionary readings and I'm preaching a series titled “Jesus and Individuals.” When Jesus came to this earth in the flesh, He spent His time dealing with individuals, not with systems or policies, but directly with people.

I want to therefore set off on a journey to look at some of the people He met, how He dealt with them and ask what we can learn from such encounters. I hope you will find it as rewarding hearing about these interactions, as I have researching them.

Today I'd like to take a look at Jesus in the home of Simon the Pharisee, and His encounter there with a woman, whose name we are never given, and is described only as “A sinful woman of Galilee.”

Every church community desires to do well and see their congregations full of a balance of younger and older people. But one of the problems of a church full of people is that they may not be people that others consider “Their sort of people.”

Church growth never takes place in a vacuum. It's concerned with individuals encountering Jesus Christ. He died for all, regardless of what they may be like. Rich, poor, moral, immoral, black, white, religious, irreligious, democrat, republican, straight, gay, young, old and those you just can't stick a label on.

Accommodating people who differ from ourselves is never easy. We don't like change. Growing up can be a painful process at times... and one of the biblical pictures of the church is that of a “Body.” And what happens to our bodies from the moment we are born on earth to the moment that we leave this earth is that they are constantly changing and growing.

And often, if a church wants to grow, the first people that need to change and grow are not those outside of the church, but those inside the church. All of us, sitting here. And that's another reason why I felt like taking this theme of Jesus and individuals, because as you have got to know me and I have got to know you, one thing is for sure. We are all individuals!

So, today, Simon and the sinful woman of Galilee. There are times when being religious can prevent us from faithfully following Jesus. That's one of the insights that comes out of this passage about Jesus visiting the home of a very religious man. The passage teaches us that Jesus would not allow anything, not even religion, to get in the way of His mission to the lost.

Let's dig deeper.

THE TIME. During a meal, sometime in the second half of Jesus ministry in Galilee. It could be noon or it could be evening.

THE PLACE.  A Home, probably in Capernaum.

THE CIRCUMSTANCES.

Jesus is a guest in the house of Simon the Pharisee, who apparently feels he has done Jesus a great honor by allowing Him to be a guest in his house. Simon seems curious about Jesus. Yet he appears to have neglected to do some customary things that hosts normally did for their guests.

Normally there would be an offering of foot washing, particularly to somebody who travelled as much as Jesus did.  Another common custom was to greet an honored guest with a kiss of peace. Neither courtesy is extended to Jesus.

Now into this situation, somehow, arrives this woman. An outcast, apparently due to her immoral behavior. Some commentators suggest she may have been a prostitute, or the daughter of somebody involved in some less than respectable business. We are not given the specifics.

What we do know is that she is broken hearted over her sinful state and feels a strange attraction to Jesus. Her deep devotion has led her to ignore whatever obstacles folk may have tried to place in her way. And there she is. Weeping and crying. Pouring precious ointment on Jesus feet. Drying them with her hair.

Simon the Pharisee does not approve! Although he does not vocalize how he is feeling, Jesus reads his thoughts.  Simon is thinking, “Daa. This Jesus isn't all he's made out to be. If he knew what sort of woman that is, fiddling around with his feet, he would tell her to leave Him well alone.”

Jesus looks over at Simon, and starts to question him, by means of a story. The story goes something like this. “Let us say I know a couple of people in financial trouble, and I am fortunate enough to have the means to help them out. To one of them, I give a thousand dollars, to the other only a dollar. A week later I say to them both, “Hey, you know that money I loaned to you. You have no need to pay me back. It's done with. The debts cancelled.”

“Now, tell me Simon, which one of those two people is going to be the more grateful?”

It was a no-brainer. Simon gives the obvious answer. “Well... the one who has had the larger debt cancelled!”

“Right” says Jesus. “But, you know what Simon, you have hardly welcomed me to your house. Didn't even offer me the usual common courtesies. But this woman, through her demonstration of love, is showing that her sins have been forgiven.”

Then Jesus turns to the woman and we read, verse 48, “He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Simon and his Pharisee guests are completely horrified by this action. Who on earth did this Jesus think He was that He can go around forgiving peoples sins? Jesus just looks over at the woman and tells her, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

It is here that the encounter comes to a close. We don't know if Simon quickly brought the party to an end. We don't know what became of the woman, but we do know in the next chapter of Luke there are a number of women who have been touched by His ministry who are accompanying the disciples as they travel to different cities and villages to spread the news of the Kingdom. Maybe she was among them.

We can learn different lessons from different aspects of this account.

From Simon we can learn that we should never allow our “religion” to become more important than the words and actions of Jesus Himself. If our belief system causes us to look down on others or ignore their needs, then we have ceased hearing the voice of Christ and have substituted some other teaching in His place.

One of Simon's greatest problems was his misplaced pride. It caused him to not show the Son of God even the expected courtesy one would offer a guest. It caused him to reject Christ's teaching, because, well, he was a Pharisee, he knew better. He passed judgment on the Son of God, and it rebounded upon him and left him outside the experience of God's grace and forgiveness. In Matthew 7:1–2 we hear Jesus saying, “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged, since you will be judged in the same judgment that you make, and you will be measured by the same standard you apply.”

From the woman we learn that there are no depths to which we can sink that we are not able to be forgiven and redeemed by Christ’s love when we turn to God in repentance and with faith. We do not know what the woman's situation was. Maybe she was more sinned against than she had committed personal transgressions. Maybe life had dealt her some heavy blows. Maybe she had just messed up. A saying I was bought up with, whenever somebody was seen in bad circumstances, was to say, “There but for the grace of God, go I.”

The acceptance of this woman by Jesus reminds us that though His love, the love He died to show us upon the Cross, the love that shines down in grace upon us through the light of His resurrection, that love... is offered and available to all who seek to live as part of God's Kingdom. We are all invited to know His love, His forgiveness and His peace.

From the situation as a whole we see that if any faith community desires to be a thriving congregation, then their mission must reach out in many different directions and to all sorts of people. God loves everyone. God's Son died that all may come to know Him. We must reach out, without respect of a person’s situation, with the gospel of the Savior.

Looking back over the history of Christianity we see how some of the greatest sinners have turned out to be the greatest saints. There are many autobiographies of people whose lives have been changed and turned around by their encounter with Jesus Christ. From prison to praise, from slave owner to hymn writer, from atheist to believer, from doubter to champion of the gospel.

Scripture itself furnishes the example of Saul, the persecutor and approver of the death of Christianity and of those who claimed Him as Lord, who became Paul the Apostle, the great proclaimer, definer and promoter of the faith.

Each one of us has our own story to tell. We are each one of us, unique individuals. It matters not if we find ourselves more like Simon or more like the sinful woman of Galilee; we still need to experience the love and acceptance of Jesus.

We can, like Simon, block out a true experience of God by our misplaced pride, or we can, like the woman, discover in His love and grace, a new dynamic to our very existence. Such is the picture this story leaves with us.

It also challenges us to consider the notion of mission. If Jesus reached out to all, so must His Church. If Jesus welcomed all, so must His Church. If any congregation wishes to thrive as a spiritual community, then “Welcome” has to be as much a part of its D.N.A. as grace, trust, faith and love.

I am grateful for the welcome I have received in this place. I am confident that whoever has the good fortune to occupy this place in the future, can look forward to a similar blessing falling on their lives.

May God continue to direct you and lead you. To God's name be the glory. Amen.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

September 8, 2024. "The Stranger in Karabazoo"

Readings: Psalm 125, Isaiah 35:4-7a, Mark 7:31-37, Ephesians 5:15-20
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, September 8, 2024

As today is the day we restart our next Session of Sunday School, I decided it would be fun to share a story rather than preach a sermon. Our reading from Ephesians encouraged us to share words and sing songs that tell of the ways of the Kingdom.

Sometimes the greatest carriers of truths are simple stories, something Jesus witnessed to by the fact that when He wanted to say something really important, He often turned it into an unforgettable parable. The Good Samaritan. The Prodigal Son. We do not easily forget them.

Well I’m going to share a story I originally wrote for a youth retreat in West Virginia when we first came to the U.S.A, but since then it has been used for various other events.

In fact, some folks have taken copies and used it themselves at their events. So... I figured, just in case one of those who have borrowed my story, ever made their way here, it would be better if you hear this story from the original author, while he’s still around.

I don't claim that it is particularly original; in fact, it's a combination of a couple of sound-strips I recall seeing in the UK when I was a young ‘un (produced by Scripture Union) along with a few thoughts of my own.

But for what it is worth (and with the hope that it may carry something of the love of God within it), I present to you...a cowboy classic…

"THE STRANGER IN KARABAZOO"

Once upon a time, in the days of the Wild West, (Or it could have been the Wild East), there was a little town called Karabazoo.  Karabazoo was much like any other town and its people much like any other people.  Every day they got out of bed, ate breakfast, went to work, came home, ate supper, chilled out for a while, then went back to bed.  

Every day that is, except for Sunday, when they went to their pretty little church, with its proud, upstanding bell-tower, in the middle of town.  Every Sunday the sound of its bell would ring out across the town, and most everybody would be there.

And much like any other town, people did not always say what they wanted to say; did not always act the way they felt they should act; did not always do what they thought they should do.

The people used to - well - they wore masks.  In the morning, even though sometimes they got out of bed feeling awful they would wear an "'Oh what a beautiful morning' mask". When they walked down the street about their business, they would greet each other with, "Hello, how nice to see you" masks, even when they were not a bit pleased to see each other.

The men had some masks they hoped would impress the ladies.  Some of the ladies had "Oh, I'm so pretty" masks to hide behind.  Many had a "Look at me, I'm working ever so hard and deserve a pay rise" mask to impress their employers with.  Some of the employers had stern, disapproving masks that seemed to say, "Just remember who's the boss around here!"

Some people had real important masks. The Judge.  The Manager at the Company Store.  The Night Watchman. Some had masks that looked expensive. And some had masks that looked really poor.

They had masks to say, "I really care," when really, they didn't care; masks that showed an interest, when really, they weren't interested; masks to say, "I'm real," when really, they were just pretending, and they even had masks that said, "I love you".

And on Sundays they would put on their Sunday best masks and, listening to the tolling of the bell, from their pretty little church, would march to the center of town to hear the pastor preach his Sunday best Sermon, in his Sunday best suit, through his Sunday best masked face.

Now one day a stranger came riding into town.  The stranger was kind of weird.  He looked like the rest of them.  He dressed like the rest of them.  He spoke like the rest of them. He acted much like the rest of them. Except for one thing. He was not wearing a mask. "Did you see him?" people said, "He wasn't wearing a mask!"

Behind their masks people began to mutter, mumble and whisper. "No mask. It is not right. No mask. He's dangerous. No mask... must be a crazy man... stranger... doesn't he realize everyone in Karabazoo wears a mask?"

A rumor started to spread. Rumor was that one afternoon he had met a lady down by the old water well, on the outskirts of town. (Not the center of town where the pretty white church with its proud bell tower stood, but... you know... the other side of town.) "He met a lady there," they said.

Not just any lady, but a lady, well... let us just say that she spent more time down in the saloon than was ladylike and her husband... well it wasn't really her husband and nor were the last fellows she was living with… and so on and so on and so on.

Rumor had it she had met him down by the well one hot sunny afternoon, and he... he... in broad daylight, he had made her take her mask off! And now she was running all over town telling everyone that it felt good to have your mask removed, felt free and liberating and alive and good.  

Worse still, some other people, (people admittedly from the wrong side of town), had listened and were seriously considering destroying their whole collection of masks!

Sunday came around. Everyone put on their Sunday best masks and marched along to the pretty little church, with its proud, upstanding bell-tower, at the center of the town.   In the study the pastor prepared to preach his Sunday best Sermon, in his Sunday best suit, through his Sunday best masked face.

The service began and the choir put on an admirable performance. Calls to Worship and prayers of confession resonated around the rafters.  Hymns were dutifully sung (but without too much emotion lest it become a distraction).  

People snuggled down in their pews for their customary slumber as the pastor began his address. He was halfway through when, suddenly, yet quietly and respectfully, in walked the stranger.

He went and sat on the back row, as church folk do.  As the preacher talked on, he noticed the stranger whispering something into a little girl’s ear. Next moment the child was taking off her mask... taking off her mask, in all places and at all times, in the sanctuary during a divine service of worship... taking off her mask and handing it to the stranger.

The stranger lifted it to his face, and it just seemed to melt into his features, to be absorbed by his gentle smile. Then the next child took off her mask, and the boy next to her, and each mask was passed to the stranger where it became immersed in his smile.

Now some of the little ones were whispering to those in the back row.  "Take off your masks... be free... it feels good… .it feels right".  And some did and some did not.  Those who did had their masks passed to the stranger and he took them onto himself.

Down at the front of the pretty little church, with its proud, upstanding bell-tower, at the center of the of town, some of the people, the important people, the ones who held the keys of power, the preacher, the elders, all those who wore masks that had "I'm important and you should know about that" written across them, were shifting in their seats uncomfortably.  

They looked around at the stranger. They looked up at the preacher who had reached another incomprehensible milestone in his unintelligible sermon.  One of them went to the front, beckoned to the preacher to stop his flow, and whispered something in his ear.

 There were a few moments of jarring silence as the preacher ruffled his notes uncomfortably. Then, accusingly, he pointed his finger down the aisle, looking directly at the stranger, he said, 'In the name of all that is decent and true... LEAVE US ALONE".

"Stop Him,” shouted the chief elder.  And with that the stranger leaps out of his seat and starts darting among the pews, heading randomly for the front of the church, pulling off people’s masks, left, right and center as he made for the vestry door. "You can never be free as long as you wear your masks" he said, as he purposefully rushed by.

They chased him into the vestry. Out through the vestry door into the hall. Up the schoolroom steps onto the second floor. Along the polished floor scattering the chairs as they went. Heading for the little door that led to the spiral staircase that led to the top of the pretty little churches proud, upstanding bell-tower.

The stranger kicked through the door and headed up the narrow staircase. Hands pulling up on the metal, a missed footing here yet climbing ever higher and higher. The chief elder was in hot pursuit. "Come back here with those masks" he was screaming.

Then out on to the roof they went, the stranger squeezing through the hole that led to the outside. He had his back to the edge as the chief elder reached him. The proud elder did not hesitate. Just pushed him over the edge with a hard smile on his face. "That should stop you" he said.

Down, down, down, down, fell the stranger and hit the ground with a sickening, dull, thud. Not moving. Not breathing.

Back inside the church, a strange mixture of people.  Some with masks, some without.  Some laughing, some crying. Some whispering, "I'm free," some shaking their heads in disbelief. Slowly they made their way outside to where the body of the stranger lay, with masks strewn all around him.

Some recognized their masks, picked them back up, put them on and went home. But others ... well... they never did put their masks back on.

Just a few.

But their number is growing every day.

"Don't need masks" they say, "Need to be Free".

And the stranger?
They left his body lying on the ground and everyone went home.

When the funeral director came for the body, strange thing... he was gone.
Some say he is still in town. Others say, that in other towns, others are taking off their masks, and he has been seen there.

There had been a stranger in Karabazoo.

And one thing is for sure.

Karabazoo
    has never been the same
        since that stranger     
            came riding     
                into town.

The Reverend Adrian J Pratt B.D.