“Rumors” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17)

Rumors . . .

“Talk or opinion widely disseminated with no discernible source.”

“A statement or report current without known authority for its truth.”

A tall tale of explanations of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in public concern.”

We all know that we should not believe rumors . . . we also know that we should not perpetuate rumors . . . we should not retell them to others . . . primarily because they escalate to the point where they take on a life of their own.  Despite knowing this, it is difficult for us not to get caught up in rumors that circulate around us . . . that pull us in . . . that dictate the way that we respond to the world and people around us.  It is human nature to get caught up in rumors.

The Apostle Paul, in this letter to the congregation in Thessalonica, is having to deal with rumors that have set that congregation on edge at what it is hearing.  These rumors are confusing the people . . . scaring the people . . . and, generally disrupting the life of them all.  What exactly is it that they are hearing?  End times . . . the second coming of Jesus . . . and, it has shaken up the congregation.

Now, remember, this is early in the existence of the church . . . they are babes in the faith.  They have been taught to follow in the footsteps of Jesus . . . to do as Jesus did . . . to love God and to love others . . . to have lives of ministry that witness to the love and grace of God as demonstrated in Jesus.  Suddenly they encounter a new teaching . . . a teaching about the end times . . . the second coming of Jesus.  There is an urgency to this teaching . . . an anxiousness . . .  a mystery and unknowingness . . . that shakes the very foundation of all they have already been taught.  They are not sure what to believe . . . uncertain in how to act.  It paralyzed them.

It was in the early 1970s that I encountered my first “endtime” prophecy.  My mother gave me a book, The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey.  It was a fascinating book that captured my imagination as it used current and historical events to describe what the end times would be like . . . used a lot of readings from the Bible to tell how we were--at the time--on the brink of ending it all . . . and, for a young teenager it was a frightening book.  I have to admit that at the time, it shook up my little world.  At the time I was not a church-goer, but it made me think that I had better get my act together.

That was my first encounter with the rumor of the endtime.  Since that time I have discovered that there have been hundreds of rumors that the “end is coming.”  It seems that every generation has had its fair share of these endtime rumors.  Also, since that time I have survived several endtime rumors that have come and gone without the end happening.  Did you know that the most recent endtime prediction to come and go was on July 29th, 2016.

There was a viral video from the YouTube channel, End Time Prophecies, that claimed the world would end on July 29th, 2016.  They predicted that the earth would undergo a “polar flip”, which would apparently cause the earth’s atmosphere to be pulled to the ground as the surface reeled like a vacuum, causing a “rolling cloud” to cover the planet.  They also claimed that a worldwide “mega quake” would ensue.  A little over three months later . . . we are all still here.

And, yet, the rumors persist.

With this thought in mind, tell me of a generation that has not dealt with the rumor of the “the end” and it's coming?  Even Jesus dealt with these rumors of the “end” coming.  In Matthew 24, verse 6, he said, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.  Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.”  Then, further down in the same chapter, in verse 36, he says, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”  I would think that if anyone knew anything about the end times happening, it would have been Jesus . . . and, even after hundreds of rumors and predictions . . . we are still here.

The Apostle Paul did not want the Thessalonians to get hung up on the rumors that were seemingly contradicting his earlier teachings . . . he did not want them striking fear in them and causing them to become paralyzed . . . paralyzed to the point that they could do nothing.  Paul did not avoid teaching about the “end time”.  For him the “end time” was a source of encouragement . . . there was no room for fear in Paul’s understanding and teaching about faith.  He attempted to correct the rumors that were spreading, but ultimately he chose to focus on something else . . . something more important.

Paul wrote: “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”  Paul encourages the people to focus on the love and grace of God in Christ.  In focusing on this love and grace there is hope and strength to be found in the way that life is lived through every good deed and word.

It is a simple argument, maybe too simple in the way that I describe it; but, God is still here . . . still loves us . . . still desires relationship with us . . . still desires us to love others just as God loves us.  This is what we are called upon to focus upon in our lives . . . our relationship with God and with others.  It is here that the Kingdom of God is discovered and lived . . . each and every day no matter how the world around looks . . . no matter what the rumors are that are swirling through the air.  True, it may look like the end is coming, but through it all . . . God is still there . . . always there.  Thus Paul desires for those hearing his words to not get caught up in rumors, but to listen to the will of God as demonstrated in the life of Jesus.

The apostle wants us to find strength in this knowledge of God’s love and grace as demonstrated in Jesus.  The apostle wants us to find strength to continue on in faithfulness no matter what the rumors are that are swirling around . . . no matter what the world around us throws at us.  The apostle wants us to grow in faith that is shown in how we live our lives.  This does not come from rumors but from the sure and certain understanding that God never abandons us . . . yesterday, today, or tomorrow.  God is always with us.    That is no rumor . . . that is a fact.  Amen.

“How Long?” (Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4)

God’s perception and our perception are not always the same.

A man was praying to God and asked the question, “Lord, how long is a thousand years to you?”  And, surprisingly, the Lord answered: “A minute or two.”  Impressed that the Lord answered him, the man pressed on, “And, Lord, what is a million dollars to you?”  Again, the Lord answered him, “Oh, about a nickel.”  Buoyed by God’s willingness the man pressed on with one more prayerful question, “Lord, could I have one of those nickels?”

Now there was a long pause in the conversation . . . then God replied, “Sure, in a minute or two.”

God answers prayers . . . and, I am sure that gentleman will get his million dollars in about a thousand years . . . but, God answers prayers in God’s own time.  Which is frustrating for most of us who live in this day and age of pretty instantaneous results . . . rarely do we have to wait for much of things that we want in life . . . we live in an age of instant gratification.  We want things fast.  We don’t want to wait around.  Whether it is in our everyday lives or our spiritual lives . . . we want it now.  Thus we experience frustration when we do not get what we want when we want it.  It is especially frustrating when it comes to our requests for God’s presence and intervention in our lives.

Ask the prophet Habakkuk.  This virtually unknown minor prophet has a conversation with God . . . a conversation that had been apparently put off for quite some time as Habakkuk had been praying to God to intervene in the lives of God’s children to right the world of all the moral corruption he was witnessing among God’s people.  Habakkuk was a morally sensitive soul who could not turn away from the oppression of the weak, the dismissal of the poor, dishonest dealings, constant fighting and public conflict, the destruction of the fabric of social life, endless litigation--in short, what he saw was the wholesale abandonment of God’s will by the people whose sole purpose was to be a visible witness to God’s way with the world.  Over and over the prophet prayed for God to act . . . to do something.  Despite endless prayers to God, Habakkuk felt that his prayers fell on deaf ears.  He was frustrated.

Finally, in frustration, he cries out, “How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?”

Much to his surprise, God answers him.  

I don’t think it was quite the answer that he was expecting, but God answered him.  God assured Habakkuk that something was going to happen . . . that righteousness and justice would win out . . . and, then added, “When I get around to it.”

There is nothing more frustrating to talk to someone who you think is listening . . . think are understanding what you are saying . . . expecting results . . . only to be told that they will do something about it when they “get around to it.”  No one likes to hear that answer.  

I have worked with a lot of people throughout my life that I learned never get around to what they were going to do until they got “around to it.”  And, for a while I used to have one of those wooden round coins that had the words, “tu it”, printed on it.  Whenever they answered my request with the phrase “round to it”, I would pull that wooden coin out and flip it to them.  I would be giving them a “round tu it”.  I thought it was funny, but rarely did the person I offer it think it was funny.

That is what God tells Habakkuk.  God is going to do something and it will be in God’s time that it is done.  The children of God will get what is coming to them . . . they will suffer the consequences of their actions . . . and, in time, it will all straighten itself out.  Besides, hasn’t God always come through with what God has promised?  In the meantime, the people will have to wait until God gets around to it . . . in God’s time.

Again, this is not quite the answer that Habakkuk is expecting.  But, Habakkuk is person of prayer.  Instead of getting upset and indignant about what God is saying, he takes God at God’s word . . . he plans on positioning himself on the lookout for what God will do and say next.  He trust God is already at work, even if he cannot see it.  He trusts that God has more to say, and he commits himself to waiting on God rather than taking matters into his own hands.  This is not quite what any of us would expect . . . Habakkuk taking a disposition of waiting with confident trust in God.

Waiting around doing nothing doesn’t seem like doing much of anything.  Waiting, in our estimation, is worthless; and, yet, in the spiritual life--in the scriptures--we learn over and over again that waiting is to be active, to do something, something very important.  One scholar tells us that waiting is the most important thing that we can do, since waiting is an expression of faith, of being open and receptive to God, to God’s action, to God’s voice, to God’s answer.  Waiting is to be patient, which means “to suffer”, or to be acted upon rather than acting, to be receptive to the action of others.  To wait and to be patient is to trust that God is at work even if we can’t see or understand what God is doing at any given moment of time.  It is faith in God and not in ourselves . . . a willingness to accept God’s will as it comes to us each day as God continues to be God.

So, Habakkuk waits.

What is he waiting for?  What is the vision that God gives to Habakkuk to share with the people?  To wait . . . to wait for the truth . . . the truth of what is going on, what is truly worth waiting for and will certainly come.  The Lord says, “. . . but the righteous will live by his faith.”  The righteous will live by this faith.

We are waiting for God.  Faith is trusting in God.  Faith is a willingness to trust that God knows best and will bring our lives and the world to a good completion.  This is God’s will for the world, what God has promised and what we, by faith, trust will surely come in God’s good time and in God’s good way.

And yet, as we sit here this morning, waiting for God, we wonder, “How long, O Lord?”  The truth of the matter is that none of us truly knows . . . even though lots of people through the ages has tried to predict it.  We do not know.  We just trust that God knows, and we trust that God knows what God is doing.  This trust is not based on some wishful thinking, but it is grounded on solid ground . . . something firm . . . something strong enough to sustain us.  Our faith rests on God’s sure and certain promises spoken in our Lord Jesus Christ.  Such faith is what keeps us going . . . each and every day, each and every moment.

In faith we live.  This does not mean that we simply do nothing; no, what we do is the desire of God . . . it is to build the kingdom in our time and place.  It is to be people of faithfulness despite what the world around us is doing or what the world around is throwing at us . . . it is to seek that love of the Holy--the love of God and be in relationship with God . . . it is to love others as God has loved us . . . it is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.  This is God’s gift to us . . . it is God’s doing, which is why it frees and empowers us to find great pleasure in living a life following God’s will, delighting in God’s ways rather than our own.

In the end God wins . . . we profess this belief.  The end will come when it is God’s time . . . when God gets around to it.  In the meantime, we wait.  We wait with faithfulness . . . we live faithfully . . . we listen to the word of God . . . we witness the presence of God around us . . . we gather to worship . . . we break the bread and lift the cup.  We wait.  In the waiting we find the presence of God all around us.  Such is the gift of faith.  Amen.

"In the Eyes . . ." (Luke 18:9-14)

“What would you look like

if you saw yourself through the eyes of God?”

(Oprah Winfrey)

Compared to what?

I believe that that is a powerful question.  A powerful question that each of us needs to ask ourselves whenever we get into one of those moods in which we are feeling down about ourselves, about our station in life, about the way that we perceive ourselves . . . when we are down and depressed . . . when we feel as if the world is judging us.  It is a powerful question that we need to ask ourselves when we are weighing our self-worth.  Compared to what?

As the followers of Jesus we find our value in the eyes of God.  We find our value in the eyes of God who created us in the image of God . . . we find our value in the God who loves us for who we are . . . we find our value in the God who loves us and forgives us and desires an intimate relationship with each and every one of us.  In the eyes of God we are all loved and desired . . . just the way we were created.  Because of this, I pondered, why do we get so hung up in what the rest of the world thinks?

In our scripture reading this morning we have a situation in which Jesus tells a parable to a group of individuals who were pretty confident that they were among the faithful and that others were far less worthy.  The scene is the temple.  There are two individuals who have come to pray.  The first is  is a Pharisee . . . a person of position within the community because of his membership in a group.  He prays.  In his prayer he points out to God that he is not like other people . . . he is worthy of God’s love because he follows the rules . . . he follows the rules and regulations of the faith . . . he practices the dogma . . . he follows the rituals . . . he does everything that is viewed as being righteous . . . he fasts, he tithes . . . he does it all.  This is the prayer that he offers God.  In the eyes of others, he is a righteous person.  And, just to emphasis the point, he points to the other person gathered to pray.  He tells God that he is not like that sinner. He prayed about himself and only himself.

The other person gathered to pray is a tax collector.  In the Jewish culture a tax collector is a despised person.  A tax collector is one of their own who has shifted alliance to side with the enemy . . . to profit off the enemy . . . a traitor to the people of God.  Yet, this individual takes a different approach to prayer . . . he did not posture himself in a cloak of importance.  No, he stood there and beat his breast . . . he would not allow his eyes to gaze towards heaven, to the place of God . . . and, he moaned a prayer of mercy and forgiveness as he admitted to God that he was a sinner.  A sinner unworthy of God’s grace and forgiveness.

The scene was a picture of contrast.  Two different ways of praying to God.  One the way of the righteous of pointing out to God how much better they were than those around them; the other, a way of letting God know it was just privilege to even have the opportunity to offer a prayer . . . a prayer asking for forgiveness.  All of this was done in the presence of those who were confident in their own righteousness.

Imagine their shock when Jesus affirmed the tax collector over the Pharisee . . . proclaiming the tax collector as being more faithful than the practicing and self-appreciating Pharisee.  In the eyes of God, the tax collector was the more worthy in the eyes of God.

There is a phenomena that surprisingly guides our lives whether we are aware of it or not.  That phenomena is based upon a simple premise.  In our lives we have many personas that dictate the way that we see the world around us.  These phenomenons are based upon the many aspects of our lives that we are.  For example, I have a lot of different aspects in my life . . . I have been educated to look at life as one who deals with people with disabilities thanks to my college degrees in special education and speech pathology.  I also have the view that comes from the fact that I got a degree in counseling.  I also have the fact that I was raised under the guidance of a father who was in the military.  I am a parent . . . a spouse . . . an individual.  Then, to top it all off, I have a religious degree that casts it shadow over the whole of my life.  These are lenses in which I see the whole world on a daily basis.  Through these lenses I see life.  Through these experiences of life I judge myself and the world I live.

Sadly, these are the lenses of experience that really do not matter.  What matters is how God sees it.

Oprah Winfrey, who needs no description, asks a poignant question: “What would you look like if you saw yourself through the eyes of God?”  She poses a wonderful question.  In her question she does not want to know what other people think . . . what the world thinks . . what the family thinks . . . not our best friend . . . not the minister . . . no one.  The question is posed to ask us what we would look like if we could see ourselves through the eyes of God.  She wants to know, in our own words . . . in our own thoughts . . . how we think that God views us as individuals.  Who are we through the eyes of God?

Are we the self-righteous who only care about how we weigh in compared to what society deems as worthy . . . or do we see ourselves through the eyes of God?  Through the eyes of God who sees us for who we are created to be . . . people with faults . . . people with fears . . . sinners as the tax collector proclaimed himself to be?  That is the question.  Compared to what?

In our scripture lesson the crux of the argument is in within whose eyes each of us finds our value.  Is it in the world’s view . . . or is it through the eyes of God?

Earlier I stated that we see the world and ourselves through the lenses we have accumulated through a lifetime of experience.  Those lenses dictate the way that we see ourselves and the world around us.  Everyone does it . . . that is the way that we live.  Yet, as the followers of Jesus, we are not asked to view the world through the lenses of our experience . . . we are asked to view the world and our lives through the eyes of God.  In everything we are asked to view it all through the eyes of God.

Jesus tells the crowd gathered around him that the individual who is willing to lay the truth out there for God to hear is more worthy than the individual who just is going through the motions of what society expects.  God wants an honest heart, not a dogmatic heart.  

Compared to what?

Isn’t that the question?  When we take the time to pause and take stock of our lives . . . whose eyes are we judging that life by?  The world in which we live, or through the eyes of God?  More often than not, it is through the eyes of the world in which we live.  In the end, it is through the eyes of God that matters.

Jesus said it plainly.

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  Thus comes the blessing.  A blessing that comes from those who are willing to allow themselves to be seen through the eyes of God.  It is through the eyes of God that we find value as human beings.  Good or bad, it is what God thinks that matters.  Think about it.  Amen.