Feb 21, 2016 Sermon: "The Fifth Stage"

Stephen Baldwin

OT: Psalm 27

NT: Luke 13.31-35

                Elizabeth Kubler-Ross was a Swiss psychiatrist who worked with terminally ill patients.  She became one of the world’s leading experts on death and developed what we now call the “Five Stages of Grief.”  They apply to grief of all sorts—grief over death, pain, hurt, regret.  These are the five stages. 

                Denial.  This isn’t really happening.  I’ll pinch myself, wake up, and realize this has all been a terrible dream.

Anger.  Frustration boils over.  We lash out, we kick and scream and fight. 

Bargaining.  As if we are lawyers in a negotiation, we try and bargain with God.  If this will all just go away, then we promise to be better people and live a better life. 

Depression.   We give up.  We say, “What’s the point?” 

Acceptance.  We somehow finally realize that despite how messed up things are, it will be alright. 

When you grieve, you don’t go through these stages in some simple, sequential order.  You’re not in denial for a day, angry for a day, and so on.  You bounce back and forth between these stages for months if not years. 

                Jesus was human too.  He grieved like we do.  By today’s reading, I think he had completed his stages of grief by arriving at acceptance.  He didn’t like Herod, he wasn’t satisfied with his disciples commitment, and he had to be beyond anxious about what surely awaited him in Jerusalem…but he accepted it.  He accepted all of it. 

                Do you ever feel like Herod is out to get you?  Do you ever wonder if even those closest to you understand you?  Do you ever get tired of the rat race of conflict? 

                Jesus teaches us that peace is not the absence of conflict but the acceptance of it.  He found peace by accepting his situation, and we can too.  Amen. 

Feb 14, 2016 Sermon: "Into the Wilderness"

Stephen Baldwin

OT: Deuteronomy 26.1-11

NT: Luke 4.1-13

            If you were to go on a wilderness excursion for 40 days and 40 nights, what would you take?  What items would you put in your backpack?  Tent.  Layers of clothing.  Toothbrush.  Toilet paper.  Water bottle.  Cooking utensils.  Bug spray.  Sunscreen.  Knife.  Food? 

Luke says Jesus didn’t take any food.  That could’ve just meant he was observing a Jewish fast, which means he could eat after the sun goes down.  But I think food would be the first thing I’d pack…and lots of it.  So if Jesus didn’t take any food—or at least mot much, what else did he not take?  Layers, toothbrush, toilet paper, water bottle, utensils, sunscreen?  Doesn’t sound like it.  I don’t think he carried a pack at all, because he only took one thing with him.  Luke says he was full of the Holy Spirit.  The same Spirit that convinced him to go in the wilderness in the first place. 

            Lent began this week on Ash Wednesday.  Most Christians don’t have a clue what Lent is, much less know how to act during it.  It has become popular to give something like chocolate or social media up for Lent.  I’ve always thought that concept was a little silly, because how much lighter is your load going to be if you give up just one thing for 40 days? 

            Lent is supposed to hurt.  It’s supposed to be a time of sacrifice.  Jesus lived in the desert for 40 days without a pack.  He didn’t just give up one thing; he set down his whole life.  

             Does he want us to quit our jobs and go live in the woods?  I don’t think so.  But Lent is supposed to hurt a little.  He wants us to learn that we’ve come to rely too much on things that don’t matter and rely too little on the Holy Spirit that does matter. 

            So this Lent you may want to give something up.  Fine.  But make it something that matters.  Something that hurts a little.  Or instead you may want to do something positive for the world.   Great.  Make it something that matters. 

            Whatever you choose to do or not do this Lent, remember that you don’t need all those things on which you’ve come to rely so heavily.  They just weigh you down.  All we really need, we have…and it comes as a gift of God.  Amen. 

Feb 7, 2016 Sermon: "Lost in a Cloud"

Stephen Baldwin

NT: Luke 9

Lost in a Cloud

            Have you ever woken up, all snug in your bed on a cold wintry morning, perfectly content after a good night’s sleep, secretly wishing you could stay right there all day long?  You know you can’t, because of work or kids or doctor’s appointments or chores, but you want to hold onto that moment as long as possible.  Before you go out into the cold and chaos of the world, you want to savor the warm sensibility of your bed.  Have you ever felt that way? 

            I imagine that’s precisely how Peter, James, and John felt on the mountain in today’s reading.  They had left the chaotic crowds in the valley below and gone with Jesus up on the mountain for some R&R.  After sitting down to pray, they’d fallen asleep…or nearly fallen asleep, the text isn’t crystal clear.  It was no wonder they were tired.  They’d been working double shifts for months on end, traveling the countryside with Jesus, helping every widow and orphan along the way. 

            Like we’re want to do when we straddle wake and sleep, the line between dreams and reality grows dangerously thin.  Are they dreaming?  Are they awake?  Can this be?  Do they really see their teacher Jesus, glowing and shrouded in white, surrounded by the two greatest Jewish men to ever live? 

“Is that….no.  It can’t be,” I imagine Peter saying.

“You know, I think that’s Moses,” says James.

“And Elijah!” John adds.

Like someone lying in a warm bed on a cold morning, they just sat there, lost in the

moment.  They watched the three men, Jesus (their rabbi, who said he was the son of God but they weren’t totally convinced, not yet anyway), Moses (who brought God’s law to the people years ago and was basically the Jewish George Washington—the original founding father), and Elijah (God’s most famous prophet who had been whisked away to heaven without explanation generations ago).  It had to be surreal.  On this Super Bowl Sunday, it would be like throwing a football around in your backyard with Joe Montana & Johnny Unitas.  I imagine the disciples rubbing their eyes, pinching each other to see if this was all a dream. 

            Moses and Elijah began to vanish from sight, and Peter cries, “They don’t have to leave!  We’ll set up tents so they can stay.”  Peter wanted to stay.  He wanted to hold onto that moment--tightly, rather than descend the mountain into the chaotic crowds which surely awaited them. 

            Suddenly, the weather changed, which you know can happen quickly on ridge tops and mountains.  A cloud of fog envelopes them, and a voice cried out, “This is my son.  Listen to him!”  Surely, they must have rubbed their ears, still wondering if this surreal day was a dream. 

As quickly as the cloud came, it vanished.  Moses and Elijah vanished too, and only Jesus was left with his disciples.  He never responded to Peter’s offer to put up tents, perhaps because he didn’t plan to stay long.  The next day, they went back down the mountain.  R&R was over.  As soon as they came down, the crowds met them, bringing their diseased and dismembered for Jesus’ healing touch.  No one spoke of yesterday’s events, for Jesus had told them to keep quiet. 

            And it’s no wonder.  Who would’ve believed them?  Moses had been dead for hundreds of years!  Elijah was taken up by God in a cloud, and the Jewish priests taught that he would only return in preparation for the messiah!  It would’ve been the perfect chance for Jesus to prove he was the son of God, as the fulfillment of the law Moses brought and the prophecy Elijah gave so many years ago, but he told them not to say a word.  And they didn’t. 

            Have you ever woken up, all snug in your bed on a cold wintry morning, perfectly content after a good night’s sleep, secretly wishing you could stay right there all day long?  Before you go out into the cold and chaos of the world, you want to savor the warm sensibility of your bed.  What a wonderful feeling that is for us, and what a wonderful feeling it must have been on the mountaintop for Jesus.  He stayed for another day, perhaps to pray a little more and rest a bit…but mostly to savor the moment.   

When the time came to go back, no sooner had the crowd come into sight than a man came begging for help.  He said he asked the disciples to heal his daughter, but they failed. 

            “You faithless and perverse generation!” Jesus barks.  “How much longer must I be with you and bear with you?”  If the disciples had been scared by the voice from the clouds, this side of Jesus must have terrified them.  Who is he angry with?  Is he angry at the man for bothering him…the disciples for failing to help the child before…or at the whole lot of them for all their begging and pleading and misunderstanding?   Whatever the reason, it’s not enough to keep him from doing what he does.  He heals the child. 

            Mountaintop experiences are supposed to provide clarity.  When you see everyone and everything from above, it’s supposed to make it all clear.  Today we’ll all watch the Super Bowl from the comfort of our couches and cameras over top the field, and we’ll be able to see exactly where Peyton Manning should throw the ball and where Cam Newton’s running holes are.  But if you’ve ever played on the field, you know that it’s not that clear when you’re in the thick of it. 

            Neither is life.  Sometimes even on mountaintops, the fog of life clouds our vision.  We can’t see clearly.  Peter, James, and John could see Christ’s glory on the mountain, which simply means they could see God’s presence in him as if he was glowing.   If only for a day, they could see it.  But as quickly as it appeared, it vanished.  What were they to make of it?  What are we to make of it?  What does transfiguration mean for us?   

            My favorite preacher, present company excluded—Barbara Brown Taylor—says it means this: “Today you have heard a story you can take with you when you go.  It tells you that no one has to go up the mountain alone.  It tells you that sometimes things get really scary before they get holy.  Above all, it tells you that there is someone standing in the center of the cloud with you, shining so brightly that you may never be able to wrap your mind around him, but who is worth listening to all the same--because he is God's beloved, and you are his, and whatever comes next, you are up to it.”  Amen.

Jan 31, 2016 Sermon: "Unity vs Uniformity"

Stephen Baldwin

OT: Jeremiah 1.4-10

NT: 1 Cor 12.12-27

Unity vs Uniformity

                 Paul is really working towards something in this passage.  Why do I say that?  Because he makes the same point at least ten times.  Sure, he says it a little bit differently each time, but he’s making the same point over and over.  And if he’s not trying to annoy us, then he must be making a hard point. . 

Since he’s talking in circles, let me just cut to the chase.  I believe he’s saying that there’s a difference between unity and uniformity.   A group of people that show uniformity think alike, talk alike look alike, act alike, pray alike, sin alike.  They are uniform.  Paul says that’s not how a human body works.  A human body is made of all sorts of different parts, and only when those different parts work together can a body do what it was created to do.  And that’s how he wants the body of Christ—the church—to work as well.

If uniformity means sameness, unity means oneness.   A body with unity recognizes the difference between the head and the heart, the hand and the foot, appreciates that difference, and is able to work together as one precisely because it has different parts for different purposes. 

I don’t know about you, but I have absolutely zero interest in being part of a church held together by uniformity.  If we all looked alike, thought alike, and acted alike, we would never learn a single new thing!  We’d never be challenged.  We’d never grow.  That’s not the kind of church I want to be part of. 

I want to be part of a church where people grew up differently, where people read the Bible differently, where people have different skills they’re willing to share with the body for the good of being one!  

Paul makes a point of saying the parts of the body we consider weak are often those most necessary.  You see, in the Corinthian church, which this letter was written to, they were kicking out people they considered weak.  Paul talks about it in chapter eleven if you want to read further.  He says differences among people in the church are not only good, but they are God’s doing!  God made us that way.  Therefore, diversity within the church isn’t just something to be tolerated or allowed on paper or regrettable reality…it is something to be received as a gift from God! 

Do you know how many Christian denominations there are in the US today?  Over 30,000.  We’ve split so many times over so many petty, little disagreements I fear we’ve lost our sense of oneness in Christ.  We’ve confused unity for uniformity, thinking we have to all be exactly alike to be Christians together.   

I was talking to a gentleman not too long ago who was thinking about leaving his church.  “What has you so upset you would consider leaving the church you’ve called home for decades?” I asked him.

“Well, because I disagree with some of their views on things.” 

If you don’t disagree with each other and with me and with your denomination on some issues, then you’re not paying attention.  But we’re not called to sameness.  We’re not called to agree on everything.  We’re called to oneness in Christ. 

Today we welcome new officers who offer their gifts for the body of Christ.  They are not uniform; they are unique individuals with unique gifts to offer the body of Christ.  We thank Leah, Larry, Sandy, Rodger, and Mike for serving the body of the church. 

In a few minutes, we’ll gather around them in prayer.  As we do so, I ask that you remember that you gather around them not out of an obligation to uniformity, but out of a conviction of unity. 

Beside each other will be rich and poor, Republican and Democrat, right-handed and left-handed, young and old, single and married, saint and sinner, disabled and athletic.  And still, together, we are the body of Christ.  We find our unity in a diversity of gifts and a common commitment to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. 

Let God’s unified people say, Amen.  

Jan 24, 2016 Sermon: "God Will Give You More Than You Can Handle"

Stephen Baldwin

NT: 1 Cor 12.12-27

God Will Give You More Than You Can Handle

            Snowmageddon has changed everything this weekend.  Everything!  Even my sermon.  I’ll save what I had planned for next week.   

            Today, I just want to share something with you that I’ve been wrestling with for years.  It’s the saying, “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.”  Anyone ever said that to you?  And did it make you want to punch them in the face?  People say it out of genuine concern, I think, but I can’t think of a worse thing to say to a person going through trials and tribulation.  It patronizes their pain and belittles their experience. 

I know people who have more on their shoulders than anyone should.  People who just can’t catch a break.  People who just can’t get ahead.  People who never had a chance.  And I can’t believe that’s the way God wants it.  I’ve been wrestling with this for years, and in the middle of snowmageddon while using the snowblower, I finally found peace about it.  

            God will give you more than you can handle.  God will you give you and me and everyone who can’t catch a break more than we can handle.  How many times did you have to shovel your driveway these past two days, only to have it covered up again in a few hours?  I used the snowblower on our church parking lot, sidewalks, and street spots more times than I can count, and it just kept coming back.

 God gives us all more than we can handle sometimes.  It doesn’t mean we deserve the trials we face.  It doesn’t mean we’re lesser people.  It doesn’t mean God is teaching us a lesson we just can’t seem to learn.  It means we’re subject to the human condition, and we often are dealt a more difficult hand than we can handle…alone. 

I finally found a sense of peace about that idea yesterday, and it was because I saw what snowmageddon did to people.  It may have been too much for an elderly woman to handle, but the neighbor shoveled her walkway.  It may have been too much for the man without transportation to handle, but a friend took him to get groceries.  It may have been too much for even the man with a snowplow and a snowblower and a strong back to handle alone, but his wife made him a warm meal that kept him going all day. 

What I’m saying is that God does give us more than any one person can handle alone.  That’s why we have each other.  To handle together what we cannot handle alone.  Whether it’s snowmageddon or illness or trial or tribulation.   Life can be too much for all of us at times, but together, with God, we can face anything.  Amen.  

Jan 17, 2016 Sermon: "Spiritual Gifts"

Stephen Baldwin

OT: Psalm 36.5-10

NT: 1 Cor 12.4-11

Spiritual Gifts

            Today’s passage led to a wonderful discussion in Bible Study this week.  Which reminds me, if you are ever available at 5pm on Thursday nights, come to Bible Study.  Instead of watching the 5 o’clock news or eating an early dinner or staying late at work, listen when God tugs on your heartstrings and makes a Bible Study group available.  You won’t regret it. 

            Our discussion this week immediately turned to the spiritual gifts we’ve seen in our lives in this church.  Sonnie Feamster, who was a gifted cook and loved to spread the Good News with her good food!  Sara Bethel, who inspired us all to be better witnesses.  Libby Wiseman, who always somehow knew exactly what people needed, without even having to ask. 

            And the list goes on.  We can look around this sanctuary today and see gifts galore.  If you want to get something done, call Barb Sweetwood.  If you want to see steadfast faith in action, look no further than Betty Ralston.  If someone does something for you and don’t know who it was, know it was probably Dot O’Dell.  If you need parenting advice in the modern age, call Mike & Alyson.  If you need a beautifully written letter, Linda Cochran is your woman.  If you find a stray animal or a person in need of love, call Kay Smith or Jane Gillespie.  If you have a problem with any kind of metal in any form, see Bill Ott, who will fix it and tell you’re your family’s genealogy.    I could go on and on with each person here today, who is gifted is so many ways.  But I fear I’ve embarrassed too many people already, so I’d like to ask you to think about your own gifts.  Let’s make a list.  Find a pen or pencil. 

            How many of you like to make lists?  I used to make fun of my grandfather, because he had so many lists he kept lists to keep track of his lists!  But now I make lists too.  We all become our ancestors at some point. 

Did you find something to write with?  If you’re thinking about how silly of an exercise this is, then perhaps you are the one who especially needs to do it.  Alright, ready?

            Since our Scripture is about gifts, make a list of your gifts.  The things you do, the things you love to do, the things you do well.  Start writing, and I’ll keep talking in case you need me to jog your memory.  Perhaps you drive well, and you’re willing to drive others.  Or you pray persistently for your family.  Or you can make people laugh.  Or you can fix things.  Or you can say what needs to be said when no one else will.  Write your gifts down.

            Now, you have a list of your gifts, right?  The things you’re good at.  The things you do well.  If you were honest with yourself and listed your gifts, it’s pretty impressive, huh?  You are all gifted and capable of remarkable things. 

            Now, set that list down for a minute.   We’ll come back to it, but set it down for now.  You’ve identified some of your gifts.  The things you’re good at.  But sometimes our greatest gifts are our greatest struggles. 

            For Paul in 1 Corinthians, there’s a difference between gifts and spiritual gifts.  Gifts are the things you do well.  Spiritual gifts are the things the Holy Spirit is doing in you, whether you’re good at them or not and whether you like them or not.

            My grandmother shared a story that speaks to this point powerfully.  She never liked praying publicly. Well, “never liked” is probably saying it too softly.  The thought of praying in front of other people made her heart flutter.  Most of us can identify with that feeling.  We are Presbyterians after all!  But then Rev. Graber grew very ill, and Marty Mandt, who was a leader here at the time, said they needed to pray more for Rev. Graber and the church.  And the Holy Spirit began to work on my grandmother.  She invited folks to a prayer meeting that met weekly here at the church for several years.  And when we ended Bible Study this week, she led us in prayer.  Sometimes our spiritual gifts are the things we least want to do, but the things God most needs us to do.   What is the Holy Spirit doing in you today?  Have you heard God’s whisper? 

            One of the most powerful parts of today‘s passage from 1 Corinthians is often one of the most overlooked.  We usually remember the familiar words that there are a variety of gifts but the same spirit; a variety of services but the same Lord; a variety of activities but the same God.  But without verse seven, the weight of those words is lost.  Verse seven says God gives us spiritual gifts for the common good. 

Pull out that list you made a few minutes ago.  It shows the things you’re good at, right?  Keep doing those things.  It gives you satisfaction to do them, and people around you count on you to do those things.  Without you using your gifts, it leaves a hole in your life and the life of the community. 

God also calls us to develop spiritual gifts that are not on our list.  Things we don’t think we’re good at…but things God needs to be done…and things the Holy Spirit can help us do.  Let all God’s gifted people, who are able to do all things God needs through the Holy Spirit, say, Amen!  

Jan 10, 2016 Sermon: "What does baptism teach us?"

Stephen Baldwin

OT: Isaiah 43.1-7

NT: Luke 3.15-17, 21-22

What does baptism teach us? 

            Several years ago, the youth group accused me of buying my sermons online.  They said I paid $5 for the decent ones, $20 for the really good ones, and $1 for the bad ones.  It’s not an altogether unheard of idea, because there actually are computer programs that will generate sermons for you and websites that will sell you sermons.  I happen to believe that is lazy and disingenuous.   So I write my own each week.  Sometimes they’re worth $1, and sometimes, I pray, they’re worth a little more. 

            But…the youth were onto something.  Let me make a confession.  I don’t steal sermons, but I do steal good sermon ideas.  All the time.  A better way of saying it is that the Holy Spirit inspires me when I read good sermons written by others.  Like this week, I read a fabulous sermon about Jesus’ baptism by William Sloane Coffin.  He begins by asking a simple question, which I ask of you, “What does baptism aim to teach us?” 

            He considers the various options.  It could teach us love.  God loves us no matter what.  It could teach us family.  When we’re baptized, we’re part of the family no matter what becomes of our life, if we become pope or pauper.  It could teach us forgiveness.  Baptism washes us clean of our sinfulness.  All those are true, he says, but he thinks baptism aims to teach us something more powerful: obedience. 

            In baptism, we’re taught obedience to God’s love--we follow God not out of fear but out of love, obedience to God’s family--we have to get along with one another whether like each other or not, and obedience to God’s forgiveness--we must forgive our debts and our debtors, ourselves and our enemies. 

            Baptism is an initiation of sorts.  Into a way of obedient living.  Obedience to God’s love.  That’s why in French Calvinist baptisms, the minister takes a child to be baptized in his arms and says, “Little child, for you Jesus Christ came. He struggled. He suffered. For you he endured the darkness of Gethsemane, the agony of Calvary. For you he triumphed over death. And you, little child, know nothing of all this. But thus is confirmed in the word of the Apostle, ‘We love God because God first loved us.’"

            Some of you, like me, are recovering Baptists, so you remember your baptism.  Others are tried and true Presbyterians and don’t remember yours since it was at such a young age.  Either way, today is a day to reflect on your baptism.  What has it taught you?  What is it teaching you? 

            John says he baptizes with water while Jesus baptizes with the fire of the Holy Spirit.  In other words, not everyone chooses to come be baptized by John.  Only some are obedient.  But no one can escape Jesus’ baptism.  It compels our obedience. 

            I think we’ve seen signs of Jesus’ burning baptism here at Ronceverte Presbyterian this year.  As well as signs of our obedience.  Since we’re having our congregational meeting today, it’s a good time to look back over 2015. 

If you look at the numbers, they were good.  We hosted 14 workcamps last year.  The most we ever hosted before was three.  Those 14 workcamps account for nearly 200 people who stayed at our church and did faith-based community service across the county.  Worship attendance was up about 5%.  Offerings were up 10%.  After decades of small losses each year, we’ve had three straight years of balanced budgets.  And last year, we had a significant budget surplus.  But the thing that tickled me most was that when the session discussed what to do in response to such good numbers, they said, “Let’s do more.”  Let’s do more mission.  Let’s support more local mission partners.  Let’s help out our Presbytery and our missionaries across the world. 

            Numbers are important, but I’ll take quality over quantity every day.  Especially in a small church.  We’re probably not ever going to be a large church or a trendy church or a wealthy church, but we can be a baptized, obedient church.  That’s all God needs us to be. 

            When Jesus came up out of the water, a voice came from heaven, saying "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."  According to the story, Jesus was 30 when that happened.  The last time we heard from him in Luke, he was 12.  Eighteen years had passed.  We don’t know what all happened in the interim, but we know that when he came up out of the water, baptized and obedient, God said, “You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased.”

            Each day you get up out of bed, the heavens open and the spirit descends on you like a dove and a voice from heaven says to you, “You are my beloved child; with you I am well pleased.”  So don’t beat yourself up too badly, no matter what you’re going through today.  God is well pleased with you.  Once you understand that and put it into obedient practice, you’ve learned the basic truth of our existence: We love God because God first loved us.  Amen. 

relationships.  In battling illnesses.  In mourning.  God provides refuge especially for those who have fallen through the cracks.  Because God has experienced it in the person of the baby boy. 

            Today we celebrate the child’s epiphany.  His appearance to a world at war with itself, a world where good people fall through the cracks.  And we remember that God’s appearance illuminates all those shadows and all those cracks.  We do not know what awaits us this year, but we know that no matter what we face, God will be with us.  May God make an epiphany to you when you need God the most.  Amen.