"The Morning Light!"

Text: Romans 13:11-14
Theme: “The Morning Light!”
The 1st Sunday of Advent
November 28, 2010
First Presbyterian Church
Denton, Texas
The Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

Sing a song of gladness and cheer, for the time of Christmas is here!
Look around about you and see what a world of wonder this world can be!
Sing a Christmas carol!
Sing a Christmas carol!
Sing a Christmas carol – like the children do.
And enjoy the beauty, all the joy and beauty
That Merry Christmas can bring to you!
(from the overture to the motion picture Scrooge)

Happy new year to the church! The time of Christmas is here! Just for the record, there are three seasons in the overall Time of Christmas. First, we have Advent; that runs for four weeks. It’s a season of reflection, of repentance (which is turning back to God), and eager expectation for the coming of Christ. Advent means coming! “Hark, the glad sound! The Savior comes, the Savior promised long; let every heart prepare a throne and every voice a song!” is how one hymn puts it. After that, we will observe the season of Christmas itself which goes on for twelve days. “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree”; you get the idea. Then, on January 6th, Lord willing, the the third and final season in the overall time of Christmas begins with the Epiphany of the Lord. We recall the arrival of the Magi. “We three kings of Orient are bearing gifts; we traverse afar – field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star.” They were not kings; they were not from the orient, and there were likely more than three of them, but that’s for another sermon.

The time of Christmas – with Advent, the twelve day festival of Christmas itself, and Epiphany -- does seem as though life is being injected with steroids. Almost everything is amped up to warp speed. Schedules are packed and so are the malls. The fragile seams of our existence – economic or otherwise -- come close to bursting. Will we make it to and through another Christmas?

There are those who, if truth be told, dread the holiday season. They have very deep, very personal, and reasonable reasons for feeling that way. Existential despair can sink its talons in deeper at Christmas. A sickening realism can invade life. While the world around sings carols, the song in some folks’ hearts goes like this:

Turn out the lights the party’s over.
They say that all good things must end.
Call it a night, the party’s over –
And tomorrow starts the same old thing again.

That was Willie Nelson.

But contrast Willie with old Fezziwig, the boyhood boss of Ebenezer Scrooge. In the motion picture Scrooge – with Scrooge played by Albert Finney – old Fezziwig sings:

Of all the days in all the year that I’m familiar with,
There’s only one that’s really fun: December the Twenty Fifth!
Ask anyone called Robinson, or Brown, or Jones, or Smith,
There favourite day and they will say: December the Twenty Fifth!

At times we’re glad to see the back of all our kin and kith,
But there’s a date we celebrate: December the Twenty Fifth!
At times our friends may seem to be devoid of wit and pith,
But all of us our humorless: December the Twenty Fifth!

If there’s a day in history that more than any myth,
Beyond a doubt one day stands out: December the Twenty Fifth
I don’t hear any arguments, so may I say forthwith,
I wish that every day could be December the Twenty Fifth!

December the Twenty Fifth, me dears!
December the Twenty Fifth!
The dearest day in all the year: December the Twenty Fifth!

Add the violin, and you have a sweet song! But who is telling it like it is in your life as you head in to Christmas– Willie or Fezziwig?

As you can see, our chancel is now bathed in yet more light – light from the Lord’s table, from the Advent wreath, from the Christmas tree. Put it all together, and you have a sign that points to the Light of the world – even Jesus Christ our Lord. St. John says that “In Him (Jesus Christ) is life, and that life is the light of all.” Years before the arrival of Christ on the world stage, King David wrote, in the thirty sixth psalm: “In Your light we see light.”

Having taken a good, long look at the Scripture readings scheduled for this holy season, the theme of light presented itself powerfully to me. Today’s epistle suggests a kind of morning light. Next Sunday, the Second Sunday of Advent, we’ll look at light in the middle of the day. On December 12th, the Third Sunday of Advent, we’ll consider the evening light. On December 19th, the Fourth Sunday in Advent, we’ll gather for the traditional and lovely service of lessons and carols where our focus will be on the light of life! Then, on Christmas Eve, we will celebrate what C.S. Lewis described as the “grand miracle” of light.

Start with the morning light. We all know it’s coming, but there are times when we wish it would wait awhile longer so we might sleep more. Others are used to being “up before the sun and gone with the wind,” as it is said. The season of Advent can be described as a wake up call for the soul, for the spirit. “It is now the moment,” writes the apostle Paul, “to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near.”

What kind of day will it be as the morning lights shine? In their famous song, Oh What a Beautiful Morning, lyricists Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein write:

There's a bright golden haze on the meadow,
There's a bright golden haze on the meadow,
The corn is as high as an elephant's eye,
An' it looks like its climbin' clear up to the sky.

Oh what a beautiful morning,
Oh what a beautiful day,
I've got a wonderful feeling,
Everything's going my way.

Some mornings are like that. Others aren't. On many days, we almost can sense whether things are going to go our way or not. On any given day, we can wake up to predict, prognosticate, and prophecy about how the new day will play itself out. Whatever the condition of our soul may be, the apostle’s call is to set aside, to cast off, anything that deepens the darkness of our souls. He lists the darkness deepeners: dishonorable living, for example, and reveling, drunkenness, debauchery, licentiousness, quarreling, and jealousy. He says to not make “provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” The flesh, our flesh, will always have its needs – like air, food, and water among other things. But it also has its desires – and we run into trouble when the gratification of those desires becomes the all-encompassing, all-consuming reason for our existence. All of that desire that’s run amok and all of those darkness deepeners we’ve mentioned are like old, worn-out, dirty, tattered clothing that ought to be tossed and not recycled. Instead of even thinking of wearing that, he says to “Put on the armour of light” or “Put on Jesus Christ.” Advent, therefore, is a time of spiritual grooming. Like the morning light, it reminds the soul and the spirit to wake up, get up, clean up, and suit up!

A few years back, the poet Sharon Olds told a story that her mother had related to her about when Sharon was only six months old. They had gotten up one morning to go the doctor. Here’s how Sharon describes what happened on that day:

By the time I was six months old, she (my mother) knew something was wrong with me. I got looks on my face she had not seen on any child in the family, or the extended family, or the neighborhood. My mother took me in to the pediatrician with the kind hands, a doctor with a name like a suit size for a wheel: Hub Long. My mom did not tell him what she thought in truth, that I was possessed. It was just these strange looks on my face – he held me, and conversed with me, chatting as one does with a baby, and my mother said, “She’s doing it now! Look! She’s doing it now!” And the doctor said, “What your daughter has is called…a sense…of humor.” “Ohhh,” she said, and took me back to the house where that sense would be tested and found to be incurable.

Friends in Christ, we have a very busy season in front of us. Hopefully, it will be a most meaningful and joyful one too. In God’s light we can see light – in our souls, in our understanding, and even at the end of the tunnel. With the morning light, we can wake up, get up, clean up, and suit up with Christ, the Light of the world. Having a sense of humor – even an incurable one – isn’t too bad either!

Amen.

"In Thy Light We See Light": An Invitation

In Thy Light We See Light!
--Psalm 36:9b

In Thy light we see light? What exactly does this mean? Commenting on this short verse from the Psalms, the great Charles Spurgeon once wrote: "We need no candle to see the sun, we see it by its own radiance, and then see everything else by the same luster. The knowledge of God sheds light on all other subjects." This inspired riddle declares that in order to understand anything in life, we must first be drawn to God, the light of life, and then see everything from God's perspective.

Advent and Christmas afford us a new opportunity to bask in the glow of divine light! You are invited to visit THE STRAIGHTFORWARD PULPIT (prdunklau.blogspot.com) every day in Advent and during the twelve days of Christmas. A short Scripture selection, a meditation, a prayer, and verse will be provided for your devotion.

A meaningful Advent and a Merry Christmas to all of you!

Your Friend,

Paul R. Dunklau

DEVOTION FOR THURSDAY IN THE WEEK OF ADVENT II (12/9/10)

GOD’S WORD—Romans 15:7
Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

MEDITATION
Holiday decorating contests are underway, and I’m pretty sure our neighborhood is having one. (With a couple of outdoor wreaths and a Christmas tree in the window, our look is colorful, traditional, and restrained!) A couple houses down, the Grinch has reappeared in blow-up version (he sleeps on the ground during the day) with candy canes all around. Further down the street, the residents have strung up the new-fangled neon Christmas lights. Pretty cool!

Radiant outdoor displays do more than qualify for a prize. They point to the true Light, which enlightens us all, that is coming into the world! They exude a sense of welcome, of hearth, and of home. It’s as if the light welcomes the Light!

Christ, the Light of the world, welcomed us, first, as an infant. All through His growing years, He spoke out for and championed a child-like faith and trust in God. What joy it is to welcome one another in such a way this year – with a child-like faith in God that is put into practice with love. This sort of thing is the “decoration” worth keeping up all year long!

PRAYER
Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of your only-begotten Son, so that by His advent we may be enabled to serve you with purified minds; through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

VERSE
The Lord is just, a helper tried, with mercy ever at His side;
His kingly crown is holiness, His scepter, pity in distress,
The end of all our woe He brings; wherefore the earth is glad and sings:
We praise Thee, Savior, now, mighty in deed art Thou.

DEVOTION FOR WEDNESDAY IN THE WEEK OF ADVENT II (12/8/10)

GOD’S WORD—Romans 15:4
For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

MEDITATION
“Why do we study the Bible?” asked the pastor to the class. Silence followed. With a smile, the pastor went on: “We study it for all kinds of reasons, but, for starters, I’ll tell you why we don’t study it: we don’t study it to become better Bible trivia players.”

For a child of God, the study of God’s Word is not trivial pursuit. The logic is impeccable: a child of God is a disciple of Christ; a disciple is a learner; a learner receives instruction, and the Scriptures were written for just that purpose. The Bible is brimming with “steadfastness” and “encouragement”, asserts the apostle Paul. All of it is geared toward you and me having hope! The all-but-stylish and pervasive pessimism of our day is overrated. Give me hope – and I don’t want the kind that comes when one masters the art of whistling in the dark. Real and tangible hope is where it’s at and what it’s all about – the kind that was embodied and brought by the infant in Bethlehem’s manger.

PRAYER
Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of your only-begotten Son, so that by His advent we may be enabled to serve you with purified minds; through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

VERSE
Not by human flesh and blood; by the mystic breath of God
Was the Word divine made flesh –
Woman’s offspring pure and fresh.

DEVOTION FOR TUESDAY IN THE WEEK OF ADVENT II (12/7/10)

GOD’S WORD—Isaiah 11:9b
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

MEDITATION
We live in the meantime. We carry on between right now and that occasion when, finally, Isaiah’s prophecy will be fully realized and the “…earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” With the prophetic analogy in mind, we note times of “drought”; it would appear that our world and culture are nowhere near to being full of the knowledge of the Lord. Such knowledge seems to have periods of weal and woe, of up and down. One person’s “knowledge of the Lord” may be different and another’s. Tension can result. Confusion seems to cover the earth more than the waters of the sea.

Dear friend, this is where the gift of faith comes in -- faith that, although the ways are mysterious, our God remains sovereign and gracious. Advent is a great time to adjust our spiritual vision. Until Isaiah’s prophecy comes to fruition, Advent will always challenge us to not overlook those smaller and even unexpected dispensations of grace. Think, first, of the child in the manger!

PRAYER
Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of your only-begotten Son, so that by His advent we may be enabled to serve you with purified minds; through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

VERSE
For You are our salvation, Lord,
Our refuge and our great reward;
Without Your grace we waste away
Like flowers that wither and decay.

DEVOTION FOR MONDAY IN THE WEEK OF ADVENT II (12/6/10)

GOD’S WORD—Psalm 72:3-4
May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness. May He defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.

MEDITATION
From the opening chapter, “Marley’s Ghost”, in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens:

“A few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the poor some meat and drink and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?”
“Nothing!” Scrooge replied.
“You wish to be anonymous?”
“I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge. “Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don’t’ make merry myself at Christmas, and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned: they cost enough: and those who are badly off must go there.”
“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”
“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

Ebenezer Scrooge, while a fictional character, sheds light on a dark mindset that is only too real. Dickens may have engaged in a bit of “exaggeration for effect”, but he nailed it. Someone has said that depression is “anger turned inward.” Scrooge appears to have so much of it – anger – that his inward self can no longer contain it. Thus, he flings his verbal bile at two chaps who are trying to bring some Christmas cheer to needy people. As A Christmas Carol progresses, it become clear that the “psychological approach” is not the cure for Ebenezer’s woe. There were no happy pills. What happened was something bordering on redemption.

Scrooge was self-absorbed. King Solomon, the author of this week’s psalm (Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19), took a different tack. Despite his gargantuan wisdom and wealth, He implored our Lord to provide prosperity, righteousness, defense, and deliverance.

This kind of dependence on God – genuine and prayerful – is a gift in itself. Remember it! Unpack it! Use it! It’s the perfect antidote for Scrooge-ish-ness!

PRAYER
Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of your only-begotten Son, so that by His advent we may be enabled to serve you with purified minds; through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

VERSE
Startled at the solemn warning,
Let the earth-bound soul arise;
Christ her sun, all sloth dispelling,
Shines upon the morning skies.

DEVOTION FOR SATURDAY IN THE WEEK OF ADVENT I (12/4/10)

GOD’S WORD—Matthew 24:44
Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

MEDITATION
The folks at Verizon Fios advertise their services by saying: “This Is Big!” The ones who were ready at the first coming of the Son of Man didn’t appear to be ready for anything “big”. Those shepherds -- the “blue-collar” workers of Jesus’ day, lodged, as they were, at the bottom rung of the economic totem pole -- had no idea what was in store on that first Christmas. For them, it was another night on the job. More than likely, their hopes for the day meant that they would have enough to live by. Their hopes for the future probably included the eventual arrival of a King and Messiah – with royal trappings and military might.

With a blaze of angelic glory, they were told of a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. The Savior of the world wears diapers! Who would have thought? It turned out to be very big with them. There was no doubt or hesitation. They never asked among themselves if they were ready. Instead, up and off they go – leaving their flocks behind. They went to see the swaddled child and then proceeded to announce the good word! The sort of readiness they demonstrated had a sense of astonishment, urgency, and wonder to it. Advent is, indeed, big! It gifts us and schools us in the kind of readiness Jesus seeks!

PRAYER
Stir up your power, O Lord, and come; that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by your mighty deliverance; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

VERSE
Wake, awake, for night is flying. The watchmen on the heights are crying:
Awake, Jerusalem, at last.
Midnight hears the welcome voices, and at the thrilling cry rejoices:
“Come forth, You maidens! Night is past. The bridegroom comes!
Awake, your lamps with gladness take!”
Alleluia! And for his marriage feast prepare, for you must go to meet Him there.

DEVOTION FOR FRIDAY IN THE WEEK OF ADVENT I (12/3/10)

GOD’S WORD—Matthew 24:36
But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

MEDITATION
Of all the days in all the year that I’m familiar with,
There’s only one that’s really fun: December the Twenty Fifth!
Ask anyone called Robinson, or Brown, or Jones, or Smith
Their favourite day, and they will say: December the Twenty Fifth!
December the Twenty Fifth, me dears! December the Twenty Fifth!
The dearest day in all the year!
December the Twenty Fifth!
(The words of Fezziwig in the motion picture, “Scrooge”)

In today’s brief reading, Jesus says that no one (with the exception of God the Father) knows when He will return for the second time. We are about to celebrate His first arrival over two thousand years ago. The calendar schedules a day for that: December the twenty-fifth! (If you need more time, recall that there are twelve days of Christmas!)

The “date and hour” of His second coming, however, is anyone’s guess, and the question has been one of considerable speculation ever since His first coming. But such speculation, to borrow a line from a John Wayne movie, “doesn’t amount to a spit in a river.” What does amount to something is a faith in God that continues to grow and a life that seeks to give God glory – on December the Twenty Fifth and always!

PRAYER
Stir up your power, O Lord, and come; that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by your mighty deliverance; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

VERSE
Lo! He comes with clouds descending, once for favored sinners slain;
Thousand thousand saints attending swell the triumph of His train:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
God appears on earth to reign!

DEVOTION FOR THURSDAY IN THE WEEK OF ADVENT I (12/2/10)

GOD’S WORD—Romans 13:14
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

MEDITATION
Adam and Eve, we are told in the book of Genesis, fashioned fig leaf garments. This was NOT history’s first recorded attempt at making a fashion statement! Rather, the intent was to cover their nakedness and shame. All down through the years, humanity has followed suit. (Forgive the pun.) Never mind that God told them not to eat the fruit. In the end, it was apparently too appealing to resist.

It was a desire of the “flesh”, to borrow the language of the apostle Paul in today’s reading. Gratifying that desire became paramount with Adam and Eve. The Word of their Creator, though, became an afterthought.

Flesh, being flesh, will always have its needs and desires. Life becomes unmanageable when needs are overlooked and the gratification of those desires becomes an all-consuming enterprise.

But recovery – better yet, real life! – begins with Jesus Christ who was born, that first Christmas, to save us from our sins (Mt. 1:21). So, says the apostle, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” There’s no need to spend one more minute fashioning fig leaves.

PRAYER
Stir up your power, O Lord, and come; that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by your mighty deliverance; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

VERSE
Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates; behold the King of Glory waits!
The King of kings is drawing near; the Savior of the world is here;
Life and salvation He doth bring, wherefore rejoice and gladly sing:
We praise Thee, Father, now, Creator, wise art Thou.

DEVOTION FOR WEDNESDAY IN THE WEEK OF ADVENT I (12/1/10)

GOD’S WORD—Isaiah 2:4-5
He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord!

MEDITATION
At the time of this writing, reports are coming in about an artillery skirmish between North and South Korea. It’s just the latest salvo in the mind-numbing round of stories that bring the lethal conflicts of this world into graphic relief. Years ago, at the memorial service for a decorated United States General and Chaplain, the late Oswald Hoffmann declared: “If we didn’t have a military, we’d have to create one due to the hostilities that sin breeds in this world of ours.” I heard the tape from that memorial, and there was a sense of frustration in his voice.

We all share this frustration. Yet, at Advent, our God steps in with that good word from the prophet Isaiah. A day is coming when heaven will call a halt to the warring madness. The implements of armed conflict will be beaten to smithereens, and war will not be a topic of study. We don’t’ have to hear the mind-numbing stories as casual observers and prognosticators. Rather, we can take our cue from Isaiah and walk in the light of the Lord in the firm belief that Christ is the Prince of peace and the day of ultimate peace is on its way.

PRAYER
Stir up your power, O Lord, and come; that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by your mighty deliverance; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

VERSE
Savior of the nations, come; virgin’s Son, make here Your home!
Marvel now, O heav’n and earth, that the Lord chose such a birth!

DEVOTION FOR TUESDAY IN THE WEEK OF ADVENT I (11/30/10)

GOD’S WORD—Psalm 122:2
Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.

MEDITATION
In 1975, your author visited the community of Sauxillanges in the country of France. As I remember it, there were winding and hilly roads bordered by stone fences. As part of the People-to-People exchange program, we were scheduled to spend a few days with a French family in order to learn a bit about the culture. Eventually, after driving a good distance, we came upon a gate that was built into the fence. The car stopped, and our host got out and opened the gate. Once inside, we were amazed at what our eyes took in. The home on the hill was beautiful beyond description. A fountain was surrounded by a circular driveway. The trees and the flowers and the landscape were in pristine condition. It was as though this little piece of geography was in the world but not of it. The time we spent there was a delight.

You might say that Advent and Christmas is a time when God, like that Frenchman, pulls up and unlocks the gate. We peer in, and our eyes behold the light of life and the glory of God’s love in Christ. Remember: our Lord is host and not chauffeur!

(Note: The picture above the Advent wreath is that of Andrew who brought his brother, Peter, to Jesus. Many Christians remember Andrew this day.)PRAYER
Stir up your power, O Lord, and come; that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by your mighty deliverance; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

VERSE
On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry announces that the Lord is nigh;
Awake and hearken, for He brings glad tidings of the King of kings.

DEVOTION FOR MONDAY IN THE WEEK OF ADVENT I (11/29/10)

GOD’S WORD – Psalm 36:9b
In Thy light we see light!
MEDITATION
The first word for our Advent devotion comes from the great King David: “In Your light we see light.” It provides the overall theme for our meditation amid these holy days. The famous monarch of the Old Testament had learned perhaps through personal experience that God does not live in darkness. Rather, the Lord’s great work is to dispel it.

Advent and Christmas will have their bright and shiny moments, as they always do. Yet it is entirely possible to go through them with a profound and haunting darkness in one’s heart and soul. The temptation is to grope in those shadows of sin, sorrow, sadness, and circumstance. Is there a way out? As long as there are Advents and Christmases, the answer is yes; for in the Lord’s light we see light!

PRAYER
Stir up your power, O Lord, and come; that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by your mighty deliverance; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

VERSE
Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding!
“Christ is near,” it seems to say.
“Cast away the works of darkness,
All You children of the day!”

"'All Be Safely Gathered In': Gathering of Treasure"

Text: St. Luke 23:33-43
Theme: “’All Be Safely Gathered In’: Gathering of Treasure”
Christ the King/Reign of Christ
November 21, 2010
First Presbyterian Church
Denton, Texas
The Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

33When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus* there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’]]* And they cast lots to divide his clothing. 35And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah* of God, his chosen one!’ 36The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, 37and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ 38There was also an inscription over him,* ‘This is the King of the Jews.’
39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding* him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah?* Save yourself and us!’ 40But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ 42Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into* your kingdom.’ 43He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’

There are three items that I want to talk about in this morning’s message. I assure you there will be only one message and not three! Last week, these three items, topics, and/or themes (whatever you wish to call them) have been bouncing around in my head and heart. It was very frustrating, quite honestly, because the topics would not sit still. They all demanded equal time. The minute I isolated one theme, the other two started complaining. If I looked at only two themes, the third theme would sit in the corner of my brain and pout. Compounding the problem is the fact that each of these items are so rich in meaning that an entire sermon wouldn’t come close to doing a justice to a single one of them.

At one point, I thought about setting aside all three items and talking about something different altogether. I toyed with the idea of having no sermon at all today. (Admit it! Some of you are thinking: “That’s a novel idea! Why didn’t you do that?”) But then I discovered something that could tie all three themes together and deliver them to you – each one of you! – as a gift. And what a precious, powerful, spiritually effervescent gift it is!

But first, we consider three themes, and here they are: 1) Christ the King; 2) Thanksgiving, and 3) money.

Consider Christ the King! The Scriptures declare that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, God in the flesh. That’s who Christ is. Along with that, the Bible goes to great lengths to present to us what Christ does. What He does revolves around His three-fold office as prophet, priest, and King. Those are the roles He plays, the charges He keeps. A prophet speaks the Word of God. A priest is involved with worship and the sacrifices that go with it. Kings rule. So today, on the last Sunday in the church year, which is traditionally known as Christ the King Sunday, we gather to celebrate the rule and reign of Jesus Christ. Our God is not dictator, tyrant, emperor, emir, city council member, legislator, mayor, governor, or president. Our God is King. Therefore, you and I are ultimately the subjects of a monarchy. Pontius Pilate said to Jesus: “So you are a King then.” Jesus replied: “It is for that reason that I came.”

Just yesterday I visited with a gentleman from England, and I was reminded that our friends in Great Britain have their royalty. Currently, Queen Elizabeth, who resides at Buckingham Palace, sits on the British throne. Then we have Prince Charles and his son, the recently engaged Prince William, waiting in the wings. But for quite awhile now, the actual governmental power in Britain has not resided at Buckingham Palace with the Queen. Rather, it is lodged with the Prime Minster, at Ten Downing Street, and with the British parliament. The Queen is a figurehead of government, a vestige of what once was.

Folks, let me be the first to admit that I often treat my King, Jesus Christ, like a figurehead, or like a vestige of what once was. Oh, I respect and honor Jesus Christ – as our friends from England respect and honor their Queen. I acknowledge His influence down through nearly two thousand years of recorded history. But then I see the world in the clear light of day, and I take note – again, in the clear light of day – that the world is going nuts. Or I seem to think it is. It’s like no one is in charge, and so you must get up each day, roll the dice, wish yourself luck, and look out for #1 – and for the handful of peeps you care about most! That’s it! The fightings and fears in my head and heart readily gain the upper-hand, and they dispute the monarchy, the rule, the reign, or – to use a favorite term of Presbyterians – the sovereignty of Christ the King. So essentially, Christ becomes a figurehead but not the real deal. Do you know what I’m talking about?

Now let me reflect on our second theme, Thanksgiving. Set aside the turkey, the dressing, the pumpkin pie, the Cowboys game, and the Black Friday shopping plans for just a second to consider this: at the heart of Thanksgiving is gratitude. Gratitude is an emotion. Emotions are things you feel. Anger is an emotion. Sorrow is an emotion. Joy is an emotion. So is gratitude. Someone has said that gratitude, of all the emotions, is the least felt. Whoever said that is onto something, I think. Folks, when I look at my life there are so many things to be grateful for that I don’t know where to begin. And at times, on account of that, I don’t begin at all. Instead, I start to think of areas in life where emotions, other than gratitude, start to arise. As result, instead of gratitude, I end up with a vague – and, at times, very clear! – sense of entitlement. A sense of entitlement is first in line to fill the void when gratitude is missing.

Now, here are a few thoughts on money. Some folks have lots. Some folks have little. Some have none at all. Others have already spent what they have yet to earn. Warren Buffett, the “Oracle of Omaha”, once said of money: “It comes in paper and it goes out paper.” But that was before BillPay. Now money comes in electronically and goes out electronically. Speaking of the accumulation of money, Andy Rooney, of 60 Minutes fame, once said: “It’s not that I want to be rich. I just don’t want to be poor. I want to stay even.” John D. Rockefeller, an extremely wealthy figure in American history, was once asked when he was most content. He quickly replied: “When I have more money than I have right now.” Follow the logic on that; he was never content.

There are all kinds of thoughts on money. The Bible itself has thoughts of its own. But what ultimately – and, I might add, helpfully – emerges from God’s Word is a picture of faithful stewardship. It involves managing – or, better yet, caring about – who you are and what you have been given. This certainly involves money.

In the May of this past year, First Presbyterian Church marked its 132nd birthday. The history of our congregation is well-chronicled in a hard-bound book – titled, simply, History of The First Presbyterian Church – put together to celebrate the congregation’s 125th in 2003. What emerges from the book is a picture of faithfulness to God coupled with a stewardship that is quiet, deep, and generous. In this year alone, through some uncertain and rocky times, you dear people have been led to support the ministry of Word and Sacrament in this place, in the residences of the homebound, and in the broader community; you have enabled music and the arts to flourish in our midst; you have supported the faith formation and Christian education of people – particularly our young people; you have made provision to care for this house of worship and the facilities that go with it. You have supported the work of Christian mission worldwide through Grace Presbytery, the Synod of the Sun, and the Presbyterian Church (USA). Your gifts have assisted the Denton Christian Preschool as it seeks to share smiles, love, laughter, and tangible support to some of the neediest children and families in Denton. Your generosity, together with that of other congregations in town, have enabled hundreds meals a week to be shared – free of charge – to the hungry and homeless through Our Daily Bread.

One of my favorite writers, Richard Neuhaus, once wrote a prayer, and it goes like this: “God, give us the lightheartedness of those who know that every cause of ours that is good is Yours before it is ours.” The causes of First Presbyterian Church are good because they are God’s!

Finally, I repeat those three themes: Christ the King, Thanksgiving, and money. What ties them all together is today’s Gospel, the story of the crucifixion of Jesus. Yes, Christ is our King. Kings are enthroned. Christ the Kind was enthroned upon a cross. A king wears a crown. Christ was crowned with thorns. At Thanksgiving, the better angels of our nature pause to count the blessings. Christ the King counted the cost, and He paid for it with His life.

Last week at Sotheby’s auction house, a 24ct pink diamond was sold for over forty five million dollars. Contrast that to when they cast lots for Jesus’ clothing. Yet, in actual fact, it was our sin that auctioned off the life of Christ on that cross. But through that cross He gave us a gift to which no dollar value could ever be assigned. He shed His blood, and our King gave us the victory of suffering love.

Not long ago, someone asked me: “Paul, are you good at asking for money?” “I don’t think so; I’m never comfortable doing it,” I replied. But I will ask you to join me in doing this: put the suffering love of Christ the King at the top of our Thanksgiving gratitude list. And realize, down to the very marrow of your bones, that the cause of Christ the King – the cause of suffering love – is worthy of our full support.
Amen.

"'All Be Safely Gathered In': Gathering of Talent"

Text: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Theme: “’All be Safe Gathered In’: Gathering of Talent”
The Thirty Third Sunday In Ordinary Time
The Twenty Fifth Sunday After Pentecost
November 14, 2010
First Presbyterian Church
Denton, Texas
The Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

Anatole France, a winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, once told the story of a young monk who wanted to express his gratitude and devotion to God. In his first week at the monastery, he observed the talents and skills of the other monks. Some of them sang; others played musical instruments; still others were theological thinkers, gifted speakers, and able writers. But all that this young monk had learned to do really well in his past life was to perform juggling acts at carnivals. One night he went into the sanctuary while hoping that none of the other monks would see him and make fun of him. He brought a sackful of mallets and balls and there, in the chancel of the sanctuary, he performed his juggling act before God. Juggling was his talent; juggling is what he did well. It is my considered view that heaven smiled!

It has been said that “What you spend the most time doing is what you get good at.” I think there’s more than a pinch of truth in this. To those of you familiar with the history and game of golf, the name Bobby Jones might ring a bell. Someone from a golf gallery once watched Jones play a round of golf and remarked that Mr. Jones was very lucky. Jones, with his usual wit and intelligence replied, “You know, the harder I practice the luckier I get.”

I have a good friend by the name of Shannon Drawe. When I asked him to take some pictures of my ordination, he did so. His work was terrific. He did more than mosey around and fire off snapshots willy-nilly with one of those disposable cameras. What he did was capture moments. That ability, I’m sure, was developed – and continues to be developed – because he works at his craft and enjoys his craft.

Back in the late 1980s, I was sitting unpacking books during my first week on the job as a Lutheran pastor in Indiana. It’s lunch time, and there’s a knock on the door. In walks a man who looked vaguely familiar. I remembered seeing him in church. “My name’s Wayne,” he said. “You got a minute?” I said, “You bet.” He said, “I’m in church most Sundays, but I don’t go to Sunday school. I don’t teach; I don’t join committees; other than worship, I’m not that active. On Saturday I go boating with family and friends. Monday through Friday I work as a financial officer for a small company. I’m a trained accountant; that’s my thing, and I’m pretty good at it” After only a few comments, I was impressed with this guy. He then hands me a sheaf of papers which comprised the congregation’s financial statement for the month. They were crisp, clear, easy to read, and user-friendly. He goes on to say that he had been the church treasurer for the last few years and he would be glad to continue. “I’m happy to do it; that’s my thing; I’ve found my niche,” he said.

I’d offer a number of comments about Wayne. First, he was aware of his talent and he worked at it. Second, he didn’t bite off more than he could chew, and I’m sure that saved him a lot of headaches at work, at church, and in the world. He had determined what he would do and what he would not do, and he was comfortable with both determinations. Third, he was willing – and happy! -- to use his specific skills and abilities to serve the church.

This is the point where someone will surely mutter under their breath and say: “Oh that sounds all very nice, but I’m not Wayne. I’m just an ordinary, average guy (or I’m just an ordinary, average gal), and I’m not really sure I have have all that much to offer.” This is the point where I say – quoting Seth Myers and Amy Poehler on Saturday Night Live: “Oh really?!”

Listen to the words of the apostle Paul in his first letter to his Corinthians friends. It’s right here in the Bible – 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, verses 4-7:

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

That essentially says, my dear family members in Christ, that each one of you has a gift. There is no discrimination here. God does not play favorites with His children. There is unity in that we each have a gift. There is diversity in that the gifts themselves different. Call it a gift, a talent, a skill, and ability or what have you. Each one them is ours for the common good.

Years ago, I had the privilege of meeting a retired couple. I speak of Harold and Anna Johannsen. Harold was once a farmer and very nifty at word-working. His wife was a cook – and she was just as nifty at cooking as Harold was at wood-working. Now, east of the Mississippi, I think they call them pitch-ins. West of the Mississippi they’re called potlucks. Today, we might call them “fixins” to go with chili! Whatever the case, Anna Johannsen’s pies were all the rage at just about every church pitch-in or potluck one could attend. But there came a time when she no longer cooked, and Harold then took over in the kitchen. There came a time when Harold could no longer take care of her. There came a time when Anna went to a nursing home which had an entire wing for residents, like Anna, who had Alzheimer’s disease.

On the one hand, one could say that Anna Johannsen no longer used her talent for food preparation, in general, and baking delicious and mouth-watering pies, in particular. The ravages of disease put an end to that. People talked about remembering Anna and how she once was and how wonderful her pies tasted.

But, on the other hand, while even a resident at the nursing home with a wing set aside for those with Alzheimers, Anna had a talent. Without even knowing it, she had a gift for the common good. It came in the form of a whole range of opportunities – an opportunity to visit a woman who was sick, an opportunity to stand with and support her husband, an opportunity to be with a sister and brother in Christ in their time of need, an opportunity – quite honestly – to see Jesus. Jesus says: “I was sick, and you visited me.”

Today is the second-last Sunday in the church year. Next Sunday, November 21st, is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday in the church year. On these Sundays, the appointed Scripture readings point us to the future. During these days, the holy catholic church – and First Presbyterian Church right along with it – does some meditating and thinking and praying about the return of Jesus Christ in glory. We also meditate and think and pray about how we can be the best caretakers, or stewards, of the time, talent, and treasure our Lord has gven us.

When Jesus was first among us over two thousand years ago, He came as a helpless baby lying in a manger. That’s the Christmas story, as you know. Even as an infant, his family – Mary and Joseph – were forced to escape because people wanted Him dead. But when He comes again a second time, it will not be as a helpless baby on the run with His parents. Rather, He will come – at a time that we don’t know -- as the risen and victorious King of kings and Lord of lords. He will come – as the Scriptures teach and as the Apostles’ Creed confesses – to be the judge of the living and the dead.

The New Testament reading appointed for today, that I read before the message began, was from a letter that Paul the apostle wrote to the Thessalonians. It is one of the earliest New Testament documents we have. Some scholars date it as early as 51 A.D. Many of those early Christians who first heard or read Paul’s letter thought that the second coming of Christ would come at any minute. As a result, some of them apparently thought it wise to just sit around and wait it out. Why bother working or, for that matter, using any of your skills and abilities at all? Just kick back and chill out! Christ has got you covered; He’s got your back, and he WILL be back before you know it.

Word got back to the apostle Paul about this, and he writes: “We hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.” Now the word “busybody” is pretty much out of circulation. We can be forgiven for thinking that a busybody is someone who is constantly at work. Actually, the meaning is the opposite. Paul understood the busybody at the time to be someone who basically worked hard at doing nothing – zip, zero, nada. They had gifts for the common good, but they weren’t using them. It would be true to the Biblical text to paraphrase what Paul said like this: “I understand that some of you are loafing around; some of you are just chilling out; some of you are not doing diddly squat.

To the busybody crowd, to the group sitting around twiddling its collective thumb, to the society of loafers, the apostle spoke directly. He commands and encourages three things. First, he says to work quietly. Second, he encourages them to earn their own living. Third, and perhaps most importantly, he says to not grow weary in doing what is right.

As Christians, our faith is an earthy, action-oriented faith. As with pretty much everything that is said and done in the world, the question is one of motive. What’s the motive for using our God-given gifts? Is it to put our name in lights? Is it to enhance our resume? Is it to bolster our image? If any of this is true, we may want to revisit our motives. What motivates us to use our time, talents, and treasures for the glory of God?

What freedom and joy there is when the motive is to glorify God and to love God’s people! A noted Roman Catholic writer, George Weigel, once commented that the church had a great deal more to say to people than simply “pray, pay, and obey.” Our faith is animate everything we do – including employing our talents. It is easy to fall into the trap of saying, “Oh, let someone else do it.” What happens then is that we eventually complain that “someone else” is not doing a better job of the job we’re not doing at all.” That type of thinking is counter-productive and basically boring.

Far more productive and exciting as all get-out is what I see more and more at First Presbyterian: individual members of the body of Christ practicing, employing, bringing, and dedicating their God-given talents and abilities to the glory of God and the love of God’s children. Things are starting to click in this regard. Time is gathered in; talents are gathered in! It is my considered view that heaven smiles! Amen.

"'All Be Safely Gathered In': Gathering of Time"

Text: Haggai 1:15b-2:9
Theme: “’All Be Safely Gathered In’: Gathering of Time”
The Thirty Second Sunday In Ordinary Time
The Twenty Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
November 7, 2010
First Presbyterian Church
Denton, Texas
The Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

A little over a year ago, it was discovered that I have close to a thirty five percent hearing loss in my right ear. Since the diagnosis, I have used a Beltone hearing aid. When the hearing aid is out of my ear, I can still hear sounds like I would through an AM radio station. When the device is in my ear, the sound is more like FM radio – or in stereo. It is a subtle but noticeable difference. The unit runs on a watch battery, and it lasts for about two weeks. When the battery runs out of juice, there’s this little beeping sound in my ear which is the signal to have it replaced. My audiologist suggested that I purchase a pack of fifty batteries – about a sixth month supply. I’m good to go until at least next spring.

I don’t wear my hearing aid to bed, but yesterday, shortly after five o’clock in the morning, I heard our dogs starting to make doggie noises. They weren’t quite barking, but it was getting close. Usually, it means that they want to go into the backyard and conduct the sort of business that dogs conduct outside. I get up, let them out, send them into the backyard, stand around a bit, bring them back in, return them to the cage, and then head back to bed. That usually does the trick, but not yesterday.

Safely nestled under the covers, I doze off only to hear the dogs sounding off again. They stopped for a bit. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then, I hear a little beeping sound – and the dogs responded in kind. The sound came from the smoke detector, and the smoke detector, actually, was only being polite. It was trying to tell me that its battery was running low. Time was running out on the ability of the device to perform its function!

Unfortunately, we did not have a sixth month supply of 9-volt batteries on hand. The builders of our home never suggested that. Thus, the choice was clear: either go back to bed to the sound of continued beepings and barkings, or go to the store and get some 9-volts. In the end, I spent time – albeit unexpectedly – purchasing batteries.

This morning’s topic is time. When we think or talk about time, the conversation usually comes around to how well, how poorly, or even how unexpectedly we spend it. Time is like money in that it is spent. We even talk of investing our time for the good of the cause – whatever that cause may be. Bookstores and libraries have countless volumes written by authors who spent time writing book son how better to spend time. Steven Covey, for instance, wrote The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and First Things First. These books, both of them national bestsellers, taught us much about how best to spend time in pursuit of our personal goals.

It is amazing to consider how we understand, manage, mismanage, use, and describe time. For starters, think of the phrase “Spring forward and fall back.” Last night, we set the clock back one hour in time. We measure time, on a very personal level, whenever we have a birthday. Consider some simple math. This coming Tuesday, I will mark the fact that I have lived twenty six million two hundred eighty thousand minutes, which equals four hundred thirty eight thousand hours, which equals eighteen thousand two hundred fifty days, which equals two thousand six hundred seven weeks, which equals, roughly, fifty years. If the rough average is correct, I’ve spent fifteen of these fifty years sound asleep. I wonder: am I spending time, or is time spending me?
What about all these figures of speech that relate to time? There are phrases galore! Consider this one: “I’ll get around to it when I get some free time.” Free time, huh? But wait! What about the person who says “Time is money”? How about this one: “I charge $350 per hour plus expenses.” That doesn’t sound like free time!

Occasionally, you hear folks remark that they “lost track of time.” I’ll give you an example. There’s this piano piece called “Linus and Lucy” which was written by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi who put together all that wonderful Charlie Brown music. I saw the sheet music for it and thought: “I can play this.” I bought the sheet music, and I sit down to practice it. As it turns out, it was harder than it looked. The rhythm in the left-hand part is different than the right. I kept working at it and working at it. I was picking it up in bits and pieces and then larger chunks. I was getting close to getting it right. Finally, my brain started making the connections with my hands, and I nailed it. I was pretty excited. But when I looked at my watch, it seemed like I was coming out of a trance. I had sat at the piano for over three hours! I had no intention of sitting there that long; I totally lost track of time!

People go on vacation, and what happens? Time flies! People stand in line at the Post office at four o’clock in the afternoon on Friday and time seems like an eternity; time stands still. Time, I’m here to say, has been murdered a million times over. People talk about “killing” time. Other folks say that don’t “have enough time”, but don’t we all have the same amount? On the football field, teams take a “time out”. That stops the clock, but not the clock of life; that keeps ticking.

This little bit of wisdom was scotch-taped to the kitchen cabinet in my boyhood home:

The clock of life is wound but once
And no one has the power
To tell just when then hands will stop
At late or early hour.

Underneath that cryptic sentence there was this phrase: “39 people died while you read this short poem. Sooner or later, it will be you. Are you ready?” Does the time you have remaining on this earth, even though you don’t know the amount or length, have anything to say about how you will spend it?

As Christian believers, it is worth spending time learning and even re-learning what God has to say about time. In the creation account in Genesis, we hear of morning and evening and of one day. After the story of Noah and the ark, God made a promise that had to do with time. We read in Genesis 8:22: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Time, Biblically understood, has a rhythm to it: the rhythm of the seasons. In a best-loved section of the Bible, the writer of Ecclesiastes says:

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time for war, and a time for peace.

The tendency – if not, the temptation! – that we all face is to worry and to fuss and to fret over time. Because we do that, we often seek to compartmentalize, or manage, or manipulate time – and usually to suit our own purposes. We have calendars and computers and synchronized mobile devices that we employ to remind us how we have to spend our time and want to spend our time.

We speak of it as “our time” as if we have complete ownership of every tenth of a second. When we pack too much activity into any period of time, we talk about needing what some folks have called “me time.” It’s so easy, though, with the talk about time and the spending thereof, to quite forget a phrase both startling and wonderful: “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

If the Lord has made it, then it can only come to us as a gift. If it comes in the way of a gift, it comes in the way of the Gospel.

Come to think of it, not much happens – in fact, nothing happens – without the gift of time. Nothing happens in our lives without a time for it. The message that the prophet Haggai received in our sermon text was delivered long ago. But even then, it had a specific time. Listen:

On the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Haggai.

God, who is beyond time and space, God, who is eternal and who has no beginning and end, does not disregard His good gift of time. If you’re looking to find God beyond the limits of time and space, if you think that the Lord exists in vague generalities and abstractions, if you think that God was or is only the creation of the human mind to help answer existential questions, then the Bible will shock the daylights out of you. It proclaims the truth that “When the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son – born of a woman and born under the law – to redeem those under the law.”

The gift of time! You can compartmentalize it, dissect it, schedule it, spend it, waste it, kill it, watch it pass you by. Our God would have us gather it in and celebrate it for all the gift that it is. The best time is 11:00 AM on Sunday mornings, the time set aside to hear God’s Word and respond to it together. Whether you prefer a spring forward or a fall back, our time is in God’s hands. Take comfort and draw strength from that always. Amen.

In Praise of The Gifts

Text: Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4
Theme: “In Praise of The Gifts”
The Thirty First Sunday In Ordinary Time
The Twenty Third Sunday After Pentecost
Reformation/All Saints Sunday
October 31, 2010
First Presbyterian Church
Denton, Texas
The Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

Just a few moments ago, you heard couple of literary snippets from the book of Habakkuk in the Old Testament. Only three chapters long, the book itself is a quick read; it’s almost like a laminated pamphlet! It is named for the prophet, Habakkuk, whose prophecy is contained in the book. The name Habakkuk means “one who embraces.” Another word for embrace is hug, and if ever anyone could have used a whopper of a hug it was Habakkuk.

If your situation in life – or even life itself – has ever danced on your last nerve; if life has ever wiped the floor with your soul and then wiped it again so as not to leave a waxy yellow build-up; if you’ve ever had a bone to pick with the Lord and wanted to engage in a bit of argument with the most high God, then Habakkuk might be your guy. It may be just your kind of book – and you can even read it all after Sunday brunch and before the Halloween trick-or-treaters come knocking. Habakkuk, as it turns out, has some issues he needs to get on the table and discuss; there are complaints to register, and, at first, he comes off sounding rather cranky, irritable, and agitated in the way he registers them. But at the end of the book, though, all of that is yesterday’s news. He says:

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

Hooray for Habakkuk! Good for him. Give me some of what he has and maybe a hug to go with it – as his name implies! What in the dickens brought Habakkuk from the point of cranky, irritable, and agitated to the point of supreme joy, strength, and confidence in the Lord? What put the pep in his step? Well, the answer is that he spotted the gift! The good news is that the same gift is for us too. What’s left is to unwrap and unpack the gift. If today’s message can be of assistance in this, then it will have achieved its purpose.

But now, what of carved pumpkins, outdoor decorations, and trips down the candy aisle at Kroger and Albertson’s? It all says that it’s Halloween today! Halloween is short for Hallow Evening. Hallow Evening is short for the Eve of All Hallows Day. All Hallows Day is also called All Saints Day, and that, on the calendar, is tomorrow, November 1st. It has been observed in the western church – including Roman Catholic and, later, Protestant congregations – since the 8th century A.D. We Protestant/Reformed/Presbyterian-types, through the years, have not observed the day to pray for the dead. Rather, it is an occasion to remember our loved ones in the faith who have gone before us and thank God for their lives and example. A lovely tradition, which we observe today, is the reading of the names of those among us who have died in the past year and the ringing of the bell after each name is read.

Also, this morning’s observance and celebration of All Saints is linked with the observance and celebration of Reformation Day! October 31st, the Eve of All Saints, was the occasion, four hundred ninety three years ago, when the Roman Catholic monk-turned-university professor, Martin Luther, posted a document on the front door of the Schlosskirche, the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany. The document is known as the Ninety-Five Theses or Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. If that sounds like a mouthful and a boring smidge of history, it’s okay. Just know that, like Habakkuk, Luther had some gripes of his own which made him cranky, irritable, and agitated.

Luther was, well, not a Presbyterian, and neither was he a Lutheran! He was about as Roman Catholic as you can get, and I don’t say that in order to bad mouth our Catholic friends. You see, not only was he Roman Catholic, he was a Roman Catholic monk. Monks lived in monasteries. What did monks do? Monks studied the Bible and the great theologians, and they worshipped, prayed, and worked for the glory of God and to make life better for the people, like you and me, who sat in the pews. And not only was he a monk, he had decided to become an Augustinian monk! As an Augustinian monk, your namesake was St. Augustine, one of the great theologians in the early Christian church. At the heart of St. Augustine’s teaching was the almighty power and love of God. The idea – the whole trick in the game and the reason why we exist -- was to get on the good side of that power and love, and then you might have a chance to be saved. If you’re on the bad side of the power and the love, you’re toast. But if you’re on the good side, it’s high fives all around!
Luther gave it as good a shot as anyone ever could to get on the good side of that power and love. In later years, Luther reflected on those days as a monk. He wrote, “If anyone could have gained heaven as a monk, then I would indeed have been among them.” You’d think all the hard, good work and sacrifices Luther made would be rewarded, but they were not. Luther, reflecting on the same time in his life with all of his frenzied effort, said: “I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter, and made of him the jailor and hangman of my poor soul.”

But it wasn’t only what was going on in Luther’s head -- the personal struggles -- that had him all in a snit. Events going on around him also shook him to the core. Those events were very closely related to something that happens at worship here every Sunday. I speak of the confession of sins and the declaration of pardon. Officials in the Catholic Church of Luther’s Day were selling sheets of paper called indulgences. The proceeds of the sale went to help defray the cost of the construction of St. Peter’s basilica in Rome. (That’s the place where the pope celebrates midnight mass every Christmas Eve.) Without getting into an extended history lesson this morning, the faithful Christians of Luther’s day were being taught by their leaders that they could literally purchase, with money, the forgiveness of sins – for themselves and for their loved ones who had previously died. They were basically life insurance policies – eternal life insurance policies. Luther’s response to this error was The Ninety-Five Theses.

Lest you think this all belongs on a dusty bookshelf marked “church history”, let me bring it into the here and now. A good question is: what would you pay for a clear conscience? Luther, in effect, said: “That’s not an option. You can’t pay for that.”

So what then? Does one double-down on or double-up the effort in trying to be a better Christian? Does God help those who help themselves? Will hard work, good work, and sacrifice do the trick? Will that wipe away the last vestiges of a troubled soul and a dirty conscience? Could we support another worthwhile charity? Might you then be a fine little modern Augustinian and be on the good side of almighty power and love? If we answer yes to any of these, then I fear that Christ may still be – to one extent or another -- the “jailor” and the “hangman.”

Not long ago, I was asked what we might do here at First Presbyterian to attract more Bible-believing young people to our congregation. It’s a good question, and I know where those who asked it are coming from. But I suspect that Bible-believing young people – if they truly believe the great truths of the Bible -- are probably already in a Christian congregation. I don’t want to overlook any “demographic” – including that of Bible-believing young people. But I really, really, really don’t want to overlook another “demographic.” Let me explain.

In my early years of public ministry, during the ten years when I was out of public ministry, and even now, I run into folks, quite regularly, who have come to see Christ, if truth be told, as a “hangman” and His Church as a “jailor.” Most of these people are my age or a little younger or older. Almost to a person, they have come from religious backgrounds that came off to them as rigid, legalistic, doctrinaire, authoritarian, judgmental, and – maybe worst of all – boring and irrelevant. When they came of age, they pretty much voted with their feet and left the church. Since then, they have all but disappeared into our culture that is increasingly secular, agnostic, and post-Christian. Their philosophy – which is very simple and genuinely held – was captured fairly well, I think, by country singer Jerry Jeff Walker when he sang:

Just gettin' by on gettin' by's my stock and trade
Livin' it day to day
Pickin' up the pieces where ever they fall
Just lettin' it roll lettin' the high times carry the load
I'm livin' my life easy come easy go.

If that philosophy makes sense and rings true to any one of you today, I want to ask you – with as much earnestness as I can command – this question: what happens when even the high times can no longer carry the load? Set aside religion, spirituality and all of that for just a moment and consider: what happens when life itself – with all its randomness; with its limits; with its dire diagnoses’; with its political and economic unrest; with all its faults, failures, and even fatalities – becomes “jailor” and “hangman”?

What then? Especially then, spot the gift; receive the gift; unwrap the gift; unpack the gift; use the gift; take the gift and run with it! What is that gift?

Habakkuk spotted it; Luther rediscovered it; the great reformers of every age trumpeted it; the Holy Spirit delivers it in words that go like this: “The just shall live by faith!” The gift is faith! “By grace are you saved through faith – and this is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God. It is not of works – lest anyone should boast.”

By the time Luther nailed his theses to the church door, he didn’t quite have the gift unpacked. But he was getting closer. In theses ninety two and ninety three, he wrote: “Away then with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, ‘Peace, peace,’ and there is no peace. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, ‘Cross, cross,’ and there is no cross!”

There was no cross, ultimately, for the people of Christ, but there most certainly was a cross for Jesus Christ, and he endured every shameful, awful, damning, lethal bit of it. When it finally dawned on Luther that the cross was Christ’s alone and not Luther living and dying in conformity with it, then all the bells and whistles started gloriously going off and we had a reformation! The Gospel rang true again!

“The just shall live by faith” – faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. A jailer or a hangman? No. The Savior and the Comforter? Yes. Thank God it is yes!