Some sermons are in note form.
Every Sunday’s service is recorded on CD. If you’d like a copy, call the church office and we’ll get one to you.

St. John United Church of Christ, Arlington Hts., Illinois
February 21, 2010 – Healing Service
Luke 19:41-44
Rev. Jeffrey L. Phillips, pastor 

Jesus weeps over Jerusalem

            He has just entered the city for Passover

            On his way to the Temple

            But stops first to declare judgment over the city – God’s sovereignty over the city

            His judgment is more sorrow than criticism

Jesus weeps twice in the Gospels – here and at Lazarus’ death

Both times, the people don’t recognize God’s reign and what it might mean for their welfare. 

They don’t know God’s power and peace. 

They just don’t “get it.”

They don’t realize that God has visited them – come to them.

They miss out.

A theme of lament in Luke that goes with the joyous celebration of the Gospel.

Next week’s reading – ch. 13: Jesus desire to gather the people as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but the people are not willing.

Chap. 23 when J is on his way to the cross, he tells the daughters of Jerusalem not to weep for him, but for themselves and their children.  He recognizes that, even after his death and resurrection, creation will not be completely restored.

The wonder and joy of God’s redemptive work in Jesus is accompanied by sorrow for those who do not respond.

The prodigal son and his brother.

Jesus is a king with a hard-to-define kingdom.  He enters to redeem the city, but ends up dead on a criminal’s cross.  If he’s a king, who are his subjects?  Where is his victory?  Why isn’t the world healed?

This passage is heavy with pathos and tragedy – Jesus weeping, but nobody caring or responding.  His warnings fall on deaf ears and dull hearts.

Rather than recognizing “the things that make for peace,” all that is certain is that the people will know the consequences of war, especially when Jerusalem is destroyed in 70 CE (the context in which Luke wrote the gospel).

Peace.  What are “the things that make for peace”?

            Well, what did Jesus come to bring to the world?

Good news to the poor, a place at the table for outcasts, healing for the sick, forgiveness for sinners, restoration of relation with God, dignity for women and children (especially visible in Luke’s gospel).

            Jesus came to bring these things, but they are not here completely, are they?

This sad scene of Jesus’ weeping over Jerusalem a few days before of his death presents two ways – the way of peace and the way of destruction. 

Another way to understand this is the way of health and the way of sickness.

Do we believe that Jesus brings health and healing, or not? 

There’s plenty of evidence to the contrary.

            Can Jesus heal us?  Can Jesus heal the world?

            Or does Jesus look upon us and our society and just weep?

As we look upon our own lives, and the life of the world, do we believe there is hope for us, are we cynical about God’s visitation upon this earth in Jesus Christ? 

Is peace possible, or is that just a utopian dream?  Nonsense?

Is human flourishing possible?  Or is that just a waste of time?

Is there hope for us?

Can God still work grace in us?

Do we “recognize this day the things that make for peace”? (Shalom)

If God reigns on earth, doesn’t that mean that health and healing are possible for us and for all?

One problem may be our definition of “health” and “healing.”

            Not “cure”

Better definition (shalom): peace, wellness, wholeness, balance, joy, right relationships with self, God, and others, social justice, purpose

Examples of God’s peace, health, and healing in the world, when we recognize and embrace God’s rule of righteousness and justice on earth

            Going to the doctor regularly

            Eating better

            Exercising

            Working for good mental health as well as physical health

            Having more fun – do what you love, be yourself, laugh

            Getting more sleep and rest

            Finding time for quiet, meditation, and prayer

            Working for health care for all

            Building strong marriages and fostering well-trained parents

            Accepting life as it is

            Striving for good relationships with family members, friends, and God

            Forgiving others and knowing that you are forgiven

            Going to counseling

            Finding fulfilling work

Having less stress in your life - learning to say No without feeling guilty

Working for strong public education that produces confident, healthy, talented, compassionate children

Working to eliminate global poverty

Working for a healthy environment

Working to solve global conflicts without violence

Working to solve conflicts at home, school and work, church without violence

Wearing your seatbelt – and NOT TEXTING while driving

All of these are ways in which we say, “I get it, Jesus!  Your reign promotes health and healing for us all!”

Healing service today

This is the kind of health and healing we’re talking about – God visiting us through the healing of ministry of Jesus Christ that continues today.

No religion can rise to the level of a world religion without taking health and healing seriously.

This is what we do today – not seeking a “cure,” but hoping that you might know through the laying on of hands and a word of blessing that God’s power and grace for you on your journey to greater health and healing.

Details

            Grace – Called to Care

            Down center aisle

            You don’t have to tell us why you’re coming forward

            Come for yourself or someone else

            If you don’t come forward, be in prayer for others who do

            Sing two Taize songs

            We will come to you afterward if you can’t come forward

 Jesus weeps for us.  He wonders if we know the things that make for peace.  He wonders if his mission of healing was in vain.  How will we respond?

February 14, 2010 - Transfiguration/Time and Talent Sunday
St. John United Church of Christ, Arlington Hts., Illinois
Rev. Jeffrey L. Phillips, pastor
Luke 9:28-36

Transfiguration – imagine!

            Jesus’ face and clothes

            Moses and Elijah appeared in glory.

Thrilling: “they saw his glory”

The cloud enveloped them and they were terrified, but they survived. 

A “near-death experience”?

            A true “mountaintop experience”

            Peter, James, and John felt most alive.

Jesus is alive, not dead. 

We, too, behold his glory once in awhile – and are thrilled.

What Color is Your Parachute?  Richard Bolles, first published in 1970, re-issued many times since.  In 1968 when people told Bolles, "I'm tired of this job.  I'm going to bail out," he playfully responded, “What color is your parachute?”

            Finding joy and delight in your work life – that which is thrilling.

            “Do what you love; the money will follow.”

Bolles’ book also takes into account the needs of the world, not only your passions.

Fred Buechner (quoted by Bolles), "…the place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

Kahlil Gibran, “Work is love made visible.”

80% of people are unhappy at work.  Our culture has separated work from passion, and taught us to prefer a higher paycheck to higher happiness.  That mistake costs us our souls.  The goal of career development is to uncover one's gifts and passions, and link them to the practical needs of the world.

This is the church’s job, too: help people connect their deep passions with the world’s deep needs – T&T Sunday.

            God gives us our talents, skills, experience, passions.

God also places us in a world of deep need, and calls us to participate in God’s mission in the world (not our mission, but God’s).

Volunteer, paid, full-time, part-time, in the church, outside the church, it can even resemble a hobby rather than a vocation (cooking, painting, sports)

New St. John constitution

Sometimes doing God’s work is just work, but sometimes, when it’s really something you love and it’s meeting a real human need, it can be thrilling.

You might even say you see God’s glory, and it can change your life.

Peace Corps commercial: “The toughest job you’ll ever love.”

Example: does anyone volunteer?  [volunteer story]

What’s your passion?  What do you love to do?  What thrills you?  What sets your soul on fire?  Maybe you have more than one.

Answer in pairs (allow time for people to find a partner, even move around).

Now, also in pairs: what do people say you’re good at?

Still in pairs: how might you connect your passion with the needs of our community and world?

Time and Talent Sunday

            Mission and Ministry Opportunities booklet and pledge form

Dilemma: are we addressing the church’s needs or the world’s needs, or your need to find something to do that is fulfilling?

God’s mission is not the administration and survival of the church.  God’s mission is the salvation and welfare of the world.

Yet, the church plays a role in accomplishing God’s mission, so the church has needs, too.

It takes a lot of volunteers to run a church!  And thousands of volunteer hours!

But one of my jobs may be to help you see that your real ministry is not in the church, but in the world – maybe at home, or in paid work, or by volunteering with the American Cancer Society or in the politics.

If so, then we have to trust that God will send us people whose real ministries are in helping the church be a well-run organization. 

Maybe that’s what this is all about: trusting the Holy Spirit to give people gifts for use in the church, through the church, and beyond the church so that God’s mission will be done in the world.

So I’d like to think we can do all three: help you find your passions and ways to use them, meet the needs of the church for its own survival, and connect your passions with God’s work out there. 

A tall order1

Hand out booklets first.

Take a look at them, and you’ll see what I mean.  Page after page, we’re presenting the needs of the church as if they’re more important than God’s mission in the world, which we know is not true.

But still, the church needs to be administered well to be a place where people’s passions are ignited, so we give you plenty of ways to plug into that.

But an equally – or even more important - part of the booklet is the last two pages, where we get to connecting your passions with the needs of our community.

Last entry in particular.

Don’t get me wrong!  Sometimes our deepest passions can find expression within the church!  Teaching, singing, auditing!  By all means, consider those! 

Example: maybe you find deep joy in caring for others.  We can help you do that in the church – Called to Care.  This summer.

But one of the best things your church can do for you is help you identify that thing you love to do and connect you to it, whether it’s in the church or outside the church.  That’s what we try to do on T&T Sunday.

Hand out pledge forms (forms go with booklets).

As you fill them out, don’t just check the things you always do at church.  I urge you to find two new things you’d like to try: one for the church and one for the community.

            Sometimes we don’t know we have a passion for something until we try it.

            An itch, a curiosity, a stirring of the Holy Spirit…

I want you to know the fullness of God’s glory - abundant life, joyful life.  I want you to be thrilled in knowing that you have gifts, and that God can use them for God’s work in the church and in the world.

If you’re visiting today…

Take time now to consider your passions and how to put them to use….

[come forward with T&T pledge forms and Sunday morning offerings]