Freeville/Homer Ave. UMC's - Seventh Sunday after Pentecost - 07/27/14 Sermon - “What is the Kingdom of Heaven like?"

Sunday 07/27/14 Freeville/Homer Ave UMC’s

Sermon Title: “What is the Kingdom of Heaven like?”

Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Genesis 29:15-28

                                            

New Testament Scripture Lesson: Romans 8:26-39

Gospel Lesson: Mathew 13:31-33, 44-52

Welcome once again on this, the Seventh Sunday after the feast of Pentecost. Pentecost, the day that tongues of fire descended upon the apostles and the early followers of Jesus Christ. On this day, the Holy Spirit moved like a mighty wind, and the Christian Church was officially born.

On this being the Seventh Sunday after the feast of Pentecost, today we have a gospel reading were Jesus Christ gives us many short parables or short stories. You see on this day, instead of one story or parable, we will hear many parables. These parable will be about about “What the kingdom of heaven is like?”

“The kingdom of heaven.” Some of us might hear the term “the kingdom of heaven,” and say, “well what is that?” Some might say, is it that place way up there, were angels sing, and the saints praise God? The place of Golden roads, peace, love, joy, and abundance, which by the way is gated and guarded by Saint Peter. Why does heaven have a gate anyway? Is the song “Stairway to Heaven” an actual path to the great hereafter?

Jesus Christ talked of “the kingdom of heaven” to his disciples and to his early followers. He said, that “the kingdom of heaven” is near. In fact, in the gospel of Mathew 6:9-10 when Jesus taught his followers the “Lord’s Prayer,” he said, “Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

So Jesus told his disciples and his early followers, that “the kingdom of God,” or “the kingdom of heaven” is coming. If this kingdom is to be ushered in fully when Christ returns, and if this kingdom is somewhere up there in the heavens then, what about the here and the now?

One could argue that we should just sit idly by and wait for Christ’s triumphant return to earth. That we should wait until our own deaths to see “the kingdom of heaven.” I mean if “the kingdom of heaven” comes after this life, then shouldn’t we just sit around and wait for it? Or is there something more to this life that we are living? Are we supposed to build God’s kingdom here on earth, as we await his kingdom to come? I heard a line that a pastor said once, “don’t be so heavenly minded, that you are useless here on earth.”

“The kingdom of heaven.” What is it? Where is it? When is it?

In the gospels, Jesus tells us to love our neighbors. Jesus teaches us a better way to live, a better way to treat one another, and a better way of building community. Jesus also tells us however, to build the kingdom in the here and the now.

Will this kingdom that we build here on earth ever compare to the kingdom to come? Of Course not, yet Jesus tells us, build my kingdom here on earth, as you await the next kingdom. Build the world of love, caring, peace, justice, and mercy that I have taught and have shown you, as you await my return. As you await the hereafter.

So “what is the kingdom of heaven like?” It is that glorious place of rest and joy after this life. It is the triumphant return of the Lord to trumpet sounds. It is also what we are building in this church, and in this community today. For we are building “the kingdom of heaven” here in this place, and in this community. With the love of Christ, with our behaviors, with our actions, and with our teachings, we are building the kingdom here, as we await the kingdom to come.

I remember watching a television show once, and the name of show escapes me, but a man in the show got angry, and then he said to another person in the show, “I’m going to knock you to kingdom come!” At the time I saw this, I said, “huh,” what does that mean?

What I know now, is that it means God’s kingdom is in the hereafter. Further, if someone tells you that they are going to “knock you to kingdom come,” that sounds like they are trying to end your earthly life, and send you home to be with the Lord!

When we hear the mission statement of the United Methodist Church, which is, “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world,” this “transformation of the world” is the building of the kingdom in the here and the now, as we await the kingdom to come.

Sometimes I think though, that the mission statement of the United Methodist Church could also be “to make disciples of Jesus Christ to build God’s kingdom, as we await God’s kingdom to come.”

So beyond just faith in God, beyond just faith in Christ, we are called to transform the world, and to build the kingdom. As says it the book of James 2:15-17, “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

So if we just believe in Jesus Christ, and we do nothing with it, we neglect the building of the kingdom in the here and the now. Sure our faith might get us into heaven in the hereafter, but why would we sit idly by and allow this world to be the way it is. For when we are transformed spiritually, when we are changed from the inside out, we are called to live into the fullness of our calling by God.

This fullness could result in us going down the street, could result in us going to the next town, to a seminary, to china, and etc. When are transformed by Jesus Christ, when we are truly changed, we are called, we are inspired, and we are even driven to change the world. This is building the kingdom here, as we await the kingdom to come.

In Paul’s Epistle or Letter to the church in Rome, or the Book of Romans reading from this morning, the Apostle Paul then tells us that nothing will separate us from the love of God. In fact, the Apostle Paul said, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God promises are concrete, and never changing. Have faith in me He says, and you will be in paradise for eternity. He also says though, I need you to build the kingdom in the here and the now, until eternity comes.

The specific parables or stories that Jesus tells us this morning are, first that of a mustard seed, and how a little mustard seed can grow to a large plant, that according to one of my sources could be up to three-meters high. One little seed, tremendous growth and transformation. Jesus says that “the kingdom of heaven” is like that. Jesus then tells the parable about a women who mixes yeast with three measures of flour. Historically speaking a handful of good yeast mixed with three measures of floor, could make enough bread to feed up a hundred people. Jesus said, “the kingdom of heaven,” is like that.

Jesus then tells the parable of the hidden treasure. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; the in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buy that field.” You see the person was changed by the treasure, by God, and then gave up everything to give that treasure to others. The person then bought the field, which is the place that God can be praised, and that the kingdom on earth can be built, while awaiting the kingdom to come.

Jesus then tells another parable and says, “the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.” You see the person who found the treasure in the field sold it, as he had already come to know what the treasure is. The merchant however, is willing to sell everything to have and know the treasure first hand. Jesus Christ is the treasure, and he asks us all that we know him, and that we build the kingdom here on earth, as we await the kingdom to come.

Jesus then tells a final parable, and says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind, when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets, but threw out the bad.”

Jesus then says, when it is all said and done for us in this life, will we be in the good pile, or the bad pile? Will we have faith? Will be build the kingdom of God, as we await the kingdom to come. Jesus then instructs his disciples and listeners that if they understood his parables, to go and tell others the good news of God’s coming kingdom. That we are called to build the kingdom here, as we await the kingdom to come.

I would like to close this morning with a story. This story is about building “the kingdom of God”. It is called “Stop Selling Sugared Water”. Here is how it goes: “Who among us could live without computers? It seems they’re everywhere – in our studies at home, on our desks at work, in the library, the bank and even the cafe. We get pleasure from them, we swear at them, we need them.”

“But it’s only a recent thing. Just 3 generations ago the Chairman of IBM declared there is a world market for only five computers. As recently as 1977 the President of Digital Equipment claimed there is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home!”

“The revolution was brought to us in large part by Steven Jobs, the founder of Apple Computers. Steve Jobs was just 21 when he and Steve Wozniak invented the Apple Computer. Until then computers were a monstrous mass of vacuum tubes which took whole rooms. Then the two Steve’s managed to take that mass of tubes and incorporate them inside a box small enough to sit on a desk.”

“Jobs and Wozniak offered their invention to Atari. They weren’t interested in big bucks – all they wanted was a salary and the opportunity to continue their work. Atari knocked them back. They offered it to Hewlett-Packard, but Hewlett Packard knocked them back. It seemed Jobs and Wozniak alone could see the possibilities. So Jobs sold his Volkswagon and Wozniak sold his calculator, and with the $1300 that gave them they formed Apple Computers. The company was named Apple in memory of a happy summer Jobs had spent working in an orchard.”

“The rest is history. By all accounts Steve Jobs is a visionary, and spurred on by that vision he built a successful computer company. But Jobs soon discovered that if his vision was to reach fruition they needed greater management expertise. So Jobs approached John Sculley, then President of PepsiCo. There was absolutely no reason why Sculley should leave a highly paid position in a world leading company to go work with a bunch of computer nerds in a fledgling industry. Not unsurprisingly he turned Jobs down. But Jobs wouldn’t take no for an answer. He approached Sculley again. Again Sculley turned him down. In a last ditch effort Jobs passionately presented his visionary ideas to Sculley and he asked Sculley a question that forced him to accept.  The question was this: “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?”

“Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?” Indeed Jobs and Sculley did change the world.”

“Jesus comes to us with the same question: “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?” Most of us spend our lives making sugared water, going to work to accumulate more possessions and perhaps finding space for God and the world in our spare time. But Jesus had a vision to change the world. His was the vision of the kingdom of God and he calls us to place it at the center of our lives, to make it our reason for existence (Matthew 6.33).”

Let us all go forth this day and this week then, and continue to seek ways to love and serve each other, so that people will know who Jesus is. So people will follow Jesus, and then help us to build his kingdom in the here and now, as we await his kingdom to come. Praise God and Amen!

Freeville/Homer Ave. UMC's - Fifth Sunday after Pentecost - 07/13/14 Sermon - “We are called to sow seeds"

Sunday 07/13/14 Freeville/Homer Ave UMC’s

Sermon Title: “We are called to sow seeds”

Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Psalm 119:105-112

                                            

New Testament Scripture Lesson: Romans 8:1-11

Gospel Lesson: Mathew 13:1-9, 18-23

Welcome and good morning once again on this the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost. Pentecost, that day so long ago that the Holy Spirit moved, and the early Christian Church was born.

This morning however, I want to talk about sowing or planting seeds. Many of us here I am sure know all about sowing seeds. In fact, how many of us here this morning have planted something in your gardens or elsewhere this year? Of those of you who have planted something in your gardens or elsewhere this year, how many of you are happy with what has been growing?

Perhaps you are excited about all of the tomatoes, the cucumbers, the onions, the zucchinis, and etc., that you are growing. Or maybe your one of those people who is saying, “nothing I have planted has grown this year!” Has this ever happened to anyone? You know you planted that garden, or something else, only to find out that you planted the seeds too deep? Or maybe you didn’t pull the weeds around were the seeds were planted, and the plants died, being choked out by the weeds? Or perhaps you forgot to water your seeds for several days, and your plants withered up and died? Or maybe the soil that you planted your seeds in was too rocky, and maybe your soil did not have enough nutrients in it for the plants to go correctly?

Anyone here ever sow or plant seeds, and find that they just do not grow? It is often frustrating to, when our neighbor’s garden is in full bloom, and our garden looks like a desert.

Or sometimes people have attempted to even grow plants or crops that aren’t supposed to be grown in this or other climate zones. They then get frustrated when that tropical banana tree that they planted in their front yard in New York died in the harsh winter weather.

It sort of makes me wonder in fact, of all the seeds that have ever been sowed or planted by all people, throughout all of history, how many of them have not grown? Could it be 20-percent, or 40-percent, or 80-percent? Whatever the percentage is, many of us continue every year to sow or to plant seeds. We even do this, knowing good and well some of our seeds won’t grow.

Given this, if we know ahead of time that some of the seeds that we sow and plant won’t grow, why do we continue to plant every year? I mean couldn’t we just say, well some of our seeds won’t grow, so let’s just stop sowing and planting altogether? We know of course, that if we did that, we would soon run out of food.

In the same way, we find ourselves here in 2014 with some of our churches in this country shrinking and getting smaller. In fact, some of our churches are even closing. So maybe like the seeds that won’t grow in our gardens and farm fields, we should just give up on sowing the seeds of Jesus Christ and the Church? Yet we know that this is not option.

As Jesus will teach us in his parable of the sower from this morning, he tells us that some of the seeds that we sow, will in fact be seeds that die. He tells us that some of the seeds that we intend to grow into vital plants, will never grow into anything.

Yet we continue to plant and sow seeds every year because we need to fulfill our physical hunger. In the same way Jesus Christ calls us to continue to sow seeds to feed ours and others spiritual hunger. That this world more than ever, needs hope, needs love, needs peace, needs justice, and needs the saving grace of Jesus Christ. So every Sunday, and every day, I sow seeds, despite the fact that some will die, because I know that some of them will grow. Sowing seeds then, is not an option for me, rather it is essential for our souls to be fed, even if some of the seeds die.

Yesterday afternoon, my wife Melissa and I had the privilege of attending the young adult barbeque at our Bishop’s residence in Baldwinsville. At the Bishop’s barbeque, Bishop Webb encouraged all of us younger pastors and young lay people. He said, that the seeds we are sowing for Jesus Christ, are growing, and that we are “making disciples of Jesus Christ, for the transformation of the world.” While our Bishop probably wished that there were more young people at his barbeque, he was encouraged, because some of the seeds that followers of Christ like you have sown in the past, have taken root and have grown in us young Christians like me and others. That our very presence at the Bishop’s residence yesterday, was the result of seeds that people like you have sown. Seeds that fell on fertile soil.

At this barbeque, we also heard that if you pastor or belong to a church that is adding members, and is not just losing them, then you are part of the top 30-percent of churches in America. Brothers and sisters, we are part of the top 30-percent of churches in America, as we are adding members. We are growing. Our seeds that we are sowing, are taking root.

Within all of this though, we do what we do because of Jesus Christ, and so that people will know him. So that people who feel like that there life is going no where, who feel disconnected, who feel lonely and isolated, will know that there is a God who loves them. That you and others are being prayed for, and that you and others are loved. That the power of God and Jesus Christ has transformed us so radically, that we will sow seeds, even though some of them don’t grow. Brothers and sisters, I am here sowing seeds again this Sunday, Rev. Cathy Lee is sowing seeds here next Sunday, I will be sowing seeds the following Sunday, and so on, and so forth, to tell you that there is hope in the name of Jesus Christ.

That in this world of war, violence, corruption, and darkness, that there is a better way. That seeds of hope can grow, that seeds of faith can grow. That people will find that they now belong to family that cares about them, cares about their children, and these people will say this is what I have been needing in my life from day one.

We sow seeds, because of how are lives have been transformed through Jesus Christ, by what God has done for us. In wanting to share this and sow seeds, I would argue that any seeds that grow at all, make all of our sowing worth wild.

In our reading from Psalm 119 from this morning, the Psalmist tells us that God’s “word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” That our faith in God is transforming, renewing, saving, and that we sow seeds so that others can have the freedom, the love, the salvation, and the hope of those who know Jesus Christ. This is why we sow seeds.

In our reading from the Apostle Paul’s Epistle or letter to the church in Rome, or Romans, the Apostle Paul tells the church in Rome, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The Apostle Paul then says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” The Apostle Paul sowed seeds, and his did in many places, so that people could know the freedom found in Jesus Christ. We sow seeds, so that people will know him, know freedom, know the living God.

In our gospel reading for this morning, Jesus tells a great crowd the parable or story of the sower. Jesus tells the crowd, that a sower went out to sow or toss seeds on the ground. Yet some of these seed fell on the walking path, and the birds ate them. Some of the seeds that were sown however, fell on rocky ground, and lacked enough soil. They were then scorched by the sun, and withered and died. Further, Jesus said, some of the seeds of the sower feel among thorns, and when thorns grew up, they choked the new plants to death. Lastly though, Jesus said some of the seeds that the sower sowed feel on good soil and “brought forth grain, some a hundred-fold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!”

So Jesus tells us here this morning, just like when he walked the earth almost two-thousand years ago, some will believe, some will believe a little, and some will reject me altogether.

For me, the fact that I am standing before you this morning is a testament of all the seeds that so many of God’s people have sown in me. That you are all still sowing seeds in me. Due to these seeds in me growing, I have found a sense a peace, of love, of forgiveness, and of family. That through Jesus Christ, I have found salvation itself. As result of this, I want others to know to the Lord, to know his peace, to have salvation, and for all people to know that they are forgiven of all of their sins, if they but call upon his name. That in era of church closings and churches shrinking, the seeds we are sowing in this church are growing.

I would like to close this message with a story called “Who Packs Your Parachute?” This story is written by an unknown author. Here is how it goes: “Charles Plum, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, was a jet fighter pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent six years in a Communist prison. He survived that ordeal and now lectures about lessons learned from that experience.”

“One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, “You’re Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!” “How in the world did you know that?” asked Plumb.” “I packed your parachute,” the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, “I guess it worked!” “Plumb assured him, “It sure did – if your chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.”

“Plumb couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, “I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform – a Dixie cup hat, a bib in the back, and bell bottom trousers. I wondered how many times I might have passed him on the Kitty Hawk. I wondered how many times I might have seen him and not even said ‘Good morning, how are you,’ or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor.”

“Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn’t know.”

“Now, Plumb asks his audience, “Who’s packing your parachute? Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day.”

“Application: pride. Don’t allow your pride to blindfold you to the people who provide the parachutes in your life, and the lives of others. Application: encouragement, gratitude. Take time out to encourage and thank the people who provide the parachutes in your life. Application: community, church, spiritual gifts. Charlie Plumb’s experience reminds us that every community needs every person playing their part if it is to function successfully. Some of those parts will be the glamorous roles, like the fighter pilot, while others will be behind the scenes, out of the way and apparently unimportant jobs like parachute packing. But all are vital.”

Brothers and sisters, we sow seeds, some of them will die, but some of them will be the parachutes that save the very souls of people who are falling to their doom. And as Saint Anthony Mary Claret said, “O my God, I give you my word that I shall preach, write and circulate good books and pamphlets in abundance, so as to drown evil in a flood of good.” When we sow seeds for God, for Jesus Christ, we push back against all that darkens this world. So let us so seeds, even if some of them will never grow into the greatness we had hoped for. Amen and praise God.

Freeville/Homer Ave. UMC's - Fourth Sunday after Pentecost/Independence Sunday - 07/06/14 Sermon - “I will give you rest"

Sunday 07/06/14 Freeville/Homer Ave UMC’s

Sermon Title: “I will give you rest”

Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Psalm 45:10-17

                                            

New Testament Scripture Lesson: Romans 7:15-25a

Gospel Lesson: Mathew 11:16-19, 25-30

Today is the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, the day that the Holy Spirit moved over the early church like tongues of fire. On this day, the Christian Church was born, and as such, we remain in a season after Pentecost. We will remain in this season through Christ the King Sunday, the week before Advent begins.

This morning though, I want to talk about finding spiritual rest and spiritual peace in Jesus Christ. You see, Jesus promises to set us free from the things that bind us, if we believe in him and trust him. In pursuing him, in seeking him, in serving and loving others, we can find peace and rest in our souls, in Jesus Christ.

In the way that so many people chase after things, or accomplishments, or trophies, or the things of this world, Jesus says these are not the things that will ultimately fulfil you.

I mean let’s think about it for a moment, there was that excitement when you were a child on Christmas morning. You tear open your gifts, you are very excited at your new toys, yet within a couple of months, those toys are in the toy box, with all of the other lonely toys. So while things, accomplishments, trophies, and or the things of this world can be very exciting, they are often fleeting and short term.

How then, can we find longer and deeper spiritual rest and spiritual peace? I mean can’t that item on the QVC channel fill that void you have within? Can’t the latest infomercial product that always has, “but what there’s more!” fill that void within? I know that we have all bought some of those things in the past. You know that knew kitchen appliance that was going to revolutionize your kitchen and how you lived? The one that is now sitting unused in the cupboards in your kitchen, with all of your other kitchen items. Maybe in a way then, our cupboards, our closets, and our attics, can be our new adulthood toy boxes for our Christmas or anytime gifts.

Further, many of us even forget what we even have in our closets, our drawers, and sometimes even in our cupboards. I can’t tell you how many stories I have heard of people who have moved, and literally felt like that they were in flea market as they go through there attics or closets. Perhaps one says to the other, “Honey, did you know we had a new unopened blender in the attic?” Then the other person responds, “yes honey, don’t you remember you bought that on QVC five years ago, because you were going to start making juice drinks to get more healthy.”

How many of us can truly admit to finding something in our homes at some point, that we forgot we even owned?

Yet in the moment we bought them, these things seemed fulfilling. One day though, this church, this town, and everything in it will be gone. Who knows what this county will look like in 200-years. Will thousands live here, will everything be completely different? In just thinking about how much that this country has changed in the last hundred years, how can we confidently know what things will be like many years from now? Or even in ten years?

Yet many of us plan, continue to buy or obtain these things, and for many us, when we put our heads on our pillows at night, we still don’t fully have peace and still don’t fully have spiritual rest. Many of us don’t have true internal freedom.

In this being the Fourth of July or Independence Day weekend, we remember so many who gave their lives in defense of their country. In believing that freedom was worth everything. In this way, for us Christians, if we really want true spiritual peace and if we really want true spiritual rest, Jesus wants everything we have, not just some. True freedom, whether it is in our lives, in our country, or in our souls, costs everything.

          In our gospel reading for this morning, Jesus tells us, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” This certainly sounds easy enough right? I mean we put our faith in Jesus Christ, then we have spiritual rest and we have peace? Yet this isn’t always so easy for us is it?

          For example, do we have as much freedom and liberty in our country today, as we would like to have? I mean soldiers who have served and died for our freedom, have already died for serving their country, so our nation is now completely fixed right? Since they served and died, our freedom is now finitely secured forever right? No, this is not the case. Like our faith, our freedom, our liberty, is something that we constantly have to strive to grow and struggle to improve.

          If Jesus will give us spiritual peace and spirit rest so easily, then why do we all know some Christians who sometimes don’t seem to have rest or spiritual peace? Did there dose of spiritual peace and rest not take when they accepted Jesus Christ?

          To me these are deep and real questions that many Christian struggle with. I mean if Jesus promises us spiritual peace and spiritual rest, how come sometimes we seem to have neither of those? I mean after all, we believe, yet we might still not have “the peace that passes all understanding” as the Bible puts it.

          When we don’t truly have spiritual rest or spiritual peace in Jesus Christ, sometimes we can grow frustrated over this. We can grow disillusioned or jaded. We can even become unhappy with others, and in the process further damage our sense of peace and rest, and in turn attempt to cause damage to others peace and rest. In the same way, we might on our nation’s independence day still might not be happy with where our current freedoms and liberties are in this country, do we realize that our faith, our freedom, and our liberties is a constant process? That is costs everything.

          In the Old Testament reading from Psalm 45 from this morning, we hear of how a daughter of Israel will leave her father’s house and be married to a king. This daughter will be showered with wealth, gifts, and favor from the richest people who serve the king. The princess will have “gold-woven robes.” Yet the scripture ends with the promises of sons being born between this woman and the king. Due these sons, the king’s family name will be celebrated for generations. So the real prize her, the real peace, the real spiritual rest, is not the stuff, is not the money, is not the fame, it is the gift of from God of the children in this case. That God and God alone can give us peace and spiritual rest, and things of this world cannot.

          In the Apostle Paul’s epistle or letter to the Romans from this morning, he says something so honest. He says, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” The Apostle Paul then says he does things that he shouldn’t do, because of the “sin that dwells within me.” In fact, the Apostle Paul then says, “For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” Then the Apostle Paul says, “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.” So even the Apostle Paul did not always have spiritual rest or spiritual peace.

          Brothers and sisters, in our humanness then, don’t we often do things that separate us from God? That separate us from Jesus Christ? For every day we wake up, is another day that the Lord has given us. Each day, do we begin the day by giving the Lord all that we are, and all that we have? Do we truly trust in Him for spiritual rest and spiritual peace? Or do we just believe in Him, but not fully trust him?

          If we want true spiritual peace and true spiritual rest we must do this thing called faith one day at a time. And let me tell you, sometimes as your pastor, I, make a mess of my own spiritual peace and my own spiritual rest, but I would imagine that I am not only one. How many of us have truly had days or times when we didn’t let Jesus take the wheels of our lives. In fact, we then needed to turn the car around because we realized that we had left Jesus five miles behind at a bus stop.

          If we want to find true spiritual peace and true spiritual rest every day, we must focus of Jesus, and put our full faith and our full trust in God. Anything less, is us steering the vehicle, and don’t we often make a great mess of things, when we try to do everything without God?

I would like to close this message this morning with a story called “Painting Peace.” Here is how it goes, “There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them.”

“One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror, for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.”

“The other picture had mountains too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell and in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest… perfect peace.”

“Which picture do you think won the prize?”

“The King chose the second picture. “Because,” explained the King, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

I saw a Christian t-shirt recently that says, “know Jesus, know peace.” The “knows” on this shirt are spelled “k-n-o-w,” yet on the shirt the “n-o” of each of the two “knows,” along with Jesus is highlighted in a different color. This means that the shirt was simultaneously saying if you know Jesus, you know peace, and without Jesus you will have no peace.

In the end, spiritual peace and spiritual rest are not always easy, but Jesus says in today’s gospel reading, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Let us then, wake tomorrow morning and every morning and do our best to put our full faith and full trust in Jesus Christ, so that we can truly have spiritual rest and spiritual peace, even if we know we are going to mess it up. For when we remove all the things that block our path (illustration), and we focus of Jesus, then and only then do we truly have spiritual peace and spiritual rest. Put your faith and your trust in him, and daily pursue spiritual peace and spiritual rest. Amen.