Choose Life and Live!

Towards the end of his life and towards the end of the Israelite's 40-year journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, Moses drew a line in the sand ... he challenged the Israelites to choose between life and death. (I'd never heard the song "Choose Life" by Big Tent Revival until I was seeking something to play in church this Sunday immediately before the sermon.  What a wonderful song:  http://youtu.be/LnN33ozmmIc)

On the one hand, they could choose to continue trying to do what was right in their own eyes (according to their limited human understanding of good and evil) or they could choose to do what was right in God's eyes (according to God's complete and perfect understanding of good and evil).  They could continue to fret about all their fears and wants ... or they could trust in God's amazing provision.  So Moses says, "Choose life!"  During this Lenten season, I wonder if I am truly choosing life.  Am I really living in complete trust and obedience to God?

My heart grumbles ... it is still full of "what ifs" and doubts.  At nearly 43 I'm starting to wonder if my life has amounted to enough.  I look back at the past 40-plus years and wonder if I too have been wandering and grumbling and leaning too much on my own understanding.

Even though the LORD had provided manna from heaven and water from the rock, they craved for other food ... they even longed to go back to their dark days of captivity ... and so they grumbled ... and God answered.  He gave them so much quail to eat that they had it coming out their noses!  I wonder if that's where the phrase "be careful what you hope/pray for" came from?  But I, like them, far too often crave that which I do not have ... and in so doing I am grumbling against God because I'm demonstrating that I am not truly thankful for all that God has given me.

As we progress through "The Story" (Zondervan's abridged version of the Bible), I continue to be reminded that it all boils down to trust.  Do I trust God?  Do I trust that God is?  Do I trust that God can?  Do I trust that God is with me?  Do I trust that God is God and that there is no other?  Do I trust ...

I remember a time that I climbed a mountain in Ecuador with some friends.  We actually drove up most of the mountain.  At the top of the mountain, Pichincha, is a peak whose name I've long since forgotten. (I just looked it up and it is called Rucu -- which means "old man.")  It was getting late in the day and the vehicle we came in had a set departure time as a few of the people with us had a flight to catch.  But not satisfied with how far/high I had come, I decided that I needed to climb to the top of the peak.

(I did not take this picture.  It was taken by Tim W. Ryan and is posted at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rucu_Pichincha_and_Trail.jpg)

I was the only one foolish enough to keep going ... and extremely foolish for going it alone.  But I climbed that peak.  Somehow I made it to the top.  I was elated.  I felt like I had accomplished something.  When I got back down every one would be impressed.  But all of a sudden I realized that I could barely see.  The clouds had come in suddenly from no where.  And I could barely see my own feet let alone see well enough to see the path I had taken just moments before.

I could hear my friends calling out to me from below.  It was time to leave.  They couldn't see me and I couldn't see them.  Panic started to set in as I imagined them leaving without me.  My first thought was that I was going to have to spend the night on the top of this peak.  I began looking for firewood so that I could build a fire to keep warm ... until I realized that I had no matches and that there was absolutely nothing that would burn to be found.

As I stumbled around in the clouds on top of that peak, I began to fear that I might die.  I had never experienced anything like this before.  I don't remember if I started praying or not, but I'm pretty sure that I was calling out to God for help.  Suddenly I saw what looked like a ravine that had been filled in somewhat by a rock slide.  I didn't know how far down the peak it went, but I figured I might be able to slide down it.  And so I did ... and eventually ... somehow ... made it back to the van ... just in the nick of time.

I don't know whether I ever thanked God for saving my life that day, but I'm pretty sure that God did.  I don't remember if I ever told anyone about how scared I had been ... but my guess is that they could see it written all over my face.

I learned that day (although I've had to relearn the lesson many times since) that sometimes it is easier to climb a mountain than to come down a mountain.  Going up, the path can seem so clear and obvious.  But getting back down can be an entirely different matter.  Going up, I trusted in myself.  But coming down, I had to trust in God.  I had to jump toward that rock slide and trust that God would guide me safely down it.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this ... but the bottom line is that I recognize that I'm still learning to trust in God.  Moses too had to learn to trust God and there were numerous times when he failed to do so.  I'm hopeful that by the time my journey nears its end that I will have the sort of trust in God that Moses seems to have had by that point in his journey.

So do I choose life?  Do I choose to appreciate all the good things that God has given me or do I grumble about the things I don't have, can't have, and shouldn't have?  I stayed home this morning from work since Bobby was sick and Lori had to work.  I should have just hung out with Bobby, but I busied myself with other things.  At one point Bobby came up to me and asked me a question ... sadly I don't remember it ... I took a moment to answer, but then went back to my business.  But in that moment, I looked into Bobby's big blue eyes and was moved almost to tears.

He has my eyes ... but his eyes are bluer and brighter.  He looked at me with those eyes with complete trust.  Whatever he was asking me, he believed that I would give him the right answer.  I wonder, when I look to God, do I look to Him with even a fraction of the trust that is in Bobby's eyes when he looks at me ...

Do I trust God?

Do I Really Trust God? (02/02/2012)

Warren Sentinel Weekly Pulpit

Do I Really Trust God?
Reverend Christof A. Weber

Rockland Community Church

February 2, 2012

On January 15 we began a year-long journey at Rockland Community Church through The Story. Because The Story is an abridged version of the Bible, each week we have to cover an incredible amount of ground. During our first full week we covered the Genesis account of creation, the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Noah and the Great Flood. This past week we studied the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Ishmael and Isaac, and Esau and Jacob (among many other characters). And this week we will study the lives of Joseph and his brothers.

I believe that God created humanity in order to be in relationship with us. The God I believe in is not the distant, impersonal, cosmic “clockmaker” of the Deists. No, I believe that God desires to be in mutual relationship with us. The sort of relationship that God desires is a relationship of love and trust. And so, I believe, one of the foundational questions that God asks us is, “Do you trust me?” God essentially asked that question of biblical characters such as Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah (“Do you trust me enough to build a giant boat?”), and certainly Abraham.

When God tells us to do or not do something, do we trust God enough to be obedient? When God asks us to give something or someone up that we value, do we trust God enough to do so? When God asks us to make some radical change in our life or take up a cause or an effort that seems beyond our capacity, do we trust God enough to say, YES? Fortunately, for me at least, the Bible is full of characters who struggled with these same questions. And reading their stories helps me to understand my own story. It actually gives me hope!

And what about people who experience tremendous hardships that they don't deserve? What about people who are victims of the deceitful actions of others? What about people who are made to suffer by others who are jealous of them? The story of Joseph that we are studying this week reads like a script from a soap opera. There's lying, jealousy, intrigue, attempts at seduction … Joseph ends up in some really dark situations. But Joseph somehow manages to rise above it all because of his trust in God.

As the story draws to a close, Joseph says to his brothers (who had sold him into slavery many years before), “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Such is Joseph's complete trust in God that he is able, even after all he has been through, to see how God has used even the darkest moments of his life to bring about good for him and for others.

I don't know about you, but I know that for me it is in the midst of life's most difficult moments (days, weeks, and years) that it is hardest to trust that God is good; that God can sustain us; and that somehow, someway … someday … we may understand how God transformed the greatest hardships of life into the greatest blessings. Isn't it a lot easier to trust God when things are going according to our own plans? But what I'm continuing to learn, is that life is a whole lot easier when I am able to trust God especially when things aren't going according to my plans!

So What's The Story (12/29/2011)

Warren Sentinel Weekly Pulpit

So What's The Story?
Reverend Christof A. Weber

Rockland Community Church

December 29, 2011

The Story is an abridged version of the Bible. It was produced to help people who have wanted to read through the Bible but have struggled and/or failed to do so. There are any number of reasons this happens. For one, the Bible is unlike most books we read in that most Bibles have not only chapter numbers, but also verse numbers. This can be distracting to someone who is not used to it. So The Story does not use verse numbers. Before you decry this as “heresy,” consider that verse numbers were not added to the New Testament until the mid-16^th Century. And unlike the Bible itself, The Story is presented in chronological order. This too can make it easier to read.

The Story is not a substitute for the Bible. Rather, it is just one way to engage the Bible. Each of The Story's 31 chapters contain portions of the Bible. For example, Chapter 1 contains the first eight chapters of Genesis. But other chapters contain a greater number of smaller excerpts in order to cover more ground. Chapter introductions or transitions that do not come from the Bible itself are printed in italics so that the reader is aware of what she is reading. An index is also provided for each chapter so you can refer directly to your Bible of choice for comparison purposes or further reading.

The reason I'm writing about this is that on January 15, 2012 we will begin a church-wide study at Rockland Community Church of “The Story.” We will read and study just one chapter of The Story each week. There are a number of ways we will do this.

On Mondays, we will have a brown bag lunch together and listen to a professionally produced audio recording of that week's chapter. Don't like to read? No problem. Just bring your lunch and listen with us.

On Tuesday nights we will have a small group study at church that will focus on Randy Frazee's book, The Heart of The Story.

On Thursday nights we will have a home based small group study that will use a DVD based curriculum and a workbook.

On Sundays, we will discuss the week's chapter of The Story in all of our Sunday School classes. The Adult Sunday School class will use the same materials as the Thursday night group. Classes for children and teens will use age-specific materials to journey right along with us. And during our worship service, the sermon will then wrap up our study of that week's chapter.

It may sound like a lot – and it is – but participants can choose how and when to engage. And we are going to spread this journey out over the whole year rather than try to do it in 31 consecutive weeks. We will take a break for Easter Sunday and will then take a longer break from The Story for the summer months before resuming in the Fall.

If you do not have a church home, I invite you to join us on Sunday mornings and at other times during the week as we journey through The Story. While I hope my sermons will be particularly helpful on this journey, I encourage you (whether you are attending in person or listening online) to get involved in one of our small groups. More information can be found at www.rockland.cc/thestory.html.

Expectant Waiting (12/01/2011)

Warren Sentinel Weekly Pulpit

Expectant WaitingReverend Christof A. Weber

Rockland Community Church

December 1, 2011

According to Wikipedia, “Advent (from the Latin word adventus meaning "coming") … is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas.” Wikipedia goes on to note that, “Latin adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia, commonly used in reference to the Second Coming of Christ. For Christians, the season of Advent serves as a reminder both of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting of Christians for Christ's return.”

In my sermon on the first Sunday of Advent, I encouraged the congregation I pastor to find ways to expectantly wait during this Advent season.

Waiting isn't one of my strengths. I find it frustrating to wait for the technician who has promised to show up sometime between noon and 5PM. The hours that pass by between noon and 6PM, when they tend to show up, seem to tick by ever so slowly. And it seems nearly impossible to be in a hospital room at just the right time to catch a doctor making her rounds. I don't like waiting in lines (which is probably the real reason I didn't succumb to my desire to try to get a great deal at Best Buy at 12AM last Friday morning). Waiting is hard … or is it just me?

In any case, what I wanted to help the people I pastor to consider was how we should spend our time waiting for our annual celebration of Jesus' birth and, maybe even more importantly, how we should spend our time waiting for his return. When I wait for the technician, my best friends are a couch and a remote. When I wait for a doctor, I usually try to pass the time reading. When I wait in line, I usually can't focus on anything but the fact that I hate waiting. At best, I'm usually a passive waiter.

But waiting to celebrate Christmas and waiting for Jesus' return should be anything but passive. Jesus, in Mark 13:24-37, calls us to be active waiters – expectant waiters. Tempting as it may be to just ignore the realities around us, believing that Jesus' eventual and sure return will make everything better, I believe that Jesus calls us to actively live out our faith in tangible, meaningful, and what I call, realational ways. We are called to live out our faith in ways that help to point others to Jesus and to the true significance of the Christmas story.

As people who live in the in-between times (between Jesus' birth and his return) we must also be very careful about who we place our hope in. Our true hope is not in our president or other elected leaders. Our true hope is not in the stock market or the global financial system. Our true hope is not in the Super Committee or movements like the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street. Our true hope should be grounded in nothing less than Jesus Christ, because, to quote the old hymn, “all other ground is sinking sand.” Hope in anything other than Jesus will lead, as we continue to witness, to unmet expectations and dashed hopes. And so, as we expectantly wait, I believe we are called to live out our faith in ways which tangibly demonstrate God's love.

On January 15, 2012 we will begin a church-wide study at Rockland Community Church of something called “The Story.” It is basically an abridged version of the Bible which takes readers chronologically from Genesis to Revelation. We will do this in our Sunday School classes, small groups, and weekly worship services. By the end of June, we will have covered the Old Testament. After a break for the summer we will complete the chapters relating to the New Testament in the Fall. If you don't already have a church home and are interested in learning more about the Bible, I invite you to join us for Chapter 1 on January 15^th. More information can be found at www.rockland.cc/thestory.html.