THE BIG LIE Sept. 29, 2011

SERMON # 2  “THE BIG LIE’   Sept. 25, 2011

From Sermon series, “You are Important to God.”

Exodus 17:1-7 Ps.25:1-8, Philippians 2:1-13, Matthew 21:23-32

My grandma Lucy was always the front of all accumulated wisdom in the Donnelly family.  I remember that one time, as a child, I boasted to her that I had tricked a friend into selling me his tape recorder.  I thought that I had made a fantastic bargain, until the thing broke the next day.   Well when I went to complain to her, Grandma let me have it with one of her morality lessons.

              She said, “Don’t you know that if something seems to be true, it’s probably a lie.”

 Of course, many of us have been tricked and deceived and taken advantage of in our dealings with other people, but the problem emerges when our cynicism compromises our relationship with God.

The background of today’s first reading is the Exodus, the most incredible miracle in the Old Testament.  God supernaturally intervened to free his children from slavery in Egypt.  No longer did they have to endure forced labor to build the Egyptian pyramids.  God not only freed them, but he also promised to inspire them, to provide for them, protect them, and to guide them to a promised land, where they would be free to build their own nation.  Initially, the people cheered, but, then the complaining, the grumbling, the doubt began.

            -Some complained that life as slaves was preferable to wandering in the desert.

            -When God didn’t give them exactly what they wanted, when they wanted it, they claimed that God had lied to them…..that he really would not provide for their needs.

You see, for 400 years the Jews have been beaten, brutalized, and brainwashed.  The forced labor not only broke their backs, but it also broke their spirits.  Soon they forgot about God, as they grew to believe the big lie.

The Big lie was communicated, cruel and unjust punishment, exploitation of the weak, the rape of women, and overcrowded slum-like living conditions.  And eventually the big lie was believed; and many of us believe it to this day.

The big lie, simply communicated, is this:      You are not important.     You are not important.

Today we continue our discussion on a mini-sermon series on how and why you are important to God.  This truth is the foundation to  a) healthy and vibrant Christian lives, b)Unfortunately, so many of us have been brainwashed by the big lie, that we may doubt the truth that we are important to God, at least at the heart level.  No wonder, because in our own day and time, we hear over and over again, by words and deeds that we do not matter to others.

a)      How many times do people, whom we have trusted, say that we are unimportant by their betraying our trust?  Parents, spouses, children, supervisors, teachers, neighbors, clergy, lay servants and others can make that message all to clear.  When is the last time you were given the round and round by an elected official?  Or the IRS, or the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, or your medical insurance company?  Or the cable company?  Do you feel important to them?

b)      Still other times we may have a disagreement with someone, and we get hit below the belt.  Comments of thinly veiled ridicule   may win an argument by employing the big lie.

c)      There is a whole cultural level of lies too.  Earlier this year I advised a retreat for teenagers, which focused on self esteem.  During the course of that weekend, all 13 girls in attendance (ages 12-18) confessed that they believed that they were fat and ugly.  Where did that come from?  These girls were all lovely and thin, but they were crippled by the big lie. How horrible!!!

d)      But men share in this, too.  I was part of a men’s group, where we were discuss our relationships with our Fathers.  Every man in the group admitted that he could remember statements for his father, which questioned or belittle his own manhood.

It is this sort of spiritual and emotional devastation which led Jesus to oppose the big lie with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength.

            -By word and deed, Jesus demonstrated that you are more important to God then traditions, institutions, profits, and the warped egos of two bit bullies.

This is what is occurring in today’s Gospel.  Jesus was up building the lowly of society; prostitutes, outcasts, thieves, tax collectors, the old, the sick, and the poor.  He reached out to down trodden people to show us today, that He now reaches out to us, as well.  God let His own son descend into the  violence   of the big lie, that He might lift up you and me.  His enemies called Him a liar, and said that He lies so unimportant, that, He didn’t even deserve to live.  Jesus humbled himself and took his full force at the big lie; which killed him on the cross. 

But Jesus, who is the truth, rose from the dead to show that in regard to Jesus, the truth is always stronger than the lies.

So, God is reaching out to all of us, that within our own heart, that we might replace the big lie with God’s big truth – the truth that we are so important to the king of the universe, that He is here, ready, able, and willing to comfort, console, and heal and renew you, if you give him a chance.

This is the truth as we hear in today’s reading from the Psalms, God is leading us to understand and embrace this reality.

“Lead me in your truth and teach me; for you are the God of my salvation; in you have a trusted all the day long.”

Will you let God lead you to the truth?  Rebecca is the name of one of these young girls whom I described earlier at the retreat.  Through prayer ministry, like what, we are after today, she has opened up to heart to God’s amazing love.  Right now at this very hour, she is standing up before her church, giving thanks to God – because now she knows that she is beautiful and precious to God.  She is rejecting the big lie and has been set free by the reality of God’s love.  May it be for all of us.

Let us Pray

Lord, speak to word of truth to our hearts, mind, bodies, and souls.  Open our ears to hear and believe that we are so precious to you, and that your opinion out weights that of any other person or persons; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  AMEN

--The Rev. John Donnelly,  Christ Church Quaker Farms

SERMON—“You are Important to God”

SERMON—“You are Important to God”   --The Rev. John Donnelly

 Inaugural Sermon Christ Church Quaker Farms          September 18, 2011

Romans 8:31-39   Matthew 7: 7-11

Today  YOU ALL ARE IN FOR A TREAT.  Most of my Sunday sermons are this long.   
 ( Hold up two pages)  But today I have decided to let her rip. Today you will get to hear  every single one of my opinions about God, religion, sin, the church, and every other related matter.

Now I know that this sermon will take a bit longer than usual, (BRING OUT PILE OF SERMONS)  but I know that you will find every word very worthwhile

(Cell phone rings, loudly)

Excuse me, but who has been so discourteous  as to leave your cell phone turned on in church, please turn it off now. Please turn it off now.

Come on,  let’s take it outside?  ( I bet its someone from my old church, asking me another dumb question)

Oh my gosh!!!!    IT'S MINE !!!!!!     Please excuse me, but I’ll have to take this.

(Cell phone stops ringing)

Yes, hello, this is the Rev. John Donnelly, whom you are interrupting in the  middle of one of my dynamic sermons.  May I ask who is calling please??  The Most Rev. Jesus Christ, King of the Universe?!?!?!

O, come on.  I don’t need a prank call now.  I bet that this is Michael  Bawlick .  Nice joke Warden Bawlick .

You are going to prove to me that this is God.    O, great.  Are you going to make fire appear?     You’re going to tell me the secret sins of my heart.  Yea, right. Go-Ahead.

·         O, God I am so sorry—I am so sorry. Please forgive me.  I   won’t  do that again.  I didn’t mean it. It wasn’t my fault.

·         What?  You’ve forgiven me?  But that’s not what you called to talk about?

You want me to get rid of my sermon—because you do not care about my opinions?   But God, I’ve worked so hard on this? It’s very profound  Okay, God. You are in charge.  There we go.

So, what do you want me to talk about?  Uh Huh……..etc.  Okay, boss.  I won't  tell them what I think.  I’ll tell them what you think.  Yes, sir. 

Yeya, Yeya, Yeay.  Uh huh.  Okay   Got it.  Thank you. (Put down cell phone)

Okay, so God wants me to tell you all two things.

First, God is  mad because in public opinion, he has been defamed,  slandered and misrepresented.  He is distressed because too  many people think of him as being harshly  judgmental, indifferent to human suffering, distant and uncaring, irrelevant to everyday life. Now God would expect such propaganda from his enemies. But  what especially angers God is that this misrepresentation has occurred through the efforts of his public relations agents—by those who claim to follow him.

***For example—A self centered –publicity seeking, lying  pastor in Florida publically burns the Koran, resulting in the death of American soldiers and innocent civilians in Afghanistan.

***Another  example:  clergy exposed as being pedophiles, who have so abused children, that they are wounded for life.

***Example # 3: a money hungry & egotistical tele-evangelsit , who originally predicted the end of the world on May 21, 2011; but hwn that didn't happen, he said a made a math mistake and that its really going to end in October.    Luckily that ‘s a date before the world really ends in 2012, according to one Roman Catholic group.

***And the final example:  churches and denominations exploding and being ripped  apart over various social & ethical issues, with the different parties suing one another in court.

Through these and so many other disgraceful acts, God is being smeared. God has been so badly misrepresented  and trashed in public opinion, that many people see God as being cold hearted, distant, uncaring,  irrelevant, angry, and impotent, if , indeed, God  even exists at all.

So, what is the truth about God? 

• The truth about God, as portrayed in  the Bible,  is this:  YOU, PERSONALLY, ARE IMPORTANT TO GOD.   You matter to Him.
•   In fact, God has sent you a personal love  letter, which you will find in your service sheet.  It’s on white paper , with green red, black & blue ink.  

Now, the lines in blue, from holy scripture,  tell us that You are important to God ,because he loves you—you as a person, as an individual.  And God uses  a powerful  metaphor, to describe his  love for you:  Please   look  down the page to the center right, where you see the blue stick figures:  God calls you His  BELOVED CHILD, as we heard in today’s Gospel reading.  The love of a good parent for his or her child, is perhaps the strongest human bond of  all, because it is based on the truth that you are a child of God.

Looking at the bottom right corner, let’s read that out loud, together, the line in blue:   “ I call you by name.  I have placed my hand upon you.  I hold you in my hand.” If you have ever been deeply loved by a parent, or family member, or a spouse, or a lover, or a friend—then you are familiar with those  words.  These words from God are so intimate, so touching, so genuine, that they could only have been spoken by someone who truly loves you.  Such sentiments cannot be humanly manufactured.  They have to be true. God lives you with an everlasting love.

So, first of all , you are important to you, because God SAYS  He loves you. But words of love,  if  they are real, must be backed up by  actions.  If  love is real, then what is the evidence of such love ?  Well, that's where the lines in black come in.

The primary evidence for God’s love has been demonstrated by rescuing us . Looking to the bottom center left statement in black, we read, quote, “Nothing can separate us from God’s love.”  Now, in our first reading heard earlier in today’s service, God explains why nothing can separate us from His love.  Please repeat after me:

• ”Absolutely nothing
• can get between us and God’s love ----
• -Because of the way Jesus, our Master & friend,
•   Has embraced us.”

How did Jesus embrace us?  Well, Jesus voluntarily died on the cross, that we might be forgiven of our sins and reconciled to God. Sin had so imprisoned the world, that humankind was forever separated from God’s love. This evil resulted in suffering, oppression, abuse, war, loneliness, and a host of other calamites, which seek to destroy the human race, and each of us individually.  But our Father God, in his compassion, looked upon us, His children, and he cried.  So God released his mighty warrior to come to earth, to fight for his people.  Jesus absorbed all the sin of the universe within Himself upon the cross.  When he died, the   power of sin over God’s children, died with Him.  Then he rose victoriously from the grave, setting free all who would follow him, love him, and believe in Him.  He did all this, because You are important to God.  Your happiness and well being matter to the King of the Universe.

So, God wants you to receive all of his love, not just part of it.  If someone loves me, and I don’t love  her back, then I never will receive the full measure of love that she wants to give.  The same is true of God.  This is what he means  by the black statement in the bottom left corner, when God says to us, “You please me by having faith.”   

Have faith that Jesus Christ is the perfect manifestation of God’s love  given and received. 

• Because of His victory, a new way has been opened so that   God  can shower his boundless love upon you. 
•  This sentient is expressed in the lines in red.  Please look at the red line directly above  the green center.

 God says, “Nothing  that is good will be withheld from you…Nothing good will be withheld from you.”  Now, that doesn’t mean that God will give you everything  selfish thing you want.  But because God is good, He goes give good things.  (Pause)  . What sort of good things does God give us, you might ask?

• Well, I know that there are people in this church, and their family members,  who are unemployed and underemployed.  Through the good people of this parish,  they have received   support and encouratgement during these hard times. 
• There are people in this room who have suffered emotional and physical abuse.  Through Christ Church's  Prayer Ministry, they have received healing and resolution that could only come from God.
• Likewise, there are people in this room who were told by doctors that they had permanent physical ailments; and that includes the person speaking to you now.   Through prayer, they have found physical healing.
• I already know fo people in this room  who were lonely.  They walked through the doors of this church, not knowing a soul. In this place,  they have found new friends.
• We have people in this room, who have lost parents,souses, maybe even children.  Through this church, God gave them comfort in their grief, strength in their weakness, and hope for tomorrow.

How has all this happened?  Well, on the bottom portion of the Love Letter, there’s a red line that runs all across the page, where God says to us, “I will bless you and make you a blessing.”  That means that as God blesses us, he then uses us to bless other people in our families, neighborhoods, and work, school, and local communities.

So, God has a plan.  His plan is to raise up a new army of public relations agents.

·         By His love, these new PR agents have found their lives  changing for the good. 

·         PR agents who know that God has something to offer us all.

·          PR agents who invite their friends to this church.

So, come to place where you can see God actually loving his people—a place where people are receiving  support, encouragement, comfort, healing, and strength.

• A place where visitors are welcomed, honored,   and valued. 
• Hang around, and perhaps you will choose to be one of God’s new PR agents, too.

But, meantime, I the next several weeks  teaching about this vital theme.  Today we have had a chance to hear God's word with our ears; now he wants to dig deeper in us, so that He could touch our hearts with his amazing love.   AMEN.