DAY 209 - Signs of the Glory of God

John 2:1-11 (NIV) ¹ On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”  ⁴ “Woman why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” ⁶ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. ⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.  ⁸ Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, ⁹ and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰ and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” ¹¹What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Glory is a moment of revelation when God seems to push aside the veils that hide God from us and we see and sense God’s presence. The glory of God might come to us as to Moses in the Burning Bush, or as to Isaiah in the Temple, or as to the world in the person of Jesus Christ. John says that God lived in this person Jesus who turned the water into wine. God’s glory is seen clearly, completely, and truthfully in the person Jesus.

Do not get distracted by the person on the curb who is holding a sign saying Jesus turned the water into grape juice because He is against drinking. Do not get distracted by the sign on the other side of the street that says Jesus turned the water into wine and we have a right to drink if we want to. Don’t let some of these signs in our society and possibly in our minds distract us.

The Greek literally says the wine failed. If we glance back over our shoulder we can see where John was coming from and see what the wine says about the God we see in Jesus. But, we may not be interested in seeing what the wine says about Jesus if we are still sipping on the wine of achievement, the sweet wine of a relationship, the wine of money, the wine of good health, the wine of self-sufficiency.  We live in a connoisseur world that offers us a wide variety of wines to drink from. We live in a time when many people are turning to spirituality, but not to Jesus. To many today, Jesus looks simply like one more failed wine.

What do we do when the wine of life fails us? Put Jesus to the test. Listen to Mary, the mother of Jesus who says do whatever He tells you. Do the next right thing you think Christ may be calling you to do. This is not a call to heroic or sacrificial obedience. Do whatever He tells you. Make the phone call, send the email, take a moment, stop, ask God, and pray. Do whatever He says and see if Jesus turns the water into wine.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope January 14, 2001

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell

DAY 208 - The Good News of God’s Judgment

Luke 3:15-22 (NIV)  ¹⁵ The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. ¹⁶ John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” ¹⁸ And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them. ¹⁹ But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, ²⁰ Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison. ²¹ When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened ²² 

and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” 

I am not sure we all need to hear John preach before we hear Jesus, but I am sure that when we have heard John preach we are ready to hear Jesus. God’s judgment is not a judgment of misfortune. God’s judgment is acceptance of the fact that Jesus died for us. And, in accepting that fact, it is as if God reaches down through the stuff of our life and pulls us up into the light of God’s love.

When we are beaten down by the circumstances of life, when people around us misunderstand us, when we are not cared for by the people we care for the most, when we are disappointed or have failed, does God seem to be indifferent? Sometimes God has to penetrate the appearance of things to bring His message of love to our soul. Either way, God is seeking us out to give us proof positive that He is real.

How many of us want clarity of conviction that gives peace of heart and a steady pace to our life? Baptism is the claim of God’s call upon our life. We cannot force this clarity of conviction from God, but Luke implies that prayer has something to do with it. Prayer seems to be the way we prepare ourselves to hear that voice. It is the way we cultivate our conscious to recognize God’s claim and to act upon it.

As Luke unfolds the life of Jesus, Jesus is constantly prepared by prayer. Jesus begins His work not simply because He is supposed to but because He is moved to by conviction within. Baptism is a visible way that God declares our belongingness to Him. It is a confirmation of His commitment to us, and that He has a plan and a purpose for our life.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope January 7, 2001

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell

DAY 207 - Spiritual Gifts

I Corinthians 12:1-7 (NIV) ¹ Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³ Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.  ⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.  ⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

If we have ever wondered about what God is calling us to do, or how Christ is calling us to serve, we are not left to wonder and to wander. When God calls us to serve, God calls us according to the spiritual gift given to us. In seeking to answer God’s call to serve we must become aware of our giftedness. It should be fairly easy to know our spiritual gifts. Our gift is found in doing what we delight in doing. When we serve according to our spiritual gifts we are not simply doing what we ought to do, we are doing what we were created to do. The gifts are given for the common good, and the people of the community can help us recognize our spiritual gifts.

When we surrender and let go of what we want or what we think is best, when we surrender the situation into God’s hands we begin asking what God would have us to do. It is important that we raise up a sense of call out of the business of our lives, out of the day to day ordinariness of our lives, even out of our sense of responsibility that motivated us to accept a responsibility in the first place. We can get worn out in using our gifts. We still need balance between serving and rest so that if get worn out we do not get burned out.

In Corinth, the mystery religions were popular. The mystery religions promised that if you went through their secret, sacred ritual you would experience a spiritual ecstasy of pleasure and that experience would make a special, very religious person. So, Paul writes to inform them. Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. Each one is given a spiritual gift that can be used to help the whole church. A spiritual gift helps other people experience the presence and ministry of Jesus. Each person has a piece of the puzzle. As we each contribute our piece, the presence and power of Jesus is effective in the congregation and community. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope October 8, 2000

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell

DAY 206 - Grumbling and Gratitude

Matthew 20:1-16 (NIV) ¹ “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ² He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. ³ “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴ He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ ⁵ So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. ⁶ About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ ⁷ “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ ⁸ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’  ⁹ “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰ So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ¹² ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ ¹³ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵ Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ ¹⁶ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Does the feeling of gratitude come easy, or is it rare? Do we have to experience some sort of disastrous loss before we can know gratitude? In the parable about the landowner, it seems Jesus is telling us we should be grateful for what God does for others and not envy them or feel sorry for ourselves. But, “ought to” seldom gives us a true spirit of gratitude. This is not a story of “ought to.” It is a call to faith. You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right. Do we trust that God will do right for us? In this world where good fortune seems to go and come by chance it can be very difficult to believe God will do what is right for us. But we can believe God will do right by us because of what we see in Jesus, who died on a Cross, who seemed and felt as if He were forsaken. But God was there and God raised Him from the dead. And if God raised Him from the dead will God not give us all things in Him?

We have a choice. We can be thankful or we can grumble and complain about what we do not have, the way someone treats us, or what we believe we deserve. Trust that God will do right to us. It is in the trust that God will do right for us that we keep the soil of our soul loose so gratitude can easily sprout and grow.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope November 19, 2000

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell

DAY 205 - Plain Generosity

I Corinthians 15:58-16:4 (TEV) So then, my dear friends, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord's service is ever useless. Now, concerning what you wrote about the money to be raised to help God's people in Judea. You must do what I told the churches in Galatia to do. Every Sunday each of you must put aside some money, in proportion to what you have earned, and save it up, so that there will be no need to collect money when I come. After I come, I shall give letters of introduction to those you have approved, and send them to take your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems worthwhile for me to go, then they can go along with me.

Each of you, each week set aside a percentage of what you earn so that you may give. Is there any possible way we could misunderstand what Paul is saying? Over the centuries we have been able to misunderstand Paul, or simply to ignore him. The church started out doing pretty well, but then under Constantine’s rule giving to the church became oblations, a way of ensuring eternal life. By the seventh century kings were sending to the Pope in Rome a tribute, a gift of money that would ensure the state would be protected from evil. And it was not a big step from tribute money to taxes and to various kinds of fines and punishments for those who did not pay, nor was it a big step from oblations and taxes to the sale of indulgences that bought a person’s soul from purgatory and sent them to heaven. A trigger of the Reformation was Martin Luther’s objection to the church’s stewardship of money, in particular the sale of indulgences.

Every Sunday each of you must put aside some money. Have we finally gotten it right? Are we finally doing what Paul asked the church in Corinth to do? Practical, prosaic, plain, and powerful. Nothing big is asked of us. Instead we are asked to weave threads into strands of plain generosity. Putting aside a percentage of what we earn weaves a strand of generosity that compels trust in the reliability of God and the goodness of God. To say we believe is one thing. To put money on it strengthens the strand.

Putting aside a percentage of our income weaves a strand of generosity. We weave a strand of generosity that resists the messages of our culture that says whatever we have is not enough. It weaves a strand of generosity that gets us off the treadmill of consumption. We weave a strand of generosity that makes a difference in the world and that awakens a slumbering soul to God and gives help, hope, healing, and love. We weave a strand of generosity that makes a difference to you and me.

Ten percent as a tithe is a reasonable goal, but what about beginners who are shy of the tithe? Think of giving even just what you make in one hour. It is a beginning. It is a percent and it is a first fruit. Practical, prosaic, plain, and powerful.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope October 29, 2000

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell

DAY 204 - Out of the Salt Shaker

Matthew 5:13 (NIV) ¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

II Corinthians 5:16-21 (NIV) ¹⁶ So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

You are the salt of the earth. Salt was used not just to flavor food, but to purify and preserve food. It was important to health, and sometimes people were even paid in salt, thus the base for our word salary. You are the salt of the earth. Jesus says this to a miniscule minority of powerless people living in the first century. Those words were flattering to hear, but really, how could this miniscule minority be of any real influence in a world so large and so resistant to the spirit of Jesus Christ.  

Then, three hundred years later everything changed when Constantine, ruler of the Roman Empire, became a Christian and Christianity became the dominant religion of the western world. While that day of dominance is over, the day of being of real influence for Jesus has begun. You are the salt of the earth. It is not about what we have to do. It is about being who we are because of Christ. We have been made into salt by Christ who offers the world forgiveness. In Christ, we are a new creation.

In this time of post-Christian dominance, the world does not feel much need for the influence of Christ. In fact, many fear that influence will again lead to Christian dominance. Those fears come from a lack of trust, the turmoil from a desire to please everybody. When we are worried, when we are filled with inner turmoil, we may not feel a need for God’s forgiveness, and yet that is exactly what we need. As we accept God’s forgiveness, we become salt. We take our forgiven life into our home, our places of work, into the community, and that forgiven life makes a difference.

Receive the salt of forgiveness, receive the forgiveness that brings peace to the soul. Receive the salt of forgiveness that brings real love to the soul and compassion for people in conflict. Receive the salt of forgiveness that brings hope to discouraged hearts.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope October 1, 2000

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell

DAY 203 - On Bringing the Paralytic to Jesus

Mark 2:1-12 (NIV) ¹A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ² They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³ Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, ⁷ “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸ Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? ⁹ Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, ¹¹ “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” ¹² He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

In the house at the center of attention was a very common looking man dressed in the casual clothes of the day. Rumor has it that this man, Jesus, has just healed someone with leprosy. Everyone has gathered in curiosity to find out more of who he is and why he is here. Four men arrive carrying a person on a stretcher. They scurry up the stairs next to the house, and remove a part of the ceiling of the house to lower the stretcher into the midst of Jesus and the crowd. Then we hear Jesus say, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

At that time there was a commonly held superstition that sin caused disease, and that is what some people in the room think is going on. But, we know Jesus is saying forgiveness comes first. Before He puts the man up right on his feet He wants to put things right in his soul.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Did you notice that? Jesus responds to the faith of the people who brought the paralytic to him. We do not know about the faith or the lack of faith of the paralytic. It was the faith of the friends that brought the paralyzed man to the place of possibilities, to the person with the power to help, to forgive, and to heal. Their faith was their caring determination to bring their friend to the place of possibilities, into the presence of Jesus. Their faith was the caring confidence that Jesus would make a difference. Their faith was the creative effort through the roof that so that the crowd did not keep them from the presence of Jesus.

Those who cannot do it for themselves need friends who will raise the roof for them, remove the barriers and obstacles that keep them from having equal access to the place of possibilities in the presence of Jesus. Are we  people of that same faith?

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope September 10, 2000

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell