Sunday, August 25, 2024
Battle Gear
Reverend
Debbie Cato
Ephesians 6:10-20
Fairfield
Community Church
August
25, 2024
Let us pray: Holy God,
help us put all of our thoughts except those about you aside this morning. Let us soak in all you have to offer us and
help us to be representatives of your Gospel.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
Paul wrote this letter
to the church in Ephesus around 60 AD – 60 years after the crucifixion and
resurrection of Jesus. It is believed he
wrote this letter – or epistle – while he was in prison in Rome. Ephesus was likely in Asia Minor where it was
illegal to be a Christian until about 313 AD – 250 years later. Christians were persecuted. Christians were killed.
Ephesians is primarily written to Gentile (non-Jewish) followers of Christ. Unlike some of Paul’s other letters, it doesn’t begin with individual greetings. For this reason, there is debate about whether it was specifically intended for the church in Ephesus, or if it was meant to be circulated more widely.[1]
Paul wrote this letter to encourage the Gentile believers and to make it clear that Jews and Gentiles have been brought together as part of one body in Christ. There is no separation. Paul is also concerned that his audience is aware of the moral laws they may have been lax in following, or perhaps that they were even unaware of.[2]
Ephesians is first and foremost an encouraging letter. Because of Christianity’s strong roots in Jewish history and religion, it was natural for early Christians to wonder if Christ’s gospel was limited to Jews, or if Jewish Christians held a special status because of their ethnic heritage. Paul clearly wants his Gentile brothers and sisters to know that in God’s kingdom, they are first-class citizens right alongside their Jewish brothers and sisters. To get this point across, he uses a number of phrases and metaphors that imply unity: the “body of Christ” as a description of God’s kingdom on earth, as a mirror of Jesus’ relationship with the church.[3]
Paul reminds his audience that since they now belong to Christ, they must start living their lives differently. Paul gives the Ephesians several pieces of advice on how to live the new Christian life, distinct from the old pagan life. They need to distance themselves from immorality and strive for spiritual purity. It’s in the context of this discussion that he uses the famous metaphor of the “armor of God.”[4]
This is a particularly encourage passage. Paul tells the Ephesian Christians to stand firm in their faith, to stand firm in their convictions – even in the face of persecution. He tells them to put on the whole armor of God so they can stand up against the deceits of evil.
Being a Christian does not guarantee us an easy, problem-free life. We know that don’t we?! Struggle can be part of the process of faith development where spiritual growth, deepening into a mature faith is valued. Struggle can also be seen as a resource and as an opportunity for spiritual growth where followers of the Way (or Christianity today) stay alert to evil, where we pray, nurture each other’s growth, and hold one another accountable. [5]
Paul says that our defense against spiritual warfare is “the Armor of God.” He uses military terms that the Ephesians could relate to, but he’s not using them in the sense of fighting someone; of violence. God’s armor is to keep us strong in our faith, our beliefs, our values. He says that we can “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of God’s power.” Not our power. God’s power. We can get strength from the Spirit.
Last week we talked about how God gives us even our faith. Our ability to believe is a gift from God. Now he tells us that God gives us protection from the evil powers confronting us! Powers that try to challenge our faith, our values, our integrity.
First, Paul says that God gives us the belt of truth. We know the truth. We know who God is, how Christ lived, what He taught, how He lived. This is the truth - that we are beloved children of God. We are valued by God. We know that God created everyone and loves us all equally – those that are like us and those that are not. The truth is God is a God of abundant grace. He pours his mercy and forgiveness on us each and every day. We know God is a god of justice. We know God is a god of abundance. We know how God wants us to live.
Perhaps most importantly to the Ephesian Christians – and honestly to us, is that the truth is, Christ conquered death on the cross. We have eternal life. Death is not the last thing. Resurrection waits for us. The truth to the Ephesian Christians was that they could be persecuted, even killed, because of their faith. But death would not have the last word. The worst thing is not the last thing. We will live eternally with the God who created us and whose love never ends. The belt of truth can hold us tight; give us strength and perseverance.
We are to put on the breastplate of righteousness. Just as a soldier puts on chest armor to protect them from harm, we can resolve to live in a hostile environment. We can handle the negativity; the insults against decency and integrity; the undue powers trying to control and overcome us. Lies and insults and all the false teachings can bounce off our breastplate and allow us to hold onto the righteousness of God. We don’t have to take in the insults, the negativity, the harm intended for our minds and spirits. They won’t hurt us. Arrows of hatred will bounce off.
Paul says the shoes we wear are shoes of peace. Wherever we go, whatever we do, whatever we say should be in line with Christ’s gospel of peace. We should proclaim the gospel of peace through our words and actions. Our behavior ought to emulate peace. Never did Jesus’ fight or argue with anyone. He lived, he walked, he talked with peace being the goal. Jesus would not allow Peter to use his sword against the soldiers that came to arrest Jesus that Passover night. Jesus did not fight against his persecutors - not when they called him names, not when they spit on him, and not when they beat him. Jesus did not argue with Pilate when lies of blasphemy were thrown at him. Jesus did not even resist when they nailed him to the cross. Everywhere he went; in all situations, Jesus by his very actions proclaimed a gospel of peace.
God also gives us a shield of faith – a faith holding fast to the mercy and grace and abundant love of God. Use that shield to ward off insults, false claims, wrong teachings, and negativity. Along with the breastplate of righteousness, we should not let any of that hurt us – let any of it penetrate our minds and hearts. We know what is true. We know who God is and what we learned through the ministry of Jesus Christ. The shield of faith will protect us from anything contrary to Jesus Christ.
Paul says we can take the helmet of salvation and the sword of peace, which are the word of God. The truth. Look at the picture on your bulletin. The helmet is an overall protective cover. It protects our mind, our thoughts. Nothing false can get through that helmet. It’s hard. Nothing can penetrate. It’s meant to protect. We can trust the Word of God – the truth.
The sword of peace can ward off forces trying to harm us or change what we believe or let things hurt us or lead us astray. Just as Peter was not allowed to use his sword for violence, neither are we. It’s strictly to keep our peace of mind; our peace of soul, the truth intact.
And remember, Paul says. Remember you can pray in the Spirit. We can talk to our God – it’s amazing really. When we don’t have words, the Spirit will pray on our behalf. We can turn to God for answers, for direction, for reassurance. God will pour his mercy and grace over you. When we are not sure if something is truth or lies, when we are unsure what is right, the Spirit can and will help us discern the truth.
And finally, Paul says we are to stay alert to false teaching, false claims, those who proclaim themselves to be false gods. We must persevere through times of confusion and fear. We need to listen with our ear tuned to the gospel of peace.
The beauty is, we can do this because of the armor of God. We can persevere and discern what is right and wrong; what is truth and untruth, because God gives us truth, and righteousness, and peace, and salvation, and His very word to protect us. Ito help us hold firm and faithful to His teachings. Christians bring the gospel of peace to the world and “the whole armor of God” which is only for our personal protection. We can pray and the Spirit will pray for us. The only offensive gear is the “sword of truth” which is the word of God. Christians are to move forward, in whatever good shoes they have in proclaiming the gospel of peace.[6]
Take a good long look at our bulletin cover. Perhaps you can keep it and put it somewhere to remind you how protected you are. Solders dress like this for war, to protect themselves from arrows and bullets meant to hurt; to kill. God’s armor of protection is meant to protect us from things that compromise our integrity; that kill our spirit; kill our sense of assurance; rob us of the truth of God’s word. Nothing can penetrate the Armor of God.
Picture yourself in the morning, putting on the armor of God before you go about your day. Tightening the belt of truth around you. Putting on the breastplate of righteousness. Slipping into your shoes of peace. Grabbing hold of the shield of faith, Putting on the helmet of salvation. Lastly, imagine yourself grabbing the sword of the Spirit. Then look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I am ready. I am ready for a world filled with lies and untruths. I am ready for a world that lacks integrity and empathy. I am ready for what is thrown at me today. The truth is on my side. The Spirit is on my side. I can hold fast to Christ’s teachings. World, I am ready for you.” Amen.
Sunday, August 18, 2024
Recipe for Life
Reverend
Debbie Cato
John 6: 41-51
Fairfield
Community Church
August 18, 2024
Let us pray: Blessed
Lord, you caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning. Help us to hear them, read them, learn them,
and inwardly digest them, so that we may embrace and hold fast to the blessed
hope of everlasting life, In our Jesus name. Amen.
Recipe
for Life
“If it’s true that you are what you eat,” said
a man in line at a burger joint, “then I must be fast, cheap and easy.”
He’s
not alone, of course. According to the National Center for Health Statistics,
more than 34 percent of Americans are obese, and another 32.7 percent are
overweight. We Americans are clearly good at eating what isn’t good for us.
You
might be interested to know that the two biggest categories of non-fiction books
are cookbooks and diet books. Doesn’t
make a whole lot of sense, does it? Hungrily, we page through cookbooks,
searching out the most tempting and succulent recipes. Then we race right over
to the diet books to find out why we can’t eat the stuff!
But
we shouldn’t seem too astonished by that. Food has always excited strong — and
sometimes contradictory — feelings in people. Most of the world’s peoples, in
fact, are preoccupied with food and with worries about having too much or too
little of it. In North America, most of us spend vast amounts of time, money
and energy devising new and better ways to eat less, while most people in Africa
and Asia spend a large portion of their waking hours finding
enough food just to survive.
This is the third week that the lectionary readings have us in John 6. It’s a clue that all this talk about food and bread is important. We need to listen. We need to get it. It’s that important.
John 6 starts with Jesus feeding the crowd and teaching his disciples that God is a God of abundance, not a God of scarcity. Then Jesus tells the crowd that the same God who multiplied the loaves and the fish so that everyone was able to eat until they were full, brings them bread from heaven that will satisfy their hunger forever! It will never perish, Jesus says. And the people cry out, “We want that bread!”
go hungry, and he who believes in
me will never be thirsty.”
I think if we’re honest, we’ll admit that’s a pretty good question. Do we really understand what Jesus means when he says that he is the bread of life? Does it really make sense to talk about eating Jesus’ flesh or drinking his blood? And imagine if Jesus grew up in your neighborhood and suddenly, he was saying these things! Can’t you hear yourself saying, “Hey, wait a minute! What are you talking about?! I know your mom and dad! You didn’t come from heaven. You came from around here! You are nothing more than ordinary.”
In response, Jesus continues to claim his heavenly divine origin, and he makes another bold claim. Jesus says that no one can come to him except by being led to him by the Father. No one can learn of him except by being taught by the Father. No one can see him except by revelation of the Father.
What Jesus is saying is SO important. It’s not up to us. It really isn’t our decision to follow Jesus. We like to think it is. We pat ourselves on the back because we are Christians. We shake our fingers at people who aren’t. But it really wasn’t our decision. We think we are superior. But it wasn’t our choice. We didn’t decide to follow Jesus on our own!
Jesus is telling the crowds that are following him, and he’s telling his critics, that whatever we need to understand Jesus; whatever we need to come to Jesus; to see who he is and what he means; whatever we need to believe that Jesus is the Christ, only comes to us as a divine gift – through revelation – not through our own efforts. It’s the working of the Holy Spirit. Revelation is not containable or controllable by us, nor is it programmed or predicted by us. Whatever we need in order to understand who Jesus is, comes as a gift from God. It comes down from heaven. We can’t take credit. Even our faith comes from God. We need to thank God for even our faith.
God himself came down from heaven. He became flesh and lived on this earth, among ordinary people. We don’t have to wonder how God acts or how God talks or what God is like. In the Christian faith, we do not have to climb up to the divine; God climbed down to us. And here is God in the flesh saying, “I’m your bread; feed on me.”[1]
Jesus gives and sustains life because he is the living bread, having within himself the very source of life – God Himself. The Father gave the Son and the Son gives Himself. When Jesus tells us to feed on him, he means that we are to take on Christ within ourselves; embody him. Take him all in.
We need our recommended daily minimum requirement of Jesus each and every day. He is nourishment for our soul. We need to consume him; devour him; ingest him into our inner being. Doing so will make us faithful and committed Jesus followers. Doing so will allow us to live as we are called. It allows us to believe that Christ is the very source of life.
William Willimon, a great preacher and theologian said, “Our hungers are so deep. We are dying of thirst. We are bundles of seemingly insatiable need, rushing here and there in a vain attempt to satisfy our emptiness. Our culture is a vast supermarket of desire. Can it be that our bread, our wine, our fulfillment stands before us in the presence of this crucified, resurrected Jew? Can it be that many of our desires are, in the eternal scheme of things, pointless? Might it be true that he is the bread we need, even though he is rarely the bread we seek? Is it true that God has come to us, miraculously with us, before us, like manna that is miraculously dropped in our wilderness?”
“I am the bread of life,” Jesus said. “Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”. All of our recommended daily minimum requirements of grace, love, forgiveness — the food of “eternal life”— are found in a life-giving relationship with Christ.
Indeed, said Jesus, “…all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day”. Believing in Jesus, following Jesus and relying on Jesus form the foundation of a healthy, whole and eternal life. This is something we have, not because we chose it; but because God chose it for us. It is His gift to us, not because we earned it; not because we deserve it; but because God is a god of grace.
Sunday, August 11, 2024
Bread
Reverend
Debbie Cato
John 6:22-35
Fairfield Community Church
August
11. 2024
Holy God,
we are hungering and thirsting for hope and peace. Our hearts long for your
nourishing presence in our lives. Give us your living bread and open our eyes
and ears to all you have for us. Open our hearts to joyfully receive your
life-sustaining love. Amen.
Bread
I suspect
it’s not just ministers who regularly find their time and energy consumed by
trivial matters. From time to time and in a variety of ways we all become
consumed by the wrong stuff. We lose sight of what really matters.
In this week’s Gospel lesson, Jesus faults those who want to be near him for being more interested in their stomachs than their souls. They were present for the feeding of the 5,000 last week; they feasted on the bread and fish that Jesus miraculously multiplied. Now they’re waiting for Jesus to do another trick and feed them again. It happens throughout the Gospels, people flocking to Jesus to have their immediate needs satisfied. Whether it’s an illness or disability or hunger, people come to Jesus for instant satisfaction. Jesus knows what their motives are. He knows the crowds come to him more for the wonders he can work, than for the message he brings.[1]
As they come to Jesus in this passage, Jesus challenges them to examine their motives. What is the real reason they are following Jesus? He says they are preoccupied with the wrong stuff, being more concerned with the food that perishes, that doesn’t last, than with the food that endures for eternal life.[2]
We know about the food that perishes, don’t we? (And I’m not talking about fruit and vegetables!) We know about the search for immediate satisfaction and instant gratification. We need to buy more, get more, have more. And we need to do it now. More, more, more. Right now. Getting and gaining and grabbing and attaining and achieving and acquiring and having and holding. We can’t get enough, and we can’t get it fast enough. It’s the craving that fuels our economy, it runs our lives. In fact, it can actually ruin our lives because it robs us of appreciation for what we have. It robs us of happiness. Of satisfaction. We think the next thing we buy or do is what’s going to make us happy. We think we need more, more, more. Right now!. All this stuff is the food that perishes. That’s why we have to keep going after it. Because it perishes. That’s why the feeling of satisfaction it brings doesn’t last very long. It’s the food that perishes. That’s why we feel so empty. Always searching for what will make us happy but finding it doesn’t satisfy us. We focus on the wrong stuff. We lose sight of what really matters.
Someone in the crowd hears Jesus speak about a different kind of food, a food that doesn’t perish. Food that lasts. How do we get that food, Jesus? What must we do to get the bread that truly satisfies? What must we do?
We hear the question and immediately sigh. What must we do? Aren’t we doing enough? Not another thing. Please. We really can’t do anymore. Jesus responds graciously to the question. Graciously and mercifully. It’s not about doing something else, something more. It’s about believing.
“This is the work of God,” he says, “That you believe in the one whom God has sent” (John 6:29). This is how we get the food that endures – we believe.
Jesus
says, the work of God is believing in Jesus Christ, the one whom God sent.[3] "A piece of bread, an
ounce of juice. It looks pretty meager. It looks like it’s not enough. But it
is."[4] It doesn’t perish. It feeds your soul. It fills you up.
If you ask people what the work of God is; what we “need to do” you would get different responses. I bet each of you have an answer that’s different than the other people at your table.
Some of you might say that the work of God is mission, reaching out, serving others; and you would be right. We are to be the hands and feet of Jesus – helping those who have less than we do. Or, perhaps some of you would say that the work of God is evangelism, sharing the good news; and that’s correct as well. The good news of Jesus’ Gospel is the most important thing we can tell – or better yet show to others. Maybe some of you would say that the work of God is living a holy life, a selfless and simple life; and it is! That is also correct! After all, that’s how Jesus lived.
But while these are all good things, and absolutely part of being a Christian and sharing the Good News of Christ, none of these is the answer Jesus gives when he is asked how to you can get the food that endures. Instead, Jesus says the work of God is believing: Believing! Believing that our lives are in God’s hands in the darkest valleys and on the highest mountains. Believing that God still seeks our good when the chips are down, when the diagnosis is bad, when the opportunity seems to have slipped away. Believing that God is offering us something more, something better, something different amidst our gaining and grabbing and attaining and achieving. Believing that what we see isn’t all there is. Believing that God is lingering in the corners of our lives, faithfully, mercifully, graciously. Believing that God can break through our preoccupations. Believing that God can help us see the wrong stuff for what it is. Believing.
That’s what God wants us to do. Believe. Just believe. After all, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”[5]
If we focus on Jesus’, if we are consumed by the knowledge and comfort we find in him, if we turn to him to fill the empty spots, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. Come to me when you are hungry; when you are seeking something to fill you up. If you do, you will not be thirsty. I can satisfy you. I am the bread of life. I do not perish, I do not go away or get used up. I will be here. Just believe and turn to me. I will fill you up. Amen.
Sunday, August 4, 2024
It Is Enoough, Lord!
Reverend
Debbie Cato
1 Kings 19:4-8
Fairfield
Community Church
August
4, 2024
Let us pray: Holy
God, Open our ears and
humble our hearts as we approach your Word read and proclaimed today. May we
listen, discern and follow the path you intend for us. Amen.
It is Enough,
Lord!
“It is enough, now, O
Lord.” It is enough.
Or maybe you can recall a time when you looked at your community, your city, your nation, the world, and asked God, “Haven’t we had enough?” We trust in God, and yet we also wonder, how much is enough to bear, enough to learn what God is trying to teach us?
Enough with the gun violence, God. We can’t take one more school shooting. We can’t bear one more innocent death.
Enough with the warring madness, God. We can’t bear any more babies dying or people taken hostage or hospitals bombed.
Enough with the natural disasters, the floods, the wildfires, the Category 5 early-season hurricanes and the deadly heat waves, God. The earth is boiling and praying its own desperate prayers.
Enough with the anger and political divisiveness, God. We can’t bear any more leaders whose rhetoric fuels rage and spills into violence. We can’t bear another dinner or Sunday school class or committee meeting where we tiptoe around each others’ views, walking the knife’s edge of our political divisions.
Elijah’s prayer of desperation arises out of a wilderness of suffering. He is in Beersheba, on the run from Queen Jezebel, who wants to kill Elijah for killing the prophets of her god, Baal. Elijah had challenged the followers of Baal to call on him to build a fire of sacrifice. They called all day to their god Baal, but nothing happened. Elijah called on God and immediately a fire began burning. To make a long story short, Queen Jezebel was livid and was determined to kill Elijah. So Elijah went to the wilderness to hide. But Elijah had reached the end of his rope.
No one can run forever. Not even a prophet of God. Elijah came to the end of his physical, emotional and spiritual rope. He can’t go one step further. He collapses under a broom tree and prays for God to take his life. It’s enough, he prays. It’s enough Lord.
It’s in these lowest of low moments when we learn to be honest with ourselves and with God, when we are finally forced to confess that we can’t do it all, that we aren’t completely self-reliant, that we could use some help.
In our scripture passage today, it’s important to notice the kind of help that Elijah did and did not receive from God. An angel appears to Elijah to give him food and drink — but not to answer Elijah’s prayer to die. The angel didn’t come to throw Jezebel off Elijah’s trail. King Ahab’s evil queen was still in hot pursuit. The angel didn’t magically and instantaneously make
Elijah’s life better or transport him to an earthly paradise where his worries would vanish. Rather, the angel came to give Elijah just enough sustenance so he could carry on.
I have a friend who struggles with depression. There are days she finds herself unable to do anything more than just lie in bed. In these moments when life itself is simply too much, her counselor has advised her to think smaller, to only consider what the next right step might be. For my friend, lying in bed, the next right step might be pulling the covers off her body, or swinging her feet to the floor, or walking to the bathroom to wash her face. In the face of her overwhelming depression, these small steps are miracles in themselves. They do not heal my friend’s depression. Rather, they serve as “just enough.”
Last Sunday we prayed for the family of the 13-year-old girl that drowned in Clear Lake. Her family was boating and having a wonderful time on a beautiful day. Addyson – that’s her name - jumped off the boat to swim and she never came up from the water. Jessica knew Addyson. Clara knew Addyson. Jessica knows the Shafer family. Addyson has danced at Clara’s dance studio since Addyson was 4 years old. She helped in Clara’s dance class this past year. Jessica said to me, “That’s enough! That’s enough tragedy and loss and sadness. How does her family go on after that?”
I imagine the citizens of Paradise California are saying “It’s enough”! as they watch their community burn again. I imagine the firefighters out in the heat and the danger all across the West are saying, “It’s enough! We are out of energy. We are exhausted. It’s enough.”
“It is enough, now, O Lord, it is enough!” From running for his life to admitting his desperation in prayer to God to making the most of the resources he was granted to reach safety, we see how Elijah is transformed by a God who gives us enough.
We may not be given as much as we want or what wethink we need. But God gives us enough to take the next step. It is enough. It is enough, we might hear Elijah pray, as he makes his way through the wilderness, step by small step, to the mount of God.
It is enough. It is enough, we might pray with Elijah as we face our own suffering. We, too, are strengthened by God. We, too, are given enough to move forward.
It is enough, now, O Lord, it is enough. Amen[i]
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