THE TRANSFIGURATION

Transfiguration Sunday is always the Sunday before the beginning of Lent. The occasion we call the transfiguration - just another word for ‘transformation’ - is one of the events which help us answer the question - “Who really is Jesus?” Now, that may seem to be a silly question to you, but for the disciples who were struggling with who Jesus was, it is a very important question. And maybe for us it is a good question to ponder as well. Just because you know the stories of Jesus, you may not really have thought about his identity - and the significance of his identity. We know the Christmas story, we know the Easter story, we could all probably tell some of the other stories in the life of Jesus - but how does that define for us who he is in relationship to us and in relationship to God. “Who Jesus Is” is a much more important question than “What did Jesus do” and the story of the Transfiguration helps us to understand and learn what that means.
The transfiguration leads into the season of Lent because what happens during the transfiguration can help us begin the Lenten season reflecting on Jesus. Lent is a time of reflection, a time of self-examination, a time of learning and relearning, so having a fixed image of Jesus helps to guide us in thinking about our personal relationship with him and how that affects our daily life.
Before the Transfiguration took place, Jesus had been instructing his disciples. Now, the disciples were pretty wishy-washy when it comes to understanding who Jesus is and what his purpose is. They are dedicated to Jesus; they are committed to his ministry, they feel compelled to follow him - but most days they don’t have any clarity about why. Once in a while we see a flash of recognition of Jesus as the son of God - but most of the time the disciples are really unaware of just who they are following. But we can’t be too hard on those disciples because we are often the same way. Some days we are right there with Jesus; we feel inspired and excited about Jesus’ work in our lives - and then there are days when we couldn’t be farther from even thinking about Jesus.
But on this particular day in Jesus’ ministry, Jesus is praying with and teaching the disciples and then he just looks at them and says, “Who do people say I am?” The disciples were honest with him and tell Jesus that people are saying different things. Most people think that Jesus is the resurrected John the Baptist who had recently been put to death. Others thought Jesus was the prophet Elijah from the Old Testament who the Hebrew people believed would return before the Messiah came. Jesus thought for a moment and then said, “Well, then, who do you say I am?” Peter, always the first one to answer any question says, “Why, you are the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God!” Jesus says, “Good, Peter. But don’t tell anyone else that, yet. For I have to suffer and be rejected by the Jewish leaders and then be killed.” Then Jesus continues, “And for anyone who wishes to follow me, they must take up their own cross, give up their own desires, and keep close to me.” In other words, when you decide to follow Jesus with all your heart and soul and being, the way is not always going to be easy. Jesus continues by saying what is recorded in Luke 9:24-25 “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?”
When we hear that statement about ‘losing our life’ I bet many of you are thinking about dying. If you lose your life you have died and perhaps we are thinking Jesus is asking us all to become martyrs and literally die for the cause of Jesus and his church. But that is not what the phrase ‘lose your life’ is referring to. In Jesus’ statement, ‘losing your life’ is referring to giving up what we want to do in our every day life, and do what Jesus wants us to do in our everyday life. It means giving up our desires and our goals in order to fulfill the goals Jesus sets before us. And maybe that may be even harder than literally giving up our life. Its hard to put aside the things we want to to and do what Jesus wants.


As he talks to them on this day, Jesus is asking the disciples - and asking us - to consider our priorities if we are really going to follow him. Either the ‘things of the world’ are going to be important or the ‘things of God’ are important. And we have to decide that for ourselves which we are going to choose. And everyone has to make that choice. We can’t dance around it or put it off or try to play both sides of the fence. Thinking about this and making a commitment one way or the other is a lot of what Lent is for. To think and consider and struggle with this question. Do we prioritize the things in our life thinking of God and Jesus and the church first or do we make the other parts of our life more important and kind of fit God and Jesus and the church in around everything else?
Jesus is reminding us - giving us some fodder for thought - that if we do choose the ‘things of the world’ first, what good is it really going to do us. We can’t take it with us when we die - but if we choose Christ, God and the church , then we have gained eternal life. Even though it may be difficult now to put Jesus first, the longterm benefits far out way any inconvenience we have now!
Eight days after Jesus has this teaching session with the disciples, Jesus goes up on a mountain to pray and with him went Peter, James and John. Peter, James and John are the disciples that were closest to Jesus. All the disciples were important, but these three had a special relationship with Jesus and were often the only ones present when Jesus did especially miraculous things. These three are actually referred to as ‘the inner circle’ - the ones Jesus held in the closest confidence.
so up on the mountain they go to pray with Jesus. Jesus often goes up on a mountain to pray so this wasn’t an unusual occurrence. Someone once called mountain tops a ‘thinness between man and God’. Mountain tops just seem to give you a closer feeling to God. Many Old Testament figures did the same thing - they went up on a mountain to meet God or to feel closer to God or even to have a conversation with God.
Anyway, the four of them get to the top of the mountain and Jesus begins to pray and Peter, James and John fall asleep. Remember this is the same thing that happens the night of Jesus’ arrest; the four of them go into the garden and Jesus begins to pray and there are Peter, James and John sound asleep. That night he wakes them up, he begins to pray again and back asleep Peter, James and John fall. Same thing on the mountain top this time. Jesus starts praying, they fall asleep but this time something spectacular happens. All of a sudden Jesus begins to glow and his clothes become dazzling white. Then two men appear to talk to him - Moses and Elijah - both of which also had miraculous mountain top experiences of their own.
Moses had gone up on the mountain at Sinai to meet with God and receive the 10 commandments and the Law from God. He was up there 40 days and when he came back down the mountain his face glowed - and it glowed so bright the people couldn’t look at him so he had to put a veil over his face. The interesting thing about this glow is that as time passed, the glow would start to fade so Moses would go into the tabernacle where God lived and the glow would ‘recharge’ and become bright again! Elijah also had a mountaintop experience. Queen Jezebel sent an army to kill Elijah and he ran away and ended up on top of a mountain. There God came to Elijah in a ‘still small voice’ and talked with him, renewing Elijah’s resolve to do God’s work in spite of Jezebel’s death threats.
So here they are again, Mose and Elijah who had come down from heaven and were now speaking with Jesus. The disciples woke up and saw what was going on and were really confused, yet they said they had this wonderful feeling as they watched. It must have been a very good feeling because Peter wanted them all to build shelters to live in and they would all just stay up there! But about as soon as Peter made all these plans, a cloud formed right above the mountain and came down and covered them and God’s voice was heard saying: “”Look! This is my son. My chosen one. Listen to him!” Then the voice was gone, the cloud lifted, Moses and Elijah were gone and Jesus no longer glowed. All that was left of this great experience were Jesus, Peter, James and John.
The last verse of this account is pretty interesting - it says “And they didn’t tell anyone about this until long after...” No doubt - who would have believed them. But it changed them and their commitment to Jesus was renewed and refreshed and stronger because they witnessed first hand the revelation of who Jesus was.
Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, the Promised One. They were reminded of his authority as God said, “Listen to him!”
And what are we suppose to listen to? Right before Jesus says the thing about following him he says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me”. So as we move into Lent, as we consider our struggle with who Jesus is and what he means to us, as we think about what it means to take up our crosses and deny ourselves - we remember this transfiguration - this transformation that happened on that mountain.
As we go into Lent - go with these questions - Who is Jesus to me? What does it mean for me to take up my cross? And after I think about those questions - think about “What difference is it going to make in my life?

Amen.

What is Good?

Imagine a story so powerful that it would make a man with three doctoral degrees (one, in medicine, one in theology and one in philosophy) leave civilization with all of its culture and amenities and depart to the jungles of darkest Africa. Imagine a story that so transformed a man who was recognized as one the the most talented concert organists in all of Europe that he would go to a place where there were no organs to play. What story would so motivate a man that he would give up a teaching position in Vienna, Austria, at one of the most prestigious schools in Europe, to go and deal with people who were so deprived that they were still living in the superstitions of the dark ages. What would make a man give up the luxury of being honored and celebrated and wealthy to dedicate his life for the betterment of a people he didn’t even know. This man was Dr. Albert Schweitzer and the single story that so radically altered his life was a parable Jesus told. According to Dr Schweitzer, the parable we read this morning of the Rich Man and Lazarus was that story. Albert Schweitzer read that parable and saw the Rich Man in himself and that was not who he wanted to be, so he gave it all up and left the life that he knew, the life the world considered successful, and went to live with the truly unfortunate - those who lived in the the despairs of poverty - intellectual, physically and spiritually.
The Rich Man and Lazarus saw each other every day. Of course there would be no contact between them because if the Rich Man touched Lazarus he would become unclean and that would be most inconvenient since the Rich Man would then need to go to the temple and sacrifice something and then go through the required ritual washings. Every day as the Rich Man walked out of his gate, he would see Lazarus sitting there, starving, covered in sores and the Rich Man would hold back his robes to make sure that he completely avoided this poor beggar.
The Rich man was a man of comfortable living. He was not ‘rich’ in the Bill Gates sort of rich, but rich in our middle class sort of rich. He had a home and lived comfortably not really wanting for anything. He was self-indulgent and if we are honest most of us are. The Rich Man was a connoisseur, a love of the arts, one who knew and appreciated the ‘nice’ things in life, he enjoyed the nice restaurant, the great vacation. The Rich Man dressed in purple - this is pointed out because purple was only worn by those who could afford it and few could. His underwear was made of linen- again just another way of letting us know that the Rich man lives a comfortable life. The Rich Man has enough food that he can give leftovers to the dogs in his house.
The difference between these two men is made as obvious as possible as Jesus tells the story. Lazarus, in contrast to the Rich Man, is homeless. he is a cripple. He barely survived day to day, living off the scraps of food people throw him - less food that the dogs in the Rich Man’s house. He is covered in sores and is so helpless that he can’t even fight off the dogs who come each day and lick his sores.
Both men die. And we are told that Lazarus goes to heaven where he is held and comforted in the arms of Abraham and the Rich Man goes to hell where he is in torment. But I want you to think about this story not as a story of heaven or hell, or an indictment against the rich people of the world; this is not a story condemning the Rich Man because he was rich - it was a story condemning the Rich Man because he was so self-absorbed he couldn’t see the needs of Lazarus and was unwilling to give his precious crumbs for this poor beggar. But what I really want you to see is this is a story of hope; hope for Lazarus who suffered his whole life and ends up on the comforting arms of God, never again to suffer, to be in pain or to be hungry. It is a reminder for us that no matter how bad things may be, we have hope. That even if we don’t live a ‘comfortable’ life, we are a people of hope. That is all Lazarus had - was hope. He had no security other than to know that God loved him - and in the end Lazarus will be the one with eternal security.
A little note here on the definition of the word ‘hope’. We think of hope in the context of wishing. I ‘hope’ it won’t rain tomorrow - meaning “I wish it won’t rain because I want to go on a picnic’ or “I hope that paycheck gets deposited so I can pay my bills.” or something along those lines. For us ‘hope’ means something we desire should happen. But in the wording of scripture, the word ‘hope’ means something that is promised. When we say “Our hope is in Jesus” we are saying that in Jesus we are promised that we will be with him forever. Remember the hymn “Our hope is built on nothing less that Jesus blood and righteousness”. While Jesus is something we desire, we don’t have to worry about whether or not it is true. We desire it not to rain, but it still might because we have no control over the weather. But our ‘hope’ being in Jesus means that we are promised, we are assured’ that our eternity rests in Jesus. So keep that in mind and whenever you read the word ‘hope’ in the Bible substitute the word ‘promise’. Our ‘promises’ are in Jesus Christ - so we don’t have to wish for them and wonder if they are going to happen - we are promised and that is what our faith is based on - it is truly believing that we are promised, what we hope, is true. Believing with every fiber of your being that what we know about the love and grace of Jesus is true - and that like Lazarus some day we will end up in heaven in the comforting arms of God. Not a ‘hope’ or a desire or a wish in our definition of the word - but an assurance.
The Jeremiah story we read today is also about hope. It is an example of what true hope is really all about. The story goes like this: Jeremiah is called by God to tell Israel that they have messed up to the point that God is going to let them suffer the consequences of their disobedience to God. The people of God have just gotten lazy and complacent. Like the Rich Man in our story before, the people of Israel have everything they need - food, shelter, all the creature comforts that make you feel like you are secure in what you have. And when you have everything you need, God is just less important. The Rich Man went through the motions of doing everything he thought he was suppose to do, he went to Temple, he participated in the feasts and festivals required by God and so did the Israelites. They were doing all the right things; they did everything they were suppose to do. But their heart just wasn’t in it. Their hearts and their loyalty were somewhere else. And that isn’t good enough for God - God wants our whole attention; God wants first place in our lives. And when that doesn’t happen, God will allow us fall. And that is what Jeremiah is telling the Israelites - ‘Because of your nonchalant attitude, I am going to let Babylon come in and take you captive and take you back to Babylon and turn you into slaves’ because God knows that when that happens you will realize where your help really is - in God.
But then God tells Jeremiah to buy a plot of land. Why would you buy a plot of land if you knew you were about be captured and taken away to another country? Because this was God’s way of showing his people that God will restore them back to their land - God will bring them home again. This plot of land because a symbol of their hope - the promises of God to never give up on his people. Once they realize what is truly important in life, God will bring them home.
God knows what really is good for our lives. God knows what will bring us peace and contentment and a true feeling of purpose and self worth. God knows that the only real good is in him and when we put our trust in him - and him alone.
That is a really hard thing to do. We don’t understand it; we have been taught that our security is in what we work for and what we earn and in what we do - so all of our energy and thought and work goes into what ‘we’ do. But God says - if you really want a good life, just trust in me. You’ll have everything you need and you will be able to live a truly happy, contented, peaceful life and you will be held in my arms for all eternity.
As we talk this season from Christmas to Lent about ‘call’ and what it means to be called as a follower of Christ. We have heard for the last several weeks about how each of us is called to be a part of the church - an active part of the church where we all contribute to the work and worship and purpose of God. And that is what call is all about. God has looked at each one of you and said, “You are important to me. I need you to help fulfill my purpose. I have brought you here so that you can help and be a part of the important work I need done.” And that is call - listening to what God has for you to do. But I want you to think of another aspect of call - of God’s call on your life. God has called you not only to do work - but to be a part of his eternity. You are called to be a part of God’s family and it is not all about work, but it is also about living in the hope - the promise - that you will be with God forever. You are called to be a part of the Kingdom of God that starts the day God calls you - and in many cases we are told that like Jeremiah we are called when we are still in the womb - and lasts for all eternity regardless of what we do or don’t do; regardless of how many times we succeed or how many times we fail. We are called to be part of God forever.
Dr. Albert Schweitzer heard the call of God and never looked back. He left everything that made him secure; gave up everything he had and went to Africa to be faithful to what God had done for him. He knew his hope - the promises of his life - was in following Jesus. And that is all that mattered.
What is good? What is a good life? Putting things in the right perspective and knowing for sure that our hope is in Jesus and nothing else.
Amen!

I Chose You!

Nehemiah was a Hebrew during the time of the Babylonian exile and had an interesting job - he was a food taster for the king. It was his job to taste all the food before the king ate so that the king knew the food was safe. After tasting the food, Nehemiah would then serve the King his food. So Nehemiah would be in contact with the king every meal during the day - and Nehemiah and the King developed a kind of relationship; they got to know one another through that daily contact.
The King, Artaxerxes, was the king of Babylon where the Hebrew people had been living as slaves for the past 80 years. Some of the Hebrews were slaves as we would traditionally think of slaves, working for farms and building buildings and such. But some of the Hebrews had been brought into the palace of the King and worked there. If you remember the story of Daniel - of lions den fame - he was one of the Hebrews brought in to work for the king in the palace as was Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - the ones who survived the fiery furnace. This is how Nehemiah became a worker in the palace and his job as the food taster for the king - the official title was ‘cup bearer’.
After about 80 years of slavery, King Cyrus who was king before Artaxerxes, had allowed the former king of Israel, Zerubbabel, to lead some of the Hebrews back to their homeland of Palestine - what we would call Israel today. When they reached their homeland, what they found was devastating. Everything was gone. Their houses were gone, the city of Jerusalem was in complete ruins, and their beloved Temple was just a pile of rubble. The Hebrews were just overwhelmed by finding everything in ruins.
Instead of pushing up their sleeves and getting to work putting it all back together, they fell into a depression and did nothing. They just threw up their hands in defeat. But eventually they did move back to where their towns and villages had been and slowly began to rebuild their own homes. They settled into getting their lives back in order and eventually realized that even though they now had places to live, God did not.
We need to stop for a second and remember that the Hebrew people believed that God lived not in heaven, but in his ‘apartment’ in the temple. So if there was no temple, there was no way for God to be with them - and there was no way for them to worship since true worship also took place in the temple in the presence of God.
By now, the King of Babylon had allowed the priest Ezra to bring another group of Hebrews back to their homeland. Ezra then directed the rebuilding of the Temple.
Now all that was left to do was to secure the city of Jerusalem. All the cities during this time period had walls around them to protect them from foreign invaders. Jerusalem had not had the walls restored yet and because of that the Hebrews in Jerusalem, where the Temple was located, were being tormented by foreign military. The people had rebuilt their homes, had rebuilt the Temple but now just didn’t have the resolve to finish what needed done by putting up the city walls. If they didn’t do it soon, Jerusalem and the Temple were going to be ravaged again.
Nehemiah, back in Babylon, gets word of this and it makes him very sad. He knows that if something isn’t done soon, then his people would be in trouble once again. With this news weighing heavy on his heart, Nehemiah carries the meal to the King. Artaxerxes looks at Nehemiah and immediately knows that something is wrong. “What’s wrong Nehemiah?” Artaxerxes asks. “What is bothering you?” Nehemiah tells the King about the walls in Jerusalem and his concern about his people. Nehemiah says that he has prayed about it and really feels God has called him to go back to Jerusalem and supervise the building of the wall. Then Nehemiah looks at the king and says, “Will you let me go?” The king is reluctant because he has developed a relationship with Nehemiah, Nehemiah is doing a good job and the King trusts him. But seeing the real desire in Nehemiah’s face, Artaxerxes says that Nehemiah can go and take with him more of the Hebrews still living in Babylon.

Nehemiah goes back to Jerusalem and does exactly what God had asked him to do - get the walls rebuilt around the city.
The passage we read earlier from the book of Nehemiah explains exactly how these walls get built. The homes are built, the temple is built and foreign armies are coming to attack and Nehemiah knows that unless they do something creative not only are the walls not going to be built, but once again God’s people will be destroyed by the invading armies. So Nehemiah develops a plan.
First he assembles the Hebrews and tells them “Don’t be afraid of our enemies. Remember we belong to God and our God is great and our God will always fight for us!.” Then Nehemiah divides all the workers into 2 groups. The first group would work on the wall and the 2nd group were armed with spears and shields and bows. While the workers worked on the wall, the others stood around the outside of the wall and guarded it from those who would try to invade. And working together, the wall was built and Jerusalem once again was protected and God’s people could work and worship without fear. And the workers declared, “Our God will work for us!”
Another interesting section we find in the book of Nehemiah, in chapter 3 is a list of all the names of the people who worked on the wall! This section makes an important point - Nehemiah is careful to emphasize that everyone worked together - the leaders, the clergy, the residents of the city and even those who lived outside the city walls. Everyone working together in the face of difficulty got the walls built and life began to come back to order once again.
But Nehemiah struggled with himself. Nehemiah was a cup bearer. That is all he knew how to do. As far as he was concerned he had no other skills. Yet God reached out to him and said, Nehemiah, I need to you go back to Jerusalem and organize the building of this wall. Nehemiah considered what this was going to mean for him. He was going to have to have motivational skills to get his people moving. He was going to have to have organizational skills to get the people doing what needed to be done. He was going to have to have engineering skills to be able to gather the materials and tell these people what to do in order to build the wall. He was going to have to have military skills so the Hebrews could defend against the foreign invaders while they were trying to get the wall done. It was a tall order and all Nehemiah could think about was the fact he didn’t know how to do any of these things.
But there is a lot we can learn from Nehemiah when it comes to the concept of call. This season of the year, between Advent and Lent, we are talking about what it means to be called by God into God’s work. And as I have said every Sunday, every one of you here have been called by God to contribute to God’s work - through your participation in the work and worship of this congregation. So the first hurdle we have to accomplish is realizing and owning the fact that we are called. God does expect us to take a part in the work of the church - all of us; each of us.
The second thing we have to believe with all our heart is that God does not call us to do the work of the church without promising us there will be help - help mainly from the Holy Spirit who will certainly give us the skills we need - one way or another. Sometimes it is through the help of another person, sometimes it is a life experience, sometimes it is something we think we can’t do and then we try it and realize we can do it. Regardless, there will be means for you to be able to do what God has asked you to do. So it is just a matter of listening and stepping up when God puts that idea in your head that there is a way you can be a part of the work of the church.
So here is Nehemiah. He knows what God has asked him to do. He knows he has none of the skills he will need. And what does he do? He prays. He prays that the King will let him go back to Jerusalem when he asks. He prays that God will help him do what he needs to do. He prays the people will be be willing to step up and do what is necessary. The point is Nehemiah prays.
I really think that we underestimate the value of prayer. We are so invested in doing - physically doing things, that we think that prayer is nice and we say our prayers before we go to bed or when we

get up in the morning - and we forget Paul’s words - pray without ceasing. In other words, we need to think about prayer as a necessary part of everything we do in our life. There is nothing insignificant about prayer and there is nothing that is so insignificant we can’t pray about it. Pray about everything.
It is a habit - just like brushing your teeth or grabbing your car keys when you leave the house.
That is what we read about Nehemiah - every step of the way in this monumental task he had before him, he prayed. And that was how he was able to accomplish what God had called him to do.
You have all been called to be a part of this church and do the work of this church. How many have you heard this still small voice saying, “You can do……” whatever and your response is No - I don’t know how; I don’t have the time; I don’t want to.
But as we read in our passage from Ephesians, it takes all of us, working together, doing what we have been called to do in order for God’s purpose to be accomplished. So listen for that voice of God, that little nudging that is pushing you to do something, spend some time in prayer, and then get busy - praying each step of the way just as Nehemiah did. And just like Nehemiah, God’s purpose will be accomplished.

Amen!

A LIFE OF REAL ADVENTURE

Hank Hayes was a bad person. You know, there are bad people in the world. People who have no scruples and no morals and no conscious and no God. Hank Hayes grew up in Alabama, a member of the Klan - not just any member but a grand wizard. He participated in the deaths of two black men in Alabama, put on trial and convicted. The judge sentenced him to death. The authorities were afraid that then they took Hank to prison he would be in danger from the black inmates. The guards were warned to keep a close eye on him to prevent any violence because his trial had been well publicized and Hank was somewhat of a personality. When Hank reached the prison, the first person to befriend him was a large black man named Jesse. The rest of the blacks in the prison respected Jesse and knew better than to mess with anyone Jesse had befriended. Hank didn’t understand why a black, of all people, would give him protection. All Jesse ever said to him was “No good ever came from hating.” Hank got his first taste of grace from Jesse.
Several years after Hank was in prison, he was adopted by a church. This church expressed its mission by adopting prisoners on death row. They sent him letters, books and other gifts, and they sent him messages of love and the message of Jesus. Hank was confused because he didn’t understand how anyone could love him or care for him after the life had had led. He was a Klansman and a murderer. But the people of the church that had adopted him kept assuring him of their love for him and of God’s love for him. George Jones, a lay evangelist who worked in prison ministry, met with Hank and assured him that God did indeed love him and that God forgave him. Hank became more and more interested in Christianity and began to read and study the Bible and eventually was baptized.
But receiving salvation doesn’t save you from the consequences of your previous actions and Hank went to the electric chair as he had been sentenced. After he was strapped in the chair, the warden asked him if he had anything he wanted to say. Hank spoke of his love for God and the amazing grace he had received and how he wished the peace he had come to know to everyone.
As we talk about the concept of ‘call’ during this season between the end of Advent and the beginning of Lent, we keep bringing up these stories of people who are ‘called’ out of the blue. Call is something we don’t understand. There are a lot of questions about the concept of call and what it means to be called - and perhaps our biggest question is why some people are called and others aren’t. And I can answer that question even though it is an answer that no one likes - why are some people called to be a part of Christ’s church and others aren’t? We don’t know. Hmmm? We don’t like to not know.
Jesus even addresses this question in the book of Luke when he says: But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” Why are some people called and others not? Why are some people healed and others not? We don’t know, because as Paul says in I Corinthians “no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God”
Why was Hank Hayes offered the grace of God while others weren’t? Why are we given the grace of God and brought into this church? We don’t know. And the follow up question is that “How do we know we have been given the grace of God and are really called to be here in this church?” John Calvin, who is the great theologian and thinker who helps us understand many of the hard concepts of the Bible says that the sign of our being filled with grace and the sign we are called is simply the fact we are here. Your getting up this morning and making the effort to get dressed and get here is a sign of your being called by God - otherwise you wouldn’t do it. Your being willing to give of your time and talent and resources to help the work of the church is a sign of your salvation. We can’t overthink

it - we just have to know that for whatever reason - a reason we will probably never know - God has called you and showered you with grace and you just move on from there. You can’t worry about why you and not someone else. You can’t worry about what God was thinking. You can’t worry about the fact that even though we have been called and gifted and filled with grace we still sin. You just thank God and move on into the call God has placed on your life and trust that God knows what he is doing.
Matthew was a a tax collector. A bad man just like Hank. Tax collectors were considered the scum of the earth - and for good reason. They were dishonest, they were wealthy by creating poverty in others, they cheated the people who needed money the most. And worse than that, they were considered traitors.
Tax collectors like Matthew were Jewish. The Romans left as much of the rule of the area of Palestines as they could to the Jews themselves. So they allowed Jews to bid on the privilege of being in charge of taxes for a certain area. The Romans would then tell the tax collector how much money they required for taxes, and the tax collector was then allowed to charge whatever they wanted for taxes. And there were taxes for everything - taxes for the axles on your cart, the number of animals pulling your cart, for using bridges and roads, for goods you brought and goods you sold, there were taxes for fishermen on the number of fish they caught.
There were no news agencies or consumer groups then so people didn’t know what the taxes were suppose to be; tax collectors could charge what they wanted and they didn’t have to charge everyone the same thing. If they liked you or if you had bribed them, your taxes would be less. If they didn’t like you or you were too poor to offer a bribe, they would charge you more. There was no recourse. You couldn’t complain to anyone - and if you couldn’t pay your taxes then the tax collectors could seize your property, throw you in jail or sell you into slavery. There was nothing fair or equitable in this system and all the people saw was the tax collectors getting richer and richer and making Rome richer and more powerful because of the tax collectors as they got poorer and poorer. The Jews hated Rome and considered the tax collectors traitors for helping the Romans. Tax collectors were not allowed in the temple and could not contribute to the temple treasury.
But this hatred was not unfounded. The tax collectors did overcharge the people; they were getting rich from extortion and bullying. They were bad people and were regarded as worse than thieves and murderers.
Matthew was one of these tax collectors. A bad man. A cheat, an extortionist, a traitor. He had a booth in Capernaum where he collected his taxes. But like the grace Hank Hayes experienced from a black man in prison, Matthew received grace from a Jew from Galilee. A Jew who came by his tax booth one day and called this outcast from society. A Jew who said to Matthew, ‘follow me’.
As Hank Hayes finally accepted the grace of God, Matthew accepted the call of Jesus. A life that would be a life of real adventure; the adventure of the life Christ would offer him. The adventure Matthew will experience traveling with Jesus in his ministry; the adventure Matthew will have as he goes through Holy Week with Jesus - through his arrest and his death and his resurrection; a life of true adventure as he will receive the Holy Spirit and go out and spread the word of Jesus. The adventure of writing one of the Gospels so we could understand the grace of Jesus in our own lives. Matthew lived the adventure of being one who followed and served.
Tradition says that it was Matthew who established the Christian church in Ethiopia and as all the disciples, died a martyrs death by being stabbed to death.
Matthew gave up all he had - for him it was truly a new life - a change in who he was - from a cheat and a traitor, to a servant of God. Giving up all he had, a job he could never return to; he just got up and walked off to serve the one who offered him something he had never experienced before - grace.
Matthew experienced the true meaning of grace. Imagine the grace he must have received from the other disciples as Jesus brought him into the group. It couldn’t have been easy for the disciples. It is

likely Matthew had overcharged some of them - it is possible that Matthew had caused them hardship. But the other disciples had experienced the grace of Jesus in their own lives and now they extended that grace to this bad person - this hated tax collector.
There are so many stories of this happening in scripture. Of people who have committed grievous acts and still been called by God. There are stories told by Jesus of seemingly ‘nice’ people who came to Jesus and wanted what Jesus had to offer and were sent away. It makes no sense to us - and I don’t think it is suppose to. All God wants us to do is accept the salvation in our own life - to accept we have been called by God for whatever rationale God has - and to go on from there.
We are all sinners, but like Hank Hayes and the disciple Matthew, we are loved by God and showered with his grace and accepted as his people. We are called into the real adventure of following Christ and being part of his church and we come to experience the grace that Jesus extends to us.
None of us are worthy to be followers of Christ, none of us are good enough to be called as his friend, or his servant, none of us are worthy to be a part of Christ’s church or even this church.
But as God extended his grace to a murderer like Hank Hayes and a tax collector like Matthew, he extends the same grace to us. And all we have to do is listen to Jesus’ words to us, the same words he said to Matthew - he looks at each one of us unworthy sinners and says, “I will shower you with my grace. Come and follow me.”
Jesus says, “Follow me in this life of adventure through the work and worship of this church. Follow me as you extend to others the grace you have received.”
Take some time this week and think about the call Jesus puts on your life - think about the work of this church that you have been called to be a part of. It is an adventure! An adventure we experience together as the followers of Christ, showered with his grace and called into his purpose!

Amen!