LUNCH WITH FRIENDS

Every so often we get together with our out-of-town friends.  We eat lunch and then find a corner where we can chat away.   The guys talking about – guy stuff.  The gals talking about grandchildren, new recipes, travel, church, the weather and husbands.   Good food, good friends, good conversation.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

Have you ever noticed how often Jesus eats?  He went to at least one wedding.  He had dinner at Levi’s house.  He picked heads of grain to eat, as he went through the grain fields  -  on the Sabbath no less.  He talked with Mary while Martha finished the meal prep. Jesus had a way with fish and loaves.  Jesus invited himself to Matthew’s home.  Oh my!  He ate at the home of a tax collector.  Apparently Jesus failed to abide by the local social standings in his choice of companions.  He had a final meal with those he had chosen.  Jesus even ate fish with his disciples after he died.

We spend time with our friends because, even after all these years, there are new things to learn about each other.  We recall old memories.  We make new memories.  We trust them with our worries and they know we are there for them.  We find new things to laugh about.  We spend time with our friends because we love them! 

I have a feeling these are the exact reasons Jesus ate at so many homes.  On the hillsides with thousands.  In a quiet, upstairs room, with his beloved disciples.

NEW THINGS TO LEARN:  I picture Jesus, making eye contact, listening to every word Levi said.  What story would Levi tell on himself? 

MEMORIES OLD AND NEW:  Can you hear the disciples share stories about walking through fields when they were young?  Can you picture Mary listening as Jesus quietly spoke?  Can you imagine a hillside full of people telling others about the fish and loaves and then asking, “Were you there?”

NEW THINGS TO LAUGH ABOUT:  Do you suppose Jesus chuckled when he thought about the “high and mighty” watching him enter the home of a tax collector?  Chuckle?  I bet before he went to sleep that night, he told God, “Did you see the look on their faces?”  I bet God replied, “Told you it would cause a stir and, my goodness, they knew about it on the other side of town before you got all the way in the door.  Now rest.”

BECAUSE HE LOVED THEM:  Plain and simple:  Jesus loved them!!

OR MAYBE – JUST MAYBE

Maybe my premise is all wrong.  Maybe, just maybe, Jesus ate with all these people – the disciples, women, children, men, sinners – so they could know HIM.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. 

We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son,

who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

Maybe, just maybe, Jesus ate with all these people so they could learn about HIM.

THE PERFECT FAMILY

If you are of a certain age, you will remember Leave It To Beaver and Father Knows Best.  Donna Reed.  My Three Sons.  The Danny Thomas Show.  The Adams Family.  And the all-time favorite, The Andy Griffith Show.

Every family wanted to be like these perfect families. Mothers wore dresses and pearls.  Fathers came home from work, put on their sweater, lit their pipe and waited for dinner.  The children said “yes mam” and “no mam.”  They never got into serious trouble.  And they all sat down at the supper table as the closing song began to play.

Yes, everyone wanted a mother that looked like Donna Reed.  Everyone wanted a father that took them fishing.  And no one wanted Eddie Haskell for a brother.

In other words, we thought families should be like those on TV.  We wanted A Perfect Family.

News flash: It was television!  Those families did not exist.  Not back then and not now.  No matter how gushy and over the top the Christmas letter, no family is perfect.  Every family - important word is EVERY - every family is a mix of the good, the bad and the “this too shall pass.”

No mother wears dresses and pearls 24/7.  They wear jeans and sweat pants and sometimes do not have the energy to change out of pajamas.

No dad comes home, puts on his sweater and waits for a meal to magically appear.  They come home tired and dirty and sometimes they are just plain grumpy.

No kid remembers to always be polite. They get mouthy and throw tantrums and sometimes you wish they belonged to someone else.

Families stay together.  Families break apart.  Families ….

God’s family is definitely not The Perfect Family.  Definitely not ! !

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.  Genesis 6:9

(David wrote) “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest.  Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”  2 Samuel 11:15

Jeroboam enticed Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin.  2 Kings 17:21

(Esther to Mordecai) When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law.  And if I perish, I perish.”  Esther 4: part of 16

(Peter) began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.”  Mark 14:71

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go!  This man (Saul/Paul) is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.  I will show him how much he must suffer for my name”

God’s family is made up of righteous people, murderers, those that have turned away, those that are willing to die, those that deny knowing Jesus, and those that are turned from sin to saved.

A Perfect Family?  Not years ago.  Not today. 

BUT SOMEDAY --- Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” ….. “Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.  Revelation 21 parts of 1, 7

NOTE TO URBANA YOKE PARISH:  I wrote this and had it set to post before hearing Pastor Larry use this poem last Sunday.  I guess we both have good taste in poetry.

The Road Not Taken (1916) 
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

This has been a favorite poem of millions and millions of people.  Apparently, one of the most googled poems.  I learned this poem in school, an extreme number of years before google.

In July, when on vacation, we drove by a church in Bennington, Vermont.  Hubby is used to me saying, “Oh, look at that church.  Let’s stop.”  Stop we did.  The First Congregational Church was beautiful inside and out, but what fascinated me was the cemetery. 

And then there it was.

The grave of Robert Lee Frost.

Immediately a poem I had not thought about in years tumbled into my mind.  For the rest of the trip, every time I saw a lane or path my mind thought about roads not taken.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = 

You make known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalm 16:11

God does have a path for each of us.  It is a joy when God is on the path with us.  It will be a pleasure when our path leads to eternity.

God has a path for each of us.  And we do not walk that path alone.

SPEAK     BREATHE

Ready?

Think of something you would like.  Got it?

Say it out loud. 

Is it there?  Did you get it?  No?  Maybe you did not say it just right.  Or you were not forceful enough.

Let’s try again.  Maybe something a bit smaller than last time.  Ready?

Think of something you would like. 

Say it out loud.

Is it there?  Gee, I thought it would happen this time.

Since that did not work, let’s try something else.

Ready?

Breathe in.  A deep breath.  Exhale.

Breathe in.  A very deep breath.  Blow out as hard as you can.

What happened?

Nothing?  Really?  You must not have followed directions.

Well, try again.  Breathe in.  Exhale!

What happened?  Nothing again?  Surely your breath caused a change in the world somehow.  Oh my.

God said, “Let there be

• Light
• Firmament
• Waters
• Grass, seeds, trees
• The sun, moon and stars
• Creatures in the ocean, on the land and in the air
• Man              Genesis 1

The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets.  Psalm 50:1

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.  Genesis 2:7

The breath of God produces ice,    and the broad waters become frozen. Job 37:10

But the time will come when the Anarchist will no longer be held back, but will be let loose. But don’t worry. The Master Jesus will be right on his heels and blow him away. The Master appears and—puff!—the Anarchist is out of there.  2 Thessalonians 2:8  The Message

Let’s recap –

We can speak – ask for something to appear, maybe a car or a new refrigerator or even a toothpick – and nothing happens.

God speaks and – oh my goodness – the world is created, complete with lights and animals and us.  God speaks and summons the earth day in and day out. 

We can breathe out a deep breath and the world does not change.

God breathed into Adam’s nostrils and – oh my goodness – we breathe.  God’s breath produces ice.  Jesus took a deep breath and blew the Anarchist away.

Our power to speak or breathe water to ice or something into or out of existence:  Cannot do

God’s power to speak or breathe water to ice or something into or out of existence:  Can do

Question:  Why do we try to do life on our own instead of using the power of God?