Sermon Video - "Who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" Luke 12:13-21

In this passage, Jesus uses the occasion of an inheritance dispute that is brought to him to instead give a warning about the perils of greed which he illustrates with a parable about a rich man with an abundant harvest who in his prosperity fails to consider his obligations to God.  The words of Jesus are a direct attack on the notion that the accumulation of things can somehow have anything to do with the purpose and meaning of life, "a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."  Wealth is a fickle purpose in life, dependent upon factors beyond our control and liable to be taken away as quickly as it may come, far better to devout oneself to being "rich toward God", a purpose with lasting implications and eternal rewards.  With death as the inevitable end to life, and everything we accumulate destined to be left behind for others to claim, only a fool would chase after wealth and neglect God.

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"What part of, 'about that day or hour no one knows', are you not getting?" - God

Speculation is endless, and perhaps inevitable, that the End Times are upon us.  This is nothing new, the history of the Church is full of "signs" and "portends" that were sure signs that the end was nigh.  Yet here we are, the world goes on and so does the Church.  American Evangelicals, in particular, seem to be infected with the notion that things happening in our world today, and in our country in particular, are signs of the decline that they are sure must happen if their interpretation of prophecy is about to be fulfilled (A Pre-Tribulation, Pre-Millenial, Rapture is typically viewed as happening AFTER a steep and momentous decline of the Church and society).  This pessimism is an easily self-fulfilling prophecy, as there will always be more bad news than good news in the news.
Many of those who are convinced that they see the signs are the same people obsessed with taking the Bible "literally", which of course nobody does because it is full of metaphors and hyperboles, along with figurative language like poetry and proverbs.  Not to be side-tracked by the issue of Biblical interpretation, but why won't they take God "literally" when Jesus said that ONLY the Father knows when the End will come.  Jesus doesn't know, the angels in heaven don't know, so why do you think that you've somehow cracked the code and now you see that the latest earthquake or terrorist attack was a "sign" from God?
A related issue is the American overvaluation of him/herself in the will of God.  When something bad happens here, in our society or our Church, it seems bigger, more important, than what is happening in Christ's Church in Africa, South America, or Asia.  If the American Church shriveled to nothing (not something I see happening, but let's look at the worst case), but the Third World Church doubled, would Christ's Church be growing or shrinking?  Would that be a sign that the End is near, or that the Spirit of God was moving in power among his people?  Western, affluent, white, souls aren't worth any more to God than Eastern, poor, dark skinned ones.  Many American Christians would never say that they think that, they probably don't even consciously think it, but it is reflected in their insistence that a setback in the Church here is so important that it must be a sign.
Are you aware that violent crime in America is now at its lowest rate since the 1970's?  This is a decades long trend, and is matched by an ever lower trending abortion rate.  The Supreme Court ruled that same sex marriage was a right.  Which of those three facts are being touted by the pessimist that insists that America is over, Facism is around the corner, and the Anti-Christ is waiting in the wings?  The search for signs is a waste of time, and shows a lack of trust in the will of God, but even if it wasn't, why are the negative signs important but the positive ones ignored?
It has been suggested that American Christians will soon be faced with a dilemma much like that of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Nazi Germany in the late 1930's.  Unfortunately for those hoping for hysteria, the historical parallels between America in the 2010's and Germany in the 1930's are non-existent.  They had a state sponsored/run Church, our Church is independent.  They had a police/military that was willing to follow a Facist path and attack its own people, we do not.  They had an infant Republic that was easily replaced by a dictator who voted in his own "emergency" powers, we have a 200+ old Republic that has survived the Civil War, the Great Depression, and WWII.  There are Christians in many countries in the world today facing persecution on a level that Bonhoeffer would have recognized, Americans are not among them; for that we must continue to be thankful to our Father, when he's ready, he'll send his Son back, and like he said, it'll be a surprise.

The danger of the preacher as a party man

"He who preaches salvation to all should never make himself a party man; otherwise he loses the confidence, and consequently the opportunity of doing good to the party against whom he decides."  Those are the words of Adam Clark from the 18th Century commenting on Luke 12:14.  In that passage, Jesus declines to involves himself in a family dispute over an inheritance, instead he preaches a parable on the danger of greed and materialism.  It is always a potential minefield when a man of God chooses to interject his own opinion on a matter such as a family squabble, local issue, or politics.  What of those against whom you weigh in?  How will your opinion on the issue in question affect their willingness or ability to listen to and hear you on matters of faith?  Even if the particular opinion seems to be on solid ground, even if you end up being 100% right about it, what of the cost of to the losing side if they no longer consider the man of God to be approachable?
These are not matters to be taken lightly, I know that many preachers brush off such concerns and readily offer their opinion on anything and everything, but to do so is to put the lives of the Lost at risk.  Better to be thought of as timid and keep your door open to people who don't think like you than to make your every thought known and be applauded by those who already agree with you.  I will preach the Gospel, in season and out of season, with truth and with love.  Is this not task enough, is the weight of responsibility not great enough already?  Let us first be servants of the Word, let us shepherd the people of God, that is care enough for me.

Sermon Video: "whom you should fear" - Luke 12:1-9

Fear is a powerful emotion, it affects many of the decisions we make in life, for both good and ill.  After speaking to the crowd about the danger of hypocrisy, Jesus transitions to one of its causes, fear of persecution by telling them that they should not fear those who can ONLY kill you and then do no more.  On the surface of it, that statement is one of the boldest things Jesus ever said.  It is only natural to fear those who could kill you, and if they can do that, what more could there be?  Jesus explains his statement by going on to say that we should fear him who can actually send our immortal souls to hell.  The perspective Jesus is advocating, viewing the afterlife as more important than this life, and fearing God more than man, is necessary if we are to truly become his disciples.  We must begin our path to God with a healthy fear of his divine power and authority as both Creator and Judge of this world.  Our realization that we must account for ourselves before God need not lead to despair over our unworthiness, however, as Jesus goes on to say, God cares for the sparrows, surely he will not leave you in a state of depravity without a rescue plan?  The way out, the escape plan from our earned fear of the wrath of God, is to simply acknowledge the Son, claim Jesus as Lord and he will testify before his Father that you are part of the family, and we can have confidence that Jesus will be our advocate, which in the end will leave us with nothing to fear.

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Pope Francis is attacking Capitalism and defending Environmentalism; why aren't you cheering?

In his recent trip to South America, Pope Francis has given several speeches that have been have been critical of Capitalism, and supportive of Environmentalism.  In his speech, he called the "unfettered pursuit of money" the "dung of evil", he also called world leaders "cowards" for not working harder to protect the planet.  The response from many Americans, particularly conservatives and/or Republicans will be to call the Pope a Communist and dismiss his concern for the poor and God's creation.  Some of the reaction against the Pope will be good old fashioned anti-Catholic sentiment, some of it will be a holdover gut reaction to the anti-Communist rhetoric of the Cold War, and some of it will be a genuine lack of compassion for the plight of the poor, whether that be locally or in the Third World.  The backlash against Pope Francis is predictable, but it is misguided, because if you have a problem, as a Christian, with Pope Francis defending the poor by speaking out against greed, or defending the planet by speaking out against wasteful uses of resources (which hurt the poor the most, given that much of the worst environmental practices take place in resource rich but exceedingly poor countries), then your problem isn't with Francis at all, its with Jesus.
That ought to be a problem for American Christians who are blessed with both freedom and a high standard of living.  We ought to feel an obligation toward the less fortunate, a passion to help whenever and wherever we can, and outrage when the powerless are exploited by the powerful.  We ought to feel these things, and take action, because they were the themes that Jesus returned to again and again as he defended the lowest members of his society against the high and mighty.  Pope Francis didn't decide that the mission of the Church is to care for the "least of these", Jesus did.  Pope Francis didn't decide that Christians need to respect our planet, our Creator did.
If Jesus is the root of the fiery passion that the Pope has for these issues, why haven't you joined your voice in support of his?  If you don't really care about the poor, and are fine with cheap consumer products made through exploitation of Third World labor and resources, your heart is far where Jesus commanded us to be as his people.  To care about the poor, to do something about their plight, and to believe in conservation of the planet is not a political stance, it is a Biblical one; Capitalism is the best system we've found through a long history of trial and error, but it is far from perfect, as would be any system created by and run by fallen humanity.  We, the Church, need to stand with the least and the lowest, it is our place in this world, for it is the place to which our Savior knelt to be the servant of all.