[Propertalk] Fwd: Sermon, etc., for this Sunday, March 11, 2012, illustration and new sermons for May

Mon Mar 5 23:04:49 EST 2012

This week's Illustration:

Prevenient Grace
everal years ago, psychiatrist Scott Peck wrote a national bestseller called The Road Less Traveled. It was filled with what he had learned about life from his work with people with all sorts of mental ailments. One thing he observed was a tendency toward mental wellness even among patients who had reasons to seek psychiatric help. Some of these people had survived serious emotional traumas much better than the circumstances seemed to warrant, and Peck came to think of a force of goodness in the world. He eventually identified this force using the word “serendipity,” which the dictionary defines as “the gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.” As a Christian, Peck also realized that the word “grace” fit that definition too. So in the book, he wrote extensively about this force, using both words. Associating grace with serendipity was one of his original contributions to the subject of grace.                           
  Several years later, Peck was on a flight to Minneapolis. He usually took advantage of flying time to do some writing, so when a man took the seat next to him, Peck gave the usual nonverbal signals one gives when one doesn’t want to engage in conversation. The man soon buried himself in a novel, and they flew side by side in silence for most of the flight. Finally, the man looked up from his novel and said, “I hate to bother you, but you don’t happen, by any chance, to know the meaning of the word ‘serendipity,’ do you?”

  Peck responded that as far as he knew, he was the only person who had written a substantial portion of a book on the subject, and that it was perhaps serendipity that at the precise moment the man wanted to know the meaning of the word, he happened to be sitting next to an authority on the subject.

  This, of course, led to further conversation, and Peck explained that his book was a kind of integration of psychology and religion.

  The man said, “Well, I don’t know about religion anymore,” and went on to tell Peck about some doubts that had him thinking he needed to leave the church.

  In response Peck explained how questioning helped individuals move from the hand-me-down religion of childhood to a mature, personal one. When the two landed in Minneapolis, the man said, “I don’t have the foggiest idea what all of this means, but maybe I don’t have to leave the church after all.” (M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled and Beyond [New York: Touchstone, 1997], 260-261).

  That was God’s prevenient grace, running ahead of the man, putting him into a conversation with someone who could help him when he needed it on his spiritual road.

  You see, prevenient grace is just as amazing as saving grace. It runs ahead of us, preparing the way for us to respond to God. We just couldn’t do that without him.

Proclaim Sermon for this Week

Wishing for More Wine and Less Anger
March 11, 2012

John 2: 13-22 (RCL)
John 2: 13-25 (LFM)
Lent 3

Summary
Although we prefer the story of Jesus turning water into wine, we need to hear of how Jesus confronts the animal-sellers and money-changers. Jesus' good wine fills our emptiness, but Jesus' confrontation of our compromises enables us to face the things in us we need to change. Because we trust Jesus to offer us good wine, we can trust Jesus to cleanse and overturn the things in us and the church that keep us from genuine worship.

Excerpt
  John would not have moved this story without a reason.
  This dramatic narrative of Jesus chasing out the animal-sellers and religious officials likely belongs near the end of Jesus' ministry, where the other three gospels put it. In Mark, this episode serves as the boiling point, after which Jesus' opponents couldn't take any more. When Jesus turned over the last table, they decided to destroy him. In John, his opponents simply raise an eyebrow because they don't catch the wordplay when Jesus identifies himself as the "temple," as the manifestation of God's presence in this world. So, John moves this episode to the opening days of Jesus' ministry.
  When we move anything, we expend effort, either physical or mental, so John went to much trouble to move this story. In Mark, Jesus' actions in the temple set everything in motion leading to his death. In John, this brazen act of Jesus just hangs there, without much follow-up. So John goes to much effort to move this story. When John puts the story here, at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, he intends it to represent a way to define Jesus' ministry, just as for Mark casting out the unclean spirit helps us interpret Jesus' whole ministry.

First, the water into wine
  Maybe John wrenches this story from its original place because he knows us pretty well. He puts this story near the beginning of Jesus' ministry to help us understand the whole of Jesus' ministry, but he doesn't put it at the very first. First, he tells us the delightful story of Jesus turning water into wine. Don't miss the humor of that story, with the chief steward asking why the groom brought out the good stuff after everyone was too buzzed to enjoy it. Beyond the narrative winks and humor, the story about Jesus turning water into wine touches us where we feel our need. As with every narrative in John, the episode with the wine speaks to us on several levels. On the surface, Jesus comes to the rescue of some klutzy people who didn't plan ahead. On a theological level, the story tells us that Jesus has come as the Messiah. An abundance of wine marked the coming of the Messiah. We might find ourselves drawn more to the spiritual level of reading the story. Jesus meets us where our resources have run out.
  When we read about Jesus turning water into wine, we should hear about how Jesus fills our emptiness. When our efforts fizzle out, Jesus offers us good wine. When the things of the world leave us thirsting for real fulfillment, Jesus offers us good wine. When grief leaves our souls hollowed out, Jesus offers us good wine. When God seems light years away, Jesus offers us good wine. When our guilt hangs on our souls like a sack of iron, Jesus offers us good wine. When we don't want to face tomorrow, Jesus offers us good...(approximately 1,210 words remaining.)

Click here to read more.

http://www.proclaimsermons.com/viewSermon.asp?title=Wishing%20for%20More%20Wine%20and%20Less%20Anger

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