EVERYBODY'S CHURCH WEBSITE
  • Home
  • Info
    • Need Help?
    • Mission
    • Welcoming
    • Inclusion
    • Community
    • Why I Go to Everybody's Church
    • Become a Member
    • Our Vision >
      • Jesus Christ >
        • Celebrating
      • Reaching
      • Serving
      • Connecting
      • Growing
    • map and directions
    • Our Staff
    • Staff Contact Information
    • Job Openings
    • Funeral Information
    • Church Leadership
    • What to Expect FAQs
    • COVID Masking Policy
    • Building Use Fees
    • Baptism
    • Communion
    • In the Presence of the Holy
    • Presbyterian Church USA
    • Our Stained Glass Windows
    • The Presbytery of Detroit
    • Community Resources
    • Contact
  • Worship
    • church at home, livestream
    • Recent Sermons
    • Bulletins
    • Worship Schedule
    • Easter Services
    • Maundy Thursday Worship
    • Good Friday Worship
    • Rejoicing Spirits Worship
    • Music Ministries >
      • Children's Choir
  • Serve
    • Mission Opportunities
    • Yucatan Peninsula Mission (YPM) Trip
    • Deacons
    • Volunteer Opportunities at FPC
    • Learn about Foster Care
    • Mission Funding
    • Our Efforts to Serve the Least
    • Alcott School Ministry
    • International Missions >
      • Kenya Mission Trip Story
      • Faith Kasoni - Kenya
      • Chang-Lopez
    • Local Missions >
      • Faith Communities Coalition on Foster Care
    • In Our Church >
      • Deacons
      • Memorial Service Help
    • Stephen Ministry
    • Faith Communities Coalition on Foster Care
    • Mission Videos
  • Learn
    • Matthew 25 >
      • Matthew 25 Events >
        • Listen - Matthew 25
        • Learn - Matthew 25
        • Lean In - Matthew 25
    • Children's and Family Ministries >
      • Resources re: Racism
      • Five Part Story
      • Worship Wonder
      • CrossWalks
      • Faith at Home Resources
      • Sacraments
      • Build a Bible For Kids
      • Milestones for Children
      • Inclusion Videos
    • Youth Ministries
    • Spiritual Practices
    • Education Videos >
      • Five Women Five Journeys
      • Health and Wellness
      • Theologian in Residence
      • Teacher Training Videos
      • Sacraments Videos
      • Bus Training Video
      • Children's Ministry
    • Adult Faith Formation >
      • Church History 101 >
        • The Jesus Community
        • The Church Expands
        • Constantine to the Reformation
        • The Reformation
        • The Church in America
      • Revelation Bible Study
      • Christian Faith Foundation
      • The Gospel of John >
        • Introduction
        • The Book of Signs >
          • John 1:1-18
      • Genesis Bible Study >
        • Genesis Chapters 1-11
        • Genesis Chapters 12-25
        • Genesis Chapters 26-36
        • Genesis Chapters 37-50
      • Exodus Bible Study >
        • Exodus 1-15
        • Exodus 16-23
      • John Calvin For Everyone
      • What is a Presbyterian Video Series
      • Two Year Bible Trek
      • Immigration Information
      • Faith Formation Groups
      • Fellowship and Ministry Groups
      • Classes and Events
    • Hand in Hand Early Learning Center
    • Belhar Confession
    • All Abilities Inclusion Ministry
    • Disability Inclusion Resources
  • Events
    • Holy Week
    • 24-Hour Prayer Vigil
    • Senior Adventures
    • Concerts at First
    • Vacation Bible Camp
    • Lunch and Learn
    • New Member Event
    • SAIL event
    • Calendar
  • News
    • Email Sign-up
    • First Things
  • Connect
    • Inclusive Communities Network
    • SAIL Solutions for Adult Independent Living
    • Faith Formation Groups
  • App/Members' Portal
  • Give
    • Contribute to FPC
    • Stewardship
    • 2023 Pledge Form
    • 2022 Financial Review
    • Community Rewards Programs >
      • Kroger Sign up/Re-register
      • Link to AmazonSmile
    • Deacons
    • First Foundation >
      • Donating
      • Grant Requests
      • Serving the World
      • History

Alive in Creation: The Power of Listening

11/20/2016

 
Rev. Dr. John Judson
​
November 20, 2016

​Listen
Print Version

​
Isaiah 6: 1-13, Matthew 9:9-13


    I feel this morning a bit like Rod Serling, on the Twilight Zone.  I offer this morning, two ways in which people have used scripture.  The first is an interview of the senator who heads the Environment and Public Works Committee. The topic was global warming.  “Senator, we’re going to talk about your book for a minute, you state in your book which by the way is called The Greatest Hoax, you state in your book that one of your favorite Bible verses, Genesis 8:22, ‘while the earth remaineth seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease,’ what is the significance of these verses to this issue (of global warming)?   Senator:  Well actually the Genesis 8:22 that I use in there is that ‘as long as the earth remains there will be seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night,’ my point is, God’s still up there. The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is to me outrageous.”  In other words, there is nothing that we as human beings can do that would negatively impact the climate because the climate does only what God commands it to do.

    The second was the way in which the people of Judah in the time of Isaiah understood the role of God in their nation.  God was their protector.  God was their defender.  As long as the people carried out their sacrificial duties God would insure their success.  It didn’t matter if the crushed the poor.  It didn’t matter if they broke most of the commandments.  It didn’t matter that the great Empires of Assyria and later Babylonia were surging toward them.  They did not have to fear.  They were God’s chosen people.  And in their possession were the Temple and the Ark of the Covenant.  God would never let them fall.  God would never desert them.  In other words, there was nothing they could do, or any empire could do that would negatively impact their lives because God would not let it happen.  So the question for us this morning is how did the Senator and the nation of Judah come to these two rather remarkable conclusions?  The answer is that they only listened to one voice in scripture.

    What I mean by that is that scripture does not speak with a single voice.  It is not like a novel in which the author offers us a consistent literary point of view.  Scripture is history, and poetry, and theology, and parables, and prophetic utterance, and saga and well, I think you get the point.  Scripture is contradictory and complimentary.  Scripture offers us different views on holiness, and power and kingship and the role of the messiah.  Scripture, is written across centuries and centuries, in different cultures, under different conditions. What this all means is that we can prove whatever we want to prove out of scripture…especially when we only listen to one voice; to one strand; to one tradition; to one point of view.    The Senator believes in the strand of tradition that God will never abandon this creation. That God will save us from ourselves.  Yet what he fails to do is to hear the writer of Revelation saying that God will destroy the destroyers of God’s earth; meaning there are consequences for the creation and for ourselves, of our actions.  The people of Judah failed to hear Isaiah when said that their cities would lie waste without inhabitants, until the land is utterly desolate; which is was happened because the people refused to listen.

    Listening to a single voice in scripture is like driving a car that only turn left at 90 degrees.  You are driving along and see a pothole in the road.  You make a slight adjustment causes you to swerve across oncoming traffic and end up in the ditch on the far side of the road.  In other words, listening to a single voice is what gets us as human beings in trouble.  Listening to a single voice is what led the church to persecute the Jews.  Listening to a single voice is what led the church to demean women.  Listening to a single voice is what led the church to ostracize members of the LGBTQ community.  Listening to a single voice is what led to slavery.  Listening to a single voice is what led us to the Crusades and the slaughter of tens of thousands.  As I said a moment ago we can prove and defend anything we want by listening to only a single voice; a voice that agrees with all of our preconceived notions and prejudices.  What we are called upon to do then is to listen to all of the voices; to listen to multiple voices that may or may not tell us what we want to hear, yet tell us what we need to hear.  And if we are looking for an example, we need to look no further than Jesus.

    In our morning’s Jesus’ story, we find Jesus out on the road again.  He calls Matthew, a tax collector, to be a disciple.  He then eats with sinners and tax collectors.  In some ways this is one of those stories that we use so often that it loses its importance.  Yet it is a place in which Jesus asks people to listen to a different story; a story that they may not have considered in a while.  The primary story that guided many Jews in Jesus’ time was what I call the holiness story.  This story called on Jews to be ritually pure by carefully following the rules and regulations of the Second Temple period.  A large part of these rules had to do with having no contact with those people and objects which were ritually unclean.  This would have included sinners and tax collectors.  This is why the people around Jesus wondered why he was eating with such people.  In response Jesus offers a different story.  He quotes the prophet Hosea, who says, “I desire mercy not sacrifice”, meaning that what God desires is compassion for outsiders rather than judgment stemming from rules and regulations.  Notice that Jesus does not condemn the holiness tradition, but instead adds something new to it, a call to love and compassion.

    Hearing different stories.  That is what we are to be about.  The question then is how do we do this?  There are many ways, but the one I would suggest this morning is to join one of our We Make the Road by Walking Groups. I say this for two reasons.  First, the book itself offers us stories to which to listen that we might not otherwise read and consider.  The book also offers us a particular perspective on scripture and its application to the world in which we live.  The second reason I encourage becoming part of a group is that many of the groups, much like the two in which I participate, are filled with people of different ages, different political persuasions, different religious backgrounds and different ways of seeing life.  What happens is that we listen to the stories.  We listen to one another.  We listen and we are enriched.  We are enriched in our ability to consider what God is about in the world; what God wants of us in the world.  We don’t answer all of life’s big mysteries.  We don’t come out in agreement.  But neither of those is the point.  The point is that we listen to stories that we might not otherwise hear, so that we can be open to the full story of God in Jesus Christ.

    My challenge for you for this week then is this, to ask yourselves, how am I listening to stories that are different from the ones I already know, that I might be enriched as a follower of Jesus Christ?

​

Comments are closed.

    Subscribe by Email

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Categories

    All
    Alive In A Global Uprising
    Alive In God's Creation
    Alive In The Spirit Of God
    Alive In The Story Of Jesus
    Alleluia People
    An Abundance Attitude
    Being God's People
    Being Human
    Claiming Our Identity
    Discipleship Defined
    Do You Hear What I Hear
    Encouragement Along The Way
    Giving From The Heart
    God's Imperfect Family
    Growing Our Faith
    Living In Ordinary Time
    Luke Looks At Money
    Matthew 25
    Mourning Mystery Mission
    New Beginnings
    On The Job Training
    Own Your Hope
    Pentecost
    People Get Ready
    Praying Like Jesus
    Rooted And Grounded In Love
    The Children Of God
    The Five Part Story
    The Force Is Awakening
    The Heart Of The Matter
    The Lord Is Our Shepherd
    The Mighty Acts Of God
    The Perfect Season
    The Vocabulary Of Faith
    The Voice Our Choice
    The Voice - Our Choice
    We Make The Road By Walking
    Youth Sunday

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014

    RSS Feed

First Presbyterian Church
Phone:  248-644-2040
Fax:       248-644-8047
Email:    contact@everybodyschurch.org
Address: 1669 W. Maple, Birmingham, MI 48009
Hand in Hand Early Learning Center
Phone:   248-644-2040 ext. 124
Faith Communities Coalition on Foster Care
FAR Therapeutic Arts and Recreation 
Phone:   248-646-3347
Presbytery of Detroit


Presbyterian Church USA
​
More Light Presbyterians
​
Skyline Camp and Conference Center
Phone: 248-644-2043 (Birmingham Office)
             810-798-8240 (Almont Campus)
Samaritan Counseling Center
Phone: 248-474-4701
  • Home
  • Info
    • Need Help?
    • Mission
    • Welcoming
    • Inclusion
    • Community
    • Why I Go to Everybody's Church
    • Become a Member
    • Our Vision >
      • Jesus Christ >
        • Celebrating
      • Reaching
      • Serving
      • Connecting
      • Growing
    • map and directions
    • Our Staff
    • Staff Contact Information
    • Job Openings
    • Funeral Information
    • Church Leadership
    • What to Expect FAQs
    • COVID Masking Policy
    • Building Use Fees
    • Baptism
    • Communion
    • In the Presence of the Holy
    • Presbyterian Church USA
    • Our Stained Glass Windows
    • The Presbytery of Detroit
    • Community Resources
    • Contact
  • Worship
    • church at home, livestream
    • Recent Sermons
    • Bulletins
    • Worship Schedule
    • Easter Services
    • Maundy Thursday Worship
    • Good Friday Worship
    • Rejoicing Spirits Worship
    • Music Ministries >
      • Children's Choir
  • Serve
    • Mission Opportunities
    • Yucatan Peninsula Mission (YPM) Trip
    • Deacons
    • Volunteer Opportunities at FPC
    • Learn about Foster Care
    • Mission Funding
    • Our Efforts to Serve the Least
    • Alcott School Ministry
    • International Missions >
      • Kenya Mission Trip Story
      • Faith Kasoni - Kenya
      • Chang-Lopez
    • Local Missions >
      • Faith Communities Coalition on Foster Care
    • In Our Church >
      • Deacons
      • Memorial Service Help
    • Stephen Ministry
    • Faith Communities Coalition on Foster Care
    • Mission Videos
  • Learn
    • Matthew 25 >
      • Matthew 25 Events >
        • Listen - Matthew 25
        • Learn - Matthew 25
        • Lean In - Matthew 25
    • Children's and Family Ministries >
      • Resources re: Racism
      • Five Part Story
      • Worship Wonder
      • CrossWalks
      • Faith at Home Resources
      • Sacraments
      • Build a Bible For Kids
      • Milestones for Children
      • Inclusion Videos
    • Youth Ministries
    • Spiritual Practices
    • Education Videos >
      • Five Women Five Journeys
      • Health and Wellness
      • Theologian in Residence
      • Teacher Training Videos
      • Sacraments Videos
      • Bus Training Video
      • Children's Ministry
    • Adult Faith Formation >
      • Church History 101 >
        • The Jesus Community
        • The Church Expands
        • Constantine to the Reformation
        • The Reformation
        • The Church in America
      • Revelation Bible Study
      • Christian Faith Foundation
      • The Gospel of John >
        • Introduction
        • The Book of Signs >
          • John 1:1-18
      • Genesis Bible Study >
        • Genesis Chapters 1-11
        • Genesis Chapters 12-25
        • Genesis Chapters 26-36
        • Genesis Chapters 37-50
      • Exodus Bible Study >
        • Exodus 1-15
        • Exodus 16-23
      • John Calvin For Everyone
      • What is a Presbyterian Video Series
      • Two Year Bible Trek
      • Immigration Information
      • Faith Formation Groups
      • Fellowship and Ministry Groups
      • Classes and Events
    • Hand in Hand Early Learning Center
    • Belhar Confession
    • All Abilities Inclusion Ministry
    • Disability Inclusion Resources
  • Events
    • Holy Week
    • 24-Hour Prayer Vigil
    • Senior Adventures
    • Concerts at First
    • Vacation Bible Camp
    • Lunch and Learn
    • New Member Event
    • SAIL event
    • Calendar
  • News
    • Email Sign-up
    • First Things
  • Connect
    • Inclusive Communities Network
    • SAIL Solutions for Adult Independent Living
    • Faith Formation Groups
  • App/Members' Portal
  • Give
    • Contribute to FPC
    • Stewardship
    • 2023 Pledge Form
    • 2022 Financial Review
    • Community Rewards Programs >
      • Kroger Sign up/Re-register
      • Link to AmazonSmile
    • Deacons
    • First Foundation >
      • Donating
      • Grant Requests
      • Serving the World
      • History