Sermon: "The Standard of Love"

The Standard of Love
Genesis 45: 3-11, 15; Luke 6: 27-38
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
Feb 24, 2019

Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come closer to me.’ And they came closer.

He said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, “Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.”

And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him. - Genesis 45: 3-11, 15


Jesus said, 'But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

‘If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.

But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’ - Luke 6: 27-38

It all started by making a judgment. Jacob had given his son, Joseph, the coat of many colors. Now, Jacob should have read the unwritten rule in the book of parenting, “Thou shalt not favor one child over the other(s).”

Jacob’s sons looked upon their brother Joseph with great disdain and jealousy. That judgment quickly seared into flames of hate (Genesis 37: 4, 5, 8).

As a result, Joseph was treated as an enemy by his brothers; he was thrown down in a pit, left for dead, and then sold into slavery. But the hatred didn’t stop there. The brothers ripped Joseph’s robe, dipped it in blood and told their father that his son was killed by a wild animal (Genesis 37: 23-24, 26-28, 31-34).

Many years had passed when Joseph saw his brothers again. The kingdom of the world would have whispered into Joseph’s ear with clenched teeth to “Pay them back for what they had done” (Proverbs 24:29).

In all that Joseph endured, his response was practically unthinkable as we read in the text today. Joseph looked into his brothers’ eyes and he loved them still. He forgave them. During Israel’s famine Joseph was made a great leader in Egypt; he provided for his brothers when they came to Egypt twice begging for food. He promised to provide for them in the future.

Joseph’s heart was focused on reconciliation not just for the brokenness within his own family but also for God’s people of Israel. Joseph made no bones about it – God had been at work in this whole situation.

Joseph’s story is not only an amazing story of forgiveness. But Joseph’s godly leadership points to the vision of God’s kingdom inaugurated in Jesus Christ. As Jesus stood before his disciples and all those who desired to follow him, he preached about the ethics of living in the kingdom of God.

Whenever words are repeated in Scripture, the Holy Spirit is saying, “Pay attention! This is important!” And twice Jesus says, “Love your enemies and do good, especially to those who hate you (Luke 6:27, 35).

Jesus is saying that within the kingdom of God there is no room for vengeance and revenge. Instead of keeping score and getting even, those who follow Christ are to take the high road to God’s kingdom.

God’s love always looks up; it never looks down. In times of human adversity, God’s love blesses and prays for those who are hostile (Luke 6:27-28). God’s love turns the other cheek when smacked with criticism. God’s love gives freely expecting nothing in return (Luke 6: 29-30, 38). God’s love forgives the unforgivable (Luke 6:37).

You and I have heard Jesus’ preaching from this passage of Luke summed up as “The Golden Rule” since childhood; “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Luke 6:31). The Golden Rule comes from the God’s Law in Leviticus: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18).

But the Golden Rule means nothing without putting Jesus’ words within the context of God’s grace and mercy.

My commentary on Christian ethics says, “Jesus’ ethic is an ethic of grace and the moral demands which he makes are both demands and possibilities which arise out of his understanding of God’s grace and mercy” [1].

The Golden Rule is a demand that is only made possible when it is held together with the standard of love; that standard is always God’s mercy. “God’s mercy serves as both a motive and a standard for human actions" [2]. Jesus said, "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36).

Therefore, God’s mercy reinterprets the Golden Rule by the standard of God’s love. The standard of loving our enemies is this: Love your enemies and do good as God has already loved you and done good to you. Do unto others as God has already done unto you.

The Apostle Paul says that because of the condition of human sin you and I have been enemies of God and yet God loved us anyway by reconciling us through the death of his Son (Romans 5:10). Mercy is a gift of God that you and I do not deserve.

It was on the cross that Jesus looked into the face of his enemies and into the human condition of sin and loved humanity anyway.

Jesus blessed those who cursed him. He prayed for those who reviled and insulted him.
He turned the other cheek.
He let the soldiers take his tunic while he remained clothed in God’s vulnerability and faithfulness.
He prayed for God to forgive the ones who put him in the cross for they did not know what they were doing.

It is because of Jesus’ saving death and his rising to new life that we are now called children of God for God’s merciful love is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked alike (Luke 6:35).

You see, the character of God dictates that we practice the ethics of Jesus’ merciful love towards one another, just as Joseph did with his brothers. The world will know that we are disciples of Jesus Christ if we have love for one another (John 13:35).

Our assigned text is needed more than ever today for those that listen. The word “enemy” in the Greek means “one who responds with hostility.” You don’t have to look far to find interactions of hostility; just turn on the news, listen to the discord in the public sphere, look at our choice of words on social media when we disagree with judgments and condemnation.

We are called to be proclaimers of the kingdom of God. The standard of Jesus’ merciful love says that we do not have to accept the way the world is. Jesus is preaching to you and me to live more fully into the ethics of God’s kingdom.

We have our marching orders; if we call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ then we are to follow the Spirit’s lead and move the world toward what it ought to be.

John and James were two brothers who lived on adjoining farms and they fell into conflict. After 40 years of farming side by side, sharing machinery, and trading labor and goods, they had their first serious rift. All of the long collaboration fell apart.

It began with a small misunderstanding and it grew into a major difference, and finally it exploded into an exchange of judging and condemning words followed by weeks of silence.

One morning there was a knock on John's door. He opened it to find a man with a carpenter's toolbox. "I'm looking for a few days work" he said. "Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there. Could I help you?"

"Yes," said John, the older brother. "I do have a job for you. Look across the creek at that farm. That's my neighbor, in fact, it's my younger brother, James. Last week there was a meadow between us and James took his bulldozer to the river levee and now there is a creek between us. Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I'll go him one better. See that pile of lumber curing by the barn? I want you to build me a fence -- an 8-foot fence -- so I won't need to see his place anymore. Cool him down, anyhow."

The carpenter said, "I think I understand the situation. Show me the nails and the post-hole digger and I'll be able to do a job that pleases you."

John had to go to town for supplies, so he helped the carpenter get the materials ready and then he was off for the day. The carpenter worked hard all that day measuring, sawing, nailing. About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job.

The farmer's eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped. There was no fence there at all. It was a bridge -- a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other!

A fine piece of work -- handrails and all -- and the neighbor, James, his younger brother, was coming across, his hand outstretched. "You are quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I've said and done."

The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each other's hand.

They turned to see the carpenter hoist his toolbox on his shoulder. And John said, "No, wait! Stay a few days. I've a lot of other projects for you!"

"I'd love to stay on," the carpenter said, "but, I have many more bridges to build."

I want for you to think about your life in the past few weeks. With whom have you encountered hostility? Upon whom have you made a critical judgment? It might be a family member, a neighbor, a coworker, a complete stranger.

Our human tendency to keep score and get even with another’s hostility does not bring in the kingdom of God.

But I will tell you what does. There was a carpenter named Jesus, who is our Teacher, Lord, and Savior. By Jesus’ teachings and the Holy Spirit’s guidance, God’s mercy builds bridges of mutual forbearance, understanding, and forgiveness. God’s mercy is a bridge that urges us to meet in the middle and come closer to each other.

Mercy is key to loving our enemies and loving our neighbor as God has already loved us. Mercy makes it possible to take that first step in abiding in Jesus’ ethics of kingdom living. Because of Jesus Christ, mercy is the motivation and the standard of how we are to treat one another.

How will you live into the standard of God’s love this week? How is God’s Spirit nudging you to move the world a little closer towards the kingdom of God?

It’s all that easy and it’s all that hard.

In the name of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.

Sources Referenced:

[1] The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1986), p. 421.
[2] The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics, p. 381.

Sermon: "Where Are You Planted?"

Where Are You Planted?
Jeremiah 17: 5-11; Luke 6: 17-26
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
Feb 17, 2019


Thus says the Lord:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
and make mere flesh their strength,
whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.


Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
They shall be like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit.


The heart is devious above all else;
it is perverse—
who can understand it?
I the Lord test the mind
and search the heart,
to give to all according to their ways,
according to the fruit of their doings. - Jeremiah 17: 5-10

[Jesus] came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
Blessings and Woes

Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
‘Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
‘Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.

‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
‘But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
‘Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
‘Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.

‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets. - Luke 6: 17-26

Luke tells the story of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection for one purpose: that we may know the truth about Jesus’ instructions to us (Luke 1:4). Jesus’ instructions embody God’s unconditional love which truly changes the world. Jesus was sent to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God (Luke 4:43).

According to Luke, Jesus began his ministry by going to the mountaintop to pray. He chose his twelve disciples which he also called apostles, for they would be sent to proclaim the kingdom too (Luke 6: 12-16). When they come down from the mountain Jesus began his greatest teaching on why the kingdom of God is so good. And so, he taught with God’s authority to the twelve and all who desired to follow him.

The twelve disciples were so compelled by Jesus they had left everything to follow him. And they had no idea what they were getting into. Proclaiming the kingdom of God would cost Jesus Christ everything. As Jesus taught the blessings of God’s favor and woes of God’s judgment the disciples would soon learn what it means to trust God in all things. Trusting God’s kingdom and trusting in the kingdom of the world are two very different things. It matters where you plant your trust.

Rev. Rachel Hackenberg connects Jesus’ blessings and woes in this way:

Blessed are you who know that you are planted in the kingdom of God, for the world will never hesitate to starve you and blame you for your own hunger. Woe to you who do not notice God’s abundance, who consume for fear of want.

Blessed are you who know that you are planted as a beloved child of God, for the world will demonize you as fast as it glorifies you. Woe to you who do not recognize God’s delight in you, who gather a cohort of false prophets & priests.

Blessed are you who know that you are planted in God’s faithfulness, for tears and struggle will always find you. Woe to you who do not notice the relief of God’s comfort, who are drunk with joy for fear of pain.

Jesus’ teachings were rather scandalous because God’s heart always favors the poor, the powerless, and the marginalized. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God helps those who help themselves. Instead God is a refuge for the poor and needy in their distress (Isaiah 25:4) Not only would God be a refuge for the disciples who were poor in leaving everything behind to follow Jesus, but also God’s heart broke for the poor and powerless.

Jesus Christ is the suffering servant that Isaiah prophesied about; the One anointed by God’s Spirit to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim God’s freedom, and to open our eyes to God’s promise of new life (Isaiah 4:18). God’s kingdom is present in the good news of Jesus Christ to restore the brokenness of all humanity and creation back to God’s intentions; those intentions always point to righteousness – right relationships between God and one another.

The Lord pays special attention to restoring our impoverished sisters and brothers to the whole of God’s beloved community whose self-worth, belonging, hope, and peace are threatened.

Jesus teaches that we are to plant our faith in the Christian ethics of God’s kingdom. In his blessings and woes, Jesus is rather direct that a disciple cannot live into Jesus’ example by setting one’s own conditions. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, “When a disciple makes himself [or herself] available to Jesus but retains the right to set his [or her] own conditions then, at that moment, discipleship stops being discipleship. It becomes a human program” [1]

The Christian ethic is to allow the roots of our faith to be firmly planted in trusting God above all else in life. Tears and struggle will always find us as our human will wrestles with God’s will. The more our trust grows in God’s will, love and provision, the more we see God’s abundance and are grateful. We are to share God’s abundance unconditionally to care for the poor, feed the hungry, and weep with those who are weeping over the world’s wrongs.

Jesus told the disciples that in striving to do God’s will they too would be hated, reviled and scorned (Luke 6:22). As we said in our prayer of confession, discipleship demands a lot from us because it cost Jesus Christ everything. The cross is a symbol of Jesus’ costly grace and to the world it looks so very foolish.

But God’s unconditional love will always be counter-cultural to the human heart and to the kingdom of the world. God’s love leads you and I to places we may not ever choose to go on our own accord.

The discipleship Jesus teaches about strives to actively love one another with mutual affection; it resists an individualized feel-good faith. That feel-good faith which requires mothing of us is the message of false prophets.

Jesus teaches about Gods’ relationship to the disciples. God loves all creation and humanity beyond measure with a love that nothing can ever separate. God has chosen us out of grace and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:4; 2 Corinthians 5: 18-19).

As ambassadors of Jesus Christ, the church is to continue Jesus’ ministry of proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God in authentic and life-giving ways. We are to serve God and neighbor not out of obligation but with grace and gratitude for God’s blessings. And with God’s blessings comes great responsibility. Therefore, the Lord is free to search and judge our hearts as Jeremiah and Luke tell us today.

Several years ago, Rev. Heber Brown III decided he needed to do more than pray. Brown is a 38 year-old African American pastor. He serves a small congregation in Baltimore, Maryland. The Spirit opened Brown’s eyes to see the ones whom God’s heart was breaking for; they were women and men in Brown’s church and community suffering from diet-related illnesses.

The kingdom of the world would blame these folks for their circumstances in life, but the kingdom of God sees these beloved very differently.

Brown studied the context of his community. In Baltimore City alone, one in three residents is obese and 12 percent has Type 2 diabetes — two conditions that disproportionately affect black Americans.

Additionally, 34 percent of black residents in Baltimore live in food deserts (compared to 8 percent of white residents). These residents do not have regular access to fresh, healthy and affordable foods.

So, Brown worked with others to plant the kingdom of God. He turned to seeds, in addition to scripture, and started a garden on a 1,500-square-foot plot of land in front of the church. Today, that garden grows everything from summer squash to kale, and yields 1,100 pounds of produce — all to feed the community that meets weekly to worship.

Brown was so amazed that he began to partner with black farmers in the area to bring pop-up markets to the church after Sunday service. He said, “We saw attendance bump up in our worship, we saw a great energy … and it went so [well] here, that I wondered what would happen if we could spread it through other churches and create a network of churches that do the same thing?”

In 2015, Brown launched The Black Church Food Security Network — a grassroots initiative to address injustices and disparities that plague black Americans.

Brown’s ministry is a glimpse of the kingdom of God which has brought together different faith traditions, different parts of the city, and even people of different races to serve sisters and brothers in need.

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

You and I are here today because God’s love in Jesus Christ and the costly grace of the cross have captivated us in some small or big way and we desire to follow him.

How is Jesus calling you to plant your faith a little deeper in the kingdom of God?
What part of this community is the Holy Spirit opening up your eyes to see in a new way?
Where is God calling you and me to proclaim the good news of the kingdom not just in word, but with our hearts and hands?

May Jesus’ teachings continue to give us the courage to plant the seeds of God’s faithfulness so that all may be planted in the kingdom of God.

In the name of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer Amen.

Sources Referenced:

[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Works, Volume 4: Discipleship” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003), p. 61.

Sermon: Try, Try Again

Try, Try Again
Psalm 138: 1-3, 8; Luke 5: 1-11
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
February 10, 2019

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down towards your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
for you have exalted your name and your word
above everything.
On the day I called, you answered me,
you increased my strength of soul.

The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever. - Psalm 138: 1-3, 8

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.’

When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.

Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. - Luke 5: 1-11

If at first you don’t succeed, what should you do, church? Try, try again.

Those words were penned in the 19th century by Thomas H. Palmer. Palmer was an American printer, author, and educator. Born in Scotland, Palmer immigrated to Philadelphia and opened a printing shop with his brother. In Palmer’s later years he moved to Vermont to work with his hands and heart. He was a farmer, but he also had a great love of cultivating young minds in education. He founded a library, school, and advocated for education reform. After writing numerous textbooks Palmer wrote a Teacher’s Manual in 1841. The very first page held his timeless words for any student, teacher, or sojourner in life: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Simon Peter had probably lost count of all the times he had tried and tried again. He was a husband and a fisherman who was in business with two brothers, James and John. They worked the fishing villages were along the Sea of Galilee; a twelve-mile lake. Luke says these men had worked all night fishing which was par for the course.

Fishing was not for the faint of heart. It entailed long hours and took a lot of patience, muscle, and attention to detail; much of a fisherman’s time was spent making and tending to the nets. If your nets got ruined, then you were dead in the water.

I have a feeling Simon had a lot on his mind. After a hard day’s night, he had come up empty-handed. And just a few days earlier Luke says that Jesus had come to the home of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. She was dangerously sick with a high fever. Jesus healed her and immediately she rose up and served Jesus and her family (Luke 4:38-39).

And now Jesus was standing on the lakeshore with a crowd in tow; they were insistent to hear him teach the Word of God. Jesus got in Simon Peter’s boat and taught while they sat idle in the water. You see the water amplified Jesus’ voice. Jesus needed all who had ears to hear and listen. Jesus was on a mission to teach the Word of God; he had a passion to cultivate disciples to serve alongside him in ministry. Jesus knew how to intersect God’s Word with the people’s work and stations in life.

The story implies Peter was in the boat too. I would love to know what Jesus was saying and what Simon Peter was thinking. And then Simon Peter’s vey own private lesson with the Rabbi happened. “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch”….Go ahead and try, try again (Luke 5:4).

In that moment Simon Peter reflected upon his and his partner’s abilities coming up short the night before. Their bodies and their minds were weary from their losing efforts. What was it that encouraged Simon Peter to try, try again?

The Spirit has been revealing three things to me this week:

First Peter humbled himself. When told to try again, Peter could have been a puffed-up professional saying he knew his trade and the luck of the draw. But he didn’t. He acknowledged Jesus’ authority in all things by calling him “Master” (Luke 5:5). Peter had personally witnessed Jesus authority with the healing of his mother-in-law. Jesus’ authority to teach, preach, and heal was the talk of the town in Galilee (Luke 4:14-15). And so, after the nets were dropped and suddenly filled to the point of tearing, Peter was humbled to the point of feeling quite small and in awe of the Lord’s power (Luke 5:8).

Second Peter was teachable. Peter was not an educated man; he learned everything from the school of life (Acts 4:13). Peter learned the benefits of working in partnership with others. He learned from his family the unity of community as the first century was so very communally centered. And now he was learning his first lesson of placing all his trust in Jesus Christ to use his talents to accomplish God’s purposes in the world. Experiencing God’s glory first hand, Jesus told Peter he would now be on Team Jesus to be a netter of people (Luke 5:10).

Third, Peter was acquainted with failure. On any given night a fisherman could come up empty-handed. A fisherman had to persevere and make every day count for the sake of their livelihood. When Peter was called to follow Jesus, Jesus Christ met him at a low point and worked through his human limitations for God’s glory and purposes. As Peter, James, and John left their nets to follow Jesus, the Lord would continue to be at work through their human failure and trials to empower the first disciples and us to persevere in this gift of faith. We know from this side of the cross that the life of faith is not an easy road to walk.

Two years ago I was chaperoning a group of youth at Bethelwoods. It was a weekend retreat to kick off Confirmation – a time to reflect and learn about this gift of faith and for the youth to consider responding to their baptism vows (or consider baptism), make a public decision to follow Jesus Christ and become full members of the church.

One of my favorite parts about our local camp and conference center are the Low and High Challenge Activity courses. Cameron led us in doing the tight rope low challenge course; it was a tight rope at knee height secured along three trees making a squared “U” shape. The object of the course was for all of the members of the group to get on the tight rope and be connected.

What a challenge! The youth and I learned pretty quickly that this course could only be accomplished by working with one another at a slow and intentional pace. It took A LOT of patience, perseverance, and trial and error. It also took a lot of listening to Cameron’s suggestions of what to do to be successful.

We fell off the rope too many times to count but we all knew we had to try, try again, or else we wouldn’t get our lunch! Cameron told us that most groups take 2 hours to complete the challenge. It took this group a youth 40 minutes. We were exhausted when it was all said and done, but we were encouraged, too.

No matter what age or stage of life we are in, the journey of faith is a lot like the stories of Peter and the tight rope low challenge course. When we are at our weakest and lowest moments, Jesus is at work to create incredible opportunities to experience God’s strength working through our human limitations.

When Christ walks beside us, we respond faithfully by humbling ourselves, having a teachable spirit, and trusting that weakness and failure are never the end of our stories. God’s steadfast love and faithfulness in Jesus Christ give us courage to persevere and try, try again; for we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

True strength does not come from pride or being a lone ranger in life. Rather, the Lord increases our strength of soul when we are connected with God and one another. – connected by hearts and hands. The work of God’s almighty and gracious hands is committed to fulfill God’s purposes through us. And the Spirit is on the move here and now to work through our unique talents and resources to reveal God’s glory and empower us to grow in our commitment to follow Jesus.

When God allows for everything to click together at just the right time with others, it is an amazing moment of praise to feel God's victory come through.

Take a minute and imagine how God is working through your unique passions for camp, law, dance, sports, finance, teaching, music, catering, real estate, construction, mental health, sewing, fishing…. you name it. Christ’s ministry intersects our God-given talents and calls us to work together even in our weakest moments to make Christ known so that others may find the courage to try, try again and persevere in God’s strength.

May it be so for you and for me.

In the name of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.

Sermon: "Jesus Makes Me Nevous"

Jesus Makes Me Nervous
Luke 4: 16-30; 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
February 3, 2019

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’

He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.” ’ And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.’

When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way. - Luke 4: 16-30

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. - 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

My best friend has a five-year old daughter named Elloree. Ell is adorable, spunky, and free-spirited. She has a smile that can win over any frown. Just a few weeks ago Elloree felt like painting. And she managed to rope the neighborhood elementary kids into her project. Mind you the project was not at the kitchen table, or at an art classroom to be announced in the near future. Rather Elloree had a grand vision for a paint the porch party. And when the kids got through the porch looked like it had been vandalized.

A rainbow of paint colors was splattered all over the sidelights of the door, the concrete slab, the brick steps – even the white columns had random red handprints. Stickers galore covered the front door. You know – stickers and glitter are the pièce de ré·sis·tance. It was quite a sight to behold.

I would have had a fit saying, “What are you doing?!? Paint does not go there!” But my bff is a better mom than me. Her cool and collected self just said, “Ell you will rule the world one day. But for now, let’s clean up.” And fortunately, everyone thought clean-up was fun!

A child’s tenacity is both such a precious thing and yet can make us nervous. We want to hold on and preserve such a treasure and yet we know we need to grant this bundle of grace freedom to explore and thrive.

The Gospel of Luke tells us that in the blink of an eye Mary’s beloved son Jesus was all grown up. He had come back to his hometown of Nazareth where he preached his very first sermon. These people had watched Joseph’s boy grow up in the synagogue in God’s wisdom. Jesus was held in both in God’s favor and in human favor (Luke 2:52).

You can imagine how proud Jesus’ hometown was when he stood up in the tradition of worship to read the Scripture that day; Jesus read powerful words from Isaiah. When Jesus sat down, he began to preach. But Jesus’ first sermon was not one of those feel good sermons where the receiving line says, “Pastor, I enjoyed that message.”

Jesus, the Son of God, knew his God-given purpose was to fulfill the Scriptures for God’s plan of salvation and deliverance. He also knew the hearts and minds of those around him. And so Jesus, filled with the Spirit, spoke with spunk and tenacity to claim Isaiah’s words as his vision for ministry. God sent Jesus to proclaim God’s transforming love to the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed (Luke 4:18-19).

Jesus knew his home congregation would want to see the miracles of God’s glory through Jesus’ ministry. And so Jesus pushed the envelope. He challenged the people’s mindset of faith with two stories from the Old Testament (1 Kings 17: 1-16; 2 Kings 5: 1-14). In those stories the prophets Elijah and Elisha extended God’s grace of deliverance and healing to individuals who were perceived to be outside of God’s circle of grace. That’s when it hit the fan.

Jesus’ home congregation was shocked. What are you doing?!?! God’s love does not go there!!! The people wanted to hold on and preserve the treasure of God’s grace. There was no way the people wanted Jesus’ ministry to be free to explore beyond the bounds of their community of faith.

You see, God had made a covenant promise to Israel. They had been chosen to be God’s people out of God’s steadfast love. Therefore, Jesus had an obligation to spiritually tend to God’s people in Nazareth first and foremost. The thought of Jesus taking God’s love to paint the world’s brokenness in the colors of God’s hope and love did not leave the people of Nazareth rejoicing in the truth. They were enraged to the point of throwing Jesus off a cliff.

When we come together and worship as a community of faith, we all crave a sense of belonging that brings the strength of unity in community. We all want to find a deeper sense of meaning and purpose in life. The gift of faith gives this to us.

It is an amazing treasure to discover God’s amazing grace and unconditional love. Faith leads us to discover a spiritual center of identity, security, comfort and peace. It gives us a framework to find resiliency in a very broken world. Faith is something we want to hold onto and treasure and preserve.

Our spiritual formation is so very important, but our spiritual comfort is not the underlying purpose for why the church exists. If we are to be followers of Jesus Christ, we must look into his teachings and be honest: Jesus makes us nervous. Jesus’ ministry is on the move to take our faith beyond what is familiar and safe.

You see Jesus’ first sermon had the focal point of opening the people’s spiritual eyes to see very different people in situations that are breaking God’s heart and to love them like God loves. Scripture upholds that God requires us to sacrifice our piety in order to join God’s mission of reconciliation as ambassadors of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 58: 6-7; 2 Corinthians 5: 16-20).

Jesus’ ministry was all about coming alongside the ones whom society is throwing away. Jesus came alongside women, men, and children to hear their names and stories with compassion. Jesus was willing to suffer with them in God’s unconditional and active love that is patient, kind, and rejoicing in the truth that all are made in the image of God (1 Corinthians 13: 4,6).

Jesus’ ministry sets the example of faith and love that takes great risks for the costly grace of the cross. It is a mystery of the gospel to comprehend the fullness of God’s sacrificial love in Jesus Christ.

Ten years ago during my time in seminary, I had the opportunity to learn from a sister congregation in Atlanta. Central Presbyterian Church was located in the heart of Atlanta. And it is right across the street from the state capitol.

The senior pastor at the time shared an unforgettable story with my class. One random day in the church office the pastor received a phone call from the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C. It was a notification of a high number of reported instances of human trafficking taking place on the street corner near the church’s location.

Shocked by the news, the pastor and elders quickly began to educate themselves in what was happening literally in their own backyard.

Human Trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery and a federal crime. It is defined as the trade in humans, most commonly for the purpose of sexual slavery, forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation induced by force, fraud, or coercion. Children as young as age 5 are forced into trafficking. It is estimated that 20 million people are enslaved worldwide. Atlanta and Charlotte are main arteries for human trafficking [1]. Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest nights of the year where arrests are made.

Taking to heart Jesus’ teachings of proclaiming good news to the poor and release to the captives, the senior pastor preached on the issue from the pulpit. The pastor felt convicted that God’s Spirit was certainly calling the congregation to step out of their comfort zone to join God in changing the world.

As the service came to a close and the receiving line began the pastor expected some serious push back. In fact, one of oldest members said with a strong tone, “Pastor, I want to have a word with you!” The pastor just knew his congregant was going to throw him out onto the street. Surprisingly enough the woman said with tears of angst, “Pastor we have to do something. Let me know what I can do.”

God opened that church’s eyes to what was breaking God’s heart in their community. Not only did the church learn about human trafficking, they also learned about an unjust state law; a 16-year old youth who should be delivered from such human evil could actually be arrested and prosecuted for prostitution.

Jesus’ teachings definitely made that church nervous. Faith took them out of their comfort zones to not only advocate for children and adults who were being oppressed and enslaved. Faith also led the congregation to intersect the gospel with politics to change an unjust state law. Today a 16-year old youth is rescued from trafficking to receive the faith, hope, and love to recover, heal, and be made whole. God’s love brings justice.

As a result of the church’s ministry, a non-profit agency named Street Grace was formed, which educates the public, advocates for and assists survivors of trafficking. As of this Super Bowl weekend, 65 agencies have worked together to arrest 33 individuals on trafficking charges. Four survivors have been rescued as they journey into freedom [2].

Living out our faith in context of our community and in the wider world is not easy. If we are following Jesus’ teachings, the Spirit will lead you and me into situations that make us nervous.

Take courage knowing that wherever God calls us to go that God is already there. In all things God is at work through Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit to lift the voices of the powerless, the marginalized, and the poor.

God is calling all people to be overcome by love because God’s love rules the world. Christ teaches us that God’s reconciling love on the cross believes, hopes, and endures all things.

Who and what is God calling you and me to see that is breaking God’s heart?

I pray that as our eyes are opened, Jesus will rope us in to paint the world with nothing less than his tenacious love.

In the name of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.


Sources Referenced:

[1] Statistics from Lily Pad Haven

[2] Alexis Stephens, “Super Bowl Security: 33 Arrested on Sex Trafficking Charges,” Atlanta Journal Constitution January 30, 2019