Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Sermon - Three O'clock AM

Three O’clock AM

Introduction

What is the significance of 3:00 o’clock AM? Dorothy Terris writes, “It’s three o’clock in the morning, We’ve danced all night thru. . . I could just keep right on dancing forever dear with you.”

How about you? Where were you, what were you doing at 3:00 o’clock this morning? Were you waltzing to the music of 3:00 o’clock?

Were you in deep slumber? Or, were you an insomniac who tossed and turned desperately trying to get a sound, restful sleep?

Or, is anyone perhaps a dreamer like Senator Roco who confessed at 3:00 o’clock on a morning some time before he died, “When I was 20, I wanted to change the world; at 30, I wanted to change my country; I realized at 60 I wanted only to change myself.”

3:00 O’clock Among Disciples

In our text, at 3:00 o’clock in the morning the disciples were in trouble: out in the sea, waves high, winds strong, rain pouring.

The night was dark. No stars. The boat, rocking dangerously. They were navigating fearfully alone.

But why, in the first place, were the disciples in this danger? They were out in the sea because, “Jesus made the disciples get back in to the boat and cross to the other side of the lake.”

The disciples got into trouble because they were obeying Jesus. It is the obedient church that suffers the storms life. It is often the obedient, faithful Christians who get into troubled seas navigating their authentic faith. It is often the obedient, faithful Christians who get into treacherous highways verbalizing issues of social justice and assisting the deprived struggle against poverty and want.
In obedience and faithfulness to Christ, we at UCCP Davao City are dreaming to build a new church that proclaims our audacious faith. Thus, we face the practical problems of design, fund-raising and, finally, construction! No less than total obedience is needed!

Our 3:00 O’clock AM

Today, 3:00 o’clock AM may be a time for tossing and turning among some, or a time for up-to-no-good evildoers in the dark.

3:00 o’clock AM may be time when the bruised and battered, the down and defeated, the grieving and the guilty face themselves alone. The letter not written, the flower not sent and the stone not lifted to make safe and secure a brother’s way are haunting ghosts.

For others, at 3:00 o’clock AM seductive temptations are strong and moral guards are down. As Kris Kristofferson sings, “I don’t care what’s right or wrong, I don’t try to understand, let the devil take tomorrow, lord, tonight I need a friend.”

I learned this week a new meaning of the word arroyo. It was originally used in southwestern US of A and referred to waterway, or deep ravine dried up because of long drought. Some Christians and churches may be in a state of arroyo, meaning, spiritually dried up like a waterway or deep ravine for long droughts of spiritual feeding and neglect of the discipline of prayer.

At 3:00 AM Jesus Appears

Comfortingly, our text continues, “About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came to them walking on the water.” How could Jesus walk on water? And how could Peter walk on water? And why would Peter begin to sink on seeing the waves?

These are the impossible questions. They are asking about the impossible. In short, they are the wrong questions.

Jesus comes at impossible times. When life is darkest, Jesus comes. When people are most worried, Jesus comes.

When storms of life are strongest and our shelter, weakest, Jesus comes. When typhoons are wildest and raindrops are heaviest, Jesus comes. When our need is greatest and our resources scarcest, Jesus comes. When too dark to see, or too turbulent to hope, Jesus comes reassuringly, “It’s all right, I am here. Don’t be afraid.”

A Moment of Trust

A young girl went out for dinner with a lonely soldier after Manila was recaptured from the Japanese about the end of the Second World War. After an evening of friendship, dancing and pure joy that transcended their gender differences, young girl and lonely soldier parted feeling very satisfied.

Alone in her room, at 3:00 o’clock AM, the girl wrote in her diary, “An hour of beauty and trust and friendliness in a world of disillusionment and ugliness and pain – surely it is worth keeping and remembering. . . Yours, faithfully.”

So, what’s the significance of 3:00 o’clock AM? In worship, God summons us to observe an hour of the beauty of trust in Jesus as a friend, and to receive an eternity of hope, love and life.

More importantly, in an arroyo world starved not only of physical food but of the word of God and dehydrated not only of water, but of truth, peace, love and justice, God offers the gift of rococo, meaning, the elegant refinement and charm of divine forgiveness and renewal of life, totally, tenderly and lovingly offered by Christ when he said, “This is my body broken for you . . . This is my blood shed for the forgiveness of your sins.”

Beloved in Christ, let us respond, “God, we are yours faithfully. Here I am send me.”

Executive Pastor's Page

Executive Pastor's Page

Welcome to the UCCP Davao City, the oldest evangelical church in Davao and most probably in the whole of Mindanao.
We are about 3,000 in membership and are now engaged in the building of a fifty million new church to accommodate our growing membership and expanding social outreach and ministry programs.

The old church building has been demolished and we are presently worshipping at the Interim Worship Center, EE Colleges, formerly Fabie School of Midwifery corner Pioneer and Telstar Streets, Dona Vicenta Village.

Do visit us in Davao. Do write us whenever you can. Meanwhile, may God's blessings be yours, ever.

Pastor Mar

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Sermon - Fire

Fire

Introduction: Meaningless Nothing

Is life a meaningless nothing? Yes, life is meaningless, asserts the Teacher in Ecclesiastes. The Teacher declares, “Everything is meaningless!”

Yes, life is a meaningless nothing, says William Shakespeare through Macbeth. “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more; it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing!”

Yes, life is trivial and frivolous, says a nursery rhyme. “Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, where have you been?” Pussy Cat answers: “I have been to London to visit the Queen?” And then: “Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, what did you do there?” Answer: “I frightened a little mouse under c chair!”

But we don’t need the Bible, or Shakespeare, or a nursery rhyme to tell us. Many have been expressing their despair: “Sayang na sayang lang, ganito na lamang ba ang aking kalagayan? Kung magkaganoon, bakit kaya ako ay isinilang pa?”

The Bible’s Outlook

Is life meaningless? Is living in this world worthless? Is there another view of what life is all about?

Yes, there is another view, for the Bible affirms, No, life is full of meaning. For men and women are created in the image of God and are meant for goodness, freedom and love.

In the vastness of the universe people may just be tiny specks. Yet, God has entrusted the care of the whole created world to them.

The Bible tells us that men and women are grasped by a dimension of life more than simply temporal, finite and corruptible.

Life is apprehended by a vital and vibrant vision – a vision that is exciting, energizing, uplifting, breathtaking and elevating.

To be grasped by the biblical vision is to be grasped by an awesome, audacious and liberating vision.

Jeremiah’s Vision

The scripture lessons this morning speak of the divine liberating vision of God and the choices we make given such vision.

The prophet Jeremiah has been called “the reluctant prophet,” or, “the prophet of doom”, or, “weeping prophet”, or “the prophet of foolishness.”

Nevertheless, Jeremiah had been captured by God’s vision. Jeremiah saw that God had given Israel through him a vision, destiny and hope.

Jeremiah saw that the political and military alliances with countries around had prostituted Israel. Her spirituality had become bankrupt.

And so, Jeremiah had come to the point of utter disappointment, discouragement and despair.

He despaired, “I will no longer speak for God.” Echoing Ecclesiastes he exclaimed, “Everything is meaningless! I quit.”

Then he realized he could not quit. He had been grasped by a high vision of what God wants, dreams and claims for Israel, a vision that would not let him go.

“I can’t stop!” he exclaimed. God’s “word burns in my bones like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones!”

Our Vision

How about you? How about today’s Christians? How about today’s world?

Isn’t our world on the way to its own hell? Isn’t our society on its way to destruction? Haven’t Christians become hopelessly lost?

The exploitation that comes from greed and leads to destruction of forest reserves, the self-serving words of praise about themselves by many of our leaders, and demeaning words about others – aren’t these situations awful and horrifying?

Like Jeremiah, many Christians are tempted to give up and say, “It is hopeless. Sayang lang ang mabuting pinag-aralan natin bilang Christyano. Bakit nagkaganito na tayo?”

And yet, grasped like Jeremiah by the high vision of the meaning and purpose of life, we cannot turn our backs on the bruised and pained humanity.

No, we cannot and we should not!

Jesus’ Message

Our New Testament lesson is about Jesus’ words, not on forgiveness, comfort and love that we normally understand of him.

Rather, they were words of harsh judgment: “fire upon the earth”, “strife and division”, families split apart, “division between father and son, mother and daughter, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.”

“Fire upon the earth!” Fire burns. Fire consumes. Fire destroys. Families split. Jesus claimed to have come to bring this kind of fire.

Harsh words, but we need to understand them in the context of who is the ultimate authority under which we live.

The question is: what is the controlling vision that will transform and shape our life?

Will it be the God who has come to set human beings free and create a society of gentleness and justice? Or, will it be the god of our own arrogance, that creates chaos, selfishness and greed?

Will it be the God of peace, who has come to reconcile in love everyone to himself? Or will it be a god of our own making, our own ambitions, our own narcissism and our own self-gratification?

Jesus calls us to a radical faith. Not casual. Not frivolous. Not lukewarm. Not trivial. But passionate faith – daring, resolute and courageous faith with a vision, like fire that burns in our bones to care for a bruised and hurting humanity. Fire in your pockets, too, dare give your silver and gold, so we can build together a brand new church - a testament of our audacious passionate faith.

Conclusion

So what has this blazing fire of faith to do with a world of nothingness, pussycat’s frivolous triviality and Filipinos’ hopeless despair?

It is recalled that Albert Einstein, the greatest scientist of the last century, when asked about what moved him in his audacious scientific mind and works, answered, “I challenged an axiom!”

Like Jeremiah, we may look foolish and reluctant. Fired however by wisdom from above, baptized into the power of the Holy Spirit, let us challenge the axiom of the contemporary mind set.

Let faith grasp us - audacious, daring, resolute and fiery passionate faith. Yes, let the fire of God’s vision consume, burn and destroy the awesome axiom of meaningless nothingness, the pussycat’s frivolous triviality and our own Filipino hopeless inaction.

Fire in our bones, we decided a year ago to build together a testament to our audacious, vibrant, life-giving and liberating faith – a united and uniting church. Let us dare give our share! Fire in our bones, let us create together a community of hope, peace and love.