Church of the Epiphany

Proper 19
Luke 15:1-10
Jesus said, ‘Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So, therefore, any one of you who does not renounce ll that he has cannot be my disciple.’

A reminder that Luke is a book that illustrates discipleship. And disciples come from unexpected places: tax collectors and sinners. The outcasts and the unloved. Those who understand they are broken and end up changed and transformed by Jesus. Jesus tells three parables in Luke 15 that illustrate this point. Luke 15:1 say that the Pharisees are troubled that Jesus has been spending his time among tax collectors and sinners. He even has the gall to eat with such people. Throughout Luke the Pharisees say, ‘Rabbis are not to contaminate themselves in such a way,’ doesn’t he know who he is dealing with?’

And eating was the most intimate activity in the ancient world. It was a symbol of deep friendship and love. ‘He associates with tax collectors and sinners–and even eats with them!’

The three parables in Luke 15 are Jesus’ thoughts on the matter. Actually, what Jesus tries to drive at are God’s thoughts on the matter. So Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin and lastly, the lost son, aka the ‘prodigal son.’ The point is obvious, God’s heart is for the lost and there is great rejoicing when a sinner repents.

There is an underlying message in Jesus’ words that often get missed. His words are a comfort to sinners, but also they are a challenge to those who have a list of who is acceptable to God and who is not.

In the movie The Mission, Robert De Niro plays a man named Rodrigo Mendoza, who is a
Spanish slave trader and who captures South American natives and brutalizes them, trading them to the Portuguese in the region. Mendoza becomes embittered when his brother Felipe steals his one and only love. In a crime of passion, Mendoza ends up killing his own brother.

Jeremy Irons plays a Jesuit priest who finds Mendoza in prison, staring at the wall, refusing food and drink, hoping to die of starvation or thirst. Fr. Gabriel challenges Mendoza to find God and to seek his forgiveness. Mendoza simply says, “I can’t do that. For me there is no redemption.”

There are those who walk around with this view of God and this view of themselves. “For me there is no redemption.” Their own sin or their own suffering has caused them to believe that there is no God out there looking for them. There is no God seeking a relationship. Perhaps you find yourself in that place. “For me there is no redemption.”

But the deeper question is, who, in your mind, is not worthy of God’s redemption? If you could have dinner with those who are not worthy of God’s redemption, who would be sitting around that table?

Is it someone or a group of someones who are a threat to you? An enemy of some kind?

Maybe it is someone with their hand out on the street or those who hold the signs on the corner. Maybe it is someone whom you have given a handout or a helping hand and you have received nothing but ingratitude in return.

There was a homeless man who visited us about a year ago. I gave him some cash and we got him hooked up in a great program to get him a bed and a job. Suddenly, after his visit, there were things around the church missing and there was even a break in. I am convinced by the trail of broken doors that it was the same guy. What was my response? Of course I was looking out for the church I was very angry and I wanted him found and arrested.

What is God’s heart, though? There is a twist in Luke that is very challenging to me that I just noticed recently. In Luke 6, Jesus is giving his famous sermon on the plain, similar to his sermon on the mount. He says something very familiar to us: ‘If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.’

Anything disturbing about that? The whole thing should be. But what struck me was the phrase, ‘for God is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.’ When we encounter some in our world who take without ever giving thanks or even those who take advantage of the kindness of others, what is God’s heart towards them? He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

Then there is the ominous follow up: ‘be merciful as your Father is merciful.’

Now sometimes giving out cash is not the most merciful thing to do. Sometimes empowering others to work for themselves and to excel in their own skills is the answer. But look at the attitude of God. Mercy means kindness to those who are ungrateful for it and even those who are evil.

Moses, in our Old Testament passage, intercedes for those who are just that. Having been freed from slavery and brought out of Egypt, they then grow impatient and selfish and begin to worship the golden calf in revelry and chaos. Yet Moses says, ‘blot me out of your book on their behalf.’

Does not a true shepherd, who has lost a sheep, not leave the 99 to find the one who was lost?

In his book Listening to Your Life, one of my favorite authors, Frederick Buechner talks of a personal experience with a shepherd whom he grew up nearby. He says, ‘When I think of shepherds, I think of one man in particular I know who used to keep sheep here in Rupert a few years back. Some of them he gave names to, and some of them he didn’t, but he knew them equally well either way. If one of them got lost, he didn’t have a moment’s peace till he found it again. If one of them got sick or hurt, he would move heaven and earth to get it well again. He would feed them out of a bottle when they were newborn lambs if for some reason the mother wasn’t around or wouldn’t ‘own’ them as he put it. He always called them in at the end of the day so wild dogs wouldn’t get them. I’ve seen him wade through snow up to his knees with a bale of hay in each hand to feed them on bitter cold winter evenings, shaking it out and putting it in the manger. I’ve stood with him in their shed with a forty watt bulb hanging down from the low ceiling to light up their timid, greedy, foolish, half holy faces as they pushed and butted each other to get at it.’

Isn’t this what God is like? Will he not have a moment’s peace until he finds one of us who was lost? Would he not move heaven and earth to nurse us back to health? Doesn’t he take us in when our own loved ones have abandoned us? Wouldn’t he risk bitter cold to give us what we need?

Would he not send his Son to die?

The Prodigal son was not a part of our gospel reading but it most naturally follows the short parables of the shepherd and the coin. You’ve heard or read it a thousand times. More than spelling out the lostness of the younger son he is pointing to the love and mercy of the Father.

There is a twist in the parable that I had never seen before. Remember that text we looked at last week and the one I quoted at the beginning? Jesus said, ‘Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So, therefore, any one of you who does not renounce ll that he has cannot be my disciple.’

The point is obvious, the decision is upon you. The king is invading, there is no time to putter about because the time of decision is at hand. ‘Now is the time of salvation’ as Paul says.

Jesus says that the wise king who cannot meet the challenge should seek peace ‘while the other is yet a great way off.’
Listen to these words from the parable of the prodigal son:
‘But when [the younger son] came to himself, he said, “how many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.’

I hope you caught the obvious parallel. ‘While he was still a long way off.’ ‘Settle matters with the king while you are still a long way off,’ says Jesus, but he uses the exact same phrase, and who is the one running from a long way off?

It is God. Don’t miss the parallel and the irony here. God is the seeker of the lost, he is the Father who will run to his son who has destroyed his life for the purpose of reconciliation and relationship.

Lastly, Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son ends with the older brother in a state of grumbling and the father stating, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all I have is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this brother of yours was dead, and is alive again, he was lost and is found.’

Jesus never says what happened to the older brother because he is offering a challenge to his hearers. Those who are all that and a bag of chips, those who have everything, those who do what is right and who have worked for every penny: is there anyone in your mind who is outside of God’s redemption? Is there anyone so unlovely and so unlovable that God does not love them? Is there anyone too evil that even God’s love has limits?

You remember the ruthless dictator of Uganda Idi Amin. Amin arbitrarily killed those who he thought were a threat to his power or those he just didn’t like. 300,000 people were killed under his regime, including the Anglican Archbishop Janni Luwum. I heard recently of one of Archbishop Luwan’s priests Festo Kivengere, who was the last person to see the Archbishop alive. The Archbishop was taken from his quarters one day, questioned, tortured and shot.

Father Kivengere, who also became a bishop himself was later asked to comment on the whole event and the brutality of Amin. Eventually, he wrote a book called I Love Idi Amin in which he wrote, “On the cross, Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, because they don’t know what they are doing.’ As evil as Idi Amin was, how can I do less toward him?” How can anyone say such a thing? ‘He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful as your Father is merciful.’

I’ve shared this quote with you from Isaac of Ninevah :
“Let yourself be persecuted, but do not persecute others.
Be crucified, but do not crucify others. Be slandered, but do not slander others.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep: such is the sign of purity.
Suffer with the sick. Be afflicted with sinners. Exult with those who repent…
Rebuke no one, revile no one, not even those who live very wickedly.
Spread your cloak over those who fall into sin, each and every one, and shield them.
And if you cannot take the fault on yourself and accept punishment in their place,
do not destroy their character…that they be protected and receive mercy.”

This is God’s heart. To seek and save what is lost.

God is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful as your Father is merciful.

Proper 18
Luke 14

Pew Research did a survey of 18-25 year-olds that asked them what they wanted for their future. 81% said they wanted to be rich, and 51% said they wanted to be famous.

Based on the reality TV craze, it would appear that fame is not as difficult as it used to be. Now you can be on TV and sing, and lose weight and be cruel to others and have relationships with millions watching. This is symptomatic of our world of narcissism and selfishness.

You’ve heard of the ‘Star Wars Kid?’ He is a chubby Canadian who made a video of himself pretending to be a Jedi, using his dad’s golf ball retriever as a light saber. His friends got a hold of it and put it online. It is one of the most downloaded video of all time. Someone added special effects to it and it was even spoofed on TV shows, so the ‘Star Wars Kid’ sued his friends and won, gaining $350,000 for himself. Fame and fortune from a kid who pretended to be a Sith.

But we know there are others who have more altruistic goals. The ‘Burning Man’ gathering, which just ended last labor day, seeks to bring people together to live in a Utopian village if just for a week. There is no money exchanged and it is a paradise for inclusivity and artistic expression under the Nevada desert sky and, of course, by rule is clothing optional for those who are more free spirited.

I just read last week of a new video ‘game’ based on Burning Man’s Utopia called Second Life, in which players can get away from real life to pursue an alternate existence. You make yourself an ‘avatar’ and you buy and sell and be whatever you want to be. Real money exchanges hands, over a million dollars a week. But utopia has also led people to turn the game in a different direction. There is a PG version and a ‘Mature’ version of the game. It always goes there, doesn’t it?

The problem with utopia and alternate universes is that they just do not exist. In an alternate universe of so called perfection something is missing. Something that we as human beings cannot do without. Purpose. Meaning. Being a part of something that is important and vital. Being part of something worth spending everything we have to find.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus is so ‘subtle’ is he not? I mentioned Luke’s focus on discipleship and his picture of real disciples. Not those who we expect but those who have humbled themselves and admit their broken-ness.

But Jesus does not leave them there. He is out to make followers who will persevere. He is out to give people purpose for their lives that will cost them their lives. He wants followers who are not afraid to walk where he walked-even to the cross. Even to death and more difficultly, even to deny oneself.

I did a word study on the Greek word miseo translated ‘hate’ in our English Bibles hoping to find another meaning. The only other meaning I found for this particular word was to ‘detest.’ Does Jesus want us to actually hate those we love in favor of the Kingdom.

When Jesus uses this strong word he is trying to make a point. He is using what is called ‘hyperbole.’ What does that mean? ‘Hyperbole’ means to exaggerate, or to stretch a concept beyond its meaning. We do this all the time. ‘If you do that again, I’m going to strangle you.’ Or, ‘I just love banana cream pie.’ Do you really ‘love’ banana cream pie? Will you really strangle me?

Jesus is doing something similar here. He overstates his point to make it hit harder. What is his point? ‘I share loyalty with no one. Not even with those relationships that are the most important to you.’

Those of us who have recited marriage vows know just what Jesus is saying. I remember standing face to face with Sarah saying that I would ‘love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as we both shall live.’

‘Forsaking all others.’ I remember that phrase in particular. That’s similar language to Jesus’ use of the word ‘hate’ of others and our own life for his sake. Now every time I see a pretty gal I don’t say, “Hey, I forsake you!!” And we don’t tell our loved ones “I hate you in the name of the Lord,” but the concept is clear. Our ultimate loyalty is to Christ and to no one else, even if it means to deny ourselves and our possessions.

What is fascinating about this passage, though, is found right in verse 25. It seems like a throwaway line. “Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them…”

‘Large crowds.’ Go Jesus. Here is the fame we talked about earlier. From 12 to hundreds. There might even have been some people of influence following him. A politician may say that Jesus was building his constituency. Got to be some large donors in the crowd. Hey, saving the world takes some doing, he needs all the help he can get.

I strongly believe that Jesus’ words were meant to turn people away. He had the perfect opportunity to get the biggest audience but Jesus doesn’t want an audience. He wants disciples. He wants hearts and minds and wills–he wants all of us. He wants lives.

Like we pray in our Eucharistic Prayer: we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, our selves,
our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee;
These words, in part, are from Paul’s words Romans 12 to offer our bodies as ‘living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God…’

25 Now large crowds were travelling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26 ‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.’

What was the result of Jesus’ words? No more large crowds. The standard was set and I’m sure the crowd shrunk.

Have you ever called someone to come and die? On a cross? In the ancient world, the cross was not only a criminal’s death, it was an outsider’s death. Roman citizens were decapitated, but non-citizens were crucified. It was an insulting and humiliating death. Yet Jesus says, ‘come and follow me there to that place of shame and humiliation.’

To follow Jesus is to live just on the edge of things. Christian mystics call this kind of living ‘detachment,’ that is, a disciple is cut off from the world to be closer to God. The ancient literature used the word ‘apatheia’ from where we get the word ‘apathy.’ This does not mean deadness or a stale disposition, it is to literally, ‘not care’ about the world in favor of following Jesus.

‘To give up all your possessions’ is also translated ‘renounce.’

There are many ways we can go with all of this.
The vestry and I are reading a book by Erwin McManus called The Unstoppable Force. In it McManus remarks how, in Christian circles, there seems to be a layer of callings. You’re called to salvation, then you’re called to be a disciple, then to missions or full time ministry for some, while everyone else sits on the sidelines.

He says that the words of Jesus to renounce everything are not for the uberChristians, but the radical minimum for everyone. Jesus call to carry the cross is the starting point for all Christians, not just the calling of the select few or to clergy. He also uses the example from business and says that what you expect from the person in the lowest part of the organization is what drives it not necessarily from the leadership. So if the boss is the next thing to Bill Gates, it doesn’t matter if the person answering the phone is a crab.

So it is, he says, with the church. He is the pastor of Mosaic in California and his church has set the bar high for membership–but really what he calls the ‘radical minimum.’ Therefore, if you want to be a member there, you will do 4 things:

1. Strive for holiness.
2. Be active in ministry
3. Tithe
4. Commit to an evangelistic lifestyle

Now anyone can go to the church without being a member, but if you want to be a member, you must commit to those 4 things. And again, in his mind, this is the radical minimum.

What would you think if being expected to do those things just for membership? Some might feel like this is meddling or ‘none of the church’s business.’
The Episcopal Church, in theory, makes membership pretty easy. Remember there used to be baptism, first Communion and Confirmation? We still do confirmation and it is still the primary way of becoming a member, but—on the books you’re a member if you are baptized.

Now, who here has been baptized? Have you ever considered what expectations are on you if you have been baptized. Unfortunately, we see baptism as the end rather than the radical minimum. If you have been baptized you have promised to:

• Live a holy life (I renounce…I promise to obey…)
• Go to church regularly (apostle’s teaching…)
• Live an evangelistic lifestyle (Will you proclaim…)
• Love others in ministry (…loving your neighbor..strive for justice and peace…dignity of every human being)

Nothing in there on giving but if you have done all of the above, that is a natural outcome.

Sounds like meddling to me!
Consider for a moment why we gather why we are here what our purpose is! Baptism is the starting point, the radical minimum. I return you to the baptismal vows if you think that requirements of this church is any different than the words of Jesus.

Lastly Jesus uses two important examples to make his point, the one about the man making the tower and the king who is about to be invaded. They are similar in that they are to count the cost, but different in an important way.

Was a Tower a necessary edifice in the first century? Certainly not. A tower was built to show strength or to be a display of beauty. In this example, to fail was to be embarrassed.

What about a king about to invade you? This was more than embarrassment, this was a time for urgency. You come to terms ‘on the way’ so you don’t get annihilated.

The call of Christ is like this. He is suddenly upon us, asking us to renounce all and carry our cross and there is no time to decide if he means it or not. This is my challenge to you today.

He is upon us, asking us to carry the cross, to renounce our claim on our own lives and to give them to him. There is no waiting and no negotiating and no dawdling. Either we follow him. Or not. Either we commit ourselves to what we have promised or not. Either he is Lord. Or not.

Proper 17
Luke 14:1-14

Just out of curiosity, how many of you could use $12 million? Imagine how $12 million could change your life. More than likely it would set any of us up for the rest of our lives.

Real Estate billionaire Leona Helmsley died earlier this month and some terms of her will were disclosed. Most of her assets, worth billions, will be sold and given to the Trust she and her late husband established.

Some of her fortune was given to family members. But while two of her grandchildren were excluded from her will, Trouble got $12 million. You heard me right, Trouble got $12 Million.

Trouble is a white Maltese. That’s right. Her dog got $12 Million.

And her dog will be buried with she and her husband and there is $3 Million in the will to take care of the mausoleum.  Some people are buried with their pets–not so uncommon. But $12 Million. Oh and the chauffeur got $100k.

Hmm.

I reminded you last week of Jesus’ definition of true disciples in the book of Luke. In Luke disciples are found in the parables and historical accounts. They are the small and the oppressed, the weak and the humble.

Jesus first sermon in Luke is based in his reading of Isaiah 61 in the synagogue. He read, “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.”

Two chapters later, Jesus gives a sermon in which he pronounces blessings and woes: blessed are the poor, woe to the rich; blessed are the hungry, woe to the full, etc.

So then the book of Luke is a collection of contrasts; those who are blessed and those who do not get it. Last week we heard that the ‘first will be last and the last first.’ This week ‘those who humble themselves will be exalted and those who are exalted will be humbled.’

Jesus’ teachings today are no exception. Key also to the book of Luke is table fellowship. Scene after scene take place at the dinner table. The Pharisees have their knickers in a knot about Jesus eating and drinking with sinners and Jesus sees these meals as the best times to rebuke the Pharisees.

Today’s teachings of Christ again take place at a meal. The Scripture doesn’t identify the owner of the house, only that it was a “leader of the Pharisees.” If Luke meant this technically, then this man was second only to the Sanhedrin, that is the Temple leaders, in influence. One who held this post lead the people to accept Herod the Great, the one who was king when Jesus was born, and was greatly rewarded by Herod in wealth and political influence. Whether this was ‘the’ leader of the Pharisees or just one who was a top leader, we know that he was a man of great influence and prestige. He was influential among kings and common folk and he was probably a very wealthy man. He was a ‘who’s who’ and probably had the arrogance to match. Mix that together with an extreme devotion to the strict interpretation of the law, and you’ve got quite a combination of pride and spiritual influence. And you can tell he had some clout because he and his fellows were ‘watching Jesus carefully.’

Jesus ruins the party. First, he heals a man with dropsy. Dropsy is a swelling of the legs due to fluid retention. Sometimes it occurs around the face as well. In ancient times, it was seen as the judgment of God. Jesus heals the man on the Sabbath which was part one of his problem.

Then Jesus goes into his monologue, critiquing those at the party who chose the seats of honor. In the ancient world a table was U shaped and the seats of honor were those at the ‘head’ or the bottom of the U.

Jesus point is obvious. Don’t take the seat of honor. I always take his words to heart as I do many weddings and funerals. I never assume, that, as the priest, I will be at the so called ‘head table.’ I rarely am. I would be very embarrassed if I tried to sit in a place that wasn’t chosen for me.

But Jesus is talking about so much more than party etiquette. He is talking about so much more than offending one’s host. He then tells a parable about the Great Banquet. Not just a dinner party, but the Banquet of Heaven.

First he tells the ruler of the Pharisees, who by the way is seething at this point, not to invite the influential dinner but to invite, ‘the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.’

Then Jesus tells the parable of the Great Banquet.

Jesus is turning the way these religious leaders think on its head. He is looking for a new model of relating to the world and relating to God. The poor are blessed. You are blessed when you love the poor and the downtrodden. You make a difference in the world when you do this and the banquet of God is full. He is taking a page from prophets like Amos. What does this look like?

I read this week about World Vision’s Indian head, Jayakumar Christian. Through the efforts of World Vision in India the poor are gaining power while the old system is losing it. What World Vision is directly addressing is child slavery. If someone is indebted to someone else, they can give their child as payment to do jobs for the debtor, without the freedom to go to school or to be a child. World Vision has made an impact and not only has changed some laws, the poor are seeing God’s hand at work. And not just any god. It is Jesus who is making an impact. Jayakumar says, [the culture] talks a lot about God, but ‘What is the name of this God who is involved with the poor?’ Jesus.

Another obvious example is Mother Teresa.

Mother Teresa had a dramatic experience with Jesus one day on a train. He appeared next to her and said that he wanted her to go and love him among the poorest of the poor. Many examples have been written about how she did just that. And she loved even without that love returned.

David Scott, in his biography of Mother Teresa writes this about her:
One day, Mother Teresa took in a woman off the streets of Calcutta. Her body was a mess of open sores infested with bugs. Mother Teresa patiently bathed her, cleaning and dressing her wounds. The woman never stopped shrieking insults and threats at her. Mother Teresa only smiled.

Finally, the woman snarled, “Sister, why are you doing this? Not everyone behaves like you. Who taught you?”

She replied simply, “My God taught me.” When the woman asked who this god was, Mother Teresa kissed her on the forehead and said: “You know my God. My God is called love.”

So many stories are written about her just helping people to die. A new way of thinking. A new way of relating to God and the world.

Jesus, though, has some tough words for us. Not only is he addressing the way we relate to the poor, he is addressing one, our arrogance and our excuses. Let me explain.

Our arrogance.
Is it not our propensity to pay more attention to the rich and famous than the not so rich or famous? Is it not our propensity to look to the seats of honor and to the places where the most influential people reside? The Episcopal Church historically has been the place where the elite in the culture reside. More than a dozen of our presidents have Episcopal ties in some ways.

Our churches were founded, in many ways on attracting the elite and the upper crust.

There are many reasons why the Episcopal Church is in trouble. Some of it has to do with doctrine and morality. But there is a mind set that is inherent to our way of doing things–and I’m not talking about liturgy or things the church has been doing since the beginning. I’m talking about our gin and lace and wine and cheese mentality. Our inability to love those who are not as educated or successful as we are. Would we even have considered looking to Africa for how to do church 30 years ago like we are now? God is forcing us to look hard at how we have behaved in arrogance and is humbling us.

There is another thing Jesus wants to address. It is interesting that those who were invited to the banquet made excuse after excuse. What is also interesting is that the same phrase Luke uses for the apostles in the upper room ‘being in one accord’ also applies to these in the parable of Jesus. They were all ‘in one accord’ about excuses.

I can’t come to the banquet because…

What does the Lord say? If you won’t come, I’ll choose someone else to come until my house is full. If Hilltop or Cherry Creek or Crestmoor won’t come, I’ll go somewhere else. And actually, God sends his servants, that’s you and me–to go out to the highways and byways to bring in the poor, the maimed and the blind and whoever will come–so that his house will be filled.

One of the difficulties with a church as old as ours is that we focus on survival or getting by rather than a real mission or purpose. It is very common.

Papa Boyd is 80 today and he is always talking about getting God’s house in order. And he does one heckuva job.

We’ve been struggling for terminology of what we want to do here. Renovation? Renewal? Those are great.

I read an article recently that used language I’d like us to prayerfully consider:
“Replant.”

Epiphany was planted 66 years ago with a mind set that we were going to watch a charismatic leader do his thing.

We need to be replanted with the mind set that God is going to do his thing. What does that look like? Repent and be open to people we were not open to before. God may very well be living out Jesus’ parable of the banquet in our midst.

Also, remember that we renew even the building, something of ourselves is renewed and it shows that we have purpose.

But renewing the building is not enough. We need to replant our church. We need a new way to relate to God and to this world.

My prayer has always been for the Lord to bring those who are hungry for him to this place. Will you pray the same thing? Renew and replant. With whoever God brings to our doors!