It Happened at Church Camp

1 Corinthians 12: 4-13
Roger Lynn
July 30, 2017
(click here for the audio for this sermon)

I spent this past week watching a miracle unfold before my eyes. In fact, I participated in the unfolding. And I want to tell you about it because you made it possible for me to be there in the midst of the unfolding. Last week I was the chaplain at the middle school camp at Mimanagish, our church’s camp located on the Boulder River in the middle of the wilderness about an hour south of Big Timber. I could spend the week doing that because you allowed me the time to be there. I was, quite literally, there on your behalf. So it seems fitting that I share with you a bit of what took place in that amazingly beautiful setting. 

God in the Ordinary

Genesis 2: 4b-7

Roger Lynn

July 16, 2017

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We find ourselves in the midst of summer. Long, warm days. No major holidays on the horizon. The stuff of which everyday life is made. What can we say about such times? Where do we find evidence of the Sacred in these days which stretch before us?

The second creation story in Genesis says that we human beings were formed from the dust of the earth. Pretty ordinary building material for something as extraordinary as the human body. And then along comes Jesus, with lots to say about the life which He was offering. He makes reference to qualities like joy and peace and hope and love. He uses descriptions like fullness and abundance. And the really exciting thing is that it is a message for all of us, all of the time. It is not something which is offered only to a chosen few. It is not something which is offered only some of the time. It has to do with everyday, ordinary, extraordinary folks like you and me, in the midst of our everyday, ordinary, extraordinary existences. The following, then, are some thoughts on God and the ordinary.

Where Does God Fit?

Matthew 22: 15-22

Roger Lynn

July 9, 2017

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The religious leaders wanted a quick and easy answer. They wanted to know if Jesus was on their side. Actually, they were pretty sure they already knew the answer. They wanted the world to be black and white, good and bad. They offered him two choices. If he agreed with their understanding of the world he would be a hero. If he disagreed with their understanding of the world he would be a villain. What they got instead was not at all what they expected. Jesus chose a third path, which was to hand the whole thing back to them.

“Render unto Caesar...” he said. It is a saying so familiar that we have mostly stopped really hearing what it says. Or more precisely, what it does not say. I would venture to guess that most of us, most of the time, hear Jesus saying something like, “Pay your taxes and don’t get money matters confused with spiritual matters. If it’s got the government seal on it, then it is separate from the things of God.” But listen closely. He doesn’t actually say that. He doesn’t actually define what is Caesar’s and what is God’s. The Pharisees get to decide that for themselves. We get to decide that for ourselves. And that, more than any particular answer to any particular question, is precisely the point. Faith is not about someone handing us a set of answers and us blindly accepting them. That’s what the Pharisees were looking for. They wanted to be the ones in charge of the answers. They wanted Jesus to agree with them. But not only did Jesus not agree with their answers. He didn’t even agree with the premise of the question. It’s not about a simple list of answers to questions like, “Should we pay our taxes?” Answers to such questions will come, but that’s not where we begin. We begin with a much more basic question - “Where does God fit in your life? Where does God fit in the world?” That is where we must begin if we are to understand Jesus’ answer about rendering unto Caesar and rendering unto God. Where does God’s domain begin and end?

How Shall We Live In Our Freedom?

Luke 10: 1-11

Roger Lynn

July 2, 2017

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

One of the ways to talk about what Jesus gave to his disciples is in terms of freedom. He freed them from the bondage of judgment. He freed them from the oppression of fear. He freed them from the burden of a concept of God which was vindictive and exclusive. He freed them to an expansive understanding of love and meaning and purpose. By living with them and sharing himself with them and allowing them to glimpse the God with whom he was intimately connected, he changed their lives forever.

This did not happen overnight, however. One of the great gifts of the Gospels is the way in which they offer us a picture of faith “in process.” Time and again we find the disciples starting down unhelpful paths, only to be called back again. The question, for them and for us, is “How shall we live in our freedom?” What does life look like when we really begin to allow this amazing gift of God’s freedom to percolate up to the surface of our living? Sometimes what we find in the Gospels are examples of what it doesn’t look like. In Luke’s Gospel, in the chapter just prior to our text for this morning, we see the disciples wanting to call down fire from heaven because some people weren’t as excited about Jesus as they were. Jesus let them know that such an approach was not helpful. At other times what we find in the Gospels are examples of what it does look like. Also in Luke’s Gospel we read about a man who was losing the battle with the demons which were tormenting him, until Jesus called him back to himself and thus restored him to full, rich living. And then there are the places in the Gospels (like today’s reading) where there is a little bit of both.