June 6, 2004

First Sunday of Pentecost

Joshua 6:1-5, 15-21

Romans 5:1-5

“Hope in All Things!”

     Ever hear the expression, “Give ‘em and inch and they’ll take a mile?”  Whoever came up with that one must have been a parent!

     (Nathan, seeing that you’re getting married on Saturday, here’s a little free insight into parenting that might come in handy some day!)  I remember telling our children it was OK to have a cookie and suddenly finding the jar was empty.  OK, maybe I helped them.  Permission to visit a friend for an hour turned into three or four.  Permission for them to bring a friend along for dinner turned our family of five into ten! 

     It’s was something like this when God told his people it was OK to march around Jericho until the walls came a-tumblin’ down.  He gave them permission to march, blast their trumpets, shout and rush into the city.  This they did, but then somehow things got out of hand.  We remember the miraculous collapse of Jericho’s walls in the popular song, “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho” (the fun version you heard this morning was Nathan’s own arrangement), but what we don’t often hear is the rest of the story. 

     The invaders quickly left God’s permission in the rubble and dust and took matters into their own hands.  Maybe the thrill of conquest overcame them.  Maybe they dehumanized their enemy.  Whatever the reasons, they lost control and went on a killing spree.  They killed every last man, woman, child and animal in the city.  God had not given permission for this.

     War is a horrifying thing.  It is a shame that we have come so many thousands of years since Jericho and have not yet found a way to peacefully coexist on this planet.  Why?…because we are often better at building fences than bridges, because we hunger for power and glorify in conquest, because we are insecure where we are and with what we have.  There are many reasons why people take matters into their own hands, leaving what God permits in the rubble and dust. 

     60 years ago, allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy in what remains the biggest amphibious assault in history.  My father missed that momentous occasion by being in the battalion that was one more than was needed for the invasion.  This anniversary is bittersweet, for as we have deep appreciation for those who gave their lives defending great ideals we also mourn the fact that such tragic loss of life was necessary.  We are thankful for those who stand up for what is right, but are saddened at the same time that we still live in a war-torn world that is not satisfied living within the scope of what God permits.

     Good parents, correct, guide and forgive their children.  They give them hope in hopeless situations and nurture them to growth.  Thus, God gave us Jesus, to show us the way, to teach us God’s commandment of love and to forgive us.  By his Holy Spirit, we are nurtured and grow in faith.  In him, we find enduring hope, the source to which we can return when things get out of hand.

     This is what the Apostle Paul speaks of in today’s reading from the fifth chapter of Romans.  He says, “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  He says that endurance, character and hope are possible even when we suffer because God’s love is poured into our hearts.  Thus, peace is always possible.  God’s love is sure even when the world is not.

     This is our touchstone, our center, our enduring hope.  There is hope in all things.  To this we return in worship and prayer.  We come seeking God’s permission, seeking to live within God’s love.

     As we begin now to learn what Inspiration-Based ministry means for us, it is important that we constantly remind ourselves of the first word in the title – Inspiration.  This approach to ministry affirms each believer and their inspirations.  There is no bureaucracy to work through.  Permission is granted for the inspirations of our hearts…the inspirations…that would be what Paul says is, “God’s love…poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”  Inspiration-Based Ministry isn’t a free-for-all, do whatever you want, me-first mentality.  It is a live-within-God’s-commands, do what God wants, God-first mentality.  It is listening for God’s permission at the beginning, in the middle and to the end.  It is returning again and again to the touchstone, the center, to the enduring hope that defines us as God’s people.

     God gives permission for us to accomplish great things together, to be, as St Francis prayed, instruments of God’s peace and channels of God’s love.  This is what the world needs now.  We have this hope in all things.  Let it fill your heart and guide your feet.