Sermon: Apple Festival (Sept. 13)

Gracious Lord, bless us this morning with a gift, a word, an insight. Don't allow us to be bored or to go through the motions! Take us deeper into the substance of your love and glory! In Christ’s name. Amen.

Weather – Good Weather – I get 1 more year…

Communication ~ How long did it take to get 50 Million Users?

· Radio: 38 years
· TV: 13 Years
· Internet: 4 years
· IPod: 3 years
· Facebook: 9 months (100 million)
Communication is changing…

And yet, we are not at times any better in communicating, in knowing what is right and true. I think of all those who denounced the President for a speech he hadn’t give yet to school kids; things he was going to say. Boy were they wrong. It was much to do about nothing. With all the communication tools we have at our disposal, we don’t always get it right.

In Jesus day, it was an oral culture. They relied on what was said and passed that on to others. "Who do people say that I am?" And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." Some had seen, others heard what Jesus did and they tried to figure out who Jesus is, but they didn’t have it quite right…

"But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." And for the disciples, they got it, and that made all the difference. Of course, it didn’t mean they fully understood, as Peter is rebuked for not understanding the mission of Jesus. And it is there that Jesus tells all who follow him: If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

As disciples of Jesus, how we communicate, how we take up our cross, shows how we understand what is right and true. How Jesus has shown us the way. Or as that old hymn put it:

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

Our challenge remains the same as Christians have lived these 2000 years, how we in our lives, by word and deed, show that we stand on Christ the solid rock, how we believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

No matter what the tools we use in this digital age, we are called to communicate that love we have felt in Jesus by sharing that love through our lives. And that is to know what is right and true. As the Wisdom of Solomon reminds us: for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom. May we apply our hearts to wisdom, to sharing the love we have felt, and know that God is with us every step of the way. Amen.