Making the Most of Small Beginnings

The Shuttle program was once grounded for several weeks due to cracks in the fuel line. We are reminded about the tiny rubber o-ring about three-tenths of an inch wide. To look at a tiny o-ring that small would not impress anyone. And yet decades ago two of those rings were placed in the aft field joint of the Solid Rocket Booster to stop gases from escaping. W…

Legend has it that Vince Lambardi, one time coach of the Green Bay Packers said, "Winning isn't everythin…

We have all heard of the Italian violin maker, Stradivarius. His violins are now the most prized violins ever made because of the rich and resonating sound they produce. The unique sound of a Stradivarius violin cannot be duplicated. Now what may surprise you is these precious instruments were not made from treasured pieces of wood; they were carved from discarded lumber. Stradivarius was very poor, and could not afford fine materials like his contemporari…

Buck Williams was one of basketball's most relentless and enduring rebounders. He was a top power forward for over a dozen NBA seasons, one of only eight players to achieve 16,000 points and 12,000 rebounds in his career. His honors and achievements were many: NBA Rookie of the Year, NBA All-Star, All-Pro, All-Defensive Player, in the NBA Finals twice. An amazing career!

But most importantly, Buck Williams was a Christian. So he was asked once what his plans were when he faced what every NBA player ultimatel…

In Tennyson's tale of the Holy Grail, a knight searches high and low for that which lasts for eternity and gives ultimate meaning. He comes upon a singing brook, with deep meadows and wonderful fruit trees. But even as he ate the fruit, it turned to dust, for no feeding of the flesh could still his deepest hunger. Riding on, he saw a home, its opened door a promised welcome and in the door there was a beautiful woman, her eyes …

Top Ten Things I Have Learned from Gardening

10. We really do "reap what we sow". Good seeds bear good fruit.9. Without rains and storms there is no growth - no fruit is produced.

8. When weeding, be careful! We can't always tell the difference between a nasty weed and a beautiful flower.

7. Deep roots are a good th…

The Roman naturalist, Pliny the Elder, who died in 79 AD while investigating the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, writes: "Mustard grows entirely wild, though it is improved by being transplanted: But on the other hand when it has once been so…

The mustard seed can get stuck under the tip of a fingernail. It is so small that you could grasp it in your palm and not feel it. Yet, from the smallest seed grows a shrub as large as a tree; it is not just t…

Most have heard of and even read "The Lion, The Witch, and Wardrobe" by CS Lewis. There are 6 other books in the series. At the end of the series "The Last Battle" Lewis contrast the "new Narnia" with the "old Narnia." He writes:

It is hard to explain how this sunlit land was different from the old Narnia, as it would be to tell you how the fruits of that country taste. Perhaps you will get some idea of it, if you think like this. You may hav…

If you had ventured a guess about the future of Jesus' kingdom two thirds of the way through his ministry, how optimistic would you have been?

He grew up in a despised province of the Roman Empire. He was born before his mother's marriage had become official. He did not appear publicly until he was thirty years old, and then he spent most of his ministry time in the commercialized and more heathen…

"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."

Three measures of flour! Do you know how much that is? It's between forty and sixty pounds! This woman is not Martha Stewart whipping up a couple delicate exquisite little biscuit…

The Kingdom of God, said Jesus, is like a mustard seed that is planted in a field, but when it is grown it becomes a tree so large that birds nest in it.

We live in a society that is enamored with bigness. We have gone beyond big churches to mega-churches. We are over whelmed with and bedazzled by huge social problems such as world hunger and children in crises. As a result, we sometimes overlook the tiny seed problems that are at the root of so many of these difficult situations.

In 1989 there was a routine United Airlines flight to Chicago that turned out t…

Parables are not meant to pat us on the back, but to give us a kick in the pants. They are not intended to comfort us, but to…

Ron Del Bene was searching for answers in his life. Someone told him about a man in Los Angeles who has a reputation for being a very wise spiritual guide. On a business trip to the west coast Ron made an appointment to see this wise man whom he was sure could help him in his spiritual quest.

The day Ron was to meet the wise man he had a hard time concentrating on his business. All he could think about was the upcoming meeting with the one who surely had The Answer. He drove up the coast only to discover when he arrived that the man was not there. The longer he waited the angrier he became. Finally the man arrived. "I don't know which was greater, my anger or my disappointmen…

Nancy Cornice remembers as a child hearing the tip-tap of a cane on the sidewalk. It was an old man "bent from the years" his rough, knotted hand purposefully clutching a cane." But this old man had a peculiar custom as he roamed the streets of this small town. When this gentleman saw a child he would stop, reach into his pocket and give the child a picture of Christ. "He would thrust it into the child's hand and continue on his way, never speaking a word."

What this gentleman did certainly doesn't see…

What exactly do you believe about Jesus? Some years ago, in my seminary days, our first course in Systematic Theology dealt with that question. Our professor described Jesus as "the proleptic, salvific, hidden appearance of the eschatological kingdom of God." Did you get that? Take notes; there might be a test at the end of this. "The proleptic, salvific, hidden appearance of the eschatological kingdom of God." On our way out of class that morning, with the words of our gospel in mind, we chuckled at the whole thing: "Jesus said to them, 'Who do YOU say that I am?' Simon Peter replied, 'You are the proleptic, salvific, hidden appearance of the eschat…

When I was in the hospital, I received many cards. Among them was one that had an actual mustard seed in a little container pasted on the front of it along with the words, "For if you had faith even as small as a tiny mustard seed you could say to this mountain, ‘Move!’ and it would go away. Nothing would be impossible." A mustard seed is really no big deal. But from this small seed grows a very large plant in a very short period of time.

Using a tiny mustard seed, Jesus suggests a very remarkable thing. He says that if …

The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a severe yeast infection and complications from repeated pokes to the belly. Doughboy was buried in one of the largest funeral ceremonies in recent years. Dozens of celebrities turned out, including Mrs. Butterworth, the California Raisins, Hungry Jack, Betty Crocke…

There is an ancient legend about the monk who found a precious stone, a precious jewel. A short time later, the monk met a traveler, who said he was hungry and asked the monk if he would share some of his provisions. When the monk opened his bag, the traveler saw the precious stone and, on an impulse, asked the monk if he could have it. Amazingly, the monk gave the tra…

It is fascinating to me that in our Protestant religious culture, such a strong emphases is placed upon literal interpretation. Interestingly, Jesus so often did not speak literally, but figuratively. He spoke in allegories and images. He painted word pictures. Instead of literally coming out and saying what he meant, he so often would tell a story and let people draw their own conclusion. Indeed, these hidden messages of Jesus frequently frustrated his disciples. They wished that he would speak literally and not be quite so subtle.

This morning we take a look at one of the "I Am" sayings of Jesus. Jesus said: I am the true vine. Now, even the most ardent fundamentalist has to agree that when Jesus spoke these words he was not speaking literally. Obviously, if we are to understand what Je…

We live in a universe and in a world with huge threats to existence and with sickeningly large social and geopolitical problems. There are meteors hurtling through space, many of which would wipe out life on earth if they struck us. There are dictators harboring or seeking weapons of mass destruction, many of which threaten our survival as a species. In the Middle East but in so many other places, too, there are seemingly intractable hatreds and prejudices between and among various ethnic groups. There are diseases like viruses galloping through continents, threatening to wipe out the tens-of-thousands if not hundreds. Hunger and poverty loom …

1. If anything can go wrong, it will.
2. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems.
3. Everything takes longer than you expect.
4. If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will go wrong first will be the one that will do the most damage.
5. Left to themselves, all things go from bad to worse.
6. If you play with something long enough, you will surely break it.
7. If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
8. If you see that there are four possible ways in which a procedure can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.
9. Nature always sides with the hidden flaw.
10. It is impossible to make anything foolproof, because fools are so ingenious.
11. The consumer report on the item will come out a week after yo…

In his book, Be an Extraordinary Person in an Ordinary World, Rev. Robert H. Schuller tells the story behind a seed he received one day from Ansley Mueller, a farmer in Pleasant Plains, Ohio. "For years," said Rev. Schuller, "I've been teaching the principle, 'Any fool can count the seeds in an apple. Only God can count the apples in one seed.'" Well, Ansley Mueller had been listening to this principle, and he sent this letter with a soybean seed:

"It was 1977, Dr. Schuller, and I lost half my crop. It was a bad, bad year. It was so wet I couldn't get half of it harvested and it didn't develop. So, at the end of the year, in October, I would walk through the fields and try to pick up a bushel here …

This statement (Matt 12:32, par Mk. 3:29, Luke 12:10) has been the subject of much questioning. Obviously the reference here is not to the naming of the Holy Spirit in a blasphemous utterance, for in Matt. 12:32 even blasphemy against the Son of man can be forgiven. Among the many attempts at exegesis, the most convincing is the suggestion that the man who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit is he who has recognized that God is working through the Holy Spirit in the actions of Jesus, and who quite consciously "misrepresent faith in God as faith in the devil.  This saying is an extremely serious warning against the demonic and scarcely conceivable potential in man: To declare war on God.  This is not done in weakness and doubt, but by one who has been overcome by the Holy Spirit and who know…

One day my wife brought a jar and asked me to open it for her. I tried and tried to open that jar, but my hands just weren't strong enough to hold the jar tightly and turn the lid. It is a little embarrassing to a man when a woman asks him to open a jar and he can't do it, so I decided that I needed to increase the strength in my hands. I got a hand exerciser to help me. You have probably seen one of these. You just squeeze the two sides together, like this. If y…

Tony Campolo in his book, Who Switched the Price Tags?, gives us a beautiful example of the kind of attitude that accompanies mustard seed faith. He tells of Lord Chesterton who suggested that God got a childlike excitement out of His work. "As a matter of fact, he contended that God may be the only one left in the universe who has childlike emotions about work, while all the rest of us have grown old and cynical because of sin. God never tires of what He does. He enjoys it.

If you take a five-year-old child, throw her into the air, catch her, …

The Order of the Mustard Seed founded by Count Zinzendo…

Esther 1:12 - "But Queen Vashti refused to come to the king’s command conveyed by the eunuchs. At this the king was enraged, and his anger burned within him."

Isaiah 39:7 - "And some of your own sons, who are born to you, shall be taken away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."

Daniel 1:9 - "And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs."

In earliest times, eunuchs were castrated males who watched over the king’s harem. From the employment of such men, the term came to designate an officer, whether physically a eunuch or not. This word also sometimes translated as officer or as chamberlain.

For a time, eunuchs were found in the states neighboring Israel, but not in Israel itself. This was because the Mosaic law forbade th…

Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement and an extraordinarily faithful laywoman, was often approached by people who said things to her like, “You are a saint,” “You are so special – a true gift of God as a person.” She hated that! She was quite gruff with those who suggested such …

Matthew 13:45 - "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls."

Nehemiah 3:32 - "And between the upper chamber of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants repair."

The distribution and sale of goods is probably the oldest and most wide-spread phase of trading, and the market place was very important in the lives of the people. Here it was that the merchants plied their trade. Their places were usually near the gate (as we see in our second text), or in the open square in the center of the city. Often certain streets were set aside for some particular trade or merchandise.

Surplus produce and …

I want to invite you to use your imagination this morning. Imagine that you are a network executive. In fact, you possess the power to decide which television shows are produced and aired. As you sit behind your desk drinking a latte, of course a man comes to your office to pitch an idea. He wants to hire a handful of antique appraisers from places like Sotheby's and Christies, rent convention centers in a handful of cities, and invite John and Jane Public to bring their knick knacks, collectibles and attic treasures in for appraisal. And the real exciting part is the fact that…

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten students waiting for a professor to return to his office. They needed his signature to add his course, and the forms were due early the next day. Five were wise and five were foolish. The wise ones brought something to eat while they waited, but the foolish ones did not. The professor…

When Jesus came to Galilee, he began his preaching with the message, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And the expectations of the people soared to heights not known since Solomon. They had been oppressed, depressed, distressed, and had been waiting for the day when from their midst a hero would arise to lay a left hook on the jaw of the hated Roman Empire, restore the glory of the dim and distant yesteryear, and make those good things happen that the prophets had foretold. The land should bloom again, poverty should be exchanged for prosperity, and swords should be beaten into plowshares.

So there were fishermen who dropped their nets and fo…

If the disciples were students and Jesus was professor the beatitudes would have come off a bit different. Jesus takes his disciples up the mountain and gathers them around, and says,

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek.
Blessed are they that mourn.
Blessed are the merciful.
Blessed are they who thirst f…