September 29th, 2024
by Pastor Jim Szeyller
by Pastor Jim Szeyller
A Call to Shine
Psalm 18: 25 - 30
Matthew 5: 1 - 13
September 29, 2024
It was a beautiful, cloudless, blue-sky day in April. School only had two more months and then Summer would become our new classroom; but that was still in the future - although it was becoming tantalizingly close. I came flying out of class, picked up my two best buddies who lived on the same street that I did, and we began our daily run, downhill, for 2 blocks in Pacific Beach to our homes. It was always a glorious end to the day.
It's funny. I visit that neighborhood now and realize that the small banks of dirt that led down to each house and that we ran downhill and jumped over were really just small bumps. But at the time, we felt like mountain goats flying off one side of the mountain to land on a lower portion of that same hill.
Our house was on the corner, and it actually had a four or five-foot bank down from our neighbors above us. On top of that, for some reason, they had planted a hedge right where we used to jump. My buddies cleared that hedge easily, landing on their feet and they would run on down the hill to their homes.
I, on the other hand, performed my usual crash through the hedge, rolled a bit on the grass, picked myself up and turned the corner to come in through the front door.
Oh, what a day. Not only was school out. Not only was it warm and beautiful. Not only had I successfully completed all of my jumps coming down the two blocks from school – with the usual exception of my failed hedge jump – but we had company!
A car was sitting in our driveway that I didn’t recognize and so that usually meant that my mom, the consummate hostess, had laid out some drinks and snacks for our guest. Now we weren’t allowed to touch those goodies while the guests were there, but when they left, whatever was leftover was fair game. Oh, what a day this was turning out to be!
What a day it turned out to be!
Turns out that our pastor, who was also a chaplain in the Naval Reserve was there and in uniform. My Mom was oddly restrained, clearly just barely holding herself together. My older brother came home early from school – someone had gone and pulled him out of school. Then, with all 4 kids in tow – ranging from seven to thirteen – my mom led us back into her bedroom where all serious conversations were always held.
“Kids, your dad has been in an accident.” I will never forget those words. Our father, a radar intercept officer in an F-4 Phantom – a backseater – had not been able to get out of the plane after it had crashed into the Gulf of Tonkin. He would not be coming home.
As you can imagine, it was instant chaos. Women from our church, the wife of the squadron commanding officer all came in for our family. With the C.O.’s wife, we walked down to the house of my dad’s best friend – also an aviator - so that she could tell his wife, Mrs. Elie, what had happened. From there I took her down to another home and the news soon made its way up and down the street.
Sadly, it was a street that was not unacquainted with wartime death notices. Five times that year, the dark blue four door sedan driven by the Navy notification personnel had made its way around our neighborhood.
We spent most of the summer in Pennsylvania at the homes of my aunts and uncles trying to figure out if we were even going to go back to San Diego. When we came back, because we no longer qualified for military housing, our house got packed up and we moved in with neighbors until my mother was able to purchase a home from her survivor benefits.
We came back home to San Diego, but life was so, so very different. Holidays were strange. There was an empty seat at the table. Sports were no longer attended by at least one parent because our only parent now had to work.
By far, one of the hardest things was being told over and over again, by countless well-intentioned people, that this was somehow God’s plan. We heard all the platitudes, all the things that we say when we are trying to be comforting to someone who has experienced great loss. “God is in control. Nothing happens that isn’t God’s will. You may not understand it now, but some day you will.”
God had moved from Comforter to Perpetrator.
As time went by my anger grew. From a kid who always enjoyed going to any church activity I now went only when I was forced. As my anger spiraled, so did my bad behavior. By the eighth grade I was getting suspended for having alcohol in my school locker. As a ninth grader I got suspended for throwing a school desk out a window.
It got only worse in high school, and I will leave those stories to your imagination. It is embarrassing enough just to have to admit that this was the kind of kid I was.
By 11th grade I was still angry, but I had met a young lady with whom I was head over heels in love. But she would only continue to see me if I went to church with her and it was there, in that church youth group, that I learned that God wasn’t the cause of what had happened to me – God was the answer. God was – and is – the answer to the brokenness, to the chaos, to the horrible things that we do to each other. God is the answer – NOT the perpetrator. That understanding turned my world upside down.
So much of life is humanity accumulating, humanity hoarding, humanity taking, and humanity defending. So much of life is one person telling another person that, if someone does not agree with him, then that person is wrong – and so wrong that he is going to hell for it. So much of life is a deviation from what God had created – at odds with God’s intentions. So much of life is us reacting to what goes on around us in hopes that the trajectory of life, the current in which we are swimming, will finally takes us to where we think we want to go.
Friends, God has so much more in mind for us than despair; so much more in mind for us than quiet desperation. So much of what we read about, watch on the news, or have come across our various social media platforms is humanity screaming out in alienation – pushed to the margins of society; screaming out in pain and heartache, screaming out in hopes that someone will hear and point them to a gracious, meaningful purpose for life. This can’t be all there is!
Beloved, it is not. We were created for relationship – with God and one another! The brokenness experienced by so many is defined as brokenness and answered by the wholeness we realize in Jesus Christ. The lack of purpose, the inability to affect change is met by Holy Spirit power! So much of life seems to cast us as simple reactionaries to whatever wind, whatever storm, whatever current blows our way. Faith, faith – and notice that I said faith not religion – faith helps us to see God’s answers to the things that assail us.
And here is the amazing news. We can become God’s answer to the prayers of the broken. We can become God’s answer to the pain and heartache experienced by so many. We can become God’s answer when the tragedies of life leave us and others angry and destructive.
How? Friends, pick up your Orders of Worship and I want you to read aloud along with me. How can we be God’s light in the darkness? Read it with me! Read with me verses 3 through 11 of Chapter 5 in Matthew. Read with me the Beatitudes. Read how our faith light can defeat worldly darkness!
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
THIS is how our light shines. When we demonstrate through our behavior that our faith actually makes a difference in how we act. In a world that is sick and tired of religiosity – of sermons preached on Sunday and then ignored Monday through Saturday - this is how we demonstrate the transformation we have experienced in Christ. In a world that is thirsting for meaning, hungering for the bread of life, seeking a life filled with peace, calm, and still waters – even in the midst of chaos – it is our blessing to be signposts for the faith when we live unto our high calling as the children of God.
In a world of manipulative marketing people crave authenticity; in a world twisted and distorted by the hot air bellowed out be so many in our society that pretend to have answers; in a world filled with hurting souls that have been sold a bogus set of religious goods we have the high calling of reflecting the bright light of Jesus into the dark corners of our existence.
Trusting God, guided by our Savior Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit – living in that grace and love - we can do this! Let’s get to it. Amen.
Psalm 18: 25 - 30
Matthew 5: 1 - 13
September 29, 2024
It was a beautiful, cloudless, blue-sky day in April. School only had two more months and then Summer would become our new classroom; but that was still in the future - although it was becoming tantalizingly close. I came flying out of class, picked up my two best buddies who lived on the same street that I did, and we began our daily run, downhill, for 2 blocks in Pacific Beach to our homes. It was always a glorious end to the day.
It's funny. I visit that neighborhood now and realize that the small banks of dirt that led down to each house and that we ran downhill and jumped over were really just small bumps. But at the time, we felt like mountain goats flying off one side of the mountain to land on a lower portion of that same hill.
Our house was on the corner, and it actually had a four or five-foot bank down from our neighbors above us. On top of that, for some reason, they had planted a hedge right where we used to jump. My buddies cleared that hedge easily, landing on their feet and they would run on down the hill to their homes.
I, on the other hand, performed my usual crash through the hedge, rolled a bit on the grass, picked myself up and turned the corner to come in through the front door.
Oh, what a day. Not only was school out. Not only was it warm and beautiful. Not only had I successfully completed all of my jumps coming down the two blocks from school – with the usual exception of my failed hedge jump – but we had company!
A car was sitting in our driveway that I didn’t recognize and so that usually meant that my mom, the consummate hostess, had laid out some drinks and snacks for our guest. Now we weren’t allowed to touch those goodies while the guests were there, but when they left, whatever was leftover was fair game. Oh, what a day this was turning out to be!
What a day it turned out to be!
Turns out that our pastor, who was also a chaplain in the Naval Reserve was there and in uniform. My Mom was oddly restrained, clearly just barely holding herself together. My older brother came home early from school – someone had gone and pulled him out of school. Then, with all 4 kids in tow – ranging from seven to thirteen – my mom led us back into her bedroom where all serious conversations were always held.
“Kids, your dad has been in an accident.” I will never forget those words. Our father, a radar intercept officer in an F-4 Phantom – a backseater – had not been able to get out of the plane after it had crashed into the Gulf of Tonkin. He would not be coming home.
As you can imagine, it was instant chaos. Women from our church, the wife of the squadron commanding officer all came in for our family. With the C.O.’s wife, we walked down to the house of my dad’s best friend – also an aviator - so that she could tell his wife, Mrs. Elie, what had happened. From there I took her down to another home and the news soon made its way up and down the street.
Sadly, it was a street that was not unacquainted with wartime death notices. Five times that year, the dark blue four door sedan driven by the Navy notification personnel had made its way around our neighborhood.
We spent most of the summer in Pennsylvania at the homes of my aunts and uncles trying to figure out if we were even going to go back to San Diego. When we came back, because we no longer qualified for military housing, our house got packed up and we moved in with neighbors until my mother was able to purchase a home from her survivor benefits.
We came back home to San Diego, but life was so, so very different. Holidays were strange. There was an empty seat at the table. Sports were no longer attended by at least one parent because our only parent now had to work.
By far, one of the hardest things was being told over and over again, by countless well-intentioned people, that this was somehow God’s plan. We heard all the platitudes, all the things that we say when we are trying to be comforting to someone who has experienced great loss. “God is in control. Nothing happens that isn’t God’s will. You may not understand it now, but some day you will.”
God had moved from Comforter to Perpetrator.
As time went by my anger grew. From a kid who always enjoyed going to any church activity I now went only when I was forced. As my anger spiraled, so did my bad behavior. By the eighth grade I was getting suspended for having alcohol in my school locker. As a ninth grader I got suspended for throwing a school desk out a window.
It got only worse in high school, and I will leave those stories to your imagination. It is embarrassing enough just to have to admit that this was the kind of kid I was.
By 11th grade I was still angry, but I had met a young lady with whom I was head over heels in love. But she would only continue to see me if I went to church with her and it was there, in that church youth group, that I learned that God wasn’t the cause of what had happened to me – God was the answer. God was – and is – the answer to the brokenness, to the chaos, to the horrible things that we do to each other. God is the answer – NOT the perpetrator. That understanding turned my world upside down.
So much of life is humanity accumulating, humanity hoarding, humanity taking, and humanity defending. So much of life is one person telling another person that, if someone does not agree with him, then that person is wrong – and so wrong that he is going to hell for it. So much of life is a deviation from what God had created – at odds with God’s intentions. So much of life is us reacting to what goes on around us in hopes that the trajectory of life, the current in which we are swimming, will finally takes us to where we think we want to go.
Friends, God has so much more in mind for us than despair; so much more in mind for us than quiet desperation. So much of what we read about, watch on the news, or have come across our various social media platforms is humanity screaming out in alienation – pushed to the margins of society; screaming out in pain and heartache, screaming out in hopes that someone will hear and point them to a gracious, meaningful purpose for life. This can’t be all there is!
Beloved, it is not. We were created for relationship – with God and one another! The brokenness experienced by so many is defined as brokenness and answered by the wholeness we realize in Jesus Christ. The lack of purpose, the inability to affect change is met by Holy Spirit power! So much of life seems to cast us as simple reactionaries to whatever wind, whatever storm, whatever current blows our way. Faith, faith – and notice that I said faith not religion – faith helps us to see God’s answers to the things that assail us.
And here is the amazing news. We can become God’s answer to the prayers of the broken. We can become God’s answer to the pain and heartache experienced by so many. We can become God’s answer when the tragedies of life leave us and others angry and destructive.
How? Friends, pick up your Orders of Worship and I want you to read aloud along with me. How can we be God’s light in the darkness? Read it with me! Read with me verses 3 through 11 of Chapter 5 in Matthew. Read with me the Beatitudes. Read how our faith light can defeat worldly darkness!
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
THIS is how our light shines. When we demonstrate through our behavior that our faith actually makes a difference in how we act. In a world that is sick and tired of religiosity – of sermons preached on Sunday and then ignored Monday through Saturday - this is how we demonstrate the transformation we have experienced in Christ. In a world that is thirsting for meaning, hungering for the bread of life, seeking a life filled with peace, calm, and still waters – even in the midst of chaos – it is our blessing to be signposts for the faith when we live unto our high calling as the children of God.
In a world of manipulative marketing people crave authenticity; in a world twisted and distorted by the hot air bellowed out be so many in our society that pretend to have answers; in a world filled with hurting souls that have been sold a bogus set of religious goods we have the high calling of reflecting the bright light of Jesus into the dark corners of our existence.
Trusting God, guided by our Savior Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit – living in that grace and love - we can do this! Let’s get to it. Amen.
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