Once upon a time there were two teenage hunters named Billy and Johnny who were out hunting deer with their bows and arrows. Suddenly, they came across a giant grizzly bear! Realizing that their bows and arrows were useless against such a creature, they threw them to the ground. Billy shot into a nearby cave, while Johnny scrambled up a tree. The bear – perhaps amazed by his good fortune – ambled over and plopped himself down between the cave and the tree. Well, after a couple of minutes, Billy came darting out of the cave so fast that he almost ran into the bear. Then he stopped, and raced back into the cave. A couple of minutes later, Billy again came darting out of the cave so fast that he almost ran into the bear again, then he turned and raced back into the cave. Johnny cried out from his perch in the tree, "Billy! Stay in the cave!" To which Billy replied, "I can’t! There’s a bear in the cave as well!" Do you ever feel like that in your life? You run away from one problem, only to find another problem waiting there to greet you. Perhaps it’s this kind of thing that led someone to coin the phrase, "Out of the frying pan, into the fire."

I suspect the disciples could relate to that kind of feeling in the passage we read from the gospel according to Matthew. Let me set the scene for you. Jesus has just fed the 5000 with but five loaves of bread and two fish. Now this was a very stressful thing for the disciples. The disciples had no idea how Jesus could feed so many with so little. Of course, it was then that Jesus performed his miracle. He fed the 5000 and they had twelve baskets of leftovers. Then Jesus sent his disciples out in a boat to go to the other side of the sea while he dismissed the crowds. Jesus dismissed the crowds, then went off by himself to pray. In the meantime, however, a great storm arose on the sea. The disciples were tossed about so violently that they feared for their very lives. Then Jesus came to them, walking on the water. He calmed the storm, and everything was all right. But let’s look at this from the disciples’ perspective. Remember, they were simply obeying Christ’s command. They were doing exactly what Jesus had told them to do, and they found themselves in the midst of this terrible storm. Deep, deep down, don’t we all want to believe that if we are doing the will of God that we can avoid these storms in life? Deep, deep down, don’t we all want to believe that being faithful will keep us out of the frying pan AND out of the fire? In my last church, there was a relatively young man who was diagnosed with leukemia. It was a long and arduous ordeal, but in the end, he died. I remember meeting with the family in the aftermath. This man’s son – who was probably in his early twenties at the time – looked at me in disgust and said, "You know, my father was an elder in your church!" In other words, this young man believed his father was a faithful Christian, and as a faithful Christian, God should have prevented his father’s death. Deep, deep down, don’t we all want to believe that our faith in God will prevent the storms that arise in our lives?

Let’s take a look at Joseph, about whom we read in the book of Genesis. Joseph, of course, was one of Jacob’s youngest sons. Joseph was his father’s favorite and his father made no bones about it. He gave Joseph a beautiful robe which we refer to today as the "Technicolor Dreamcoat." And, Joseph was something of a little snot. He once told his brothers of a dream he’d had in which they all bowed down to him. His brothers grew to despise him. Well, one time Jacob sent Joseph off to check on his brothers while they were tending sheep. They saw him off in the distance and they plotted to take his life. Big brother Reuben prevented that, however. Instead, they stripped him of his robe and threw him into a pit. Later, they pulled him out of the pit and sold him as a slave to a caravan of Ishmaelites. In the meantime, they rent Joseph’s robe, threw goat’s blood on it, and took it to their father. Their father believed a wild beast had eaten him. The caravan of Ishmaelites then went into Egypt. They sold Joseph to Potiphar, a captain in Pharaoh’s guard. Then Potiphar’s wife took a liking to Joseph and tried to lure him astray. But Joseph would have nothing to do with that. Finally, she made one last play for Joseph and Joseph ran away. She accused Joseph of trying to "assault" her, and Joseph landed in prison. Then he came in contact with some of Pharaoh’s imprisoned servants. He interpreted their dreams. Years later, he was brought before Pharaoh to interpret one of his troubled dreams. In the end, Joseph became second in command in all of Egypt. During a famine, Joseph’s brothers – remember them – came to Egypt to buy food. Just as Joseph had predicted years before, they bowed before Joseph. But Joseph wasn’t angry with them. He believed that THROUGH his sufferings, God had brought him to Egypt to preserve life. He turned his tragedy into a triumph. Back in 1980, a woman named Candy Lightener lost her daughter to a drunk driver…a repeat offender. She turned her tragedy into a triumph as well. She formed the group, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and changed a lot of laws in this country. In our own community there’s a group called The Compassionate Friends. It’s for those who have suffered the loss of a child. Last Christmas, I had the pleasure of hearing a man speak about the loss of his own son. It was truly a moving speech. This is a man who used his own suffering to ease the suffering of others. He turned his tragedy into a triumph.

But it doesn’t always work that way, does it? I had some friends a number of years ago who lost their oldest son in a motorcycle accident. They were devout Lutherans, but after they lost their son, they abandoned the church. They began to refer to themselves as ATHEISTS. Now atheism means, literally, anti-theism, or, anti-God. Personally, I’m convinced that agnosticism is worse than atheism. Atheism says there is no God. Agnosticism says, "Maybe there is a God, maybe there isn’t. I don’t really care." You see, I don’t believe that the opposite of love is hate. I believe the opposite of love is apathy. Sometimes there’s a fine line between love and hate. Atheists, in my experience, are reacting to something tragic in their lives. And we can’t be critical of them until we’ve walked a mile in their shoes. So how do we combat atheism? We surround them with love. Love is the only thing that can conquer hate. Love is the only thing that can conquer atheism.

Ladies and gentlemen, sometimes in this life we encounter the perfect storm. Some-times bad things happen to us in spite of our faith. Some people can turn their tragedies into triumphs, while some people can’t seem to do that right away. My prayer is that we will all be able to surround these people with love. Then, in time, maybe Jesus will come and calm the storms in their lives. Amen.

The death of a loved one is always a time of deep sorrow and lament. But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve met with the families of the "dearly departed," and they get to telling stories about the times they had together, and then they get to laughing hysterically. You’ve heard people say, "I laughed so hard I cried," haven’t you? Here it seems the opposite is true. It’s almost like, "I cried so hard, I had to laugh."

Such was the case with a family I once read about called the Williams family. John Williams, a son, relays the following tale:

Personally, I think that song might have been very appropriate. As Christians, that’s what we believe, isn’t it? We don’t believe that life ends at death. We believe life goes on, and that we dwell forevermore in the very hands of God. If that’s not a wild, blue yonder, I don’t know what is!

This is the very subject the Apostle Paul is dealing with in the passage we read from the book of Romans. He’s dealing with this concept of eternal life. Yet not only does Paul address the fact that there is eternal life, he’s also tackling the issue of who it is that receives eternal life.

Let me break the circumstances down. Paul was actually dealing with a problem that had arisen. The Jews had long believed that they were the chosen people of God and that the Gentiles were rejected. Gentiles, of course, were any who were not Jewish. Thus, the Jews believed that they were chosen, and everyone else was out of the loop.

Ah, but now that Christ has come, God’s covenant with humanity has been thrown wide open. Now the Gentiles – thanks to the inclusive nature of Christ’s gospel and the ministry of the Apostle Paul – now the Gentiles have the hope of life everlasting as well. So what did they do? They adopted that same exclusive mode of thought the Jews had subscribed to before them. The Gentiles came to believe that they were the chosen people of God, and that the Jews were now rejected. Do you see the problem here?

Paul makes the point that both Jews and Gentiles are among the chosen people of God. In fact, we Gentiles – and we are among those whom the Bible would classify as Gentiles – we Gentiles actually owe our chosen status to the Jews.

The Jews were the chosen people of God. Only they did not do with their chosen status what God intended them to do with their chosen status. Instead of sharing God’s love with the world, they hoarded it unto themselves. That, in my opinion, is one of the reasons God sent his Son into the world in the first place. The Jews had laid out their definition of God and the exclusive nature of their chosen status. In Jesus Christ it was almost as if God was saying, "No, no, no! THIS is who I am! THIS is what I mean!" As Paul says, it was the disobedience of the Jews that led to the advent of Jesus Christ. And it is because of their disobedience that we have a savior in Jesus Christ.

Thus, we are counted among God’s elect because of the person of Jesus Christ. Are the Jews therefore rejected? "By no means!" Paul adamantly says. "God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew," he adds. Jews and Gentiles now share the same status as chosen people of God.

"But wait a minute," you say. "Haven’t we glossed over this Jewish disobedience rather hastily? Shouldn’t they be made to suffer for their disobedience? Shouldn’t there be some price to pay?

Ah, the Apostle Paul anticipates that argument as well. He concludes our passage with these words: "For God has consigned all people to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all." Again, "For God has consigned all people to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all."

Do you see what Paul is saying? He’s saying, "Yes, the Jews were disobedient, but so are you. All are disobedient, that God may have mercy on all." All are disobedient, that God may have mercy on all.

Ladies and gentlemen, that is why we confess our sin during worship. We confess our sin because we are disobedient; because we do make mistakes; because we are not perfect. Yet these days, that’s not the "trendy" thing to do in worship. We don’t want to confess our sin because we really don’t think we’re all that bad. So in order to appeal to a more vast number of people, churches all across the nation are eliminating the confession of sin from the Sunday morning liturgy.

Miroslav Volf recently talked about that phenomenon in an article entitled, "Is It God’s Business?" in The Christian Century magazine. He wrote:

A confession of sin – the recognition of our own disobedience – is not the "trendy" thing to do these days. Say in the world today that you are a despicable sinner in need of the grace of God, and people will likely refer you to a good psychologist. That psychologist would then, likely, have you work on your self-esteem. Ah, confession of sin – the recognition of our own disobedience – is not the trendy thing to do these days.

Yet it is essential. Let’s go back to the Apostle Paul’s argument. He said, "God has consigned all people to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all." That’s a hard pill to swallow – that God has consigned all of us to disobedience. What I think that means is that God allows us to choose between right and wrong – between good and evil – and will not force our hand one way or the other.

Yet that’s not the point. Remember, Paul was dealing with the disobedience of the Jews, and the Gentiles’ desire to see themselves as "chosen" and the Jews as "rejected." Paul admits that the Jews were disobedient. Yet he clearly indicates that the Gentiles are disobedient as well. No one is perfect. All are in need of the mercy of God. AND IT IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL THAT WE, AS CHRISTIANS, RECOGNIZE THAT FACT! Let me try to show you why that is.

"Jake" was a man I knew a number of years ago. He was a hard worker, but he was the kind of guy for whom things always just seemed to turn out wrong. Many were the times that his mother or one of his siblings gave him a few bucks to help him out of a jam.

Then his mother died. When the inheritance was distributed, Jake found that his share was not nearly as large as were the shares of his brothers and sisters. (You see, his mother had subtracted out what he’d already received.) Jake was very bitter about that. In fact, his rage seethed and he cut off all ties with his family from that point on. How does that old adage go? "True love means never having to say you’re sorry?" I say, "Nothing could be further from the truth!"

Years later, on his deathbed, Jake tried to make amends with his brothers and his sisters. Amends were made, but a lot of years of bitterness and hatred were simply lost years. You see, one cannot show mercy until one has experienced mercy for one’s self. That is the "mystery" of mercy. It must be experienced in order to be shared. Had Jake only recognized the mercy he’d received from his family all along, a lot of pain might have been averted.

When one allows one’s hatred to seethe, one is capable of ungodly things. One might cut himself off from those who mean the most to him. One might go so far as to convince a nation that they are members of a Master Race. One might go so far as to convince his allies to kill thousands of innocent people by flying jet airplanes into big buildings or setting off bombs in railway stations. That’s what happens when we don’t sense our own imperfections, and our own need for mercy. We become merciless, vindictive, vengeful.

The Apostle Paul urged the Gentiles to recognize their own need for mercy that they might be merciful themselves. All are in need of the mercy of God. Yet one cannot show such mercy until one has experienced it for one’s self. Recognize your own disobedience first. Recognize your own need for mercy first. Then show that same kind of mercy to those with whom you come in contact every day. And if you do – if you manage to show such mercy to others – then you, too, will begin to understand the mystery of mercy. Amen.

I use that lengthy introduction to promote my own platform, I suppose, but more so to introduce the following prayer. It was actually written by a student in Arizona, and it’s entitled, "New School Prayer." Listen closely to the words.

Now I sit me down in school   Where praying is against the rule,

For this great nation under God  Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites  It violates the Bill of Rights.

And any time my head I bow  Becomes a fed’ral matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,  That’s not offense – it’s a freedom scene.

The law is specific, the law is precise:  Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall  Might offend one with no faith at all.

In silence we must meditate;  God’s name’s prohibited by the state.

We’re allowed to cuss and dress like freaks  And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.

They’ve outlawed guns, but first the Bible:  To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant senior queen,  And the "unwed daddy" our senior king.

It’s inappropriate to teach them right from wrong;  We’re taught such "judgments" don’t belong.

We can get all kinds of birth controls,  Study witchcraft, vampires and trolls.

But the Ten Commandments are not allowed.  No word of God must reach this crowd.

It’s scary here, I must confess;  When chaos reigns, the school’s a mess.

So, Lord, this silent plea I make:  Should I be shot, my soul please take!

Like I said, I’m not up here campaigning for legalized school prayer. I honestly believe we have greater problems in our schools. I present that prayer for one reason and one reason only. I think it illustrates – quite vividly – where we turn when we’ve nowhere left to turn. All ideologies aside, it’s like someone once said: THERE ARE NO ATHEISTS IN FOXHOLES. Where do we ultimately turn for protection when all else fails? Ultimately, everyone turns to God.

The Hebrew people turned to God for protection as well in the passage we read from the book of Exodus. They’d been in Egypt for 400 years, and Pharaoh had turned them into slaves. God heard their cries for deliverance and sent them a deliverer – a deliverer by the name of Moses.

Ten plagues were foisted upon Egypt in an attempt to get Pharaoh to let God’s people go. After each of the first nine plagues, the heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he made life worse for the Hebrew people. The first nine plagues were these: the River Nile was turned to blood; then came frogs and gnats and flies. Then Egyptian cattle died, and the people were infested with boils. Then came hail, then came locusts, then came darkness. In the aftermath of each of these first nine plagues, Pharaoh refused to let God’s people go.

The tenth plague – the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back – was the angel of death. The angel of death descended into Egypt and claimed the life of the first-born child in every Egyptian home, including the home of Pharaoh. Pharaoh then relented, and let God’s people go.

Our passage in the 12^th chapter of the book of Exodus reveals how the Hebrew people were protected from the angel of death. It’s really quite specific. Each Hebrew family was to take a lamb and eat it roasted – not raw or boiled – but roasted. They were to take some of the blood and spread it across the doorframes of their homes. Thus, the angel of death PASSED OVER the Hebrew homes, and the lives of their children were spared.

Jewish people celebrate PASSOVER to this day. This was a major event in the history of these people. It was so significant that this event came to mark the first month of the Hebrew calendar. This month is now called NISAN. Nisan is not a Japanese automobile. Nisan is the first month in the Hebrew calendar – nearly corresponding with March – which commemorates the "passing over" of the angel of death. It is symbolic of God’s protection of his people. In the Christian tradition, this Passover celebration is somewhat mimicked in the sacrament of communion, but we don’t have time to go into that now. Nisan – the first month of the Hebrew year – commemorates God’s protection.

Now isn’t that a marvelous story? But what does it have to do with us? We’re not in bondage – except, maybe, to the gasoline companies. We don’t need a Moses. We have no fear of the angel of death…or do we?

I’m going to tell you a story that really rattled my cage. I hope it rattles yours. Listen to a story entitled, KIDS ON-LINE.

Footsteps…Shannon could hear the footsteps behind her as she walked toward home. The thought of being followed made her heart beat faster. "You’re being silly," she told herself. "No one is following you." To be on the safe side, however, she began to walk faster – but the footsteps kept up with her pace. She was afraid to look back, and she was glad she was almost home.

Shannon said a quick prayer: "God, please get me home safely!" She saw the porch light burning, and ran the rest of the way to her house. Once inside, she leaned against the door for a moment, relieved to be in the safety of her home. She glanced out the window to see if someone was there. The sidewalk was empty. After tossing her books on the sofa, she decided to grab a snack and get on-line. She logged on under her screen name: ByAngel213. She checked her Buddy List and saw GoTo123 was on. She sent him an instant message.

ByAngel213: Hi! I’m glad you’re on! I thought someone was following me home today. It was really weird!

GoTo123: You watch too much T.V.! Why would someone be following you? Don’t you live in a safe neighborhood?

ByAngel213: Of course I do! I guess it was my imagination cuz I didn’t see anybody when I looked out.

GoTo123: Unless you gave your name out on-line. You haven’t done that, have you?

ByAngel213: Of course not! I’m not stupid, you know.

GoTo123: Did you have a softball game after school today?

ByAngel213: Yes, and we won!

GoTo123: That’s great! Who did you play?

ByAngel213: We played the Hornets. Their uniforms are so gross! They look like bees.

GoTo123: What is your team called?

ByAngel213: We’re the Canton Cats. We have tiger paws on our uniforms. They are really kewl!

GoTo123: Did you pitch?

ByAngel213: No, I play second base. Hey, I gotta go. My homework has to be done before my parents get home. I don’t want them mad at me. Bye!

Meanwhile, GoTo123 went to the member menu and began to search for her profile. When it came up, he highlighted it and printed it out. He took out a pen and began to write down what he knew about ByAngel213 so far.

Her name: Shannon. Birthday: January 3^rd, 1992. Age: 13. State where she lived: North Carolina. Hobbies: softball, chorus, skating, and going to the mall.

Besides this information, he knew she lived in Canton because she had just told him. He knew she stayed by herself until 6:30 p.m. when her parents came home from work. He knew she played softball on Thursday afternoons on the school team, and the team was called the Canton Cats. Her favorite number, "7" was printed on her jersey. He knew she was in the seventh grade at the Canton Junior High School. She had told him all this in their on-line conversations. He had enough information to find her now.

Shannon didn’t tell her parents about the incident on the way home from the ballpark that day. She didn’t want them to make a scene and stop her from walking home from the softball games. Parents were always overreacting, and hers were the worst! It made her wish she was not an only child. Maybe if she had brothers and sisters, her parents wouldn’t be so overprotective.

By the following Thursday, Shannon had forgotten about the footsteps following her. Her game was in full swing when suddenly, she felt someone staring at her. It was then that the memory came back. She glanced up from her second base position to see a man watching her closely. He was leaning against the fence behind first base, and he smiled when she looked at him. He didn’t look scary, and she quickly dismissed the fear she felt.

After the game, the man sat in the bleachers while she talked to the coach. She noticed his smile once again as she walked past him. He nodded, and she smiled back. He noticed the name on the back of her jersey. He knew he had found her.

Quietly, he walked a safe distance behind her. It was only a few blocks to Shannon’s house, and once he saw where she lived he quickly returned to the park to get his car. Now he had to wait. He decided to get a bite to eat until the time came to go to Shannon’s house. He drove to a fast food restaurant, and sat there until it was time to make his move.

Shannon was in her room later that evening when she heard voices in the living room. "Shannon, come here!" her father ordered. He sounded upset, but she couldn’t imagine why. She went into the room, only to see the man from the ballpark sitting on the sofa! "Sit down," her father began. "This man has just told us an interesting story about you!" Shannon moved cautiously to a chair across from the man. How could he tell her parents anything? She had never even seen him before today!

"Do you know who I am, Shannon?" the man asked. "No," Shannon answered. He said, "I am a police officer…and your on-line friend, GoTo123." Shannon was stunned. "That’s impossible!" she cried. "GoTo123 is a kid my age! He’s 14 and he lives in Michigan!"

The man smiled. "I know I told you all that, but it wasn’t true. You see, Shannon, there are people on-line who pretend to be kids. I was one of them. But while others do it to find kids and hurt them, I belong to a group of parents who do it to protect kids from predators. I came here to find you and to teach you how dangerous it is to give out too much information to people on-line. You told me enough about yourself to make it easy for me to find you: your name, the school you go to, the name of your softball team, and the position you play. The number and name on your jersey made finding you a breeze."

Shannon was dumbfounded. "You mean, you don’t live in Michigan?"

The man laughed. "No, I live in Raleigh. It made you feel safe to think I was so far away, didn’t it? (Shannon nodded.) The man continued: "I have a friend who had a daughter just like you. Only she wasn’t so lucky. The guy found her, and killed her while she was home alone. Kids are taught not to tell anyone when they are alone, yet they do it all the time on-line. The wrong people trick you into giving out information – a little here and a little there. Before you know it, you’ve told them enough for them to find you. I hope you’ve learned a lesson from this and won’t do it again."

That night, Shannon and her parents knelt down together and prayed. Then thanked God for protecting Shannon from what could have been a tragic situation. People, the angel of death is alive and well in our world today. Don’t think for a moment that it’s not. There are predators in this world who do the unthinkable. Thank God for people like that police officer! But there are far too few of them to go around.

How do we protect our families and ourselves from the angel of death? How do we protect our families and ourselves from predators in the world? If only it was as simple as it was for the Hebrews. You know, spread a little lamb’s blood on the doorpost so that the angel of death will pass over. It’s not that simple though.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have but one thing to say about this. PUT YOUR TRUST IN GOD. Do not wait until disaster strikes. Put you trust in God, NOW.

Pray together.  Worship together.  Grow together.

It may not protect you from every woe. Children will still get sick. The economy may still collapse. Hardships will still pass through. But as long as our faith rests securely in God – as long as we cling to God for all we’re worth – somehow, we will get by. Amen.