ExtraChristy

Deuteronomy 24:19-22 and Luke 21:1-4 Click to see scripture.

Cutting Corners teaches us to leave some of what is ours for others, for once we were the others.

The CORRECT message is NOW available as a podcast recorded live at our worship service. Click the podcast image to listen now or right click the image and choose "Save As" to save this message in mp3 file format on your computer for playing later.

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Some ideas from Corner in the Nooma video series by Rob Bell

[i]This is a unedited transcript of a message given without notes transcribed by Marissa Hoover (thanks!)[/i]

Cutting corners. Literally, we're talking about cutting corners in, Deuteronomy 21, in that when there is a field that is planted, it is absolutely commanded by God not to harvest the whole fields – to cut corners. Don't take every bit, leave some out there. If you see that you left something, than your to leave it for the alien, the orphan and the widow. It doesn't make any sense at tall, it's totally wrong, very unfair, and I'm even going to say unAmerican. Why should folks that have nothing to do with the production of wealth, share in it? Why should those that have not worked, those that have not contributed, those that do not own the field have any call , claim or part of the fruits of the labor? God isn't fair, though, is he?

I served at a church, in rural Indiana, for ten years. If you wait long enough in Indiana, the Farm Progress Show will come by you. The Farm Progress Show is the greatest show on earth if your a farmer. It is like a state fair on steroids. This is when all the companies come and bring their greatest and best stuff. They bring their combines, their seed and everything else that they want to show you. The Farm Progress Show alternates between the three ' I ' states – Illinois, Iowa and Indiana.

One of the years that I was in Rochester, Indiana, we were blessed with the Farm Progress Show – right there in our town. You never saw better looking fields of corn in your life. They all had their signs up about what seed they use. For the Farm Progress Show, they cut off the first three rows so you can see how great they looked.

We served at the dining tent of the Farm Progress Show. One of the days, I was on the coffee truck and those farmers like their coffee so hot, it's still bubbling when you hand it to them. While we were out there serving coffee, we were looking at the greatest and best combines that they have. I'm talking combines with tractor treads on them. On every one of these combines, they went and harvested a field and they didn't miss a thing. Behind them, all of the farmers walked – picking up the corn cobs. They would look at it to see if there were any kernels left on because that was money left on the ground. The best combine is the one that stripped the corn cobs bare and got every single grain into the truck. That's America but that's not the Bible. The Bible says, “Don't do that. Leave some of what is yours, leave some of what you produce, leave some of what you have paid for and grown for the orphan, the widow and the alien – the illegal immigrants in your land. Socialism?! It's just spreading the wealth around to others. What do we think about that?

If there was a debate, it would be great to talk about what claim the orphan, the widow and the alien have on us. Some people would say, “No, taxes are too high.” I always wanted to ask them, “How high should taxes be?” Would they say zero? The Bible says, “Don't take it all.” Is Capitalism the answer? I'm going to talk about something I know in honor of our guest organist.

The fire department use to be a capitalistic enterprise. They use to place these metal medallions on the sides of peoples houses. These medallions said which insurance company was in charge of fire protection for that house. You bought insurance for your house for fire and each insurance company had a fire department that would come and put out the fires at their houses.

Now, if you didn't have insurance or you had the wrong insurance, they didn't do a thing. As a matter of fact, they would put water on their houses on either side to protect them from the one burning next door because they were insured. It was a very capitalistic system. They had no understanding or motivation to keep the fire from spreading. As long as they kept it off of their properties it was fine. In fact, sometimes it would get comical. If they came to a fire and there was some kind of argument as to which insurance company was in charge of that house; the firefighters would actually fight among themselves over who would put out the fire. They told me in Philadelphia that at times there was

more water on the firefighters than on the other fire company than there was on the fire. It seems a little silly to us – at least I hope it does.

So, we decided to socialize the fire department. We decided that even though everyone doesn't pay the insurance rates or the same company, we believe that it is something the community should provide for every citizen – that no one should have to burn like that. If there is a fire burning anywhere in range of that department, it should be put out to preserve life and property – no matter whose it is. Society seemed to have survived that transition from Capitalism and competition over to community action or being Socialistic is what they call it now. We seem to be better for it.

It's part of the Bible principle that says, “Even those that don't have anything, have a claim on something. If we give into the idea that everything we have is ours and take it all out to the corners, than the corners will be all we have because we are putting ourselves all by ourselves. There is no relationship with the community. You may think of a lot of reasons not to give: other peoples acts, the way other people are, and what people should do. The best reason to give is what it does to you – not them. If you do not give to others, if you are not connected to others, if you do not cut corners so that others will have a little space , you will become a self-made person. That is the smallest package ever made. You'll become just put-up in your own castle with no connection to anything around you that is important. We give for many reasons, but mostly to say we are all part of God's creation

We'll talk about something that is going on now. We are the only country, of the ten industrial countries in the world, that does not provide health care for all citizens. You are telling me that we can't afford it?! You're telling me this while we are paying twice as much as they are for our health care. Gallapol says that more Canadians are happy with their system then Americans – even though we pay double. Fox News put out the same study, but theirs showed that all the other countries were happier with their system than we are with ours. They can get same day, evening and weekend appointments. I'm telling you that we are already rationing our health care. It's called insurance policies and it has caused a billion to pay. In America, 1 out of 4 people don't have a medical procedure done because of cost. It doesn't happen in other countries.

Leave some around the edges for the poor. Leave some around the edges for the widows, the orphans and the aliens in your land. If we cut the corners and take every bit for ourselves, we're going to be standing alone in that corner. No one deserves to be left to die in a house that's burning around them – whether that is a physical house or hell. You cannot explain to me or tell me that we're the only country that can't afford it – if all of the others can. We're better than all those others. I believe that much in America and I believe that much in Scripture and the Bible that tells me not to take everything for myself; but, to leave some for others so that they may have what they need to live. So that I am connected to others and not standing alone in the corner. Amen.

Are you following ChristyRamsey on Twitter?

Here are some gems from the last week:

Crash for Clunkers = Demo Derby at Medina County Fair

My MP3 player has a playlist for my car. The songs have a beat that matches the seat belt alarm.

The last book in a series I ordered 10 years ago came this week. I remember when I used books…

The only answer to “Can you hear me if I don't use the mike?” is “What?”

FAFSA Bribed son with ½ cost of new hard drive to get him to file the dreaded FAFSA. Worth it. Hate that process.

@aflowerwriter I hope the editor's comments were “kind even gentle” Congrats!

Is it wrong to thank God for a Worship sound system tune-up ? Wow! I can hear clearly now the muffle is gone…

@edstetzer Soccer is communist kickball with arms control.

@diannao World Largest steer is on display in Kokomo. Only female in group asked what made a bull a steer. None of us would tell her.

The very pregnant preschool teacher tells me “I think I'm in trouble…” It was't what I thought.

Open Collars and Opening Up One of our youth took this picture of me on the job. No tie but I have my church shirt and name tag on. (Along with a pair of saddlebags!) Ties are very useful. They were the ticket out of lockup when I worked as a prison chaplain. Today a tie and a plastic badge open a way through hospital security. (The official badge alone should work, but it doesn't.) Folks counsel that one should dress for the job you want, not the one you have. If you want a formal church with a large staff, that usually means a jacket and tie. (I served a church like that once...) When I first started in ministry I didn't know what to wear. I was envious of my friends who had uniforms provided at their jobs. Most of the time I dressed up, but now and then, when I was "off duty", my collar was open rather than clerical. I noticed that I had more significant conversations more often when I didn't have a tie on. I decided that that was the job I wanted, talking with people about how God and faith was tied up in their lives and loves. So I dress that for job.

Hope you have someone to talk to about God, faith, and life. If you don't, I'm willing…if I'm not tied up.

[blockquote]Tie A Heavy Burden!?

Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Deed

Originally Worship Rites

Amos 5:21-24 and Matthew 23:1-8 Click to see scripture.

Right Worship is not just Ritual Rites, but how we live our faith with justice and righteousness lifting burdens instead of adding them.

This message is available as a podcast recorded live at our worship service. Click the podcast image to listen now or right click the image and choose "Save As" to save this message in mp3 file format on your computer for playing later.

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some ideas from Sunday in the Nooma video series by Rob Bell

Thanks to Marissa Hoover for transcribing this message!

We're going to talk about burdens today. We had a great experience at Presbytery this past week. We were at a great church named “New Community Church” in North Lima. It's made from an old plant nursery. In reclaiming the space, they've got greenhouses and gardening programs. They even have an Urban Gardening Program in Youngstown. However, the whole meeting was marred for me when the Committee on Ministry got up and proposed this long, long thing that we had to sign and if we didn't do it we would be relieved of our position. I figured it must be some really serious stuff. Some of the stuff was failure to come to a mandatory meeting called by the Executive Presbyter. If I don't go to a meeting, I could be fired. Well, that seemed a little extreme. It also said that I had to come with grace. Now, that is going to be even tougher than actually showing up – if you know me. It's, also, going to be really tough because according to the thing, I was the only one required to come with grace – everybody else could be nasty. So that makes it even tougher.

The thing that really got me was that they said that you were required to take all your time off: at least two days off a week and use all your time off. Now, I don't know if you've totaled it all up, but that's eight Sundays a year. That is really tough to do. I got spoiled and you got spoiled when Sue Tinker and Bo Schneider were with us. I could ask either Bo or Sue to preach for me and there wouldn't be a problem. Then they went off and got their own churches! We are having the hardest time getting someone to come in to sub for me. Yet, here they are saying I have to take all eight days off or I'll be fired.

So, I wrote back. In fact, I wrote back more than they sent out. I had three, single-spaced pages showing them the errors of their ways. I was a little upset with them about several things. One of the things I did say was, in the words of the great Oliver Hardy, “Why don't you do something to help me?!” I pointed out to them that the pulpit supply list they have on the Web -where we find preachers to sub-hasn't been updated in at least six or eight months. How about going to the Joseph Badgers Meadows Camp and saying, “Can you give our pastor a price break so he can take a couple days off in the Sabbath House every year?” What about when you visit and talk to session instead of just telling them that they need the reports to get in and that they need to fill out the forms? Why don't you tell them the basis of why it's important for ministers to take care of themselves and to take the time off and offer them ways that they can do that? How about doing something to help me?!

You always need to watch – at least I do - what makes you angry about in other people because it's usually the stuff you're doing. It is probably an issue in your own life. So, I thought about where all of this was coming from, and came to the conclusion that it's burdens laying on burdens and not lifting a finger – it's all about the church. Just try this: every time you read “Pharisees” substitute “Presbyterians.” – it's the same thing. The Pharisees were the religious party of the good people. They were the people who upheld the law. They were the ones who went to service every Sunday. They were the ones to follow the rules. They were the ones people looked up to –“Presbyterians.” Presbyterians lay on burdens – heavy burdens, and don't lift a finger to help.

I know you're sick of hearing about it, but, coming to church is an amazing thing to try to do. There are seven doors on the church and only two are open – the front and back. You have to know to park around back. It's just simple things like that. There are burdens about people coming in and how they should act. I think perhaps a lot of it is “leftovers.” Some people who are on television, people that get national media or are on the radio think that everyone is like that. They think all the churches are like that. So, a lot of the burdens that people feel when they come into a church and especially sanctuaries, maybe we didn't put there – but they are there. What if our job was, instead of to burden, was to lift these burdens? What if we got the people that aren't acting right to be better?

You know what really annoys me? It is when Christians get together to pass a law to make other people act Christian. That's going backwards. That is like saying, “We give up – the Gospel is no good!” The Christian Church as a whole got a black-eye over the marriage controversy in California. Christians from throughout the nation threw money into California to change California's laws on the basis of their own beliefs; to tell Californians that we're going to give money so you all follow our standards of life. Even though it has nothing to do with us, we are going to change your laws to make sure you behave correctly. That is going to come back and kick us bad and heavy for years and decades to come – it already has. So, why don't you do something to help me?! Why don't you do something to help weddings and marriages instead of running to the law books?

Here in our own town at an abortion clinic, there is a guy with a $37,000 medical bill because he got beat up trying to protect women who were going into the clinic. He was doing something legal and he wasn't going there to have an abortion himself. He was just trying to help people. Sometimes I want to ask, “How many ribs would Jesus crack?” What a black-eye Christians got!! Oh, those are those Christians. If you don't agree with them, they'll beat you up and send you the hospital. We have got a lot of work to do!

I think about worship and about what we do in worship, whether it's good, bad or indifferent. We talk a lot about that in second service. What do we do in second service? We're going to be eating pizza and talking about: what is important, what is good, what is helpful in worship, what does relation show, what brings us closer to God and what brings God closer to us throughout service. There are times I think to myself, “Man, what are we doing that our services and Sunday school classes aren't full? When I use to go to Cedar Point, I saw signs on different rides that said, “two hour wait.” People would actually stand there and wait. Why isn't worship like that?

I have had one time that I had people in line for worship. I was coming back from visiting a young man named, Garrett. I had told the youth leader that Garrett had had a terrible accident with a brain injury and that he was in a coma. I told him that I was going to Pittsburgh to see him — an hour and a half drive. I would go see Garrett and then drive back for service with the youth group. I asked him if he could get the youth group together by 7:30pm so we could pray for Garrett and let everyone know how he was. The youth leader said he'd have no problem doing it. He was the only person I told; so it was all on his shoulders.

So, I left and I timed myself pretty well. I got there and saw Garrett, prayed with him and talked with his family. Afterwards, I came zooming back and thought I was doing really well because it was only 7:00pm. I arrived at the church to find people waiting at the front door on a Tuesday night. There were young people standing outside of the Presbyterian Church at the door that hasn't been used in 30 years. There were about a dozen of them there about half an hour early. So, I asked them, “Are you here for Garrett?” “Yes!” they said. So, I took them around to the back door and went in and started setting up chairs in Fellowship Hall. We figured around fifty were here and as we turned around another 50 people came in. We had almost the entire high school there including the football team and the teachers. All I told was one guy.

We had to move into the sanctuary. The lights and sound system were neither one on; however, we still had a worship service, prayer and anointing –all 100 kids came forward for anointing. So, I wondered, “What was it about that?” They had a burden and we offered to lift it. They were hurting and we offered healing. They were alone and we offered community. They didn't know what to do and we told them what they could do. We told them how they could keep in contact with him. We had a website and they could send him messages and was keeping them updated.

That poorly planned and not very well executed, constantly changing worship service was perhaps one of the best examples of what worship is about. It is about making relationship between one another and with God, and about lifting burdens. We need to be constantly thinking about what burdens people and how can we lift them. We spend too much time asking how to get people to come and do committee work, or how to get them to come and fill-up the pews or how to get them to be Presbyterian. We're putting heavy burdens on and we're doing nothing to lift them. Christians need to stop putting burdens on people as we've done throughout religion's history – all the way back to Bible times and beyond. It should be about lifting the burdens to help people. Amen.