Trespasses – Debts OR Sins

Every Sunday in worship we say the Lord’s Prayer but congregations may have variations on one particular word in that prayer. Some use the term “Debts” others use “Trespasses” and a few use “Sins.” For the most part these terms are interchangeable in this context. They each do carry other meaning in different context.

Trespass - is to cross a boundary of another person and cause damage. There are places where you can be shot for trespassing on the property of another person.

Debt – as in owing money on a loan or to be in someone’s debt for a kindness.

Sin – is a separation of a relationship particularly with God.

We do a dangerous thing in the Lord’s Prayer when we ask God to forgive us our debts/trespasses/sins as we forgive other for what they do to us. If we are unforgiving by this agreement we will not be forgiven and that will have eternal consequences. Which ever word you use say it with care and understanding.

Why Spend Money?

The numerous ads on TV, papers, email, and internet promise us special products to enhance memory, produce hair growth, loose weight with out exercise and other things I won’t mention here. Foolish people spend good money on things that do not satisfy and do not produce what was promised. The old, and I mean very old, saying is, “If it seems too good to be true it most likely is.” can be taken to heart and mind.

Yet we who are over weight, loosing hair, slipping memory and failing body parts are anxious to return to our youthfulness. There are of course some well known things we can do such as a good diet, exercise, both mental and physical, that will prolong our abilities. Far too often by the time we realize our condition we are years too late to do anything about it.

Isaiah 55:2 asks the very question, “Why do you spend money for that which does not satisfy?”    This is a lesson that has physical, mental and spiritual context and it calls upon us to consider the true focus of our lives. If we live simply and maintain good habits through out our lives we will prosper. Perhaps the Amish and Quakers have the right of it by living as simply as possible in the presence of God. 

Gas prices ???

Last week I was talking with a neighbor who was complaining about our current President. During the conversation he said that the price of gas in 2009 was $1.87 a gallon and now it was almost $4.00 heading for $6.

I said that it didn’t sound quite right and he claimed it was the gospel truth. Curious I went home and got out my 2009 tax receipts. The lowest price I paid in Louisville that year was $2.39. That was also a year when the economy was struggling to come out of the recession so a lot of us cut back on driving.  I went on line and checked the national average over the last ten years.

2006 - $3.26

2009 - $2.35

2012 last week I paid $3.55  and I note the price is falling after refineries came back on line following the hurricane.

I reported this to my neighbor who was miffed at the actual information. He had received his information from a GOP ad and was sure it was right. I don’t believe any political ad during a presidential election year – from either side. Gas prices rise and fall on market conditions through out the world. I have traveled to countries where the price of Gas was over $7 a gallon in 1999. We have it easy by comparison to Europe. 

Suddenly It’s Over

Yesterday afternoon I visited with my neighbor and friend Don as we waited for the mail truck to come down our street. We both then collected our mail and returned to our homes. Less than an hour later I went outside and found him collapsed by his pickup truck. His next door neighbor arrived at the same time. We called 911 and started CPR until the fire truck arrived and they took over. Don was likely dead before they took him to the hospital where he was pronounced.

The suddenness with which our life can end has been well known to me for a long time. It is one of the reasons that I have not worried about the “Last Days” of the book of Revelation that fret so many Christians. We must always be ready to meet our Lord at any time. It may be the time of Revelation or our personal last day and it doe not make any difference which one it is. This is also the reason we should all share our faith in Jesus with our friends and neighbors as we do not know when their last day may be upon them.

One moment all is fine and then suddenly it’s over.

Heresy

Defined: Heresy is the formal denial or doubt of any defined doctrine of majority religion.

The saint of one church is the heretic of another. So who decides what a heresy is? Splits have occurred in the Christian faith as well as other faiths because of differences of opinion over doctrine. For example after the New Testament Christian church became legal in the Roman Empire about 325 AD, The church in the western part began using statues as objects in worship. At the same time the church in the eastern part began using pictures or icons in their worship. The Eastern Orthodox claimed that the Catholics were idol worshipers and the Roman church claimed the same about the Eastern Orthodox.

Protestant and Roman Catholic both made similar claims about each other. Today there are over 350 Christian denominations with many claiming to the only true church with all the rest being in heresy. Human pride, stubbornness, and traditions come between us.

We are not alone. There are three main branches of the Jewish faith and at least that many of the Moslem faith.   The Buddhist have also split in the same fashion. We all decide that we are right and every one else is a heretic and then fight about it. So sad.

Learning From Genesis

Many think of the book of Genesis as shrouded in the mists of time-- strange stories of people so different from ourselves that they could be from another planet!  Others see it as an interesting, but quaint, collection of myths to explain why there are dinosaur bones (they died in the Flood of Noah) or why the Jews and Arabs are such bitter enemies (Jews are descendants of Isaac, the Arabs the descendants of Ishmael).  Some might consider Genesis as the first chapter of human history, told just to ‘get the ball rolling’ for the more interesting parts that follow!

          In the first book of our Scriptures, we begin to learn some things about God, who set the principles of creation to work as he gave much thought and care to what he created.  We discover that God does not count creation, including the human enterprise, as just another project to check off the ‘to do’ list before moving on to the next one. From the beginning, God decided to take an active part in the lives of men and women, and to reveal himself to those who responded in friendship and trust.

Hearing about the lives of our ancient ancestors, we are drawn into the stories of these men, women, and children. Genesis introduces us to the idea of a ‘Family Tree of the Human Race’.  We meet adventurers like Noah and Abraham, strong women like Sarah,  schemers like Rebekah and her son Jacob, scoundrels like Cain, and dreamers like Joseph.  We read their stories of family feuding and sibling rivalry, of envy and jealousy, of love and hate, of greed and generosity.

That family tree extends through time and history to include our own family branch— as immigrants, as Americans, and the generations that come down through us to our descendants.  And the centuries melt away, and we realize that Genesis not only tells us something about God but aslo we learn something about ourselves.

Take the story of Esau and Jacob.  Parents of more than one child will nod in recognition at this account of sibling competition. Brothers and sisters may chuckle at the memories of deals made with unsuspecting siblings.  One of Esau’s more important blessings was his birth right.  As the eldest son, he would inherit his father’s position in the community and the bulk of his family’s wealth. And he was entitled to a special blessing from his father—not just in the titles and goods of the world, but a bestowing of power and confidence to be able to accept and increase the benefits of his birth right.

Because God loves each of us as if we were the only child, we all have a birth right—an entitlement to gifts and blessings which we do not earn and cannot demand, but can only receive from a kind and gracious Giver.

The Wicked Tongue

Pastor Mike preached from James chapter three this morning about keeping our tongue under control. The same tongue that can pronounce blessings can turn around and utter curses.

Word can indeed hurt. Most of the bullying is with words that cause children to feel bad about them selves. Lies repeated often as gossip can ruin a career and a reputation. The power of the spoken word is great for either good or evil.

We were challenged this morning to use our words to bless and to not cause harm with a wicked tongue.