Let Us Pray Our dear heavenly Father, thank you for giving us ears to hear your Holy Word. We pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit to make these ancient words of Scripture relevant and near to each of us this day. Shine your Holy light in our hearts so we may share it with others. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen. From the Book of Proverbs 12:18 "Rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” In this world of divisive rhetoric and fake news, and in the competition for our attention on social media, where lies seem to attract more attention than truth, how do we navigate the swirl of words around us, and how do we use our own words? If, as people of faith, we are to honor and glorify God with all that we say and do, what does that look like? We are going to explore how we use our words and see that honoring God with our words is more than being polite and honest, and not letting our “personal wisdom” fly anytime we feel like it. When the Bible talks about speech, it is often paired with teachings about wisdom, the Holy Spirit, or the fruit of the Spirit. From the Book of James Chapter 3:13-18 Two Kinds of Wisdom 13  Who is wise and knowledgeable among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.  14  But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be arrogant and lie about the truth.  15  This is not wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish.  16  For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind.  17  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.  18  And the fruit of righteousness [ a ]  is sown in peace by those who make peace. James does not write about how to become a Christian, but rather how to act like one. There are two types of wisdom described in the Bible—earthly and heavenly. So, what is the connection between wisdom and speech? One is the source, and the other is the product. James is saying that our words are the indicator of what kind of wisdom is inside of us. Speech that dishonors God follows the pattern of earthly wisdom, and wise speech that honors God follows the pattern of heavenly wisdom. When James speaks of earthly, unspiritual, devilish wisdom, what is he referring to? He is saying that envy, boasting, and selfish ambition do not come from God; they come from the brokenness of our human nature or from spiritual forces opposed to God. Earthly wisdom tells us that we should act and speak in a way that feels best in the moment, that we need to fight for what we think we are due, and that we are justified in lashing out at those who get in our way or wrong us. These are the attitudes that tempt us to give in to our innate desire to be right, to be better than someone else, and to have the last word in an argument. We have all experienced moments like these, when we have lost control of ourselves and said horrible things to someone. And worse, this is what our culture tells us right now is the right way to behave when people disagree with us or hurt us. Social media and current events unfolding in this world before us are fueling these attitudes, and so we find ourselves in this age of outrage. In this passage, James is describing wise speech that honors God and His purposes. I don’t think it takes much self-reflection or headline scanning to realize that these characteristics are not very popular, or at least not universally practiced today. They don’t make us feel powerful and important; rather, they may make us feel vulnerable and insecure, as if other people could take advantage of us if we lived this way. Wise speech is not necessarily speech that makes us feel good, but rather speech that does us good, whether it is easy to swallow or not. Sometimes hard things need to be said—with mercy and consideration and integrity and love.

Let Us Pray Our dear heavenly Father, thank you for giving us ears to hear your Holy Word. We pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit to make these ancient words of Scripture relevant and near to each of us this day. Shine your holy light in our hearts so we may share it with others.In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen. From the Book of Acts Chapter 3:1-10 Peter Heals a Crippled Beggar 3 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. 4 Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,[ a ] stand up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 All the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and astonishment at what had happened to him. In the early years of the church, after Jesus had ascended into heaven and the Holy Spirit had come at Pentecost, temple worship and Jewish customs remained key parts of early Christian life. Followers of Christ continued to live as faithful Jews and met daily in the temple courtyards to hear the apostles preach about Christ. This is what is happening on this afternoon, when Peter encounters the crippled man. The daily time of prayer for the evening sacrifice was approaching, and the temple area was thronged with believers. Poor people gathered there, hoping for handouts as worshipers came in. Here we see the supernatural power and authority demonstrated by the apostles in the early church through the miracle that Peter performs for the crippled man. What does Peter tell the man? “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,[a] stand up and walk.” What happens next? Peter reaches out his hand to help the man up. Does this healing miracle sound familiar? How many healings had Jesus done while he was on this earth? How does the healed man react? What a beautiful picture of someone overjoyed to be mobile for the first time in his life. Peter was acting not in his own authority, but through God’s power granted by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Could this be the same disciple that Jesus called so long ago? The same person who spoke sometimes without thinking, but who deep down loved Jesus with all of his heart? It was indeed. And we have the example of Peter’s discipleship to guide us through our spiritual journeys as well, because we have the same gift Peter had—the indwelling Holy Spirit, a gift from God by His grace to all of us. That is what transformed him into the person he became, furthering God’s work of spreading the church.

Let Us Pray Our dear heavenly Father, thank you for giving us ears to hear your Holy Word. We pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit to make these ancient words of Scripture relevant and near to each of us this day. Shine your holy light in our hearts so we may share it with others.In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen. From the Gospel of Matthew 16:13–23 Peter’s Declaration about Jesus 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah,[a] the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter,[b] and on this rock[c] I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was[d] the Messiah.[e] Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection 21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance[f] to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” In this passage, Peter experiences a life-shaking defeat on the heels of one of the greatest statements of faith in history. One minute Peter was being warmly affirmed by Jesus; the next, he was rebuked by Jesus. This is Peter at his impulsive best, and it once again serves as a reminder to keep our eyes on our Lord and Savior, no matter what is going on around us. Jesus asks his disciples who people were saying he was—there was a lot of buzz about this healing, miracle-producing, itinerant teacher, and the crowds had some ideas of their own, which revealed they did not fully grasp who Jesus was. Jesus emphatically asks the disciples his question—he wants their thoughts. And Peter’s confession is a complete and perfect answer: Jesus is the Messiah (Redeemer/Savior) and Son of the Living God. Peter did not come to this conclusion by weighing an abundance of evidence—God had called Peter’s heart and revealed this truth to him. This was a remarkable moment for Peter—an uneducated fisherman had just uttered the greatest theological statement in history. But then we see a disappointing failure of Peter as Jesus next unfolds the eternal plan of God the Father—Peter was just not ready for that. Jesus tells his disciples he must suffer, die, and be raised on the third day—it was imperative that all this happen to fulfill God’s plan of redemption for the world. Peter was not able to hear this; he responded just as mistakenly to Jesus’s pronouncement of what must happen to him as Peter had correctly responded to Jesus’s first question about who Jesus was. Peter took his eyes off of the Messiah—maybe he wanted to protect Jesus; he didn’t want him to suffer, but those were his presumptive thoughts and self-interest speaking. What can we learn from Peter’s behavior in this Gospel passage when confronted with challenging situations in our lives, or doubt or lack of faith? Am I submitting to the will of God in this moment? Am I committed to following the leading of the Holy Spirit? What will motivate and compel my life—my interests or God’s? Despite Peter’s blunder in this passage, the humbling and shattering corrective from Jesus was taken in the proper spirit. Peter got the message. As they all moved closer to the cross with Jesus, Peter’s commitment to remain true to Christ at all costs only intensified.

Let Us Pray Our dear heavenly Father, thank you for giving us ears to hear your Holy Word. We pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit to make these ancient words of Scripture relevant and near to each of us this day. Shine your holy light in our hearts so we may share it with others. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen. From the Gospel of Matthew 14:22–33 Jesus Walks on the Water Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning Jesus came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Only by undistracted focus can we achieve anything in life that we value; to be excellent at something requires laser focus. We will see in our encounter with Peter in this passage that, as he slowly learned to follow Jesus, he would discover what it meant to be shaken by distraction . Jesus and the disciples had just finished a long day of ministry; Jesus withdrew by himself for some alone time with God and sent his disciples off across the water to the other side in their boat. The disciples boarded the boat expecting Jesus would rejoin them. He would indeed come back to them, but not before giving them another opportunity to trust Him more. Meanwhile, the disciples are battling a sudden storm that arose on the water; their boat was being battered by the waves far from land. What the disciples saw was terrifying. They knew water, having spent their entire adult lives making a living from it, and it is not only improbable that someone could walk on water, but impossible. So what happens in the disciples’ terror? Jesus calls out to them, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid!” Again, those words we hear so often in the Bible—do not be afraid. Jesus is in control of the situation; God is sovereign over all creation. Here Peter’s boldness is on full display. What is his response to Jesus’s reassurance? Peter steps out in audacious faith, abandoning himself to walk out and meet Jesus on the water. We know how this “walk” of Peter’s will end, but we cannot forget that Peter actually did walk on water. This is Peter at his best—totally trusting in Jesus and then acting on that trust. As a seasoned fisherman, Peter would never have attempted to step out of his boat to walk on water, but for those few moments, he did it as he kept his eyes on Christ. There are other stories in the Bible of water miracles—Moses going through the Red Sea with the Israelites to escape Pharaoh and leave Egypt, Joshua moving through the Jordan River to cross over into the promised land—but those are through water, not on water. Only Jesus—and Peter for a short time—walked on water. Peter was suddenly shaken by the realization that he was walking on the water in a storm. He became distracted and stopped looking at Jesus. There are so many distractions in the world that entice us to take our eyes off of Christ: Fear— the feeling we have when we perceive that life is suddenly out of control instead of trusting that our lives are in God’s control. Despair— the internal sense of loss that causes us to lose heart and hope because circumstances cloud our view of God’s purposes. Disappointment— the hurt that results from placing our trust in people who fail us. Stress— the pressure that comes into our lives when we try to take on life in our own strength. Peter was a failure at walking on water, but the bigger failure was the other eleven disciples who did not even get out of the boat. We are people of purpose, encouraged to look beyond the distractions that surround us, so we can run the race powered by the Holy Spirit.

Let Us Pray Our dear heavenly Father, thank you for giving us ears to hear your Holy Word. We pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit to make these ancient words of Scripture relevant and near to each of us this day. Shine your holy light in our hearts so we may share it with others.In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen. From the Gospel of Luke 5:1–11 Jesus Calls the First Disciples 5 Once while Jesus[a] was standing beside the Lake of Gennesaret and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’s knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all who were with him were astounded at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. You can’t miss Peter in the Gospels—every list of disciples in the Gospels names him first. He was brash and aggressive, the type who pushes to get to the head of the line. Although likable enough, with a big heart and unlimited enthusiasm, Peter, or Simon as he was originally named, had rough edges. He was impulsive and could be argumentative, even with Jesus. He could be bold and courageous in one moment, yet cowardly when it really counted. Sound familiar? Peter eventually earned the nickname “Rock” that Jesus gave him, as we see Peter make a remarkable transformation from the time he became one of Jesus’ disciples to the time after Jesus’s ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Peter’s life demonstrates that God does not give up on us. God sees the gifts He can use to further His work, even if we don’t see them. Let’s explore how Peter is shaken by the power of Christ in this passage. Jesus makes an unusual request of Peter, more of a command than a suggestion. The fishermen had been working all through the night at their trade; Peter was tired and frustrated, and their work had not been productive at all. However, Peter obeys Jesus, even though he initially questions what Jesus tells him to do. The results of complying with Jesus’s command? A bounty beyond comprehension. Jesus’s authority is not bound by our abilities. Peter responds in obedience and leaves his former life behind. Jesus invites Peter on an adventure of faith that would radically transform his life, giving him: A new attitude – “Do not be afraid”— how many times have we heard this in the Bible? A new day – “from now on”— a break with the past that changes everything. A new purpose – “from now on you will catch people”— an invitation to Peter to follow Jesus. A new life – “They left everything and followed him”— this is radical commitment. Peter’s journey was just beginning; his transformation into the Rock would be slow and gradual. Being in the presence of the One who has the power to call us, change us, and use us for His glory and honor—what greater calling is there?

Let Us Pray Our dear heavenly Father, thank you for giving us ears to hear your Holy Word.  We pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit to make these ancient words of Scripture relevant and near to each of us this day.  Shine your Holy light in our hearts so we may share it with others. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen. There are many, many stories in the Gospels that feature Jesus at the table with others. I personally love this because it shows us that Jesus was a human being just like us, and he needed to eat, but it also shows how he gathered in community in one way or another—and you can bet that no one was unchanged after Jesus attended one of their meals. Jesus dined at tables with friends, enemies, the curious, the critical, and the devoted. In Jesus’s own words from the Gospel of John 6:35: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” This is the ultimate banquet or dinner party of life. Feasting in different cultures looks different, but because food is essential for life, Jesus’s words here are significant for all people. From the gospel of Matthew 9:9-13 The Call of Matthew 9  As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. 10  And as Jesus sat at dinner [ a ]  in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting [ b ]  with Jesus and his disciples.  11  When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  12  But when Jesus heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  13  Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.” This passage is, first of all, a retelling of the call story of Matthew as one of Jesus’s disciples, plus the story of a dinner party hosted by Matthew that Jesus attends with other “undesirable” guests. Of all the criticisms of Jesus that are recorded in the Gospels, “he eats with tax collectors and sinners” and “healing on the Sabbath” were the two most prominent. Here are three things that I want to call out: First, this passage is a story of calling —specifically, Matthew’s call. Matthew is the only other call story recorded in the Gospels besides Peter, Andrew, James, and John’s. And what is Matthew’s response? Matthew got up and followed Jesus without hesitation. Matthew went on later to meticulously record Jesus’s life and work in his Gospel so that future generations would have that record. Matthew’s Gospel was also written with the most Old Testament references so that the people of that time would understand that Jesus is who he said he was—God’s Messiah. Second, this is a story of healing and invitation —a story about a sinful, exploitative tax collector named Matthew who turns away from his old life to be called into Jesus’s inner circle. It is a story of healing and transformation, juxtaposed among the many healings that Matthew’s Gospel records. Third, this is a story about mercy and inclusion. Jesus calls us to give up the illusion of superficiality—appearances, rituals, and reputations. He calls us instead to sincerity, mercy, healing, and love, which, as we know, are the values so prominent in Jesus’s ministry because they are who Jesus is. So, who belongs and who doesn’t? Who is welcomed, and who is held at arm’s length? How wide are the boundaries of our communities, our churches, our nation? These are old questions that humanity has struggled with over the centuries. But we know, looking back at what Jesus accomplished for us in his life, death, and resurrection, that welcome wins. That is the brilliant good news of the Gospel—that inclusion wins, and God’s mercy is so wide that it is extended to everyone, not just certain people. It is even extended to those on the margins of our society. Sharing a meal with others impacts those at the table. Hospitality can be transformative on a very basic level, and remembering that Jesus is always present with us at our tables may help us to think about our gatherings in a new and different way.

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John 15:9-11, Matthew 28:1-8 "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?" - Micah 6:8b    “ So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and be glad. ” - Ecclesiastes 8:15 Despite dealing with a tremendous number of weighty topics—such as sin, war, greed, and more—the Bible surprisingly has a great deal to say about a life of happiness. There are stories of grand feasts in heaven, and the table will be overflowing with incredible foods. But even more, the beauty of creation, the thrill of physical attraction, even the labor of our hands—all are gifts God gave for our joy. It is the life we were meant for. Perhaps my favorite single notion in all of literature outside of the Bible comes from the Westminster Catechism, and it’s the very first question: “ What is the chief end of humankind? ” And the answer: “ To glorify God and enjoy God forever! ” Even the simple pleasures, as Ecclesiastes points out—eating and drinking—are highly commended by God and lived out by Jesus Himself! Jesus’ reputation for being overly serious is not well founded. We only have accounts of the last few years of his life. Due to the profoundly important and compacted mission he had, naturally a great deal of it was very difficult. And yet, the Bible uses precious ink to tell us something important about Him. Unlike John the Baptist, who deprived himself of earthly pleasures, Jesus is accused of being a drunkard and a glutton! Clearly, He enjoyed eating and drinking with strangers and friends alike. So first, we can see that God wants us to be happy. God wants us to enjoy the physical world we have been placed in. And for this, we can be truly thankful. But of course, things are not quite so simple. It was not an infrequent occurrence that on Saturday nights in high school, when my mom made me be in by 9:00 p.m. while all my friends were out having a night on the town, my brother Matthew and I would have great fun eating—between the two of us—a one-pound bag of Doritos, a pound of Reese’s Cups, a 12-pack of Coca-Cola, and half a dozen donuts, all while watching  Fantasy Island  and  The Love Boat. As you can tell, we were the cool people. Inevitably, after such a Saturday night, my mom would wake us up at something like 6:30 a.m. on Sunday to get us ready for church, and we were moaning and groaning—sick as dogs. I guess it’s true; you can’t have too much of a good thing! This is the pitfall of the prodigal son that Jesus talked about. He took his father’s inheritance and squandered it in endless pleasure. For him, it was the goal of life… but then he found himself so destitute that he was hungry enough to eat the food given to pigs. In some ways, perhaps our society has gotten lost like the prodigal son, but we’re not only chasing physical pleasure—we’re chasing everything in a desperate attempt to fill an emptiness. And because of this, we are missing the purpose of this life. We are distracted by social media, beset by the news, brought low by cynicism, and so we have become willing to settle. We try to eke out moments of happiness here and happiness there, but have lost the grander view. We are meant for something more than fleeting moments of pleasure. For the past several weeks, we have been looking at the founding values of our country. Two weeks ago, we looked at the God-given rights of life and liberty. And so this week, we are going to dive deeper into our country’s founding value, the pursuit of happiness—and we shall quickly see it was never about chasing pleasure. Thomas Jefferson wrote these words, borrowing much from the philosopher John Locke. Locke spoke about life, liberty, and property. But Jefferson replaced property with the pursuit of happiness—immediately recognizing that life has a grander purpose than the accumulation of things. What Jefferson meant by happiness is grounded in Enlightenment philosophy. Rather than mere pleasure, Jeffrey Rosen, author of  The Pursuit of Happiness , wrote, “ The Founders understood happiness not as pleasure, but as virtue, ” and “ happiness meant being good, not feeling good .” Furthermore, because we could easily be swayed by momentary passions, self-control was essential to happiness. Here the founders relied on ancient Greek philosophers such as Epictetus, who wrote, “ No one is free who is not master of himself .” This is where Christianity diverges from the founders. As Martin Luther so powerfully wrote in that thunderingly good hymn,  A Mighty Fortress Is Our God :  “For still our ancient foe does seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.” In other words, the Enlightenment notion of self-mastery is a myth. Our own strength is not enough. Furthermore, happiness through political freedom only gets us so far when we are still left with the weakness of the human condition—as Jesus’ followers discovered. They were understandably looking for earthly happiness—through political freedom, physical healing, and an abundance of food. Who isn’t? But these are fleeting and temporal. They are subject to famine, to the next illness, and to the next totalitarian regime. Most of history’s acts of political freedom quickly turned around and became their own acts of terror. So we cannot rely on society to bring us happiness, nor can we rely on ourselves. But there is good news. Again, from Martin Luther: “ Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing.”  There is another source of strength! Scottish common-sense philosopher Francis Hutcheson, who heavily influenced not only the founders of Presbyterianism in this country but our Founding Fathers, wrote:“ …there can be no other stable foundation of tranquility and joy than a constant trust in the goodness, wisdom, and power of God. ” Listen to what trust in God offers us: The angels tell us:  “I bring you good news of a great joy… for all people.”  (Luke 2:10) Paul reveals:  “The fruit of the Spirit is (among other things) … joy!” And two from Jesus himself:  “I have said these things… so your joy may be complete.” and  “I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly.”  (John 10:10) Jesus offers something much grander than the pursuit of happiness could ever give us: abundant life! On that Resurrection morning, when the women came to the empty tomb and encountered the risen Christ, they suddenly knew everything that Jesus said was true. True life was here. And “abundant” did not mean a little bit extra, something a little bit better; the word that Jesus used meant overflowing, excessive, extreme. An incredible, unbelievable destiny is what is meant for us. The women at that empty tomb realized that he was giving them more than they could even conceive of hoping for—a life, a joy, that cannot be erased by politics; a happiness that cannot be dimmed by hunger; and a peace that not even death can destroy. And so they ran. I imagine they ran as fast as they could. The Bible tells us: “They left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples.” I imagine they ran with the giddiness of children. When was the last time you ran with great joy? It is the thrill of knowing the deepest truth that Archbishop Desmond Tutu told us so well: “ Goodness is stronger than evil, and victory is ours through him who loved us!!!!!” Speaking of victory, I want to share with you a story that tells us how to run with great joy—so that the truth that the world is a beautiful place, that people are really loving on the inside, and that sometimes we run to win and other times we run for something much deeper. In 1976 at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. At the gun, they all started out—not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to the finish and win. All that is except one boy who stumbled on the asphalt tumbled over a couple of times and began to cry. The other eight heard the boy cry. They slowed down and looked back. They all turned and went back. Every one of them. One girl with down’s syndrome bent down and kissed him and said, ‘This will make it better.’ All nine linked arms and walked across the finish line- together. Everyone in the stadium stood and the cheering went on for several minutes. The pursuit of happiness is a great gift we have in this land. But even it cannot compare to the abundant life that Jesus intends for us all. Amen.

Exodus 6:5-7, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6:8b   ​ “There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending… we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us! Gentlemen may cry, ‘Peace! Peace!’ but there is no peace! The war is actually begun! Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.” —Patrick Henry, Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775. Powerful. No one more than Patrick Henry has so persuasively articulated our need for freedom. This came in the midst of an age in which, throughout Europe and in the colonies, debates raged over the role of the church and the state. Subjects in certain kingdoms had to swear a loyalty for life and limb to their king, relinquishing their freedom. One such common English formula was: “ I become your man, and I will bear you faith for life and limb. ” The coercion of both the state and the church in Europe led particularly Presbyterians to be extremely wary of an established religion more than Anglicans or even Congregationalists. We were among the strongest defenders of disestablishment, for example supporting abolishing mandatory religious taxes in Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and New Jersey. We believed in the separation of church and state—but not in a secular society. The church has spiritual authority; the state has civil authority. They should not dominate or interfere with one another, but both are under God. Thus, the freedom to worship as one sees fit became foundational to this country. In fact, in 1790 George Washington, in a letter to a Hebrew congregation in Newport, promised that America would give bigotry no sanction and to persecution no assistance. Again, as in weeks past, we read of lofty aspirations which we could not quibble with today, but also the sad inability to live into it. For our country, at one time or another, has persecuted dozens of religions, races, and ethnic groups. There is, of course, a biblical foundation to freedom. It was bestowed by God at the dawn of creation: “ You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die ” (Genesis 2:16b–17). Uniquely, amidst all the rest of creation, God gave us freedom. God believed this gift was so profoundly important that we even had the power to defy God and sever the harmony of creation. We know the terrible things that we have all done with it: war, treachery, greed. And yet, and yet, God gives it to us anyway. And Patrick Henry and others throughout history were willing to give up the gift of life for the gift of freedom. Can we conceive of anything more valuable, knowing what God put at risk?Knowing that eventually, on this very week, it would lead to the crucifixion of the Son?! We are the Jerusalem crowd; we use our freedom to welcome Jesus with lofty praise and then condemn Him with shouts of “crucify Him.” We have a very hard time with this freedom. Nowhere is this more acutely seen than in the tragic truth revealed so recently about Cesar Chavez. He did so much for day laborers in California—the farm workers movement; his image is enshrined all over California for the great work, but they are busily scrubbing his visage and name all across the state because now it appears there was an evil that festered inside of him as well. But even so, God believed freedom was essential, and as many cases of evil as there are, I believe there are a hundredfold more examples of beauty. … Maxwell’s equations that harmonized electricity and magnetism, … Shakespeare’s eighteenth sonnet, “ Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day, ” … Mozart’s Requiem, and its heartbreaking  Lacrimosa , … the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, The Hand of God at Creation, … Harper Lee’s  To Kill a Mockingbird ; Atticus Finch! These works show what true freedom can create. Yet, as lofty as these accomplishments are, the greater creative power of the human spirit is found when freedom is threatened: … the courage of Harriet Tubman, … the grit of Rigoberta Menchú, … the soul of Mahatma Gandhi, … the brazen tenacity of Moses, … the spirit of Anne Frank, … and the nameless people throughout history who harbored the Jews during World War II, who protected people in the killing fields of Cambodia, and the dissidents who spoke against totalitarian Russia. Freedom is the greatest gift God has granted; for it is only through being truly free that we can truly love. Otherwise, obedience is compulsion and devotion is fear. So when people are robbed of this freedom, they are robbed of their dignity, and the beauty of the human spirit becomes clouded and opaque, even to the individuals themselves. And so we are challenged as a society to protect the freedom and dignity of all individuals, no matter who they are, no matter what they have done or failed to do. Last week we spoke of the dignity that is owed to every human creature by virtue of their created nature—created by God. And this week we see that each person is given the gift of freedom so that they may realize the fullness of their lofty nature. What, then, are the implications for a society that believes in freedom as a God-given right?There is one way to measure it—to see the extent to which a society truly values dignity and freedom. Fyodor Dostoevsky has a theory:  “The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.”  —Fyodor Dostoevsky,  The House of the Dead There are times when people need to be incarcerated for the protection of society and themselves. But once they are there, the manner in which we treat them discloses the extent to which we actually believe in these foundational God-given rights. And sadly, all too often throughout the history of the world, societies with high-minded values have abandoned them once people have broken the law. The early 20th-century French philosopher, mystic, and activist Simone Weil has a compelling, confusing, and penetrating analysis. As a mystic she drew from several religious traditions, but at that one moment she felt like she was taken over by the presence of Jesus and fell on her knees and describes it as a fusion of love and suffering. She had a deep understanding of the power of the human spirit to find its true center through contemplation, humility, and openness. Her soul was acutely aware of the nature of human degradation. “ There is one thing and only one thing in modern society more hideous than crime,” she writes, “namely repressive justice. ” She was not categorically against punishment nor imprisonment, but rather its implementation—not because of who they are or what they have done, for better or for worse, but because of the God who created them. The entire Bible might be summed up thusly: God’s plan to restore humanity to its intended glory. Furthermore, the Bible makes it clear that Jesus died for every single person; God does not give up. And this means that when freedom is curtailed through punishment, it must always have a restorative intent, to match God’s intent. It is like that cloisonné lamp I spoke of last week that my mother painstakingly restored. I failed to mention that it was infested with insects and had been painted over many times. It was hard work that took years for her to restore that lamp—and now it is a thing of beauty. Can we, in any good conscience, say that a human life is worth less effort? Clearly, Jesus did not think so. At the beginning of His ministry, He unfurls the scroll of Isaiah: “ I have come to release prisoners. ” But His intention was not to open the doors of jails but the prison of our minds and souls. There is a prison in South Korea—Somang Prison—founded by MyungsungPresbyterian Church, the only private and Christian-run penitentiary in Asia, that takes command from Jesus, “ to visit those in prison, ” with utmost seriousness and miraculous results. Christianity Today  tells the story of a prototypical inmate, Somang Cho. Cho saw how God’s grace had sustained him even when he wasn’t seeking God. “I came to prison as a wounded avenger, full of rage and bitterness, ” Cho said.  “God’s grace is transforming me into a wounded healer—someone whose scars can bring hope to others.” Somang seeks the restoration of its inmates based on the belief that Jesus can bring real change, according to warden Kim Young-sik. The prison encourages reconciliation first with God, then with their families, and finally with the wider community. “Punishment may restrain behavior temporarily, but restoration asks something much harder—whether a person is willing to take responsibility, confront the harm they’ve caused, and begin repairing broken relationships.” Prison guards call prisoners by their names—or “brother”—rather than by their identification numbers. Kim, the warden, said the practice reflects a Christian understanding of human dignity. Calling inmates by name affirms that they are people before they are offenders. He often returns to Psalm 22:22—“ I will declare Your name to My brethren ” (NKJV)—as a reminder of how he understands his role: serving men who temporarily wear prison uniforms but whom he regards as brothers in Christ. The recidivism rate is around 6%, compared to 21% for the rest of the prisons in South Korea. So even though the inmates’ bodies are not free, this prison strives to ensure that their minds and souls are. This prison reminds me of Jesus’ words on liberty:  “When the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.” Thanks be to God for the freedom that he gave me, for the freedom that he gave you. May each of us devote ourselves, in our homes and in our lives, to bringing God’s freedom to the hearts of all.

Genesis 2:4b-9; Psalm 139:13-18 What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6:8b Almost 4000 years ago, an ancient creation myth known as the  Epic of Enuma Elish  from ancient Babylon tells us the story of a cosmic battle between Marduk, Tiamat,and Kingu. Marduk is the victor, and out of Tiamat’s carcass he fashions the heavens and the Earth, and from Kingu’s blood humans spring forth to serve as slaves of the gods. To speak against the culture of the times, the sons and daughters of Sarah and Abraham told a different story:  in the image of God he created them . In Babylon, humans were meant to be slaves to the gods; practically, this meant being tied in life and in death to the King. And sadly, despite the great truth that Genesis declared, for generations upon generations, supposed Christian kings exercised their authority more in the manner of the ancient Babylonian kings rather than the truth as told in scripture. This carried forward for over 1000 years. “ The royal throne is not the throne of a man, but the throne of God himself. Royal authority is sacred. To attack the person of the king is sacrilege. ”— Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, French bishop and court theologian to Louis XIV “ Kings are justly called gods, for that they exercise a manner or resemblance of divine power on earth; and the state of monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth. Kings are the authors and makers of the laws, and not the laws of the kings… for kings are not only God’s lieutenants upon earth, and sit upon God’s throne, but even by God himself they are called gods. ”— James I of England before Parliament, 1610 In the medieval world, peoples’ life belonged not to themselves but to the king or queen. Into this maelstrom, what has been called the greatest sentence in the English language, written by Jefferson, taking notes from John Locke, we read:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (people) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Even as I read this quote, I get chills from the depths of hope and promise that are contained in it. It is a message for all times and all places. Yet even as I read it, I also know that there are similar sentences that have been written throughout history, across time and place and people and continents. And yet humankind has always struggled against it. And just as this is (arguably) the greatest sentence in the history of the English language, it also contains the greatest tragic irony. Jefferson had hundreds of slaves that he never set free. John Calvin was right—there is no part of the human creature that is not tainted by sin, even the best part of ourselves, as Jefferson disclosed. Thus, two hundred years later, Dr. King thundered forth regarding this grand sentence written by Jefferson: “It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds”. But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.” In the midst of this illustrious speech, Dr. King showed that he believed in the American dream and America’s power to live into it. For the next three weeks, we shall be exploring these three divine rights—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We will examine them from a biblical perspective to clearly see what they mean within our Christian context. And we begin today with the right to life. A country of knowledge tells us that her life belongs to us, not to the state and not to the church. From a faith perspective, we would use different language than right to life; it is more properly understood as the gift of life, which belongs not to us but to God. And indeed, it is a marvelous gift. Unlike other creatures, we learn in the second chapter of Genesis that when God forms the human out of clay, God gives life by breathing into this creature. In Hebrew, the word for breath and the word for spirit—ruach—are the same. And so among all the living creatures of the earth, God uniquely breathes into us the divine spirit. Next, the Bible teaches us that there is something awesome and wonderful about the way in which God creates us. Psalm 139 describes us thusly:  “For you formed my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.Marvelous are your works, and I know this very well.” The psalmist recognizes that he is wonderful. God’s works are marvelous, and he is one of those works. And this means our gift of life should be met with a profound sense of self-worth. I am something amazing and unique and wonderful. You are something amazing, unique, and wonderful. We should be able to accept this about ourselves. It is not a source of pride in ourselves. It is a source of pride in the God who made us. And as with any gift — it calls for a response. Some strains within Christianity insist that that requirement is faith, and that if you do not have it, God is going to discard you into hell. Another strain tells us that we have to earn this honor of eternal life from God through doing good deeds, being morally upright, and giving to the church. And if we accumulate enough of these good points, then God will accept us, for we will be deemed worthy. This is all too often the subconscious approach that hard-driven people—like many of us—tell ourselves. We must earn our way; we must prove our worth. But the Presbyterian tradition teaches that our response neither adds nor subtracts to our worth. And therefore, all that is left is thanksgiving — a life filled with gratitude. We seek to be obedient not so that God will like us more, but because we want to please this God whose love is so generous. Our purpose given by God is as lofty as our creation. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” We are blessed to live in a country that recognizes our life is our own, because this gives us a chance to freely offer it—not out of compulsion to the state, not out of compulsion to the church. We are free to devote our life to God in Jesus Christ for good works. And I believe that in our times, those good works now have a special dimension. In an age of brutality from the harsh conditions of life and the harsh rule of the church and the king, Dante Alighieri wrote in  The Divine Comedy :  “Consider your origin. You are not made to live as brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge.” These words remind us that we are not mere animals driven by instinct and the need for food and satisfying personal pleasures. God has endowed us with a higher plane of knowledge, and we should strive to rise above the baser instincts, not to be pulled down into the muck. It is incumbent upon people of faith to elevate the discourse in our society—to show them a different way of treating others;To use knowledge not as a hammer that destroys but as a tool that builds. To recognize not only does every person have the right to life in this country, but from the faith perspective they have a right to something more because of the God who created them. Dignity. Dignity is owed to every human being always, no exceptions, for when we fail to treat others with dignity, we degrade all humanity; we demean the God who created them, and we become the evil we seek to overcome. The best teacher is Jesus Himself. There are people in this world who do despicable things. People who commit crimes and find themselves in prison. There are vexatious people who drive you mad. None of these people can change their created nature, and none of them can erase the dignity they are owed as children of God. Paul does a most excellent job of explaining Jesus’ call in his letter to the Romans: “ Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” Instead, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink, for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. The right to life a radical change from ancient times and medieval times. But you and I know something deeper, each person is a dignity not because of their actions but because of the God who made them. Amen.

Deuteronomy 5:6-21 What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?  Micah 6:8b   Just as the Constitution of this United States established our country under the rule of law, so did the 10 Commandments establish the descendants of Abraham as the nation of Israel. Before Abraham’s descendants moved to Egypt because of a famine, they were a small tribe of people. So, the only laws they knew were the ones the Pharaoh forced on them. These commandments were meant to create a just society, unlike that which they had known under the Pharaoh’s rule. You shall not kill. The Pharaoh would kill whenever he decided it was best. But human life belongs to God. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Traditionally, you might remember that commandment as  you shall not lie , as if this commandment were about telling children to always tell the truth. And of course, children should tell the truth. But this commandment is about something much more fundamental to a just society. Notice the wording. The Hebrew could have simply read, “ You shall not lie .” But instead, it reads “ Bear false witness .” That is, you shall not go before a judge and tell a lie in order to get your neighbor imprisoned. This commandment is about preventing unjust imprisonment. And then there is the commandment concerning the Sabbath: “ On the seventh day you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. ” This commandment is about a call to worship God, but it is also a gift of rest. Under Pharaoh’s rule, you would be worked seven days a week—and sometimes worked to death. Rest is a divine gift from God. Throughout history, we see this need to reassert the rule of law and reforge a just society. Five hundred years ago, there was a movement in Europe. The human tendency toward tyranny had once again reared. Not only the tyranny of the king, but the tyranny of the church. These dual powers were unjustly ruling people’s bodies and people’s souls. And when eventually some of them landed on this continent, and by the late 1700s, they sought to create a church that would protect itself from the tyrannical powers they had fled—and from the tyranny of the human heart—by limiting and separating power. In this new church, there would be no pope who could declare God’s truth all on his own. No one could dictate what another person should believe. “ God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men .” (Westminster Confession) In this new church, there would be no bishop ruling over congregations and telling them who their pastors would be. “ The election of the persons to the exercise of this authority, in any particular society, is in that society. ” (Book of Order) In other words, you—the people—vote for your pastor. In this new church, the pastor of the local congregation would not have authority to control what happened in the church. Rather, the people—all of you—elect elders from among yourselves to make the governing decisions for your congregation. Not the preachers. But the people of this new Presbyterian church did not want these principles woven only into their community of faith. They wanted them woven into their society as well. If you look at the founding values of our country and those of our denomination, you will see a great deal of resonance. In 1788, one year before our country ratified a Constitution, Presbyterians gathered in Philadelphia. They were led by Presbyterian pastor, U.S. congressman, and Princeton University president John Witherspoon, and by our founding pastor, John Rogers. In fact, John Witherspoon was a professor of James Madison at Princeton. Madison even stayed an extra year to learn Hebrew and political philosophy from Witherspoon. We can see Madison was clearly influenced by these ideas in the Constitution. That wonderful Ken Burns documentary about the founding of America pointed out that these founders were attempting to do something rarely, if ever, tried before in the history of the world: replacing a monarchy with a democracy. But the influence goes back much further than the Reformation. The roots begin in the 10 Commandments. The founding principles of our denomination, the Constitution of the United States, and the Ten Commandments all establish a people by the rule of law. And just as Deuteronomy recognized that even the king had to follow the law, and just as the pastor must follow the Book of Order, the principle within our land is that the law applies equally to everyone. Of course, it was not only Presbyterians saying these things. John Adams declared that America must be a government of laws. Alexander Hamilton argued that the Constitution places the law above rulers. But the laws on their own are not enough. They have never been enough. For four hundred years, the descendants of Abraham had been enslaved in the land of Egypt. They knew what it was to not receive the fruits of their labor. They knew the whip. They knew what it was to be worked to death. They knew tyranny and injustice, and they knew the false gods of the Pharaoh. But then, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great power and profound compassion, the Lord delivered them and brought them to a land of promise. But before God allowed them to enter into the Promised Land, they were brought to Mount Sinai, where they received this profound gift of the Law, the greatest gift any people had received up to that point in history. For God knows the human heart. And the human heart, as history shows us, yearns for freedom and justice—but tragically, when we get it, all too often we become the tyranny we sought to escape. Knowing this about the beloved human creation, God gave Israel a tool to learn how to live better, to learn how not to repeat the enslaving tendencies of the Pharaoh. This is why we see a certain phrase repeated throughout the early books of the Old Testament. God reminds them, remember, you were slaves in the land of Egypt. Remember. Remember. Remember. Remember what it was like in Pharaoh’s land, under Pharaoh’s thumb. So Deuteronomy tries to prevent the repeat of a Pharaoh-type person. The seventeenth chapter notes that even the king must obey the law: “ [The king] shall read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, diligently observing all the words of this law and these statutes. ” So the law must apply to everyone equally. Tragically, even as our denomination was founded upon the just rule of law and the shared created nature of all humans, we did not apply this equally to all people. Tragically, even as our country was founded as a land of freedom and equality, it didn’t apply equally to everyone. So even though the law moves us forward to justice, it is not enough. It will never be enough, because the human heart is broken. The founders of our country knew this as well. “ Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. ” — John Adams (1798) Two hundred fifty years ago, this nation was founded as an inspired experiment, and ever since it has been filled with triumphant successes and tragic failures. Back then, it was a call for freedom and independence, but I believe hope for our country now lies on a different path. When I was taught to memorize the 10 Commandments, the first one was “ You shall worship the Lord your God and serve only him .” But later I learned the Jewish people count them differently, and that difference is fundamental—and, I think, better. Their first commandment is not an instruction, but a reminder: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. This tells us the nature of the lawgiver—that the rules that follow are based on a God of freedom. A God of freedom who acts in history to bring justice and hope to the downtrodden and the oppressed. And it is on that basis that God wants the people to listen. The Pharaoh’s laws were enforced through fear, for the benefit of the Pharaoh and for the monuments to his legacy—the pyramids. But God’s laws are given not for the benefit of God, but for the benefit of the people, out of love. The Lord Jesus showed us how far we should go to reflect this love. He charged us to love everyone. Our society is trying to teach us to hate each other and to presume that those who think differently than we do are evil and selfish. Jesus taught us that we all have sin inside of us. He reminded us, before you try to grab that splinter out of your neighbor’s, get the log out of your own. But he not only talked about this, he went out and he lived it. And so many years later, Abraham Lincoln reminded us: “ I am tolerant of all religions… and as far as my system of religion goes, it is the doctrine of doing to my neighbor as I would that he should do to me. ” — Abraham Lincoln The gift of the law is profound, but the gift of love is what will change the world. I pray that each of us will take Jesus’ words to heart and love our neighbor and love our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Amen.

Deuteronomy 1:9-17, I Peter 2:9-10 What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6:8b The biblical notion of “we the people” began as Israel was journeying through the wilderness, making their way to the Promised Land. Moses was wary of bearing the burden of the people all by himself, so through God’s command and Moses’ instruction each tribe selected leaders from amongst them. This was on the governance side. In the sacred sphere, the temple was ruled by the priestly class, and they reserved sole authority for the remission of sins through ritual sacrifices. It is through this that change began. When Jesus of Nazareth died on the cross, this was understood to be the  one sufficient sacrifice for all time . The priests were no longer needed to mediate between God and people. The change was so profound that 1 Peter 2:9 refers to the people as “ a royal priesthood .” Each person now was viewed as a priest and a king! This is how it was in the church for the first few hundred years. But  over time  and especially upon the establishment of Christianity under Emperor Constantine in  325 A.D. , a priestly class emerged again. For the next  hundreds  of years, the Western church came to understand itself as the sole dispenser of God’s divine grace through the sacraments. To manage control, the church codified the process of becoming a priest, banned certain classes from serving in the priesthood—such as women—and eventually formed boards of  the  Inquisition to root out heresy. The Reformation was largely a rebellion against the entrenched authority in the Church. Through certain readings of scripture, authority of the king and the priest was thought to be ordained by God and therefore could not be contested by the people. It was the power of Scotsmen like Presbyterian minister John Witherspoon that helped empower the colonists to rebel. We spoke about him a few weeks ago. He was a professor of James Madison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a member of the Second Continental Congress, and eventually served on over one hundred congressional committees. He was born in Scotland and, when he came to America, brought with him Scottish Common Sense philosophy. Its ideals are founded upon natural law and natural rights, and therefore the people have the right to rise up against their oppressors. We can easily see these Scottish notions woven into the fabric of our country through Witherspoon’s influence on James Madison, his pupil and architect of the Constitution. But Scottish Common Sense philosophy also had common sense. It did not have a utopian notion that if suddenly the people had the opportunity to do everything, the world would fix itself. No—part of Witherspoon’s Calvinism included a strong doctrine of the sinfulness of humanity and our ability to rationalize and abuse power. Thus, the people governed, but they did so with an eye toward minimizing the power of any one individual, so as to preserve the power of the people. This was over and against the Anglican Church and what it was advocating. Unsurprisingly, being the Church of England, some of them advocated for Christianity to be the official religion, for the people to be taxed in order to finance the church, and they emphasized an episcopal form of church government, which appoints bishops with explicit sacerdotal and governance rights that the people do not have. On the other hand, embedded in our historic church principles—written in part by Brick Church’s founding pastor, John Rogers—not only does it tell us that God alone is Lord of the conscience, which I have told you many times, but it goes on to say: Therefore, we consider the rights of private judgment in all matters that respect religion as universal and unalienable. We do not even wish to see any religious constitution aided by the civil power further than may be necessary for protection and security, and at the same time equal and common to all others. As a result of John Witherspoon’s and other Presbyterians’ influence, there was a sentiment back in the motherland that the Presbyterians were to blame. In fact, Joseph Galloway, a former colonial leader, said, “ the rebellion is a Presbyterian war .” Prime Minister Horace Walpole, in 1774, famously remarked, “ Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson .” Finally, it is thought that King George III called it “ that Presbyterian rebellion .” As we have come to understand our history, we can now assess the power of the notion “We the people,” through a Christian lens, and its repercussions for our faith today. It begins most powerfully with your divine right to speak directly to God. We need no mediator other than Christ our Lord. This means that no other person has the ability todictate or control your eternal fate. That is between you and God. Next, we see how “we the people” practically manifests in our congregation. You,the people, elect the leaders over you, namely the elders. This is drawn from the tradition that Moses began in our Deuteronomy passage! There is a foundational belief that the community, discerning together under the Spirit, is wiser than any one individual. There is a compelling example pointed out in the book  The Wisdom of Crowds  by James Surowiecki. He tells the true story of a county fair contest in which the people are invited to guess the weight of a large steer. All types of people participated—from little children walking by, to veterinarians who worked with these animals daily, to farmers who lived alongside them, to average fairgoers like you or me. When all the guesses were averaged together, the crowd as a whole was closer to the real answer than any one individual—better than the veterinarian, better than the farmer. But this approach is not mere practicality. It is something that we Presbyterians believe God folded into the fabric of creation. Since we are all bearers of God’s image,we are all owed the dignity of a voice, and we all owe others a listening ear. And we believe this because this is what scripture tells us. And the fight for the power of the people to be able to read the Bible and have accurate translations was so critically important that people risked everything; people like William Tyndale. A fifteenth-century unknown priest and scholar, William Tyndale, was educated at Oxford and Cambridge; he was influenced by the Renaissance and wanted to translate the Bible into English. He was denied this right by the church and so decided to flee from England to Europe. His translation was smuggled back into England through Germany in bales of cloth and goods. Eventually, he was deemed a heretic. It was not simply the act of translating the Bible into English that got him into the deepest trouble, though it was banned. It was certain choices of translation that are particularly germane to our topic of “We the People.” The Greek word  presbuteros  was traditionally translated as priest, but Tyndale chose elder. The Greek word  ecclesia  was traditionally translated as church, but he chose congregation. The Greek word  metanoia  was translated as do penance, whereas he chose repentance. Let’s take these one at a time. Perhaps that word  presbuteros  sounds somewhat familiar to you, since we are in the Brick Presbyterian Church. Our church—Presbyterian—is named after the fundamental understanding that the elders, that is, the people, have authority. The church at the time was threatened because translating  presbuteros  as elder rather than priest meant the New Testament was not talking about priests—that is, a specific class of people who had sole rights for remitting sins. An elder has no sacerdotal authority, no high priestly calling that only he or she can fulfill. Next, this was compounded by translating  ekklesia  as “congregation” rather than “church.” “Church” referred to the institution, giving the church institution the power rather than the congregation—that is, the people. Finally, Tyndale translated  metanoia  as “repent” rather than “do penance.” Penance was a specific process codified by the Church and validated through priestly instruction. You would go to the priest, confess your sins, and they would give you the pathway of penance to have those sins remitted. Repentance, on the other hand, is something individuals do. Tyndale’s translation of the Bible into English codified the power of “we the people” into Scripture, using proper and accurate translations—rather than the power of the priest and the institutional church. Tyndale is owed our deepest thanks. He lived as a fugitive for years in Antwerp, continuing his translation of the Hebrew Scriptures until, in 1535, he was betrayed by an agent, Henry Phillips. Phillips had found himself in Europe after having absconded with his family’s money. He was paid a hefty sum to pose as a Lutheran sympathizer and ingratiated himself with locals and eventually betrayed Tyndale. He was arrested near Brussels, imprisoned for over a year, and in 1536 William Tyndale was tried for heresy, defrocked, strangled, and burned at the stake. His last words were, “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes.” The power of prayer cannot be overestimated. A few years after Tyndale’s murder, Henry VIII authorized a translation into English, known today as the “Matthew Bible.” It is clear this translation heavily relied on Tyndale’s work. Tyndale gave everything so that today you and I can read a Bible that discloses God’s true intentions. Each one of you, all of us, are a “ royal priesthood ,” given the power of priests and kings, with the profound privilege to go directly to God and given the profound responsibility to lift up our voice. Amen.