The Largest Zip-Lock Bag EVER!

I bet you've never seen a zip-lock bag THIS BIG!!!

If you need ski gear for the trip (which is only 4 days away!) please stop by Renee's office and look through this extra stuff.

Thanks to the Bridge Family and Catherine for donating!

Sermon: But Who Do You Say I Am?

Mark 8:27-28

But what about you? Who do you say that I am?

That’s quite a question, isn’t it? -- Who do you say that I am? But you know what’s amazing about it? That’s a question we get to answer with our very lives. Quite a question, quite an incredible opportunity.

It’s true. Who do you say that I am? It’s not just a question we give lip service to. Well, hopefully not. Maybe sometimes, if we’re honest. It’s a question that we answer daily in the way we live. Who is this Jesus? Who is this Jesus to you? That’s a question we embody, don’t we? Who do you say that Jesus is? What do you convey about him? What do you say with your very lives?

I suppose those questions could feel immensely overwhelming. Are you feeling uncomfortable yet? These questions make me feel uncomfortable. But instead of thinking of them as daunting, I would encourage us to think of them as an invitation. We’re invited to participate in the life of Christ – who he is. Think about it – you and me! – participating. We’re graced with the opportunity to plunge deeply into his identity, to bring questions of our own from our identity -- real, deep, sometimes, raw questions. We ask these into his very self. And in those questions, we get to be transformed in the process. We’re invited to journey into his life – not as solitary travelers going at it alone but as people who choose to walk together. We learn of Christ when we live as together the Body of Christ. That’s tremendous news. We learn of Christ when we live together as the Body of Christ.

Who do you say that I am? We’re on a life-long invitational journey to find out.

That’s an astounding invitation for us to have together.

I suppose people are coming up with all sorts of identities for Jesus all the time. Understandings about him are always swirling around us. And that’s not new. That’s been going on for centuries. Welcome to the church! The truth is, some of these identities have been profoundly liberating for people. Some have brought comfort, healing, renewal, and vision. And then others have seemed culturally relevant at the time (that’s what’s so scary about them) only to lead to distortion, oppression, war, and intense pain. I guess when we’re choosing words to understand Jesus, we’re stating our ultimate aims and we’re making claims about what has ultimate meaning for us. When we do that, we’re setting ourselves up for the ways we’ll follow, aren’t we? We do generally follow what has ultimate meaning for us. And I suppose it’s always good or us to reevaluate what has does ultimate meaning for us. As Jesus said, “Wherever your treasure is, there will be your heart also.” Who and what has ultimate meaning for us these days? Who and what do we choose to follow?

Imagine this scene: You walk into a board room and see a long table. Twelve business associates are surrounding it, quickly downing some coffee and perhaps a sweet donut before the Big Boss comes into the room and starts the meeting. A couple of them pull out their Blackberries – they’re analyzing their Convert Spreadsheets. “I hope the boss is happy with these,” one says to his neighbor. Another pulls out a wallet fat with cash. “Look at what I collected for our work!” In one short moment, they all shrink back and reveal a look of envy and insecurity. That colleague of theirs has the success they want. He’ll be in with the boss for sure. He’ll be ripe for a promotion.

They don’t have long to think about this because the Big Man himself enters the room. He’s clearly the one in charge. They all rise to their feet and watch him take the head place. Before them, in their midst, is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Before them is the one they serve – the one they follow - Jesus the CEO.

Yes! Can you imagine it? Jesus, the CEO. He knows who he is. He’s confident. He knows how to lead. He knows how to be productive – after all, isn’t that what matters the most these days? – being productive? Productivity! That’s the true mark of value, the way to make your identity worth something! He knows how to run an organization. He’s efficient, smart, powerful, and in charge. Jesus Christ – the CEO - everything we could want in a Lord!

Really? Really – Jesus the CEO? The scenario sounds ridiculous, but would you believe that a host of books have been written about just that? All you have to do is go on Amazon.com and do a search for “Jesus, CEO.” Here are some of the titles you’ll get: Jesus CEO: Using Ancient Wisdom for Visionary Leadership, Jesus, Entrepreneur: Using Ancient Wisdom to Launch and Live Your Dreams, Jesus, Life Coach: Learn from the Best, and Teach Your Team to Fish: Using Ancient Wisdom for Inspired Teamwork. Now to be fair, I haven’t read any of these books, and I think some of them are trying to outline ways that Jesus lived as a “servant leader.” But I have some concerns here, and I imagine you might too. Since when did Jesus ever come to us as revealed a CEO? And for that matter, since when did Jesus ever come to us in any type of power that society values? Instead of looking to Jesus for who he is – that is, letting him define himself and transform us – Instead of following him as people made in image of God, aren’t we so often trying to make God in our own image? Aren’t we trying to define Jesus according to what has ultimate meaning for us? I deeply hope that at the end of the day that power and wealth don’t ultimate meaning for us. I hope that Jesus sometimes reveals himself in opposition to who we want him to be. Thank God. Because sometimes we have a way of making Jesus who he isn’t.

And you know, we all do this in one way or another. We’re not alone. So did Peter. Peter – Peter, the Rock. Peter – the one who made an amazing confession. Peter – the disciple who was bold enough to say the truth. He heard that question. “But who do you say I am?” And he answered rightly. “You are the Messiah.”

Ding, ding, ding! He’s got it. He’s discovered it! Ta da! He’s got it! But if we were expecting rapturous applause and confetti to sprinkle suddenly all over the place, we were thinking wrong. Jesus has more to reveal about what kind of Messiah he will choose to be.

Can you imagine what this must sound like to Peter? He’s finally understood Jesus’ true identity, and then Jesus begins to say all sorts of things about himself that sound completely un-Messiah like. What? He will suffer many things? Wait a minute. What? He will be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and the scribes? He will be killed? No! That can’t be! That’s not my picture of a Messiah! He will rise again? What does that even mean?

No. No, none of this. Peter knows he has to do something. He has to make his vision match with who Jesus will choose to be. He takes Jesus aside. Peter rebukes Jesus. After all, Peter thinks he knows so much more about who Jesus really needs to be. But Jesus brings it all back into the open. Before the other disciples, he rebukes Peter. “Get behind me! You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Peter was making Jesus into his own image of human power.

And then Jesus has some things to say – not only to his disciples – but to the crowd as well. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”

Okay. That’s kind of intense. What kind of Jesus can we discover from this passage? Is Jesus telling his followers to seek suffering? Is he telling them that suffering is good and redemptive and that we should chase after it? Should suffering have ultimate meaning for us?

I don’t think so. The gospel of Mark is full of examples of Jesus willfully choosing to heal and abolish suffering. I don’t think Jesus is glorifying suffering here. There are of conceptions of Jesus out there that do glorify his suffering. And as a result, these conceptions of Jesus sometimes teach others to endure suffering they shouldn’t have to endure.

But who do you say that I am? That question comes to us too, and perhaps we are called to proclaim something that sounds more like the gospel – something that sounds more like good news.

So let’s proclaim it. Let’s proclaim good news together. Who do you say that I am? Quite a question, quite an incredible opportunity. That’s a question we get to answer with our very lives.

Perhaps when Jesus says, “Those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it,” he’s teaching us to do something he would ultimately choose to do. I don’t believe that Jesus went to the cross to glorify some kind of holy suffering. That’s a conception of Jesus floating out there, but I don’t believe it. What I do believe is this: I do believe that Jesus was ultimate nailed to a cross because he loved so deeply and lived so radically that the powers around him couldn’t stand it. I don’t believe Jesus went to the cross because God called him to suffer. I believe Jesus was willing to suffer because God called him to love. There’s a difference there.

God called Jesus to give himself freely to love and human need – to lose himself in it. And if we’re going to follow Jesus, we’re be called to lose ourselves in the same way. We’re going to be called to shed the idols that have ultimate meaning for us – including some of the ways we view Jesus. We’re going to called to let go –to have faith, trust – and follow, even though we don’t quite understand everything about Jesus. We we’re going to called to let Jesus to reveal himself – that takes a lifetime. We’re going to be called to learn of Christ, living in the Body of Christ. Will you follow? Will we follow?

Who do you say that I am? Quite a question, quite an incredible opportunity. That’s a question we get to answer with our very lives.

- Renée Roederer, Campus Minister

Scripture for Sunday: Who Do You Say That I Am?

Mark 8:27-38

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’ And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel,* will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words* in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’

Opportunity for Mission: Interfaith Hospitality Network!

Hey folks,

I'm writing to let you know about a neat volunteering opportunity that has been offered to our group.

The Interfaith Hospitality Network is a group of churches in the campus area that provide a place to stay for a few families who have been displaced from their homes. They need volunteers from these churches to supervise and then lock up in the morning. It's really easy; I did this last semester. You get plenty of sleep - you can bring a sleeping bag and crash on a couch.

University Presbyterian Church has delegated to our campus ministry group the following two dates:

Sunday, March 29th and Friday, April 3

The time commitment would be from 8:30 p.m. until 7:00 a.m. the next day. That is flexible, though, as long as there are always at least three of us there.

This is a good experience and you get a lot of volunteer hours in for minimal work. Let me know if you're interested. There will also be a sign-up sheet at evening worship at UPC.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me, Kathleen Fry, or Roscoe Overton. His email is rosoverton@grandecom.net.

Peace!

Lauron

Opportunity for Mission: The CROP Walk!

Hey there, Austin Agapeites! We have a great opportunity to participate in a fantastic event this weekend: The 31st Annual CROP Walk!

The CROP Walk is a fundraiser which helps organizations who are fighting hunger. 25%of the money goes to support local Austin organizations, and 75% supports the Church World Service, which sponsors the event. The organization builds interfaith and intercultural coalitions in 80 countries to help with hunger and poverty. You can look at their website at www.churchworldservice.org.

A group from UPC is going to walk at this event on Sunday! It is going to be held at Roy Guerrero Colorado River Park , and we’ll meet there at 2:00. The walk will be finished at 3:30. All along the walk, there are booths to educate us about hunger and poverty locally in Austin and around the world. It’s not too late to join the group!

Is anyone interested in walking? If so, you might want to make a donation. And even if you don’t walk, you can still donate!

Please e-mail Renee if you are interested: upccampus@upcaustin.org.

Deepening Our Faith: Spirituality Centers!

During this season of Lent, we are thinking of ways to deepen our personal faith and practices of spiritual disciplines at UPC. We invite you to join us!

We have a special opportunity for spiritual growth during the month of March. Every Wednesday night, there will be a dinner at 5:30. (You have to pre-pay $5 in advance for that). Then from 6:00-7:00, you are invited to go upstairs to the Youth Room to explore Spirituality Centers. There will be areas to engage in different types of prayer, study, art, and writing. It will be creative and an opportunity for you to explore the life of faith with those around you.

It begins tonight!

Sermon: When God's Vision Captures Our Own

Revelation 21:1-7
Romans 8:31-39

Okay, Question: What have we seen in the last week? What have we seen in the last seven days, since the last time we were all in one place – here in this church, for instance? A lot of time has passed. Seven days. That’s 168 hours to be exact. And preachers ought to know that kind of number. “Whether you’re ready or not, Sunday comes every 168 hours!” But really, what have we seen in that time? What sort of images have we encountered? If our eyes were cameras, can you imagine how many pictures they would have taken in the last 168 hours? I bet we would be astounded.

But maybe we don’t just see with our eyes. Maybe we see in other ways too. How about with our minds? What if we could have a list, a print-out, of every memory we thought about even briefly this week? Memories contain images too. Can you imagine how long that list would be? And then, what if we put all our lists into one collective mega-list? I bet it would be huge. And then, what if we could know how much time we had spent thinking about the past this week, our memories – what if we could know that too, down to the second? I bet we would be astounded.

Images of the past in our memories. . .images of the present, captured with our senses, perhaps captured with the camera which is our eye. . . Are there other types of images too – other ways of seeing, perceiving? How about with our imaginations? What if we could have a list, a print-out, of every image we’ve created this week as we’ve thought about what our future might look like? And then, what if we put all our lists into one collective mega-list? Again, I bet it would be huge. And then, what if we could know how much time we had spent thinking about the future, our projections in our imagination – what if we could know that too, down to the second? I bet we would be astounded.

We are image people. Images are all around us and within us. And images aren’t necessarily only what we see. They may be impressions or feelings that we experience or create. We’re constantly taking them in and evaluating their significance. Now, if we really were able to take in all those statistics I’ve mentioned from the last week, I have a feeling that the images on our enormous lists would be related in some way. After all, how many images of the future are connected to images of the past and present? How often do we project images of future scenarios within our imaginations which cause us all sorts of anxiety, maybe even terror, as we think about them? Many of these future scenarios played out in our imaginations are connected to the past, reformatted for our own present consideration. The truth is, sometimes we’re immensely afraid of reliving what we experienced in the past.

Now, I’ll tell you something kind of silly. Of all things in this universe that I could possibly afraid of, I have an immense phobia of daddy long legs! Really. Daddy long legs, of all things! They’re so harmless. They can’t do anything to hurt me! But then again, who said phobias have to be logical? Many times, they aren’t. Yeah, they’re harmless all right, but daddy long legs are so creepy. Their immensely long appendages are awkwardly feeling around in every direction. And if one is hanging onto a wall somewhere, and I have to pass that wall, I immediately imagine this creepy, yet harmless arachnid pouncing on me right there on the spot. Or if someone were to tell me that we were going on a walk in the woods and they warned me that there would be a lot of bugs, my imagination would immediately jump to images of my “favorite” creature of the woods. I wouldn’t let that keep me from walking, of course, but I could imagine some daddy long leg walking right over my foot or brushing my arm with one of its harmless, yet creepy legs. . .

For some reason, I’ve always been afraid of them. But a couple of years ago, my mother said something very interesting. “Renee, do you remember the time when we were camping – you were really young - and we went into that campground bathroom filled with hundreds of daddy long legs?” And as I sat there and thought, I realized, “YES!” I do remember that. I must have been about three years old, and I was terrified. Well, that’s interesting. So, my phobia works this way. Images of the past influence my hypothetical images of the future. (After all, who knows what those creepy daddy long legs are going to do to me?) And my images of the hypothetical future cause me to live in fear in the present. Those images capture my present. Interesting. All of these images are related.

But what happens when the images on our list – past, present, and future, aren’t harmless at all? What happens when they’re the complete opposite --absolutely harmful? I have a feeling that we would have many shared images on our collective mega-list from this week. There are plenty of images from the news channels to challenge us, to haunt us. There are often images of people whose lives are torn apart in war. There are images of people who have lived without food for so long that they’re literally starving. There are images of families who are experiencing foreclosure on their houses and college students who can no longer pay tuition bills.

We were much younger in 2001, but perhaps some of us remember the images of broken steel, concrete, and asphalt on 9-11. Images of destruction spilled over in every direction. Those images stick with us, and “harmful” begins to sound like a benign word in comparison with the reality. Those images are horrendous, terrifying, disastrous. They capture our present. They cause us to live into fear. And those images form themselves into words also, “How on earth could this happen? How could U.S. intelligence miss this? What would I have done if a member of my family was in that building or on one of those planes? Why do these things happen? God, if you’re so loving and so powerful, how could you possibly let this happen?”

And maybe the images on the news channels evoke other ones from our memory. Maybe we think about our own community too. Maybe we think about our friends who are struggling. Maybe we think about the street kids we find on the drag. Those images often form themselves into words: “Why?”

Or maybe we don’t even look at the news channels at all because all of these horrendous, terrifying, disastrous images become a flood in themselves. These collective images that everyone sees are too overwhelming because we have images from our own lives to deal with. Sometimes we have to force ourselves to watch the news. I sometimes want to look away so desperately. After all, I have enough stress in my own life to deal with. We all have images from the past, which influence images of our future in our own imagination, and those images of the future capture how we live in the present.

And what do we do on a Sunday like this one, when we bring all our lists of images – past memories, present sights, and future imaginings -- to God? We carried them in when we walked in the door. What do we do on a Sunday like this one when we bring that collective mega-list to God – the collective mega-list which has all our community’s images on it? We might pray for God to show us meaning in this list. We might want to gain meaning from the images we carry and imagine.

And then God gives us some of the most incredible images to take with us. God gives us images which form themselves into words – God’s own Word for us even tonight. “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” Those are John’s words, words of the past, words of the late 1st century -- John, the faithful disciple who was exiled on the island of Patmos for his faith. And though they are John’s words, God’s Word with a capital “W” is found within them. They’re God’s images given to John. And here we are today. God is still giving them to us. Through John’s eyes, we see them too. The New Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God. Through John’s ears, we hear the voice he heard. “See, the home of God is among mortals, he will dwell with them, they will be his peoples, and God himself with be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes.” Do we see it? Do we hear it? What sort of image is this? God making his home among mortals!

If we were to capture this image through John’s original Greek words, we would see that the text has some nuances to it. It’s a wonderful image. We could picture it through words like these: “Behold! See with your own eyes! The tabernacle of God is with people! He will tabernacle with them, and they will be his people!” What a picture! God setting up tent with human beings! Can you see it? And God is doing this right in the midst of our suffering – right in the midst of death, mourning, and crying. The same God who chooses to set up tent with us, comes so near to each one of us. God wipes away every tear from our eyes. God wipes away every tear from that camera of ours – that camera which has recorded innumerable images, images which we see again every day in our present. These are God’s images for us! These are God’s images of hope for our present!

And what other images do we receive on a Sunday like this one? How about our text from Romans? We see God’s unfailing love, even in the midst of the things which cause us the greatest suffering. Here’s a question worth repeating today. Here’s a question worth saying straight at those images which ravage us: “If God is for us, who is against us?” What an image! God has chosen to be for us! We didn’t choose that. God chose it, and if God has chosen to be for us and has chosen us to be God’s very own, what could possibly separate us from that love? God has chosen it! What about these images that the text mentions? Can they separate us from God’s love? I’m sure we can picture them. Hardship? Distress? Persecution? Famine? Nakedness? Peril? Sword? Can you picture them? No, none of these can separate us from the love of God! None of these can separate us from the God who willfully chooses to set up tent with us!

As Paul says, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This is a love so expansive– so huge. It’s astounding! Nor anything else in all creation. . . what might those things be for us today? Can we see them? Could we say, “I am convinced that neither floods, nor disasters on 9-11, nor marital problems, nor struggles in our family, nor health problems that won’t leave, nor bills that can’t be paid, nor depression, nor anxieties, nor inadequacies, nor isolation, nor besetting sins can separate us from the love of God! Shall we continue? Neither lay-offs, nor unfulfilled hopes, nor unmet needs, nor unhealthy relationships! Neither alcoholism, nor racism, nor terrorism, nor any “ism” at all. Nothing can separate us from the love of God because God has chosen to love us! The forces and images of this world cannot revoke that love! God is forever setting up tent with us right in the midst of these forces – right in the midst of these images. “See! The home of God is among mortals!” These are God’s images for us! These are God’s images of hope for our present!

What would happen if God’s images accompanied the images we brought with us in the door? What would happen if we took them outside the door on our way home? What would happen if God’s vision captured our vision? On a Sunday like this one, we are encountered with images of hope. These are images of hope for our future. But these images aren’t simply confined to some distant future out there. They affect our present! They are hope for the future, yes, but they are also hope for now! It’s as if the future itself were reaching in and taking hold of the present. Horrendous, terrifying, disastrous images grab our attention, but we aren’t called to live into fear. We’re called to live into hope!

What can a life of hope look like in our community? Perhaps it can be a new way of envisioning the call of God during the season of Lent which has begun this week. Perhaps it is a recognition of the truth that God’s vision has captured our vision. It means we will continue to imagine images of hope for our world, living into those images. How will God’s vision continue to capture our vision in this season, and what will that mean for us, both in our individual lives and in our collective life of faith together? May we see with the eyes of faith. May we live into hope. May we live toward the one who sets up tent with us! Amen.

- Renée Roederer, Campus Minister