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Category: Church of the Good Shepherd

  • What belongs to God?

    The Pharisees and the Herodians sent their followers to Jesus with a question that was intended to entrap him.  “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?”  He asked them to show him the coin used for the tax.  Of course, it bore the image of the Emperor, revered by many of his subjects as a deity.  Jesus asked them, “Whose image is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.”  Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:15-22)

    They couldn’t fault Jesus for his assertion that the Roman money belonged to the emperor.  And as faithful Jews, they couldn’t fault him for reminding them that the whole earth and everything in it belong to God.

    Whatever we have is a sacred trust from God and whatever we do with it matters in terms of our spiritual existence.  I am not where I live, how much I possess, where I work, what I wear, which clubs I belong to, which soccer team my child or I am on.  Those things are transitory.  The only thing that can never be taken away from me is who I am in the eyes of my Creator as declared to me in my Baptism: “Ron, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own for ever.”  Throughout life, whether I live in the lap of luxury or in a tent, it is my purpose in life and my joy to give myself to God.

    I can face the future because the Creator of the Universe is already out there in the future, calling me to life.  Give to mortals what belongs to them.  But give to God what belongs to God.   And what belongs to God?  Everything.

    Daniel B. Clendenin, has written, "As a friend of mine once observed, civilization is expensive, and taxes pay the tab.  But absolute allegiance to an ultimate God, rendering our entire selves to Him without preconditions or limits, without hedging our bets, demands a higher order of magnitude.  That takes a lifetime" (Show Me The Money: Unconditional Allegiance to the Unconditioned God, The Journey with Jesus: Notes to Myself, Daniel B. Clendenin, Journey with Jesus Foundation).

    Ron Short Sig Blue

  • Sermon at Church of the Good Shepherd ~ October 9, 2011

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    Proper 23 A

     

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  • Stewardship is in our DNA.

    Like many other congregations in America, ours is emphasizing stewardship of financial resources at this time of year.  Next Sunday, we’ll invite worshipers to fill out new commitment cards and bring them to the Altar.  Then, over the next couple of months, we’ll do everything possible to persuade everyone in the congregation to make a new, and hopefully increased, pledge of financial support of God’s work for the coming year.

    I'm not sure why we have to work at this so hard to get Christians to do something so central to the Christian way of life.  It came to my attention years ago that a substantial number of Christians consider the topic of stewardship to be less popular than some other ones.  In fact, on several occasions, I’ve had church members suggest that I soft-pedal stewardship because some people might get upset.  I’ve never taken that advice and here’s why.

    Over half of the recorded sayings of Jesus Christ have to do with possessions.  Jesus clearly knew how often possessions interfere with our relationship with God, our neighbors, and even our own spiritual identity.  Think about it.  Don’t most wars, lawsuits, family feuds, and legislative battles finally boil down to who possesses what and how much?

    There is an event in the life of Jesus that illustrates this aspect of Jesus message.  The story was so important to early Christians that it is recorded almost word for word in all three synoptic gospels.  A rich man approached Jesus and asked, “Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responded by telling him the only thing left for him to do was to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow Jesus.  The man couldn’t do it.  Why?  He was possessed by his possessions.  He relied on his possessions too much.  He derived too much of his identity, security, and status from his possessions.  Jesus wanted to liberate people from whatever enslaved them and in this instance, the man was a slave to his possessions.  Jesus was not condemning wealth.  He was trying to help a man find the freedom and joy that comes from living in a right relationship with God, his neighbor, and his stuff!

    Following the example of Jesus, I believe one of the most important aspects of my priestly vocation is to help people have a healthy relationship with their possessions so that all the other relationships of their lives will be healthier and they will know the kind of freedom Jesus called “eternal life.”

    Another reason I believe it is important to help people be faithful stewards is because the story of stewardship is grounded in the story of creation.  In the beginning, when God created human beings, our role as stewards of all that God has made was imbedded into our DNA.  As the only creature made in the likeness of God, humans have the distinct privilege and responsibility of managing all the resources God has provided in ways that further God’s creative and redemptive purposes. 

    When human creatures abdicate their role as stewards, they lower themselves in the pecking order of creation.  They view themselves as the subjects of their possessions or the elements.  Before long, they make idols and their idols stand between them and God.  As Martin Luther once observed, "Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your god."  The vocation to be stewards of creation is one of the fundamental things that makes us human!  It is in exercising stewardship that we become more fully human and fulfill our God-given destiny in the ongoing progress of creation.

    Fianlly, it is important to help the community of Christian people see how necessary the work and witness of the community is to the ongoing redemptive mission of Christ.  The first thing Jesus did in his public ministry was to form a community. Throughout his ministry, he worked to strengthen that community and form them into an apostolic, missionary force.  The last thing he did before his Ascension was to send that community into the world to bear his message and transform lives.  We give a portion of the money and time and other resources that have been entrusted to us for the work Jesus Christ wants to be done through the community he called into being.  When the community of Christ's followers is healthy and vibrant, the apostolic witness impacts the mission field at our doorstep in powerful, divine ways.  We can't be faithful stewards if we neglect the community into which we are baptized and to which Christ has entrusted so much of his redemptive work.

    When our lives are focused on stewardship instead of ownership, we experience greater freedom.  When we embrace the pattern of Jesus’ life that is characterized not by having but by giving, our relationships are transformed.  When we fulfill our vocation as stewards of creation, we become more fully human and realize more completely what it means to be created in the image of the Creator. When our giving strengthens the Church, the divine mission given uniquely to the Church can be accomplished.

    As a priest, why would I want to soft-pedal something like that?

    Almighty God, whose loving hand hath given us all that we possess: Grant us grace that we may honor thee with our substance, and, remembering the account which we must one day give, may be faithful stewards of thy bounty, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.   (The Book of Common Prayer, p.827)

    Ron Short Sig Blue

  • Faithful Stewards

    A little over twenty years ago, a leading authority in the field of church administration advised clergy not to use the word “commitment” around baby boomers.  He warned that it would drive them away because commitment in any area of life frightens them.  Five years later, the same leading authority reported that baby boomers were attending high expectation, high commitment churches in disproportionately large numbers.  Those churches were growing. We discovered that low expectation, low commitment churches like The Episcopal Church were declining.  While we were soft-peddling commitment, our members were leaving us for churches where it is required.  I resolved at that time that I would never soft peddle commitment again.

    When George Rupp was President of Rice University, I heard him say, “There is no life without community and there is no community without commitment.”  Think about it.  Without commitment, families, organizations, athletic teams, work groups, companies, and nations fall apart.

    One task of an interim pastor is to challenge the church community in transition to clarify its present identity in preparation for a new pastor.  One way to foster that new sense of identity is to ask the members to measure their level of commitment in light of our Church’s teaching that, The duty of all Christians is to follow Christ; to come together week by week for corporate worship; and to work, pray, and give for the spread of the kingdom of God. (BCP, p.856)

    I realize that some people may be as allergic to the word “duty” as they are to the word “commitment.”  But most reasonable people will acknowledge that fulfilling our duties is a necessary aspect of keeping our commitments in daily life.  In fact, the phrase “relieved of duty” carries negative connotations.  And why would anyone think that duty to God is any less important than duty to family, team, country, etc.?  Throughout history, many people have expressed the conviction that duty to God made it possible for them to fulfill all the other duties of their lives.

    I invite you to examine your commitment to your Christian duty.  Make this an opportunity to take the next step in your faith journey.  Is there a way to follow Christ more closely?  Can you join your fellow Christians in worship more often?  Is there a place of service to which you are being called?  Is there room for improvement in your prayer life?  How about your giving? Is it time to move up another step toward the spiritual discipline of tithing?

    Do yourself and your church community a favor and reflect on those questions as you prepare for Commitment Sunday.  At The Church of the Good Shepherd, commitment cards will be distributed during the services.  We’ll complete them together and bring them to the Altar as an act of worship.  Make this time of transition a time of renewed and increased commitment.  Ask God to use you in new ways to help the Church be all God wants it to be.

    Ron Short Sig Blue

  • Promises are not enough.

    Autumn is the time of year during which the theme of the gospel readings is that of the inbreaking Reign of God.  In these passages, Jesus provides us with insights into the nature of that state of being he called “eternal life” or “abundant life” or “the Kingdom of God.”  Through metaphor and parable, we are able to catch a glimpse of what life in that state of being is, to gain a perspective on what kinds of people are there, and to examine our own hearts and minds with regard to our own citizenship in that realm.

    The Parable of the Two Sons (Mt. 21:28-32) appears in Matthew in the context of a confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders of Jerusalem. It concerns the Kingdom of God and the makeup of the Kingdom’s population.

    Why was the Kingdom so important?  To get at this question, it helps to have an overview of sacred history.  As the Bible tells the story, in the act of creation, God made our first ancestor in God’s own image.  And, like God and the angels, the human creature was androgynous.  We call the creature “Adam,” which really isn’t a name but a description of a unique kind of being – one that is capable of having complete communion with God and one that has resources beyond what any other creature possesses.

    Then, as the Bible tells it, God divided the creature into two, male and female.  While they were separate, they still lived in communion, in harmony with one another.  There was a spiritual union.  But then, the desire to become gods overcame our first parents.  Ever since, we have felt disconnected, dysfunctional, diseased, dissatisfied, and disempowered.  We struggle to fill the hole at the core of our being with something that will make us feel whole.  We try all kinds of things but all fall short of our unconscious goal of unity within and reconciliation with our human brothers and sisters.

    Finally, one like us was sent to become the New Adam.  He was the first person since the beginning of time to get it all back together.  And, the way the Bible tells the story; we know that it was painful for him, just as separation was painful for our first ancestors.  Yet there is salvation and a sublime joy in the case of Jesus.  He called that experience of having it back together “Eternal Life”, “Abundant Life”, “Kingdom of God.”

    What was Jesus saying to those religious leaders?  They, of all people, should be sensitive and receptive to the signs of God’s activity, but they were not.  So, he told them a story about two sons. One son refused to do what he was asked to do, but ended up doing it anyway.  The other son said he would do what he was asked to do, but didn’t follow through.  Jesus wanted the religious leaders to know that, in his opinion, they were the ones who were not following through and that the people they most despised were going to catch on and get it together before they did.

    God keeps coming to the aid of the broken, unscrubbed, ritually unclean, outcast, and marginalized.  Really, that is the only kind of people there are.  Jesus wanted the washed and scrubbed to know and acknowledge that fact.  Such self-awareness and humility are the prelude to big changes in the heart and the mind that are the very gateway to the experience of back-togetherness.  So, what he was saying to those leaders was, “You are bringing up the rear!  Promises are not enough."

    What does this have to do with us?  We resemble the people in this parable. The self-emptying of Christ for us in the Incarnation was not his victory of the human temptation to be like God – the sin of our first parents.  Rather, his victory was the free renunciation of divine prerogatives in order to fully share the human condition, which of its very nature is a service to God.  By his humiliation and exaltation, Jesus has conquered, as a human, all the cosmic powers that are hostile to God and humanity. Adam and the offspring of Adam were disobedient and fragmented the human family. Jesus and the followers of Jesus restore the human family to koinonia – to fellowship, communion, spiritual union – with God and one another.  All creation is watching just to see the sons and daughters of God come into their full inheritance.  And, to bring it home right where we live today, everybody is waiting to see what God can do with us. What an opportunity!

    Ron

  • Sermon at Church of the Good Shepherd ~ September 18, 2011

    Pulpit.350 pixels September 18, 2011
    Proper 20A

     

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  • The Spiritual Discipline of Tithing

    Occasionally, I am asked about tithing.  Since we are entering the season when churches traditionally emphasize faithful stewardship, I thought it might be helpful to share a few thoughts on the subject here.

    A “tithe” is 10% of something.  Tithing has meant several things throughout history, including tribute, tax, and charitable contribution.  Years ago, my wife and I came to understand the tithe as a spiritual discipline, by which we acknowledge that everything belongs to our Creator and our role is that of stewards.  The discipline of tithing helps us maintain a healthy relation-ship with our possessions.  As we see in the teachings of Jesus, if we are possessed by our possessions, we aren’t truly free and if possessions harm relationships with our neighbors, they undermine God’s vision of a world where people live in peace.  As a priest, one of the most important things I can do for the spiritual health of those given into my care is to help them have a right relationship with possessions.

    When we give the first 10% to God, we are reminded that everything we have, whether spent, saved, or given away, is a sacred trust from God. Each time we write a check to the Church for the tithe, we are reminded to be faithful stewards of the remaining 90%.  We are also reminded that Jesus Christ doesn’t ask us for a small portion of our loyalty – he asks for 100%, "our selves, our souls and bodies."

    Because we are unapologetically committed to the mission to which God is calling the Episcopal Church, that is where we bring God’s tithe.  Other organizations have many different ways to solicit and raise funds to sustain them.  The Church has us. Most secular organizations, governments, community chests, and businesses cannot contribute to overtly religious communities.  We consider additional charitable giving to be an “offering.”  God’s tithe and our offerings equal about 20% of our gross household income.  By the standards of most of the world, the lifestyle sustained by the remaining 80% is luxurious.

    Once we saw the difference this discipline could make in our lives and in Christ’s ongoing mission, we set out to work toward the goal of tithing.  With God’s help, we modified our spending and saving patterns so we could step up each year toward a tithe.  Then, we continued to take steps that would allow us to make offerings beyond the tithe.

    I commend the discipline of tithing to you.  Try it and discover for yourself how blessings flow in as treasures flow out.  It will give new meaning to phrases found in the baptismal liturgy, such as placing our “whole trust in God’s grace and love.”  It will change the way you understand our Lord’s summary of the Law, to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and our neighbor as we love ourselves.

    Ron

  • “To err is human; to forgive, divine.”

    As we approach the observance of the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, I find myself continuing to struggle with how to apply Jesus’ teachings about forgiveness. It so happens that the anniversary falls on a Sunday and the appointed gospel reading for the day is The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:21-35).

    This parable is illustrative of the fact that forgiveness is an essential aspect of the Christian experience.  In fact, Twentieth Century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr once said, “forgiveness is the central issue of theology.”  It begins in God’s love and is endorsed by it. Therefore, when any one of us forgives, it is done within the context of another forgiveness, which possesses immeasurable dimensions.  Forgiveness plumbs the depths of our love and assays its quality and will to endure.

    I believe the section of Matthew’s gospel in which this parable is set originally served as a sort of catechism for early Christians.  Readers identify with Peter and his questions, then learn from the responses of Jesus.  The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant is Jesus’ answer to Peter’s question regarding how many times we should forgive others.  We are supposed to see ourselves as those who have been forgiven but are not very good at forgiveness.

    Here's where my struggle with forgiveness has led me thus far. 

    Forgiveness is not natural for humans. It is not some innate, natural human emotion.  Vengeance, retribution, and violence are natural for humans.  As Alexander Pope said, “To err is human; to forgive, divine.”  Why is that?  Because, we have to work at it and we must have divine help to accomplish it.

    The courage to forgive others begins in the humility that comes from the realization that we have been forgiven.  If we want to learn what forgiveness means, we have to begin by accepting the forgiveness God offers.  So, every Sunday the Church reminds us that we gather as those who have been forgiven so we can become souls who concentrate on learning to forgive others.  There’s a reason why the Peace is exchanged after we have confessed our sins and received absolution.

    To refuse to forgive is to block the forgiveness God offers to us.  George Herbert once said, “He that cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass if he would ever reach heaven; for everyone has need to be forgiven.”  To savor and nurture anger, resentment, thoughts of vengeance, is to turn away from the healing power of God in our lives and in the human family.  To forgive is to open up spaces for God’s love to enter and accomplish what we could not accomplish on our own.

    The parable shows that forgiveness is about conduct, not mathematics.  Peter wants to know how many times a person is expected to forgive before one is no longer under any obligation to forgive.  He wants Jesus to quantify forgiveness.  By using an astronomical number, “seventy times seven,” Jesus is saying that forgiveness has no limits.  It is extravagant, effusive, and without limit.  We are challenged to take the limits off our love and to be committed to constantly moving beyond what we had thought was the most we were capable of doing.

    Let me hasten to say that to forgive another who has truly wronged you does not mean that you must continue to put yourself in harm’s way again and again. We can still forgive those who hurt us through the grace of the One who brought forgiveness to us at such a great price, then step away.  Forgiveness does not remove the responsibility or the consequences of wrongful or harmful actions. It may or may not bring about healing results in the lives of those who are forgiven, but it certainly allows for healing in our own lives.

    What makes the forgiveness of God truly complete is the constant pilgrimage of forgiveness, which moves us beyond the self-imposed limits of love toward God who is both the source and the goal.  As Thomas Merton said, “When we extend our hand to the enemy, God reaches out to both of us.  For it is God first of all who extends our hand to the enemy” (The Hidden Ground of Love, 141).

    May God help us learn what it means to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

    Ron

  • Food for the Journey

    Psychologists tell us that people tend to remember the beginning and end of things better than what happens in between.  That is probably why we mark beginnings and endings with rituals and ceremonies.  The rituals may be jubilant or somber, but they draw us together around significant moments and act as a kind of preservative in the days and years ahead.

    Next week, Gay and I will be with friends in Nevada, to which they have retired.  They wanted to mark this new beginning by offering prayers and supplications to God, so I will be officiating at the blessing of their new home.  They want their faith to be the spiritual foundation for the new life they have begun in their new home and community.

    When I meet with couples planning to be married, I ask them to imagine how it will be on their fiftieth wedding anniversary and make a list of the things they will need to be able to say about their life together at that time.  They bring the list back to me and we review it.  I explain to them that this list represents their life goals.  Then, I ask them to keep this list in a safe place and review it on their anniversary or some other time every year so they can monitor their progress.  The idea is for them to be reminded on a regular basis of the dreams and visions they shared at the beginning, so that they will not wander too far off course through the intervening years.  It is a way of remembering and looking forward during the long journey.

    Just before he sent the final plague upon the Egyptians, God instructed Moses and Aaron to tell the Israelites to prepare a ceremonial meal.  It was the first Passover.  It was the last meal they would eat before leaving their life of slavery.  God also told them to make it an annual feast, to commemorate how God liberated them with a mighty hand. It marked the end of one way of life and the beginning of a new one. (Exodus 12:1-14)

    From that day on, to participate in the ritual was to remember and become a part of the story it celebrated.  In that story, God promised to set the slaves free.  What were they to do in anticipation of that freedom?  They were to gather together and eat a particular meal.  In doing so they acknowledged and celebrated both who they were and who their God was.  Their God is the One who lives in the midst of people, sets them free, and makes them his own.  The Passover celebration thus bound the people together and to their God.  It was, and still is, a covenant meal between God and God's own people.

    It was at a Passover meal in Jerusalem that Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist, the Lord's Supper.  There with his disciples he related the old, old story of deliverance.  But this time, he gave new meaning to things.  The unleavened bread is his body broken, the cup of wine is his blood shed to set people free from slavery to sin and death.  And he is the spotless Lamb of God whose sacrifice is sufficient to take away the sin of the world – for all people, for all time! 

    When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we celebrate and remember anew not only how God liberated his people from slavery in Egypt but also how God in Christ liberated us.  Now, this kind of remembering is not simply recalling information about some things that happened to some people long ago.  It is a kind of remembering in which we find ourselves in the story.  The past reaches out and touches the present and transforms it.  Like the ancient Israelites, we gather together as a family to eat a particular meal.  And, in so doing, we acknowledge and celebrate both who we are and who God is.  Our God is the one who dwells in our midst, sets people free and makes them his own!  The Eucharistic feast, like the Passover celebration, binds us to one another and to our God.

    Jesus loved to eat and drink.  Meals were often the setting for important moments in his life and ministry.  He told parables that involved meals.  A meal is a time of sharing and sharing his divine life is central to his mission.  When we gather around this table, he is our host.  We come at his bidding.  We bring our corporate story as a faith community, as well as our individual stories, and we join them with the story we pray in the Great Thanksgiving.  When we rise, by the mysterious, living presence of Christ in the Sacrament, and the action of God's grace, we discover that story has transformed ours.  It is a time of new beginnings.  Our loins are girded, our sandals are on our feet, and our staff is in our hand.  We have been liberated once again from slavery to those things that keep us from abundant living and set free to go on with the journey toward our own salvation.
         
    It is good to know, especially during times of transition, that when we gather to eat this meal, we leave one way of life behind and begin a new one.

    Ron

     

     

     

     

    P.S. Here's a lovely hymn about new beginnings. You'll find the text beneath the video by clicking "Show More."

     

  • Stumbling Block or Stepping Stone?

    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. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’ (Matthew 16:21-23)

    Jesus had wrestled with temptation and accepted his messianic mission.  He knew who he was, understood his purpose, and had a clear vision of where his journey would lead him.  When he tried to explain all of this to his disciples, Peter, the one who had been first to discover Jesus as Messiah, was shocked.  He didn’t expect a Messiah who would redeem the world as the suffering servant.  It was unthinkable for Peter that the cost would be so high.  Perhaps Peter’s difficulty was the realization that if it cost Jesus so much, it would cost him also.

    So, Peter tried to get Jesus to see that there could be another, less costly, and safer way to be God’s Messiah.  The “Rock” upon which Jesus intended to build his Church, was now the “Stumbling Block” in Jesus’ journey to the cross.  At no time in the gospels do we find Jesus rebuking any of his disciples so harshly.  In that rebuke, Jesus made it abundantly clear that he knew who he was and what he was called to do.  Not even Peter would be allowed to obstruct his divine purpose.

    I remember so well how in 1965, The Rt. Reverend Horace Donegan, Bishop of New York, discovered that the early completion of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine was being jeopardized by resentment against some particular causes which he and the diocese had championed.  He said, “I have learned that a very large gift toward the completion of this great cathedral was stricken out of one man’s will because of the diocese’s stand on civil rights.  That happened to be in Manhattan.  In other parts of the diocese, this cathedral, which I would like to see completed, has lost financial support because of the stands that I as a bishop of the Church of God have felt compelled to take.”

    Then he spoke this noble word in which the real soul of the Church found utterance, “If in the providence of God it turns out to be that this unfinished condition is going to prevail for years, then I can only hope that its very unfinished quality will stand as a memorial to a diocese, which in the 20th Century, tried to do what it believed was right.”

    In the ongoing redemptive work of Christ, are you providing support or getting in the way?  This familiar bit of verse puts the question before us quite simply:

        Isn't it strange that princes and kings,
        and clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
        and common folk like you and me,
        are builders for eternity?

        To each is given a book of rules
        a block of stone and a bag of tools.
        For each must shape ere time has flown
        a stumbling block or a stepping stone.

    Which are you – a stumbling block or stepping stone?  I personally struggle with the question on a regular basis.

    Jesus Christ has entrusted his redemptive work in the world today to the Baptized.  The next time a priest asks you questions like,

    Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
    Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
    Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
    Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
    Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

    think about the rebuke of Peter and remember that the answer is, “I will, with God’s help.”  Nobody ever said you’d have to do these things alone.  In fact, if you don't need God's help, it may not be God's work.  The One who refused to allow Peter to obstruct his journey to the cross and the resurrection continues to empower those who recognize that the cost of discipleship is high, but take up their crosses and follow him anyway.

    Ron