Revealing Scripture, Authentic Life Book 2

By Peter A. Munson and Maureen Hogg

Book 2 in a four book series presents sermons preached by Peter A. Munson at St. Ambrose Episcopal Church in Boulder, Colorado. The selections are the best of 230 pieces inspired solely by Scripture as used in the service for the day. They discuss cross-cultural, cross-denominational themes to make the ancient Scripture come alive for a more authentic life. The series speaks to both practicing Christians who seek a deeper connection with God and to the uninitiated in Christianity who seek a better understanding of the teachings. Book 1 focuses on grace as God’s presence in contemporary life. Book 2 examines how to find that presence and the way to a more authentic life. Book 3 explores the messages and messengers we encounter who reveal God’s presence in contemporary life. Book 4 reveals how we can incorporate grace, discovery, and messages for the ultimate integration of all experiences for greater fulfillment. Fully annotated with narrative notes and source citations, the series was edited by Maureen Hogg.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Peter A. Munson
• Release date: Feb 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463861684

Peter A. Munson

Peter A. Munson is an Episcopal priest, having served three different churches in Colorado since 1991. During that time, he has preached over 1,000 sermons. He enjoys making the ancient scriptures come alive for contemporary seekers of God. The sermons featured in the four-book series Revealing Scripture, Authentic Life were all preached for the people of St. Ambrose Episcopal Church in Boulder, Colorado. Peter is married to Julia, a therapist, leadership development coach, and retreat facilitator. They have two adult children. Peter is also an avid hiker. He has backpacked the 500-mile Colorado Trail and climbed 47 of the 54 “14ers”—peaks in Colorado that exceed 14,000 feet in elevation. In 2019, Peter will step down from his rectorship at St. Ambrose to pursue the next part of his calling and begin a walk across the United States, raising money for four non-profits that provide a bright future for children. Pictured here: Peter A. Munson below Mt. Audubon in the Indian Peaks west of Boulder, Colorado. Connect with Peter: Website: http://6millionstepsforkids.org Instagram: http://instagram.com/6mstepsforkids Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/6MStepsforKids Books by Peter A. Munson with Maureen Hogg Revealing Scripture, Authentic Life Book 1 Book 2 Book 3 Book 4

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Revealing Scripture, Authentic Life

*Book 2*

By

Peter A. Munson

with Maureen Hogg

Copyright 2019 Peter A. Munson and Maureen Hogg

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

About the Cover

Cumulus clouds above the tundra just east of 14,196-foot Mt. Yale on the Colorado Trail, east side of the Collegiate Peaks near Buena Vista, Colorado. Photo courtesy of Peter A. Munson. Cover design by Julie Halvorson, Morrell Printing Solutions, Lafayette, Colorado.

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Table of Contents

Revealing Scripture, Authentic Life Book 2

Not Ready for Mission, But Sent Out by God Anyway

What Kind of Lens Are You Looking Through?

Embracing the Moment, Embracing Life, Embracing God

Appearances Are Overrated: How’s Your Heart?

Offering Ourselves to God

What Does Authentic Faith Look Like?

Divine Things and Human Things

Who Is Jesus for You?

Rival Gods and Choosing to Serve the Lord God

Turning Aside and Losing Yourself

Lost and Found

Wrestling—Wrestling with Fear, Insecurities, Injustice—Wrestling with God

I Am Who I Am, Not I Am Not Who You Are

The Company You Keep Matters

Knowledge—What You Know, Who You Know, How You Know—Is It More Than You Can Explain?

The Living, Sacrificial Gate

Not a Map, but a Way

Dying for Christ

Unknown Seas and Intersecting Lives

Leaving Home and New Life in Christ

Getting Away to Be with God

The Cost of Jumping to Conclusions

A Summer of Reading, A Lifetime of Practice

About the Authors

Discover the Series

Revealing Scripture, Authentic Life Book 2

Not Ready for Mission, But Sent Out by God Anyway

Ex. 19:2-8a; Ps. 100; Rom. 5:6-11; Mt. 9:35-10:15

Gen. 18:1-15; 21:1-7; Ps. 126: 1, 10-17; Rom. 5:1-8; Mt. 9:35-10:23

I had another one of those dreams last night. I’ve had quite a few of them over the years. Perhaps you have them, too. I was two hours through a three-hour exam when it suddenly dawned on me that the exam was going on, and I hadn’t started yet. I have an hour left to write my answers to all these essay questions. I start to read the questions, and they are long and convoluted; and to make it more interesting, I haven’t studied any of the material. I have missed all of the classes leading up to the exam. Clearly, I am not ready!

Did you hear that gospel that we just read? Jesus is going around to different cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing those who come to him. Jesus sees the crowds, and he has compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. But on this particular day, he was also struck with how big the job was. There were so many people that needed to hear the message of God’s love, so many that needed a word of hope, so many that needed to be reconciled with God–it was a harvest so great that he realized he could never bring it in all by himself.

You can almost see the wheels spinning in his mind as he contemplates this great need. First, he asks the disciples to pray to God—the Lord of the harvest—to send out laborers into his harvest. Evidently they did that. The very next line that Matthew writes is this: Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.

Then he said to the Twelve: … go … to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.

He goes on to tell them to travel lightly so that they can get going quickly. Don’t take any money or extra clothes. Don’t worry about where you’ll stay. Someone will take you in. Just go. Go! Get out of here! There is a big harvest waiting! Go!

One moment he is asking them to pray to God for laborers. The next moment, he is sending them! They are the laborers.

What do you think the reaction of the disciples was? I can tell you what it might be today. "Hold on now, Lord! I haven’t even got my discernment committee formed yet! I haven’t had my physical or my psychological exam. I haven’t had time to figure out who my spiritual director is going to be. The Commission on Ministry hasn’t interviewed me and told me

that I can go to seminary. I haven’t had three years of seminary training yet, Lord–I can’t go! I’M NOT READY!"

Jesus gave them their marching orders immediately–before they were ready. He called them, they saw something in him, they followed him, he gave them authority and power; and the next thing they knew, they were being sent out into the harvest—to preach, and heal, and cast out demons.

Jesus looks around today. He sees crowds of people who are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Some of them think that the one who dies with the most toys wins. Some of them think that the one who is the busiest wins. Some of them think that you have to be perfect and are killing themselves trying to be. Many of them wonder where God is, or think that there is no God.

Jesus looks around and he says, God, who can we send out into this harvest? And God responds, They believe. Send them. Jesus does a double-check, just to be sure. The ones at St. Ambrose? Yes, my son. Yes, the ones at St. Ambrose. Send them.

Jesus says to you and to me, Go to the lost sheep of the house of America. The harvest is plentiful. Go to your friends, go to your neighbors, go to your co-workers, but go. The time is ripe. Tell them the good news. Tell them about me. Tell them about love and forgiveness. Tell them that a different kind of life is available to them. It’s not so much one you go after, as it is one that is given to you. Tell them. You–you go and tell them.

What’s that you say? You don’t feel ready? It feels like you’re being asked to take an exam that you haven’t prepared for?

I’ll share my little confession with you now. This has been the biggest struggle, the biggest challenge, the biggest issue in my life. I have never felt that I was enough. It goes back to my childhood, and I’ve never quite shaken it. I’ve spent a small fortune in therapy working on this issue. I’ve prayed about it.

I’ve read the Bible over and over again and learned the truth—the deep, deep truth—that I am enough in God’s sight; that I am God’s beloved child; that I am justified and can stand before God because God loves me, made me in his image, and is for me. All that is true—deeply true. And, of course, it’s not just a truth about me. It’s a truth about all of us.

You want to know why God does it this way? You want to know why the Lord sends us out before we feel ready? Maybe it’s because if he waited until we felt totally ready, we’d never go. Our tendency, a lot of the time, is to think it’s all up to us, that we have to do it all, and do it just so, be perfect somehow.

I like how Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message. You are the only equipment that God needs, and all you need to keep going is three meals a day. Oh, yeah—and the Holy Spirit, from which comes the guidance, the power, and the strength that you need. But God has already given you the Holy Spirit.

Yes, preparation is important. Yes, gaining a certain level of maturity is important. The process of growth is important. But we can’t learn, we can’t grow in faith unless we take that first step out the door and go. Unless we have to rely on God, we will not learn more of who God is, we will not grow in faith. We will only have more ammunition for saying, I did it all by myself. Even though we know, deep down, that we have not done anything all by ourselves.

We’ll never feel totally ready. Jesus sends us out anyway. Why? Because somehow we’ve come to believe in him, and know of his love for us, and for the world. And he says, That’s good enough. We don’t have time to waste. There’s a whole world out there that’s waiting to hear the message that you have heard and responded to. There’s a whole world out there that’s hurting and needs to know of God’s love for them. I choose to send you. Go.

He may send us out without us knowing what will happen. But he doesn’t send us out without resources. He gives us the same kind of authority and power that he gave the twelve. He equips us with the Holy Spirit, and that is a lot! That is guidance, and strength, and power.

He gives us his Word. He reminds us to pray, and reminds us that we can pray for each other. He gives us other friends who believe—other friends who can support us as we go out, and as we come back in from the harvest. And just as the 12 disciples met up with people who received what they had to say and offered them hospitality in their homes, we will discover that God provides people–within the harvest itself–who are gracious and generous. And should we encounter some who are not, then we simply let our peace–the peace of Christ–return to us and move on.

There are all sorts of things in life that we may not feel ready for. What don’t you feel ready for? High school? College? A new job? Being unemployed? Marriage? Parenthood? Kids leaving home? Retirement? A new ministry? Initiating a new relationship with someone? Living without someone whom you’ve loved for a very long time? Telling someone about your experiences of God?

God knows. God knows that, a lot of the time, when you and I encounter these situations, we don’t feel ready. But God does not always see as you and I see. Because he gives us a little push and says, Go. Go on. It’s time. You’re more ready than you think you are. And remember, I will be right here with you. You have your friends. You have prayer. You have the Holy Spirit, and my words given to you through Scripture. You have what you need. Go.

I don’t know if I’ll ever stop having those dreams–those dreams of feeling unprepared—not ready. When I wake up from those dreams, I realize that I have those feelings a lot in my life. There is always something that I don’t feel prepared for. It is that feeling that turns me back, once again, to my Lord. I am reminded of those promises that you and I make in the Baptismal Covenant in The Book of Common Prayer. You know, the ones where we respond: I will, with God’s help.

Ultimately, it is a good thing to not feel ready. For it reminds me that I’m not here, traveling through life, all on my own. God loves us. He calls us. He sends us out into a plentiful harvest, into a world full of needs. But he also goes with us and upholds us. And that makes all the difference. That makes it possible for me to wake up from those dreams and not see them as nightmares.

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What Kind of Lens Are You Looking Through?

Ex. 17:1-7; Ps. 95:6-11; Rom. 5:1-11; Jn. 4:5-42

Last night my daughter, Hannah, and I attended the University of Colorado women’s basketball game. As usual, there were some photographers taking pictures and videos of the action. Have you ever noticed some of those cameras where the lens is about two feet long and half as big as a megaphone? You know, the kind that allow the photographer to get a closeup of a player or coach or fan from halfway across the arena?

A good camera is an amazing thing. Depending on your lens, you can do what I just mentioned—zoom in and get a closeup of something or someone far away. When you do that, of course, your camera sort of blocks out all the other things or people who are there. On the other hand, a camera with a wide-angle lens can take in a big expanse—they are great for capturing a whole panorama when you are outside hiking, for example.

Our eyes have rather amazing lenses, if you think about it. A camera sort of