I hesitated to put this up, but I can't help but share it. How does a comedy show expose the antics of the news networks so frequently? Watch this at least up to minute 9:45 as Jon Stewart reveals how FOX gets its news (from itself). Sometimes Jon Stewart really is simply better journalism than the 24-hour news networks. This segment reveals how FOX doesn't think its viewership is intelligent.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
For Fox Sake!
www.thedailyshow.com
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A Sermon for All Saints' Day based on John 11:14-54.

“If you have ever lost someone very important to you, then you already know how it feels, and if you haven’t, you cannot possibly imagine it.” This quote is from the opening paragraph of the first book of A Series of Unfortunate Events. The author, who writes dark tales for children under the pen name “Lemony Snicket,” explains that this is how the Baudelaire children felt when they became the Baudelaire orphans after both their parents died in a house fire.

Those words of how difficult it is to convey a sense of loss fit with today’s reading. Martha is hurt when she sees Jesus. She says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” A little bit later she called for her sister Mary who repeated that same accusation, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

God is often accused for being too late.

Then Gospel of John tells us in verse 33, “When Jesus saw [Mary] weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’”

Then we are told in that shortest of verses that “Jesus wept.”

God, the Great Unmovable, the Great Constant, is moved. Jesus loved Lazarus. He weeps at the grave of his friend. Yes, this makes sense in Jesus’ humanity, but if anyone believed in the resurrection, it should have been Jesus. Why would a person who believes in the resurrection and the glory of the life to come, let alone God himself, weep? How can God, who promises to one day wipe away all tears, weep over this man, Lazarus?

Grief is not unchristian. It is a sorrow that does not go away. Grief stays with you. In fact, not only can we NOT expect grief to go away completely, we also shouldn’t want it to. For as the person you loved is not returned to you, how can you stop grieving? The loss remains, and so does the sorrow.

Do you remember Job? Job was the man in the Old Testament who never cursed God even though he lost all he owned and lost all his family, including his wife and children. When Job’s life struggles ended, God gave him a new family and a new life. But do you think that Job never grieved over the loss of his first wife or of his children?

Grief stays with us, yet it can and does change. And so we pray not for an end to the grief, but for the unbearable sense of loss to be replaced by a sorrow we can bear. We pray that in our grief we can start to pick our heads up and learn from the lives of those who have walked with us and before us.

Just as Christ wept at the grave of the friend he loved, we too weep over the graves of those we love. And it’s not only that we miss them, it’s also that we don’t want them to be forgotten. We don’t want their names to be erased from the face of this earth. So, in a sense, we find ourselves living for them. We live trying to make sure they are not forgotten. We live to make sure that what they lived for is not forgotten.

And so on this day we call All Saints Day, we take time not only to remember those whom we loved, but also those in our Christian ancestry. Without the Spirit’s work in their lives, we may have never heard the message of God’s good news through Christ Jesus. In fact, after the sermon, Pastor James and Lydia will come forward and sing us an absolutely beautiful song about remembering. After they sing, I will invite you to come forward to light a candle for a person who has died recently. That’s what these candles are for.

I would like to share with you about two people, in particular.

As we gather in this sanctuary, I’m reminded of a man who I wish I could have known. Ray C. was once an elder of this church. He died last year. Ray was a friend to many of you and many others who used to fill this church.

Ray had a full life. He wasn’t always a believer, but when he finally came to see the promises of God in Christ, he devoted all of him to the Lord’s service. I’ve been told he was creative and artistic. In fact, he designed the stained glass windows here in our sanctuary. These stained glasses remind us of Ray. And as we look at Ray’s life and work, we are reminded of Jesus.

And that’s how it goes. That’s how it should work. That when we pass, we somehow leave behind not only a legacy of who we were, but a reminder of who God is in Christ.

And so it also is with the life of a 2nd century martyr named Justin.

Justin was a philosopher. One day an old man started talking to him about philosophical issues and then told him about Jesus. Through this conversation, Justin became interested in knowing more. So he started learning about the Hebrew prophets from the Old Testament, who lived before the philosophers Justin had studied. He said the prophets spoke “as reliable witnesses of the truth.” They prophesied of the coming of Christ, and their prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus.

Justin said that afterward “my spirit was immediately set on fire, and an affection for the prophets, and for those who are friends of Christ, took hold of me; while pondering on his words, I discovered that his was the only sure and useful philosophy. . . . it is my wish that everyone would be of the same sentiments as I, and never spurn the Savior's words." Justin sought out Christians who taught him history and Christian doctrine, and then "devoted himself wholly to the spread and vindication of the Christian religion."

Justin continued to wear the cloak which identified him as a philosopher, and he taught students in Ephesus and later in Rome. An historian notes that "he engaged in debates and disputations with non-Christians of all varieties, pagans, Jews, and heretics."

Justin's conviction of the truth of Christ was so complete, that he died a martyr's death somewhere around 165 A.D. Justin was beheaded along with six of his students.[1]

There were tears upon hearing of the death of Ray C. There were tears shed for Justin, his students, and several thousand early church martyrs. There were tears at the grave of Lazarus.

Yet these deaths had more in common than tears. These deaths were the deaths of those who were friends of Christ Jesus. And the promise which Jesus made at the grave of Lazarus is a promise that can be made at the grave of every friend of Jesus.

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”

Then he asks, “Do you believe?” Ray believed, Justin Martyr believed, Lazarus believed.

For those of you who believe, this is the promise we base our lives upon. And if you haven’t yet come to know Jesus, the question still remains, “Will you believe?”

You see, God has invited everyone to return to Him, trusting in His promises. It may seem that God is delayed, but surely God will deliver.

The words from Lemony Snicket are true: “If you have ever lost someone very important to you, then you already know how it feels, and if you haven’t, you cannot possibly imagine it.”

So, yes, we grieve, we cry, we mourn the loss of our loved ones. But we may become a people who can also say with Paul, “Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

To rearrange the words of Lemony Snicket, I believe what’s also true is that “If you have ever known the love of Christ, then you already know how it feels, and if you haven’t, you cannot possibly imagine it.”

May the lives of those we remember, help us to trust all the more deeply in the promises of Christ Jesus.

---

[1] http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/justin.html

I was just reading an older post from someone on Xanga I recently found. I was very interested in the discussion that ensued from the post. It made me realize that there are so many great conversations happening here that get lost (or are never found by most).

Have you been a part of some really good discussions on certain posts? What are they? What are some of your favorite or most memorable discussions on Xanga? Drop us the link.

::Esteban::

From my second sermon ever delivered (2007).

If you find that in your life you are not surviving the crashing winds of life and temptation, but you are trying hard to fight against them, let me say that maybe the issue is not your effort, but your material. The first two pigs could have tried as hard as they wanted to build a bigger and better house of straw, but it would never hold up to the wolf. The pigs would need new material to keep the wolf out.

So the same goes with us. We can keep trying harder to survive the temptations to live outside of God’s ways as revealed in Jesus, but if we are employing the methods and advice of our society, we will never attain it.

As great as the story of The Three Little Pigs is, its self-stated moral is a lie. It says that simply trying harder to do one’s best will make you survive the wolves of life. The real moral of the story is that trying harder when you’re using the wrong technique or perspective wears you out or makes you susceptible.

Too many of us are worn out, and we still believe we just need to try harder. Jesus says it's about building a right foundation.

Three Little Pigs

Once upon a time there were three little pigs and the time came for them to leave home and seek their fortunes. Before they left, their mother told them, "Whatever you do, do it the best that you can because that's the way to get along in the world.”

The first little pig built his house out of straw because it was the easiest thing to do.
The second little pig built his house out of sticks. This was a little bit stronger than a straw house.
The third little pig built his house out of bricks.

One night the big bad wolf, who dearly loved to eat little piggies, came along and saw the first little pig in his house of straw. He said, "Let me in, Let me in, little pig, or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!"
"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin," said the little pig. But, of course, the wolf did blow the house in and ate the first little pig.

The wolf then came to the house of sticks.
"Let me in, Let me in, little pig, or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!"
"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin", said the little pig. But the wolf blew that house in too, and ate the second little pig.

The wolf then came to the house of bricks.
"Let me in, let me in," cried the wolf, "or I'll huff and I'll puff till I blow your house in!"
"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin," said the pig.

Well, the wolf huffed and puffed but he could not blow down that brick house. But the wolf was a sly old wolf and he climbed up on the roof to look for a way into the brick house.

The little pig saw the wolf climb up on the roof and lit a roaring fire in the fireplace and placed on it a large kettle of water.

When the wolf finally found the hole in the chimney he crawled down and KERSPLASH right into that kettle of water and that was the end of his troubles with the big bad wolf.

The next day the little pig invited his mother over. She said, "You see it is just as I told you. The way to get along in the world is to do things as well as you can." Fortunately, for that little pig, he learned that lesson. And he just lived happily ever after!

I had to share this. What do you think about the judge's decision? Does the judge have a point about the children? Have you noticed that children from interracial couples are not easily accepted by black and white communities on the whole? Or is that a cover up? I couldn't find substantial research on it. It's a new area of focus.

(AP) NEW ORLEANS A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have. Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

Bardwell said he asks everyone who calls about marriage if they are a mixed race couple. If they are, he does not marry them, he said.

Bardwell said he has discussed the topic with blacks and whites, along with witnessing some interracial marriages. He came to the conclusion that most of black society does not readily accept offspring of such relationships, and neither does white society, he said.

"There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage," Bardwell said. "I think those children suffer and I won't help put them through it."

If he did an interracial marriage for one couple, he must do the same for all, he said. "I try to treat everyone equally," he said.

Bardwell estimates that he has refused to marry about four couples during his career, all in the past 2 1/2 years.

Beth Humphrey, 30, and 32-year-old Terence McKay, both of Hammond, say they will consult the U.S. Justice Department about filing a discrimination complaint.

Humphrey, an account manager for a marketing firm, said she and McKay, a welder, just returned to Louisiana. She is white and he is black. She plans to enroll in the University of New Orleans to pursue a masters degree in minority politics.

"That was one thing that made this so unbelievable," she said. "It's not something you expect in this day and age."

Humphrey said she called Bardwell on Oct. 6 to inquire about getting a marriage license signed. She says Bardwell's wife told her that Bardwell will not sign marriage licenses for interracial couples. Bardwell suggested the couple go to another justice of the peace in the parish who agreed to marry them.

"We are looking forward to having children," Humphrey said. "And all our friends and co-workers have been very supportive. Except for this, we're typical happy newlyweds."

"It is really astonishing and disappointing to see this come up in 2009," said American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana attorney Katie Schwartzmann. She said the Supreme Court ruled in 1967 "that the government cannot tell people who they can and cannot marry."

The ACLU sent a letter to the Louisiana Judiciary Committee, which oversees the state justices of the peace, asking them to investigate Bardwell and recommending "the most severe sanctions available, because such blatant bigotry poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the administration of justice."

"He knew he was breaking the law, but continued to do it," Schwartzmann said.

According to the clerk of court's office, application for a marriage license must be made three days before the ceremony because there is a 72-hour waiting period. The applicants are asked if they have previously been married. If so, they must show how the marriage ended, such as divorce.

Other than that, all they need is a birth certificate and Social Security card.

The license fee is $35, and the license must be signed by a Louisiana minister, justice of the peace or judge. The original is returned to the clerk's office.

"I've been a justice of the peace for 34 years and I don't think I've mistreated anybody," Bardwell said. "I've made some mistakes, but you have to. I didn't tell this couple they couldn't get married. I just told them I wouldn't do it."