"...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control....If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.  Let us have no self conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another"  Galatians 5:21-26
Yesterday a friend told me about a time he was the "near" victim of "road rage."  My friends car had stalled on a busy street and cars were backed up behind him. He tried to start his car again and again but it wouldn't start.  Soon horns began to blow.  Then my friend saw the man in the car behind him approach his vehicle, so my friend rolled down his window so he could explain to the angry driver what the problem was.  But as the angry driver approached my friend's car, his fist was tightly clenched.  Obviously the angry driver's intent was to punch my friend in the face.  But when he saw my friend, he suddenly stopped and said, "Oh hi, Jim! It's you!" Then he dropped his arm, and with a reddened face went back to his own vehicle.  The angry driver was one of Jim's coworkers.
As was the case in this story, our attitudes can suddenly become very nasty and show a side of us that is not very nice.  But do we think about that when we are angry or frustrated with someone?  Too often we express our anger with words or sighs or body language which show our impatience and unpleasant attitude.  Where is our empathy?  Where is our patience?  Where is our kindness?  How would we feel if the tables were turned and we were the brunt of someone's anger - often caused by misunderstanding.  If you have to wait a little longer in a checkout line or at a stop light, what do a few minutes mean in the time of an entire day?  Will your anger speak more loudly than the Spirit of Christ within you?  Will the way you handle a confrontation or squabble display the fruits of the Spirit of Christ which are: patience, kindness, goodness and forgiveness? 
Your witness is a fragile thing.  Don't destroy it today by a wrong attitude or action.

A few Sundays ago, the Gospel lesson was from Luke 7:36-50.  It was the story about a Pharisee named Simon and an unnamed woman who apparently was a prostitute.  The lesson in the story is a good one about forgiveness and not judging others.
Well I came across a story today that is a modern day version of that in Luke.  The story is titled "The Cookie Thief" and goes like this: A woman was at the airport waiting to catch her flight.  She bought a bag of cookies, settled in a chair in the airport lounge and began to read her book.  Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she noticed the man beside her helping himself to her cookies.  Not wanting to make a scene, she read on, ate cookies, and waited for the announcement to board the plane.  As the stranger kept on eating the cookies she got more and more irritated and thought to herself, "If I wasn't so nice, I'd make a scene and embarrass him in front of all these people."  She thought of moving the cookies to her other side but decided against that.  But with each cookie she took, he took one too.  When only one cookie was left, she wondered what he would do.  Then with a smile on his face he took the last cookie and broke it in half.  He offered it to her as he ate the other.  Angrily she snatched it from him with a look of disgust on her face and without a word of thanks to the man.  She thought to herself, "Oh brother, this guy has some nerve, and he's also so rude.  He didn't even show any gratitude!"  When her flight was called she quickly gathered her things and left for the gate, refusing to look at the ungrateful "thief."  When she sat down in her seat, she reached in her carry-on bag to get a book to read and forget about the incident.  However, when she reached in for her book, there to her surprise was HER bag of cookies!  The cookies she and the man beside her ate were his not hers.  She was the thief not him!
This story reminds us that it often happens that the one pointing the accusing finger turns out to be the guilty one, and the complainant sometimes turns out to be the offending party.  In the cookie story, the woman believed she was such a wonderful person to put up with the rudeness and ingratitude of the man sitting beside her.  But in the end she discovered that she was the rude and ungrateful one and it was the man who had been very kind to her.  Imagine her shock and chagrin when she saw the man walk by her as he went to find his seat further back in the plane.
In the Gospel the Pharisee thinks he is the righteous one who is worthy to be in the company of Jesus and that the woman was the sinful one unworthy to be seen with Jesus.  In the end Jesus showed each of them where they really belonged and the woman was seen as the one who was righteous and more deserving of the company of Jesus than the self-righteous Pharisee.
Amen.

I came upon a story about a pastor who was supposedly a great lover of children.  One day he looked at the new sidewalk leading up to his house that had been freshly poured.  The workers had left and some youngsters were leaving hand prints and foot prints in the fresh cement.  He rushed to the children and scolded them.  A parishioner happened to witness this scene and after the following Sundays worship service said to the pastor, "I saw what happened at your house the other day, when you scolded the children for making hand prints and foot prints in your newly poured sidewalk.  I was surprised by your behavior.  I thought you loved children."  The pastor replied, "I do love them - in the abstract but not in the concrete."
That story is a reminder to us that the world is looking for concrete demonstrations of Christian love in action.  John Killinger, in a sermon entitled , THE GREAT IMPORTANCE OF LITTLE DEEDS, concluded by saying, "It's an exciting thought that when we die and come into the presence of God and all its fullness, it will not be our major achievements that speak for us, 'He was president of a bank. She was the first woman senator from her state.  He was the author of 22 books,' but the small apparently inconsequential things that we long ago forgot.  'He mowed my lawn when I was sick.  She cared for my child when I went to the market.  He sent me flowers when I needed them most.  She washed and mended my socks.' These are the little things that hold the world together.  They are the small stones that comprise the great cathedrals where God is worshiped.  The shall be remembered,"
The world desperately needs to see our love in action.  Of what value is our faith if our love isn't stronger: our love for one another and our love for the world?  Our love needs to be big enough to take in all people.

In his last words to the disciples, Jesus sent them out to continue his work to reach all people in the world.  The Christian church has always understood this commission was not intended for just his first disciples but for every generation since then.  Jesus was saying to them, and he is saying to us, "Go and tell everyone the good news.  Baptize and teach them.  Invite them to worship with you.  Teach them to obey the commands I have given you."
As we do these things we should understand that Jesus speaks through us - through our words and actions.  We are to tell with words and demonstrate with our lives the truth that neither hate nor eveil nor even death could ultimately defeat him and his purpose for coming.  Be courageous and tell the story of his death and how, through it, he has redeemed and saves us.  Tell of his resurrection and his promise that all who believe in him will also be raised from death's hold.  Pray for the Holy Spirit's help and seek his direction.  God will put you in the right place at the right time.  Don't be afraid.  Trust Him.

Philippians 2:5-8
"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature one with God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!"
Appearances can be deceiving.  Often things are not what they appear to be.  When Jesus walked the earth he looked like any other man.  However, he was God in human form.  How exciting it must have been for those who came to know him as they realized that they were in the very presence of God.
In 1884 a young man died, and days after the funeral, his grieving parents decided to establish a memorial to him.  With that in mind they met with Charles Eliot, president of Harvard University.  Eliot met with the unpretentious parents and asked what he could do.  They told him that they wanted to fund a memorial to their son, but Eliot impatiently said to them, "perhaps you should have in mind a scholarship."  The parents said, "no, we are thinking of something else, something more substantial than that, perhaps a building."  With a patronizing tone to his voice, Eliot brushed aside the idea as being too expensive and the couple left his office.  The next year, Eliot learned that this plain, unpretentious couple had gone elsewhere and established a 26 million dollar memorial named "Leland Stanford Junior University," better known today as Stanford!
The Bible warns us about judging people by their appearances.  We should always try to look at people the way God sees them.  We need to try to look past the surface and see people's hearts.  Only then can we truly love them the way God desires for us to love them.

Commenting to me on the beautiful new blue altar hanging in our church, someone asked me, "What do the different colors in the church represent?"  So for your information, I'm going to tell you.
The CHURCH SEASONS are celebrated with traditional colors that evolved in the early Roman Catholic Church.  Color, like music, plays an important role in the life of God's worshiping people.  Just as music is the "handmaiden to theology," liturgical color compliments the message of the seasons and occasions during the church year.
Traditionally, FIVE BASIC COLORS (SCARLET, GREEN, BLACK, RED AND WHITE) are used in liturgical congregations.  In recent times, with liturgical renewal, three more colors have been added to the basic five, those being: BLUE, ROSE and GOLD.
BLUE (or in some congregations the color Purple or Rose) is used during the season of Advent.  Advent begins the liturgical year for four Sundays before December 25.  BLUE, the color of the sky and helps convey the message that our faith rests on the hope that Christ, who came in history assuming our flesh, will also return on the last day of time from that same blue sky he ascended long ago.
THE SYMBOL for advent is the ADVENT WREATH.  It represents a custom that Christians have followed for centuries.  The circle of the wreath recalls all the years the people waited for the Messiah.  The four candles on the wreath remind us that there are four weeks in Advent.  Each week one additional candle is lighted, so by the end of Advent all four are lit.  The candle lit for the third week of Advent is rose or pink, representing the hope for the coming of Jesus.
CHRISTMAS is our celebration of the birth of Jesus.  The color for the season of Christmas is GOLD or WHITE, representing joy innocence and holiness.  Jesus is the Word of God who became one of us, the promised Messiah.  The central figures in the drama of the birth of Christ are Mary, Joseph and John the Baptist.  The Christmas season begins on Christmas Eve and ends the Sunday after January 6 which commemorates the BAPTISM of JESUS.
A SYMBOL FOR CHRISTMAS is the MANGER; a trough used to feed animals which served as the first crib for baby Jesus.  The STAR can also be used in the Christmas season as it serves to remind us of the Wise Men who followed it so they could pay homage to Jesus.
GREEN is the color used during the times after Pentecost; the times when the gospel scripture lessons focus on the teachings of Jesus.  The readings during this season instruct us on how to live out our Christian faith in our daily lives.  Green is a sign of hope or triumph of life over death, like re-growth in springtime.
THE SYMBOL used most often during the Sundays after Pentecost, lasting up to 27 weeks, is called a "Chi Rho."  It comprises the first two letters of the Greek word for Messiah - Christos (the letter Chi looks like the letter "X" and the letter Rho looks like the letter "P").  In the times of persecution of the early Church, this abbreviation became a symbol representing Jesus Christ.
PURPLE is used during the season of LENT (or it is used for Advent in churches that don't have BLUE paraments for the Advent season). Purple is a color that was reserved for use by royalty, and so it is used in Lent to symbolize the time of Jesus' trial when the Roman guards put an old purple robe over him and hailed him as "King of the Jews."  When used in Advent, purple symbolizes the coming of Christ our King.  Purple is also symbolic of reflection and penance.
LENT is the time of preparation for EASTER, the greatest season of the Church.  During Lent, we are asked to focus on changing our lives through prayer, penance and love.  In doing this, we try to become more like Christ in His love for God and others by His dying and rising to new life.
The LENTEN SEASON begins on ASH WEDNESDAY and ends on Thursday of Holy Week.  From the time of the early Church, the 40 days of lent are counted from the First Sunday of Lent until Holy Thursday, (called MAUNDY THURSDAY) with Sundays excluded from the total.
THE TERM "LENT" comes from a Middle English word that means springtime.  Like the season of spring, Lent is a time of renewal.  THE SYMBOL FOR LENT is the CROSS.  It symbolizes Jesus' victory over death and the hope of our salvation.  It reminds us that we are called by Jesus to love God, our neighbors, and ourselves, and that we should improve those things that help us do this and change those things that get in the way.
BLACK is seen very seldom during the year.  Usually it is used only twice; on GOOD FRIDAY and ASH WEDNESDAY.  There's no mistaking the message that this sober color gives.  Black represents the absence of light.  Good Friday, or Black Friday in combination with Ash Wednesday, calls for sober reflection on the cost of our redemption.  Without Christ's sacrifice on the day the sky turned dark and hid the light of the sun, there would be no bright Light of Christ to live in, nor new life in Christ to enjoy.
IN THE EASTER SEASON WHITE is the color used.  It is the symbol of purity and completeness.  White also reminds us of the passage "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow."  Christ's triumph from the grave on RESURRECTION day is the cause for our rejoicing.  His purity before his Father becomes our purity.  White reinforces that message of joy.
GOLD is the optional color for Easter Sunday.  It is also the suggested color for the last Sunday in the church year called Christ the King Sunday.  its use may not be popular yet, but its emphasis is undeniable.  Gold represents value and worth.  The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the event that gives our lives meaning and worth.
The SYMBOLS FOR EASTER is the PASCHAL CANDLE (as seen beside our baptismal font) and WATER which represents the light and new life of Christ's resurrection and the water of our baptism and rebirth.  The EASTER SEASON flows from the Easter Vigil and concludes fifty days later on Pentecost Sunday.
On PENTECOST SUNDAY we celebrate the COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. On this day red is the liturgical color, representing the Fire of the Holy Spirit. RED is a power color and is also at other times, such as REFORMATION SUNDAY; HOLY CROSS DAY (Sept 14). and on such festive occasions as DEDICATIONS, ORDINATION and INSTALLATION of a pastor.
In conclusion, it should be understood that PARAMENTS, VESTMENTS, ALTAR HANGINGS, and WALL BANNERS have evolved through the centuries of the Christian Church to communicate a powerful message.  They must not be seen as just an attempt to decorate, make pretty, or give accent to the worship area.  As you see the colors and symbols of the church that are displayed each Sunday, remember that each tells an important and different story.

A college student wrote home with the intention of asking for money and to tell them about his grades.  So trying to soften the blow of what was the reality, he wrote:
"Dear Mom and Dad,
     Just thought I'd drop you a line to let you know what's happening in my life.  First of all, I've fallen in love with a girl named Samantha.  She quit high school in her senior year so she never graduated with a high school diploma.  Also, she got a divorce last year and now her "ex-husband" pays child support for their 3 children.  I've decided to marry her and help her raise her 3 children.  Oh, yes, and one other thing, I dropped out of college last week after flunking 3 of my classes.  I've got a job at McDonalds and I figure I can always go back to college a little later in life."
     Then on the second page of his letter he wrote:
"Dear Mom and Dad,
     I'm just kidding you.  Everything is fine - sort of.  However, my French grade dropped to a C and I flunked History.  I also need some money for my tuition payments.  Can you help me?"

Perspective changes things.  Even bad news can sound like good news if it is seen from a proper vantage point.  Romans 8:28 reads, "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose."
What we need to remember when faced with the struggles of life, is that God never causes bad things to happen to us.  God does not test us to see how strong or weak our faith may be because God knows our heart, mind and soul, our strengths and our weaknesses.  Recall the story of Job when God would not allow the devil to test Job beyond Job's ability to withstand and triumph over.  Thus when tough times come to us, know it is not God's doing.  God allows us to be tested by the devil but God will never allow us to be tested beyond our ability to resist or overcome.

As you know, my wife and I have moved to Spearfish: a lovely small town just forty five minutes north of Rapid City.  Every Sunday morning, before the sun begins to come up in the east, I make that drive.  It's forty five minutes that I look forward to because at that time of the morning there are very few vehicles on the road, and the only thing I have to watch out for are the deer.  And when the sky is clear and the sun begins to rise over the hills, the eastern horizon slowly becomes ablaze with brilliant color; red, orange, pink, yellow and blue.  Then when the sun clears the horizon, the hills to the west turn gold.  I marvel at the wonder of it all: how God created this world and all exists.  What is it that causes the sun to burn so hot that it sends rays of light to all the planets in our solar system and beyond the far reaches of outer space?  What keeps it burning, and when will it burn out?  Might it's fires go out while I am still alive?
Those early morning drives give me opportunity to be still, to be quiet, and to reflect on the miracle of it all.  How fortunate I am to live in this part of the country and to witness and enjoy God's creative power.  Yet, too often I take it for granted.  I go to sleep at night assuming the sun will come up tomorrow.  I go to sleep assuming I will live to enjoy another day.  I assume a lot.  Don't you?
It's easy to forget.  It's easy to take everything for granted.  It's easy to get so busy with living that we don't take time to appreciate and thank God for His countless blessings.
I wish you could see what I see as I drive to the city.  However in order for that to happen you'd have to move here, and then this little city would become a big city, and the hills would turn into subdivisions and the highway would have double lanes of traffic and noise, -and I don't want that.  Come visit when you can.  You will always be welcome in our home.  But stay where you are and take time to see and marvel at the beauty around you and thank God for the privilege to enjoy it all.