Sanctuary of Dreams

Where there is no vision - the people perish (Proverbs 29:18).  One of my favorite movies of all time is The Edge starring Anthony Hopkins who plays a billionaire lost in the wilds of the Alaskan Wilderness and being chased by a huge brown bear.  I think I saw that movie five times in the theatres.  I took each one of my kids to it see it for our one-on-ones.  At one point, Anthony Hopkins, who knows little about wilderness survival except from books that he has read, applies the very principles that made him a world famous billionaire.  He will not give up - he keeps innovating.  He tells his fellow companions that when someone dies lost in the wilderness they die of one thing.  Shame- because they gave up. 

Last Sunday, we studied one of the Core Values of Washington Cathedral: we are a Sanctuary of Dreams.  We believe that no human being is an accident and that God has a plan for everyone’s life.  In a wheel chair, old and young, wounded and feeling strong, male and female.  When God's Spirit pours out on people, they are given visions and dreams.  It is the language of the Holy Spirit and if you tell me your vision I can tell you your future.  Do you have a vision that you will die in the wilderness of fear and defeat? Then you will be right.  Do you think you are too old to adapt your gifts and use them in the church? Then you will be right.  Do you think that there is not an exciting dream for you to live? Then you will be right.  Because God is a gentleman and will not impose his will on you. 

We are invited to be his workmanship, his poetry, his craftsmanship.  We want to be a church that respects that in every person that walks through the door.  This is a place where we believe that if you have faith you can say to a mountain move and it will move and nothing will be impossible to you.  Are you ready to dream God's impossible dream for your life?  We are here to pray for you, encourage you, and stand behind you all the way. Go for it, dude. 

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

You are in the Gifted Program

By Rey Diaz

I was tested for the “gifted” program in fifth grade and didn't qualify.  I was tested again in the sixth grade and didn't qualify again.  The last time I was tested was in the seventh grade, but again I failed.  I was young but still remember thinking –

“I’m not gifted,”

“I’m not good enough,”

and “I failed again.”

To be told “you are not gifted” by the authorities was a hard thing to swallow.  Yet I continued.  And at the end of that school year, I began to accept another authority in my life.  God.  And God had a different message than my teachers and principals and counselors.  His message was very clear – “You are in the gifted program.”  And that’s the message I started to embrace.  I started to believe.  I started to trust my Heavenly Father.  I asked Him for help.

I started doing well in school.  Really well.  Way better than before.  Way better than anyone could have imagined.  And I continued doing better the more I embraced God’s message, “You are in the gifted program.”  Eventually I graduated with amazing grades and test scores.  I went to University. A little part of me expected that I’d hit a wall and come crashing down to earth.  But I trusted my Heavenly Father.  “You are in the gifted program.”  In the University I excelled and graduated Summa Cum Laude.  I had the same results at Graduate School, and during my Doctoral work.

And after all those years, after all those degrees, I asked God what now?  I believe I was in the gifted program but why?  For what? 

And God made it clear - To serve.  To serve God.  To serve people.  To serve my Kingdom. 

It doesn’t really make sense.  All that work.  All that sacrifice so I can help others.  But Jesus taught us the Greatness Principle – greatness is found in serving.  Jesus said, “The greatest among you will be a servant.”  So I was in the gifted program learning how to be come great.  How to become a servant. 

Which brings me to you.  You were made for greatness.  I believe that because that’s the message I find repeatedly in the Bible.  God has made you for good works.  You are God’s Masterpiece.  You are in the gifted program.  And you will tap into your greatness when you begin to serve.  Can you believe that?  Will you believe that?

Find your greatness.  Where can you be great?  Where can you leverage your gifts, talent, and treasure for others?  For God’s Kingdom?  

Will the “Real” Good Samaritan Please Stand Up? – Part 2

By Pastor Rey Diaz

In this famous story there are actually two heroes who ‘show mercy.’  The obvious one is the Good Samaritan.  The less obvious one is the innkeeper.  One way or another the innkeeper had to help a person who was for all intents and purposes – an enemy. If he were a Jewish innkeeper, then why would he want to allow a Samaritan to stay in his inn?  If he were a Samaritan innkeeper, why would he want to allow a Hebrew in his Inn?    The innkeeper was paid in advance with two silver coins but then the Good Samaritan left while the man recovering stayed in the inn.    So the innkeeper had to continue caring for this man on the hopes that the Good Samaritan would return.  The costs pile up.  It was difficult and inconvenient. 

So, in my estimation, the innkeeper is also a ‘Good Samaritan.’  He saw someone in need and helps.  The innkeeper was told by the Good Samaritan “take care of this man.” 

Take care of this man.  Take care of this person.  Take care of these people.  Take of this nation, tribe and tongue. 

What if we, the church, are called to be an inn?  What if we, followers of Jesus, are called to be innkeepers?  What if the ultimate Good Samaritan, Jesus, is bringing people to our inn and asking us “will you take care of them?”  So we need to recognize the people who God is bringing to our inn.  To our community.  To our church.  To our life. 

Here at Washington Cathedral we surrounded by people.  People that God died for.  People who don’t speak English.  People who don’t look like us.  People who don’t even value what we value.  People from every nation, tribe and tongue.  And Jesus has brought these people into our community.  And Jesus is looking at us and asking, “will you take of them.”  We have answered yes.  That’s why we are different.  Unique.  Unusual.  Meta. 

We are reaching out to so many different people groups.  Brazilians.  Egyptians.  Koreans.  Pacific Islanders.  Hondurans.  Spanish speakers.  English speakers.  We are a family of churches with one dream.  We are all about Jesus. 

This is costly.  It’s messy.  It’s complicated.  It’s confusing.  It would be so much easier to be a homogenous unit, but that is not what heaven will be like.  Because God is all about people.  People from every nation, tribe and tongue.  And if we are all about Jesus, then we need to be all about people from every nation, tribe, and tongue.  Jesus died for the whole world.  For all people. 

Revelations 5:9-10

⁹ And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. ¹⁰ And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.”

Will the “Real” Good Samaritan Please Stand Up?

By Pastor Rey Diaz

It’s one of the most famous stories in the Bible – the parable of the Good Samaritan. This parable has inspired paintings, sculptures, poetry, and films. The colloquial phrase "Good Samaritan", meaning someone who helps a stranger, is derived from this parable, and many hospitals and charitable organizations are named after the Good Samaritan.  Many countries have “Good Samaritan laws” which protect anyone from being sued if they help someone in need. 

So what does it take to be called a Good Samaritan? Do you have to be like Mother Theresa or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr?  Do you have to help old ladies cross the road or a next door neighbor find their missing cat?  Do you have to help someone who is half-dead? 

Honestly I don’t know.  So many pastors and theologians have looked at this story and everyone has a different bent.  A few of the things that most people agree on:

  -  It’s hard to be a Good Samaritan.  It is inconvenient and it cost time, energy, and resources.

  - Your neighbor includes people who don’t look like you and don’t talk like you.  

    People who you might even consider your enemy.

  -  The hero in this story is the Good Samaritan.

The person who told this story was in the middle of acting out the story himself.  As Jesus told this story, he was in the midst of a mission to rescue us.  So to some extent, Jesus is the ultimate Good Samaritan.  Paul tells us in Ephesians 2 that we were ‘dead’ or separated from the source of life in our sin.  We were helpless and hopeless by the side of the road.  We would have died unless someone intervened.  We were in need of a Good Samaritan.  And the God “so rich in mercy” showed up.  “And he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life.” 

Jesus rescued us.  Redeemed us.  Bandaged us.  Anointed us.  Restored us.  Took care of us.  And paid for us.  We didn’t earn it.  We didn’t deserve it.  We didn’t inherit it.  It was totally grace.  Unmerited favor.

 

Jesus, the ultimate Good Samaritan, paid the price for us.  He is the Real Good Samaritan.  We look to Him to be inspired and motivated.  We love because he first loved us.  We try to be Good Samaritans because he was the first Good Samaritan.  And, honestly, that is the only way we can ever become Good Samaritans – by beholding Jesus.  You become what you behold.  Simple as that. 

And Jesus led us to the ‘Inn.’ Tomorrow I will share on what the ‘Inn’ is suppose to do today. 

Ephesians 2:1-10

¹Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. ² You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. ³ All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

⁴ But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, ⁵ that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) ⁶ For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. ⁷ So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. ¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.