Can We Handle the Truth?

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?z=e&d=16&y=17134

Old Testament Micah 6:1-8

New Testament Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

"Can We Handle the Truth?"

Some of us can quote these fairly holy words by heart:

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate and equally important groups. The police who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.

(Dun-dunnn!) https://www.nbc.com/law-and-order-hq/exclusives/dundun-button

"Law and Order," right? What a great show. Shows, plural. Reruns of shows. Revivals of shows. Crossovers of shows. The drama of crime and punishment. And that silver fox Sam Waterston. And then we've got our John Grisham novels. True Crime podcasts. Classic movies – like, 12 Angry Men. To Kill a Mockingbird. Legally Blonde. Legally Blonde 2. Thumbs way up.

We love the mystery. The emotion. The suspense. The Bible. 

Wait. The Bible?

Yes, The Bible. Think about it. The Bible is the original legal thriller. Just look at ALL those laws. And look at ALL the order come down from God. And look at ALLLL the DIS-order by "people." Theft. Murder. Crime. Punishment. Justice! For legal drama, the Bible's ratings are #1.

There's Second Samuel 12:7. When the prophet Nathan points across the room at King David: "Thou art the man!" And David yells back, "You can't handle the truth!" I may be confusing my stories.

Today's scriptures give us Law and Order. And even more -- they give us TRUTH. The Bible gives us truth from the mouth of God. More truth than ANY of us can handle, comfortably.

To keep the Bible's truth is a gift. But it's also a burden. I think we all wrestle with the weight of that burden. Especially now. When every day we get fresh drama piled on top of yesterday's drama. When we wake up gritting our teeth for what's going to be in today's episode. How do we handle that truth?

How does God?

--

Let's rewind. 

Today's first scripture – from the Prophet Micah – actually IS written as a courtroom drama. This is true. Read the transcript. There's an investigator. A prosecutor. A whole nation of defendants. It must have been a big, beautiful courtroom.

God is the District Attorney prosecuting the offenders. God's pleading a case against his alleged chosen people. God wants them to hear his charges. God wants them to handle their own truth. The truth is that they're not acting very chosen. They're being the opposite of godly. God's pointing and asking, "Who ARE you people?" WHOSE are you?

And then the second scripture today, from Matthew, is ALSO like a trial. The part of the trial where the verdict is read. Jesus reads it out loud. For the whole mountainside.  

Jesus reads the verdict out loud. Each and every count – he calls the counts, "blessings." But those of us old enough to remember 45's – the records – we know: the "B-side" of a  blessing is usually a curse. A song by Ringo. Maybe George. 

And in a MAJOR plot twist, Jesus walks into the court and flips the tables of justice. Flipping tables is his thing. Like that T-shirt at Buc-ee's says – you may have seen it – it's usually in the women's section. Hanging up high next to the one about how wine isn't just for breakfast. It's that shirt that says, "'Bout to start flippin' tables like Jesus." I'd buy one, but they judge you if you're wearing women's clothing. 

In typical Jesus fashion, he flips the tables – the tables of justice. He takes us to a place where the VICTIMS get reborn as VICTORS. 

In Jesus's world, the VICTIMS aren't blamed. In HIS world, the victims are the heroes. He glorifies them. He blesses them. 

But the VICTORS? They get -- dead silence. Nothing but empty silence for the hotshots with expensive lawyers who thought they had the judge and jury in their back pockets. 

And then Jesus sits down. He leaves us to make the call. He asks us – I've given you the truth and nothing but the truth. 

Can YOU handle it?

--

Back to Micah. Micah has God, pacing back and forth in the front of the courtroom. God says to the offender on trial:

"You. Mr. and Mrs. People of God.

"You allegedly chosen people. You good, A-Team people. The ones who show up every Sabbath. With your fancy clothes. You with your fine homes and your weekend donkeys. You with your heavenly burnt-end barbecues that make the angels' mouths water.

"You -- who make the priests smile when you bring your offerings. 

"You -- with your fragrant oils and your bovine bragging. 

"You -- with your empty prayers: "I love you so much, Lord, I'd give you my first-born, just like Abraham. Wink, wink, Bruh."

"You who get rich while you work your people like slaves. You who own slaves you let starve…"

Now, I'm dramatizing. Just like they do on Law and Order. But if you think I'm exaggerating, please read the transcripts. Read Micah. Read Amos. Read Hosea. Read Joel. Read all the Prophets. Because most of the time, they're not prophesying the future of Jesus yet to come. They're predicting JUDGMENT coming NOW. They're proclaiming God's judgment against INJUSTICE happening NOW. God's wrath against the huge bits of coin of the One Percent -- weighed against the worthless pennies they throw to the remnant. The Prophets were [angry]. And like the best rappers, they made it rhyme. 

Oh, yes, they had hope. Hope for the future. But they knew -- the future's TBD. When they were talking about present-day, there was no TB, just D. That's the bitter truth of the Bible. And it OUGHT to be hard to handle.

God says, "I'm sorry, did I put too much of a burden on y'all? Is it too hard to just Do Justice,  Love Kindness, and Walk Humbly with me?"

"Did I put too heavy a yoke on you?

And then, hundreds of years later, Jesus picks up the prosecution where Micah left off. We usually read Matthew 11:28 as a blessing. But is it? 

He says: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

You can read that as Jesus promising the sweet life. But the part he doesn't say out loud is the part that says, before you can pick up his yoke – before you can do justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with Jesus, Lord Emmanuel, God-with-us -- before we can do that -- We've got a lot of [junk] – to lay down.

--

In his sermon on the Mountaintop – and in all the Bible, mountaintops are the literal closest you can get to God. So when somebody's on a mountain, we better listen up. When JESUS is on a mountain, hold onto your hats. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus pronounces blessing. Blessing and…. Matthew's DOJ kindly leaves out the curses. See Luke for the unredacted version. 

You read – YOU read -- the words of Jesus himself this morning. Just as how Micah opened his mouth and God's voice came out. When you read the Sermon on the Mount, it was as if Jesus was coming out of you. And he said, and you said for him:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets (like, Micah) who were before you.

That's the truth. That's God's honest truth. Literally. From the Bible. The whole truth and nothing but the truth.

And we know the truth. We say it. We might even have it hanging on our walls. Or embroidered on pillows. Or on a bumper sticker. It's the truth. It's what Judge Jesus said. It's his words, his Word, his decision.

But here's the flipside of that verdict.

What if – like the people of Micah's time (and Jesus's too) –

What if we turn the words into nothing but cozy pillows for our own comfort --

While people literally die, literally freeze, literally bleed on our own streets --

What if we comfort ourselves saying, "Oh, it's a relatively small percentage of the general population"?

Well, try telling that to the Good Shepherd who refuses to let one sheep – one sheep out of a hundred – refuses to let just one – one – be lost.

What if we convict ourselves with our own words, 

what if we convict ourselves with our own actions, with our own SILENCE? 

With our own INACTION? 

What if we turn Law and Order into just one big, never-ending show?

Brought to you by the highest bidders.

Jesus rendered his verdict, standing on the mountaintop. Micah rendered his, standing in God's courtroom. They gave us a choice. They pronounced infinitely generous blessings. And they spoke the damning silence of life WITHOUT blessing.

All through scripture – ALL throughout the Bible – again and again and again...

God hands US the gavel. 

God hands US the gavel.

We can rationalize. We can make excuses. We can cite statistics. 

(We can move to Greenland. Although I hear they're not real happy to see us right now.)

We can put our conscience to sleep -- on the comfy pillow of empty words. 

We SAY we want the truth. 

But can we handle it?

As far as I can tell, the jury's still out on that one.

I just hope, I just pray: God doesn't get tired… of our reruns.

[eos]

Prayers of the People 2026-01-25

I don't know if you've been watching the news lately. It is not good. I don't care what side of the red-blue color divide you're on. The world will break your heart.

So, I'm not exactly sure what to pray for this morning. I know what I'd like to pray for. But I don't trust my biases right now. So, this morning's Prayers of the People – interesting title, because it means more than just "we, the people," more than just "we, in the Trinity bubble of us." There are a lot of people out there, who need a lot of prayer.

So, this morning's Prayers of the People, comes from the Bible. You might pick other scriptures than I do. That's good. It's a big book. And it's a big world of people. A big world of people on a tiny blue planet. The one thing we know for sure: It all needs our prayers and God's help.

So let's pray:

Almighty creator God, loving redeemer Jesus, guiding Spirit --

As your words spoke in Psalm 46, "The nations are in an uproar; the kingdoms totter;"

Help us not to be the weak voices you described in Jeremiah 6. Help us not to be "Those dressing the wounds of your people as though it were not serious, saying, "Peace, peace, when there is no peace."

As the Prophet Micah says in chapter 4, please, Lord, judge between many peoples and arbitrate between strong nations far away. Give us strength to beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks, that we shall no longer lift up swords against other nations, neither shall we learn war any more.

Make our voices sing with Mary in Luke 1, scattering the proud in the imagination of their hearts, bringing down the powerful from their thrones, lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry with good things, and sending the rich away empty.

Teach us, Lord Jesus, NOT to practice the worthless religion described in the first chapter of the Apostle James. Help us not to think we are religious without bridling our tongues while we deceive our hearts. Keep our religion pure and undefiled before God the Father by caring for orphans and widows in their distress, and to remain unstained by the world.

Lord, count us among your sheep of Matthew 25, giving food to the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, visiting those in prison. Count us among your flock, instead of the goats who receive your scorn.

Loving God, may the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 12 be ever in our minds, so that we do not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the faith you have assigned. May we not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that we may discern what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect. May we laugh with those who laugh. (May we not forget to laugh. May we not forget to notice the beautiful blooming right before us.)

As Paul says, let our love be genuine. Help us to hate what is evil and to hold fast to what is good. Help us love one another with mutual affection, outdoing each other in showing honor. Help us to rejoice in hope, to be patient in affliction, to persevere in prayer. Give us generosity to share with the saints and to pursue hospitality to strangers.

May we bless those who persecute us. May we bless them and not curse them. May we live in harmony with one another, never being arrogant, associating with the lowly, and not claiming to be wiser than we are.

Come and See

New Testament Lesson - John 1:29-42

Sermon: Come and See

The Lord be with you.

Good morning!

How are you?

I'm James. I'm the Interim Senior Pastor here at Trinity.

What's your name?

Is this your first time here?

Getting to know someone – getting to know ANYONE – even getting to know Jesus – brings up a lot of questions. 

Questions for them. Questions for us.

Are both sides being truthful in the dialogue? 

Are they trying to sell me something?

And if you do get answers, can you trust they're telling the truth?

Can you trust your ears, can you trust your eyes, can you trust your gut? 

How can you know – for sure?

Is this real? Or are we just reciting the social script?

Today's scripture – from the start of the Gospel – today's scripture is about Jesus and the disciples meeting each other -- for the very first time. 

How could they be sure this Jesus was the one they'd heard about? 

You know: The One? 

And how could Jesus know he was getting disciples he could trust?

You know, who wouldn't betray him.

When you meet someone for the first time, how do you know?

Well. As Jesus says, I guess we'll all just have to – "Come and See."

---

Meeting anyone for the first time brings up a lot of questions.

Starting with, "They just told me their name five seconds ago; Why can't I remember it?"

"Do I have lettuce in my teeth?"

"Do THEY have lettuce in their teeth?"

"Do they have teeth?"

"Are they friend?" "Are they weirdo?"

Sounds like dating.

Thank the Lord I'm too old and too married for dating in 2026. 

I've listened to people talk about how insane it is, getting to know a potential partner in the 21st century. 

Last week I did some deep sermon research and asked our daughters, both in their 20's, about this. 

I said, "You know, in a different time, this would have been arranged at birth."

One said, "Well, at least you and mom haven't sold me for a pair of goats."

Always the supportive father, I said, "What goats?" 

Getting to know anyone is negotiation. 

Plain and simple. 

Dating, visiting a church, interviewing for a job – it's haggling. 

Dressed up in T. J. Maxx and Men's Wearhouse finest. 

But at the core, we're just like camel traders back in Jesus's day.

Does Abdul look shady? 

Do we have mutual friends? 

Like the same music? 

Have compatible politics? 

Maybe he's Presbyterian. That's always a good sign. 

--

This morning we heard from the PNC, the Pastor Nominating Committee. 

They're hard at work, meeting candidates from all over.  

And of course, we Presbyterians are hip to the cool stuff. 

We've got own online matching service. 

It's kind of like Bumble or Hinge, if they were ordained by God. 

It's called the CLC, the Presbyterian Church Leadership Connection. 

And it's exclusively ours.

No Methodists allowed.

Churches have online profiles. 

Ministers have theirs. 

There's an Algorithm nobody's ever seen. 

Someday soon, I'll have to dust off my profile and put myself back out there on the market. 

Not looking forward to it. 

In my head, I keep hearing the announcer from the Westminster Dog Show.

"Here's James. 

A bearded Scottie with sleep apnea and bad digestion. 

Originally from Tennessee, he's good with children and needs very little exercise. 

Obedient, well-groomed, and mostly housebroken."

--

In John 1, we see almost body camera video into how things went with Jesus and the disciples in their first meet-up.

The story's incredibly detailed for the Bible. 

AND it's so… normal. So casual. 

So much like what we do – even now - when we meet ANYBODY new – and want to check each other out.

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by he exclaimed, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!" 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (Teacher), "where are you staying?" 39 He said to them, "Come and see."

This is no miracle. 

We know it's not because the Bible doesn't tell us so.

If you read the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John -- anytime a miracle happens, they make it super clear – 

THIS is a miracle. 

THIS is a sign. 

THIS is God Almighty at work. 

They tell you, literally, "This is a miracle." 

Just in case you think walking on water happens every day. 

Big flashing lights: MIRACLE! HERE! LOOK!

NONE of that happens here. 

This is a group of normal people doing what normal people do whenever they're meeting up for the first time. 

If we were meeting a stranger – this is the same thing we'd do. 

Check their bio. 

Stalk them on Facebook.

Where do they live? 

Who are their friends? 

Where'd they come from? 

What part of town do they live in? 

But -- do you catch what Jesus does that's pretty exceptional?

In other parts of the Bible when he wants to reveal his true identity, his glory, you know. 

His clothes glow blindingly white.

Moses and Elijah stand beside him.

God's voice booms like thunder, 

"This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, LISTEN to him."

It's like a miracle.

But NONE of that happens here. 

No awkward fanboy or fangirling. 

Not even: "The Lord be with you / Yes, he really be." 

Just – Hello. 

What's your name? 

Where you from? 

Do you live in town? 

The same things we say to strangers visiting church the first time. 

Or moving into the neighborhood. 

The simplicity, the ordinary way of Jesus, the HUMAN way. 

Is astounding in how normal he is, how much like WE are HE is. 

And how close to him he lets us be, without scaring us, or intimidating us, or clouds and lightning.

And this is what Jesus does again and again. 

It's kind of his thing: 

Almost when we're not looking, Jesus takes the ordinary, and makes it holy.

Just...

"Come and see."

"Come and see."

Come and see for yourself. 

Come and see with your own two eyes. 

Come and listen with your hearing aids in. 

Come on over to my house. 

Let's have dinner.

Get to know me. 

For real.

For real.

--

In my professional opinion – right now – in 2026 - 

the Christian Church has an amazing opportunity to present itself, 

yes, to market itself, 

to promote itself – for real -- 

as one of the last bastions of real, live, human contact between real live human beings.

Let me explain.

First, being unplugged.

We keep hearing how, with all this AI generated slop out there, it won't be long until we'll no longer be able to trust the evidence of our own eyes and ears. 

It's already happening. 

Want a video of the President parting the Red Sea? 

It's on YouTube. 

Want to see very a realistic-looking deepfake of outer space aliens touring the White House? 

It's there, too.

Is that phone call really your granddaughter calling you from a Mexican prison? 

Sure sounds like her voice.

This kind of tomfoolery isn't science fiction. 

Isn't witchcraft. 

It can be done by pretty much any smart 14-year-old with a good device and the right apps. 

They give you just enough misinformation that you don't know if it's a lie or not.

But it doesn't even have to be that high-tech AI stuff.

We're now seeing live videos recorded by live people on the streets. 

And then, people who we've been brought up to trust tell us, "No, that's not what you're seeing at all." 

"You're not seeing this person getting shot by that person. You're seeing the opposite."

And then, we start to doubt our own eyes. 

Our own ears. 

Maybe we're the crazy ones. 

Maybe we're defective. Broken. Wrong.

It reminds me of what George Orwell wrote about this same thing in his book that keeps getting banned. 

He wrote: The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.

I think ALL this is handing the Church an amazing opportunity. 

To rediscover its HOLY, HOLY, HOLY obligation. 

Here, now, we're being given the most simple, most honest, most human, most essential invitation of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

The invitation Jesus gave his curious would-be followers:

"Come and see."

"Come and see."

Come to church and see for yourself. 

With your own eyes.

Come and talk to real, live people for yourself. 

Come and listen to real, live music with real, live people, who sing together --

some well, some not as well. 

It's not supposed to be perfect – because perfect isn't real.

Come and pray to God for deliverance from this present darkness. 

Come and cry.

Come and laugh, and share pain, and share joy with people just like you. 

Come and hear scripture, come and read this precious book, this Bible for yourself. 

Together. 

In Real Life. 

Offline. 

And in just enough tune with friends, neighbors, strangers – 

anyone looking to find, anyone looking to see, anyone looking to meet – 

The Messiah, the Lord, the Savior – the honest-to-God real thing.

Not AI generated, not forwarded from God knows whom. 

Come and see. 

Come and learn. 

Come and know.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with other real people, with real living, beating hearts.

I believe – I really believe – this is the chance Trinity has, 

the opportunity all churches have – 

to set aside the made-up theological checklists -- 

and to just be REAL.

You be you. And let Jesus be Jesus. 

In this place. This CHURCH. 

Breathing the same air. 

Seeing into each other's eyes. 

Reaching out to press together fingers smooth and newborn, 

to grasp hands dry and wrinkled, 

to walk beside each other, 

in the rhythm of shared humanity, 

shared with each other, 

and shared with Jesus Christ, our Lord, Emmanuel, God-WITH-us, 

born that we no more may die, born to give us second birth – 

real, life, alive. 

You and me. 

And Jesus, too.

Come and see.

Come and be.

--

Someday soon.

And soon is a relative concept in the church-time continuum.

Church moves in lowest gear.

I mean, look.

Jean and I are still wearing 16th century uniforms.

And that's OK. Black is slimming.

Someday soon, the PNC is going to introduce you to your new Senior Pastor.

And you'll start the "Getting-to-know-you" process all over again.

THE most important thing you can do…

keep wearing your nametags. Please, for the love of God.

The most important thing: 

Introduce her or him to yourselves,

but – and this is most important --

introduce them to Jesus.

Not the Jesus in the brochures.

Not the Jesus in your head.

Introduce them to the Jesus who – bless his heart – is really, truly here every time the doors open.

And when that very lucky, God-ordained pastor, asks, "What's Trinity REALLY like?"

Take them by the hand, and say exactly what Jesus says.

"Come and See."

[eos

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood?!?

Worship for January 11 2026

Call To Worship

Leader: God calls us from the shadows into light,

People: from fear into hope,

Leader: from silence into praise.

See, the former things have come to pass,

and God is doing a new thing.

People: We come to worship: to listen, to trust, and to follow

the servant who brings God's peace to the world.

Leader: Let's worship God.

Old Testament Litany - Isaiah 42:1-9

Leader: Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights.

People: God's Spirit rests upon him; he will bring justice to the nations.

Leader: He will not cry out or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street.

People: A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.

Leader: He will faithfully bring forth justice; he will not grow faint or be crushed.

People: Until justice is established in the earth, and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

Leader: Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out,

People: Who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it.

Leader: "I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness; I have taken you by the hand and kept you.

"

People: "You are a covenant to the people, a light to the nations.

"

Leader: "To open eyes that are blind, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

"

People: "The Lord's glory will not be given to another; nor God's praise to idols.

"

Leader: See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare.

People: Before they spring forth, the Lord makes them known.

New Testament Ephesians 6:11-13

Sermon: Our struggle is not against flesh and blood?

Ephesians 6:11-13

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

[P]ut on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for our struggle is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on the evil day and, having prevailed against everything, to stand firm.

2026-01-11 sermon

Ephesians 6:11-13

---

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood.

"

Wait.

 It's not?

That's a shame.

Because we're really good at THOSE struggles.

 HALO drop the Special Forces.

 Send a SWAT team.

 In-Out.

 Kill Bin Laden.

 Extract Maduro.

 Warp Speed.

 Mission Accomplished.

But what do we do if our struggle ISN'T against flesh and blood?

What if you can't even tell who the enemy is?

What if you're not even sure there IS an enemy?

We're flesh and blood strugglers.

 We're deadly in that realm.

 But against the other realms?

That's when we get confused.

--

As for me and my family, it's been a wild couple of weeks.

 Kristen and Our Daughter Emily came to Pensacola.

 Then on Christmas Day we drove to Disney World, just like Mary and Joseph.

 I mean.

 Everyone ELSE was there.

 With their newborns.

We went to Epcot where Our Daughter Anna works in Customer Relations as a Vacation Savior.

 We spent our days park-hopping and being together.

 Eating incredible meals.

 Laughing all the way.

On the drive back here, Kristen said she was tired and achy.

 We're over 60 now, so after a few days at Disney, of course you're tired and achy.

 The next day she was SICK and achy.

 So then the day after that I got sick and achy.

 Because that's how competitive I am.

 I'm a man.

 I'm like, "Yeah, H3N2 influenza, subclade K, do your worst.

And it did.

It amazes me how husbands and wives can come down with the same virus at the same time and we men always -- feel so much worse.

Flu is proof that just because you can't SEE your enemy doesn't mean it won't pound you like a 64 year-old white male with preexisting conditions and a sedentary lifestyle.

You don't have to see it to believe it.

 You feel it from your swollen eyeballs to your frozen feet.

For the next week we both laid on the couch and stared like zombies.

 She says she doesn't know if she was delirious with fever or if there really was just one, week-long marathon football game where the players kept changing jerseys.

 You know it's bad when you're watching the rebroadcasts, wondering,

"Didn't Alabama already lose this game?"

When you're a Tennessee fan, it never gets old.

We watched so many Beachfront Bargain Hunt Renovations we're now licensed contractors.

This has taught me our number one mandate here at Trinity is, "Keep Jean Well.

" Jean's handled her job, my job, even did Carpool Karaoke with my sermon last Sunday.

 I've never sounded so good.

 She offered to sub this week for me, too.

 But I said, "No.

 I like sounding like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

"

She's right behind me, isn't she?

It's a reminder to we of the fragile male ego:

We all can be replaced.

 And we'll never see it coming.

All this replacement and invisibility cloaking takes me one step closer to the point of this sermon.

Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the full armor of God to battle the demons, the cosmic powers.

 To stand firm against the powers and principalities of the Upside Down, the Inside Out, the viral, the satanic.

 Those demons who poof away the moment we've got a finger on 'em.

 Who slip like ninjas back into the shadows.

Those are the Forces Ephesians 6 warns us about.

 They're not just Special; they're HEAVENLY forces.

 From a different dimension.

They're in.

 They're out.

 And you're left feeling like a zombie.

 Unable to lift a finger.

--

All of Trinity Presbyterian Church is under attack.

 We've been under attack for a few weeks now.

 It's called a "Phishing" attack.

 Not fishing like a peaceful day on the Gulf.

 P-H-I-S-H, like the band PHISH, whose music makes more sense if your brain is in a cosmic place.

 I'm more of a Grateful Dead guy, but that's a different sermon.

A Phishing attack is when hackers get your address book and pretend to be someone you know -- your banker, your doctor, your PASTOR.

 They send you an email, fishing for a reply.

 They want you to send them Apple Gift Cards, or wire funds, or a credit card or your Social Security number.

 They especially prey on older adults who might not look real carefully at email addresses.

It happens a lot.

 Somehow, they get a church email directory.

 At my previous church, they asked the Clerk of Session to send them a PDF photo directory so they could learn names.

 And boy did they learn names, phone numbers, and bank accounts.

The ones attacking Trinity know my name.

 They make up Gmail accounts with the characters, J-A-M-E-S in it.

 They connect my name to the address.

 You can connect any name you want to an email address.

 You can say you're LeBron James.

 Because to a computer, you don't matter.

 It's just a string of letters and numbers.

Back in the good-old days of the 1980's, when I got a degree in computers, it wasn't so hard to track down a hacker.

 I've never been a hacker.

 But, my roommate Paul was.

 He was an OP, an Original Phisher.

 He'd log onto the open network and pretend to be a sorority girl.

 He'd strike up conversations with other nerds who had never kissed a girl either.

 He'd send them all over campus to meet up for dates.

 He might move your homework into different folders.

 Not theft.

 Just gaslighting to make you think you're losing your mind.

Anyway, LOL.

 It was all fun and games until the FBI tapped our dial-up landline and came for him one day.

 No charges were filed.

 The school just wanted to scare the bejeesus out of him.

 It worked.

 Last I heard, Paul transferred to LSU - where he's now an assistant football coach.

 The boss is gonna love him.

 (I made up those last 2 sentences.)

I know that from a legal standpoint I was an accessory to Paul's cybercrimes.

 But that's not the point of this illustration.

 The point is, it used to be simpler to catch the criminals.

 If you looked hard enough, you could see them.

But now, the hacking is done by AI's and bots all over the world, behind firewalls and encryption.

 For attacks like the one hitting Trinity, the authorities just shrug their shoulders.

 They say, "We're sorry, but we'll never find 'em.

 Maybe you should be Amish."

I know it's not normal for a preacher to talk so much about computers in a sermon.

 A - I'm not a normal pastor.

 B - this really IS going to connect back to Ephesians in a minute.

 And C - People ask me if I ever use my computer background in ministry.

 Only every - single - day.

Think about it.

 What's the one thing that causes you the most stress? What's the one thing that daily ruins your Zen flow of Hope, Peace, and Joy?

It's those damn computers.

 Your "smart" phone.

 Your smart TV.

 Your smart microwave, your smart car, and -- I saw last week they're putting microchips in Lego blocks.

 At least I think I saw that.

 My head's still kinda fuzzy.

You need to know: I'm not just an Interim Pastor.

 I'm your Religious Tech Support.

 Next time you're ready to go all Nick Offerman and take a hammer to your phone, well, do it.

 I love that commercial.

 His phone buzzes when he's in a woodworking shop.

 He says, "Lemme put that on silent."

Pulls out a 10-pound hammer and wails on it.

 Makes me want to stand up and cheer.

 Just like I did during that Indiana game.

And by the way, during that game, when they showed that quarterback's mom in the stands, if you weren't weeping like a baby, you need help.

 I really don't think our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ cares about football.

 But I do believe he cares deeply about that sweet boy and his mama.

Anyway, back to the demonic forces that plague us in the dark.

We fight a phishing attack not with flesh and blood.

 We fight it the way you fight a fire.

 Deprive it of its oxygen.

 If you get ANY email from me, or from Hugh (yep, they're taking HIS name in vain, too), or from Jean, or even from sweet Hyunjoo –

if you get ANY email from staff that doesn't come from a trinitypcola.org address

or if anything about a message sounds in any way questionable.

.

.

 Block it.

 Call the office.

 Pick up the phone and call me.

 Let me be your Spiritual Anti-virus.

 And if I can't figure it out, I'll call in the big guns: Ford.

In the worst case, we all just hitch our horses to a post out front and Ed leads us in guitar singalongs around the campfire.

 Which reminds me, the Chili Cookoff is 5pm.

 I'll see you tonight, if I'm still working here.

--

So finally this all connects back to Ephesians.

And it tells us that we're NOT in a battle of flesh and blood.

Which is sad because 99% of our highly-crafted weaponry is.

 And if you've ever gotten hooked on Dateline, or a True Crime podcast, or watched 15 seconds of news these days, we love – WE LOVE – justice.

 We crave justice.

 Actually, that's not quite right.

 We get all mouth-wattery about RETRIBUTION.

JUSTICE can take a long time.

 And after 10 or 20 years of appeals and mistrials, it loses that juicy flavor.

 RETRIBUTION, though – that's an eye for an eye.

 A tooth for a tooth.

 Now we're talking real flesh and real blood, am I right? Booyah.

RETRIBUTION may lead, as they say, to a world of blind, toothless people.

 And we might make a few mistakes along the way.

 Our bad.

And I know.

 I feel it.

 I feel like we little ordinary people have no power, no say.

 You know the one about you don't bring a knife to a gunfight?

I know that's how it feels.

 Like the problems, the perps, like they're all walking.

 And we're left holding the butter knife, waiting for justice, waiting for closure that never, ever comes.

Our armor – our armor in this flesh and blood world that helps us strike down our flesh and blood enemies –

our armor might look cool in a video game or on the streets of Minneapolis –

but you know – and I know –

there's not one thing holy about it.

 It's not spiritual armor.

 It's not even close to the full armor of God.

I don't know exactly what Ephesians means about the putting on the full armor of God, I guarantee you it's not made of Kevlar.

 It's not riding atop an APC.

Jesus – the #1 Spiritual Warrior of all time didn't even bring a knife to a gunfight.

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior – our Real Lord and our Real Savior – brought a CROSS – a CROSS to a --- what kind of fight was it, exactly?

--

Isaiah 42 – which we read together – words that YOU, yourself read – in that poetry of spiritual war and spiritual peace, it says – and you read:

[To be my servant,] whom I uphold,

Bringing forth justice to the nations,

Not crying out or lifting a voice,

Not breaking the bruised reed

Or quenching the dim light of a candle,

He will not grow faint or be crushed

    until he has established justice in the earth,

[God's warrior] is the who is .

.

.

 a covenant to the people, a light to the nations.

Who opens eyes that are blind, who brings out prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

"

For "The Lord's glory will not be given to another; nor God's praise to idols.

See – God says – SEE! the former things – Things of FLESH AND BLOOD have come to pass,

and NEW things I now declare.

AND YOU KNOW WHAT?? WE'LL NEVER EVEN SEE THEM COMING.

Before they spring forth, the Lord – the LORD -- makes them known.

Now I don't know when that's gonna be.

 And I don't know how that's gonna look.

 Because, I'm just a guy made out of flesh and blood, just like the rest of you.

But Jesus, who brought his cross to OUR battles, is going to make it so.

I hope I live to see it.

In this world or the next.

[eos]