Louisville Seminarian

2011-03-03T10:27:00.001-05:00

Gungor "God is not a white Man"

2010-11-12T12:24:00.000-05:00

2010-03-18T11:13:00.001-04:00

You are who you are and the sooner you're OK with that, the sooner you see what I see, the happier you're gonna be. - Hilda Suarez (UB)

Why Did Jesus Curse the Fig Tree?

2009-11-11T17:02:00.003-05:00

Why Did Jesus Curse the Fig Tree
- Jonathan Jones (Mark 11:12-14, 21-22)

Reading through the Bible one night
With my son, my pride and joy
I saw something was just not right
With my troubled little boy

Reading from the Gospel of Mark
When Christ cursed the barren tree
He had that look like when the ark
Left all others in the sea.

Why did Jesus curse the fig tree?
Also, why did Grandpa die?
If God loves us, how could this be?
There must be a reason why.

My friend Mikey now has cancer
And Aunt Lilly lost her child
Tell me, Pappa, what’s the answer
How is Jesus meek and mild?

My friends fighting in our classroom
Grown ups fighting in the war
As I lie here in my bedroom
There are things I can’t ignore.

Is God mad or did we do this?
Was that fig tree really bad?
Is there some great point that I miss?
Does God care when I am sad?

Real good questions my sweet scholar
I can see you’re real confused.
Sometimes life can make you holler
When it seems we’ve just been used

It’s OK to not know reasons
It’s OK to question God
For everything there are seasons
Even questions that seem odd.

Sometimes life is just life my son
Sometimes there’s no how’s or why’s
Fig trees like your broken bike chain
Sometimes make us angry guys

Jesus loves us, of this I’m sure
Trees will come and trees will go
Grandpa died ‘cause there was no cure
Not because God didn’t know

Why did Jesus curse that fig tree
Hmm, I guess I don’t know why
Maybe for you to ask of me
Why your Grandpa had to die.

You know what? You can be helpful
With your friend when he feels weak
Love Aunt Lilly when she’s doubtful
We’re the answer that we seek.

You see, my son, we are God’s hands
God’s feet and voice. We do God’s will
When bad things come then life demands
We get to work and not be still.

If there’s one thing you remember
Know God loves you very much
Of God’s family you’re a member
Try to sense God's loving touch

And now that we’ve had our talk
Time for bed my sweet young son
It’s very late; look at the clock
Sleep in peace oh little one.

Senior Sermon 11/04/2009

2009-11-05T10:49:00.004-05:00

The Love is Genuine
(Romans 12:9-21)
There are parts of our scripture reading today that seem good, intuitive, and easy to understand: abhor evil, cleave to good; love each other with mutual affection; weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice… yes, there are lots of good solid truths. But then there’s verse 14 “Bless those who persecute, bless and do not curse.” Well, maybe we’re just meant to pray for them like the Rabbi in Fiddler on the Roof who says, “'May God bless and keep the Czar... far away from us!” Or wouldn’t it be nice if it read, “If your enemy is hungry or thirsty, heap burning coals on his head.” That coals on the head part seems such a relief after reading all that love and bless stuff. It seems contrary to our nature, right? People don’t actually normally bless those who persecute them, do they?

On a brisk October Monday, in 2006, Charles Carl Roberts IV drove his pickup up to the West Nickel Mines School, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a one room Amish school for the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines. After ordering, at gunpoint, the males in the class to help him carry in wood, nails, tools, and sexual lubricant, he allowed them to leave along with a pregnant woman and a few others. Ten girls were left bound with plastic ties. Knowing their fate, the two oldest begged him to take their lives and spare the others. Both were shot… as were the other eight girls. Some were shot with a handgun and some with a shotgun. Finally Roberts took his own life. Three, including Roberts, died at the scene, three later in the hospital, and the remaining five have disabilities ranging from mild to near vegetative existence.

What was the response of the families? What was the retaliation of the Amish? Anger? Condemnation? A call for better police security? A lawsuit levied against the family of the killer? No, the response was immediate and it was grace. The response of forgiveness and the extension of compassion was swift; within hours of the shooting, the community visited Marie Roberts, Charles Roberts’ wife. Amish visited the family of Charles Roberts to comfort them in their time of loss. It is said that an Amish man held the father of the Roberts for over an hour as he wept. Where does such grace come from? It seems so counter-intuitive. It seems like it could not possibly be genuine. I think there is a part of us deep down that wonders exactly how many of the mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters truly feel the way that was reported in the news. It’s hard to imagine that it was authentic, that it was heartfelt. But… the thing is, it was genuine.

In fact, according to Paul’s description, this is the most genuine love that there is. It is a love that has been poured into us. In Romans 5, Paul writes, “we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

A person’s nature is their reflexive way of acting; the pattern of behavior that reflects their inner essence. I’ve often thought that a response such as the Amish gave is contrary to our nature and I suppose I still believe that in a way… it is contrary to our fallen nature. But in Christ, we are given a new nature. Earlier in Romans 12, Paul writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.” So by the transforming power of God, we are given a new nature… Now whether this as a gradual process of sanctification or a dramatic change that occurs all at once, I’ll leave to you to ponder. In either case, there is a change.

It may be just a guess, but after reflecting on these verses I’ve come to the hypothesis that

1. Without God, we live in the illusion that it is natural to return evil for evil; to love friends and hate enemies.
a. Although we can act otherwise, it is in tension with that nature.

2. With God we see that our true nature is to overcome evil with good; to love friends and to love enemies.
a. Acting otherwise causes tension, we strive against our true nature when we act according to the false nature.

Let me say more about that. If our former understanding of our nature is to return evil for evil and to retaliate with vengeance, then why do we see acts of forgiveness outside the Christian community? I do believe this is possible and authentic, but still in tension with our false nature. God is able to act where God chooses.

But why do I believe this 'way of grace' is part of our true nature? Because of the weight of carrying a grudge, the nagging pain of bearing un-forgiven anger towards another, and because of the obvious joy we feel when we are the giver or recipient of forgiveness.

There is something in us that loves a story of redemption. We love to see such grace in news items, books, songs, and movies. For instance, in Les Miserables, after being granted hospitality by a benevolent Bishop, Jean Valjean assaults him and robs the Bishop. But when Jean Valjean is caught and brought back by the police, the Bishop tells them to release him, telling them that the silver was a gift. Later he says to Valjean, “You no longer belong to evil. With this silver I've bought your soul. I've ransomed you from fear and hatred. And now I give you back to God.” As the story moves on, Valjean takes that to heart and does become a loving and generous man. The act of grace causes a chain effect not only within the story but also in us as we read it.

Do you feel that? Do you sense it? Do you remember seeing such a story and getting a bit choked up? Was there a wetness in your eye?
That is our true nature. We recognize the beauty of it.

One other thing, though. As I was writing this, it seemed to me that we love stories of redemption and can even see the good of pursuing resolution when it is not so close to home. It’s easier to talk about working for peace between our nation and another, than working for resolution between ourselves and that family member who hurt us or abused us. It’s easier for us to work for understanding through religious pluralism than it is for us to humbly embrace our neighbors across the road at that other seminary. But there are no qualifications on who our enemy might be. No, we are called to bless and show love and hospitality to our enemies… period…

Consider who that might be for you. Osama Bin Laden? Fred Phelps who pickets funerals? Political pundits who virulently perpetuate a culture of hate? People on one or the other side of the abortion picket lines? The men who tied Matthew Shepherd to a fence, pistol whipped him, and left him to a slow death? The ex-husband who beat you? The uncle who sexually abused you? The mother who emotionally tortured you through your childhood?

Consider in your own life… think about that person who came to mind when you held that stone in your hand. It’s painful. It’s so much work. It hurts to hold a grudge. We seek to allay the pain in many ways. Sometimes we block that person out of our mind, sometimes we seek revenge, but does vengeance ever heal us? Does cutting them out of our lives bring joy?
…
Now consider a time in which you have forgiven someone… consider an event from your history in which you have sought to bless, reach out to, and love someone who has harmed you deeply… Was there an unburdening? Was there healing? Was there a restoration of your soul? Was it replenishing?

How else can we understand what is part of our nature if not by observing what is healing to us, what is restorative to us? This love IS what is described so well in Romans 12. This love IS genuine.

But what about those hot coals? The ones heaped on the heads of our enemies when we show them grace, love, hospitality, forgiveness. To understand this, I can look back at the times that I have been forgiven for no reason at all and no repentance of my own. It set my head on fire with a recognition of what I had done, a desire to say I was sorry, and a mind to grow closer to this person… a mind to share this grace with others around me. In literature we see this reflected in how the forgiveness and blessing from the Bishop cause repentance in Valjean and in turn blessings for those who Valjean encountered.

As Marie Roberts wrote later "Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so desperately need. Gifts you've given have touched our hearts in a way no words can describe. Your compassion has reached beyond our family, beyond our community, and is changing our world, and for this we sincerely thank you."

Consider, as we listen to this song, what God is laying on your heart. After the song, there will be a time to pray and reflect; a time to return to the thoughts of the one or ones who have harmed you in body, mind, or spirit; a time to consider what to do with that weight you carry. I encourage you to listen for a word from God…

Thanks be to God.

(Song: That Guy – Andy Gullahorn)

Ninth Sermon - Butter Side Up; Butter Side Down 07/19/2009

2009-07-21T12:14:00.002-04:00

Butter Side Up; Butter Side Down (Scripture reading: Ephesians 2:11-22)

There is a children’s book, a Dr. Seuss book, that was written in the early 1980s. The reason it was written was to show how the inability for two sides to agree to disagree on ideological differences can lead to mistrust, geographical isolation, demonization of the other side, and most importantly… the threat of mutual annihilation.

The author simplified the argument to a minor difference between those who liked their toast with the butter side up and those who preferred their toast with the butter side down. He was criticized for trivializing the differences between the two global sides to which he was alluding… the democratic free west and the communist superpowers of the USSR and China.

The book describes how each side simultaneously begins to build bigger and more lethal weapons while also speaking in increasingly exaggerated derision of the other side. As many of you remember, there was a term for the separation between capitalistic west and communist east; it was called the Iron Curtain. It was most significantly manifest and symbolized in the Berlin Wall; a wall that was built down the middle of a German city to separate the democratic side from the communist side. Can you imagine if a wall was built separating the northern part of Louisville from the southern part of Louisville?

The wall between eastern and western Europe has fallen, the emotionally charged video marks the beautiful event. I still remember where I was when I saw those revolutionary Germans jump up on top of that wall and go at it with hammers and picks… whatever they had that could help tear it down. For those of you who were there… close your eyes for a second and remember that emotion… there’s something in us that loves to see a wall come down, that loves to see a parent forgive their child, that loves to hear the story of reconciled friends.

But there’s also something in us that holds to the old adage, “Good walls make good neighbors.” The same people who pointed out the great evil of the East Germans who built the wall in Berlin to keep people from fleeing to the free west are now demanding new walls be built between Israel and Palestine, between the US and Mexico. Political purists celebrate their red statedness or their blue statedness. Neighborhoods, though legally free of restrictions, are still segregated to a great extent on racial and especially socio-economic bases. Many neighborhoods in Louisville have actual walls or gates separating them from others. There is something in us that loves to see a wall go up.

Physical walls go up but even before the mortar is mixed or the bricks are bought, a wall has been erected. We create walls in our minds to separate those who believe and act and live as we do from those who don’t. We create walls between those who worship as we do from those who don’t. Why shouldn’t we? We can see justification for walls in certain readings of the Hebrew scriptures, can’t we?

Yes, in certain readings of the Hebrew Scriptures, there are clear divisions between God’s chosen people and… us…meaning Gentiles, non-Jews, the Other, the Stranger, the alien, the goy. However, a closer look reveals that though there were many calls to be separate, there were many more and much stronger calls to honor, respect, and even love those who were foreign to us, those who had different backgrounds, traditions, religions, and ways of living. Is this how we respond to people of other denominations (Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals, those who attend what some have called “Six Flags Over Jesus”)?

Is this how we view and interact with Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, and… especially these days, Muslims? Is this how we move through the world as the heart rate increases or the purse is clutched tighter or the hand slides into the bag to find the can of mace… when someone from a different part of town approaches from the other direction as we walk down the street. Even by Hebrew Scripture standards, I think we all could find evidence of walls in our past and sometimes present behavior.

There is something in us that loves a wall and by the time that Christ walked the streets of Jerusalem, there were actual dividing walls between different levels of the temple based upon ethnic background, religious perspective, personal holiness, and finally upon rank within the system of religious hierarchy. It is to this division that the author of Ephesians writes about in our scripture today.

The letter is addressed to gentiles. The author reminds them of the way that the chosen people of God referred to them… the uncircumcised, the unclean by reason of birth. They (we) were not born into the covenant relationship that God had with the people of Israel. It’s true, God had chosen a covenant people, a people called to be a royal priesthood, a people who had access to God and God’s promises. A people from which Priests arose who had direct access to God in the inner chambers of the temple. Remember, remember, that you were once outsiders. You were once the other. And if you tread on temple grounds, you were once the illegal immigrant in God’s chosen land.

It seems from the scripture reading, that there had been some real and active hostility between Jews and Gentiles. We know that there was a great debate about whether or not Gentiles must first become Jews to become followers of Christ. Remember that until about 70AD, there was no Christianity separate from Judaism. Followers of Jesus were a sect within Judaism.

So there was still a dividing wall, a hostility between them. But the author writes that Christ came to break down that wall, to abolish the things that separated the Jew from the Gentile (and as we see in Galatians, also things that separated free from slave, man from woman). The result is not that Jews adopt Gentiles, nor that Gentiles superceed Jews. But rather, the result is that in Christ, one new humanity is created in place of the two, thus making peace. Not only between Jew and Gentile, but also the wall or separation between humanity and God is broken down.

In Christ, humanity is reconciled to God and becomes one body. The death on the cross was the death of all that separated us from God. Consider that for a second. The first division that was destroyed was the division between Jew and Greek, a division between humans. We must first reconcile to our sister, we must first make amends with our brother, we must first ask forgiveness of our mother, we must first forgive our father, before we approach the throne of grace to accept the forgiveness that has already been granted to us through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. There is something in us that loves to see a wall come down, and that something (or someone) is Christ.

We, the body of Christ, are not immune to wall building, though… clearly. I was talking with a chef at work this past week. He’s no longer a Christian but has a very caring attitude toward people of different faiths, but likes to laugh a bit at the sad realities of those who claim to follow the Prince of Peace.

Two of his friends, from differing Christian backgrounds, I won’t say which, were discussing the question of Christ’s ascension on their facebook walls. Well, the discussion became a debate, the debate became an argument, and in full swing, verses were quoted by one to support the claim that Jesus ascended immediately after seeing Mary in the garden then returned to minister to his followers until his ultimate ascension 40 days after his resurrection. Verses were quoted on the other side to say that Christ only ascended after the 40 days and not immediately after resurrection.

One might guess how the argument started, a mention of the second coming, a response that Christ already came a second time so it will be the third coming… You can see the implications, it’s proof that Jesus’ words can be trusted when he tells his disciples that this generation will not pass before the son of Man returns. Back and forth they went, in full view of God and all their facebook friends. My chef friend was amused.

My heart grieved and I was reminded of the times that I have been in their place. His only question to me was, “How does any of this tell us how we should treat other people?” in other words, what does this have to do with how we live our lives? Does it matter?

It’s so easy to be drawn into theological arguments about things that are later labeled “non-essential” or adiaphora (indifferent things) or not related to our salvation. We want to know God. We want to be sure that we know God. We want to be right about what we know of God…because we love God.

However good it is to want to know God, it is never a good excuse to fight. Because in fighting, we simply reveal how little we know of God. “For he is our peace, in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.”

Arguing about little things is futile. We are reminded by conventional wisdom to “not sweat the small stuff,” and to “choose your battles.” But either because we have a much deeper problem with our adversary or maybe it’s just that we are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired (HALT), we bicker about whether it’s best to eat our toast butter side up or butter side down.

The argument becomes emotionally charged (especially when it has to do with religion or politics), we begin to demonize the other person, bringing up stuff from their past that has nothing to do with the current issue. But the time and energy invested in this type of argument is downright sinful.

Why? Because we invest more and more emotion and value in this one little thing that we do damage (sometimes lifelong damage) to our relationships and we ignore the command we have to love one another. I don't deny the importance of debate. But when you are furious about whether it's best to use water rather than milk in your oatmeal preparation, then it is a futile argument over a little thing.

My goal... and I hope it might be yours as well, is to divest little things of emotion especially when such an investment blinds me to the harm I might be doing or the good that I ought to do. How much time we waste on things that don’t matter. How much time we waste when so much needs to be done about things that do matter.

For he is our peace. In Christ we are made into one. The dividing wall has been broken down. Let us not seek to build it back up. There is something in us that loves a wall… and that is love for and fear for ourselves and our safety. There is something in us that loves to see a wall brought down… and that is love for God and others and willingness to risk loss and trust in God’s power to unify us.

Let us strive to tear down walls, to bare our hearts to one another, to accept the differences of the other, to remember the good intentions of others despite possible disagreement on the means to the ends, to celebrate the diversity of God’s creation.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. Let us act like members of the household of God, brothers and sisters who may differ in opinion but can agree to disagree, and who hold the love of this family of humanity as a greater value than which side our bread is buttered on.

Ninth Sermon - Thank God for Storms 06/21/2009

2009-06-21T13:40:00.004-04:00

Thank God for Storms (Scripture readings: Job 38:1-11, Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32, Mark 4:35-41)

Our reading today describes the familiar story of how Jesus calmed the storm. So let's look at what’s going on in the text of our gospel reading?
On the surface, this is what happens: Jesus has been teaching in parables all day, sitting in a boat because the crowd is pushing in. Evening comes and Jesus says, “Let’s go to the other side” leaving the crowd behind. They set out, experienced fishermen, and head to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus falls asleep in the stern, the part of the boat reserved for people of importance but also the part of the boat that the navigator steers the boat from.

A violent storm erupts with waves that are swamping the boat. Their efforts to bale out the water are futile, more and more water is filling the boat and they are about to capsize. We can imagine how frightening this must have been especially in the dark of night.

They turn to see Jesus sleeping in the stern and are clearly upset in their words, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus wakes up and does not respond to the disciples but simply speaks to the waves and the storm in the same way he spoke to a demon in a possessed man in the previous chapters, “Be quiet, be still” and the storm went from complete chaos to complete calm.

I imagine the water becoming flat as ice reflecting the moon and the stars above. Even the lapping of the water against the boat in the quiet moonlight swaddles the mind with a peaceful comfort.

The water is still in the boat and needs to be baled out; their hearts are still racing; adrenaline is rushing through their veins; and their fear of the storm turns to fear of what Jesus did. When they woke him up, they were probably hoping he would help them bale water out of the boat. They had no expectation that he would be able to control the storm. But Jesus is God of storm and sea, Lord of all creation, of water earth and sky. And the disciples, rather than rejoicing like the seafarers in the Psalm reading today, stand in awe and fear of him.

How has Jesus been teaching his disciples? Through parables. This story seems like yet another parable, but a real life parable that teaches both through experience and through interpretation.

The boat is our existence, so precious, floating on the border of life and death.

The storm can be anything that enters our life that threatens our security: an illness, a divorce, a loss of employment, terrorism, war, arguments in the home, the death of a loved one.

But what about storms... Let us consider. Where do the storms come from? Our Psalm reading says, ”He commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.” It would seem that God sent the storms so that the sailors would cry out to God for help. So do the storms in our lives come from God? Are they sent for punishment? Are they sent for a reason? Where did the storms in Job’s life come from?

I believe that storms are a natural part of our existence… it’s part of what happens as the world turns on its axis. We have such a desire though to find meaning though. We want to know why. This can be either a pitfall or an opportunity.

If we assign meaning that attempts to place God in our own perception of justice, we may end up like Job’s friends, telling a suffering soul that their own sin has brought on their pain. In Romans 8 (you know what Ken says about Romans 8… read it every day) in vs. 33 we read, “Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn?” We so often seek to assign blame for the tragedies in our lives and the lives of others. Remember how, when the apostles encountered a blind young man, they asked Jesus who had sinned, the young man or his parents, to cause his blindness. Jesus replied that neither had sinned. Seeking to find the evil cause of tragedy can lead to the pitfalls of hypocrisy and self-righteousness.

But if we seek to find good even in our darkest hour, we have the opportunity to grow closer to God and neighbor. Viktor Frankl wrote of his time in the concentration camps, “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
I agree with Frankl but would add that it is God’s gift to us to allow us the peace and grace to choose the way of good, even in suffering.

I’ve talked about the boat and the storm. But what of the calm… the calm is the presence of Christ in our boat; the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The calm is the peace that passes all understanding that guards our hearts and minds in Christ. The calm is our surrender of control, surrender of the helm, while remembering our role in still working to bale out the boat.

Our lives
We live in a world in which there is both joy and sorrow. Most of the time we are in between those two extremes. Where do we see ourselves in each of these times?

In Joy, we are like a boat on the water, when it flies along the surface of the water, dancing on the waves as we guide our vessel with sail and rudder. The rush and joy of this moment fills us as we revel in our skill and ability to deftly maneuver along the sea.

In sorrow, tragedy, or fear, our boat is tossed about, thrown this way and that by crashing waves, heading straight for the rocks, or filling with water like the boat in our story today. It is not our skill or ability that we notice in these times but the force of nature bearing down on us. We are in pain, feeling the wind whipping us, tearing our sails. We are bogged down by the water of depression filling our boat. We worry and are filled with anxiety as we see or imagine the rocks of future calamity in the distance.

Joy and sorrow are very salient experiences. They make for the most vivid memories in our lives. But most of the time our boat is either steadily on course or it just floats along, possibly in the doldrums, possibly gently gliding along in a relaxing meandering way, sails down, fishing line out, our feet dangling over the side. We’re on autopilot; neither rejoicing nor crying out in pain; simply going about our daily routine.

Where do we see God in each of these times?
In Joy, at our best we notice that the wind that propels us speedily on our joyride is God’s dance with our sails. But sometimes we ignore the wind except for how exhilarating it feels whipping through our hair as we revel in our own accomplishments.

In time of tragedy, we are all too aware of God… or what we perceive to be God’s absence in our pain and struggle. We ask, “Why me, Lord? Why me?” or “Why my family? Why my friend? Why my child?” We either cry out for God’s help or stamp our feet and demand answers threatening to no longer believe in a God who could treat us or those we love so unjustly. Like Job, we demand an answer from God why!? Times like these… are good times to read the part of Job we read today. (Job 38:1-11 and following)

The time when we notice God the least is when nothing much is going on… when we are going through our daily routines, same stuff, different day. Our lives are neither in peril nor in any particularly joyful state. At those times, the divine, the supernatural, the sacred might seem unrealistic, impractical, or overly emotional.

Do the storms come to wake us up? Is God trying to shake us into consciousness, to draw us out of our doldrums? It is true that our crying out to God is often the result of pain, suffering, or tragedy. But to say that God intends to wake us from our apathy by imposing pain and suffering would be a bit like blaming the victim or imposing our idea of justice on God. I prefer to leave it that good can come of tragedy and whether God caused or didn’t cause it is beyond our understanding. See Job!

There’s a song (Laughing With – Regina Spektor) that I have heard recently that goes like this:
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God
When the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one’s laughing at God
When it’s gotten real late
And their kid’s not back from the party yet

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke,
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head
you think they’re ‘bout to choke

God can be funny,
When told he’ll give you money
if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God when they've
lost all they got and they don't know what for

No one laughs at God on the day they realize
that the last sight they'll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one's laughing at God when they're saying their goodbyes

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor

The message of this song is not to accuse people of laughing at God but to point out how easy it is to vacillate between being apathetic about God and desperately needing God. In those steady-as-she-goes times, our attitude toward our God and creator can be such that we can even laugh at jokes that mock or belittle belief in or dependence on God.

But when the storm waves are pouring water into the boat… we cry out, Jesus, Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing!? What a strange thing to cry out. How strange to expect that Christ can do something to help us when we lacked the faith to trust God to see us through before the storms came.

But the beauty of the gospel reading is this… Jesus woke up and spoke to the storm, “Peace! Be Still!” without threatening us, without abandoning us. Christ calls us to have faith by asking why we are afraid. Christ calls us to trust God by seeing us through the storm. Christ calls us to Peace by silencing the demons of doubt, fear, self-blame, and anxiety, “Peace. Be still!” Christ calls us to trust in God by being with us in the boat, by being with us in our suffering.

What do we draw from this story?
What we do know is that we have storms in our lives.
What we don’t know is why there is a storm,
if it was our fault or anyone’s fault,
if God sent the storm for some reason,
if God did not send the storm for any reason,
or really much about how, in the first place,
we got into this boat… in the dead of night… in a storm prone sea.

Honestly, when I look back at my own life, most of my storms have been pretty mild compared to those of others. Today being Fathers Day brings to mind the storm of my father’s long illness and death… long before I was ready to deal with loss in my family. But when I consider the beauty that came in that time of suffering, the blossoming of my father’s faith, the mending of a rift that began in my childhood, and the deepening of our relationship, I see God at work in that storm. So I say, “Thank God for storms.” Because without them, we would never see such beauty, we would never take notice of people, time, and events so precious to our lives. The pain of losing my dad, and a few years later losing my mom, still aches, still cuts deeply especially days like today. But also on days like today, I rejoice in the great memory of my father’s life and legacy. For those of you who are sitting next to your dads, for those of you who can call your father in the next state or even in another country, for those of you who have a mom who did the job of two parents, and for those of you who, like me, can remember your father or father figure, this is a day to thank God for dads as well. And I don’t mean to draw a parallel between storms and dads… although, if memory serves me, there were times…

However, getting back to the gospel lesson, the message of the story is… regardless of the how’s and why’s of the storm, Christ is in our boat. And that is the source of our peace, our assurance that whatever we are facing, we are not facing it alone, no we are facing it with the most powerful ally in the cosmos, the one who with a few words silences storms, clearing the sky for moon and stars to shine silently on the reflecting waters. God’s presence doesn’t always miraculously take our problems away,
but it gives us confidence
and assurance,
and peace
and comfort,
that with Christ with us,
we can weather the storm.

Once again, in Romans 8, Paul writes, “…all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Paul continues to say, “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? …Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

So be sure of this: If life circumstances seem stormy or even life-threatening, know that God is in control and will give us peace and help guide us through to calm waters. So rest assured and be at peace in the midst of, even if not apart from, your storms, trials, and struggles. When the storms of pain, illness, or tragedy crash against your boat; or the waves of fear and anxiety pour into your mind …swamping your vessel, call out to Christ to silence your storm, to bring calm to the waters.
Amen

Eighth Sermon - What is the Holy Spirit? 05/31/2009

2009-06-01T23:58:00.003-04:00

As I was preparing this sermon, the thought crossed my mind that I might simply allow the Holy Spirit to speak through me… to not prepare anything myself but to rely on the Spirit to put words in my mouth. After all, that’s how Christ sent the disciples out; that’s how the Spirit worked at Pentecost. Don’t worry, though, I do have a sermon written.

What is this Holy Spirit, though? When we talk about Jesus, we have a pretty good idea of his form while on this earth. There are numerous artists depictions. We know that he was born in Bethlehem. God in the form of Jesus is tactile, substantive. We understand Jesus, at least to some degree, in a way we can relate to. How Jesus was conceived, but there’s the Holy Spirit at work in his conception. How Jesus was baptized, again there is the Holy Spirit descending like a dove. How Jesus died, rose from the dead, and met his disciples… where he breathed on them… yet again, the Holy Spirit is involved.

And God known to Jesus as Father. We have seen Michelangelo’s depiction of God floating in the clouds. Most have God looking like a very old white bearded man. A recent book, The Shack, shows God as a short old black woman. We understand this aspect of God in how God created the world, how God spoke, how God made covenant with Abraham, how God gave the Law to Moses, how God breathed life into Adam… but wait, breathed life? Doesn’t that sound a bit like today’s time with young disciples? Yes, the Spirit shows up in creation, in how the Spirit of God hovered over the waters of the deep. The Spirit shows up in the covenant with Abraham.
If you remember in that story, when God visits Abraham the visit is described as three men coming to visit. What about Moses? What was that bush doing? Burning with a fire that did not consume it. Hmm, sounds a bit like the tongues of fire that danced over the heads of the followers of Christ at Pentecost. And the law was given to Moses on what day? Yes, the Jewish festival of Pentecost or Weeks is the celebration of when the Law was given.

The thing is, we see the Spirit of God show up throughout the Bible but we don’t have a good idea what this power is. We know where it comes from, but is it a personage of God? Is the Spirit equal in power to the Father? Equal in personal relationship to us as the Christ is? Why do prayers often begin Our Father or Lord Jesus but prayers never seem to begin with Holy Spirit?
I think the answer lies in the ineffability of the Spirit. This is the mystical aspect of God. This is where a lot of what we don’t understand comes from. The Holy Spirit is the power that proceeds from both God the Father and Jesus. The Holy Spirit is that aspect of God that we find most difficult to explain; whose interaction with us is most difficult to convey to others; and who has no artistically depicted form other than a dove, or wind, or fire. It’s hard to relate to wind and fire.

Sometimes it is just easier to describe what the Spirit does…

After Christ’s ascension into the heavens, the disciples (not just the 12 apostles) were gathered. We are told that they were all in one accord, in agreement, patiently waiting for whatever was coming, whatever it was that Christ had promised. They were like Tony in West Side Story when he sings,
There’s something’ due any day;
I will know right away
Soon as it shows.

The air is hummin’,
And something’ great is comin’!
Who knows?
It’s only just out of reach,
Down the block, on a beach.
Maybe tonight.

And then comes Pentecost. One of the highest Holy Days in the Jewish calendar. The town is full, bustling with pilgrims from all over the known world. Still, they are gathered together waiting.
Imagine if you will how they felt when they heard a rushing of wind fill the air, rush around their building, coming in through every open window, then the tongues of fire alighting on each of their heads…. They were filled with the Spirit (as Samuel says when he describes the Spirit) mightily.

They begin speaking, because they cannot contain the good news that has been put inside them. But although they understand what they are saying, it’s coming out in a completely different language… a language that one of those passers-by understands. He turns and is shocked! How do you know my language? You look like a Galileean.

Others who hear all these different languages stand on the sidelines and say, “oh, they are drunk.” But no, the disciples don’t care what people are saying, they are joyfully proclaiming the wonderous works of God… That is how the Spirit works in this wonderful birth of the Church!
Does it still happen today?

A young man once came to his friend, distraught and confused, not knowing whether he wanted to live or die, burdened by the troubles of the life he was living, wondering if there was any way out and pretty pessimistic about the prospects.
He had recently lost his Mother to cancer.
He hated his job and his career was going nowhere. And the night before his fiancé had broken off their engagement. He didn’t blame her.
He knew his problems had had an impact on his behavior. He was drinking a bit more than he should. He wasn’t paying much attention to her.
He was consumed by depression.

Having known each other for years and having been friends from a men’s bible study, his friend gladly met with him;
mostly listening,
sometimes joining the young man in his tears,
but mostly listening.

As he sat quietly, in the ministry of presence, he prayed silently for the young man, to be able to find some words to say that might show him that there is hope.

Then in desperation the young man said, “Why would God do this to me? It’s like he hates me.”
Then the friend began to speak. He did not know what prompted him. He did not know where his words came from. He only felt compelled to begin.
He could feel a strange sensation flowing through his body, more than once he felt his skin alive with goose bumps. His voice became something that was not his own. Passionate, powerful, touching chords in the young man’s soul. It was like his tongue was on auto pilot.

The words were clear, loving, soothing, and relevant. He could feel the Spirit moving through him, surrounding him, empowering him. He put his hand on the young man’s shoulder and he actually felt like the power of God was flowing through his body and out to the troubled man. He was almost shaking the power of God was so intense, building and building in the communion between these two.

And then, like a powerful summer rain suddenly falls into a calm mist, leaving the sweet smell of wet grass and a soothing peace, the words stopped. Both men had tears coming down their faces. God had invaded the space between them and empowered them both with the Spirit.

Full of the Holy Spirit, the friend asked if he could pray with the young man. Yes! Of course! Again, the words were not his own but this was a softer sound, a prayer of intercession from one brother for another. Finally, they hugged each other, the way guys do, with some hard pats on the back and a laugh catching back the last of the lumps in their throats… as brothers in Christ.

Well, the night was late and the young man had to be getting home. They said their goodbyes. After he left, the friend thought and thought but could not remember one word he had spoken. He wanted to write it down because as it was coming out, he thought… wow, this is not from me… this is truth from the Source of Truth… truth from the Spirit.

But the words, like the great wonders of God the disciples told, were not able to be written down. They had found their destination in the heart of the young troubled man. There was no record of exactly what was said…But there was hope. There was peace. And there was joy! This is another example of how the Spirit works.

In Acts, we see the Spirit being poured out upon all those who were gathered as followers of the risen Christ. And the Romans reading describes how the Holy Spirit empowers us to pray when we don’t have the words or means to pray ourselves. This is another way that the Spirit works.

Our Gospel reading today in John tells the story of how Jesus promises his disciples that he will send the Spirit to guide them, to reveal truth that they could not bear without the Spirit’s help, and to give them the gift of discernment to see things they could never see before but also the strength to live out the truth in their daily lives. This is another way that the Spirit works.

When I consider the disciples gathered together after Christ’s ascension, I think about how although they know they are to make disciples of all nations, they aren’t sure exactly how to go about this. And then it comes, the Spirit is poured out and without knowing how, they begin to speak and prophesy, and preach the good news. The power of the Holy Spirit, in some mystical miraculous way, enables them to follow Christ’s commission. Yes, this is the amazing mystical powerful way that the Spirit works.

These days, when we embark on a new venture, the start of a new job, the opening of a new business, or the beginning of a new mission or ministry in the church, we try to prepare for it. Or also, when a business is stalled or a workout has reached a plateau or a relationship seems to be going nowhere or when a church seems to be growing smaller, we seek out experts to help us move forward, often in the form of books or seminars.

There are myriad examples of books like 7 habits of highly effective people, the One Minute Manager, or How to Win Friends & Influence People. The bookstore shelves are full of these tools. At school or work we hear terms like six sigma quality. Quality enhancement programs; quality assurance; efficiency, effectiveness. These are ways that we seek to take control of our lives, to bring about a positive change. Ministers and lay leaders often find great insights and strategies for improving the church’s ministries by turning to such resources.

But what are we doing in the church now or in our lives personally that goes beyond our own strength, knowledge, and adherence to advice from books? Where is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit clearly seen in our lives and churches?
Is it possible that we Americans are so full of the ideals of self-reliance and independence that we block the Spirit’s leadership? What would have happened if that young man’s friend had not released control to the Spirit’s guidance?

I’m not suggesting that we should throw out all the management books and the quality improvement programs. I’m not suggesting that we ignore the wisdom of leaders in management and business. All truth comes from God. This is not an either/or sermon.

But clearly God has a certain way of acting that is contrary to modern management theory. For example, the greatest King of Israel was…. David. Right. And before he was a King, he was a…. shepherd.

Not a very well prepared lad for ruling over a people and providing good government, would you say? Not really properly vetted. Even after he was King he was a huge failure at being a good law abiding leader. What was the key to his success? David was a man after God’s own heart. The Spirit of God was able to come upon him mightily. He had a radical reliance on God. He was fully in Love with the Lord and sought out the Spirits guidance.

So where do we see that now? How do we find that supernatural reliance on God these days?

In the story about the young troubled man, I found out that months later, the friend of that troubled young man got a card from him in the mail. It was one of those blank-inside cards. It had a nice picture of a calm sea on the front and on the inside it had a short note, “Thank you for being Christ to me. Thank you for letting God work through you. Thank you for being the voice for the Holy Spirit to bring me back from the brink. You saved my life.” He could have referred his friend to a book or said nothing. But he opened himself up to the Spirit’s guidance. This is how the Holy Spirit works.

Radical reliance on God, supernatural intervention, or whatever you want to call it happens! Ask the young man who was kept from potential suicide. Ask your friends and family. Ask the person next to you in the pew. The stories are out there. The stories are plentiful. The problem is that we keep forgetting them. You can even ask our own church treasurer and she can tell you… how time and again the ministries and necessities of this church are provided for through what can only be called pennies from heaven… well, more than pennies. The Spirit of God moving people to share out of their abundance for the glory of God.

Go into the world and remember the church at Pentecost, how a group of fishermen were able to surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit to be used to start a movement, a revolution of God’s grace, love, and hope. Search for opportunities to continue that revolution in your daily lives; opportunities to surrender to the Spirit’s leading; and the Holy Spirit will provide the strength, courage, and the words.
Thanks be to God, the Holy Spirit. Amen

Wordl of T-Shirts Sermon

2009-04-14T15:43:00.002-04:00

Sixth Sermon - T-Shirts (Maundy Thursday) 04/09/2009

2009-04-11T04:26:00.001-04:00

T-Shirts

‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’ This is where we get the song, “They will know we are Christians by our Love.” These are Christ’s words that he describes as a new commandment, a commandment that is based on a much more ancient commandment to Love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus puts a clarifying touch on this commandment though. He says that we should love one another just as he loved us.

This love is not simply the love between friends or people who depend upon one another, it is self-sacrificial love. Agape. It’s the love that Jesus exhibited throughout his life and ministry, and on to his death on the cross. Sharing meals with the outcast and the marginalized; not only associating with (which was a big no-no at the time) but also blessing and healing people from other religious backgrounds; and also by humbling himself to the role of a servant as he showed the disciples by washing their feet.

This was the call to the disciples and the call to all Christians since then. So… how are we doing… how is the church living up to that charge?

Well, locally we may have our struggles but we also have wonderful blessings and love exhibited through the people of this congregations… but nationally… things don’t look so great. Diana Butler-Bass gave a lecture at the seminary’s Festival of Theology last month. She has been conducting research on mainline denominations for some time and has a great amount of research to support her claims.

In her lecture, she quoted the American Religious Identity Survey that indicated that since the 1990s, there has been a significant decline in the number of people who identified as Christian (15 years ago, it was around 86% of Americans, this year it fell to 76%).

The report also showed that there was an increase in the number of people in other religions, but the greatest increase (nearly doubling from 8 to 15%) was in the number of people who identified as “none of the above” including atheists, agnostics, and those who said they were spiritual but not religious.

Is this because people are leaving Presbyterian, Methodist, and Episcopal Churches? No , Dr. Mohler down the road is just as concerned because these declines are across the board. None of the mainline denominations have experienced an increase… not even the Baptists. In Newsweek, this week, Mohler expressed a concern that this stems from the secularization of America, removing prayer from schools and the like… well, that’s possible.

However, Diana continued to share information from surveys and results from the hundreds of people she has interviewed. What she found was that although people like the idea of a religious heritage, and though they liked the stability of a robust denominational affiliation… what they didn’t like was quarrelling Christians. What!? We quarrel? I know that’s hard to believe. But it wasn’t just the debates that go on between denominations or within our General Assemblies that were of concern.

Christianity has a bad reputation and it’s a reputation that we have kind of earned. If you were here last week, you heard Pastor Ken mention a rumor that he heard from a certain seminary-attending waiter he knows… that wait-staffs around the Midwest all concur the meanest most demanding customers AND the ones that leave the worst tips regardless of service are the after church brunch crowds on Sunday mornings… and also people who come in wearing T-Shirts with Christian slogans on them like “Jesus… he’s the real thing” inside a Coke logo.

Oh yes, it’s true. We advertise our allegiance to Jesus and then exhibit poor behavior. I once had a pastor who would wince when he saw people in his church drive off with a fish on their car or a catchy Christian slogan like, “Caution: In case of rapture, this car will be un-manned” Oh, it’s great to profess your faith and to have no shame for our faith in Christ. Don’t get me wrong. But there have been more than a few times that I have been cut off in traffic by a fish car. So yes, express your faith to the world but do it as Jesus commanded… by your love. Outward symbols are like talk… talk can be cheap. We need to put our words into action.

Derek Webb has a song that recognizes this. It goes

They’ll know us by the T-shirts that we wear
They’ll know us by the way we point and stare
At anyone whose sin looks worse than ours
Who cannot hide the scars of this curse that we all bare

They’ll know us by our picket lines and signs
They’ll know us by the pride we hide behind
Like anyone on earth is living right
And that isn’t why Jesus died
Not to make us think we’re right

They’ll know us by reasons we divide
And how we can’t seem to unify
Because we’ve gotta sing songs a certain style
Or we’ll walk right down that aisle
And just leave ‘em all behind

Now the refrain of this song calls us back to our scripture. It goes like this:
But love, love, love
Is what we should be known for
Love, love, love
It’s the how and it’s the why
We live and breathe and we die

What a clear conviction of our struggle and a clear condemnation of some of our more visible poor behavior.

So what is there to do? We can see there is a problem, but what do we do about it? Diana suggests that we need to go back to Christ’s example. What was it that Jesus was doing? Ah yes, washing his disciple’s feet. Don’t worry, I’m not going to get out the basin and towel. This action was symbolic of how we are to live. By washing their feet, Jesus humbled himself to do the gritty dirty jobs that the lowest servants of that time would do. He made it clear that he was their Lord and Master but he also made it clear that this position of leadership comes with a responsibility to be the servant of all.

Let us strive daily to accept the call to be servants, to humble ourselves to others, and to show the love of Christ to the world so that the world might know we are Christians, NOT by our T-Shirts or bumper stickers, but by how we
• Strive to open up dialogue with other faith traditions
• work toward peaceful solutions in our homes, work, and public lives.
• pray for our enemies
• work to end world hunger
• tutor needy children
• volunteer at food pantries
• or if we are unable to directly affect the lives of those in need, to contribute to organizations that seek to end hunger, provide clean water, and offer education to people with the goal of bringing them out of poverty.

Because love, love, love
Is what we should be known for
Yes, love, love, love
It’s the how and it’s the why
We live and breathe and we die

Let us go into the world and show Christ’s love.

Thanks be to God.

Fifth Sermon - Faith in God’s Promises, In God’s Time 03/08/2009

2009-03-08T19:36:00.005-04:00

She waited.
She waited.
And she waited.
After the baby was born, she thought her body would return to normal, but it didn’t. She waited and waited some more.
At the young age of 32, she had ceased to be, as Genesis 18 says about Sarah, “after the manner of women.”
Yes she had two sons but she longed for a larger family, for a daughter, for the fulfillment of a promise she had received,
or thought she had received, about her family.
She and her husband went from doctor to doctor over the next several years.
The doctors finally told her that she would have no more children.
I still remember her weeping on the way home from that specialist.

Sarai long gave up the hope of having a child of her own. Long before, in Genesis 11, she is said to be barren. When Abram was 75 years old, God told him to pack up and move to Canaan. At that time, God promised Abram that he would be the father of a great nation, and yet Sarai remained barren.

As time goes on, God promised Abram that his offspring will be as many as the dust on the earth, as many as the stars in the heavens, and still Sarai remained barren.

So Abram becomes a bit worried. He tells God that he is scared that his servant will inherit his estate and not his own offspring. …and God reassures him and makes a covenant that Abram’s offspring will inherit the lands in which Abram is now a stranger. Abram believed God and his belief was reckoned to him as righteousness. This reassured Abram and yet still Sarai remained barren.

Concerned with producing an heir, Sarai gave her Egyptian slave girl Hagar to Abram as a wife (not an uncommon practice at this time) to help bring about the promise. When Abram was 86 years old, Hagar bore him a son, Ishmael, and still Sarai remained barren.

So when God appears to Abram in today’s Scripture reading, telling him that he will be the father of many nations, Abram probably assumes that God is talking about this promise coming about through Ishmael. However, God made it clear that Hagar and Ishmael would not be the bloodline through which God’s blessing would come. Abram and Sarai had tried to manipulate the system; had not fully relied on God to bring about God’s promise. In fact, when God says that Sarai (now Sarah) will be the mother of these blessed nations, Abram (now Abraham) (who just a few minutes earlier fell on his face before God) burst out laughing at God’s promise… the first of the two parents to laugh at God’s promise… hence Isaac’s name… “he will laugh.” And still Sarah remained barren.

Abraham is known to trust God, to believe God, and for that belief to be reckoned to him as righteousness.
But… well, he is 99 years old when this promise is made about Sarah. He believes God, but… come on… he’s 99 years old!
He believes God but…come on… Sarai is 90 and has been barren all her life!
Insurmountable obstacles, for sure. Impossible odds, no doubt. But Abraham strives to believe, strives to keep the faith, strives to trust God and God’s timing.

How many times in our own lives to we come across insurmountable obstacles?
How many times do we encounter impossible odds?
We are currently in an economic crisis that, depending on the financial expert you listen to, is either the end of the world as we know it or is teetering on collapse.
And still we get up and go to work.
And still we pray for economic security.

The wars in the Middle East seem to go on and on… peace seems to be out of reach within our lifetimes.
Wars in Africa bring about the destruction of entire nations and ethnicities.
Peace seems unlikely in the foreseeable future.
And still we send diplomats.
And still we pray for peace.

More personally, if you or someone you love becomes afflicted with a chronic or terminal illness, the cure may seem out of our grasp. The research always seems to point toward breakthroughs 5 or 10 years down the road.
And still we trust our doctors.
And still we pray for healing.

Between friends, family, or intimate relationships, rifts occur. Couples divorce, parents abandon or stop talking to their children, brothers and sisters become alienated from one another.
There seems to be no common ground to start from.
And still we hope for forgiveness.
And still we pray for reconciliation…

My mother stopped being able to have children immediately after I was born.
Unlike Sarah, she had two sons already. But she had a dream of having a large family with sons and daughters. She knew it was her destiny to raise this family, knew she would have a daughter named Kathryn one day.
The doctors did not have an explanation.
They did not have a name for her condition.
They just told her that she would not be able to bear children.
My brother and I are blessed, however, blessed that my mother trusted God and still believed in her dream to raise a wonderful loving family. She could have forgotten the dream but she chose to accept where she was and to trust that this is what God held as her special trust…
to be the mother of two, and only two, sons… God’s promise in God’s time.
When I read the words about Sarah, “I will bless her,” I hear the promise to my mother… and I remember her faithfulness in response.

When I read the words about Sarah, “I will bless her” I hear the promise to all women in every particular situation with children or with none.
God cherishes women; single, married, partnered, with no children, and with many.
This is clear in how God made this covenant not only with Abraham but also with Sarah. In this time in the ancient near east, it was very unusual for a deity to covenant with a woman, let alone one without children. The culture in that time and place believed that it was a curse for a woman to not bear children… and it was never the man who was blamed for this lack of offspring.
But God chose to bless Sarah and in changing her name, exalted her. She became the first in a heroic line of women who, at first, felt shame for being barren but then became instrumental in the creation of the nation of Israel. God’s promise in God’s time.

When I hear the words to Abraham “to be God to you and to your offspring after you,” I hear the promise to all humanity… that although trials may come, and although we may try to take control of the situations - apart from God’s plan, God will be with us… and God will remain faithful to us.
God cherishes men; single, married, partnered, with no children, and with many.
Even though Abraham sought to intervene in God’s plan by taking Hagar as a second wife (along with many indiscretions that go beyond the scope of this message), God made a covenant and remained faithful to it. The call to “walk before me and be blameless” was not a condition, for clearly Abraham was not blameless… he was faithful though, and heroic in his faithfulness to God’s promises in God’s time.

What does this say to us today?
What comfort can we take from this story?
I believe the message is this;
that though the economic horizon might look dark and ominous,
though wars throughout the world never seem to cease,
though we never seem to conquer disease
and new strange plagues seem to emerge through the years,
and though we continue to contend with friends, family members, and neighbors,
God has given us a promise.
That promise is that through the redemptive power of Jesus Christ and through the movement of the Holy Spirit,
God will be with us through the trials of this life,
will empower us to love God and one another,
and that when we move from this earthly existence,
we will be united with God in an eternity of perfect joy and peace.
And God remains faithful to that promise.
But just as Abraham and Sarah had a role to play in being faithful to God, so too do we have a role to play in being faithful in seeking out God’s plan,
in believing in the promise that God has made and in the timing that God has chosen.

Oswald Chambers once said,

“We mistake heroic actions for real heroes. It's one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us.”

It was heroic for Abraham to wait 99 years for the promise he was given to come to fruition in the birth of Isaac.
It was heroic for Sarah to live with the cultural shame of the time of not having children, but to remain faithful to God and then to accept God’s plan when at the age of 90, she became pregnant and bore a son.

And heroic are the efforts of people throughout history and throughout our world who seek God’s promise and God’s time in the face of insurmountable obstacles.
The continual prayers of a parent whose child is suffering in a hospital bed with an unknown illness… that’s heroic.
The mission trips to war torn countries by Doctors without Borders who are diligent in offering their special gifts to treat the war wounded and the marginalized masses… that’s heroic.
The daily prayerful vigil of a wife waiting for her husband to rouse from the coma he fell into months before… that is heroic.
The consistent prayers, love, and support from a grandmother for her troubled grandchild… that’s heroic.

The continuous efforts of organizations seeking peaceful settlements to our world’s wars… that’s heroic.
And moving forward in life, despite news of dashed hopes and dreams for your future and your family’s future… that is heroic.

How does this happen?
What is it about these people that makes them the heroes and heroines that they are?
Where is there source of steadfast strength?
Where did Abraham get his faithfulness?
Are these people just cut from a different cloth?
I would say no.
These people simply accept the gift of faith and allow God to empower them to be faithful and trusting that God will achieve in God’s own time the promise that God has given us; the promise of life… and life to the full.

Make no mistake, the promise and blessing of Christ is not only for the life to come,
it is in this life, this day, this age.
Abraham and Sarah responded to this promise and their lives were blessed.
The promise is not for money or power or long life.
The promise is that no matter what we experience,
God is with us to weep with us when we weep
and to laugh with us when we laugh
and to rejoice with us when we rejoice.
Remember how the scripture today describes the conversation between Abraham and God…
it is personal, it is intimate, it is parental.
The promise is of an inheritance
not from a distant impersonal deity but from a parent to a child.
God’s promise is not monetary,
it is relational, it is personal, it is faithful.

Years later, my mother got a good word from a doctor. I was a teenager at the time. She came home and told us, “Well, it seems that if I want to, I can begin a treatment that will allow me to have children again.” “Wow Mom, what do you think? Are you considering it?” “Oh no, I think God knew what he was doing… two is enough.” And as I walked away, I heard her say quietly with a chuckle, “Two is definitely enough.”

God’s promise, God’s quantity, and God’s timing are perfectly chosen for our lives and what we can bear. Thanks be to God.
Amen

Serenity Call To Worship: Chapel 3/6/09

2009-03-08T19:21:00.002-04:00

O Divine Source of serenity, courage, and wisdom,
Call us to a time of serenity to hear your truth as
our sisters and brothers speak, sing, and mold clay
to share with us their experience of You.
Call us to be empowered now
for a time of courage to do your work
as we live and respond to your call
to serve and love our brothers and sisters.
Call us to a keen awareness and deep appreciation
of the wisdom that You impart when
we accept of your guidance in the face
of insurmountable obstacles and when
we assent to your gentle coaxing
to respond to the needs of the world.

Fourth Sermon - And there, he prayed... 02/08/2009

2009-02-08T22:35:00.004-05:00

In the gospel reading today, we find three episodes within the larger story of the gospel according to Mark.

Let me first set these episodes in this larger story. Mark begins with John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness for people to repent and be baptized; then we see Jesus go out to the wilderness to be baptized; the heavens are torn open, the Holy Spirit descends upon him, and a voice from heaven says, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’; from there Jesus is led by the spirit to spend 40 days in the wilderness being tempted; John is arrested and Jesus returns from the wilderness saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’

This brings us up to where we were last week, Jesus calls his disciples and goes into the synagogue to preach. He is confronted by a demon possessed man who announces that Jesus is the Holy One; in front of all in the synagogue, he heals the man and heads home to Simon’s mother-in-law’s house. And that is where our scripture reading today begins.

Note that Jesus encounters God twice in the wilderness already; once when he is baptized and once when the Spirit leads him to the wilderness to be tempted and then waited upon by God’s angels.

Also note that word about Jesus’ healing and authority is spreading throughout the region. This only increases in the reading today when after healing Simon’s mother-in-law, all the people in the city come to bring their sick and possessed. Jesus heals many in this place.

What next? Well, he’s high in the polls, people are coming to him, he has mentioned a kingdom and has a house to stay in. It seems that he could stay in Capernaum and build a bigger shrine, a larger court, and have his message and healing ministry go from there. It wouldn’t take much to encourage the congregation to make pledges to a building campaign. But that is not what happened.

The very next morning before anyone else was up, he goes into the wilderness again… to pray.

There are questions and confusion sometimes about why God in the form of a man would need to pray to God given that they are one. Let’s set that aside for now and pick it up at a later study of the trinity. For now, let us see Jesus’ actions for what they are meant for us, an example of how we are to live.

Consider this. When do people usually pray. There is an old saying that there are no atheists in foxholes. I would venture to say that there may also be no atheists during finals week. But joking aside, it seems that so often we ignore God when life is going well and things are running smoothly. This was certainly the case in Capernaum, but Jesus did not ignore God. In this time of new beginnings and popular support, in this time of security within the home of good friends, in this time when people are being healed and demons are running scared, Jesus prays.

Some speculate that Jesus needed to recharge his Spirit after using so much power to heal and cast out. That seems a little sketchy to me, as if Jesus were a battery putting out power and then needing to be plugged in.

Rather, I believe that Jesus prayed because prayer is how we commune with God and how our hearts are drawn into line with God’s heart. It is a means of opening our minds to God’s leading. It is a means of seeking God’s healing for our transgressions. It is a means of showing our love for God; and a means through which God shows love to us.

I have a friend who has described a secret place that he would go and pray as a child. It was under a big old pine tree whose branches hung all the way low to the ground but past those branches was an almost tent like space near the trunk. It was a quiet deserted place, a place away from his parents, a place where he could get some peace from his daily activities. He described this place as peaceful not only because he could be separated from life for a while but also because while there, he could still see the world passing by. The quiet, peaceful, solitary atmosphere that he described gave me peace simply by hearing about it. What a wonderful place to commune with God. I had a similar place that I hid once as a child… but it was because I was in trouble, not because I was seeking meditative solitude.

But although prayer in a deserted place can be intense and beautiful, is it the only place we are to pray? Often, we Presbyterians will quote the scripture that tells us to go into our closet and pray. It’s decent; it’s orderly; and it’s private. We don’t pay so close attention to the words of Paul in First Thessalonians where he says we should “pray without ceasing.”

But prayer is such a hassle. It stops us from eating when we sit down and are so hungry. We have to think up things to say. We rarely, if ever, hear God speaking back to us. And we usually are praying because someone has asked us to pray for them… it’s a lot of work to remember what their problems are and ask God to help… if God helps like that anyway…

I suppose if we thought about prayer like that, it would be more of a chore than a blessing. But I would like to reframe prayer. Jesus did not teach us to pray as a pre-payment for our meal. Jesus did not teach us to pray as a chore. Jesus taught us to pray like we would talk to a very loving parent. When we translate the Lords Prayer from Greek, we make a mistake when we use the word “Father.” I don’t mean because that is a masculine pronoun… I mean that Jesus used to word “Abba” which is not the word for Father, but rather the word for Papa or Daddy. I never really used the words Papa or Daddy growing up. My dad was always just Dad. So for my vernacular, “Dad” might be the best translation. It’s a radical expression of the close relationship God desires with us. We should pray like we speak.

My church in Cincinnati had a whole series where they encouraged us to Pray like we breathe… a natural daily act through which we inhale the good air and exhale the bad. Try it sometime, to let your thoughts for an hour or so be a conversation with God. It might feel silly, like a monologue that goes on and on… but include in that prayer a request that God will open your ears and your heart to God’s still small voice.

And there, Jesus prayed. Yes, Jesus often goes to a deserted place for a time dedicated to seeking God’s guidance and counsel. We see this in today’s scripture and we see it in the garden where he prayed so intensely his sweat was like drops of blood. There are no special words to use. There are no magic verses to recite. It is just talking. When Jesus prayed, he most likely used the everyday Aramaic words of his time, not grand and theologically laden words drawn from a bible thesaurus. It may be a bit of a news flash, but Jesus did not speak in King James English and neither did he pray in formal theologo-speak. Consider the Lord’s Prayer. It’s short, to the point, and if translated well, speaks of daily everyday things that we need to share with God. Yes, there is that “For yours in the kingdom and the power and the glory” part at the end… but those are words of praise that could just as well be, “Because you got the whole world, you ROCK, and you are AWESOME.”

But what about when people ask us to pray for them? And what about people who pray for their sports teams? And what about people who pray for a parking space? Well, I don’t believe that God is a cosmic vending machine. I don’t believe God likes the Steelers more than the Cardinals. And I don’t believe that praying for a parking space will get you one. I mean, think about it. To pray that your team wins means that you are praying that God will make the other team lose. To pray that you get a parking space is to pray that someone else will have to park a mile away. Do we really think that we are more loved by God than others?

However, the first question has value. What about when people ask us to pray for them… intercessory prayer is a blessing to both the person who prays it and the person for whom the prayer is given. Let me tell you about my friend; after asking him for prayer on a number of occasions, I told him that I was sorry that I kept asking him for prayer. His response has always stuck with me. He said, “It is my joy to pray; you asking me to pray for you just gives me another excuse to talk to God; give me more reasons to talk to God, not fewer.” Now there is a person who prays without ceasing.

I would never tell someone to not pray, even if their prayers were for a new car or a better return on their investments. If they are praying, they are drawing close to God and that is a good thing. I would, however, encourage them to seek God’s will and not their own. Prayer may not get you that promotion, prayer may not get you a date with that guy or girl, prayer may not help you win that raffle, and prayer may not bring about a miraculous healing. What prayer does do is draw you into conversation with God. Rather than trying to bend God’s will in our favor, the end that we should seek is that God would bend our wills to be more in line with God’s; to be with us and support us in times of pain and suffering; to lift us even higher in times of joy and celebration; and to comfort and console those who are enduring bereavement and loss.

Prayer gave Christ guidance and strength to resist the temptation to build a healing shrine in Capernaum. So when the disciples came looking for him saying, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He was able to answer according to God’s will, ‘Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’

Let us pray also so that we will know what God has sent us to do.

Intercessory Prayer (tactile stone imagery)

2008-12-01T00:32:00.003-05:00

Intercession with Stones:
(Upon entering the service, people see a wooden bowl of smooth stones and a message to pick up a stone. If any people miss this or enter by another way, make sure you take the bowl to them and ask them to pick a stone. No further explanation is needed until the prayer of intercession. At the time of the prayer, read the following...)

When you came in today, you picked up a stone.
Maybe you’ve held it throughout the service,
maybe you set it to the side.
I want you to pick up that stone and hold it in your hand.
While you hold it, clear your mind,
open your heart to God’s leading,
sense who or what God has laid on your heart. (pause here)
As that stone is in your hand,
feel the weight of it…
feel also the weight that has been laid upon your heart.
You hold your concern for this person or situation as a gift...
a gift that God has given you.
God has given you the opportunity to pray for someone,
the opportunity to grow closer to God,
to touch the life of another,
and to be part of Christ’s redemption of the world.
Take part in that opportunity right now.
Pray silently as you hold that stone… (pause here for silent prayer)
...Amen.

Now, there are a few things you can do with this stone;
as you leave you can trade stones with another person,
sharing the concern that God laid upon your heart,
or you can take the stone home,
maybe put it in your coat pocket so every time you feel it in there,
you remember to pray for the person or situation
that God laid on your heart.
Or you can leave it on the table as you leave
to signify that you are turning the situation over to God.
Each of us will be led to do something different,
there is not right or wrong thing to do…
open yourself to the Holy Spirit’s guidance as we sing the next song.

Thrid Sermon - Worthy Recipient 11/23/2008

2008-11-24T21:09:00.004-05:00

Worthy Recipient – Jonathan Jones

Matthew 25:31-46 <- This is a link to the text of this sermon.
Often when people talk about this scripture, they interpret it as a description of a final judgment where the good are sent to heaven and the bad are sent into eternal punishment. The good are judged as worthy by their charitable acts and the bad are judged as unworthy because of the lack thereof.

There is more here, there is a deeper truth.

For all have sinned and fallen short, and none are righteous, no not one. And we are saved by grace through faith, not by works… so no one can boast. So who’s a sheep and who’s a goat and how’s that pertain to salvation?

There is a deeper meaning, There is a deeper truth.

Every so often, my Aunt will forward an email to me with a story about a child that could make you cry or some dire warning about rights that the government was planning on taking away. One that she sent was a story about a woman who found a mysterious letter in her mailbox. It was a letter from Jesus letting her know that he was going to be visiting her that afternoon.
The story continued that she was very poor and had nothing to serve him. She takes what little money she has and goes to the store where she buys a loaf of bread, some sliced turkey, and some milk. On the way home she encounters a couple who are in great need. At first she tells them she can’t help them but then, takes pity on them and gives them the groceries and additionally her coat for the shivering wife.

Worried that she’ll have nothing to offer Jesus when he arrives, she heads on home where she finds another letter in her mailbox from Jesus… thanking her for the food and the coat. (and yes, I did get choked up at this point… I’m a sucker for these things)

This story is kind of cheesy but it describes the kind of charity described as sheep-like in our Scripture reading. However, from a reader’s standpoint, we are left with the idea that we will never know when a disguised Jesus or an angel will be wandering around trying to test us and make us spend our last dime. Are we visited by angels? I would say Yes, but are our encounters tests? No. Should we wonder if that pan-handler was Jesus? No! That’s not the point. We aren’t mortals caught up in some Greek myth where the gods are posing as humans.
We are humans who are charged with loving other humans… even the wretched refuse of the teeming shores.

In the scripture reading, the sheep and the goats are divided not because of how they acted toward God, but because of how they acted toward other people. If they were serving God, if they knew it was Jesus, both the goats and the sheep would have given him drink when he was thirsty, food when he was hungry, and care and counsel if he was sick or in prison. Both would see Christ as a worthy recipient. The story is not so much about how worthy the goats or sheep are based upon their charity. It is about who is judging worth. We see Christ enthroned as king and judge, determining who is a sheep and who is a goat; Christ is judging the worth as only Christ can.

On a side note, I was told by the daughter of a goat farmer that goats are actually very wonderful creatures and I shouldn’t be so hard on them in my sermon… so please note that this is a metaphor and there is nothing inherently uncharitable about goats.

But as I said before, the goats would have quickly come to Jesus’ aid if they had seen him. Why? Because they would have judged him as worthy of their help. What about the “least of these”? No, they are judged unworthy because they are living off the system, because they are Muslims, because they are a different race, because they have AIDS, because they are prostitutes, because they are sinful, because they are drug addicts, because they don’t want to learn about Jesus. The goats will give aid to those who they believe are worth their charity.

Have you seen yourself act like this? I know I have. When encountering a man on the street asking for money, I question whether he will use it for food or for drugs and alcohol. Are there entire organizations who have done this? Yes, numerous charities require the recipients be worthy of their help. I know of a soup kitchen that requires the hungry to listen to a sermon before they are allowed to eat. I know of an international children’s charity that only gives education, food, and support to impoverished children if they and their families agree to become Christian. They require the recipients of their charity to be worthy. They need to see Jesus in them.

The Goats need to see worth in the recipient of their good works. However, the sheep give even to the least of these (the unworthy). In order to help, the Goats need to see Jesus, but the sheep are blind… stupidly giving their aid and charity to even unworthy no-good abusers of the system. The goats ask Jesus to step down from the judgment seat so they can determine who is worthy of their magnanimous graciousness. The sheep don’t put themselves in the role of judge; they just give as they see a need. How should we act?

In guiding our steps, there are a some things to keep in mind. When we put conditions on our charitable acts, we are taking Christ off the throne… and by implication we are stating that we are worthy to make such judgments. However the scriptures tell us that none are worthy, no not one. We need to step down from the throne of judgment and remember that Christ is the King, Christ is the judge, and Christ gave to us in a very un-Goat-like manner. For while we were enemies with God, we were reconciled to God. Through grace, not worth, we are saved.

The Jewish understanding is described in the teaching of Tzedakah, the Hebrew word for what we call “charity”. There are significant differences between Tzedakah and what many consider charity or mission. The website, "Judaism 101" gives us a good description of what Tzedakah means. Often when people think about charity, they consider it an act of a benevolent person who has money, time, or goods are be given to those who have need. The act is one of empathy, sympathy, or… at even, pity. "Tzedakah, [however, comes from] the Hebrew three letter root Tzadei-Dalet-Qof, meaning righteousness, justice or fairness." Tzedakah is not good people giving to people in need, it is people doing the right thing, being fair, and living out God’s justice. The people of Beulah often reflect this in so much of the mission that goes on here. Time and again when a need is presented, that need is taken care of and when praised, the response is one of surprise… well, of course. That’s no big deal, it’s just what is done. It’s who we are… You don’t need to see Jesus or debate the worth of the recipient; you just take care of the need. One interesting thing about the concept of Tzedakah is that there are eight levels of charity. All are good, but some are closer to the vision that God has for us, closer to the way God wants to bless us. The list below is taken directly from Judaism 101: Tzedakah: Charity.

Giving begrudgingly
Giving less that you should, but giving it cheerfully.
Giving after being asked
Giving before being asked
Giving when you do not know the recipient's identity, but the recipient knows your identity
Giving when you know the recipient's identity, but the recipient doesn't know your identity
Giving when neither party knows the other's identity
Enabling the recipient to become self-reliant

If you know and are friends with any of our Jewish sisters and brothers, you know how important charity is in their daily lives and activities. Contrary to the prejudicial stereotypes, my Jewish friends reflect a desire to help those in need to a great degree.

You might notice that all levels of Tzedakah are sheep behaviors. Even giving begrudgingly is giving not based upon an assessment of worth or placing conditions upon the recipient. Charity with strings attached demands our right to judge and control who gets our help. Charity with no strings attached takes judgment and control out of our hands and leaves it up to God…. Takes it out of our hands and leaves it up to God. The root of all sin is when we try to take control away from God. So, let go, let God be in control.

We are called to give… and trust God to do the rest. This is difficult, so difficult. When I was living in Cincinnati recently out of college, I was going to a restaurant downtown and a man approached me trying to sell food stamps because he couldn’t buy diapers with food stamps. Whether this is true or not, I did not know but I also knew you couldn’t buy alcohol or drugs with food stamps… you can see where my mind was going… I was making an assessment, I was being a goat. He asked me to buy his $5 in food stamps so he could buy diapers for his baby that desperately needed them. In that moment I had a choice, I could tell him no, I could tell him yes and buy his food stamps, or I could do something else. I prayed. For some reason, and not to my credit at all, I prayed. I gave him $5, told him to use the food stamps for food, and prayed that God would take control of the situation and let his will be done.

Was I “taken advantage of”? No. Will you be taken advantage of if you just give without judgment? By no means, you have done what God has called you to do, you have taken a risk and given to someone who had a need. Letting go of control is always a risk, but John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard Church once said, “Faith is spelled R I S K.” Now I’m not saying that you should toss money out the window and let anyone who walks by pick it up. But I am saying that when we consider how we will decide to give, that we should do so with God’s intentions in mind… to not seek worthy recipients (because surely we were not worthy when God gave to us) but rather to seek recipients who are in need. This is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Francis of Assisi once said, “Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.”

Go, step out of the judgment seat, take some risks, give, love, and love foolishly and recklessly… as Jesus loves us.

AMEN

Second Sermon - Laborers In the Vineyard 9/21/2008

2008-11-24T21:02:00.002-05:00

There are some parables of Jesus that might seem… well, offensive to us. Of course we are fine with the parables about seeds sown on different types of ground… confident that we are in the good soil. We love the parable of the “Good Samaritan” as it puts those self righteous hypocrites in their place. But what about this parable, the parable of the “crazy farmer” who hires people, honest hard working folk, at different times during the morning… then at the last hour, he hires the slackers who are just hanging around trying to avoid being chosen.

Well, if that was all there was to it, and he paid the slackers for their one hour, we’d think he was fair and fairly charitable in hiring those slackers for that last hour of clean up work. Nice of him to give them an hour of work, given that they probably had families to feed. But then the farmer tells his manager to pay the workers, beginning with the most recently hired. And as the one-hour slackers are getting paid, the full day workers are getting pretty excited. They see that these guys got a full days pay and so, of course, they are surely going to get much more than they were originally promised. When they are paid the same as the others, they are furious. This is unfair! We bore the weight of the load! We toiled away through the noonday sun! We worked our fingers to the bone! And now he gives us no more than those slackers who were hanging out in the market, probably up to no good all day!? This is offensive, we should get what we worked for.

Then the landowner reminds the workers that they received what they were promised. Why begrudge the others of his generosity? This is one of the many times that we read in the bible about God’s justice being different from humanity’s justice. Why does the sun shine on the good and the evil? Why does hardship affect mean people as well as charity workers? The pressing question I have at the moment is why does the Baptist Seminary have power and my campus still doesn’t… We should not seek to compare ourselves or think we deserve better from God because of our length of service or our personal sacrifice. This brings to mind a story in my dad’s church as I was growing up. The church was gearing up for a major building campaign because our numbers were growing and we did not have a proper sanctuary yet. But there were some disagreements on certain issues, some questions about design and costs. One member of the church, very intent on making his voice heard, demanded that because he and his family had been members of the church since the time that they met in a schoolhouse, that he should have more say in the direction the church was taking. But that’s not the way things work in the Presbyterian church… and it’s not the way it worked in the vineyard described in the parable. Jesus is making it clear that we “are made equal” in his eyes. Remember the early bird workers said, “You have made them equal to us.”
Some may ask, “So what is my motivation to work harder or to serve more in church?” Let me turn the tables a bit and suggest that maybe it is not that the hard workers are getting what they need… but that the late workers were given money for their work and additional money to support their needs for that day. They received blessing. I know a story about two brothers, let’s call them Billy and Jonny Jones… er… Smith, yeah Billy and Jonny Smith. OK, well Billy always did his chores and worked very hard to get his assignments done. Jonny, on the other hand, was a bit of a day dreamer and sometimes would just head out on a beautiful Saturday afternoon to play in the woods or run in the fields around their house. Billy resented Jonny for this greatly… still does. What Billy resented more was the amount of love and positive regard Jonny got from their parents. Eventually Jonny would get his chores done but how could his parents love him as much as they loved Billy? Was that fair?

The parents of course, didn’t love their children based upon who finished chores nor based upon who had the greater merit. They loved their sons period. Jonny probably needed more attention and care because he was so wild and undisciplined. So the attention the parents gave was not because of a greater love, it was in proportion to the needs of the child. If we compare this with the workers in the vineyard, we can see that the landowner gave the workers pay as they had need, not as they had merited. One denarius is said to have been enough to feed one large peasant family for one day. The landowner extended that generosity to touch the lives of even the workers’ children. And so is the generosity of our Holy God. Remember in our Exodus reading that “The Israelites did so, some gathering more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed.” God provided to each family as they had need regardless of how much they actually gathered. Isn’t that amazing! I had never considered that connection before preparing for this sermon and yet there it is… right in front of us.

God’s economy of justice is clearly not the same as ours. If it were, given the same metaphor in this parable, no one would get paid and we’d all be kicked out of the vineyard for sleeping on the job. But, again, I believe focusing on the works and merit of the laborers (maybe even the needs of the laborers) is not the point.
I don’t think the need of the workers is the entire purpose of this story. Remember that Jesus begins the story with the phrase, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” The essence of the story rests in God’s abundant generosity. The focus being on the landowner’s charity rather than on the merit or works of the laborers. Consider how the landowner paid the workers. The full day workers were made to wait and watch as the landowner was being generous with the last hired. Why would Jesus set up the story like this? If the last hired were paid last then no one would be the wiser; the full day workers would have never known and there would have been no conflict or complaint.

I think there are two reasons Jesus presented the situation so that the landowner actions were clearly seen by all the workers. The first is so we would see how God is glorified by showing great generosity to all. The second is so that when we do question and complain, God reminds us to take the focus off ourselves and our efforts; and put it back on God. So again, in this parable, God is glorified by giving love and grace freely, fully unmerited by us regardless of our best efforts; AND we are taught to remove the focus from our own deeds and merit or the deeds/merit of our brothers and sisters, but rather to recognize that this grace that has been poured out on us by an overly generous and loving God.

Some might say, “Well, that’s nice but it’s still not fair.” Well, thank God that he’s not fair. I was thinking about how I would fare in this vineyard; about what time of day I would have been hired. Well, I’m not that much of a morning person so I definitely wouldn’t have been there too early. But I did wonder if my labor and merit were key to my salvation or key to God loving me, where would I stand. I think most of us would agree that we don’t do all that we ought and we do do a few things we oughtn’t. So thank God for not being fair.

As I was preparing this sermon, I was reminded of a time when one of my favorite singers, Derek Webb, was giving a performance in Lexington. He had just heard about a new mission effort to build wells in Africa called “The Blood:Water Mission.” He was very excited about this effort and told us all about how they only had one paid staff person so all the money was going to Africa to dig wells for these impoverished families; families who otherwise would spend half the day walking to get water and the other half walking back home… and we think we have it bad with no electricity. What struck me deeply and what makes me remember his words was that after he got done passionately telling everyone about how important this was (you could tell he felt very strongly about this), and how there was a bucket in the back of the church if you wanted to put a buck or five in… well, after all that, he said, “I want to be clear. Whether you put money in that bucket or not, God still loves you the same. Whether you show your love for your neighbor in Africa or don’t, you can’t cause God to love you more or to love you less. Because before you were born and before those people even existed or had any need, Jesus loved them perfectly for you… and He did so on your behalf.”

You see, the vineyard is getting harvested, with or without your effort. We put so much effort on ourselves but do we think that God cannot accomplish mission without us? Someone will be found to complete God’s purposes… and what a blessing it would be if that were you or I. If you join in the effort in the morning you will be loved and loved fully by the landowner. If you show up at the last hour, you will still be loved and loved fully by the landowner. It all comes from the generosity of the landowner, God… it’s not about us. Those laborers who work all day would be more blessed to rejoice for the blessing that the landowner has bestowed upon the latecomers. Those who arrive late are brothers and sisters, joining us in the great blessing of working as laborers in the vineyard.

I think this parable encourages us to take the focus off ourselves and others; to not compare ourselves with one another; but rather to put the focus on God and how we are called to live rejoicing in one another’s blessings. God loves generously, go and do likewise.

My first Sermon: 5th Sunday of Easter 2008

2008-04-20T16:32:00.003-04:00

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled… you know the way to the place where I am going.’

This is a dense gospel reading, John has a way of packing a lot of meaning into just a brief message, I will attempt to do some unpacking… but I’ll try to remain brief. When I look at this week’s readings, I see two major emphases. The first is one of reassurance and the second is one of instruction and empowerment.

Stephen states his assurance in God when he says, “Lord receive my spirit.” David expresses his trust in God by writing, “You are indeed my rock and my fortress; …Into your hand I commit my spirit;” Peter writes that even the rejected will find a place of prominence. And of course John tells us that Jesus began his farewell message with, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me” He reassures the disciples that he is going ahead on a journey; a journey that they will follow, and in fact, Jesus tells them that they actually already know the way.”

A journey? And we know the way? The disciples balk and question and show their lack of faith, as disciples are wont to do. And then we read the familiar words, “‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The disciples wanted to know the way and Jesus told them… Jesus is the way, the truth, AND the life. But it’s not so plain to understand, is it? So… as Ricky says so often to Lucy… I think we got some s’plainin to do.

To understand what this passage means, we need to look at the context. What was going on? Jesus has just finished telling this group of disciples who he loves and who loved him, their teacher and their Lord, that he’s going away where they cannot follow... at least not yet. He continues by telling Peter (who has fully pledged his love and life to Jesus) that Peter will betray him, not once, but three times before morning. Slam after slam... worse yet, the disciples might have gotten the feeling that they are being punished since previously, Jesus had told the skeptics that where he was going they could not follow. So the disciples are in the same boat as the skeptics? I’m sure they were thinking, "Oh no! What did we do? Why is he leaving? What’s going to happen to us? When will we see him again?"

How many times in our own lives do similar fears and anxieties come upon us… such as after the loss of a friend or family member or on the occasion of saying goodbye to our family members from other parts of the country after they have come to visit?

Last week is known as "Shepherd Sunday" because of the quotes about Shepherds in many of the readings. I’m thinking that this Sunday could be called "Nervous Sheep Sunday" because the Shepherd says, "Hey, I’m going to go now... but don’t worry, you will follow later, and again, don’t worry, because you know the way." You can imagine the sheep responding, “What!? We know the way!? How can that be? We are just sheep? AAAAaaaahhhh!!!” What a panic the disciples must have been in. Having tossed aside their lives and plans and families to follow Jesus and now he’s going away!?

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled… you know the way to the place where I am going.’

Now maybe that helped some of the disciples or maybe Thomas and Philip were the only ones bold or scared enough to ask for more information. How could we know the way? Show me the Father! Clearly, Philip must have been from Missouri, the Show Me State. Reading this today, we might be tempted to ask, “Were these disciples so short of faith? How could they be so dense?”

No, I don’t think people like Thomas and Phillip are any different than the rest of us. I know I can relate to them, can’t you? I think of the words of a Caedmon’s Call song:

I hear it all depends on my faith
So I’m feeling precarious
The only problem I have with these mysteries
Is they’re so mysterious

I’ve begged you for some proof
For my Thomas eyes to see
A slithering staff, a leprous hand
And lions resting lazily

A glimpse of your back-side glory
And this soaked altar going ablaze
But you know I’ve seen so much
I explained it away

I thank God for the narratives about people like Thomas and Philip. They are our reassurances that even these guys, who have followed Jesus around for years in person, still can have fears and still can worry about what is to come. We’re human and so we sometimes doubt. So we cry out, “I believe. Help my unbelief. Show us the way. Show us the Father.”

So how does Christ respond? What answers do we find? To Philip’s request to see the Father, we read that Christ responded with the mind-boggling words “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father… Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” To Thomas’ question about how they could possibly know the way since they didn’t know where Jesus was going, John reports that Jesus says, “You know me. And I am the way. I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” So if Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, we can also say that no one comes to the Father except through the way, the truth, and the life. These are the instructions for the disciples, and in fact, for us all. To follow the way, the truth, and the life… is to follow Jesus, to follow Love. Jesus told the disciples that they knew the way because they had been following and listening to Jesus for years. He had been teaching them the way all along. He had been engraining himself into their hearts… giving them a way of knowing that is, as Georgine says, not only knowing by head… but knowing the way by heart.

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled… you know the way to the place where I am going.’ In fact you know the way by heart.

In fact, this way of knowing may go even deeper than that… it may be part of our very being, knit into the fabric of our bodies, and ever present in the essence of our minds. Have you ever heard a tune and you could just anticipate what the next note would be? Or have you ever listened to a poem that you could guess the next phrase? Or maybe you’ve been blessed with a gift of dance and when you learned a new step it just flowed as if you knew it all along. I think that’s what Jesus is talking about when he says, “You know the way.” We know the way because when we encountered Jesus for the first time, we were changed into “a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that we may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.” We know the way because we know Christ, we know love.

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled… you know the way to the place where I am going.’ It is part of who you are.

So what are these? The way, the truth, and the life…
Jesus is the way (our model for behavior; how we live our lives)
Jesus is the truth (our guide in knowing God’s will)
And Jesus is the life (a promise of shalom which means more than just peace but more appropriately translates as fullness and completeness of life).

The way – Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’

The way in which we are called to live our lives is the way of love, love for God with our whole being and love for our neighbor as ourselves.

The way of love is the way of forgiveness, the way of caring, the way of compassion. We see the way of love in how Christ lived with us, wept with us, rejoiced with us, fed us, healed us, and humbled himself for us.

Acts 7:59-60 While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died. [When he did this, he was walking in the way.]

The truth – Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’

The truth is that God loves us, all of us. God loves us so much that God redeemed us through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The truth of God’s love is shown in Psalm 31:3-5 You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me and guide me,

The truth of God is proclaimed in Acts 7:56 ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’

Sometimes the truth of God’s love is not always easy to share. In the passage just before today’s passage from Acts, Stephen, was accused of blasphemy and brought before the council. But when given an opportunity to defend himself against the charges, he spoke hard truths to them, pointing them toward the way. It was a hard truth resulting in Stephen’s death, but it had dramatic consequences... it may have planted the seed that led to Saul’s conversion.

The life – We have this life, this newness of life. We sense it keenly when we reconcile with a quarrelsome sibling, forgive an obstinate spouse, or show grace in any way. When the Spirit of God flows over us and we wonder at the beauty of a piece of music or the majesty of the sun shining out from behind the clouds, we sense this life. The blessing of community, our friends, neighbors, and acquaintances of all walks of life, denominations, religions, and so on share in this blessing of life when we follow the Way, speak the Truth, and show forth the Life. We attain Shalom. Glory to God in the highest for the gift of life and life eternal.

John 10:10b I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

1 Peter 2:10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled… you know the way to the place where I am going.’ The way is Jesus, Jesus is God, God is love, and through love, we are walking on the path to God, the place where we are going.

Broad Statement of Faith

2007-10-16T16:32:00.002-04:00

My belief in God and my life as a Christian grew out of experiences in my childhood. I was the younger of two sons of a Presbyterian Minister and a very talented Minister of Music. My father was a minister from 1962 until his death in 1999; my mother was a choir director from 1962 until her death in 2003. As a T.O. (Theological Offspring), I had opportunities to learn doctrine and scripture as well as to grow in an environment rich with a passion for Christ. It was in this rich soil that the seeds of my faith first took root.

I became very well versed in our church’s interpretation of the bible. My father was unlike many Presbyterian ministers, leaning toward a more conservative interpretation of scripture. Minister’s salaries being what they were, my brother and I attended adult bible studies with our parents in order to save the money they would have had to spend on a babysitter. I often had questions for my parents afterward. My father would do his best to bring the message to the understanding of a very curious 7 or 8 year old. Interestingly, the first time I was asked if I had accepted Jesus was while staying at my grandmother’s during summer vacation. At the age of 8 (1973), my brother and I prayed with my grandmother asking Jesus to come into our hearts. I’m not sure what impact this had on me or if I was only doing it because I knew it was right and it was what God and my grandmother had told us to do.

Though my understanding of the process of salvation was scant, God was very real to me. Much of my childhood involved experiences where I would call out to God for comfort. In elementary school, I wrote, “Sometimes my mommy yells and sometimes my daddy is mad and that’s when I go up to my room and God comes down and gives me a hug.” I can remember this being a very real and almost tactile experience for me. Also, being the minister’s son isn’t the most popular position in a school classroom especially when you are new in town. I moved through my childhood and early adolescence with what I would call a Christian understanding. Looking back I can see God at work in my life on various occasions but the turning point, I believe, was in 9th grade confirmation class. Although Presbyterians believe in one baptism, my father asked everyone in our confirmation class who wanted to be baptized in the river to come and be washed of our sins through full emersion. To me, this was an outer sign of a very real inner transformation. I reaffirmed my acceptance of Jesus as my Lord and Savior at that point. This began a period of strong and steady growth in my Christian walk; it also marks the point at which I believe I truly accepted Christ and became a Christian.

In 1980 I became a youth delegate to a multinational Presbyterian youth event held at Indiana University. The event was called Triennium. During that week, we attended seminars and workshops about various issues. We also attended amazing praise filled services and small group bible studies. This was a time where my relationship with Christ grew deeply. After Triennium, the Synods were encouraged to hold synod wide youth events as follow-ups on a more local level. I became a member of the Miami Presbytery’s Youth Committee and the Synod of the Covenant’s Youth Task Force. I was appointed to the design team for the follow up youth event and spent a lot of time corresponding with seminar leaders and others who would be helping with the event called Youth Celebration ’82. These positions showed me a side of ministering to others that I had not experienced in the past. Unfortunately during our event, Keith Green passed away which impacted our music leader (Pam Mark Hall) and our activities leader (Mike Yaconelli) deeply. Unexpectedly we dealt with grief among our celebration. In 1983, I attended the second Triennium that was held in West Lafayette on the campus of Purdue University, further extending my involvement with Senior High ministry and my personal spiritual growth.

While in college, I was the Junior High/Senior High youth group leader for Oxford United Presbyterian Church. My co-leader and I led weekly meetings with the Senior Highs on Sunday night and the Junior Highs on Wednesday night. Working with the kids helped me grow in my own walk as I saw how they dealt with struggles that sometimes I also had. At this same time I became involved with a Pre-seminary discussion group. The issues that we discussed were hard, sometimes emotionally charged, and sometimes intellectually dense. Toward the end of my years at Miami, I began to attend a Vineyard Church in Cincinnati. Their particular style of praise mixed with service was something I had never seen. I was drawn by the movement of the spirit in that group of people… but also longed for a church where my mind would be fed as well as my spirit had been at the Vineyard.

After graduating from Miami University, I moved to Cincinnati and became involved with Knox Presbyterian Church. I became their Senior High youth group leader and the Jr/Sr High Sunday School teacher. My tenure there was short, however and within months I moved to Charlotte, NC where I became a member of Myers Park Presbyterian Church (MPPC). MPPC is a very stable church with many resources. Their youth ministry was already fully staffed so I became involved with the young adult group and bible study. I also did local outreach through their sister church, the homeless shelter, and their ministry to people with HIV/AIDS. Additionally, I was a member of both their adult choirs. My involvement in Myers Park’s local outreach, Young Adult Bible Study, and retreats brought about a more mature spiritual understanding and growth in a new direction in my relationship with God. While in Charlotte, I finished my second bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte in psychology.

In 1997, I returned to Cincinnati to attend the combined Masters/Doctoral program in psychology at Xavier University. While in Cincinnati, my time was strained and filled with personal tragedies. During my 7 years in the program, I lost my paternal grandfather, my father, my maternal grandfather, my dad’s step-dad, and my mother. Not having any experience with loss or bereavement, this made my life more difficult than I could have imagined. I still could sense that I was growing in my relationship with God but I became very angry about these losses. I experienced anger with God to some extent but mostly I was angry at my parents for abandoning me, for giving up, for not fighting harder to live. I could feel my heart crying out “Why?” but God’s silent response left me frustrated. It is a frustration that led to growth, however.

I began attending Crossroads Community Church in 2003. It was my first experience with the Willow Creek “Small Groups” model. Crossroads offered freedom to create and lead small groups as we saw fit. I first joined a small men’s group but after some conflict, I created a group with some friends. Diving into Paul’s epistles, I began to hunger for greater understanding of the early church and God’s intervention into the lives of the community. I also began communicating online through a MySpace group called “The Jesus Loving Church of MySpace” (JLCOM). I encountered new ideas and ancient wisdom in that group. I shared much of my new understanding with my Small Group and our group began to grow. Crossroads gave us more tools to follow topics that were being discussed in all the other small groups and in all the worship services and Sunday school classes. I was getting fed and this only drove my desire for more. I became addicted to theological discussion, prayer, and worship.

Although small groups have done much to enrich my relationship with God and the church, I have also been given books and music that have greatly enriched my walk. Seeking God’s will for my life, I have read these books, heard the melodies, experienced the poetry, and deepened my faith in God’s Grace. The books “What’s So Amazing About Grace” by Phillip Yancey and “The Ragamuffin Gospel” by Brennan Manning hit me hard and made me rethink my theology.

Derek Webb is the former lead singer of Caedmon’s Call. Recently I have reading his old journals that are published online. His insight and faith have done much to enrich my theological understanding and walk with God. He writes about the depravity of man and our inability to accept Grace without God’s help. He also makes a strong case for the idea that we are unable to reject this gift once offered. In one line of “Thankful” Derek writes:
'Cause I am just like Lazarus
And I can hear your voice
And I stand and rub my eyes and walk to you
Because I have no choice

'Cause it's by grace I have been saved
And through faith it's not my own
It is a gift of God and not by works
Lest anyone should boast

Lazarus was dead and could not have saved himself; but only could live by Jesus calling. Also, in being raised from the dead, he had no choice in whether to stay dead or be raised. This is like our own salvation in that we have no means, nor works, nor innate goodness to save ourselves… but only by the Grace of God are we saved… dying to our old lives and selves and being raised like Lazarus to allow Jesus to live through us. Praise God that He has given us this gift.

In January of this year, I lost my job. This was quite a blow to me because I had only been working there for 12 months and I had no idea what I could do with my MA in psychology. I turned to God. Again, there seemed to be silence. But one night I was walking my dog. Looking up at the stars, the same stars that Abraham saw when God made a covenant with him, a veil was drawn back and I thought, “Oh yeah… of course! God has been preparing me for this next step my whole life.” It wasn’t a lightning bolt; it wasn’t a “Eureka!”; it wasn’t even an emotional pouring out of the Holy Spirit. It was simply a keen awareness of the obvious. Don’t get me wrong, I love emotion; I love to feel the Holy Spirit pour over me like oil running down Aaron’s beard. But that is not how God chose to call me. God simply turned on the light in a dim room.

Communion Thoughts

2007-10-01T12:11:00.000-04:00

I was in chapel this morning for a service created to highlight the diversity of language and ethnicities of our Seminary Community. The words were spoken in a variety of languages, from a variety of cultures.
The music was ethereal, stunning, beautiful, even transcendent. I could feel my spirit float in and about my body.
When the time came for Communion, the Brazilian worship leader began to speak the words of the Sacrament. At the same time, a mother and her small child were in the open stairwell which I could observe from above, given my position in the choir loft balcony that looks down into both the main sanctuary and into the stairwell... where the mother had taken her child in hopes of not disturbing the service.
The child was preverbal and yet spoke with a language of grunts and groans that only his mother could understand. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words."
She held him to comfort and to love him. He arched his back and struggled, but could not break free of her loving arms. But in the pauses between his straining and articulating, he would rest sweetly in her nurturing embrace.
The sound was heard by some as a cacophony of distraction interrupting the sacramental words. But to my ears, in that moment, it was a holy language; the communion between a mother and child.
How like that child are we; how like that mother is God. This living metaphor illuminated the experience of Communion more poignantly than any liturgical poetry or prose that I have ever heard.

2007-09-20T07:25:00.000-04:00

wake up oh sleeper
and raise your head
the Lord’s gonna raise you from the dead
shine on
shine on
- Josh Garrels

My first thought as I am roused into consciousness... this is a Holy place, this is a Sacred time. God gently calls me awake. I see the slight pre-dawn light through the curtains. I hear the sounds of morning; the hum of the world moving toward a new beginning. This is a diaphanous place. This is a thin time. Between sleep and full clarity, I ponder God and God's purpose for me this day. I open my mind to the gentle tugging of the Spirit's guidance... asking God to open my heart to what He wants me to be concerned with, to whom He desires me to pray for, to how He wants me to order my day, and to where He wants me to walk. This is a Holy place. This is a sacred time... and the best part is... my shoes are already off.

Orientation Day 1

2007-08-09T22:01:00.000-04:00

I didn't sleep last night... well, I slept for a few hours but even then I was tossing and turning. My life and my world are changing dramatically. I can't believe I'm actually here. That sounds so "American Idol" cliche but it's true. God definitely drew me in this path. There is no escaping the fact that I have been given a clear sign. Doors have been opened, roads have been paved, and financial support has been provided. Miracles in each step of the process. I've met some great people today... I've heard some very encouraging messages. It's late and so I will hit the sack. Hopefully I will sleep better tonight than I did last night. God, give me some peace from these racing thoughts. Amen