07/18/2010 ~ Eighth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 11 ~ 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Amos 8:1-12 or Genesis 18:1-10a; Psalm 52 or Psalm 15; Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42 ~ A Union Service with the Sherburne United Church of Christ.
Abiding in a Tent
“O Yahweh, who may abide in your tent? / Who has the right to enter your tent? / Who may dwell on your holy mountain? / Those who walk blamelessly; / those who conduct themselves with integrity, / and do what is right; / those who work for justice / and speak the truth from their heart—” — Psalm 15:1-2.
[At the Children’s Time the Pastor had a large picture of the vacation place on an island in Maine where he would be next week and asked if God takes a vacation. The answer was: no, God is always with us, at our side, loving us. At the point the pastor came out of the pulpit with many small prints of different places at that vacation place, asked people to pass the pictures around and chatted with members of the congregation as that was done.]
As these things go, July seems to be a pretty significant month for Connolly clan anniversaries— or at least the part of the Connolly clan which goes by the name Bonnie and Joe Connolly. (Slight pause.) I first met Bonnie on July 11th, 1987. For those of you who don’t have a calendar calculator handy, that was 23 years and one week ago today on that island.
One year and four days after that July day in 1987, July the 15th, 1988, I moved to Maine to marry Bonnie. And twelve days short of eight full years after that, on July the 3rd, 1996, right after I graduated from Bangor Theological Seminary, we arrived in Chenango County. I had accepted a call as Pastor and Teacher here, at the United Church of Christ, First Congregational, of Norwich.
I’d be the first to admit Bonnie pays more attention to those kind of personal anniversaries than I, even when it comes to July. I tend to say: “July— ‘that’s when Major League Baseball holds the All Star Game’ or ‘that’s when the Open is played’— can’t miss those.” On the other hand, when you get that many dates of personal note bunched together, you do notice.
But I, therefore and also, am led to wonder about anniversaries. Why do we do celebrate them, notice them? I mean, I’m all for celebrating. After all, as you are probably aware, we don’t simply have a service of worship. We celebrate a service of worship.
And, indeed, there is a significant amount of remembering, looking to and at our Christian heritage incorporated into every worship. Just in and by the recitation of Scripture we remember.
But even as we celebrate and remember, I think we also need to do some looking forward. Bonnie and I are actually about to do this since this time next week we on that island in the middle of Penobscot Bay where we met those twenty-three years ago.
And, needless to say, those twenty three years ago, neither of us would have predicted my journey to and through seminary. Neither of us would have predicted that we would be here, with you, now.
So, when we return to that island next week, we will look to the past and remember. But we will also be looking forward.
Why? Because we will remember that, when we met, we did not know where we would be these many years hence. And so it will be yet again. We will not know what comes next as we stand on the shore of the island. And we will wonder what tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow will bring.
This I do know: sometimes what tomorrow brings is simply waiting on God. Sometimes what tomorrow brings is something new and different for us, something already imagined by God in ways we cannot yet dream about.
I know this: there is and there will be and there is only one constant in tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow: it will be both the same as today and yet again different than today. As an Ancient Greek philosopher said, “you cannot step into the same river twice.” The river, you see, is always changing. And yet the river is always there. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from Psalm 15: “O Yahweh, who may abide in your tent? / Who has the right to enter your tent? / Who may dwell on your holy mountain? / Those who walk blamelessly; / those who conduct themselves with integrity, / and do what is right; / those who work for justice / and speak the truth from their heart—” (Slight pause.)
I think the compilers of the lectionary have made a sound choice in placing Psalm 15 next to the story of Abraham and the visitors. Abraham’s hospitable actions have several characteristics. They extend toward those who appear unexpectedly and, in this case, these visitors also happen to be strangers.
Abraham’s actions follow a certain protocol: seeing, meeting, welcoming, honoring, inviting, refreshing, preparing, serving, ministering. These can be summed up in one word: welcoming.
But Abraham does not act in a hospitable way because of a desire to please a visitor, even a visitor who, as the text implies, may be divine. These actions are meant to be seen as everyday gestures, a holy commitment to be welcoming— to live welcoming— on the part of Abraham.
What was offered was appropriate for all visitors, not restricted for only important ones. Further, when Abraham says (quote): “If I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass by our tent.”
This sentiment gives the visitors the freedom to respond without embarrassment. Why? The sentiment embraces emotionally. (Slight pause.)
Our tendency is to concentrate on narratives in a story, action rather than the emotional life we might find therein. This seems to be especially true when we read Biblical stories. Our inclinations lead us to concentrate on what happened, on what transpired and on what resulted from a situation rather than on how people interacted.
So what can be said about the behavior exhibited rather than the plot? What can we say about the emotional life of this story? (Slight pause.)
What is clear is Abraham and Sarah have no preconceived notions about what might happen, no preconceived notions about the future and what or who they might encounter. What is clear is they are present to one another and are willing to be present to whomever they encounter.
And a divine visitor does show up. Do they know? Perhaps— but they treat everyone equally.
In so doing they are listening for the voice of God. They are not even sure when or if God will speak. But they strive to listen always. They understand it as part of the covenant.
All of that brings us back to the Psalm. (Slight pause.) Who may abide in the tent of Yahweh, God? (Quote): “Those who walk blamelessly; / those who conduct themselves with integrity, / and do what is right; / those who work for justice / and speak the truth from their heart—”
Sounds like a tall order, that. Does it not? Blamelessness, having integrity, working for justice, speaking the truth— not easy stuff.
And, if you listen only to the narrative implied it is a tall order. You see, when we listen to just the narrative gleaned both from the Genesis reading or the Psalm we might be directed toward results and results only— only what happens in the end.
That would be a mistake. Why? Seeing only the results might lead us toward a belief in what I call the ‘Santa Claus narrative’ we get in our heads about God. You know— “You better watch out, / You better not cry / Better not pout / I’m telling you why / Santa Claus is coming to town.”
We get God and Santa Claus mixed up because we think of our relationship with God as being a series of transactions. Dear God— I want this. And you get it or you don’t. And then you ask again. And you get it or you don’t. In this narrative God becomes a consumerist god, a god who simply enters into transactions.
But is that the God described here or, indeed, the God described in all Scripture? Is that an accurate description of God, a valid narrative, the true story of God? Or is the God described in Scripture a God who enters into relationship, a God who touches us on an emotional level?
I think the God being described in both readings and in all of Scripture is a God who invites us to be open to listening to God, open to the will of God. In short, the God being described in Scripture is a God who is still speaking. (Slight pause.)
So. what do we need to do? We need to do what Abraham and Sarah did. We need to be open. We need to listen. Why?
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow— as I suggested, twenty three years ago Bonnie and I did not know what tomorrow would bring. And when we are on the island next week, we will wonder yet again about tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.
Now this much I can guarantee— not only will God still be speaking tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, but whatever happens, God will be at our side— not on our side but at out side. God will be with us in our emotional life.
God will love us when things go wrong. God will love us when things go right. God will love us when we succeed. God will love us when we fail.
And God will still speak to us, and perhaps gently nudge us as we seek to walk in the will of God. As I am sure you realize, that is exactly what Abraham and Sarah did— seek to walk in the will of God.
You see, it’s not the narrative which takes precedence in any of these stories. It’s the state of being. And when we seek to walk in the will of God— guess what? We will abide in the tent of God. Amen.
07/18/2010
United Church of Christ, First Congregational
A Union Service with the Sherburne United Church of Christ
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This, then, is an précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “Speaking of remembering history, the pastor of this church from 1860 to 1877 was Samuel Scoville. Sam was the son-in-law of Henry Ward Beecher, the Pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn and certainly one of the most famous people in America at that time. Beecher said this: ‘I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love.’ God stands with us. Surely that is one definition of love— standing with someone. I would suggest that when we worship, it needs to be an expression of love. But how is worship accomplished? Perhaps it means simply seeking the will of God and, thereby, abiding in the tent of God.”
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