Sermon ~ 11/27/2011 ~ The Call of God

11/27/2011 ~ Beginning of Year ‘B’ ~ First Sunday of Advent ~ Hope ~ Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37.

The Call of God

“God is faithful; by God you were called into the fellowship of the Child of God, Jesus, who is the Christ, into intimacy with Jesus, the Christ, who is our Savior.” — 1 Corinthians 1:9.

All pastors have what I loosely call “pastor stories,” stories about questions pastors get or encounters they have because they hold the office called ‘pastor.’ Now, as I have mentioned before, one of my mentors, the Rev. Carol Anderson, was among the first women officially ordained in the Episcopal Church. As one of the first such pastors she was, if not somewhat unique, at least unusual.

In her career, she served four churches. Those churches made her somewhat unique and unusual also. She served churches on the Upper East Side and on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, in Suburban Washington, D.C. and in Beverly Hills, California.

In short, she served urban, upper-class areas. Hence, her ‘pastor stories’ were a more little rarefied than most. One she would tell concerned going to cocktail parties in Manhattan. And she would go dressed in civilian garb, that is: not sporting her Roman Collar.

Invariably someone would ask what line of work she was in. She was always forthcoming about the fact that she was a priest.

And she always said the quickest way to drive someone away at a cocktail party on the Upper East Side (or the Upper West Side, for that matter), was to tell that particular truth— that she was a priest. Having admitted this, the person to whom she was talking would invariably find someone on the other side of the room who they had not seen in years and with whom they needed to reconnect immediately.

Now, as was one of the first women ordained an Episcopal priest, she was also in demand as a speaker. Hence, she traveled. So, the other place Carol had interesting encounters was on airplanes. And on airplanes, exactly the opposite happened.

On a plane a person next to her could not jump up and find a different seat. So, after a while, she would get to hear the life story of her traveling companion— with all the person’s sins thrown in for good measure— whether or not she wanted to hear them. In short, she heard a lot of confessions at 30,000 feet.

Well, I don’t hang out in the rarefied air of Manhattan or Washington or Beverly Hills. But still, I had an interesting encounter a couple months ago— a ‘pastor story.’

In the course of a conversation, a person wondered out loud why there was so much crime today. Perhaps I was being told this because crime is perceived as a moral problem, something with which we pastors are, theoretically, concerned.

In any case, this person was worried about their kids and grand-kids growing up in a troubled world. “The world,” he said wistfully, “isn’t as safe as when I was young.”

With my “pastor’s hat” on I affirmed the feelings being expressed. I said those feelings were real and should be honored. But my official title is “Pastor and Teacher.”

So with my “teacher’s hat” on I said while I affirmed the feelings about crime, feelings that the world was less safe than it used to be, to say there is more crime than there was 30 years ago is statistically inaccurate. And this person looked at me like I had come from another planet. Well, since we were not on an airplane, the other side of the room quickly became attractive to them.

But here are some facts on crime: there is less crime today per 100,000 people than there has been since the early 1960s. Murder is less prevalent today than it was in the 1930s. Paradoxically, as a nation we are incarcerating, by far, a greater percentage of the population than we ever have before, but that’s fodder for another sermon. Back to this one.

For me, that encounter raises an interesting issue. We need to pay attention to our feelings. They are real. They matter. But they are subjective.

Sometimes feelings overwhelm reality, overwhelm facts, overwhelm the possibility of the objective. And, since feelings are subjective, what are we to do when our emotional life becomes an obstacle to dealing with the objective? (Slight pause.)

This is where we need to come back to both Paul and the words of Paul. First, a little about Paul and New Testament times. When an Epistle is read at a service of worship, we often hear it introduced as being, for example, the “Letter to the Church in Corinth.”

So, how many people were in the Church in Corinth? When we hear the term “Letter to the Church in Corinth” does it conjure up an image of a church building in downtown Corinth with hundreds of people in it? (Slight pause.)

Most scholars think the churches Paul founded consisted of, even in a large city, perhaps, two hundred people, more likely less than that. And when the people met for worship, they would not all gather together in a large building simultaneously.

No more than a dozen of them, two dozen at most, would gather at any one time for worship, always in private houses. Their rituals of worship would very much sound like and seem like what it does today— prayers, readings, hymns, the sacraments, a sermon.

But in this setting worship would also provide great intimacy. You were there in some else’s home. People got to know one another very well. In today’s terms we would call these ‘house churches.’

And this is where we come back to the words of Paul. Throughout the whole Canon, Paul insists the peace of God, the shalom of God, makes for the proper ordering of the world and for human relations within it.

You see (quote): “God is faithful; by God you were called into the fellowship of the Child of God, Jesus, who is the Christ, into intimacy with Jesus, the Christ, who is our Savior.” (Slight pause.) By God, we are called into fellowship, into intimacy.

What would these words sound like translated into today’s terms, today’s definitions? It would sound like this, I think: ‘we are called to be a support group for one another.’

I think Paul always sees all believers as belonging to one another, as belonging to the family— the family of God. In short, the church becomes our true family, our home, our support.

But if we are family, if we are called to be that intimate, tell me what happens to individual autonomy, to our personal independence, to our feelings? Does not the mutual reliance demanded by being family diminish freedom some, diminish feelings some? Because, after all, do we want to hurt someone else’s feelings? Or do we want our’s hurt? (Slight pause.)

I think too often today we mistake individual autonomy for personal independence. And I think the Apostle understood that. Autonomy is not a path to independence or freedom. Mutual reliance is. Mutual reliance as in: we are a family. We need to be family.

What makes us truly free is our mutual reliance. But this is the hard part. I want to suggest that it is mutual reliance which helps us face reality.

You see, being family— above all else— is the definition of church. Being family— above all else— is the call of God on our lives. But in fact, only when we rely on one another is true family and, thereby, a true freedom which faces reality possible. (Slight pause.)

So, what is the call of God? We are called to support one another, in Christ. We are called to lift one another up, in Christ. We are called to love one another, in Christ. (Slight pause.)

Now, today, as you are aware, is the First Sunday in Advent, the Sunday on which we think about hope. So, consider this: freedom cannot be defined. It can only be felt. Neither can hope be defined. It can only be felt.

I want to suggest that just as our reliance on one another can foster freedom, our reliance on one another can foster hope. I want to suggest that when we have mountains to climb, we cannot overcome them, we cannot even try to climb them, unless we are free to do so. And when we have mountains to climb, we cannot even try to climb them unless we have hope.

Further, when we have mountains to climb, we cannot overcome them, we cannot even try to climb them, unless we have one another for mutual support, unless we have the family of God. Mutual support is what empowers freedom— our freedom to do, to wish, to accomplish, and, indeed, freedom to face reality, freedom to face facts. (Slight pause.)

Paul starts this verse I quoted by saying (quote): “God is faithful;...” And here’s the amazing part and the point if Paul saying “God is faithful;...” God trusts us. God calls us to be family.

And then— and then, when we place our trust in God, it illuminates hope. And, when we place our trust in the family of God, that illuminates hope. Amen.

11/27/2011
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I have said things like this here before. Those who founded this country knew about mutual support. These are the last words in the American Declaration of Independence (quote): “..for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

BENEDICTION: Let us, as the family of God share our gifts, our memories, our pain, our joy and our hopes. Go in peace for God is with us. Go in joy for God knows every fiber of our being. Go in love, for we rest assured, by Christ, Jesus, that God is steadfast. Go in hope for God reveals to us, daily, that we are a part of God’s new creation. Amen.

11/20/2011 ~ Sermon ~ One of These

11/20/2011 ~ Proper 29 ~ Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost ~ The Thirty-fourth and the Last Sunday in Pentecost ~ Known in Many Traditions as The Feast of the Reign of Christ ~ Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Psalm 100; Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Psalm 95:1-7a; Ephesians 1:15-23; Matthew 25:31-46 ~ Thanksgiving Basket Week ~ Children’s Time Is the Dedication of the Operation Christmas Child Boxes.

One of These

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” — Matthew 25:35-36.


My bet is we all know these opening words from a classic novel. (Quote): “Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker and the chief mourner, Scrooge, signed it...”

This is, of course, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. And I think most of us know what happens. On Christmas Eve Scrooge is visited by the ghost of Marley and the ghost of Christmases present, past and future.

But earlier in the story Scrooge is visited by some flesh and blood callers. I think it is with these living characters that the real denouement develops, the fulness of the tale turns. The events which will happen at the end of the saga come full circle only when compared with these visits from real people.

In one of those early episodes, a set of visitors, two gentlemen arrive unannounced who seek to collect funds to (quote): “...make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time.” Indeed, they state the obvious in the early Victorian era, conditions about which Dickens often wrote.

This is, you see, a time of great poverty. Some of that poverty exists because of huge cultural shifts within the class structures of British society. These changes came about for various reasons. In part change has happened because of progress in technology and in part because of depression and in part because of a famine and in part because of wars.

World wide, tumultuous was the only way to describe the decade which was the 1840s. The aforementioned shifts in society were happening in front of everyone and for all to see. Does that sound like today, or does it not? So, it is not out of the ordinary that the two callers seeking funds for the poor also make this statement: (quote): “Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts,...”

Perhaps the one slip they make is in their approach. With Scrooge, at least, the tactic they use seems to be a poor choice. They claim Christmas to be a (quote): “festive season of the year.”

Knowing the world to be a harsh place, could it be the old grump sees no place for being festive? The reply Scrooge has for them is chilly and blunt: “Are there no prisons?... workhouses?” (Slight pause.)

The other flesh and blood caller Scrooge has that Christmas Eve afternoon is his nephew. One could argue the greeting of this nephew is, perhaps, more spiritual and, therefore, more telling (quote): “A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!”

On the other hand, the response of Scrooge has for this nephew is also blunt and even taciturn. “Bah! Humbug!... What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry?”

Not to be trampled upon, the nephew shoots back: “What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose?” (Slight pause.)

As I indicated earlier, we all know what eventually happens— four ghosts and all that. But what happens after that? What happens after Scrooge emerges from those trials? (Slight pause.)

On Christmas morning Scrooge sends a big Turkey to the house of his clerk, Bob Cratchit. On the street, he greets people with a “Merry Christmas,” bumps into one of the gentlemen who had been soliciting funds for the poor and promises to send a large donation. He gives Cratchit a raise and becomes like a second father to Cratchit’s son, Tim. (Slight pause.)

As I already indicated, the tale of Scrooge and the ghosts is entertaining. But I also think the crux of story turns on the encounters with the mortal visitors, especially the visit paid by the nephew whose Christmas greeting includes these words (quote): “God save you!”

You see, when Scrooge first awakes from the encounters with those otherworldly beings, this is what the crotchety old fellow says (quote): “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” I will honor Christmas in my heart. (Slight pause.)

So, what is honoring Christmas in the heart? What does that mean? (Slight pause.) First, it means learning something of what our relationship with God is about.

Even old Scrooge understands the centrality of learning (quote): “I will live in the Past, the Present and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons they teach.” I will not shut out the lessons they teach. And notice, that’s not the past tense— ‘the lessons they taught’— ‘it’s the lessons they taught.’ (Slight pause.)

You see, the nephew of Scrooge— by the way his name is Fred, I looked it up— is right in the Christmas greeting (quote): “God save you!” Why? The very name of Jesus, Yehoshua in the Hebrew, means ‘God saves.’ Indeed, if Christmas is to be honored as Scrooge says it should be honored— in the heart and year 'round— then everything, including outreach to others— starts with God and starts with learning that God saves.

So, why did the way Scrooge live life change suddenly? The old codger may have been frightened by ghosts, but the change did not happen because he was frightened.

If you change because you are frightened, that is merely coercion, the practice of forcing another party to behave in an involuntary manner. I do not think God forces anyone to do anything.

I think the change in Scrooge happened because the old man came to an understanding of what written on the heart. And that understanding starts with the idea that God saves. (Slight pause.)

On Friday last, I asked our Parish Coordinator, Cheri Willard, how many Thanksgiving baskets are being assembled by all the participating churches. The answer is 409. This church will distribute about 200 of those out of the Founder’s Room on Tuesday.

Late last week Emmanuel Episcopal Church got a grant through a private foundation to buy $25 gift cards at Save a Lot, where there is no tobacco or alcohol available for purchase, for an additional 100 families. Those also will be distributed here.

So, all together the churches will be helping 509 families. And, as you probably know, all the coordination for this effort happens here, in this church.

Hence, I want to suggest that for us, for ourselves, we need to ask this question: ‘why?’ ‘Why are we, as a church, helping people in this way?’ (Slight pause.)

As a church, I believe our first answer needs to be that ‘God saves.’ And we need to be clear that ‘God saves’ is written on our hearts. To be unambiguous about it: there are a lot of organizations that do a lot of good work for a lot of good reasons for a lot of people— Rotary, The Lions, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts— that list goes on and on.

But we— we are a church. Our claim is that God seeks to write something on our hearts. That something is about loving neighbor.

You see, Jesus once put it this way (quote): “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

In short, what God seeks to write on our hearts is an invitation to be relational with other people, to interact with other people. So, what we do as a church with the Thanksgiving basket work is not about simply giving someone something or about simply giving something away.

You don’t have to be a church to do that. Anyone can do that. This is about honoring the invitation of God, the invitation of God which says simply this: we are called to stand in solidarity with all humanity. So, indeed, let us stand in solidarity with others for that is the message God seeks to write on our hearts. Amen.

11/20/2011
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Reflecting the Gospel reading my friend Mr. Rasely wrote this words: ‘Hey, we didn’t know it was you / We didn’t know it was you. / If we’d have known we’d have acted differently / But hey, we didn’t know it was you.’ You know what the message is: it’s always you. It’s not an excuse that we didn’t know it was you.” [1]

BENEDICTION: Go forth in faith. Go forth trusting that God will provide. Go forth and reach out to everyone you meet in the name of Christ. And may the peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of the Holy Spirit this day and forevermore. Amen.

[1] Tom Rasely, our Composer in Residence, wrote an song (We Didn’t Know It Was You) which actually did reflect the Gospel reading and was used at the Children’s Time. That time was also used to dedicate the boxes being delivered to the Operation Christmas Child project.

Sermon ~ 11/13/2011 ~ Building

11/13/2011 ~ Proper 28 ~ The Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost ~ Judges 4:1-7; Psalm 123; Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18; Psalm 90:1-8, (9-11), 12; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30 ~ Enlistment/Stewardship Sunday.

Building

“Therefore, encourage one another and build up each other, as, indeed, you are already doing.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:11.

I need to start my comments today in a bit of an unusual way. As you can see, there is a basket up front. In that basket are what the Prayer Shawl Ministry Group calls Pocket Prayer Shawls— small crocheted squares in a cacophony of colors.

I’d like to invite everyone, each individual, to come forward and get a Pocket Prayer Shawl. It’s yours to keep. If you would rather I bring some to you from which you can choose, I can do that. I’ve got a separate basket. So, please come forward and get a Prayer Shawl— a Pocket Prayer Shawl. (Pause, while this happens.)

So, what are prayer shawls? Some of these words are taken from the folder which describes the Prayer Shawl Ministry in this church.

In 1997 Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo graduated from the Women’s Leadership Institute at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut. They started an outreach ministry with knitters and others who make crafts, a ministry people all over America then took up.

Shawls, as I am sure you’re aware, have been made for centuries around the world. The shawls and other crafts created by people participating in this ministry are created in and with prayer. Doing this work also brings to mind a truth: God empowers us to create and God empowers us to give.

Since the people involved are focused in this way, with an understanding that God is central to the enterprise, the making of the shawls— to concentrate just on shawls— is both a universal action and an action which embraces each individual blessed by the ministry.

Indeed, the making of shawls and the distribution of them is symbolic of an inclusive, unconditionally loving God. So, God blesses those who create and give.

And the finished products, whatever they may be, are meant to beautifully comfort, wrap, enfold, cover, give solace, nurture, hug and shelter. Therefore, God blesses those who receive.

The intent is that those who give the works remember why they are doing this work and Who is the prime giver. The intent is that those who receive the works remember these have been given with the kindness and the generosity of spirit God intends. Last, these items are a way of remembering our connectivity to one another. (Slight pause.)

Clearly, a prayer shawl ministry is a ministry of not just of this church but many churches. So, I’d like to talk about churches for a moment. (Slight pause.)

There is no question about this: local churches are in a very, very basic way, grass roots organizations. This is especially true in the denomination known as the United Church of Christ because in our structure there is no hierarchy. There are no bishops telling us what to do or defining who we are. Those of us in the Congregational tradition are, by definition, involved in a grass roots organization.

Put differently, the basic structure in the United Church of Christ is the local church. If for no other reason, that means our connectivity to one another on this local level and then moving out from this local level, this feeling of first being grass roots and then moving further is of great and paramount importance.

So, how do we support one another? How are we in covenant with one another? How are we grass roots? (Slight pause.)

You may be aware that there are three written histories of this church. The first one, published in 1879, contains the By-laws of the Church current then and names the officers in that structure.

So, what do the By-laws indicate it meant, indicate what we did, to be in covenant with each other then? (Slight pause.) In this document, the town is divided into four quadrants. Deacons were assigned to these areas, these quadrants. The well being of each soul living in these quadrants (member or not) was the responsibility of those deacons.

To be clear: this was not simply an assignment to look after spiritual needs. This also meant being aware of the physical needs of people, both members and non-members alike. Today, we would probably call that the work of outreach— outreach both to members and non-members. In short, what the By-laws laid out then meant being connected to one another as members of the church and being connected to one another as members of the human race, being connected to one another as children of God. The By-laws say that was important.

Are we organized in a different way today? Yes. But the work of outreach is still here and the work of outreach is still the same. In short, it still means being connected to one another as members of the church and being connected to one another as members of the human race, being connected to one another as children of God. (Slight pause.)

I think I need to offer a definition. What is outreach? Outreach is simply this: kindness. Indeed, let me ask: is not kindness the first measure of faith? Is not kindness the first measure of faith? (Slight pause.)

I have a friend who has been a college teacher his entire professional life in the New York City area. But he grew up in Rome, New York.

At his request to me this church has been sending his elderly aunt, who still lives in Rome, our newsletter. He recently asked me if we would be so kind as to change the address to which we send the newsletter, since he has had to move her to a nursing facility.

His e-mail with that request says she has (quote): “...immensely enjoyed your mailings. She especially likes the little stories and anecdotes and feels pride in having not only shared some of them with her minister in this region but also being informed by him that he’s used some of them in his own sermons.” (Slight pause.)

Doing that, sending that newsletter, is just a small kindness. But it means something to someone.

This church was doing a kindness in sending the Newsletter to my friend’s aunt. But most of us did not know we were doing that. Being connective sometimes means something to someone, even when we don’t know it’s happening, even when our understanding of what is happening is not direct. (Slight pause.)

So, why did I want to help the Prayer Shawl Ministry give out Pocket Prayer Shawls today? This might be an obvious question. (Slight pause.) They are meant to be a reminder that for us, for this church, doing outreach means being connective, being kind.

So let me suggest that you take your pocket prayer shawl and put it in your pocket or on your desk or on your night-stand, or even use a magnet to attach it to your refrigerator door. Put it someplace where you will see it and be able to touch it regularly, feel its texture.

Let it be a tactile point of reference for your memory. I want to suggest if you put it in an obvious, accessible place, it will be a reminder that connectivity is central to our lives as Christians and that kindness is central to our lives as Christians. (Slight pause.)

So, what does all this have to do with the fact that this is our Stewardship Sunday, our Enlistment Sunday? (Slight pause.) Paul tells us to (quote): “...encourage one another and build up each other...” (Slight pause.)

Outreach is connectivity and kindness and faithfulness all wrapped up into one. It is a part of building up each other. Clearly not all of what we do but certainly a good portion of what we do, together, as a church, in connectivity with one another, is empowered a pledge.

And pledging is not meant simply to be a place where we give away money— write a check and forget about what that means or what that has the potential to do. Pledging is meant as a sign that we stand in solidarity— in solidarity with everyone in this church, in solidarity with everyone in this town, with everyone in this state, with everyone on this planet. (Slight pause.)

You see, solidarity in our connectivity and in our kindness and in our faithfulness to the Word of God is the place to which God calls humanity. So, in solidarity and in connectivity and in kindness we are called to encourage one another and build up each other. Building each other up— that, that is real stewardship. (Slight pause.)

I am sure you have heard me say this way too often. The basic message is: “Love God. Love neighbor.” Easy right? Well, yes. If we connect with people. If we are kind. If we are faithful. Amen.

11/13/2011
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, NY

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “The words of the second verse in the closing hymn say this: ‘Teach us, O God, Your lessons, / as in our daily life / we struggle to be human / and search for hope and faith. / Teach us to care for people, / for all, not just for some, / to love them as we find them, / or as they may become’ (Slight pause.) It has been said that the ancient Hebrews did not have a theology. They did theology. I think that is the call to Congregational Churches. We do theology.”

BENEDICTION: A kind and just God sends us out into the world as bearers of truth which surpasses our understanding. God watches over those who respond in love. So, let us love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. Let us be in awe of no one else and nothing else because we are so in awe of God. Amen.

Sermon ~ 11/06/2011 ~ Knowing the Day and the Hour

11/06/2011 ~ Proper 27 ~ Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost ~ Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25; Psalm 78:1-7; Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16 or Amos 5:18-24; Wisdom of Solomon 6:17-20 or Psalm 70; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13 ~ COMMUNION SUNDAY.

Knowing the Day and the Hour

“...Jesus then said, ‘Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.’” — Matthew 25:13.

Bonnie and I have a G.P.S.— a Global Positioning System— for our car. And we really like it. Having the G.P.S. for trips to places with which we are not totally familiar, like the trip to Philadelphia slightly over a week ago, just makes things easier.

Now, interestingly, this week I bumped into a friend here in Norwich and we got to talking about how easy the G.P.S. makes things. He then told me this story.

His granddaughter called him from her cell phone. She also lives in Norwich. She was in Herkimer when she called— about 55 miles away. “Grandpa,” she said, sounding upset. “I’m in Herkimer.”

“So?” he asked.

“How do I get back to Norwich?”

A little flustered and not quite understanding what the problem was, my friend said, “Well, first you’ve got to get on Route 8.”

And then grandpa got really a big surprise. His granddaughter did not know what Route 8 was. His granddaughter did not know where Route 8 was. His granddaughter had never read a map in her life.

Now, she is young. She has been driving only a year. But she had totally and always and only relied on her G.P.S. And she had left the G.P.S. at home.

A friend had guided her to Herkimer but then that friend decided to stay there. She was afraid to call her Dad and tell him that. So, she called Grandpa.

And, indeed, Grandpa was probably more understanding, or at least a little more sympathetic about it than Dad would have been. So, as dangerous as this is, over the phone Grandpa talked her back to Route 8 and once she got far enough along Route 8 to notice some landmarks she recognized, she was able to make her way to Norwich. (Slight pause.)

In today’s bulletin you will find something Tom Rasely and I wrote. It’s a new Christmas Carol called One Angel Sings. Would you please take a moment to pull it out and look at it? (Pause as the Pastor waits for the congregation to do this.)

Tom and I have had a conversation a number of times which runs like this. The piece of paper on which this music is printed (the Pastor hold up the music) is nothing more than a road map. It is not the music itself.

You cannot hold the paper up to your ear and listen to it. (The pastor holds the paper up to his ear.) The paper does not make the music come alive. The music comes alive through your experience of it.

Further, that piece of paper with music printed on it is simply a series of landmarks— a roadmap of sorts. These landmarks do become familiar once you’ve experienced them. But you need to experience them to gain that familiarity.

Now you’ve never heard this music because it’s never been sung by a congregation. So, let’s do that. Let’s see what the experience of this Christmas Carol, newly written, this roadmap, is like. Bob will play through it once and then we’ll all sing it together. Bob— it’s all yours— once then three— right.

One angel sings / both silent and plain: / “A Child is born— Emmanuel now!” / And suddenly shouts / from heaven are heard / as the many heavenly hosts / cry out a refrain.

Chorus: “Glory to God, the peace of God reigns. / Glory to God, the Alpha, Omega. / Glory to God whose presence is here. / The peace of God reigns” / the angels proclaim.

One Angel sings / and freedom abounds. / A Child is born / and God is with us. / The peace of God / whose presence resounds. / And we respond to God / with songs of praise.

Chorus.

Let’s stand for the last one!

One angel’s voice / both silent yet clear / says God lives among us / now in the world. / And suddenly shouts / from heaven are heard! / As the many heavenly hosts / cry out the refrain:

Chorus. [1]


(Pause.) Please be seated. [To the organist:] Thank you Bob! [To the Congregation:] And thank you all for singing that.

So, just looking at the road map is quite a different experience than traveling on this road, is it not? And when you stood it was a different experience, right?

So, I want to suggest that when you experienced the road laid out on this map rather than just looking at it (the pastor hold up the paper with the song printed on it), you lived out the road in time, you lived with the road in time.

If you take the journey the map laid out, you have to be in relationship with the journey over time. And, as the words and music moved forward through time, the relationship changed and shifted.

Now, you did follow the landmarks on the paper. And despite not initially really knowing the landmarks since this is a piece of music you have never seen before, you were, in fact and none-the-less, faithful to those landmarks and responded to them. And I’d also bet every time you sang another verse, the landmarks became more familiar through your previous experience.

To be clear and perhaps even redundant: when you were only looking at the road map, you may have been able to imagine what it should be like and what it could be like. But, even if you could imagine what it would or could be like, you’d probably have to admit that experiencing it, living it, is different than imagining it. (Slight pause.)

And these are words we find being used by Jesus in the Gospel commonly called Matthew: “...Jesus then said, ‘Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.’”

Before the passage from the Gospel was read it was said society seems to want to know when the end times will happen. It was also said that may have been true in the era recorded by the Gospels.

After all, Jesus gives what I take as at least an admonition, and perhaps a clear warning (quote): “...you know neither the day nor the hour.” In short, realizing the error of that kind of thinking which must have been going on then, Jesus points it out.

But besides actually wanting to know the day and the hour clearly an error according to Jesus, I happen to think people make a second error when examining this story. People tend to ask: ‘what did the wise attendants do which helped them be wise, helped them successful?’

But that’s the wrong question. The question which needs to be asked is: ‘How did the wise attendants do that which helped them to be wise, be successful?’ How did they do it, as opposed to what did they do?

I think the ‘how’ in this story is that they are willing to engage in process. Their wisdom comes not from what they did— having enough oil. It comes from how they did it— being faithful to the task at hand.

You see, knowing about the ‘what’ of a situation is simply mechanical. It takes no thought, no relationship, no process. In this case, it just took a little oil. On top of that, engaging in the ‘how’ of a situation, which is exactly what these attendants did, does not worry about the outcome, does not worry about results.

Put a different way, today people often say ‘winning isn’t everything. Winning is the only thing.’ So, whatever happened to this motto: ‘It’s not whether you win or lose. It’s how you play the game’?

I think that’s what this story is really about— how we play the game. You see, we often take this— as I said— as a story about who wins and who loses. But it is not.

Neither is it a story about having oil on hand. It is a story about an approach to life. Suppose the wedding party had been still later than they already were? The so called ‘wise’ attendants may have run out of oil too.

That would have made them no less wise. That would have been no less faithful. Indeed, what makes the wise attendants wise is that they were faithful to the process, faithful the place to which they are called. (Slight pause.)

Theologian Friedrich Nietzsche is unfortunately known for coining the phrase ‘God is dead.’ But the following phrase certainly ranks as one of his more important conclusions (quote): “The ‘Dominion of Heaven’ is a condition of the heart— not something that comes ‘upon the earth’ or ‘after death.’” The Dominion of heaven is a condition of the heart. (Slight pause.)

I think this goes without question: life is a dynamic dialogue with God. The dialogue is ongoing, continual. It is a process. Life needs to be a condition of the heart. Living life needs to be a condition of the heart.

Hence, the key for us is a willingness to engage in the process. We may win. We may lose. But it is the journey, the experience— not the map and not the landmarks and not even the end result which counts.

So, let us concentrate on what we need to do. Based on the words of Jesus, the end times are clearly of no concern. We need to simply strive to be faithful. We need to simply strive to do what God calls us to do.

In short, we need to work on the process called loving God and loving neighbor. Having a map may be good. Noticing where the landmarks are is helpful. But engaging— engaging in the journey— that is key. Amen.

11/06/2011
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I invite you to look at the Thought for Meditation courtesy of Sister Joan Chittister (quote): ‘Life is not about knowing exactly what we are meant to do. It’s about doing what must be done that makes our lives a song.’ Making our life a song is a process.”

BENEDICTION: The knowledge that God loves us frees us for joyous living. So, let us trust in the love God offers. Let us also be fervent in prayer as we make choices daily, and seek to do God’s will and walk in God’s way traveling on our Christian journey. And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding and the abiding truth of Christ keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge, love and companionship of the Holy Spirit this day and forever more. Amen.

[1] Copyright 2011 - Tom Rasely and Joseph Connolly. If you want to hear what the hymn sounds like, the audio of this sermon will be posted on the web site of the United Church of Christ, First Congregational of Norwich after 11/09/2011.