Sermon ~ 01/29/2012 ~ The God Who Is

01/29/2012 ~ Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany ~ A.K.A. The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28 ~ 5th Sunday Hymn Sing ~ Annual Budget Meeting, Which Happens in the Context of Worship.

The God Who Is

“Hence, as to eating food which was sacrificed to idols, we know that idols have no real existence and that there is no God but the One, true God.” — 1 Corinthians 8:4.

As mentioned earlier, next week, in an acknowledgment of an American God, we will celebrate an important American feast day: Super Bowl Sunday. People think either the Giants or the Patriots will win. That’s logical, right? But neither the Giants nor the Patriots will win. NBC, the network broadcasting the game, will be the real winner.

[At this point on the audio you will hear Tom Rasely interrupt as an adjustment to the microphone system is made.] You see, NBC is charging $3.5 million for each 30 second commercial spot. As a comparison, $42,000 was the cost for the first Super Bowl in 1967. Adjusted for inflation, $42,000 in 1967 equals $274,000 today. (Slight pause.) Like I said, at $3.5 million, NBC wins the Super Bowl, hands down.

All of which to say there may be a football game next week and it may be the most important feast day in America. But very few people even acknowledge the real game being played.

That game started months ago when NBC put the commercial spots on sale. And, by the way, they sold out. All the spots are gone.

Indeed, one thing which fascinates me about the comparison of modern times and ancient times is not that we make up gods, although we do. One thing which fascinates me is that, just as in ancient times, we pay so little attention to reality.

I am as happy and as satisfied as anyone to watch a good football game. But our society seems to want to believe the Super Bowl is a conflict waged for the possession of Mount Olympus. It’s not.

So, I make no pretense that the Super Bowl is anything but a game. Its true meaning is, in that sense, meaning-less. It’s just entertainment, not to be taken seriously.

And certainly one of the points Paul makes in Corinthians is simple: God is not a game. God is to be taken seriously. In short, Paul is concerned with the reality of God.

Therefore, Paul does not get distracted by the accouterments, by the trappings. Paul pays attention to the real game. Paul takes God seriously. So, we need to do the same; we need to take God seriously. (Pause.)

Shortly, we will take a look at the budget. Anyone who knows me knows I take budgets seriously.

But therefore, today is the Super Bowl. The real work happened over the last several months as some dedicated people put the budget together.

So I also need to say this: by its structure there is one question any church budget needs to ask and to answer. Where is God leading us— the reality of God— where is God leading us? If a budget does not reflect where God leads, if it is does not lead down a path of caring and compassion and sharing and inclusion, then we need to change how we do things.

But also, to make that kind of determination, to change how a budget is done, we— all of us— need to spend at least a couple of years in prayer and deliberation. In short, we need to take budgets seriously. Thereby and more importantly, when we do the work of God— God who is real— when we do the work of God we do take God seriously. And, in fact, putting a budget together can be the work of God. Amen.

01/29/2012
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: “As suggested earlier, theology says there is no divide between secular and sacred. But, if I were to posit such a divide, I would suggest it looks like this: the sacred deals with reality, especially the reality of God, and the secular tries to avoid reality. Indeed, when the secular tries to deal with reality, it— perhaps unknowingly— crosses over into the sacred.”

BENEDICTION: People of light, turn toward God with joy and be free and open to the empowerment God offers. People of unity, be one in Christ. People of commitment, dare to run the race with courage. And may the Spirit dwell with us, may the peace of Christ, which surpasses our understanding keep our hearts, minds and spirits centered on God, this day and forevermore. Amen.

“The Realm of God” ~ Sermon ~ 01/22/2012

01/22/2012 ~ Third Sunday after the Epiphany Known in Some Traditions as the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 62:5-12; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20.

The Realm of God

“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘This is the time of fulfillment. The dominion of God, the realm of God has come near, is at hand; change your hearts and minds; believe in this good news.’” — Mark 1:14-15.

I want to start by reviewing a couple of fairly well known terms. The globe on which we live is called a planet. The hot gaseous body, what we call the Sun, around which that planet circles, is known as a star.

While, in terms of human definitions, there were once nine planets circling that star called the Sun, having relegated the former planet Pluto to a different status, we now have decided there are only eight planets in our solar system. (I suppose what that proves is human definitions are merely temporary agreements.)

The galaxy in which that star called the Sun travels is called the Milky Way. The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy. Scientists say this galaxy, that spiral, is between 100,000 and 120,000 light-years in diameter.

Needless to say, that begs the question: what is a light year. The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. And a light year is the distance light travels in a human year— and to be precise we count a human year as being 365 and ¼ days. So, translated into miles, a light year is about 6 trillion miles.

Now, we humans think we have identified that there are about 170 billion Galaxies in the universe. And our Milky Way is probably smaller than average. All these numbers are mind-boggling, are they not?

I am sure many of us remember the late astronomer Carl Sagan on the television series Cosmos saying there are billions upon billions of stars. But what we need to understand is Sagan was probably underestimating the number, by far.

So, let me see if I can help make the numbers I’m talking about, if not a little less mind boggling, perhaps a little easier to grasp. [The pastor has used a box of salt at the Children’s Time to illustrate change. That was done by pouring salt into a glass and adding water to it. The taste of the water became salty but the substance of the salt changed. The pastor leaves the pulpit and retrieves that box and then pours the contents into a clear glass vase. The pastor empties a box which had just a little salt in it.]

Now there really wasn’t a lot of salt in that box. So here’s another. (The pastor gets the second box and starts emptying it into the vase. As the pastor does so, the pastor walks up and down the isle, box of salt being emptied into the vase.) This will take a while. I was hoping you weren’t going anywhere for at least a couple of minutes.

(Having finished, the pastor says:) So, lets presume each of these grains of salt is a star, like our Sun— each gain of salt is a star like our Sun. We’ve already established our galaxy may be 120,000 light years in diameter and just one light year is six trillion miles, right?

So, if each grain of salt was a star like the Sun, how many boxes of salt would it take to equal the number of stars not in the universe, but just in our own galaxy, the Milky Way? You can make a guess. Call out a number.

How many boxes of salt it would take to equal number the stars not in the whole universe, just in our Milky Way galaxy if each grain of salt was a star? Any guesses? No guesses? (Slight pause.) 22,000 boxes, like this. And that’s just in our galaxy. (Slight pause.)

To put a more precise number on it, scientists think our Milky Way galaxy may contain as many as 400 billion stars. That’s a lot of salt. (Pause while the pastor returns to the pulpit.)

And these words are from the Gospel known as Mark: “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘This is the time of fulfillment. The dominion of God, the realm of God has come near, is at hand; change your hearts and minds; believe in this good news.’” (Slight pause.)

If all those aforementioned numbers are not just mind boggling for you, but make you feel like you are but a tiny piece of the universe, welcome to the club. The truth of the matter is, we are a tiny piece of the universe. Whenever my ego gets the best of me— and I don’t think there are any exceptions to the rule: ego can get the best of us all sometimes— when I need a quick fix for that, I go back to the reality of these numbers.

On the other hand, what Jesus says here is this: God is with us. And perhaps that should be a boost to the ego. God is with all of us and each of us even though the universe is so vast it defies understanding.

But I also think we need to recognize that we are a part of the realm of God. We need to recognize God invites us to be a part of that (quote): “good news.”

Now, please notice, the Christian belief is this: Jesus is the embodiment of the Good News. And, to be clear: the good news Jesus claims to preach is that the realm of God is at hand and we are invited to be participants. (Long pause.) That alone is mind boggling, is it not? (Slight pause.)

Earlier in the week I had a conversation with some parishoners about this passage. They were troubled by the words later in the reading, troubled by the apostles leaving their family to follow Jesus. Is that not irresponsible at best, unloving at worst?

Well, yes, if we understand the passage in a literal way. You see, the writer of Mark, by telling the story in this way, and we, by looking at it in a literal way, may be reading things into the episode with a different take than Jesus might have had.

Here’s the question to ask: is this an apocalyptic episode, a story about the end times or is something else indicated? (Slight pause.) Mark, among all the Gospels, especially concentrates on the apocalyptic nature of the Jesus story. Why?

Mark is written early enough so that many think the end times are about to happen. After all, they have seen the resurrected Jesus.

So, when Jesus says the realm is at hand, the writer of Mark takes it to mean the apocalypse is near, the world is about to end. A resurrection has happened, has it not? So if that’s the case, leaving loved ones is neither irresponsible nor unloving.

But in fact, a prediction of the apocalypse is not what Jesus addresses. (Quote): “The dominion of God, the realm of God has come near, is at hand; change your hearts and minds; believe in this good news.’”

These words can be taken in exactly the opposite way, as not apocalyptic. Rather, God is inviting us to participate in the continuing story of the dominion. So, the question becomes: is this a prediction of the end times and/or should it be taken that way? (Slight pause.)

I want to suggest that our opening hymn today answers that question with these words. “Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.” The fact that the embodiment of the realm of God is born does not mean that end times have come.

The fact that the embodiment of the realm of God is born means that we are to be empowered and emboldened to spread the word that the good news— the good news Jesus addresses— is with us. It means that we are to be empowered and emboldened to understand that the presence of God is near.

It means that we are to be empowered and emboldened to understand that the hope of God and the peace of God and the joy of God and the love God offers is available to all people. But first and foremost, it means that we are to be empowered and emboldened to understand that we all need to be participants in the realm of God. (The pastor leaves the pulpit and goes to the glass vase with the salt in it and lifts it high and says this:) After all, Jesus says God is with us, even to the end of that unfathomably large universe. Amen.

01/22/2012
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: “Speaking of light years, I presume most of us know who Buzz Lightyear is. I want to suggest that we need to have a Buzz Lightyear outlook on life. Life is a grand adventure. Which is not to say life fails to be dangerous. But it is a grand adventure. Now, the Christian outlook amends that a little. Life is a grand adventure in the realm of God. Which is not to say life fails to be dangerous. But it is to say life a grand adventure in the realm of God.”

BENEDICTION: Through God’s grace, by being attentive to God’s will, our deeds and our words will change our world for we will discover ways to proclaim release from the bondage of narrowness. Let us seek the God of Joy. Let us go in peace to love and serve God. Amen.

SERMON ~ 01/15/2012 ~ Listening

01/15/2012 ~ Second Sunday after the Epiphany ~ Second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend on the Secular Calendar ~ 1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20); Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 ; John 1:43-51~ Communion Sunday.

Listening

“Now Yahweh came and stood there, calling as before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ And Samuel said, ‘Yes, Yahweh, I am listening.’” — 1 Samuel 3:10.

Well, last week I made my annual trek to Bangor, Maine. I visited my alma mater, Bangor Theological Seminary, for their Convocation— three days of speakers and workshops and meetings.

Convocation got off to what I thought was a good start when the Interim President of the Seminary, the Reverend Doctor Robert Grove-Markwood, began with this anecdote. At the point when the faculty was starting to put together the agenda for Convocation, Bob, by chance, saw a bumper sticker. The saying on it became a by-word for all the presentations at the meeting. These were the words on that bumper sticker: “Change Is Inevitable. Growth Is Optional.” Change Is Inevitable. Growth Is Optional.

In short, change will happen. Therefore, how we deal with change will probably weigh more heavily than any kind of shift the actual changes might bring. (Slight pause.)

You probably noticed in the reading from First Samuel that the boy actually heard God three times before the old Prophet Eli realized what was happening and gave some very specific instructions about listening. Please notice: Samuel heard God and heard God quite clearly. But there was no recognition. What Samuel did not do was listen. (Slight pause.) So, what is listening? What does it mean to listen? (Slight pause.)

In the course of giving music lessons, our good friend, Tom Rasely, will tell student the note you don’t play can be more important than the note you do play. That statement leaves us with a similar question: ‘how do you listen for the note not played?’

[The pastor leaves the pulpit, goes and sits at the piano located in the worship space.] Let me try something to illustrate not simply hearing but both listening to sound and also listening to silence.

First, please do me a favor (and I’ve turned off the blowers so you can do this). Be as silent as you possibly can. Just listen to the fullness of the space we’re in. Did you know you can hear space, if you listen? Try it. (Long pause.) If you’re listening carefully, you realize a large space like this has a very different sound than a small space like a closet, right?

O.K. Now, I am going to come over here and try something else. (Recognizing the aforementioned Tom Rasely has said something the pastor responds:) Uh, oh! Uh, oh! Now we’re in trouble says Tom. He’s right.

O.K. I am going to play one note. I want you to listen carefully to it as it drifts into this space. And listen to see if you can hear the undertones and the overtones which give the note body. And again, listen for the movement of the note in this space, the space to which you were just listening, the space in which you could hear silence— one note. [The pastor plays one note while holding the pedal, so the sound lasts for a while.] Now, did you hear that note, all the way to the end— saw how it held and you saw how it was different as it progressed, didn’t you? (Slight pause.)

Well, chords are, generally, several notes played at the same time, right? I’m going to play several different chords. And first, I’ll play two notes which are right next to each other. [The pastor does so.] Some people call that a dissonant, right?

Now I’ll play two notes that are further apart. [The pastor does so, holding the pedal.] Two more. [The pastor does so, again holding the pedal.]

Can you hear difference in the space between the notes right next to each other [the pastor plays the dissonant notes] and the notes with space in between? [Again, the pastor plays a chord.] Can you listen to the silence between the notes? Can you hear that there’s no space between these two [the pastor once again plays the dissonant notes] and this with space in between?

[The pastor plays notes again.] No space. Space. No space. Space. [The pastor returns to the pulpit.]

So, you can listen to silence among noise, the silence between the notes. (Slight pause.) Is it possible the voice of God is there, both in the midst of the silence and in the midst of noise? (Slight pause.)

Let me go back to Bangor for a moment. Two of the presenters last week were Betty and Noel Paul Stookey. Needless to say, Noel Paul Stookey is Paul of Peter, Paul and Mary fame.

Betty is actually the Rev. Ms. Betty Stookey. Her Master of Divinity Degree was granted by Harvard, but she did a semester at Bangor Seminary, Bangor being about 35 miles from where Paul and Betty live, in Blue Hill, Maine.

Both Paul and Betty clearly identify themselves as Christian— I say that because Wikipedia doesn’t and they insist they are. Their presentation mixed Paul’s music making with personal stories and readings from an array of faith traditions.

If I had to characterize what they said, I’d sum it up this way: they addressed the reality of God. And, to be clear, that reality says ‘we need to listen for God and we need to listen to God.’— for God and to God— two steps.

And so, where did the presentation end? It ended with Paul singing these well known words: “How many roads must a man walk down, / before you call him a man? / How many seas must a white dove fly, / before she sleeps in the sand? / And how many times must a cannon ball fly, / before they’re forever banned? / The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, / the answer is blowing in the wind.” (Slight pause.)

After their presentation, Betty and Paul took some questions. Perhaps prompted by that song, an older pastor, likely retired, said: “I’ve been working for peace since 1963. And I’ve seen a lot of fine people die over the years. How do you stay positive?”

Betty said: “Do you have a choice?” (Slight pause.) The answer is blowing in the wind. (Slight pause.) And perhaps the answer also means listening to the wind. (Slight pause.)

In a couple of minutes, you will be invited to participate in a litany which remembers the life and the work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As we know, King died working for the cause of justice and peace. And so, yes, the statement that pastor made is probably true for us all: “I have seen a lot of fine people die over the years.” [1]

But it is also true that “change is inevitable while growth is optional.” And I believe a path to growth exists when we cultivate a habit of listening to God.

I believe we need to cultivate a habit of listening to God amid the cacophony of noise in the society around us. Indeed, I believe we especially need to hear God in the space, in the silent places too filled with God to allow for noise.

And if we do that, if we cultivate a habit of listening for the voice of God, God who is still speaking, then growth is no longer optional. If we listen for the voice of God, growth becomes for us a way of life.

And any answers to which we come will not simply or only be “blowing in the wind.” Any answers to which we come will happen because we realize God— God who is present at all times and in all places, in the noise and in the silence— God will stand at our side. God will stand in solidarity with us.

Indeed, God still speaks to us today. And God will speak to us tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. But we need to not just hear. We need to listen. Amen.

01/15/2012
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: “A couple of weeks ago I noted the passing of Václav Havel. These are the words of Havel, who was at one time incarcerated by Czechoslovakia for his belief in freedom but later became its President: ‘Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.’ I believe unless we strive to listen for God and to listen for God in our lives, as did the Rev. Dr. King and Václav Havel, then we will be confined to being only optimistic. If we are hopeful, it probably means we’ve learned to listen to God and listen for God.”

BENEDICTION: We do not always know where the voice of God will lead us. But when we hear the call we need to follow. May the voice of the still speaking God be open and clear. May our sense of God’s purpose be keen and true. May we be aware of God’s promise to be with us in our journey. And may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, and the presence of the Spirit of Christ which is real and available, keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge, love and companionship of the Holy Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.

[1] The litany below was used during the Prayer of the People.

A Litany Honoring the Observance Of the
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

LITURGIST:
“By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion.... For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’” — (Psalm 137:1, 3)

PASTOR:
“I have stood in a meeting with hundreds of youngsters and joined in while they sang Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round. It is not just a song; it is a resolve.... These songs bind us together, give us courage together, help us march together.” (The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. — Why We Can’t Wait)

ALL:
For the power of songs and songs of power, we give you thanks, O God.

LITURGIST:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of God; for God makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” — (Matthew 5:43–44 [ILV])

PASTOR:
“Let us therefore not think of our movement as one that seeks to integrate into all the existing values of American society. Let us be those creative dissenters who will call our beloved country to a higher destiny, to a new plateau of compassion, to a more noble expression of humanness.” — (The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here?)

ALL:
For your realm, which stands beyond and against all nations, and your justice, which judges all people, we give you thanks, O God.

LITURGIST:
“Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let us go out to the field.’ And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. Then God said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’ And God said, ‘What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!’” — (Genesis 4:8–10)

PASTOR:
“The person who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as the one who helps perpetrate it. The person who accepts evil without protesting against it, is really cooperating with it.” — (The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., adapted from the speech, Stride Toward Freedom.)

ALL:
For the continuing witness of the life and ministry of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to us, we give you thanks, O God.

(The following is adapted from Dr. King’s I Have a Dream Speech.)

PASTOR:
“Even though we must face difficulties times to today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed— for we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal.”

“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons and daughters of former slaves and sons and daughters of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at table.”

“I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places shall be made plain, and the crooked places shall be made straight and the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”

“This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning— ‘my country, 'tis of thee; sweet land of liberty; of the I sing;... from every mountainside, let freedom ring.’”

“When we allow freedom to ring from every town and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children— black... and white... Jew and Gentile, Catholic and Protestant— will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual”:

ALL:
“Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” Amen!