SERMON ~ 12/28/2012 ~ VISION

10/28/2012 ~ Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost ~ Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Proper 25) ~ Job 42:1-6, 10-17; Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22); Jeremiah 31:7-9; Psalm 126; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 10:46-52.

Vision

“Then Jesus said, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ / ‘Teacher,’ said the one who was blind, ‘I want to see.’” — Mark 10:51

{Note: Bulletin inserts with pictures are referenced in this sermon.  To see those you will need to go to the sermon area of the web site of the United Church of Christ, First Congregational of Norwich (the web site is and the sermon button is a little bit down the page on the right) you will find the pictures at the end of the PDF file.}

Those of you who know me well know this is my favorite time of year.  Yes, I like the Fall color.  Yes, I like the cooler temperatures.  But those are not what makes this time of year special for me.

I am an avid Baseball fan.  This is the time of year called the World Series.  (It might end tonight but we’re still in it.)  In part because they were recognizing this special time of year, the Major League Baseball Network in conjunction with the playing of the Fall Classic, also recognized that last Tuesday, the 24th of October, was the 40th anniversary of the death of the man who broke the color barrier in Baseball, Jackie Robinson.

One of the segments in that program was devoted to an interview by Bob Costas, the well known sports broadcaster, with David Robinson, Jackie’s son.  The younger Robinson said he has two pictures of his Father in the midst of that baseball career hanging in his office.  You’ve got copies of the both of them in your bulletin.

One is the iconic picture of Robinson stealing Home, sliding under the tag of Yogi Berra in the eighth inning of Game 1 of the 1955 World Series at Yankee Stadium.  (The pastor holds up the insert with that picture.)  That 1955 World Series was the only one the Brooklyn Dodgers— emphasis on Brooklyn— the only World Series the Brooklyn Dodgers ever won.

And, since that successful steal of Home is so well remembered and the fact that the Dodgers did win that series is so well remembered, what is probably less well remembered is the Dodgers actually lost the game when Robinson stole Home.  So, despite the loss of that one game, the steal of Home is remembered as a symbol of triumph and that triumph is symbolized by this photo.

The second picture in David Robinson’s office is not as iconic but may be of even more interest.  (The pastor holds up the insert with that picture.)  The picture was taken on October 3rd, 1951, at the end of the game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants.  This is the famous (or for Brooklyn fans infamous) “Shot Heard 'round the World” game.

This game ended with the Giants batter, Bobby Thompson, hitting a home run to win the game and take the National League Pennant from the Dodgers.  The loss was heartbreaking for the Dodgers since they had led the Giants by a 13½ game margin as late as August 11th that year.  But the Giants put together a streak almost unequaled in baseball history.  They had a record of 37 wins and only 7 losses over the course of their last 44 games.

What you see in the picture, taken from center field looking in toward the plate, are the Giants mobbing Thompson who has just hit the Home Run.  You also see Robinson near his Second Base position, seemingly immobile, staring intently at celebrating team.  One might assume Jackie stands there simply in disgust.

But in the interview with Costas, David Robinson, Jackie’s son, explained what was really happening, what was going in with Jackie in that picture.  Jackie stood there checking that Thompson had touched each base and had touched home plate on the one in a million chance that he might have, in the jubilation of the moment, missed a bag.  He then, of course, could been declared out and the game would continue because it would only be tied.

David Robinson went on to explain the reason this picture was so important to him and to his family is it embodied one of the life lessons his Father taught.  (Quote:) “It is against our rules to give up.”

So, that picture and that moment was not and is not a symbol of defeat.  It is a symbol of how you need to live your life, the tenacity with which you need to move forward, even in the face of what feels like disaster.  (Slight pause.)

And these words are from Mark: “Then Jesus said, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ / ‘Teacher,’ said the one who was blind, ‘I want to see.’”  (Slight pause.)

The name of the blind beggar, Bartimaeus ben-Timaeus, is an unusual mixture of Greek and Hebrew.  In Hebrew the name might mean unclean.  And in that era, a blind beggar would be seen as ritually unclean.

But in Greek, the name might mean honorable.  Further, on the Greek side of that ledger, Timaeus is the name of the person in Plato’s Dialogue who claims sight is the foundation of knowledge.  So, while the name mixes these two languages, one is tempted to guess there is a point being made here in both languages.

But that aspect is, I think, a sidelight.  If we concentrate on the actions of Bartimaeus, tenacity is a clear trait.  The question we have to ask is: why?  Why is Bartimaeus so tenacious?  (Slight pause.)

I want to suggest Bartimaeus had a clear vision before he was granted sight.  And that vision had to do with a belief in who God is.  It seems to me this is a belief in a God who loves and that love has no limits in its vision for possibilities.

You see, I think we live in a world with limited vision— not limited sight, limited vision.  Let me ask this: not what kind of sight but what kind of vision does it take to see that God loves all people?

Not what kind of sight but what kind of vision does it take to see we need to be about the work of God?  Not what kind of sight but what kind of vision does it take to see that we need to be about the work of feeding the hungry, clothing those in tatters, sheltering the homeless, providing adequate health care?  (Slight pause.)

In our Adult Education time on Sunday Morning we’ve been looking at a set of DVDs called the Living the Question.  In one of them theologian Marcus Borg says this (quote): “We live in a time of transition in the Church which has been underway for over a half a century.  It’s a transition between an older, conventional way of seeing Christianity that most Christians have taken for granted for a couple of centuries.”

“That older, conventional understanding (usually semi-literalistic, doctrinal and after-life orientated) has become unpersuasive for many.  A whole host of questions are generated by the erosion or collapse of that older vision” [unquote].  (Slight pause.)

I think one of the things the Bible is about is about having a vision concerning one specific question: where is God leading us— now, today?  Are we being led to stand in solidarity with the poor and the oppressed?  If not, are we not then, somehow, placing limits on vision, limits on the possibilities God would have us see?  Standing in solidarity with the poor and the oppressed— is that God’s vision.  (Slight pause.)

I want to talk about one other incident in the life of Jackie Robinson.  But there is no picture of it.  It was only reported.

Pee Wee Reese was the Dodger Shortstop and a native of Kentucky.  Indeed, in an acknowledgment of that Southern heritage, his nickname was “The Little Colonel.”  One day, just before a game in Cincinnati, right across the river from Kentucky, Reese heard fans shouting racial slurs at Robinson.  In response, Reese walked over to Robinson and put an arm around him showing support and solidarity.

A statue stands at KeySpan Park, the minor league ballpark in Brooklyn, which commemorates this event.  This is a replica of that statue— it’s larger than life-size outside of the park.  (The pastor holds up the replica.)  I have it sitting in my office to remind me that one of the most important things we can have is the vision— the vision— to be in solidarity with the oppressed.  (Slight pause.)

We can offer all kinds of help to people.  We can feed the hungry, clothe those in tatters, etc., etc.  But sometimes the most important thing we can do is stand with others, stand with others as people around them are shouting, telling them to be quiet, submissive, just as the crowd shouted at Bartimaeus.

When we see racism, homophobia, economic oppression, voting rights endangered, the right to adequate health care endangered— you name the ill— when we see these, sometimes we need to simply stand in solidarity with others.  And that, my friends, is at least a part of what having vision is about— seeing the possibilities God would have us see for the rights of all people.  When we have that kind of vision, one which empowers us to stand in solidarity with others, then we truly have a vision about what loving all people means.  Amen.

10/28/2012
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 Congregational Response and Benediction.  This is an précis of what was said: “Robinson stole Home 18 times.  That’s more than any other player in the major leagues who made their debut after 1920.  It takes daring, skill, ability to steal home.  But most of all it takes vision.  This is a vision which says something can be done when most people say it can’t be done.  I think that is the kind of vision to which God invites us: a vision which says God loves everyone.  I don’t think God says ‘no’ to that kind of vision.”

BENEDICTION: Go out in the strength and love God provides.  Praise the deeds of God by the way you live, by the way you love.  And may the steadfast love of God and the peace of Christ, which surpasses understanding, keep our minds and hearts in the companionship and will of the Holy Spirit, this day and forever more.  Amen.

SERMON ~ 10/21/2012 ~ Service

10/21/2012 ~ Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost ~ Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Proper 24) ~ Job 38:1-7, (34-41); Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c; Isaiah 53:4-12; Psalm 91:9-16; Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 10:35-45.

Service [1]

“Anyone among you who wishes to aspire to greatness must serve the rest; whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all.” — Mark 10:43b-44

In part because of my current office as the Moderator of the Susquehanna Association of the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ, I have made many trips to Ithaca.  The Susquehanna Association goes all the way out to Corning.

As I am sure you know, Ithaca qualifies as a college town.  The permanent population in the city, itself, is about 30,000, with the greater Metropolitan area of Ithaca numbering 100,000.  That number does not include the roughly 20,000 students from Cornell or 6,000 from Ithaca College.

Additionally, in the words of one Bonnie Scott Connolly, Ithaca is a funky town.  I think she means a place with a lot of arts.  In fact, the town has crafts stores, too numerous to mention, 3 professional theaters, a civic orchestra, the Sciencenter, a hands-on science museum for people of all ages and The Museum of the Earth.

Ithaca is also noted for its annual artistic celebration of community with The Ithaca Festival, its associated parade and the Circus— catch this now— the Circus Eccentrithaca.  See?  Eccentrithaca?  I like it— it’s a pun.  Further, the Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts provides grants and Summer Fellowships for New York State artists and writers.

Since the greater Ithaca area population is over 100,000, excluding students, that is a population base large enough to provide a window as to how this area might get to the level called funky or artsy.  Of course, given it’s funky-ness there is something else people say about Ithaca.  Ithaca— it’s seven square miles surrounded by... reality.

Now, my personal complaint is, while I go to Ithaca a good deal, I don’t get a chance to experience a lot of this funky.  Most of the time when I go there, it’s on business.  I either find myself driving to the First Congregational Church in Ithaca or find myself driving through Ithaca to the Federated Church, just south of the town.

That lack of my getting to the funky side Ithaca explains why I only recently found out about the Sagan Planet Walk.  Needless to say most of us remember the late Carl Sagan and remember the phrase he made famous: “billions upon billions.”  When he said that he was trying to help us understand the vastness of the universe.

This Planet Walk is, I think, helpful in allowing us to visualize and, thereby, to understand what vast really means.  The Walk is a scale model of just our own solar system, not the universe, cut down to five billion times smaller than the real thing.

Now, let’s admit it— we have no real feeling for the size of the solar system.  Even knowing the numbers doesn’t help much.  That’s O.K.

You see, if I tell you the Earth is about 8,000 miles in diameter and 93,000,000 miles from the Sun, does that give you any sense of the distance involved?  No.  It does not.  The numbers are too big.  Things that are far removed from our daily experience— things like dinosaurs or— hey, Kim Kardashian— are inherently hard to understand.

But the Sagan Walk tries to make the solar system accessible by shrinking it to a human scale.  Each planet is displayed in its own monolith.  As you stroll from one to the next, you can’t help noticing that the first four planets are really, really close together.

It takes a few seconds, perhaps thirty or forty steps, to walk from the Sun to Mercury and then on to Venus, Earth and Mars.  By contrast, Jupiter is a full two-minute walk down the block, past the Moosewood Restaurant.  The remaining planets are even lonelier, each marooned in its own part of town.  The whole walk, from the Sun to Pluto, is about three-quarters of a mile and takes roughly 15 minutes.

The representations of the planets are scaled down in exact proportion also.  The tiniest ones, Mercury and Pluto, look like grains of couscous.  The Earth resembles a pea.  The largest ones, Jupiter and Saturn, are the size of donut holes.  The Sun, our star, is about 10 times larger still, the diameter of a serving plate.

This is our solar system scaled down to our size, a manageable size when it come to understanding the vast expanse of space.  And, despite being five billion times smaller than the real thing, the display does not even take into account our own galaxy, the Milky Way.  The Milky Way could have as many as 400 billion other stars, stars like our Sun.

The display does not take into account the other galaxies, the rest of the universe.  Current estimates say there might be as many as 200 billion other galaxies.   (Slight pause.)  So, how small are we? [2]  (Slight pause.)

Jesus and all the disciples are not in the same universe when their conversation takes place.  The disciples are seeking a Messiah who will be temporal, who will kick out the Roman Army of occupation.  They live in a temporal, manageable universe.  Jesus is addressing the eternal, the infinite.

The issue this presents to us, therefore, is how do we grapple with both the reality in which we live, the temporal, and the reality of the eternal?  And I need to add our issue is not that the eternal fails to be real.  It is real.  But just like the universe, the reality of the eternal is both real and it is too big a concept for us to fully grasp.

But I do think Jesus frames the question in a way we can understand it?  Yes.  I do.  (Quote): “Anyone among you who wishes to aspire to greatness must serve the rest; whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all.”  But I also think that is exactly what we have trouble with.

You see, our ego suggests to us that being great— greatness— demands that we are in control.  But let me ask this question: if we visualize how vast the universe is, how great are we?  How great can we ever be, really?

Therefore, Jesus also addresses a second paradox here.  The paradox is that we can be great.  It’s just not the way most of us presume greatness happens.  I think it’s likely most of us presume greatness happens because we are in charge.

I want to suggest greatness happens when we recognize that we are not in charge and that we need to not be in charge.  But we do need to serve others.  And all that poses the obvious question: what is serving others about?  (Slight pause.)  Is it possible that serving others is about forming community, about being community to one another?  (Slight pause.)

Recently, there were two anecdotes in The Christian Century which, I think, explain community.  (Slight pause.)  The first one: passengers on a bus in Winnipeg, Manitoba were stunned on a recent, cold, early fall morning to see a man walking on the sidewalk without shoes.

The driver stopped the bus, hopped out, took off his own shoes and gave them to the man.  When asked by the passengers why he had done this he said, “I’m warm and safe in the bus the rest of the day.  I couldn’t stand seeing someone walking barefoot out in the cold.”  (Slight pause.)

The second story speaks about an Amish farmer.  The man was asked what community means to him.

He explained whenever he and his son are finished with Spring plowing, they go with their horses to the highest point on the farm where they can see 13 teams of horses working neighboring farms.  He said (quote): “I know if I get sick or debilitated or die, those 13 teams and those people will be at work, helping on my farm.” [3]  (Slight pause.)

You see, community is about two things.  It’s about knowing how small we are.  Compared to the infinite, we are small.  And community is also about knowing how big we are.  When we are in community, we live for each other.  Then we are great.

Or as Jesus said, “Anyone among you who wishes to aspire to greatness must serve the rest; whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all.”  Amen.

United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
10/21/2012

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Congregational Response and Benediction.  This is an précis of what was said: “Light travels at 186,000 miles per second.  It takes light eight minutes to get from the Sun to the earth.  Therefore, you can do the math and see how far that is.  A light year, on the other hand, is how far light travels in a year.  Scientists tell is the known universe— do note, the implication of that is there may be more universe about which they do not know— scientists tell is the known universe is 13.7 billion light years across.  The idea of 13.7 billion light years is so big, if that does not make one’s head hurt just to think about it, we are doing it wrong.  When we admit to the thought that being great is not putting ourselves first, it should make our head hurt.  Why?  The idea is so big we should have a hard time just getting our heads around it.”

BENEDICTION: There is a cost and there is a joy in discipleship.  There is a cost and there is a joy in truly being church, in deeply loving one another.  May the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore.  Amen.

[1]   Anyone listening to the sound version of this sermon on the Web, needs to note the Pastor had a nasty cold and managed to “croak” through the delivery.

[2]  http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/visualizing-vastness/?hp ~ Me, Myself and Math; NY TIMES; October 15, 2012 ~ Visualizing Vastness, by Steven Strogatz

[3]  The Christian Century, 10/17/2012, pg. 8.

SERMON ~ 10/14/2012 ~ Seeking Good

10/14/2012 ~ Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Proper 23) ~ Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Psalm 22:1-15; Amos 5:6-7, 10-15; Psalm 90:12-17; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31.

Seeking Good

“Seek good and not evil, / that you may live; / so Yahweh, God, / the God of hosts, / God the omnipotent, / may be with you, / just as you have said, / just as you have been claiming. / Hate evil and love what is good, / and establish, maintain justice / at the city gate; / and may it be that Yahweh, God, / the God of hosts, / God the omnipotent, / will be gracious / on the remnant of Joseph, / will take pity / on the remnant of Joseph.” — Amos 5:14-15.

Since I have mentioned it often enough, I think most of you know about my diverse religious background.  I grew up Roman Catholic.  I migrated to the Episcopal Church.  I wound up as a Congregationalist and, needless to say, not just in the Congregational Church, but as a pastor in a Congregational Church.

Hence, given the Roman Catholic heritage, it should be of no surprise that my first 10 years of schooling were in Catholic Schools.  The first six years of that were in the same parochial school, in Brooklyn, New York.  And, in fact, I was a student at the same neighborhood Catholic School both my Father and my Uncle, his brother, attended.

Now, back then, most of the teachers in Catholic Schools were Nuns.  These schools were hiring some members of the laity.  Indeed, my Dad taught at a Jesuit High School in Manhattan.  So there were members of the laity who taught.  But there were lots of nuns and brothers and priests whose assigned duty it was to teach.

Bishops moved priests who served local churches from parish to parish.  But teachers— especially the Nuns— stayed put.  They were an unmovable fixture.

To make a long story short, my Father and my Uncle and I had something in common besides our stint in the same parochial school in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, the place in which we were all raised.  We all had the same the second grade teacher— a Dominican Nun— Sister Rose Agnes.

If my math is right, I entered the second grade 29 years after my father left it.  Now, while 29 years is a long time for a teacher to be teaching the 2nd grade, I don’t think it’s as outrageous as it might first sound.  After all, I am sure we all know teachers who have taught for a long time and taught the same grade in one place.

Perhaps I think of this as an oddity because it happened in New York City to a city kid, as opposed to someone who is a native of a place like, well for instance, Norwich.  It’s my guess the population in places like Brooklyn tends to be relatively mobile.  It’s my guess the population in places like Norwich tends to be relatively stable.

So, the surprise is not that Sister Rose Agnes was teaching the second grade for 29 years.  The surprise is my family was in the same neighborhood, indeed, the same house for all those years.

I am grateful for the long and dedicated work of my teachers who wore a habit.  I believe they taught me a lot about life.  I believe they taught me well.  I am even grateful for the Nun who I had in the eight grade, despite the fact that I suspected then and I still suspect today she was a tad wacky.  (But that’s a real long story and I will not get into it.)

Since these parochial schools were religious institutions, part of their mission was to help students think about faith and its meaning.  Part of their mission was to help students think about how one lives out one’s life as a person of faith.

Now, it was in the second grade under the tutelage of Sister Rose Agnes that I made what Catholics call my First Communion.  Hence, it was there was, in the second grade that there was a certain emphasis on faith formation.  Faith formation was taught at a second grade level, of course.  But it was taught, none-the-less.

One of the items I heard discussed is that it is wise to avoid the (quote:) “near occasion of sin.”  That term is, in fact, incorporated in a standard prayer taught as a preparation for First Communion.  Part of that prayer reads (quote:) “I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin.”

Now, you may think a term like the ‘near occasion of sin’ sounds like it’s not on a second grade level, but it really is.  You see, for a second grader avoiding the “near occasion of sin” means nothing more than keeping away from things or people that can lead you astray, lead you away from listening to God.

Therefore, don’t watch movies that have bad words.  Don’t play with someone who is a bully.  Avoiding the near occasion of sin is just as simple as that— nothing more, nothing less.  (Slight pause.)

And these words are from the work known as Amos: “Seek good and not evil, / that you may live; / so Yahweh, God, / the God of hosts, / God the omnipotent, / may be with you, / just as you have said, / just as you have been claiming. / Hate evil and love what is good, / and establish, maintain justice / at the city gate; / and may it be that Yahweh, God, / the God of hosts, / God the omnipotent, / will be gracious / on the remnant of Joseph, / will take pity / on the remnant of Joseph.”  (Slight pause.)

I think the words in this passage are fairly straightforward.  Seek good, not evil; hate evil, love good.  (Slight pause.)  Can you say, “avoid the near occasion of sin?”  (Slight pause.)

Theologian and scholar of the Hebrew Scriptures Walter Brueggemann says the Hebrew Scriptures are about a movement from a culture of anxiety— slavery in Egypt— to a culture neighborliness— freedom in the Sinai.  It is, therefore, about a radical choice— a choice to not just seek good for one’s own self— a culture of anxiety but to seek the common good for all people— a culture of neighborliness.

Part of the premise Brueggemann puts forth is we live in a world bent on the opposite, bent on seeking good only for self.  (Slight pause.)  Can you say, “avoid the near occasion of sin?”  (Slight pause.)

When this passage speaks about ‘establishing and maintaining justice at the city gate’ it is making a point about the ancient world and the world in which we live today.  Establishing and maintaining justice at the city gate says both individuals and a society who possess a mature faith will be committed to the common good.  Establishing and maintaining justice at the city gate says both individuals and a society who possess a mature faith will be committed to going beyond private interests.

Establishing and maintaining justice at the city gate says both individuals and a society who possess a mature faith will be committed to transcending sectarian interests, committed to transcending political interests for the common good.  It says both individuals and a society who possess a mature faith will be committed to human solidarity.

Establishing and maintaining justice at the city gate says both individuals and a society who possess a mature faith will be committed to avoiding exploitive practices which oppress the poor and the outcast.  (Slight pause.)  Can you say, “avoid the near occasion of sin?”  (Slight pause.)

Bishop Desmond Tutu says this (quote:) “If you are neutral in situations of injustice you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”  (Slight pause.)  Can you say, “avoid the near occasion of sin?”  (Slight pause.)

This, too, is clear: we cannot not claim to have a mature faith unless we actively seek justice for those who are poor.  We cannot not claim to have a mature faith unless we actively seek to see that human rights of all people— all people— are maintained— the rights to food, clothing, shelter, healthcare— these need to be maintained for all people, not just some.  We cannot simply be neutral in striving for those rights.  (Slight pause.)

You know what?  Avoiding the near occasion of sin felt easier when I was in the second grade than it does now.  Avoiding the near occasion of sin turns out to be hard work.  Why?  Because a true faith involves establishing and maintaining justice for all people.

I want to suggest establishing and maintaining justice is the place where a mature faith, a faith wrapped up in loving God and loving neighbor, takes us.  Seeking good, you see, means actively striving to establish and maintain justice for all people, not just for some, not just for the privileged few, not just for one’s own class, not just for one’s own group.  Amen.

United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
10/14/2012

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Congregational Response and Benediction.  This is an précis of what was said: “At the end of the service last week I said I don’t take the Bible literally.  I take the Bible seriously.  In a similar vein, the message of Amos, indeed, the message of all the Prophets is we need to take faith seriously.  Actions do speak.  And we are called to be actively involved in establishing and maintaining justice for all people.”

BENEDICTION: The Word of God guides us and assures us of God’s saving grace, God’s healing love, God’s eternal promises.  May the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore.  Amen.

SERMON ~ 10/07/2012 ~ Out of the Ground

10/07/2012 ~ Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Proper 22) ~ Job 1:1, 2:1-10; Psalm 26; Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 8; Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16 ~ World Wide Communion Sunday.

Out of the Ground

“Yahweh then fashioned the two halves into male and female and presented them to one another. / The male realized what had happened and said, / ‘This time, this is the one! / Bone of my bone / and flesh of my flesh; / Now she will be called ish’ — ish a word which means source of life / ‘and I shall be called adam’— adam— a word which means from the ground / ‘for out of me was this one taken.’” — Genesis 2:22-23

As you may know, last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I was away at the YMCA Camp and Conference Center at Silver Bay on Lake George, about 20 minutes south of Ticonderoga.  The Clergy of the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ were meeting with 23 pastors from the Evangelical Church of Hesse and Nassau.  Cathy let me try this now— that’s the Evangelische Kirche auf Hessen und Nassau— pretty close— you see, she speaks German. [1]  And this is our partner denomination in Germany.

The pastors with whom we met had a broad range of responsibilities.  One, for instance, is assigned to the World Cup soccer stadium in Frankfort.  Yes, there is a chapel in the stadium and they have hosted everything from world cup soccer games to a Bruce Springsteen Concert, a couple of months ago.  Some of the pastors were supervisors in specific geographical areas.  Some were pastors assigned to large and small local churches.

Among the differences between how we operate and how they operate is staffing and building functions are paid for by a national tax.  Each pastor is paid about the same, no matter what their assignment, with more for seniority. [2]  Pay scales are comparable to what we pay teachers and the pastors do teach religion in the local schools.

Events like this meeting with pastors from Germany are not just a chance to meet with people who live in other cultures.  It is also a chance for our pastors to renew acquaintances from around the New York Conference.  In fact, enough cross pollination has now gone on between the German church and our church that some of our folks know the pastors from Germany fairly well.  Indeed, one German pastor is now serving an American church.

One of my friends who was not there is the Rev. Michael Caine, now serving a church in Philadelphia.  Since he is down in Pennsylvania and this was for New York, so that twain didn’t meet.  Being with this group reminded me of Michael because when he comes to a lectern or a pulpit— and this is what he does on a Sunday morning— Michael comes to the pulpit and starts by saying, “Hello, Church!”

He is, of course, right.  As I am sure you all know, in our Congregational tradition, the building in which we meet for worship is not called a church.  This building should never be called a church.  It is a Meeting House.  We, the people, are the church.

And we, the people, are the church in whatever setting we’re gathered in.  We, the people, are the church when we gather on a Sunday morning.  We, the people, are the church when we gather for Bible Study.  We, the people, are the church when the Association is gathered.

We, the people, are the church when we pray at the bedside of someone who is dying.  We, the people, are the church when we are gathered with pastors from foreign lands.  We, the people, are the church.

So, let’s try something: I’ll say, “Hello, Church” and you say, “Hello, Church!” also, since it’s greeting one another, not just greeting me.  O.K.  Ready?

“Hello, Church!”  (“Hello, Church!”)

Oh!  I was expecting I was going to have to have you repeat that.  That was very good!  I figure saying, “Hello, Church!” is a simple reminder that we are in covenant with God and God calls us to be in covenant with one another.  God calls us to be in covenant with people not just from this country but from all countries— not just Germany, all countries.  (Slight pause.)

And these words are from the Torah in the section commonly called Genesis: “Yahweh then fashioned the two halves into male and female and presented them to one another. / The male realized what had happened and said, / ‘This time, this is the one! / Bone of my bone / and flesh of my flesh; / Now she will be called ish’ — ish a word which means source of life / ‘and I shall be called adam’— adam— a word which means from the ground / ‘for out of me was this one taken.’”  (Slight pause.)

I hope, because of the translation I used, the meanings in this story from Genesis were clearer for you than they would have been had I used a typical translation. [3]  I would like to briefly review some of those words, in order to highlight a couple of aspects.

Adam, indeed, means from the earth or from the dust, as does the word adamah which means, more directly, from the soil.  In short, adam is not a name but a word used for the material out of which Yahweh, God, has made this creature, hence ‘earth creature.’  Neither is the word ish, which we often translate as Eve, a name.  Ish a is word which means source of life.

You probably noticed when God causes a deep sleep to fall over the earth creature it is divided in two.  No rib is removed.  Now, none of what I have just said is a revisionist history, a way of looking at this story which has never been broached before.

These are the real meanings of the original words in the original language.  They are the meanings with which those who first heard this story would have grappled.

Last, early in the passage God brings everything to the earth creature be named.  And, indeed, when God presents these two creatures to one another, having formed them from one, what happens is another naming.

In the Hebrew it is clear this section is a poem and not just a poem but a naming poem.  And in this naming there is a clear recognition that one is divided into two but the two are still one.  (Slight pause.)

All of which is to say, if you read this in Hebrew, it is hard to miss that this passage is not about the creation of the first humans.  It is hard to miss that this passage is not about the differences between male and female.  It is hard to miss that this passage is not about sexuality of any kind.  This passage is about the covenant of God with all humanity.

That brings me back to the pastors from Germany.  In our dialogue we were often reminded of Martin Luther and the roots of the Reformation in Germany.  Of course, one of Luther’s basic beliefs was that we are all a priesthood of believers.  The phrase ‘priesthood of believers’ was repeated numerous times in those three days.

What does ‘priesthood of believers’ mean?  We may have different duties or different callings in the Dominion of God but none of us is more or less important in the eyes of God.  None of us should consider ourselves more or less important in the eyes of our neighbors.  This concept is central in the covenant.  This concept is central with the covenant.  This concept is central to the covenant.

So, to bring this back to the story from Genesis, what this passage addresses is the story of our covenant with God.  We are all adam, creatures made out of the ground.

And when we forget that we are all creatures made out of the ground by denying basic human rights to others— rights like food, clothing, housing, healthcare, freedom— I am sure you’re sharp enough to continue to name a myriad of rights.  When we deny basic human rights to others, then we have broken the covenant.

And we, all of us— we, the people, we, the church— we need to count ourselves among the faithful who are in covenant with God and each other.  In the words of Martin Luther we are a ‘priesthood of believers,’ striving to do the will of God, striving to do the work of God.  Amen.

10/07/2012
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 Congregational Response and Benediction.  This is an précis of what was said: “I sometimes say ‘I don’t take the Bible literally.  I take the Bible seriously.’  There are 5,600 manuscripts of the New Testament available which scholars rate as authoritative.  In no two of those manuscripts are any one sentence exactly the same.  In short, what we read in translation is a scholarly guess.  Indeed, serious scholars on the right may insist the Bible is inerrant but will tell you the Scripture is inerrant only in its original manuscript form.  When asked if the original manuscripts are available, they will say ‘no.’  I don’t take the Bible literally.  I take the Bible seriously.”

BENEDICTION: The love of God lasts for an eternity.  The reign of God is in the present tense, not the future when we acknowledge and participate in the work of God’s will.  So, let us go forth knowing that the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need and the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than all our togetherness.  May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows.  Amen.

[1]  The pastor spoke directly to Cathy Hammons who is an ESL teacher and is fluent in German.


[2]   This is an interesting article from the NY Times on the taxation of Germans for the maintenance of their churches.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/06/world/europe/german-church-ties-tax-to-sacraments-after-court-ruling.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y#h[]


[3]  This was the passage as read and its introduction:

Genesis 2:18-24 [ILV] ~ Because we do not read the passages from Scripture in their original languages this does place us at a severe disadvantage when it come to understanding what the words mean.  What we take to be simply names are actually words with hidden meanings.  This translation attempts to recreate what the passage might have meant since it is translated in a way which helps us hear some of the meanings behind the words we often take as names rather than metaphors indicating something deeper.  Hear now this reading as it is found in the work known as Genesis.

    Then Yahweh, God, said, “It is not good for this creature of the earth, this one I have made out of the adam, out of the earth, to be alone; I will make a fitting companion, a partner for it.”  [19] So also out of the ground, from the soil, out of the adamah, Yahweh, God, formed all the animals, every wild beast of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the earth creature, the adam, to be named.  Whatever the earth creature called every living one, that became its name.  [20] The earth creature gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field, all the wild animals.

But none of them proved to be a fitting companion, a partner for the adam, the earth creature.  [21] So Yahweh, God, caused a deep sleep to fall on the earth creature.  While it slept God divided the earth creature in two and then closed up the flesh from its side.  [22] Yahweh then fashioned the two halves into male and female and presented them to one another.
[23] The male realized what had happened and said,
        “This time, this is the one!
            Bone of my bone
        and flesh of my flesh;
            Now she will be called ish” —
                ish a word which means source of life
        “and I shall be called adam”—
                adam— a word which means from the ground
            “for out of me was this one taken.”
[24] This is why people leave their parents and become bonded to one another and the two become one flesh, yet again.