05/26/2013 ~ Trinity Sunday ~ The First Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15 ~ Memorial Day Weekend.
Growing in Understanding
[Jesus said] “I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now.” — John 16:12.
As I am sure you know, on March the 13th the Catholic Church elected a new Pope— Francis. Please note (and when the election happened I did not, myself, know about this rule of grammar): grammatically, Francis should not be known as Pope Francis the First but should be known simply as Pope Francis. This is the case despite the fact that Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the first Pope to be known by the name Francis.
Apparently, the rule is you are not to call anything or anyone “The First” until there is a second. What that means, for instance, is the person we now call Queen Elizabeth the First was simply Queen Elizabeth until Elizabeth the Second came along in 1952.
Back to the Pope— since more than 40% of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics live in Latin America and Francis is from Argentina, this may have been a logical choice. Francis is also, of course, a Jesuit, the first one elected to the Papacy. So, in fact, the Pope and I have something in common in our backgrounds: Jesuit training.
And, if Jesuits are known for anything, it is that they are innovative thinkers. They seem to be able to think (pardon the cliché) outside the box.
Certainly, this Pope has already thrown some surprises at the entrenched bureaucracy in the Vatican. And some of these have been widely covered in the popular press.
They include foregoing a bit of the ceremony, the paraphernalia, the vestments commonly associated with the Papacy. The pontiff has also made statements about the church needing to better connect with and serve those who live in poverty. I suppose that might be enough to get many a bureaucracy in an uproar.
But this Pope does seem to be striving to move the entrenched along. Just last week, by declaring that everyone was redeemed, including atheists, the Pope shook things up again. I need to say, that kind of statement did not surprise me for two reasons.
First, this is the type of assessment— that even atheists are redeemed— which does not seem to often get filtered into the populist press and/or populist folk beliefs commonly held by many Christians. However, it is the kind of thing regularly said, even emphasized, by serious theologians— redemption is universal.
To be clear: it is not even the kind of thing often said by leaders who have institutional axes to grind both in Catholicism and in Protestantism. I, for instance, think the previous Pope would have had a hard time delivering this kind of opinion. (Too many axes to grind.)
The second reason this did not surprise me is Francis is a Jesuit. You see, aside from thinking outside the box, that Jesuit training to which I earlier referred helps an individual do two things. It helps one think things through with great clarity. Put another way, it creates habits which insist that a person maintains an open mind.
Jesuit training also insists people are important. Jesuit training, thereby, makes the claim that a person needs to maintain an open heart. Open mind; open heart; most of the time this is a sure formula for dealing with reality and challenging others to do the same— open mind, open heart. Seems like a simple formula, doesn’t it? (Slight pause.)
And these words are from the work known as the Gospel According to the School of John: [Jesus said] “I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now.” (Slight pause.)
So, how did this Papal statement about atheists come to the front? In the course of offering a sermon (I’ve read Francis often speaks ‘off the cuff’ in the course of offering a sermon), Francis retold the story of the disciples being upset when someone outside their group was doing good. And complained about that to Jesus. The Pope said the disciples were intolerant and Jesus broadened the horizons of the disciples by condoning the good that was being done.
The root of doing good, said Francis, is in all creation— God created and it was good. Therefore, we all have this good, even atheists. Put yet another way, redemption— life with God and neighbor— is about meeting people where they are at and not about meeting people where we are at. That’s not an easy one: redemption is about meeting people where they are at and not about meeting people where we are at.
In commenting on what the Pope said about universal redemption, James Martin, another Jesuit, wrote this (quote:) “That’s always been a Christian belief. You can find St. Paul saying it in the First Letter to Timothy.... but rarely do you hear it said by Catholics so forcefully and with such evident joy.... In this era of religious controversies, it is a timely reminder that God cannot be confined to our narrow categories”— narrow categories. (Slight pause.)
Today, as you heard earlier, is Trinity Sunday. We make a mistake when we think in terms which suggest ‘Trinity’ is a category. We make a mistake when we think in terms which suggest simply or only a naming of God, a way to describe God, a noun. Indeed, we often use terms like Father, Son, Holy Spirit or Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier. These are namings. These are descriptions.
Trinity, you see, is not a noun in the sense that Trinity is not simply or only a naming. Trinity must been seen as a verb.
Put another way, to say God is three is to say God is relational, God is always in the midst of, in the action of relating. This way of looking at God opens up a notion of God as mystery who can never fully be understood or fully named with our rational, instrumental, mechanical minds. (Slight pause.)
Theologian Richard Rohr— a Franciscan, not a Jesuit (see, now I’m off track)— says this (quote): “God is relational and known in relationship. Any notion of God not giving, not totally loving, is a theological impossibility.”
“God only and always loves. You cannot reverse, slow down or limit an overflowing waterwheel of divine compassion and mercy. God, understanding God, goes in only one direction— toward ever more life and ever more creative love,... a love that is stronger than death” (unquote). [Slight pause.]
In a couple of minutes you will be invited to recite The Nicene Creed. (Hey! It’s Trinity Sunday). So, in a couple of minutes you will be invited to recite The Nicene Creed. We Westerners tend to think this Creed or any Creed is about professing statements of belief. It’s about what we think. It is not about what we think. That The Nicene Creed is not about stating a series of beliefs can been seen in the first words (quote): “We believe in one God,...”
In Latin, the original language of this Creed, the word used for “We believe...” is ‘Credo.’ The word ‘Credo’ does not lend itself to any kind of intellectual profession of faith.
You see, ‘Credo’ means I give my heart fully. There is nothing intellectual about that. There is movement and motion and action and relationship in giving one’s heart. But it is not a naming. Credo does not act like a noun. Credo is not an intellectual concept.
Credo is something to which we can witness and to which we can attest but not something which we can fully or adequately name. Giving of one’s heart fully is an action and that action can be encompassed and explained only by love and through love and in love. It is about the action called love. (Slight pause.)
All that brings be back to the words found in the Gospel (quote): “I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now.” (Slight pause.)
I think Jesus is here addressing our relationship with God. And, if there is anything relationship demands it is growth. If there is anything love demands it is growth. Can we ever fully, intellectually understand love? No. Can we grow in love? Yes.
And I think that is what we are called to do. We are called to grow in love. We are called to grow in our love of God and we are called to grow in our love of neighbor. And that is the real way we can name the Trinity— by understanding that Trinity and love and growth are all not just verbs but never ending verbs, verbs which point to continued growth. (Slight pause.) After all, have you not heard? God is still speaking. Oh, you’ve heard that, haven’t you? Amen.
05/26/2013
Trinity Sunday
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: “This saying is often attributed to G. K. Chesterton (quote): ‘Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.’ I would suggest, rather, that Christianity is something which requires love. Love requires growth. Growth requires action. Christianity is, hence, not something about static statements. It is about being and doing. And, to unpack Chesterton, therefore it is something which people hesitate to try. It is not easy.”
BENEDICTION :May the God of Trinity, Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier, be with us in faith and in love and guide us in truth and peace; and may the blessing of this God be among us and remain with us always. Amen.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
SERMON ~ 05/19/2013 ~ “The Wind of God”
05/19/2013 ~ The Day of Pentecost ~ Acts 2:1-21 or Genesis 11:1-9; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; Romans 8:14-17 or Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17, (25-27) ~ Strengthen the Church All Church Offering.
“Suddenly they heard a sound like the rush of a violent wind and it filled the entire house in which they were sitting.” — Acts 2:2.
What does it mean to be called by God? (Slight pause.) I have long maintained that many church people, especially authorized ministers and ordained clergy, place too large an emphasis on the specific call to authorized and/or ordained ministry.
You see, I think God blesses each of us with multiple talents. Because we are blessed with multiple talents, there are a myriad of things we can wind up doing, ordained ministry and authorized ministry being just one arena.
Indeed, many of you know before going to seminary and being ordained I had a multiplicity of jobs. Early on, when I was still (pardon the expression) wet behind the ears, right after school I kind of stumbled into computer operations. And yes, I did that well. It turned me into a computer Geek. (If you think I’m not a computer Geek, ask Bonnie.)
A little later I turned to what I’ve often thought of as my first love— theater. Please notice: I do not know if theater is actually the place which might be the arena for my most effective talents. I love it. But again, just by becoming involved, I discovered I did have real talents for writing— writing plays and writing songs.
After that, since I was a working professional in theater and, as I am sure most of you know, there are two kinds of working professionals in theater— those who have jobs in show business and those who want to have jobs in show business— during those times I fell into the latter category, I needed a way to keep bread on the table. And to do that, to keep bread on the table, I did nearly everything under the sun from being a tour guide at South Street Seaport Museum in Lower Manhattan to being a store manager.
At some point while doing nearly everything under the sun, I somehow landed on Wall Street. I got what I thought was going to be a temporary fill in job between two theater jobs for a couple of months as a messenger. The next thing I knew I was dispatching messengers.
The next thing I knew I was working at a brokerage. The next thing I knew I was balancing and keeping track of accounts that traded millions of dollars in bonds and securities each day. (Slight pause.)
Perhaps the fact that I’ve done so many things influences me and that’s why I think God does bless each of us with multiple talents. But I’ve known too many people with multiple talents to think otherwise. I would be hard pressed to name anyone I’ve ever known who cannot do more than one thing, who fails to have multiple talents.
We might not like to admit it, but most of us can walk and talk and chew gum at the same time. In fact, most of us can walk and talk and chew gum and do a hundred other things all at the same time. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from Luke/Acts in the section commonly called Acts: “Suddenly they heard a sound like the rush of a violent wind and it filled the entire house in which they were sitting.” (Slight pause.)
Let’s go back to that question I first asked: ‘What does it mean to be called by God?’ (Slight pause.) Let me give you the brief version of my answer. It means to participate in the work of God. But that answer opens up a can of worms. After all, what is the work of God? And what does it mean to participate in that work? (Slight pause.)
One of the things I deeply appreciate about Scripture is that every time I read it, it seems to present new possibilities to me. You see, the slogan used by our denomination probably has it right. God is still speaking.
Knowing Pentecost was on the calendar, when I approached the Second Chapter of Acts in preparation for today, what jumped out at me was the metaphor, the picture of God as wind. Suddenly and for the first time I realized this is the same metaphor used for the presence of God in the First Chapter of Genesis.
(Quote:) “At the beginning of God’s creating of the heaven and the earth— when the earth was unformed and void, wild and waste, filled with chaos and emptiness, as night reigned over the surface of the deep, a wind from God, the rushing Spirit of God swept over the face of the waters.” [1]
In Genesis this wind of God, this breath of God takes chaos and transforms it into the order we know as creation. Hence, the essential work of God in all Genesis is to make order from chaos. God creates.
Then here, in the Second Chapter of Acts, we find the same metaphor for God— wind. Thereby, this passage— as the story in verses after what was read relates— is not about speaking in tongues. It is not about the preaching of Peter. It is not about the conversion of people gathered in Jerusalem.
These words are about bringing order to chaos. These words are about new life— sudden, unmerited, irresistible new life. That is the reality the Pentecost narrative broadcasts.
Thus, these words are about both an end and a beginning, the leaving behind of that which is past, the launching forth into that which is only now beginning to be. Pentecost is therefore not a time of completion. The presence of the Spirit of God is not about the completion of anything.
The presence of the Spirit of God is about moving forward into new dimensions of being. The presence of the Spirit of God is about a world in which the basic forms may be clear, but it is also about a world whose fulfillment has yet to be realized.
In short, the presence of the Spirit of God— the reality we call Pentecost— is about what we do, about what we can do, about what we are called to do in the Dominion of God. Which brings us back to that question: ‘What does it mean to be called by God?’
To be called by God means to be constantly listening to where God leads us as individuals and as a community. To be called by God means to be constantly listening to where God leads us in relationship with each other. To be called by God means to offer shelter, food, clothes, medical care to those in need. That seems awfully simple, doesn’t it. (Slight pause.)
It may seem strange but to be called by God means you never need to ask about a lack of talent. God does not call the qualified. God qualifies the called. So to be called by God means to be open to the wind of God, open to the will of God, open to the Spirit of God. (Slight pause.)
This quote that I am about to use is sometimes attributed to Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It is sometimes attributed to Marianne Williamson. [2] Either way it works for me. (Quote:) “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be?”
You see, Pentecost is about our participation in the Dominion of God. And we can do that. Amen.
05/19/2013
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: “Earlier I used a quote sometimes attributed to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, sometimes attributed to Marianne Williamson but I truncated it. I made it short. I’d like to offer the full quote. ‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.’ Put another way, our God given talents are more about helping our neighbors than we realize and certainly more about our neighbors than they are about us.”
BENEDICTION: The love of God is abundant and steadfast. When we give God’s love away, it returns in breathtaking abundance. Let us willingly participate in the grace God offers. May we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God enough, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. And may the Word of God be on our tongues, the wisdom of God be with our thinking and the love of God be present in our hearts. Amen.
[1] Genesis 1:1-2 [ILV].
[2] Of course, the quote is also sometimes attributed to Nelson Mandella.
The Wind of God
“Suddenly they heard a sound like the rush of a violent wind and it filled the entire house in which they were sitting.” — Acts 2:2.
What does it mean to be called by God? (Slight pause.) I have long maintained that many church people, especially authorized ministers and ordained clergy, place too large an emphasis on the specific call to authorized and/or ordained ministry.
You see, I think God blesses each of us with multiple talents. Because we are blessed with multiple talents, there are a myriad of things we can wind up doing, ordained ministry and authorized ministry being just one arena.
Indeed, many of you know before going to seminary and being ordained I had a multiplicity of jobs. Early on, when I was still (pardon the expression) wet behind the ears, right after school I kind of stumbled into computer operations. And yes, I did that well. It turned me into a computer Geek. (If you think I’m not a computer Geek, ask Bonnie.)
A little later I turned to what I’ve often thought of as my first love— theater. Please notice: I do not know if theater is actually the place which might be the arena for my most effective talents. I love it. But again, just by becoming involved, I discovered I did have real talents for writing— writing plays and writing songs.
After that, since I was a working professional in theater and, as I am sure most of you know, there are two kinds of working professionals in theater— those who have jobs in show business and those who want to have jobs in show business— during those times I fell into the latter category, I needed a way to keep bread on the table. And to do that, to keep bread on the table, I did nearly everything under the sun from being a tour guide at South Street Seaport Museum in Lower Manhattan to being a store manager.
At some point while doing nearly everything under the sun, I somehow landed on Wall Street. I got what I thought was going to be a temporary fill in job between two theater jobs for a couple of months as a messenger. The next thing I knew I was dispatching messengers.
The next thing I knew I was working at a brokerage. The next thing I knew I was balancing and keeping track of accounts that traded millions of dollars in bonds and securities each day. (Slight pause.)
Perhaps the fact that I’ve done so many things influences me and that’s why I think God does bless each of us with multiple talents. But I’ve known too many people with multiple talents to think otherwise. I would be hard pressed to name anyone I’ve ever known who cannot do more than one thing, who fails to have multiple talents.
We might not like to admit it, but most of us can walk and talk and chew gum at the same time. In fact, most of us can walk and talk and chew gum and do a hundred other things all at the same time. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from Luke/Acts in the section commonly called Acts: “Suddenly they heard a sound like the rush of a violent wind and it filled the entire house in which they were sitting.” (Slight pause.)
Let’s go back to that question I first asked: ‘What does it mean to be called by God?’ (Slight pause.) Let me give you the brief version of my answer. It means to participate in the work of God. But that answer opens up a can of worms. After all, what is the work of God? And what does it mean to participate in that work? (Slight pause.)
One of the things I deeply appreciate about Scripture is that every time I read it, it seems to present new possibilities to me. You see, the slogan used by our denomination probably has it right. God is still speaking.
Knowing Pentecost was on the calendar, when I approached the Second Chapter of Acts in preparation for today, what jumped out at me was the metaphor, the picture of God as wind. Suddenly and for the first time I realized this is the same metaphor used for the presence of God in the First Chapter of Genesis.
(Quote:) “At the beginning of God’s creating of the heaven and the earth— when the earth was unformed and void, wild and waste, filled with chaos and emptiness, as night reigned over the surface of the deep, a wind from God, the rushing Spirit of God swept over the face of the waters.” [1]
In Genesis this wind of God, this breath of God takes chaos and transforms it into the order we know as creation. Hence, the essential work of God in all Genesis is to make order from chaos. God creates.
Then here, in the Second Chapter of Acts, we find the same metaphor for God— wind. Thereby, this passage— as the story in verses after what was read relates— is not about speaking in tongues. It is not about the preaching of Peter. It is not about the conversion of people gathered in Jerusalem.
These words are about bringing order to chaos. These words are about new life— sudden, unmerited, irresistible new life. That is the reality the Pentecost narrative broadcasts.
Thus, these words are about both an end and a beginning, the leaving behind of that which is past, the launching forth into that which is only now beginning to be. Pentecost is therefore not a time of completion. The presence of the Spirit of God is not about the completion of anything.
The presence of the Spirit of God is about moving forward into new dimensions of being. The presence of the Spirit of God is about a world in which the basic forms may be clear, but it is also about a world whose fulfillment has yet to be realized.
In short, the presence of the Spirit of God— the reality we call Pentecost— is about what we do, about what we can do, about what we are called to do in the Dominion of God. Which brings us back to that question: ‘What does it mean to be called by God?’
To be called by God means to be constantly listening to where God leads us as individuals and as a community. To be called by God means to be constantly listening to where God leads us in relationship with each other. To be called by God means to offer shelter, food, clothes, medical care to those in need. That seems awfully simple, doesn’t it. (Slight pause.)
It may seem strange but to be called by God means you never need to ask about a lack of talent. God does not call the qualified. God qualifies the called. So to be called by God means to be open to the wind of God, open to the will of God, open to the Spirit of God. (Slight pause.)
This quote that I am about to use is sometimes attributed to Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It is sometimes attributed to Marianne Williamson. [2] Either way it works for me. (Quote:) “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be?”
You see, Pentecost is about our participation in the Dominion of God. And we can do that. Amen.
05/19/2013
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: “Earlier I used a quote sometimes attributed to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, sometimes attributed to Marianne Williamson but I truncated it. I made it short. I’d like to offer the full quote. ‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.’ Put another way, our God given talents are more about helping our neighbors than we realize and certainly more about our neighbors than they are about us.”
BENEDICTION: The love of God is abundant and steadfast. When we give God’s love away, it returns in breathtaking abundance. Let us willingly participate in the grace God offers. May we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God enough, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. And may the Word of God be on our tongues, the wisdom of God be with our thinking and the love of God be present in our hearts. Amen.
[1] Genesis 1:1-2 [ILV].
[2] Of course, the quote is also sometimes attributed to Nelson Mandella.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
SERMON ~ 05/12/2013 ~ “Standing Around”
05/12/2013 ~ Seventh and the Last Sunday in Eastertide, Sometimes Celebrated as the Sunday Closest to the Ascension, Celebrated in Some Traditions as the Festival of the Christian Home ~ (If Ascension not observed here) ~ Acts 16:16-34; Psalm 97; Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21; John 17:20-26 ~ Mother’s Day on the Secular Calendar ~ Used Acts 1:1-11 and John 17:20-26.
NOTE: 05/09/2013 ~ Ascension readings are: Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47 or Psalm 93; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53.
“Galileans— why are you standing looking at the sky?” — Acts 1:11a.
There are some who might accuse me of being a Biblical scholar. Let me assure you nothing could be further from the truth. Do I know more than the average bear about the Bible? Probably.
You see, most Main Line churches require pastors to get 90 a credit Master’s Degree— graduate credits— before that pastor can be ordained. A comparison: in many schools a law degree runs about 85 credits. Needless to say, academic study of Scripture is a large chunk of the Master’s Degree credits achieved by a pastor.
But— back to the original thought— am I a Biblical scholar? No. How do I know that? I know that because I have been in the presence of real Biblical scholars.
To use one example, a seminary professor or mine, Burt Throckmorton, was a Biblical Scholar. Burt would stand in front of a class and the book in his hands would be the New Testament written in Ancient Greek.
What we lowly students had in front of us was the regular, plain vanilla, New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. And what Burt said, as he translated into English on the fly, was exactly what the NRSV said word for word. Now that, as far as I am concerned, defines a Biblical scholar. (Slight pause.)
Dr. Greg Carey, Professor of New Testament at Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, recently published an article with a story about a Yale seminar. The seminar was for just faculty and grad students. The topic was the Bible. A highly accomplished biblical scholar lectured on the use of language in Second Corinthians.
The presentation set forth a proposal for identifying the opponents Paul was addressing in that work, Second Corinthians. The discussion involved multiple levels and many, many details.
Like many scholarly inquiries, the conclusions made were far from obvious. During a time for questions, a faculty member spoke up: “My mother reads Second Corinthians as if Paul were writing to her. What’s wrong with that?” (Slight pause.)
That seems like a perfectly legitimate question. Many ordinary Christians do without biblical scholarship, or with little exposure to it, and have done so forever. In many church settings people read the Bible for themselves. Moreover, countless millions have lived exemplary lives of charity and piety without recourse to scholarly ruminations. And, of course, this is also true: biblical scholars are no more saintly than anyone else. [1] (Slight pause.)
On the other hand, what if a person grew up in Alabama in the 1930s and interpreted the Bible as forbidding interracial marriage and as supportive of segregation? Indeed, what if a Biblical scholar grew up in Alabama in the 1930s and interpreted the Bible as forbidding interracial marriage and as supportive of segregation?
That concept is not far fetched. It happened. In fact, apartheid officially ended in South Africa only in 1990. And there were religious leaders in South Africa who gave support to apartheid. (Slight pause.)
So, perhaps the real question to be asked has to do not with scholarship. The real question has to do with basic assumptions. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from the work known as Luke/Acts in the section commonly called Acts: “Galileans— why are you standing looking at the sky?” (Slight pause.)
When I was a High School Freshman taking a class in World History at a Parochial High School the teacher, in an offhanded way, said the Book of Luke and the Book of Acts was really one work written by the same author at the same time. Because I heard that, I got the Bible down off my parents bookshelf and read the two books as if they were one.
It was an eye opening experience. Why? I learned some basics. This is what I found out: the narrative first tells about the activity of Jesus, who is the Christ, and second tells about the activity of the Holy Spirit. It’s that simple. It’s that basic. (Slight pause.)
The story we read today is at the end of the post-resurrection stories, the stories about the Christ. It is a prelude before the actions of the Spirit are related. In terms of the whole story, it marks a transition point from Easter to Pentecost. It’s that simple. It’s that basic.
And I happen think this transition is pivotal. Again, that question: why? The question posed by the messengers is key. (Quote:) “...why are you standing looking at the sky?” Put differently, it could be said this way: “What you do is up to you. But please do something. Don’t just stand around and do nothing.”
So what did they do? This is clear as the story continues after today’s reading: they went off together and prayed. For what did they pray? It does not really tell us.
But, having prayed, they got organized. They chose someone from among the disciples to replace Judas. And then they prayed some more and they waited for the Spirit. They prayed. They got ready. It’s that simple. It’s that basic.
As simple and as basic as this seems, I want to suggest the power of the Spirit fell upon them because they waited on the Spirit and because they were ready. That waiting on the Spirit, that being ready did but one thing. It put them in the right place at the right time.
Let me illustrate what it might mean to be ready and in the right place at the right time. Bonnie has coffee hour today. One of her Facebook friends who belongs to the Sherburne Church posted that the church was having a pie sale from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.
Bonnie left for Sherburne at about 11 seeking a pie. The church folks had baked 48 pies. When Bonnie got there they had only 4 left. Bonnie bought a Peanut Butter pie. Now, don’t head for Coffee Hour yet, just because you want a piece of Peanut Butter pie. You need to at least wait for the closing hymn (and then I can see everybody running).
In any case, her friend told her it was raining at 10 a.m. so they were inside the church and sold nearly nothing. But it stopped raining, they went outside, set up a table and sold pies so fast it was hard to keep track of them. I don’t know if waiting for the rain to stop was like waiting on the Spirit, or if they prayed for the rain to stop. I do know they sold a lot of pies in a hurry.
They baked pies. They were ready. To be clear: waiting on the Spirit does not guarantee a successful pie sale or that the rain will stop or anything else successful. Success is not what working with the Spirit is about. Working with the Spirit is about is participation.
And that bring us back to what the messengers said: “...why are you standing looking at the sky?” The expectation of the Spirit is that we will pray and we will strive to be ready to do the work of the Dominion.
It does not matter if that work is selling pies or voting for a new Apostle or being with a friend who is sick or volunteering at the Food Pantry. To reiterate, success is not an expectation of the Spirit. Prayer and doing something— these are the expectations of the Spirit. This is a difficult lesson in our success oriented society. (Slight pause.)
There is one last thing to address. It’s that earlier question from a faculty member at Yale (quote:) “My mother reads Second Corinthians as if Paul were writing to her. What’s wrong with that?”
What’s wrong should be self evident. Paul did not write Second Corinthians to your mother or to you. Paul wrote Second Corinthians to a group living two thousand years ago.
Hence, we do need to pay attention to two things. Unless we are Biblical scholars, we ourselves will probably have a hard time unpacking Scripture, since it does take scholarship to delve into the intricacies of those who lived two thousand years ago.
But equally, I was a kid— probably 13 or 14— and I figured out that taken together Luke and Acts is about the activity of Jesus, who is the Christ, and about the activity of the Holy Spirit. That is not hard to do. It does not take scholarship.
And— you have all heard me say this before— Scripture, all Scripture, taken as a whole, is about two things and two things only. Scripture is about loving God and loving neighbor. It is that basic. It is that simple.
What is my proof? The messengers asked the disciples (quote:) “...why are you standing looking at the sky?” Again, the messengers asked them what they were doing. When, in answer to the question, what are you doing and you can say, “Well, I am doing all I can to love my neighbor” then I think you’ve also found out how really basic and really simple it is to be a Biblical Scholar.
After all to be a Biblical scholar you need to know just two things. Love God; love neighbor. Amen.
05/12/2013
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: “When I graduated from grade school— Saint Ignatius Loyola in Manhattan— they gave out these small books with blank pages. The idea was you were to have friends and classmates sign them and say something. A page in the front was reserved for personal data— date of birth and the like. One listing was Your Personal Motto. Even to this day I know of noone in the eight grade who has a personal motto. So I made one up. ‘Pray like everything depended on God. Work like everything depended on you.’ Years later I found out the theologian Thomas Aquinas said the same thing. And, guess what? I think I just said the same thing in my comments earlier.”
BENEDICTION: We can find the presence of God in unexpected places. God’s light leads us to places we thought not possible just moments ago. God’s love abounds and will live with us throughout eternity. The grace of God is deeper than our imagination. The strength of Christ is stronger than our needs. The communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness. May the One Triune God sustain us today and throughout the infinity of what is commonly called tomorrow. Amen.
[1] http://ht.ly/kTVdh
NOTE: 05/09/2013 ~ Ascension readings are: Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47 or Psalm 93; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53.
Standing Around
“Galileans— why are you standing looking at the sky?” — Acts 1:11a.
There are some who might accuse me of being a Biblical scholar. Let me assure you nothing could be further from the truth. Do I know more than the average bear about the Bible? Probably.
You see, most Main Line churches require pastors to get 90 a credit Master’s Degree— graduate credits— before that pastor can be ordained. A comparison: in many schools a law degree runs about 85 credits. Needless to say, academic study of Scripture is a large chunk of the Master’s Degree credits achieved by a pastor.
But— back to the original thought— am I a Biblical scholar? No. How do I know that? I know that because I have been in the presence of real Biblical scholars.
To use one example, a seminary professor or mine, Burt Throckmorton, was a Biblical Scholar. Burt would stand in front of a class and the book in his hands would be the New Testament written in Ancient Greek.
What we lowly students had in front of us was the regular, plain vanilla, New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. And what Burt said, as he translated into English on the fly, was exactly what the NRSV said word for word. Now that, as far as I am concerned, defines a Biblical scholar. (Slight pause.)
Dr. Greg Carey, Professor of New Testament at Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, recently published an article with a story about a Yale seminar. The seminar was for just faculty and grad students. The topic was the Bible. A highly accomplished biblical scholar lectured on the use of language in Second Corinthians.
The presentation set forth a proposal for identifying the opponents Paul was addressing in that work, Second Corinthians. The discussion involved multiple levels and many, many details.
Like many scholarly inquiries, the conclusions made were far from obvious. During a time for questions, a faculty member spoke up: “My mother reads Second Corinthians as if Paul were writing to her. What’s wrong with that?” (Slight pause.)
That seems like a perfectly legitimate question. Many ordinary Christians do without biblical scholarship, or with little exposure to it, and have done so forever. In many church settings people read the Bible for themselves. Moreover, countless millions have lived exemplary lives of charity and piety without recourse to scholarly ruminations. And, of course, this is also true: biblical scholars are no more saintly than anyone else. [1] (Slight pause.)
On the other hand, what if a person grew up in Alabama in the 1930s and interpreted the Bible as forbidding interracial marriage and as supportive of segregation? Indeed, what if a Biblical scholar grew up in Alabama in the 1930s and interpreted the Bible as forbidding interracial marriage and as supportive of segregation?
That concept is not far fetched. It happened. In fact, apartheid officially ended in South Africa only in 1990. And there were religious leaders in South Africa who gave support to apartheid. (Slight pause.)
So, perhaps the real question to be asked has to do not with scholarship. The real question has to do with basic assumptions. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from the work known as Luke/Acts in the section commonly called Acts: “Galileans— why are you standing looking at the sky?” (Slight pause.)
When I was a High School Freshman taking a class in World History at a Parochial High School the teacher, in an offhanded way, said the Book of Luke and the Book of Acts was really one work written by the same author at the same time. Because I heard that, I got the Bible down off my parents bookshelf and read the two books as if they were one.
It was an eye opening experience. Why? I learned some basics. This is what I found out: the narrative first tells about the activity of Jesus, who is the Christ, and second tells about the activity of the Holy Spirit. It’s that simple. It’s that basic. (Slight pause.)
The story we read today is at the end of the post-resurrection stories, the stories about the Christ. It is a prelude before the actions of the Spirit are related. In terms of the whole story, it marks a transition point from Easter to Pentecost. It’s that simple. It’s that basic.
And I happen think this transition is pivotal. Again, that question: why? The question posed by the messengers is key. (Quote:) “...why are you standing looking at the sky?” Put differently, it could be said this way: “What you do is up to you. But please do something. Don’t just stand around and do nothing.”
So what did they do? This is clear as the story continues after today’s reading: they went off together and prayed. For what did they pray? It does not really tell us.
But, having prayed, they got organized. They chose someone from among the disciples to replace Judas. And then they prayed some more and they waited for the Spirit. They prayed. They got ready. It’s that simple. It’s that basic.
As simple and as basic as this seems, I want to suggest the power of the Spirit fell upon them because they waited on the Spirit and because they were ready. That waiting on the Spirit, that being ready did but one thing. It put them in the right place at the right time.
Let me illustrate what it might mean to be ready and in the right place at the right time. Bonnie has coffee hour today. One of her Facebook friends who belongs to the Sherburne Church posted that the church was having a pie sale from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.
Bonnie left for Sherburne at about 11 seeking a pie. The church folks had baked 48 pies. When Bonnie got there they had only 4 left. Bonnie bought a Peanut Butter pie. Now, don’t head for Coffee Hour yet, just because you want a piece of Peanut Butter pie. You need to at least wait for the closing hymn (and then I can see everybody running).
In any case, her friend told her it was raining at 10 a.m. so they were inside the church and sold nearly nothing. But it stopped raining, they went outside, set up a table and sold pies so fast it was hard to keep track of them. I don’t know if waiting for the rain to stop was like waiting on the Spirit, or if they prayed for the rain to stop. I do know they sold a lot of pies in a hurry.
They baked pies. They were ready. To be clear: waiting on the Spirit does not guarantee a successful pie sale or that the rain will stop or anything else successful. Success is not what working with the Spirit is about. Working with the Spirit is about is participation.
And that bring us back to what the messengers said: “...why are you standing looking at the sky?” The expectation of the Spirit is that we will pray and we will strive to be ready to do the work of the Dominion.
It does not matter if that work is selling pies or voting for a new Apostle or being with a friend who is sick or volunteering at the Food Pantry. To reiterate, success is not an expectation of the Spirit. Prayer and doing something— these are the expectations of the Spirit. This is a difficult lesson in our success oriented society. (Slight pause.)
There is one last thing to address. It’s that earlier question from a faculty member at Yale (quote:) “My mother reads Second Corinthians as if Paul were writing to her. What’s wrong with that?”
What’s wrong should be self evident. Paul did not write Second Corinthians to your mother or to you. Paul wrote Second Corinthians to a group living two thousand years ago.
Hence, we do need to pay attention to two things. Unless we are Biblical scholars, we ourselves will probably have a hard time unpacking Scripture, since it does take scholarship to delve into the intricacies of those who lived two thousand years ago.
But equally, I was a kid— probably 13 or 14— and I figured out that taken together Luke and Acts is about the activity of Jesus, who is the Christ, and about the activity of the Holy Spirit. That is not hard to do. It does not take scholarship.
And— you have all heard me say this before— Scripture, all Scripture, taken as a whole, is about two things and two things only. Scripture is about loving God and loving neighbor. It is that basic. It is that simple.
What is my proof? The messengers asked the disciples (quote:) “...why are you standing looking at the sky?” Again, the messengers asked them what they were doing. When, in answer to the question, what are you doing and you can say, “Well, I am doing all I can to love my neighbor” then I think you’ve also found out how really basic and really simple it is to be a Biblical Scholar.
After all to be a Biblical scholar you need to know just two things. Love God; love neighbor. Amen.
05/12/2013
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: “When I graduated from grade school— Saint Ignatius Loyola in Manhattan— they gave out these small books with blank pages. The idea was you were to have friends and classmates sign them and say something. A page in the front was reserved for personal data— date of birth and the like. One listing was Your Personal Motto. Even to this day I know of noone in the eight grade who has a personal motto. So I made one up. ‘Pray like everything depended on God. Work like everything depended on you.’ Years later I found out the theologian Thomas Aquinas said the same thing. And, guess what? I think I just said the same thing in my comments earlier.”
BENEDICTION: We can find the presence of God in unexpected places. God’s light leads us to places we thought not possible just moments ago. God’s love abounds and will live with us throughout eternity. The grace of God is deeper than our imagination. The strength of Christ is stronger than our needs. The communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness. May the One Triune God sustain us today and throughout the infinity of what is commonly called tomorrow. Amen.
[1] http://ht.ly/kTVdh
Sunday, May 5, 2013
SERMON ~ 05/05/2013 ~ “Healing”
05/05/2013 ~ Sixth Sunday of Easter ~ Acts 16:9-15; Psalm 67; Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5; John 14:23-29 or John 5:1-9 ~ Communion Sunday.
Healing
“Jesus said to the one who had been ill, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ Immediately this person was healed, picked up the mat and began to walk. Now that day was a Sabbath.” — John 5:8-9.
Most of you, I think, know I am a graduate of Bangor Theological Seminary, Bangor, Maine. What you may not know is Stephen King lives just a block from the Seminary. King is, of course,... and this description is from the write up in Wikipedia... Stephen King is (quote) “an author of contemporary Horror, Suspense, Science Fiction and Fantasy.”
In fact, I met King in a casual way several times while I was attending seminary. Once we stood in a line next to each other in a local pizza joint. I am quite sure he deeply appreciated it that I simply nodded as a sign of recognition and made no fuss over him.
I have described King as a down home, good old boy from Maine. Of course, that comes with a caveat. Stephen King is a down home, good old boy from Maine who has made out quite well since he is both a multimillionaire and a world famous author.
King has said of himself that most people pay psychiatrists a lot of money to listen to their nightmares. King writes the nightmares down and publishes them. In short, people pay him a lot of money to read his scary dreams. He likes the arrangement.
All of that is by way of saying a year and a half ago, a friend give me a present: the Stephen King novel 11/22/63. At the time it was a newly published work. Now, a year plus later, I finally caught up with it.
Most of you will immediately realize the significance of the title 11/22/63. That’s the date on which President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated.
This is a work of Science Fiction since the book tells the story of a person living today who is shown a time portal. Walk through this crack in the fabric of time and on the other side it always opens up to a day in 1958, in Lisbon Falls, Maine— Lisbon Falls, the place where King attended High School.
On top of that, no matter how much time this time traveler who walks through the crack spends in the past, on reentering the portal just two minutes will have elapsed here, today. Anyway, this main character gets it in his brain to go back, wait five years and then try to prevent the assassination of Kennedy. Hence, we get the title of the book. And no, I won’t release any more plot details in case you want to read it.
Now, I’ve probably read more Martin Luther King than I have read Stephen King— slight difference. But I will always maintain King is a good author.
As I read the opening pages of this book I was reminded of that. What makes King a good writer? I believe it’s his ability to create a fictional world, an illusion so real you both believe it and buy into it.
As a writer, myself, I admire this. But, as a writer, I recognize something else. The audience has to buy into the illusion or the illusion does not become believable. That’s true whether it’s Les Misérables by Victor Hugo or Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain or 11/22/63 by Stephen King. The audience has to collaborate with the writer in creating a fictional world, since that world does not really exist. (Slight pause.)
I suspect one of the problems we have when we read Scripture is we read it like a novel. As we read we create a world that does not exist. In fact, King did more research before starting to write 11/22/63 than he had for any other book. And that research was to write about something which happened just 50 years ago.
The Gospel stories happened 2,000 years ago. What was the reality of the world in New Testament times? And who among us really knows what that reality was?
Not may of us, I think. Indeed, I have studied Scripture and the times in which it was written on a graduate level and I would not make the claim that I know enough to really understand or to recreate what it was like.
Hence, I would suggest that we should never read Scripture like a novel. To do so would mean trying to recreate what the world was like 2,000 years ago. It simply can’t be done. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from the work known as John: “Jesus said to the one who had been ill, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ Immediately this person was healed, picked up the mat and began to walk. Now that day was a Sabbath.” (Slight pause.)
So, rule number 1: never read Scripture like a novel. Rule number 2: see rule number 1.
On the other hand, that does not mean we should ignore all factual data. We do know something about those times and that knowledge can be helpful as we strive to unpack meaning. (Slight pause.) So, what do we know?
Here’s one place to start: miracle stories were common in the literature outside of Scripture in New Testament times, especially as miracle stories referred to some divine person. Caesar, for instance, was considered divine.
In fact, to call Jesus “Lord” was to mock Caesar. And there were stories about Caesar healing people. Hence, if there were no such stories in the Gospels, these narratives, in the era in which they were written, would have been thought of simply as strange stories.
But therefore, a significant question needs to be raised. Is this a story about healing or is there sometime else going on? Is there a theological point being made?
Interestingly, the one who was sick may give us a clue about an answer. (Quote:) “Rabbi, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; by the time I get there, while I am making my way, someone else has gone ahead of me.”
Put another way the one who was sick is really saying this: “Don’t you know, Jesus? Didn’t anyone tell you? These are the instructions you need to follow to have a healing take place.” Put yet another way the one who was sick is reciting the modern mantra of the church: “We’ve never done it that way before.”
Jesus pays no attention to any instructions, no attention to what people expect. Jesus takes the one who was sick and moves this one outside of any preconceived notions about what should happen. Thereby Jesus takes us and moves us outside of any preconceived notions what should happen.
How does Jesus do this? Jesus simply says: “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” (Slight pause.)
This story warns us against the persistent temptation to make God too small. The love God offers us is cosmic, infinite in scope. The love God offers us goes beyond what we can possibly imagine.
Indeed, there is an old slogan that says ‘faith works miracles.’ That concept utterly breaks down with this story. It is God who works miracles. Faith, our faith, is not a precondition for God to act.
We are indeed and often invited to have faith. But it is not our action that creates anything. It is God Who acts. It is God Who creates.
Of course, this way of seeing the passage is reenforced by the last sentence in today’s reading. “Now that day was a Sabbath.”
People do not get healed on the Sabbath in this place. Why? Healing on the Sabbath does not follow proscribed ritual.
But this story tells us following ritual is not something imposed by God. It is something we might read into the reality, something we might impose. But not God. (Slight pause.)
For a moment, let me come back to Stephen King. As I suggested, any good writer will rely on the audience to fill out the story. It is the detail we already know that helps us fortify the story and King understands that and uses it. That’s what makes him a good writer.
But Scripture is about theology, not about fiction. We don’t need anything except theology when reading Scripture. And this is the only theology we find in Scripture, so it’s the only theology we ever need: God loves us in ways we have yet to imagine. Amen.
05/05/2013
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: “When I was a seminary student in Maine, I would go out to preach at different churches. Never did peach at Stephen King’s church— he’s a Methodist. Congregationalist— we don’t cross the isle— I don’t know why. In any case, I learned that I had to put titles on my sermons so I put a title on this sermon— Healing. It has occurred to me that the more appropriate title might have been: Oh, No, Jesus. Your Healing People the Wrong Way! But certainly one other possible sermon title might have been God Is in Charge and We Are Not— a hard lesson.”
BENEDICTION: We can find the presence of God in unexpected places. God’s light leads us to places we thought not possible just moments ago. God’s love abounds and will live with us throughout eternity. The grace of God is deeper than our imagination. The strength of Christ is stronger than our needs. The communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness. May the One Triune God sustain us today and throughout the infinity of what is commonly called tomorrow. Amen.
Healing
“Jesus said to the one who had been ill, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ Immediately this person was healed, picked up the mat and began to walk. Now that day was a Sabbath.” — John 5:8-9.
Most of you, I think, know I am a graduate of Bangor Theological Seminary, Bangor, Maine. What you may not know is Stephen King lives just a block from the Seminary. King is, of course,... and this description is from the write up in Wikipedia... Stephen King is (quote) “an author of contemporary Horror, Suspense, Science Fiction and Fantasy.”
In fact, I met King in a casual way several times while I was attending seminary. Once we stood in a line next to each other in a local pizza joint. I am quite sure he deeply appreciated it that I simply nodded as a sign of recognition and made no fuss over him.
I have described King as a down home, good old boy from Maine. Of course, that comes with a caveat. Stephen King is a down home, good old boy from Maine who has made out quite well since he is both a multimillionaire and a world famous author.
King has said of himself that most people pay psychiatrists a lot of money to listen to their nightmares. King writes the nightmares down and publishes them. In short, people pay him a lot of money to read his scary dreams. He likes the arrangement.
All of that is by way of saying a year and a half ago, a friend give me a present: the Stephen King novel 11/22/63. At the time it was a newly published work. Now, a year plus later, I finally caught up with it.
Most of you will immediately realize the significance of the title 11/22/63. That’s the date on which President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated.
This is a work of Science Fiction since the book tells the story of a person living today who is shown a time portal. Walk through this crack in the fabric of time and on the other side it always opens up to a day in 1958, in Lisbon Falls, Maine— Lisbon Falls, the place where King attended High School.
On top of that, no matter how much time this time traveler who walks through the crack spends in the past, on reentering the portal just two minutes will have elapsed here, today. Anyway, this main character gets it in his brain to go back, wait five years and then try to prevent the assassination of Kennedy. Hence, we get the title of the book. And no, I won’t release any more plot details in case you want to read it.
Now, I’ve probably read more Martin Luther King than I have read Stephen King— slight difference. But I will always maintain King is a good author.
As I read the opening pages of this book I was reminded of that. What makes King a good writer? I believe it’s his ability to create a fictional world, an illusion so real you both believe it and buy into it.
As a writer, myself, I admire this. But, as a writer, I recognize something else. The audience has to buy into the illusion or the illusion does not become believable. That’s true whether it’s Les Misérables by Victor Hugo or Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain or 11/22/63 by Stephen King. The audience has to collaborate with the writer in creating a fictional world, since that world does not really exist. (Slight pause.)
I suspect one of the problems we have when we read Scripture is we read it like a novel. As we read we create a world that does not exist. In fact, King did more research before starting to write 11/22/63 than he had for any other book. And that research was to write about something which happened just 50 years ago.
The Gospel stories happened 2,000 years ago. What was the reality of the world in New Testament times? And who among us really knows what that reality was?
Not may of us, I think. Indeed, I have studied Scripture and the times in which it was written on a graduate level and I would not make the claim that I know enough to really understand or to recreate what it was like.
Hence, I would suggest that we should never read Scripture like a novel. To do so would mean trying to recreate what the world was like 2,000 years ago. It simply can’t be done. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from the work known as John: “Jesus said to the one who had been ill, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ Immediately this person was healed, picked up the mat and began to walk. Now that day was a Sabbath.” (Slight pause.)
So, rule number 1: never read Scripture like a novel. Rule number 2: see rule number 1.
On the other hand, that does not mean we should ignore all factual data. We do know something about those times and that knowledge can be helpful as we strive to unpack meaning. (Slight pause.) So, what do we know?
Here’s one place to start: miracle stories were common in the literature outside of Scripture in New Testament times, especially as miracle stories referred to some divine person. Caesar, for instance, was considered divine.
In fact, to call Jesus “Lord” was to mock Caesar. And there were stories about Caesar healing people. Hence, if there were no such stories in the Gospels, these narratives, in the era in which they were written, would have been thought of simply as strange stories.
But therefore, a significant question needs to be raised. Is this a story about healing or is there sometime else going on? Is there a theological point being made?
Interestingly, the one who was sick may give us a clue about an answer. (Quote:) “Rabbi, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; by the time I get there, while I am making my way, someone else has gone ahead of me.”
Put another way the one who was sick is really saying this: “Don’t you know, Jesus? Didn’t anyone tell you? These are the instructions you need to follow to have a healing take place.” Put yet another way the one who was sick is reciting the modern mantra of the church: “We’ve never done it that way before.”
Jesus pays no attention to any instructions, no attention to what people expect. Jesus takes the one who was sick and moves this one outside of any preconceived notions about what should happen. Thereby Jesus takes us and moves us outside of any preconceived notions what should happen.
How does Jesus do this? Jesus simply says: “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” (Slight pause.)
This story warns us against the persistent temptation to make God too small. The love God offers us is cosmic, infinite in scope. The love God offers us goes beyond what we can possibly imagine.
Indeed, there is an old slogan that says ‘faith works miracles.’ That concept utterly breaks down with this story. It is God who works miracles. Faith, our faith, is not a precondition for God to act.
We are indeed and often invited to have faith. But it is not our action that creates anything. It is God Who acts. It is God Who creates.
Of course, this way of seeing the passage is reenforced by the last sentence in today’s reading. “Now that day was a Sabbath.”
People do not get healed on the Sabbath in this place. Why? Healing on the Sabbath does not follow proscribed ritual.
But this story tells us following ritual is not something imposed by God. It is something we might read into the reality, something we might impose. But not God. (Slight pause.)
For a moment, let me come back to Stephen King. As I suggested, any good writer will rely on the audience to fill out the story. It is the detail we already know that helps us fortify the story and King understands that and uses it. That’s what makes him a good writer.
But Scripture is about theology, not about fiction. We don’t need anything except theology when reading Scripture. And this is the only theology we find in Scripture, so it’s the only theology we ever need: God loves us in ways we have yet to imagine. Amen.
05/05/2013
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: “When I was a seminary student in Maine, I would go out to preach at different churches. Never did peach at Stephen King’s church— he’s a Methodist. Congregationalist— we don’t cross the isle— I don’t know why. In any case, I learned that I had to put titles on my sermons so I put a title on this sermon— Healing. It has occurred to me that the more appropriate title might have been: Oh, No, Jesus. Your Healing People the Wrong Way! But certainly one other possible sermon title might have been God Is in Charge and We Are Not— a hard lesson.”
BENEDICTION: We can find the presence of God in unexpected places. God’s light leads us to places we thought not possible just moments ago. God’s love abounds and will live with us throughout eternity. The grace of God is deeper than our imagination. The strength of Christ is stronger than our needs. The communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness. May the One Triune God sustain us today and throughout the infinity of what is commonly called tomorrow. Amen.
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