06/16/2013 ~ Fourth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 6 ~ Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ 1 Kings 21:1-10, (11-14), 15-21a; Psalm 5:1-8; 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15; Psalm 32; Galatians 2:15-21; Luke 7:36-8:3 ~ Father’s Day on the Secular Calendar.
 
Salvation


“I will not nullify the grace of God; for if justification is available only through the law, then Christ died needlessly, for nothing.” — Galatians 2:21.

I am sure by now you have all, at a bare minimum, heard of Facebook or are, yourselves, on Facebook.  To be blunt, Facebook— or at least what people post on it— can be very annoying, since so many use it to broadcast their pet political peeves.

And no, I am not interested in who you voted for, what policy or politician you like or do not like, who or what you are for or against.  (Between you and me, people post things on Facebook they would not tell you if they were sitting at a picnic table in your backyard, drinking iced tea and chatting.)

In short, if you’re not going to say it to me in my backyard when we are sharing iced tea and you are staring into my eyes, please don’t say it to me on Facebook.  Thank you.  (Slight pause.)

Having pointed out this specific downside of Facebook, one of its benefits is sometimes people share interesting articles or write about books they are reading or have read.  When someone does that, they aren’t really taking a position about anything.  In fact, it’s like we are sitting in the backyard, drinking iced tea and chatting.

You see, with those kinds of posts it’s up to me to follow up.  It’s up to me to go look at the article, to search out the book, to see what interests that other person and why.  And if they are a close friend or a colleague, I may indeed want to follow up.  After all, it’s likely we have things in common.

And that is exactly what happened this week.  A colleague posted a link to an article and I did follow up.  The article was about prayer and was written by Rabbi Richard A. Block, President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

These are among the thoughts about prayer Rabbi Block offered (quote): “Within a few terse verses, the Abraham narrative reveals the fundamental theology of the Torah— that God knows, and to some extent can be known, by human beings; that God has consciousness and will and can, if God chooses, communicate with people; that God commands, blesses, rewards... that God is aware of and intervenes in human affairs.”

“Perhaps the most profound aspect of this ancient narrative is that God and people, both individuals and nations, can be in a relationship.... a relationship called ‘a covenant.’  This covenant has binding promises and expectations.  It is a relationship with mutual accountability.”

“Abraham’s story... attempts to discern the mystery of the Divine.  Jewish tradition has more than 100 names for God.  This testifies to the many ways God has been experienced, each of them evocative and fragmentary.”  (Slight pause.)

I need to point out that the Rabbi is in no way denying the central claim of Judaism: that God is one.  Rather, this teacher is addressing the experience of God who is one and the multitude of ways language attempts to deal with that experience.  (Slight pause.)

“So,” the Rabbi continues, “the impossibility of knowing God fully and the profoundly personal character of each person’s relationship with God is clear.  Why... does one of the prayers we use address God this way (quote): ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’ instead of simply saying (quote): ‘the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?’  Because each individual had to find God for their own self.  And so must we.” [1]  (Slight pause.)

And these words are found in the work commonly known as Galatians: “I will not nullify the grace of God; for if justification is available only through the law, then Christ died needlessly, for nothing.”  (Slight pause.)

You probably noticed the commentary offered before the Galatians reading said: “This passage uses the phrase commonly translated as (quote): ‘faith in Christ.’  Most scholars agree the phrase should be translated as (quote): ‘the faith of Christ’ — ‘Faith in Christ— faith of Christ.”  (Slight pause.)

In all the true letters of Paul— fourteen letters are attributed to Paul but Paul actually wrote seven of them.  Of the remaining seven, five are clearly not by Paul and who the writer is on the other two letters is in doubt.

And, to be clear: all these Epistles are quite ancient.  But based on internal evidence in the letters themselves, the ones we know are not by Paul are likely to have been written after Paul died, probably written by disciples of the Apostle.

Now, in all the true letters of Paul each time you see the phrase “faith in Christ” in the New Revised Standard translation there is no question but that these words can be translated and probably should be translated as “the faith of Christ.”  In a study Bible there will be a footnote and it will say that.  As was also stated earlier, this translation— ‘the faith of Christ,’— not only helps to make these words clearer it helps illuminate the Protestant thesis of justification by faith.

Why?  What is the faith of Christ?  Is Christ showing us the way, offering an example about relationship with God?  Why, yes— of course.

Further, this translation is not a denial of the Trinity, as some might think.  To understand and strive to emulate the faith of Christ does not say Jesus fails to be the Second Person of the Trinity.  Quite the opposite: it reenforces that concept.  (Slight pause.)

This brings me back to the reflections about prayer by Rabbi Block.  Prayer needs to be grounded in sound theology.

The Rabbi does that with some simple thoughts which you heard.  God knows us; we can know God; God makes covenant with us, a relationship with mutual accountability; that relationship and accountability informs each of us and the community, together, about God.

Having addressed theology, in the same article the Rabbi addresses the practical and says (quote): “...there are three Jewish prayer themes: Wow!  Help! and Thanks!  ‘Wow’ prayers express radical amazement at the universe and its order, majesty, nature, beauty, the marvelous complexity of the human body, the miracle of life itself.”

“‘Help’ prayers articulate our deepest needs, hopes, fears, aspirations, longings.  ‘Thanks’ prayers— these give voice to gratitude for our blessings— ...and the opportunity to be God’s partners in the ongoing work of creation,....” [2]  (Slight pause.)

There is a question often asked in and by the populist religion embedded in American culture.  Please note: I singled out religion of American culture, not Christian culture.  The question?  Are you saved?

Given the theology of prayer laid out by the Rabbi and what I’ve lifted up from the passage in Galatians, that question— ‘Are you saved?’— cannot be taken seriously.  The question, itself, comes out of the culture, not out of theology.

It is based on a misunderstanding of our relationship with God.  The very implication of the question is that being saved is a static state, a state it does not involved relationship.  (Slight pause.)

Needless to say, when I officiate at a wedding, I meet with the couple several times before the ceremony.  In the course of that I always ask: ‘What is covenant?’

I also answer my own question.  Covenant is a mutual commitment to growth.  With marriage, it is a three way commitment to growth among the people getting married and God.  God is, you see, a part of the commitment— a commitment to growth.  (Slight pause.)

I asked Cheri to put a list of quotes about salvation on an insert in the bulletin this week.  Do read through them when you have time. [3]

There are two I want to raise up.  Theologian N. T. Wright says this (quote): “...the work of salvation, in its full sense, is (1) about whole human beings, not merely souls; (2) about the present, not simply the future; and (3) about what God does through us, not merely what God does in and for us.”

Barbara Brown Taylor, a Pastor, says this (quote): “While Isaiah might have agreed that salvation comes from heaven, he would never have agreed to leave it there.  Any notion of salvation that does not include just rulers, honest judges, an equitable economy, and peace among the nations, would have made Isaiah scratch his head.  Heaven may be God’s test kitchen, but the pudding is intended for earth.”  (Slight pause.)

Salvation— something intended for earth.  Are you saved?  In the words of Paul, “...if justification is available only through the law, then Christ died needlessly, for nothing.”  So, yes.  We are saved.  Amen.

06/16/2013
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: “Speaking of Facebook, another Facebook friend, in this case the nationally known Christian author, Diana Butler Bass posted this quote from the 17th Century Congregational Preacher Jonathan Edwards: ‘Christian practice is much more to be preferred as evidence of salvation than sudden conversion, mystical enlightenment, or the mere experience of emotional comfort that begins and ends with contemplation.’”

BENEDICTION: Let us walk with and in the Spirit— showing the fruits of the Spirit— remembering that we are one in Christ.  For in the Dominion of God the grace of true freedom is the inheritance of those who walk in the love of God.  And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much.  May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else.  Amen.

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[1] You can find the article by the Rabbi here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-richard-a-block/the-god-i-don’t-believe-in_b_3408535.html?fb_action_ids=10151658252981907&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map={%2210151658252981907%22%3A1374384326108972}&action_type_map={%2210151658252981907%22%3A%22og.likes%22}&action_ref_map=[]

Note: some of the verbiage offered by the Rabbi has been slightly altered just to fit the tempo of the narrative in the sermon.  The author of the sermon has tried to maintain the meaning intended by the Rabbi.  Any alteration of the original meaning is the fault of the sermon writer and not the Rabbi.

[2] See Endnote # 1

[3] The Insert Information

QUOTES ABOUT SALVATION

“While Isaiah might have agreed that salvation comes from heaven, he would never have agreed to leave it there.  Any notion of salvation that does not include just rulers, honest judges, an equitable economy, and peace among the nations, would have made Isaiah scratch his head.  Heaven may be God’s test kitchen, but the pudding is intended for earth.” — Barbara Brown Taylor

“Salvation is a word for the divine spaciousness that comes to human beings in all the tight places where their lives are at risk, regardless of how they got there or whether they know God’s name.” — Barbara Brown Taylor

“Evil is not a force, but merely the absence of good; and the devil is not God’s counterpart (as the devil would be in systems called duelist, which assume counterpoised forces of good and evil) but simply created a being who has chosen the not-good over the good.  The devil embarrasses modern Christians but was indisputably real to Jesus and the early church.  The devil is as much a part of revelation as the church itself.  But the role of the devil in the economy of salvation is minimal or, at most, ambiguous.  The devil has loomed so large in Western imagination not because the devil is so crucial to Christian theology but because the devil is so needed by Christian people as a way of expressing just barely within the limits of orthodoxy the real power that the absence of good can have.” — John Boswell

“Here and there an individual or group dares to love and rises to the majestic heights of moral maturity.  So in a  real sense this is a great time to be alive.  Therefore, I am not yet  discouraged about the future.  Granted that the easygoing optimism of yesterday is impossible.  Granted that those who pioneer in the struggle for peace and freedom will still face uncomfortable jail terms, painful threats of death; they will still be battered by the storms of persecution, leading them to the nagging feeling that they can no longer bear such a heavy burden, and the temptation of wanting to retreat to a more quiet and serene life.  Granted that we face a world crisis which leaves us standing so often amid the surging murmur of life’s restless sea.  But every crisis has both its dangers and its  opportunities.  It can spell either salvation or doom.  In a dark confused world the kingdom of God may yet reign in the hearts of  men.” — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“A man must live in this world and work out his own salvation in the midst of temptation.” — Frank Yerby

“The message of salvation is more than our verbal proclamation of the gospel.  We must redefine evangelism to include how we live and interact with people— what it means for us to call them into God’s family to become members of God’s household.  This is as important as our ability to accurately quote scriptures.” — Brenda Salter McNeil — A Credible Witness: Reflections on Power, Evangelism and Race

“Although it is not always socially acceptable, not always popular, we are called to the ministry of reconciliation.  We have been entrusted with a specific message— that Jesus Christ died to reconcile us to God and to each other.  The two things were accomplished at the same time, in the same act of salvation....  This is our story, and we have a mandate to tell it.” — Brenda Salter McNeil, A Credible Witness.

“The struggle between sin and salvation is not confined to some inner world... it is fought out in the economic and political, and in the cultural and ecclesisastical spheres as well.” — Donald Dorr, Catholic missionary priest

“We all readily agree that God forgives sin, that Jesus brought salvation from sin, but we have a very hard time seeing ourselves as those who need forgiveness and salvation.  We watch the evening news or read the newspaper and decide that we really are not so bad after all; the things we may have done— may have done!— are not anything compared to what other people are doing....  We will never have an accurate picture of ourselves and our fallen human condition until we understand that there is no sin we are incapable of committing....  [But] God has come to bring the people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.  We are forgiven as soon as we grasp the fact that we need forgiveness.” — Mary Anna Vidakovich

“Radical Christians must pursue more than a successful strategy; we must seek a deeper faith.  Only then will we have the assurance of salvation, not because of what we have accomplished, but because we have allowed God’s grace and mercy to flow through our lives.” — Jim Wallis

“Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura: we are saved by the grace of God alone— not by anything we do; our salvation is through faith alone— we only need to believe that our sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake, who died to redeem us; the Bible is the only norm of doctrine and life— the only true standard by which teachings and doctrines are to be judged.” — The Protestant principles of Martin Luther

“There is never time in the future in which we will work out our salvation.  The challenge is in the moment; the time is always now.” — James Baldwin

“Work out your own salvation.  Do not depend on others.” — Buddha

“Courage is a kind of salvation.” — Plato

“The first step in a person’s salvation is knowledge of their sin.” — Lucius Annaeus Seneca,  4 B.C.E.–C.E. 65, Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist

“Human salvation demands the divine disclosure of truths surpassing reason.” — Thomas Aquinas

“The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and human responsibility.” — Vaclav Havel

“The salvation of mankind lies only in making everything the concern of all.” — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

“My salvation was a free gift.  I didn’t have to work for it and it’s better than any gold medal that I’ve ever won.” — Betty Cuthbert

“In our ecclesiastical region there are priests who don’t baptize the children of single mothers because they weren’t conceived in the sanctity of marriage.  These are today’s hypocrites.  Those who clericalize the church.  Those who separate the people of God from salvation.” — Pope Francis

“...the work of salvation, in its full sense, is (1) about whole human beings, not merely souls; (2) about the present, not simply the future; and (3) about what God does through us, not merely what God does in and for us.” — N. T. Wright

“If your salvation was dependent on your ability to read and understand scripture, Jesus would have been an author.” — Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience


“[All the ancient wisdom] tells us that work is necessary to us, as much a part of our condition as mortality; that good work is our salvation and our joy; that shoddy or dishonest or self-serving work is our curse and our doom.  We have tried to escape the sweat and sorrow promised in Genesis - only to find that, in order to do so, we must forswear love and excellence, health and joy.” — Wendell Berry, The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays

“Even if no salvation should come, I want to be worthy of it at every moment.” — Franz Kafka

“If you try to add to God's salvation you subtract.  If you try to merit God's salvation you haven’t believed at all, even if you try to do a little bit.” — Timothy Keller

“God has accomplished your salvation.  But has not yet perfected your circumstances. Do not confuse the two.” — Kristen Heitzmann

“The root of almost every schism and heresy from which the Christian Church has suffered, has been because of the effort of men to earn, rather than receive their salvation; and the reason preaching is so commonly ineffective is, that it often calls on people to work for God rather than letting God work through them.” — John Ruskin (1819-1900)

06/02/2013 ~ SERMON ~ “From Whence?”

06/02/2013 ~ Second Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 4 ~ Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ 1 Kings 18:20-21, (22-29), 30-39; Psalm 96; 1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43; Psalm 96:1-9; Galatians 1:1-12; Luke 7:1-10 ~ Communion Sunday.

From Whence?

“I want you to know, I assure you my brothers and sisters: the gospel I proclaim to you is no mere human invention.  I did not receive it from any person, nor was I schooled in it.  I received it, it came by a revelation, from Jesus, the Christ.” — Galatians 1:11-12

Tanya Marie Luhrmann is a professor in the Stanford University Anthropology Department.  She has gained some notoriety since she is an academic who writes an occasional column for the Op-Ed page of The New York Times. 

Luhrmann has also written a number of books.  But it is her most recent work, When God Talks Back, which has been noticed in church circles.  And, indeed, her Times columns are largely based on her research for this book.  And it is her research, both past and current, on the topic of what is loosely termed evangelical churches, about which those in church circles have taken notice.

One of the things her research has brought to the fore concerns beliefs.  What people believe or do not believe was the topic of her most recent Times article.  She told a story about a charismatic evangelical church where people often made comments which suggested they had complicated ideas about the reality of God.  In a prayer group one devout person said this (quote): “I don’t believe it, but I’m sticking to it.  That is my definition of faith.”

This remark was flippant.  But, in a real sense, this person decided it was better behaving as if God were real than not.  This person had devised a modern version of what is commonly called Pascal’s Wager.

In the 1600s Blaise Pascal said given the possibility that God does exist, infinite gain is associated with that belief.  Therefore, a rational person should live as though God exists.  After all, if God does not exist, there will be only a finite, temporary loss— Pascal’s wager.

In reflecting on the complexity of actual beliefs in churches, Luhrmann says anthropologists conclude the role of belief is greatly overstated.  Religion arises not from belief but as a way for social groups to experience themselves as groups.

When they do so they felt bigger, better, more alive.  Religious ideas help make sense of this experience of being part of something greater.  In short, people don’t go to church because of a belief in God; people believe in God because they go to church.

In fact, you can argue that religious belief as we now conceptualize it— with its perceived reliance on a series of beliefs— is in one sense an entirely modern phenomenon.  When the King James Bible was printed, ‘to believe’ meant ‘to hold dear.’  ‘I believe in God’ meant ‘Given the reality of God as a fact of the universe, I hereby pledge to God my heart and soul and loyalty, trusting in the mercy of God.’

To be clear, says Luhrmann belief is not unimportant.  But we often think the most important thing to understand about religion is why people believe and/or what people believe.  We think belief precedes action and explains choice.  (Slight pause.)

And these words are from the work known as Galatians: “I want you to know, I assure you my brothers and sisters: the gospel I proclaim to you is no mere human invention.  I did not receive it from any person, nor was I schooled in it.  I received it, it came by a revelation, from Jesus, the Christ.”  (Slight pause.)

I have two $64 words for you: apophatic and kataphatic— good ones, right?  There are apophatic people and kataphatic people.

Apophatic people say God is indescribable, that you cannot come up with an image or word for God that works.  Kataphatic people say, while acknowledging there is no correct image, God needs to be visualized in something— a burning bush, the wind, a mother hen, even that totally inept, inappropriate description: God as an old white guy with a beard.  (The pastor points to the choir who sits directly in front of the pulpit and says:) Got a laugh out of these folks!

I want to suggest that in this passage from Galatians Paul is struggling a way to describe what God has done.  Paul wants to be kataphatic— to find an image— but realizes that to be apophatic, to do away with any image, is an option.

In short, Paul has had an indescribable experience, a mystical experience of God.  And Paul does not know what to say about it or even to do about it.  Indeed, as the text tells us, Paul wanders off to Asia before bothering to go to Jerusalem to consult with the Apostles.

But Paul does try to tell us something about that experience.  What are we told?  We are told about the basic paradox Paul has encountered: the Gospel is based on personal experience and the Gospel comes from God— is based on experience and comes from God.  Put another way: Paul has had an experience of God and there is no adequate way to describe it.  (Slight pause.)

One of my seminary professors, now retired from teaching and a Facebook friend, The Rev. Dr. Glenn Miller, posted what follows on Facebook this week.  Given that Glenn is a nationally respected and a very careful scholar, I think he must have written this or it would have been posted with an attribution to someone.

This is what Dr. Miller said (quote): “Faith is among the most complex of human activities.  It involves belief, reasoning, emotions, personal relationships and human will.  It is far too easy to look at one or another of these and to think that we have identified the nature of faith.”

“Perhaps, given the complexity of human religious experience, it is inevitable that certain aspects of faith will find their home more among some people than among others.  The Myers-Briggs personality test suggests we all have some preferences for our relationship to the world and that is okay.  The catholicity of the church consists, not only of faith’s international character, but of the capacity of the church to embrace the experiences— experiences— of all women and men.”

Dr. Miller continues: “The church is not the church unless it has both St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Francis of Assisi, the orthodox and the mystic.  God’s final purpose may be to led us to completeness— he says parenthetically— which is my understanding of the Biblical promise of perfection— but that does not mean the eradication of who we presently are.”

“We are too quick to try to overcome this natural human diversity by means of theologies that are ultimately self-serving.  A servant theology begins and ends with the recognition that God is always at work in the religious life of the other, if we would only see it”— the words of the Rev. Dr. Glenn Miller.  (Slight pause.)

That brings us back to an idea I’ve often mentioned.  Is it true that churches might simply consists of like people worshiping with like people— apophatic and kataphatic?  Do we simply break out into groups— orthodox and mystic?

Put differently, I think the question Paul, effectively, places before us is the same one the premise of there being orthodox people and mystic people presents and the same one sociologists place before us.  Do people go to church because they believe in God or do people believe in God because they go to church?

I think Paul struggles with that question.  Paul struggles with it because the answer, as the Rev. Dr. Glenn Miller suggests, is not one or the other.

You see, God calls people to be church.  And these people offer many understandings of God.

In the words of the late Andrew Greeley, before religion became creed or catechism it is poetry; before religion became creed or catechism it is images; before religion became creed or catechism it is story.  And it is not just story.  It is our story.

Further, this poetry, these images, these stories defy death— defy death— with glimpses of hope, with moments of life-renewing experience that are shared and enacted in communal rituals.  That is, in fact, what communion refers to, is it not?  Glimpses of hope, moments of life renewing experience shared in communal ritual.

So, are we, is the church a noun?  Are we, the church, simply a sociologically gathered group?  Or are we called to be church— a verb?  Be church.  More importantly, are we called to be church by God?  Well, I may be wrong, but I think the answer to these questions is ‘yes.’  Amen.

06/02/2013
United Church of Christ, First Congregational

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: “The late Andrew Greeley, whom I quoted earlier was a scholar, anthropologist, priest.  He died this week.  He said this (quote): ‘Religion is the result of two incurable diseases from which humankind suffers— life, from which we die, and hope, which hints that there might be more meaning to life than a termination in death.’”

BENEDICTION: People of God, God keeps faith forever.  Go from this place filled with new life,  ready to bear the good news of God’s promises.  And should you find yourself feeling worried or discouraged, remember the wondrous love of God, the healing power of Christ Jesus,  and the bold courage of the Holy Spirit.  These go with you today and always.  Amen!