01/26/2014 ~ Third Sunday after the Epiphany ~ Known in Some Traditions as the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 4-9; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23 ~ Annual Budget Meeting. [1]
The Message
“...the message of the cross is foolishness, complete absurdity, to those who are headed for ruin, but to us who are experiencing salvation, it is the power of God.” — 1 Corinthians 1:18.
Well, here we are: in our two hundredth year. [The pastor places his hands over his eyes as if looking is the distance while blocking the sun.] Funny, you don’t look that old. But it is, of course, some two hundred years since Congregationalists took a stand to plant ourselves in the Chenango Valley. And we are a part of that history. (Slight pause.)
However, let me look at this and at us from a different perspective, another prism. By calculations on some calendars, here we are about two thousand years or so since Jesus was raised. And guess what? You still don’t look that old. But we are a part of that history.
So, let me look at this and us from yet another perspective, another prism. We are still going strong after some five thousand seven hundred and seventy four years on the Jewish calendar. And we are, as was Jesus, within that old, ancient tradition, that part of history. And guess what? You still don’t look that old.
Why do I say you still don’t look that old? Because I want to look at this and at us from yet another perspective, another prism. Our best estimates suggest the known universe is some 13.8 billion light years across.
As I am sure you know, light travels at 186,000 miles per second and a light year is the distance light travels in one of our calendar years. 13.8 billion light years— that’s a whole lot of miles and a whole lot of time.
And maybe we do look old from that perspective. But my point is not age. My point is... perspective. (Slight pause.)
Question: from what perspective was Paul looking when he said (quote): “...the message of the cross is foolishness,...” (Slight pause.) I believe we, in the West, have looked at the cross from a strange, odd perspective for quite a while. Or at least it would have been a strange and odd perspective from the point of view Paul had.
And what was that point of view, the perspective of Paul? Well, first things first. Did Christ die on the cross? Yes. There is no question about it. And we Westerners tend to associate the cross with death.
Now, why was Christ crucified? There is no question about this, either. Christ was an enemy of the state.
Indeed, many of the terms commonly applied to Christ, some in Scripture, some outside of Scripture— Lord, King, Prince of Peace, divine, holy— all these were also assigned to Caesar Augustus. All these terms were commonly assigned to Caesar Augustus. Even the name Augustus means ‘venerable.’
Augustus was, you see, not just the head of state. Augustus was the state. The state was venerated. So we need to realize when these terms— Lord, King, Prince of Peace, divine, holy— when these terms are originally applied to Christ, they are meant to mock the state.
Additionally, and again from the perspective of Paul, historians estimate that Jesus was one of perhaps 10,000 Jews executed by the state, by Rome, each year. So, Jesus is simply one of many Jewish enemies of the state.
And yes, Jesus died on the cross. For Paul that is real. But if Jesus is one of 10,000 dead Jews that year, from the perspective of Paul, how can the death of Jesus make the cross “foolishness?” (Slight pause.)
I think the cross, itself, is not what makes the cross absurd. It is the resurrection.
You see, in early Christian art, there is never a body on the cross. The cross is always empty. In early Christian art, the cross is not meant to recall death. It is meant to recall life, meant to recall the resurrection.
And that, my friends is the perspective of Paul. That is what makes the cross “foolishness.” The cross is empty. From the perspective of Paul Jesus lives. And for Paul that is real, more real than the cross, more real than death. (Slight pause.)
Well, what is the message we need to take away from our 200 years, our 2,014 years, our 5,774 years, our 13.8 billion light years? Put another way, from what perspective do we need to look when we see the empty cross?
I think we need to look at the cross from the same perspective Paul looked at the cross. We need to look at the cross understanding God is greater than we can imagine.
We need to look at the cross understanding, trusting, believing not in death but understanding, trusting, believing Christ has been raised. Indeed, from the perspective of Paul: Christ lives, Christ has been raised. That is the message of the cross. (Slight pause.)
So, I supposed the only question to be addressed is this: what message might the empty cross have for us after 200 years, 2,014 years, 5,774 years, 13.8 billion light years? For me, the message is made clear by the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah: Jesus lives. God is with us now. God is with us always. God is with us throughout eternity. Eternity— now there’s a long time. Amen.
01/26/2014
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: “So, here is a paradox for you: when you grapple with the idea that Jesus has been raised you are grappling with a spiritual experience not a logical or a physical experience. 20th Century Jesuit and theologian Karl Rahner said if Western Christianity does not rediscover its mystical foundations and roots, we might as well close the doors of the churches. Until people have had some level of inner religious experience, there is no point in asking them to follow the ethical ideals of Jesus or to understand Christian doctrines. Jesus has been raised: a spiritual experience.”
BENEDICTION: Go now— go in safety— for you cannot go where God is not. Go now— go in love— for love alone endures. Go now— go with purpose— and God will honor your dedication. And go now— go in peace— for it is a gift of God to those whose hearts and minds are in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] It should be noted that this meditation is shorter than most because the Annual Budget Meeting happens in the course of the service of worship. As might be obvious from the context of the opening remarks, this year is the 200th anniversary of the church.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
SERMON ~ 01/19/2014 ~ “The Church”
01/19/2014 ~ Second Sunday after the Epiphany ~ Known in Some Traditions as the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40:1-11; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42 ~ Weekend of the MLK Holiday ~ BTS Center Convocation Week.
The Church
“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified, consecrated, in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God, together with all those who, wherever they may be, call on the name of Jesus, the Christ, who is both their Savior and ours:...” — 1 Corinthians 1:2.
The information I’m about to offer you would get in a Bible As Literature undergraduate course in many colleges. Scholars believe Paul wrote only seven of the thirteen letters attributed to the Apostle.
It is also thought the first Epistle written, the earliest work in the Christian Scriptures, was to the church— ‘church’ meaning people, members of the church— the earliest Epistle written was to people in the Greek City of Thessalonika. That work is commonly called First Thessalonians and was composed about the year 52 of the Common Era.
The date most often assigned to the writing we heard today, First Corinthians, is 54 of the Common Era. We are fairly confident Paul died about the year 64. Hence, none of the seven letters authored by the Apostle could have been written at a later date.
We are fairly confident Jesus was raised in what we would call the year 30 of the Common Era. Scholars are equally confident the four Gospels were unlikely to have been composed until after the year 70, the first one being Mark. John was the last Gospel written as you heard earlier and it probably reached it’s final form about the year 100. [1]
What should be, therefore, obvious is twofold. First, the true Letters of Paul were composed before any of the Gospels. Second, the Gospels were recorded at least 40 years after Jesus had been raised. One was written some 70 years later.
So, I would also invite you to note when the works of Paul are considered— the works of Paul: First Thessalonians, Philippians, First and Second Corinthians, Galatians, Romans and Philemon— only Philemon, a personal letter to a friend— is not written to a community of faith. Only one letter of the seven is not written to a church.
Paul writes to churches, people. Paul writes to churches in towns we would today locate in Greece and Turkey— the towns of Thessalonika, Philippi, Corinth, Galatia. Finally Paul, knowing a trip to this location is about to be undertaken, writes a letter to the church, the community of faith, the people— the people in the church, in that group— located in the capital city of the Empire— Rome.
Some of these towns to which Paul writes are quite large. Those who study demographics in ancient times believe Rome had as many as 1,000,000 residents. And the Mediterranean Basin probably had better than 40,000,000 people.
I mention all these facts and statistics in order to ask a question: ‘what do those churches to whom Paul writes look like?’ ‘How many people do you think are in these churches to whom Paul writes?’ (Slight pause.) Now, do me a favor: if you’ve thought of a number, hold that number in your thoughts for a moment— number of people in that church, any of these churches. (Slight pause.)
Would it alter the number on which you decided if I told you historians believe that by the year 100 of the Common Era— 70 years after the resurrection of Jesus, 36 years after the death of Paul— the entire Mediterranean Basin with its 40,000,000 souls, had a Christian population of less than 10,000? (Slight pause.) You see, my point is when Paul is writing to all these churches— and clearly for two millennia we have treasured these letters— when Paul is writing to all these churches, they are made up of maybe 50 people each.
They meet in houses, not in public buildings. In short, they are what we in today’s society, would call small churches.
I was reminded of all this when I went to a clergy meeting this week. My colleague and friend, the Rev. Dr. Stephen Johnson, said something I knew. But he said it in a way I’d never heard it said before.
He said we tend to have the church of the 1950s stuck in our heads as a template. Therefore, what we fail to realize is the numbers we saw in the churches in the 1950s are a total anomaly, a very, very large deviation from what was historically normal.
How different was it? Well, we probably all think that at the time of the American Revolution everyone was God fearing— right? It’s often said today that this is a ‘Christian Nation’ and was founded by Christians.
Well, everyone might have been God fearing while the Revolution was in progress. But was everyone in church? No. In fact, the percentage of the population who were church members in 1776 was about 17%. (And the attendance was lower than that.)
So, what is (pardon the expression) ‘normal?’ (Slight pause.) I admit, the numbers I’m about to quote are a little out of date but not terribly so. And they do offer a realistic picture of what the church mostly looks like today. And these numbers might be a surprise to you also.
The percentage of churches with a weekly attendance— that’s an attendance— of 1,000 or more— your Joel Osteen, Robert Schuler style churches— churches with an attendance of 1,000 or more are less that one half of one percent of all the churches in America. Churches with a membership— that’s a membership not an attendance— churches with a membership of 100 or less number just over 50 percent of all the churches in America. (Slight pause.) So, what is normal? How should church be defined? (Slight pause.)
These words are in Fist Corinthians: “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified, consecrated, in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God, together with all those who, wherever they may be, call on the name of Jesus, the Christ, who is both their Savior and ours:...” (Slight pause.)
I think for Paul what is normal is quite obvious. For Paul normal is when church is defined as an assembly of people, no matter how many, who are called to be saints. Saints are people set apart to do the work of God and the will of God. (Slight pause.)
We humans have an interesting trait. We like to organize and, rumor to the contrary, we like to be organized. So, I think somewhere along the line Christianity, the church— which Paul describes as people called to be saints— this being called to be saints stopped being how we did church, stopped being what church is about.
What took over? What replaced Christianity? Church-ianity. We got organized. And church became about being organized instead of doing the work of God, instead of doing the will of God, instead of listening for the call of God. (Slight pause.)
I am sure you’ve noticed after the resurrection the descriptions of church structure in Scripture say there are only two offices. These are Deacons and Apostles.
In one sense, everyone is a Deacon. It’s not an elected office. Everyone is called to feed the hungry, clothe those in tatters, shelter the homeless.
The only reason the Apostles are split out is the work of the saints, the people of the church— feeding, clothing, sheltering— is so time consuming the Apostles need to be set apart so they can spend some time teaching. All of which is to say if there are only two real offices in the church Paul knew— that’s not a lot of structure; that’s not a lot of organization. (Slight pause.)
And guess what? Next week we will have the Annual Budget Meeting of the church in the 200th year of our organization. There’s that word again— organization.
Those of you who know me well realize I fully appreciate organization. Indeed, once it was known our church had re-worked its by-laws after I arrived, I was invited (that’s a euphuism) to participate in re-working the by-laws of both the Association and the Conference.
I suppose what I am trying to say is organization is important. But it is not church. Church is doing the work of God, the will of God, listening for the call of God.
Indeed, this weekend we celebrate the birth of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And why is it we celebrate King? Many will tell you we celebrate King because this cleric offered leadership to the Civil Rights movement.
I would maintain the real reason we celebrate King is the understanding of the work of the church as opposed to the organization known as church King brought to the mix. King understood doing the work of God, the will of God, listening for the call of God is vital. (Slight pause.)
So, what is church? How do we define church? When we start defining church with numbers, through buildings, with budgets, with by-laws we have it wrong. Church is people who are, in the words of Paul, “...called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God,...” Amen.
01/19/2014
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 we think church is about organization, it follows naturally that we might want to evangelize. After all, that’s the only way to grow an organization. Ask any Rotarian. Well, consider this from Barbara Brown Taylor: ‘The Desert Fathers and Mothers say the hardest spiritual work is to love the neighbor as the self— to encounter another not as someone you can use, change, fix, help, save, enroll, convince or control but as someone who can spring you from the prison of yourself, if you allow it.... And this can be as frightening as it is liberating as anything and may be the only real spiritual discipline.’”
BENEDICTION: Let us learn as faithful disciples of Christ. Let us know that God is available to us at any time and in any place. Let us give thanks for the grace of God in Christ, Jesus. Let us trust in God for all time and for all eternity. Amen.
[1] When the Gospel reading from John was introduced, this fact was mentioned.
The Church
“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified, consecrated, in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God, together with all those who, wherever they may be, call on the name of Jesus, the Christ, who is both their Savior and ours:...” — 1 Corinthians 1:2.
The information I’m about to offer you would get in a Bible As Literature undergraduate course in many colleges. Scholars believe Paul wrote only seven of the thirteen letters attributed to the Apostle.
It is also thought the first Epistle written, the earliest work in the Christian Scriptures, was to the church— ‘church’ meaning people, members of the church— the earliest Epistle written was to people in the Greek City of Thessalonika. That work is commonly called First Thessalonians and was composed about the year 52 of the Common Era.
The date most often assigned to the writing we heard today, First Corinthians, is 54 of the Common Era. We are fairly confident Paul died about the year 64. Hence, none of the seven letters authored by the Apostle could have been written at a later date.
We are fairly confident Jesus was raised in what we would call the year 30 of the Common Era. Scholars are equally confident the four Gospels were unlikely to have been composed until after the year 70, the first one being Mark. John was the last Gospel written as you heard earlier and it probably reached it’s final form about the year 100. [1]
What should be, therefore, obvious is twofold. First, the true Letters of Paul were composed before any of the Gospels. Second, the Gospels were recorded at least 40 years after Jesus had been raised. One was written some 70 years later.
So, I would also invite you to note when the works of Paul are considered— the works of Paul: First Thessalonians, Philippians, First and Second Corinthians, Galatians, Romans and Philemon— only Philemon, a personal letter to a friend— is not written to a community of faith. Only one letter of the seven is not written to a church.
Paul writes to churches, people. Paul writes to churches in towns we would today locate in Greece and Turkey— the towns of Thessalonika, Philippi, Corinth, Galatia. Finally Paul, knowing a trip to this location is about to be undertaken, writes a letter to the church, the community of faith, the people— the people in the church, in that group— located in the capital city of the Empire— Rome.
Some of these towns to which Paul writes are quite large. Those who study demographics in ancient times believe Rome had as many as 1,000,000 residents. And the Mediterranean Basin probably had better than 40,000,000 people.
I mention all these facts and statistics in order to ask a question: ‘what do those churches to whom Paul writes look like?’ ‘How many people do you think are in these churches to whom Paul writes?’ (Slight pause.) Now, do me a favor: if you’ve thought of a number, hold that number in your thoughts for a moment— number of people in that church, any of these churches. (Slight pause.)
Would it alter the number on which you decided if I told you historians believe that by the year 100 of the Common Era— 70 years after the resurrection of Jesus, 36 years after the death of Paul— the entire Mediterranean Basin with its 40,000,000 souls, had a Christian population of less than 10,000? (Slight pause.) You see, my point is when Paul is writing to all these churches— and clearly for two millennia we have treasured these letters— when Paul is writing to all these churches, they are made up of maybe 50 people each.
They meet in houses, not in public buildings. In short, they are what we in today’s society, would call small churches.
I was reminded of all this when I went to a clergy meeting this week. My colleague and friend, the Rev. Dr. Stephen Johnson, said something I knew. But he said it in a way I’d never heard it said before.
He said we tend to have the church of the 1950s stuck in our heads as a template. Therefore, what we fail to realize is the numbers we saw in the churches in the 1950s are a total anomaly, a very, very large deviation from what was historically normal.
How different was it? Well, we probably all think that at the time of the American Revolution everyone was God fearing— right? It’s often said today that this is a ‘Christian Nation’ and was founded by Christians.
Well, everyone might have been God fearing while the Revolution was in progress. But was everyone in church? No. In fact, the percentage of the population who were church members in 1776 was about 17%. (And the attendance was lower than that.)
So, what is (pardon the expression) ‘normal?’ (Slight pause.) I admit, the numbers I’m about to quote are a little out of date but not terribly so. And they do offer a realistic picture of what the church mostly looks like today. And these numbers might be a surprise to you also.
The percentage of churches with a weekly attendance— that’s an attendance— of 1,000 or more— your Joel Osteen, Robert Schuler style churches— churches with an attendance of 1,000 or more are less that one half of one percent of all the churches in America. Churches with a membership— that’s a membership not an attendance— churches with a membership of 100 or less number just over 50 percent of all the churches in America. (Slight pause.) So, what is normal? How should church be defined? (Slight pause.)
These words are in Fist Corinthians: “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified, consecrated, in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God, together with all those who, wherever they may be, call on the name of Jesus, the Christ, who is both their Savior and ours:...” (Slight pause.)
I think for Paul what is normal is quite obvious. For Paul normal is when church is defined as an assembly of people, no matter how many, who are called to be saints. Saints are people set apart to do the work of God and the will of God. (Slight pause.)
We humans have an interesting trait. We like to organize and, rumor to the contrary, we like to be organized. So, I think somewhere along the line Christianity, the church— which Paul describes as people called to be saints— this being called to be saints stopped being how we did church, stopped being what church is about.
What took over? What replaced Christianity? Church-ianity. We got organized. And church became about being organized instead of doing the work of God, instead of doing the will of God, instead of listening for the call of God. (Slight pause.)
I am sure you’ve noticed after the resurrection the descriptions of church structure in Scripture say there are only two offices. These are Deacons and Apostles.
In one sense, everyone is a Deacon. It’s not an elected office. Everyone is called to feed the hungry, clothe those in tatters, shelter the homeless.
The only reason the Apostles are split out is the work of the saints, the people of the church— feeding, clothing, sheltering— is so time consuming the Apostles need to be set apart so they can spend some time teaching. All of which is to say if there are only two real offices in the church Paul knew— that’s not a lot of structure; that’s not a lot of organization. (Slight pause.)
And guess what? Next week we will have the Annual Budget Meeting of the church in the 200th year of our organization. There’s that word again— organization.
Those of you who know me well realize I fully appreciate organization. Indeed, once it was known our church had re-worked its by-laws after I arrived, I was invited (that’s a euphuism) to participate in re-working the by-laws of both the Association and the Conference.
I suppose what I am trying to say is organization is important. But it is not church. Church is doing the work of God, the will of God, listening for the call of God.
Indeed, this weekend we celebrate the birth of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And why is it we celebrate King? Many will tell you we celebrate King because this cleric offered leadership to the Civil Rights movement.
I would maintain the real reason we celebrate King is the understanding of the work of the church as opposed to the organization known as church King brought to the mix. King understood doing the work of God, the will of God, listening for the call of God is vital. (Slight pause.)
So, what is church? How do we define church? When we start defining church with numbers, through buildings, with budgets, with by-laws we have it wrong. Church is people who are, in the words of Paul, “...called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God,...” Amen.
01/19/2014
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 we think church is about organization, it follows naturally that we might want to evangelize. After all, that’s the only way to grow an organization. Ask any Rotarian. Well, consider this from Barbara Brown Taylor: ‘The Desert Fathers and Mothers say the hardest spiritual work is to love the neighbor as the self— to encounter another not as someone you can use, change, fix, help, save, enroll, convince or control but as someone who can spring you from the prison of yourself, if you allow it.... And this can be as frightening as it is liberating as anything and may be the only real spiritual discipline.’”
BENEDICTION: Let us learn as faithful disciples of Christ. Let us know that God is available to us at any time and in any place. Let us give thanks for the grace of God in Christ, Jesus. Let us trust in God for all time and for all eternity. Amen.
[1] When the Gospel reading from John was introduced, this fact was mentioned.
Monday, January 13, 2014
SERMON ~ 01/12/2014 ~ “No Partiality”
01/12/2014 ~ First Sunday after the Epiphany, Known in Some Traditions as the Baptism of the Christ and Know in Some Traditions as the First Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17 ~ Communion Sunday - moved from 01/05/2014 Which Became Music Sunday.
No Partiality
“Peter began to speak to [those gathered at the home of the Roman Centurion, Cornelius]: ‘Now I begin to see that God shows no partiality. I truly understand, that in any nation anyone who is in awe of God and does what is right is acceptable to God.’” — Acts 10:34.
When it comes to my reading list— my personal, general reading— I am and have always been fond of biographies. I think one reason that’s true is no one, no individual, can be reduced to several words.
To use today’s slang no one can be or should be reduced to a sound bite. Indeed, I like biographies because most of the time you need at least a book length treatment of a person to do justice to, to delve into the complexities of anyone’s personality, to do justice to, to delve into the ambiguities of anyone’s life.
To use myself as an example, Bonnie, my wife Bonnie— sometimes, and rightfully so— says I’m a geek. She once got me a pocket protector as a present because she noticed I had been in the bad habit of carrying a number of pens in my shirt pocket. Occasionally, they leaked. Pens in a shirt pocket, which leak— how geek-y us that?
On the other hand, there is a distinctly non-geek side of me. In my younger years I played second base on a softball team in a parks league in Queens, New York. That team finished in second place for the whole county. Mind you, we lost the championship game by a score of 19 to 1. But we did come in second.
Further, I was 35 before I had my first sit down, behind a desk, kind of job. I was always on my feet. Even when I worked at a brokerage I had to walk back and forth all over the floor of the 5 World Trade Center building.
That floor was the equivalent of a full square city block. I always wore a pedometer and most days I would log about seven miles. That doesn’t sound too ‘geek-y’ to me. As I said, it is impossible to define anyone in a couple of words. We are all by far too complex for that.
This leads me to a story, one which I may have told before, but if I did it was a long, long time ago. It’s about something which happened to me when I was in High School.
From the history about myself just outlined, you might be thinking— “Well, Joe only got geek-y when he got older.” And that would be wrong. As would be true of anyone, I am— my story, my history is— by far more complex and textured than that. The first two years of my High School career were spent in a parochial school under the tutelage of the Christian Brothers. In a history class one of the teachers, a cleric, pointed out the book of Luke and the Book of Acts were two volumes of one book, written by the same author at the same time. The Gospel of John somehow got stuck in between.
Having heard that information, the geek-y side of this active teen went home, pulled the Bible off the bookshelf and read through Luke and Acts as if they were one book. (Slight pause.) If I have said this once I have said it a hundred times. For me, reading Luke and Acts as one book was a conversion experience. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from Luke/Acts in the section commonly called Acts: “Peter began to speak to [those gathered at the home of the Roman Centurion, Cornelius]: ‘Now I begin to see that God shows no partiality, I truly understand, that in any nation anyone who is in awe of God and does what is right is acceptable to God.’” (Slight pause.)
The lectionary readings we hear on Sunday often do not tell the complete story. The portion of this story at the beginning of Chapter 10 we do not hear says Cornelius sees a vision. An angel instructs this Centurion to seek out Peter.
Cornelius and all of the household of this Centurion are described as (quote:) “God fearing.” In short, they are Gentiles who attend a local Jewish Synagogue and believe the God the Jews proclaim is the One True God.
But, as Gentiles— as uncircumcised— even if they go to the Synagogue and believe, they do not conform to the law. Hence, they can never be real members of the community.
In the meantime Peter has a vision. In the vision the Apostle sees a sheet lowered from the sky which has all kinds of animals in it. In terms of Jewish law, these animals should not be together because they are considered clean and unclean— animals fit for consumption and not fit for consumption.
An angel tells Peter to kill all the animals and to eat them all. This action does not conform to Jewish law. Yet this action is contained in a message from an angel.
Peter is confused. And that is when the people Cornelius has sent to fetch Peter show up and ask the Apostle to return with them.
Peter travels to the house of Cornelius. And this is where today’s reading picks up, with the response of Peter in the form of a sermon.
That brings me back to what I have labeled as my conversion, to my taking the Bible off the shelf and reading the Book known as Luke and the Book known as Acts as if they were one book. If you do that— and, indeed, I challenge you to do that— to sit down and read these books as one— I think you will find this story becomes pivotal. It sums up much of what the writer of Luke/Acts has to say.
And what is it the writer of Luke/Acts says throughout this writing? God is a God of all people, not just some. God is not a God of retribution.
Lt me add to that, though, some more things that can be drawn out of this writing. God is a God of the poor. God is a God of the rich. God is a God of the outcast. God is a God of the socially acceptable.
Perhaps more importantly, God is a God of mercy. God is a God of hope. God is a God of peace. God is a God of relationship. God is a God of freedom. God is a God of joy. God is a God of justice. God is a God of love. (Slight pause.)
I want you to notice some things about what I just said. First, if someone pictures God as a God of mercy, hope, peace, relationship, freedom, joy, justice, love— that pictures God as having many attributes. In short, God cannot be summed up one way. God is not one dimensional. God is not a sound bite.
On the other hand, when God is pictured as a God of retribution, that is a one dimensional God. God gets put in a box. God becomes a sound bite.
Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann has said the God of Scripture is drawn with intentional, artistic illusiveness. Intentional, artistic illusiveness— said another way, you cannot and should not put God in a box. You cannot and should not make God a sound bite.
And the box in which we humans seem to try to place God most often says God is not a God of all people. God is only a God of my group, my tribe, my race, etc., etc., etc.
If there is any lesson to be learned, if there is any conversion to happen when we read Luke/Acts, it is summed up in the words of Peter. (Quote:) “...God shows no partiality,....” (Slight pause.) I think when we understand God accepts all people, and can truly embrace and faithfully live out the imperative that God accepts all people, then we have had a conversion experience. Amen.
01/12/2014
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: “Community of Christ— [1] that actually came up in our adult study this morning. Community— together— you can’t commune with God unless you are in community. Now, that’s blasphemy in terms of modern thinking. It’s ancient thinking. Ancient thinking says (rumor to the contrary) ‘love your neighbor.’ You can only love your neighbor in community.”
BENEDICTION: May the Spirit of the God of light and love, the God of truth and justice, the God of song and joy, the God of all, be with you this day and forever more. Amen.
[1] Community of Christ (NCH # 314) was the closing hymn.
No Partiality
“Peter began to speak to [those gathered at the home of the Roman Centurion, Cornelius]: ‘Now I begin to see that God shows no partiality. I truly understand, that in any nation anyone who is in awe of God and does what is right is acceptable to God.’” — Acts 10:34.
When it comes to my reading list— my personal, general reading— I am and have always been fond of biographies. I think one reason that’s true is no one, no individual, can be reduced to several words.
To use today’s slang no one can be or should be reduced to a sound bite. Indeed, I like biographies because most of the time you need at least a book length treatment of a person to do justice to, to delve into the complexities of anyone’s personality, to do justice to, to delve into the ambiguities of anyone’s life.
To use myself as an example, Bonnie, my wife Bonnie— sometimes, and rightfully so— says I’m a geek. She once got me a pocket protector as a present because she noticed I had been in the bad habit of carrying a number of pens in my shirt pocket. Occasionally, they leaked. Pens in a shirt pocket, which leak— how geek-y us that?
On the other hand, there is a distinctly non-geek side of me. In my younger years I played second base on a softball team in a parks league in Queens, New York. That team finished in second place for the whole county. Mind you, we lost the championship game by a score of 19 to 1. But we did come in second.
Further, I was 35 before I had my first sit down, behind a desk, kind of job. I was always on my feet. Even when I worked at a brokerage I had to walk back and forth all over the floor of the 5 World Trade Center building.
That floor was the equivalent of a full square city block. I always wore a pedometer and most days I would log about seven miles. That doesn’t sound too ‘geek-y’ to me. As I said, it is impossible to define anyone in a couple of words. We are all by far too complex for that.
This leads me to a story, one which I may have told before, but if I did it was a long, long time ago. It’s about something which happened to me when I was in High School.
From the history about myself just outlined, you might be thinking— “Well, Joe only got geek-y when he got older.” And that would be wrong. As would be true of anyone, I am— my story, my history is— by far more complex and textured than that. The first two years of my High School career were spent in a parochial school under the tutelage of the Christian Brothers. In a history class one of the teachers, a cleric, pointed out the book of Luke and the Book of Acts were two volumes of one book, written by the same author at the same time. The Gospel of John somehow got stuck in between.
Having heard that information, the geek-y side of this active teen went home, pulled the Bible off the bookshelf and read through Luke and Acts as if they were one book. (Slight pause.) If I have said this once I have said it a hundred times. For me, reading Luke and Acts as one book was a conversion experience. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from Luke/Acts in the section commonly called Acts: “Peter began to speak to [those gathered at the home of the Roman Centurion, Cornelius]: ‘Now I begin to see that God shows no partiality, I truly understand, that in any nation anyone who is in awe of God and does what is right is acceptable to God.’” (Slight pause.)
The lectionary readings we hear on Sunday often do not tell the complete story. The portion of this story at the beginning of Chapter 10 we do not hear says Cornelius sees a vision. An angel instructs this Centurion to seek out Peter.
Cornelius and all of the household of this Centurion are described as (quote:) “God fearing.” In short, they are Gentiles who attend a local Jewish Synagogue and believe the God the Jews proclaim is the One True God.
But, as Gentiles— as uncircumcised— even if they go to the Synagogue and believe, they do not conform to the law. Hence, they can never be real members of the community.
In the meantime Peter has a vision. In the vision the Apostle sees a sheet lowered from the sky which has all kinds of animals in it. In terms of Jewish law, these animals should not be together because they are considered clean and unclean— animals fit for consumption and not fit for consumption.
An angel tells Peter to kill all the animals and to eat them all. This action does not conform to Jewish law. Yet this action is contained in a message from an angel.
Peter is confused. And that is when the people Cornelius has sent to fetch Peter show up and ask the Apostle to return with them.
Peter travels to the house of Cornelius. And this is where today’s reading picks up, with the response of Peter in the form of a sermon.
That brings me back to what I have labeled as my conversion, to my taking the Bible off the shelf and reading the Book known as Luke and the Book known as Acts as if they were one book. If you do that— and, indeed, I challenge you to do that— to sit down and read these books as one— I think you will find this story becomes pivotal. It sums up much of what the writer of Luke/Acts has to say.
And what is it the writer of Luke/Acts says throughout this writing? God is a God of all people, not just some. God is not a God of retribution.
Lt me add to that, though, some more things that can be drawn out of this writing. God is a God of the poor. God is a God of the rich. God is a God of the outcast. God is a God of the socially acceptable.
Perhaps more importantly, God is a God of mercy. God is a God of hope. God is a God of peace. God is a God of relationship. God is a God of freedom. God is a God of joy. God is a God of justice. God is a God of love. (Slight pause.)
I want you to notice some things about what I just said. First, if someone pictures God as a God of mercy, hope, peace, relationship, freedom, joy, justice, love— that pictures God as having many attributes. In short, God cannot be summed up one way. God is not one dimensional. God is not a sound bite.
On the other hand, when God is pictured as a God of retribution, that is a one dimensional God. God gets put in a box. God becomes a sound bite.
Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann has said the God of Scripture is drawn with intentional, artistic illusiveness. Intentional, artistic illusiveness— said another way, you cannot and should not put God in a box. You cannot and should not make God a sound bite.
And the box in which we humans seem to try to place God most often says God is not a God of all people. God is only a God of my group, my tribe, my race, etc., etc., etc.
If there is any lesson to be learned, if there is any conversion to happen when we read Luke/Acts, it is summed up in the words of Peter. (Quote:) “...God shows no partiality,....” (Slight pause.) I think when we understand God accepts all people, and can truly embrace and faithfully live out the imperative that God accepts all people, then we have had a conversion experience. Amen.
01/12/2014
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: “Community of Christ— [1] that actually came up in our adult study this morning. Community— together— you can’t commune with God unless you are in community. Now, that’s blasphemy in terms of modern thinking. It’s ancient thinking. Ancient thinking says (rumor to the contrary) ‘love your neighbor.’ You can only love your neighbor in community.”
BENEDICTION: May the Spirit of the God of light and love, the God of truth and justice, the God of song and joy, the God of all, be with you this day and forever more. Amen.
[1] Community of Christ (NCH # 314) was the closing hymn.
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