03/22/2015 ~ Fifth Sunday in Lent ~ Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 119:9-16; Hebrews 5:5-10; John 12:20-33 ~ Soup and Bread Sunday.
Covenant, Part V:
Love God— It’s Emotional [1]
“...this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my Law within them, in their minds, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” — Jeremiah 31:33.
I have a friend in Maine who owns a Christmas tree farm. He says there really is such a thing as the perfect Christmas tree. It exists not in reality but in memory.
It exists only in the adult memory of childhood. Adult memory transforms the childhood Christmas tree into perfection.
Well, for reasons which escape me, last week I was conjuring up in my childhood memory a different perfect tree— a tree in a Merrie Melodies cartoon. Why that childhood memory was haunting me I don’t know. But these days we do have the Internet. So I was able to do some research and find the cartoon in question.
In this animation a dog says he’s off to catch a fox and just before he takes off at a gallop he insists, (quote:) “I know every tree in this forest!” At which point the dog in question runs helter-skelter and slams dead center into a tree, does total a face-plant.
The canine groans, “I know every tree in this forest! And here’s one of them.” It’s a cartoon. So the dog turns into liquid, slides down the side of the tree and becomes a puddle on the ground.
My adult memory of childhood says this was one of the funniest things I had ever seen— a dog doing a face-plant into a tree he knew was there— a perfectly funny tree. Now, I still think that scene is funny as an adult but for different reasons.
I think it’s funny because it illustrates something we all do nearly daily. We concentrate on where each tree is; each detail in our life is located. We pay attention to trees. And we ignore the forest. We pay attention to minutiae but ignore the big picture. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Jeremiah: “...this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my Law within them, in their minds, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Slight pause.)
I’m a veteran. The army told me it likes to break work down into little pieces. That way no piece overwhelms one soldier. Once all the little pieces get put together, the whole job gets done. And we are adept at breaking things into pieces.
But Scripture says the creation is singular. Everything is one. Everything is within the realm of God. There are no pieces.
We often take the words from Jeremiah and think they split out the mind from heart. I want to suggest these words mean not only do the mind and the heart need to be one but if anything the heart, not the mind, leads.
You see first and foremost, this passage is an insistence on the part of God that intentional, intertwined relationship is pivotal. That is a heart first vision, a vision which does not happen without or split out from the heart.
Second, God knows us. This indicates a depth of loving which overcomes and obliterates all social stratifications. There is no elitism, no dominant, powerful people.
This tends to be an issue for us because we do have a proclivity to split the world into pieces. We do tend to split out mind and heart, whereas God sees the world as one.
Further, that we are one people is a very hard concept for us, a very hard concept for our intellect. We like winners and losers. We like tribes. We are very good at splitting things into pieces, at identifying trees— not so good at identifying forests, seeing the whole.
That is why covenant love is the key here. When we split things into trees— elitism, domination and power come to the fore. Love is and needs to be the unifying glue for us, the glue which says there is no elitism, no domination, no power. There is only the love of God.
As the poem by Ann Weems Linda shared with us earlier said, “We’re good at planning!... It’s between parades that we don’t do so well.” [2] And in one of her poems the poet Maren Tirabassi says this, “Dear God, forgive us our illiteracy of the heart”— illiteracy of the heart.
I suspect that brand of illiteracy comes largely from concentrating on trees. And yes— trees are important. Trees are real. But we also slam right into them, do a face plant, way too often.
Unless we realize we are engulfed and embraced first by the love God offers, it matters not how many trees we encounter, how many trees we identify, how many trees we analyze. Indeed, the promise of God is that the trees are written on our hearts. The promise of God is that the trees are written on our hearts so we will recognize that trees make up big forest called love. Amen.
03/22/2015
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: “In Modern society it is often said, ‘Christ died for our sins.’ But that was not where the church was at for the first one thousand years of Christianity. It became a tree and we slammed right into it, did a face plant in it. Catholic priest and theologian says this (quote): ‘With that view, salvation depends upon a problem instead of a divine proclamation about the core nature of reality.... Jesus did not come to change the mind of God about humanity. Jesus came to change the mind of humanity about God.’ [3] This message is simple. Christ was raised for our sins. Everything, you see, starts with the love of God. It’s about the forest.”
BENEDICTION: God has written the law of love within us. We are empowered to live according to that law, through the Redeemer, Jesus. In Christ, we experience God’s presence together. Where Christ leads, let us follow. Where God calls us to service, let us go. And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge of God, the love of Jesus, the Christ and the companionship of the Holy Spirit, this day and forevermore. Amen.
[1] Note: this meditation was shorter than many offered by the pastor because the Church School offered a program in the course of the service.
[2] From the poem Between Parades by Ann Weems from her work Kneeling in Jerusalem.
[3]
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Richard-Rohr-s-Meditation--Love--Not-Atonement.html?soid=1103098668616&aid=iXa_UNn2YaQ
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Sunday, March 15, 2015
SERMON ~ 03/15/2015 ~ “Covenant, Part IV: Embracing Our Work of Art”
03/15/2015 ~ Fourth Sunday in Lent ~ Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21.
Covenant, Part IV:
Embracing Our Work of Art
“For we are what God has made us, God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to do the good things, which God prepared for us to do beforehand, from the beginning, to be our way of life.” — Ephesians 2:10.
The Rev. Ms. Nadia Bolz-Weber is an interesting person. She is a Lutheran. She is the founding pastor of the House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado.
That church is in the denomination known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America— the same denomination as the folks from Christ Lutheran, right here in Norwich. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America labels the House for All Sinners and Saints as a mission congregation. I am not sure why that church carries this label, since it is an active, growing church of several hundred in the middle of a growing major metropolitan area.
Perhaps some of the label has to do with the fact that a staid Main Line Denomination is less than comfortable with either the Rev. Ms. Bolz-Weber or with the make up of the congregation. Neither of those— the pastor or the congregation— can be labeled as staid or fits preconceived notions of what a staid Main Line church looks like.
As for the Congregation, a story on National Public Radio described the people who attend the church this way: the congregation follows traditional Christian rites and a service looks like the traditional service in many other churches. At appropriate and appointed times the people sit and the people stand.
The people sing very traditional sounding hymns. However, the congregation does not seem to quite fit a traditional mode in terms of who attends. They look more like a crowd at a downtown metropolitan bookshop — hipsters, college professors, gay couples, grandmas in jeans and sweatshirts or hood-ies— than they look like the usual suspects.
As for Ms. Bolz-Weber— NPR used this description: the pastor, in her early forties, has short, dyed, moussed hair. She also has arm-loads of religious tattoos.
And yes, I’ve seen pictures of Nadia. Her arms are plastered with tattoos. Further, though she always wears a Roman collar signifying her office, she often wears short sleeve shirts. This sartorial choice means her tattoos are on full display. [1]
Additionally, I need to point out Pastor Bolz-Weber is a writer. Her books include Salvation on the Small Screen? 24 Hours of Christian Television and Pastrix— that’s p-a-s-t-r-i-x— Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint.
In a recent sermon Bolz-Weber told a personal story. She started by explaining why she missed Vespers the previous week. The fact that this congregation has a Vespers service tells you something about an adherence by this congregation to basic Lutheran traditions. In any case, she missed Vespers because she was in bed, sick with the flu.
These days she stays in bed when she has the flu because of something which happened 12 years ago. At that point in time, still in school, she felt driven to prove herself by finishing a thesis while having 2 pre-school children at home and maintaining a high GPA. She was convinced that she would, thereby, impress all her professors.
Well, when she was sick those 12 years ago with the flu, instead of going to bed, she kept going, kept working, not missing a beat. But she was so sick she passed out while driving, while behind the wheel of a car.
She is thankful it happened near her house, in her neighborhood, and not on a highway. Therefore, instead of crashing into other cars, she merely plowed down a neighbor’s mailbox before her car stopped in their snow covered flowerbed.
After the crash, when she came to and opened the door of the car, she passed out again in a snow-bank. The next time she regained consciousness paramedics were standing over her. Having earlier in her life been addicted to alcohol, the first thing she said to them was, “I’m not drunk.” Then she passed out again.
Later the ER doctor insisted there not a thing wrong with her except she had the flu. Then the doctor added, “When you’re that sick you need to go home and lay down. Do not, under any circumstances, drive.”
In that sermon Pastor Bolz-Weber said she hated that idea of going to bed. Why? Because it was a disruption to her very, very driven personality. You see, she placed her trust in her ability to perform. She placed her trust in her ability to do it all. She thought she was the one who controlled the possibility of perfection. [2] (Slight pause.)
These words are from the work known as Ephesians: “For we are what God has made us, God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to do the good things, which God prepared for us to do beforehand, from the beginning, to be our way of life.” (Slight pause.)
Early in this reading from Ephesians we hear the word “saved.” Being saved— not a term heard very much in Main Line churches these days. Perhaps it conjures up too many recollections of old-time revivals, when and where people “got saved.” Even if only for a short spell— that got saved.
On the other hand, “saved” is a prominent biblical term. We also heard it in the Gospel reading. Perhaps we need to dust it off and have another look at it.
In fact, let my give you an interesting definition. I want to suggest saved means “life.” Indeed, saved means God gives life. Saved means we have God given life. (Slight pause.)
The entire history of both Judaism and Christianity agree on this: God gives life. Put another way, God is the prime mover. Hence and therefore, we are what the writer of Ephesians says we are— we are (quote:) “God’s work of art.”
So, the question for me is not “how do I grow into that?” I am there. You are there. We are God’s work of art already. Indeed, if we are God’s work of art, the question becomes, “How do we become comfortable with that?”
And that, I think, is the rub, the problem. I think we are not often comfortable with that. You see, when earlier I said Pastor Bolz-Weber placed her trust in her ability to do it all, I think that often we all fall into the same mode. We place our trust in our own ability to do it all.
When we place our trust in our own ability to do it all we forget two things. We forget we need to place our trust in God. And we forget we are God’s work of art.
The Lenten Devotional from Luther Seminary we made available for the asking this year puts it this way. (Quote:) “I used to think it was my job to save the world. It was exhausting, not to mention misguided. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment when I began to understand that it is God who does the saving”— and remember, in the context of Scripture saving means life giving— “I began to understand that it is God who does the saving. And I learned it was okay to surrender to God’s work and enjoy God’s gift of grace.”
That booklet continues: “Paul points out to the Ephesians that Christ invites us to partner in God’s redeeming work in the world. It’s not up to us alone to save; nor are we given an extra star on our heavenly deeds chart for the good we do. Each of us is particularly equipped by the Spirit to serve our neighbor and through faith we trust that God works in, despite and through us.” — words from A Lenten Devotional. [3] (Slight pause.)
I am well convinced that in order to deeply and truly love ourselves, we need to understand ourselves as God’s work of art. I am also well convinced that once we deeply and truly love ourselves because we are God’s work of art, then we become empowered to love others.
And what does it mean to love others? Often to love others means to simply be there for them, not to fix anything in particular, but just to let them know we are there to be present, to be a presence, to support, to offer care.
To be gentle in that way can be quite hard— to be a presence— to be gentle in that way , since fixing is something we humans like to do. Again, like Pastor Bolz-Weber, often we believe it’s our job to preform, to get results, to fix things, to work until we make perfection our own possession. (Slight pause.)
Well, I need to notice the track of this line of thought takes. First, once we recognize we are God’s work of art we can then come to a deeper and fuller understanding of what it means when it’s said God loves us.
Once we come to a deeper and fuller understanding when it’s said God loves us, we realize two things. First, perfection is not our doing nor our work. It is the work of God. Second, God calls us to love others since they are also God’s works of art.
Put differently, understanding we are God’s work of art, understanding God loves us that much, empowers us to love God and to love neighbor. Gee— love God; love neighbor. I think I have heard that somewhere before. Amen.
03/15/2015
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: “These days a lot of people talk about spirituality. Theologian Richard Rohr has this to say on that topic: ‘Authentic spirituality is.... is not and never has been about trying to change anyone else.’ I need to add something else: true Spirituality is about arriving at a deep understanding that we are not God. Only God is God.”
BENEDICTION: There is but one message in Scripture: God loves us. Let us endeavor to let God’s love shine forth in our lives. For with God’s love and goodness, there is power to redeem, power to revive, power to renew, power to resurrect. So, may the love of God the Creator which is real, the Peace of the Christ which surpasses all understanding and companionship of the Holy Spirit which is ever present, keep our hearts and minds in God’s knowledge and care this day and forever more. Amen.
[1]
http://www.npr.org/2013/12/20/255281434/pastor-leads-a-new-brand-of-church-for-sinners-and-saints
[2]
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nadiabolzweber/2015/03/a-sermon-on-addiction-and-the-problem-with-our-me-based-solutions/
[3] It should be noted that it’s unlikely Paul wrote Ephesians despite what the Lenten Devotional said.
Covenant, Part IV:
Embracing Our Work of Art
“For we are what God has made us, God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to do the good things, which God prepared for us to do beforehand, from the beginning, to be our way of life.” — Ephesians 2:10.
The Rev. Ms. Nadia Bolz-Weber is an interesting person. She is a Lutheran. She is the founding pastor of the House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado.
That church is in the denomination known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America— the same denomination as the folks from Christ Lutheran, right here in Norwich. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America labels the House for All Sinners and Saints as a mission congregation. I am not sure why that church carries this label, since it is an active, growing church of several hundred in the middle of a growing major metropolitan area.
Perhaps some of the label has to do with the fact that a staid Main Line Denomination is less than comfortable with either the Rev. Ms. Bolz-Weber or with the make up of the congregation. Neither of those— the pastor or the congregation— can be labeled as staid or fits preconceived notions of what a staid Main Line church looks like.
As for the Congregation, a story on National Public Radio described the people who attend the church this way: the congregation follows traditional Christian rites and a service looks like the traditional service in many other churches. At appropriate and appointed times the people sit and the people stand.
The people sing very traditional sounding hymns. However, the congregation does not seem to quite fit a traditional mode in terms of who attends. They look more like a crowd at a downtown metropolitan bookshop — hipsters, college professors, gay couples, grandmas in jeans and sweatshirts or hood-ies— than they look like the usual suspects.
As for Ms. Bolz-Weber— NPR used this description: the pastor, in her early forties, has short, dyed, moussed hair. She also has arm-loads of religious tattoos.
And yes, I’ve seen pictures of Nadia. Her arms are plastered with tattoos. Further, though she always wears a Roman collar signifying her office, she often wears short sleeve shirts. This sartorial choice means her tattoos are on full display. [1]
Additionally, I need to point out Pastor Bolz-Weber is a writer. Her books include Salvation on the Small Screen? 24 Hours of Christian Television and Pastrix— that’s p-a-s-t-r-i-x— Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint.
In a recent sermon Bolz-Weber told a personal story. She started by explaining why she missed Vespers the previous week. The fact that this congregation has a Vespers service tells you something about an adherence by this congregation to basic Lutheran traditions. In any case, she missed Vespers because she was in bed, sick with the flu.
These days she stays in bed when she has the flu because of something which happened 12 years ago. At that point in time, still in school, she felt driven to prove herself by finishing a thesis while having 2 pre-school children at home and maintaining a high GPA. She was convinced that she would, thereby, impress all her professors.
Well, when she was sick those 12 years ago with the flu, instead of going to bed, she kept going, kept working, not missing a beat. But she was so sick she passed out while driving, while behind the wheel of a car.
She is thankful it happened near her house, in her neighborhood, and not on a highway. Therefore, instead of crashing into other cars, she merely plowed down a neighbor’s mailbox before her car stopped in their snow covered flowerbed.
After the crash, when she came to and opened the door of the car, she passed out again in a snow-bank. The next time she regained consciousness paramedics were standing over her. Having earlier in her life been addicted to alcohol, the first thing she said to them was, “I’m not drunk.” Then she passed out again.
Later the ER doctor insisted there not a thing wrong with her except she had the flu. Then the doctor added, “When you’re that sick you need to go home and lay down. Do not, under any circumstances, drive.”
In that sermon Pastor Bolz-Weber said she hated that idea of going to bed. Why? Because it was a disruption to her very, very driven personality. You see, she placed her trust in her ability to perform. She placed her trust in her ability to do it all. She thought she was the one who controlled the possibility of perfection. [2] (Slight pause.)
These words are from the work known as Ephesians: “For we are what God has made us, God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to do the good things, which God prepared for us to do beforehand, from the beginning, to be our way of life.” (Slight pause.)
Early in this reading from Ephesians we hear the word “saved.” Being saved— not a term heard very much in Main Line churches these days. Perhaps it conjures up too many recollections of old-time revivals, when and where people “got saved.” Even if only for a short spell— that got saved.
On the other hand, “saved” is a prominent biblical term. We also heard it in the Gospel reading. Perhaps we need to dust it off and have another look at it.
In fact, let my give you an interesting definition. I want to suggest saved means “life.” Indeed, saved means God gives life. Saved means we have God given life. (Slight pause.)
The entire history of both Judaism and Christianity agree on this: God gives life. Put another way, God is the prime mover. Hence and therefore, we are what the writer of Ephesians says we are— we are (quote:) “God’s work of art.”
So, the question for me is not “how do I grow into that?” I am there. You are there. We are God’s work of art already. Indeed, if we are God’s work of art, the question becomes, “How do we become comfortable with that?”
And that, I think, is the rub, the problem. I think we are not often comfortable with that. You see, when earlier I said Pastor Bolz-Weber placed her trust in her ability to do it all, I think that often we all fall into the same mode. We place our trust in our own ability to do it all.
When we place our trust in our own ability to do it all we forget two things. We forget we need to place our trust in God. And we forget we are God’s work of art.
The Lenten Devotional from Luther Seminary we made available for the asking this year puts it this way. (Quote:) “I used to think it was my job to save the world. It was exhausting, not to mention misguided. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment when I began to understand that it is God who does the saving”— and remember, in the context of Scripture saving means life giving— “I began to understand that it is God who does the saving. And I learned it was okay to surrender to God’s work and enjoy God’s gift of grace.”
That booklet continues: “Paul points out to the Ephesians that Christ invites us to partner in God’s redeeming work in the world. It’s not up to us alone to save; nor are we given an extra star on our heavenly deeds chart for the good we do. Each of us is particularly equipped by the Spirit to serve our neighbor and through faith we trust that God works in, despite and through us.” — words from A Lenten Devotional. [3] (Slight pause.)
I am well convinced that in order to deeply and truly love ourselves, we need to understand ourselves as God’s work of art. I am also well convinced that once we deeply and truly love ourselves because we are God’s work of art, then we become empowered to love others.
And what does it mean to love others? Often to love others means to simply be there for them, not to fix anything in particular, but just to let them know we are there to be present, to be a presence, to support, to offer care.
To be gentle in that way can be quite hard— to be a presence— to be gentle in that way , since fixing is something we humans like to do. Again, like Pastor Bolz-Weber, often we believe it’s our job to preform, to get results, to fix things, to work until we make perfection our own possession. (Slight pause.)
Well, I need to notice the track of this line of thought takes. First, once we recognize we are God’s work of art we can then come to a deeper and fuller understanding of what it means when it’s said God loves us.
Once we come to a deeper and fuller understanding when it’s said God loves us, we realize two things. First, perfection is not our doing nor our work. It is the work of God. Second, God calls us to love others since they are also God’s works of art.
Put differently, understanding we are God’s work of art, understanding God loves us that much, empowers us to love God and to love neighbor. Gee— love God; love neighbor. I think I have heard that somewhere before. Amen.
03/15/2015
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: “These days a lot of people talk about spirituality. Theologian Richard Rohr has this to say on that topic: ‘Authentic spirituality is.... is not and never has been about trying to change anyone else.’ I need to add something else: true Spirituality is about arriving at a deep understanding that we are not God. Only God is God.”
BENEDICTION: There is but one message in Scripture: God loves us. Let us endeavor to let God’s love shine forth in our lives. For with God’s love and goodness, there is power to redeem, power to revive, power to renew, power to resurrect. So, may the love of God the Creator which is real, the Peace of the Christ which surpasses all understanding and companionship of the Holy Spirit which is ever present, keep our hearts and minds in God’s knowledge and care this day and forever more. Amen.
[1]
http://www.npr.org/2013/12/20/255281434/pastor-leads-a-new-brand-of-church-for-sinners-and-saints
[2]
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nadiabolzweber/2015/03/a-sermon-on-addiction-and-the-problem-with-our-me-based-solutions/
[3] It should be noted that it’s unlikely Paul wrote Ephesians despite what the Lenten Devotional said.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
SERMON ~ 03/08/2015 ~ “The Covenant, Part III: or Don’t You Get It?”
03/08/2015 ~ Third Sunday in Lent ~ Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; John 2:13-22.
The Covenant, Part III:
or Don’t You Get It?
“But we proclaim and we preach a Christ Who is crucified, a Messiah Who is nailed to a cross. To the Jews this is a stumbling block, an obstacle they cannot overcome; to the Greeks this is foolishness, madness.” — 1 Corinthians 1:23.
Many of you know Tom Rasely. In case you do not Tom Rasely, he was our Music Associate— guitarist, composer, arranger, jack of all trades— with this church for a little better than five years. Then he and his wife Cindy moved to Southern Indiana some three years ago to be closer to their grandchildren.
Well, Tom and Cindy have decided to pull up stakes again and move to Southwestern Michigan, which is even closer to their grandchildren. Grandchildren are precious and proximity is desirable. Now, if you do know Tom, it would also probably not surprise you if I said he had been working as a church musician in Southern Indiana.
But he is moving. So last Sunday, his final week in that church musician post, he was also the preacher. If you know Tom that also probably does not surprise you. What follows is a précis of that message. (Slight pause.)
When I was younger, I spent the better part of 5 years on the road. I toured through 26 states and Canada, playing my songs at Christian music concerts. Most of the time at these events a musician is expected to deliver their own testimony.
I never did. I consider the typical testimony, the way it is too often given, as being more than a bit egotistical and egocentric. The standard testimony makes a presumption that I know something about God you don’t or that something happened to me which is way more special than anything that’s ever happened to you.
Additionally, the testimony most often heard centers around a particularly heinous problem which got straightened out: drug addiction or grand theft, for example. Shock rather than sincerity is obviously the technique used and is perhaps even the message intended.
The other type of testimony often heard is more personal but equally problematic. It’s the kind which says something like ‘I survived four or five major heart attacks and God saved my life.’ That makes a less than kind assumption. It assumes the person who did not survive one heart attack fails to be worthy as is the person who has survived five.
I think if I were to give a testimony, said Tom, it would go something like this: “I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.” (Slight pause.) Well, that’s pretty boring, is it not? he said.
Even then, there are two first person singular pronouns in the statement. And my point is it’s not about me. It’s about God. It’s about God so loving the world.
Therefore, it’s not about God loving just me. And it’s not about God loving just you. It’s about God who so loved the world that God did not condemn the world. It’s about the Word Who became flesh and dwelt for a while among us.
And the bottom line is we meet here in church because God first loved us. That’s loved us as in loved everyone. And if that’s not the case, if God does not love everyone, then God does not love the world. And then we all ought to leave right now, go to McDonalds, have a cup of coffee and go home. (I know— those of you who know Tom can really hear Tom’s voice in that line!)
Then he said, you see we meet as community because God loves us. When we carry that message and that message alone out these doors and into the street, I think we finally hear a testimony worth giving. It’s not a testimony filled with I, me and mine.
This is a testimony given in community and a testimony filled with community. This is a testimony filled with love of the Creator. This is a testimony filled with love of the Creator that makes this claim: the Creator is the origin of love, itself. That’s a message we need to carry out of door and into the world. (Slight pause.)
Tom continued: we are now in the season of Lent. Lent is not a time of darkness, as some would have it.
Lent is a time of preparation, a time to consider what life would be like without the light of the love God offers. Lent is a time to remember we should arise and shine for (as Isaiah prophesied) our light has come.
We are, you see, not a people of the crucifixion. We are a people of the resurrection. God came to be with us in Jesus. God came to be one with us, to help us understand there is no gap. [1] — Tom Rasely. (Slight pause.)
And we hear from Paul in First Corinthians where these words are recorded: “But we proclaim and we preach a Christ Who is crucified, a Messiah Who is nailed to a cross. To the Jews this is a stumbling block, an obstacle they cannot overcome; to the Greeks this is foolishness, madness.” (Slight pause.)
Scholars are unanimous about this: not all the Epistles attributed to Paul are written by Paul. First Corinthians is one among the seven Epistles Paul actually wrote. Also, while Paul is a major figure in the work known as The Acts of the Apostles, most scholars think it’s unlikely the writer of Luke/Acts actually knew Paul.
Despite this lack of firsthand knowledge, the writer of Luke/Acts and Paul agree on a couple of basic facts about Paul. First, Paul was a devout Jew.
Second, Paul was a Pharisee, a member of a division within Judaism that said it’s important to maintain fidelity in a relationship with God. It’s important to understand the covenant of God and the God of the Covenant.
Last, at first Paul was a persecutor of Christianity. This means Paul knew enough about Christianity to oppose it.
All of these are factors about which Paul and the writer of Luke/Acts agree. When these things are placed side by side, the point being made is obvious: Christianity is a form of Judaism.
That raises a simple question: if Christianity is a form of Judaism, what do Jewish people believe? What is middle of the road Jewish theology? (Slight pause.) As has been noted for the last couple of weeks— this is part III of reflections about covenant. Jewish people are people of the covenant.
So, what does a theology of the covenant of God mean for Jewish people? [For each of these points the pastor counts them off by holding up an additional finger.] God is good. The God of Covenant is good. The covenant is a gift of God to humanity. And, having given humanity the gift of covenant, God expects nothing in return.
Given Jewish covenant theology, Paul’s position is obvious: in Jesus the covenant can be seen. In Jesus a continuation of the covenant can be seen. In Jesus the climax of the covenant can be seen. In Jesus the resolution of the covenant can be seen. In Jesus God has reached out in a very personal way to both each of us and to all of us. (Slight pause.)
That brings me back to Tom Rasely. I think Tom has it right in a number of ways. First, it’s not about us. It’s about God and, specifically, it’s about the God of the covenant.
Second, the God of the covenant sent the Word Who became flesh and dwelt for a while among us. Third, this God of covenant so loved the world that God did not in any way condemn the world. And that, by the way, goes back to the initial theological covenant premise of the Jewish people: God is good.
Last and therefore, we are not a people of the crucifixion. We are people of the resurrection. The resurrection is an affirmation of covenant. (Slight pause.)
I think the message of Paul is clear throughout the seven letters of the Apostle. Jesus is not and cannot be separated from the God proclaimed in Hebrew Scriptures. It is a whole. It is a continuum.
In fact, the entirety of Paul’s writings can be reduced to one basic message: “Don’t you get it? Jesus is the Messiah. The Messiah is about the covenant of God, the covenant God made with humanity— a covenant of trust, a covenant of peace, a covenant of freedom, a covenant of love. This covenant is and has been established for all time, for eternity.”
Well, this is the way I see it: the message of the resurrection, the message of covenant embodied by Jesus, is not just that the covenant is real and true. The message of the resurrection embodied by Jesus says the covenant is eternal. Amen.
03/08/2015
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: “This [the Pastor holds up a Bible] is not a book. It is a library, a collection of books. If people make any mistake in reading Scripture it’s that they isolate stories and then read each story as an adventure story— the escape from Egypt, the life of Jesus— adventure stories. Scripture is not a group of adventure stories. It is a collection of books and the subject in each and every one of them and all of them together is covenant theology.”
BENEDICTION: This is the message of Scripture: God loves us. Let us endeavor to let God’s love shine forth in our lives. For with God’s love and goodness, there is power to redeem, power to revive, power to renew, power to resurrect. So, may the love of God the Creator which is real, the Peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding and companionship of the Holy Spirit which is ever present, keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge and care of God this day and forever more. Amen.
[1] This I believe is an essence of what Tom offered. These are, however, not exactly his words. Tom is aware that I have made some alterations and has granted permission for use of what he said. Note: Tom did send me a printed version of his original sermon and I was, hence, privy to his thoughts. Tom (and his music) can be reached at this website:
The Covenant, Part III:
or Don’t You Get It?
“But we proclaim and we preach a Christ Who is crucified, a Messiah Who is nailed to a cross. To the Jews this is a stumbling block, an obstacle they cannot overcome; to the Greeks this is foolishness, madness.” — 1 Corinthians 1:23.
Many of you know Tom Rasely. In case you do not Tom Rasely, he was our Music Associate— guitarist, composer, arranger, jack of all trades— with this church for a little better than five years. Then he and his wife Cindy moved to Southern Indiana some three years ago to be closer to their grandchildren.
Well, Tom and Cindy have decided to pull up stakes again and move to Southwestern Michigan, which is even closer to their grandchildren. Grandchildren are precious and proximity is desirable. Now, if you do know Tom, it would also probably not surprise you if I said he had been working as a church musician in Southern Indiana.
But he is moving. So last Sunday, his final week in that church musician post, he was also the preacher. If you know Tom that also probably does not surprise you. What follows is a précis of that message. (Slight pause.)
When I was younger, I spent the better part of 5 years on the road. I toured through 26 states and Canada, playing my songs at Christian music concerts. Most of the time at these events a musician is expected to deliver their own testimony.
I never did. I consider the typical testimony, the way it is too often given, as being more than a bit egotistical and egocentric. The standard testimony makes a presumption that I know something about God you don’t or that something happened to me which is way more special than anything that’s ever happened to you.
Additionally, the testimony most often heard centers around a particularly heinous problem which got straightened out: drug addiction or grand theft, for example. Shock rather than sincerity is obviously the technique used and is perhaps even the message intended.
The other type of testimony often heard is more personal but equally problematic. It’s the kind which says something like ‘I survived four or five major heart attacks and God saved my life.’ That makes a less than kind assumption. It assumes the person who did not survive one heart attack fails to be worthy as is the person who has survived five.
I think if I were to give a testimony, said Tom, it would go something like this: “I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.” (Slight pause.) Well, that’s pretty boring, is it not? he said.
Even then, there are two first person singular pronouns in the statement. And my point is it’s not about me. It’s about God. It’s about God so loving the world.
Therefore, it’s not about God loving just me. And it’s not about God loving just you. It’s about God who so loved the world that God did not condemn the world. It’s about the Word Who became flesh and dwelt for a while among us.
And the bottom line is we meet here in church because God first loved us. That’s loved us as in loved everyone. And if that’s not the case, if God does not love everyone, then God does not love the world. And then we all ought to leave right now, go to McDonalds, have a cup of coffee and go home. (I know— those of you who know Tom can really hear Tom’s voice in that line!)
Then he said, you see we meet as community because God loves us. When we carry that message and that message alone out these doors and into the street, I think we finally hear a testimony worth giving. It’s not a testimony filled with I, me and mine.
This is a testimony given in community and a testimony filled with community. This is a testimony filled with love of the Creator. This is a testimony filled with love of the Creator that makes this claim: the Creator is the origin of love, itself. That’s a message we need to carry out of door and into the world. (Slight pause.)
Tom continued: we are now in the season of Lent. Lent is not a time of darkness, as some would have it.
Lent is a time of preparation, a time to consider what life would be like without the light of the love God offers. Lent is a time to remember we should arise and shine for (as Isaiah prophesied) our light has come.
We are, you see, not a people of the crucifixion. We are a people of the resurrection. God came to be with us in Jesus. God came to be one with us, to help us understand there is no gap. [1] — Tom Rasely. (Slight pause.)
And we hear from Paul in First Corinthians where these words are recorded: “But we proclaim and we preach a Christ Who is crucified, a Messiah Who is nailed to a cross. To the Jews this is a stumbling block, an obstacle they cannot overcome; to the Greeks this is foolishness, madness.” (Slight pause.)
Scholars are unanimous about this: not all the Epistles attributed to Paul are written by Paul. First Corinthians is one among the seven Epistles Paul actually wrote. Also, while Paul is a major figure in the work known as The Acts of the Apostles, most scholars think it’s unlikely the writer of Luke/Acts actually knew Paul.
Despite this lack of firsthand knowledge, the writer of Luke/Acts and Paul agree on a couple of basic facts about Paul. First, Paul was a devout Jew.
Second, Paul was a Pharisee, a member of a division within Judaism that said it’s important to maintain fidelity in a relationship with God. It’s important to understand the covenant of God and the God of the Covenant.
Last, at first Paul was a persecutor of Christianity. This means Paul knew enough about Christianity to oppose it.
All of these are factors about which Paul and the writer of Luke/Acts agree. When these things are placed side by side, the point being made is obvious: Christianity is a form of Judaism.
That raises a simple question: if Christianity is a form of Judaism, what do Jewish people believe? What is middle of the road Jewish theology? (Slight pause.) As has been noted for the last couple of weeks— this is part III of reflections about covenant. Jewish people are people of the covenant.
So, what does a theology of the covenant of God mean for Jewish people? [For each of these points the pastor counts them off by holding up an additional finger.] God is good. The God of Covenant is good. The covenant is a gift of God to humanity. And, having given humanity the gift of covenant, God expects nothing in return.
Given Jewish covenant theology, Paul’s position is obvious: in Jesus the covenant can be seen. In Jesus a continuation of the covenant can be seen. In Jesus the climax of the covenant can be seen. In Jesus the resolution of the covenant can be seen. In Jesus God has reached out in a very personal way to both each of us and to all of us. (Slight pause.)
That brings me back to Tom Rasely. I think Tom has it right in a number of ways. First, it’s not about us. It’s about God and, specifically, it’s about the God of the covenant.
Second, the God of the covenant sent the Word Who became flesh and dwelt for a while among us. Third, this God of covenant so loved the world that God did not in any way condemn the world. And that, by the way, goes back to the initial theological covenant premise of the Jewish people: God is good.
Last and therefore, we are not a people of the crucifixion. We are people of the resurrection. The resurrection is an affirmation of covenant. (Slight pause.)
I think the message of Paul is clear throughout the seven letters of the Apostle. Jesus is not and cannot be separated from the God proclaimed in Hebrew Scriptures. It is a whole. It is a continuum.
In fact, the entirety of Paul’s writings can be reduced to one basic message: “Don’t you get it? Jesus is the Messiah. The Messiah is about the covenant of God, the covenant God made with humanity— a covenant of trust, a covenant of peace, a covenant of freedom, a covenant of love. This covenant is and has been established for all time, for eternity.”
Well, this is the way I see it: the message of the resurrection, the message of covenant embodied by Jesus, is not just that the covenant is real and true. The message of the resurrection embodied by Jesus says the covenant is eternal. Amen.
03/08/2015
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: “This [the Pastor holds up a Bible] is not a book. It is a library, a collection of books. If people make any mistake in reading Scripture it’s that they isolate stories and then read each story as an adventure story— the escape from Egypt, the life of Jesus— adventure stories. Scripture is not a group of adventure stories. It is a collection of books and the subject in each and every one of them and all of them together is covenant theology.”
BENEDICTION: This is the message of Scripture: God loves us. Let us endeavor to let God’s love shine forth in our lives. For with God’s love and goodness, there is power to redeem, power to revive, power to renew, power to resurrect. So, may the love of God the Creator which is real, the Peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding and companionship of the Holy Spirit which is ever present, keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge and care of God this day and forever more. Amen.
[1] This I believe is an essence of what Tom offered. These are, however, not exactly his words. Tom is aware that I have made some alterations and has granted permission for use of what he said. Note: Tom did send me a printed version of his original sermon and I was, hence, privy to his thoughts. Tom (and his music) can be reached at this website:
Sunday, March 1, 2015
SERMON ~ 03/01/2015 ~ “Covenant, Part II: Openness to....”
03/01/2015 ~ Second Sunday in Lent ~ Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Psalm 22:23-31; Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38 or Mark 9:2-9 ~ Communion Sunday.
Covenant, Part II: Openness to....
“God said, ‘...your wife Sarah shall bear you a child, who, since you have laughed, shall be named Yitzhak, Isaac, Laughter. I will establish my covenant with Yitzhak as an everlasting covenant and for all the descendants who shall follow.’” [1] — Genesis 17:19.
In our church newsletter just mailed on Friday so you may not have it yet, our historian, Pat Evans, tells some of the history from the 1950s when the Rev. Mr. Avery Post was the pastor. One of the participants in the Installation of Post was Rev. Mr. James A. G. Moore, Associate Minister of the New York Congregational Christian Conference— the New York Congregational Christian Conference being the body which was the predecessor of the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ, this structure to which we belong, the denomination.
The Rev. Mr. David Gaewski, our current Conference Minister, has preached here in Norwich twice. Upon arriving in the Conference, one of David’s projects has been to help get the Conference into the 21st Century, as least in terms of computers and communicating to the churches of the Conference and individual members of those churches— communicating by computers.
One significant way that has happened is the Conference now sends out a weekly e-mail newsletter. Anyone can sign up for this missive on the Conference web site. And please, I ask each of you to sign up for it. We should all be getting it.
Most weeks David authors a column called My Thoughts for the newsletter. What follows is some of what that column contained this week. (Slight pause.)
When the conversation begins about “the church of tomorrow,” I often become bored with how narrow the thinking can be. There is no single blueprint or template of what the church will look like in five, ten or twenty years. There never has been.
I also yawn when the conversation includes the phrase “this is a unique moment in church history.” Give me a break.
Every moment has been unique since the last supper. Corinth could not have foreseen Westminster Abbey in London. Thomas Aquinas could not have envisioned Old South Church in Boston. Salem could not have imagined Riverside Church in Manhattan. And it seems unlikely Martin Luther could have ever anticipated the entity we call the United Church of Christ.
Let me paraphrase Saint Paul since there is only one thing of which I am certain, says David in these comments. One day we will see face to face, but on this blue orb, the mirror will always be a dim reflection of the perfection of the Body of Christ.
Indeed, there will be no fewer “forms” of church in 2060 as there are in 2015. There is no single template for faithful witness. And we will struggle each day we have on earth to more fully reflect the image in which we are made.
So, at least let us change our terminology and use not “the church of tomorrow” but let’s use something like “the churches of tomorrow”— plural. Anything else is, in my humble opinion, at best arrogant or self-aggrandizing and in its worst iterations, it is an attempt to sell snake oil— the Rev. Mr. David Gaewski.
I think among the points David was trying to make some are quite obvious. Change not only happens, it is unpredictable and inevitable. It will happen in ways we cannot now foresee. We need to be open to the movement of the Spirit. [2] (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Genesis: “God said, ‘...your wife Sarah shall bear you a child, who, since you have laughed, shall be named Yitzhak, Isaac, Laughter. I will establish my covenant with Yitzhak as an everlasting covenant and for all the descendants who shall follow.’” (Slight pause.)
First things first: if you were here last week and read the sermon title— and speaking of communicating in a 21st Century way— you did not have to be here last week to know the sermon title. You can read or hear the sermon from February 22nd online. But, if you were here last week, you know that sermon title last week was Covenant, Part I: Presence.
Today is Part II. Now, some of what I said last week is: a covenant is not a contract, since a contract is an agreement between parties. God gives the covenant as a free gift without expectation of anything in return.
Here, in Part II— and as we progress through Lent there will be more on covenant, more parts— here in Part II, nothing contradicts that idea of God giving a free gift. Again God takes the initiative. The Hebrew word used in expressing what happens in this reading says God gives a covenant, God speaks promises with Abraham and with the descendants of Abraham. Nothing is expected in return.
The promises made by God, however, are challenging. The challenge is not found in the details of the promises made. The challenge is found in the essence of those promises.
Indeed, I want to suggest we pay by far too much attention to the details. In this passage the details of these promises can be summed up as one: fertility— (quote:) “...I will make you most fruitful, exceedingly fruitful;...” and two: land— (quote:) “You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations...”
But the essence of these promises, what lies underneath these promises, is not found in the details. What lies underneath these promises is something which probably frightens us all. It’s the idea that change is inevitable. Change will happen.
And, in case you have not heard, none of us really likes change. Further, in terms of this passage it seems pretty clear that Abraham wants to resist change. (Quote:) “Then Avraham fell on his face and laughed,...” That’s meant to be irony. He doesn’t really want change.
That leaves us with a very serious question. We all know this: with or without God change is inevitable. Therefore, how can not just change— but the change God offers us— how can that change be incorporated into our life? (Slight pause.)
For me there is a simple one word answer: faith. That’s the one way we can be open to the inevitably of change. And I am not talking about just any kind of faith. Mature faith is necessary to cope with change. Which leaves us with yet another question: how is a mature faith cultivated? (Slight pause.)
Jesuit James Martin says this (quote:): “An adult life requires work. Think of it this way: you would not consider yourself equipped to face life with a third grader’s understanding of math. Yet people often expect the religious instruction they had in grade school to sustain them in the adult world.”
He also says, “...faith isn’t something you just have.... faith is like a garden: while you may already have the basics— soil, seed, water— you have to cultivate and nourish it. Like a garden, faith takes practice, persistence, even work.” [3] — James Martin, S.J. (Slight pause.)
Earlier I mentioned what David Gaewski wrote in the weekly Conference e-mail Newsletter. (Quote:) “When the conversation begins about ‘the church of tomorrow,’ I often become bored with how narrow the thinking can be.”
How do we, how can we avoid narrowness? How can we be open to not just change but the change God might have in store? I want to suggest a prime way to avoid narrowness and to be open to the change God might have in store is not just to have faith. It is important to have a mature faith, a lived faith, a studied faith.
I think a prime way of moving to a mature faith is to cultivate a lived faith, a faith in which we see everything through a prism— a prism which says God walks with us. In fact, the entire history of the church, all its 2,000 years worth of change tells us one thing.
In the words of James Martin, if we want to walk with God we need to treat faith like a garden. And that takes practice, persistence, work.
I think when we treat faith like a garden it’s not that change will fail to happen. We certainly won’t prevent change. It’s that we will be ready for all the colors of the flowers and all the nutrients of the edibles in that garden. Change will happen. And we will be ready for change. Amen.
03/01/2015
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: “Coming back to our history in this church, as you probably know Samuel Scoville was the Pastor here from 1861 to 1879 and was the son-in-law of Henry Ward Beecher. Just this week I came across a quote from Beecher. ‘Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.’”
BENEDICTION: Do not be ashamed to question all that denies God’s reign. The promises of God are for all. Let us trust in the promises of God. Let us understand, believe in and hold to God’s covenant. Let us depart in confidence and joy knowing that God is with us and let us carry Christ in our hearts. Amen.
[1] It should be noted that when this passage was read the Hebrew pronunciations of the names were used. Additionally, it was explained when the passage was introduced that the meaning of those words would be offered and that those meanings were not a part of the original text.
[2] Note: I slightly edited what David wrote for this medium. Hence, I have not placed these words in quotation marks. I do not believe I have changed the meaning of what was written.
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=0376b5eb-72a3-4840-93d4-f7e87101cade&c=7fb50cf0-4c60-11e3-88de-d4ae52754055&ch=8020a000-4c60-11e3-89c4-d4ae52754055
[3] Page 32-32. The Jesuit Guide to Nearly Everything: A Spirituality for a Real Life, James Martin, S.J., HarperOne, New York, New York, 2010.
Covenant, Part II: Openness to....
“God said, ‘...your wife Sarah shall bear you a child, who, since you have laughed, shall be named Yitzhak, Isaac, Laughter. I will establish my covenant with Yitzhak as an everlasting covenant and for all the descendants who shall follow.’” [1] — Genesis 17:19.
In our church newsletter just mailed on Friday so you may not have it yet, our historian, Pat Evans, tells some of the history from the 1950s when the Rev. Mr. Avery Post was the pastor. One of the participants in the Installation of Post was Rev. Mr. James A. G. Moore, Associate Minister of the New York Congregational Christian Conference— the New York Congregational Christian Conference being the body which was the predecessor of the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ, this structure to which we belong, the denomination.
The Rev. Mr. David Gaewski, our current Conference Minister, has preached here in Norwich twice. Upon arriving in the Conference, one of David’s projects has been to help get the Conference into the 21st Century, as least in terms of computers and communicating to the churches of the Conference and individual members of those churches— communicating by computers.
One significant way that has happened is the Conference now sends out a weekly e-mail newsletter. Anyone can sign up for this missive on the Conference web site. And please, I ask each of you to sign up for it. We should all be getting it.
Most weeks David authors a column called My Thoughts for the newsletter. What follows is some of what that column contained this week. (Slight pause.)
When the conversation begins about “the church of tomorrow,” I often become bored with how narrow the thinking can be. There is no single blueprint or template of what the church will look like in five, ten or twenty years. There never has been.
I also yawn when the conversation includes the phrase “this is a unique moment in church history.” Give me a break.
Every moment has been unique since the last supper. Corinth could not have foreseen Westminster Abbey in London. Thomas Aquinas could not have envisioned Old South Church in Boston. Salem could not have imagined Riverside Church in Manhattan. And it seems unlikely Martin Luther could have ever anticipated the entity we call the United Church of Christ.
Let me paraphrase Saint Paul since there is only one thing of which I am certain, says David in these comments. One day we will see face to face, but on this blue orb, the mirror will always be a dim reflection of the perfection of the Body of Christ.
Indeed, there will be no fewer “forms” of church in 2060 as there are in 2015. There is no single template for faithful witness. And we will struggle each day we have on earth to more fully reflect the image in which we are made.
So, at least let us change our terminology and use not “the church of tomorrow” but let’s use something like “the churches of tomorrow”— plural. Anything else is, in my humble opinion, at best arrogant or self-aggrandizing and in its worst iterations, it is an attempt to sell snake oil— the Rev. Mr. David Gaewski.
I think among the points David was trying to make some are quite obvious. Change not only happens, it is unpredictable and inevitable. It will happen in ways we cannot now foresee. We need to be open to the movement of the Spirit. [2] (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Genesis: “God said, ‘...your wife Sarah shall bear you a child, who, since you have laughed, shall be named Yitzhak, Isaac, Laughter. I will establish my covenant with Yitzhak as an everlasting covenant and for all the descendants who shall follow.’” (Slight pause.)
First things first: if you were here last week and read the sermon title— and speaking of communicating in a 21st Century way— you did not have to be here last week to know the sermon title. You can read or hear the sermon from February 22nd online. But, if you were here last week, you know that sermon title last week was Covenant, Part I: Presence.
Today is Part II. Now, some of what I said last week is: a covenant is not a contract, since a contract is an agreement between parties. God gives the covenant as a free gift without expectation of anything in return.
Here, in Part II— and as we progress through Lent there will be more on covenant, more parts— here in Part II, nothing contradicts that idea of God giving a free gift. Again God takes the initiative. The Hebrew word used in expressing what happens in this reading says God gives a covenant, God speaks promises with Abraham and with the descendants of Abraham. Nothing is expected in return.
The promises made by God, however, are challenging. The challenge is not found in the details of the promises made. The challenge is found in the essence of those promises.
Indeed, I want to suggest we pay by far too much attention to the details. In this passage the details of these promises can be summed up as one: fertility— (quote:) “...I will make you most fruitful, exceedingly fruitful;...” and two: land— (quote:) “You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations...”
But the essence of these promises, what lies underneath these promises, is not found in the details. What lies underneath these promises is something which probably frightens us all. It’s the idea that change is inevitable. Change will happen.
And, in case you have not heard, none of us really likes change. Further, in terms of this passage it seems pretty clear that Abraham wants to resist change. (Quote:) “Then Avraham fell on his face and laughed,...” That’s meant to be irony. He doesn’t really want change.
That leaves us with a very serious question. We all know this: with or without God change is inevitable. Therefore, how can not just change— but the change God offers us— how can that change be incorporated into our life? (Slight pause.)
For me there is a simple one word answer: faith. That’s the one way we can be open to the inevitably of change. And I am not talking about just any kind of faith. Mature faith is necessary to cope with change. Which leaves us with yet another question: how is a mature faith cultivated? (Slight pause.)
Jesuit James Martin says this (quote:): “An adult life requires work. Think of it this way: you would not consider yourself equipped to face life with a third grader’s understanding of math. Yet people often expect the religious instruction they had in grade school to sustain them in the adult world.”
He also says, “...faith isn’t something you just have.... faith is like a garden: while you may already have the basics— soil, seed, water— you have to cultivate and nourish it. Like a garden, faith takes practice, persistence, even work.” [3] — James Martin, S.J. (Slight pause.)
Earlier I mentioned what David Gaewski wrote in the weekly Conference e-mail Newsletter. (Quote:) “When the conversation begins about ‘the church of tomorrow,’ I often become bored with how narrow the thinking can be.”
How do we, how can we avoid narrowness? How can we be open to not just change but the change God might have in store? I want to suggest a prime way to avoid narrowness and to be open to the change God might have in store is not just to have faith. It is important to have a mature faith, a lived faith, a studied faith.
I think a prime way of moving to a mature faith is to cultivate a lived faith, a faith in which we see everything through a prism— a prism which says God walks with us. In fact, the entire history of the church, all its 2,000 years worth of change tells us one thing.
In the words of James Martin, if we want to walk with God we need to treat faith like a garden. And that takes practice, persistence, work.
I think when we treat faith like a garden it’s not that change will fail to happen. We certainly won’t prevent change. It’s that we will be ready for all the colors of the flowers and all the nutrients of the edibles in that garden. Change will happen. And we will be ready for change. Amen.
03/01/2015
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: “Coming back to our history in this church, as you probably know Samuel Scoville was the Pastor here from 1861 to 1879 and was the son-in-law of Henry Ward Beecher. Just this week I came across a quote from Beecher. ‘Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.’”
BENEDICTION: Do not be ashamed to question all that denies God’s reign. The promises of God are for all. Let us trust in the promises of God. Let us understand, believe in and hold to God’s covenant. Let us depart in confidence and joy knowing that God is with us and let us carry Christ in our hearts. Amen.
[1] It should be noted that when this passage was read the Hebrew pronunciations of the names were used. Additionally, it was explained when the passage was introduced that the meaning of those words would be offered and that those meanings were not a part of the original text.
[2] Note: I slightly edited what David wrote for this medium. Hence, I have not placed these words in quotation marks. I do not believe I have changed the meaning of what was written.
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=0376b5eb-72a3-4840-93d4-f7e87101cade&c=7fb50cf0-4c60-11e3-88de-d4ae52754055&ch=8020a000-4c60-11e3-89c4-d4ae52754055
[3] Page 32-32. The Jesuit Guide to Nearly Everything: A Spirituality for a Real Life, James Martin, S.J., HarperOne, New York, New York, 2010.
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