12/24/2016 ~ 12/25/2016 ~ Nativity of the Christ - Proper I ~ Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14, (15-20) ~ Proper II ~ Isaiah 62:6-12; Psalm 97; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2:(1-7), 8-20 ~ Proper III ~ Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12); John 1:1-14.
The Light
“The people who walked in darkness / have seen a great light; / upon those who lived in a land of deep shadows— / on them light is shining.” — Isaiah 9:2.
The depth of night had come upon the land. There was no light even though the stars were shining brightly in the sky and the moon was full. Their light was obliterated by a dense fog. Hence, the possibility of natural light illuminating anything was non-existent.
Dense fog was normal for the early Spring. [1] On this night it seemed to course through the hills around Bethlehem with a vengeance— thick, wet, impenetrable. But the fact that there was so little light, that it was so hard to see on this night mattered not to the master carpenter who lived and plied that trade, the trade of shaping, crafting, forming wood in this small, backwater town.
Already a full apprentice by age ten, at that tender age this carpenter somehow instinctively understood the sizing and shaping of tables, chairs. By dint of this early apprenticeship, the youngster learned how one bends wood to one’s own will. By twenty this worker of wood had launched a thriving, prosperous business.
Over the years many helpers were employed in the shop. Over the years those who showed promise, an aptitude, just as he had, also became full apprentices. Eventually, the best of these would work the trade themselves, branch out on their own. (Slight pause.)
The name of this carpenter was Isaiah. He always thought bearing the name of the prophet who spoke so often about light was an odd twist of fate.
That dense fog which coursed through the hills around Bethlehem this night making the world hard to see was meaningless to him. He could not see. This loss of vision happened when he was just thirty. It was no accident.
Isaiah had been standing outside the shop. Five soldiers of the occupying army of Rome chased a beggar up the street. Or was the one being chased a common criminal, or perhaps someone who had simply insulted a Roman official? It did not matter. The soldiers had charged up the street pushing people out of their way, shouting, overturning carts, cursing.
One of these soldiers seemed to think Isaiah got in the way. But the carpenter was simply trying to get out of the way. An unsheathed weapon slashed the air near Isaiah’s head. Trying to duck, he fell to the ground.
When he managed to struggle to his feet, bleeding, he realized... he could no longer see. It was mid-day. The sun was shining brightly. And he could... no... longer... see. And so, the absence of light in the depth of this particular night did not matter to Isaiah one bit. (Slight pause.)
Now— some thirty years after that incident— he still maintained the shop. He still had apprentices. And they loved him. He was kind, gentle, caring. And together, they— Isaiah and all those whom he mentored— produced a well made product.
He relied on those apprentices. After all, he could see only with his hands. Once a piece was made, the rough hewn hands of Isaiah touched every planed surface, every crevice, every angle of everything they made together to make sure it was right.
Only when the hands of the master carpenter said the work was good did it leave the shop. And so, the apprentices loved him not just for his kindness, his gentleness, his caring. They loved him for an ability to perceive.
And indeed, now an old man— in his sixties— he had experienced a lot, been through a lot and tested many, many works of art made of wood using those hands. But perception, his ability to perceive despite not seeing, was unsurpassed.
And yes, he had trained many, many carpenters. But knowing right away which ones would be good— to be able to sense who would do well— that, that is an art in and of itself. He had an ability to perceive despite... not... seeing. (Slight pause.)
Now sometimes, sometimes one of those apprentices would return, sometimes travel many miles, just to feel the warm embrace of this kind, gentle, old, carpenter— their mentor. They would return to be with him just... one... more... time. (Slight pause.)
And so on this dark night there was a knock on the door of the shop. Isaiah went to the door and opened it. A voice spoke out of the gloom. “I’m glad you’re still awake.”
The old man knew who it was right away. “Joseph! Joseph! How many years has it been?” The two men embraced.
“What brings you to Bethlehem?”
“The Romans! This silly, needless census thing. And once I knew I was required to be here I knew I needed to see you. But come,” continued the younger man, “come. You know that stable over by the inn? My wife is there. She has just had a child.”
Knowing full well Isaiah had lost any possibility of sight lo those many years ago but knowing the real vision the old man had was keen, the younger man then said, “Come. Come see the little one.”
Together, they moved as one toward the inn, Joseph holding the hand of his mentor, feeling peculiar that now he was the one guiding. They entered the shed. His wife smiled and held the baby out to Joseph who took the infant.
“The little one is in my arms and sleeping,” he whispered.
Isaiah followed the voice of Joseph. Hence, knowing where to reach was easy. The rough hewn hands of Isaiah, the master carpenter, touched the infant.
“May I take the child?”
Joseph simply reached out his hands. His mentor could not and did not see this action. Joseph knew Isaiah would sense it.
Isaiah took the child. (Slight pause.) With those old, rough hewn hands Isaiah reached toward the brow of the child with a soft caress. (Slight pause.)
Isaiah was, indeed, experienced. Isaiah had been through a lot. The carpenter knew there are many kinds of darkness. The carpenter knew there are many kinds of light.
He was overwhelmed with what he felt. He did not know why or how but he knew there was a sense of joy in this touch. There was a sense of peace in this touch. There was a sense of hope in this touch. There was a sense of love in this touch.
And, as strange as it may sound, there was a sense of light, a feeling of light in this touch. And this carpenter did, indeed, know there are many kinds of darkness, many kinds of night. But, more importantly, this carpenter knew there are many kinds of light.
And, as this carpenter held the child, the words of the prophet for whom he was named kept repeating themselves over and over in his mind: “The people who walked in darkness / have seen a great light; / upon those who lived in a land of deep shadows— / on them light is shining.” Amen.
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “We live in a very secular world. Hence, I never wish people a ‘Merry Christmas.’ That’s a secular term and as an alternative I’ve often, therefore, suggested that as Christians we wish one another a ‘Happy Christmas.’ But I want to make a different suggestion. If somebody says to you either ‘Merry Christmas,’ or ‘Happy Christmas’ say to them ‘Christ is with us.’ That is the real Christian sentiment expressed in the Feast of the Incarnation— Christ is with us.”
BENEDICTION: Hear now this blessing from the words of the Prophet Isaiah in the 60th chapter (Isaiah 60:19-20a). “The sun shall no longer be / your light by day, / nor for / brightness shall the moon / give you light by night; / for Yahweh, God, / will be your everlasting light, / and your glory. / Amen.”
[1] At the beginning of the service and as a way to introduce a Christmas Eve service this was said: “Welcome to this, our service of worship, on the eve of the Feast of the Incarnation, the Feast of the Birth of the Messiah. The Hebrew word Messiah is translated into Greek as ‘The Christ’ and means the Anointed One. So, the term ‘Christ’ is not a name, but an office, the office of Messiah. This feast is more commonly called Christmas. Christmas is an Old English word which means Mass or service of worship celebrated on the day upon which the Messiah’s birth is commemorated. So, the word Christmas actually refers to the service of worship, not to the day itself. Now, ancient Rome had a winter solstice celebration, celebrating the return of the sun. And on the Roman calendar the solstice was on the equivalent of the 25th of December. It’s likely Christians adopted this date to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, as we claim Jesus to be both the Messiah and the Light of God born to our lives. Many scholars think Jesus was born in what we would call the year Four Before the Common Era not in the winter but in the Springtime of that year.”
Monday, December 26, 2016
Sunday, December 11, 2016
SERMON ~ 12/11/2016 ~ “The Messiah”
12/11/2016 ~ Third Sunday of Advent ~ Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:5-10 or Luke 1:46b-55; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11 ~ The Sunday in Advent on Which We Commemorate Love — Sunday Afternoon: Chenango Valley Home.
The Messiah
“John was in prison and heard about the works the Messiah was performing. At that point the Baptizer sent word through a disciple to ask the Rabbi, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ In reply Jesus said, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and what you see:....’” — Matthew 11:2-4.
I walked into a local supermarket last week and was confronted with a cultural sign of the season: a volunteer ringing a bell. This particular volunteer clearly also thought, besides ringing a bell, a part of the duties in this gig was to sing seasonal ditties a capella.
This person did, in fact, have the vocal ability to pull that off, which impressed me. What did not impress me is I do not think Baby It’s Cold Outside by Frank Loesser is a particularly appropriate vocal choice for someone trying to raise money for those in need, no matter how entertaining the rendition might be. But that was the song being intoned. And, to reiterate, this was, indeed, a very impressive feat of singing since the song is written as a duet but was being offered as a solo. {Note: there as much laughter once the name of the song was mentioned and that laughter continued.}
To be clear, why do I think that song is inappropriate? Loesser wrote Baby It’s Cold Outside to be sung at private parties because he, the writer of this song, thought it to be more than a tad risqué. If, by the way, you listen carefully to the lyric, it is more than a tad risqué.
In fact, the song was used in public only after Loesser sold the rights to MGM, the studio it inserted it into a film and it became, as you probably know, a big hit in short order. But all this raises what are for me, a song writer and a writer of hymns, questions— serious questions.
What is so called seasonal music, really? What is the season about, really? What should we be addressing, what are we addressing and what do we address in the seasons known as Advent and Christmas, really? (Slight pause.)
Five years ago Tom Rasely and I wrote a new Christmas Carol. The title of the work is One Angel Sings. The lyric, in part, reads, “One angel sings, both silent and plain.” A later verse says, “One angel sings, both silent yet clear.”
Internally, that lyric poses another question: what does it mean when someone sings, but yet, is silent? Is that not a paradox?
Since I wrote that lyric I hope it will not surprise you I have an explanation. The truth is you can look at the famous passage from Luke 2, the passage with shepherds and angels and a child in a manger, and never once find any angel who sings. The text does say one angel speaks.
The text does say a multitude of angels praise God. But the text specifically says in offering praise to God the angels speak that praise rather than sing that praise.
To be fair, is it possible the angels sing? Why yes it is. But the text doesn’t say that.
Hence, in terms of what the text actually says, singing angels are a figment of the imagination of artists throughout the centuries. I say singing angels are a figment of the imagination of artists throughout many centuries because it’s quite likely that’s the place from where our image of angels singing emerges. And because Scripture does not mention any angel singing, I wrote this lyric (quote:): “One angel sings, both silent and plain.” (Slight pause.)
All that re-opens what is for me those same key questions: what is the season about? What should we be addressing, what are we addressing and what do we address in the season known as Advent and Christmas? Indeed, is the season about singing angels or is the season about something else? (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Matthew: “John was in prison and heard about the works the Messiah was performing. At that point the Baptizer sent word through a disciple to ask the Rabbi, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ In reply Jesus said, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and what you see:....’” (Slight pause.)
At Bible Study last Wednesday— a reminder: everyone is invited to join us for Bible study Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m.— at Bible Study last Wednesday I think I, myself, and those who were there came across an interesting precept for reading Scripture. Ignore the details. The details of the story are interesting and can illustrate many points.
But Scripture can be said to be about one thing and one thing only. Scripture is about theology. Further, the theology we find in Scripture is fairly straightforward. And when we pay attention to the theology in the text rather than the details found in the text, it can be quite illuminating. Why? How? The theology we find in Scripture can be described in several short sentences.
Here they are: God loves us. God loves us humanity. God wants to be in covenant with humanity. These are simple and central themes which can be found throughout Scripture. But one key to finding these themes— is ignore the details.
When I say “ignore the details” please do not mis-understand me. The details enrich and enhance what we read. But if we concentrate only on the details— singing angels, for instance— and thereby ignore the theological basis of Scripture— that God loves and wants to be in covenant with humanity, we’ve missed the point, missed the central message of the Bible.
I need to add we Christians believe there is one additional central theme and it is found in the reading from Matthew we heard today. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Christ. Because Jesus holds the office known as the Christ, the very presence of Jesus, the reality of Jesus, reenforces the idea that God loves and wants to be in covenant with humanity.
Please note: if you ignore the details of this reading— from the imprisonment of John to the praise of John offered by Jesus— the statement that Jesus is the Christ sent because God loves and wants to be in covenant with humanity, contains the totality of what this reading means. (Slight pause.)
Well, as I walked out of the supermarket that day— the supermarket I was speaking about earlier— I bumped into an acquaintance. We chatted for a minute or two.
Unfortunately, that extra time in the lobby enabled me to hear yet two more so called seasonal selections offered by that person ringing a bell. One was Frosty the Snowman. The second was Here Comes Santa Claus. (Slight pause.)
And yes, that leads me back to the questions: what is so called seasonal music, really? What is the season about, really?
I think Scripture is clear on that count. In our lives— daily— we need to be addressing, as does this lectionary reading, that God loves and wants to be in covenant with humanity. In our lives— daily— need to be addressing, as does this lectionary reading, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, who reenforces the idea that God loves and wants to be in covenant with humanity. (Slight pause.)
I don’t know about you, but for me Frosty the Snowman and Here Comes Santa Claus may be fun but they do not speak to me about Advent or Christmas. They speak to me about our culture, nothing more, nothing less. And frankly I do not think our culture is up to grappling with the covenant love found in Scripture.
So last, let me repeat something I said in the most recent newsletter. The things we celebrate in Advent— hope, peace, love, and joy— are about the future, our future. We, Christians, always need to prepare for what will be. We should not dwell in the past. We need to look toward the future.
Indeed, Christmas is not about the past. Christmas— this celebration of the birth of the Messiah— is about the future.
We Christians are invited to know that with what we celebrate in Advent and with what we celebrate at Christmastide— hope, peace, love, joy and the birth of the Messiah— these are not simply portents of what will be. These are signposts meant to direct us toward how we are to live our life with God now, and how we are to live our life with God in the days to come. And how we are called to live our lives with each other?
And how are we called to live our lives with each other? With care, with respect, with understanding, with love. Amen.
12/11/2016
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, NY
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I shall quote a colleague who was brief, blunt and to the point in making this statement about the season. ‘Santa Claus does not feed my soul. The God of covenant love does.’”
BENEDICTION: Let us go in hope and in joy and in peace, for we find love in the One who has made covenant with us. And may the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore. Amen.
The Messiah
“John was in prison and heard about the works the Messiah was performing. At that point the Baptizer sent word through a disciple to ask the Rabbi, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ In reply Jesus said, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and what you see:....’” — Matthew 11:2-4.
I walked into a local supermarket last week and was confronted with a cultural sign of the season: a volunteer ringing a bell. This particular volunteer clearly also thought, besides ringing a bell, a part of the duties in this gig was to sing seasonal ditties a capella.
This person did, in fact, have the vocal ability to pull that off, which impressed me. What did not impress me is I do not think Baby It’s Cold Outside by Frank Loesser is a particularly appropriate vocal choice for someone trying to raise money for those in need, no matter how entertaining the rendition might be. But that was the song being intoned. And, to reiterate, this was, indeed, a very impressive feat of singing since the song is written as a duet but was being offered as a solo. {Note: there as much laughter once the name of the song was mentioned and that laughter continued.}
To be clear, why do I think that song is inappropriate? Loesser wrote Baby It’s Cold Outside to be sung at private parties because he, the writer of this song, thought it to be more than a tad risqué. If, by the way, you listen carefully to the lyric, it is more than a tad risqué.
In fact, the song was used in public only after Loesser sold the rights to MGM, the studio it inserted it into a film and it became, as you probably know, a big hit in short order. But all this raises what are for me, a song writer and a writer of hymns, questions— serious questions.
What is so called seasonal music, really? What is the season about, really? What should we be addressing, what are we addressing and what do we address in the seasons known as Advent and Christmas, really? (Slight pause.)
Five years ago Tom Rasely and I wrote a new Christmas Carol. The title of the work is One Angel Sings. The lyric, in part, reads, “One angel sings, both silent and plain.” A later verse says, “One angel sings, both silent yet clear.”
Internally, that lyric poses another question: what does it mean when someone sings, but yet, is silent? Is that not a paradox?
Since I wrote that lyric I hope it will not surprise you I have an explanation. The truth is you can look at the famous passage from Luke 2, the passage with shepherds and angels and a child in a manger, and never once find any angel who sings. The text does say one angel speaks.
The text does say a multitude of angels praise God. But the text specifically says in offering praise to God the angels speak that praise rather than sing that praise.
To be fair, is it possible the angels sing? Why yes it is. But the text doesn’t say that.
Hence, in terms of what the text actually says, singing angels are a figment of the imagination of artists throughout the centuries. I say singing angels are a figment of the imagination of artists throughout many centuries because it’s quite likely that’s the place from where our image of angels singing emerges. And because Scripture does not mention any angel singing, I wrote this lyric (quote:): “One angel sings, both silent and plain.” (Slight pause.)
All that re-opens what is for me those same key questions: what is the season about? What should we be addressing, what are we addressing and what do we address in the season known as Advent and Christmas? Indeed, is the season about singing angels or is the season about something else? (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Matthew: “John was in prison and heard about the works the Messiah was performing. At that point the Baptizer sent word through a disciple to ask the Rabbi, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ In reply Jesus said, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and what you see:....’” (Slight pause.)
At Bible Study last Wednesday— a reminder: everyone is invited to join us for Bible study Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m.— at Bible Study last Wednesday I think I, myself, and those who were there came across an interesting precept for reading Scripture. Ignore the details. The details of the story are interesting and can illustrate many points.
But Scripture can be said to be about one thing and one thing only. Scripture is about theology. Further, the theology we find in Scripture is fairly straightforward. And when we pay attention to the theology in the text rather than the details found in the text, it can be quite illuminating. Why? How? The theology we find in Scripture can be described in several short sentences.
Here they are: God loves us. God loves us humanity. God wants to be in covenant with humanity. These are simple and central themes which can be found throughout Scripture. But one key to finding these themes— is ignore the details.
When I say “ignore the details” please do not mis-understand me. The details enrich and enhance what we read. But if we concentrate only on the details— singing angels, for instance— and thereby ignore the theological basis of Scripture— that God loves and wants to be in covenant with humanity, we’ve missed the point, missed the central message of the Bible.
I need to add we Christians believe there is one additional central theme and it is found in the reading from Matthew we heard today. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Christ. Because Jesus holds the office known as the Christ, the very presence of Jesus, the reality of Jesus, reenforces the idea that God loves and wants to be in covenant with humanity.
Please note: if you ignore the details of this reading— from the imprisonment of John to the praise of John offered by Jesus— the statement that Jesus is the Christ sent because God loves and wants to be in covenant with humanity, contains the totality of what this reading means. (Slight pause.)
Well, as I walked out of the supermarket that day— the supermarket I was speaking about earlier— I bumped into an acquaintance. We chatted for a minute or two.
Unfortunately, that extra time in the lobby enabled me to hear yet two more so called seasonal selections offered by that person ringing a bell. One was Frosty the Snowman. The second was Here Comes Santa Claus. (Slight pause.)
And yes, that leads me back to the questions: what is so called seasonal music, really? What is the season about, really?
I think Scripture is clear on that count. In our lives— daily— we need to be addressing, as does this lectionary reading, that God loves and wants to be in covenant with humanity. In our lives— daily— need to be addressing, as does this lectionary reading, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, who reenforces the idea that God loves and wants to be in covenant with humanity. (Slight pause.)
I don’t know about you, but for me Frosty the Snowman and Here Comes Santa Claus may be fun but they do not speak to me about Advent or Christmas. They speak to me about our culture, nothing more, nothing less. And frankly I do not think our culture is up to grappling with the covenant love found in Scripture.
So last, let me repeat something I said in the most recent newsletter. The things we celebrate in Advent— hope, peace, love, and joy— are about the future, our future. We, Christians, always need to prepare for what will be. We should not dwell in the past. We need to look toward the future.
Indeed, Christmas is not about the past. Christmas— this celebration of the birth of the Messiah— is about the future.
We Christians are invited to know that with what we celebrate in Advent and with what we celebrate at Christmastide— hope, peace, love, joy and the birth of the Messiah— these are not simply portents of what will be. These are signposts meant to direct us toward how we are to live our life with God now, and how we are to live our life with God in the days to come. And how we are called to live our lives with each other?
And how are we called to live our lives with each other? With care, with respect, with understanding, with love. Amen.
12/11/2016
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, NY
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I shall quote a colleague who was brief, blunt and to the point in making this statement about the season. ‘Santa Claus does not feed my soul. The God of covenant love does.’”
BENEDICTION: Let us go in hope and in joy and in peace, for we find love in the One who has made covenant with us. And may the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore. Amen.
Sunday, December 4, 2016
SERMON ~ 12/04/2016 ~ “Hearts and Minds”
12/04/2016 ~ Second Sunday of Advent ~ Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12 ~ The Sunday in Advent on Which We Commemorate Peace ~ Communion Sunday.
Hearts and Minds
“Change your hearts and minds, for the dominion of heaven has come near. The dominion of heaven is about to break in on you.” — Matthew 3:2.
At the time we had the announcements this morning you heard me say this afternoon I will be representing you, this church, at an Ecclesiastical Council of the Susquehanna Association in Homer. We shall listen to a presentation by the candidate, Rachel Ditch, who will offer portions of her ordination paper.
Now, when I say I will be representing this church you need to understand an Ecclesiastical Council is not a clergy function. It is a function of the laity. Lay members of our congregation are not just invited to join me. You are vital.
Indeed, in our tradition ordination is in no way about any kind of hierarchy. In the Congregational tradition there is no organizational chart or power structure. We are one.
So, an Ecclesiastical Council of our Association says there needs to be only 6 authorized clergy present. But there needs to be at least 20 members of the laity on hand. If my math is right, by way of shear numbers that means at an Ecclesiastical Council members of the laity are three times more vital than members of the clergy.
Now, each church in the Association has been sent a copy of Rachel’s paper so we could all read it in advance. Therefore, after Rachel makes her presentation, each church will get to ask at least two questions of Rachel based on her paper and presentation.
To be clear, I am a member of the Committee on Authorized Ministry of the Susquehanna Association. So we, the committee, have walked through this process with Rachel. We were with her as she graduated from SUNY Cortland and she asked to be a Member in Discernment (which is what we call someone seeking ordination these days).
We were with her as she went off to the wilds of Boston, Massachusetts where she attended and graduated from the Boston University School of Theology. We offered her advice as she was in the process of writing her ordination paper.
I like Rachel and I think she will make an outstanding, wonderful pastor. By the way, that opinion will not stop me from asking her questions this afternoon.
Now, on the title page of Rachel’s ordination paper there is an extra sub-title line. It says the paper is (quote:) “Appropriately Subtitled— All I Think I Know About God in (about) Twenty Pages.” Then the paper opens with a quote from the late theologian, mystic and social activist Thomas Merton from the work Thoughts on Solitude.
(Quote:) “My God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself and the fact that I think that I am following Your will does not mean I am actually doing so.”
“But I believe the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all I am doing. I hope I will never do anything apart from that desire.”
“And I know if I do this You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust You always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.” (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Matthew: “Change your hearts and minds, for the dominion of heaven has come near. The dominion of heaven is about to break in on you.” (Slight pause.)
I think we, in the Twenty-first Century— world-wide, not just Americans— are afflicted with a very specific disease. We are convinced we know everything there is to know and we are in control of everything and we are right about everything.
I’ve got bad news and good news on that count. Here’s the bad news: we are wrong. We do not know everything. We are not in control of everything. We are not right about everything.
The good news? The idea that we do know everything, we are in control of everything and are right about everything is not a simply a Twenty-first Century disease. The people to whom John preached had the same disease.
I think one of the mistakes we make when we read this text is we see it with blinders. Paradoxically, these are the same blinders worn by our First Century cousins who heard what John said.
The specific blinders to which I refer are the ones just mentioned— thinking we know, thinking we are in control, thinking we are right. Let me unpack that a bit. When we hear the words which say (quote:) “Many Pharisees and Sadducees came for baptism and John said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’” we are making several assumptions.
The assumptions are false. But we make them because we think we know and we are in control and we are right.
We hear the terms Pharisees and Sadducees and think “those are the bad people.” Except they would not have been considered bad in the world John inhabited. They would have been considered upstanding citizens, the best of the best.
Then we hear John’s question to them (quote:) “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” And that question simply puzzles us as it would have puzzled them. Do notice there is no response recorded.
John doubts their sincerity. I think John doubts their sincerity because the Baptizer realizes they have come to the wilderness not to be Baptized. What they want is to buy fire insurance. They think participation will give them protection. If they simply do something— a ritual— Baptism— then a deep, meaningful relationship with God will be unnecessary, superfluous.
In short, when they see John Baptizing they think they can know, think they can be in control, think they are right. John, on the other hand, is clear: ritual does not produce a relationship with God nor does it produce what a relationship with God is about.
What John insists is a relationship with God only happens when we are willing to change our hearts and our minds. All of which is to say thinking we know, thinking we are in control, thinking we are right is not solid ground for a relationship with God.
Why? Let me repeat that quote from Thomas Merton and used by Rachel in full.
“My God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself and the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean I am actually doing so.”
“But I believe the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all I am doing. I hope I will never do anything apart from that desire.”
“And I know if I do this You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.” (Slight pause.)
God does not, in any way, wish to control us. God is not manipulative... and yet God is in control. That God is in control is, I think, not something we like to hear, since we like to know, we like to be in control, we like to be right.
But once we grasp that simple understanding that God reigns, as did Thomas Merton did, that understanding that we are not in charge of the world, then our hearts and our minds can and will be open to change. Why? How? Only then— when we understand we are not in charge— will we have the freedom and the peace to turn our hearts and our minds toward God. Amen.
12/04/2015
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 Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Let me call your attention to the Thought for Meditation from Barbara Brown Taylor, Episcopal Priest and theologian found in the bulletin today. (Quote:) ‘While Isaiah might have agreed that salvation comes from heaven, I doubt the prophet would have agreed to leave it there. Salvation is not about us going up but about heaven coming down. Salvation that does not include just rulers, an equitable economy, and peace among the nations, would have made Isaiah scratch his head. Heaven may be God’s test kitchen, but the pudding is intended for earth.’ Making the pudding of God here on earth— now that will take a change of hearts and minds.”
BENEDICTION: Let us be present to one another as we go from this place. Let us share our gifts, our hopes, our memories, our pain and our joy. Go in peace for God is with us. Go in joy for God knows every fiber of our being. Go in hope for God reveals to us, daily, that we are a part of God’s new creation. Go in love, for we rest assured, by Christ, Jesus, that God is steadfast. And may the peace of God which surpasses understanding be with us this day and forevermore. Amen.
Hearts and Minds
“Change your hearts and minds, for the dominion of heaven has come near. The dominion of heaven is about to break in on you.” — Matthew 3:2.
At the time we had the announcements this morning you heard me say this afternoon I will be representing you, this church, at an Ecclesiastical Council of the Susquehanna Association in Homer. We shall listen to a presentation by the candidate, Rachel Ditch, who will offer portions of her ordination paper.
Now, when I say I will be representing this church you need to understand an Ecclesiastical Council is not a clergy function. It is a function of the laity. Lay members of our congregation are not just invited to join me. You are vital.
Indeed, in our tradition ordination is in no way about any kind of hierarchy. In the Congregational tradition there is no organizational chart or power structure. We are one.
So, an Ecclesiastical Council of our Association says there needs to be only 6 authorized clergy present. But there needs to be at least 20 members of the laity on hand. If my math is right, by way of shear numbers that means at an Ecclesiastical Council members of the laity are three times more vital than members of the clergy.
Now, each church in the Association has been sent a copy of Rachel’s paper so we could all read it in advance. Therefore, after Rachel makes her presentation, each church will get to ask at least two questions of Rachel based on her paper and presentation.
To be clear, I am a member of the Committee on Authorized Ministry of the Susquehanna Association. So we, the committee, have walked through this process with Rachel. We were with her as she graduated from SUNY Cortland and she asked to be a Member in Discernment (which is what we call someone seeking ordination these days).
We were with her as she went off to the wilds of Boston, Massachusetts where she attended and graduated from the Boston University School of Theology. We offered her advice as she was in the process of writing her ordination paper.
I like Rachel and I think she will make an outstanding, wonderful pastor. By the way, that opinion will not stop me from asking her questions this afternoon.
Now, on the title page of Rachel’s ordination paper there is an extra sub-title line. It says the paper is (quote:) “Appropriately Subtitled— All I Think I Know About God in (about) Twenty Pages.” Then the paper opens with a quote from the late theologian, mystic and social activist Thomas Merton from the work Thoughts on Solitude.
(Quote:) “My God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself and the fact that I think that I am following Your will does not mean I am actually doing so.”
“But I believe the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all I am doing. I hope I will never do anything apart from that desire.”
“And I know if I do this You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust You always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.” (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Matthew: “Change your hearts and minds, for the dominion of heaven has come near. The dominion of heaven is about to break in on you.” (Slight pause.)
I think we, in the Twenty-first Century— world-wide, not just Americans— are afflicted with a very specific disease. We are convinced we know everything there is to know and we are in control of everything and we are right about everything.
I’ve got bad news and good news on that count. Here’s the bad news: we are wrong. We do not know everything. We are not in control of everything. We are not right about everything.
The good news? The idea that we do know everything, we are in control of everything and are right about everything is not a simply a Twenty-first Century disease. The people to whom John preached had the same disease.
I think one of the mistakes we make when we read this text is we see it with blinders. Paradoxically, these are the same blinders worn by our First Century cousins who heard what John said.
The specific blinders to which I refer are the ones just mentioned— thinking we know, thinking we are in control, thinking we are right. Let me unpack that a bit. When we hear the words which say (quote:) “Many Pharisees and Sadducees came for baptism and John said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’” we are making several assumptions.
The assumptions are false. But we make them because we think we know and we are in control and we are right.
We hear the terms Pharisees and Sadducees and think “those are the bad people.” Except they would not have been considered bad in the world John inhabited. They would have been considered upstanding citizens, the best of the best.
Then we hear John’s question to them (quote:) “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” And that question simply puzzles us as it would have puzzled them. Do notice there is no response recorded.
John doubts their sincerity. I think John doubts their sincerity because the Baptizer realizes they have come to the wilderness not to be Baptized. What they want is to buy fire insurance. They think participation will give them protection. If they simply do something— a ritual— Baptism— then a deep, meaningful relationship with God will be unnecessary, superfluous.
In short, when they see John Baptizing they think they can know, think they can be in control, think they are right. John, on the other hand, is clear: ritual does not produce a relationship with God nor does it produce what a relationship with God is about.
What John insists is a relationship with God only happens when we are willing to change our hearts and our minds. All of which is to say thinking we know, thinking we are in control, thinking we are right is not solid ground for a relationship with God.
Why? Let me repeat that quote from Thomas Merton and used by Rachel in full.
“My God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself and the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean I am actually doing so.”
“But I believe the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all I am doing. I hope I will never do anything apart from that desire.”
“And I know if I do this You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.” (Slight pause.)
God does not, in any way, wish to control us. God is not manipulative... and yet God is in control. That God is in control is, I think, not something we like to hear, since we like to know, we like to be in control, we like to be right.
But once we grasp that simple understanding that God reigns, as did Thomas Merton did, that understanding that we are not in charge of the world, then our hearts and our minds can and will be open to change. Why? How? Only then— when we understand we are not in charge— will we have the freedom and the peace to turn our hearts and our minds toward God. Amen.
12/04/2015
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 Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Let me call your attention to the Thought for Meditation from Barbara Brown Taylor, Episcopal Priest and theologian found in the bulletin today. (Quote:) ‘While Isaiah might have agreed that salvation comes from heaven, I doubt the prophet would have agreed to leave it there. Salvation is not about us going up but about heaven coming down. Salvation that does not include just rulers, an equitable economy, and peace among the nations, would have made Isaiah scratch his head. Heaven may be God’s test kitchen, but the pudding is intended for earth.’ Making the pudding of God here on earth— now that will take a change of hearts and minds.”
BENEDICTION: Let us be present to one another as we go from this place. Let us share our gifts, our hopes, our memories, our pain and our joy. Go in peace for God is with us. Go in joy for God knows every fiber of our being. Go in hope for God reveals to us, daily, that we are a part of God’s new creation. Go in love, for we rest assured, by Christ, Jesus, that God is steadfast. And may the peace of God which surpasses understanding be with us this day and forevermore. Amen.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
SERMON ~ 11/27/2016 ~ “Light As Armor”
11/27/2016 ~ First Sunday of Advent ~ First Sunday of Lectionary Year “A” ~ The Sunday on Which We Commemorate Hope ~ Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44 ~ The Sunday in Advent on Which We Commemorate Hope ~ The Sunday After the Secular Holiday Known as Thanksgiving.
Light As Armor
“...you know what time it is, the time in which we are living. It is now the moment, the time, the hour for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer, closer to us now than when we became believers, than when we first accepted faith. The night is far spent, gone; the day draws near. Let us, then, lay aside the works of the night and put on the armor of light.” — Romans 13:11-12.
So, what time is it? Certainly most Sundays when I stand in this place it’s somewhere between 10 and 11 a.m. on a given Sunday. Today, as you heard me say earlier, is the 27th of November, 2016, the First Sunday in Advent of year ‘A’ on the church calendar, the Sunday in Advent on which we commemorate hope. [A choir member, realizing he pastor has said “October” rather than “November” points that our and there is a back and forth with the choir and the pastor as all have a good chuckle over this.] So, that’s secular time and church time. But what time is it, really?
In San Francisco it’s between 7 and 8 a.m. If you were there instead of here you could just roll over for another 40 winks. In London, England, on the other hand, it’s between 3 and 4 this afternoon, too late to start anything significant now. And in Sydney, Australia, it’s between 2 and 3 a.m. tomorrow, Monday morning. How does that work? (Slight pause.) What time is it, really? (Slight pause.)
A couple of weeks ago I started my comments by noting I was a voracious reader. And so I recently came across a book about the Stephen Sondheim show Follies, one of my favorite musicals, a book about putting the original production of the show together. I was unaware this book even existed. I bought it immediately.
I need to take a moment to tell you about Sondheim’s Follies— and yes, the topic here is time. For decades starting in 1907 there were a number of shows on the Great White Way which carried the title Follies or similar names. They were what we would today call variety shows and there would be a new production of a show most years.
The story in Sondheim’s musical is about a reunion of women— Follies girls to use the vernacular— who appeared in these shows. This narrative takes place on an evening in the Spring of 1971.
The reason for the reunion is a theater at which multiple, yearly productions of this version of a Follies show was presented is being demolished. The play— the story about this reunion party— takes place in that doomed theater on the evening before demolition is scheduled to start.
At the very beginning of the musical you know something strange is happening because what appears to be ghosts of Follies girls glide on and off stage as characters in real time, current time, come and go. Indeed, as the show unfolds the four main characters— two men and two women— live in real time, exchange dialogue and have songs to sing.
The ghosts of the four main characters are there also but never actually interact with their own, newer, modern self. They appear to be living, breathing, in the 1940s and sing and interact with the other ghosts as if it was the 1940s.
Further, the dialogue helps us understand that sometimes what had been true and really happened back in the 1940s is not exactly how it is remembered by the older, current versions of those ghosts, people now living in 1971. Additionally, things have not exactly turned out the way the younger people back in the 1940s had hoped.
At times all eight characters— old and young— are on the stage simultaneously saying things, singing, but never interacting with the other selves. Scenes from two eras happen simultaneously. However, what all eight characters say reflects on both on what had been true and untrue in the 40s and what will be true and untrue in the 70s.
An example from the show: in real time, reflecting on where life has taken him and where he has been and where he has gone, one character sings this. “The road you didn’t take / Hardly comes to mind / Does it? / The door you didn’t try / Where could it have led? / The choice you didn’t make / Never was defined / Was it? / Dreams you didn’t dare / Are dead / Were they ever there? / Who said / I don’t remember. / Chances that you miss / Ignore / Ignorance is bliss / What’s more / I won’t remember.”
The questions posed seem to be ‘where have I been?’ ‘Were am I going, now?’ ‘How did I get here?’ ‘Would I rather be back there, then?’ ‘Do I even want to be here, now?’
In short, this show not only mixes up time. You can feel the pain in those words, those question. And you can feel the truth in those words, those questions as the song asks what is happening now and asks what has happened? What are your memories? Are they real? What is real? So yes, the play asks, “What time is it, really?” (Slight pause.)
I wanted to tell you all this because I am reading that book about Sondheim’s Follies right now. Reading it has had a similar effect on me. I’ve started thinking about where I was in back 1971 when the show opened. I was there opening night. Who I was with? What I was doing?
Because many memories have been dredged up for me, I have started to have flash backs to when I was young. I started asking, “Do I remember, really, what my life was like, where I’ve been, what it has become, where has it gone?” “What time is it for me, now?” And there is pain in those questions and there is truth in those questions. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Romans: “...you know what time it is, the time in which we are living. It is now the moment, the time, the hour for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer, closer to us now than when we became believers, than when we first accepted faith. The night is far spent, gone; the day draws near. Let us, then, lay aside the works of the night and put on the armor of light.” (Slight pause.)
Paul makes an assumption in this passage. The Apostle assumes readers, listeners will know the “time” referred to is not chronological time. Indeed, rather than using the obvious Greek word for time chronos, Paul uses kairos— kairos God’s time.
I would suggest in God’s time past and present blur. In God’s time, you see, God is near to us not then or now. God is near to us always. In God’s time God is at our side, always.
In God’s time the presence of God is not a linear but eternal. And there is pain for us in that observation. And there is truth in that observation. After all, we are mortal. How do we understand or even think about the eternal?
But then Paul takes us beyond that. Paul proclaims now, within our mortality, is the time for us to awake from sleep. Now is the time for us to cease dwelling on or in the past and to understand that God is with us, now. And what has happened or rather Who has happened that says to Paul that God is at our side, that God is present to us, now? Jesus, the Christ, has happened.
Because Jesus has happened, time— as it has been known before— time as it has been known before— has ended. On top of that, because Jesus has happened (quote:), “The night is far spent, gone; the day draws near. Let us, then, lay aside the works of the night and put on the armor of light.” (Slight pause.)
For some the past is a safe place. The night is a safe place. The shadows are safe. And hence, for some, light is threatening. And there is pain in that observation and there is truth in that observation. There are many who want to hide from the truth and take refuge in pain.
Further, while Paul speaks in terms of night and light, what is being addressed here is not the night nor is it the light. What Paul addresses is falsehood and truth. And yes, falsehood can sometimes feel comforting and truth can sometimes feel painful. But for all it’s potential for pain, Paul invites us to live in the truth and the reality of the present and the reality of the presence of God. (Slight pause.)
Today is the Sunday in Advent on which we commemorate hope, or so I said at the start of my comments. Having said light represents truth I also need to say light represents hope.
And what we celebrate in Advent is the hope found in Jesus. What is the reality of that hope, the truth of that hope? God is with us. God is at our side.
And there is pain in that observation and there is truth in that observation. There is pain in that observation because we recognize our own mortality. Also there is pain in that observation because we too often forget about hope.
But there is truth in that observation. There is truth because God is real. There is truth because God is not simply a vague memory which fades over time. God is a reality now.
So, as Paul suggests, awake we need to be— awake to the reality of God. We need to be awake to the hope and the peace and the love and the joy of God throughout this Advent. Amen.
11/27/2016
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, NY
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “In my comments I made reference to the Stephen Sondheim show Follies. The word follies can, of course, be taken two ways. It is a show title. But we all have follies, fantasies, of some kind or another which ignore reality. Perhaps the most difficult of our follies is can we decide who we really are. I believe the answer is simple, if we are willing to see the truth and the pain of the answer. We are willing to be children of God who walk in the light of God, people who seek the truth of God.”
BENEDICTION: Let us know and understand that our hope is in God. May we carry the peace of God where ever we go. Let us share that peace and that hope, which is God’s, with all whom we meet. For God reigns and the joy of God’s love is a present reality. Amen.
Light As Armor
“...you know what time it is, the time in which we are living. It is now the moment, the time, the hour for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer, closer to us now than when we became believers, than when we first accepted faith. The night is far spent, gone; the day draws near. Let us, then, lay aside the works of the night and put on the armor of light.” — Romans 13:11-12.
So, what time is it? Certainly most Sundays when I stand in this place it’s somewhere between 10 and 11 a.m. on a given Sunday. Today, as you heard me say earlier, is the 27th of November, 2016, the First Sunday in Advent of year ‘A’ on the church calendar, the Sunday in Advent on which we commemorate hope. [A choir member, realizing he pastor has said “October” rather than “November” points that our and there is a back and forth with the choir and the pastor as all have a good chuckle over this.] So, that’s secular time and church time. But what time is it, really?
In San Francisco it’s between 7 and 8 a.m. If you were there instead of here you could just roll over for another 40 winks. In London, England, on the other hand, it’s between 3 and 4 this afternoon, too late to start anything significant now. And in Sydney, Australia, it’s between 2 and 3 a.m. tomorrow, Monday morning. How does that work? (Slight pause.) What time is it, really? (Slight pause.)
A couple of weeks ago I started my comments by noting I was a voracious reader. And so I recently came across a book about the Stephen Sondheim show Follies, one of my favorite musicals, a book about putting the original production of the show together. I was unaware this book even existed. I bought it immediately.
I need to take a moment to tell you about Sondheim’s Follies— and yes, the topic here is time. For decades starting in 1907 there were a number of shows on the Great White Way which carried the title Follies or similar names. They were what we would today call variety shows and there would be a new production of a show most years.
The story in Sondheim’s musical is about a reunion of women— Follies girls to use the vernacular— who appeared in these shows. This narrative takes place on an evening in the Spring of 1971.
The reason for the reunion is a theater at which multiple, yearly productions of this version of a Follies show was presented is being demolished. The play— the story about this reunion party— takes place in that doomed theater on the evening before demolition is scheduled to start.
At the very beginning of the musical you know something strange is happening because what appears to be ghosts of Follies girls glide on and off stage as characters in real time, current time, come and go. Indeed, as the show unfolds the four main characters— two men and two women— live in real time, exchange dialogue and have songs to sing.
The ghosts of the four main characters are there also but never actually interact with their own, newer, modern self. They appear to be living, breathing, in the 1940s and sing and interact with the other ghosts as if it was the 1940s.
Further, the dialogue helps us understand that sometimes what had been true and really happened back in the 1940s is not exactly how it is remembered by the older, current versions of those ghosts, people now living in 1971. Additionally, things have not exactly turned out the way the younger people back in the 1940s had hoped.
At times all eight characters— old and young— are on the stage simultaneously saying things, singing, but never interacting with the other selves. Scenes from two eras happen simultaneously. However, what all eight characters say reflects on both on what had been true and untrue in the 40s and what will be true and untrue in the 70s.
An example from the show: in real time, reflecting on where life has taken him and where he has been and where he has gone, one character sings this. “The road you didn’t take / Hardly comes to mind / Does it? / The door you didn’t try / Where could it have led? / The choice you didn’t make / Never was defined / Was it? / Dreams you didn’t dare / Are dead / Were they ever there? / Who said / I don’t remember. / Chances that you miss / Ignore / Ignorance is bliss / What’s more / I won’t remember.”
The questions posed seem to be ‘where have I been?’ ‘Were am I going, now?’ ‘How did I get here?’ ‘Would I rather be back there, then?’ ‘Do I even want to be here, now?’
In short, this show not only mixes up time. You can feel the pain in those words, those question. And you can feel the truth in those words, those questions as the song asks what is happening now and asks what has happened? What are your memories? Are they real? What is real? So yes, the play asks, “What time is it, really?” (Slight pause.)
I wanted to tell you all this because I am reading that book about Sondheim’s Follies right now. Reading it has had a similar effect on me. I’ve started thinking about where I was in back 1971 when the show opened. I was there opening night. Who I was with? What I was doing?
Because many memories have been dredged up for me, I have started to have flash backs to when I was young. I started asking, “Do I remember, really, what my life was like, where I’ve been, what it has become, where has it gone?” “What time is it for me, now?” And there is pain in those questions and there is truth in those questions. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Romans: “...you know what time it is, the time in which we are living. It is now the moment, the time, the hour for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer, closer to us now than when we became believers, than when we first accepted faith. The night is far spent, gone; the day draws near. Let us, then, lay aside the works of the night and put on the armor of light.” (Slight pause.)
Paul makes an assumption in this passage. The Apostle assumes readers, listeners will know the “time” referred to is not chronological time. Indeed, rather than using the obvious Greek word for time chronos, Paul uses kairos— kairos God’s time.
I would suggest in God’s time past and present blur. In God’s time, you see, God is near to us not then or now. God is near to us always. In God’s time God is at our side, always.
In God’s time the presence of God is not a linear but eternal. And there is pain for us in that observation. And there is truth in that observation. After all, we are mortal. How do we understand or even think about the eternal?
But then Paul takes us beyond that. Paul proclaims now, within our mortality, is the time for us to awake from sleep. Now is the time for us to cease dwelling on or in the past and to understand that God is with us, now. And what has happened or rather Who has happened that says to Paul that God is at our side, that God is present to us, now? Jesus, the Christ, has happened.
Because Jesus has happened, time— as it has been known before— time as it has been known before— has ended. On top of that, because Jesus has happened (quote:), “The night is far spent, gone; the day draws near. Let us, then, lay aside the works of the night and put on the armor of light.” (Slight pause.)
For some the past is a safe place. The night is a safe place. The shadows are safe. And hence, for some, light is threatening. And there is pain in that observation and there is truth in that observation. There are many who want to hide from the truth and take refuge in pain.
Further, while Paul speaks in terms of night and light, what is being addressed here is not the night nor is it the light. What Paul addresses is falsehood and truth. And yes, falsehood can sometimes feel comforting and truth can sometimes feel painful. But for all it’s potential for pain, Paul invites us to live in the truth and the reality of the present and the reality of the presence of God. (Slight pause.)
Today is the Sunday in Advent on which we commemorate hope, or so I said at the start of my comments. Having said light represents truth I also need to say light represents hope.
And what we celebrate in Advent is the hope found in Jesus. What is the reality of that hope, the truth of that hope? God is with us. God is at our side.
And there is pain in that observation and there is truth in that observation. There is pain in that observation because we recognize our own mortality. Also there is pain in that observation because we too often forget about hope.
But there is truth in that observation. There is truth because God is real. There is truth because God is not simply a vague memory which fades over time. God is a reality now.
So, as Paul suggests, awake we need to be— awake to the reality of God. We need to be awake to the hope and the peace and the love and the joy of God throughout this Advent. Amen.
11/27/2016
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, NY
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “In my comments I made reference to the Stephen Sondheim show Follies. The word follies can, of course, be taken two ways. It is a show title. But we all have follies, fantasies, of some kind or another which ignore reality. Perhaps the most difficult of our follies is can we decide who we really are. I believe the answer is simple, if we are willing to see the truth and the pain of the answer. We are willing to be children of God who walk in the light of God, people who seek the truth of God.”
BENEDICTION: Let us know and understand that our hope is in God. May we carry the peace of God where ever we go. Let us share that peace and that hope, which is God’s, with all whom we meet. For God reigns and the joy of God’s love is a present reality. Amen.
Monday, November 21, 2016
BONUS SERMON ~ ONE OFFERED AT CHENANGO VALLEY HOME ~ November 20, 2016 ~ “The Fulness of God”
November 20, 2016 ~ Chenango Valley Home ~ Reign of Christ ~ Twenty-Seventh Sunday after Pentecost and the Last Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 29 ~ Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Jeremiah 23:1-6; Luke 1:68-79 **; Jeremiah 23:1-6; Psalm 46; Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43 ** No Psalm assigned with this reading ~ The Sunday Before the Secular Holiday Known as Thanksgiving ~ Tuesday, next (11/22), is Turkey Day!
The Fulness of God
“God wanted all perfection / to be found in Christ, / and all things / are to be reconciled / to God through Christ— / everything in heaven / and everything on earth— / for in the Christ / all the fullness of God / was pleased to dwell,....” — Colossians 1:19-20a.
Many churches use what we commonly call a Creed. Generally, creeds set out a series of statements which we take to be a set of beliefs. There are some churches which say that creeds— this set of statements— are what you must believe.
In the Congregational tradition— my church is in the Congregational tradition— we much prefer to not use the term creed when we talk about a set of beliefs. We use the term Affirmation of Faith.
The implication is we do not tell you what to believe. Our assumption is that what you believe is your problem but it is also your privilege.
After all, you, yourself, on your own, need to be in relationship with God and you need to work on your relationship with God, yourself. I can give you advice about that relationship but I cannot do it for you. Therefore, I certainly cannot tell you what your relationship with God is like. Only you know what it’s like.
That having been said, one way of explaining sets of beliefs is to say there is a difference between dogma and doctrine. Dogma is when someone else tells you what you have to believe. Doctrine, on the other hand, is an explanation of what you, yourself, and perhaps others along with you, might believe.
Hence, at my church we do use Affirmations of Faith. Sometimes we use the ancient Creeds of the Church, such as The Nicene Creed. But, since when we use a creed we invite people to proclaim what they believe, we sometimes use other forms. As it happens, at the service this very morning we used a hymn as an Affirmation of Faith.
That hymn would be familiar to many of you. The title is God the Omnipotent. The first verse reads this way. “God the Omnipotent, boldly ordaining thunder and lightening Your strength to display. Bring forth compassion where violence is reigning; give to us peace in our time, we pray.”
The title of that piece, God the Omnipotent, presents us with an interesting conundrum about God. Generally people think the word omnipotent, especially when applied to God, means “all powerful.”
Indeed, some people make the argument that God is in control. But is that what omnipotent means? Does omnipotent mean God is all powerful, as in ‘God is in control?’ Or does omnipotent mean something else when we apply the term to God? (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Colossians: “God wanted all perfection / to be found in Christ, / and all things / are to be reconciled / to God through Christ— / everything in heaven / and everything on earth— / for in the Christ / all the fullness of God / was pleased to dwell,....” (Slight pause.)
Here is a controversial statement. God is not in control. At least God is not in control the way our modern, secular society thinks about someone, anyone, being in control. And, as a Christian, that God is not in control in that secular way comforts me.
Why do I say both that ‘God is in control?’ fails to be an accurate way of describing the omnipotence of God and that the idea that God is not in control comforts me? Four reasons come to mind.
First, if you say ‘God is in control’ it is really hard to avoid implying God causes atrocities. If you do say God is in control, then everything from earthquakes to the Holocaust becomes the responsibility of God. You tell me if you think that’s a good idea.
Second, sometimes we say God is in control because we are scared, really, really afraid. Hence, we do not say God is in control because it is true. We say God is in control because there is much in life that makes us anxious. So, we use saying God is in control as a way of being less anxious, less fearful.
Next, in saying God is in control some people do mean “God’s own emotions are in check.” But I have a hard time believing God is cool and calm when violence, hatred, and oppression rear their ugly heads. So that does not seem like a valid way to think about an omnipotent God, either.
Last, saying ‘God is in control’ is a way to be passive. Example: “My child just got punched in the face by another kid. But that’s O.K. These things happen. And after all, God is in control!”
So what or who is this so called omnipotent God? What or who is this so called omnipotent God who so many claim is all powerful, this God we hear about in the hymn God the Omnipotent? (Slight pause.)
The hymn actually give us the answer to the question about who God is in the lyric I read earlier. (Quote:) “Bring forth compassion where violence is reigning;...”
God is, you see, good. God is a God of compassion. And that is what omnipotent refers to. And, for what it’s worth, I don’t need God to be “in control” to be good.
I just need to God to be close. I need God to be present. I need God to care. I need God to be hopeful, to have a vision, a dream for creation. This close, present, caring, gritty and hopeful God is the God for Whom I have affection.
This is the God who entices me to be good, myself. This is the God who entices me to participate, myself, in the work of God. And this God has graced we humans with creativity and with passion.
This God is the God Who has graced we humans with a longing for justice— the justice of God, not human justice. This God is the God who invites us to work with the grace and with the love with which this God surrounds us.
Therefore, I believe a theology of divine control needs to be rejected. After all, controlling God is nothing more than a manipulative God. Further, to say God is a controlling God mis-reads what omnipotence is about. A theology of divine control needs to be rejected because a theology of control all too readily allows not good but evil to flourish under the guise of God being in control.
When a theology of control speaks that is not the voice of God speaking. It is the voice of some humans who seek to be in control.
So, what does it mean that God is omnipotent? It means that God is with us. And this gives me hope: God is with us. [1] It also means, as it says in Colossians, that we can see the fulness of God in Jesus. Amen.
Chenango Valley Home
11/20/2016
[1] A lot of this reasoning is taken from an article by Matthew Boswell, the pastor of Camas Friends Church, in Camas, Washington and re-worked for this context.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithforward/2016/11/god-is-not-in-control/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NL%20Best%20of%20Patheos&utm_content=287
The Fulness of God
“God wanted all perfection / to be found in Christ, / and all things / are to be reconciled / to God through Christ— / everything in heaven / and everything on earth— / for in the Christ / all the fullness of God / was pleased to dwell,....” — Colossians 1:19-20a.
Many churches use what we commonly call a Creed. Generally, creeds set out a series of statements which we take to be a set of beliefs. There are some churches which say that creeds— this set of statements— are what you must believe.
In the Congregational tradition— my church is in the Congregational tradition— we much prefer to not use the term creed when we talk about a set of beliefs. We use the term Affirmation of Faith.
The implication is we do not tell you what to believe. Our assumption is that what you believe is your problem but it is also your privilege.
After all, you, yourself, on your own, need to be in relationship with God and you need to work on your relationship with God, yourself. I can give you advice about that relationship but I cannot do it for you. Therefore, I certainly cannot tell you what your relationship with God is like. Only you know what it’s like.
That having been said, one way of explaining sets of beliefs is to say there is a difference between dogma and doctrine. Dogma is when someone else tells you what you have to believe. Doctrine, on the other hand, is an explanation of what you, yourself, and perhaps others along with you, might believe.
Hence, at my church we do use Affirmations of Faith. Sometimes we use the ancient Creeds of the Church, such as The Nicene Creed. But, since when we use a creed we invite people to proclaim what they believe, we sometimes use other forms. As it happens, at the service this very morning we used a hymn as an Affirmation of Faith.
That hymn would be familiar to many of you. The title is God the Omnipotent. The first verse reads this way. “God the Omnipotent, boldly ordaining thunder and lightening Your strength to display. Bring forth compassion where violence is reigning; give to us peace in our time, we pray.”
The title of that piece, God the Omnipotent, presents us with an interesting conundrum about God. Generally people think the word omnipotent, especially when applied to God, means “all powerful.”
Indeed, some people make the argument that God is in control. But is that what omnipotent means? Does omnipotent mean God is all powerful, as in ‘God is in control?’ Or does omnipotent mean something else when we apply the term to God? (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Colossians: “God wanted all perfection / to be found in Christ, / and all things / are to be reconciled / to God through Christ— / everything in heaven / and everything on earth— / for in the Christ / all the fullness of God / was pleased to dwell,....” (Slight pause.)
Here is a controversial statement. God is not in control. At least God is not in control the way our modern, secular society thinks about someone, anyone, being in control. And, as a Christian, that God is not in control in that secular way comforts me.
Why do I say both that ‘God is in control?’ fails to be an accurate way of describing the omnipotence of God and that the idea that God is not in control comforts me? Four reasons come to mind.
First, if you say ‘God is in control’ it is really hard to avoid implying God causes atrocities. If you do say God is in control, then everything from earthquakes to the Holocaust becomes the responsibility of God. You tell me if you think that’s a good idea.
Second, sometimes we say God is in control because we are scared, really, really afraid. Hence, we do not say God is in control because it is true. We say God is in control because there is much in life that makes us anxious. So, we use saying God is in control as a way of being less anxious, less fearful.
Next, in saying God is in control some people do mean “God’s own emotions are in check.” But I have a hard time believing God is cool and calm when violence, hatred, and oppression rear their ugly heads. So that does not seem like a valid way to think about an omnipotent God, either.
Last, saying ‘God is in control’ is a way to be passive. Example: “My child just got punched in the face by another kid. But that’s O.K. These things happen. And after all, God is in control!”
So what or who is this so called omnipotent God? What or who is this so called omnipotent God who so many claim is all powerful, this God we hear about in the hymn God the Omnipotent? (Slight pause.)
The hymn actually give us the answer to the question about who God is in the lyric I read earlier. (Quote:) “Bring forth compassion where violence is reigning;...”
God is, you see, good. God is a God of compassion. And that is what omnipotent refers to. And, for what it’s worth, I don’t need God to be “in control” to be good.
I just need to God to be close. I need God to be present. I need God to care. I need God to be hopeful, to have a vision, a dream for creation. This close, present, caring, gritty and hopeful God is the God for Whom I have affection.
This is the God who entices me to be good, myself. This is the God who entices me to participate, myself, in the work of God. And this God has graced we humans with creativity and with passion.
This God is the God Who has graced we humans with a longing for justice— the justice of God, not human justice. This God is the God who invites us to work with the grace and with the love with which this God surrounds us.
Therefore, I believe a theology of divine control needs to be rejected. After all, controlling God is nothing more than a manipulative God. Further, to say God is a controlling God mis-reads what omnipotence is about. A theology of divine control needs to be rejected because a theology of control all too readily allows not good but evil to flourish under the guise of God being in control.
When a theology of control speaks that is not the voice of God speaking. It is the voice of some humans who seek to be in control.
So, what does it mean that God is omnipotent? It means that God is with us. And this gives me hope: God is with us. [1] It also means, as it says in Colossians, that we can see the fulness of God in Jesus. Amen.
Chenango Valley Home
11/20/2016
[1] A lot of this reasoning is taken from an article by Matthew Boswell, the pastor of Camas Friends Church, in Camas, Washington and re-worked for this context.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithforward/2016/11/god-is-not-in-control/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NL%20Best%20of%20Patheos&utm_content=287
Sunday, November 20, 2016
SERMON ~ November 20, 2016 ~ “The Unseen God?”
November 20, 2016 ~ Reign of Christ ~ Twenty-Seventh Sunday after Pentecost and the Last Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 29 ~ Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Jeremiah 23:1-6; Luke 1:68-79 **; Jeremiah 23:1-6; Psalm 46; Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43 ** No Psalm assigned with this reading ~ The Sunday Before the Secular Holiday Known as Thanksgiving ~ Tuesday, next (11/22), is Turkey Day!
The Unseen God?
“Christ is the image of the unseen God, / the firstborn of all creation;...” — Colossians 1:15.
(The pastor loudly whispers the first sentence in the microphone.) It’s nearly here— just 34 days away— Christmas— 34 days and counting. On the church calendar that is, in fact, one reason we call today the Twenty-Seventh and Last Sunday after Pentecost, the Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
On that church calendar the Season of Advent, of course, comes before Christmas. And, to be clear, Christmas is not just a day. Christmas is a season.
Not only is Christmas a season but I’d bet you know exactly how long that season lasts. 12 days, but I bet you knew that. So, next week we not only turn the corner into Advent, we start— in our three year church cycle— with a new Church Year, as we leave year ‘C’ and enter year ‘A.’
And why? Why does Advent come before Christmas? And what does it mean that it’s 34 days until Christmas? And afer all, does Christmas mean— as the secular world would have it— something about gifts, about presents, about family? Or is there more to this thing we call Christmas? (Slight pause.)
Gifts are an interesting topic. What are they about? Are they about you, if you are the recipient, or are they about the person doing the giving? Do you, when you give a gift, want to give what you believe to be the perfect gift or do you want to give the person on the receiving end what that person really needs? Note: that is not what someone else really wants but what someone else really needs. (Slight pause.)
Gifts— as I said— an interesting topic. When I was a child I had a set of Lionel Trains, model trains. Or perhaps I should say we— the family— had a set of model trains. You see, in theory, my brother— a year younger than myself— my brother and I had a set of Lionel Trains together.
But the story about these trains is even a bit more complicated than that. The basic set was purchased when I was less than two. The train set was, certainly not at that point, for me. It was for my father.
Each Christmas after that basic set was purchased my brother would get one railroad car to add to the collection of cars and I would get one railroad car to add to the collection of cars. Each Christmas my father would, dutifully, assemble the layout.
When I say assemble, my father was no Mr. FixIt, no Mr. Handyman. Even so, he had constructed a fairly large folding train board made of wood which sat on rollers so it was easy to shift around. The tracks were permanently screwed on the board.
At the end of the season, the train set, the board and all, would come down. The board would be folded up, the train cars set back in their original distinctive orange boxes. And all this would disappear until the following Christmas season.
You see, we lived in a small apartment in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. There was no space to leave a train set up the whole year round.
Needless to say, as children we thought of the additional train car as our “big” present each year. Today Lionel trains would, indeed, be a big gift.
I looked it up. These days many of the locomotive units and/or whole sets in the same scale and the same style as the trains we had sell for hundreds and hundreds of dollars brand new. I am not sure what the prices were back then. I am fairly certain they were less expensive.
One of the things I say about my early family life is we were not impoverished. But we were relatively poor. Therefore, the more common gifts both under the tree and exchanged at Christmas were quite practical: dress clothes, shoes, sneakers, outerwear, socks etc., etc., etc.
All this is good. Gifts are good. Practical gifts are good. Less than practical gifts are still good. But this gift stuff— is that in any way connected to these words (quote:) “Christ is the image of the unseen God, / the firstborn of all creation;...”
Indeed, what is it we strive to celebrate with Christmas? What does it mean that the Christ is the firstborn of all creation?
And what does it mean that the Christ is the image of the unseen God? Hold it. What did that say? God is unseen... but Christ, Who we can see, is the image of God Whom we cannot see?
That sounds like a contradiction which may well open a variety of cans crammed with worms. Why would the writer of Colossians say God is unseen?
Does that separate God and Christ? And/or does the word ‘unseen’ mean unfelt also? And/or does unseen mean we have some real, intimate knowledge of the presence of God but our sensory perceptions lack any cognitive way for us to be in touch with the presence of this unseen God? (Slight pause.)
Personally, I think all those questions get answered in the reality of the Christ. Indeed, if what is recorded about the preaching of Jesus comes even close to being accurate, there is a singular and constant message from Jesus which fits right in with the words which state that “Christ is the image of the unseen God...”
What is the constant message we hear in the preaching of the Christ? God... is... near. And that message is not limited to the concept that God is near. The message includes this: God is with us. God walks with us.
This is the message of Jesus, the preaching of Jesus. And that preaching sends us right back to Colossians. Colossians asks, effectively, ‘Who is this Jesus? Who is the Christ?’ (Slight pause.)
Here’s where I stand. Jesus, the Christ, is the image of the unseen God. Jesus, the Christ, is the reality of the unseen God.
The reality of Jesus, the Christ, is that God and Jesus are both separate and one. The reality of Jesus, the Christ, the presence of Jesus, the Christ, does address our sensory perceptions, does address any lack of a cognitive way for us to touch the presence— the real presence— of God, God who is, as Jesus preached, always near, God who is with us, God who walks with us. (Slight pause.)
So, what is it we strive to celebrate with Christmas? What does it mean that the Christ is the firstborn of all creation? What does it mean that the Christ is the image of the unseen God?
Christmas means that God is with us, no matter what the circumstances. Christmas means that God walks with us, no matter what the situation.
And that kind of leads us back to how those gifts we find under the tree or gifts we exchange or even those gifts we buy because we want them for ourselves, so we buy them for ourselves. Ah! Those gifts— to be straightforward, I have very, very fond memories of those Lionel trains. I loved those trains. I kind of wish I had a set now.
But not only is that a fantasy about childhood simply rekindled in my brain, that’s not about the real world today. That is about me. But Christmas— Christmas— is not about me. And Christmas— perhaps it’s not about an unseen God.
Christmas is about the real world today because Christmas is about celebrating God who can be seen. This God can be seen in the truths represented by Jesus.
And this is a list of some but not all of the truths represented by Jesus, truths which can be seen in the life and in the preaching of Jesus. The list: unity, social justice, equality, caring for our world, diversity, freedom, equity, love.
So, Christmas— this season toward which we are headed as we work through Advent— is, therefore about each of us reaching beyond ourselves to express love, to express grace, to express forgivingness, to express acceptance no matter what the culture might tell us because, indeed, the culture tells us that love, grace, forgiveness, acceptance are not good values. Indeed, this aforementioned list of attributes which we Christians are called to practice is not an agenda— political or otherwise.
This list simply pays attention to and responds to the fact that God is with us, God walks with us, God is present to us. That does not sound like an unseen God to me. Amen.
11/20/2016
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 Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I think this is another take on what I am trying to get at when I speak about Christmas: God is not Santa Clause. We say, ‘Oh! I got what I wanted! God is in control’ or conversely, ‘Nuts! I did not get what I wanted. That’s O.K. I’ll live with it for now since God is in control.’ You see, the gifts of God are greater, much greater, than anything we might want or anything we might find under a tree, even Lionel trains. You heard this earlier. These gifts include but are not limited to unity, social justice, equality, caring for our world, diversity, freedom, equity, love. But we won’t find them under a tree. God relies on us to work with them and for them.”
BENEDICTION: Let us walk in the light God provides. Let us thank God for reaching out to us in love. Let us be daily recreated in the image of God who wants us to live with justice as our guide and freedom as our goal. And may the peace of Christ which surpasses our understanding keep our hearts and minds in the companionship of the Holy Spirit and the love of God this day and evermore. Amen.
The Unseen God?
“Christ is the image of the unseen God, / the firstborn of all creation;...” — Colossians 1:15.
(The pastor loudly whispers the first sentence in the microphone.) It’s nearly here— just 34 days away— Christmas— 34 days and counting. On the church calendar that is, in fact, one reason we call today the Twenty-Seventh and Last Sunday after Pentecost, the Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
On that church calendar the Season of Advent, of course, comes before Christmas. And, to be clear, Christmas is not just a day. Christmas is a season.
Not only is Christmas a season but I’d bet you know exactly how long that season lasts. 12 days, but I bet you knew that. So, next week we not only turn the corner into Advent, we start— in our three year church cycle— with a new Church Year, as we leave year ‘C’ and enter year ‘A.’
And why? Why does Advent come before Christmas? And what does it mean that it’s 34 days until Christmas? And afer all, does Christmas mean— as the secular world would have it— something about gifts, about presents, about family? Or is there more to this thing we call Christmas? (Slight pause.)
Gifts are an interesting topic. What are they about? Are they about you, if you are the recipient, or are they about the person doing the giving? Do you, when you give a gift, want to give what you believe to be the perfect gift or do you want to give the person on the receiving end what that person really needs? Note: that is not what someone else really wants but what someone else really needs. (Slight pause.)
Gifts— as I said— an interesting topic. When I was a child I had a set of Lionel Trains, model trains. Or perhaps I should say we— the family— had a set of model trains. You see, in theory, my brother— a year younger than myself— my brother and I had a set of Lionel Trains together.
But the story about these trains is even a bit more complicated than that. The basic set was purchased when I was less than two. The train set was, certainly not at that point, for me. It was for my father.
Each Christmas after that basic set was purchased my brother would get one railroad car to add to the collection of cars and I would get one railroad car to add to the collection of cars. Each Christmas my father would, dutifully, assemble the layout.
When I say assemble, my father was no Mr. FixIt, no Mr. Handyman. Even so, he had constructed a fairly large folding train board made of wood which sat on rollers so it was easy to shift around. The tracks were permanently screwed on the board.
At the end of the season, the train set, the board and all, would come down. The board would be folded up, the train cars set back in their original distinctive orange boxes. And all this would disappear until the following Christmas season.
You see, we lived in a small apartment in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. There was no space to leave a train set up the whole year round.
Needless to say, as children we thought of the additional train car as our “big” present each year. Today Lionel trains would, indeed, be a big gift.
I looked it up. These days many of the locomotive units and/or whole sets in the same scale and the same style as the trains we had sell for hundreds and hundreds of dollars brand new. I am not sure what the prices were back then. I am fairly certain they were less expensive.
One of the things I say about my early family life is we were not impoverished. But we were relatively poor. Therefore, the more common gifts both under the tree and exchanged at Christmas were quite practical: dress clothes, shoes, sneakers, outerwear, socks etc., etc., etc.
All this is good. Gifts are good. Practical gifts are good. Less than practical gifts are still good. But this gift stuff— is that in any way connected to these words (quote:) “Christ is the image of the unseen God, / the firstborn of all creation;...”
Indeed, what is it we strive to celebrate with Christmas? What does it mean that the Christ is the firstborn of all creation?
And what does it mean that the Christ is the image of the unseen God? Hold it. What did that say? God is unseen... but Christ, Who we can see, is the image of God Whom we cannot see?
That sounds like a contradiction which may well open a variety of cans crammed with worms. Why would the writer of Colossians say God is unseen?
Does that separate God and Christ? And/or does the word ‘unseen’ mean unfelt also? And/or does unseen mean we have some real, intimate knowledge of the presence of God but our sensory perceptions lack any cognitive way for us to be in touch with the presence of this unseen God? (Slight pause.)
Personally, I think all those questions get answered in the reality of the Christ. Indeed, if what is recorded about the preaching of Jesus comes even close to being accurate, there is a singular and constant message from Jesus which fits right in with the words which state that “Christ is the image of the unseen God...”
What is the constant message we hear in the preaching of the Christ? God... is... near. And that message is not limited to the concept that God is near. The message includes this: God is with us. God walks with us.
This is the message of Jesus, the preaching of Jesus. And that preaching sends us right back to Colossians. Colossians asks, effectively, ‘Who is this Jesus? Who is the Christ?’ (Slight pause.)
Here’s where I stand. Jesus, the Christ, is the image of the unseen God. Jesus, the Christ, is the reality of the unseen God.
The reality of Jesus, the Christ, is that God and Jesus are both separate and one. The reality of Jesus, the Christ, the presence of Jesus, the Christ, does address our sensory perceptions, does address any lack of a cognitive way for us to touch the presence— the real presence— of God, God who is, as Jesus preached, always near, God who is with us, God who walks with us. (Slight pause.)
So, what is it we strive to celebrate with Christmas? What does it mean that the Christ is the firstborn of all creation? What does it mean that the Christ is the image of the unseen God?
Christmas means that God is with us, no matter what the circumstances. Christmas means that God walks with us, no matter what the situation.
And that kind of leads us back to how those gifts we find under the tree or gifts we exchange or even those gifts we buy because we want them for ourselves, so we buy them for ourselves. Ah! Those gifts— to be straightforward, I have very, very fond memories of those Lionel trains. I loved those trains. I kind of wish I had a set now.
But not only is that a fantasy about childhood simply rekindled in my brain, that’s not about the real world today. That is about me. But Christmas— Christmas— is not about me. And Christmas— perhaps it’s not about an unseen God.
Christmas is about the real world today because Christmas is about celebrating God who can be seen. This God can be seen in the truths represented by Jesus.
And this is a list of some but not all of the truths represented by Jesus, truths which can be seen in the life and in the preaching of Jesus. The list: unity, social justice, equality, caring for our world, diversity, freedom, equity, love.
So, Christmas— this season toward which we are headed as we work through Advent— is, therefore about each of us reaching beyond ourselves to express love, to express grace, to express forgivingness, to express acceptance no matter what the culture might tell us because, indeed, the culture tells us that love, grace, forgiveness, acceptance are not good values. Indeed, this aforementioned list of attributes which we Christians are called to practice is not an agenda— political or otherwise.
This list simply pays attention to and responds to the fact that God is with us, God walks with us, God is present to us. That does not sound like an unseen God to me. Amen.
11/20/2016
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 Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I think this is another take on what I am trying to get at when I speak about Christmas: God is not Santa Clause. We say, ‘Oh! I got what I wanted! God is in control’ or conversely, ‘Nuts! I did not get what I wanted. That’s O.K. I’ll live with it for now since God is in control.’ You see, the gifts of God are greater, much greater, than anything we might want or anything we might find under a tree, even Lionel trains. You heard this earlier. These gifts include but are not limited to unity, social justice, equality, caring for our world, diversity, freedom, equity, love. But we won’t find them under a tree. God relies on us to work with them and for them.”
BENEDICTION: Let us walk in the light God provides. Let us thank God for reaching out to us in love. Let us be daily recreated in the image of God who wants us to live with justice as our guide and freedom as our goal. And may the peace of Christ which surpasses our understanding keep our hearts and minds in the companionship of the Holy Spirit and the love of God this day and evermore. Amen.
Sunday, November 13, 2016
SERMON ~ November 13, 2016 ~ “Gifts for the Temple”
November 13, 2016 ~ Proper 28 ~ Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 12 **; Malachi 4:1-2a; Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19 ~ ** No Psalm assigned with this reading ~ Stewardship Sunday ~ The Sunday After Veterans Day (Friday).
Gifts for the Temple
{Jesus said} “‘All of them have contributed out of their abundance, out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty, out of her want, has put in what she could not afford, every penny she had to live on.’ Some disciples were speaking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful, precious stones and gifts dedicated to God, votive offerings.” — Luke 21:4-5.
I should not say we all do this. But certainly most of us do it. Most of us use the drive through window of a bank or credit union. When we do we grab the canister from the receptacle, open it and stuff the intended transaction in it. We stick it back into the tube and press send the button.
Off it goes with a rattle and a great, giant sucking sound through the primitive pneumatic tube system. Perhaps because, from my youth, I remember these systems being used in department stores I think of this as ancient technology.
And in terms of how we think and act today this is ancient technology. Pneumatic tube networks gained acceptance in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to transport small, urgent packages— mail, paperwork, money over relatively short distances— within a building or, at most, within a city. Believe it or not, when we landed on the moon NASA Mission Control Center was still using pneumatic tubes.
These systems were operated also by the United States Post Office Department in cities. In New York a system connected Brooklyn and Manhattan. Other Post Office systems were used in Chicago, Boston, St. Louis. The last of these closed in 1953. A major network of tubes was still used in Paris until 1984.
Well, sometimes, as I sit there at the drive through and wait for my transaction to be completed, my mind does wander a little. I wonder where the canister really goes. Will I ever see any kind of result from the personal trust I have expressed by this placing something of monetary value in a canister and watching it disappear?
Of course, I have never failed to get a reassuring receipt back. But I still wonder about it.
Evolutionary biologists tell us we humans all still have a part of the brain which dates back to when reptiles were in charge on our planet. So maybe the real reason for my wonder and fear is that reptilian part of this organ called the brain has kicked into gear rather than any logical, cognitive awareness in my 21st Century mind.
Aside from fear, perhaps I exhibit a lack of trust in the pneumatic tube system because I was once told a story about the use of these systems. You may have noticed all these drive through stations have signs which say ‘please no rolls of coins.’ Well, this story comes from before these signs were there.
The story goes that an older gentleman placed five rolls of coins in the tube and within moments of hearing that great, giant sucking sound the next great sound heard was coins— all kinds of coins— being flung around inside the tube system, probably lodging themselves in the walls and ceiling of the bank.
He was never sure if the bank was able to retrieve all the coins. So perhaps, at least if you have put coins in the tube, there is a good reason not to trust the system. I guess that proves conclusively we can ruin just about any system. (Slight pause.)
These words are in Luke/Acts in the section commonly referred to as Luke. {Jesus said} “‘All of them have contributed out of their abundance, out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty, out of her want, has put in what she could not afford, every penny she had to live on.’ Some disciples were speaking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful, precious stones and gifts dedicated to God, votive offerings.” (Slight pause.)
In this reading we also heard these words (quote:) “Jesus looked and saw people of wealth putting their offerings into the Temple treasury; there also was an impoverished woman, a widow, who put in two small copper coins.” So, what does that mean when it says “the Temple treasury” and why is this woman singled out by Jesus? (Slight pause.)
Well, let’s start at the beginning. This one who puts an offering in the Temple treasury is a woman, a widow and poor. Each of these makes her unacceptable, unclean, an outcast.
Hence, simply because she is a woman— not even taking into account her poverty or her status as a widow— she would have not been allowed beyond an outer wall of the Temple. So where is the money this widow offers being placed when it says the Temple treasury? Is it being tallied and taken in by some treasurer of the Temple at a desk?
No. Actually, the Treasury at the outer wall of the Temple was likely to have been a box, a contraption, some kind of door with a handle on it. Pull down the handle. Drop the money in. Walk away. You’re done.
The Temple gratefully accepts the offering you made. Thank you. No. We will not give you a receipt. Do not even try to prove the Temple has the money. So, to put money— especially (quote:) “every penny she had to live on”— in the box took a great leap of faith.
Next, we need to hear what is said after the comment about the generosity and faith of the widow— that the temple was adorned with beautiful, precious stones. This does make one wonder where the money goes.
One is led to wonder about that because immediately preceding the reading we heard today, Jesus condemns those who (quote:) “devour widow’s houses.” The widow, you see, is the connective tissue between the passage that precedes the one we heard and this passage..
And the Hebrew Scriptures are clear as to where the money should go. The money should go to the widows, the orphans, the outcast.
These are to be first in line when it comes to who the Temple helps. But the reading certainly leaves one with the impression that what is being offered is not going to the widow, the orphan, the outcast. It is, perhaps, going toward precious stones.
That brings me back to this great leap of faith exhibited by the widow. She trusts. She trusts in God, Whose Word clearly delineates who should benefit from giving— outreach as we call it today— giving should go to the widows, the orphans, the outcast. And the widow trusts God, so she puts “every penny she had to live on” in the box. (Slight pause.)
In a couple of moments we will have a ceremony of commitment. As I have often said, in this church we do not have to worry about precious stones.
In this church everything people give goes to outreach. And the records we keep on that are open. We publish them. In this church you do not drop money in a box and wonder where it goes, what happens to it. We tell you what happens to it. And it all goes to outreach. (Slight pause.)
That places an interesting choice before us. We can feel self-satisfied by what we, in this church, do. Or what we already do can prompt we, in this church, to offer even more. (Slight pause.)
Now, I think most if not all of you have received a letter from me about a different approach to stewardship this year. I outlined an effort to do more, to be even more involved with outreach. The more we pledge or even give, the more we will help others through the diaper program run by the First Baptist Church.
And this helping others thing— some call that an act of justice— this helping others thing, an act of justice, is what that stewardship is about. Our gifts are not simply or only gifts to the temple. Our gifts are gifts involved in the work of justice. Our gifts are gifts involved in helping others.
That was what the widow, in an act of faith in God, wanted to do: help others. That is what we want to do. In an act of faith in God we want to help others. And that should be a definition of stewardship for us. In an act of faith in God we do help others. Oh, yeah— where I come from that is called justice. Amen.
11/13/2016
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 Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Here is an interesting quote and I’ll give you two guesses who said it: ‘As humankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.” George Washington said it. Then there is, of course, Saint Augustine: ‘Charity is no substitute for justice withheld.’”
BENEDICTION: A kind and just God sends us out into the world as bearers of truth, a truth which surpasses our understanding, that the love of God knows no bounds or boundaries. Indeed, God watches over those who respond in love. So, let us love God so much that we love nothing else too much. Let us be so in awe of God that we are in awe of noone else and nothing else. Amen.
Gifts for the Temple
{Jesus said} “‘All of them have contributed out of their abundance, out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty, out of her want, has put in what she could not afford, every penny she had to live on.’ Some disciples were speaking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful, precious stones and gifts dedicated to God, votive offerings.” — Luke 21:4-5.
I should not say we all do this. But certainly most of us do it. Most of us use the drive through window of a bank or credit union. When we do we grab the canister from the receptacle, open it and stuff the intended transaction in it. We stick it back into the tube and press send the button.
Off it goes with a rattle and a great, giant sucking sound through the primitive pneumatic tube system. Perhaps because, from my youth, I remember these systems being used in department stores I think of this as ancient technology.
And in terms of how we think and act today this is ancient technology. Pneumatic tube networks gained acceptance in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to transport small, urgent packages— mail, paperwork, money over relatively short distances— within a building or, at most, within a city. Believe it or not, when we landed on the moon NASA Mission Control Center was still using pneumatic tubes.
These systems were operated also by the United States Post Office Department in cities. In New York a system connected Brooklyn and Manhattan. Other Post Office systems were used in Chicago, Boston, St. Louis. The last of these closed in 1953. A major network of tubes was still used in Paris until 1984.
Well, sometimes, as I sit there at the drive through and wait for my transaction to be completed, my mind does wander a little. I wonder where the canister really goes. Will I ever see any kind of result from the personal trust I have expressed by this placing something of monetary value in a canister and watching it disappear?
Of course, I have never failed to get a reassuring receipt back. But I still wonder about it.
Evolutionary biologists tell us we humans all still have a part of the brain which dates back to when reptiles were in charge on our planet. So maybe the real reason for my wonder and fear is that reptilian part of this organ called the brain has kicked into gear rather than any logical, cognitive awareness in my 21st Century mind.
Aside from fear, perhaps I exhibit a lack of trust in the pneumatic tube system because I was once told a story about the use of these systems. You may have noticed all these drive through stations have signs which say ‘please no rolls of coins.’ Well, this story comes from before these signs were there.
The story goes that an older gentleman placed five rolls of coins in the tube and within moments of hearing that great, giant sucking sound the next great sound heard was coins— all kinds of coins— being flung around inside the tube system, probably lodging themselves in the walls and ceiling of the bank.
He was never sure if the bank was able to retrieve all the coins. So perhaps, at least if you have put coins in the tube, there is a good reason not to trust the system. I guess that proves conclusively we can ruin just about any system. (Slight pause.)
These words are in Luke/Acts in the section commonly referred to as Luke. {Jesus said} “‘All of them have contributed out of their abundance, out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty, out of her want, has put in what she could not afford, every penny she had to live on.’ Some disciples were speaking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful, precious stones and gifts dedicated to God, votive offerings.” (Slight pause.)
In this reading we also heard these words (quote:) “Jesus looked and saw people of wealth putting their offerings into the Temple treasury; there also was an impoverished woman, a widow, who put in two small copper coins.” So, what does that mean when it says “the Temple treasury” and why is this woman singled out by Jesus? (Slight pause.)
Well, let’s start at the beginning. This one who puts an offering in the Temple treasury is a woman, a widow and poor. Each of these makes her unacceptable, unclean, an outcast.
Hence, simply because she is a woman— not even taking into account her poverty or her status as a widow— she would have not been allowed beyond an outer wall of the Temple. So where is the money this widow offers being placed when it says the Temple treasury? Is it being tallied and taken in by some treasurer of the Temple at a desk?
No. Actually, the Treasury at the outer wall of the Temple was likely to have been a box, a contraption, some kind of door with a handle on it. Pull down the handle. Drop the money in. Walk away. You’re done.
The Temple gratefully accepts the offering you made. Thank you. No. We will not give you a receipt. Do not even try to prove the Temple has the money. So, to put money— especially (quote:) “every penny she had to live on”— in the box took a great leap of faith.
Next, we need to hear what is said after the comment about the generosity and faith of the widow— that the temple was adorned with beautiful, precious stones. This does make one wonder where the money goes.
One is led to wonder about that because immediately preceding the reading we heard today, Jesus condemns those who (quote:) “devour widow’s houses.” The widow, you see, is the connective tissue between the passage that precedes the one we heard and this passage..
And the Hebrew Scriptures are clear as to where the money should go. The money should go to the widows, the orphans, the outcast.
These are to be first in line when it comes to who the Temple helps. But the reading certainly leaves one with the impression that what is being offered is not going to the widow, the orphan, the outcast. It is, perhaps, going toward precious stones.
That brings me back to this great leap of faith exhibited by the widow. She trusts. She trusts in God, Whose Word clearly delineates who should benefit from giving— outreach as we call it today— giving should go to the widows, the orphans, the outcast. And the widow trusts God, so she puts “every penny she had to live on” in the box. (Slight pause.)
In a couple of moments we will have a ceremony of commitment. As I have often said, in this church we do not have to worry about precious stones.
In this church everything people give goes to outreach. And the records we keep on that are open. We publish them. In this church you do not drop money in a box and wonder where it goes, what happens to it. We tell you what happens to it. And it all goes to outreach. (Slight pause.)
That places an interesting choice before us. We can feel self-satisfied by what we, in this church, do. Or what we already do can prompt we, in this church, to offer even more. (Slight pause.)
Now, I think most if not all of you have received a letter from me about a different approach to stewardship this year. I outlined an effort to do more, to be even more involved with outreach. The more we pledge or even give, the more we will help others through the diaper program run by the First Baptist Church.
And this helping others thing— some call that an act of justice— this helping others thing, an act of justice, is what that stewardship is about. Our gifts are not simply or only gifts to the temple. Our gifts are gifts involved in the work of justice. Our gifts are gifts involved in helping others.
That was what the widow, in an act of faith in God, wanted to do: help others. That is what we want to do. In an act of faith in God we want to help others. And that should be a definition of stewardship for us. In an act of faith in God we do help others. Oh, yeah— where I come from that is called justice. Amen.
11/13/2016
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 Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Here is an interesting quote and I’ll give you two guesses who said it: ‘As humankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.” George Washington said it. Then there is, of course, Saint Augustine: ‘Charity is no substitute for justice withheld.’”
BENEDICTION: A kind and just God sends us out into the world as bearers of truth, a truth which surpasses our understanding, that the love of God knows no bounds or boundaries. Indeed, God watches over those who respond in love. So, let us love God so much that we love nothing else too much. Let us be so in awe of God that we are in awe of noone else and nothing else. Amen.
Sunday, November 6, 2016
SERMON ~ November 6, 2016 ~ “The Redeemer”
November 6, 2016 ~ Proper 27 ~ Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Haggai 1:15b-2:9; Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21 or Psalm 98; Job 19:23-27a; Psalm 17:1-9; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17; Luke 20:27-38 ~ Communion Sunday ~ 11/01/2016 (the Previous Tuesday) ~ All Saints Day ~ (Sometimes observed on first Sunday in November) ~ Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18; Psalm 149; Ephesians 1:11-23; Luke 6:20-31.
The Redeemer
“For I know that my Redeemer lives— / my Vindicator Who, at the last, at the end, / will stand upon the earth;...” — Job 19:25.
Confession: I am a voracious reader. But you probably at least suspected that. Most of my reading is non-fiction— history, biography— or concentrates on professional areas— theology, Scripture— church connected.
Do I, for pleasure, occasionally delve into fiction? Why, yes I do. And, when I do move over to fiction, I tend to gravitate toward science fiction.
Further I occasionally re-read a book. And so I recently found myself once again devouring the science fiction classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
For those unfamiliar with this work, I need to explain it is not just a work of science fiction. It’s science fiction and comedy. And it’s not just any comedy but specifically British comedy— dry, eccentric comedy. Think Star Wars meets Monty Python and you’ve got a good idea of what The Hitchhiker's Guide might be like.
Here’s one example of its comedic style. The Hitchhiker’s Guide series— yes, it is a series— is called a trilogy. A trilogy— that’s three books. Except there are five books in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy— five books in this particular trilogy— that’s British humor, you see— dry, eccentric.
In the first book of the trilogy the opening scene starts in an very ordinary way. The protagonist, Arthur Dent, has been oblivious to the fact that a superhighway needs to run right through his property. Therefore, his home needs to be demolished.
One morning Arthur crawls out of bed to find his house surrounded by bulldozers. The person in charge claims the demolition plans have been on file and available at the local city hall for months. Arthur says ‘but no one told me’ and lays down in front of the bulldozers thinking he’s not going to let this destruction happen.
Just then the best friend of Arthur, Ford Perfect, snatches him away to a local pub. Despite looking quite human, unbeknownst to Arthur, Ford Perfect— and to reiterate, this Ford Perfect fellow is Arthur’s best friend— is from another planet. And Ford Perfect, being from another planet, knows the Earth is about to be destroyed.
Ford Perfect, in fact, knows not just that the Earth will be destroyed. Ford Perfect knows that the Earth will be destroyed in about ten minutes. And Ford Perfect is determined to avoid this, determined to hitchhike into space on a starship and determined to take Arthur with him. And so someone from another planet, has taken Arthur to a local pub so they can become inebriated enough to withstand the stresses involved in hitching a ride on a starship.
Why is the Earth being destroyed? Well, of course, the Earth is being destroyed so a superhighway can be built for starships. And that superhighway for starships runs right through the place where our planet is and/or used to be.
Why don’t we earthlings know about this? The documents which could have told us about the destruction of the planet are on file and available at a record hall located in another galaxy.
All of which is to say, not too far into the novel the Earth, as we know it, is completely destroyed. It no longer exists. Only Arthur survives. As I indicated, it’s a comedic novel— but it’s British humor— dry, eccentric— it takes strange, interesting turns. (Slight pause.)
On a serious note, I have mentioned this about my family background before. When I was around four or five, my father had what was in the parlance of the day was called a nervous breakdown. Today we would have describe it as the onset of the mental illness identified as passive dependency or passive aggression.
I was at that point both the oldest of three children and at a tender age. While I won’t get too deep into the psychology of this here— to do so would take more time than either I or you have— suffice it to say one interpretation of this event is that, for me at least, the Earth, as I knew it, was completely destroyed. I survived. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Job: “For I know that my Redeemer lives— / my Vindicator Who, at the last, at the end, / will stand upon the earth;...” (Slight pause.)
Christians often refer to Jesus as the Redeemer. I would be the last one to disagree with that.
But equally, coming back to the thought that I am a voracious reader and part of what I read is theology, Scripture— I know that to limit the idea of redeemer exclusively to Christianity may be a fairly common secular practice. But to limit the idea of redeemer to an exclusively Christian concept defies the evidence of theology and the evidence found in Scripture. Indeed, as we just heard there is evidence in the work we know as Job. God is called ‘redeemer.’
In fact, in Handel’s Messiah, if you look carefully at the Air For Soprano titled I Know That My Redeemer Liveth, you find the piece strings together both this passage from Job and words from I Corinthians 15. Therefore, the point this music makes is ‘God as Redeemer’ is not an exclusively a Christian concept. The Testaments are a continuum. The God of the Hebrew Scriptures and Jesus are connected.
That brings me to the story we heard from Luke. At the resurrection who will be the husband of this woman who has married seven? While the answer of Jesus is couched in the language of resurrection, Jesus is not making a point about resurrection.
What is the point Jesus makes? (Quote:) “God is not of the dead but the living. All of them are alive to God.”
Put another way, God lives. That is the belief of Jews. That is the belief of Christians. God lives.
This concept is heard throughout Scripture. This concept is not confined to one segment of the text. The same sentiment— God lives and moves and works among us— this same sentiment is scattered throughout Scripture.
These words, which we also heard today, are found in Psalm 98. (Quote:) “God has made salvation known, / has shown vindication, / divine justice, / to the nations / and has remembered / steadfast love, / truth and faithfulness...”
A God Who is these things, a God Who does these things is a living God. God is then and God is here and God is now and God will be. God lives.
That, in turn, does bring us to the Christian belief called the Resurrection. If God lives, if God is here, if God is now, if God will be, if Jesus and God are connected— then Jesus, who we call the Second Person of the Trinity— lives.
Hence, at its heart and as I say each Easter Sunday, Resurrection is not about resuscitation nor is it about reanimation. Resurrection addresses a basic Jewish belief and a basic Christian belief: God lives. (Slight pause.)
That brings me back to both my background and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In The Hitchhiker’s Guide the Earth is destroyed in a somewhat comedic way. But survive Arthur Dent did.
My own world was destroyed and it affected me in ways which were less than comedic. But survive I did.
To be blunt and again to delve a little into psychology, I think one reason I survived is a parental figure in my life ceased to be present to me. But, paradoxically, that opened my eyes to a singular theological truth: God lives.
I realized my world was shattered but my world was not destroyed. I did survive. I realized I could live life in a new way. For reasons I cannot, myself, explain, I held firm onto the reality, the truth we call the living God. (Slight pause.)
Diana Butler Bass is an Episcopal member of the laity, scholar, church historian and theologian. She recently wrote a short piece she called Credo, A Litany of Grace.
To place this writing into context we need to remember the Latin word Credo does not mean “I believe.” The Latin word Credo means ‘that to which I give my whole heart.’ This is Credo, A Litany of Grace by Diana Butler Bass.
(Quote:) “I believe God creates the world and all therein— good, even very good, no matter how far from that goodness human beings wander; I believe Love casts out fear, and that living with compassion is the path to joy; I believe Gratitude threads all of the connections in the web of life;”
“I believe Wisdom dwells among us, embodying both divine insight and human intellect; I believe Hope banishes cynicism, always drawing us toward a creative future;...”
“I believe Awe opens us to an awakened life that reaches out to the world to restore and save; I believe Justice flows all around us, like a healing river; I believe All Shall Be Well.” — the words of Diana Butler Bass. [1] (Slight pause.)
Do terrible things, things we abhor, happen? Whe yes, they do. Worlds are shattered. But God lives.
And my point is not just that God lives. God walks with us at all times and in all ways. God is with us, always. Or as Diana Butler Bass says, “All shall be well.”
You see, when it is said “I know that my Redeemer lives” this needs to be all we hear and all we understand: God lives. It’s that simple. And all shall be well, for God is with us. Amen.
11/06/2016
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 Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “The well known pastor and theologian Brian McLaren said ‘If you summarize all the work of Diana Butler Bass who I quoted earlier into a single thought this would be it: “Nostalgia is a really, really bad idea.”’ Why would nostalgia be a not just a really, really bad idea but a really, really bad theological idea? God lives. That’s about right here and that’s about right now and that’s about what will be. But it is not about yesterday. Let me reiterate this basic theological concept: God lives.”
BENEDICTION: We can find the presence of God in unexpected places. God’s light leads us to places we thought not possible just moments ago. God’s love abounds and will live with us throughout eternity. The grace of God is deeper than our imagination. The strength of Christ is stronger than our needs. The communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness. May the one triune God sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.
[1] Note: very slightly altered for this context.
The Redeemer
“For I know that my Redeemer lives— / my Vindicator Who, at the last, at the end, / will stand upon the earth;...” — Job 19:25.
Confession: I am a voracious reader. But you probably at least suspected that. Most of my reading is non-fiction— history, biography— or concentrates on professional areas— theology, Scripture— church connected.
Do I, for pleasure, occasionally delve into fiction? Why, yes I do. And, when I do move over to fiction, I tend to gravitate toward science fiction.
Further I occasionally re-read a book. And so I recently found myself once again devouring the science fiction classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
For those unfamiliar with this work, I need to explain it is not just a work of science fiction. It’s science fiction and comedy. And it’s not just any comedy but specifically British comedy— dry, eccentric comedy. Think Star Wars meets Monty Python and you’ve got a good idea of what The Hitchhiker's Guide might be like.
Here’s one example of its comedic style. The Hitchhiker’s Guide series— yes, it is a series— is called a trilogy. A trilogy— that’s three books. Except there are five books in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy— five books in this particular trilogy— that’s British humor, you see— dry, eccentric.
In the first book of the trilogy the opening scene starts in an very ordinary way. The protagonist, Arthur Dent, has been oblivious to the fact that a superhighway needs to run right through his property. Therefore, his home needs to be demolished.
One morning Arthur crawls out of bed to find his house surrounded by bulldozers. The person in charge claims the demolition plans have been on file and available at the local city hall for months. Arthur says ‘but no one told me’ and lays down in front of the bulldozers thinking he’s not going to let this destruction happen.
Just then the best friend of Arthur, Ford Perfect, snatches him away to a local pub. Despite looking quite human, unbeknownst to Arthur, Ford Perfect— and to reiterate, this Ford Perfect fellow is Arthur’s best friend— is from another planet. And Ford Perfect, being from another planet, knows the Earth is about to be destroyed.
Ford Perfect, in fact, knows not just that the Earth will be destroyed. Ford Perfect knows that the Earth will be destroyed in about ten minutes. And Ford Perfect is determined to avoid this, determined to hitchhike into space on a starship and determined to take Arthur with him. And so someone from another planet, has taken Arthur to a local pub so they can become inebriated enough to withstand the stresses involved in hitching a ride on a starship.
Why is the Earth being destroyed? Well, of course, the Earth is being destroyed so a superhighway can be built for starships. And that superhighway for starships runs right through the place where our planet is and/or used to be.
Why don’t we earthlings know about this? The documents which could have told us about the destruction of the planet are on file and available at a record hall located in another galaxy.
All of which is to say, not too far into the novel the Earth, as we know it, is completely destroyed. It no longer exists. Only Arthur survives. As I indicated, it’s a comedic novel— but it’s British humor— dry, eccentric— it takes strange, interesting turns. (Slight pause.)
On a serious note, I have mentioned this about my family background before. When I was around four or five, my father had what was in the parlance of the day was called a nervous breakdown. Today we would have describe it as the onset of the mental illness identified as passive dependency or passive aggression.
I was at that point both the oldest of three children and at a tender age. While I won’t get too deep into the psychology of this here— to do so would take more time than either I or you have— suffice it to say one interpretation of this event is that, for me at least, the Earth, as I knew it, was completely destroyed. I survived. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Job: “For I know that my Redeemer lives— / my Vindicator Who, at the last, at the end, / will stand upon the earth;...” (Slight pause.)
Christians often refer to Jesus as the Redeemer. I would be the last one to disagree with that.
But equally, coming back to the thought that I am a voracious reader and part of what I read is theology, Scripture— I know that to limit the idea of redeemer exclusively to Christianity may be a fairly common secular practice. But to limit the idea of redeemer to an exclusively Christian concept defies the evidence of theology and the evidence found in Scripture. Indeed, as we just heard there is evidence in the work we know as Job. God is called ‘redeemer.’
In fact, in Handel’s Messiah, if you look carefully at the Air For Soprano titled I Know That My Redeemer Liveth, you find the piece strings together both this passage from Job and words from I Corinthians 15. Therefore, the point this music makes is ‘God as Redeemer’ is not an exclusively a Christian concept. The Testaments are a continuum. The God of the Hebrew Scriptures and Jesus are connected.
That brings me to the story we heard from Luke. At the resurrection who will be the husband of this woman who has married seven? While the answer of Jesus is couched in the language of resurrection, Jesus is not making a point about resurrection.
What is the point Jesus makes? (Quote:) “God is not of the dead but the living. All of them are alive to God.”
Put another way, God lives. That is the belief of Jews. That is the belief of Christians. God lives.
This concept is heard throughout Scripture. This concept is not confined to one segment of the text. The same sentiment— God lives and moves and works among us— this same sentiment is scattered throughout Scripture.
These words, which we also heard today, are found in Psalm 98. (Quote:) “God has made salvation known, / has shown vindication, / divine justice, / to the nations / and has remembered / steadfast love, / truth and faithfulness...”
A God Who is these things, a God Who does these things is a living God. God is then and God is here and God is now and God will be. God lives.
That, in turn, does bring us to the Christian belief called the Resurrection. If God lives, if God is here, if God is now, if God will be, if Jesus and God are connected— then Jesus, who we call the Second Person of the Trinity— lives.
Hence, at its heart and as I say each Easter Sunday, Resurrection is not about resuscitation nor is it about reanimation. Resurrection addresses a basic Jewish belief and a basic Christian belief: God lives. (Slight pause.)
That brings me back to both my background and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In The Hitchhiker’s Guide the Earth is destroyed in a somewhat comedic way. But survive Arthur Dent did.
My own world was destroyed and it affected me in ways which were less than comedic. But survive I did.
To be blunt and again to delve a little into psychology, I think one reason I survived is a parental figure in my life ceased to be present to me. But, paradoxically, that opened my eyes to a singular theological truth: God lives.
I realized my world was shattered but my world was not destroyed. I did survive. I realized I could live life in a new way. For reasons I cannot, myself, explain, I held firm onto the reality, the truth we call the living God. (Slight pause.)
Diana Butler Bass is an Episcopal member of the laity, scholar, church historian and theologian. She recently wrote a short piece she called Credo, A Litany of Grace.
To place this writing into context we need to remember the Latin word Credo does not mean “I believe.” The Latin word Credo means ‘that to which I give my whole heart.’ This is Credo, A Litany of Grace by Diana Butler Bass.
(Quote:) “I believe God creates the world and all therein— good, even very good, no matter how far from that goodness human beings wander; I believe Love casts out fear, and that living with compassion is the path to joy; I believe Gratitude threads all of the connections in the web of life;”
“I believe Wisdom dwells among us, embodying both divine insight and human intellect; I believe Hope banishes cynicism, always drawing us toward a creative future;...”
“I believe Awe opens us to an awakened life that reaches out to the world to restore and save; I believe Justice flows all around us, like a healing river; I believe All Shall Be Well.” — the words of Diana Butler Bass. [1] (Slight pause.)
Do terrible things, things we abhor, happen? Whe yes, they do. Worlds are shattered. But God lives.
And my point is not just that God lives. God walks with us at all times and in all ways. God is with us, always. Or as Diana Butler Bass says, “All shall be well.”
You see, when it is said “I know that my Redeemer lives” this needs to be all we hear and all we understand: God lives. It’s that simple. And all shall be well, for God is with us. Amen.
11/06/2016
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 Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “The well known pastor and theologian Brian McLaren said ‘If you summarize all the work of Diana Butler Bass who I quoted earlier into a single thought this would be it: “Nostalgia is a really, really bad idea.”’ Why would nostalgia be a not just a really, really bad idea but a really, really bad theological idea? God lives. That’s about right here and that’s about right now and that’s about what will be. But it is not about yesterday. Let me reiterate this basic theological concept: God lives.”
BENEDICTION: We can find the presence of God in unexpected places. God’s light leads us to places we thought not possible just moments ago. God’s love abounds and will live with us throughout eternity. The grace of God is deeper than our imagination. The strength of Christ is stronger than our needs. The communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness. May the one triune God sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.
[1] Note: very slightly altered for this context.
Sunday, October 30, 2016
SERMON ~ October 30, 2016 ~ “Solemn Festivals Filled with Injustice”
October 30, 2016 ~ Proper 26 ~ Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Known in Some Traditions as the Sunday Closest to All Saints Day (If All Saints not observed on this day) ~ Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4; Psalm 119:137-144; Isaiah 1:10-18; Psalm 32:1-7; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12; Luke 19:1-10 ~ 11/01/2016 (The Following Tuesday) ~ All Saints Day ~ (Sometimes observed on first Sunday in November) ~ Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18; Psalm 149; Ephesians 1:11-23; Luke 6:20-31 ~ Annual Budget Information Meeting.
Solemn Festivals Filled with Injustice
“Do not bring your useless offerings. / It is futile; / their incense is an abomination to me / and fills me with loathing. / New moon and Sabbath / and convocations, assemblies— / I cannot endure another solemn festival / filled with iniquity, injustice.” — Isaiah 1:13.
I have a number of times referred in my comments to the fact that I am a baseball fan. Hence, I am overjoyed that Chicago, who has not won a World Series since 1908 and Cleveland, who has not won a World Series since 1948— the two longest streaks of not winning the Series in the Major Leagues— are in the Fall Classic.
Now, I think one reason the game has constantly fascinated me is I have been always been intrigued by the questions, “How does this work?” “What are the nuts and bolts which makes this happen?”
And baseball is a game that’s fairly easy to follow on those counts, once you know what’s going on, once you know how the game is supposed to be played. So, I’d like to tell a story from baseball fan’s point of view which, I hope, illustrates that fascination.
On Friday evening last Bonnie and I were watching the first World Series Game to be played in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field since 1945. Early in the game, the count on one Cleveland batter went to no balls and two strikes. As if they were one, the home town crowd in Chicago leaped to their feet and started to cheer in expectation of a third strike.
Bonnie, realizing nothing particularly special had happened— it was merely a two strike count— asked, “Why are they cheering?” I said, “They are cheering because they want the next pitch to be a third strike.”
“But these are people who had the money to buy tickets to a World Series game,” I continued. “They are not real baseball fans. Real baseball fans know nine times out of ten, perhaps ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the next pitch will be what people who really know the game refer to as a waste pitch.”
“The next pitch will be a ball and the count will go to one ball and two strikes. So, there is no reason to cheer just yet.”
And that’s exactly what happened. The next pitch was a ball, high and above the strike zone. I then continued my commentary. I am not sure Bonnie was pleased by my continued commentary but I kept going anyway. “The so called waste pitch,” I said, “is not at all a wasted pitch. It has a clear and definitive purpose.”
“The purpose is to change the eye level of the batter. The first two pitches, both strikes, were pitches low but in the strike zone. This last one, the ‘waste pitch,’ was up, too high to be a strike and probably not a pitch that could even be hit. The next one will be back down but probably below the strike zone.”
“What the pitcher is trying to do with the waste pitch is to change the eye level of the batter, to get the batter to misjudge how low the next pitch is, swing and probably miss because of the changed eye level. And yes, the change in location from the first two pitches— both of which were low in the strike zone— is small. But because of the high pitch in between— the waste pitch— the change in eye level is just enough to make the batter miss.”
I don’t have to tell you what happened next, do I? The pitch after the waste pitch was low, out of the strike zone and the batter swung... and missed— strike three— you’re out. (Slight pause.)
Like I said, what interests me is “How does this work?” “What are the nuts and bolts which makes this happen?” (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah: “Do not bring your useless offerings. / It is futile; / their incense is an abomination to me / and fills me with loathing. / New moon and Sabbath / and convocations, assemblies— / I cannot endure another solemn festival / filled with iniquity, injustice.” (Slight pause.)
Let me say a word about a phrase you hear in this passage: burnt offerings. Burnt offerings— that is something for us which is archaic. In the modern vernacular you can say what burnt offerings really means is to give a meaningless gift. Indeed, in this translation a burnt offering is referred to as useless.
So, burnt offerings and special high holy days, this passage states, mean nothing unless the worshiper lives a life of goodness and justice. Worship is an idle exercise unless it brings about a change in heart within the worshiper.
But what is less than clear is the basic attitude of the prophet toward worship. It is one thing to say worship finds its ultimate meaning in the changed lives of the worshipers. It is quite another to say that worship, instead of offering a life-changing experience, actually acts as an impediment.
Yet one can read this text from Isaiah, as well as similar texts from Amos and Hosea, in such a manner. Worship as an impediment is precisely what they seem to say.
Thus, it may be instead of calling for a renewed worship, worship that brings about reoriented hearts, at least some of the prophets call for an abolition of worship altogether. Their reason: formal worship prevents the people of God from achieving their true calling— lives of justice and compassion.
There is, hence, an obvious question posed by this passage. Is this a denial of worship or an affirmation of worship? Here’s the short answer: because worship can lead people to lives characterized by faith inspired action these words are, indeed, an affirmation of worship. Which is to say these words are an affirmation of worship if people know what they are doing, if people know what the nuts and bolts of worship are about. (Slight pause.)
Now, you may think this is strange but that brings me back to baseball and a two strike count. As I indicated, on Friday night there was a two strike count on a Cleveland batter. As if they were one, the home town Chicago crowd leaped to their feet and started to cheer in expectation of that third strike.
But the question that poses is ‘why?’ Why did they leap to their feet in expectation of a third strike when, most of the time, that’s not how it works, as I explained earlier. The nuts and bolts of this, the real way to get a batter out, is to throw a ‘waste pitch.’ (Slight pause.)
In their defense, I want to suggest there is only one reason the crowd cheers for a third strike at that point. Within the context of a home town, Chicago crowd— and I am sure this happened in Cleveland also— in the context of a home town crowd to cheer for a third strike on a two strike count is a cultural norm— a cultural norm.
Cheering at that point is what the local, ingrained culture wants, expects and demands. Any deviation from that norm would bring scorn and ridicule, even though the way to really get the batter out in that situation is to throw that aforementioned waste pitch. (Slight pause.)
What I hope is clear in this passage is burnt offerings— meaningless gifts— represent a cultural norm. Burnt offerings— meaningless gifts— is what people do, what people are expected to do. If burnt offerings were not presented it’s likely the culture which surrounded them, the culture in which they live, would scorn them, ridicule them.
But in nearly every way, the passage asks this question: ‘What does God want?’ What is the cultural norm for God? And the answer is contained right in this passage.
God wants us to make ourselves clean, to remove our evil doings. God wants us to banish injustice, to cease doing evil. God wants us to learn to do good, to search for and to seek justice, to rescue, to help the oppressed, to defend and to protect those who are orphaned, to plead the case of those who are widowed. (Slight pause.)
So, how does this God centered cultural norm work? What are the nuts and bolts which makes this God centered cultural norm happen? (Slight pause.) At the risk of repeating myself from last week, let me say something about the nuts and bolts of what God expects of us, what God expects from us.
What God expects is action— positive action. Therefore, what God expects us to do is to work toward freedom, to work toward peace. What God expects us to do is to be filled with joy in that work.
What God expects us to do is to work toward equity and to embody love. What God expects us to do is to be examples of hope and to understand that hope is real and tangible and present. (Slight pause.)
What is our life with God about? What makes up the nuts and bolts of living within the grace of God and walking in ways of God? The nuts and bolts of life with God are the actions known as freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope.
These are not burnt offerings, meaningless gifts. These are the actions which take us on a path filled with justice. And that’s not merely any justice. That is justice as God sees justice— communal justice.
And the justice God would have is not our cultural norm nor does it represent any cultural norm in the modern world. Indeed, the justice of God is described by freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope. These are not common cultural norms. But these are the cultural norm of God. Amen.
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
10/30/2016
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “In talking about baseball I earlier said baseball is a game that’s fairly easy to follow once you know what’s going on, once you know how the game is supposed to be played. As I also said, the justice of God is described by freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope. Freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope is how the game is supposed to be played. It’s the cultural norm of God.”
BENEDICTION: O God, You have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our striving for justice and truth, to confront one another in love, and to work together with mutual patience, acceptance and respect. Send us out, sure in Your grace and Your peace which surpasses understanding, to live faithfully. And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.
Solemn Festivals Filled with Injustice
“Do not bring your useless offerings. / It is futile; / their incense is an abomination to me / and fills me with loathing. / New moon and Sabbath / and convocations, assemblies— / I cannot endure another solemn festival / filled with iniquity, injustice.” — Isaiah 1:13.
I have a number of times referred in my comments to the fact that I am a baseball fan. Hence, I am overjoyed that Chicago, who has not won a World Series since 1908 and Cleveland, who has not won a World Series since 1948— the two longest streaks of not winning the Series in the Major Leagues— are in the Fall Classic.
Now, I think one reason the game has constantly fascinated me is I have been always been intrigued by the questions, “How does this work?” “What are the nuts and bolts which makes this happen?”
And baseball is a game that’s fairly easy to follow on those counts, once you know what’s going on, once you know how the game is supposed to be played. So, I’d like to tell a story from baseball fan’s point of view which, I hope, illustrates that fascination.
On Friday evening last Bonnie and I were watching the first World Series Game to be played in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field since 1945. Early in the game, the count on one Cleveland batter went to no balls and two strikes. As if they were one, the home town crowd in Chicago leaped to their feet and started to cheer in expectation of a third strike.
Bonnie, realizing nothing particularly special had happened— it was merely a two strike count— asked, “Why are they cheering?” I said, “They are cheering because they want the next pitch to be a third strike.”
“But these are people who had the money to buy tickets to a World Series game,” I continued. “They are not real baseball fans. Real baseball fans know nine times out of ten, perhaps ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the next pitch will be what people who really know the game refer to as a waste pitch.”
“The next pitch will be a ball and the count will go to one ball and two strikes. So, there is no reason to cheer just yet.”
And that’s exactly what happened. The next pitch was a ball, high and above the strike zone. I then continued my commentary. I am not sure Bonnie was pleased by my continued commentary but I kept going anyway. “The so called waste pitch,” I said, “is not at all a wasted pitch. It has a clear and definitive purpose.”
“The purpose is to change the eye level of the batter. The first two pitches, both strikes, were pitches low but in the strike zone. This last one, the ‘waste pitch,’ was up, too high to be a strike and probably not a pitch that could even be hit. The next one will be back down but probably below the strike zone.”
“What the pitcher is trying to do with the waste pitch is to change the eye level of the batter, to get the batter to misjudge how low the next pitch is, swing and probably miss because of the changed eye level. And yes, the change in location from the first two pitches— both of which were low in the strike zone— is small. But because of the high pitch in between— the waste pitch— the change in eye level is just enough to make the batter miss.”
I don’t have to tell you what happened next, do I? The pitch after the waste pitch was low, out of the strike zone and the batter swung... and missed— strike three— you’re out. (Slight pause.)
Like I said, what interests me is “How does this work?” “What are the nuts and bolts which makes this happen?” (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah: “Do not bring your useless offerings. / It is futile; / their incense is an abomination to me / and fills me with loathing. / New moon and Sabbath / and convocations, assemblies— / I cannot endure another solemn festival / filled with iniquity, injustice.” (Slight pause.)
Let me say a word about a phrase you hear in this passage: burnt offerings. Burnt offerings— that is something for us which is archaic. In the modern vernacular you can say what burnt offerings really means is to give a meaningless gift. Indeed, in this translation a burnt offering is referred to as useless.
So, burnt offerings and special high holy days, this passage states, mean nothing unless the worshiper lives a life of goodness and justice. Worship is an idle exercise unless it brings about a change in heart within the worshiper.
But what is less than clear is the basic attitude of the prophet toward worship. It is one thing to say worship finds its ultimate meaning in the changed lives of the worshipers. It is quite another to say that worship, instead of offering a life-changing experience, actually acts as an impediment.
Yet one can read this text from Isaiah, as well as similar texts from Amos and Hosea, in such a manner. Worship as an impediment is precisely what they seem to say.
Thus, it may be instead of calling for a renewed worship, worship that brings about reoriented hearts, at least some of the prophets call for an abolition of worship altogether. Their reason: formal worship prevents the people of God from achieving their true calling— lives of justice and compassion.
There is, hence, an obvious question posed by this passage. Is this a denial of worship or an affirmation of worship? Here’s the short answer: because worship can lead people to lives characterized by faith inspired action these words are, indeed, an affirmation of worship. Which is to say these words are an affirmation of worship if people know what they are doing, if people know what the nuts and bolts of worship are about. (Slight pause.)
Now, you may think this is strange but that brings me back to baseball and a two strike count. As I indicated, on Friday night there was a two strike count on a Cleveland batter. As if they were one, the home town Chicago crowd leaped to their feet and started to cheer in expectation of that third strike.
But the question that poses is ‘why?’ Why did they leap to their feet in expectation of a third strike when, most of the time, that’s not how it works, as I explained earlier. The nuts and bolts of this, the real way to get a batter out, is to throw a ‘waste pitch.’ (Slight pause.)
In their defense, I want to suggest there is only one reason the crowd cheers for a third strike at that point. Within the context of a home town, Chicago crowd— and I am sure this happened in Cleveland also— in the context of a home town crowd to cheer for a third strike on a two strike count is a cultural norm— a cultural norm.
Cheering at that point is what the local, ingrained culture wants, expects and demands. Any deviation from that norm would bring scorn and ridicule, even though the way to really get the batter out in that situation is to throw that aforementioned waste pitch. (Slight pause.)
What I hope is clear in this passage is burnt offerings— meaningless gifts— represent a cultural norm. Burnt offerings— meaningless gifts— is what people do, what people are expected to do. If burnt offerings were not presented it’s likely the culture which surrounded them, the culture in which they live, would scorn them, ridicule them.
But in nearly every way, the passage asks this question: ‘What does God want?’ What is the cultural norm for God? And the answer is contained right in this passage.
God wants us to make ourselves clean, to remove our evil doings. God wants us to banish injustice, to cease doing evil. God wants us to learn to do good, to search for and to seek justice, to rescue, to help the oppressed, to defend and to protect those who are orphaned, to plead the case of those who are widowed. (Slight pause.)
So, how does this God centered cultural norm work? What are the nuts and bolts which makes this God centered cultural norm happen? (Slight pause.) At the risk of repeating myself from last week, let me say something about the nuts and bolts of what God expects of us, what God expects from us.
What God expects is action— positive action. Therefore, what God expects us to do is to work toward freedom, to work toward peace. What God expects us to do is to be filled with joy in that work.
What God expects us to do is to work toward equity and to embody love. What God expects us to do is to be examples of hope and to understand that hope is real and tangible and present. (Slight pause.)
What is our life with God about? What makes up the nuts and bolts of living within the grace of God and walking in ways of God? The nuts and bolts of life with God are the actions known as freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope.
These are not burnt offerings, meaningless gifts. These are the actions which take us on a path filled with justice. And that’s not merely any justice. That is justice as God sees justice— communal justice.
And the justice God would have is not our cultural norm nor does it represent any cultural norm in the modern world. Indeed, the justice of God is described by freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope. These are not common cultural norms. But these are the cultural norm of God. Amen.
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
10/30/2016
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “In talking about baseball I earlier said baseball is a game that’s fairly easy to follow once you know what’s going on, once you know how the game is supposed to be played. As I also said, the justice of God is described by freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope. Freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope is how the game is supposed to be played. It’s the cultural norm of God.”
BENEDICTION: O God, You have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our striving for justice and truth, to confront one another in love, and to work together with mutual patience, acceptance and respect. Send us out, sure in Your grace and Your peace which surpasses understanding, to live faithfully. And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.
Sunday, October 23, 2016
SERMON ~ October 23, 2016 ~ “Apocalypse Later”
October 23, 2016 ~ Proper 25 ~ Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost ~ Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Joel 2:23-32; Psalm 65; Sirach 35:12-17 or Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22; Psalm 84:1-7; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14.
Apocalypse Later
“Then, afterward, / I will pour out my spirit / on all flesh, on all humankind; / your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, / your elders, all of them, / shall have prophetic dreams, / and your young people shall see visions. / In those days / I will pour out my spirit / even on those who are enslaved;...” — Joel 2:28-29.
As I am sure you know there are only sixteen days left before the apocalypse. Indeed, in some places this election cycle has been described that way. Personally, I am not sure it is quite that important but in a fascinating, interesting twist of verbiage couched with obvious theological implications, some have dubbed this political season a battle for the soul.
I have heard it said and it has been said the outcome of this particular electoral process will be and is a choice which puts the every life and identity of each voter on the line. I have heard it said and it has been said this is a choice to be made in which good will or will not be triumphant. Therefore, there is no refuge seeking to be had by voters through non-participation or with alternative choices.
When we add to this assessment the moralizing rhetoric being broadcast by the competing campaigns it, once again, feels like a theological argument. Concerns have been expressed about evil, about aspects of and the possibility of an anti-Christ, aspects which address the end of days, talk about plagues and even concern that a Satanic individual will come out ahead. Based on that it should be absolutely clear to anyone an apocalypse, the end of times, is just around the corner. (Slight pause.)
I am fairly certain that the Jews living in Roman Palestine, in the First Century of the Common Era, thought an apocalypse, an end of times, was just around the corner. You see, historians tell us the occupying Army of Rome— yes the Army of Rome, the Roman Army, was the army of a foreign invader— the occupying Army of Rome is certainly reason to think the end of times might be at hand.
The Army of Rome was living in the homeland of the Jews and that occupying army crucified about 10,000 Jews every year in Roman Palestine. All the death and destruction wrought by Rome and its army on the Jewish people must surely have felt like a sign of the apocalypse, an end of times. (Slight pause.)
I am fairly certain that people living in the area we today call Europe in the 14th Century of the Common Era thought an apocalypse, an end of times, was just around the corner. You see, it’s estimated that as many as 200 million people died in what we call the Black Plague or Black Death in the course of the 14th Century in Europe.
It’s possible as much as 60% of the population died. No matter what the number of deaths, we do know it was not until the 17th Century— it took three centuries— it was not until the 17th Century that population levels recovered. Which is to say people living in 14th Century Europe were probably well justified in thinking an apocalypse was upon them. (Slight pause.)
In my own lifetime I have personally known people who witnessed October the 29th, 1929 crash. That event, the Stock Market Crash, and the following Great Depression, devastated the economy of both this country and the world.
How bad was it? In March of 1933 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office the unemployment rate was 25%. In Chicago the school teachers had worked and had taught every day since the previous September but had not been paid a dime .
The city simply did not have the money to do that. I am sure during the Great Depression many people were well justified in thinking an apocalypse, the end of times, was at hand, just around the corner. (Slight pause.)
On the other hand, as a baseball fan, I am fairly certain an apocalypse is at hand and just around the corner right now. After all, the Cleveland Indians are in the World Series and the Chicago Cubs are in the World Series. These are, unquestionably, the end times.
Seriously, the picture the current world presents to us at any given point in time can be disorienting. We can feel displaced, maybe even feel called to address our emotions, those feelings aroused in us by using in apocalyptic language. But are the end of times really at hand? (Slight pause.)
We hear these words from the Prophet Joel: “Then, afterward, / I will pour out my spirit / on all flesh, on all humankind; / your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, / your elders, all of them, / shall have prophetic dreams, / and your young people shall see visions. / In those days / I will pour out my spirit / even on those who are enslaved;...” (Slight pause.)
It does not matter what the prediction is and it does not matter who makes the prediction. Prognosticators, prophets, pastors, pundits, pontiffs, priests, prelates, politicians or just plain people— all of these are prone and have a propensity to make predictions about the end of times. But the truth is an apocalypse is not happening any time soon and is not going to happen any time soon.
You may not like what is happening right now. It may feel disoriented. You may feel displaced. But the end of times— these are not near.
Perhaps the end of an era is close at hand. And that can be disorienting. But eras, by definition, are of a limited time frame.
Yes, this is not the best of all possible worlds. I get that. But it never was the best of all possible worlds. That raises an obvious question: if it is not the end of times why do we feel we need to speak in those terms?
Indeed, ask the people who lived in Roman Palestine if it was the best of all possible worlds. Ask the people who lived through the plague of the 14th Century if it was the best of all possible worlds.
You may have known people who lived through the Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression, as I did. Each of them told me this truth: the crash and the Depression felt really, really bad. It was disorienting. But it was not the end of time. And we all know that. No matter how bad things feel, no matter how displaced we feel, it is not the end of time.
So, what are these words about? Indeed, what are these words about, especially since these words are not only what the Prophet Joel said but we find the same words repeated by Peter after the Pentecost event? (Slight pause.)
When the readings from Joel and from Acts were introduced it was said that we should realize apocalyptic language uses wonderful, powerful metaphors to describe what a deep experience of God feels like and these words were not insisting on an apocalypse, an ending, but rather proclaiming and rejoicing in a beginning. And I earlier indicated an apocalyptic argument is a theological argument.
In short, an apocalyptic argument, apocalyptic language is not about the end of times. Neither is an apocalyptic argument about who wins and who loses, although some would have it that way.
An apocalyptic argument, apocalyptic language is theological language about one thing and one thing only. Apocalyptic argument and language is about hope.
To use apocalyptic arguments and language to address the end times, to say the end of the world is at hand, is extraordinarily bane, common, trite and not at all theological. To use apocalyptic arguments, apocalyptic language to address the end of times is, in short, simply silly. (Slight pause.)
Well that having been said, in a couple of minutes you will be invited to sing the hymn Christians Rise and Act Your Creed. And what is our creed?
The creed of Christians is not about specific beliefs. (Slight pause.) The creed of Christians is about action— positive action. Therefore, the creed of Christians is about freedom. The creed of Christians is about peace. The creed of Christians is about joy.
The creed of Christians is about equity. The creed of Christians is about love. The creed of Christians is not about an apocalypse of any kind. The creed of Christians is very much about hope. Amen.
10/23/2016
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 Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “There is one other thing connected with hope and the action of hope— faith. Faith is, as I indicated, not a list of beliefs. Faith is also an action. These words of Spanish poet Gerado Oberman about faith illustrate that: ‘...faith is much more than feeling, knowing, repeating… / Faith is trusting in God, confiding in God; / and, in the meantime, on the path, in everyday life, / faith is resistance to all who oppose the love of God, / the fullness of life and the justice of God’s realm.’”
BENEDICTION: God stands by us to grant us support and strength. All who trust in God are strengthened and blessed. So, let us go on our way, proclaiming the Good News: when we question and when we are open, when we struggle to know God’s will and walk in God’s way, God will be our refuge. And may the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore. Amen.
Apocalypse Later
“Then, afterward, / I will pour out my spirit / on all flesh, on all humankind; / your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, / your elders, all of them, / shall have prophetic dreams, / and your young people shall see visions. / In those days / I will pour out my spirit / even on those who are enslaved;...” — Joel 2:28-29.
As I am sure you know there are only sixteen days left before the apocalypse. Indeed, in some places this election cycle has been described that way. Personally, I am not sure it is quite that important but in a fascinating, interesting twist of verbiage couched with obvious theological implications, some have dubbed this political season a battle for the soul.
I have heard it said and it has been said the outcome of this particular electoral process will be and is a choice which puts the every life and identity of each voter on the line. I have heard it said and it has been said this is a choice to be made in which good will or will not be triumphant. Therefore, there is no refuge seeking to be had by voters through non-participation or with alternative choices.
When we add to this assessment the moralizing rhetoric being broadcast by the competing campaigns it, once again, feels like a theological argument. Concerns have been expressed about evil, about aspects of and the possibility of an anti-Christ, aspects which address the end of days, talk about plagues and even concern that a Satanic individual will come out ahead. Based on that it should be absolutely clear to anyone an apocalypse, the end of times, is just around the corner. (Slight pause.)
I am fairly certain that the Jews living in Roman Palestine, in the First Century of the Common Era, thought an apocalypse, an end of times, was just around the corner. You see, historians tell us the occupying Army of Rome— yes the Army of Rome, the Roman Army, was the army of a foreign invader— the occupying Army of Rome is certainly reason to think the end of times might be at hand.
The Army of Rome was living in the homeland of the Jews and that occupying army crucified about 10,000 Jews every year in Roman Palestine. All the death and destruction wrought by Rome and its army on the Jewish people must surely have felt like a sign of the apocalypse, an end of times. (Slight pause.)
I am fairly certain that people living in the area we today call Europe in the 14th Century of the Common Era thought an apocalypse, an end of times, was just around the corner. You see, it’s estimated that as many as 200 million people died in what we call the Black Plague or Black Death in the course of the 14th Century in Europe.
It’s possible as much as 60% of the population died. No matter what the number of deaths, we do know it was not until the 17th Century— it took three centuries— it was not until the 17th Century that population levels recovered. Which is to say people living in 14th Century Europe were probably well justified in thinking an apocalypse was upon them. (Slight pause.)
In my own lifetime I have personally known people who witnessed October the 29th, 1929 crash. That event, the Stock Market Crash, and the following Great Depression, devastated the economy of both this country and the world.
How bad was it? In March of 1933 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office the unemployment rate was 25%. In Chicago the school teachers had worked and had taught every day since the previous September but had not been paid a dime .
The city simply did not have the money to do that. I am sure during the Great Depression many people were well justified in thinking an apocalypse, the end of times, was at hand, just around the corner. (Slight pause.)
On the other hand, as a baseball fan, I am fairly certain an apocalypse is at hand and just around the corner right now. After all, the Cleveland Indians are in the World Series and the Chicago Cubs are in the World Series. These are, unquestionably, the end times.
Seriously, the picture the current world presents to us at any given point in time can be disorienting. We can feel displaced, maybe even feel called to address our emotions, those feelings aroused in us by using in apocalyptic language. But are the end of times really at hand? (Slight pause.)
We hear these words from the Prophet Joel: “Then, afterward, / I will pour out my spirit / on all flesh, on all humankind; / your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, / your elders, all of them, / shall have prophetic dreams, / and your young people shall see visions. / In those days / I will pour out my spirit / even on those who are enslaved;...” (Slight pause.)
It does not matter what the prediction is and it does not matter who makes the prediction. Prognosticators, prophets, pastors, pundits, pontiffs, priests, prelates, politicians or just plain people— all of these are prone and have a propensity to make predictions about the end of times. But the truth is an apocalypse is not happening any time soon and is not going to happen any time soon.
You may not like what is happening right now. It may feel disoriented. You may feel displaced. But the end of times— these are not near.
Perhaps the end of an era is close at hand. And that can be disorienting. But eras, by definition, are of a limited time frame.
Yes, this is not the best of all possible worlds. I get that. But it never was the best of all possible worlds. That raises an obvious question: if it is not the end of times why do we feel we need to speak in those terms?
Indeed, ask the people who lived in Roman Palestine if it was the best of all possible worlds. Ask the people who lived through the plague of the 14th Century if it was the best of all possible worlds.
You may have known people who lived through the Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression, as I did. Each of them told me this truth: the crash and the Depression felt really, really bad. It was disorienting. But it was not the end of time. And we all know that. No matter how bad things feel, no matter how displaced we feel, it is not the end of time.
So, what are these words about? Indeed, what are these words about, especially since these words are not only what the Prophet Joel said but we find the same words repeated by Peter after the Pentecost event? (Slight pause.)
When the readings from Joel and from Acts were introduced it was said that we should realize apocalyptic language uses wonderful, powerful metaphors to describe what a deep experience of God feels like and these words were not insisting on an apocalypse, an ending, but rather proclaiming and rejoicing in a beginning. And I earlier indicated an apocalyptic argument is a theological argument.
In short, an apocalyptic argument, apocalyptic language is not about the end of times. Neither is an apocalyptic argument about who wins and who loses, although some would have it that way.
An apocalyptic argument, apocalyptic language is theological language about one thing and one thing only. Apocalyptic argument and language is about hope.
To use apocalyptic arguments and language to address the end times, to say the end of the world is at hand, is extraordinarily bane, common, trite and not at all theological. To use apocalyptic arguments, apocalyptic language to address the end of times is, in short, simply silly. (Slight pause.)
Well that having been said, in a couple of minutes you will be invited to sing the hymn Christians Rise and Act Your Creed. And what is our creed?
The creed of Christians is not about specific beliefs. (Slight pause.) The creed of Christians is about action— positive action. Therefore, the creed of Christians is about freedom. The creed of Christians is about peace. The creed of Christians is about joy.
The creed of Christians is about equity. The creed of Christians is about love. The creed of Christians is not about an apocalypse of any kind. The creed of Christians is very much about hope. Amen.
10/23/2016
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 Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “There is one other thing connected with hope and the action of hope— faith. Faith is, as I indicated, not a list of beliefs. Faith is also an action. These words of Spanish poet Gerado Oberman about faith illustrate that: ‘...faith is much more than feeling, knowing, repeating… / Faith is trusting in God, confiding in God; / and, in the meantime, on the path, in everyday life, / faith is resistance to all who oppose the love of God, / the fullness of life and the justice of God’s realm.’”
BENEDICTION: God stands by us to grant us support and strength. All who trust in God are strengthened and blessed. So, let us go on our way, proclaiming the Good News: when we question and when we are open, when we struggle to know God’s will and walk in God’s way, God will be our refuge. And may the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore. Amen.
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