04/24/2016 ~ Fifth Sunday of Easter ~ * Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 148; Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:31-35 ~ * During Eastertide a reading from Acts is often substituted for the lesson from the Hebrew Bible ~ Blessing of the Quilts.
By Example
“I give you a new commandment: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you truly love one another.” — John 13:34-35.
Well, I have some bad news for us. We are being manipulated. The kind of manipulation I want to address is subtle, so subtle we do not even notice it. Let me give you an example of how we are, in that subtle way, manipulated.
Who here has ever gone to a supermarket just for a quart of milk? My bet is mostly everyone has done that. I, personally, have never been in a supermarket where the milk is in the front of the store. It’s always in the back of the store.
Indeed, in case you have not noticed, supermarkets are not only purposefully constructed to send you to the back for milk. They are constructed so the most inviting food, the fresh food, is located around the edge of the selling space.
Here’s what this means: you are forced to go past all this good stuff to get a quart of milk, itself good stuff, but also something most people buy with great regularity. And do you know what the result of making you walk through the whole store to buy milk is?
Well, who here has gone to the supermarket just for a quart of milk and left with other stuff? My bet is the answer to that question is: “most of us.”
All of which is to say, yes— we are all being manipulated— manipulated into buying more than we intended. And, in this case, it’s my bet we are manipulated in a way so subtle we do not even notice it.
The first time I came across this kind of manipulation was back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth in Nineteen sev [mumble, mumble]. I worked for Bloomingdale’s in New York City. The main New York City store takes up the square block between Lexington and Third Avenues and Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth Streets.
Well, back when I was working there a decision needed to be made about ‘should the store put in new elevators or new escalators on the Third Avenue End.’ That was not a small or a minor decision. Elevators would have cost about two million dollars. Escalators would have cost about six million, back then a hefty sum. Even today, a hefty sum.
They chose escalators— the expensive choice. Why? Whereas escalators cost about three times more than elevators, a study showed escalators would generate three times the business in real dollars per year than the cost of the elevators. In short, putting in escalators in that store instead of elevators would pay back their cost in just one year and add profit year after year after year.
Why do escalators make a difference in what people purchase? Just like a supermarket where people walk past merchandise to buy milk, escalators entice people to make a purchase by letting them see merchandise as they glide up and down those moving staircases.
The long and the short of this is, even though we rarely realize it, we are regularly manipulated but do not know it. We are blissfully unaware of it.
Now, the example I just used says we are manipulated by architecture. But we are also manipulated by social pressure. We are also manipulated by the culture which surrounds us. And we are, most of the time, still unaware of those factors also.
So, I think the challenge for us is straightforward: how do we become aware of the ways in which we are manipulated? And once we are aware that we are manipulated, how do we manage our lives in such a way as to overcome that. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the Gospel According to the School of John: “I give you a new commandment: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you truly love one another.” (Slight pause.)
When the reading from Luke/Acts was introduced it was said this is one of the most pivotal readings in all Scripture. That having been said, at Bible Study on Wednesday— by the way, everyone is invited to come to Bible Study, 6:00 p.m. on Wednesdays— except this Wednesday 'cause choir is taking vacation so we are going to take vacation one week from Bible study. At Bible Study I noted it was fascinating that those who compiled the Revised Common Lectionary, these assigned readings, placed these two readings on the same Sunday. Indeed, a reading from Acts is standard in Eastertide. But the reading from John, instead of continuing with post Resurrection stories as the lectionary has been doing, went to a scene from just before the crucifixion.
So, I would suggest the pairing of these readings is purposeful. Why? I think the Acts reading points directly at the reading from John and is a reflection about love.
You see, part of what Peter says is this (quote:) “At that very moment three couriers arrived at the house where we were. They had been sent to me from Caesarea.”
Let me unpack that for you. These people were from Caesarea. That is a city built on the Mediterranean coast by the Romans, for the Romans, inhabited by the Romans. In short, since they came from Caesarea they were Romans. Romans were gentiles. Jews did not mix with gentiles. Gentiles were unclean.
But Peter had this vision. And the vision told Peter clean and unclean in the way Peter had always looked at it, in the way that Peter’s culture looked at it and in the way Peter’s tradition looked at it, was completely and totally a cultural understanding of reality and had no basis in a real faith.
The revelation for Peter was simple. Peter suddenly realized the old way in which the disciple saw things was an example of manipulation.
The culture had manipulated how Peter saw the world, Peter’s ability to see reality. And what had been Peter’s cultural way of looking at the world was not the way God looked at the world. (Slight pause.)
At the start of my comments today I said I have some bad news. We are being manipulated.
But there is also good news. You see, we need to work at being aware of how God might see the world. And God sees past manipulation, even subtle manipulation. And my main concern is that we need to strive to overcome the culture of the world— the secular culture and the religious culture— and come to an understanding how these cultures manipulate us.
But how might that happen? How can we be empowered to see the world as God might see the world, not as our cultures might see the world?
That question brings me to what Jesus said in that quote from John. Let me say it one more time: “I give you a new commandment: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you truly love one another.”
This is clear: Jesus was a doer. It was in doing that the love of Jesus is expressed.
So, that poses one more obvious question: ‘how can we learn to express love?’ You see, I believe most people learn not by hearing or by seeing or by reading. Most people learn by doing.
And when we do for each other is when we often come to a recognition that cultural barriers— all kinds of barriers— are things that manipulate us. And we learn that all kinds of barriers can get broken down simply by doing. (Slight pause.)
In a couple of moments we shall bless, dedicate, these wonderful quilts. [1] Therefore and needless to say, today we have a clear cut and tangible example of doing. And by doing, by making these quilts, those who made them are expressing not just their love.
Those who made these quilts are saying that no child should have a barrier placed in their path due simply to their station or situation. Those who made these quilts are saying we give these freely.
Those who made these quilts are saying there are no barriers because we of what we do. There are no barriers because we take action. And it’s action— it is action— that breaks down walls. It is action that breaks down barriers. (Slight pause.)
So, how is love, deep love, expressed? Love is expressed in the action that breaks down barriers. Love is expressed by example. Love is expressed by doing. Amen.
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
04/24/2015
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’d like to leave you with a thought from one Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. (Quote:) “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
BENEDICTION: Hear now this blessing: God is with us, always. When we love one another, God is pleased. And may the steadfast love of God and the peace of Christ, which surpasses understanding, keep our minds and hearts in the companionship and will of the Holy Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.
[1] There was, in fact, a Blessing— a Dedication of 34 quilts after the sermon. These quilts are destined for newborns at Chenango Memorial Hospital and for the Domestic Violence Program at Catholic Charities.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Sunday, April 17, 2016
SERMON ~ 04/17/2016 ~ “The Message”
04/17/2016 ~ Fourth Sunday of Easter ~ *Acts 9:36-43; Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30 — * During Eastertide a reading from Acts is often substituted for the lesson from the Hebrew Bible.
The Message
“Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, I did tell you, but you do not believe.’” — John 10:25a.
It’s likely you have all heard of the so called “man in the moon.” And in fact if, on the evening of a full moon, you squint your eyes a bit and tilt your head slightly while staring at the moon you can somewhat make out an image that presents itself in a number of ways, one or several of which can be seen as a bit like a human face.
Indeed, there’s a common perception, largely both Northern and Western, of a face on the surface of the moon with eyes, a nose and an open mouth. This particular human face can be seen in the North but can also be seen in tropical regions on both sides of the equator. However, seeing a face in the moon becomes somewhat more problematic and is observed less frequently— eventually not at all— as one moves towards the South Pole.
Given that, have you ever heard about the “rabbit in the moon?” There is a tradition, more prevalent in the East and in the Southern hemisphere than in the West and North, that the image available to the human psyche is a rabbit.
The idea of a rabbit image exists in many cultures but is certainly more prevalent in East Asian folklore and, interestingly since particular place this is in the West, in Aztec mythology. The point of noting that this rabbit is seen in those locations is to insist this image is not exclusively Eastern or Southern, just as the so called “man in the moon” is not exclusively Northern or Western. Hence, there must be some cultural influence in play.
On top of that, there are still other cultures which identify a monkey or an otter or a jackal when they look toward the full moon but nothing else— no man, no rabbit. One obvious question arises from all of this: are we humans looking at the same thing in the sky? If we are looking at the same thing, why are we not seeing the same thing?
I do need to note the obvious. There are many studies which tell us our brain supplies a complete image where only a sketchy semblance of an outline exists.
So are these images simply our imagination at work? Or are there other factors? Certainly, from what I just indicated, the culture in which we live might be influential when it comes to what we see but many other things do seem to enter into the mix. (Slight pause.)
Let me move in a different direction for a moment with what I think of as an interesting question. What is a poem? Is it possible a poem is a strange thing which operates as nothing else in the world operates? After all, a poem is not like instructive writing, like directions on how to build a cabinet. Nor is a poem narrative writing. Only rarely does a poem tell a story in a linear way and when a poem does tell a story, it probably finds unique ways of transmitting it.
So, what is a poem and, additionally, what is the function of poetry? Is a poem “a painting in words?” Is a poem “a medium in which self-expression happens?” Is a poem “a song that sometimes rhymes and can illustrate beauty?”
Or is a poem all of these and, at the very same time, none of these? Are all these good descriptions of a poem and at one and the same time totally inadequate? ]1] (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as the Gospel According to the School of John: “Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, I did tell you, but you do not believe.’” (Slight pause.)
In this passage Jesus is simply answering a question. And the reply offered by Jesus reminds us that an understanding of who this Rabbi is cannot be reduced to a matter of deciding whether Jesus measures up to some preconceived notion of either how a Messiah ought to act or even how a divine figure ought to act.
Jesus eludes prior categories and also totally redefines cherished titles drawn from Israel’s past. Those titles include, for example, Messiah, Chosen One, Anointed, Begotten of God. While being labeled with such titles, Jesus seems to transcend and thereby transform them all.
And yes, if you have not noticed, there is a problem with the very question being asked by the religious authorities. As a reminder, this is the question: “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are really the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
The question and because of that, those asking the question, seems to assume a decision about the Messiah is merely a matter of processing information. Hence, if Jesus will provide the data, they can arrive at a reasoned conclusion.
The response Jesus offers rejects that kind of logic. “My sheep hear my voice.”
Put differently and in, perhaps, more modern, vernacular terms this an interpretation of what Jesus is saying: “I have been speaking in the language poets use. So I have been speaking in the language consistent with the World of God, the Dominion of God. Have you not been listening?”
“I have been drawing an outline on the face of the moon and that outline reflects the face of God. Can you not see a full picture given the lines I have drawn?” (Slight pause.)
One of the big mistakes— the term I used in my meditations over the last two weeks was heresy but, as I said last week, heresy is probably too harsh a term— one of the big mistakes we make when we read Scripture is we take it to be— largely— narrative, story written in a logical, linear way. Scripture was not then and was never written in the moment, as soon as events happened, like a report in a newspaper. And Scripture was never intended as narrative.
Scripture looks back on what has happened and reflects on it. Scripture is, thereby, like any work of art, not a set of facts but a reflection. More precisely, Scripture is a theological reflection, a meditation about God. Being a reflection, being meditation, makes Scripture, by definition, a work of art.
That Scriptures is a meditation may come as a shock to many, since that image does not conform to our cultural perceptions concerning Scripture. Our cultural bias says Scripture is more a report of what happened than about theology, more a report of what happened than a theological refection.
But the long and the short of this is theological reflection and theology, itself, is never about narrative. Theology is not about explaining with precision. Theology is about the poetic.
And yes, the definition of theology is the science of the study of God, and that sounds both exact and exacting. But, just like poetry, Biblical theology paints pictures in words. Just like poetry, what Biblical theology offers is self-expression. Just like poetry, Biblical theology strives to display beauty.
Theology is all of these and, at the very same time, none of these. These are all good descriptions of theology and, at the very same time, totally inadequate. Indeed, what do you see on the face of the moon? And are the possibilities of what you can see, your vision, overwhelmed by the culture in which you live? (Slight pause.)
All of that leaves us with a question, perhaps a challenging one. What is our own perception of Jesus? How do we, each of us, see Jesus? What is the message of Jesus?
The challenge presented in that is each one of us has to decide how we see Jesus. Each one of us has to decide how each of us sees the Dominion of God. Each one of us has to decide what the message of Jesus is. And each one of us has to decide how that plays out in our life.
But there is an added challenge. There is what each one of us, sees as individuals. But then the next question to be asked: ‘what does the community of faith, as a whole, see?’
Then there is, perhaps, an even larger issue. Is our individual vision of Jesus and our communal vision of Jesus, our individual understanding of the Dominion of God and our communal vision of God overwhelmed by the culture in which we live? Does the culture blur our vision, blur our understanding of Jesus, blur our understanding of God? (Slight pause.)
Let me end by reciting the thought for meditation in the bulletin today. It’s an aphorism from Kallistos Ware, a bishop with the Eastern Orthodox Church. (Quote:) “It is not the task of Christianity to provide easy answers for every question. It is the task of Christianity to make us progressively aware of a mystery. God is not so much the object of our knowledge as the cause of our wonder.” Amen.
04/17/2016
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: “Two things I want to say— I said the Bible is about theology but to be more narrow, the Bible is about the theology of love. Second, when I entered Bangor Seminary Malcom Warford was the President there. This is what he said in a published article: ‘When you don’t believe in God, you believe in every god that comes along, a tame domesticated one with a small ‘g.’ When you trade mystery for security you end up with trivialization.’”
BENEDICTION: Let us go out from this place in the sure knowledge that God is at the center of our lives. Let us go out from this place in the sure knowledge that God’s love abounds. Let us go out from this place and strive to have our deeds bear witness to God’s love. And may the steadfast love of God and the peace of Christ, which surpasses understanding, keep our minds and hearts in the companionship and will of the Holy Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.
[1]
These ideas are found in this article:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/11/what-is-a-poem/281835/?utm_source=SFFB
The Message
“Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, I did tell you, but you do not believe.’” — John 10:25a.
It’s likely you have all heard of the so called “man in the moon.” And in fact if, on the evening of a full moon, you squint your eyes a bit and tilt your head slightly while staring at the moon you can somewhat make out an image that presents itself in a number of ways, one or several of which can be seen as a bit like a human face.
Indeed, there’s a common perception, largely both Northern and Western, of a face on the surface of the moon with eyes, a nose and an open mouth. This particular human face can be seen in the North but can also be seen in tropical regions on both sides of the equator. However, seeing a face in the moon becomes somewhat more problematic and is observed less frequently— eventually not at all— as one moves towards the South Pole.
Given that, have you ever heard about the “rabbit in the moon?” There is a tradition, more prevalent in the East and in the Southern hemisphere than in the West and North, that the image available to the human psyche is a rabbit.
The idea of a rabbit image exists in many cultures but is certainly more prevalent in East Asian folklore and, interestingly since particular place this is in the West, in Aztec mythology. The point of noting that this rabbit is seen in those locations is to insist this image is not exclusively Eastern or Southern, just as the so called “man in the moon” is not exclusively Northern or Western. Hence, there must be some cultural influence in play.
On top of that, there are still other cultures which identify a monkey or an otter or a jackal when they look toward the full moon but nothing else— no man, no rabbit. One obvious question arises from all of this: are we humans looking at the same thing in the sky? If we are looking at the same thing, why are we not seeing the same thing?
I do need to note the obvious. There are many studies which tell us our brain supplies a complete image where only a sketchy semblance of an outline exists.
So are these images simply our imagination at work? Or are there other factors? Certainly, from what I just indicated, the culture in which we live might be influential when it comes to what we see but many other things do seem to enter into the mix. (Slight pause.)
Let me move in a different direction for a moment with what I think of as an interesting question. What is a poem? Is it possible a poem is a strange thing which operates as nothing else in the world operates? After all, a poem is not like instructive writing, like directions on how to build a cabinet. Nor is a poem narrative writing. Only rarely does a poem tell a story in a linear way and when a poem does tell a story, it probably finds unique ways of transmitting it.
So, what is a poem and, additionally, what is the function of poetry? Is a poem “a painting in words?” Is a poem “a medium in which self-expression happens?” Is a poem “a song that sometimes rhymes and can illustrate beauty?”
Or is a poem all of these and, at the very same time, none of these? Are all these good descriptions of a poem and at one and the same time totally inadequate? ]1] (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as the Gospel According to the School of John: “Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, I did tell you, but you do not believe.’” (Slight pause.)
In this passage Jesus is simply answering a question. And the reply offered by Jesus reminds us that an understanding of who this Rabbi is cannot be reduced to a matter of deciding whether Jesus measures up to some preconceived notion of either how a Messiah ought to act or even how a divine figure ought to act.
Jesus eludes prior categories and also totally redefines cherished titles drawn from Israel’s past. Those titles include, for example, Messiah, Chosen One, Anointed, Begotten of God. While being labeled with such titles, Jesus seems to transcend and thereby transform them all.
And yes, if you have not noticed, there is a problem with the very question being asked by the religious authorities. As a reminder, this is the question: “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are really the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
The question and because of that, those asking the question, seems to assume a decision about the Messiah is merely a matter of processing information. Hence, if Jesus will provide the data, they can arrive at a reasoned conclusion.
The response Jesus offers rejects that kind of logic. “My sheep hear my voice.”
Put differently and in, perhaps, more modern, vernacular terms this an interpretation of what Jesus is saying: “I have been speaking in the language poets use. So I have been speaking in the language consistent with the World of God, the Dominion of God. Have you not been listening?”
“I have been drawing an outline on the face of the moon and that outline reflects the face of God. Can you not see a full picture given the lines I have drawn?” (Slight pause.)
One of the big mistakes— the term I used in my meditations over the last two weeks was heresy but, as I said last week, heresy is probably too harsh a term— one of the big mistakes we make when we read Scripture is we take it to be— largely— narrative, story written in a logical, linear way. Scripture was not then and was never written in the moment, as soon as events happened, like a report in a newspaper. And Scripture was never intended as narrative.
Scripture looks back on what has happened and reflects on it. Scripture is, thereby, like any work of art, not a set of facts but a reflection. More precisely, Scripture is a theological reflection, a meditation about God. Being a reflection, being meditation, makes Scripture, by definition, a work of art.
That Scriptures is a meditation may come as a shock to many, since that image does not conform to our cultural perceptions concerning Scripture. Our cultural bias says Scripture is more a report of what happened than about theology, more a report of what happened than a theological refection.
But the long and the short of this is theological reflection and theology, itself, is never about narrative. Theology is not about explaining with precision. Theology is about the poetic.
And yes, the definition of theology is the science of the study of God, and that sounds both exact and exacting. But, just like poetry, Biblical theology paints pictures in words. Just like poetry, what Biblical theology offers is self-expression. Just like poetry, Biblical theology strives to display beauty.
Theology is all of these and, at the very same time, none of these. These are all good descriptions of theology and, at the very same time, totally inadequate. Indeed, what do you see on the face of the moon? And are the possibilities of what you can see, your vision, overwhelmed by the culture in which you live? (Slight pause.)
All of that leaves us with a question, perhaps a challenging one. What is our own perception of Jesus? How do we, each of us, see Jesus? What is the message of Jesus?
The challenge presented in that is each one of us has to decide how we see Jesus. Each one of us has to decide how each of us sees the Dominion of God. Each one of us has to decide what the message of Jesus is. And each one of us has to decide how that plays out in our life.
But there is an added challenge. There is what each one of us, sees as individuals. But then the next question to be asked: ‘what does the community of faith, as a whole, see?’
Then there is, perhaps, an even larger issue. Is our individual vision of Jesus and our communal vision of Jesus, our individual understanding of the Dominion of God and our communal vision of God overwhelmed by the culture in which we live? Does the culture blur our vision, blur our understanding of Jesus, blur our understanding of God? (Slight pause.)
Let me end by reciting the thought for meditation in the bulletin today. It’s an aphorism from Kallistos Ware, a bishop with the Eastern Orthodox Church. (Quote:) “It is not the task of Christianity to provide easy answers for every question. It is the task of Christianity to make us progressively aware of a mystery. God is not so much the object of our knowledge as the cause of our wonder.” Amen.
04/17/2016
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: “Two things I want to say— I said the Bible is about theology but to be more narrow, the Bible is about the theology of love. Second, when I entered Bangor Seminary Malcom Warford was the President there. This is what he said in a published article: ‘When you don’t believe in God, you believe in every god that comes along, a tame domesticated one with a small ‘g.’ When you trade mystery for security you end up with trivialization.’”
BENEDICTION: Let us go out from this place in the sure knowledge that God is at the center of our lives. Let us go out from this place in the sure knowledge that God’s love abounds. Let us go out from this place and strive to have our deeds bear witness to God’s love. And may the steadfast love of God and the peace of Christ, which surpasses understanding, keep our minds and hearts in the companionship and will of the Holy Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.
[1]
These ideas are found in this article:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/11/what-is-a-poem/281835/?utm_source=SFFB
Sunday, April 10, 2016
SERMON ~ 04/10/2016 ~ “The Gentiles”
04/10/2016 ~ Third Sunday of Easter ~ *Acts 9:1-6, (7-20); Psalm 30; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19 ~ * During Eastertide a reading from Acts is often substituted for the lesson from the Hebrew Bible.
The Gentiles
“...Christ said to Ananias, ‘Go anyway. Saul is the instrument I have chosen to bring my Name to the Gentiles, to rulers and before the people of Israel.’” — Acts 9:15.
You have heard me say time and time again I grew up in New York City. What many people do not realize or understand about New York is it’s not just one big city. It is, in fact, a series of tiny towns, small villages, each with its own distinct atmosphere.
Why would I say that? How does that play out, perhaps is a more important question? There are people who, for instance, live in Queens but have never been outside of Queens, never even been outside of their own small neighborhood, never taken the short trip to Manhattan.
Why have they not gone the couple of miles into Manhattan, which would bring them into the center of what many claim to be the greatest city in the country and perhaps the world? To be blunt, the big city frightens them. So they refuse to go.
I was reminded that New York is a series of tiny towns and villages because of an article in the New York Times this week. The story was about the neighborhood known as Bay Ridge, in Brooklyn.
This is a quote from the article. “Barbara Noone, who was born in Bay Ridge 75 years ago and has lived there for all but her grammar school days, said the three-square-mile community overlooking New York Harbor provides both the convenience of the city and the feel of a village.” (Slight pause.)
Later in the writing another resident, Andrew Gounardes, likened Bay Ridge to a modern-day Mayberry— Mayberry inside of New York City? It’s a place, said Gounardes, which has old-school charm even while it continues to reinvent itself. [1]
Please don’t mis-understand. Bay Ridge clearly is in the middle of a very large city. The argument being made is it can feel intimate.
This brings me back to the idea the article stated— New York— a series of tiny towns, small villages. Hence, when one is ensconced in a neighborhood, it becomes easy to forget the larger aspects of city life which are quite expansive, cosmopolitan, broad.
And yet, being too aware of the enormity of the city can make it way too easy to forget about these little areas where you are in a tiny town, a small village. In short, these two— the city and the towns inside the city— need to be held in tension.
I would, therefore, maintain these two aspects, the large and the small, need to be seen as a whole in order to paint a picture of the reality of city life. You may try to forget one of these aspects but the other will still, hauntingly, be there. (Slight pause.)
To place a slightly different perspective on this, here’s something the late playwright and librettist Peter Stone once said. (Quote:) “The writing of Broadway shows is a cottage industry. The cottages happen to be on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and on the West End in London. But Broadway is still a cottage industry, no mater where the cottages are located.”
My point is simple: we may want to ignore some of where we come from. But the entirely of one’s background matters. So for me, personally, to say where I grew up— New York City— gave me an opportunity to be immersed in the arts and theater and that has had an enormous influence on my life— that statement is totally accurate.
But for me to deny that I grew up in a New York City neighborhood known as Bushwick— a neighborhood which when I was young housed a relatively impoverished population, a neighborhood with a significant amount of crime, a neighborhood where a reasonable goal was to escape— for me to deny that section of truth— is for me to cleanse a particular element of my heritage to a place beyond recognition. Indeed, if I do not recognize these two pieces, recognize the reality of both, recognize there is both a tension and a unity there, is for me to deny a truth of my heritage. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in Luke/Acts: “...Christ said to Ananias, ‘Go anyway. Saul is the instrument I have chosen to bring my Name to the Gentiles, to rulers and before the people of Israel.’” (Slight pause.)
In the meditation I offered last week I said this (quote:) “There is a great American heresy.” Then I said there are probably a number of great American heresies and that I wanted to point out just one.
So, I’d like to offer yet another great American heresy today. Here we go. (Slight pause.) Only the so called New Testament counts. The Hebrew Scriptures do not matter. The God of the so called Old Testament was an angry God, a God of violence. The God of the Christian Scriptures, the God of the New Testament, is a God of love, a non-violent God. Therefore, only Jesus counts. Only Jesus matters. (Slight pause.)
If everyone here has not heard this or similar rhetoric, I would be very, very surprised. What makes these sentiments heretical is they are simply untrue. Further, they are untrue in a number of ways.
For starters, in case you haven’t heard this— Jesus was a Jew. All the disciples were Jews. Paul was a Jew. For them there was only one set of Scriptures. That is what we today call the Old Testament.
What we today call the New Testament did not even exist. And those who wrote what became the New Testament did not know and did not even think they were writing Scripture when they recorded it.
On top of that, for these Jews there was only the God of the Hebrew Scriptures. And the God they found in the Hebrew Scriptures was not an angry God, not a God of violence. The God they found in the Hebrew Scriptures was a God of love.
So, what we are really privy to in this passage and in the New Testament is the Jewish people coming to grips with a new understanding of what God is doing. And central to that new understanding of what God is doing is they recognize God has raised Jesus.
In this passage Ananias is told that Paul will bring the message of Christ, who has been raised, to a new group of people on behalf of the Jews. And that new group of people are the gentiles. Gentiles— people who are not Jews— gentiles— that would be, mostly, us.
And the fact that the Word will be brought to gentiles is a part of this new understanding of what God is doing. That gentiles might hear about this Jewish God or might care about how this Jewish God interacts with humanity is a new understanding for Jewish people.
So, I think what many of us miss here is the continuity of all of this. The mission given to Paul is to spread the Word about Jesus who has been raised by the God of the Jewish Scriptures, the Hebrew Scriptures. And what the followers of Jesus understand is that the God of love found in the Hebrew Scriptures has been and is working through Jesus. (Slight pause.)
This brings me back to the idea that there is a unity and a tension to be found in many aspects of life. And unless we see and understand the unity and the tension between the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures, unless we embrace both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures, we deny a truth about our own heritage. (Slight pause.)
Having referred to heresies, I need to say the very existence of heresy of not this holding onto both sections in the Bible and seeing and understanding the unity and the tension therein. This particular heresy has many explanations. But let me point to one explanation.
We humans like simple, easy answers. Let me tell you, if you want simple, easy answers you will not find those in Scripture. Don’t go there looking for simple and easy answers.
What you do find in Scripture is something about the character of God. What you do find in Scripture is something about the living God. And the living God knows something about the real world, something about life. And, the last time I looked, the real world is a messy place. Life is not neat.
Paradoxically, the living God, who knows the real world, who knows life, does have a relatively simply message to offer. It’s the message called love— loving the real world.
The last time I looked there is nothing about loving in the real world which is simple or easy. But if I understand what Scripture says, our calling as Christians is that we need to love the real world, the real world in all its tensions and with all its flaws and with all its messy-ness. A calling— love the real world. Amen.
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
04/10/2016
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: “I’ve used, as I noted, the word ‘heresy’ these last two weeks, but perhaps that’s too harsh a word. Looked at in another way these are not heresies. They are merely cultural fantasies— fictions like George Washington cutting down the cheery tree— cute but not true when looked at it in a serious way. So it is with cultural fantasies about Scripture— they may be cute but not true when looked at in a serious way. And when we do so, when we look at Scripture in a serious way, at least we have a chance of having the scales of those cultural fantasies removed from our eyes. Or as I sometimes say, I don’t take Scripture literally. I take Scripture seriously.”
BENEDICTION: Let us go where God leads us, for surely God leads us to embrace our neighbor with love. Let us follow where Christ has gone, and see the great commandment of loving God and loving neighbor as a watchword. And may the steadfast love of God and the peace of Christ, which surpasses understanding, keep our minds and hearts in the knowledge, companionship and will of the Holy Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.
[1] The NY Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/realestate/living-in-bay-ridge-brooklyn.html?emc=edit_tnt_20160406&nlid=11820119&tntemail0=y&_r=0
The Gentiles
“...Christ said to Ananias, ‘Go anyway. Saul is the instrument I have chosen to bring my Name to the Gentiles, to rulers and before the people of Israel.’” — Acts 9:15.
You have heard me say time and time again I grew up in New York City. What many people do not realize or understand about New York is it’s not just one big city. It is, in fact, a series of tiny towns, small villages, each with its own distinct atmosphere.
Why would I say that? How does that play out, perhaps is a more important question? There are people who, for instance, live in Queens but have never been outside of Queens, never even been outside of their own small neighborhood, never taken the short trip to Manhattan.
Why have they not gone the couple of miles into Manhattan, which would bring them into the center of what many claim to be the greatest city in the country and perhaps the world? To be blunt, the big city frightens them. So they refuse to go.
I was reminded that New York is a series of tiny towns and villages because of an article in the New York Times this week. The story was about the neighborhood known as Bay Ridge, in Brooklyn.
This is a quote from the article. “Barbara Noone, who was born in Bay Ridge 75 years ago and has lived there for all but her grammar school days, said the three-square-mile community overlooking New York Harbor provides both the convenience of the city and the feel of a village.” (Slight pause.)
Later in the writing another resident, Andrew Gounardes, likened Bay Ridge to a modern-day Mayberry— Mayberry inside of New York City? It’s a place, said Gounardes, which has old-school charm even while it continues to reinvent itself. [1]
Please don’t mis-understand. Bay Ridge clearly is in the middle of a very large city. The argument being made is it can feel intimate.
This brings me back to the idea the article stated— New York— a series of tiny towns, small villages. Hence, when one is ensconced in a neighborhood, it becomes easy to forget the larger aspects of city life which are quite expansive, cosmopolitan, broad.
And yet, being too aware of the enormity of the city can make it way too easy to forget about these little areas where you are in a tiny town, a small village. In short, these two— the city and the towns inside the city— need to be held in tension.
I would, therefore, maintain these two aspects, the large and the small, need to be seen as a whole in order to paint a picture of the reality of city life. You may try to forget one of these aspects but the other will still, hauntingly, be there. (Slight pause.)
To place a slightly different perspective on this, here’s something the late playwright and librettist Peter Stone once said. (Quote:) “The writing of Broadway shows is a cottage industry. The cottages happen to be on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and on the West End in London. But Broadway is still a cottage industry, no mater where the cottages are located.”
My point is simple: we may want to ignore some of where we come from. But the entirely of one’s background matters. So for me, personally, to say where I grew up— New York City— gave me an opportunity to be immersed in the arts and theater and that has had an enormous influence on my life— that statement is totally accurate.
But for me to deny that I grew up in a New York City neighborhood known as Bushwick— a neighborhood which when I was young housed a relatively impoverished population, a neighborhood with a significant amount of crime, a neighborhood where a reasonable goal was to escape— for me to deny that section of truth— is for me to cleanse a particular element of my heritage to a place beyond recognition. Indeed, if I do not recognize these two pieces, recognize the reality of both, recognize there is both a tension and a unity there, is for me to deny a truth of my heritage. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in Luke/Acts: “...Christ said to Ananias, ‘Go anyway. Saul is the instrument I have chosen to bring my Name to the Gentiles, to rulers and before the people of Israel.’” (Slight pause.)
In the meditation I offered last week I said this (quote:) “There is a great American heresy.” Then I said there are probably a number of great American heresies and that I wanted to point out just one.
So, I’d like to offer yet another great American heresy today. Here we go. (Slight pause.) Only the so called New Testament counts. The Hebrew Scriptures do not matter. The God of the so called Old Testament was an angry God, a God of violence. The God of the Christian Scriptures, the God of the New Testament, is a God of love, a non-violent God. Therefore, only Jesus counts. Only Jesus matters. (Slight pause.)
If everyone here has not heard this or similar rhetoric, I would be very, very surprised. What makes these sentiments heretical is they are simply untrue. Further, they are untrue in a number of ways.
For starters, in case you haven’t heard this— Jesus was a Jew. All the disciples were Jews. Paul was a Jew. For them there was only one set of Scriptures. That is what we today call the Old Testament.
What we today call the New Testament did not even exist. And those who wrote what became the New Testament did not know and did not even think they were writing Scripture when they recorded it.
On top of that, for these Jews there was only the God of the Hebrew Scriptures. And the God they found in the Hebrew Scriptures was not an angry God, not a God of violence. The God they found in the Hebrew Scriptures was a God of love.
So, what we are really privy to in this passage and in the New Testament is the Jewish people coming to grips with a new understanding of what God is doing. And central to that new understanding of what God is doing is they recognize God has raised Jesus.
In this passage Ananias is told that Paul will bring the message of Christ, who has been raised, to a new group of people on behalf of the Jews. And that new group of people are the gentiles. Gentiles— people who are not Jews— gentiles— that would be, mostly, us.
And the fact that the Word will be brought to gentiles is a part of this new understanding of what God is doing. That gentiles might hear about this Jewish God or might care about how this Jewish God interacts with humanity is a new understanding for Jewish people.
So, I think what many of us miss here is the continuity of all of this. The mission given to Paul is to spread the Word about Jesus who has been raised by the God of the Jewish Scriptures, the Hebrew Scriptures. And what the followers of Jesus understand is that the God of love found in the Hebrew Scriptures has been and is working through Jesus. (Slight pause.)
This brings me back to the idea that there is a unity and a tension to be found in many aspects of life. And unless we see and understand the unity and the tension between the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures, unless we embrace both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures, we deny a truth about our own heritage. (Slight pause.)
Having referred to heresies, I need to say the very existence of heresy of not this holding onto both sections in the Bible and seeing and understanding the unity and the tension therein. This particular heresy has many explanations. But let me point to one explanation.
We humans like simple, easy answers. Let me tell you, if you want simple, easy answers you will not find those in Scripture. Don’t go there looking for simple and easy answers.
What you do find in Scripture is something about the character of God. What you do find in Scripture is something about the living God. And the living God knows something about the real world, something about life. And, the last time I looked, the real world is a messy place. Life is not neat.
Paradoxically, the living God, who knows the real world, who knows life, does have a relatively simply message to offer. It’s the message called love— loving the real world.
The last time I looked there is nothing about loving in the real world which is simple or easy. But if I understand what Scripture says, our calling as Christians is that we need to love the real world, the real world in all its tensions and with all its flaws and with all its messy-ness. A calling— love the real world. Amen.
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
04/10/2016
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: “I’ve used, as I noted, the word ‘heresy’ these last two weeks, but perhaps that’s too harsh a word. Looked at in another way these are not heresies. They are merely cultural fantasies— fictions like George Washington cutting down the cheery tree— cute but not true when looked at it in a serious way. So it is with cultural fantasies about Scripture— they may be cute but not true when looked at in a serious way. And when we do so, when we look at Scripture in a serious way, at least we have a chance of having the scales of those cultural fantasies removed from our eyes. Or as I sometimes say, I don’t take Scripture literally. I take Scripture seriously.”
BENEDICTION: Let us go where God leads us, for surely God leads us to embrace our neighbor with love. Let us follow where Christ has gone, and see the great commandment of loving God and loving neighbor as a watchword. And may the steadfast love of God and the peace of Christ, which surpasses understanding, keep our minds and hearts in the knowledge, companionship and will of the Holy Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.
[1] The NY Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/realestate/living-in-bay-ridge-brooklyn.html?emc=edit_tnt_20160406&nlid=11820119&tntemail0=y&_r=0
Sunday, April 3, 2016
SERMON ~ 04/03/2016 ~ “Receiving the Spirit”
04/03/2016 ~ Second Sunday of Easter ~ *Acts 5:27-32; Psalm 118:14-29 or Psalm 150; Revelation 1:4-8; John 20:19-31 ~ Communion Sunday — *During Eastertide a reading from Acts is often substituted for the lesson from the Hebrew Bible.
Receiving the Spirit
“The disciples were filled with joy when they saw Jesus, who said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As Abba, God, has sent me, so I am sending you.’ After saying this, Jesus breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” — John 20:20b-22.
Some of you have heard me mention that in 1986, thirty years ago— a year before I met Bonnie— I did a three day battery of psychological and skills testing. Or as I like to call it, “Three days of ‘Tell me, what does this ink blot mean?’” In all seriousness, the point of these tests, this kind of testing, is to assess the skill set of an individual to see if those skills are being effectively used.
To say the least, it was an intensive, multifaceted process. And, certainly, the reason anyone does this type of skills testing is to help that individual better understand and cope with and interact with the world.
Now, one of the cautions offered to me about both the results which were presented and the very process itself, was do not— under any circumstances— think in terms of this three day experience as being finished. It is not.
I was told that I would still be thinking about what was presented to me and the challenges ahead of me and the work ahead of me for many, many, many years. They said you will be processing what you did and what you heard about yourself and what you learned about yourself, indeed, for many, many, many years.
That sentiment is still true these thirty years later. I still, occasionally, reflect on the insights I gained from that experience. And because I still think about what happened, because I reflect on that experience, I still, occasionally, make new discoveries about how I interact with the world. In short, the experience equipped me with tools for life, helped me move forward, be renewed constantly if I chose to use the tools. (Slight pause.)
You have probably heard me say this before also. Three years before I entered into that process of skills testing, in 1983, my mother died. It would be foolish of me or anyone else to say the experience of the death of a parent or any loved one does not linger with us for many, many, many years.
Despite the fact that this was thirty-three years ago I still think about it— still, occasionally, reflect on it. Sometimes I think about something in my family history and realize I don’t know about it in detail that history.
And so, I am given to wonder if either my late mother or my late father, who died in 1998, or my grandparents whom I knew might know, might be able to tell me about some information concerning my family history. But the finality offered in an answer they might have is just not available.
Hence, all I have is a reflection about something I will probably never know with certainty. And perhaps the finality I seek— some form of definitive answer— is in truth artificial, an illusion.
I suppose that says we all like closure. We all like finality. But is that simply what we like, as opposed to what we need?
Is it possible that the idea of process— living through some time, through space, through experience— is it possible that process is the only thing that is real, the only thing of which we can be certain. Perhaps process is not just a different way of looking at and assessing life. Perhaps it is the prime way of looking at and assessing life. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the Gospel According to the School of John: “The disciples were filled with joy when they saw Jesus, who said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As Abba, God, has sent me, so I am sending you.’ After saying this, Jesus breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (Slight pause.)
There are three distinct sections in this reading. The first two, the encounter of the disciples with Jesus but without Thomas and the later encounter with Thomas, are clearly tied together and part of the same story.
I maintain the third section, that part that says (quote:) “Jesus did many other signs— signs which are not recorded in this book” can be seen as a lynchpin for the story of Thomas. It offers instruction on why and how the story about Thomas and the disciples are of import. Why? How? The Spirit, you see, kept moving.
There is a great American heresy. (There are probably a number of great American heresies, but let me point out just one.)
This particular great American heresy says once an incident has passed it is complete, final. There are no more effects. As that relates to faith, many American Christians might express that heresy using words like this: “I was born again on April the 3rd, 1997 at three o’clock in the afternoon.”
The implication of that sentiment is straightforward. Everything is now complete, done, finished. The possibility that the Spirit of God might be still active and working and moving feels negated because this event is named and resides at a specific time in the past
And that time is now over. And I think we hear those kinds of statements because many of us see the Gospel stories being as located in the past.
But the words we heard from the Gospel today are not meant to illustrate an event in history. To take a narrative approach to the resurrection, to say it happened once, long ago, is simply an inaccurate way to look at what we Christians claim about Jesus.
The resurrection is not just an event that happened. It is an event that changes everything for all people for all time. The point of the resurrection is that Jesus lives and that Jesus lives, now. The point of the resurrection is that the Spirit is alive and dwells among us, now.
What is, perhaps, even more important is this: because of the resurrection, because the Spirit dwells among us, we are invited by God to learn from our experience of God. Because of the resurrection, because the Spirit dwells among us, we are invited by God to change.
Because of the resurrection, because the Spirit dwells among us, we are invited by God to process. Because of the resurrection, because the Spirit dwells among us, we are invited by God to grow. (Slight pause.)
Today, as we do monthly, we celebrated the Sacrament of Communion. Sometimes the Sacrament is referred to as a re-enactment or a commemoration of the Last Supper.
But what if each time we celebrate the sacrament we are invited to learn something new for today by our participation? What if we learn something new for today about our bonds with one another?
I believe the Spirit invites us to learn something new for today each and every day. I think the Spirit constantly invites us to live in the Spirit and into the Spirit. (Slight pause.)
So, what does it mean to live in the Spirit? What does it mean to live into the Spirit?
It means we are invited to be renewed. It means we are invited to develop and to hone who we can be, who we are willing to be, to fully be the one who God invites us to be. And this means, I think, we are invited to change. This means, I think, we are invited to grow.
Things are not static, ever. And living in and into the Spirit also means we are invited to see the world as God sees it. This is a world in which peace is possible.
This is a world where freedom can be a reality. This is a world in which equity is not a dream. This is a world in which the love God offers reigns.
This is a world whose boundaries are limited only by our willingness or lack thereof to participate in the Dominion of God. The Dominion of God— what is the Dominion of God? The Dominion of God is the world not as we see it. The Dominion of God is the world as God sees it— active, changing, alive, growing— a world of hope, a world of peace, world of joy, a world of love. Amen.
04/03/2016
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: “Speaking of American heresies, as I was earlier, let me offer another one. It is often said God is the answer. Think about this: what if God is not an answer but God is a question, perhaps even an open ended question? Or if the Spirit of God lives, rather than God being a question or an answer do we simply need to be in dialogue with God? Does that dialogue invite us to grow in the Spirit? Or is thinking about being in dialogue with God too uncomfortable, too challenging?”
BENEDICTION: Go out in the compassion and love God provides. Praise the deeds of God by the way you live. And may the steadfast love of God and the peace of Christ, which surpasses understanding, keep our minds and hearts in the companionship and will of the Holy Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.
Receiving the Spirit
“The disciples were filled with joy when they saw Jesus, who said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As Abba, God, has sent me, so I am sending you.’ After saying this, Jesus breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” — John 20:20b-22.
Some of you have heard me mention that in 1986, thirty years ago— a year before I met Bonnie— I did a three day battery of psychological and skills testing. Or as I like to call it, “Three days of ‘Tell me, what does this ink blot mean?’” In all seriousness, the point of these tests, this kind of testing, is to assess the skill set of an individual to see if those skills are being effectively used.
To say the least, it was an intensive, multifaceted process. And, certainly, the reason anyone does this type of skills testing is to help that individual better understand and cope with and interact with the world.
Now, one of the cautions offered to me about both the results which were presented and the very process itself, was do not— under any circumstances— think in terms of this three day experience as being finished. It is not.
I was told that I would still be thinking about what was presented to me and the challenges ahead of me and the work ahead of me for many, many, many years. They said you will be processing what you did and what you heard about yourself and what you learned about yourself, indeed, for many, many, many years.
That sentiment is still true these thirty years later. I still, occasionally, reflect on the insights I gained from that experience. And because I still think about what happened, because I reflect on that experience, I still, occasionally, make new discoveries about how I interact with the world. In short, the experience equipped me with tools for life, helped me move forward, be renewed constantly if I chose to use the tools. (Slight pause.)
You have probably heard me say this before also. Three years before I entered into that process of skills testing, in 1983, my mother died. It would be foolish of me or anyone else to say the experience of the death of a parent or any loved one does not linger with us for many, many, many years.
Despite the fact that this was thirty-three years ago I still think about it— still, occasionally, reflect on it. Sometimes I think about something in my family history and realize I don’t know about it in detail that history.
And so, I am given to wonder if either my late mother or my late father, who died in 1998, or my grandparents whom I knew might know, might be able to tell me about some information concerning my family history. But the finality offered in an answer they might have is just not available.
Hence, all I have is a reflection about something I will probably never know with certainty. And perhaps the finality I seek— some form of definitive answer— is in truth artificial, an illusion.
I suppose that says we all like closure. We all like finality. But is that simply what we like, as opposed to what we need?
Is it possible that the idea of process— living through some time, through space, through experience— is it possible that process is the only thing that is real, the only thing of which we can be certain. Perhaps process is not just a different way of looking at and assessing life. Perhaps it is the prime way of looking at and assessing life. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the Gospel According to the School of John: “The disciples were filled with joy when they saw Jesus, who said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As Abba, God, has sent me, so I am sending you.’ After saying this, Jesus breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (Slight pause.)
There are three distinct sections in this reading. The first two, the encounter of the disciples with Jesus but without Thomas and the later encounter with Thomas, are clearly tied together and part of the same story.
I maintain the third section, that part that says (quote:) “Jesus did many other signs— signs which are not recorded in this book” can be seen as a lynchpin for the story of Thomas. It offers instruction on why and how the story about Thomas and the disciples are of import. Why? How? The Spirit, you see, kept moving.
There is a great American heresy. (There are probably a number of great American heresies, but let me point out just one.)
This particular great American heresy says once an incident has passed it is complete, final. There are no more effects. As that relates to faith, many American Christians might express that heresy using words like this: “I was born again on April the 3rd, 1997 at three o’clock in the afternoon.”
The implication of that sentiment is straightforward. Everything is now complete, done, finished. The possibility that the Spirit of God might be still active and working and moving feels negated because this event is named and resides at a specific time in the past
And that time is now over. And I think we hear those kinds of statements because many of us see the Gospel stories being as located in the past.
But the words we heard from the Gospel today are not meant to illustrate an event in history. To take a narrative approach to the resurrection, to say it happened once, long ago, is simply an inaccurate way to look at what we Christians claim about Jesus.
The resurrection is not just an event that happened. It is an event that changes everything for all people for all time. The point of the resurrection is that Jesus lives and that Jesus lives, now. The point of the resurrection is that the Spirit is alive and dwells among us, now.
What is, perhaps, even more important is this: because of the resurrection, because the Spirit dwells among us, we are invited by God to learn from our experience of God. Because of the resurrection, because the Spirit dwells among us, we are invited by God to change.
Because of the resurrection, because the Spirit dwells among us, we are invited by God to process. Because of the resurrection, because the Spirit dwells among us, we are invited by God to grow. (Slight pause.)
Today, as we do monthly, we celebrated the Sacrament of Communion. Sometimes the Sacrament is referred to as a re-enactment or a commemoration of the Last Supper.
But what if each time we celebrate the sacrament we are invited to learn something new for today by our participation? What if we learn something new for today about our bonds with one another?
I believe the Spirit invites us to learn something new for today each and every day. I think the Spirit constantly invites us to live in the Spirit and into the Spirit. (Slight pause.)
So, what does it mean to live in the Spirit? What does it mean to live into the Spirit?
It means we are invited to be renewed. It means we are invited to develop and to hone who we can be, who we are willing to be, to fully be the one who God invites us to be. And this means, I think, we are invited to change. This means, I think, we are invited to grow.
Things are not static, ever. And living in and into the Spirit also means we are invited to see the world as God sees it. This is a world in which peace is possible.
This is a world where freedom can be a reality. This is a world in which equity is not a dream. This is a world in which the love God offers reigns.
This is a world whose boundaries are limited only by our willingness or lack thereof to participate in the Dominion of God. The Dominion of God— what is the Dominion of God? The Dominion of God is the world not as we see it. The Dominion of God is the world as God sees it— active, changing, alive, growing— a world of hope, a world of peace, world of joy, a world of love. Amen.
04/03/2016
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: “Speaking of American heresies, as I was earlier, let me offer another one. It is often said God is the answer. Think about this: what if God is not an answer but God is a question, perhaps even an open ended question? Or if the Spirit of God lives, rather than God being a question or an answer do we simply need to be in dialogue with God? Does that dialogue invite us to grow in the Spirit? Or is thinking about being in dialogue with God too uncomfortable, too challenging?”
BENEDICTION: Go out in the compassion and love God provides. Praise the deeds of God by the way you live. And may the steadfast love of God and the peace of Christ, which surpasses understanding, keep our minds and hearts in the companionship and will of the Holy Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.
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