12/24/2017 ~ 12/25/2017 ~ 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.
Life Changes
“Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart.” — Luke 2:19.
There was a banging on the door. “I’ll get it!” shouted Naomi, weaving her way among the group of travelers gathered at the inn. Of course, she always was the one to ‘get it’ here. There was no one else. Her husband had been dead for five years.
The town was commonly called the City of David. She wondered from where the term ‘city’ had come since it was clearly not a city.
Her children had moved— Nazareth, Caesarea, Jerusalem— bigger venues. Since it would have been hard for her to keep up the small farm she and her husband operated on this tiny patch of land by herself she decided to turn the house into an inn.
Only a generous soul would see this ramshackle house as a fit place to stay. But then a cadre of Roman soldiers— the occupying army— decided they needed a place when they came through this tiny village three or four times a year. They chose this house as being ideal since they thought it would not draw attention to their presence.
Naomi knew the ways of the world, knew what she was doing. She overcharged the Romans. That paid the upkeep on the place for the entire year.
Then because of this census thing people flocked to Bethlehem in droves. Right now, there was no room in the house for another soul. It would be a very good year.
The banging on the door persisted until Naomi opened it. Introductions were made. A man, his name was Joseph, and a very pregnant woman, her name was Mary, stood there. They were in town for the census.
Naomi thought she detected some fear in Mary’s eyes. He had kind eyes and spoke softly. “We have been on the road for days. We need someplace to stay.” Then he stated the obvious. “My wife is with child. The baby might be born anytime now.”
Naomi thought quickly. There was no room for them in the house. And if the woman’s time came she would need to be alone, not with a crowd. It was still early in the Spring. But the edge had come off winter. [1]
“I have no room inside. Follow me. I think I can put you up in the barn.”
She brushed past them not seeing if they agreed or disagreed but follow they did. What choice did they have? They had tried everywhere else in town.
There were some animals in the barn— a cow, a couple of chickens, several sheep— left over from the working farm. But many stalls were empty. There was plenty of hay, more than enough to put together a makeshift place to sleep— or to bear a child— in an empty stall.
“Look— make a place to lay down. I’ll be back,” said Naomi and scurried off.
“I can’t thank you enough,” the man called after the innkeeper as she disappeared.
Naomi guessed the child would be born shortly. She sprinted to the house, found a bucket, ran to the well, tied a rope on the handle and tossed it down the shaft.
She heard it splash, guided the rope back and forth until the heft said there was enough water to make retrieving the bucket practical. She tugged the load to the surface and headed back to the barn.
As she approached she was surprised to hear the cry of an infant. In her short time away Mary had given birth.
Joseph must have acted with resourcefulness and haste. Clean hay was neatly spread out in one of the stalls. Mary sat there, cradled in the arms of Joseph, a crying baby cradled in her arms.
Naomi approached. In her straightforward, matter of fact way she said, “O.K. Let’s do what we have to do.”
She dipped a towel into the bucket of water and began washing the child who was in Mary’s arms. Joseph looked on.
Naomi looked at him. “You do realize your whole life has now changed.”
Joseph nodded. His eyes now showed the same kind of fear Naomi had detected in the eyes of Mary.
The crying of the baby got still louder as the infant was washed. “Don’t worry,” said Naomi responding to what she saw, what she perceived, in Joseph. “From the amount of noise this baby is making I think we have a very healthy child here.”
“I understand that,” said Joseph nodding in affirmation. “I am not worried on that count. I am worried about the world this child has just entered. Our journey here took five days. The length of the trip was not the arduous part.”
“The roads are infested with brigands, thieves— that’s dangerous. The Roman Army of occupation— that’s dangerous. Our leaders seem incompetent— that’s dangerous. The child does not frighten me. The world we live in... that frightens me.”
Naomi simply nodded. “We may be a small town but we have a wise Rabbi. He once said to me life is a journey through changes. As life changes it is often dangerous, often frightening. But tomorrow it will be different. You will be different. And life will present you with other different, frightening, dangerous challenges.”
“Me, personally, my husband died five years ago. My children left. I could not maintain the farm alone. So I started the inn. Life changed; I changed.”
“Life changes. It’s a given. You need to change with it.”
“You now have this child. As I said, your life will change completely. Indeed, that same Rabbi also said we need to live life understanding the promise God makes. The promise God makes is to love us, to covenant with us, be with us, to walk with us, walk at our side.”
Reaching out to Mary Naomi said, “Give me the child.”
She held the baby up. The baby stopped crying. She looked deeply into the infant’s eyes. Then she handed the child to Joseph. “What do you see?”
“I see love.”
Naomi took the child and handed the child to Mary. “What do you see?”
“I see love.”
“That same Rabbi told me the covenant starts with love. When you look in the eyes of a baby you see nothing but love. This child shall see many changes in a lifetime. But God will love, covenant, be with and walk with this child through every change.”
Naomi took the child from Mary, held the child in her arms and again looked into the eyes of the infant. “The Rabbi told me God loves us so much a Messiah will be sent at some point. Now that... that will be a real change— the Messiah— loving, present, covenanting, walking with us.
Who knows? This child... this child... might even be the Messiah.” (Slight pause.) Amen.
12/24/2017 — Christmas Eve
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 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. As an alternative I’ve often, therefore, suggested that we wish one another a ‘Happy Christmas.’ But I want to make a different suggestion. If somebody says to you ‘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: 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. — Isaiah 60:19-20a.
[1] A the beginning of this Christmas Eve the pastor gave brief offered some background about the reality of the Christmas celebration. This included the fact that many scholars think Jesus was born in what we would call the year Four B.C.E., probably in the Spring and not the winter.
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
Monday, December 25, 2017
SERMON ~ Note: Sunday Morning, Fourth Sunday of Advent ~ 12/24/2017 “Proclaiming God”
12/24/2017 ~ Fourth Sunday of Advent ~ The Sunday in Advent on Which We Commemorate Joy ~ 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38 ~ NOTE: Morning Service.
Proclaiming God
“And Mary said, / ‘My soul proclaims / Your greatness, O God, / and my spirit rejoices in You, my Savior, / for You have looked with favor / on Your lowly servant.’” — Luke 1:46-48.
You have probably more than once heard me say I was a member of an Episcopal Church— All Angels Church— on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. When I left New York to go to Maine the membership there numbered about 450 souls.
That’s a goodly sized number but once you consider the population of Manhattan, a limited number. Now, when a church is that size, there is a need to find methods to encourage people to be engaged in multiple ways beyond what might be loosely called the institutional church.
Hence, members of the laity at one point began to form small groups who met once a week outside the Sunday service. They called these small groups house churches. They called them house churches even though, this being Manhattan, they lived in apartments.
What did they do when then met? They met for prayer, for the study of Scripture, for discussion, for camaraderie and to talk about ways to engage in doing the work of God. Small groups of many stripes are, in fact, the secret of being an effective large church. You see, a Sunday service is where all the small groups come together as one.
But by its nature, a Sunday Service is a difficult place to have fully developed prayer, Scripture study, discussion, camaraderie and consider the work God calls us to do. Often a Sunday service is a place where not everyone knows everyone. Prayer, Scripture study, discussion, camaraderie and doing the work of God can more readily happen in that small, intimate context of each separate group once members get to know one another.
Here’s the paradox: what large churches really do to be effective is to copy what small churches do by the nature of their being small. You see, prayer, Scripture study, discussion, camaraderie and doing the work of God is best done in small group settings, with people you know well and who know you well. That work is not even remotely possible in the context of a Sunday worship.
This bottom line is simple: what do large churches do to maintain themselves? They act like small churches. They form small groups.
Now, when those small groups started to form at All Angels, a friend of mine invited me to a group. I was, frankly, a little hesitant since I had a limited amount of time in the course of my week. Thinking I didn’t know what that was like he said, “You should just try it to see what it’s like.”
“I know what it’s like,” said I. “My family of origin was a house church.” I continued, “My mother had been in a convent but dropped out, met my father and got married. My father taught at a Jesuit school.”
“Every Friday night after dinner the family gathered at the dinning room table, prayed, read Scripture, had discussion and talked about what we were doing. And, as the three children got old enough to deal with advanced topics, that discussion ranged from the writings of Augustine to the existentialism of Jesuit theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.” I probably sounded a little defensive when I then said, “So do not tell me I am unfamiliar with house church. I know it better than most.” (Slight pause.)
These words are in Luke: “And Mary said, / ‘My soul proclaims / Your greatness, O God, / and my spirit rejoices in You, my Savior, / for You have looked with favor / on Your lowly servant.’” (Slight pause.)
Earlier, at the start of the service, I explained there are three sets of lectionary readings assigned for the Feast of the Incarnation, Christmas. [1] These sets of three readings are for the three different services on Christmas and they do not change year to year. The same reading is always assigned year after year after year.
The Second Chapter of Luke— some might identify this as the Charlie Brown Christmas reading— is always the Christmas Eve reading. You know those words. “...there were shepherds in that region, living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night,” etc., etc., etc.
But this is a given: the two readings we heard from the First Chapter of Luke are not just a part of the story of the birth of the Messiah but are as pivotal— are as pivotal— as the shepherds and the angels. If you consider only the Charlie Brown reading, what Luke is trying to convey about the birth of the Messiah becomes quite limited.
In fact, the full story Luke tells about the birth starts at the Fifth Verse of the First Chapter. (Quote:) “In the days of the ruler Herod, there was a priest named Zechariah...” These words initiate the story of the birth of the Messiah and are about the birth of John, a relative of Jesus, later identified as the Baptizer.
Further, the story of the birth of the Messiah does not end until the Fortieth Verse of the Second Chapter with the circumcision of Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem. Why is that important?
Circumcision fulfills the ritual requirements set out in the Torah. And please note: this ritual is done not in Nazareth nor in Bethlehem. This is done at the Temple in Jerusalem.
The point I’m making is simple. The story about birth of the Messiah is not just the story about the shepherds, angels, a stable, a manger. I would also maintain the story of the birth of the Messiah cannot be well understood unless you know and unless read (to quote the late Paul Harvey) the rest of the story.
So, that leaves the obvious question: what is the story of the birth of the Jesus in Luke about? Yes, you do need to know and read the whole story but I also think the words we hear Mary say are a significant piece of it.
It is absolutely clear these words proclaim a certainty about the real presence of God. To use a more traditional term, these words proclaim the in-breaking of God.
And what Mary says reiterates and reenforces what Luke says elsewhere. To note just two points Luke makes— first, the birth of the Messiah is proclaimed and is to be proclaimed to those who are poor, powerless. Second, we are called on to do what Mary says she is doing. We are called on to proclaim God is real, God is present, God is with us, God walks with us.
Given everything in Luke’s rendition of the birth of the Messiah, that is exactly what is being addressed through the story— throughout the story of the birth— especially when the story is taken as a whole. God is real, God is present, God is with us, God walks with us. (Slight pause.)
That brings me back to the aforementioned small groups. Worship is worship. Worship is a significant, necessary, important, wonderful way to support our faith. Worship is something we are called to do by God. But there are other needs.
Anselm of Canterbury, philosopher, theologian of the 11th Century agreed. This Benedictine monk said yes, we need to have faith but our faith must seek understanding. I think too often we make the understanding aspect of faith unimportant.
And that is where small groups come into play. As I said earlier— prayer, Scripture study, discussion, camaraderie and doing the work God calls us to do— can more readily happen in the smaller, intimate context of each individual group once members get to know one another. (Slight pause.)
Last week at the Children’s Time by using a mirror and a flashlight Linda and Jen demonstrated that we are called on to reflect who God is in our lives, the goodness of God. And reflecting the goodness of God is something we learn from others.
Any good teacher will tell you the real way people learn deeply is not from a book. The real way people learn is through interaction with one another. (Slight pause.)
As these things go we are a small church in a rural area with a small population. And yes, we gather for worship on a Sunday and our small groups get together also.
And we do have small groups who gather for all kinds of reasons. To name a few, these range from the Prayer Shawl Group to the Adult Study groups to the Christian Education group to the Choir to our standing committees. And, in a very short time, we shall add a Transition Committee to that roster.
And yes, in these groups we learn from each other. Further, I think if these groups did not exist or people stopped attending them we would cease to be a church. But they do exist and we are a church.
How? Why? I think in these groups what we really learn is our work, the work to which God call us, is to proclaim, to reflect the goodness of God, as Mary did. And we deeply learn to reflect the goodness of God from each other. Amen.
12/24/2017 — Note: the Fourth Sunday of Advent.
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: “A reminder: we do not celebrate the birthday of Christ. That would simply be remembering something that happened long ago. We celebrate the amazing reality of the incarnation, God entering our world, this in-breaking of God into the world. The Christian belief is because of this in-breaking nothing has been the same since. Put differently, what happened is not as important as why it matters. It matters because Christ is with us.”
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, indeed, God reigns. 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.
[1]
This is what was said at the start of the service.
Once a celebration of the Incarnation made its way on to the church calendar, which was not until well into the Fourth Century of the Common Era, and throughout most of church history thereafter right until the 1970s, services observing the Feast known as Christmas were not celebrated until midnight. Even today the lectionary still lists three readings for Christmas. The first set of those readings was and is intended for use at the so called Christmas Eve service, a service which used to be held at Midnight of the 25th. The second set was and is intended for use at the service celebrated with a service held at dawn on the 25th. The third set was and is intended for use at the service celebrated around mid-day on the 25th. Unlike what we see in modern times, this mid-day Christmas Day service was the most solemn of all the services, therefore, the most important one. Interestingly, the assigned Gospel reading for that mid-day solemn service is the beginning of the First Chapter of John— “In the Beginning was the Word.” This is a reading not about the birth of Jesus but about the reality of the eternal God Who is present to us. And, rumor to the contrary, an eternal God Who is present to us addresses the real meaning of Christmas.
Proclaiming God
“And Mary said, / ‘My soul proclaims / Your greatness, O God, / and my spirit rejoices in You, my Savior, / for You have looked with favor / on Your lowly servant.’” — Luke 1:46-48.
You have probably more than once heard me say I was a member of an Episcopal Church— All Angels Church— on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. When I left New York to go to Maine the membership there numbered about 450 souls.
That’s a goodly sized number but once you consider the population of Manhattan, a limited number. Now, when a church is that size, there is a need to find methods to encourage people to be engaged in multiple ways beyond what might be loosely called the institutional church.
Hence, members of the laity at one point began to form small groups who met once a week outside the Sunday service. They called these small groups house churches. They called them house churches even though, this being Manhattan, they lived in apartments.
What did they do when then met? They met for prayer, for the study of Scripture, for discussion, for camaraderie and to talk about ways to engage in doing the work of God. Small groups of many stripes are, in fact, the secret of being an effective large church. You see, a Sunday service is where all the small groups come together as one.
But by its nature, a Sunday Service is a difficult place to have fully developed prayer, Scripture study, discussion, camaraderie and consider the work God calls us to do. Often a Sunday service is a place where not everyone knows everyone. Prayer, Scripture study, discussion, camaraderie and doing the work of God can more readily happen in that small, intimate context of each separate group once members get to know one another.
Here’s the paradox: what large churches really do to be effective is to copy what small churches do by the nature of their being small. You see, prayer, Scripture study, discussion, camaraderie and doing the work of God is best done in small group settings, with people you know well and who know you well. That work is not even remotely possible in the context of a Sunday worship.
This bottom line is simple: what do large churches do to maintain themselves? They act like small churches. They form small groups.
Now, when those small groups started to form at All Angels, a friend of mine invited me to a group. I was, frankly, a little hesitant since I had a limited amount of time in the course of my week. Thinking I didn’t know what that was like he said, “You should just try it to see what it’s like.”
“I know what it’s like,” said I. “My family of origin was a house church.” I continued, “My mother had been in a convent but dropped out, met my father and got married. My father taught at a Jesuit school.”
“Every Friday night after dinner the family gathered at the dinning room table, prayed, read Scripture, had discussion and talked about what we were doing. And, as the three children got old enough to deal with advanced topics, that discussion ranged from the writings of Augustine to the existentialism of Jesuit theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.” I probably sounded a little defensive when I then said, “So do not tell me I am unfamiliar with house church. I know it better than most.” (Slight pause.)
These words are in Luke: “And Mary said, / ‘My soul proclaims / Your greatness, O God, / and my spirit rejoices in You, my Savior, / for You have looked with favor / on Your lowly servant.’” (Slight pause.)
Earlier, at the start of the service, I explained there are three sets of lectionary readings assigned for the Feast of the Incarnation, Christmas. [1] These sets of three readings are for the three different services on Christmas and they do not change year to year. The same reading is always assigned year after year after year.
The Second Chapter of Luke— some might identify this as the Charlie Brown Christmas reading— is always the Christmas Eve reading. You know those words. “...there were shepherds in that region, living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night,” etc., etc., etc.
But this is a given: the two readings we heard from the First Chapter of Luke are not just a part of the story of the birth of the Messiah but are as pivotal— are as pivotal— as the shepherds and the angels. If you consider only the Charlie Brown reading, what Luke is trying to convey about the birth of the Messiah becomes quite limited.
In fact, the full story Luke tells about the birth starts at the Fifth Verse of the First Chapter. (Quote:) “In the days of the ruler Herod, there was a priest named Zechariah...” These words initiate the story of the birth of the Messiah and are about the birth of John, a relative of Jesus, later identified as the Baptizer.
Further, the story of the birth of the Messiah does not end until the Fortieth Verse of the Second Chapter with the circumcision of Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem. Why is that important?
Circumcision fulfills the ritual requirements set out in the Torah. And please note: this ritual is done not in Nazareth nor in Bethlehem. This is done at the Temple in Jerusalem.
The point I’m making is simple. The story about birth of the Messiah is not just the story about the shepherds, angels, a stable, a manger. I would also maintain the story of the birth of the Messiah cannot be well understood unless you know and unless read (to quote the late Paul Harvey) the rest of the story.
So, that leaves the obvious question: what is the story of the birth of the Jesus in Luke about? Yes, you do need to know and read the whole story but I also think the words we hear Mary say are a significant piece of it.
It is absolutely clear these words proclaim a certainty about the real presence of God. To use a more traditional term, these words proclaim the in-breaking of God.
And what Mary says reiterates and reenforces what Luke says elsewhere. To note just two points Luke makes— first, the birth of the Messiah is proclaimed and is to be proclaimed to those who are poor, powerless. Second, we are called on to do what Mary says she is doing. We are called on to proclaim God is real, God is present, God is with us, God walks with us.
Given everything in Luke’s rendition of the birth of the Messiah, that is exactly what is being addressed through the story— throughout the story of the birth— especially when the story is taken as a whole. God is real, God is present, God is with us, God walks with us. (Slight pause.)
That brings me back to the aforementioned small groups. Worship is worship. Worship is a significant, necessary, important, wonderful way to support our faith. Worship is something we are called to do by God. But there are other needs.
Anselm of Canterbury, philosopher, theologian of the 11th Century agreed. This Benedictine monk said yes, we need to have faith but our faith must seek understanding. I think too often we make the understanding aspect of faith unimportant.
And that is where small groups come into play. As I said earlier— prayer, Scripture study, discussion, camaraderie and doing the work God calls us to do— can more readily happen in the smaller, intimate context of each individual group once members get to know one another. (Slight pause.)
Last week at the Children’s Time by using a mirror and a flashlight Linda and Jen demonstrated that we are called on to reflect who God is in our lives, the goodness of God. And reflecting the goodness of God is something we learn from others.
Any good teacher will tell you the real way people learn deeply is not from a book. The real way people learn is through interaction with one another. (Slight pause.)
As these things go we are a small church in a rural area with a small population. And yes, we gather for worship on a Sunday and our small groups get together also.
And we do have small groups who gather for all kinds of reasons. To name a few, these range from the Prayer Shawl Group to the Adult Study groups to the Christian Education group to the Choir to our standing committees. And, in a very short time, we shall add a Transition Committee to that roster.
And yes, in these groups we learn from each other. Further, I think if these groups did not exist or people stopped attending them we would cease to be a church. But they do exist and we are a church.
How? Why? I think in these groups what we really learn is our work, the work to which God call us, is to proclaim, to reflect the goodness of God, as Mary did. And we deeply learn to reflect the goodness of God from each other. Amen.
12/24/2017 — Note: the Fourth Sunday of Advent.
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: “A reminder: we do not celebrate the birthday of Christ. That would simply be remembering something that happened long ago. We celebrate the amazing reality of the incarnation, God entering our world, this in-breaking of God into the world. The Christian belief is because of this in-breaking nothing has been the same since. Put differently, what happened is not as important as why it matters. It matters because Christ is with us.”
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, indeed, God reigns. 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.
[1]
This is what was said at the start of the service.
Once a celebration of the Incarnation made its way on to the church calendar, which was not until well into the Fourth Century of the Common Era, and throughout most of church history thereafter right until the 1970s, services observing the Feast known as Christmas were not celebrated until midnight. Even today the lectionary still lists three readings for Christmas. The first set of those readings was and is intended for use at the so called Christmas Eve service, a service which used to be held at Midnight of the 25th. The second set was and is intended for use at the service celebrated with a service held at dawn on the 25th. The third set was and is intended for use at the service celebrated around mid-day on the 25th. Unlike what we see in modern times, this mid-day Christmas Day service was the most solemn of all the services, therefore, the most important one. Interestingly, the assigned Gospel reading for that mid-day solemn service is the beginning of the First Chapter of John— “In the Beginning was the Word.” This is a reading not about the birth of Jesus but about the reality of the eternal God Who is present to us. And, rumor to the contrary, an eternal God Who is present to us addresses the real meaning of Christmas.
Sunday, December 10, 2017
SERMON ~ 12/10/2017 ~ “Our Calling”
12/10/2017 ~ Second Sunday of Advent ~ The Sunday in Advent on Which We Commemorate Peace ~ Isaiah 40:1-11; Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8.
Our Calling
“As it was written in the prophet, Isaiah, / ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, / who will prepare your way’; / a herald’s voice in the desert crying out: / ‘Prepare, make ready the way of our God. / Clear a straight path.’” — Mark 1:2-3.
A couple of weeks ago I was tapped on, pressured into— I suppose recruited would be a nicer way to say it— I was recruited by members of our Susquehanna Association to offer the Sermon at the installation of the Rev. Mr. Allen Armstrong, the new pastor at the Sherburne United Church of Christ. My first reaction was OMG... two sermons in one day.
But then again, I preach two sermons a Sunday at least twelve times a year since once a month I preach at a Sunday afternoon service at Chenango Valley Home. In fact, I shall be doing that this very afternoon. I always offer a different sermon over there, so if would you like to hear me again— or to be more blunt, if you want to torture yourself one more time— you can come and listen to what I have to say there.
In any case, at every installation there are actually two sermons for the price of one. One is the so called ‘charge to the church.’ The second is the charge to the pastor. I was assigned to talk to the church. And, as is the tradition in this neck of the woods, a representative from the Conference, in this case the Rev. Dr. Marsha Williams, was to follow me with the charge to the pastor.
Hence, the first thing I spoke about on taking the pulpit was I had been placed in the unenviable position of preceding Marsha’s comments. Since she has already addressed this congregational those of you who heard her realize Marsha knows a thing or two about preaching.
Next, having noted Marsha and I were preaching, I said this very fact should inform us about covenant commitment among our churches And that covenant commitment is about people. These were my exact words (quote:) “We all have our roots in the local church. But church— and the word church does not mean a building— this building is a meeting house— the word church means people. The real definition of the very word ‘church’ is much more expansive than common usage would have it.”
Then I said even though I have been in this Association 22 years, it was unlikely many people knew my background, my story. After all, pulpit exchange among pastors is fairly rare these days. So whereas most of you know my background, outside of this place, this pulpit, it’s not something that often comes up. So I told them I was going to use my story, my personal history, as I wanted to address what is often referred to as a call, or as clergy often and inappropriately refer to it: “my call.”
And so I spoke about growing up Roman Catholic. As I often say, with a name like Joseph Francis Connolly, Jr. that is really hard to hide. I said I shifted to the Episcopal Church in my 20s and when I was 40 I saw the light and became a Congregationalist. I joined First Parish Church, United Church of Christ, Brunswick, Maine.
Next I noted at least since I was 20 people had been telling me I should be a pastor. I paid no heed. I, in fact, once asked an Episcopal Priest friend what the call felt like. This Priest said, “Oh, it felt terrible. I cried for hours.” I said, “Great! I don’t have one.”
Now, in the coffee hour space at the Brunswick Church a Bangor Seminary poster was stapled to the wall. It had postcards attached. Send us a card and we’ll send you information. So I did.
After being on their mailing list a while the Seminary sent me a letter. ‘Do you I want to stay on the list?’ I wrote back saying ‘yes.’ What did the seminary do? They sent me a catalogue. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.
A couple of days later, a Saturday, Bonnie needed to be away. I was bored out of my skull. I decided to bore myself some more and read the catalogue.
As I sat reading I started to cry. Have you ever read a Seminary catalogue? Course descriptions— beyond boring— and I was crying. Then I remembered what my Episcopal Priest friend said about what the call felt like. “It felt terrible. I cried for hours.”
Now, when a pastor writes an ordination paper there is an expectation that the story of the call will be told and that story will go on for pages and pages and pages. So what you just heard, my friends, is the short version of my call and I shared some of it at the installation in Sherburne since the Association members there assembled and the members of the Sherburne Church had not heard it. Of course, many of you have heard pieces of this story before. Only some of you, I think, have not.
So, having entertained (question mark) them with this story, the next thing I shared in Sherburne was that when I hold Confirmation sessions here I present three short videos by Michael Himes, a Jesuit, a Professor of Theology at Boston College on discernment. These do not address a call to ministry since Himes gives these talks to incoming Freshmen at BC.
The presentation is called “Three Key Questions.” These are the questions: ‘Is whatever it is you are considering to be a call on your life, for your life, a source of joy?’ ‘Is this something that taps into your talents, gifts in the fullest way?’ ‘Last, will those around you affirm the call and do you have the courage to respond?’ (Slight pause.)
We find this said in the work commonly called Mark: “A voice cries out: / ‘Clear a path through the wilderness / prepare the way for Yahweh, God. / Make straight in the desert a highway, / a road for God!” (Slight pause.)
Earlier I said we clergy often inappropriately refer to the what we do as “my call.” “My call” is inappropriate because it is not “my call.”
You see, that last question Himes tackles is key and it applies not just to church, not just to clergy, but to bankers, car mechanics, doctors, plumbers, etc., etc., etc. “Will those around you affirm the call and do you have the courage to respond?” Any call is, at least in part, the call of those around us to us, the call on us to us of the community around us. (Slight pause.)
All that leads me back to this opening passage from Mark. You see— and I have said this here before— we need to listen to Scripture with First Century ears, not Twenty-first Century ears. Our Twenty-first Century ears pay too much attention to the story of the Baptizer, John.
I think we Twenty-first Century types like stories. On the other hand, I think we Twenty-first Century types do not seem particularly interested in understanding the message behind the story. Hence, we dwell on the content of the story without asking what the story means.
We need to understand the reason nearly any story is recorded in Scripture is not because of the story, itself. The story may be interesting— the story about the Baptizer, it’s details what John looks like, what John eats, what John says, all that is interesting. But that is not why the story gets recorded. A story is told to illustrate meaning— illustrate meaning.
Equally, the meaning here can be found when Mark quotes Isaiah. The point of the story is to reenforce the quote. And, therefore, I want to suggest the point of the story is not the Baptizer, not John.
The point of the story is John listened to what Isaiah had to say. The point of the story is John listened to the call of God. And, indeed, John acted on the call of God.
Further, when Mark quotes the prophet Isaiah, the meaning of the passage is laid out. And I think the meaning is straightforward.
Our call— our call— is to clear a path, prepare the way, make straight a highway— and as the fuller quote from Isaiah says— lift up, fill or lay low the mountains and valleys, make rough places, the ground level— like a plain. Do all that for Whom? Note ourselves. It’s not about us. Do it for God.
I also want to suggest when the passage turns toward the story of the Baptizer, when the story tries to illustrate the meaning, by telling us the story of John, the writer explores what the result of listening and answering the call of God might be like. (Quote:) “And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to John and were baptized...” (Slight pause.)
You see, sharing the call is vital to the community. And sharing the call also builds community when the community listens.
And that beings us back to the third key question of life posed by the Rev. Himes. “Will those around you affirm the call and do you have the courage to respond?” (Slight pause.)
So, what does should the story of John say to us? What does it mean? I think its meaning is simple.
Do we in the United Church of Christ— it’s not just pastors who hear a call— do we in the United Church of Christ of Norwich, this church— all of us— have the courage to respond to the call of God together as we discern the call of God on the life of the community?’ Amen.
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
12/10/2017
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 came across a quote from Pope Francis, who is becoming a wonderful source of quotes. The Pontiff said we humans need to be more concerned with encountering one another than with confronting one another. I am not suggesting that confrontation fails to be appropriate sometimes. I am suggesting— and I think this is what Francis may have been suggesting— that encountering now means confronting will never be necessary. Or, as the Apostle Paul says we need to speak the truth in love. And that, I think, is a call of God on our lives.”
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 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. Go in peace for God is with us. And may the peace of God which surpasses understanding be with us this day and forevermore. Amen.
Our Calling
“As it was written in the prophet, Isaiah, / ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, / who will prepare your way’; / a herald’s voice in the desert crying out: / ‘Prepare, make ready the way of our God. / Clear a straight path.’” — Mark 1:2-3.
A couple of weeks ago I was tapped on, pressured into— I suppose recruited would be a nicer way to say it— I was recruited by members of our Susquehanna Association to offer the Sermon at the installation of the Rev. Mr. Allen Armstrong, the new pastor at the Sherburne United Church of Christ. My first reaction was OMG... two sermons in one day.
But then again, I preach two sermons a Sunday at least twelve times a year since once a month I preach at a Sunday afternoon service at Chenango Valley Home. In fact, I shall be doing that this very afternoon. I always offer a different sermon over there, so if would you like to hear me again— or to be more blunt, if you want to torture yourself one more time— you can come and listen to what I have to say there.
In any case, at every installation there are actually two sermons for the price of one. One is the so called ‘charge to the church.’ The second is the charge to the pastor. I was assigned to talk to the church. And, as is the tradition in this neck of the woods, a representative from the Conference, in this case the Rev. Dr. Marsha Williams, was to follow me with the charge to the pastor.
Hence, the first thing I spoke about on taking the pulpit was I had been placed in the unenviable position of preceding Marsha’s comments. Since she has already addressed this congregational those of you who heard her realize Marsha knows a thing or two about preaching.
Next, having noted Marsha and I were preaching, I said this very fact should inform us about covenant commitment among our churches And that covenant commitment is about people. These were my exact words (quote:) “We all have our roots in the local church. But church— and the word church does not mean a building— this building is a meeting house— the word church means people. The real definition of the very word ‘church’ is much more expansive than common usage would have it.”
Then I said even though I have been in this Association 22 years, it was unlikely many people knew my background, my story. After all, pulpit exchange among pastors is fairly rare these days. So whereas most of you know my background, outside of this place, this pulpit, it’s not something that often comes up. So I told them I was going to use my story, my personal history, as I wanted to address what is often referred to as a call, or as clergy often and inappropriately refer to it: “my call.”
And so I spoke about growing up Roman Catholic. As I often say, with a name like Joseph Francis Connolly, Jr. that is really hard to hide. I said I shifted to the Episcopal Church in my 20s and when I was 40 I saw the light and became a Congregationalist. I joined First Parish Church, United Church of Christ, Brunswick, Maine.
Next I noted at least since I was 20 people had been telling me I should be a pastor. I paid no heed. I, in fact, once asked an Episcopal Priest friend what the call felt like. This Priest said, “Oh, it felt terrible. I cried for hours.” I said, “Great! I don’t have one.”
Now, in the coffee hour space at the Brunswick Church a Bangor Seminary poster was stapled to the wall. It had postcards attached. Send us a card and we’ll send you information. So I did.
After being on their mailing list a while the Seminary sent me a letter. ‘Do you I want to stay on the list?’ I wrote back saying ‘yes.’ What did the seminary do? They sent me a catalogue. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.
A couple of days later, a Saturday, Bonnie needed to be away. I was bored out of my skull. I decided to bore myself some more and read the catalogue.
As I sat reading I started to cry. Have you ever read a Seminary catalogue? Course descriptions— beyond boring— and I was crying. Then I remembered what my Episcopal Priest friend said about what the call felt like. “It felt terrible. I cried for hours.”
Now, when a pastor writes an ordination paper there is an expectation that the story of the call will be told and that story will go on for pages and pages and pages. So what you just heard, my friends, is the short version of my call and I shared some of it at the installation in Sherburne since the Association members there assembled and the members of the Sherburne Church had not heard it. Of course, many of you have heard pieces of this story before. Only some of you, I think, have not.
So, having entertained (question mark) them with this story, the next thing I shared in Sherburne was that when I hold Confirmation sessions here I present three short videos by Michael Himes, a Jesuit, a Professor of Theology at Boston College on discernment. These do not address a call to ministry since Himes gives these talks to incoming Freshmen at BC.
The presentation is called “Three Key Questions.” These are the questions: ‘Is whatever it is you are considering to be a call on your life, for your life, a source of joy?’ ‘Is this something that taps into your talents, gifts in the fullest way?’ ‘Last, will those around you affirm the call and do you have the courage to respond?’ (Slight pause.)
We find this said in the work commonly called Mark: “A voice cries out: / ‘Clear a path through the wilderness / prepare the way for Yahweh, God. / Make straight in the desert a highway, / a road for God!” (Slight pause.)
Earlier I said we clergy often inappropriately refer to the what we do as “my call.” “My call” is inappropriate because it is not “my call.”
You see, that last question Himes tackles is key and it applies not just to church, not just to clergy, but to bankers, car mechanics, doctors, plumbers, etc., etc., etc. “Will those around you affirm the call and do you have the courage to respond?” Any call is, at least in part, the call of those around us to us, the call on us to us of the community around us. (Slight pause.)
All that leads me back to this opening passage from Mark. You see— and I have said this here before— we need to listen to Scripture with First Century ears, not Twenty-first Century ears. Our Twenty-first Century ears pay too much attention to the story of the Baptizer, John.
I think we Twenty-first Century types like stories. On the other hand, I think we Twenty-first Century types do not seem particularly interested in understanding the message behind the story. Hence, we dwell on the content of the story without asking what the story means.
We need to understand the reason nearly any story is recorded in Scripture is not because of the story, itself. The story may be interesting— the story about the Baptizer, it’s details what John looks like, what John eats, what John says, all that is interesting. But that is not why the story gets recorded. A story is told to illustrate meaning— illustrate meaning.
Equally, the meaning here can be found when Mark quotes Isaiah. The point of the story is to reenforce the quote. And, therefore, I want to suggest the point of the story is not the Baptizer, not John.
The point of the story is John listened to what Isaiah had to say. The point of the story is John listened to the call of God. And, indeed, John acted on the call of God.
Further, when Mark quotes the prophet Isaiah, the meaning of the passage is laid out. And I think the meaning is straightforward.
Our call— our call— is to clear a path, prepare the way, make straight a highway— and as the fuller quote from Isaiah says— lift up, fill or lay low the mountains and valleys, make rough places, the ground level— like a plain. Do all that for Whom? Note ourselves. It’s not about us. Do it for God.
I also want to suggest when the passage turns toward the story of the Baptizer, when the story tries to illustrate the meaning, by telling us the story of John, the writer explores what the result of listening and answering the call of God might be like. (Quote:) “And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to John and were baptized...” (Slight pause.)
You see, sharing the call is vital to the community. And sharing the call also builds community when the community listens.
And that beings us back to the third key question of life posed by the Rev. Himes. “Will those around you affirm the call and do you have the courage to respond?” (Slight pause.)
So, what does should the story of John say to us? What does it mean? I think its meaning is simple.
Do we in the United Church of Christ— it’s not just pastors who hear a call— do we in the United Church of Christ of Norwich, this church— all of us— have the courage to respond to the call of God together as we discern the call of God on the life of the community?’ Amen.
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
12/10/2017
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 came across a quote from Pope Francis, who is becoming a wonderful source of quotes. The Pontiff said we humans need to be more concerned with encountering one another than with confronting one another. I am not suggesting that confrontation fails to be appropriate sometimes. I am suggesting— and I think this is what Francis may have been suggesting— that encountering now means confronting will never be necessary. Or, as the Apostle Paul says we need to speak the truth in love. And that, I think, is a call of God on our lives.”
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 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. Go in peace for God is with us. And may the peace of God which surpasses understanding be with us this day and forevermore. Amen.
Sunday, December 3, 2017
SERMON ~ 12/03/2017 ~ “The Present Tense”
12/03/2017 ~ First Sunday of Advent ~ Beginning of Year ‘B’ ~ First Sunday of Year ‘B’ in the Three Year Cycle of Lectionary Readings ~ The Sunday in Advent on Which We Commemorate Hope ~ Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37 ~ Communion Sunday.
The Present Tense
“Grace to you and peace from our loving God and from our Savior, Jesus, the Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 1:3.
In my comments today I want to address the educational background, the certification if you would, to hold the office of Pastor and Teacher in our denomination. Indeed, while most churches in America do not require any kind of academic certification, the vast majority of pastors in Main Line Churches have a Master of Divinity degree, a graduate degree, from a State accredited institution of higher learning. Hence, a prerequisite is a Bachelor’s Degree.
Generally at least, Master’s Degrees are two years of full time graduate work. They can range from a low of around 43 graduate level credits to a high of around 60 graduate level credits. But a Master of Divinity Degree is a 90 graduate credit level degree, about the same as a law degree, three years of full time work.
Given that context, I want to focus in on just one area of study, commonly a part of the Master of Divinity Degree. The specific piece I want to address— and these days no one is ordained in Main Line denominations without the this— is a piece called Clinical Pastoral Education.
Clinical Pastoral Education, commonly referred to as CPE, is over 400 hours of work. CPE is a three credit course but the 400 hours of work required is about three times the normal workload of a 3 credit course.
This course combines classroom and clinical work about evenly split between those two areas. Classroom work is always done in small groups of four or five students. And aside from tons of assigned reading, the main purpose of the classroom exercises is the small group examines what each individual student does in the clinical work.
The clinical section can be thought of as on the job training for chaplains. For practical reasons a CPE program often serves one setting— a nursing home, a hospital, a prison. The setting does not much matter since the learnings concern base line areas.
My CPE program was at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. I remember the day the assignments were handed out to my group. The professor turned to me and said, “Well, we’re giving you the hard one Joe: the pulmonary ward.”
So, what did I learn and experience in CPE, this on the job training as a chaplain, the real duties of a chaplain, the base line learnings? There are two things I think you learn in a chaplaincy program.
First, a chaplain listens. That alone is a hard thing to learn. Second, a chaplain tries to simply be present to the person or persons you serve. You walk with them.
The real issue with being present to another person is you need to interact but not be intrusive. This too is hard on a number of counts.
So, here is how or at least one way how that learning works. Before you visit someone, you try, as well as you are able, to clear your mind of your own baggage, your own clutter. The person being visited does not need to hear about your issues.
On top of that, once you have visited someone, you need, as much as humanly possible, to clear your thoughts, your mind again. Therefore, after you logged the visit in the patients hospital record— all hospitals that have chaplains should have a section in the patient’s permanent medical record where visits can be logged, notes made— after you logged the visit you try to clear your thoughts, your mind yet again.
So, you go to the end of the hall, stare out a window, climb a staircase to go to another floor, go to the cafeteria— get some coffee, lots of it— do anything you need to do to refresh your self. The ‘Why?’ of that should be obvious.
If you’re a chaplain, after visiting someone the next thing you do is make another visit. So the worst thing you can do is to bring some mental residual from the last visit into the next visit.
Do note, the caveat I offered about this technique is I said when you do this clearing of your thoughts, clearing your mind, you complete that task as much as is humanly possible. Can this be done perfectly? No. It cannot. We are all human and by definition imperfect. But you do your best.
And, what you are striving to do in those visits as well as you can, is to simply walk with that person. What you are striving to do as well as you can is to simply to be present to that person.
All that brings me back to what Paul says. (Quote:) “Grace to you and peace from our loving God and from our Savior, Jesus, the Christ.” (Slight pause.)
Needless to say, these are among the opening words of 1 Corinthians. These words are, thereby, a greeting. And in this greeting Paul is simply using a standard practice of letter writing in ancient Rome.
Now, I have probably read these words dozens, hundreds of times and, when I read them in preparation for this service, I discovered something I never noticed before. It is something quite basic and amazingly simple about the Christian faith.
Let me offer the words again: “Grace to you and peace from our loving God and from our Savior, Jesus, the Christ.” Did you notice Paul here speaks of presence in the present tense?
Paul did not say, ‘Grace to you and peace from our loving God who sits in the clouds and from the one who died and is no longer here.’ In these words a simple reality is clear: God is here. God lives. Jesus, Who is the Christ, is here. Jesus lives. (Slight pause.)
So, how are we to take that? This is how I take it. It is often said the legacy of the Hebrews to humanity is an understanding that God is One and that there is One God.
No. The legacy of the Hebrews is not that simple. Certainly one gift of the Hebrews to humanity is the proclamation that God lives. God is with us.
God is present to us. God walks with us. God is in relationship with us. Not only that, but because God lives and is in relationship with us, God does not in any way control us or want to control us. God has no baggage.
Rather, by definition because God lives, God is in perfect relationship with us, with humanity. And this perfect relationship, this no baggage relationship is what theology labels as... covenant.
Also note the other thing Paul says by using the present tense. If Jesus is the Messiah, the One sent by God, the One Whose covenant relationship with God is perfect, the One Whose covenant relationship with God says Jesus is resurrected, then, just as God lives, Jesus lives.
And so, what does Paul do here, nearly unnoticed, in following this standard form of letter writing? In line with the Hebrew understanding of God, Paul writes in the present tense of God’s presence. Paul writes that God lives. Then Paul writes in the present tense of the presence of Jesus. Paul writes that Jesus lives.
What Paul does not do is let the predominant Roman culture which had no time for gods of relationship, so it worshiped practical gods— gods of fertility, of crops— Paul does not let gods of the predominant culture overwhelm the Hebrew understanding of God. And this understanding says God lives, is present to us, walks with us. And then Paul says Jesus lives, is present to us, walks with us. (Slight pause.)
We have just entered the Season of Advent. And Advent is, of course, followed by Christmas.
Many see Advent and Christmas as simply celebrating the birth of the Messiah. I say that is a cultural understanding of what God has done. You see, with Advent and Christmas we Christians celebrate that Jesus lives, is present to us, walks among us.
Why do I say that? Well, Paul says (quote:) “Grace to you and peace from our loving God and from our Savior, Jesus, the Christ”— the present tense. (Slight pause.)
Tell me, do you know how hard it is to be present to someone? For we imperfect beings it is hard.
And, as amazing as this might sound, Paul testifies that Jesus is present to us in a perfect way, now, here, today. And that, my friends, is certainly what we need to consider when it comes to this season we call Advent: God lives; Jesus lives. Amen.
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: “As has been true for quite a while, there are arguments in the secular press about whether or not you should wish someone a ‘Merry Christmas.’ Perhaps I am just too conservative on this count. But to my way of thinking, if we want to offer a seasonal greeting what we should say is, ‘Have a blessed Advent.’ I tried that yesterday in J. C. Penny— totally flabbergasted someone. Why might we do that? Advent is the time when we are blessed because what we recognize and what we celebrate is that Jesus is present to us.”
BENEDICTION: God’s time is infinite. Let us look around us for the presence of God’s work. Let us participate in the work of God’s dominion. Let us share our gifts, our memories, our pain, our joy and our hopes. Go in peace for God is with us. Go in joy for God knows every fiber of our being. Go in love, for we rest assured, by Christ, Jesus, that God is steadfast. Go in hope for God reveals to us, daily, that we are a part of God’s new creation. Amen.
The Present Tense
“Grace to you and peace from our loving God and from our Savior, Jesus, the Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 1:3.
In my comments today I want to address the educational background, the certification if you would, to hold the office of Pastor and Teacher in our denomination. Indeed, while most churches in America do not require any kind of academic certification, the vast majority of pastors in Main Line Churches have a Master of Divinity degree, a graduate degree, from a State accredited institution of higher learning. Hence, a prerequisite is a Bachelor’s Degree.
Generally at least, Master’s Degrees are two years of full time graduate work. They can range from a low of around 43 graduate level credits to a high of around 60 graduate level credits. But a Master of Divinity Degree is a 90 graduate credit level degree, about the same as a law degree, three years of full time work.
Given that context, I want to focus in on just one area of study, commonly a part of the Master of Divinity Degree. The specific piece I want to address— and these days no one is ordained in Main Line denominations without the this— is a piece called Clinical Pastoral Education.
Clinical Pastoral Education, commonly referred to as CPE, is over 400 hours of work. CPE is a three credit course but the 400 hours of work required is about three times the normal workload of a 3 credit course.
This course combines classroom and clinical work about evenly split between those two areas. Classroom work is always done in small groups of four or five students. And aside from tons of assigned reading, the main purpose of the classroom exercises is the small group examines what each individual student does in the clinical work.
The clinical section can be thought of as on the job training for chaplains. For practical reasons a CPE program often serves one setting— a nursing home, a hospital, a prison. The setting does not much matter since the learnings concern base line areas.
My CPE program was at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. I remember the day the assignments were handed out to my group. The professor turned to me and said, “Well, we’re giving you the hard one Joe: the pulmonary ward.”
So, what did I learn and experience in CPE, this on the job training as a chaplain, the real duties of a chaplain, the base line learnings? There are two things I think you learn in a chaplaincy program.
First, a chaplain listens. That alone is a hard thing to learn. Second, a chaplain tries to simply be present to the person or persons you serve. You walk with them.
The real issue with being present to another person is you need to interact but not be intrusive. This too is hard on a number of counts.
So, here is how or at least one way how that learning works. Before you visit someone, you try, as well as you are able, to clear your mind of your own baggage, your own clutter. The person being visited does not need to hear about your issues.
On top of that, once you have visited someone, you need, as much as humanly possible, to clear your thoughts, your mind again. Therefore, after you logged the visit in the patients hospital record— all hospitals that have chaplains should have a section in the patient’s permanent medical record where visits can be logged, notes made— after you logged the visit you try to clear your thoughts, your mind yet again.
So, you go to the end of the hall, stare out a window, climb a staircase to go to another floor, go to the cafeteria— get some coffee, lots of it— do anything you need to do to refresh your self. The ‘Why?’ of that should be obvious.
If you’re a chaplain, after visiting someone the next thing you do is make another visit. So the worst thing you can do is to bring some mental residual from the last visit into the next visit.
Do note, the caveat I offered about this technique is I said when you do this clearing of your thoughts, clearing your mind, you complete that task as much as is humanly possible. Can this be done perfectly? No. It cannot. We are all human and by definition imperfect. But you do your best.
And, what you are striving to do in those visits as well as you can, is to simply walk with that person. What you are striving to do as well as you can is to simply to be present to that person.
All that brings me back to what Paul says. (Quote:) “Grace to you and peace from our loving God and from our Savior, Jesus, the Christ.” (Slight pause.)
Needless to say, these are among the opening words of 1 Corinthians. These words are, thereby, a greeting. And in this greeting Paul is simply using a standard practice of letter writing in ancient Rome.
Now, I have probably read these words dozens, hundreds of times and, when I read them in preparation for this service, I discovered something I never noticed before. It is something quite basic and amazingly simple about the Christian faith.
Let me offer the words again: “Grace to you and peace from our loving God and from our Savior, Jesus, the Christ.” Did you notice Paul here speaks of presence in the present tense?
Paul did not say, ‘Grace to you and peace from our loving God who sits in the clouds and from the one who died and is no longer here.’ In these words a simple reality is clear: God is here. God lives. Jesus, Who is the Christ, is here. Jesus lives. (Slight pause.)
So, how are we to take that? This is how I take it. It is often said the legacy of the Hebrews to humanity is an understanding that God is One and that there is One God.
No. The legacy of the Hebrews is not that simple. Certainly one gift of the Hebrews to humanity is the proclamation that God lives. God is with us.
God is present to us. God walks with us. God is in relationship with us. Not only that, but because God lives and is in relationship with us, God does not in any way control us or want to control us. God has no baggage.
Rather, by definition because God lives, God is in perfect relationship with us, with humanity. And this perfect relationship, this no baggage relationship is what theology labels as... covenant.
Also note the other thing Paul says by using the present tense. If Jesus is the Messiah, the One sent by God, the One Whose covenant relationship with God is perfect, the One Whose covenant relationship with God says Jesus is resurrected, then, just as God lives, Jesus lives.
And so, what does Paul do here, nearly unnoticed, in following this standard form of letter writing? In line with the Hebrew understanding of God, Paul writes in the present tense of God’s presence. Paul writes that God lives. Then Paul writes in the present tense of the presence of Jesus. Paul writes that Jesus lives.
What Paul does not do is let the predominant Roman culture which had no time for gods of relationship, so it worshiped practical gods— gods of fertility, of crops— Paul does not let gods of the predominant culture overwhelm the Hebrew understanding of God. And this understanding says God lives, is present to us, walks with us. And then Paul says Jesus lives, is present to us, walks with us. (Slight pause.)
We have just entered the Season of Advent. And Advent is, of course, followed by Christmas.
Many see Advent and Christmas as simply celebrating the birth of the Messiah. I say that is a cultural understanding of what God has done. You see, with Advent and Christmas we Christians celebrate that Jesus lives, is present to us, walks among us.
Why do I say that? Well, Paul says (quote:) “Grace to you and peace from our loving God and from our Savior, Jesus, the Christ”— the present tense. (Slight pause.)
Tell me, do you know how hard it is to be present to someone? For we imperfect beings it is hard.
And, as amazing as this might sound, Paul testifies that Jesus is present to us in a perfect way, now, here, today. And that, my friends, is certainly what we need to consider when it comes to this season we call Advent: God lives; Jesus lives. Amen.
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: “As has been true for quite a while, there are arguments in the secular press about whether or not you should wish someone a ‘Merry Christmas.’ Perhaps I am just too conservative on this count. But to my way of thinking, if we want to offer a seasonal greeting what we should say is, ‘Have a blessed Advent.’ I tried that yesterday in J. C. Penny— totally flabbergasted someone. Why might we do that? Advent is the time when we are blessed because what we recognize and what we celebrate is that Jesus is present to us.”
BENEDICTION: God’s time is infinite. Let us look around us for the presence of God’s work. Let us participate in the work of God’s dominion. Let us share our gifts, our memories, our pain, our joy and our hopes. Go in peace for God is with us. Go in joy for God knows every fiber of our being. Go in love, for we rest assured, by Christ, Jesus, that God is steadfast. Go in hope for God reveals to us, daily, that we are a part of God’s new creation. Amen.
Sunday, November 26, 2017
SERMON ~ 11/26/2017 ~ “Armageddon When?”
READINGS: 11/26/2017 ~ The Feast of the Reign of Christ ~ Proper 29 ~ Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Thirty-fourth and Last Sunday in Ordinary Time of Year ‘A’ ~ The Last Sunday Before the Season of Advent and the New Year on the Church Calendar, Year ‘B’ ~ Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Psalm 100; Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Psalm 95:1-7a; Ephesians 1:15-23; Matthew 25:31-46.
Armageddon When?
“And the ruler answered, ‘The truth is, every time you did this for the least of these who are members of my family, my brothers and sisters, you did it for me.’” — Matthew 25:40.
Those of you who have personal computers and are connected to the social media platform known as Facebook probably know I have a Facebook page. And those of you connected to the social media platform, Facebook, probably know that, except for making an occasional comment and posting my sermons on Facebook, I rarely do anything on that page.
I already lead a busy life. I just do not have those kind of extra minutes in my day which might allow me to spend time posting on Facebook, thank you. (Slight pause.)
I take that back. I have been occasionally known to post a terrible pun or joke. But other than a comment, sermons and an occasional terrible pun or joke— and it can be hard to tell the difference between the sermons and the jokes— I rarely post anything.
Now, on a more serious note, those of you who know Facebook probably know there is something you can do with it which might even rate as worthwhile. That’s belong to groups where information can be exchanged with a select membership.
For instance, our choir and bell choir has a closed group so members can keep up to speed on rehearsals and other things. (And I have noticed some also post an occasional pun or joke on that page!)
Of course, another reason for closed groups is to gather a select set of people who have something in common and can seek support because of conversations in these groups. These range from groups formed because of a illness folks have in common, to a family group, to people who have a common profession.
That having been said, it should not be a surprise if I said I belong to several clergy groups. And, equally, it should not be a surprise that I rarely post in any of those groups, either. I already lead a busy life, etc., etc., etc.
There was, however, a recent post that caught my attention in one of those clergy groups and I did respond. One of our young U.C.C. pastors— young meaning 35— posted this question. “When was the first time you did not feel safe?” 9/11 was the first time this pastor had not felt safe.
The math here is obvious since this pastor is 35. 9/11 was 16 years ago and this pastor was probably a Freshman or a Sophomore in College when that happened.
Others, perhaps unintentionally, disclosed their age because of the incidents cited. The JKF assassination in '63, the Challenger disaster in '86 were both named.
Now, perhaps I broke with my usual practice and responded because my reaction to this was very personal, very emotional. I did not reference any national trauma.
I related on that post a brief version of the story I’ve told here. “I was an inner city kid in the 1950s,” I said. “Safety? I saw a person being mugged outside the house in which my family lived when I was about five. I got my Mom. She called the police.”
“Safety? Real safety exists, ever?” said I. “I knew very early that real safety was and is an illusion.” (Slight pause.)
I, in fact, kept thinking about that question “When was the first time you did not feel safe?” For days I kept thinking about it. That led to some reflection about my family.
What I realized is the incident I described certainly was an example of feeling not safe. But perhaps my deep emotions around the question came from family of origin issues. Let me say something about that, also something I’ve said here before.
Around the same time as the mugging I just described, when I was about five, my Father had what they called in those days a nervous breakdown. Today we would recognize that incident as the onset of a mental illness which goes by two names: passive dependency and passive aggression.
But the result was that, at a very early age, I needed to start thinking like an adult. You see, my father was physically present but did not fully accept that role— adult. Someone had to. I, perhaps unwittingly, took it on, despite my age. (Slight pause.)
These words are found in the Gospel we call Matthew: “And the ruler answered, ‘The truth is, every time you did this for the least of these who are members of my family, my brothers and sisters, you did it for me.’” (Slight pause.)
The reading from Matthew we heard today addresses what is commonly called the eschaton, the final event in the divine plan, the so called end of the world. It appears among a series of apocalyptic parables about the final days.
But, in a real way, these are not simply apocalyptic parables. These are apocalyptic dramas and are meant to be seen as dramas, set pieces, illustrations.
Why? Perhaps we need to ask this question: ‘Was Jesus simply addressing the end of time or is there something else going on here? (Slight pause.)
So, what is going on here? The ruler clearly states some have fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, took care of the ill and visited the imprisoned. (Slight pause.)
You see, time and again and time and again the message of Jesus has to do with perfection. For proof of that statement— that Jesus has a message about perfection— please see the Sermon on the Mount from this Gospel. That’s about perfection. Therefore, the message of Jesus has to do with making a broken world whole.
Hence, I would posit that all the parables about the eschaton, the final days, are not about the so called end of time. These are stories, dramas, set pieces, illustrations about a time when the world is cleansed of imperfection.
These are stories, dramas, set pieces, illustrations about a time when the mercy of God and the giving God offers becomes available through us. This is about a time when the mercy of God and the giving God offers is embodied by us, the people of God.
These are stories, dramas, set pieces, illustrations about the vision God has for the world, a vision of the world. This is about perfection and it is clear that it’s our responsibility to act in ways which will bring about this perfection by feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, taking care of the ill and visiting the imprisoned. (Slight pause.)
I think this reading raises many issues we moderns need to ponder. But there two clear ones: our own mortality and our own safety. It is nearly redundant to say these two are intertwined.
Hence, I would like to be so bold as to suggest two things. The first restates what I new at a very early age: “Safety? Real safety exists, ever?” The second asks, ‘What is real safety?’ (Slight pause.)
I think I may have been right as a youngster. Real safety is not available. And I think we simply need to grapple with that, come to terms with that. But asking ‘what is safety?’ is a different issue and, I think, the actual point being made here by Jesus.
Real safety is about the advent of the Dominion of God. And real safety can be found in perfection. And this is what that perfection looks like: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, taking care of those who are ill, visiting the imprisoned.
And it is we who are commissioned to embody real safety. Hence, the challenge Jesus presents to us, the challenge with which these apocalyptic stories confront us is simple. Are we willing to take on the task of embodying the message of safety Jesus presents? Amen.
11/26/2017
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: “For those worried about the approaching the end of the world as we know it, please stop worrying. I can predict when the world, as we know it, will end. It will end when we achieve the perfection of feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, taking care of those who are ill and visiting the imprisoned. Now, we can be heartened or discouraged by that. Either way, it should clear what the call of Jesus on our lives really is.”
BENEDICTION: Go forth in faith. Go forth trusting that God will provide. Go forth and reach out to everyone you meet in the name of Christ. And may the peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of the Holy Spirit this day and forevermore. Amen.
Armageddon When?
“And the ruler answered, ‘The truth is, every time you did this for the least of these who are members of my family, my brothers and sisters, you did it for me.’” — Matthew 25:40.
Those of you who have personal computers and are connected to the social media platform known as Facebook probably know I have a Facebook page. And those of you connected to the social media platform, Facebook, probably know that, except for making an occasional comment and posting my sermons on Facebook, I rarely do anything on that page.
I already lead a busy life. I just do not have those kind of extra minutes in my day which might allow me to spend time posting on Facebook, thank you. (Slight pause.)
I take that back. I have been occasionally known to post a terrible pun or joke. But other than a comment, sermons and an occasional terrible pun or joke— and it can be hard to tell the difference between the sermons and the jokes— I rarely post anything.
Now, on a more serious note, those of you who know Facebook probably know there is something you can do with it which might even rate as worthwhile. That’s belong to groups where information can be exchanged with a select membership.
For instance, our choir and bell choir has a closed group so members can keep up to speed on rehearsals and other things. (And I have noticed some also post an occasional pun or joke on that page!)
Of course, another reason for closed groups is to gather a select set of people who have something in common and can seek support because of conversations in these groups. These range from groups formed because of a illness folks have in common, to a family group, to people who have a common profession.
That having been said, it should not be a surprise if I said I belong to several clergy groups. And, equally, it should not be a surprise that I rarely post in any of those groups, either. I already lead a busy life, etc., etc., etc.
There was, however, a recent post that caught my attention in one of those clergy groups and I did respond. One of our young U.C.C. pastors— young meaning 35— posted this question. “When was the first time you did not feel safe?” 9/11 was the first time this pastor had not felt safe.
The math here is obvious since this pastor is 35. 9/11 was 16 years ago and this pastor was probably a Freshman or a Sophomore in College when that happened.
Others, perhaps unintentionally, disclosed their age because of the incidents cited. The JKF assassination in '63, the Challenger disaster in '86 were both named.
Now, perhaps I broke with my usual practice and responded because my reaction to this was very personal, very emotional. I did not reference any national trauma.
I related on that post a brief version of the story I’ve told here. “I was an inner city kid in the 1950s,” I said. “Safety? I saw a person being mugged outside the house in which my family lived when I was about five. I got my Mom. She called the police.”
“Safety? Real safety exists, ever?” said I. “I knew very early that real safety was and is an illusion.” (Slight pause.)
I, in fact, kept thinking about that question “When was the first time you did not feel safe?” For days I kept thinking about it. That led to some reflection about my family.
What I realized is the incident I described certainly was an example of feeling not safe. But perhaps my deep emotions around the question came from family of origin issues. Let me say something about that, also something I’ve said here before.
Around the same time as the mugging I just described, when I was about five, my Father had what they called in those days a nervous breakdown. Today we would recognize that incident as the onset of a mental illness which goes by two names: passive dependency and passive aggression.
But the result was that, at a very early age, I needed to start thinking like an adult. You see, my father was physically present but did not fully accept that role— adult. Someone had to. I, perhaps unwittingly, took it on, despite my age. (Slight pause.)
These words are found in the Gospel we call Matthew: “And the ruler answered, ‘The truth is, every time you did this for the least of these who are members of my family, my brothers and sisters, you did it for me.’” (Slight pause.)
The reading from Matthew we heard today addresses what is commonly called the eschaton, the final event in the divine plan, the so called end of the world. It appears among a series of apocalyptic parables about the final days.
But, in a real way, these are not simply apocalyptic parables. These are apocalyptic dramas and are meant to be seen as dramas, set pieces, illustrations.
Why? Perhaps we need to ask this question: ‘Was Jesus simply addressing the end of time or is there something else going on here? (Slight pause.)
So, what is going on here? The ruler clearly states some have fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, took care of the ill and visited the imprisoned. (Slight pause.)
You see, time and again and time and again the message of Jesus has to do with perfection. For proof of that statement— that Jesus has a message about perfection— please see the Sermon on the Mount from this Gospel. That’s about perfection. Therefore, the message of Jesus has to do with making a broken world whole.
Hence, I would posit that all the parables about the eschaton, the final days, are not about the so called end of time. These are stories, dramas, set pieces, illustrations about a time when the world is cleansed of imperfection.
These are stories, dramas, set pieces, illustrations about a time when the mercy of God and the giving God offers becomes available through us. This is about a time when the mercy of God and the giving God offers is embodied by us, the people of God.
These are stories, dramas, set pieces, illustrations about the vision God has for the world, a vision of the world. This is about perfection and it is clear that it’s our responsibility to act in ways which will bring about this perfection by feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, taking care of the ill and visiting the imprisoned. (Slight pause.)
I think this reading raises many issues we moderns need to ponder. But there two clear ones: our own mortality and our own safety. It is nearly redundant to say these two are intertwined.
Hence, I would like to be so bold as to suggest two things. The first restates what I new at a very early age: “Safety? Real safety exists, ever?” The second asks, ‘What is real safety?’ (Slight pause.)
I think I may have been right as a youngster. Real safety is not available. And I think we simply need to grapple with that, come to terms with that. But asking ‘what is safety?’ is a different issue and, I think, the actual point being made here by Jesus.
Real safety is about the advent of the Dominion of God. And real safety can be found in perfection. And this is what that perfection looks like: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, taking care of those who are ill, visiting the imprisoned.
And it is we who are commissioned to embody real safety. Hence, the challenge Jesus presents to us, the challenge with which these apocalyptic stories confront us is simple. Are we willing to take on the task of embodying the message of safety Jesus presents? Amen.
11/26/2017
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: “For those worried about the approaching the end of the world as we know it, please stop worrying. I can predict when the world, as we know it, will end. It will end when we achieve the perfection of feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, taking care of those who are ill and visiting the imprisoned. Now, we can be heartened or discouraged by that. Either way, it should clear what the call of Jesus on our lives really is.”
BENEDICTION: Go forth in faith. Go forth trusting that God will provide. Go forth and reach out to everyone you meet in the name of Christ. And may the peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of the Holy Spirit this day and forevermore. Amen.
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
SERMON ~ 11/19/2017 ~ Installation Service of Rev. Allen Armstrong, Pastor, Sherburne, United Church of Christ ~ “The Call”
11/19/2017 ~ Installation Service of Rev. Allen Armstrong, Pastor, Sherburne, United Church of Christ.
A READING FROM THE TANAKH IN THE SECTION KNOWN AS THE TORAH — Deuteronomy 6:1-9 [ILV]
INTRODUCTION:
Many scholars say there is but one commandment in Scripture and it is the starting point of all Scripture. That one commandment is the so called great commandment— the Shema. We find that commandment in this passage from the Torah in the work known as Deuteronomy. I shall be reading from the Inclusive Language Version, a translation based on the Jerusalem Bible.
[1] Here, then, are the statutes, the ordinances, the commandments, the decrees— Yahweh, our God, charged me to teach you. Observe them so that you may enter into the land Yahweh, the God of your ancestors gives to you and that you are about to cross into and occupy. [2] If you and your children and the children of your children revere Yahweh, your God, all the days of your life and if you keep the statutes, the ordinances, the commandments, the decrees I lay before you, your days may be long. [3] Hear, listen therefore, O Israel, and observe carefully, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may increase your numbers greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.
[4] Hear, O Israel:
Yahweh, our God,
Yahweh alone, is one.
[5] You are to love Yahweh, our God
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength.
[6] Let these words
that I command today
be written in your heart.
[7] Recite them,
teach them diligently
to your children
repeat them constantly
when you are at home
and when you are walking
down a road,
when you lie down at night
and when you get up in the morning.
[8] Tie them on your hand
as a reminder;
fix them as an emblem
on your forehead;
[9] write them on the doorposts
of your house
and on your gates.
Here ends this reading from Scripture.
The Call
“Hear, O Israel: / Yahweh, our God, / Yahweh alone, is one. / You are to love Yahweh, our God / with all your heart, / and with all your soul, / and with all your strength.” — Deuteronomy 6:4-5.
First things first: congratulations to the Rev. Mr. Armstrong and to the Sherburne United Church of Christ. Second things second: sometimes a preacher needs to speak after an outstanding choir anthem or great testimony given by a parishioner. When that happens the preacher at least thinks and probably should say, “That is a tough act to follow.”
Since the Rev. Dr. Marsha Williams will be the next one in this pulpit, I need to say, “That is a tough act to precede.” Also, and just so I say this out loud, the very fact that Marsha is representing the Conference and I and others represent the Association should inform us about covenant and the church gathered.
And yes, we all have our roots in the local church. But church— and the word church does not mean a building— this is a meeting house— the word church means people. My point is the real definition of the very word ‘church’ is different than common usage would have it. (Slight pause.)
Now, despite the fact that I have served a church in this Association and in this valley for 22 years, probably most of you do not know too much my background. So, that’s where I want to start and then I shall add something about what is often referred to as a call, or as clergy often and quite inappropriately refer to it: “my call.” (Slight pause.)
I grew up in the Roman Catholic tradition. With a name like Joseph Francis Connolly, Jr. that is hard to hide. In my 20s I shifted, became an Episcopalian. When I was 40 I saw the light. I shifted again and became a Congregationalist when I joined First Parish Church, United Church of Christ, Brunswick, Maine.
Forever, or at least since I was 20, people had been telling me I needed to be a pastor. I did not believe them. In fact, once I asked an Episcopal Priest friend what the call felt like. This Priest said, “Oh, it felt terrible. I cried for hours.” I said, “Great. That’s not me!”
And so I had joined the Brunswick church. On the wall in the coffer hour room there was a Bangor Seminary poster with postcards attached.
Send us a card and we’ll send you information was the deal. So I sent a card. There is nothing wrong with having information. After being on their mailing list for about a year they sent me a letter asking, ‘did I want to stay on the list?’
Feeling guilty I wrote back a long letter saying ‘yes, leave me on the list and no, I am not going to seminary right now.’ What did the seminary do? They sent me back a catalogue. I have no idea how ‘no’ translates into ‘here’s a catalogue’ but it did.
I got the catalogue in the mail on a Friday and on Saturday my wife had to be away. So, since I was bored, I decided to bore myself some more and read the catalogue.
And, as I sat reading it, I started to cry. Have you ever read a Seminary catalogue? I was reading a Seminary catalogue filled with course descriptions— beyond boring— and I was crying. And I remembered what my Episcopal Priest said about what the call felt like. “Oh, it felt terrible. I cried for hours.” (Slight pause.)
We find these words in Deuteronomy: “Hear, O Israel: / Yahweh, our God, / Yahweh alone, is one. / You are to love Yahweh, our God / with all your heart, / and with all your soul, / and with all your strength.” (Slight pause.)
When I hold Confirmation sessions at the Norwich Church one of the things I present are three short videos on discernment by Michael Himes, a Jesuit, a Professor of Theology at Boston College. Himes gives these talks to incoming Freshmen at BC, so these talks do not address a call to ministry. They addresses our call in life.
The presentation is called “Three Key Questions.” These are the questions: ‘Is whatever it is you are considering to be a call on your life, for your life, a source of joy?’ ‘Is this something that taps into your talents, gifts in the fullest way?’ ‘Last, will those around you affirm the call and do you have the courage to respond?’ (Slight pause.)
Earlier I said we clergy often inappropriately refer to the what we do as “my call.” “My call” is inappropriate because it is not “my call.”
You see, that last question Himes tackles is key and it applies not just to church, not just to clergy, but to bankers, car mechanics, doctors, to plumbers, etc., etc., etc. “Will those around you affirm the call and do you have the courage to respond?” Any call is, at least in part, the call of those around us to us. It is the call of the community. (Slight pause.)
We Americans like to talk about the opening words Declaration of Independence, the words about being created equal and the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. However, the closing words of the Declaration I believe are both pivotal and foundational in making freedom a reality.
These are those words (quote:) “...for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
I don’t know about you, but what that sounds like to me— this mutual support— is covenant. We, the church, the church here gathered, the church when it gathers locally, the church when it gathers as the Association, the church when it gathers as the Conference, the church when it gathers as the National Setting, are in covenant. And perhaps we need to mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor.
Or perhaps what we really need to do is to listen to the words from Deuteronomy: “Hear, O Israel:”— no. No— let’s try that again. “Hear, O Sherburne / Yahweh, our God, / Yahweh alone, is one. / You are to love Yahweh, our God / with all your heart, / and with all your soul, / and with all your strength.”
You see, the question the great commandment raises for me is ‘do we in the United Church of Christ— and not just Allen but all of us— do we in the United Church of Christ have the courage to respond to the call of the community as we discern the call of God on the life of the community and on our lives?’ Amen.
Sherburne United Church of Christ, Installation of Allen Armstrong
11/19/2017
A READING FROM THE TANAKH IN THE SECTION KNOWN AS THE TORAH — Deuteronomy 6:1-9 [ILV]
INTRODUCTION:
Many scholars say there is but one commandment in Scripture and it is the starting point of all Scripture. That one commandment is the so called great commandment— the Shema. We find that commandment in this passage from the Torah in the work known as Deuteronomy. I shall be reading from the Inclusive Language Version, a translation based on the Jerusalem Bible.
[1] Here, then, are the statutes, the ordinances, the commandments, the decrees— Yahweh, our God, charged me to teach you. Observe them so that you may enter into the land Yahweh, the God of your ancestors gives to you and that you are about to cross into and occupy. [2] If you and your children and the children of your children revere Yahweh, your God, all the days of your life and if you keep the statutes, the ordinances, the commandments, the decrees I lay before you, your days may be long. [3] Hear, listen therefore, O Israel, and observe carefully, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may increase your numbers greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.
[4] Hear, O Israel:
Yahweh, our God,
Yahweh alone, is one.
[5] You are to love Yahweh, our God
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength.
[6] Let these words
that I command today
be written in your heart.
[7] Recite them,
teach them diligently
to your children
repeat them constantly
when you are at home
and when you are walking
down a road,
when you lie down at night
and when you get up in the morning.
[8] Tie them on your hand
as a reminder;
fix them as an emblem
on your forehead;
[9] write them on the doorposts
of your house
and on your gates.
Here ends this reading from Scripture.
The Call
“Hear, O Israel: / Yahweh, our God, / Yahweh alone, is one. / You are to love Yahweh, our God / with all your heart, / and with all your soul, / and with all your strength.” — Deuteronomy 6:4-5.
First things first: congratulations to the Rev. Mr. Armstrong and to the Sherburne United Church of Christ. Second things second: sometimes a preacher needs to speak after an outstanding choir anthem or great testimony given by a parishioner. When that happens the preacher at least thinks and probably should say, “That is a tough act to follow.”
Since the Rev. Dr. Marsha Williams will be the next one in this pulpit, I need to say, “That is a tough act to precede.” Also, and just so I say this out loud, the very fact that Marsha is representing the Conference and I and others represent the Association should inform us about covenant and the church gathered.
And yes, we all have our roots in the local church. But church— and the word church does not mean a building— this is a meeting house— the word church means people. My point is the real definition of the very word ‘church’ is different than common usage would have it. (Slight pause.)
Now, despite the fact that I have served a church in this Association and in this valley for 22 years, probably most of you do not know too much my background. So, that’s where I want to start and then I shall add something about what is often referred to as a call, or as clergy often and quite inappropriately refer to it: “my call.” (Slight pause.)
I grew up in the Roman Catholic tradition. With a name like Joseph Francis Connolly, Jr. that is hard to hide. In my 20s I shifted, became an Episcopalian. When I was 40 I saw the light. I shifted again and became a Congregationalist when I joined First Parish Church, United Church of Christ, Brunswick, Maine.
Forever, or at least since I was 20, people had been telling me I needed to be a pastor. I did not believe them. In fact, once I asked an Episcopal Priest friend what the call felt like. This Priest said, “Oh, it felt terrible. I cried for hours.” I said, “Great. That’s not me!”
And so I had joined the Brunswick church. On the wall in the coffer hour room there was a Bangor Seminary poster with postcards attached.
Send us a card and we’ll send you information was the deal. So I sent a card. There is nothing wrong with having information. After being on their mailing list for about a year they sent me a letter asking, ‘did I want to stay on the list?’
Feeling guilty I wrote back a long letter saying ‘yes, leave me on the list and no, I am not going to seminary right now.’ What did the seminary do? They sent me back a catalogue. I have no idea how ‘no’ translates into ‘here’s a catalogue’ but it did.
I got the catalogue in the mail on a Friday and on Saturday my wife had to be away. So, since I was bored, I decided to bore myself some more and read the catalogue.
And, as I sat reading it, I started to cry. Have you ever read a Seminary catalogue? I was reading a Seminary catalogue filled with course descriptions— beyond boring— and I was crying. And I remembered what my Episcopal Priest said about what the call felt like. “Oh, it felt terrible. I cried for hours.” (Slight pause.)
We find these words in Deuteronomy: “Hear, O Israel: / Yahweh, our God, / Yahweh alone, is one. / You are to love Yahweh, our God / with all your heart, / and with all your soul, / and with all your strength.” (Slight pause.)
When I hold Confirmation sessions at the Norwich Church one of the things I present are three short videos on discernment by Michael Himes, a Jesuit, a Professor of Theology at Boston College. Himes gives these talks to incoming Freshmen at BC, so these talks do not address a call to ministry. They addresses our call in life.
The presentation is called “Three Key Questions.” These are the questions: ‘Is whatever it is you are considering to be a call on your life, for your life, a source of joy?’ ‘Is this something that taps into your talents, gifts in the fullest way?’ ‘Last, will those around you affirm the call and do you have the courage to respond?’ (Slight pause.)
Earlier I said we clergy often inappropriately refer to the what we do as “my call.” “My call” is inappropriate because it is not “my call.”
You see, that last question Himes tackles is key and it applies not just to church, not just to clergy, but to bankers, car mechanics, doctors, to plumbers, etc., etc., etc. “Will those around you affirm the call and do you have the courage to respond?” Any call is, at least in part, the call of those around us to us. It is the call of the community. (Slight pause.)
We Americans like to talk about the opening words Declaration of Independence, the words about being created equal and the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. However, the closing words of the Declaration I believe are both pivotal and foundational in making freedom a reality.
These are those words (quote:) “...for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
I don’t know about you, but what that sounds like to me— this mutual support— is covenant. We, the church, the church here gathered, the church when it gathers locally, the church when it gathers as the Association, the church when it gathers as the Conference, the church when it gathers as the National Setting, are in covenant. And perhaps we need to mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor.
Or perhaps what we really need to do is to listen to the words from Deuteronomy: “Hear, O Israel:”— no. No— let’s try that again. “Hear, O Sherburne / Yahweh, our God, / Yahweh alone, is one. / You are to love Yahweh, our God / with all your heart, / and with all your soul, / and with all your strength.”
You see, the question the great commandment raises for me is ‘do we in the United Church of Christ— and not just Allen but all of us— do we in the United Church of Christ have the courage to respond to the call of the community as we discern the call of God on the life of the community and on our lives?’ Amen.
Sherburne United Church of Christ, Installation of Allen Armstrong
11/19/2017
Sunday, November 19, 2017
SERMON ~ 11/19/2017 ~ “Support”
11/19/2017 ~ Proper 28 ~ Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Judges 4:1-7; Psalm 123; Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18; Psalm 90:1-8, (9-11), 12; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30.
Support
“Therefore, encourage one another and build up each other, as, indeed, you are already doing.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:11.
Twice in the last several weeks something has happened which triggered memories of my days in High School, sometime before the dinosaurs roamed the planet. The Public High School from which I graduated— Richmond Hill High School whose proud alumni, besides your truly include Hall of Fame Broadcaster and former New York Yankee Shortstop Phil Rizzuto, comedian Rodney Dangerfield and singer-song writer Cindy Lauper— Richmond Hill High School was and still is a large inner city school.
Now, I always say my graduating class numbered 800. The actual, precise number was 792— close enough.
I was reminded of that large graduating class number because Bonnie and I went to see The Lion King at the Landmark Theater in Syracuse. That was the first time we had been in that space. It seats 2,900 people.
It was once a movie palace, a part of the Loew’s Theater Chain. It opened on February the 18, 1928 and was known as The Loew’s State Theater.
Being in that space both gave me goose bumps and immediately projected me back to my High School Graduation. You see, my High School graduating venue was The Loew’s Valencia Theater, a movie palace which opened on January the 12, 1929.
I am sure there were some exceptions to this but generally each student was allotted 2 tickets to the graduation. Why? You do the math. A graduating class of 800 times 3— most students had at least two parental units and, as you know, that’s sometimes more— 800 times 3 brings the number up to 2,400 before you account for teachers and staff, etc., etc. You need a large space and there is not a lot of room for extras.
At that graduation I was one of a couple dozen students who sat on the stage. And we, the ones on stage, were the only ones who got to march anywhere. We were, ceremonially at least, the ones who walked across the stage and got folders which looked like diplomas. But on that day no one actually received diplomas. They were mailed.
And why was I among the few who sat on the stage? Anyone who received some kind of separate award was on the stage. And the teachers in the music department had decided I was to be the one who would get the Music Department award.
The obvious question becomes ‘why was I getting that award since I will be the first to tell you I was not the most talented musician in that High School class?’ Well, there were two administrative reasons and only one music reason.
First, the music reason: the Senior Class musical that year was The Music Man. If you know the show you know a Barber Shop Quartet is an integral piece of the play.
Well how does a High School in 1965 staff a Barber Shop Quartet? I recruited three guys who did “Doo-wop” in the stairwells. They hung out in the stairwells so they could hear themselves better, hear the reverb, when they did their close harmonies. “Doo-wop”— remember, the dinosaurs were still alive. O.K.? All right.
I taught these guys the melodies to the several pieces the quartet sings. They supplied their own harmonies and I put in and sang a bass part underneath what they did. It sounded great.
The administrative reasons? I was the secretary for the chorus, the one who kept track of all the music, which much appreciated by every last music teacher.
And this school had a dance band. So I also had the title “Dance Band Manager.” What did that mean? It was essentially the same job— keep track of the music— but I had to keep track to two other items: band equipment and trumpet players. Have you ever tried to keep track of trumpet players? That is not easy! (Sorry: music joke.)
But let me talk about that Dance Band. For me one of the great experiences of High School was I got to just sit among these musicians as they rehearsed. And when they preformed I was stationed right next to them. I loved it.
And so, having mentioned that I visited the Landmark Theater which catapulted me into the past, something happened last Tuesday which got me right back to the past yet again. What happened last Tuesday? In case you have not heard, the Mid-York Concert Band will have its annual Christmas concert on December the 12th and I will be narrating 'Twas the Night Before Christmas with the band.
Hence, last Tuesday I had the privileged of sitting with the Mid-York Concert Band as they rehearsed. Not only did I love just sitting there. I was once again transported back to those days of yesteryear when I got to sit with the Richmond Hill High School Dance Band. (Slight pause.)
These words are recorded in 1 Thessalonians: “Therefore, encourage one another and build up each other, as, indeed, you are already doing.” (Slight pause.)
I may not have been the best musician in my High School graduating class but, as most of you know, I am a member of A.S.C.A.P., the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers. I was a member of the A.S.C.A.P. Musical Comedy Workshop, an invitation only, master class for librettists, lyricists and composers.
Among those who visit from time to time to offer counsel is the famous composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Once when Steve was visiting, another composer/lyricist team presented a work. Steve had high praise for the piece.
After we all discussed it for about 20 minutes he walked over to the piano and said, “As you get to the 16th bar in that song, did you every think about exploring a progression which might go in this direction?” Steve then played four or five chords.
For me the most amazing thing Sondheim did was he did not criticize, did not discourage, did not reprimand, did not disapprove, did not chastize and, perhaps most important of all, did not egocentrically say, “I am the greatest writer of musicals alive and— take my word for it— this is the way you need to write this song.” No. What did Sondheim do? He simply made a suggestion that these writers might explore something. (Slight pause.)
1 Thessalonians charges us to encourage one another and build up each other. 1 Thessalonians challenges us to help one another explore.
I suspect encouraging one another and building up each other up is getting hard in our society. The society seems to be concentrating as much on anger, on separation, on division as on working with one another, exploring in productive ways. Confronting with and in anger rather than confronting with and in love seems to be today’s by-law, today’s by-word.
To be clear, there are terrible wrongs, grievous offenses, one person against another, which need to be made right. However, part of my point is to ask how these wrongs, how these offenses happened in the first place?
We should never break covenant with one another. But we do. And since we do, terrible things happen, terrible wrongs happen that should never, ever have happened.
And perhaps some of the reason these wrongs against one another do happen is that we have forgotten that chords— that is not cords as in ropes but chords as in harmonies— we have forgotten that chords, bonds of mutual affection, are a necessary part of the Christian life. And yes, we do all need to work with one another, build up one another, support one another all the time. (Slight pause.)
Let me say something about what I’ve just labeled as chords— c-h-o-r-d-s— chords of affection. As a songwriter, as a lyricist, the most integral part of the song for me is not the melody but the chord structure.
You see, when you create a lyric to match a melody, the rules are obvious and fairly simple. For instance, generally one needs to try to place vowels on ascending notes. (You really do not want to hear a soloist hitting a high note on a consonant— a ‘k’ or a ‘c!’ That would be really harsh!)
Chords, however, chords inform me, the lyricist and you the listener, about the breadth and the depth, even the subtlety of the emotion the song is striving to convey. And chords, obviously, are made up of pieces, individual notes which rely on one another to convey the impact of the emotion, the effect of what is being said. Therefore, and I hope this is obvious, chords are individual notes which work with one another, build up one another, support one another.
And that, my friends, defines Christian community. We need to work with one another, build up one another, support one another. That image needs to be us— our image— an image of working together.
To be clear, I think we have great opportunity to do that daily. To be clear, we shall have great opportunity to do that in this coming week with the Thanksgiving Baskets.
And so once again, let me reiterate the way the Apostle Paul puts it: “Therefore, encourage one another and build up each other...” Amen.
11/19/2017
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: “This afternoon I shall be preaching at the installation of a new Pastor, Allen Armstrong, at the Sherburne United Church of Christ. Toward the end of my comments I will say something I’ve said here many times. I shall quote the closing words of the American Declaration of Independence. Quote:) ‘...for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.’ If that does not describe encouraging one another and building up each other in an ultimate way, I do not know what does.”
BENEDICTION: A kind and just God sends us out into the world as bearers of truth which surpasses our understanding. 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 in awe of no one else and nothing else because we are so in awe of God. Amen.
Support
“Therefore, encourage one another and build up each other, as, indeed, you are already doing.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:11.
Twice in the last several weeks something has happened which triggered memories of my days in High School, sometime before the dinosaurs roamed the planet. The Public High School from which I graduated— Richmond Hill High School whose proud alumni, besides your truly include Hall of Fame Broadcaster and former New York Yankee Shortstop Phil Rizzuto, comedian Rodney Dangerfield and singer-song writer Cindy Lauper— Richmond Hill High School was and still is a large inner city school.
Now, I always say my graduating class numbered 800. The actual, precise number was 792— close enough.
I was reminded of that large graduating class number because Bonnie and I went to see The Lion King at the Landmark Theater in Syracuse. That was the first time we had been in that space. It seats 2,900 people.
It was once a movie palace, a part of the Loew’s Theater Chain. It opened on February the 18, 1928 and was known as The Loew’s State Theater.
Being in that space both gave me goose bumps and immediately projected me back to my High School Graduation. You see, my High School graduating venue was The Loew’s Valencia Theater, a movie palace which opened on January the 12, 1929.
I am sure there were some exceptions to this but generally each student was allotted 2 tickets to the graduation. Why? You do the math. A graduating class of 800 times 3— most students had at least two parental units and, as you know, that’s sometimes more— 800 times 3 brings the number up to 2,400 before you account for teachers and staff, etc., etc. You need a large space and there is not a lot of room for extras.
At that graduation I was one of a couple dozen students who sat on the stage. And we, the ones on stage, were the only ones who got to march anywhere. We were, ceremonially at least, the ones who walked across the stage and got folders which looked like diplomas. But on that day no one actually received diplomas. They were mailed.
And why was I among the few who sat on the stage? Anyone who received some kind of separate award was on the stage. And the teachers in the music department had decided I was to be the one who would get the Music Department award.
The obvious question becomes ‘why was I getting that award since I will be the first to tell you I was not the most talented musician in that High School class?’ Well, there were two administrative reasons and only one music reason.
First, the music reason: the Senior Class musical that year was The Music Man. If you know the show you know a Barber Shop Quartet is an integral piece of the play.
Well how does a High School in 1965 staff a Barber Shop Quartet? I recruited three guys who did “Doo-wop” in the stairwells. They hung out in the stairwells so they could hear themselves better, hear the reverb, when they did their close harmonies. “Doo-wop”— remember, the dinosaurs were still alive. O.K.? All right.
I taught these guys the melodies to the several pieces the quartet sings. They supplied their own harmonies and I put in and sang a bass part underneath what they did. It sounded great.
The administrative reasons? I was the secretary for the chorus, the one who kept track of all the music, which much appreciated by every last music teacher.
And this school had a dance band. So I also had the title “Dance Band Manager.” What did that mean? It was essentially the same job— keep track of the music— but I had to keep track to two other items: band equipment and trumpet players. Have you ever tried to keep track of trumpet players? That is not easy! (Sorry: music joke.)
But let me talk about that Dance Band. For me one of the great experiences of High School was I got to just sit among these musicians as they rehearsed. And when they preformed I was stationed right next to them. I loved it.
And so, having mentioned that I visited the Landmark Theater which catapulted me into the past, something happened last Tuesday which got me right back to the past yet again. What happened last Tuesday? In case you have not heard, the Mid-York Concert Band will have its annual Christmas concert on December the 12th and I will be narrating 'Twas the Night Before Christmas with the band.
Hence, last Tuesday I had the privileged of sitting with the Mid-York Concert Band as they rehearsed. Not only did I love just sitting there. I was once again transported back to those days of yesteryear when I got to sit with the Richmond Hill High School Dance Band. (Slight pause.)
These words are recorded in 1 Thessalonians: “Therefore, encourage one another and build up each other, as, indeed, you are already doing.” (Slight pause.)
I may not have been the best musician in my High School graduating class but, as most of you know, I am a member of A.S.C.A.P., the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers. I was a member of the A.S.C.A.P. Musical Comedy Workshop, an invitation only, master class for librettists, lyricists and composers.
Among those who visit from time to time to offer counsel is the famous composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Once when Steve was visiting, another composer/lyricist team presented a work. Steve had high praise for the piece.
After we all discussed it for about 20 minutes he walked over to the piano and said, “As you get to the 16th bar in that song, did you every think about exploring a progression which might go in this direction?” Steve then played four or five chords.
For me the most amazing thing Sondheim did was he did not criticize, did not discourage, did not reprimand, did not disapprove, did not chastize and, perhaps most important of all, did not egocentrically say, “I am the greatest writer of musicals alive and— take my word for it— this is the way you need to write this song.” No. What did Sondheim do? He simply made a suggestion that these writers might explore something. (Slight pause.)
1 Thessalonians charges us to encourage one another and build up each other. 1 Thessalonians challenges us to help one another explore.
I suspect encouraging one another and building up each other up is getting hard in our society. The society seems to be concentrating as much on anger, on separation, on division as on working with one another, exploring in productive ways. Confronting with and in anger rather than confronting with and in love seems to be today’s by-law, today’s by-word.
To be clear, there are terrible wrongs, grievous offenses, one person against another, which need to be made right. However, part of my point is to ask how these wrongs, how these offenses happened in the first place?
We should never break covenant with one another. But we do. And since we do, terrible things happen, terrible wrongs happen that should never, ever have happened.
And perhaps some of the reason these wrongs against one another do happen is that we have forgotten that chords— that is not cords as in ropes but chords as in harmonies— we have forgotten that chords, bonds of mutual affection, are a necessary part of the Christian life. And yes, we do all need to work with one another, build up one another, support one another all the time. (Slight pause.)
Let me say something about what I’ve just labeled as chords— c-h-o-r-d-s— chords of affection. As a songwriter, as a lyricist, the most integral part of the song for me is not the melody but the chord structure.
You see, when you create a lyric to match a melody, the rules are obvious and fairly simple. For instance, generally one needs to try to place vowels on ascending notes. (You really do not want to hear a soloist hitting a high note on a consonant— a ‘k’ or a ‘c!’ That would be really harsh!)
Chords, however, chords inform me, the lyricist and you the listener, about the breadth and the depth, even the subtlety of the emotion the song is striving to convey. And chords, obviously, are made up of pieces, individual notes which rely on one another to convey the impact of the emotion, the effect of what is being said. Therefore, and I hope this is obvious, chords are individual notes which work with one another, build up one another, support one another.
And that, my friends, defines Christian community. We need to work with one another, build up one another, support one another. That image needs to be us— our image— an image of working together.
To be clear, I think we have great opportunity to do that daily. To be clear, we shall have great opportunity to do that in this coming week with the Thanksgiving Baskets.
And so once again, let me reiterate the way the Apostle Paul puts it: “Therefore, encourage one another and build up each other...” Amen.
11/19/2017
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: “This afternoon I shall be preaching at the installation of a new Pastor, Allen Armstrong, at the Sherburne United Church of Christ. Toward the end of my comments I will say something I’ve said here many times. I shall quote the closing words of the American Declaration of Independence. Quote:) ‘...for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.’ If that does not describe encouraging one another and building up each other in an ultimate way, I do not know what does.”
BENEDICTION: A kind and just God sends us out into the world as bearers of truth which surpasses our understanding. 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 in awe of no one else and nothing else because we are so in awe of God. Amen.
Sunday, November 12, 2017
SERMON ~ 11/12/2017 ~ “Other gods”
11/12/2017 ~ Proper 27 ~ Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost ~ Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25; Psalm 78:1-7; Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16; Amos 5:18-24; Wisdom of Solomon 6:17-20 or Psalm 70; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13 ~ Enlistment/Stewardship Sunday; The Sunday After Veterans Day.
Other gods
“Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us that we should abandon Yahweh to serve other gods.’” — Joshua 24:16.
If you know anything about preachers in the 1800s you know a sermon an hour and a half long was considered a short sermon. And, indeed, in that era on Sunday evenings, here in this church, people often came back for a second dose of sermonizing.
And, if you have ever read personal letters written in 1800s, I think the modern reaction to them would be clear. My, but these people were long-winded. Short was rare.
Today both sermons and correspondence tend to be more concise, especially when we communicate with computers or smart phones. Can you say ‘Facebook,’ ‘Twitter?’ However, sometimes longer conversations do happen even on computers.
And so it was when an old friend engaged me by e-mail a couple of weeks ago. I had taken the first step. I sent him a New York Times article about how inadequate Scripture translations are. This is the gist and a truncated version I might add of our e-mail conversation, the conversation which followed.
“Interesting article,” said my friend. “I have always felt Christianity lost touch with its roots, its beliefs. What we need to pay attention to is the teaching of Jesus.”
“In fact,” he continued, “much of what Jesus taught was political, since it proposed a revolution against Rome. And the leaders in Israel supported the Roman power structure.”
“The writer Reza Aslan,” who by the way, spoke at the New York Conference Annual Meeting two years ago, “Reza Aslan says the teachings of Christ can be viewed as subversive but through peaceful means since Israel was not powerful enough to confront Rome. And the Roman culture undermined Judaism.”
I responded. “The observation about the teaching of Jesus is interesting but it is something only people from a Christian culture would say. You see, nothing Jesus taught was new.”
“Everything Jesus taught can be found in the Hebrew Scriptures. That leaves us not with the question most people ask: ‘Who is Jesus’ but with the questions ‘Does God exist?’ and ‘If God exists, how do you describe God?’”
“If Jesus is a part of that description then a Trinitarian description of God comes into play. If not, then a unitarian, monotheistic description of God comes into play.”
“However and in truth, even the Jews did not really have a unitarian, monotheistic God, not the way we describe that today. In fact, God the Creator, God the Redeemer and the Spirit are all evident and referenced in the Hebrew Scriptures.”
“It takes over three centuries,” I wrote, “for Christians to say how Jesus fits in with this Jewish God and that is the Trinitarian description. By the way,” I added, “Yahweh is the name of the Jewish God. It is a word which means ‘to be’ for all you fans of existentialism.”
“As to the existence of God, if you say ‘God does not exist’ that becomes your God. God is an a priori concept. The philosopher Immanuel Kant addressed that in the work The Critique of Pure Reason. Oh, well,” I said. “That is really too much thinking for one night,” I wrote as I signed off.
Minutes later he wrote back. “Yeah— that definitely makes my head hurt!” (Slight pause.)
We find these words recorded in Joshua: “Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us that we should abandon Yahweh to serve other gods.’” (Slight pause.)
I have said this before. Scientists tell us the universe is 18.8 Billion Light Years across. If that does not make you head hurt to just think about it, you’re doing it wrong. And, if thinking about God— about who God is, about how we describe God— does not make your head hurt when you just think about God, you’re doing it wrong. (Slight pause.)
You see and for instance, there exists a tendency to reduce Jesus to mere teachings as my friend did. And there is tendency is to make God friendly, simple, accessible. We domesticate God. We put God in a box.
A domesticated God is not an option offered by Scripture. Theologian Walter Brueggemann says the God of Scripture is written with remarkable, intentional, artistic illusiveness— remarkable, intentional, artistic illusiveness. The God of Scripture is very complex. And to domesticate God, to reduce God to a manageable package is to reduce God to meaninglessness. (Slight pause.)
So, does God exist? I hope this is obvious. For me the answer to the question is ‘yes.’ Therefore, the words uttered by Joshua: “as for me I will serve God” resonate with me.
Now, there is something said in this passage which is often overlooked. Joshua tells the people to (quote:), “...throw away the foreign gods among you and turn your hearts toward Yahweh....”
Please note: the monotheism of this era was not like what we picture today. The Israelites would have believed and admitted other gods were real. In fact, people would carry around little statues representing other gods.
Therefore, when Joshua tells them to throw away the foreign gods, what is being addressed are these little statues. And throwing them away is not just a physical gesture. It is an emotional gesture. And then Joshua invites people to turn their hearts toward God. (Slight pause.)
Question: what little statues, what foreign gods, what other gods might we have and might we be invited to throw away? I think many of us, myself included, probably have a stash of foreign gods, other gods.
I will not be foolish enough to name my set of gods or try to name your set of gods. They are just probably not little statues we carry around. But we really all have them— little gods.
So, instead of addressing these little gods, I want to ask a question. Since I’ve made the statement God does exist, “to where does the God of Scripture call us?’ I think that question has an obvious answer. God calls us to the mission of striving toward, working toward the reality of the Dominion of God, the realm of God— here, now.
And what is the reality of the Dominion, the realm of God? And how does one work toward that reality?
I believe we work toward the reality of the Dominion, the realm through what is generally called mission. And each local church, especially in the Congregational tradition, finds its own mission.
In a recent newsletter I said this church can be called a mission and music church. And often these two— mission and music intertwine. On the music side of this, the fast approaching Advent Cantata and the fact that we occasionally do a morning service at Chenango Valley home with the full choir are two examples of mission.
Now outside of music, I think I have made it clear— I certainly have said it many times— that every dollar someone puts in the plate or pledges we give away. And the real world reality of that statement is simple: money counts. How? We strive to use what is given to help people, real people with real needs, in a prudent way.
Let me point to just one of those things we do to help. The fast approaching Turkey Basket program helps real people with real needs. In case you do not know this, people who get signed up for a basket are based on referrals from social service agencies. Hence, we identify people with real need.
These names are entered on a data base and duplicates are eliminated. We thereby work to use resources prudently. (Slight pause.)
All that is to say two things. First, yes— thinking about God, about who God is, about how we describe God— should make your head hurt. If it does not, you’re doing it wrong.
Second, working toward the Dominion of God— mission— is perhaps not as stressful, not as painful trying to describe God. And what is our mission? Our mission is to help people.
Helping people is an outward sign that we, this church, seeks the justice, peace, freedom and equity of the Dominion toward which we are working. That mission, thereby, points toward the reality of God. You see, God really has only one description. God calls us to help others. Amen.
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 do want to call your attention to the fact that there is a whole insert today with thoughts for meditation concerning stewardship. [1] The one to which I want to call your attention is from the History of the First One Hundred Years of the First Congregational Church, Norwich, New York 1814-1914, by C. R. Johnson, the Clerk of this Church for better than 50 years. (Quote:) ‘Selling church pews was the rule for the first half century of this church.... The Gospel plan is fast coming into favor— absolutely free pews and weekly contributions,.... It takes a long time and a good deal of argument to get people to trust God, and it is doubtful if they will be willing to do it entirely this side of heaven.’”
BENEDICTION: The knowledge that God loves us frees us for joyous living. So, let us trust in the love God offers. Let us also be fervent in prayer as we make choices daily, and seek to do God’s will and walk in God’s way as we travel on our Christian journey. And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding and the abiding truth of Christ keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge, love and companionship of the Holy Spirit this day and forever more. Amen.
[1.] This is the content of the insert.
THOUGHTS FOR MEDITATION —
“Selling church pews was the rule for the first half century of this church.... The Gospel plan is fast coming into favor— absolutely free pews and weekly contributions,.... It takes a long time and a good deal of argument to get people to trust God, and it is doubtful if they will be willing to do it entirely this side of heaven;...” — History of the First One Hundred Years of the First Congregational Church, Norwich, New York 1814-1914, by C. R. Johnson
“I think you will find / When your death takes its toll / All the money you made / Will never buy back your soul.” — Bob Dylan
“The bread that you possess belongs to the hungry. The clothes that you store in boxes, belong to the naked. The shoes rotting by you, belong to the bare-foot. The money that you hide belongs to anyone in need.” — Saint Basil, fourth century theologian and monastic
“You have not lived a perfect day, even though you have earned your money, unless you have done something for someone who cannot repay you.” — Ruth Smeltzer
“Remember this— you can’t serve God and Money, but you can serve God with money.” — Selwyn Hughes
“Stewardship is a theological way of seeing that begins with God as creator.” — Arthur Van Seters, Vancouver School of Theology.
“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” — Plutarch (CE 46 – CE 120)
“Too many have dispensed with generosity in order to practice charity.” — Albert Camus (1913 - 1960)
“The only gift is giving to the poor; all else is exchange.” — Thiruvalluvar, poet ©. 30 B.C.E.)
“The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.” — Jane Addams — 1860 - 1935, the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
“A church is not measured by the beauty of its architecture but by the deeds of the congregation.” — Coretta Scott King
“Wealth shines in giving rather than in hoarding: for the miser is hateful, whereas the generous man is applauded.” — Boethius (480-524?), Roman statesman, philosopher
“Examples are few of those ruined by giving.” — Christian Bovée
“People go through three conversions: their head, their heart and their pocketbook. Unfortunately, not all at the same time.” — Martin Luther (1483-1546),
“Never measure your generosity by what you give, but rather by what you have left.” — Bishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979),
“One verse in every six in the first three Gospels relates, either directly or indirectly, to money. Sixteen of our Lord’s 44 parables deal with the use or misuse of money. A loving, joyful, liberal giving to the Lord’s work is an acid test of a spiritual heart, pleasing to God.” — William E. Allen
“In the Holy Land are two ancient bodies of water. Both are fed by the Jordan River. In one, fish play and roots find sustenance. In the other, there is no splash of fish, no sound of bird, no leaf around. The difference is not in the Jordan, for it empties into both, but in the Sea of Galilee: for every drop taken in one goes out. It gives and lives. The other gives nothing. And it is called the Dead Sea.” — William Sloane Coffin
“One of the reasons churches in North America have trouble guiding people about money is that the church’s economy is built on consumerism. If churches see themselves as suppliers of religious goods and services and their congregants as consumers, then offerings are ‘payment.’” — Doug Pagitt,
“Choose rather to want less, than to have more.: — Thomas à Kempis (ca. 1380-1471),
“We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill (1874-1965),
Other gods
“Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us that we should abandon Yahweh to serve other gods.’” — Joshua 24:16.
If you know anything about preachers in the 1800s you know a sermon an hour and a half long was considered a short sermon. And, indeed, in that era on Sunday evenings, here in this church, people often came back for a second dose of sermonizing.
And, if you have ever read personal letters written in 1800s, I think the modern reaction to them would be clear. My, but these people were long-winded. Short was rare.
Today both sermons and correspondence tend to be more concise, especially when we communicate with computers or smart phones. Can you say ‘Facebook,’ ‘Twitter?’ However, sometimes longer conversations do happen even on computers.
And so it was when an old friend engaged me by e-mail a couple of weeks ago. I had taken the first step. I sent him a New York Times article about how inadequate Scripture translations are. This is the gist and a truncated version I might add of our e-mail conversation, the conversation which followed.
“Interesting article,” said my friend. “I have always felt Christianity lost touch with its roots, its beliefs. What we need to pay attention to is the teaching of Jesus.”
“In fact,” he continued, “much of what Jesus taught was political, since it proposed a revolution against Rome. And the leaders in Israel supported the Roman power structure.”
“The writer Reza Aslan,” who by the way, spoke at the New York Conference Annual Meeting two years ago, “Reza Aslan says the teachings of Christ can be viewed as subversive but through peaceful means since Israel was not powerful enough to confront Rome. And the Roman culture undermined Judaism.”
I responded. “The observation about the teaching of Jesus is interesting but it is something only people from a Christian culture would say. You see, nothing Jesus taught was new.”
“Everything Jesus taught can be found in the Hebrew Scriptures. That leaves us not with the question most people ask: ‘Who is Jesus’ but with the questions ‘Does God exist?’ and ‘If God exists, how do you describe God?’”
“If Jesus is a part of that description then a Trinitarian description of God comes into play. If not, then a unitarian, monotheistic description of God comes into play.”
“However and in truth, even the Jews did not really have a unitarian, monotheistic God, not the way we describe that today. In fact, God the Creator, God the Redeemer and the Spirit are all evident and referenced in the Hebrew Scriptures.”
“It takes over three centuries,” I wrote, “for Christians to say how Jesus fits in with this Jewish God and that is the Trinitarian description. By the way,” I added, “Yahweh is the name of the Jewish God. It is a word which means ‘to be’ for all you fans of existentialism.”
“As to the existence of God, if you say ‘God does not exist’ that becomes your God. God is an a priori concept. The philosopher Immanuel Kant addressed that in the work The Critique of Pure Reason. Oh, well,” I said. “That is really too much thinking for one night,” I wrote as I signed off.
Minutes later he wrote back. “Yeah— that definitely makes my head hurt!” (Slight pause.)
We find these words recorded in Joshua: “Then the people answered, ‘Far be it from us that we should abandon Yahweh to serve other gods.’” (Slight pause.)
I have said this before. Scientists tell us the universe is 18.8 Billion Light Years across. If that does not make you head hurt to just think about it, you’re doing it wrong. And, if thinking about God— about who God is, about how we describe God— does not make your head hurt when you just think about God, you’re doing it wrong. (Slight pause.)
You see and for instance, there exists a tendency to reduce Jesus to mere teachings as my friend did. And there is tendency is to make God friendly, simple, accessible. We domesticate God. We put God in a box.
A domesticated God is not an option offered by Scripture. Theologian Walter Brueggemann says the God of Scripture is written with remarkable, intentional, artistic illusiveness— remarkable, intentional, artistic illusiveness. The God of Scripture is very complex. And to domesticate God, to reduce God to a manageable package is to reduce God to meaninglessness. (Slight pause.)
So, does God exist? I hope this is obvious. For me the answer to the question is ‘yes.’ Therefore, the words uttered by Joshua: “as for me I will serve God” resonate with me.
Now, there is something said in this passage which is often overlooked. Joshua tells the people to (quote:), “...throw away the foreign gods among you and turn your hearts toward Yahweh....”
Please note: the monotheism of this era was not like what we picture today. The Israelites would have believed and admitted other gods were real. In fact, people would carry around little statues representing other gods.
Therefore, when Joshua tells them to throw away the foreign gods, what is being addressed are these little statues. And throwing them away is not just a physical gesture. It is an emotional gesture. And then Joshua invites people to turn their hearts toward God. (Slight pause.)
Question: what little statues, what foreign gods, what other gods might we have and might we be invited to throw away? I think many of us, myself included, probably have a stash of foreign gods, other gods.
I will not be foolish enough to name my set of gods or try to name your set of gods. They are just probably not little statues we carry around. But we really all have them— little gods.
So, instead of addressing these little gods, I want to ask a question. Since I’ve made the statement God does exist, “to where does the God of Scripture call us?’ I think that question has an obvious answer. God calls us to the mission of striving toward, working toward the reality of the Dominion of God, the realm of God— here, now.
And what is the reality of the Dominion, the realm of God? And how does one work toward that reality?
I believe we work toward the reality of the Dominion, the realm through what is generally called mission. And each local church, especially in the Congregational tradition, finds its own mission.
In a recent newsletter I said this church can be called a mission and music church. And often these two— mission and music intertwine. On the music side of this, the fast approaching Advent Cantata and the fact that we occasionally do a morning service at Chenango Valley home with the full choir are two examples of mission.
Now outside of music, I think I have made it clear— I certainly have said it many times— that every dollar someone puts in the plate or pledges we give away. And the real world reality of that statement is simple: money counts. How? We strive to use what is given to help people, real people with real needs, in a prudent way.
Let me point to just one of those things we do to help. The fast approaching Turkey Basket program helps real people with real needs. In case you do not know this, people who get signed up for a basket are based on referrals from social service agencies. Hence, we identify people with real need.
These names are entered on a data base and duplicates are eliminated. We thereby work to use resources prudently. (Slight pause.)
All that is to say two things. First, yes— thinking about God, about who God is, about how we describe God— should make your head hurt. If it does not, you’re doing it wrong.
Second, working toward the Dominion of God— mission— is perhaps not as stressful, not as painful trying to describe God. And what is our mission? Our mission is to help people.
Helping people is an outward sign that we, this church, seeks the justice, peace, freedom and equity of the Dominion toward which we are working. That mission, thereby, points toward the reality of God. You see, God really has only one description. God calls us to help others. Amen.
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 do want to call your attention to the fact that there is a whole insert today with thoughts for meditation concerning stewardship. [1] The one to which I want to call your attention is from the History of the First One Hundred Years of the First Congregational Church, Norwich, New York 1814-1914, by C. R. Johnson, the Clerk of this Church for better than 50 years. (Quote:) ‘Selling church pews was the rule for the first half century of this church.... The Gospel plan is fast coming into favor— absolutely free pews and weekly contributions,.... It takes a long time and a good deal of argument to get people to trust God, and it is doubtful if they will be willing to do it entirely this side of heaven.’”
BENEDICTION: The knowledge that God loves us frees us for joyous living. So, let us trust in the love God offers. Let us also be fervent in prayer as we make choices daily, and seek to do God’s will and walk in God’s way as we travel on our Christian journey. And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding and the abiding truth of Christ keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge, love and companionship of the Holy Spirit this day and forever more. Amen.
[1.] This is the content of the insert.
THOUGHTS FOR MEDITATION —
“Selling church pews was the rule for the first half century of this church.... The Gospel plan is fast coming into favor— absolutely free pews and weekly contributions,.... It takes a long time and a good deal of argument to get people to trust God, and it is doubtful if they will be willing to do it entirely this side of heaven;...” — History of the First One Hundred Years of the First Congregational Church, Norwich, New York 1814-1914, by C. R. Johnson
“I think you will find / When your death takes its toll / All the money you made / Will never buy back your soul.” — Bob Dylan
“The bread that you possess belongs to the hungry. The clothes that you store in boxes, belong to the naked. The shoes rotting by you, belong to the bare-foot. The money that you hide belongs to anyone in need.” — Saint Basil, fourth century theologian and monastic
“You have not lived a perfect day, even though you have earned your money, unless you have done something for someone who cannot repay you.” — Ruth Smeltzer
“Remember this— you can’t serve God and Money, but you can serve God with money.” — Selwyn Hughes
“Stewardship is a theological way of seeing that begins with God as creator.” — Arthur Van Seters, Vancouver School of Theology.
“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” — Plutarch (CE 46 – CE 120)
“Too many have dispensed with generosity in order to practice charity.” — Albert Camus (1913 - 1960)
“The only gift is giving to the poor; all else is exchange.” — Thiruvalluvar, poet ©. 30 B.C.E.)
“The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.” — Jane Addams — 1860 - 1935, the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
“A church is not measured by the beauty of its architecture but by the deeds of the congregation.” — Coretta Scott King
“Wealth shines in giving rather than in hoarding: for the miser is hateful, whereas the generous man is applauded.” — Boethius (480-524?), Roman statesman, philosopher
“Examples are few of those ruined by giving.” — Christian Bovée
“People go through three conversions: their head, their heart and their pocketbook. Unfortunately, not all at the same time.” — Martin Luther (1483-1546),
“Never measure your generosity by what you give, but rather by what you have left.” — Bishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979),
“One verse in every six in the first three Gospels relates, either directly or indirectly, to money. Sixteen of our Lord’s 44 parables deal with the use or misuse of money. A loving, joyful, liberal giving to the Lord’s work is an acid test of a spiritual heart, pleasing to God.” — William E. Allen
“In the Holy Land are two ancient bodies of water. Both are fed by the Jordan River. In one, fish play and roots find sustenance. In the other, there is no splash of fish, no sound of bird, no leaf around. The difference is not in the Jordan, for it empties into both, but in the Sea of Galilee: for every drop taken in one goes out. It gives and lives. The other gives nothing. And it is called the Dead Sea.” — William Sloane Coffin
“One of the reasons churches in North America have trouble guiding people about money is that the church’s economy is built on consumerism. If churches see themselves as suppliers of religious goods and services and their congregants as consumers, then offerings are ‘payment.’” — Doug Pagitt,
“Choose rather to want less, than to have more.: — Thomas à Kempis (ca. 1380-1471),
“We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill (1874-1965),
Sunday, November 5, 2017
SERMON ~ 11/05/2017 ~ “The Crowds and the Disciples”
11/05/2017 ~ Proper 26 ~ Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost ~ Joshua 3:7-17; Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37; Micah 3:5-12; Psalm 43; 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13; Matthew 23:1-12 ~ Communion Sunday ~ Note: use Matthew 5 (11/01) and Psalm 43 (11/05).
11/01/2017 ~ All Saints Day ~ (Sometimes observed on first Sunday in November) ~ Revelation 7:9-17 ; Psalm 34:1-10, 22 ; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12.
The Crowds and the Disciples
“Jesus saw the crowds and went up the mountain. After Jesus sat down there, the disciples gathered around and Jesus began to teach them...” — Matthew 5:1-2.
One of two thoughts for meditation today is from The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation by Justo Gonzalez. (Quote:) “Early— that is: Jewish— Christians in Jerusalem continued to keep the Sabbath and attend worship at the Temple. To this they added the observance of the first day of the week, in which they gathered to break bread in celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. Those early communion services did not center on the passion, but rather on the victory through which a new age had dawned. It was much later— centuries later— that the focus of Christian worship shifted toward the death of Jesus.” (Slight pause.)
Indeed— and I have said this here before— in Christian art, there is no sign of any anything resembling a cross, art which might call to mind the death of the Christ, until the middle of the third century. There is no sign of anything resembling a crucifix, a cross with a body on it, until the middle of the fourth century.
Further, that first art which resembles a crucifix does not have a battered body nailed to a cross and wearing a crown of thorns. Rather, early art of a crucifix has what is commonly called Christus Rex— Christ dressed in robes— regal attire— wearing not a crown of thorns but a royal crown.
This crucified Christ, dressed as sovereign, levitates off the cross, resurrected, free from the bonds of death. This is a statement about liberation, about the love of God. It will be about another century before the kind of crucifix with which we are familiar today, a battered body with a crown of thorns, becomes common.
That means it takes around five to six hundred years for a depiction of Christ suffering on a cross to appear in Christian art. That raises the obvious issue. Both the early church and the church for a long, long time did not see— be ready for a $64 term here— did not see substitutionary atonement as a way to understand what God did for humanity in the reality of the Christ.
Here is a less imposing way of saying “substitutionary atonement”— Christ died for our sins. Now, I need to be clear about this on several counts.
First, the idea or doctrine of substitutionary atonement is not in the foreground of church thinking until around the year 1,000 of the Common Era. Can the concept of substitutionary atonement be found in Scripture? Yes it can.
But remember this. Based on the post resurrection stories in Scripture, it seems for people who may have known and may have even seen the risen Christ, the resurrection rather than the death of Christ was central to and at the center of Christian faith.
In fact and at least in part, the split between the Eastern Church and the Western Church was exasperated by this shift from thinking that centers on the resurrection to thinking that centers on death. One position of the Eastern Church is resurrection is a great mystery. This mystery above all else invites us to a leap of faith— faith in God.
That raises an obvious question. Clearly a shift in how we Westerners think about Christ happened. Why?
There are a multitude of reasons. But real history is not about episodes. Full stories, histories, pursue multiple paths, are plural, are not episodic, are not single stories.
That having been said, prime among the aforementioned multitude is what theologians think of as the overwhelming influence of the culture on faith. And this is a given: the culture of medieval times was often both harsh and transactional
And saying Christ died for our sins is a transaction, a harsh transaction. This certainly and therefore turns resurrection into less mystery and more transaction. I would argue and it is clear to me that we, especially in the West since the East did not make this choice, decided the culture, which was both harsh and transactional, should be more prime for the Christian faith than the clearly non-transactional free gift of the love of God in the mystery of the resurrected Christ.
So, does substitutionary atonement have any role? Yes. I am not denying that. I question its primacy, because it seems to stem less from Scripture than from culture. And a primacy of culture which proclaims a transactional way of life cannot be allowed to supercede a primacy of Scripture which proclaims the free gift of God’s love. Simply put, did Christ die for our sins or was Christ raised for our sins? (Long pause.)
We find these words in the work we call Matthew: “Jesus saw the crowds and went up the mountain. After Jesus sat down there, the disciples gathered around and Jesus began to teach them...” (Slight pause.)
I think on many levels the culture can be a factor which becomes too important and diverts our attention away from what is truly and deeply important. Indeed, the culture inappropriately effects even the way we translate Scripture.
Yale Scholar David Hart, a translator of the New Testament, recently wrote that inadequate renderings of many of passages simply need to be corrected. And, as you heard when the passage from Matthew was introduced, one verse is often translated, “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit:...” But a more accurate translation might read: “Blessed are those who live into perfection....”
That having been said, does Scripture say the Sermon on the Mount was preached to a crowd? No. But that is an image— a cultural image— many people have and it is not found in Scripture.
Scripture clearly says Jesus left the crowds, went up the Mountain and spoke just to the disciples. Also note, it is disciples, not the twelve and not the crowd.
For me that brings up questions, many of them. Given the images painted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, images of what the Dominion of God looks like, who are these disciples, what might they have been called to do because of what Jesus taught and what should our discovery, our take away from that be? (Slight pause.)
First and foremost, I think we need to recognize this sermon contains primary teaching about what the Dominion of God needs to look like right now, here today. Aside from the aforementioned verse, these are among the points made by Jesus: ‘Blessed are those who are gentle, who hunger and thirst for justice, who show mercy, who work for peace.’
We need to recognize this is not the world today and we need to ask ‘to whom are these lessons being taught?’ Jesus educates a small cadre as to what the Dominion of God needs to look like. Is Jesus writing off the crowds? No. But some are called to spread the word. They are not the crowd.
Last, we need to ask, ‘who are we?’ - ‘who am I?’ Am I simply a member of the crowd? Or am I a disciple of Christ? (Slight pause.)
I want to suggest if we buy into a cultural version, a cultural vision of Christianity, then we are a part of the crowd. If we adhere to what is found in Scripture then we are and need to be what we Protestants in this 500th Anniversary year of the Reformation call the Priesthood of All Believers.
We need to be disciples of Christ, to listen to what Christ says, to help everyone willing to listen to understand the Dominion. Those willing to listen need to know buying into a cultural version, a cultural vision of Christianity is not a place to which God calls humanity.
Further, living into perfection—into perfection— something to which the Beatitudes call us— is not a static, cultural, way of life. And we are called to live into perfection and not see perfection as a singular, unchanging state.
And if we live into the teaching of Christ, we shall grow, we shall change and constantly listen for the call of God. As I suggested last week, can we be, can the church be re-formed by the living Word, God’s gift to us through the resurrected Christ. (Slight pause.)
The part of that thought for meditation I did not quote references The Acts of the Apostles. It says as a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus in the earliest Christian community, the breaking of the bread, took place (quote:) “with glad and generous hearts.”
Hence, this presents us with an understanding that we are called to live out our lives as Christ would have us live. That means loving one another, serving one another, sharing with one another, and as we love, serve and share to do so with gladness and with generous hearts.
You know, I might be wrong, but I do not hear too much about gladness and generous hearts in the culture today. In fact, do not hear too much about the call of Christ to live by the precepts we hear in the Beatitudes. Perhaps we simply need to leave the cultural Christianity behind and try the way of life recommended by Christ. Amen.
11/05/2017
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: “A couple of weeks ago I offered a sermon very few people here today heard since it was in a service at Chenango Valley Home. On that afternoon I said we need to read and to listen to Scripture with First Century eyes and ears. Hence, a requirement of examining Scripture is that we concentrate on not our culture or what the culture over the course of many centuries has done because it has effected how we read and hear Scripture. It requires us to read and to listen to the message of Christ and then to ask, ‘what does the Dominion of God need to look like here, now, today?’ based on that First Century reading. And then strive to work toward that sense of the perfection God might seek.”
BENEDICTION: Go from here in the Spirit of Christ. Dare to question that which holds us captive. Count it a privilege that God calls upon us to be in covenant and to work in the vineyard. And may the peace of Christ which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in the love, knowledge and companionship of God the Creator, Christ the redeemer and the Holy Spirit the sanctifier this day and forever more. Amen.
11/01/2017 ~ All Saints Day ~ (Sometimes observed on first Sunday in November) ~ Revelation 7:9-17 ; Psalm 34:1-10, 22 ; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12.
The Crowds and the Disciples
“Jesus saw the crowds and went up the mountain. After Jesus sat down there, the disciples gathered around and Jesus began to teach them...” — Matthew 5:1-2.
One of two thoughts for meditation today is from The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation by Justo Gonzalez. (Quote:) “Early— that is: Jewish— Christians in Jerusalem continued to keep the Sabbath and attend worship at the Temple. To this they added the observance of the first day of the week, in which they gathered to break bread in celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. Those early communion services did not center on the passion, but rather on the victory through which a new age had dawned. It was much later— centuries later— that the focus of Christian worship shifted toward the death of Jesus.” (Slight pause.)
Indeed— and I have said this here before— in Christian art, there is no sign of any anything resembling a cross, art which might call to mind the death of the Christ, until the middle of the third century. There is no sign of anything resembling a crucifix, a cross with a body on it, until the middle of the fourth century.
Further, that first art which resembles a crucifix does not have a battered body nailed to a cross and wearing a crown of thorns. Rather, early art of a crucifix has what is commonly called Christus Rex— Christ dressed in robes— regal attire— wearing not a crown of thorns but a royal crown.
This crucified Christ, dressed as sovereign, levitates off the cross, resurrected, free from the bonds of death. This is a statement about liberation, about the love of God. It will be about another century before the kind of crucifix with which we are familiar today, a battered body with a crown of thorns, becomes common.
That means it takes around five to six hundred years for a depiction of Christ suffering on a cross to appear in Christian art. That raises the obvious issue. Both the early church and the church for a long, long time did not see— be ready for a $64 term here— did not see substitutionary atonement as a way to understand what God did for humanity in the reality of the Christ.
Here is a less imposing way of saying “substitutionary atonement”— Christ died for our sins. Now, I need to be clear about this on several counts.
First, the idea or doctrine of substitutionary atonement is not in the foreground of church thinking until around the year 1,000 of the Common Era. Can the concept of substitutionary atonement be found in Scripture? Yes it can.
But remember this. Based on the post resurrection stories in Scripture, it seems for people who may have known and may have even seen the risen Christ, the resurrection rather than the death of Christ was central to and at the center of Christian faith.
In fact and at least in part, the split between the Eastern Church and the Western Church was exasperated by this shift from thinking that centers on the resurrection to thinking that centers on death. One position of the Eastern Church is resurrection is a great mystery. This mystery above all else invites us to a leap of faith— faith in God.
That raises an obvious question. Clearly a shift in how we Westerners think about Christ happened. Why?
There are a multitude of reasons. But real history is not about episodes. Full stories, histories, pursue multiple paths, are plural, are not episodic, are not single stories.
That having been said, prime among the aforementioned multitude is what theologians think of as the overwhelming influence of the culture on faith. And this is a given: the culture of medieval times was often both harsh and transactional
And saying Christ died for our sins is a transaction, a harsh transaction. This certainly and therefore turns resurrection into less mystery and more transaction. I would argue and it is clear to me that we, especially in the West since the East did not make this choice, decided the culture, which was both harsh and transactional, should be more prime for the Christian faith than the clearly non-transactional free gift of the love of God in the mystery of the resurrected Christ.
So, does substitutionary atonement have any role? Yes. I am not denying that. I question its primacy, because it seems to stem less from Scripture than from culture. And a primacy of culture which proclaims a transactional way of life cannot be allowed to supercede a primacy of Scripture which proclaims the free gift of God’s love. Simply put, did Christ die for our sins or was Christ raised for our sins? (Long pause.)
We find these words in the work we call Matthew: “Jesus saw the crowds and went up the mountain. After Jesus sat down there, the disciples gathered around and Jesus began to teach them...” (Slight pause.)
I think on many levels the culture can be a factor which becomes too important and diverts our attention away from what is truly and deeply important. Indeed, the culture inappropriately effects even the way we translate Scripture.
Yale Scholar David Hart, a translator of the New Testament, recently wrote that inadequate renderings of many of passages simply need to be corrected. And, as you heard when the passage from Matthew was introduced, one verse is often translated, “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit:...” But a more accurate translation might read: “Blessed are those who live into perfection....”
That having been said, does Scripture say the Sermon on the Mount was preached to a crowd? No. But that is an image— a cultural image— many people have and it is not found in Scripture.
Scripture clearly says Jesus left the crowds, went up the Mountain and spoke just to the disciples. Also note, it is disciples, not the twelve and not the crowd.
For me that brings up questions, many of them. Given the images painted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, images of what the Dominion of God looks like, who are these disciples, what might they have been called to do because of what Jesus taught and what should our discovery, our take away from that be? (Slight pause.)
First and foremost, I think we need to recognize this sermon contains primary teaching about what the Dominion of God needs to look like right now, here today. Aside from the aforementioned verse, these are among the points made by Jesus: ‘Blessed are those who are gentle, who hunger and thirst for justice, who show mercy, who work for peace.’
We need to recognize this is not the world today and we need to ask ‘to whom are these lessons being taught?’ Jesus educates a small cadre as to what the Dominion of God needs to look like. Is Jesus writing off the crowds? No. But some are called to spread the word. They are not the crowd.
Last, we need to ask, ‘who are we?’ - ‘who am I?’ Am I simply a member of the crowd? Or am I a disciple of Christ? (Slight pause.)
I want to suggest if we buy into a cultural version, a cultural vision of Christianity, then we are a part of the crowd. If we adhere to what is found in Scripture then we are and need to be what we Protestants in this 500th Anniversary year of the Reformation call the Priesthood of All Believers.
We need to be disciples of Christ, to listen to what Christ says, to help everyone willing to listen to understand the Dominion. Those willing to listen need to know buying into a cultural version, a cultural vision of Christianity is not a place to which God calls humanity.
Further, living into perfection—into perfection— something to which the Beatitudes call us— is not a static, cultural, way of life. And we are called to live into perfection and not see perfection as a singular, unchanging state.
And if we live into the teaching of Christ, we shall grow, we shall change and constantly listen for the call of God. As I suggested last week, can we be, can the church be re-formed by the living Word, God’s gift to us through the resurrected Christ. (Slight pause.)
The part of that thought for meditation I did not quote references The Acts of the Apostles. It says as a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus in the earliest Christian community, the breaking of the bread, took place (quote:) “with glad and generous hearts.”
Hence, this presents us with an understanding that we are called to live out our lives as Christ would have us live. That means loving one another, serving one another, sharing with one another, and as we love, serve and share to do so with gladness and with generous hearts.
You know, I might be wrong, but I do not hear too much about gladness and generous hearts in the culture today. In fact, do not hear too much about the call of Christ to live by the precepts we hear in the Beatitudes. Perhaps we simply need to leave the cultural Christianity behind and try the way of life recommended by Christ. Amen.
11/05/2017
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: “A couple of weeks ago I offered a sermon very few people here today heard since it was in a service at Chenango Valley Home. On that afternoon I said we need to read and to listen to Scripture with First Century eyes and ears. Hence, a requirement of examining Scripture is that we concentrate on not our culture or what the culture over the course of many centuries has done because it has effected how we read and hear Scripture. It requires us to read and to listen to the message of Christ and then to ask, ‘what does the Dominion of God need to look like here, now, today?’ based on that First Century reading. And then strive to work toward that sense of the perfection God might seek.”
BENEDICTION: Go from here in the Spirit of Christ. Dare to question that which holds us captive. Count it a privilege that God calls upon us to be in covenant and to work in the vineyard. And may the peace of Christ which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in the love, knowledge and companionship of God the Creator, Christ the redeemer and the Holy Spirit the sanctifier this day and forever more. Amen.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
SERMON ~ 10/29/2017 ~ “500”
10/29/2017 ~ Proper 25 ~ Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost ~ Deuteronomy 34:1-12; Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17; Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18; Psalm 1; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8; Matthew 22:34-46 ~ The Sunday Closest to the 500th Anniversary of the Commemoration of the Protestant Reformation.
500
“Do not be corrupt in administering justice; do not render an unjust judgment; do not show partiality to the poor or defer to the great; do not give honor to the great. Judge your neighbor with justice. Judge your neighbor with fairness. Do not go around slandering people. Do not profit by the blood of your neighbor. I am Yahweh, God.” — Leviticus 19:15-16.
You may have noticed we will be bracketing this service using the hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. The words are by Martin Luther and the melody commonly used is not exactly the same one Luther composed but it is very close to it.
And, as was said at the start of the service, this Sunday is the closest to the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, October 31st, 1517. We commemorate that date because it’s said Martin Luther nailed 95 thesis to the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg on that date. But most scholars insist the tale has little to do with reality.
However, naming 1517 as the year the Protestant Reformation came to fruition is accurate. It needs to be noted Luther’s act was not one of rebellion but the act of a dutiful church member trying to help the church steer a sound, Biblically appropriate course.
The fact that we are now 500 years into this era raises a question about the Protestant Reformation, itself. Does the Reformation seem to us moderns to be “back there,” distant? And, if it is back there, distant, what makes it relevant?
Indeed, is not Christianity, itself, “back there,” distant, some 2,000 years ago? And, if it is, what makes Christianity relevant? On top of that, the Jewish traditions from which Christianity emerges, start some 5,000 years ago. And if those origins were “back there,” distant, what makes any of this relevant? (Slight pause.)
Since we commemorate the Protestant Reformation today, I’ll start there. (Slight pause.) Most people probably think the word “protestant” means we, Protestants, are protestant something. But when the word was coined the universal language, one which crossed borders— the lingua franca, to use the modern term— was Latin.
In Latin the word ‘Protestant’ comes from: pro and testari. Testari means to witness, to testify, to attest— as in testament. Pro means for. Hence, the word ‘protestant’ means that one is witnessing, testifying, attesting for something.
For what are we Protestants witnessing, testifying, attesting? In theory, at least, we witness, testify, attest to God. And we witness, testify, attest to the truth of the Word of God as it is found in Scripture. To the extent that we Protestants are protesting anything, again in theory at least, we protest when the institutional church runs afoul of the will and the Word of God as that Word might be discerned in Scripture.
And, as I indicated, that is exactly what Martin Luther did. The Reformation was not about rebellion. It was about witnessing, testifying, attesting, striving to help the church steer a sound, Biblically appropriate course, discern the will of God.
Put another way, the Reformation was about re-formation. It was about inviting the institutional church to a course correction, based on, as well as it can be discerned, the will and the Word of God. (Slight pause.)
These words are in the Nineteenth Chapter of the work known as Leviticus: “Do not be corrupt in administering justice; do not render an unjust judgment; do not show partiality to the poor or defer to the great; do not give honor to the great. Judge your neighbor with justice. Judge your neighbor with fairness. Do not go around slandering people. Do not profit by the blood of your neighbor. I am Yahweh, God.”
This section of Leviticus is devoted to the holiness code of Israel. Therefore, the first place we need to look is the last sentence. (Quote:) “I am Yahweh, God.”
Yahweh, God, is holy. Hence, Yahweh, God, has the audacity to say we should not be corrupt, unjust, partial, maintain justice, especially for the poor and outcast, deal fairly all those we encounter, do not slander and do not profit from the blood of your neighbor— tall order.
Why is that a tall order? Tell me, who among us, indeed, in the entire history of humanity, what institution built by humans has treated each individual with the respect they deserve since each of us and all of us are children of God? What individual or institution has escaped from failing, falling short in some way?
So we need to recognize everything in this text concerns neighbor. It is with neighbor that Israel acts out holiness. And since these words make the assertion that Yahweh, God, is holy, they, therefore, link the reality of neighbor to the reality of God.
Hence, the holiness of God enacted by us must be the justice God seeks on our blue green globe. Israel and we have no viable way to be holy except in and through treating each other as holy in and through transformed social relations. (Slight pause.)
Five hundred years since the Reformation— an interesting number. Let’s go back in time for a moment. (Slight pause.)
It is sometimes said the work known as Genesis contains the mythic, establishing stories of Israel. But, based on the details and the context of the story found in Scripture, if such people as Abram and Sari actually existed, the era in which God would have issued a call to them would have been about 2,500 Before the Common Era.
The tale of Joseph, given the details and context of the story, even if it just a mythic, establishing tale, may well have placed Joseph in Egypt around the year 2,000 Before the Common Era. Next, we get a little beyond myth. In whatever form it took, it is likely some kind of Exodus event happened around 1,500 Before the Common Era.
Now we get to some fairly solid numbers. The reign of David happened around the year 1,000 Before the Common Era. And the Babylonian Exile happened just short of the year 500 Before the Common Era.
Scholars say with confidence the Christ was born in what we would call the year 4 Before the Common Era. So, tell me, do you begin to see a 500 year pattern here?
And yes, the Western Roman Empire crumbles in the year 476 of the Common Era, close enough to be seen as yet another 500 year interval.
Next, many people, especially we Westerners, do not even acknowledge this. The Reformation is not the Great Schism of the church. The Great Schism was the split between the Eastern Church and Western Church. And when did that happen? 1054 is the one scholars and historians use, a date which flows right into the 500 year picture.
Now, you have already heard this here today: we date the Protestant Reformation to 1517. And you have already heard this here today: we are, now, 500 years later.
So, you tell me: is it time for another Reformation, another re-formation of the institution we today call church? It does seem to happen, whether by dint of external forces— the Babylonian Exile, the demise of Rome— or by dint of the fact that we, the institution, become so broken that adjustment is in order. Do note: the adjustments due to brokenness tend to come from the bottom up, not the top down. (Slight pause.)
All that brings me back to the ancient words from Leviticus. The truth is institutions are always in need of Reformation, constant re-formation. If that were not the case the words we heard about not being corrupt, unjust, partial, maintaining justice for the poor and outcast, dealing fairly all those we encounter, not slandering and not profiting from the blood of a neighbor would never have been recorded. (Slight pause.)
Well, I want to suggest the word Reformation has a sense of top down in it. I think that’s because by labeled it the way we do— Reformation happens in big ways and the very word makes it feel big.
But re-formation is, as I suggested, is bottom up. Now, that poses a serious question for the larger church and for this church. At this start of this 500 year cycle, how will we, the larger church and this church, re-form ourselves? (Slight pause.)
I want to suggest we need to start by very much concentrating on our own behavior. When we see corruption, injustice, partiality, unfair dealing, slander and profit from the blood of a neighbor we need to name it. We need to call it out.
And, if we do think bottom up is the way re-formation really works— as a Congregationalist I certainly think that— we first need to monitor ourselves, our behavior. Then we need to ask ourselves how can we witness, testify, attest to God. How can we witness, testify, attest to the Word of God as it is discerned in Scripture.
And yes, we need to link the reality of neighbor to the reality of God. Do not misunderstand me. Re-formation happens slowly, one step at a time. But unless we take that first step toward re-formation here at the local church, Reformation will not happen.
And you know what? We are due for a Reformation and a re-formation. After all, it’s been 500 years. Amen.
10/29/2017
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 came across a quote from theologian Richard Rhor this week. ‘We worshiped Jesus instead of following the same path, made Jesus into a mere religion instead of journeying toward union with God and the children of God. That shift made us a religion of believing and belonging instead of a religion of transformation.’ I want to suggest being a follower of the One, Triune God means being re-formed and transformed as we witness, testify and attest to God.”
BENEDICTION: God sends us into the world ready and equipped. God is with us each day and every day. We can trust God Whose love is steadfast and sure. Let us commit to doing God’s will and God’s work. And may God’s presence be with us this day and forevermore. Amen.
500
“Do not be corrupt in administering justice; do not render an unjust judgment; do not show partiality to the poor or defer to the great; do not give honor to the great. Judge your neighbor with justice. Judge your neighbor with fairness. Do not go around slandering people. Do not profit by the blood of your neighbor. I am Yahweh, God.” — Leviticus 19:15-16.
You may have noticed we will be bracketing this service using the hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. The words are by Martin Luther and the melody commonly used is not exactly the same one Luther composed but it is very close to it.
And, as was said at the start of the service, this Sunday is the closest to the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, October 31st, 1517. We commemorate that date because it’s said Martin Luther nailed 95 thesis to the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg on that date. But most scholars insist the tale has little to do with reality.
However, naming 1517 as the year the Protestant Reformation came to fruition is accurate. It needs to be noted Luther’s act was not one of rebellion but the act of a dutiful church member trying to help the church steer a sound, Biblically appropriate course.
The fact that we are now 500 years into this era raises a question about the Protestant Reformation, itself. Does the Reformation seem to us moderns to be “back there,” distant? And, if it is back there, distant, what makes it relevant?
Indeed, is not Christianity, itself, “back there,” distant, some 2,000 years ago? And, if it is, what makes Christianity relevant? On top of that, the Jewish traditions from which Christianity emerges, start some 5,000 years ago. And if those origins were “back there,” distant, what makes any of this relevant? (Slight pause.)
Since we commemorate the Protestant Reformation today, I’ll start there. (Slight pause.) Most people probably think the word “protestant” means we, Protestants, are protestant something. But when the word was coined the universal language, one which crossed borders— the lingua franca, to use the modern term— was Latin.
In Latin the word ‘Protestant’ comes from: pro and testari. Testari means to witness, to testify, to attest— as in testament. Pro means for. Hence, the word ‘protestant’ means that one is witnessing, testifying, attesting for something.
For what are we Protestants witnessing, testifying, attesting? In theory, at least, we witness, testify, attest to God. And we witness, testify, attest to the truth of the Word of God as it is found in Scripture. To the extent that we Protestants are protesting anything, again in theory at least, we protest when the institutional church runs afoul of the will and the Word of God as that Word might be discerned in Scripture.
And, as I indicated, that is exactly what Martin Luther did. The Reformation was not about rebellion. It was about witnessing, testifying, attesting, striving to help the church steer a sound, Biblically appropriate course, discern the will of God.
Put another way, the Reformation was about re-formation. It was about inviting the institutional church to a course correction, based on, as well as it can be discerned, the will and the Word of God. (Slight pause.)
These words are in the Nineteenth Chapter of the work known as Leviticus: “Do not be corrupt in administering justice; do not render an unjust judgment; do not show partiality to the poor or defer to the great; do not give honor to the great. Judge your neighbor with justice. Judge your neighbor with fairness. Do not go around slandering people. Do not profit by the blood of your neighbor. I am Yahweh, God.”
This section of Leviticus is devoted to the holiness code of Israel. Therefore, the first place we need to look is the last sentence. (Quote:) “I am Yahweh, God.”
Yahweh, God, is holy. Hence, Yahweh, God, has the audacity to say we should not be corrupt, unjust, partial, maintain justice, especially for the poor and outcast, deal fairly all those we encounter, do not slander and do not profit from the blood of your neighbor— tall order.
Why is that a tall order? Tell me, who among us, indeed, in the entire history of humanity, what institution built by humans has treated each individual with the respect they deserve since each of us and all of us are children of God? What individual or institution has escaped from failing, falling short in some way?
So we need to recognize everything in this text concerns neighbor. It is with neighbor that Israel acts out holiness. And since these words make the assertion that Yahweh, God, is holy, they, therefore, link the reality of neighbor to the reality of God.
Hence, the holiness of God enacted by us must be the justice God seeks on our blue green globe. Israel and we have no viable way to be holy except in and through treating each other as holy in and through transformed social relations. (Slight pause.)
Five hundred years since the Reformation— an interesting number. Let’s go back in time for a moment. (Slight pause.)
It is sometimes said the work known as Genesis contains the mythic, establishing stories of Israel. But, based on the details and the context of the story found in Scripture, if such people as Abram and Sari actually existed, the era in which God would have issued a call to them would have been about 2,500 Before the Common Era.
The tale of Joseph, given the details and context of the story, even if it just a mythic, establishing tale, may well have placed Joseph in Egypt around the year 2,000 Before the Common Era. Next, we get a little beyond myth. In whatever form it took, it is likely some kind of Exodus event happened around 1,500 Before the Common Era.
Now we get to some fairly solid numbers. The reign of David happened around the year 1,000 Before the Common Era. And the Babylonian Exile happened just short of the year 500 Before the Common Era.
Scholars say with confidence the Christ was born in what we would call the year 4 Before the Common Era. So, tell me, do you begin to see a 500 year pattern here?
And yes, the Western Roman Empire crumbles in the year 476 of the Common Era, close enough to be seen as yet another 500 year interval.
Next, many people, especially we Westerners, do not even acknowledge this. The Reformation is not the Great Schism of the church. The Great Schism was the split between the Eastern Church and Western Church. And when did that happen? 1054 is the one scholars and historians use, a date which flows right into the 500 year picture.
Now, you have already heard this here today: we date the Protestant Reformation to 1517. And you have already heard this here today: we are, now, 500 years later.
So, you tell me: is it time for another Reformation, another re-formation of the institution we today call church? It does seem to happen, whether by dint of external forces— the Babylonian Exile, the demise of Rome— or by dint of the fact that we, the institution, become so broken that adjustment is in order. Do note: the adjustments due to brokenness tend to come from the bottom up, not the top down. (Slight pause.)
All that brings me back to the ancient words from Leviticus. The truth is institutions are always in need of Reformation, constant re-formation. If that were not the case the words we heard about not being corrupt, unjust, partial, maintaining justice for the poor and outcast, dealing fairly all those we encounter, not slandering and not profiting from the blood of a neighbor would never have been recorded. (Slight pause.)
Well, I want to suggest the word Reformation has a sense of top down in it. I think that’s because by labeled it the way we do— Reformation happens in big ways and the very word makes it feel big.
But re-formation is, as I suggested, is bottom up. Now, that poses a serious question for the larger church and for this church. At this start of this 500 year cycle, how will we, the larger church and this church, re-form ourselves? (Slight pause.)
I want to suggest we need to start by very much concentrating on our own behavior. When we see corruption, injustice, partiality, unfair dealing, slander and profit from the blood of a neighbor we need to name it. We need to call it out.
And, if we do think bottom up is the way re-formation really works— as a Congregationalist I certainly think that— we first need to monitor ourselves, our behavior. Then we need to ask ourselves how can we witness, testify, attest to God. How can we witness, testify, attest to the Word of God as it is discerned in Scripture.
And yes, we need to link the reality of neighbor to the reality of God. Do not misunderstand me. Re-formation happens slowly, one step at a time. But unless we take that first step toward re-formation here at the local church, Reformation will not happen.
And you know what? We are due for a Reformation and a re-formation. After all, it’s been 500 years. Amen.
10/29/2017
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 came across a quote from theologian Richard Rhor this week. ‘We worshiped Jesus instead of following the same path, made Jesus into a mere religion instead of journeying toward union with God and the children of God. That shift made us a religion of believing and belonging instead of a religion of transformation.’ I want to suggest being a follower of the One, Triune God means being re-formed and transformed as we witness, testify and attest to God.”
BENEDICTION: God sends us into the world ready and equipped. God is with us each day and every day. We can trust God Whose love is steadfast and sure. Let us commit to doing God’s will and God’s work. And may God’s presence be with us this day and forevermore. Amen.
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