01/29/2017 ~ Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany ~ Known in Some Traditions as the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Micah 6:1-8; Psalm 15; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12 ~ Annual Financial Meeting of the Church.
Good
“Listen, O mortal: / God has made abundantly clear / what “good” is; / what does Yahweh require from you / but to simply do justice, / to love covenant loyalty, / and to walk humbly with your God?” — Micah 6:8.
Neil Cazares-Thomas is the Pastor at the Cathedral of Hope, a large church, a member church of the United Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas. He and I are Facebook friends and we have an interesting personal, pastoral connection.
On July 10th, 2011 I officiated at a Commitment Ceremony for our niece Phoebe and her partner Rosalie in the State of Maine. Such ceremonies had no legal standing at that time.
As I am sure you know these marriages acquired legal standing on June 26th, 2014 with a ruling by the Supreme Court. Shortly after that, in part because these unions were now legal, Neil, who was at that time in Los Angels and the pastor of Rosalie and Phoebe, officiated at another ceremony for them and signed a legal document.
This happened on July the 10, 2014— the same date as initial ceremony so their anniversary could be the same. Neil also used the same ceremony I had used, making it very special.
In a recent Facebook post, Facebook being a place where Neil and I can maintain our relationship, he said he was participating currently in a creative writing class. This writing came forth from his pen because of that class. (Slight pause.)
In our world today we are often so busy reacting, we have no time to process and to respond to the Spirit’s call on our lives. Listening to Spirit, listening to one another— to hear God— is something Jesus often did.
Jesus took time to pray and to discern God’s direction. We need to listen more deeply amid the noise of the world. The noise heard in this world often portrays a God Who is in stark contrast to the God lived out in the life of Jesus.
So— Neil then wrote— I am here to holler out— I have a God who has been misrepresented, misplaced, here to holler out that the real voice of God is little spoken of in a world so determined to see God in its image. That secular God is a God who appeases misogyny, racism, sexism, homophobia— everything that separates us, moves us away from love.
I am here to holler out about a God who dares us— dares me— to embody, to reclaim, to proclaim the God of the oppressed, the marginalized, the victimized. I am here to holler out and awake in us a God who remakes us, a God who remakes us not in our own image of God but in God’s image in us.
You, me, us— let us holler together and rise again like a phoenix, rise to greet the challenge of a God in us, in me, in you. I am here to holler out, to shout out, to scream out, like a voice in the wilderness, a voice in the darkness, a voice to awaken us from our sleep and from our slumber — words of the Reverend Mr. Neil Cazares-Thomas— perhaps sounding a little like Lin Miranda-Manuel in Hamilton. [1] (Pause.)
We hear these words in the work known as Micah: “Listen, O mortal: / God has made abundantly clear / what “good” is; / what does Yahweh require from you / but to simply do justice, / to love covenant loyalty, / and to walk humbly with your God?” (Slight pause.)
The challenge here is clear: “what is good?” Doing good is not the same as doing well. And we, as the words written by Neil indicate, we live in a society much more concerned with doing well than doing good— God in its image, God in the image of the world— instead of God’s image reflected in us.
To be clear: I am not against doing well. But should doing well be a priority? Or should doing good be a priority? The prophet Micah is clear. God has a priority: do good. Live life in God’s image— humble covenant justice. (Slight pause.)
In a short time we shall look at a budget. I would be the first to say a lot of what we do with that budget does good in many ways. These things are listed and cover all kinds of stuff from the Deacons Fund to Family Counseling Ministry to Hospice.
But I also think we need to follow the imperative of Micah as we consider the budget. We need to be much more concerned with doing good than with doing well.
You see, if doing well becomes our priority as we examine these numbers, then we abandon the imperative God has for the world. We abandon the imperative God has for us. And what is that imperative? Do... good... first. Or as the Prophet Micah says, do justice, love covenant loyalty, walk humbly with your God. Amen.
01/29/2017
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
Annual Meeting Sunday [2]
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: “We heard from the Prophet Micah today. We also heard the passage commonly known as the Beatitudes. If I were to sum all of them up in a single sentence I think it would come out something like this: ‘Blessed are those who do good.’ Not once could any of the statements in the Beatitudes be condensed to say ‘Blessed are those who do well.’”
BENEDICTION: Through God’s grace, by being attentive to God’s will, our deeds and our words will change our world for we will discover ways to proclaim release from the bondage of narrowness. Let us seek the God of Joy whose wisdom is our God. Let us go in peace to love and serve God. Amen.
[1] Note: these words are not surrounded by quotation marks because they were slightly edited for this context. Any alteration in meaning is the fault of the one offering the sermon as opposed to the original author.
[2] Since the Annual Budget Meeting of the church happens within the service of worship, this sermon is shorter than many.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Monday, January 16, 2017
SERMON ~ 01/15/2017 ~ “Small”
01/15/2017 ~ Second Sunday after the Epiphany ~ Known in Some Traditions as the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40:1-11; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42 ~ Weekend of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday on the Secular Calendar ~ Communion Sunday.
Small
“Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, together with our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified, consecrated, in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God, together with all those who, wherever they may be, call on the name of Jesus, the Christ, who is both their Savior and ours:...” — 1 Corinthians 1:1-2.
I have at least several other occasions started my Sunday comments in the way I am about to start them. “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....”
To be clear, a long time ago would be somewhere between thirty and forty years in the past— that certainly seems like it’s a long time ago. A galaxy far, far away would be New York City— that certainly seems like it’s at least a different planet.
And in that time long ago, that galaxy called New York City, among the many jobs which kept food on my table while I was also working as a writer in professional theater was that of being a tour guide at South Street Seaport Museum. As a tour guide there I needed to know a lot about the museum and its grounds.
Yes, a seaport museum is about ships, but South Street is more than that. A significant part of the grounds are on dry land.
One section of the waterfront is a group of buildings known as the Schermerhorn Row. This set of six brick structures was built by one Peter Schermerhorn in 1811 to serve the growing seaport called New York.
These buildings were counting houses. What are counting houses? When cargo came off the ships which were right there it moved into these structures and was accounted for— counted there.
A more modern term for a counting house is warehouse. Please note: each of these structures is quite small— only four stories tall. Each took up only a tiny section of a city block. Put the other way around, these brick buildings are not at all big, at least not big the way we think of about the size of a warehouse today.
Today a warehouse can take up what is the equivalent of several large city blocks. So a little more than 200 years ago what they thought of as quite large— a warehouse where cargo was processed— we, today, think of as quite small, even tiny. Now, in 1811 the population of this country was just over 7,000,000. Today it’s about 319 million.
That’s more than 45 times larger than in 1811. In drawing this parallel I am trying to help us understand how different things are— small verses big— and how different things have become in just 200 years. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in First Corinthians: “Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, together with our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified, consecrated, in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God, together with all those who, wherever they may be, call on the name of Jesus, the Christ, who is both their Savior and ours:...” (Slight pause.)
Today we live a society that is used to big. The seating capacity of stadiums used for major sporting events in this time is now often more than 50,000. Big is what we like. Big is how we think. In one sense, a cultural sense, we are uncomfortable with small.
The same was true of Roman society in New Testament times. That society thought big. That society was used to big. Big is what they liked. The population of the city of Rome— that’s the city of Rome not the Roman Empire— population in the city of Rome was about one million. In fact, the seating capacity of the Coliseum was about... 50,000.
All that sounds pretty modern, does it not? Indeed, in one sense, a cultural sense, the Romans were quite uncomfortable with small.
To be clear, at least 90% of that population of 1,000,000 in the city of Rome lived under conditions that you and I would call slavery. Hence, the economic system could only be described as an economic system based on domination— humans enslaving humans. When you get down to it, it seems to me humans enslaving other humans might simply a by-product of big— it lacks intimacy— big. (Slight pause.)
And so, Paul writes to this church in Corinth in this society. How big is the church in Corinth? How many people made up the membership of that church? Hundreds? Thousands? Did they gathered in some large amphitheater to listen to Paul? (Slight pause.)
No one really knows how big that church was. But we can and do have a very educated guess. The church in Corinth was not just small. The church in Corinth was very, very small— tiny. It would have had less than 50 people.
And we can make an educated guess like that because Biblical scholars and secular historians are fairly confident about two dates and one fact. The two dates: we are fairly confident this letter to the Church in Corinth was composed in the year 54 of the Common Era. We are fairly confident Paul died in the year 64 of the Common Era.
The fact: we are fairly confident that in the year 100 of the Common Era— 36 years after Paul dies— the number of Christians in the entire Mediterranean basin is also very, very small— tiny by any standard. Biblical scholars and secular historians are fairly confident the number of Christians in the entire Mediterranean basin in the year 100 is still less than... 10,000.
Please also note and as was already stated, population of Rome was about 1,000,000; the seating capacity of the Coliseum was about 50,000— big. The Christian population in the Mediterranean basin in the year 100? 10,000— small. (Slight pause.)
At the end of this reading we hear these words (quote:) “For God, through whom you have been called into intimacy with Jesus, our Savior, is faithful.”
Intimacy— now there’s an interesting word, especially in reference to God. One of several definitions of the word says intimacy is an interpersonal relationship that involves emotion. Intimacy, therefore, demands one on one relationship. Intimacy demands closeness. Intimacy demands looking someone else in the eye. This is obvious: you do not have lunch with 50,000 of your closest friends. Closeness demands small. (Slight pause.)
This weekend we remember the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Often what we remember about Dr. King is big— the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the “I have a dream...” speech, the Nobel Prize and the speech King gave on that occasion. Those are big things.
But I think King’s most important contributions had a much smaller feel, such as the one on one interactions it’s likely this pastor had with parishioners in times of crisis. That is what pastor do often, you know— one on one.
So perhaps what we need to realize today is things may become big, may make a splash, may make noise. But often making noise results in us losing our voice... our real voice. Why? I think big requires that we get too loud.
And when we get too loud, we lose our real voice because we lose intimacy. We lose our one to one touch with others. As I suggested, intimacy is not about having lunch with 50,000 of your closest friends. Intimacy is more real than that. (Slight pause.)
All that leads me to a question: what is our real voice? What is our true self? Well, Paul says Jesus is faithful. And perhaps that is a key.
You see, I think we need to emulate Jesus in faithfulness. We need to be aware the call of God on our lives is to walk in the will of God, to express the love of God, to know the path of God.
I think the path God would have us trod, the path to which God calls us is intimate, small, one on one. Therefore, instead of thinking about issues of justice in big ways perhaps what we, each of us, needs to do is to seek the justice God seeks one on one, person to person, one step at a time.
Indeed, as Paul tells us, we are called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God. And I believe that work means faithfully— faithfully seeking justice one step at a time, one person at a time.
So, this is where I’m at: seeking justice is a small act. And it is small act because it is done one on one, face to face. Indeed, it is hard to deny another person justice when you are looking them in the eye, when you know them.
And when each of us seeks the justice of God— each of us acting in small ways, each of us doing our own part, each of us taking personal responsibility to seek justice— that— that is when seeking justice becomes big. Indeed, I believe when we seek justice we become faithful disciples of Christ. Faithfulness— now there is a big thought— faithfulness. Amen.
01/15/2017
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: “Scripture tells us— First Kings 19 to be precise— Scripture tells us the voice of God comes in a gentle whisper. I, myself, tend to be wary of loud. So, please do listen for a gentle whispers. And please don’t reject small simply because it’s small.”
BENEDICTION: Let us learn as faithful disciples of Christ. Let us know that God is available to us at any time and in any place. Let us give thanks for the grace of God in Christ, Jesus. Let us trust in God for all time and for all eternity. Amen.
Small
“Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, together with our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified, consecrated, in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God, together with all those who, wherever they may be, call on the name of Jesus, the Christ, who is both their Savior and ours:...” — 1 Corinthians 1:1-2.
I have at least several other occasions started my Sunday comments in the way I am about to start them. “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....”
To be clear, a long time ago would be somewhere between thirty and forty years in the past— that certainly seems like it’s a long time ago. A galaxy far, far away would be New York City— that certainly seems like it’s at least a different planet.
And in that time long ago, that galaxy called New York City, among the many jobs which kept food on my table while I was also working as a writer in professional theater was that of being a tour guide at South Street Seaport Museum. As a tour guide there I needed to know a lot about the museum and its grounds.
Yes, a seaport museum is about ships, but South Street is more than that. A significant part of the grounds are on dry land.
One section of the waterfront is a group of buildings known as the Schermerhorn Row. This set of six brick structures was built by one Peter Schermerhorn in 1811 to serve the growing seaport called New York.
These buildings were counting houses. What are counting houses? When cargo came off the ships which were right there it moved into these structures and was accounted for— counted there.
A more modern term for a counting house is warehouse. Please note: each of these structures is quite small— only four stories tall. Each took up only a tiny section of a city block. Put the other way around, these brick buildings are not at all big, at least not big the way we think of about the size of a warehouse today.
Today a warehouse can take up what is the equivalent of several large city blocks. So a little more than 200 years ago what they thought of as quite large— a warehouse where cargo was processed— we, today, think of as quite small, even tiny. Now, in 1811 the population of this country was just over 7,000,000. Today it’s about 319 million.
That’s more than 45 times larger than in 1811. In drawing this parallel I am trying to help us understand how different things are— small verses big— and how different things have become in just 200 years. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in First Corinthians: “Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, together with our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified, consecrated, in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God, together with all those who, wherever they may be, call on the name of Jesus, the Christ, who is both their Savior and ours:...” (Slight pause.)
Today we live a society that is used to big. The seating capacity of stadiums used for major sporting events in this time is now often more than 50,000. Big is what we like. Big is how we think. In one sense, a cultural sense, we are uncomfortable with small.
The same was true of Roman society in New Testament times. That society thought big. That society was used to big. Big is what they liked. The population of the city of Rome— that’s the city of Rome not the Roman Empire— population in the city of Rome was about one million. In fact, the seating capacity of the Coliseum was about... 50,000.
All that sounds pretty modern, does it not? Indeed, in one sense, a cultural sense, the Romans were quite uncomfortable with small.
To be clear, at least 90% of that population of 1,000,000 in the city of Rome lived under conditions that you and I would call slavery. Hence, the economic system could only be described as an economic system based on domination— humans enslaving humans. When you get down to it, it seems to me humans enslaving other humans might simply a by-product of big— it lacks intimacy— big. (Slight pause.)
And so, Paul writes to this church in Corinth in this society. How big is the church in Corinth? How many people made up the membership of that church? Hundreds? Thousands? Did they gathered in some large amphitheater to listen to Paul? (Slight pause.)
No one really knows how big that church was. But we can and do have a very educated guess. The church in Corinth was not just small. The church in Corinth was very, very small— tiny. It would have had less than 50 people.
And we can make an educated guess like that because Biblical scholars and secular historians are fairly confident about two dates and one fact. The two dates: we are fairly confident this letter to the Church in Corinth was composed in the year 54 of the Common Era. We are fairly confident Paul died in the year 64 of the Common Era.
The fact: we are fairly confident that in the year 100 of the Common Era— 36 years after Paul dies— the number of Christians in the entire Mediterranean basin is also very, very small— tiny by any standard. Biblical scholars and secular historians are fairly confident the number of Christians in the entire Mediterranean basin in the year 100 is still less than... 10,000.
Please also note and as was already stated, population of Rome was about 1,000,000; the seating capacity of the Coliseum was about 50,000— big. The Christian population in the Mediterranean basin in the year 100? 10,000— small. (Slight pause.)
At the end of this reading we hear these words (quote:) “For God, through whom you have been called into intimacy with Jesus, our Savior, is faithful.”
Intimacy— now there’s an interesting word, especially in reference to God. One of several definitions of the word says intimacy is an interpersonal relationship that involves emotion. Intimacy, therefore, demands one on one relationship. Intimacy demands closeness. Intimacy demands looking someone else in the eye. This is obvious: you do not have lunch with 50,000 of your closest friends. Closeness demands small. (Slight pause.)
This weekend we remember the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Often what we remember about Dr. King is big— the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the “I have a dream...” speech, the Nobel Prize and the speech King gave on that occasion. Those are big things.
But I think King’s most important contributions had a much smaller feel, such as the one on one interactions it’s likely this pastor had with parishioners in times of crisis. That is what pastor do often, you know— one on one.
So perhaps what we need to realize today is things may become big, may make a splash, may make noise. But often making noise results in us losing our voice... our real voice. Why? I think big requires that we get too loud.
And when we get too loud, we lose our real voice because we lose intimacy. We lose our one to one touch with others. As I suggested, intimacy is not about having lunch with 50,000 of your closest friends. Intimacy is more real than that. (Slight pause.)
All that leads me to a question: what is our real voice? What is our true self? Well, Paul says Jesus is faithful. And perhaps that is a key.
You see, I think we need to emulate Jesus in faithfulness. We need to be aware the call of God on our lives is to walk in the will of God, to express the love of God, to know the path of God.
I think the path God would have us trod, the path to which God calls us is intimate, small, one on one. Therefore, instead of thinking about issues of justice in big ways perhaps what we, each of us, needs to do is to seek the justice God seeks one on one, person to person, one step at a time.
Indeed, as Paul tells us, we are called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God. And I believe that work means faithfully— faithfully seeking justice one step at a time, one person at a time.
So, this is where I’m at: seeking justice is a small act. And it is small act because it is done one on one, face to face. Indeed, it is hard to deny another person justice when you are looking them in the eye, when you know them.
And when each of us seeks the justice of God— each of us acting in small ways, each of us doing our own part, each of us taking personal responsibility to seek justice— that— that is when seeking justice becomes big. Indeed, I believe when we seek justice we become faithful disciples of Christ. Faithfulness— now there is a big thought— faithfulness. Amen.
01/15/2017
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: “Scripture tells us— First Kings 19 to be precise— Scripture tells us the voice of God comes in a gentle whisper. I, myself, tend to be wary of loud. So, please do listen for a gentle whispers. And please don’t reject small simply because it’s small.”
BENEDICTION: Let us learn as faithful disciples of Christ. Let us know that God is available to us at any time and in any place. Let us give thanks for the grace of God in Christ, Jesus. Let us trust in God for all time and for all eternity. Amen.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
SERMON ~ 01/08/2017 ~ “The Forgotten Person”
01/08/2017 ~ First Sunday after the Epiphany, Known in Some Traditions as the Baptism of the Christ and Know in Some Traditions as the First Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Proper 1 ~ Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17 ~ Un-decorate Church ~ Soup and Bread Lunch ~ Blessing of the Stuffed Animals ~ Contribution of Stuffed Animals for Those in Need.
The Forgotten Person
“Peter was still speaking and had not yet finished these words when the Holy Spirit was upon all who were listening to the message Peter was sharing.” — Acts 10:44
I want to start my comments today with a little history— local history. The Chenango Canal was built and operated in the mid-19th century. It was a 97 miles long towpath canal.
For much of its course this waterway followed the Chenango River and followed what would today mostly be along Route 12 from Binghamton to Utica. It provided a significant link in the water transportation system of the northeastern United States and more specifically connected the Susquehanna River to the Erie Canal.
Mostly Irish and Scottish immigrant laborers built the ditch— digging by hand— using pick and shovel, chipping through rock, wading through marsh. They were paid $11 per month. $11 a month was three times the wage of a common laborer in that era.
The canal became fully operational in 1836. As a comparison, the Erie Canal opened in 1825, just 11 years earlier. But hindsight tells us, as these things go, 1836 was a little late in the grand era of canals on this continent.
Needless to say new technology caught up with the canal. In 1848 trains first arrived in Binghamton. That new technology, the arrival of the ‘iron horse’ spelled the eventual end for the canal. The railroad built north up that same Chenango River Valley.
The canal closed in 1878. Let me do the math for you. 1836 to 1878— that means the Chenango Canal was open and operational for a grand total of just 42 years. Even in that earlier time, 42 years was less than a single lifetime.
Of course, all technology has its day. The railroads were eventually replaced by the so called ‘horseless carriages.’
But rather than think of these changes in terms of the technology, I want to invite you to think of them in terms of people. With each technological innovation— from the canal to the iron horse to the horseless carriage— these innovations meant two things for people.
Each transition meant fewer jobs, fewer people needed to do what had been done before. For many each transition meant learning a new technology. Each of these transitions also and importantly meant a profound disruption in the workplace and a profound disruption in the economy at large.
Here’s good news and bad news: change is still happening. There is much talk these days about driver-less cars. Indeed, they are happening and they will happen on a much larger scale than is current.
But that will not be the big change. The big change will be driver-less delivery trucks. Supermarket and store deliveries, deliveries of packages to your front door will be automated, done without any need for human involvement. That means less jobs. Imagine the disruption to the economy when most of the jobs in the trucking industry just disappear. (Slight pause.)
In a recent New York Times article Dov Seidman, C.E.O. of an outfit which advises companies on leadership and how to build ethical cultures said, “What we are experiencing today bears similarities in size and implications to the scientific revolution that began in the late 16th century. The discoveries of Copernicus and Galileo, which spurred that scientific revolution, challenged our whole understanding of the world— the world right around and the world beyond us— and forced us as humans to rethink our place within it.”
“Once scientific methods became enshrined, we used science and reason— thinking— to navigate our way forward. The French philosopher René Descartes crystallized this age of reason in one phrase: ‘I think, therefore I am.’ Descartes’s point was that it is our ability to ‘think’ that most distinguished humans from all the other animals on earth.”
But the technological revolution is forcing us to answer a profound question— one we’ve never had to ask before. ‘What does it mean to be human in the age of intelligent machines?’ Machines, after all, now think. The answer, says Seidman, is the one thing machines will never have: “heart”— humans have heart. [1] (Slight pause.)
We hear these words in Luke/Acts in the section commonly called Acts: “Peter was still speaking and had not yet finished these words when the Holy Spirit was upon all who were listening to the message Peter was sharing.” (Slight pause.)
In this reading the message Peter offers starts with these words (quote): “Now I begin to see that God shows no partiality and I truly understand that in any nation anyone who is in awe of God and does what is right is acceptable to God.” What this tells us about where Peter is at should be obvious.
Even at this late point it is evident Peter maintains a resistance to the radical inclusion and inclusiveness of all humanity. But this— radical inclusion and inclusiveness— is a key portion of the preaching of Jesus.
In Peter’s defense, for me that raises a simple question. Why should all humanity be included? What is it in a proclamation of Jesus which insists on inclusion and inclusiveness? (Slight pause.)
I want to suggest the proclamation of Jesus says... God is present; the proclamation of Jesus says God is real, the proclamation of Jesus says God is with us, says God is active. For me that is why an insistence in this passage that the Holy Spirit is present is a pivotal point. This is a proclamation that the presence of the Spirit of God, the presence of God, is a given. God is here, with us, now.
I therefore also want to suggest a proclamation of the Gospel inherently insists God loves us. With God there are no outcasts. With God there is no one who is less than any other. God loves each of us. God loves all of us. God loves humanity. Put differently, God has heart. Indeed, this is the way we usually hear that same idea: God loves. (Slight pause.)
That beings us back to the question, ‘What does it mean to be human?’ Seidman said we have the one thing machines will never have: “heart.” We love. And the Gospel message, the message of the Spirit of God, the message of the presence of God, is that we are all included in the love God offers and... God wants us to love one another. (Slight pause.)
In a couple of moments we will have our blessing of the stuffed animals. These hare inanimate objects, are they not? However, they can also represent the love we have. And sometimes that representation is helpful for us.
So let us understand how God relates to us: love. Let us understand what makes us human: love. Let us understand God invites us to love one another. Let us understand what radical inclusion and inclusiveness really is. Let us understand how it is really defined: love. Amen.
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
01/08/2017
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: “Earlier I asked the question what does it mean to be human. One could argue that to be human means to experience constant change— changes in the workplace, changes in the economic system, changes in our family situations. For the most part and as a species we don’t like change. Fine. Let me suggest the constant in our lives is the presence of God and the love of God.”
BENEDICTION: May the Spirit of the God of light and love, the God of truth and justice, the God of song and joy, the God of all, be with you this day and forever more. Amen.
[1]
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/04/opinion/from-hands-to-heads-to-hearts.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170104&nlid=11820119&tntemail0=y
NY Times ~ The Opinion Pages ~ Op-Ed Columnist ~ From Hands to Heads to Hearts ~ Thomas L. Friedman ~ JAN. 4, 2017. Note: these words are occasionally paraphrased to fit the context of the sermon. Hence, any misrepresentation is the fault of this writer.
The Forgotten Person
“Peter was still speaking and had not yet finished these words when the Holy Spirit was upon all who were listening to the message Peter was sharing.” — Acts 10:44
I want to start my comments today with a little history— local history. The Chenango Canal was built and operated in the mid-19th century. It was a 97 miles long towpath canal.
For much of its course this waterway followed the Chenango River and followed what would today mostly be along Route 12 from Binghamton to Utica. It provided a significant link in the water transportation system of the northeastern United States and more specifically connected the Susquehanna River to the Erie Canal.
Mostly Irish and Scottish immigrant laborers built the ditch— digging by hand— using pick and shovel, chipping through rock, wading through marsh. They were paid $11 per month. $11 a month was three times the wage of a common laborer in that era.
The canal became fully operational in 1836. As a comparison, the Erie Canal opened in 1825, just 11 years earlier. But hindsight tells us, as these things go, 1836 was a little late in the grand era of canals on this continent.
Needless to say new technology caught up with the canal. In 1848 trains first arrived in Binghamton. That new technology, the arrival of the ‘iron horse’ spelled the eventual end for the canal. The railroad built north up that same Chenango River Valley.
The canal closed in 1878. Let me do the math for you. 1836 to 1878— that means the Chenango Canal was open and operational for a grand total of just 42 years. Even in that earlier time, 42 years was less than a single lifetime.
Of course, all technology has its day. The railroads were eventually replaced by the so called ‘horseless carriages.’
But rather than think of these changes in terms of the technology, I want to invite you to think of them in terms of people. With each technological innovation— from the canal to the iron horse to the horseless carriage— these innovations meant two things for people.
Each transition meant fewer jobs, fewer people needed to do what had been done before. For many each transition meant learning a new technology. Each of these transitions also and importantly meant a profound disruption in the workplace and a profound disruption in the economy at large.
Here’s good news and bad news: change is still happening. There is much talk these days about driver-less cars. Indeed, they are happening and they will happen on a much larger scale than is current.
But that will not be the big change. The big change will be driver-less delivery trucks. Supermarket and store deliveries, deliveries of packages to your front door will be automated, done without any need for human involvement. That means less jobs. Imagine the disruption to the economy when most of the jobs in the trucking industry just disappear. (Slight pause.)
In a recent New York Times article Dov Seidman, C.E.O. of an outfit which advises companies on leadership and how to build ethical cultures said, “What we are experiencing today bears similarities in size and implications to the scientific revolution that began in the late 16th century. The discoveries of Copernicus and Galileo, which spurred that scientific revolution, challenged our whole understanding of the world— the world right around and the world beyond us— and forced us as humans to rethink our place within it.”
“Once scientific methods became enshrined, we used science and reason— thinking— to navigate our way forward. The French philosopher René Descartes crystallized this age of reason in one phrase: ‘I think, therefore I am.’ Descartes’s point was that it is our ability to ‘think’ that most distinguished humans from all the other animals on earth.”
But the technological revolution is forcing us to answer a profound question— one we’ve never had to ask before. ‘What does it mean to be human in the age of intelligent machines?’ Machines, after all, now think. The answer, says Seidman, is the one thing machines will never have: “heart”— humans have heart. [1] (Slight pause.)
We hear these words in Luke/Acts in the section commonly called Acts: “Peter was still speaking and had not yet finished these words when the Holy Spirit was upon all who were listening to the message Peter was sharing.” (Slight pause.)
In this reading the message Peter offers starts with these words (quote): “Now I begin to see that God shows no partiality and I truly understand that in any nation anyone who is in awe of God and does what is right is acceptable to God.” What this tells us about where Peter is at should be obvious.
Even at this late point it is evident Peter maintains a resistance to the radical inclusion and inclusiveness of all humanity. But this— radical inclusion and inclusiveness— is a key portion of the preaching of Jesus.
In Peter’s defense, for me that raises a simple question. Why should all humanity be included? What is it in a proclamation of Jesus which insists on inclusion and inclusiveness? (Slight pause.)
I want to suggest the proclamation of Jesus says... God is present; the proclamation of Jesus says God is real, the proclamation of Jesus says God is with us, says God is active. For me that is why an insistence in this passage that the Holy Spirit is present is a pivotal point. This is a proclamation that the presence of the Spirit of God, the presence of God, is a given. God is here, with us, now.
I therefore also want to suggest a proclamation of the Gospel inherently insists God loves us. With God there are no outcasts. With God there is no one who is less than any other. God loves each of us. God loves all of us. God loves humanity. Put differently, God has heart. Indeed, this is the way we usually hear that same idea: God loves. (Slight pause.)
That beings us back to the question, ‘What does it mean to be human?’ Seidman said we have the one thing machines will never have: “heart.” We love. And the Gospel message, the message of the Spirit of God, the message of the presence of God, is that we are all included in the love God offers and... God wants us to love one another. (Slight pause.)
In a couple of moments we will have our blessing of the stuffed animals. These hare inanimate objects, are they not? However, they can also represent the love we have. And sometimes that representation is helpful for us.
So let us understand how God relates to us: love. Let us understand what makes us human: love. Let us understand God invites us to love one another. Let us understand what radical inclusion and inclusiveness really is. Let us understand how it is really defined: love. Amen.
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
01/08/2017
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: “Earlier I asked the question what does it mean to be human. One could argue that to be human means to experience constant change— changes in the workplace, changes in the economic system, changes in our family situations. For the most part and as a species we don’t like change. Fine. Let me suggest the constant in our lives is the presence of God and the love of God.”
BENEDICTION: May the Spirit of the God of light and love, the God of truth and justice, the God of song and joy, the God of all, be with you this day and forever more. Amen.
[1]
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/04/opinion/from-hands-to-heads-to-hearts.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170104&nlid=11820119&tntemail0=y
NY Times ~ The Opinion Pages ~ Op-Ed Columnist ~ From Hands to Heads to Hearts ~ Thomas L. Friedman ~ JAN. 4, 2017. Note: these words are occasionally paraphrased to fit the context of the sermon. Hence, any misrepresentation is the fault of this writer.
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