READINGS: 01/27/2019 ~ Third Sunday after the Epiphany ~ Known in Some Traditions as the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-21 ~ Annual Financial Meeting of the Church in Our 205th Year.
Understanding [1]
“The Levites, members of the tribe of Levi, helped the people to understand the law, teachings, interpreted the law, the teachings, and gave it meaning while the people remained in their places.” — Nehemiah 8:17.
While I was in my last year at Bangor Seminary a world famous New Testament scholar, the Rev. Dr. David Trobish, arrived to take over the reigns of the New Testament Department. Trobish came there, to Bangor, from Heidelberg University in Germany.
Was it strange that a scholar with an international reputation might choose to come to a small Seminary in a rural State? No. Why? The shoes Dr. Trobish filled were those of the late Rev. Dr. Burton Throckmorton, a scholar with an international reputation. Throckmorton was the professor with whom I studied the New Testament.
I was never in a classroom with David since I was in my final days at the Seminary but we spoke, shared meals— that happens at a small Seminary— and just doing that I heard fascinating stories. This is one.
In Germany everyone pays a tax to the government to support the churches. Hence, seminaries are state sanctioned. Mind you, I think there is more separation of church and state in Germany than here but that’s a topic for a 3 hour classroom lecture, not a sermon.
But therefore in the German context, anyone who wants to be a pastor with a state supported church, even those who have a background we might label as a fundamentalist background, have to go to these seminaries. David would start a New Testament Survey Course at Heidelberg by asking students to examine ancient Greek manuscripts. There are thousands.
Each manuscript of exactly the same passage has dozens of words which are different from one comparable manuscript to another comparable manuscript. It was at that point, said David, when the students who thought Scripture should be taken literally and could be taken literally, when they saw a multitude of variations in ancient texts, it was at that he could see the scales fall from their eyes.
In short, it is impossible to read Scripture literally once you examine the ancient manuscripts. Rather, in order to understand what is there, the text needs to be interpreted. Meaning is not obvious. Meaning needs to be gleaned. (Slight pause.)
These words are in the work known as Nehemiah: “The Levites, members of the tribe of Levi, helped the people to understand the law, teachings, interpreted the law, the teachings, and gave it meaning while the people remained in their places.” (Slight pause.)
One of the great precepts of the Protestant revolution is everyone should be able to read Scripture in the vernacular. People died, were burned at the stake, for simply trying to translate the text.
One question we fail to ask about the era in which this idea was promulgated is ‘who could read?’ That was a small percentage of the population— those who could read.
If you could read, the odds are you could read the Greek in Scripture. Even the Hebrew Scriptures were available in Greek— the Septuagint. And people who were literate usually could read Greek. When Calvin came to the pulpit in Geneve the Scriptures were read in Greek with the understanding that everyone would know what was being said.
One of things we needs to be considered when we, today, read Scripture under the precept that everyone should be able to read Scripture in the vernacular is simple. Unless you have gained some expertise about the underlying documents and about the eras in which the texts were composed it is highly advisable when you read Scripture to have a reputable commentary open next to the Bible from which you are reading.
Why? In order to understand what’s there, the text needs to be interpreted. Meaning is not obvious. Meaning needs to be gleaned.
And, as we just heard, the Hebrews in the time of Ezra, the Fifth Century Before the Common Era, were no different. There is something else to be considered. Simply reading Scripture is insufficient. After all, how can understanding be had without doing the hard work called study? How can anyone understand without trying to understand? Trying to understand means studying it. (Slight pause.)
This is yet another piece. How do we interpret Scripture? Theologian Bruce Epperly says many have forgotten about the reality of Scripture. Many portray God as a distant, coercive power, a God whose Word and will separate humankind from lifeless nature.
Many turn away from the biblical vision of the goodness of creation. Many turn away from our vocation as God’s agents of Shalom, God’s agents of justice, God’s agents of love. (Slight pause.)
Our call as God’s beloved children is to repair the breaches, mend the world. Our call is to use our intelligence to bring healing and beauty to the earth.
God invites us to experience God’s wise creativity and love. God invites us to live in harmony with the world rather than see the world as a place we can afflict with cruel domination. (Slight pause.)
In a few minutes we shall consider the budget for the coming months. Like Scripture, people take budgets literally all the time. That is an interesting, wrong-minded mistake.
First, a budget is simply a plan. Second, the goal of a church budget is not to formulate a plan or be a plan. For the people of God a church budget is and needs to be seen as an invitation from God. A church budget is an invitation to live in harmony with the world rather than submit the world to domination.
It is an invitation to repair breaches, to mend the world. It is an invitation to use our intelligence to bring healing and beauty into our world. It is an invitation to experience God’s wise creativity and love in all things.
It is an invitation to renew our vocation as agents of God’s Shalom, God’s agents of justice, God’s agents of love. A budget... is just numbers.
It is up to us to faithfully translate those numbers into actions— actions of peace, justice, equity, freedom, joy, hope, love. Tall order that— let us pray that we are up to the task. Amen.
01/27/2019
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 have two aphorisms to share this morning. Modern theologian Walter Brueggemann said ‘The Gospel is a dangerous idea. Our task is to see how much danger we, ourselves, wish to perform in our own lives. St. Francis of Assisi lived 8 centuries ago and said ‘When you leave the earth you can take nothing you have received only what you have given.’” [2]
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. Let us go in peace to love and serve God. Amen.
[1] It should be noted these comments are more brief than usual since (as is obvious based on the context) the Annual Budget Meeting of the Church was held in the course of the service of worship.
[2] Note: both these quotes are somewhat paraphrased.
Sunday, January 27, 2019
Sunday, January 13, 2019
SERMON ~ 01/13/2019 ~ First Sunday after the Epiphany ~ “Inviting the Spirit”
READINGS: 01/13/2019 ~ First Sunday after the Epiphany, Known in Some Traditions as the Baptism of the Christ, Known in Some Traditions as the First Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 ~ Communion Sunday ~ Pot Luck ~ Un-Decorate the Church.
Inviting the Spirit
“Upon arriving, Peter and John laid hands on the Samaritans, and they received the Holy Spirit.” — Acts 8:17.
What I am about to say is, I think, fairly well documented. Bonnie and I are cat people. When it comes to owning pets, we have cats. However, and I am sure you all know this, cats do not have owners. Cats have staff.
When we arrived in Norwich from Bangor, Maine the two cats who came with us, Topsy and Turvy, were a little hesitant. But they did agree to come along for the ride. These felines have long since gone to the great cat beyond.
Eight years ago last Tuesday Tigger and Tortie— I know— we are stuck on names that start with ‘T’— eight years ago Tigger and Tortie decided they wanted to live with us. Unfortunately Tortie has joined Topsy and Turvy in catnip paradise.
To be clear, we are not anti-dog. Especially when we were young both our families had dogs. We both like dogs. In fact, I want to tell you a Connolly family dog and cat story. (Slight pause.)
At one point my family had three cats. But when cats live in groups, just like dogs, a social structure develops. One of our cats— Tinker Tim— I know another ‘T’ name— Tinker Tim was clearly the alpha cat, the one in charge.
In fact one of my brother’s friends nicknamed this beast “Rex Pussy-catus”— king of the cats. He went so far as to make a sticky label that said Rex Pussy-catus and pasted it over the house doorbell. Why there?
When the cat wanted to be let into the house it came to the front door, jumped up on the banister of the stoop and rang the doorbell. We would go to the door expecting a person. Often what we found was one very smart cat.
Well, then we got Buckley. Buckley was a border collie. If you don’t know about border collie behavior, let me offer an old joke about this breed.
How many border collies does it take to change a light bulb? O.K. That’s your line now (the pastor leads the congregation in the repetition:) “How many border collies does it take to change a light bulb?”
Only one. Why? This is what a border collie would say: “One light bulb? Just one light bulb? No problem. No problem! And I’ll also replace any wiring that’s not up to code and replace all the light fixtures in the house too. Can I, can I, can I do anything else for you? Huh? Huh? Huh?” If toy know border collies, that’s border collie.
And so, you have that type of dog personality— a dog who is not just looking to be helpful but is also looking for commands— inserted into a house with three cats, one of whom is an alpha cat. What happened?
First, the dog found out right away it could not even come near the cat feeding area. It would be swatted at, chased away. The cats, on the other hand, were allowed to eat the dog food. Buckley would just sit there docilely and watch.
And a normal perch for this alpha cat was on a dinning room chair. If the dog walked near the cat, this feline would, in a very leisurely fashion, reach out and just swat at the nose or tail of the dog, depending on which end of the canine was close. This simply let the dog know who was really in charge. (Slight pause.)
These words are from Luke/Acts in the section of that work known as Acts: “Upon arriving, Peter and John laid hands on the Samaritans, and they received the Holy Spirit.” (Slight pause.)
On occasion in our service of worship we, as a congregation, offer what is called an Affirmation of Faith. Sometimes we use one of the traditional creeds of the church. Sometimes, as we did last week, we simply use a hymn to affirm faith.
In our tradition we make an effort to not get so totally immersed in what the words say that we forget what the words mean. Despite the fact that I am known as something of a wordsmith, I think at times we become, our society becomes too attached to words,\. We take things too literally. We become enmeshed and ensnared in literal content.
Words do have power, the power to persuade, cajole, influence, the power to damage, inflict pain, the power to be used as cudgels, weapons. The bad news is our tendency is to give words more power than what they really have.
Here is an example, a church example: many recite the Affirmation of Faith known as The Nicene Creed— we do that here occasionally— many recite The Nicene Creed as if it was not filled with paradox and contradictions. Many recite The Nicene Creed as if it was to be taken literally.
Not only is this ancient creed filled with paradox and contradictions but the people who wrote it knew that it was filled with paradox and contradictions. The people who wrote it did not think it should be taken literally.
That brings us to the story we heard in Acts. The folks in Samaria had accepted the word of God. What does that mean?
These are Samaritans. From the perspective of the Jews they are outcasts, an inferior branch of the tribes of Israel. That is one of the things which makes the parable of The Good Samaritan noteworthy. The Samaritans are, themselves, outcasts.
But they are Jewish. So, in the context of this time and this place accepting the word of God means they have acknowledged God is in covenant with the people of God. Further, they have acknowledged that God has sent Jesus to be the Messiah not just to the Jewish people but for all people.
It is also clear they have said this, have said the right words, even preformed the right acts. They got Baptized. Perhaps it could even be phrased this way: they understood the covenant and the Messiah in a literal way. They did everything right.
Then Peter and John arrive. They lay hands on the Samaritans. The Samaritans receive the Holy Spirit. So, did Peter and John have some special magic? Did the Holy Spirit arrive simply because these followers of Jesus were there?
Well, no. That takes the story too literally. Just like giving words too much power, this gives humans and human action too much power.
In case no one has ever told you this secret, we humans seem to like power. Why? We all like to think we are “Rex Pussy-catus,” alpha cat, king of cats.
That leads to two questions: first, who is in charge? (Slight pause.) God is in charge. The Holy Spirit moves when and where the Holy Spirit moves. We need to wait on the Spirit. I am not going to tell you that’s easy.
Second question: what are we called to do? (Slight pause.) We are not called to be “Rex Pussy-catus,” alpha cat, king of cats. We are called to do the will of God and walk in the ways of God. Great. How?
Well, what do we really mean when we recite an affirmation of faith whether it’s a modern hymn or an ancient affirmation such as The Nicene Creed? Are we to take these affirmations literally or is something else going on? Is there another way to understand what it means to believe? (Slight pause.)
The word creed comes from the Latin word credo. Yes, credo means I believe. But at its root, credo also means heart, means trust, entrust, confide in, have faith in. Credo means I, we give our heart to God. We entrust our heart to God.
What credo does not mean is that any statement we make— especially an I believe or a we believe statement— is a provable thesis. What credo does not mean we are trying to define something. Credo does mean we affirm our trust in God. We proclaim our trust in God. (Slight pause.)
So for Christians who is the alpha. Who is the omega? [For Christmas each year this church hangs a large alpha and a large omega on the walls to the left and the right of the pulpit. They will be taken down after the service. As the pastor asks these questions the pastor points at these decorations.]
God is. God is in charge. Therefore, how do we, humans, need to understand that, grapple with that? (Slight pause.)
First, obviously, we need to grapple with the idea that we are not God. Second, we need to know God chooses we humans to be conduits of God’s grace. Third, we need to know that we humans are to strive to be open to the Spirit of God as that Spirit works through us.
And that brings us back to the Samaritans. We do not know what Peter and John said to the Samaritans. We do know the Spirit was suddenly present. Perhaps all Peter and John did was suggested the Samaritans open their hearts to God, be conduits of the Spirit of God. (Slight pause.)
That, my friends, is the issue for each of us— being open, being conduits. That is the issue for this church here, now, today— to be open, to be conduits of God’s Spirit.
That is the issue for all who say the Spirit of God is with us. The question we need to ask ourselves is are our hearts open to the Spirit of God, God who seeks to work with, work among us, God who seeks to be present, real among us?
When our hearts are open, that is when we can be empowered to invite God’s Spirit to be present. When our hearts are open we are empowered to work with God striving to accomplish the will of God.
The last time I looked the will of God had to do with some simple precepts: justice, equity, peace, freedom, hope, joy, love. And not just any justice, equity, peace, freedom, peace, hope, joy, love. God’s justice, equity, peace, freedom, peace, hope, joy, love. God is in charge. Amen.
01/13/2019
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: “Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest and theologian. Today’s Thought for Meditation was from her. [1] She recently said this. ‘Being ordained is not about serving God perfectly but about serving God visibly, allowing other people to learn whatever they can from watching you rise and fall.’ We, who claim we profess to be among the priesthood of all believers— we need to understand inviting the Spirit means we shall rise and fall. But neither are we or will we ever be perfect nor are we alpha cats or alpha dogs. And yes, people will learn from us when we are open to the Spirit.”
BENEDICTION: Depart in peace for God’s promised covenant is real and is forever. And may the love of God guide us, the word of the Christ empower us and the gifts of the Spirit dwell in us, this day and forever more. Amen.
[1] “I am thinking that I will learn to live with what I have. If I do, then I may also learn that I do not ‘have’ any of the things that give me life. They are all on loan from the Creator, who is counting on me and my kind to share them with all creation.” — Barbara Brown Taylor
Inviting the Spirit
“Upon arriving, Peter and John laid hands on the Samaritans, and they received the Holy Spirit.” — Acts 8:17.
What I am about to say is, I think, fairly well documented. Bonnie and I are cat people. When it comes to owning pets, we have cats. However, and I am sure you all know this, cats do not have owners. Cats have staff.
When we arrived in Norwich from Bangor, Maine the two cats who came with us, Topsy and Turvy, were a little hesitant. But they did agree to come along for the ride. These felines have long since gone to the great cat beyond.
Eight years ago last Tuesday Tigger and Tortie— I know— we are stuck on names that start with ‘T’— eight years ago Tigger and Tortie decided they wanted to live with us. Unfortunately Tortie has joined Topsy and Turvy in catnip paradise.
To be clear, we are not anti-dog. Especially when we were young both our families had dogs. We both like dogs. In fact, I want to tell you a Connolly family dog and cat story. (Slight pause.)
At one point my family had three cats. But when cats live in groups, just like dogs, a social structure develops. One of our cats— Tinker Tim— I know another ‘T’ name— Tinker Tim was clearly the alpha cat, the one in charge.
In fact one of my brother’s friends nicknamed this beast “Rex Pussy-catus”— king of the cats. He went so far as to make a sticky label that said Rex Pussy-catus and pasted it over the house doorbell. Why there?
When the cat wanted to be let into the house it came to the front door, jumped up on the banister of the stoop and rang the doorbell. We would go to the door expecting a person. Often what we found was one very smart cat.
Well, then we got Buckley. Buckley was a border collie. If you don’t know about border collie behavior, let me offer an old joke about this breed.
How many border collies does it take to change a light bulb? O.K. That’s your line now (the pastor leads the congregation in the repetition:) “How many border collies does it take to change a light bulb?”
Only one. Why? This is what a border collie would say: “One light bulb? Just one light bulb? No problem. No problem! And I’ll also replace any wiring that’s not up to code and replace all the light fixtures in the house too. Can I, can I, can I do anything else for you? Huh? Huh? Huh?” If toy know border collies, that’s border collie.
And so, you have that type of dog personality— a dog who is not just looking to be helpful but is also looking for commands— inserted into a house with three cats, one of whom is an alpha cat. What happened?
First, the dog found out right away it could not even come near the cat feeding area. It would be swatted at, chased away. The cats, on the other hand, were allowed to eat the dog food. Buckley would just sit there docilely and watch.
And a normal perch for this alpha cat was on a dinning room chair. If the dog walked near the cat, this feline would, in a very leisurely fashion, reach out and just swat at the nose or tail of the dog, depending on which end of the canine was close. This simply let the dog know who was really in charge. (Slight pause.)
These words are from Luke/Acts in the section of that work known as Acts: “Upon arriving, Peter and John laid hands on the Samaritans, and they received the Holy Spirit.” (Slight pause.)
On occasion in our service of worship we, as a congregation, offer what is called an Affirmation of Faith. Sometimes we use one of the traditional creeds of the church. Sometimes, as we did last week, we simply use a hymn to affirm faith.
In our tradition we make an effort to not get so totally immersed in what the words say that we forget what the words mean. Despite the fact that I am known as something of a wordsmith, I think at times we become, our society becomes too attached to words,\. We take things too literally. We become enmeshed and ensnared in literal content.
Words do have power, the power to persuade, cajole, influence, the power to damage, inflict pain, the power to be used as cudgels, weapons. The bad news is our tendency is to give words more power than what they really have.
Here is an example, a church example: many recite the Affirmation of Faith known as The Nicene Creed— we do that here occasionally— many recite The Nicene Creed as if it was not filled with paradox and contradictions. Many recite The Nicene Creed as if it was to be taken literally.
Not only is this ancient creed filled with paradox and contradictions but the people who wrote it knew that it was filled with paradox and contradictions. The people who wrote it did not think it should be taken literally.
That brings us to the story we heard in Acts. The folks in Samaria had accepted the word of God. What does that mean?
These are Samaritans. From the perspective of the Jews they are outcasts, an inferior branch of the tribes of Israel. That is one of the things which makes the parable of The Good Samaritan noteworthy. The Samaritans are, themselves, outcasts.
But they are Jewish. So, in the context of this time and this place accepting the word of God means they have acknowledged God is in covenant with the people of God. Further, they have acknowledged that God has sent Jesus to be the Messiah not just to the Jewish people but for all people.
It is also clear they have said this, have said the right words, even preformed the right acts. They got Baptized. Perhaps it could even be phrased this way: they understood the covenant and the Messiah in a literal way. They did everything right.
Then Peter and John arrive. They lay hands on the Samaritans. The Samaritans receive the Holy Spirit. So, did Peter and John have some special magic? Did the Holy Spirit arrive simply because these followers of Jesus were there?
Well, no. That takes the story too literally. Just like giving words too much power, this gives humans and human action too much power.
In case no one has ever told you this secret, we humans seem to like power. Why? We all like to think we are “Rex Pussy-catus,” alpha cat, king of cats.
That leads to two questions: first, who is in charge? (Slight pause.) God is in charge. The Holy Spirit moves when and where the Holy Spirit moves. We need to wait on the Spirit. I am not going to tell you that’s easy.
Second question: what are we called to do? (Slight pause.) We are not called to be “Rex Pussy-catus,” alpha cat, king of cats. We are called to do the will of God and walk in the ways of God. Great. How?
Well, what do we really mean when we recite an affirmation of faith whether it’s a modern hymn or an ancient affirmation such as The Nicene Creed? Are we to take these affirmations literally or is something else going on? Is there another way to understand what it means to believe? (Slight pause.)
The word creed comes from the Latin word credo. Yes, credo means I believe. But at its root, credo also means heart, means trust, entrust, confide in, have faith in. Credo means I, we give our heart to God. We entrust our heart to God.
What credo does not mean is that any statement we make— especially an I believe or a we believe statement— is a provable thesis. What credo does not mean we are trying to define something. Credo does mean we affirm our trust in God. We proclaim our trust in God. (Slight pause.)
So for Christians who is the alpha. Who is the omega? [For Christmas each year this church hangs a large alpha and a large omega on the walls to the left and the right of the pulpit. They will be taken down after the service. As the pastor asks these questions the pastor points at these decorations.]
God is. God is in charge. Therefore, how do we, humans, need to understand that, grapple with that? (Slight pause.)
First, obviously, we need to grapple with the idea that we are not God. Second, we need to know God chooses we humans to be conduits of God’s grace. Third, we need to know that we humans are to strive to be open to the Spirit of God as that Spirit works through us.
And that brings us back to the Samaritans. We do not know what Peter and John said to the Samaritans. We do know the Spirit was suddenly present. Perhaps all Peter and John did was suggested the Samaritans open their hearts to God, be conduits of the Spirit of God. (Slight pause.)
That, my friends, is the issue for each of us— being open, being conduits. That is the issue for this church here, now, today— to be open, to be conduits of God’s Spirit.
That is the issue for all who say the Spirit of God is with us. The question we need to ask ourselves is are our hearts open to the Spirit of God, God who seeks to work with, work among us, God who seeks to be present, real among us?
When our hearts are open, that is when we can be empowered to invite God’s Spirit to be present. When our hearts are open we are empowered to work with God striving to accomplish the will of God.
The last time I looked the will of God had to do with some simple precepts: justice, equity, peace, freedom, hope, joy, love. And not just any justice, equity, peace, freedom, peace, hope, joy, love. God’s justice, equity, peace, freedom, peace, hope, joy, love. God is in charge. Amen.
01/13/2019
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: “Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest and theologian. Today’s Thought for Meditation was from her. [1] She recently said this. ‘Being ordained is not about serving God perfectly but about serving God visibly, allowing other people to learn whatever they can from watching you rise and fall.’ We, who claim we profess to be among the priesthood of all believers— we need to understand inviting the Spirit means we shall rise and fall. But neither are we or will we ever be perfect nor are we alpha cats or alpha dogs. And yes, people will learn from us when we are open to the Spirit.”
BENEDICTION: Depart in peace for God’s promised covenant is real and is forever. And may the love of God guide us, the word of the Christ empower us and the gifts of the Spirit dwell in us, this day and forever more. Amen.
[1] “I am thinking that I will learn to live with what I have. If I do, then I may also learn that I do not ‘have’ any of the things that give me life. They are all on loan from the Creator, who is counting on me and my kind to share them with all creation.” — Barbara Brown Taylor
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)