05/13/2012 ~ SERMON ~ Inclusion

05/13/2012 ~ Sixth Sunday of Easter ~ Acts 10:44-48; Psalm 98; 1 John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17 ~ Mother’s Day ~ Festival of the Christian Home on the Christian Calendar.

Inclusion

“Then Peter asked, ‘Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’” — Acts 10:46b-47.

My brother in law, Bonnie’s brother, Jack Scott is, in one sense and literally, among the very first Baby Boomers.  That generation labeled as Baby Boomers were, generally, the children of the soldiers who returned from World War II.

Now Bonnie’s Dad— just back from the war— and her Mom, got married right on V.J. Day, August the 14th, 1945.  When they came out of the church where their ceremony had taken place every church bell in town was pealing and they knew it wasn’t for them.  But at first, they could not figure out why all those bells were clanging away.

Bonnie’s brother, Jack, was born— you guessed it— nine months and six days later— May the 20th, 1946— a close call.  We have great fun pulling Jack’s leg about that.  Fortunately, Bonnie and I are younger— much, much younger than that.  But we are also in this so called Baby Boomer generation.

To be clear, there is an official definition of a Baby Boomer, and it is not someone born on or after that nine month deadline— May the 14th, 1946.  The definition is more inclusive than that.

According to the United States Census Bureau a Baby Boomer is someone born anytime in the entire year starting in 1946.  The group then goes all the way to anyone born in 1965.  Born between 1946 and 1965?  You are a member of the Baby Boomers, do not pass ‘Go’ and do not collect $200.

I hope this does not sound too defensive of me, but I think my generation has been blamed for a lot we did not cause.  We just happened to be standing around when this stuff happened.

We were the first generation to grow up with television.  But we did not cause television.  But hence, we also endured The Brady Bunch, Gilligan’s Island and Happy Days.  These were not created by us.  These were created by people older than us.  We were just, as I said, standing around and they were inflicted on us.

And we also were standing around when transistor radios, The Beatles, The Motown Sound and Disco happened.  Baby Boomers did not cause these things.  We were not in control.  We were merely consumers.

Now, perhaps most notoriously, the Baby Boomers have been called the “Me Generation.”  Indeed, it has been said that Baby Boomers are called the “Me Generation” because, early on they/we developed a youth culture which seemed to focus heavily on self-fulfillment.

As a counter to that argument, I would suggest Baby Boomers also entered a world in which, unless you take care of yourself, no one else will.  I would suggest Baby Boomers entered a world in which, unless you blow your own horn, no one else will.

I would suggest Baby Boomers entered a world in which, just because of our sheer numbers, just because there are so many of us, if we did just stand around and do nothing it would soon become— to use a cliche— a dog eat dog world.  In that kind of world, looking out for number one is not an option.  Looking out for number one is an imperative.  (Slight pause.)

This fact might surprise some of you.  The professional boxer Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay, is not a Baby Boomer.  He was born in 1942, so he is too old to qualify.  And yet, it was he who proclaimed, “I am the greatest.”

Despite the fact that Ali is not a member of the Baby Boomer generation, I have often wondered if it was that slogan— I am the greatest— and the attitude it proclaims which fully and quite truly captured the Baby Boomer sentiment.  Be yourself.  Take care of yourself.  Proclaim yourself.  No one else will do it.  (Slight pause.)

And these words are from Luke/Acts in the section known as Acts: “Then Peter asked, ‘Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’” (Slight pause.)

Back in 1952, back when people were just figuring out the Baby Boom which named a generation was happening, a great 20th Century theologian, Paul Tillich, published a book— The Courage to Be.  In many ways the title of that book was prophetic because it named an aspect of what Boomers needed— they needed the courage to be.

At the same time, the book also outlined the problem with a premise of only looking out for number one, the problem with the premise of seeing the world exclusively as dog eat dog.  The problem?  If I only look out for number one, if you only take ‘me’ into account, what happens to the person standing next to me, next to us?  What happens to all those around us, those with whom we live?  (Slight pause.)

Here is another way to look at it: yes— we do need courage to be.  We do need courage to be ourselves.  We do need courage to fully be ourselves, to openly be ourselves, to unequivocally be ourselves, to unabashedly be ourselves.  And that having been said, how are we to look at the command of Jesus heard in the Gospel reading that we are to not love just ourselves but that we (quote) “love one another.”  (Slight pause.)

Earlier, when the reading from Luke/Acts was introduced, you were encouraged to read the entire Tenth Chapter when you get a chance.  If you do so, you will see it contains a full, open, unequivocal and unabashed message.

The message says the Spirit of God works not just in or through special, select individuals.  The Spirit of God works not just in or through a chosen few.  The Spirit of God moves with whom and in whom and through whom the Spirit of God will move.

And no one can or should tell you in whom and with whom and through whom the Spirit will of God move.  And certainly no one can or should presume to tell God in whom and with whom and through whom the Spirit of God will move.

Further, based on what Jesus says, it would seem likely that the Spirit of God moves in everyone.  (Quote): “I appointed you to go and bear fruit— fruit that will endure....”  (Slight pause.)

Well, given the readings perhaps it is fitting that today we celebrate Mother’s Day on the secular calendar.  You see, we need to recognize that we are all brothers and sisters of one another.  We are all sons and daughters.  And we are all related to one another.

Indeed, we need to recognize the Holy Spirit nurtures each of us.  But we also need to recognize that the Holy Spirit nurtures all of us.  We need to recognize that we are all children of God, children of the Spirit of God.

We are all members of one family.  We are all members of the family of God.

Once we recognize that we are all children of God, nurtured by the Spirit, it starts to make sense that God would not condemn us for being who we are.  It becomes clear to us that the arms of the Holy Spirit enfold us— both each of us and all of us— with the love about which Jesus speaks.  It becomes clear that, as children of God, we need to accept one another, love one another, nurture one another.  (Slight pause.)

If I may be so bold, I think the generation coming to maturity today— some of whom graced us with their talents several minutes ago— this generation knows better and often articulates this better than we Boomers. [1]  And this is what they say: we are all in this together.  We need to mutually support one another.

I think they know about the fragility of the earth, the environment.  I think they appreciate both their own strengths and their own frailties.  And, because of that, they do hear the “love one another” message loud and clear.

Yes, each of us can flourish as an individual.  But each of us flourishes best when we are loved by those around us and supported by those around us.

So, to come back to those words of Paul Tillich, perhaps what we need is not just the courage to be and not even just the courage to be me.  Perhaps what we really need is the courage to be us, together— sometimes a tall order.  But why do we need the courage to be us?  Jesus said (quote): “love one another.”  Amen.

05/13/2012
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: “It does, I think, take great courage to be.  And I think it takes even greater courage to be me.  But I want to suggest that the greatest measure of courage we can have is the courage to be us— and that means everyone.  Us— as in all people— no exceptions.”

BENEDICTION: May the Holy Spirit inspire our words, and God’s love in Christ empower our deeds, as, in Christ, we are no longer servants, but friends, learning to love as we have been loved.  And may the peace of God which surpasses our understanding keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge of God, the love of Jesus, the Christ, and the companionship of the Holy Spirit, this day and forevermore.  Amen.

[1] The Madrigal Singers of Norwich High School under the direction of Mary Mayo graced us with their presence on this day.

SERMON ~ 05/06/2012 ~ Learning and Understanding

05/06/2012 ~ Fifth Sunday of Easter ~ Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 22:25-31; 1 John 4:7-21; John 15:1-8 ~ Communion Sunday.

Learning and Understanding

“So Philip ran up to {the chariot} and heard the Ethiopian reading the prophet Isaiah and asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’  The Ethiopian replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ and invited Philip to get into the chariot and sit.” — Acts 8:30-31.

In the book The Power of Habit Charles Duhigg tells this story.  In the fall of 1987 Wall Street analysts and investors gathered in a hotel ballroom in New York City to hear the new Chief Executive Officer of the Aluminum Company of America.  A very large company, ALCOA had fallen on hard times.  Management had made many missteps, misstep after misstep.  Profits and return had plummeted.

The person the ALCOA board chose to be the CEO was one Paul O’Neill.  Eventually, O’Neill would become the first Secretary of the Treasury for George W. Bush.  More important for this story, however, is the fact that O’Neill would turn the fortunes of ALCOA around with amazing speed.  But anyone gathered in that room on that morning would have thought a turn around quite unlikely.

Now, O’Neill looked every inch the CEO.  Though only fifty-one, he already had a shock of white hair.  He also had a ramrod posture and a warm smile.  He looked confident, dignified, solid.  Then he opened his mouth.

“I want to talk to you about worker safety,” he started.  “Many of our employees work with metals processed at 1500 degrees and with machines that can kill the operator when not used according to strict standards.  And despite dangerous working conditions, our safety record is good compared to most companies, even ones without dangerous working conditions.  However, every year ALCOA workers do miss work because of injuries.”

The audience of analysts and investors was, at best, confused.  At these kinds of meetings where new CEO types are introduced, it is usual to follow a predictable protocol, a script.  A new CEO would start with a self-deprecating joke, admit to sleeping through class work at Harvard and then make a promise to boost profits and lower costs.

O’Neill never went near this formula.  Instead, this is what O’Neill said and promised: “I intend to make ALCOA the safest company in America.  I intend to go for zero injuries.”

Even before O’Neill had finished some of the analysts and investors in the audience ran for the doors, found pay phones— this was 1987 when pay phones were all they had— they ran for the doors, found pay phones and called their brokers.  “Sell” was the order they gave.  “Sell any ALCOA in my portfolio.”

As I’ve already indicated, since O’Neill went on to make ALCOA one of the most profitable companies on the planet, selling the stock at that point was not a particularly wise choice.  How did O’Neill make ALCOA profitable?  He got everyone in the company to do one key thing right.

And, in fact, it turns out there are some habits that are or can be keystone habits.  These keystone habits matter more than others.  In the case of ALCOA it turned out to be safety— the safest company in America.

These keystone habits are different from situation to situation and sometimes even from person to person.  But when you figure out what keystone habit is necessary, these can influence how a person thinks, works, feels, spends time and communicates.   (Slight pause.)

And these words are from the work known as Luke / Acts in the section called Acts: “So Philip ran up to {the chariot} and heard the Ethiopian reading the prophet Isaiah and asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’  The Ethiopian replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ and invited Philip to get into the chariot and sit.”  (Slight pause.)

I occasionally mention one of my mentors in ministry, the Rev. Carol Anderson.  Carol was among the first officially ordained women in the Episcopal Church.  Once, I was among a group of friends she had to her tiny Upper West Side apartment.  The rooms were literally lined with bookcases.

One person pointed at the shelves and said, “Carol, you can’t tell me you’ve read all these books, can you?”

“No,” she responded.  “But I know exactly what’s in each of them.”

Now that I, myself, have gone through the process of hazing we Christians call getting a Master of Divinity Degree, I can attest to that concept.  No, I have not read all the books in my possession.  But I know what’s in them.  More importantly, I know where to look in the library.

Indeed, when I was still in the early stages of Elementary School, perhaps the third grade at least that’s my memory of it, my mother took me to a public library and taught me how to use the card catalogue.  And I don’t mean the card catalogue in the children’s section.  She taught me how to use the adult card catalogue.  As any librarian knows, knowing where to look and what to look for is vital.  (Slight pause.)

This (the pastor holds up a Bible) is a library.  It is not one book.  It is a series of books— a library with all kinds of different literature.  One needs to know how to interpret what one reads.  It is a vital skill when it comes to the Bible.

And knowing where to look and what to look for is vital.  Further, having someone you trust, someone who can act like a reference librarian, to point you toward where to look and what to look for can be key also.  (Slight pause.)

The Ethiopian in this reading is looking at the prophet Isaiah, is looking at that scroll.  But that court official is lost.  Why?  Have you ever read Isaiah?  There are plenty of places to get lost.  You need to know where to look and what to look for.

To be clear: God provides guidance and God sometimes even provides a reference librarian.  In this case, Philip is empowered by God to be a reference librarian and, thereby, an instrument of God.

And we also need to remember that the prime command of God to the Jewish people as it is laid out in the Shema is hear.  That’s hear, not listen— hear— to actively seek the voice of God.

Therefore, it is a safe assumption that the voice of God will not be static, that the voice of God will speak and is still speaking.  Further, if we are a people of the Book— and as I just indicated what that means is we are really a people of the library— if we are a people of the Book there will be a lot to hear from our still speaking God in the Book and, therefore, much to discern.  (Slight pause.)

That brings me back to that little story about Paul O’Neill.  If there is anything to be learned from that story, it’s that we need to form productive habits, keystone habits.  I want to suggest that, for we Christians, people of the library, the productive habit we need to form is one of learning.  We need to form the habit of learning from Scripture— from the library.

In order for that to be a really productive habit, we need to know where to look in Scripture.  We need to know how to read what we find in Scripture.  Just based on the experience of that court official, we can be staring at a passage all day and still not quite get it.

Indeed, reading Scripture is not just a matter of learning where to look.  After all, memorizing where to look, memorizing what Scripture says— and I am sure we all know people who can recite Scripture chapter and verse— memorizing what Scripture says borders on a party game.  It begins to sound like an old Irving Berlin song (the pastor intones some notes here from the Irving Berlin song Anything You Can Do from the Musical Annie Get Your Gun): “Any verse you can quote I can quote quicker.  I can quote Scripture much slicker than you.”

My point is it is not just a matter of knowing where to look.  It’s a matter of understanding what it says.

All of which is to say, we should never read Scripture thinking it will be readily transparent.  What the story of Philip and the court official tells us is that was not the case in New Testament times.  Why should Scripture be immediately understandable to us now, except if we bring our own egocentricity to it?

And I guess this is also to say Scripture is something with which we need to grapple and study.  It is then and only then, when study and learning become habit, that we will also form helpful habits for life.

In short, the reading and the study of Scripture needs to be a keystone habit for Christians— people of the library.  Believe it or not, when the reading and study of Scripture becomes a keystone habit, a lot of other things will fall into place for us.  Like what?  Well, like that old— you know— ‘love neighbor; love God’ stuff.  Amen.

05/06/2012
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: “Why do I keep saying ‘Love neighbor; love God’ is the central theme in all of Scripture?  Because I am in the habit of reading and studying Scripture and, for me, that message is what leaps out of nearly every page of the library.”

BENEDICTION: Live for God in every moment of the day.  Seek to know the places to which God calls us.  Because we are loved we may dare to love others.  God first loved us, so we must not hesitate to show the fruits of abiding in Christ.  And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge of God, the love of Jesus, the Christ, and the companionship of the Holy Spirit, this day and forevermore.  Amen.

04/29/2012 ~ Fourth Sunday of Easter ~ Acts 4:5-12; Psalm 23; 1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18 ~ 5th Sunday Hymn Sing.

Actions and Words

“My children, our love must not simply be words or pure talk.  It must be true love, which shows itself to be true in action.” — 1 John 3:18

There is a thesis gaining popularity and I think I buy into it.  The thesis says talent is overrated.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  Neither I nor this thesis which claims talent is overrated dismisses talent, per se.

So let me try to put what sounds like a dismissal of talent into everyday language.  If I had the talent to hit a golf ball 300 yards, I would not be in the pulpit each Sunday morning.  I’d be teeing up for the final round of a PGA event right?  But I don’t have the talent to hit a golf ball 300 yards.

And as an aside, just so I’m clear about this— Bonnie says my driving may not be good enough for the tour, but it’s not my driving that has kept me off the tour.  It’s my putting.

My personal problems with putting aside, I’m sure you get the point of the golf analogy.  Talent is not just important.  It is necessary.  And no one is dismissing the necessity of talent.

But if no one is dismissing the necessity of talent, how can it be said that talent is overrated?  (Slight pause.)  We now live in a scientific age.  Modern research pierces hocus-pocus ideas.  So, today we realize, for instance, that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was, at an early age, not blessed by the gods with an innate ability to compose.  That is simply a silly idea.

Today we understand the early abilities Mozart displayed were not the product of some supernaturally large gift.  That’s because we realize the early compositions he produced were nothing particularly special but were actually take offs of other people’s work, based on things he had probably heard.

Don’t misunderstand the thrust here: Mozart was very, very good, a very talented musician and that talent could be seen at a very early age.  But today he would be seen as exceptional only when placed among other youngsters who are musically run of the mill.  Given his early work, Mozart would not stand out as superior or extraordinary when considered among today’s top prodigies.

Coming back to golf, what Mozart had was the same thing Tiger Woods had— an ability to acutely focus for long periods of time on one thing, one area, and he had a father intent on improving the skills his son exhibited.  Mozart played a lot of piano at a very young age.  And Mozart also had the ability to synthesize, to analyze, to understand, to internalize, what he learned.

Woods played a lot of golf at a very young age.  And Woods also had the ability to synthesize, to analyze, to understand, to internalize, what he learned.

Further, it’s quite likely both Mozart and Woods got in 10,000 hours of practice early.  Hence, Tiger and Amadeus were able to build from practice and ability to the places they eventually moved.

In short, it is only once he honed the talent that he had that Mozart became an extraordinary composer.  It is only once he honed the talent that he had that Woods became an extraordinary golfer.  I do need to stress that an ability to synthesize, to analyze, to internalize is necessary.  And these cannot be separated from working intensely at a craft for a long period of time.

Indeed, let me come back to that 10,000 hours of practice, because that number is not plucked out of thin air.  The latest research suggests a prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world is in order.

The latest research claims a key factor in separating the accomplished from the run of the mill is not some divine spark.  It is not even a high I.Q.

Indeed, key factor separating geniuses from the accomplished from the run of the mill is deliberate, intentional practice.  But let me offer one additional definition.  Practice is not merely repetition.

In this case the word practice means performance, engagement, working at a craft, until it is synthesized and internalized.  And the research says top performers are the ones who rigorously practice, engage their craft.  (Slight pause.)

And these words are from the work known as First John: “My children, our love must not simply be words or pure talk.  It must be true love, which shows itself to be true in action.”  (Slight pause.)

In her work Leaving Church, the Reverend Barbara Brown Taylor says this (quote): “The whole purpose of the Bible, it seems to me, is to convince people to set the written word down in order to become living words in the world for God’s sake.  For me, this willing conversion of ink back to blood— of ink back to blood— is the full substance of faith.”  (Slight pause.)

As I hope you saw by the narrative I offered after you start with some talent, even if it’s just a little talent, there are two strains in a discussion about how someone becomes good at something.  One is study.  The second is performance, engagement.  One needs to study.  Knowledge is necessary.  Given study, performance can be empowered when performance, engagement, is what follows.

I have, however, misled you a little by using Mozart and Woods as examples.  Why?  I am not talking about attaining a genius level here.  The claim I’m making is that pretty near anyone can get at least good through study and engagement.

You see, when I started to golf, I was lucky to hit a drive 100 yards.  Sometimes I was lucky to hit a drive 50 yards.

Where am I at now, after some study and practice?  Provided I hit the ball well— not always a given— but provided I hit the ball well, I can get it out to about 200 yards, sometimes more.  And I can hit it fairly straight.  Or as Bonnie likes to say, the squirrels in the woods no longer have to wear hard hats when I’m on the course.

Now, it’s unlikely— no, it’s not unlikely— it’s not possible that I will ever hit the ball 300 yards.  I am not that talented.  But I am happy to be where I am at— not a superstar— just a guy out there playing.  And I am happy to be me, to do what I do on the course.

My mentor in ministry and my friend, the Reverend Dr. Bill Imes, on short notice was once called on to preach at a meeting in place of a preacher with national reputation.  I asked him if he was worried.

He said he was not at all worried.  All he could be was himself in the pulpit.  So, he would be himself and that would be just fine.  He also said he figured that’s what God wanted of each of us.  Be yourself; honesty counts.

Indeed, it has been said God does not call us because of our talent.  God calls us because of our willingness.  So, perhaps the question is this: are we willing to study what Scripture has to offer about the dominion of God and, having studied in an effort to discern the call of God, are we willing to participate in the dominion?

Put in a more colloquial way, are we willing not just to talk the talk?  Are we willing to also walk the walk?  Are we willing to put our words into action?

There are, after all, about 2,500 verses in the Bible about the poor.  And nearly all of them call on us to help the poor.  And absolutely none of them blame the poor for being poor— none of them blame the poor for being poor.

You see, a question for us is this: ‘when we wrestle with Scripture, when we wrestle with the Word, are we, then, in turn, called to action?  Or, in the words of the Biblical scholar Miguel De La Torre (quote): “There are consequences when we truly wrestle with the biblical text, when we struggle to see the face of God.”  (Slight pause.)

There is an old saying which runs this way: “Jacob was a cheater.  Peter had a temper.  David had an affair.  Noah got drunk.  Jonah ran away from God.  Paul committed murder.  Gideon was insecure.  Marian gossiped.  Martha worried.  Thomas doubted.  Sarah was impatient.  Elijah was depressed.  Moses stuttered.  Zaccheus was short.  Abraham was old.  And, of course, Lazarus was dead.    But God does not call the qualified.  God qualifies the called.”  (Slight pause.)

So, what does it mean to live one’s life fully?  I want to suggest that we need to practice, engage.  We need to practice living.  But, most of all, it means we need to be willing to participate in the dominion of God, to practice what we preach.

And I think that’s what the writer of First John is getting at when these words were recorded (quote): “My children, our love must not simply be words or pure talk.  It must be true love, which shows itself to be true in action.”  Amen.

04/29/2012
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction.  This is an précis of what was said: (The pastor holds up a small wooden cross which was used at the Children’s Time and has people painted on the front and says:) “I think this cross, with people on it, can be a reminder that we are not just a community.  We are all one in Christ and we are called by God to act as one in Christ.”

BENEDICTION: We are invited to make God’s house our home.  We are equipped by the grace of God to help others on their journeys.  God leads us beside still waters and restores our soul.  God’s love in Jesus, the Christ, has blessed us and we shall dwell in the house of the true shepherd.  Amen.

SERMON ~ 04/22/2012 ~ Third Sunday of Easter ~ Repentance and Forgiveness

04/22/2012 ~ Third Sunday of Easter ~ Acts 3:12-19; Psalm 4; 1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48.

Repentance and Forgiveness

“Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and said to them, ‘That is why the Scriptures say the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in the name of the Messiah to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of all this.’” — Luke 24: 45-48.

As most of you know, I have been serving this church since 1996.  Only the Rev. Mr. Samuel Scoville, who served from 1861 to 1879, served a longer stint as pastor here.

I mention the distance from the time I arrived because I want to address something I distinctly remember saying from this pulpit when I first got here.  I said the biggest problem our nation faced is a lack of critical thinking on the part of its citizens.

As I listened to the radio just this morning I heard an interview with the well known African-American Pastor, T. D. Jakes, who was plugging his latest book.  He said (and I quote) “people have stopped thinking.”  So, I am not the only one worried about this.

However, I realize there are other issues.  The problem is both more complex and more subtle than simply a dearth of critical thinking.  Among other problems, our populace is not well served by what has loosely been called the “the media.”  This would include both the so called “main stream media” and even the not so main stream media.

Let me offer one simple example of a media problem: the reporting done on presidential polling.  It feels like a new poll about the approaching presidential election comes out several times a week.

With each new poll one candidate goes up and one candidate goes down.  The numbers seem to change daily.  And new attention is given to the numbers by members of the fourth estate daily.

I probably don’t have to tell you, the vast majority of these polls are taken on a nation-wide basis.  Hence, the key question they ask and try to answer is this: what do a majority of people across the nation, right now— never mind on Election Day in November but right now— what do a majority of the people think when it comes the candidate for whom they might cast a ballot.

Well, you might make the argument that only the real voting in November will mean something, so why even bother taking a poll?  But I would suggest polls do give us information of some value.  For instance, they can detect trends.

However, there is one very, very big caveat which by far too few people seem to talk about.  No one, no news organization, no polling organization, takes the poll which really needs to be taken.

You see, the only polls being run are, as I said, nation-wide.  These are of little or no value.  Why?  That’s not how we elect a president.  We do not elect a president by popular vote— never have.  We do not elect a president on a single national ballot— never have.

We elect a president on fifty separate state ballots, on a state by state by state basis according to the combined number of representatives and senators each state has in congress.  Hence, in order to really take the pulse of the electorate, you need to do 50 separate, individual state by state polls.

What does the nation think, as a whole?  That question does not matter in a presidential election.  The so called “electoral college” renders national numbers for the popular vote meaningless.

To use some real math here, in the 2008 election John McCain garnered just under 46% of the popular vote.  And the final 2008 nation-wide polls were, in fact, fairly accurate, within a percentage point, when it came to predicting the total popular vote.

But McCain won only 32% of the vote in the Electoral College.  So those polls were off by, oh, a mere 14% with the only vote which really counts— the Electoral College vote.  (Slight pause.)  And yet still we listen to these statistics about nation-wide polling and these statistics are constantly publicized, given credence even.  These statistics are totally meaningless.

Why are these statistics gathered?  Why do we pay attention?  Who is wrong here?  Is it the media or is it us?

Is this just a good way for the media to sell advertising space?  Or is the media actually trying to hide the reality from us?

Or do we simply and willfully— willfully— ignore the reality of how the presidential election operates?  Or is the real problem perhaps that we are readily and easily mislead?  Have we stopped thinking?  (Pause.)

And these words are from the work commonly referred to as Luke: “Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (the pastor repeats this phrase for emphasis: understand the Scriptures) and said to them, ‘That is why the Scriptures say the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in the name of the Messiah to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of all this.’”  (Slight pause.)

As I said at the start, I have been serving this church since 1996.  In all that time, I believe I have been pretty consistent with a basic message.

And as I have noted before, Tom Rasely even wrote a song about it: It All Comes Down to This.  Love neighbor; love God.  There’s nothing very tricky; there’s nothing very hard.

Equally, you need to wonder why we pay any attention at all to the polling I outlined earlier.  There is nothing tricky and hard about the Electoral College system, if you pay attention to how it operates, if you think.

And the message in Scripture is not tricky or hard, if you pay attention, if you think.  Loving neighbor and loving God, the eternal covenant with God, should leap off nearly every page of the Bible, if we read carefully, if we think.

That leads to a pair of very simple questions based in the Gospel passage read today.  “What is repentance and what is forgiveness?”

I find many people don’t like the words ‘repentance’ and ‘forgiveness.’  Perhaps they simply don’t know what these words mean.  But the real meanings of these words are not tricky or hard to discern.

You see, many people think repentance means being sorry.  And many think, if you’ve done nothing wrong, why do you need forgiveness.

However, theologically, Biblically, the word ‘repentance’ does not in any way mean being sorry.  Repentance means turning toward God, offering one’s life to God, committing one’s self to be in partnership with God— repentance.  (Slight pause.)

Yeah, but what about this forgiveness stuff?  (Slight pause.)  Tell me, do you know anyone who is perfect?  (The pastor looks at his wife and says: “Put your hand down Bonnie.”)  O.K.  Then, in the human sense, we all need to be forgiven on some level.

Even so, that kind of forgiveness is not what forgiveness is about in the theological or Biblical sense.  Theological forgiveness means God accepts us no matter where we’re at.

Or, to paraphrase the slogan so popular in our denomination, ‘no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey,’ God loves you.  So, theologically, Biblically, forgiveness is not about being forgiven for wrong doing.  Theologically, Biblically, forgiveness is about the love God offers to each of us and to all of us no matter where we are or what we’ve done.

I guess what I am trying to say is we need to use just a smidgeon of critical thinking when it comes to Scripture.  And just like how people follow the polls at election time, when we pay attention to the wrong thing, to poor analysis, we can be mislead.  When we treat repentance or forgiveness as if they meant being sorry or needing mercy for doing something wrong, we are looking at the wrong things.

And there is nothing tricky or hard about this.  Repentance: strive to be in partnership with God.  Forgiveness: God loves us no matter what happens.

And Tom is right in his lyric.  There is nothing very tricky and nothing very hard about understanding Scripture.  Love neighbor; love God.  Amen.

04/22/2012
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction.  This is an précis of what was said: “There is one other thing I’ve stressed in my time here.  It’s that the covenant God makes with humanity can be traced throughout the Hebrew Scriptures.  And when this passage says “Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” that’s what it getting at.  The Bible, as a whole, is the story of God’s journey with humanity and it is the story of the unconditional love God has for humanity.”

BENEDICTION: Let us place our trust in God.  Let us go from this place to share the Good News as we are witnesses.  And this is, indeed, the Good News: by God we are blessed; in Jesus, the Christ, the beloved of God, we are made whole.  Let us depart in confidence and joy that the Spirit of God is with us and let us carry Christ in our hearts.  Amen.

04/15/2012 ~ Second Sunday of Easter ~ The Message of the Resurrection

04/15/2012 ~ Second Sunday of Easter ~ Acts 4:32-35; Psalm 133; 1 John 1:1-2:2 ; John 20:19-31.

The Message of the Resurrection

“This, then, is the message we have heard from Jesus, the Christ, and proclaim to you, that God is light and in God the light is never absent, there is no night at all.” — 1 John 1:5.

What do I believe? (Slight pause.) How should I believe? (Slight pause.) Who am I? (Slight pause.) Diana Butler Bass says these are the three questions organized religion has centered on for hundreds of years. What do I believe? (Slight pause.) How do I believe? (Slight pause.) Who am I? [1] (Slight pause.)

I have, several times before, mentioned Diana Butler Bass. She is a church historian. She is a member of the laity. She is an Episcopalian. She is a best selling author of books about the current state of the church.

I, in fact, used words of Bass as the Thought for Meditation in the Easter Sunday bulletin. (Quote:) “The point isn’t that you believe in the resurrection. Any fool can believe in a resurrection from the dead. The point is that you trust in the resurrection. And that’s much, much harder to do.”

In a recent article Bass said religion always entails the three “Bs” used in those questions I asked at the start— believing, behaving and belonging. [2] However, over the course centuries, the meaning of believing, behaving and belonging has been looked at in different ways.

Bass says for the last 300 years or so these believing, behaving and belonging questions have been translated into something other than what they might seem to ask on the surface. Believing has meant: ‘What does my church say I should think about God?’ Behaving has meant: ‘What are the rules my church asks me to follow?’ Belonging has meant: ‘What does it mean to be a faithful church member?’

You probably noticed the meanings of the questions have to do not with the individual and with the community and even with the church. These questions are about authority. More importantly, they are about who wields authority.

And that’s the rub. In our era, in the modern era, in the 21st Century, questions about believing, behaving and belonging as these relate to authority have become meaningless. This is especially true with young people.

Why is the data suggesting young people attend church less and less? Believing, behaving and belonging questions have been and often are being asked in ways which are alien to them. These questions are being asked as if they are about authority.

Today, states Bass, believing, behaving and belonging questions are less about authority and who wields it and have become more personal. Bass suggests these alternatives. How do I believe? What should I believe? [3] Whose am I?

Put this way, the underlying questions, the real questions being asked, become: ‘How do I understand faith, especially when it seems to conflict with science and pluralism?’ ‘How do my actions make a difference in the world?’ ‘How do my relationships shape me and shape my understanding of self?’

Please notice, believing, behaving, and belonging still matter. Those are there in the questions. But the ways in which people engage each area have undergone a revolution. The questions I just recited are 21st Century questions. (Slight pause.)

And these words are from the work known as First John: “This, then, is the message we have heard from Jesus, the Christ, and proclaim to you, that God is light and in God the light is never absent, there is no night at all.” (Slight pause.)

There is a television commercial currently running about how computers can empower and connect people. The commercial features a landscaping company in Minnesota. Except the commercial takes place in the Winter and you don’t do landscaping in Minnesota in the Winter— at least not garden landscaping. You do snow plowing.

So, the commercial explains how computers help the people of this company, who do snow plowing in the winter, react to the quick changing mid-winter weather conditions in Minnesota. And how do computers help?

Everyone in the chain of command can communicate instantaneously with everyone else and anyone in the chain of command, people out in the field at midnight, can make a determination about a change in how a job is being done, about sending a plow to a different location. Power is decentralized and placed in the hands of the people.

Everyone is empowered to react to conditions. Everyone is empowered to make changes. Everyone is an equal part of the command structure. Or, at least, that’s what the commercial is selling— individual empowerment. No they are not selling computers. They are selling individual empowerment.

And that, individual empowerment, is actually the really big discussion we are having in society today. Is each person going to be both empowered and empowering? Or, as we move forward, will we live in a society that is top down, much as it has been, frankly, for centuries, where all decisions are made for us and we are told what to do. (Slight pause.)

Earlier I quoted that Easter Thought for Meditation written by Bass. Let me do it again. “The point isn’t that you believe in the resurrection. Any fool can believe in a resurrection from the dead. The point is that you trust in the resurrection. And that’s much, much harder to do.” (Slight pause. The next phrase is whispered:) It’s about you!

In the course of the service on Easter Sunday I make sure I remind people about two things. First, resurrection is a Jewish premise. It predates Christianity.

I also remind people we need to understand a very basic theological aspect about resurrection. Resurrection is not and never was considered resuscitation or reanimation. It is not about a body coming back to life in the same way it had been living.

Resurrection is what it says it is: resurrection. It is, therefore, unlike any other human experience. (Slight pause.)

So, what is the message of resurrection? What does it mean? What do we, you and I, think it means? (Slight pause.)

The statement made by the writer of First John (quote:) “...God is light and in God the light is never absent, there is no night at all.” That is beautifully, wonderfully, magnificently poetic and absolutely ambiguous. It is meant to be so.

Equally, that kind of statement means discerning what the resurrection means is up to me. It is my individual responsibility to decide what the resurrection means for me.

Now, since I am called to the ministry of sharing the Word, that’s what I do. I try to share the Word. I try to share what the message of Jesus, what the message of Christianity means to me.

Equally, however, I do not try or I hope I do not try impose what I believe on anyone else. Why?

You see, the point of all of us gathering as the church is not what the resurrection or Christianity or the reality of God means to me, Pastor Joe. The point is what the resurrection, Christianity, the reality of God means to means to you, each and every one of you.

And, in the words of Diana Butler Bass, “Any fool can believe in a resurrection from the dead. The point is that you trust in the resurrection.” (Slight pause.)

For me at least, trusting in the resurrection— trusting God— is the point. And I cannot trust God for you. I can be a guide, a mentor, a coach, a pastor. But you need to trust God for yourself.

And that, my friends, is not just the challenge of life in the 21st Century. That is, I think, the challenge of Christianity.

So, the question to be asked is not ‘do you believe in God?’ Any fool can do that. Can you, can we, come to a point in the relationship with God where trusting God becomes central to that relationship?

So, what does the resurrection mean? Trust God. Amen.

04/22/2012
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, NY

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I have said this here before. The theologian Nicholas Thomas Wright states that New Testament times were not unlike today, the 21st Century. In New Testament times nearly everybody believed in the gods or in a God. Very few took it seriously. And today nearly everybody believed in the gods or in a God. Very few take it seriously. And what do we need to do to take God seriously? Trust God.”

BENEDICTION: Hear now this blessing: we go into the world carrying forth God’s love. Let us go from this place and offer the peace of God which surpasses all understanding to all we meet, and may the Peace of Christ keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge and companionship of the Creator, the Redeemer and the Sanctifier, this day and forever more. Amen.

[1] It does need to be noted that the pastor mis-spoke in attempting to quote Bass at this point. The second question should have been “How do I behave?”

[2] This is where that article can be found:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-butler-bass/a-resurrected-christianit_b_1410143.html

[3] To give Bass her due the pastor once again misquoted her. Here it should have read: “What should I do?”

04/08/2012 ~ Sermon ~ Easter Sunday ~ “Speaking to the Silence”

04/08/2012 ~ Resurrection of the Lord ~ Easter Day ~ Acts 10:34-43 or Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 or Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18 or Mark 16:1-8 ~ Used Isaiah 25:6-9; 1 Corinthians 15:3-7; John 20:1-18 ~ Used: John 19:31-34, 38-42 [ILV]; 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 [ILV]; Mark 16:1-8 [ILV].

Speaking to the Silence

“So they went out and fled from the tomb, bewildered, trembling and amazed;....” — Mark 16:8.

It was still early in the morning. The sun had barely come up over the Judean hills. And yet, the three women had been running for quite a while. They were exhausted.

Magdala, always the most astute of the three, noticed a cave off to the left of the dusty road, pointed and said, “There. Let’s get in there.”

She fell in behind Mary and Salome. It seemed as if it was by a shear act of her will, by her physical presence, rather than by any use of brut force, that she prodded to the other two women toward the craggy opening.

Once they had moved into the shadows, beyond the mouth of the crevice, she said: “Go. And keep going. Don’t stop.”

And go they did. Deeper and deeper into the cavern they went until they were enveloped by a darkness comparable to a moonless night.

Once the light had become that dim, Magdala gave another command. “Good. Stop. Sit.” And sit they did. (Slight pause.)

As deep as they were inside the cave, they could no longer hear any sounds from the world beyond the opening. Since they had been running, it was not totally silent. Indeed, at first, all that could be heard was the sound of heavy breathing, as each of them recuperated from running. Still, a sense of real silence— that being disconnected from the reality of noise— enveloped them as they sat with their thoughts.

Once they had recovered, once their breathing had become less labored, it was not long before Salome started to weep loudly. Tears had actually been streaming from her eyes for quite some time, but now she was sobbing.

Mags— all Magdala’s friends called her by that nickname— Mags slid over to where Salome was and hugged her friend. “It’s all right, Sal. It’s all right.”

Salome seemed to calm down a little. Between sobs she finally said, “I’m frightened.”

Mags said nothing. She just squeezed her a little tighter.

“I’m frightened too,” offered Mary, trying to reassure Salome.

In the midst of her crying, Salome tried to ask a question. “Was... was... was that an angel in the tomb?”

Magdala was compassionate but rarely tactful. “I don’t know if it was an angel,” she said. “I don’t know what an angel looks like. I’ve never seen one.”

“I do know an angel is a messenger from God. And I do know what we heard certainly sounded like a message from God.”

Mags paused and then said, “You know, there did seem to be— I, I don’t know what to call it— a haze of light all around us as we heard those words.” She hesitated slightly. “And, well, now that you’ve said it out loud— yes, perhaps it was an angel. Perhaps it was a message from God.”

With that Mary began to sob too. “Mary— what’s wrong?” asked Mags.

“Now I’m really frightened. I’m not sure I want to hear a message from God.” Mags slid over to Mary and hugged her even harder than she had hugged Salome.

Ever practical, Mags was blunt: “Being frightened is not going to help. We need to try to figure out what is happening, what has happened.”

Whether it was the directness of the statement or the logic of the statement or simply the fact that Mags had reached out to her friends and given them both a bear hug did not matter. The result was Mary and Salome suddenly became calm.

“O.K.” said Mags. “What did happen?”

“Well, when we got to the tomb,” offered Salome, “it was open. The stone was rolled away.”

“Who was there?” asked Mags.

Mary jumped in. “I think it was an angel.”

“Why?”

“We heard a message. We are all in agreement about that, right?”

“Yes,” said Mags, but persisted in her questioning. “And what was that message?”

Salome repeated what they had all heard. “Do not be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, the One who was crucified. He has been raised and is not here.”

“That’s what we heard.”said Mags. “That’s what was said. What was the message? There is always more in a message than what is said. What were we supposed to understand?”

“Even though we are afraid, I think we are not supposed to be,” said Salome.

“Yes. What else.”

“We need to go tell Peter and the others?”

“Yes. But all that is still only what we heard. What is it we need to know? What is it we need to understand?”

“Somehow Jesus is alive?” offered Mary. “Somehow Jesus has been raised?”

“I think there must be more to it,” Mags said. “But I can’t figure it out. Maybe... maybe we do need to go tell the others. That might help. Let’s head back.”

Mags stood. The others followed her lead. Together, they moved toward the light at the opening of the cave.

They had nearly come to the entrance when Mary said, “Wait! Wait! I know! I have it. If Jesus was not there, then somehow God acted. God raised Jesus. Is that not what Jesus said would happen?”

“Yes!” said Salome. “Yes! But that means more than Jesus is alive. That also means, somehow, Jesus predicted what came to pass.”

“Yes!” said Mary. “It means we can trust in the promises God makes.”

“Yes!” said Mags. “But it means even more than that. It means we can place our whole lives in God’s care. It means we can trust God.” (Slight pause.)

They moved out into a bright morning light at the entrance to the cave. Having been in the dark for so long, at first they needed to shield their eyes and feel their way along the path.

Once they had become accustomed to the light Mags took charge again and pointed down the road toward town. The three of them set off in silence. A couple of minutes later, separately, each of them realized they were all weeping. Silently, without a word being spoken, they reached out and held hands.

“Who should we tell first?” asked Mary.

“Peter,” said Mags.

“And who after that?” asked Salome.

“Everyone,” said Mags.

Hand in hand in hand, the three of them walked down the road together. And they knew what they would say. Hold on to each other. Trust God. Jesus has been raised. Amen.

04/08/2012
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 am sure the well known American composer Irving Berlin was a nice fellow. I hold nothing against him. Among other works, he wrote the songs Easter Parade and It’s a Lovely Day, Happy Easter. But these are not Christian sentiments. These are secular sentiments. If someone walks up to you today and says, ‘Happy Easter’ shake their hand and say, ‘Christ is risen.’”

BENEDICTION AND UNISON PRAYER — PASTOR: Hear now this blessing and then please join with me in the responsive Easter acclamation found in the bulletin;
May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the love of Christ, Jesus, and in the knowledge of the Holy Spirit this day and forever.
ONE: Rejoice, people of God! Christ is risen from the dead! Go in peace to love and serve God. Christ is with you always. Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
ALL: Christ is risen, indeed. Alleluia!

03/25/2012 ~ Fifth Sunday in Lent ~ Heart and Soul

03/25/2012 ~ Fifth Sunday in Lent ~ Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 119:9-16; Hebrews 5:5-10; John 12:20-33 ~ Feast of the Annunciation of the Christ ~ Isaiah 7:10-14; Psalm 45 or Psalm 40:5-10; Hebrews 10:4-10; Luke 1:26-38 ~ Used Jeremiah 31:31-34, Psalm 51:1-12 (Keyed to the Anthem) and John 12:20-33 (All ILV).

Heart and Soul

“...this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my Law within them, in their minds, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” — Jeremiah 31:33


The late Rollo May was psychologist who was and is known for being the author of several influential books in that field. But he also had a background in theology and was a close friend of the great Twentieth Century theologian Paul Tillich.

Indeed, after attaining a Bachelor’s Degree at Oberlin College— and by the way Oberlin College is a college associated with the United Church of Christ— he went to Union Theological Seminary— by the way, a Seminary associated with the United Church of Christ— for a Divinity Degree. Only after that did he go to Columbia University for a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.

In one of May’s books, Freedom and Destiny, he looked at issues of freedom. In that writing he took note of one example of predictable behavior in a large group. When the temperature reaches 90 degrees on a Summer day in a major costal city, we have the ability to forecast, he wrote, with great accuracy, what percentage of the population, will go to the beach.

Then he stated the potential obvious problem with that kind of projection. When we get to the point where we can determine not just how many will go to the beach but who will go to the beach, we will have lost our freedom. (Slight pause.)

Just eight years ago (it seems like eight light years), as the campaign for the presidential election of 2004 was in full progress— to be clear this was the George W. Bush/John Kerry election— weeks before any votes were actually cast or counted, I read a New York Times article about statistics and the upcoming election. The article made two things plain.

First, strictly from the standpoint of numbers, from the standpoint of looking at an election as a horse race, why someone voted for a particular candidate did not much matter. But exactly who voted did matter.

As to precisely who would vote for whom, as to which individual voted for Bush and which individual voted for Kerry— that could not be determined. On the other hand, what could be determined is, given a specific population, how many votes would be likely to go to one candidate or the other. And early on the data showed that the race was very, very close.

Indeed, the article actually said the election probably came down to just a few voters. Who would win that election came down to this: ‘for which candidate would some 10,000 swing voters in Ohio cast a ballot?’

As has been well documented, who voted for whom in the rest of the country did not matter. After all the votes in the rest of the country had been counted, the election was a dead heat. Now, the article had only one thing wrong in what it presented, those weeks in advance of the election.

You see, the election did not come down to which candidate some 10,000 specific swing voters in Ohio might cast a ballot. The election came down to which candidate some 50,000 specific swing voters in Ohio did cast a ballot. (Slight pause.)

Over 121 million votes were cast and weeks before the election it was known that swing voters in Ohio would decide the national result. I think 10,000 or 50,000 is, in this case, a negligible difference. (Slight pause.)

When we know not just how many but who, we will lose our freedom. That statistic makes it seem like some bean counters were painfully close to knowing not just how many but who, does it not? (Slight pause.)

I don’t know about you, but habits are my friends. When, for instance, my morning routine is somewhat changed— somehow changed, altered or upset, it’s not just that my coffee gets too cold. The whole day seems to go awry.

In fact, there is a lot of research which says habits are good. Why? We get into a routine and we can do that routine without giving it serious thought.

I recently read that when people back out of driveways they do so based on developed habit. In short, people often back out of driveways without thinking. Sounds dangerous, doesn’t it?

In fact, the danger of habit and nearly the definition of habit, is doing something by repetition, doing something so often that it allows for an absence of thinking. Habit can be thought of as things we do on automatic pilot.

Question: does the fact that our votes can be easily and closely tracked mean people vote on automatic pilot? Does the fact that our votes can be easily and closely tracked mean people are voting by habit, voting without thinking or does it simply mean people are following some kind of herd instinct? And even if it is a herd instinct, is that not a habit? (Pause.)

And these words are from the work known as Jeremiah: “...this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my Law within them, in their minds, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Slight pause.)

As I have said here before, I did not learn to drive a car until I moved to Maine, relatively late in life as those things go. After I had been driving a couple of years, a friend at work said he occasionally saw me drive in and drive out of the parking lot and he could see how careful I was as I drove.

He then said people who learned to drive as he had, when they are in their teens, didn’t pay attention at all while they were driving. They drove by habit. I told him I found that really, really, really frightening— driving by habit. (Slight pause.)

Is our relationship with God simply or only a habit? Is our attendance at church to worship God as a community of faith simply or only a habit? Is there such a thing as a habit of the heart or does real relationship, real love, real heart, require more of us than a habit, more than an unthinking response to a repetitive situation? (Slight pause.)

There are, unquestionably, parts of relationships which fall under the realm of habit and even demand some form of habitual interaction. On the other hand, when relationship is simply habit— ritual— if it does not consist of something deeper, richer, wider than habit can it be called relationship? (Slight pause.)

Put another way: is God real for us? Or is God simply a matter of practice, ritual? Or is God someone with Whom we actually interact? (Slight pause.)

You’ve heard me say this many times: it all comes down to this— love neighbor, love God. I said it so often Tom Rasely wrote a song about it and credited me with the lyric. After all, I said it.

But, let me posit this: loving God and loving neighbor is about living life fully. And if we are to live life fully we need to be aware that the world around us is constantly changing. Hence, we need to be ready for change, ready to change.

So, if we are to be ready for change, loving God and loving neighbor cannot simply or only be about habit, can it? Unquestionably, when it comes to relationships, relying simply on habit can be dangerous— a little like backing out of a driveway without thinking. (Slight pause. Referring to his spouse, the pastor says:) Oh, I’m sorry Bonnie, I just backed into you. (Slight pause.)

Let me put that in yet a different way. We need to engage our whole being, both our body and soul, our mind and spirit, in relationship— in a relationship with God. Said differently yet again, we need to free our emotions from habitual responses so they may be open to new life. Indeed, it is only when our emotions are free from the trap of habit that they can become fully engaged, fully involved in relationship. (Slight pause.)

My good friend, the Rev. Dr. Susan Polizzi, formerly of the First Baptist Church of Norwich across the street, put a portion of a poem by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien, I Sit And Think, on her Facebook page this week. It seemed to me that, in a quiet way, the poem something about engaging in relationship over time. So, I’d like to end with that poem.

I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen,
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
in summers that have been;

Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that were there,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair.

I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall never see.

For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood, in every spring,
there is a different green.

I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago,
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.

But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door.

(Slight pause.) Relationship— love, body, soul, wholeness. Or as it says in Jeremiah: “...I will put my Law within them, in their minds, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Amen.

03/25/2012
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: “It probably would not surprise any of you to know I am a fan of the plays of William Shakespeare. But I have seen more Shakespeare preformed poorly than I care to mention. Why? The actors did not understand what they were saying. They were saying it by rote. By rote is not the way we should be engaging in a relationship with God. We need to engage with God fully, with our whole self, body and soul.”

BENEDICTION: God has written the law of love within us. We are empowered to live according to that law, through the Redeemer, Jesus. In Christ, we experience God’s presence together. Where Christ leads, let us follow. Where God calls us to service, let us go. And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge of God, the love of Jesus, the Christ and the companionship of the Holy Spirit, this day and forevermore. Amen.