07/08/2012 ~ Proper 9 ~ Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Sixth Sunday after Pentecost ~ 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10; Psalm 48; Ezekiel 2:1-5; Psalm 123; 2 Corinthians 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-13.
Repentance
“And so, they— the disciples— set off proclaiming repentance as they went.” — Mark 6:12.
I was going to start my comments with a presumption that most of us know what a flash mob is. But perhaps not only do some fail to know what a flash mob is, the truth of the matter is you’ve probably never personally experienced one.
Although, after our Children’s time, you may now be more familiar with flash mobs that was a video of one of them. [1] I know I’ve seen videos of flash mobs on the internet, but as I said I’ve never personally experienced one, myself. I’ve never been in a place where a flash mob is happening.
So, making the presumption that we don’t all know what a flash mod is, let me briefly explain flash mob. A flash mob is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a very public place to offer an artistic performance of some kind.
Most often, the place they gather is not normally one used for performing works of art. Most of the time it is not a theater or an auditorium but flash mobs gather in a town squares or at stores or at malls.
As I suggested, these people gather primarily for the purpose of offering an entertainment, an artistic expression of some kind and they usually have some kind of corporate sponsorship. Please notice: a flash mob, whether it’s sponsored by an entity or it’s just a group of people having fun, is in no way spontaneous. You need to do a lot of planning to organize a flash mob.
After the flash mob offers its performance, it is common for the participants, with a suddenness equal to their gathering together, to disperse as if nothing had happened. And, needless to say, most of the time a video is made of these performances. The real point of these events is, after all, that they can be seen by many, broadcast on television or shown on the Internet.
One of our parishioners recently posted a video on a Facebook page of a flash mob that happened just this May. (It was the one the children watched.)
That flash mob was organized by a local bank in the Spanish city of Sabadell. The bank sponsored it to celebrate its 130th anniversary. In this case a group of performers gathered in a crowded town square, in Sabadell, and preformed an arrangement of The Ode to Joy from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. [2]
At the beginning there was only one instrumentalists, a bass player, standing in the middle of the square playing some notes. He was then joined by a cellist. Next, a reed player and some violinists emerged from a building on the square and joined in the harmonies.
Slowly musicians and singers joined in as people who happened to be in the square, shoppers and those on their way to work, watched. Once all the performers were assembled and playing their parts, the total of people participating in this version of The Ode to Joy numbered 100.
And once everyone had arrived, the performance the orchestra and chorus gave was at a very high, professional level. A performance like this was and needed to be not just well planned but well rehearsed.
Now, my personal favorite flash mobs— stuff I’ve seen on the Internet— was on our shores. It was a Macy’s Department store in downtown Philadelphia. For those of you unfamiliar with that venue, the building, itself, is left over from the days yore of department stores were— more popular?— I don’t know. And the building, itself, was dedicated in 1911, and when that happened the name of this store was Wanamaker’s, not Macy’s. And the atrium, which is seven stories in that store— a balcony with seven stories— houses the world’s largest organ.
In October 2010, the Opera Company of Philadelphia brought together a group of singers to perform the Hallelujah Chorus in that space. Now, the organ is regularly played during the day, so the fact that music might be playing was not unusual. The fact that a bunch of trained singers who all looked as if they were only shopping at the store themselves would suddenly join together singing the Hallelujah Chorus was and is unusual. [3]
Again and needless to say, besides the singers who knew what was going on, the store was packed with shoppers. The shoppers (and, of course, all us folks who have seen the video) have had the experience: we’ve seen a random act of culture.
There are, obviously, two parts to these random acts of culture: performance and experience. But I want to suggest they are or should be more intertwined than we realize. For instance, the Hallelujah Chorus was so familiar to most people that not only did the assembled singers give voice to this piece.
Nearly everyone who found themselves standing in that seven story atrium with the world’s largest pipe organ pumping out Handel’s notes joined in. With so many people singing, it did not matter who was there as a a part of the flash mob and who was there to just shop. Suddenly, community— real community— was formed. Everybody sang. [4] (Slight pause.)
And these words are from the work known as the Gospel of Mark: “And so, they— the disciples— set off proclaiming repentance as they went.”
With all that goes on in this reading it is easy to lose track of something very central to the Christian community and the teachings of Jesus: repentance. But what is repentance? What does repentance mean. (Slight pause.)
You have heard me say this before— (or you’ve probably heard me say this before). Repentance means turning toward God. Repentance means turning our lives over to God. Further, repentance means if you are facing away from God, you need to turn around and move toward God.
Now, I’d be the first to say for many people imagining that they are not in agreement with God or imagining that God is not in agreement with them is the hard part of that premise. To imagine that you are not in agreement with God or that God is not in agreement with you certainly take an amount of humility.
However, put on a more human level, think about your spouse or your closest friend. Are you always in agreement with them? Are they always in agreement with you? If the answer to that question is ‘no’ how likely is it that you are always in agreement with God or that God is always in agreement with you?
Now, coming back to the thought that the disciples proclaimed repentance, what does it mean not to be repentant but to proclaim repentance? (Slight pause.) I want to suggest that proclaiming repentance, for Christians, means practicing what we preach. When it comes to practicing what we preach, author Diana Butler Bass says there are four key words to consider: prepare, practice, play, participate.
Prepare: learn the story. Study Scripture. Take Scripture seriously. If you don’t know what’s going on, it’s difficult to be a part of anything.
Practice: be intentional about understanding issues of justice and freedom. When Jesus says, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” there is an understanding in those words that the reign of God does not somehow fall from heaven on those who simply wait.
Play: it is easy to take life too seriously. When we take life too seriously that often turns into anger. It seems to me anger is the currency of our age. Mirth, laughter, satire, celebration, joy are essential to a vibrant, healthy spirituality. Indeed, laughter, not anger, has the ability to help people move in concert, together, toward difficult ends.
Participate: too often we divide performers from the audience. That is a false dichotomy when it come to spiritual life. And perhaps that is what I like about that Hallelujah Chorus flash mob I described. It seemed that there was no audience. Everybody was singing. (Slight pause.)
So, what is repentance really about. It is about us. It is about who we are as we interact with others. It’s about understanding that our life with God and our life with those around us needs to be steeped in love, in acceptance, in care... and in community. Amen.
[1] At the Children’s Time the pastor had the children watch a Flash mod which is described later in these comments. The point being made with the children was that people working together to produce something beautiful is like people working together in a church.
[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBaHPND2QJg&feature=share
[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp_RHnQ-jgU
[4] It needs to be noted that at the end of the service the pastor announced that the computer on which the flash mob for the Children’s Time had been played would be, after the postlude, set to play the Hallelujah Chorus flash mob so those who wanted to stay in the Nave to see the video could see it.
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:
“Frederick Buechner, the famous writer and theologian has said this about repentance: ‘Biblically speaking, to repent doesn’t mean to feel sorry about, to regret. It means to turn, to turn around 180 degrees. It means to undergo a complete change of mind, heart, direction. Turn away from madness, cruelty, shallowness, blindness. Turn toward the tolerance, compassion, sanity, hope, justice that we all have in us at our best.’”
BENEDICTION: Redeeming Sustainer, visit Your people; pour out Your courage upon us, that we may hurry to make welcome all people not only in our concern for others, but by serving them generously and faithfully in Your name. And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
07/01/2012 ~ Proper 8 ~ Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Fifth Sunday after Pentecost ~ 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27; Psalm 130; Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15, 2:23-24 or
Lamentations 3:22-33; Psalm 30; 2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43 ~ COMMUNION SUNDAY.
NOTE: THIS SERMON WAS OFFERED AT THE NORTH GUILFORD "SUMMER CHURCH" AT 9:00 A.M. THE PASTOR THEN HURRIED OVER TO NORWICH FOR THE REGULAR SERVICE AT THAT CHURCH AT 10:00 A.M.
Just Believe
“While Jesus was still speaking to the woman, some people came from the house of the synagogue officer and said to that officer, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?’ But Jesus overheard the remark and said to the leader of the synagogue: ‘Do not fear— just believe.’” — Mark 5:35-36.
For today’s generation the late baseball player Tug McGraw is probably best known as the father of the famous country music singer Tim McGraw. However, since I am getting to the point where some might call me ‘long in the tooth’ I remember Tug McGraw before his son Tim was an apple in his eye. And I remember Tug as an outstanding relief pitcher who was in the Major Leagues from the late 1960s right through the early 1980s— 19 seasons.
McGraw was a part of the World Series winning 1969 New York Mets, the 1973 National League Pennant winning New York Mets and the 1980 World Series winning Philadelphia Phillies. And Tug always had a way with words.
His first major league manager was Casey Stengel, so perhaps the reason he could compose a well turned phrase was that he learned a ballplayer had to be able to speak well and he learned the art of speaking baseball at the foot of a master. Stengel— the old professor as he was called— was known for his sharp wit and his ability to talk at length on anything baseball-related.
In any case, perhaps the reason Tug stands out in my memory bank is a catchphrase he invented for those 1973 National League Pennant winning New York Mets. But before I talk about the phrase McGraw invented, for those of you who don’t follow baseball, I need to explain the 1973 Mets.
Under their manager Yogi Berra (someone who also had and has a way with words) the 1973 Mets won the National League East title. And they did so with a 82–79 record. They then won the National League Pennant by beating a much stronger Cincinnati Reds team in the playoffs.
But that 82–79 record in the regular season meant their winning percentage was .509. Hence, they had by far, the least number of regular season wins of any pennant winning team in major league history, something Baseball is still embarrassed about, 39 years later. And that’s where McGraw and his words come in.
Every time the Mets would win, McGraw would shout out “You Gotta Believe!” Every time the Mets would lose, McGraw would shout out “You Gotta Believe!”
And then his teammates picked up on it. And then the press picked up on it. And then the fans picked up on it. People started making banners with the words “You Gotta Believe!” emblazoned on them and marching around Shea Stadium. If the Mets were winning by ten runs the fans would shout “You Gotta Believe!” If the Mets were losing by ten runs it did not matter. The fans would shout “You Gotta Believe!” (Slight pause.)
“You Gotta Believe?” Believe what? Believe you can throw a baseball? Believe you can hit a baseball? Believe you can win a baseball game? Yes, the Mets did win the 1973 National League Pennant. But did they win simply because they proclaimed “You Gotta Believe?” (Slight pause.)
These words are from the work known as Mark: “While Jesus was still speaking to the woman, some people came from the house of the synagogue officer and said to that officer, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?’ But Jesus overheard the remark and said to the leader of the synagogue: ‘Do not fear— just believe.’” (Slight pause.)
What is belief? People say they believe in Jesus. What does that mean? Indeed, what does someone believe, what is it someone believes if they say they believe in Jesus?
In this passage, it is clearly not a belief in Jesus being invoked since it is Jesus who says (quote): “Do not fear— just believe.” So, in what is Jesus inviting people to believe? (Slight pause.)
In her book Christianity After Religion: the End of the Church and a New Spiritual Awakening Diana Butler Bass says when the Protestant reformation came along people started to place more of an emphasis on Creeds. Now some would define a Creed as a list of beliefs, a set of principles onto which one is expected to sign, a list of beliefs one was at least expected to affirm.
But Creeds have only been defined that way, as a list of beliefs, since about the time of the Reformation. What I find fascinating about that timing is it coincides with the dawn of what might be called Western science.
Suddenly, right about the time of the Reformation, people are looking at the heavens through telescopes and seeing things they have never seen before. And right about the time of the Reformation, people are looking at droplets of water through microscopes and seeing things they have never seen before.
In short, things we humans never saw before and things we humans never thought about before, things we never knew existed before are coming into focus for us. We are making new discoveries. And we humans start to look at the world with a new set of eyes. We start seeing things as a list of facts to be gathered. (Slight pause.)
Now I, for one, do not want to overturn the discoveries of the Enlightenment and all that it brought. I like electric lights, computers and flush toilets, all benefits of scientific knowledge. But I do want to suggest that when we look at faith, when we look at belief like a science problem, we are headed down a questionable path. But why? Why is that a questionable direction? (Slight pause.)
The word ‘Creed’ comes from the Latin word Credo. We translate the Latin word Credo as ‘I believe.’ Fair enough. And in fact, the first words of the Nicene Creed in Latin are Credo in unum Deum... I believe in One God...
But to say the word Credo means I believe is somewhat deceiving. You see, the intent of the word Credo is not to affirm an item of belief or affirm a list of beliefs. The word Credo means I give my heart. So, in order to translate the phrase Credo in unum Deum accurately we should say “I give my heart to One God.” (Slight pause.)
I want to suggest giving one’s heart to God is not an affirmation of God as if God was just another item on a check list. If we give our hearts to God it means we long to be in a deep relationship with God.
All of which is to say in Scripture and perhaps even in Baseball, giving one’s heart is the key ingredient of belief. And when Jesus says to the synagogue officer (quote): “Do not fear— just believe” that is what Jesus is talking about— giving one’s heart to God. (Slight pause.)
We need to be in relationship with God. That’s what belief is about. And what we will find out over time is, once we are in relationship with God, God calls us to be in relationship with one another. (Slight pause.) Belief— it’s the easiest thing we will ever do. It’s the hardest thing we will ever do. Amen.
North Guilford Church
07/01/2012
Lamentations 3:22-33; Psalm 30; 2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43 ~ COMMUNION SUNDAY.
NOTE: THIS SERMON WAS OFFERED AT THE NORTH GUILFORD "SUMMER CHURCH" AT 9:00 A.M. THE PASTOR THEN HURRIED OVER TO NORWICH FOR THE REGULAR SERVICE AT THAT CHURCH AT 10:00 A.M.
Just Believe
“While Jesus was still speaking to the woman, some people came from the house of the synagogue officer and said to that officer, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?’ But Jesus overheard the remark and said to the leader of the synagogue: ‘Do not fear— just believe.’” — Mark 5:35-36.
For today’s generation the late baseball player Tug McGraw is probably best known as the father of the famous country music singer Tim McGraw. However, since I am getting to the point where some might call me ‘long in the tooth’ I remember Tug McGraw before his son Tim was an apple in his eye. And I remember Tug as an outstanding relief pitcher who was in the Major Leagues from the late 1960s right through the early 1980s— 19 seasons.
McGraw was a part of the World Series winning 1969 New York Mets, the 1973 National League Pennant winning New York Mets and the 1980 World Series winning Philadelphia Phillies. And Tug always had a way with words.
His first major league manager was Casey Stengel, so perhaps the reason he could compose a well turned phrase was that he learned a ballplayer had to be able to speak well and he learned the art of speaking baseball at the foot of a master. Stengel— the old professor as he was called— was known for his sharp wit and his ability to talk at length on anything baseball-related.
In any case, perhaps the reason Tug stands out in my memory bank is a catchphrase he invented for those 1973 National League Pennant winning New York Mets. But before I talk about the phrase McGraw invented, for those of you who don’t follow baseball, I need to explain the 1973 Mets.
Under their manager Yogi Berra (someone who also had and has a way with words) the 1973 Mets won the National League East title. And they did so with a 82–79 record. They then won the National League Pennant by beating a much stronger Cincinnati Reds team in the playoffs.
But that 82–79 record in the regular season meant their winning percentage was .509. Hence, they had by far, the least number of regular season wins of any pennant winning team in major league history, something Baseball is still embarrassed about, 39 years later. And that’s where McGraw and his words come in.
Every time the Mets would win, McGraw would shout out “You Gotta Believe!” Every time the Mets would lose, McGraw would shout out “You Gotta Believe!”
And then his teammates picked up on it. And then the press picked up on it. And then the fans picked up on it. People started making banners with the words “You Gotta Believe!” emblazoned on them and marching around Shea Stadium. If the Mets were winning by ten runs the fans would shout “You Gotta Believe!” If the Mets were losing by ten runs it did not matter. The fans would shout “You Gotta Believe!” (Slight pause.)
“You Gotta Believe?” Believe what? Believe you can throw a baseball? Believe you can hit a baseball? Believe you can win a baseball game? Yes, the Mets did win the 1973 National League Pennant. But did they win simply because they proclaimed “You Gotta Believe?” (Slight pause.)
These words are from the work known as Mark: “While Jesus was still speaking to the woman, some people came from the house of the synagogue officer and said to that officer, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?’ But Jesus overheard the remark and said to the leader of the synagogue: ‘Do not fear— just believe.’” (Slight pause.)
What is belief? People say they believe in Jesus. What does that mean? Indeed, what does someone believe, what is it someone believes if they say they believe in Jesus?
In this passage, it is clearly not a belief in Jesus being invoked since it is Jesus who says (quote): “Do not fear— just believe.” So, in what is Jesus inviting people to believe? (Slight pause.)
In her book Christianity After Religion: the End of the Church and a New Spiritual Awakening Diana Butler Bass says when the Protestant reformation came along people started to place more of an emphasis on Creeds. Now some would define a Creed as a list of beliefs, a set of principles onto which one is expected to sign, a list of beliefs one was at least expected to affirm.
But Creeds have only been defined that way, as a list of beliefs, since about the time of the Reformation. What I find fascinating about that timing is it coincides with the dawn of what might be called Western science.
Suddenly, right about the time of the Reformation, people are looking at the heavens through telescopes and seeing things they have never seen before. And right about the time of the Reformation, people are looking at droplets of water through microscopes and seeing things they have never seen before.
In short, things we humans never saw before and things we humans never thought about before, things we never knew existed before are coming into focus for us. We are making new discoveries. And we humans start to look at the world with a new set of eyes. We start seeing things as a list of facts to be gathered. (Slight pause.)
Now I, for one, do not want to overturn the discoveries of the Enlightenment and all that it brought. I like electric lights, computers and flush toilets, all benefits of scientific knowledge. But I do want to suggest that when we look at faith, when we look at belief like a science problem, we are headed down a questionable path. But why? Why is that a questionable direction? (Slight pause.)
The word ‘Creed’ comes from the Latin word Credo. We translate the Latin word Credo as ‘I believe.’ Fair enough. And in fact, the first words of the Nicene Creed in Latin are Credo in unum Deum... I believe in One God...
But to say the word Credo means I believe is somewhat deceiving. You see, the intent of the word Credo is not to affirm an item of belief or affirm a list of beliefs. The word Credo means I give my heart. So, in order to translate the phrase Credo in unum Deum accurately we should say “I give my heart to One God.” (Slight pause.)
I want to suggest giving one’s heart to God is not an affirmation of God as if God was just another item on a check list. If we give our hearts to God it means we long to be in a deep relationship with God.
All of which is to say in Scripture and perhaps even in Baseball, giving one’s heart is the key ingredient of belief. And when Jesus says to the synagogue officer (quote): “Do not fear— just believe” that is what Jesus is talking about— giving one’s heart to God. (Slight pause.)
We need to be in relationship with God. That’s what belief is about. And what we will find out over time is, once we are in relationship with God, God calls us to be in relationship with one another. (Slight pause.) Belief— it’s the easiest thing we will ever do. It’s the hardest thing we will ever do. Amen.
North Guilford Church
07/01/2012
Sunday, July 1, 2012
07/01/2012 ~ Proper 8 ~ Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Fifth Sunday after Pentecost ~ 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27; Psalm 130; Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15, 2:23-24 or
Lamentations 3:22-33; Psalm 30; 2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43 ~ COMMUNION SUNDAY ~ Joe Also Preaches at North Guilford.
Great Is Your Faithfulness
“Your favor, O Yahweh, is not exhausted, / nor has the compassion of God failed. / They are new every morning; / great is Your faithfulness.” — Lamentations 3:22-23.
You may have read in the newsletter or heard me say that the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ has elected a New Conference Minister, the Reverend Mr. David Gaewski. David has, for 15 years, been a Conference Minister with the Maine Conference and will assume the duties of our Conference Minister on August 13th.
In most aspects, searching for and electing a new Conference Minister is a little like searching for and electing a new pastor. The one minor difference is in a local church a pastor designate will lead a service of worship and give a sermon and then it comes time for the pastor to be elected. After the pastor has done this, the church will take a vote to determine if that pastor will be called.
A Conference Minister designate does not lead worship or offer a sermon at a Conference Meeting where a vote will be taken. But a Conference Minister designate does give an address to the Conference before the vote is taken. Is there a difference between a sermon and an address? Yes. An address is much, much longer.
Now, rumor has it that we pastors excel at being long winded. So, giving an address is probably not a burden for us. But, since I’d like to pass on some of what David said and, as suggested, an address tends to be long, I will offer but a small piece of what David spoke about. (Slight pause.)
It was, he said, in the neighborhood of 100 years ago when three of his four grandparents sailed past the Statue of Liberty and found themselves stepping ashore at Ellis Island. They came to the United States determined to make it, to establish a life here by whatever means they could devise.
In a real sense, like many other immigrants who came to these shores, they brought nothing with them, their life savings having been spent just on getting here. So, in the words of David, they brought nothing with them other than a pocket full of dreams.
Two of David’s grandparents were economic refugees. The other two were political refugees. Not one of them spoke a single word of English when they arrived. Polish was the native tongue of each grandparent. Some went to their grave speaking only at best broken English.
All together these two couples had seventeen children, many of whom died before they reached the age of majority— adulthood. The roots of this family were planted in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Today David has twenty-three cousins spread out from the aforementioned Bridgeport to Rochester, from Maine to Los Angeles, from Atlanta to New Hampshire and from Syracuse to Long Island. Also, at least one cousin has made the reverse trip, gone back across the pond and now lives in southern France.
Among these relatives are counted an Episcopal priest, a Catholic evangelist, an early gay rights advocate, ardent Republicans, passionate Democrats, nurses, engineers, photographers, poets and, of course, there is one who happens to be a United Church of Christ Conference Minister. These, he said, these family connections, are the roots that ground him. These are the roots— roots which have wound up negotiating many diverse paths— roots of an immigrant family who arrived here with a pocket full of dreams— roots from which spring David’s own dreams. (Slight pause.)
Historians speculate that as few as 400,000 people crossed the Atlantic in the 200 years known as the 17th and 18th centuries— the 1600s and the 1700s. From 1836 to 1914, however— a span of less than 100 years, over 30 million people— and that 30 million counts only the Europeans, not people from other places— over 30 million people migrated to the United States.
I think one of the things our modern brains have a hard time understanding is that the vast majority of these 30 million people left their homelands and, for the most part, never saw either their place of birth or their close relatives who remained in their native land ever again. They left everything behind.
Once here, that was it. There was no going back. Regular travel was less common then and certainly something done largely by the wealthy, by people of the upper class, by people of means.
It has often been said we are a nation of immigrants. Perhaps more importantly we are a nation of immigrants who largely arrived here with little else than a pocket full of dreams. And just as happened to the family of the Rev. Mr. Gaewski, often the ones who arrived here worked very hard at turning their dreams into reality.
There is, needless to say, a different term, for some reason rarely used by people when referring to hard work. Hard work means being disciplined. It takes discipline to tackle hard work. And, to used yet a different term, to look at hard work and discipline in a slightly different way again, it means that a person who works hard is faithful. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from the work known as Lamentations: “Your favor, O Yahweh, is not exhausted, / nor has the compassion of God failed. / They are new every morning; / great is Your faithfulness.” (Slight pause.)
A long-standing and firm tradition of interpretation places the work called Lamentations in the period following Babylonian military assaults on Judah in 597, 587, and 582 Before the Common Era. In, short, this writing appears in the aftermath of the Babylonian invasions of Jerusalem, the fall of Jerusalem.
The survivors would have wondered whether they could continue to survive as a people. Leading families had been deported to Babylon; the king’s palace, the Temple, and the city walls had been razed.
A long siege of the city had left many dead, ill, suffering from famine. Along with overwhelming physical and social devastation came the collapse of the community’s entire theological and symbolic world.
The words of the prophets and the promises to Abraham and Sarah had turned empty, so the questions to be asked were obvious. Where was God— God who promised to dwell with them in Zion, to be with the house of David forever? Where was God— God who brought them out of Egypt to the land of promise? Had God contributed to the devastation of their world?
And still, despite all the turmoil with the fall of Jerusalem and the ensuing Babylonian Exile, given these disasters, the writer makes a stunning claim: God is faithful. “Great is your faithfulness.” Why? (Slight pause.)
I think there are often some pretty sound human truths we tend to ignore and even to hate to acknowledge. Maybe we just block them out. Here’s an example of one: life is an experiment. Get used to it.
We humans do things all the time which have no sure or predictable outcome. Life is made up of a whole series of risks. Some work out. Some don’t. And, again, we ignore or even to hate to acknowledge the fact that we take all kinds of chances all the time. Why? Well, maybe it’s because we are risk averse. Or at least we like to think we are risk averse.
But the truth is, you take your life in your hands every time you pull out of your driveway, every time you walk cross Broad Street, South Broad Street or North Broad Street. Put another way, too often we miss the fact that life is precious and frail. It is only when a loved one— a friend, a relative— is seriously ill or dies that we tend to pay attention to how tenuous our existence is.
Those 30 million who came to these shores were taking enormous risks. So, when David Gaewski speaks of his family who were immigrants he looks back on familial history and says (poetically) they had dreams. And yes they did. And yes we do. We have dreams. (Slight pause.)
So, given the tenuousness of life, given the risks of life, what does it mean to say God is faithful? (Slight pause.) I believe one of the things it means is not just that God dreams but that rather God dreams right along with us. But the primary dream God does have is that God will walk with us through life— this dangerous, risky life.
Further, the dream God has for us is one of relationship. The dream God has for us is that we will dream together and that we will dream with God. We, together with God, will dream of a life filled with challenges, a life filled with opportunities, a life where each of us and all of us is surrounded by love and support. (Slight pause.)
God is faithful. But we also need to understand that the faithfulness of God extends across lifetimes, across generations, across centuries, across millennia. It is in these terms— lifetimes, generations, centuries, millennia that the true faithfulness of God can be understood. The Hebrews, after all, built the pyramids, founded a homeland and then were conquered and yet survived.
Which is not to say each of us in our own lifetimes is unimportant to God. It is to say that the faithful promise of God is a promise of eternal life, is the promise whose climax is found in Jesus. Amen.
07/01/2012
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’m sure most of you wouldn’t think of me this way but maybe one of my problems is I’m too much of a traditionalist. I heard a weather forecaster on Saturday say, ‘Hey! The weather for the Fourth of July Weekend...’” and I went the 4th of July Weekend is a Wednesday this year. But people do try to move things around like that don’t they? I’m a traditionalist in the sense that I say, “Leave them where they are at.” We went over 200 years leaving the Fourth of July on the 4th of July on the 4th of July. That seems reasonable, doesn’t it? No, I think I’ll celebrate Christmas on December the 29th. No. Leave it where it is. My point is: we need to experience things where they are at. The lyric in this last hymns says ‘Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above.’ We need to experience God where God is and God is all around us throughout the ages, throughout the universe.”
BENEDICTION:
Let us place our trust in God. Let us go from this place to share this 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 for God is faithful. Amen.
Lamentations 3:22-33; Psalm 30; 2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43 ~ COMMUNION SUNDAY ~ Joe Also Preaches at North Guilford.
Great Is Your Faithfulness
“Your favor, O Yahweh, is not exhausted, / nor has the compassion of God failed. / They are new every morning; / great is Your faithfulness.” — Lamentations 3:22-23.
You may have read in the newsletter or heard me say that the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ has elected a New Conference Minister, the Reverend Mr. David Gaewski. David has, for 15 years, been a Conference Minister with the Maine Conference and will assume the duties of our Conference Minister on August 13th.
In most aspects, searching for and electing a new Conference Minister is a little like searching for and electing a new pastor. The one minor difference is in a local church a pastor designate will lead a service of worship and give a sermon and then it comes time for the pastor to be elected. After the pastor has done this, the church will take a vote to determine if that pastor will be called.
A Conference Minister designate does not lead worship or offer a sermon at a Conference Meeting where a vote will be taken. But a Conference Minister designate does give an address to the Conference before the vote is taken. Is there a difference between a sermon and an address? Yes. An address is much, much longer.
Now, rumor has it that we pastors excel at being long winded. So, giving an address is probably not a burden for us. But, since I’d like to pass on some of what David said and, as suggested, an address tends to be long, I will offer but a small piece of what David spoke about. (Slight pause.)
It was, he said, in the neighborhood of 100 years ago when three of his four grandparents sailed past the Statue of Liberty and found themselves stepping ashore at Ellis Island. They came to the United States determined to make it, to establish a life here by whatever means they could devise.
In a real sense, like many other immigrants who came to these shores, they brought nothing with them, their life savings having been spent just on getting here. So, in the words of David, they brought nothing with them other than a pocket full of dreams.
Two of David’s grandparents were economic refugees. The other two were political refugees. Not one of them spoke a single word of English when they arrived. Polish was the native tongue of each grandparent. Some went to their grave speaking only at best broken English.
All together these two couples had seventeen children, many of whom died before they reached the age of majority— adulthood. The roots of this family were planted in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Today David has twenty-three cousins spread out from the aforementioned Bridgeport to Rochester, from Maine to Los Angeles, from Atlanta to New Hampshire and from Syracuse to Long Island. Also, at least one cousin has made the reverse trip, gone back across the pond and now lives in southern France.
Among these relatives are counted an Episcopal priest, a Catholic evangelist, an early gay rights advocate, ardent Republicans, passionate Democrats, nurses, engineers, photographers, poets and, of course, there is one who happens to be a United Church of Christ Conference Minister. These, he said, these family connections, are the roots that ground him. These are the roots— roots which have wound up negotiating many diverse paths— roots of an immigrant family who arrived here with a pocket full of dreams— roots from which spring David’s own dreams. (Slight pause.)
Historians speculate that as few as 400,000 people crossed the Atlantic in the 200 years known as the 17th and 18th centuries— the 1600s and the 1700s. From 1836 to 1914, however— a span of less than 100 years, over 30 million people— and that 30 million counts only the Europeans, not people from other places— over 30 million people migrated to the United States.
I think one of the things our modern brains have a hard time understanding is that the vast majority of these 30 million people left their homelands and, for the most part, never saw either their place of birth or their close relatives who remained in their native land ever again. They left everything behind.
Once here, that was it. There was no going back. Regular travel was less common then and certainly something done largely by the wealthy, by people of the upper class, by people of means.
It has often been said we are a nation of immigrants. Perhaps more importantly we are a nation of immigrants who largely arrived here with little else than a pocket full of dreams. And just as happened to the family of the Rev. Mr. Gaewski, often the ones who arrived here worked very hard at turning their dreams into reality.
There is, needless to say, a different term, for some reason rarely used by people when referring to hard work. Hard work means being disciplined. It takes discipline to tackle hard work. And, to used yet a different term, to look at hard work and discipline in a slightly different way again, it means that a person who works hard is faithful. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from the work known as Lamentations: “Your favor, O Yahweh, is not exhausted, / nor has the compassion of God failed. / They are new every morning; / great is Your faithfulness.” (Slight pause.)
A long-standing and firm tradition of interpretation places the work called Lamentations in the period following Babylonian military assaults on Judah in 597, 587, and 582 Before the Common Era. In, short, this writing appears in the aftermath of the Babylonian invasions of Jerusalem, the fall of Jerusalem.
The survivors would have wondered whether they could continue to survive as a people. Leading families had been deported to Babylon; the king’s palace, the Temple, and the city walls had been razed.
A long siege of the city had left many dead, ill, suffering from famine. Along with overwhelming physical and social devastation came the collapse of the community’s entire theological and symbolic world.
The words of the prophets and the promises to Abraham and Sarah had turned empty, so the questions to be asked were obvious. Where was God— God who promised to dwell with them in Zion, to be with the house of David forever? Where was God— God who brought them out of Egypt to the land of promise? Had God contributed to the devastation of their world?
And still, despite all the turmoil with the fall of Jerusalem and the ensuing Babylonian Exile, given these disasters, the writer makes a stunning claim: God is faithful. “Great is your faithfulness.” Why? (Slight pause.)
I think there are often some pretty sound human truths we tend to ignore and even to hate to acknowledge. Maybe we just block them out. Here’s an example of one: life is an experiment. Get used to it.
We humans do things all the time which have no sure or predictable outcome. Life is made up of a whole series of risks. Some work out. Some don’t. And, again, we ignore or even to hate to acknowledge the fact that we take all kinds of chances all the time. Why? Well, maybe it’s because we are risk averse. Or at least we like to think we are risk averse.
But the truth is, you take your life in your hands every time you pull out of your driveway, every time you walk cross Broad Street, South Broad Street or North Broad Street. Put another way, too often we miss the fact that life is precious and frail. It is only when a loved one— a friend, a relative— is seriously ill or dies that we tend to pay attention to how tenuous our existence is.
Those 30 million who came to these shores were taking enormous risks. So, when David Gaewski speaks of his family who were immigrants he looks back on familial history and says (poetically) they had dreams. And yes they did. And yes we do. We have dreams. (Slight pause.)
So, given the tenuousness of life, given the risks of life, what does it mean to say God is faithful? (Slight pause.) I believe one of the things it means is not just that God dreams but that rather God dreams right along with us. But the primary dream God does have is that God will walk with us through life— this dangerous, risky life.
Further, the dream God has for us is one of relationship. The dream God has for us is that we will dream together and that we will dream with God. We, together with God, will dream of a life filled with challenges, a life filled with opportunities, a life where each of us and all of us is surrounded by love and support. (Slight pause.)
God is faithful. But we also need to understand that the faithfulness of God extends across lifetimes, across generations, across centuries, across millennia. It is in these terms— lifetimes, generations, centuries, millennia that the true faithfulness of God can be understood. The Hebrews, after all, built the pyramids, founded a homeland and then were conquered and yet survived.
Which is not to say each of us in our own lifetimes is unimportant to God. It is to say that the faithful promise of God is a promise of eternal life, is the promise whose climax is found in Jesus. Amen.
07/01/2012
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’m sure most of you wouldn’t think of me this way but maybe one of my problems is I’m too much of a traditionalist. I heard a weather forecaster on Saturday say, ‘Hey! The weather for the Fourth of July Weekend...’” and I went the 4th of July Weekend is a Wednesday this year. But people do try to move things around like that don’t they? I’m a traditionalist in the sense that I say, “Leave them where they are at.” We went over 200 years leaving the Fourth of July on the 4th of July on the 4th of July. That seems reasonable, doesn’t it? No, I think I’ll celebrate Christmas on December the 29th. No. Leave it where it is. My point is: we need to experience things where they are at. The lyric in this last hymns says ‘Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above.’ We need to experience God where God is and God is all around us throughout the ages, throughout the universe.”
BENEDICTION:
Let us place our trust in God. Let us go from this place to share this 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 for God is faithful. Amen.
06/24/2012 ~ Proper 7 ~ Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Fourth Sunday after Pentecost ~ 1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49; Psalm 9:9-20 or 1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 18:10-16; Psalm 133; Job 38:1-11; Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13; Mark 4:35-41 ~ Annual Organizational Meeting in Our 198th Year; A Ceremony of Shalom for Martha and Bob O’Keefe ~ a Ceremony Honoring Members in Long Standing.
Open Wide Your Hearts [1]
“We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; we have opened our hearts wide to you. There is no restriction in our affections; we are not holding anything back; you, on the other hand, are holding back your affection from us. It would be fair— I speak as to children— if you would open your hearts as widely to us as we do to you.” — 2 Corinthians 6:11-13.
As you are probably aware because of the picture on the front page of The Evening Sun Wednesday, I once again hosted the Community Honors Banquet, the 15th time we’ve celebrated the honor students. This year I decided that, instead of asking one of my colleagues to offer the Invocation and Benediction, I’d do it myself.
This is part of the prayer I used as a Benediction (quote): “Give us, we pray, gentle reminders that true love is a discipline and is, therefore, not arrogant or boastful or rude. Grant us the grace that we may we be strengthened to work in Your service among all people.” (Slight pause.)
Love as a discipline: I’ve said that from this pulpit. But, I suspect, I’ve not repeated it in a while. I think it’s a worthy concept— love as a discipline. But further and also, love is the discipline through which we do accomplish the work of God among all people. (Slight pause.)
Yesterday morning on National Public Radio, Scott Simon interviewed three-time Olympic swimming gold medalist, now a law professor, Nancy Hogshead-Makar. Among the interesting things she said was that those gold medals were not the most important aspect of her participation in sports.
The most important aspect, she said, was that she did it. She said she went to practice on days she did not want to go to practice, when with every cell in her body did not want to go to practice.
But she also knew she needed to be committed to something bigger than being in a good mood on any particular day. In short, participation was a discipline. And success, she discovered, was not in the medals. The medals were a side-effect. The discipline, itself, was the success. (Slight pause.)
We, in the church, are or should be engaged in the discipline of love. I want to suggest that, just as an athlete needs to go someplace to practice, it is a good idea to gather for worship. It is a place we can practice the discipline of love just through out interactions with one another.
But we also know the discipline of love needs to go beyond these walls. On the other hand, if we do here what we are instructed to do in Scripture— instructed in Scripture— love one another— this becomes and is a safe place to practice. If any of us takes a tumble while we practice, we are surrounded by coaches who will help us.
Hence, I want to offer this reminder: this building is not the church. You are, we are the church. And how do we ensure that we remain vital as we practice? I think Paul has a pretty good answer: “open wide our hearts.” Amen.
06/24/2012
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: “In the work Christianity After Religion Diana Butler Bass says this: if you want to knit, you don’t study the doctrines of knitting. You go find a knitter, someone who will teach you knitting. You form a relationship with that person, you sit with a group of knitters and then you start to learn by doing and by practice. Christianity is something we do, a practice. You can, indeed, study Christian doctrines. But Christianity is learned by forming relationships with practitioners and then by doing and by practice.”
RESPONSIVE BENEDICTION:
PASTOR: Now go! Go, led by the marvelous light of Christ! Go, be a blessing!
MANY: Let us be a blessing! Let us be a light for the world! Let us be the Body of Christ! Amen! And again— Amen!
ONE: And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.
[1] Note: this is a homily— a short sermon— in part because of the Ceremony of Shalom and the Annual Meeting both of which took place in the context of this service of worship.
Open Wide Your Hearts [1]
“We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; we have opened our hearts wide to you. There is no restriction in our affections; we are not holding anything back; you, on the other hand, are holding back your affection from us. It would be fair— I speak as to children— if you would open your hearts as widely to us as we do to you.” — 2 Corinthians 6:11-13.
As you are probably aware because of the picture on the front page of The Evening Sun Wednesday, I once again hosted the Community Honors Banquet, the 15th time we’ve celebrated the honor students. This year I decided that, instead of asking one of my colleagues to offer the Invocation and Benediction, I’d do it myself.
This is part of the prayer I used as a Benediction (quote): “Give us, we pray, gentle reminders that true love is a discipline and is, therefore, not arrogant or boastful or rude. Grant us the grace that we may we be strengthened to work in Your service among all people.” (Slight pause.)
Love as a discipline: I’ve said that from this pulpit. But, I suspect, I’ve not repeated it in a while. I think it’s a worthy concept— love as a discipline. But further and also, love is the discipline through which we do accomplish the work of God among all people. (Slight pause.)
Yesterday morning on National Public Radio, Scott Simon interviewed three-time Olympic swimming gold medalist, now a law professor, Nancy Hogshead-Makar. Among the interesting things she said was that those gold medals were not the most important aspect of her participation in sports.
The most important aspect, she said, was that she did it. She said she went to practice on days she did not want to go to practice, when with every cell in her body did not want to go to practice.
But she also knew she needed to be committed to something bigger than being in a good mood on any particular day. In short, participation was a discipline. And success, she discovered, was not in the medals. The medals were a side-effect. The discipline, itself, was the success. (Slight pause.)
We, in the church, are or should be engaged in the discipline of love. I want to suggest that, just as an athlete needs to go someplace to practice, it is a good idea to gather for worship. It is a place we can practice the discipline of love just through out interactions with one another.
But we also know the discipline of love needs to go beyond these walls. On the other hand, if we do here what we are instructed to do in Scripture— instructed in Scripture— love one another— this becomes and is a safe place to practice. If any of us takes a tumble while we practice, we are surrounded by coaches who will help us.
Hence, I want to offer this reminder: this building is not the church. You are, we are the church. And how do we ensure that we remain vital as we practice? I think Paul has a pretty good answer: “open wide our hearts.” Amen.
06/24/2012
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: “In the work Christianity After Religion Diana Butler Bass says this: if you want to knit, you don’t study the doctrines of knitting. You go find a knitter, someone who will teach you knitting. You form a relationship with that person, you sit with a group of knitters and then you start to learn by doing and by practice. Christianity is something we do, a practice. You can, indeed, study Christian doctrines. But Christianity is learned by forming relationships with practitioners and then by doing and by practice.”
RESPONSIVE BENEDICTION:
PASTOR: Now go! Go, led by the marvelous light of Christ! Go, be a blessing!
MANY: Let us be a blessing! Let us be a light for the world! Let us be the Body of Christ! Amen! And again— Amen!
ONE: And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.
[1] Note: this is a homily— a short sermon— in part because of the Ceremony of Shalom and the Annual Meeting both of which took place in the context of this service of worship.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
06/03/2012 ~ Trinity Sunday ~ First Sunday after Pentecost ~ Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Proper 4 ~ Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 29; Romans 8:12-17; John 3:1-17 ~ Inter-generational Sunday.
JOE: Tom Rasely! Did you know that strange as it may seem, the Bible is about Baseball.
TOM: Baseball? Baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday. And he invented it right over in Cooperstown, New York. Now, Abraham is in the Bible. But Abraham probably lived about four thousand years ago. Moses is in the Bible. But Moses probably lived about three thousand years ago. Jesus is in the Bible. But Jesus lived about two thousand years ago. And they all lived in what we today call the Middle East. The Middle East— that’s thousands and thousands and thousands of miles away from here. Even by jet, that would take better than a half a day to get there. Abner Doubleday lived in Cooperstown, New York, about forty-five miles away and by car it’s an hour from here. Now, legend has it that Doubleday invented Baseball there, in Cooperstown, in 1839. I know because I’ve been in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and that’s what it says, right there in the Hall of Fame. And if there is anything I know, it’s that 1839 is not thousands of years ago. 1839 is only about 170 years ago.
LINDA: Tom— Baseball is in the Bible. The first words in Genesis say: “In the Big Inning...”
TOM: Oh, yeah?
JOE: Yeah.
TOM: Well who’s on first?
LINDA: What do you mean?
TOM: All baseball players have funny names. And some of those names are even pretty strange. I mean, in the past baseball players have had names like Dizzy Dean. And Moose Skowron— he played for the Yankees. And today we have Joba Chamberlain— Joba Chamberlain— that name doesn’t sound like the name of a baseball player. That sounds like a character out of Star Wars. But a guy named Joba Chamberlain plays for the New York Yankees. At least when he’s not on the disabled list. Anyway, Charles Dillon Stengel— speaking of funny names— Charles Dillon Stengel is known to most people as Casey Stengel. And Casey said you can’t have a baseball team without a catcher— so let’s forget about a catcher and start on First Base. If the Bible is about Baseball, who’s on First?
LINDA: What do you mean who’s on first?
TOM: If the Bible is about baseball, what’s the name of the player who plays first base in the Bible?
JOE: What is not the name of the one who plays first base on the Bible baseball team.
TOM: I know that! Who’s on first?
JOE: Who is not the name of the one who plays first base on the Bible baseball team.
TOM: Can one of you please tell me the name of the person who is playing the position of first base on this Bible baseball team?
LINDA: I AM.
TOM: You play first base?
LINDA: No.
TOM: I didn’t think you were playing first base. So, who is the name of the person playing first?
JOE: I AM.
TOM: You play first base?
JOE: No.
TOM: O.K. We got that straight now. You’re not playing first. And you’re not playing first. So, who is playing first?
LINDA AND JOE (TOGETHER): I AM.
TOM: No. Wait! You can’t both be playing first!
JOE: No. We’re not.
TOM: So, who is playing first?
LINDA AND JOE (TOGETHER): I AM.
TOM: All right. You’ve got two people playing first base.
LINDA: No. You don’t understand. When Moses asked God to tell Moses what the name of God is so Moses could tell the people of Israel that name, the word God used to identify God’s own self was the Hebrew word Yahweh.
JOE: And the Hebrew word Yahweh is, in Hebrew, a form of the verb to be. Hence, the name of God is...
LINDA AND JOE (TOGETHER): I AM.
TOM: No. That can’t possible be right. No one can be named ‘I AM.’ It’s just too strange.
JOE: Hey! If someone can be named Dizzy or Moose or Joba, how can you say ‘I AM’ is a strange name?
TOM: Well, I guess you have a point. But I’ve heard people call God by a lot of names. I’ve heard God called Creator. I’ve heard God called the Light. I’ve heard God called Rock— now that name sounds like a baseball player— Rock. I’ve heard God called Father.
LINDA: Yes. God is called by a lot of names in the Bible. But of all those names you mentioned, Father is the one you will never find in the Bible.
TOM: What do you mean Father is not in the Bible. Didn’t Jesus teach the disciples to start a basic prayer to God with the words “Our Father...”?
LINDA: No.
TOM: What do you mean no? We said a prayer that started with the words “Our Father...” just a couple of minutes ago and I know Jesus taught that prayer to the disciples.
LINDA: No. The prayer Jesus taught the disciples was more personal and more intimate than that. Jesus told the disciples to pray saying “Our Daddy...”
TOM: But this is God! That sounds way too...too... too informal— “Our Daddy...”
LINDA: But that’s what it really says in Scripture in the original language— “Our Daddy.”
TOM: All right, so where did we get Father?
JOE: We got it from the Romans. They called their chief God ‘Father.’ So, the term ‘Father’ is not in the Bible. It just started being used because the Romans were using it for their god.
TOM: But the Romans worshiped a lot of gods; the Romans were pagans.
JOE: I think you’ve made my point. They were pagans.
LINDA: And since God is not called Father in the Bible, maybe we should just stick with the name Yahweh— “I AM.”
TOM: I AM is on first?
JOE: I AM is on first.
TOM: O.K. Who’s on second? Bet I got you with that one. Who plays second base on this Bible team? It ain’t ‘I AM’ is it?
LINDA: No. It ain’t I AM.
JOE: Jesus is on second.
LINDA: Today we celebrate the Trinity and in the Trinity Jesus is known as the Second Person of the Trinity. Jesus is on Second.
TOM: Oh, yeah? Think you’re smart with that one, do you? (Mocking.) Jesus is known as the Second person of the Trinity. So, Jesus is on Second. Well, I know my theology too. And Jesus had two natures. Jesus is fully human and Jesus is fully divine. So, maybe Jesus is not just on second. Nah, nah, na, na, na!
JOE: Shortstop.
TOM: What? Shortstop?
JOE: Shortstop.
TOM: Jesus plays shortstop.
JOE: You are right on that one, O grand inquisitor of all things baseball and Bible. Our Christian claim is that Jesus is fully human and fully divine. So, Jesus gets to play second. And Jesus gets to play shortstop too.
TOM: Who’s on second?
JOE: Jesus.
TOM: Who plays shortstop?
LINDA: Jesus.
TOM: But how can someone play two positions?
LINDA: Tom... it’s Jesus.
TOM: (Resigned.) Yeah.... fully human; fully divine.
LINDA: Right.
TOM: O.K. Explain that. Explain how someone can play two positions.
JOE: Tom... it’s Jesus.
TOM: (Resigned again.) Right. O.K. It’s Jesus. But you still have the hot corner! You haven’t got the hot corner covered yet!
LINDA: The hot corner?
TOM: Third base! Where you have to be ready for someone dropping down a bunt. Where the batters hit wicked shots right down the line! And you don’t have it covered! Wham! Crack! And there goes a line drive right over the bag...
JOE: Tom. Tom. Tom. Tom. You know who covers the hot corner.
TOM: I do?
JOE: You do.
TOM: (Pause.) The Spirit of God?
JOE: See? You do know your theology. The Spirit of God, sometimes called the Holy Spirit, sometimes called the Paraclete...
TOM: Hold it! Hold it! Hold it! That the Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete really proves the Bible is about baseball!
JOE: That the Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete really proves the Bible is about baseball?
TOM: Of course it does! The Holy Spirit must be wearing a pair of cletes.
JOE: Right. Well, the Holy Spirit is sometimes called the Paraclete, sometimes called the Spirit which is present to us, sometimes called the Spirit in our midst... the Spirit is there to handle all those bunts which might catch us unaware and all the hot shots down right the line.
LINDA: The Spirit of God is always with us. The gifts of the Spirit, the gifts God gives us are many: wisdom, knowledge, healing, prophecy, discernment. The Spirit of God is at work in our lives. And we can rely on the Spirit to guide us through life.
JOE: And our experience of God, the example of Jesus and the guidance of the Spirit is the real reason we say Baseball is mirrored in the Bible.
TOM: Why do you say that?
JOE: Tom, what’s the object of the game of baseball?
TOM: To score runs?
LINDA: Close! Not quite right, though. The object of the game is to be safe at home.
JOE: And if we pay attention to the fact that God, the Great I AM is on first...
LINDA: And Jesus plays both second and short...
JOE: And the Spirit covers third...
LINDA: And that God, Jesus and the Spirit is the Trinity and that God, Jesus and the Spirit are the Trinity...
JOE: When we pay attention to all that...
TOM: I know. I know. We will be safe at home with God.
JOE: Safe at home...
LINDA: Safe at home...
LINDA AND JOE: Amen!
TOM: Amen.
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Who is on first? One of my Seminary professors posted this on Facebook. On Trinity Sunday we celebrate the mysterious love that provides the cement for the universe. Love must always have its object, and God, as God truly is, is always a community of love. All things are rooted in that love and all things will return to that love. We can no more escape that love than we can escape gravity or other forces deep in our nature. And God is always one step beyond our understanding. After all, God who could be understood by theologians would be subject to manipulation by them.”
BENEDICTION:
PASTOR: The blessing for today is used by natives of the islands in the South Pacific. Let us recite it together as a Unison Prayer.
MANY: O Jesus, please be the canoe that holds me up in the sea of life. Please be the rudder that keeps me on straight paths. Be the outrigger that supports me in times of stress. Let Your Spirit be the sail that carries me though each day. Keep me safe, so that I can paddle on steady in the voyage called life. God of all, bless us so we may have calm seas, a warm sun and clear nights filled with stars. Amen.
[1] It needs to be noted that in the posting of this sermon on the web there will be some discrepancies between the published text and the audio file, since the recording of this happened when three people exchanged dialogue in “real time” and in real time intentional and unintentional additions and cuts happen. But the text is close to the recording.
[2] It needs to be noted that this sermon came after a Children’s Time during which the Pastor tried on a lot of baseball hats with the emblems of different teams and asked the children to identify the teams. The pastor then asked: which team is God on? And one youngster got it right: God is on everyone’s team. The pastor then immediately transitions into this sermon. The parts were played by Pastor Joe Connolly. Tom Rasely, Music Associate and Linda Oehme, Deacon and a Member of the Executive Council.
Baseball, the Bible and the Trinity [1]
A Tri-logue (A Dialogue for Three People) [2]
A Tri-logue (A Dialogue for Three People) [2]
JOE: Tom Rasely! Did you know that strange as it may seem, the Bible is about Baseball.
TOM: Baseball? Baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday. And he invented it right over in Cooperstown, New York. Now, Abraham is in the Bible. But Abraham probably lived about four thousand years ago. Moses is in the Bible. But Moses probably lived about three thousand years ago. Jesus is in the Bible. But Jesus lived about two thousand years ago. And they all lived in what we today call the Middle East. The Middle East— that’s thousands and thousands and thousands of miles away from here. Even by jet, that would take better than a half a day to get there. Abner Doubleday lived in Cooperstown, New York, about forty-five miles away and by car it’s an hour from here. Now, legend has it that Doubleday invented Baseball there, in Cooperstown, in 1839. I know because I’ve been in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and that’s what it says, right there in the Hall of Fame. And if there is anything I know, it’s that 1839 is not thousands of years ago. 1839 is only about 170 years ago.
LINDA: Tom— Baseball is in the Bible. The first words in Genesis say: “In the Big Inning...”
TOM: Oh, yeah?
JOE: Yeah.
TOM: Well who’s on first?
LINDA: What do you mean?
TOM: All baseball players have funny names. And some of those names are even pretty strange. I mean, in the past baseball players have had names like Dizzy Dean. And Moose Skowron— he played for the Yankees. And today we have Joba Chamberlain— Joba Chamberlain— that name doesn’t sound like the name of a baseball player. That sounds like a character out of Star Wars. But a guy named Joba Chamberlain plays for the New York Yankees. At least when he’s not on the disabled list. Anyway, Charles Dillon Stengel— speaking of funny names— Charles Dillon Stengel is known to most people as Casey Stengel. And Casey said you can’t have a baseball team without a catcher— so let’s forget about a catcher and start on First Base. If the Bible is about Baseball, who’s on First?
LINDA: What do you mean who’s on first?
TOM: If the Bible is about baseball, what’s the name of the player who plays first base in the Bible?
JOE: What is not the name of the one who plays first base on the Bible baseball team.
TOM: I know that! Who’s on first?
JOE: Who is not the name of the one who plays first base on the Bible baseball team.
TOM: Can one of you please tell me the name of the person who is playing the position of first base on this Bible baseball team?
LINDA: I AM.
TOM: You play first base?
LINDA: No.
TOM: I didn’t think you were playing first base. So, who is the name of the person playing first?
JOE: I AM.
TOM: You play first base?
JOE: No.
TOM: O.K. We got that straight now. You’re not playing first. And you’re not playing first. So, who is playing first?
LINDA AND JOE (TOGETHER): I AM.
TOM: No. Wait! You can’t both be playing first!
JOE: No. We’re not.
TOM: So, who is playing first?
LINDA AND JOE (TOGETHER): I AM.
TOM: All right. You’ve got two people playing first base.
LINDA: No. You don’t understand. When Moses asked God to tell Moses what the name of God is so Moses could tell the people of Israel that name, the word God used to identify God’s own self was the Hebrew word Yahweh.
JOE: And the Hebrew word Yahweh is, in Hebrew, a form of the verb to be. Hence, the name of God is...
LINDA AND JOE (TOGETHER): I AM.
TOM: No. That can’t possible be right. No one can be named ‘I AM.’ It’s just too strange.
JOE: Hey! If someone can be named Dizzy or Moose or Joba, how can you say ‘I AM’ is a strange name?
TOM: Well, I guess you have a point. But I’ve heard people call God by a lot of names. I’ve heard God called Creator. I’ve heard God called the Light. I’ve heard God called Rock— now that name sounds like a baseball player— Rock. I’ve heard God called Father.
LINDA: Yes. God is called by a lot of names in the Bible. But of all those names you mentioned, Father is the one you will never find in the Bible.
TOM: What do you mean Father is not in the Bible. Didn’t Jesus teach the disciples to start a basic prayer to God with the words “Our Father...”?
LINDA: No.
TOM: What do you mean no? We said a prayer that started with the words “Our Father...” just a couple of minutes ago and I know Jesus taught that prayer to the disciples.
LINDA: No. The prayer Jesus taught the disciples was more personal and more intimate than that. Jesus told the disciples to pray saying “Our Daddy...”
TOM: But this is God! That sounds way too...too... too informal— “Our Daddy...”
LINDA: But that’s what it really says in Scripture in the original language— “Our Daddy.”
TOM: All right, so where did we get Father?
JOE: We got it from the Romans. They called their chief God ‘Father.’ So, the term ‘Father’ is not in the Bible. It just started being used because the Romans were using it for their god.
TOM: But the Romans worshiped a lot of gods; the Romans were pagans.
JOE: I think you’ve made my point. They were pagans.
LINDA: And since God is not called Father in the Bible, maybe we should just stick with the name Yahweh— “I AM.”
TOM: I AM is on first?
JOE: I AM is on first.
TOM: O.K. Who’s on second? Bet I got you with that one. Who plays second base on this Bible team? It ain’t ‘I AM’ is it?
LINDA: No. It ain’t I AM.
JOE: Jesus is on second.
LINDA: Today we celebrate the Trinity and in the Trinity Jesus is known as the Second Person of the Trinity. Jesus is on Second.
TOM: Oh, yeah? Think you’re smart with that one, do you? (Mocking.) Jesus is known as the Second person of the Trinity. So, Jesus is on Second. Well, I know my theology too. And Jesus had two natures. Jesus is fully human and Jesus is fully divine. So, maybe Jesus is not just on second. Nah, nah, na, na, na!
JOE: Shortstop.
TOM: What? Shortstop?
JOE: Shortstop.
TOM: Jesus plays shortstop.
JOE: You are right on that one, O grand inquisitor of all things baseball and Bible. Our Christian claim is that Jesus is fully human and fully divine. So, Jesus gets to play second. And Jesus gets to play shortstop too.
TOM: Who’s on second?
JOE: Jesus.
TOM: Who plays shortstop?
LINDA: Jesus.
TOM: But how can someone play two positions?
LINDA: Tom... it’s Jesus.
TOM: (Resigned.) Yeah.... fully human; fully divine.
LINDA: Right.
TOM: O.K. Explain that. Explain how someone can play two positions.
JOE: Tom... it’s Jesus.
TOM: (Resigned again.) Right. O.K. It’s Jesus. But you still have the hot corner! You haven’t got the hot corner covered yet!
LINDA: The hot corner?
TOM: Third base! Where you have to be ready for someone dropping down a bunt. Where the batters hit wicked shots right down the line! And you don’t have it covered! Wham! Crack! And there goes a line drive right over the bag...
JOE: Tom. Tom. Tom. Tom. You know who covers the hot corner.
TOM: I do?
JOE: You do.
TOM: (Pause.) The Spirit of God?
JOE: See? You do know your theology. The Spirit of God, sometimes called the Holy Spirit, sometimes called the Paraclete...
TOM: Hold it! Hold it! Hold it! That the Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete really proves the Bible is about baseball!
JOE: That the Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete really proves the Bible is about baseball?
TOM: Of course it does! The Holy Spirit must be wearing a pair of cletes.
JOE: Right. Well, the Holy Spirit is sometimes called the Paraclete, sometimes called the Spirit which is present to us, sometimes called the Spirit in our midst... the Spirit is there to handle all those bunts which might catch us unaware and all the hot shots down right the line.
LINDA: The Spirit of God is always with us. The gifts of the Spirit, the gifts God gives us are many: wisdom, knowledge, healing, prophecy, discernment. The Spirit of God is at work in our lives. And we can rely on the Spirit to guide us through life.
JOE: And our experience of God, the example of Jesus and the guidance of the Spirit is the real reason we say Baseball is mirrored in the Bible.
TOM: Why do you say that?
JOE: Tom, what’s the object of the game of baseball?
TOM: To score runs?
LINDA: Close! Not quite right, though. The object of the game is to be safe at home.
JOE: And if we pay attention to the fact that God, the Great I AM is on first...
LINDA: And Jesus plays both second and short...
JOE: And the Spirit covers third...
LINDA: And that God, Jesus and the Spirit is the Trinity and that God, Jesus and the Spirit are the Trinity...
JOE: When we pay attention to all that...
TOM: I know. I know. We will be safe at home with God.
JOE: Safe at home...
LINDA: Safe at home...
LINDA AND JOE: Amen!
TOM: Amen.
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Who is on first? One of my Seminary professors posted this on Facebook. On Trinity Sunday we celebrate the mysterious love that provides the cement for the universe. Love must always have its object, and God, as God truly is, is always a community of love. All things are rooted in that love and all things will return to that love. We can no more escape that love than we can escape gravity or other forces deep in our nature. And God is always one step beyond our understanding. After all, God who could be understood by theologians would be subject to manipulation by them.”
BENEDICTION:
PASTOR: The blessing for today is used by natives of the islands in the South Pacific. Let us recite it together as a Unison Prayer.
MANY: O Jesus, please be the canoe that holds me up in the sea of life. Please be the rudder that keeps me on straight paths. Be the outrigger that supports me in times of stress. Let Your Spirit be the sail that carries me though each day. Keep me safe, so that I can paddle on steady in the voyage called life. God of all, bless us so we may have calm seas, a warm sun and clear nights filled with stars. Amen.
[1] It needs to be noted that in the posting of this sermon on the web there will be some discrepancies between the published text and the audio file, since the recording of this happened when three people exchanged dialogue in “real time” and in real time intentional and unintentional additions and cuts happen. But the text is close to the recording.
[2] It needs to be noted that this sermon came after a Children’s Time during which the Pastor tried on a lot of baseball hats with the emblems of different teams and asked the children to identify the teams. The pastor then asked: which team is God on? And one youngster got it right: God is on everyone’s team. The pastor then immediately transitions into this sermon. The parts were played by Pastor Joe Connolly. Tom Rasely, Music Associate and Linda Oehme, Deacon and a Member of the Executive Council.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
SERMON ~ 05/27/2012 ~ The Presence of the Spirit
05/27/2012 ~ Day of Pentecost ~ Acts 2:1-21 or Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; Romans 8:22-27 or Acts 2:1-21; John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 ~ Memorial Day Weekend on the Secular Calendar.
“Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Surely all these people speaking are Galileans. How does it happen that each of us hears these words in our own native language?’” — Acts 2:7-8
I have, on occasion and from this pulpit, quoted the Anglican Bishop and theologian Nicholas Thomas Wright. Among my favorite of Wright’s quotes is this one: “Modern times are no different than New Testament times. In New Testament Times nearly everybody believed in God or the gods. [1] Very few people took it seriously.”
A recent survey suggests in the neighborhood of 92 to 94 percent of Americans believe in some kind of God. To be clear, in naming God some of those included in that statistic may refer to God simply as a “Higher Power” or use some other euphemism. Others have a more traditional view when it comes to naming God.
There are, in fact, many ways to express a belief in God or to name God. The point is no matter how Americans name God, a belief in some God is a dominant opinion.
On the other hand, in that same survey, one taken by Baylor University, it also suggests one way to look at this American belief in God is by defining the type of God— not the name of God but the type of God— in which one believes. That section of the survey says Americans actually believe in four different Gods.
The four Gods are named in this way: the Authoritarian God. This is, of course, the God of rules and retribution.
The Benevolent is another type of God Who showed up in the survey. And, to be clear, in the benevolent category we get not only the God of Love but the God Who often gets intertwined in this concept: the gift giving God.
That’s the gift giving God as in “Dear God, may I please win a million dollars.” This is the ‘I’m giving away money God’ made popular by many television evangelists.
In the next category, the survey used the term Critical God. ‘Critical God’ was, perhaps, a poor choice of words to use in creating the category but generally, what the survey was getting at is that God is a God of some kind of justice.
The problem here is this category includes both a God Whose outlook is one where justice might be for all people and a God Who encompasses the claim that justice can be applied only on an individual basis— one person at a time. Hence, this is a God of justice for the individual, justice for one but not for all.
The fourth God named in the survey is the Distant God. This is the God who set the universe in motion and who now has little to do with that universe or with humanity.
And what percentage of the votes did the competing Gods get? The results in descending order are these: the Authoritarian God had 31 percent of the vote. The Distant God had 24. The Benevolent God came in at 23 percent and the Critical God at 16 percent. Add up all those percentages and it’s a 94 percent total, right in line with the number of people who claim a belief in God.
I found all this information in the book Christianity After Religion: the End of the Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening by Diana Butler Bass. [2] And, using her words to illustrate the results found in this survey, none of these four types of Gods particularly resembles in any kind of classical definition the Christian God or the Jewish God or the Muslim God.
Indeed, there is only one problem with the this set of four Gods. No. I take that back there are a whole slew of problems with this set of four Gods. Right now, however, I want to point out just one problem among the slew.
The Authoritarian God, the Distant God, the Benevolent God and the Critical God are all, largely, human Gods. And I label these as human Gods because, as defined, these seem to be largely invented by humanity. And these four descriptions of God do not even come close to the God we find in Scripture.
Further, and perhaps more to the point, these are all old fashioned Gods. How so? No matter how far back you go in history, even back beyond New Testament times, even back beyond the origins of the Hebrew people, you will find these four Gods: Authoritarian, Distant, Benevolent and Critical.
These have remained in vogue from generation to generation, from civilization to civilization. What you will not find among these Gods is, again, the God of Scripture. (Slight pause.)
So, what God is present in Scripture? What God can we see described in Scripture? (Slight pause.) I want to suggest the God we find in Scripture is a God of change— a God of change. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from the work know as Luke/Acts in the section we call Acts: “Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Surely all these people speaking are Galileans. How does it happen that each of us hears these words in our own native language?’” (Slight pause.)
To take the events recorded in this passage in a literal way is more of a mistake than to take nearly any other passage in all of Scripture in a literal way . This passage is not about speaking in tongues or hearing those tongues. This is not about a rushing wind or tongues of fire.
This is about the presence of the Spirit of God. And either we believe that the Spirit is present to us now, or we do not.
Further, part of the point offered is no one in this narrative— no one— is excluded from the display of the grace God offers. Unlike other moments— the transfiguration, to use one example where only an inner few are witnesses to the work of God’s Spirit— unlike other moments, everyone is included at Pentecost.
The tongues of fire rest upon each disciple. The crowd gathers because each one has heard the disciples speaking in the native tongue of each.
Just to make sure not even the least astute reader misses the inclusiveness of the moment, the list of place names traces a wide sweep throughout the ancient world. What happens at Pentecost is, thus, no inner mystical experience. It is outpouring of the Spirit of God that touches every life.
As must also be clear, not everyone there, not everyone listening responds to the winds of new life, the fires of new life, the change that is happening. And yet new life, change is precisely what this seems to be about. The Spirit of God is present, sudden, unmerited, amazing.
Hence, I want to suggest Pentecost does mean God acts in our lives. And I want to suggest Pentecost means the presence of the Spirit of God— that Spirit— invites our participation.
You see, the proclamation that the Spirit of God is here and among us is a common thread in all Scripture. And that the Spirit of God invites us to shed old ways, old Gods, human Gods, is a common theme throughout all Scripture. (Slight pause.)
The retired Episcopal Bishop, a prolific writer of books and articles, John Shelby Spong, has said this (quote): “We walk into the mystery of God. We never arrive. And if we think we arrive we become an idolater.’
Perhaps that quote illustrates the real problem with the Authoritarian, Distant, Benevolent and Critical Gods. These Gods can be pigeon holed. These Gods are static. But a God who is still speaking— and certainly once clear message of Pentecost is that God still speaks— a God who is still speaking is a God who calls us to change.
I think the singular challenge presented to the church, presented to us by Scripture is this: will we recognize that God is present to us and always calling us to new places, to different horizons, to reach beyond a limited vision of what the world can be to an expansive vision of what the world can be. In short, will we participate in new life, the change offered by the Spirit? Amen.
05/27/2012
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: “In my comments I quoted Diana Butler Bass from her work Christianity After Religion: the End of the Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening. In this work she speaks about a pastor who is leaving the ministry and the church because (quote): ‘In the church I spent more time discussing the replacement of the church roof than discerning the purpose of the church.’ Indeed, the point Bass is making in claiming there is a new spiritual awakening is that this is happening outside of the confines of church, or at least outside the church as it has been known for at least a couple hundred years. I want to suggest that in our denomination and in this church are more attuned to and ready for that awakening. On the other hand and as I also suggested, to partake in the new life offered by the Spirit might necessitate change.”
BENEDICTION: Let us acknowledge our many gifts. Let us seek to use them for the common good. Let us commit ourselves as people of action. God, the creator, is at work in our midst. The Holy Spirit is present to us. Jesus, the Christ, lives among us. Let us go from this worship to continue our worship with work and witness. And may the peace of Christ, which surpasses our understanding keep our hearts, minds and spirits centered on God, this day and forevermore. Amen.
[1] A note on punctuation: for the most part I’ve capitalized God, even with that may be considered by some to be grammatically ( and perhaps theologically) questionable.
[2] From that book pp. 49-51.
The Presence of the Spirit
“Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Surely all these people speaking are Galileans. How does it happen that each of us hears these words in our own native language?’” — Acts 2:7-8
I have, on occasion and from this pulpit, quoted the Anglican Bishop and theologian Nicholas Thomas Wright. Among my favorite of Wright’s quotes is this one: “Modern times are no different than New Testament times. In New Testament Times nearly everybody believed in God or the gods. [1] Very few people took it seriously.”
A recent survey suggests in the neighborhood of 92 to 94 percent of Americans believe in some kind of God. To be clear, in naming God some of those included in that statistic may refer to God simply as a “Higher Power” or use some other euphemism. Others have a more traditional view when it comes to naming God.
There are, in fact, many ways to express a belief in God or to name God. The point is no matter how Americans name God, a belief in some God is a dominant opinion.
On the other hand, in that same survey, one taken by Baylor University, it also suggests one way to look at this American belief in God is by defining the type of God— not the name of God but the type of God— in which one believes. That section of the survey says Americans actually believe in four different Gods.
The four Gods are named in this way: the Authoritarian God. This is, of course, the God of rules and retribution.
The Benevolent is another type of God Who showed up in the survey. And, to be clear, in the benevolent category we get not only the God of Love but the God Who often gets intertwined in this concept: the gift giving God.
That’s the gift giving God as in “Dear God, may I please win a million dollars.” This is the ‘I’m giving away money God’ made popular by many television evangelists.
In the next category, the survey used the term Critical God. ‘Critical God’ was, perhaps, a poor choice of words to use in creating the category but generally, what the survey was getting at is that God is a God of some kind of justice.
The problem here is this category includes both a God Whose outlook is one where justice might be for all people and a God Who encompasses the claim that justice can be applied only on an individual basis— one person at a time. Hence, this is a God of justice for the individual, justice for one but not for all.
The fourth God named in the survey is the Distant God. This is the God who set the universe in motion and who now has little to do with that universe or with humanity.
And what percentage of the votes did the competing Gods get? The results in descending order are these: the Authoritarian God had 31 percent of the vote. The Distant God had 24. The Benevolent God came in at 23 percent and the Critical God at 16 percent. Add up all those percentages and it’s a 94 percent total, right in line with the number of people who claim a belief in God.
I found all this information in the book Christianity After Religion: the End of the Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening by Diana Butler Bass. [2] And, using her words to illustrate the results found in this survey, none of these four types of Gods particularly resembles in any kind of classical definition the Christian God or the Jewish God or the Muslim God.
Indeed, there is only one problem with the this set of four Gods. No. I take that back there are a whole slew of problems with this set of four Gods. Right now, however, I want to point out just one problem among the slew.
The Authoritarian God, the Distant God, the Benevolent God and the Critical God are all, largely, human Gods. And I label these as human Gods because, as defined, these seem to be largely invented by humanity. And these four descriptions of God do not even come close to the God we find in Scripture.
Further, and perhaps more to the point, these are all old fashioned Gods. How so? No matter how far back you go in history, even back beyond New Testament times, even back beyond the origins of the Hebrew people, you will find these four Gods: Authoritarian, Distant, Benevolent and Critical.
These have remained in vogue from generation to generation, from civilization to civilization. What you will not find among these Gods is, again, the God of Scripture. (Slight pause.)
So, what God is present in Scripture? What God can we see described in Scripture? (Slight pause.) I want to suggest the God we find in Scripture is a God of change— a God of change. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from the work know as Luke/Acts in the section we call Acts: “Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Surely all these people speaking are Galileans. How does it happen that each of us hears these words in our own native language?’” (Slight pause.)
To take the events recorded in this passage in a literal way is more of a mistake than to take nearly any other passage in all of Scripture in a literal way . This passage is not about speaking in tongues or hearing those tongues. This is not about a rushing wind or tongues of fire.
This is about the presence of the Spirit of God. And either we believe that the Spirit is present to us now, or we do not.
Further, part of the point offered is no one in this narrative— no one— is excluded from the display of the grace God offers. Unlike other moments— the transfiguration, to use one example where only an inner few are witnesses to the work of God’s Spirit— unlike other moments, everyone is included at Pentecost.
The tongues of fire rest upon each disciple. The crowd gathers because each one has heard the disciples speaking in the native tongue of each.
Just to make sure not even the least astute reader misses the inclusiveness of the moment, the list of place names traces a wide sweep throughout the ancient world. What happens at Pentecost is, thus, no inner mystical experience. It is outpouring of the Spirit of God that touches every life.
As must also be clear, not everyone there, not everyone listening responds to the winds of new life, the fires of new life, the change that is happening. And yet new life, change is precisely what this seems to be about. The Spirit of God is present, sudden, unmerited, amazing.
Hence, I want to suggest Pentecost does mean God acts in our lives. And I want to suggest Pentecost means the presence of the Spirit of God— that Spirit— invites our participation.
You see, the proclamation that the Spirit of God is here and among us is a common thread in all Scripture. And that the Spirit of God invites us to shed old ways, old Gods, human Gods, is a common theme throughout all Scripture. (Slight pause.)
The retired Episcopal Bishop, a prolific writer of books and articles, John Shelby Spong, has said this (quote): “We walk into the mystery of God. We never arrive. And if we think we arrive we become an idolater.’
Perhaps that quote illustrates the real problem with the Authoritarian, Distant, Benevolent and Critical Gods. These Gods can be pigeon holed. These Gods are static. But a God who is still speaking— and certainly once clear message of Pentecost is that God still speaks— a God who is still speaking is a God who calls us to change.
I think the singular challenge presented to the church, presented to us by Scripture is this: will we recognize that God is present to us and always calling us to new places, to different horizons, to reach beyond a limited vision of what the world can be to an expansive vision of what the world can be. In short, will we participate in new life, the change offered by the Spirit? Amen.
05/27/2012
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: “In my comments I quoted Diana Butler Bass from her work Christianity After Religion: the End of the Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening. In this work she speaks about a pastor who is leaving the ministry and the church because (quote): ‘In the church I spent more time discussing the replacement of the church roof than discerning the purpose of the church.’ Indeed, the point Bass is making in claiming there is a new spiritual awakening is that this is happening outside of the confines of church, or at least outside the church as it has been known for at least a couple hundred years. I want to suggest that in our denomination and in this church are more attuned to and ready for that awakening. On the other hand and as I also suggested, to partake in the new life offered by the Spirit might necessitate change.”
BENEDICTION: Let us acknowledge our many gifts. Let us seek to use them for the common good. Let us commit ourselves as people of action. God, the creator, is at work in our midst. The Holy Spirit is present to us. Jesus, the Christ, lives among us. Let us go from this worship to continue our worship with work and witness. And may the peace of Christ, which surpasses our understanding keep our hearts, minds and spirits centered on God, this day and forevermore. Amen.
[1] A note on punctuation: for the most part I’ve capitalized God, even with that may be considered by some to be grammatically ( and perhaps theologically) questionable.
[2] From that book pp. 49-51.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
SERMON ~ 05/20/2012 ~ Look Busy!
05/20/2012 ~ Seventh Sunday of Easter (If Ascension not observed here) ~ Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; Psalm 1; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19.
05/17/2012 ~ Ascension of the Lord ~ Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47 or Psalm 93; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53.
(Note: used Acts 1:1-14 which combines some of the Acts reading from the Ascension and some of the Acts reading for the 7th Sunday after Easter. Also used John 15:1-8 and some of that reading was assigned the previous week. This was done to match the Anthem.)
“They {the two messengers dressed in dazzling, bright robes} asked, ‘You Galileans, why do you stand looking at the sky? Jesus has been taken from you. Jesus will return in the same way.’” — Acts 1:11.
Here’s a confession: I eat fast food too often. And so, I was standing in Burger King this week, waiting for my order of fast food when someone came to the counter and ordered fifty meals to go, fifty burgers to go.
I was glad about 2 things: first, I was glad I had placed my order before they did. And second, I was glad I did not have to shlep fifty Burger King meals someplace. After all, who goes into a fast food joint and places an order like that?
Oh. Yeah. I did. It was a long, long time ago. I was a Junior in High School. As most of you are aware, at that point in my life, I was living in New York City.
So, how many people do you know, besides me, who have walked into a New York City Greek style dinner— the kind of place Saturday Night Live parodied as a “Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger!” joint— how many people do you know, besides me, who have walked into a New York City Greek style dinner and ordered two hundred cups of coffee... to go? I think that would be me and only me you know whose done that. I walked into a Greek dinner and ordered two hundred cups of coffee... to go. [1] (Slight pause.)
But how? Why? (Slight pause.) As have mentioned before, I grew up Roman Catholic. There was and there perhaps there still is a common practice among Catholics called Communion Breakfasts.
What that means is a group of people with a common bond— some kind of club— this small group goes to Mass together. Going to Mass together: that’s the Communion part.
Then this group repairs someplace to have breakfast together— that’s the breakfast part. This breakfast is followed by a speaker. That’s the real reason this is done: the message part.
So, coming back to the Greek dinner part, the Catholic club at my public high school sponsored a Communion Breakfast. So early in the morning, some of us went to do the set up in the high school cafeteria.
There was a coffee maker in the cafeteria, so we figured coffee would not be a problem. But we suddenly realized not one of us knew how to run it.
That’s when the adult supervisor of the club stuck some cash in my hand and told me that right when the mass was ending I need to leave. I needed to run to the Greek restaurant down the street and I needed to order two hundred cups of coffee... to go. And I did— 200 cups of coffee to go. After all, what’s a breakfast without coffee? (Slight pause.)
The speakers at these breakfasts follow a script, a formula. They start with religious joke. Or two. If they had nothing particularly interesting or inventive to say, it would be three or four jokes.
And then they would end by encouraging us to be involved the work of the church. Again, that was the real reason for the gathering— encouragement to be involved the work of the church.
The jokes were often the same, breakfast, after breakfast, after breakfast. If you had attended only a couple of these functions you could probably repeat the lines right along with the speaker.
And social pressure said you were expected to laugh, even if you had heard the joke five times or five hundred times. It was the protocol. There was one joke, in particular— a shaggy dog style of joke— about the work of the church, which got told over and over and over again.
This it is. Father O’Malley, recently ordained and, therefore, assigned to officiate at the 7:00 a.m. Mass on a Sunday morning in the dead of winter at Saint Aloysius Church in Brooklyn, New York, faces the congregation and starts to say “the Lord be with you.” He suddenly realizes that coming down the center isle— in full glory— is Himself— the Christ. And Father O’Malley— he’s a newbie. He just doesn’t know what to do.
So he runs to the sacristy, picks up the phone and calls Monsignor Dolan in the rectory. “Monsignor Dolan— this is Father O’Malley. I’m over at the church celebrating Mass and I looked up and Himself is coming down the center isle in glory. What should I do?”
The monsignor puts Father O’Malley on hold and calls Bishop Flaherty. You know where this is going, don’t you? The Bishop puts the monsignor on hold and calls the Cardinal. The Cardinal puts the Bishop on hold and calls the Pope. The Cardinal tells the Pope that Himself is coming down the center isle at Saint Aloysius Church in Brooklyn, New York, and asks the Pope what should Father O’Malley do. And what does the Pope say? “Look busy!” (Slight pause.)
And these words are from the work know as Luke/Acts in the section we call Acts: “They {the two messengers dressed in dazzling, bright robes} asked, ‘You Galileans, why do you stand looking at the sky? Jesus has been taken from you. Jesus will return in the same way.’” (Slight pause.)
If there is anything the church has excelled at for about two thousand years, it is our ability to look busy. The church universal, in its own way, has conquered empires, tended to the dissolution of others, built governments, tended to the dissolution of others, captured lands, built cathedrals, acted as a landlord and maintained incomparable organizational structures. The church has influenced, both for ill and for good, nearly every step of world history for those two thousand years.
And over time the church has been on every last side of every last issue of social progression and social regression you care to name. On a more local and modern basis, church people have crowded committees— inside and outside of churches— built local churches (as opposed to cathedrals), built local schools, hospitals and built up towns and cities. Yes, the church has looked very busy.
But should we look busy? Is looking busy the real job of the church? Is looking busy our job? Or is the church called to do more than looking busy.
Indeed, what is church about? Is church about looking busy? What is it to which we are called? Is it something other than looking busy? (Slight pause.)
In this passage it states what the disciples do after Jesus is no longer with them. (Quote): “With one mind, together, they devoted themselves to constant prayer.” (Slight pause.) Now, that’s an interesting way to look busy— the group, the church, with one mind devoted itself to prayer.
And, I think, that is what points us to the kind of busy we might embrace as a church. You see, I take this to mean the real work of the church, the work toward which the church always needs to be pointing, is the transformation of lives.
This is clear in the reading: we, the church, are called to transform lives first through prayer and discernment. But after that, how are lives transformed, after that prayer and discernment? Lives are transformed one person at a time.
Lives, you see, are transformed in the midst of progression and in the midst of regression. But progression and regression— those are movements. They sometimes take centuries to evolve. Put differently, we are called to think globally but to act locally— one on one on one on one.
And most of the time, lives are transformed in a much more subtle, quiet way. Lives are transformed between people, people interacting with one another on a personal level.
Lives and transformed with one on one interaction. And that is where true social justice lies— with one on one interaction. I need to be clear: social action, the pursuit of the justice God would have us seek, is necessary— meaning larger and larger groups.
But the basis of social justice work, its real core, is when lives are transformed by one person helping another person. Lives are transformed when one person says something meaningful to the other. Lives are transformed when one person offers of themselves to the other.
Perhaps, then, the real question for the church is this: are we bold enough to become that deeply involved with the lives of those around us, especially the poor, the oppressed, the outcast? Are we courageous enough to not just be busy. Are we courageous enough to be involved? (Slight pause.)
And yes, it can look good— very, very good— when we look busy. But we should not be concerned with looking good. We should be concerned with doing good.
In the end, lives are transformed only when each of us is and all of us are— with one mind, as this reading says— when each of us is and all of us are willing to undertake that project: doing good. And so, I think being church does not mean being busy.
Indeed, it is only when each of us and all of us are willing to take part in the transformation of lives that we really are and that we really become church. And the transformation of lives is something we can only do together, with each other— tugging on that yarn [1] — in community. Amen.
05/20/2012
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 once heard this said: ‘There are two things you can’t do alone. One is to be married. The other is to be a Christian.’ Unless we interact with one another, unless we support one another, unless we hold one another up, deeply interact with one another, it becomes hard to get to the point where lives are transformed.”
BENEDICTION: The work and the will of God is placed before us. Further, we are called to be faithful and seek to do God’s will and work. In so doing, may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.
[1] It does need to be noted that in the first half of this sermon there was a lot of laughter from the congregation because of the stories being told.
[2] At the Children’s Time the pastor unraveled a ball of yarn until everyone in the nave was holding on to it and asked everyone to pull on the string and to realize we were all attached. And we are not just attached by the yarn. We are attached by God.
05/17/2012 ~ Ascension of the Lord ~ Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47 or Psalm 93; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53.
(Note: used Acts 1:1-14 which combines some of the Acts reading from the Ascension and some of the Acts reading for the 7th Sunday after Easter. Also used John 15:1-8 and some of that reading was assigned the previous week. This was done to match the Anthem.)
Look Busy!
“They {the two messengers dressed in dazzling, bright robes} asked, ‘You Galileans, why do you stand looking at the sky? Jesus has been taken from you. Jesus will return in the same way.’” — Acts 1:11.
Here’s a confession: I eat fast food too often. And so, I was standing in Burger King this week, waiting for my order of fast food when someone came to the counter and ordered fifty meals to go, fifty burgers to go.
I was glad about 2 things: first, I was glad I had placed my order before they did. And second, I was glad I did not have to shlep fifty Burger King meals someplace. After all, who goes into a fast food joint and places an order like that?
Oh. Yeah. I did. It was a long, long time ago. I was a Junior in High School. As most of you are aware, at that point in my life, I was living in New York City.
So, how many people do you know, besides me, who have walked into a New York City Greek style dinner— the kind of place Saturday Night Live parodied as a “Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger!” joint— how many people do you know, besides me, who have walked into a New York City Greek style dinner and ordered two hundred cups of coffee... to go? I think that would be me and only me you know whose done that. I walked into a Greek dinner and ordered two hundred cups of coffee... to go. [1] (Slight pause.)
But how? Why? (Slight pause.) As have mentioned before, I grew up Roman Catholic. There was and there perhaps there still is a common practice among Catholics called Communion Breakfasts.
What that means is a group of people with a common bond— some kind of club— this small group goes to Mass together. Going to Mass together: that’s the Communion part.
Then this group repairs someplace to have breakfast together— that’s the breakfast part. This breakfast is followed by a speaker. That’s the real reason this is done: the message part.
So, coming back to the Greek dinner part, the Catholic club at my public high school sponsored a Communion Breakfast. So early in the morning, some of us went to do the set up in the high school cafeteria.
There was a coffee maker in the cafeteria, so we figured coffee would not be a problem. But we suddenly realized not one of us knew how to run it.
That’s when the adult supervisor of the club stuck some cash in my hand and told me that right when the mass was ending I need to leave. I needed to run to the Greek restaurant down the street and I needed to order two hundred cups of coffee... to go. And I did— 200 cups of coffee to go. After all, what’s a breakfast without coffee? (Slight pause.)
The speakers at these breakfasts follow a script, a formula. They start with religious joke. Or two. If they had nothing particularly interesting or inventive to say, it would be three or four jokes.
And then they would end by encouraging us to be involved the work of the church. Again, that was the real reason for the gathering— encouragement to be involved the work of the church.
The jokes were often the same, breakfast, after breakfast, after breakfast. If you had attended only a couple of these functions you could probably repeat the lines right along with the speaker.
And social pressure said you were expected to laugh, even if you had heard the joke five times or five hundred times. It was the protocol. There was one joke, in particular— a shaggy dog style of joke— about the work of the church, which got told over and over and over again.
This it is. Father O’Malley, recently ordained and, therefore, assigned to officiate at the 7:00 a.m. Mass on a Sunday morning in the dead of winter at Saint Aloysius Church in Brooklyn, New York, faces the congregation and starts to say “the Lord be with you.” He suddenly realizes that coming down the center isle— in full glory— is Himself— the Christ. And Father O’Malley— he’s a newbie. He just doesn’t know what to do.
So he runs to the sacristy, picks up the phone and calls Monsignor Dolan in the rectory. “Monsignor Dolan— this is Father O’Malley. I’m over at the church celebrating Mass and I looked up and Himself is coming down the center isle in glory. What should I do?”
The monsignor puts Father O’Malley on hold and calls Bishop Flaherty. You know where this is going, don’t you? The Bishop puts the monsignor on hold and calls the Cardinal. The Cardinal puts the Bishop on hold and calls the Pope. The Cardinal tells the Pope that Himself is coming down the center isle at Saint Aloysius Church in Brooklyn, New York, and asks the Pope what should Father O’Malley do. And what does the Pope say? “Look busy!” (Slight pause.)
And these words are from the work know as Luke/Acts in the section we call Acts: “They {the two messengers dressed in dazzling, bright robes} asked, ‘You Galileans, why do you stand looking at the sky? Jesus has been taken from you. Jesus will return in the same way.’” (Slight pause.)
If there is anything the church has excelled at for about two thousand years, it is our ability to look busy. The church universal, in its own way, has conquered empires, tended to the dissolution of others, built governments, tended to the dissolution of others, captured lands, built cathedrals, acted as a landlord and maintained incomparable organizational structures. The church has influenced, both for ill and for good, nearly every step of world history for those two thousand years.
And over time the church has been on every last side of every last issue of social progression and social regression you care to name. On a more local and modern basis, church people have crowded committees— inside and outside of churches— built local churches (as opposed to cathedrals), built local schools, hospitals and built up towns and cities. Yes, the church has looked very busy.
But should we look busy? Is looking busy the real job of the church? Is looking busy our job? Or is the church called to do more than looking busy.
Indeed, what is church about? Is church about looking busy? What is it to which we are called? Is it something other than looking busy? (Slight pause.)
In this passage it states what the disciples do after Jesus is no longer with them. (Quote): “With one mind, together, they devoted themselves to constant prayer.” (Slight pause.) Now, that’s an interesting way to look busy— the group, the church, with one mind devoted itself to prayer.
And, I think, that is what points us to the kind of busy we might embrace as a church. You see, I take this to mean the real work of the church, the work toward which the church always needs to be pointing, is the transformation of lives.
This is clear in the reading: we, the church, are called to transform lives first through prayer and discernment. But after that, how are lives transformed, after that prayer and discernment? Lives are transformed one person at a time.
Lives, you see, are transformed in the midst of progression and in the midst of regression. But progression and regression— those are movements. They sometimes take centuries to evolve. Put differently, we are called to think globally but to act locally— one on one on one on one.
And most of the time, lives are transformed in a much more subtle, quiet way. Lives are transformed between people, people interacting with one another on a personal level.
Lives and transformed with one on one interaction. And that is where true social justice lies— with one on one interaction. I need to be clear: social action, the pursuit of the justice God would have us seek, is necessary— meaning larger and larger groups.
But the basis of social justice work, its real core, is when lives are transformed by one person helping another person. Lives are transformed when one person says something meaningful to the other. Lives are transformed when one person offers of themselves to the other.
Perhaps, then, the real question for the church is this: are we bold enough to become that deeply involved with the lives of those around us, especially the poor, the oppressed, the outcast? Are we courageous enough to not just be busy. Are we courageous enough to be involved? (Slight pause.)
And yes, it can look good— very, very good— when we look busy. But we should not be concerned with looking good. We should be concerned with doing good.
In the end, lives are transformed only when each of us is and all of us are— with one mind, as this reading says— when each of us is and all of us are willing to undertake that project: doing good. And so, I think being church does not mean being busy.
Indeed, it is only when each of us and all of us are willing to take part in the transformation of lives that we really are and that we really become church. And the transformation of lives is something we can only do together, with each other— tugging on that yarn [1] — in community. Amen.
05/20/2012
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 once heard this said: ‘There are two things you can’t do alone. One is to be married. The other is to be a Christian.’ Unless we interact with one another, unless we support one another, unless we hold one another up, deeply interact with one another, it becomes hard to get to the point where lives are transformed.”
BENEDICTION: The work and the will of God is placed before us. Further, we are called to be faithful and seek to do God’s will and work. In so doing, may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.
[1] It does need to be noted that in the first half of this sermon there was a lot of laughter from the congregation because of the stories being told.
[2] At the Children’s Time the pastor unraveled a ball of yarn until everyone in the nave was holding on to it and asked everyone to pull on the string and to realize we were all attached. And we are not just attached by the yarn. We are attached by God.
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