READINGS: 10/14/2018 ~ Twenty-eight Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost ~ (Proper 23) ~ Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Psalm 22:1-15; Amos 5:6-7, 10-15; Psalm 90:12-17; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31.
It’s Not the Particulars!
“You know the commandments: ‘No killing; no committing adultery; no stealing; no bearing false witness; no defrauding; Honor your father and mother.’” — Mark 10:19.
It feels like I have done a lot of traveling on church business in the last two weeks. I was twice in Homer, once in Binghamton for Susquehanna Association work and once in Syracuse for New York Conference business.
Obviously, the shortest trip on that list was Binghamton, an hour or so, depending on where in that metropolis you’re headed. All in all, that’s a lot of time in the car.
When traveling in a car alone some people listen music but some listen to a book and some prefer novels, some prefer non-fiction. I’m different. I listen to academic lectures, often lectures on history. I know— history: boring!!! Well, boring for most people. Not for me.
As I listen I always find out new information, new insights, new ways of looking at things. Indeed, I have often said to be a good theologian you need to be a good historian. Christianity is steeped, even based in history— Greek History, Roman History, Western History, Church History.
Our claim as Christians is Jesus was real, lived in history, at a specific time, in a specific place. Our claim as Christians is with the advent of the Christ God was in the world then, has been in the world throughout history. Our claim is God is in the world, our world— here, now, with us in our present history. (Slight pause.)
Well, I’m lectures to which I’m currently listening are Foundations of Western Civilization. It would be redundant to say the foundations of Western civilization contain Greek History, Roman History, Western History, Church History. They do.
In the last couple of lectures I’ve stumbled on information I’d not known before, new ways of looking at things. I even found out something about Upstate New York. To illustrate, I need to point out an obvious fact about Upstate.
Generally, this area was settled by Europeans between the late-1700s and the mid-1800s. What was going on in America in that era? Americans saw ourselves, America saw itself as inheritors, keepers, preservers of Greek and Roman tradition.
Hence, many names of places in this area come out of the history of Greece and Rome: Syracuse, Cicero, Vestal, Cincinnatus, Pharsalia— all of them out of that history. It’s that last one— Pharsalia— that caught my attention when I heard it in a lecture. I knew those other names had Greek and Roman connections but I had not associated the name Pharsalia with Rome.
Pharsalia is the name of an epic Roman poem about a battle between an army led by Julius Caesar and one led by Pompey— Pompey— yes, another Roman name with a town name in this area. Pharsalia refers to the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 B.C.E. So Pharsalia is the name of yet one more place in this area taken from the Greco-Roman tradition and affirms what was happening in the era of European settlement in Upstate New York.
Another thing I heard was more general but much more important. Despite the title of the famous book by Gibbon The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, the Roman Empire neither declined nor fell. Things changed but the Empire remained quite intact.
Indeed, in the era in which Gibbon claimed decline happened, Rome was led by two competent emperors— Diocletian and Constantine. They were competent because they foresaw and saw— anticipated and identified— change in the Empire. And they dealt with those changes, made structural adjustments in how Rome was governed.
Now yes, you may think that’s a boring idea. But anticipating and identifying what will and what is happening is important. Therefore, instead of getting tied up in details, concentrating only on right now, competent leadership looks at the whole picture.
And so it’s inaccurate to say the Roman Empire declined. The Empire simply changed, constantly changed. Of course, everything changes constantly. It’s a lesson we can and should learn from history. (Slight pause.)
These words are in Mark. “You know the commandments: ‘No killing; no committing adultery; no stealing; no bearing false witness; no defrauding; Honor your father and mother.’” (Slight pause.)
There are three conversations in this reading. I think we need to consider the three of them as one. Commentaries suggest the writer of Mark meant them to be seen as one and that insight could be a key to understanding the thrust of the whole passage.
But first, we need to grapple with the idea that what is said to the rich person is not a call to abandon the world. Neither is it a suggestion to become a wandering mendicant, a beggar.
The disciples left all to follow Jesus. Their future is described as more than ample. Therefore, we need to grapple with the idea that, we, the church, cannot flee the arena, the time and place in history through which and in which we are called to live and serve.
Further, the rich person, like the disciples, keep the commandments. We need to grapple with the idea this is not enough. The commandments are just details, particulars. We need to look at the larger picture.
Hence, this question needs to be addressed: what does the world look like, really? And how do we, how should we respond to the world, really? (Slight pause.)
There are two answers to those questions. First, yes the world is broken. If you think that’s not true, please listen to the news. What are we going to do about that?
Second, yes things change constantly, the world changes constantly. If you think that’s not true, please listen to the news. What are we going to do about that?
Well, this is what history suggests to me: the details do not matter as much as seeing the entire picture, envisioning the whole. Foreseeing and seeing are imperative.
Put in a more colloquial way, when we pay too much attention to the tree or to the trees, we miss the fact that a forest stands in front of us. That forest is waiting to be identified, inviting us to grapple with it. (Slight pause.)
Let me put that trees/forest concept another way. In my Church History Survey course the professor was painfully aware students needed to keep up with the reading. Fall a week behind, it’s hard to catch up.
So each week there was a 10 question short answer quiz. The professor was generous. The tests were only 10% of the grade. One answer each week was “Sir John Free-be” so you would get at least 10% on each quiz without doing the reading.
This same teacher also said the importance of facts is to give context. But it is much more important to know and understand the broad sweep of history, the big picture.
Knowing Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 is not as important as knowing the voyages of the explorers in that era are about the beginnings a new economic system called capitalism. The facts— the tree— that’s Columbus. The broad sweep— the forest— that’s capitalism. Which is more important— Columbus or Capitalism?
So a forest is a larger picture. Our Christian forest is not about specific rules but about how we live our lives. So living within the rules is good. Living out from the rules is our calling. Put another way, Scripture constantly asks: where is our heart?
Loving one another is not a rule. Why? A rule is static, immoveable, a noun. Love is an action, a motion, a verb.
All that brings up another question about anticipation and identification. What is the purpose of this Church? This is a question with which this church shall be grappling in the next year and beyond the next year, a question with which this church should never stop grappling.
In order to faithfully grapple with this question we need to have foresight and sight— anticipation and identification. These have nothing to do with what programs we have, who the pastor is, even who the leadership is.
We all need to faithfully grapple with the question ‘what is the purpose of this church?’ And one way to work out that purpose might be that we all need to learn something from history.
Static, immoveable does not work. Action, motion does work. Change is not easy. But it is inevitable. Success is not a goal. Being faithful is.
So let me make one suggestion as to what being faithful might entail. I maintain faithfulness means living out from the rules, living out from what is the reality of now into the reality of what can be, seeing the big picture, perhaps even seeing the way of life to which God calls us.
We therefore need to live out our lives, live out the life of this church in covenant love. And covenant love means growth. Covenant love means change.
And that, my friends, suggests what yet another step might be. And it is a really, really big step. We— all of us together— need to trust God— God who is faithful. Amen.
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
10/14/2018
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: “President Harry S. Truman said this: ‘The only thing new in the world is the history you don’t know.’ Author Michael Lewis says this: ‘Program management is the existential threat you never really imagined as a risk. But Program management is the innovation that never occurs, the knowledge that is never created, because you have ceased to lay groundwork for it. It is what you never learned that might have saved you.’”
BENEDICTION: The Word of God guides us and assures us of God’s saving grace, God’s healing love, God’s eternal promises. May the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore. Amen.
Sunday, October 14, 2018
Sunday, October 7, 2018
SERMON ~ 10/07/2018 ~ “From the Earth”
READINGS: 10/07/2018 ~ Proper 22 ~ Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22) ~ Job 1:1, 2:1-10; Psalm 26; Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 8; Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16 ~ Columbus Day/Indigenous People’s Day Weekend ~ World-wide Communion Sunday ~ Communion Sunday.
From the Earth
“...Yahweh, God, said, ‘It is not good for this creature of the earth, this one I have made out of the adamah, made out of the earth, to be alone; I will make a fitting companion, a partner for it.’” — Genesis 2:18.
I have often regaled you with tales of my days as a professional writer. And, to be clear, I was a writer mostly for theater related projects. And, since I have been a writer and people who know me know that, occasionally someone will say to me their impression of most writers is that most writers are loners.
Many have that impression. It is not far fetched. Even I think most writers are loners. They go off to their towers, ivory or otherwise, and scribble, scribble, scribble— or these days type, type, type on a computer— pages and pages and pages of prose.
Then the writer emerges, finalized copy in hand, ready to share it with the world. And the world is not permitted to change a single letter, word, comma or paragraph, thank you.
But there is something unique about being a writer for theater which sets those of us involved in the profession apart. We are different breed than most writers— novelists, essayists, etc.
How are theater writers different? This is a given: theater is a collaborative art.
It takes many, many people of great talent— actors, directors, producers, musicians, set, sound and lighting designers, sometimes even other writers, multiple writers— to present a stage play. And all of these collaborators will bring change to what has been written.
It is a demand of the art of theater to embrace change in the process of creating. It is the nature of the art of theater to incorporate change in the process of creating. It is the character of the art of theater to include change in the process of creating.
Hence, a theater writer may initially find some tower in which to write. But the theater writer needs to know and understand that, upon emerging from said tower, change is a part of the process of creating. And perhaps what is equally important is to understand collaboration, working with others, is a part of the process of creating.
Having said occasionally someone will say their impression is that most writers are loners, the truth is as a writer for theater I am not a loner. No one who works in theater can be a loner.
The profession does not allow for that. In fact, more than one person has noticed I try to collaborate when I write and I try to collaborate in many things I do. I do not think I am a born collaborator.
I think I learned how to collaborate (and I found out that I like to collaborate). So because of my background and my training in theater I collaborate. It’s what theater people do. We collaborate. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Genesis. “...Yahweh, God, said, ‘It is not good for this creature of the earth, this one I have made out of the adamah, made out of the earth, to be alone; I will make a fitting companion, a partner for it.’” (Slight pause.)
I think you probably know this reading is the second of two takes on creation in the first chapters of Genesis. Please notice, I did not call these creation stories.
Why? Neither of these takes are descriptions of creation— not even close. Hence, they are not stories which concern how creation came about. So, if this is not a story about creation or even about how creation happened, what is it? (Slight pause.)
There are a bunch of things which jump out for me. But let’s start with the obvious. I hope the translation [1] I used made it clear the word ‘adam’ [2] is not a name. The adamah is the earth, the ground, the dust of the ground. Adam is, therefore, an earth creature, made out of the ground, from the ground. Equally, ish is not a name but a word which means giver of life.
Additionally, Yahweh, God, has made this earth creature and loves what God has been made. How do I know God loves the earth creature?
In words which came before the section of Scripture we heard today God acted as a bellows and breathes life into the adam. This “breath of life” is God’s own living breath.
This is a divine act. And this act provides the only distinction between humans and animals. God does not breathe into the animals. They are simply created out of the adamah, out of the earth.
Additionally and therefore, the adam, this earth creature, is a combination of the substance of the earth and the image of God, this breath of God. What seems clear is this passage constitutes a profound statement about human identity, about who we are.
Now, having formed the adam having breathed life into the adam, what happens? Together with this adam, Yahweh, God, sets to a task. They begin a collaboration. The task? They name things.
God creates things and brings them to the adam so they can be named. This is not merely a collaboration. We watch as a relationship is developed.
Further, God has an ulterior motive which is stated quite clearly. God seeks a companion for the adam, the earth creature. I want to suggest this is when yet another level of collaboration happens.
God, you see, does not take this next step in isolation from the earth creature. God creates ish— the name which means giver of life— God creates ish out of the earth creature, out of the adam.
Thereby, the collaboration deepens and becomes richer and becomes inclusive of yet another earth creature made out of the adam and made out of the breath of God. Hence by its nature, by its reality, this very act instructs humanity about what we should be doing and what we need to be doing. We need to collaborate with one another, rely on one another, support one another. (Slight pause.)
Let me state the obvious. As I said minutes ago, this take on creation does not concern how creation came about. If this is a story about anything it is a story about relationship— a story about relationship with God— a story about relationship with other humans.
And yes, you may be tired of hearing me using the word ‘covenant.’ But because this is a story about relationship with God and relationship with other humans this is a story about covenant.
Something we have to realize, need to realize, is that covenants— because they are collaborative— covenants are not contracts. Contracts do not change. They are and remain static.
Covenants, by their nature renew, animate, revive, regenerate, create, re-create, alter, live, breathe and yes, covenants change. And also yes, covenant is about collaboration.
It is a demand of the art of covenant to embrace change. It is a demand of the nature of covenant incorporate change. It is a demand of the fiber of covenant to include change.
Covenant, you see, is about the process of creating. Covenant is about the process of creating with God. Covenant is about the process of creating with others.
And oh yes, covenant is about the process of both creating and growing. Covenant is about the process of creating and growing in love, growing in peace, growing in wisdom, growing in knowledge, growing in understanding. And that, my friends is both a real story of creation and the real story of creation. We are invited by God to grow— to grow in love, in peace, in wisdom, in knowledge, in understanding. Amen.
10/07/2018
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “The idea that Scripture should be taken literally is a relatively modern concept. Here’s proof that this idea is a modern concept and that Scripture needs to be seen as living and breathing and lives and breathes with us. The Talmud is an ancient commentary on the Hebrew Scriptures. It was in place by the year 200 of the Common Era. This is a quote from the Talmud: ‘To not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justice, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work but neither are you free to abandon it.’”
BENEDICTION: The love of God lasts for an eternity. The reign of God is in the present tense, not the future when we acknowledge and participate in the work of God’s will. So, let us go forth knowing that the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need and the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than all our togetherness. May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.
[1]
This is the translation used and the introduction which preceded the reading of Genesis 2:18-23 [Inclusive Language Version]
Because we do not read the passages from Scripture in their original languages, the translation we use today helps us hear some of the meanings behind words we often take as names. These meanings indicate something richer is happening here than mere naming.
[18] ...Yahweh, God, said, “It is not good for this creature of the earth, this one I have made out of the adamah, made out of the earth, to be alone; I will make a fitting companion, a partner for it.” [19] So also out of the ground, from the soil, out of the adamah, Yahweh, God, formed all the animals, every wild beast of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the earth creature, the adam, so these could be named. Whatever the earth creature, the adam, called every living one, that became its name. [20] The earth creature gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field, all the wild animals.
But none of them proved to be a fitting companion, a partner for the adam, the earth creature. [21] So Yahweh, God, caused a deep sleep to fall on the earth creature. While it slept God divided the earth creature in two and then closed up the flesh from its side. [22] Yahweh then fashioned the two halves into male and female and presented them to one another.
[23] The male realized what had happened and said,
“This time this is the one!
Bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh;
Now this one will be called ish”—
ish a word which means source of life
“and I shall be called adam”—
adam— a word which means from the ground
“for out of me was this one taken.”
Here ends this reading from Scripture.
[2] Adam is pronounced a-dam.
From the Earth
“...Yahweh, God, said, ‘It is not good for this creature of the earth, this one I have made out of the adamah, made out of the earth, to be alone; I will make a fitting companion, a partner for it.’” — Genesis 2:18.
I have often regaled you with tales of my days as a professional writer. And, to be clear, I was a writer mostly for theater related projects. And, since I have been a writer and people who know me know that, occasionally someone will say to me their impression of most writers is that most writers are loners.
Many have that impression. It is not far fetched. Even I think most writers are loners. They go off to their towers, ivory or otherwise, and scribble, scribble, scribble— or these days type, type, type on a computer— pages and pages and pages of prose.
Then the writer emerges, finalized copy in hand, ready to share it with the world. And the world is not permitted to change a single letter, word, comma or paragraph, thank you.
But there is something unique about being a writer for theater which sets those of us involved in the profession apart. We are different breed than most writers— novelists, essayists, etc.
How are theater writers different? This is a given: theater is a collaborative art.
It takes many, many people of great talent— actors, directors, producers, musicians, set, sound and lighting designers, sometimes even other writers, multiple writers— to present a stage play. And all of these collaborators will bring change to what has been written.
It is a demand of the art of theater to embrace change in the process of creating. It is the nature of the art of theater to incorporate change in the process of creating. It is the character of the art of theater to include change in the process of creating.
Hence, a theater writer may initially find some tower in which to write. But the theater writer needs to know and understand that, upon emerging from said tower, change is a part of the process of creating. And perhaps what is equally important is to understand collaboration, working with others, is a part of the process of creating.
Having said occasionally someone will say their impression is that most writers are loners, the truth is as a writer for theater I am not a loner. No one who works in theater can be a loner.
The profession does not allow for that. In fact, more than one person has noticed I try to collaborate when I write and I try to collaborate in many things I do. I do not think I am a born collaborator.
I think I learned how to collaborate (and I found out that I like to collaborate). So because of my background and my training in theater I collaborate. It’s what theater people do. We collaborate. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Genesis. “...Yahweh, God, said, ‘It is not good for this creature of the earth, this one I have made out of the adamah, made out of the earth, to be alone; I will make a fitting companion, a partner for it.’” (Slight pause.)
I think you probably know this reading is the second of two takes on creation in the first chapters of Genesis. Please notice, I did not call these creation stories.
Why? Neither of these takes are descriptions of creation— not even close. Hence, they are not stories which concern how creation came about. So, if this is not a story about creation or even about how creation happened, what is it? (Slight pause.)
There are a bunch of things which jump out for me. But let’s start with the obvious. I hope the translation [1] I used made it clear the word ‘adam’ [2] is not a name. The adamah is the earth, the ground, the dust of the ground. Adam is, therefore, an earth creature, made out of the ground, from the ground. Equally, ish is not a name but a word which means giver of life.
Additionally, Yahweh, God, has made this earth creature and loves what God has been made. How do I know God loves the earth creature?
In words which came before the section of Scripture we heard today God acted as a bellows and breathes life into the adam. This “breath of life” is God’s own living breath.
This is a divine act. And this act provides the only distinction between humans and animals. God does not breathe into the animals. They are simply created out of the adamah, out of the earth.
Additionally and therefore, the adam, this earth creature, is a combination of the substance of the earth and the image of God, this breath of God. What seems clear is this passage constitutes a profound statement about human identity, about who we are.
Now, having formed the adam having breathed life into the adam, what happens? Together with this adam, Yahweh, God, sets to a task. They begin a collaboration. The task? They name things.
God creates things and brings them to the adam so they can be named. This is not merely a collaboration. We watch as a relationship is developed.
Further, God has an ulterior motive which is stated quite clearly. God seeks a companion for the adam, the earth creature. I want to suggest this is when yet another level of collaboration happens.
God, you see, does not take this next step in isolation from the earth creature. God creates ish— the name which means giver of life— God creates ish out of the earth creature, out of the adam.
Thereby, the collaboration deepens and becomes richer and becomes inclusive of yet another earth creature made out of the adam and made out of the breath of God. Hence by its nature, by its reality, this very act instructs humanity about what we should be doing and what we need to be doing. We need to collaborate with one another, rely on one another, support one another. (Slight pause.)
Let me state the obvious. As I said minutes ago, this take on creation does not concern how creation came about. If this is a story about anything it is a story about relationship— a story about relationship with God— a story about relationship with other humans.
And yes, you may be tired of hearing me using the word ‘covenant.’ But because this is a story about relationship with God and relationship with other humans this is a story about covenant.
Something we have to realize, need to realize, is that covenants— because they are collaborative— covenants are not contracts. Contracts do not change. They are and remain static.
Covenants, by their nature renew, animate, revive, regenerate, create, re-create, alter, live, breathe and yes, covenants change. And also yes, covenant is about collaboration.
It is a demand of the art of covenant to embrace change. It is a demand of the nature of covenant incorporate change. It is a demand of the fiber of covenant to include change.
Covenant, you see, is about the process of creating. Covenant is about the process of creating with God. Covenant is about the process of creating with others.
And oh yes, covenant is about the process of both creating and growing. Covenant is about the process of creating and growing in love, growing in peace, growing in wisdom, growing in knowledge, growing in understanding. And that, my friends is both a real story of creation and the real story of creation. We are invited by God to grow— to grow in love, in peace, in wisdom, in knowledge, in understanding. Amen.
10/07/2018
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “The idea that Scripture should be taken literally is a relatively modern concept. Here’s proof that this idea is a modern concept and that Scripture needs to be seen as living and breathing and lives and breathes with us. The Talmud is an ancient commentary on the Hebrew Scriptures. It was in place by the year 200 of the Common Era. This is a quote from the Talmud: ‘To not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justice, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work but neither are you free to abandon it.’”
BENEDICTION: The love of God lasts for an eternity. The reign of God is in the present tense, not the future when we acknowledge and participate in the work of God’s will. So, let us go forth knowing that the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need and the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than all our togetherness. May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.
[1]
This is the translation used and the introduction which preceded the reading of Genesis 2:18-23 [Inclusive Language Version]
Because we do not read the passages from Scripture in their original languages, the translation we use today helps us hear some of the meanings behind words we often take as names. These meanings indicate something richer is happening here than mere naming.
[18] ...Yahweh, God, said, “It is not good for this creature of the earth, this one I have made out of the adamah, made out of the earth, to be alone; I will make a fitting companion, a partner for it.” [19] So also out of the ground, from the soil, out of the adamah, Yahweh, God, formed all the animals, every wild beast of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the earth creature, the adam, so these could be named. Whatever the earth creature, the adam, called every living one, that became its name. [20] The earth creature gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field, all the wild animals.
But none of them proved to be a fitting companion, a partner for the adam, the earth creature. [21] So Yahweh, God, caused a deep sleep to fall on the earth creature. While it slept God divided the earth creature in two and then closed up the flesh from its side. [22] Yahweh then fashioned the two halves into male and female and presented them to one another.
[23] The male realized what had happened and said,
“This time this is the one!
Bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh;
Now this one will be called ish”—
ish a word which means source of life
“and I shall be called adam”—
adam— a word which means from the ground
“for out of me was this one taken.”
Here ends this reading from Scripture.
[2] Adam is pronounced a-dam.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
SERMON ~ 09/30/2018 ~ “Leadership Part II”
READINGS: 09/30/2018 ~ Proper 21 ~ Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22; Psalm 124 ; Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29; Psalm 19:7-14; James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-50.
Leadership Part II
“...Moses answered, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? If only all the people of God were prophets! If Yahweh would bestow the Spirit on them all!’” — Numbers 11:29.
I have said this here before but not in some time. This topic came to mind because of a discussion with a colleague last week.
When I offer pre-marital counseling one question I always try to ask is quite basic. ‘When does the marriage happen?’ Simple question? No, it’s not. It is complex.
I am happy to report no couple has ever given me an answer like this: “Didn’t we tell you? The marriage will be on Saturday, October the 6th at 2:00 p.m.”
The real answer is, indeed, not simple. But it is obvious. Marriage happens when the covenant commitment is made among— note, not between which would be two parties but among, meaning three parties— marriage happens when the covenant commitment is made among the two people and God. This is a three way covenant.
That covenant commitment could have happened a long time before the actual ceremony. But equally, that covenant commitment might not have yet happened, might not happen for years. The only thing I’d be willing to bet on is that it’s unlikely the ceremony commonly known as a wedding will entice it to happen.
So, what is the ceremony about? After all, in our culture it does seem to carry great importance. The ceremony is about gathering family and friends and inviting their blessing and the blessing of God.
Indeed, these rituals of passage are important markers in our life. So to say the marriage happens when the commitment to covenant becomes realized in no way diminishes the ceremony which carries its own importance. But the ceremony is not the covenant.
That having been said, this question about when the marriage happens and the answer about covenant commitment among the two people and God is a very, very complex concept. Why? Well, what is covenant commitment?
Covenant commitment is a commitment to growth— all kinds of growth— growth in learning, growth in spirit, growth in wisdom, growth in... love. Most of all it is a commitment to growth before God, with God, through God, in companionship with God and with another person.
I hope it’s obvious there are many complexities to this concept of covenant growth. It raises many questions. For example, what happens when one person in the covenant in some way— mentally or physically— is not able to grow? What happens when one person in covenant in some way simply refuses to grow.
You will be relieved to know I am not going to tackle those questions since my comments might last a couple of hours. I am not going there because I think this reading leads us to consider another area of covenant.
That aspect is not the human involvement, per se. The aspect I want to consider asks the question ‘Where is God in the covenant?’ (Slight pause.)
These words are found in the work known as Numbers: “...Moses answered, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? If only all the people of God were prophets! If Yahweh would bestow the Spirit on them all!’” (Slight pause.)
The Israelites think of Moses as their leader. Why not? Moses is charismatic. In Greek the word charisma means “gift.” Moses is gifted.
Moses seems to be filled with the Spirit of God, speaks with God face to face, speaks for God to the community, intercedes on behalf of the people. Leadership is embedded in this story and it cannot be read independently of it.
But what happens? Eventually complaints happen. At the beginning of this reading it’s complaints about food. At the end it’s about people other than those assigned prophesying.
Equally in terms of the entire story, the community had its formation experience under the leadership of Moses with the events at Sinai. But now the story of this community has entered a different phase— a wilderness phase, a wilderness experience.
And so when and where does this conflict, this complaining happen? It happens in the wilderness. Perhaps the charisma of Moses has lost some of it’s gleam. Perhaps the people are puzzled, confused, lost.
Questions are raised: where are we going? Who got us here? Whose fault was this? Who is in charge? Let’s blame someone.
Moses is a convenient target. Even Moses complains. But Moses complains to God. (Slight pause.)
Earlier I asked the question ‘Where is God in the covenant?’ I want to suggest in complaining to God Moses has it right. And, as if Moses needed to do this yet again, the prophet proves leadership ability. How? Moses listens to God.
And where is God in the covenant? What does Moses hear? (Slight pause.)
I want to suggest Moses hears is God is present. But I also want to suggest Moses hears not just that God is present. Moses hears God seeks to be present for everyone.
The next thing I want to say is we need to be, like Moses, listening to God. And we need to be, like Moses, confident God is there for us, present to us, for us, with us.
Please note: I am not addressing results. Being confident God is there for us, present to us, with us, is not the same as having an expectation about results. It is simply being in the moment, living in the moment with God.
And that is what Moses did. That is, in fact, what leadership in a community of faith really means for we humans. Leadership is not about figuring out what program we need or designing or planning.
Leadership in a community of faith is about asking a key question. To where is God calling the entire community of faith? If leadership fails to ask to where is God calling the community of faith, programs, designing and planning will not matter.
Indeed, programs, designing, planning may turn out to be quite successful in human terms. But does success in human terms fulfill being in covenant with God if God is not really on board with our programs, our designing, our planning? (Slight pause.)
Óscar Romero was a Catholic Archbishop in El Salvador. He was assassinated while offering Mass. This is a quote from Romero: “A church that does not provoke any crisis, preach a Gospel that unsettles, proclaims a Word that fails to get under anyone’s skin, a Word that fails to touch the real brokenness of the society in which it is being proclaimed, what kind of Gospel is that church preaching?” (Slight pause.)
To where is God calling the community of faith? Where is God? (Slight pause.)
I think Romero has it right. God always calls the community of faith to be provocative, unsettling in our society, even among the people, even in the congregation God has gathered.
Equally, I think this reading, itself, tells us two very important things. First leaders, no matter how charismatic, can only take a community so far. Second, while everyone in a community of faith is not called to leadership stations, leadership provided by a sole individual does not work in the long run.
After all, look around at churches in our own society led by charismatic leaders. What happens when that leader dies or leaves? Most often the community crumbles. If that’s the case were that church really a community of faith? Was it a church in name only? Were they simply a group with a charismatic leader?
Ideally, to be a church, to be a congregation, the whole community of faith needs to be involved. The whole community of faith needs to have voice. (Slight pause.)
That brings up two other points. First yes, it is the work of every person in the community of faith to listen for and listen to God. But equally it is the work of every person in the community of faith to be confident that God is there for us, present to us, for us, with us.
And for what are we listening? I believe we should not be listening for programs or designing or planning. It is the work of every person in the community of faith to be listening for the God of covenant who calls us to be committed to covenant growth— growth in learning, growth in spirit, growth in wisdom, growth in... love.
I also believe, as Archbishop Romero suggested, within that covenant we are called to do the work of God, the will of God. And that work is to preach the Gospel.
From what I hear the Gospel always provokes, unsettles, gets under the skin identifies the real brokenness of society. I would also suggest the real brokenness of society is that it has never been a place where everyone feels loved, wanted, protected, encouraged to grow.
And that my friends is the call of the Gospel. Everyone needs to feel loved, wanted, protected, encouraged to grow. Amen.
09/30/2018
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: “Please do me a favor and turn to the Call to Worship in the bulletin and find the sentence which reads, “Let the Glory of God abide in this place.” You will notice the word Glory is capitalized. That is not a typographical error. The word glory appears many times in the Hebrew Scriptures. The underlying Hebrew word is Kabod. Kabod indicates the reality of the real presence of God and that’s why glory is capitalized. So indeed, as a congregation, as a community of faith, let us commit to covenant growth and recognize the reality of the real presence of God.”
BENEDICTION: We are called to care in a world which can be uncaring, commissioned as lovers among some who may offer back indifference. Know this: God is with us in all our days. So, let us go forth knowing that the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need and the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than all our togetherness. May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.
Leadership Part II
“...Moses answered, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? If only all the people of God were prophets! If Yahweh would bestow the Spirit on them all!’” — Numbers 11:29.
I have said this here before but not in some time. This topic came to mind because of a discussion with a colleague last week.
When I offer pre-marital counseling one question I always try to ask is quite basic. ‘When does the marriage happen?’ Simple question? No, it’s not. It is complex.
I am happy to report no couple has ever given me an answer like this: “Didn’t we tell you? The marriage will be on Saturday, October the 6th at 2:00 p.m.”
The real answer is, indeed, not simple. But it is obvious. Marriage happens when the covenant commitment is made among— note, not between which would be two parties but among, meaning three parties— marriage happens when the covenant commitment is made among the two people and God. This is a three way covenant.
That covenant commitment could have happened a long time before the actual ceremony. But equally, that covenant commitment might not have yet happened, might not happen for years. The only thing I’d be willing to bet on is that it’s unlikely the ceremony commonly known as a wedding will entice it to happen.
So, what is the ceremony about? After all, in our culture it does seem to carry great importance. The ceremony is about gathering family and friends and inviting their blessing and the blessing of God.
Indeed, these rituals of passage are important markers in our life. So to say the marriage happens when the commitment to covenant becomes realized in no way diminishes the ceremony which carries its own importance. But the ceremony is not the covenant.
That having been said, this question about when the marriage happens and the answer about covenant commitment among the two people and God is a very, very complex concept. Why? Well, what is covenant commitment?
Covenant commitment is a commitment to growth— all kinds of growth— growth in learning, growth in spirit, growth in wisdom, growth in... love. Most of all it is a commitment to growth before God, with God, through God, in companionship with God and with another person.
I hope it’s obvious there are many complexities to this concept of covenant growth. It raises many questions. For example, what happens when one person in the covenant in some way— mentally or physically— is not able to grow? What happens when one person in covenant in some way simply refuses to grow.
You will be relieved to know I am not going to tackle those questions since my comments might last a couple of hours. I am not going there because I think this reading leads us to consider another area of covenant.
That aspect is not the human involvement, per se. The aspect I want to consider asks the question ‘Where is God in the covenant?’ (Slight pause.)
These words are found in the work known as Numbers: “...Moses answered, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? If only all the people of God were prophets! If Yahweh would bestow the Spirit on them all!’” (Slight pause.)
The Israelites think of Moses as their leader. Why not? Moses is charismatic. In Greek the word charisma means “gift.” Moses is gifted.
Moses seems to be filled with the Spirit of God, speaks with God face to face, speaks for God to the community, intercedes on behalf of the people. Leadership is embedded in this story and it cannot be read independently of it.
But what happens? Eventually complaints happen. At the beginning of this reading it’s complaints about food. At the end it’s about people other than those assigned prophesying.
Equally in terms of the entire story, the community had its formation experience under the leadership of Moses with the events at Sinai. But now the story of this community has entered a different phase— a wilderness phase, a wilderness experience.
And so when and where does this conflict, this complaining happen? It happens in the wilderness. Perhaps the charisma of Moses has lost some of it’s gleam. Perhaps the people are puzzled, confused, lost.
Questions are raised: where are we going? Who got us here? Whose fault was this? Who is in charge? Let’s blame someone.
Moses is a convenient target. Even Moses complains. But Moses complains to God. (Slight pause.)
Earlier I asked the question ‘Where is God in the covenant?’ I want to suggest in complaining to God Moses has it right. And, as if Moses needed to do this yet again, the prophet proves leadership ability. How? Moses listens to God.
And where is God in the covenant? What does Moses hear? (Slight pause.)
I want to suggest Moses hears is God is present. But I also want to suggest Moses hears not just that God is present. Moses hears God seeks to be present for everyone.
The next thing I want to say is we need to be, like Moses, listening to God. And we need to be, like Moses, confident God is there for us, present to us, for us, with us.
Please note: I am not addressing results. Being confident God is there for us, present to us, with us, is not the same as having an expectation about results. It is simply being in the moment, living in the moment with God.
And that is what Moses did. That is, in fact, what leadership in a community of faith really means for we humans. Leadership is not about figuring out what program we need or designing or planning.
Leadership in a community of faith is about asking a key question. To where is God calling the entire community of faith? If leadership fails to ask to where is God calling the community of faith, programs, designing and planning will not matter.
Indeed, programs, designing, planning may turn out to be quite successful in human terms. But does success in human terms fulfill being in covenant with God if God is not really on board with our programs, our designing, our planning? (Slight pause.)
Óscar Romero was a Catholic Archbishop in El Salvador. He was assassinated while offering Mass. This is a quote from Romero: “A church that does not provoke any crisis, preach a Gospel that unsettles, proclaims a Word that fails to get under anyone’s skin, a Word that fails to touch the real brokenness of the society in which it is being proclaimed, what kind of Gospel is that church preaching?” (Slight pause.)
To where is God calling the community of faith? Where is God? (Slight pause.)
I think Romero has it right. God always calls the community of faith to be provocative, unsettling in our society, even among the people, even in the congregation God has gathered.
Equally, I think this reading, itself, tells us two very important things. First leaders, no matter how charismatic, can only take a community so far. Second, while everyone in a community of faith is not called to leadership stations, leadership provided by a sole individual does not work in the long run.
After all, look around at churches in our own society led by charismatic leaders. What happens when that leader dies or leaves? Most often the community crumbles. If that’s the case were that church really a community of faith? Was it a church in name only? Were they simply a group with a charismatic leader?
Ideally, to be a church, to be a congregation, the whole community of faith needs to be involved. The whole community of faith needs to have voice. (Slight pause.)
That brings up two other points. First yes, it is the work of every person in the community of faith to listen for and listen to God. But equally it is the work of every person in the community of faith to be confident that God is there for us, present to us, for us, with us.
And for what are we listening? I believe we should not be listening for programs or designing or planning. It is the work of every person in the community of faith to be listening for the God of covenant who calls us to be committed to covenant growth— growth in learning, growth in spirit, growth in wisdom, growth in... love.
I also believe, as Archbishop Romero suggested, within that covenant we are called to do the work of God, the will of God. And that work is to preach the Gospel.
From what I hear the Gospel always provokes, unsettles, gets under the skin identifies the real brokenness of society. I would also suggest the real brokenness of society is that it has never been a place where everyone feels loved, wanted, protected, encouraged to grow.
And that my friends is the call of the Gospel. Everyone needs to feel loved, wanted, protected, encouraged to grow. Amen.
09/30/2018
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: “Please do me a favor and turn to the Call to Worship in the bulletin and find the sentence which reads, “Let the Glory of God abide in this place.” You will notice the word Glory is capitalized. That is not a typographical error. The word glory appears many times in the Hebrew Scriptures. The underlying Hebrew word is Kabod. Kabod indicates the reality of the real presence of God and that’s why glory is capitalized. So indeed, as a congregation, as a community of faith, let us commit to covenant growth and recognize the reality of the real presence of God.”
BENEDICTION: We are called to care in a world which can be uncaring, commissioned as lovers among some who may offer back indifference. Know this: God is with us in all our days. So, let us go forth knowing that the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need and the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than all our togetherness. May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.
Sunday, September 23, 2018
SERMON ~ 09/23/2018 ~ “Leadership Part I”
READINGS: 09/23/2018 ~ Proper 20 ~ Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proverbs 31:10-31; Psalm 1; Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22 or Jeremiah 11:18-20; Psalm 54; James 3:13 - 4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37 ~ A Celebration of Doris Graves for Her 100th Birthday Anniversary.
Leadership Part I
“Jesus sat down, called the Twelve together, and said, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and at the service of all.’” — Mark 9:35.
I have often mentioned this before. I was a member of an Episcopal Church on the Upper West Side in New York City. I joined just as the church had called The Rev. Carol Anderson, the first woman in the Manhattan Diocese to be a Rector, Rector being the fancy title Episcopalians use for pastor.
About two years into her tenure one parishioner who happened to be the son of a producer of Man of La Mancha— and yes, I did have a habit of hanging out with theater people— one parishioner suggested to Carol that the church start a soup kitchen program on Sunday afternoons. She did not blink. She said, “Go for it! Get it done!”
The first week several people gathered to help with the operation and they fed a grand total of four. The second week there were 25 guests, the third about seventy-five.
Within a couple months the operation fed some 200 weekly, an amount which strained the physical limitations, the space available at the church. This effort continued for a number of years.
At that time I was a licensed lay reader and chalice bearer, the leader of the group who did the lay reader ministry at the church. But I also became known as the bread guy.
About 8:00 a.m. on a Sunday I would grab a dolly and go around the corner to the world famous Zabar’s Deli on Broadway. They donated their day old bread to the cause, usually about seven to ten big boxes of bread. That’s what you need to help feed 200.
Something we heard from those who came to eat was quite blunt. There’s better food at other soup kitchens in the city, they said. But our soup kitchen, the soup kitchen at this church, had the nicest people.
I would suggest that positive word was based on one thing and one thing only. We tried to make sure at least one parishioner sat at every table.
Why? We thought it would be helpful for someone who was a member of the church community to just be there. We thought to have someone there to engage in conversation, to simply be present to these guests and perhaps help when one of us could would be a good idea.
To be clear, some of the people who came were destitute, homeless, living on the streets, lonely. They needed to eat in a place that had some safety and quiet.
But some were elderly, living alone, lonely. The fact that we offered this ministry gave those folks a chance to get out of their apartments, have human contact, socialize.
I think just being friendly helped people feel welcomed, safe, secure. Perhaps some of them then felt like they were a part of a bigger family, part of community.
They might have never seen the other people in that room before and might never see them again. But that did not preclude a sense of community. (Slight pause.)
Community— now there’s an interesting term. What is community? Is the community made up of anyone who gathers here on a Sunday? Or is it more broad than that? (Slight pause.)
No matter what church we talk about, it’s not the same folks who gather every week on Sunday. Each week the specific individuals who gather are different. The make up of the gathering changes. So the nature of the worshiping community changes each week.
This is what I say about that. I hope you agree. Anyone in our midst who comes to worship with us brings their own talents, prayers, concerns, joys, hopes and sense of the Spirit, the Spirit Who is both working in them and working in the community. Thereby we, the congregation, become a new and different creation by and through the presence of any one individual each and every week.
I hope through the grace of God that we, as individuals and collectively, strive to affirm that God works in each of us. I also hope through the grace of God we strive together to move the community of faith toward a more full understanding of the Spirit at work in this place, strive to listen for the places to which God calls us within the context of this community. (Slight pause.)
Well, if by definition the community known as the church changes Sunday to Sunday and probably even day to day, what does it mean to be a leader in that context? If community is that fluid what does it mean to offer leadership in that constantly changing, thereby seemingly less than cohesive community? (Slight pause.)
These words are found in Mark: “Jesus sat down, called the Twelve together, and said, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and at the service of all.’” (Slight pause.)
There is a lot going on in this reading. For a moment I want to take us to the section where Jesus speaks about death and resurrection. The words clearly state Jesus addresses the disciples.
Later however, it’s clear Jesus addresses the Twelve. Many people don’t realize this: broadly at least, the disciples are a larger group than the Twelve.
Scholars say the disciples could have numbered anywhere from fifty to the hundreds. These are the many followers of Jesus. That number goes beyond the Twelve.
So in using the term “Twelve,” the writer of Mark clearly indicates the Apostles are being addressed. And Jesus has gathered this smaller group together.
For lack of a better label we can think of them as the inner circle of those who follow Jesus. I think it’s appropriate to call this group the leadership.
Now, the distinction I just outlined also addresses the real make up of any community. It reinforces the idea that community constantly changes.
In fact, when the texts of the Gospels are carefully examined even the Apostles, this inner circle, is somewhat fluid. Sometimes all are present; sometimes only one or two. It seems like they come and go. And, of course, when Jesus is at that greatest hour of need... they are not to be found.
That brings me back to those important questions about and for leadership. If the community of church constantly changes, what does it mean to be a leader? If community is that fluid what does it mean to offer leadership in an apparently less than cohesive community? (Slight pause.)
One of my mentors in ministry advocated for quiet leadership. Here are several descriptions. First, it’s not what you say that makes for real leadership. It’s what you do.
Second, it is how you behave, how you treat other people that displays real leadership. Third, real leadership is not about self-aggrandizement.
Fourth, real leadership is about sharing, about empowering others to realize who they are by allowing for and encouraging their leadership. The goal of the true leader is to make yourself unnecessary.
All that also explains one of the problems with leadership. Real leaders do not need people who are willing to work.
Real leaders need people willing to lead others. Real leaders need no followers. Real leaders need others who are willing to lead. (Slight pause.)
Remember the story I told earlier about the Soup Kitchen at my New York City Church? I was known as the bread guy. That was minor leadership on my part but it was leadership.
Yes, it’s not what I said, it’s what I did that counted. But more importantly I filled a slot that needed filling in part because I could see the overall picture, the leadership picture, of what needed to be done.
And then there’s what Carol, the Rector at the church, said. “Go for it! Get it done!” Someone once said to me, “Well, why did she not do more? Why did she not start it? Why did she not organize it. That’s what a real leader would have done.”
No. Her job as a leader was to recognize a ministry was needed and recognize someone was willing to do it. Her job as a leader was to empower that person and get out of the way. (Slight pause.)
After this service we will gather for a celebration and some soup and bread. [1] I did not lead this, only in the sense that I got out of the way. Someone had the idea and then many hands helped, the Deacons with organization and other people helped. Many were empowered.
And it’s likely many people will come who are not here at the service of worship. And therefore, the community will change but it will still be community. (Slight pause.)
So, what is leadership? Leadership is something we all need to do and leaders are who we all need to be. Why? We are Congregationalists. The very name says we are all leaders.
And yes, I do think structure is a human necessity. I say that’s why there are the disciples and why there are the Twelve— structure. However, unless we are leaders together, unless leadership is communal, the community becomes diminished.
And let us also remember, Jesus explained leadership this way: “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and at the service of all.” Amen.
09/23/2018
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 want to call your attention to the list of Thoughts on Leadership found in today’s bulletin. [2] Some are from theological sources but most of them are not. Let me point to just one from Peter Drucker, who has been described as the founder of modern management. ‘Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.’ Too often we, in the church, simply manage but do not lead. For those who complain the church has lost its ability to be a positive influence in society we need to look no further than that statement.”
BENEDICTION: Let us go forth in the Spirit of Christ. Let us seek the will of God. Let us put aside ambition and conceit for the greater good. Let us serve in joyous obedience. This is the prayer recited by Melanesian Islanders: May Jesus be the canoe that holds us up in the sea called life; may Jesus be the rudder that keeps us on a straight path on this watery road where waves and storms can inhabit and confuse our experience of the Divine; indeed, may Jesus be the outrigger that supports us in times of temptation; May the Spirit of Jesus be our sail that carries us through each day. Amen.
[1] A 100th Birthday Anniversary Celebration for a parishioner, Doris Graves.
[2] . THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” — John Quincy Adams
“In Aristotelian terms, the good leader must have ethos, pathos and logos. The ethos is moral character, the source of an ability to persuade. Pathos is an ability to touch feelings, to move people emotionally. Logos is an ability to give solid reasons for an action, to move people intellectually.” — Mortimer J. Adler
“A leader is a dealer in hope.” — Napoleon Bonaparte
“A prime function of the leader is to keep hope alive.” — John W. Gardner
“A leader’s role is to raise people’s aspirations for what they can become and to release their energies so they will try to get there.” — David Gergen
“The true leader is always led.” — Carl Jung
“Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” — Tom Peters
“A good leader needs to stand behind those who follow as often standing in front of them.” — Marilyn vos Savant
“Outstanding leaders boost the self-esteem of others. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” — Sam Walton
“Transformational leaders are known in two primary ways: they bring out the best in their followers and the worst in their enemies.” — Dr. Mardy Grothe
“I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?” — Benjamin Disraeli
“The final test of a leader is to leave behind in others the conviction and the will to carry on.” — Walter Lippmann
“A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
“The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.” — John Buchan (1875-1940)
“Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves.” — Stephen R. Covey
“Jesus models a new kind of authority, a servant-leadership that ministers to the members rather than waits to be served by them. Jesus did what, in that culture, slaves did: wash the feet of the community.” — Joan Chittister, The Liturgical Year
“Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.” — Peter Drucker
“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant.” — Max DuPree
“True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not to enrich the leader.” — John C. Maxwell
“Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.” — Norman Schwarzkopf
“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” — Peter Drucker
“Not even a great leader can get very far without great people to lead.” — Ashleigh Brilliant
“Mimicking the successful strategies of others is enticing to some leaders because it eliminates the need to think.” — Henry T. & Richard Blackaby, in Spiritual Leadership.
“...whenever a people reduces all its problems to a conspiracy by someone else, it absolves itself and its leaders of any responsibility for its predicament— and any need for self-examination.” — Thomas Freidman, NY Times 02/10/2002
“There is no valid leadership acknowledged in the Bible, whether it be of people or of institutions, that does not fulfill itself in servanthood.” — E. V. Mathew YMCA leader in Bangalore, India
“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” — Mother Teresa
Leadership Part I
“Jesus sat down, called the Twelve together, and said, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and at the service of all.’” — Mark 9:35.
I have often mentioned this before. I was a member of an Episcopal Church on the Upper West Side in New York City. I joined just as the church had called The Rev. Carol Anderson, the first woman in the Manhattan Diocese to be a Rector, Rector being the fancy title Episcopalians use for pastor.
About two years into her tenure one parishioner who happened to be the son of a producer of Man of La Mancha— and yes, I did have a habit of hanging out with theater people— one parishioner suggested to Carol that the church start a soup kitchen program on Sunday afternoons. She did not blink. She said, “Go for it! Get it done!”
The first week several people gathered to help with the operation and they fed a grand total of four. The second week there were 25 guests, the third about seventy-five.
Within a couple months the operation fed some 200 weekly, an amount which strained the physical limitations, the space available at the church. This effort continued for a number of years.
At that time I was a licensed lay reader and chalice bearer, the leader of the group who did the lay reader ministry at the church. But I also became known as the bread guy.
About 8:00 a.m. on a Sunday I would grab a dolly and go around the corner to the world famous Zabar’s Deli on Broadway. They donated their day old bread to the cause, usually about seven to ten big boxes of bread. That’s what you need to help feed 200.
Something we heard from those who came to eat was quite blunt. There’s better food at other soup kitchens in the city, they said. But our soup kitchen, the soup kitchen at this church, had the nicest people.
I would suggest that positive word was based on one thing and one thing only. We tried to make sure at least one parishioner sat at every table.
Why? We thought it would be helpful for someone who was a member of the church community to just be there. We thought to have someone there to engage in conversation, to simply be present to these guests and perhaps help when one of us could would be a good idea.
To be clear, some of the people who came were destitute, homeless, living on the streets, lonely. They needed to eat in a place that had some safety and quiet.
But some were elderly, living alone, lonely. The fact that we offered this ministry gave those folks a chance to get out of their apartments, have human contact, socialize.
I think just being friendly helped people feel welcomed, safe, secure. Perhaps some of them then felt like they were a part of a bigger family, part of community.
They might have never seen the other people in that room before and might never see them again. But that did not preclude a sense of community. (Slight pause.)
Community— now there’s an interesting term. What is community? Is the community made up of anyone who gathers here on a Sunday? Or is it more broad than that? (Slight pause.)
No matter what church we talk about, it’s not the same folks who gather every week on Sunday. Each week the specific individuals who gather are different. The make up of the gathering changes. So the nature of the worshiping community changes each week.
This is what I say about that. I hope you agree. Anyone in our midst who comes to worship with us brings their own talents, prayers, concerns, joys, hopes and sense of the Spirit, the Spirit Who is both working in them and working in the community. Thereby we, the congregation, become a new and different creation by and through the presence of any one individual each and every week.
I hope through the grace of God that we, as individuals and collectively, strive to affirm that God works in each of us. I also hope through the grace of God we strive together to move the community of faith toward a more full understanding of the Spirit at work in this place, strive to listen for the places to which God calls us within the context of this community. (Slight pause.)
Well, if by definition the community known as the church changes Sunday to Sunday and probably even day to day, what does it mean to be a leader in that context? If community is that fluid what does it mean to offer leadership in that constantly changing, thereby seemingly less than cohesive community? (Slight pause.)
These words are found in Mark: “Jesus sat down, called the Twelve together, and said, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and at the service of all.’” (Slight pause.)
There is a lot going on in this reading. For a moment I want to take us to the section where Jesus speaks about death and resurrection. The words clearly state Jesus addresses the disciples.
Later however, it’s clear Jesus addresses the Twelve. Many people don’t realize this: broadly at least, the disciples are a larger group than the Twelve.
Scholars say the disciples could have numbered anywhere from fifty to the hundreds. These are the many followers of Jesus. That number goes beyond the Twelve.
So in using the term “Twelve,” the writer of Mark clearly indicates the Apostles are being addressed. And Jesus has gathered this smaller group together.
For lack of a better label we can think of them as the inner circle of those who follow Jesus. I think it’s appropriate to call this group the leadership.
Now, the distinction I just outlined also addresses the real make up of any community. It reinforces the idea that community constantly changes.
In fact, when the texts of the Gospels are carefully examined even the Apostles, this inner circle, is somewhat fluid. Sometimes all are present; sometimes only one or two. It seems like they come and go. And, of course, when Jesus is at that greatest hour of need... they are not to be found.
That brings me back to those important questions about and for leadership. If the community of church constantly changes, what does it mean to be a leader? If community is that fluid what does it mean to offer leadership in an apparently less than cohesive community? (Slight pause.)
One of my mentors in ministry advocated for quiet leadership. Here are several descriptions. First, it’s not what you say that makes for real leadership. It’s what you do.
Second, it is how you behave, how you treat other people that displays real leadership. Third, real leadership is not about self-aggrandizement.
Fourth, real leadership is about sharing, about empowering others to realize who they are by allowing for and encouraging their leadership. The goal of the true leader is to make yourself unnecessary.
All that also explains one of the problems with leadership. Real leaders do not need people who are willing to work.
Real leaders need people willing to lead others. Real leaders need no followers. Real leaders need others who are willing to lead. (Slight pause.)
Remember the story I told earlier about the Soup Kitchen at my New York City Church? I was known as the bread guy. That was minor leadership on my part but it was leadership.
Yes, it’s not what I said, it’s what I did that counted. But more importantly I filled a slot that needed filling in part because I could see the overall picture, the leadership picture, of what needed to be done.
And then there’s what Carol, the Rector at the church, said. “Go for it! Get it done!” Someone once said to me, “Well, why did she not do more? Why did she not start it? Why did she not organize it. That’s what a real leader would have done.”
No. Her job as a leader was to recognize a ministry was needed and recognize someone was willing to do it. Her job as a leader was to empower that person and get out of the way. (Slight pause.)
After this service we will gather for a celebration and some soup and bread. [1] I did not lead this, only in the sense that I got out of the way. Someone had the idea and then many hands helped, the Deacons with organization and other people helped. Many were empowered.
And it’s likely many people will come who are not here at the service of worship. And therefore, the community will change but it will still be community. (Slight pause.)
So, what is leadership? Leadership is something we all need to do and leaders are who we all need to be. Why? We are Congregationalists. The very name says we are all leaders.
And yes, I do think structure is a human necessity. I say that’s why there are the disciples and why there are the Twelve— structure. However, unless we are leaders together, unless leadership is communal, the community becomes diminished.
And let us also remember, Jesus explained leadership this way: “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and at the service of all.” Amen.
09/23/2018
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 want to call your attention to the list of Thoughts on Leadership found in today’s bulletin. [2] Some are from theological sources but most of them are not. Let me point to just one from Peter Drucker, who has been described as the founder of modern management. ‘Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.’ Too often we, in the church, simply manage but do not lead. For those who complain the church has lost its ability to be a positive influence in society we need to look no further than that statement.”
BENEDICTION: Let us go forth in the Spirit of Christ. Let us seek the will of God. Let us put aside ambition and conceit for the greater good. Let us serve in joyous obedience. This is the prayer recited by Melanesian Islanders: May Jesus be the canoe that holds us up in the sea called life; may Jesus be the rudder that keeps us on a straight path on this watery road where waves and storms can inhabit and confuse our experience of the Divine; indeed, may Jesus be the outrigger that supports us in times of temptation; May the Spirit of Jesus be our sail that carries us through each day. Amen.
[1] A 100th Birthday Anniversary Celebration for a parishioner, Doris Graves.
[2] . THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” — John Quincy Adams
“In Aristotelian terms, the good leader must have ethos, pathos and logos. The ethos is moral character, the source of an ability to persuade. Pathos is an ability to touch feelings, to move people emotionally. Logos is an ability to give solid reasons for an action, to move people intellectually.” — Mortimer J. Adler
“A leader is a dealer in hope.” — Napoleon Bonaparte
“A prime function of the leader is to keep hope alive.” — John W. Gardner
“A leader’s role is to raise people’s aspirations for what they can become and to release their energies so they will try to get there.” — David Gergen
“The true leader is always led.” — Carl Jung
“Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” — Tom Peters
“A good leader needs to stand behind those who follow as often standing in front of them.” — Marilyn vos Savant
“Outstanding leaders boost the self-esteem of others. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” — Sam Walton
“Transformational leaders are known in two primary ways: they bring out the best in their followers and the worst in their enemies.” — Dr. Mardy Grothe
“I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?” — Benjamin Disraeli
“The final test of a leader is to leave behind in others the conviction and the will to carry on.” — Walter Lippmann
“A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
“The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.” — John Buchan (1875-1940)
“Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves.” — Stephen R. Covey
“Jesus models a new kind of authority, a servant-leadership that ministers to the members rather than waits to be served by them. Jesus did what, in that culture, slaves did: wash the feet of the community.” — Joan Chittister, The Liturgical Year
“Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.” — Peter Drucker
“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant.” — Max DuPree
“True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not to enrich the leader.” — John C. Maxwell
“Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.” — Norman Schwarzkopf
“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” — Peter Drucker
“Not even a great leader can get very far without great people to lead.” — Ashleigh Brilliant
“Mimicking the successful strategies of others is enticing to some leaders because it eliminates the need to think.” — Henry T. & Richard Blackaby, in Spiritual Leadership.
“...whenever a people reduces all its problems to a conspiracy by someone else, it absolves itself and its leaders of any responsibility for its predicament— and any need for self-examination.” — Thomas Freidman, NY Times 02/10/2002
“There is no valid leadership acknowledged in the Bible, whether it be of people or of institutions, that does not fulfill itself in servanthood.” — E. V. Mathew YMCA leader in Bangalore, India
“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” — Mother Teresa
Sunday, September 16, 2018
SERMON ~ 09/16/2018 ~ “Rally Day?”
READINGS: 09/16/2018 ~ Proper 19 ~ Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proverbs 1:20-33; Psalm 19; Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 116:1-9 or Wisdom of Solomon 7:26 - 8:1; James 3:1-12; Mark 8:27-38 ~ Rally Day.
Rally Day?
{Wisdom says:} “How long, O simple ones, / How much longer, you ignorant people, / will you love being simple, being ignorant? / How much longer, O you who mock others, / will you continue to mock, delight in your mocking? / How much longer will you fools / hate knowledge, sneer at understanding?” — Proverbs 1:22.
I want to start my comments today by mentioning a couple of obvious items or things you probably know. First as I have often said here, my upbringing was in the Roman tradition. Second, today is our “Rally Day.”
This so called “Rally Day” is something noted or celebrated in many Protestant churches at this time of year. “Rally Day” is the label often given to the first day of the Fall Term of a Christian Education program.
Third, if you said to someone involved in the Roman tradition that a specific day is “Rally Day” for a church, they would have no idea what you meant. Hence given my upbringing, it was not until I joined and became active at a church in the Protestant tradition that I had any idea something called “Rally Day” even existed.
As to why “Rally Day” is not an event in the Roman tradition, to a certain extent American history is the culprit. You see, less than 150 years ago if you were a participant in the Roman tradition you were considered at best a second class citizen.
The unintended consequence of Catholics being socially ostracized was they organized their own educational system. The schools they established ranged from High Schools to Universities to Grade Schools, just like Holy Family School right here in town. Therefore given their own education apparatus, there was little need for an education start date in church.
That a Fall term would happen, that education would happen, was a given in those established schools. Hence, why mark something assumed? I would be remiss if I did not point out similar social ostracization in the 1920s eventually led to the educational institutions established by churches on the right.
For me personally, I ascribe the reason that I never heard about “Rally Day” to information myopia. I was not privy even to the idea of a Fall commencement for a Church School term. I had no idea a “Rally Day” even existed.
Which is also to say sometimes information myopia can come from being ostracized. But there are many flavors of myopia about information, about facts.
Information myopia can come from, pardon the expression, willful ignorance. Make believe something does not exist even if it’s staring you in the face— that’s willful ignorance.
As to the other flavors of ignorance— it often comes from other forms of isolation— physical or self-imposed or social or economic or cultural isolation. Of course, information myopia can come simply from a lack of curiosity on the part of an individual. A lack of curiosity— to a certain extent that is self imposed isolation. (Slight pause.)
In a recent article Psychiatrist Alfred Margulies says curiosity is necessary for a stable individual. “Wonder...” meaning a sense of curiosity, “...wonder promotes a searching attitude of simultaneously knowing and not knowing.”
Wonder blends astonishment with curiosity, a winsome combination that ends up fostering deep appreciation of the other. Indeed, wonder and curiosity keep us from behaving as if we have other people figured out for indeed, we do not have other people figured out.
Children can be exemplars of curiosity, of wonder. Further, I think it’s informative that the questions children pose may have as much to do with relationship as with acquiring new information. For instance, when a child asks an adult, “Why do grown-ups sometimes cry when they are happy?”— yes, the child is seeking information.
But the child is not just seeking information. The child is asking for and seeking interaction and attention. A response is sought.
It’s clear a relationship is at stake in the very question. If an adult squelches that kind of “why” inquiry, relationship gets thwarted. Therefore, I want to pose the idea that curiosity is often about relationship.
Here’s an example of that from Scripture. We have labeled the disciple known as Thomas as “Doubting.” But “Doubting Thomas” is not the name of Thomas. The name applied to Thomas is Didymus— the twin. And this episode is commonly described as being about doubt. But the word doubt cannot be found anywhere in that passage.
So, when Thomas asks the resurrected Christ to see and touch the wounds, is that about proof? I think not.
Rather, the scene opens doors to relationship. And that relationship will require all kinds of personal change, relational change. What Thomas does display in this episode is holy curiosity. And yes, curiosity is holy. [1] (Slight pause.)
These words are found in the work known as Proverbs: {Wisdom says:} “How long, O simple ones, / How much longer, you ignorant people, / will you love being simple, being ignorant? / How much longer, O you who mock others, / will you continue to mock, delight in your mocking? / How much longer will you fools / hate knowledge, sneer at understanding?” (Slight pause.)
One of the things we need to notice in these words is they are proclaimed into the very heart of the city of the people of God. This is a public proclamation. It is not a proclamation of an individual truth, a proclamation of how one person might see things.
It is a public proclamation, a public call to everyone, for everyone to heed. Wisdom declares this Word is from God is to be heard. Wisdom bids everyone to listen. This, thereby, is a proclamation to all people to enter into dialogue with God.
This public proclamation invites everyone to examine how God might see the world. It is a proclamation to understand the nature of reality not as we see it but as it is created by Yahweh, God.
How will that happen? How does that happen? It happens through dialogue with God and through dialogue with one another, each of us a child of God.
Since this is an invitation to examine how God might see the world it is a summons to both curiosity and to relationship. Curiosity and relationship intertwined are at the core of this proclamation.
Is this passage also a prophetic accusation, a prophetic condemnation? No. The only real condemnation here is when and if the people condemn themselves by ignoring God’s teachings, being willfully ignorant of God’s teachings.
Of course, what that also and really means is we are in control. We have the ability to learn. So, how are we in control? (Slight pause.)
We are in control because this teaching is an invitation. This teaching is an invitation to participate, an invitation to be in relationship with God, an invitation to be in relationship with each other. I would be as bold as to suggest that to enter into relationship, to be in this kind of dialogue, is a sign of spiritual maturity. (Slight pause.)
That brings me back to the fact that this is “Rally Day.” As I said, “Rally Day” is the label often given to the first day of the Fall Term of a Christian Education program. But why? (Slight pause.)
I think somewhere along the line Christian educators caught on to the fact that this passage and others sound to many like accusations. So offering an alternative way to look at this was a good idea.
Further, the more traditional word— repent— and repent does not mean remorse— it means to turn toward God— the more traditional word ‘repent’ did not seem to fit either. Hey! It’s repent day! (I don’t think so.) So the word rally was chosen.
You see, one of the definitions of the word ‘rally’ is to reverse a period of weakness— reverse a period of weakness. So Christian educators are saying let’s rally, let’s get back with the program, folks! Let’s turn toward God and God’s teachings.
However, I also want to suggest the deeper issue is one I’ve addressed many times, one discussed in the last verse of the reading. (Quote:) “...those who listen to me / will be secure, / those who listen to me will be at peace; / those who listen to me / will live at ease, will have quiet, / will have no dread of disaster.”
The word listen is repeated three times. And what is the great commandment, the Shema? Hear, O Israel. When we do not listen to God we break covenant.
And to what is covenant call us? Growth— covenant is a commitment to growth, a commitment to not be in any way myopic. Covenant is a commitment to change, a commitment to learn, a commitment to move on, a commitment to relationship— tall order that. Amen.
09/16/2018
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: “Earlier I mentioned the episode we commonly call “Doubting Thomas.” It is Jesus who invites Thomas to examine the wounds. Again, this is not about proof. This is about the invitation of Christ to relationship, and thereby it is an invitation to movement, to change, to growth.”
BENEDICTION: We are called to care, even when conventional wisdom says we should not. God is our helper. Christ is our teacher. The Holy spirit is our guide. Let us go forth knowing that the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need and the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness. May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.
[1] The last eight paragraphs are adapted from an article in the Christian Century (9/12/18) by Peter W. Marty, Curiosity Is Holy.
Rally Day?
{Wisdom says:} “How long, O simple ones, / How much longer, you ignorant people, / will you love being simple, being ignorant? / How much longer, O you who mock others, / will you continue to mock, delight in your mocking? / How much longer will you fools / hate knowledge, sneer at understanding?” — Proverbs 1:22.
I want to start my comments today by mentioning a couple of obvious items or things you probably know. First as I have often said here, my upbringing was in the Roman tradition. Second, today is our “Rally Day.”
This so called “Rally Day” is something noted or celebrated in many Protestant churches at this time of year. “Rally Day” is the label often given to the first day of the Fall Term of a Christian Education program.
Third, if you said to someone involved in the Roman tradition that a specific day is “Rally Day” for a church, they would have no idea what you meant. Hence given my upbringing, it was not until I joined and became active at a church in the Protestant tradition that I had any idea something called “Rally Day” even existed.
As to why “Rally Day” is not an event in the Roman tradition, to a certain extent American history is the culprit. You see, less than 150 years ago if you were a participant in the Roman tradition you were considered at best a second class citizen.
The unintended consequence of Catholics being socially ostracized was they organized their own educational system. The schools they established ranged from High Schools to Universities to Grade Schools, just like Holy Family School right here in town. Therefore given their own education apparatus, there was little need for an education start date in church.
That a Fall term would happen, that education would happen, was a given in those established schools. Hence, why mark something assumed? I would be remiss if I did not point out similar social ostracization in the 1920s eventually led to the educational institutions established by churches on the right.
For me personally, I ascribe the reason that I never heard about “Rally Day” to information myopia. I was not privy even to the idea of a Fall commencement for a Church School term. I had no idea a “Rally Day” even existed.
Which is also to say sometimes information myopia can come from being ostracized. But there are many flavors of myopia about information, about facts.
Information myopia can come from, pardon the expression, willful ignorance. Make believe something does not exist even if it’s staring you in the face— that’s willful ignorance.
As to the other flavors of ignorance— it often comes from other forms of isolation— physical or self-imposed or social or economic or cultural isolation. Of course, information myopia can come simply from a lack of curiosity on the part of an individual. A lack of curiosity— to a certain extent that is self imposed isolation. (Slight pause.)
In a recent article Psychiatrist Alfred Margulies says curiosity is necessary for a stable individual. “Wonder...” meaning a sense of curiosity, “...wonder promotes a searching attitude of simultaneously knowing and not knowing.”
Wonder blends astonishment with curiosity, a winsome combination that ends up fostering deep appreciation of the other. Indeed, wonder and curiosity keep us from behaving as if we have other people figured out for indeed, we do not have other people figured out.
Children can be exemplars of curiosity, of wonder. Further, I think it’s informative that the questions children pose may have as much to do with relationship as with acquiring new information. For instance, when a child asks an adult, “Why do grown-ups sometimes cry when they are happy?”— yes, the child is seeking information.
But the child is not just seeking information. The child is asking for and seeking interaction and attention. A response is sought.
It’s clear a relationship is at stake in the very question. If an adult squelches that kind of “why” inquiry, relationship gets thwarted. Therefore, I want to pose the idea that curiosity is often about relationship.
Here’s an example of that from Scripture. We have labeled the disciple known as Thomas as “Doubting.” But “Doubting Thomas” is not the name of Thomas. The name applied to Thomas is Didymus— the twin. And this episode is commonly described as being about doubt. But the word doubt cannot be found anywhere in that passage.
So, when Thomas asks the resurrected Christ to see and touch the wounds, is that about proof? I think not.
Rather, the scene opens doors to relationship. And that relationship will require all kinds of personal change, relational change. What Thomas does display in this episode is holy curiosity. And yes, curiosity is holy. [1] (Slight pause.)
These words are found in the work known as Proverbs: {Wisdom says:} “How long, O simple ones, / How much longer, you ignorant people, / will you love being simple, being ignorant? / How much longer, O you who mock others, / will you continue to mock, delight in your mocking? / How much longer will you fools / hate knowledge, sneer at understanding?” (Slight pause.)
One of the things we need to notice in these words is they are proclaimed into the very heart of the city of the people of God. This is a public proclamation. It is not a proclamation of an individual truth, a proclamation of how one person might see things.
It is a public proclamation, a public call to everyone, for everyone to heed. Wisdom declares this Word is from God is to be heard. Wisdom bids everyone to listen. This, thereby, is a proclamation to all people to enter into dialogue with God.
This public proclamation invites everyone to examine how God might see the world. It is a proclamation to understand the nature of reality not as we see it but as it is created by Yahweh, God.
How will that happen? How does that happen? It happens through dialogue with God and through dialogue with one another, each of us a child of God.
Since this is an invitation to examine how God might see the world it is a summons to both curiosity and to relationship. Curiosity and relationship intertwined are at the core of this proclamation.
Is this passage also a prophetic accusation, a prophetic condemnation? No. The only real condemnation here is when and if the people condemn themselves by ignoring God’s teachings, being willfully ignorant of God’s teachings.
Of course, what that also and really means is we are in control. We have the ability to learn. So, how are we in control? (Slight pause.)
We are in control because this teaching is an invitation. This teaching is an invitation to participate, an invitation to be in relationship with God, an invitation to be in relationship with each other. I would be as bold as to suggest that to enter into relationship, to be in this kind of dialogue, is a sign of spiritual maturity. (Slight pause.)
That brings me back to the fact that this is “Rally Day.” As I said, “Rally Day” is the label often given to the first day of the Fall Term of a Christian Education program. But why? (Slight pause.)
I think somewhere along the line Christian educators caught on to the fact that this passage and others sound to many like accusations. So offering an alternative way to look at this was a good idea.
Further, the more traditional word— repent— and repent does not mean remorse— it means to turn toward God— the more traditional word ‘repent’ did not seem to fit either. Hey! It’s repent day! (I don’t think so.) So the word rally was chosen.
You see, one of the definitions of the word ‘rally’ is to reverse a period of weakness— reverse a period of weakness. So Christian educators are saying let’s rally, let’s get back with the program, folks! Let’s turn toward God and God’s teachings.
However, I also want to suggest the deeper issue is one I’ve addressed many times, one discussed in the last verse of the reading. (Quote:) “...those who listen to me / will be secure, / those who listen to me will be at peace; / those who listen to me / will live at ease, will have quiet, / will have no dread of disaster.”
The word listen is repeated three times. And what is the great commandment, the Shema? Hear, O Israel. When we do not listen to God we break covenant.
And to what is covenant call us? Growth— covenant is a commitment to growth, a commitment to not be in any way myopic. Covenant is a commitment to change, a commitment to learn, a commitment to move on, a commitment to relationship— tall order that. Amen.
09/16/2018
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: “Earlier I mentioned the episode we commonly call “Doubting Thomas.” It is Jesus who invites Thomas to examine the wounds. Again, this is not about proof. This is about the invitation of Christ to relationship, and thereby it is an invitation to movement, to change, to growth.”
BENEDICTION: We are called to care, even when conventional wisdom says we should not. God is our helper. Christ is our teacher. The Holy spirit is our guide. Let us go forth knowing that the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need and the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness. May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.
[1] The last eight paragraphs are adapted from an article in the Christian Century (9/12/18) by Peter W. Marty, Curiosity Is Holy.
Sunday, September 9, 2018
SERMON ~ 09/09/2018 ~ “Equity”
READINGS: 09/09/2018 ~ Proper 18 ~ Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23; Psalm 125; Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalm 146; James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17; Mark 7:24-37 ~ Colorscape Weekend ~ Service of Worship at Chenango Valley Home. [1]
Equity
“My brothers and sisters, your faith in our glorious Savior Jesus, the Christ, must not allow for favoritism.” — James 2:1.
I have over time both in the pulpit at the United Church of Christ, First Congregational, and here at Chenango Valley Home, addressed some of my personal history. Specifically I’ve spoken about some of the many different jobs I’ve had over time.
After all, being a pastor is about a ninth career for me— not a third— a ninth. This is a story about one of those jobs I’ve had and I don’t think I’ve told in either place.
In 1966 I went to work for Bloomingdale’s Department Store. Before the store even had a computer on the premises I was trained in computer operations and, once the computer actually arrived, became one of their lead computer operators. That was back when a small computer took up a space the size of this room.
I primarily worked the night shift. Since this was back when computers were large and slow, the jobs I ran on that machine would sometimes take a couple of hours to complete. I see an old computer operator out there nodding his head. The thing would chug along and I would literally have nothing to do except sit and watch.
And so, with the permission of my boss, I took to reading books as I sat there. Once, at about midnight as the computer was grinding away and I was reading, the CEO of Bloomingdale’s walked in. He was an older, tall, regal looking fellow. What he was doing there at midnight I have yet to figure out.
He asked a couple of questions about what was happening. My responses seemed to satisfy him. Since I had permission to read a book the fact that the CEO saw me reading did not concern me. And perhaps a curiosity about my reading overtook him so he did posed a question as to what the book I was reading was about.
Now, in 1762 the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote a work called The Social Contract. That book for the first time ever proposed the idea that all people are created equal. Indeed, this thinking was reflected by Thomas Jefferson just fourteen years later in the American Declaration of Independence.
The work I was reading was also called The Social Contract but took a different tact. The claim made by the book was people are not created equal. So that’s what I said: “The premise of the book is not everyone is created equal.”
At this the CEO of Bloomingdale’s, this older, tall, regal looking fellow, smiled, nodded and said, “I never thought they were.” He then turned and walked out. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as James: “My brothers and sisters, your faith in our glorious Savior Jesus, the Christ, must not allow for favoritism.” (Slight pause.)
When it comes to the word equal, I suspect we read into it what I would deem to be inaccurate implications. We are, in fact, not equal. I hope that’s obvious.
Why? How? Each of us is born with a set of gifts and talents and it might even be argued each of us is unique, created by God with different sets of gifts and talents.
Therefore, I often say the correct word to use (in English at least) is equity. We should strive toward equity since equality is an illusive, even an impossible target.
But maybe equity is not quite right either, as least from the perspective of Scripture. That’s because Scripture understands that any human justice is flawed, imperfect. So Scripture does not address human justice. Scripture addresses God’s justice.
What is God’s justice? The underlying word in Scripture we most often translate as justice actually means righteousness.
And righteousness is another word with which we have a hard time since what it means in Scripture is not what we often take it to mean. So let me quote a definition from a standard Bible. “Righteousness is a fulfillment of the demands of a relationship with God”— a fulfillment of the demands of a relationship with God— tall order that. Further, I think we have a hard time with the concept that justice and any kind of relationship are intertwined.
All that having been said, let me offer a couple more quotes. These are from some well know theologians. The ideas here offered might help explain how God’s justice is really about relationship, and not simply about any relationship. Rather, this is about the demands of a relationship with God.
“The work of divine justice always presupposes the work of mercy and is based on it” — Thomas Aquinas.
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has a foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” — Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Slight pause.)
This may surprise some of you. Occasionally even politicians can address justice effectively. Here are a couple more quotes.
“Justice is truth in action.” — Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the 1860s and 1870s.
“I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.”— George Washington, First President of the United States, 1789 to 1797.
“I have always found mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.” — Abraham Lincoln, Sixteenth President of the Untied States, 1861 to 1865.
“May we, in our dealings with all the peoples of the earth, ever speak the truth and serve justice.” — Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States, 1953 to 1961. (Slight pause.)
So, the Epistle of James reminds us of two things. The first is of upmost importance. (Quote:) “You are acting rightly, however, if you fulfill the venerable law of the scriptures: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
The second explains what that means (quote:) “If deeds do not go with faith, then faith is dead.” Relationship and justice— they are intertwined. 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: “You may have noticed the cover of our bulletin today has a picture of Lady Justice sitting atop the Chenango County Courthouse. Ever since Justice has been depicted with this kind of image— and that started in the 1600s— some of the statues have had a blindfold, some do not. The stature on top of our courthouse has no blindfold. Is justice blind? I would suggest, since Scripture insists justice and relationship are intertwined, God’s justice sees everything. Thereby, the justice of God is not blind since it inclines irrevocably, even relentlessly toward mercy.”
BENEDICTION: Surely God will empower our ministry; surely God will supply for our needs when we are about God’s work; may this God, the God who formed the universe, bless us with the courage, the knowledge, the wisdom and the fortitude to serve the Gospel of Christ, empowered by the Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.
[1] Note: as ths service was at Chenango Valley Home these comments were a little more brief than might usually be true on a usual Sunday morning.
Equity
“My brothers and sisters, your faith in our glorious Savior Jesus, the Christ, must not allow for favoritism.” — James 2:1.
I have over time both in the pulpit at the United Church of Christ, First Congregational, and here at Chenango Valley Home, addressed some of my personal history. Specifically I’ve spoken about some of the many different jobs I’ve had over time.
After all, being a pastor is about a ninth career for me— not a third— a ninth. This is a story about one of those jobs I’ve had and I don’t think I’ve told in either place.
In 1966 I went to work for Bloomingdale’s Department Store. Before the store even had a computer on the premises I was trained in computer operations and, once the computer actually arrived, became one of their lead computer operators. That was back when a small computer took up a space the size of this room.
I primarily worked the night shift. Since this was back when computers were large and slow, the jobs I ran on that machine would sometimes take a couple of hours to complete. I see an old computer operator out there nodding his head. The thing would chug along and I would literally have nothing to do except sit and watch.
And so, with the permission of my boss, I took to reading books as I sat there. Once, at about midnight as the computer was grinding away and I was reading, the CEO of Bloomingdale’s walked in. He was an older, tall, regal looking fellow. What he was doing there at midnight I have yet to figure out.
He asked a couple of questions about what was happening. My responses seemed to satisfy him. Since I had permission to read a book the fact that the CEO saw me reading did not concern me. And perhaps a curiosity about my reading overtook him so he did posed a question as to what the book I was reading was about.
Now, in 1762 the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote a work called The Social Contract. That book for the first time ever proposed the idea that all people are created equal. Indeed, this thinking was reflected by Thomas Jefferson just fourteen years later in the American Declaration of Independence.
The work I was reading was also called The Social Contract but took a different tact. The claim made by the book was people are not created equal. So that’s what I said: “The premise of the book is not everyone is created equal.”
At this the CEO of Bloomingdale’s, this older, tall, regal looking fellow, smiled, nodded and said, “I never thought they were.” He then turned and walked out. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as James: “My brothers and sisters, your faith in our glorious Savior Jesus, the Christ, must not allow for favoritism.” (Slight pause.)
When it comes to the word equal, I suspect we read into it what I would deem to be inaccurate implications. We are, in fact, not equal. I hope that’s obvious.
Why? How? Each of us is born with a set of gifts and talents and it might even be argued each of us is unique, created by God with different sets of gifts and talents.
Therefore, I often say the correct word to use (in English at least) is equity. We should strive toward equity since equality is an illusive, even an impossible target.
But maybe equity is not quite right either, as least from the perspective of Scripture. That’s because Scripture understands that any human justice is flawed, imperfect. So Scripture does not address human justice. Scripture addresses God’s justice.
What is God’s justice? The underlying word in Scripture we most often translate as justice actually means righteousness.
And righteousness is another word with which we have a hard time since what it means in Scripture is not what we often take it to mean. So let me quote a definition from a standard Bible. “Righteousness is a fulfillment of the demands of a relationship with God”— a fulfillment of the demands of a relationship with God— tall order that. Further, I think we have a hard time with the concept that justice and any kind of relationship are intertwined.
All that having been said, let me offer a couple more quotes. These are from some well know theologians. The ideas here offered might help explain how God’s justice is really about relationship, and not simply about any relationship. Rather, this is about the demands of a relationship with God.
“The work of divine justice always presupposes the work of mercy and is based on it” — Thomas Aquinas.
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has a foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” — Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Slight pause.)
This may surprise some of you. Occasionally even politicians can address justice effectively. Here are a couple more quotes.
“Justice is truth in action.” — Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the 1860s and 1870s.
“I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.”— George Washington, First President of the United States, 1789 to 1797.
“I have always found mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.” — Abraham Lincoln, Sixteenth President of the Untied States, 1861 to 1865.
“May we, in our dealings with all the peoples of the earth, ever speak the truth and serve justice.” — Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States, 1953 to 1961. (Slight pause.)
So, the Epistle of James reminds us of two things. The first is of upmost importance. (Quote:) “You are acting rightly, however, if you fulfill the venerable law of the scriptures: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
The second explains what that means (quote:) “If deeds do not go with faith, then faith is dead.” Relationship and justice— they are intertwined. 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: “You may have noticed the cover of our bulletin today has a picture of Lady Justice sitting atop the Chenango County Courthouse. Ever since Justice has been depicted with this kind of image— and that started in the 1600s— some of the statues have had a blindfold, some do not. The stature on top of our courthouse has no blindfold. Is justice blind? I would suggest, since Scripture insists justice and relationship are intertwined, God’s justice sees everything. Thereby, the justice of God is not blind since it inclines irrevocably, even relentlessly toward mercy.”
BENEDICTION: Surely God will empower our ministry; surely God will supply for our needs when we are about God’s work; may this God, the God who formed the universe, bless us with the courage, the knowledge, the wisdom and the fortitude to serve the Gospel of Christ, empowered by the Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.
[1] Note: as ths service was at Chenango Valley Home these comments were a little more brief than might usually be true on a usual Sunday morning.
Sunday, September 2, 2018
SERMON ~ 09/02/2018 ~ “Your Children; Your Children’s Children”
READINGS: 09/02/2018 ~ Proper 17 ~ Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Song of Solomon 2:8-13; Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9; Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9; Psalm 15; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 ~ Communion Sunday ~ Labor Day Weekend on the Secular Calendar.
Your Children; Your Children’s Children
“But take care and be diligent in guarding yourselves closely, so as neither to forget those things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days you live; make them known, teach them to your children and your children’s children—...” — Deuteronomy 4:9.
I believe this is a given. We all have specific ways of learning things. In the field of education these are commonly called learning styles.
And, depending on the research you look at, learning styles can be broken down into at least seven or eight ways of learning. I, myself, would argue there are about one hundred seven or one hundred eight learning styles because, for the most part, we each have different ways of learning and it’s likely each of us learns using a broad range of styles.
Now, one of those seven or eight officially certified styles is labeled as visual learning. I am not a visual learner.
However, research says about 65 percent of the population are visual learners. Perhaps that explains why movies and television are popular. They are visual mediums.
These mediums are new but please do not delude yourselves by thinking visual learning is new. The ancient Egyptians wrote in hieroglyphics, a writing system recorded in pictures. There are over 1,000 distinct pictographs, characters, in Egyptian writing.
And the Cathedrals of Europe had stained glass windows and statuary. Even the buildings, themselves, are full of visual cues. These ancient shrines are very old examples of how people learned about faith in visual ways.
Now, a couple of moments ago I said I am not a visual learner. Here’s a true story about how non-visual I am.
I am sure you have all seen the international symbol which means “fragile” on some box. The symbol has a circle with a line through it. And behind that circle with a line is what looks like a broken Champagne glass.
I remember when I was a kid looking at boxes with that symbol and thinking, “Does that mean broken glasses are in the box?” No— it means fragile; handle with care. Since I am not visual, the symbol made no sense to me.
I, myself, tend to learn by listening. Bonnie has accused me of having a photographic memory but, since I am not at all visual, maybe what I have a phono-graphic memory for those of you who remember what phonographs are. If I hear something I remember it.
Also, and I’ve said this here before, I’m dyslexic. I think I cultivated listening as a learning style so I could process first through hearing, through sound, not sight.
One other thing on that count. In my profession being dyslexic could have been devastating. After all, is the word “angel” or is it “angle?”
Well, the letters “e” and “l”— el— are one of the root words for God in Hebrew. The word ang-el means a messenger from God. So, once I learned Hebrew and understood God is a part of the word, I got a lot better at spotting the difference between “angel” and “angle.”
Over time I have described another way I learn as being “logical, linear.” Again, since I am not visual and despite being dyslexic, if it’s written— especially if I write it down rather than read it— I remember it.
One more interesting personal footnote on this: despite my protestations about not being visual, in my work as a writer for the theater I cannot begin to count the number of times actors and directors have said to me I write in a very visual way. I’ve been told the way I lay out a scene and its dialogue helps them visualize the action even before they start to rehearse. Go figure. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the Fourth Chapter of Deuteronomy. “But take care and be diligent in guarding yourselves closely, so as neither to forget those things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days you live; make them known, teach them to your children and your children’s children—...” (Slight pause.)
In some ways this is a problem of the lectionary. Right after the reading we heard today leaves off, verse 13 uses the word ‘covenant.’ It is the first time it’s used in Deuteronomy. You have heard me speak many times about the importance of covenant.
And the words heard in today’s reading are meant to prepare the reader, the listener, for the very idea of covenant. God, through Moses, instructs the people of Israel to not (quote:) “...forget those things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days you live;...”
And then God, through Moses, says, “teach them to your children and your children’s children—...” What is being taught? (Quote:) “...the commandments of your God...”
To be clear, we need to remember in Hebrew the word is not interpreted as commandments. The word means teachings— plural— teachings. And what is being taught? Covenant. (Slight pause.)
So, how do children learn, really? I’m not talking about learning styles here. It matters not if there are seven or eight or one hundred seven or one hundred eight ways of learning. What I’m addressing here is how we live our lives and how share our lives with our children. (Slight pause.)
Sometimes, especially in private situations, people introduce me as the Reverend Joe. And sometimes, especially in private situations, I correct them and say, “People usually call me the Irreverent Joe.” That is not meant to be irreverent. That is meant to be realistic. It is meant to be real.
Indeed, if you look at my business card, if you look in the bulletin it says my title is the Reverend Mr. Joseph Connolly. That is not simply an affectation.
In the Congregational tradition it was said we understand only God should be revered. Hence, only God, not any member of the clergy, no matter how exalted we might think we are, should be revered, to be primarily reverend.
So, what’s my point about trying to be real? We need to be real with our children. Let me try to unpack that with something I said just last week. I mentioned I grew up in the Roman tradition.
In fact, my father was a teacher at a Jesuit High School his entire working career. My mother entered the convent at a very young age, dropped out before taking her final vows and then married my father.
Their background with and in the church had a real impact on me. That impact brings me back to exactly what God said through Moses.
“...teach them,” that is teach the commandments, teach this learning, teach this covenant, teach this way of life— “...teach them to your children and your children’s children...” (Slight pause.) And how do children learn, really? (Slight pause.)
Children learn from their parents and the adults around them. Children learn by example. I want to suggest the first way children learn is parents and all the adults around children— we all have to be real with children.
Yes, age appropriate is good, necessary. But age appropriate also needs to be real. Real is necessary. And how do children learn— from their elders.
And yes, my parents taught by example. But there were others— family friends. This probably won’t surprise you. Many family friends of my parents were clergy— priests, nuns. I saw them at parties. I saw them on vacation. I, therefore, saw them as real people, not icons.
And I learned. I learned what? I learned this God stuff was something with which everyone grappled as they lived their real lives. I learned this God stuff is not something to be placed on a shelf and taken down and dusted off every Sunday. (Slight pause.)
So I guess what I am really saying is in teaching (quote:) “...your children and your children’s children...” the first thing we need to be is real. Age appropriate, yes— but first real, genuine, thoughtful, truthful, lived.
And how do children learn, really? Children learn from the adults who surround them. And if children see things are not real, they catch on pretty quick. And, if our life with God is not something with which we grapple, something lived, if our life with God is something we place on a shelf and take down and dust off every Sunday, children get it.
So please remember the words from Deuteronomy that say this: “...take care and be diligent in guarding yourselves closely, so as neither to forget those things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days you live...” And these words are followed with this instruction: “make them known, teach them to your children and your children’s children—...” Amen.
09/02/2018
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: “Here’s a comment I’ve made multiple times before about teaching children. These are the words of lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II: ‘You’ve got to be taught / To hate and fear, / You’ve got to be taught / From year to year, / It’s got to be drummed / In your dear little ear / You’ve got to be carefully taught. / You’ve got to be taught to be afraid / Of people whose eyes are oddly made, / And people whose skin is a diff’rent shade, / You’ve got to be carefully taught. / You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late, / Before you are six or seven or eight, / To hate all the people your relatives hate, / You’ve got to be carefully taught! That lyric, you know, is about seventy years old. Yes, we need to be careful about what we teach and, to use another song idea, we need to teach our children well.”
BENEDICTION: God’s Word lights our path. The risen Christ dwells among us. The Holy Spirit, guides, protects and sustains us. Let us go forth from this service of worship and offer service to the world in the name of Christ, for the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need, the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness. May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.
Your Children; Your Children’s Children
“But take care and be diligent in guarding yourselves closely, so as neither to forget those things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days you live; make them known, teach them to your children and your children’s children—...” — Deuteronomy 4:9.
I believe this is a given. We all have specific ways of learning things. In the field of education these are commonly called learning styles.
And, depending on the research you look at, learning styles can be broken down into at least seven or eight ways of learning. I, myself, would argue there are about one hundred seven or one hundred eight learning styles because, for the most part, we each have different ways of learning and it’s likely each of us learns using a broad range of styles.
Now, one of those seven or eight officially certified styles is labeled as visual learning. I am not a visual learner.
However, research says about 65 percent of the population are visual learners. Perhaps that explains why movies and television are popular. They are visual mediums.
These mediums are new but please do not delude yourselves by thinking visual learning is new. The ancient Egyptians wrote in hieroglyphics, a writing system recorded in pictures. There are over 1,000 distinct pictographs, characters, in Egyptian writing.
And the Cathedrals of Europe had stained glass windows and statuary. Even the buildings, themselves, are full of visual cues. These ancient shrines are very old examples of how people learned about faith in visual ways.
Now, a couple of moments ago I said I am not a visual learner. Here’s a true story about how non-visual I am.
I am sure you have all seen the international symbol which means “fragile” on some box. The symbol has a circle with a line through it. And behind that circle with a line is what looks like a broken Champagne glass.
I remember when I was a kid looking at boxes with that symbol and thinking, “Does that mean broken glasses are in the box?” No— it means fragile; handle with care. Since I am not visual, the symbol made no sense to me.
I, myself, tend to learn by listening. Bonnie has accused me of having a photographic memory but, since I am not at all visual, maybe what I have a phono-graphic memory for those of you who remember what phonographs are. If I hear something I remember it.
Also, and I’ve said this here before, I’m dyslexic. I think I cultivated listening as a learning style so I could process first through hearing, through sound, not sight.
One other thing on that count. In my profession being dyslexic could have been devastating. After all, is the word “angel” or is it “angle?”
Well, the letters “e” and “l”— el— are one of the root words for God in Hebrew. The word ang-el means a messenger from God. So, once I learned Hebrew and understood God is a part of the word, I got a lot better at spotting the difference between “angel” and “angle.”
Over time I have described another way I learn as being “logical, linear.” Again, since I am not visual and despite being dyslexic, if it’s written— especially if I write it down rather than read it— I remember it.
One more interesting personal footnote on this: despite my protestations about not being visual, in my work as a writer for the theater I cannot begin to count the number of times actors and directors have said to me I write in a very visual way. I’ve been told the way I lay out a scene and its dialogue helps them visualize the action even before they start to rehearse. Go figure. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the Fourth Chapter of Deuteronomy. “But take care and be diligent in guarding yourselves closely, so as neither to forget those things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days you live; make them known, teach them to your children and your children’s children—...” (Slight pause.)
In some ways this is a problem of the lectionary. Right after the reading we heard today leaves off, verse 13 uses the word ‘covenant.’ It is the first time it’s used in Deuteronomy. You have heard me speak many times about the importance of covenant.
And the words heard in today’s reading are meant to prepare the reader, the listener, for the very idea of covenant. God, through Moses, instructs the people of Israel to not (quote:) “...forget those things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days you live;...”
And then God, through Moses, says, “teach them to your children and your children’s children—...” What is being taught? (Quote:) “...the commandments of your God...”
To be clear, we need to remember in Hebrew the word is not interpreted as commandments. The word means teachings— plural— teachings. And what is being taught? Covenant. (Slight pause.)
So, how do children learn, really? I’m not talking about learning styles here. It matters not if there are seven or eight or one hundred seven or one hundred eight ways of learning. What I’m addressing here is how we live our lives and how share our lives with our children. (Slight pause.)
Sometimes, especially in private situations, people introduce me as the Reverend Joe. And sometimes, especially in private situations, I correct them and say, “People usually call me the Irreverent Joe.” That is not meant to be irreverent. That is meant to be realistic. It is meant to be real.
Indeed, if you look at my business card, if you look in the bulletin it says my title is the Reverend Mr. Joseph Connolly. That is not simply an affectation.
In the Congregational tradition it was said we understand only God should be revered. Hence, only God, not any member of the clergy, no matter how exalted we might think we are, should be revered, to be primarily reverend.
So, what’s my point about trying to be real? We need to be real with our children. Let me try to unpack that with something I said just last week. I mentioned I grew up in the Roman tradition.
In fact, my father was a teacher at a Jesuit High School his entire working career. My mother entered the convent at a very young age, dropped out before taking her final vows and then married my father.
Their background with and in the church had a real impact on me. That impact brings me back to exactly what God said through Moses.
“...teach them,” that is teach the commandments, teach this learning, teach this covenant, teach this way of life— “...teach them to your children and your children’s children...” (Slight pause.) And how do children learn, really? (Slight pause.)
Children learn from their parents and the adults around them. Children learn by example. I want to suggest the first way children learn is parents and all the adults around children— we all have to be real with children.
Yes, age appropriate is good, necessary. But age appropriate also needs to be real. Real is necessary. And how do children learn— from their elders.
And yes, my parents taught by example. But there were others— family friends. This probably won’t surprise you. Many family friends of my parents were clergy— priests, nuns. I saw them at parties. I saw them on vacation. I, therefore, saw them as real people, not icons.
And I learned. I learned what? I learned this God stuff was something with which everyone grappled as they lived their real lives. I learned this God stuff is not something to be placed on a shelf and taken down and dusted off every Sunday. (Slight pause.)
So I guess what I am really saying is in teaching (quote:) “...your children and your children’s children...” the first thing we need to be is real. Age appropriate, yes— but first real, genuine, thoughtful, truthful, lived.
And how do children learn, really? Children learn from the adults who surround them. And if children see things are not real, they catch on pretty quick. And, if our life with God is not something with which we grapple, something lived, if our life with God is something we place on a shelf and take down and dust off every Sunday, children get it.
So please remember the words from Deuteronomy that say this: “...take care and be diligent in guarding yourselves closely, so as neither to forget those things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days you live...” And these words are followed with this instruction: “make them known, teach them to your children and your children’s children—...” Amen.
09/02/2018
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: “Here’s a comment I’ve made multiple times before about teaching children. These are the words of lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II: ‘You’ve got to be taught / To hate and fear, / You’ve got to be taught / From year to year, / It’s got to be drummed / In your dear little ear / You’ve got to be carefully taught. / You’ve got to be taught to be afraid / Of people whose eyes are oddly made, / And people whose skin is a diff’rent shade, / You’ve got to be carefully taught. / You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late, / Before you are six or seven or eight, / To hate all the people your relatives hate, / You’ve got to be carefully taught! That lyric, you know, is about seventy years old. Yes, we need to be careful about what we teach and, to use another song idea, we need to teach our children well.”
BENEDICTION: God’s Word lights our path. The risen Christ dwells among us. The Holy Spirit, guides, protects and sustains us. Let us go forth from this service of worship and offer service to the world in the name of Christ, for the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need, the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness. May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.
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