Sermon ~ 03/27/2011 ~ Third Sunday in Lent ~ Universal Salvation

03/27/2011 ~ Third Sunday in Lent ~ Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-11; John 4:5-42.

Universal Salvation

“At the appointed time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for godless people.” — Romans 5:6.


The Christian Century, a magazine for Mainline pastors which generally leans a little toward the left recently quoted an article from Christianity Today, a magazine for Mainline pastors which generally leans a little toward the right. So, was there a big culture war issue with right or left leanings in the quote, any accusations about theological judgments?

No. The issue being addressed was, by far, more sensitive than any of the common culture clashes with which we are all familiar. The reference was to that most sacred of topics: hymns.

And The Christian Century was praising an article in Christianity Today for giving a scholarly and fair assessment concerning the history of hymns. The article asked this question: ‘Over time what hymns have survived in hymnals in one form or another, again and again and again?’ [1]

To be clear, when I say the hymns this article mentioned (quote): ‘survived in one form or another,’ while people sometimes complain about changes in words, some well known hymn tunes have had their melody and/or their tempo drastically altered over time. Changes in hymnody are, you see, commonplace. Indeed, in the introduction to the 1913 Congregational hymnal, The Pilgrim Hymnal— in that introduction— the editors clearly stated they changed things to match their times.

Now, the article in Christianity Today had a simple premise. It reflected a survey of worship songs that have made the cut in hymnals of Mainline churches across multiple generations. Overall 4,905 hymns have appeared in hymnals of six Mainline Protestant denominations.

These denominations were the Episcopal Church, whose hymnals have had four different editions since 1892, Congregational, five editions since 1897, American Baptist, four editions since 1883, Lutheran, five editions since 1899, Methodist five editions since 1878 and Presbyterian, five editions since 1885. That’s a total of 28 hymnal editions.

Of course, the singing of hymns in Protestants churches is new, as those things go. The practice was not widely accepted until the middle of the 1800s and, therefore, not terribly long after that denominations started publishing hymnals. The dominant practice in worship until that time had been the singing of Psalms only. (Slight pause.)

So, how hard is it for a hymn make its way from the 1800s into a hymnal today? What is the process?

Over the course of those 133 years a typical hymnal has contained between 500 and 700 hymns. Generally, 250 to 350 of the published hymns will be older and 250 to 350 newer. Often hymns survive a generation, maybe two, sometimes three but then fade into memory.

Of the hymns in the first set of denominational hymnals, only half were still in those hymnals by the early 20th Century. So the process of constant change is old one. And while there was a great outpouring of new hymns in the Victorian era, those hymns currently make up less than 20 percent the hymns now in use. (Slight pause.)

So, my guess is most everyone wants to know how many hymns made the cut. How many were found in all 28 versions of the hymnals, including the current ones, and what are they? (Slight pause.) There are only 13 of them in all 28 editions.

These are the names and the years they were written starting with the newest, ending with the oldest. Remember, by definition, they all predate 1878. That eliminates a lot of well known hymns written at a later date.

The list: Crown Him with Many Crowns, written in 1851; Abide with Me, 1847; Come, Ye Thankful People, Come, 1844; Holy, Holy, Holy!, 1826; In the Cross of Christ I Glory, 1825; How Firm a Foundation, 1787; Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken and All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name, both 1779; Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, 1747; Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah, 1745; Jesus Shall Reign Where E’er the Sun, 1719; When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, 1707; last and the oldest— O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, written in the 12th Century. (Slight pause.)

Brian Wren, a British hymn writer out of the Reformed Church tradition who authored 15 hymns in our New Century Hymnal, came to Bangor Seminary when I was a student there. One of the things he did in a lecture was pick up a hymnal and bang on the cover [the pastor does this with a hymnal]. Then he said: “The biggest mistake we make with hymnals is we put hard covers on them. It makes people think they are permanent. It makes people think hymns are permanent, eternal. They are not.”

“Hymns are like cups dipped into the great flowing stream of artistic interpretation about Scripture,” he said. “Hymns are works of art for today meant to help us understand today.” (Slight pause.)

Most of you probably realize what my stand on the Bible is: Scripture can be explained with several crucial points. God loves us and wants to covenant with us. Hence, God wants be in relationship with us. Therefore, without condemnation, God invites us to love God and God invites us to love neighbor without condemnation. That’s it. It’s not complex.

This stand is in line both with what Scripture says and with Christian tradition. However, getting to a place of refined Biblical interpretation, gleaning the subtly of meanings from Scripture is, I would be the first to admit, a more complex task.

This is a brief explanation of that task: when examining Scripture, one must start by seeking what a passage might have meant to the people who first read it, first heard it. Hence, you need to know something about the era in which the passage was written, something about the people, their way of life, the social structure, etc., etc., etc.

Only then can you begin to understand what it might have meant to those who first read it, first heard it. Only then can you start to discern any meaning from the passage for the world today.

Now, if you think understanding the world in ancient times is a tall order, the bigger one is tackling the world today. You see, you do need to ask what it might mean for the world today.

And whereas the ancient world is in the past tense and is, therefore, somewhat static, the world today changes all the time. In short, asking about what something from Scripture might mean today and how it might apply today is the hard part.

So, there is hard work to be done in these simple sounding exercises, in understanding the societies of yesterday and today. But the reason one strives to understand, the point of making sense of society is to not let— not let— the peculiarities, the prejudices of either yesterday or today be involved as we interpret Scripture. The idea is, if we can block out the prejudices of society in ancient times and the prejudices of society in modern times, then we might hear the message God has for us, the human race, found in Scripture.

All that brings us back to the words from the work known as Romans (Quote): “At the appointed time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for godless people.” And, for me, the meaning here goes back to the simplicity of covenant.

If Christ died for (quote): “godless people” Christ died for everyone. This is, thereby, a message of inclusiveness. You see, society in ancient times did have prejudices. Society today does have prejudices. God does not have prejudices.

God does not say ‘if a person is imperfect they are unacceptable.’ God does not say ‘only people who are right handed will make the cut.’ If we do like this hymn and we don’t like another hymn, God accepts us. No matter what we like or dislike, God accepts us.

No matter who we are, God accepts us as we are. No matter what we do, God accepts — each of us, all of us. In fact, God accepts us now and will continue to accept us forever, for all eternity— a basic Christian message.

I believe that Scripture rightly understood does not present God as a set of stumbling blocks, some set of tests to be conquered. Scripture, rightly understood, is not about the physical but is about feelings. Scripture addresses what it feels like— what it feels like— to be loved by God, to be in covenant with God.

It seems to me we humans spend a lot of time choosing up sides. As a musician, as a lyricist, the question as to what music I like and what music I do not like is one of the strangest questions I have ever heard. It is a question about choosing up sides.

The deciding factor for me, at least when it comes to hymns, is the simple one Brian Wren proposed. Music is a cup dipped into the great flowing stream of artistic Biblical interpretation. Music, hymns are meant to be a work of art for today which strive to help us understand Scripture for today.

So, for me, what Scripture says is simple: God loves everyone, no exceptions. Scripture is about universal salvation. Amen.

United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, NY
03/27/2011

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 know historically hymns are the way people really remember theology. There are many hymns which convey very good theology. There are even more which convey an astoundingly poor theology. So, it is, for me, a great burden to be a writer of hymns, something I do from time to time. All of which is to say I do urge you to pay attention to a hymn as it is sung, even if you don’t know it or don’t like it. Ask yourself ‘what is the theology found therein?’ Is it a theology of covenant and, thereby, is it a theology which will stand the test of time?”

BENEDICTION
Let us rest assured that God is among us and travels with us daily. Let us know that God’s Spirit empowers us to do things in the name of God we did not think possible. Therefore, let us share our love for God with others, confident that God will provide if we are faithful. And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.

[1] The article can be found here:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/march/hymnsthatkeepgoing.html

03/20/2011 ~ Second Sunday in Lent ~ Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17 or Matthew 17:1-9.

God’s Action

“Indeed, God sent the Only Begotten One into the world not to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved.” — John 3:17

I am sometimes asked to explain who Congregationalists are or what Congregationalism is. And I sometimes do it by saying ‘this is the quick and dirty way to understand Congregationalism: think Pilgrims, you’ve got us. Think Plymouth Rock, you’ve got us.’

Now that is accurate and it is inaccurate. Indeed, someone who heard me say that recently, questioned the premise. “Don’t you mean think Puritans you’ve got us”?

“Well, yes,” I said, “except for one thing. They are close cousins and most people don’t have a clue who the Puritans were and how they differed from the Pilgrims. And most everyone has some kind of picture, a concept about who the Pilgrims were, even if that picture we carry around in our heads is historically suspect.”

Now, I don’t want to get too deeply into the differences but, aside from the fact that the Pilgrims arrived on these shores first, the most obvious difference is Puritans, originally, had no intent of breaking with the Anglican church, the Established Church in England. Both were nonconformists. Both refused to accept an authority beyond the revealed Word of God.

With Pilgrims, religion was looked at as simple and straightforward. That translated into an independent style and an egalitarian structure.

Puritans, on the other hand, considered religion complex, subtle, intellectual. Leaders were trained scholars. But this, then, tended to translate into a structure and leadership which vaguely went toward a more authoritarian side of the ledger.

Given the history, I think you can see how Congregational Churches use aspects of both. The point my friend was making when he questioned my subterfuge, my tactical maneuver of using only the Pilgrims in my explanation, is that part of both of these groups are present in Congregational churches today.

Now, for a moment, I want to get back to our images of who the Pilgrims were. From where do those images come? My bet is many of us saw or took part in church or school activities about Pilgrims, probably in reference to the Thanksgiving holiday. Right? I am seeing some heads nod out there.

So what most of us learned as historical fact goes something like this: prompted by a good harvest, the very first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621 at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. There was a feast and celebration which offered thanksgiving to God and to which the local natives were invited. Right? That’s what we have as an image.

The historian in me needs to note that the earliest Thanksgiving on this continent observed by Europeans was celebrated by Spanish settlers in 1565 in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida. The first Thanksgiving celebrated by British colonists was in Virginia in 1607, not in Plymouth.

So, that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated by Pilgrims is pure myth, myth in the worst sense of the word— made up. Further, when it comes to Pilgrims or any early European settlers on these shores, I think we often have a mythic image of a people who came and did not look back.

They cut down trees and farmed the land to survived, independent of the places from where they had come. It is an image of people totally free of the old continent, its traditions, its social structures, its economy.

That is simply not true. I was reminded of this because I came across and I am reading the recent book Making Haste from Babylon: the Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World by British historian Nick Bunker. For us the story is often narrated from the perspective of the colonists. Bunker tells the story from a more European perspective.

What is that story? Those who emigrated here did not do so simply because their religion was suppressed in Europe or because they sought freedom, although both those are in the mix. There was also a fortuitous meeting of several factors.

In the early 1600s, seeing that one of the most destructive conflicts in European history, The Thirty Years’ War, was about to erupt, investors sought a safe place for their money away from the conflict. American settlements— away from the conflict— were seen as safe investments. The investors in these cross ocean enterprises never left Europe in risking their money.

In fact, one of the large early returns on investment came not from any farming by the aforementioned Pilgrims and Puritans but happened when they ventured into Maine, what is now the state of Maine and trapped beaver, an animal whose pelts were highly valued back in the so called ‘old world’ and sent them back across the Atlantic.

Additionally, the timing of these investments was impeccable because of new scientific developments. As dangerous as sea voyages were and remained for a long time, ocean navigation had just started to use the tools of logarithms and trigonometry to help that navigation.

All of which is to say the individualism, independence and freedom we often claim as reasons for immigration and tend to read into this story of the New England settlers is somewhat mythological, again in the worst sense of the word. Movement to this continent would not have happened without scientific discovery and monetary incentive.

Indeed, the colonies probably would have failed had there been no return on the investment. To read this movement as simply being about freedom abuses myth because it reads a modern perspective into the story.

Clearly religious freedom and personal freedom needed to interact with new science and economic necessity in order for the colonists to succeed. In short, the myths we have built concerning this history, perhaps because of our own desires and feelings about that history, are at best suspect. (Slight pause.)

You know this to be true: myths are powerful. Perhaps the most powerful human myth is that each of us is in control, independent, free. In control of what? You name it. We believe we are in control of whatever it is we desire.

On the other hand, my bet is each of us, down deep, knows we control very, very little. We just don’t like to admit it.

I also happen to think the reason so many people are enamored of the 16th verse of the 3rd Chapter of the Gospel we know as John, the verse which says: “...God so loved the world as to give the Only Begotten One, that whoever believes may not die but have eternal life” is because we read into it a myth about our ability to control.

We think these words place some kind of power, some kind of control in our hands. After all, it says: whoever— whoever believes (and that’s you) whoever believes will have eternal life.

The problem with that premise is the 17th verse. (Quote): “Indeed, God sent the Only Begotten One into the world not to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved.” This verse makes clear, you see, that God is in control. It is by the action of God, not by our action that salvation happens.

Frankly, I think most of us feel uncomfortable about God being in control, uncomfortable about salvation not being a choice we make. More to the point, when we think we make the choice, that not only gives us power— or at least we think it gives us power— but leads to all kinds of other things. Some of us even start to think we are in charge, we are God.

You see, when we are in control, we start to divide other people into good groups and bad groups. There are, for instance, a lot of churches who still argue about whether gay people are okay, fully human, or whatever else.

In fact, there are a lot of churches who still argue about whether women are okay, fully human, capable of being in a position of leadership. Anyone who is arguing about those things needs to take a deep breath and stop. You are not God. I am not God. You are not in control. I am not in control. (The pastor takes a deep breath.)

All that leads us to the obvious question: is the God we worship a loving God? If God is a loving God and loves everybody, we humans don’t need to worry about who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out.’ We do need to feed those who are hungry, clothe those who wear tatters, house those who need shelter, minister to those who are ill.

Please note: in human terms there is nothing logical about this. That’s because we see life in competitive terms. Human terns tend to be competitive terms. For us, if life is not competitive, it is not logical.

But life, real life is theo-logical— not human logic but God logic. And the logic of God says— love. Human life is, therefore, also, tied into the mytho-logic, but mythologic in the best sense and use of that word. Mythologic as in seeking deeper truth. (Slight pause.)

And, oh yes— one more item: that born again thing? In the words of theologian Thomas Keating (quote): “‘Born again’ is a wonderful gift, but it is not the end of the journey— it’s just the beginning.”[1] (Slight pause.) So, you see, life is a journey. And both the Pilgrims and the Puritans did understand that.

And for me, an understanding that God is a loving God means every morning when I get up I am born again. Why? Each day is an opportunity for me to again learn to trust that I am not condemned in any way, that I am not in charge and that God deeply loves me. Amen.

03/20/2011
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, NY

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “A little more history for you: it was on this day, March 20th, in 1852 that the novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published. She was upset by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which forced both authorities and private individuals in the Northern free states to cooperate with the slave states to track down and return slaves, so she decided to write a book about slavery. But she could not figure out a plot. One day, while she was in church, she had a vision of an old slave. He became Uncle Tom and she started writing. When Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published, it sold 10,000 copies in its first week and about 2 million copies by 1857. Stowe’s Brother-in-law, Samuel Scoville, was the pastor at this church from 1861 to 1877. The church where Stowe had her vision, the vision which became Uncle Tom’s Cabin was First Parish Church in Brunswick, Maine, the church that sent me to Seminary. History can be important. The history of the love God has for us is of utmost importance.

BENEDICTION: God’s love will surround us even when we do not ask for it. God’s voice speaks to us. Let us be attentive to it. Let us share this with others, confident that God will be with us. And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.

[1] Thomas Keating, Be Still and Know.

MARCH NEWSLETTER ~ LETTER TO THE CHURCH

Dear Friends in Christ,

A recent Alban Institute article said that, in the book Leadership without Easy Answers, author Ron Heifetz sheds light on the differences between authority and leadership. Authority is a legitimate power to make things happen.

Check-signing authority, for instance, is the power to compel the bank to release funds. The right to direct the work of others, to hire and fire, to sign contracts or to choose sermon topics— all these are examples of formal authority.

Authority can be informal also: when some people speak, others listen. (Jesus “spoke as one with authority.”) Whether authority is acknowledged or not, whether authority is formal or informal, authority is actually something given to some by others. It is, hence, allowed or recognized or delegated.

Leadership, as Heifetz defines it, is quite different. Leadership is not a personal trait, but an activity: getting a whole group to address its most important challenges. Leadership is measured not by whether those with authority, those who wield authority, get their way. Leadership is measured by how well resources are made available to those who need them and by how those resources are brought into play to influence crucial questions.

Clearly, authority can be a help to leaders, giving them the right to convene meetings, name issues, and hold the group’s attention. But the expectations that accompany authority can also be a hindrance when leading. After all, people do not usually grant authority and then hope they will be invited into hard conversations by those in authority! Certainly a prime reason authority is granted is to eliminate ambiguity.

But leaders supersede authority. How? By inviting groups to ponder troubling questions. Managers, you see, can calm people by resolving ambiguity. Leaders refuse to allow for decisions made with too much haste. Leaders get involved in what can only be solved slowly. Further, the most important, real life challenges are too big for individual decision makers, for those in authority, to address alone. And that’s where leaders can come to the fore in an effort to bring the whole group’s gifts to bear.

This is a surprise to some, but leadership can be offered by anyone (from any pew in the church!). Anyone can lead. The standing possessed by those in authority is not a prerequisite for exercising leadership.

So, which situations call for authority and which for leadership? One consideration is the nature of the challenge to be faced. If the furnace breaks, it must be repaired. The congregation needs to authorize someone to pick a contractor and spend money pronto. That’s an example of authority granted to an individual or a committee.

Leadership tackles more thorny problems. The concern of leadership is to move a congregation through processes which require new behaviors— adaptation. For instance, a once-successful program that no longer attracts participation and a cross-section of good heads to take whatever time is needed to cook up a fresh vision of ministry. Speed and decisiveness do not come into play.

A second factor in deciding whether to use authority or practice leadership is the amount of ability to adapt available in a specific group. A “broken” ministry may be fixable simply by replacing one of the moving parts— a committee chair? a staff member? — but that is probably also the easy course. Perhaps root causes need to be examined.

Sometimes a real deciding component often comes down to the fact that even the strongest congregations can deal with but a few (at most) adaptive issues at a time. And there are many congregations which have no “bandwidth” for adaptive leadership at all.

The temptation to quick fixes is nowhere greater than in the fields of money, property, and personnel. A deficit, at one level, is merely a problem in arithmetic: expenses exceed revenues. The problem can be fixed by lowering one, raising the other or a combination.

Looking at a deficit this way leads us to ask questions of authority: ‘Who can cut spending?’ ‘Where can spending be cut?’ ‘What fund-raising methods will induce greater giving?’ These are the ways authority can come to a resolution of issues but not the kinds of resolutions which come about because of leadership.

A deficit invariably points beyond itself to deeper issues. Perhaps the issue for the congregation is in still trying to engage people in outdated concepts of membership. Perhaps membership clings to a style of congregational life that no longer fits the values or lifestyles of potential members. Or there even may a reluctance to accept leadership roles.

Questions like these deserve the sustained attention of a varied group of leaders, information and a time for conversation, prayer, reflection, and decision. Who will do this?

As already stated, leadership can be offered by anyone (from any pew in the church!). Anyone can lead. Leadership can emerge from ad hoc planning teams, from voices crying in the wilderness, even from the mouths of babes.

Our church is rooted in the Congregational tradition. As such, one of our bedrock premises is this: we are all called to leadership. Each of us is called to a leadership role. We are called not so much to be church members as we are called to be a church filled with leaders.

And, oh, yes..... I’ll see all you leaders in church.

In Faith,
Joe Connolly

03/13/2011 ~ Sermon ~ Forgive Us Our Transgression

03/13/2011 ~ First Sunday in Lent ~ Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Psalm 32; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11 ~ Blessing of the Quilts.

Forgive Us Our Transgression

“Blessed are the ones, / happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, / whose sin is covered.” — Psalm 32:1.

Some of you know this about me. I would presume others don’t. Many moons ago, I worked on Wall Street. Now, one of several jobs I had there was a position called ‘Head Runner.’ A Head Runner dispatches messengers, commonly called runners, to banks and brokerages with deliveries of stock and bond certificates.

Deliveries were made against deadlines so a ‘Head Runner’ needed an intimate, personal knowledge of where each and every delivery window for each and every bank and brokerage on Wall Street was located. And you needed to know how long it took to get from one delivery window to the next to the next to the next on foot.

Why did one need to know all this? Each messenger sent out did multiple deliveries. Building an efficient route meant less staff was needed to do deliveries against those aforementioned deadlines. So, based on that knowledge, the ‘Hear Runner’ made decisions as to who got what deliveries— let’s face it, some messengers were faster afoot than others— and on what the best route might be.

I feel compelled to point out Wall Street firms do not, largely, employ people for this work any longer. Deliveries of this sort are now, mostly, done electronically. Stock and bond certificates are rare and have nearly gone extinct. (Slight pause.)

One day, in that position as ‘Head Runner,’ I decided to hang up a sign in the runners bull pen which said: “Do It Right the First Time.” You see, sometimes runners would go to the wrong place or cover their route in the wrong sequence and a failure to deliver a certificate in a timely fashion would get the delivery rejected. That mistake would cost the company money.

Now, one of the companies for which I worked was located at Five World Trade Center. It was one of the short buildings in the Center, only nine stories tall. But still, these buildings were huge. Each floor had about 120,000 square feet of office space.

When I posted that sign— “Do It Right the First Time”— my boss took me to the middle of the floor to where you could see the whole floor end to end. And there was row after row after row of desks— clerk after clerk after clerk after clerk.

My boss raised a hand, pointed to one end of the floor and said: “You see all these people?” The other hand then pointed in the opposite direction, both arms outstretched. “These are my people. Do you want to put them all out of work? It’s their job to correct the mistakes other people make. If we have everyone doing it right the first time, all you’re doing is putting people out of work.” (Slight pause.)

He was not kidding. Mistakes create jobs. But is it that simple? A friend with whom I worked on Wall Street once said this: “Most people think in order to do as many trades as we do we need to be super organized and keep close track of everything.”

“However,” said my friend, “if truth be told what happens here is nothing more than chaos. It’s organized chaos, but it’s chaos.” Chaos— hence, row after row and desk after desk staffed for correcting... mistakes. (Slight pause.)

And these words are from the work known as Psalm 32: “Blessed are the ones, / happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, / whose sin is covered.” (Slight pause.)

So, what is a transgression? Is it a mistake? Is it something we do wrong? (Slight pause.) To use the classic word, a transgression could be called a ‘sin.’ But what is a sin? Indeed, what is the Biblical definition of sin? (Slight pause.)

The Biblical definition of sin is not about making a mistake. No one is perfect. So, it’s not simply about doing something wrong, although mistakes and wrongdoing can sometimes fall under the category of sin.

The Biblical definition of sin is ‘missing the mark.’ Missing the mark means there is a rupture, a break in someone’s relationship with God and with other people.

So, what does it mean that a Psalm, a writing from the Hebrew Scriptures, insists God forgives transgression? After all, don’t we Christians say Jesus died for our sins? How can it be that the ancient Israelites saw God as forgiving? (Pause.)

Robert Bell is a best selling author and the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Attendance at two services on a Sunday in that church runs in the neighborhood of 11,000.

Yes, it is one of those independent so called ‘mega-churches.’ And yes, the message Bell offers often leans, at least a little, to the theological right.

But Bell’s theology has been slowly evolving. And with the announcement of a new book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, Bell has set off a firestorm of criticism against him from those on the right side of the theological equation. Why? What follows is a transcript of a video Bell released to promote that new book which is scheduled to be published on Tuesday.

(Quote:) “Several years ago we had an art show at our church and people brought in all kinds of sculptures and paintings and we put them on display,” says Bell. “...there was this one piece that had a quote from Gandhi in it; and lots of people found this piece of art compelling.”

“They’d stop and stare at it and take it in and reflect on it— but not everybody found it compelling. Somewhere in the course of the art show someone attached a hand-written note to the piece. On the note they had written: ‘Reality Check— Gandhi is in Hell.’”

Pastor Bell then asks: “Gandhi is in hell? Is he? And someone knows this, for sure, and felt the need to let the rest of us know?”

“Will only a few, select, people make it to heaven? And will billions and billions of people burn forever in hell?”

“And, if that’s the case, how do you become one of the few? Is it what you believe or what you say or what you do or who you know— or something that happens in your heart?”

“Do you need to be initiated or baptized or take a class or be converted or be born again?” Here Bell asks a question which has probably crossed the minds of each and every one of us: “How does one become one of these... chosen few?”

“And then there is the question behind the question, the real question,” Bell continues. “‘What is God like?’ That’s because millions and millions of people were taught that the primary message— the center of the Gospel of Jesus— is that God is going to send you to hell, unless you believe in Jesus.”

“And so, what gets, subtlety, sort of taught is that Jesus rescues you from God. But what kind of God is that— that we would need to be rescued from God? How could that God ever be good? How could that God ever be trusted? How could that ever be good news?”

Bell is blunt about the possible outcome here (quote): “This is why lots of people want nothing to do with the Christian faith. They see it as an endless list of absurdities and inconsistencies and they say: ‘Why would I ever want to be part of that?’”

“See, what we believe about heaven and hell is incredibly important because it exposes what we believe about Who God is and what God is like. What you discover in the Bible is so surprising and unexpected and beautiful that, whatever we’ve been told or taught, the good news is actually better than that, better than we could ever imagine.”

“The good news is that love... wins— love wins” [1] — Pastor Rob Bell. (Pause.)

Today we will dedicated quilts made by the Chenango Piecemakers. They will go to Chenango Memorial Hospital for newborns and to Roots and Wings for the domestic violence program. Why? We believe, the Chenango Piecemakers believe— love wins. (Slight pause.)

Are we perfect? No. Do we make mistakes? Yes. And God forgives. Why? God loves. And love wins.

Indeed, as we go through this season called Lent, let the life, the ministry and the death of Jesus, which we commemorate, be a reminder to us that the story does not end there, does not end with the death of Jesus. Let us remember that Jesus is the Christ— Risen, Resurrected. Why? God loves. Love wins. Amen.

03/13/2011
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: “So, if God forgives, what is the function of Jesus? Some Christians make the mistake of misrepresenting Jesus by insisting only Jesus is God and Jesus only is God. Christians and Christian theology very early on identified Jesus as the Second Person of the Trinity— Three Person, One God. That is both a paradox and ambiguous. But Christianity has lived with that paradox and ambiguity for about two thousand years. I want to suggest that Christianity is not uncomfortable with paradox and ambiguity. Modern society is, however, uncomfortable with paradox and ambiguity. I think that’s why some buy into the possibility that love might not win. And, of course, love is riddled with paradox and ambiguity.”

[1] This quote is taken directly from the promotional video for the book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. The words have very, very, very slightly edited and none of the meaning has been lost.

SERMON ~ 03/06/2011 ~ Vision and Memory

03/06/2011 ~ Transfiguration Sunday ~ (Last Sunday before Lent) ~ Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 2 or Psalm 99; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9 ~ Rasely/Connolly Anthem ~ Communion Sunday and Girl Scout Sunday.

Vision and Memory

“As they (the disciples) were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, ‘Do not tell anyone about the vision until the Chosen One has been raised from the dead.’” — Matthew 17:9.


Perspective can mean everything. I had lunch with a colleague this week who traveled over hill and dale to Norwich from Ithaca. This pastor had not been to the Chenango River Valley before and it seems the GPS being used was not particularly friendly or efficient at giving directions.

By the time my friend figuered that out, cell phone towers were scarce. (You know that if you’ve been between here and Ithaca.) So, I waited and I trusted.

Suffice it to say, a lunch scheduled for noon started at about 1:20. Take my word for this: from the perspective of that pastor who lives in Ithaca, a big town compared to Norwich, being lost on the road between here and there must have made that trip feel like a journey to the middle of nowhere. It must have felt like, we, here in Norwich, are a long way from any place. But perspective can mean everything.

This episode brought me back to that time 15 years ago, when this church was in the interviewing process with me as a prospective pastor and I was considering the call here to Norwich. Both members of the Search Committee and the Area Conference Minister at the time, the Rev. Ms. Judy Hjorth, made sure they told me that, while Norwich might be a city, most people considered this a rural ministry.

However, before I came to Norwich, I was an Associate Pastor in the Waldo County Cooperative of Churches, in the State of Maine. There were five churches in this yoked parish. Sundays were interesting. The senior pastor, Jim Wood, and I switched off on alternate Sundays, preaching at three churches one week, two the next. Three, two— you’ve got that, right?

The towns were Brooks, Monroe, Frankfort, Freedom and Jackson. All together, there were just 3,000 people in those five towns. And Brooks was the big town. It had 1,500 of those 3,000 souls. The other 1,500 were spread out over the remaining four towns.

Further, these towns were not exactly next to each other. From Frankfort on the east end of Waldo County to Freedom on the west, was a hair less than 40 miles and pretty near an hour end to end traveling. You know that old Maine saying? “You can’t get there from here.”

Well, those 40 miles were mostly over back roads, roads which twisted and turned, no center stripe, no white stripe on the side. And these were the main drags, the roads which went right through the center of those towns.

I have often thought one way to explain the difference between the situation here in Norwich, in the Southern Tier of New York, and there in Waldo County, Downeast, Maine, is this: there are places on that route from Frankfort to Freedom where I could drive 15 minutes and not see a house. Here, even out on the road between Norwich and Ithaca, it would be hard to walk 15 minutes and not see a house.

All of which is to say, when someone told me by serving the church in Norwich I was doing a rural ministry, I just smiled and nodded and went along with it. Everything is perspective.

Now, aside from the Sunday preaching at two or three churches in Waldo County, I spent at least one day a week in the parish. In that context, where it is so rural, when you visit people, you do not call first to see if they are around. You simply drop in. In fact, calling beforehand is considered something of an insult.

One day (and I still describe this as the most frustrating day I’ve had as a pastor), I cris-crossed Waldo county, looking to make visits, and did not find anyone at home. I complained to the Rev. Mr. Wood, the Senior Pastor, about how frustrating that was. He smiled and asked: “Did you make the effort?”

“Yes,” I said. “Then,” he replied, “you were faithful. You fulfilled your calling. God does not determine how things are in the dominion of God by human rules of success or failure. God asks: ‘are we faithful?’” (Slight pause.) Everything is perspective. (Slight pause.)

And these words are from the Gospel known as Matthew: “As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, ‘Do not tell anyone about the vision until the Chosen One has been raised from the dead.’” (Slight pause.)

The Gospel reading describes an experience of the disciples, a vision of Jesus as The Christ, the Risen Christ, the Messiah. We need to remember several things about this story.

First, to use the fancy word, this is a theophany. A theophany is an experience of God, an experience of the real presence of God. Are human words adequate to describe an experience of God? No. Hence, this is a description of something which cannot be described.

Second, the Gospels, all the Gospels, were written many, many, many years after the resurrection. Scholars think Matthew was written at least 50 years and maybe 60 years after the resurrection.

So, while these words may say something akin to a description offered by individual disciples, this is also clearly a description of how the early church, collectively, a long time after the resurrection, remembered Jesus. The memory of the church, both then and now, holds that Jesus is the Risen Christ, the Messiah.

Last— yes, as we read the story, our tendency is to place ourselves standing next to the disciples— right there. A good description of any event would function that way— invite us to be there.

But given what I’ve just said about theophanies, about the real presence of God, about when the story was written and about the memory of the church— given what I’ve just said— is it possible the story is trying to invite us to do something besides place our selves standing at the side of the disciples? Is it possible this story is inviting us to put things into perspective, for us today? (Slight pause.) Everything is perspective.

So, what might this mean for us, today? Clearly, this description says Jesus is the Christ. But what vision or even visions might that invite us to have? Indeed, what is our understanding of who Jesus is?

What is our vision of God? Do we have a vision of what God has in store for us because of what we hear in this story? Do we have a vision of the places to which God calls us as individuals and as a church, as a community of faith?

In the church to what work are we called? What is our vision of what we should do, who we are because Jesus is the Christ? (Slight pause.)

Perhaps— perhaps the invitation here is simply to be faithful because God is faithful. Perhaps the invitation here is to trust God, to trust Who God is, to trust Who Jesus is and, by extension to trust that the Spirit of God is present with us. After all, a theophany is the real presence of God and our claim, as Christians, is that the Spirit of God lives among us. (Pause.)

Here’s another way to look at this: are we, in the church, called to be a fort? Are we called to circle the wagons? Or are we, in the church, called to be a port— a port of safety, a welcoming place?

Are we called to be faithful by sharing our selves and our belief in the One, Triune God? (Slight pause.) Again, is the church a fort or is the church a port? (Slight pause.)

I know: it’s all in one’s perspective, is it not? And I think the perspective to which the image of a transfigured Jesus calls us is simply this: faithfulness— now, today and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. Amen.

03/06/2011
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 said a theophany is a real experience of God but human words are inadequate at describing that experience. It cannot be described. So, sometimes the question arises: did the transfiguration really happen or did it not? The question, itself does not matter. The real questions, the significant questions which the transfiguration presents to us are these: ‘do we trust God?’ ‘Are we faithful?’”