SERMON ~ 09/21/ 2014 ~ “Repentant and Lost”

09/21/ 2014 ~ 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ (Proper 20) ~ Exodus 16:2-15; Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45; Jonah 3:10-4:11; Psalm 145:1-8 Philippians 1:21-30; Matthew 20:1-16.

Repentant and Lost

“...Yahweh, God, said to Jonah, ‘What gives you the right to be so angry?’” — Jonah 3:4.

Most Protestant denominations identify just two sacraments: the Eucharist, sometimes called Communion, sometimes called The Lord’s Supper, and Baptism.  But Roman Catholic teaching holds there are seven sacraments entrusted to the Church.

Now, the classic definition of a sacrament is fairly straightforward.  A sacrament is an outward and visible sign of the presence of God, an outward and visible sign of the channels of the grace of God.  I, personally, would argue if a Sacrament is the outward and visible sign of the presence of God and the grace of God, there are not two sacraments or seven sacraments but seventy times seven.

But I digress.  This is the sevenfold list of sacraments of Catholicism organized into three categories.  There are three sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist.

There are two sacraments of mission, sacraments of journey: Holy Orders, sometimes called Ordination, and Matrimony.  (And all of you married folks will understand that matrimony is a journey, right?  O.K.)  Last, there are two sacraments of healing: the Anointing of the Sick and Penance, sometimes called Confession, sometimes called the Sacrament of Reconciliation. [1]  (Slight pause.)

There is something we in American Main Line Churches tend to push a little to the side.  It’s that there can be outward and visible signs of the presence of God and channels of the grace of God in rites of reconciliation.  And such rites, these liturgies, are readily available.  (Slight pause.)

This [the pastor holds up a book] is the Book of Worship of the United Church of Christ.  My guess is there are some life-long Congregationalists who don’t even know this exists.  Among the orders for worship in it there is a whole section of Services of Reconciliation and Healing.

That the Book of Worship of the United Church of Christ contains such rites is quite normal.  The Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church and The Book of Common Worship of the Presbyterian Church also contains sections with these kind of services.

Now, if there is any common American heresy— and there are plenty of American heresies, believe me— if there is any common American heresy, it’s the claim that we are perfect, flawless.  As I have said here before, if anyone here is perfect and present today, please leave— especially Bonnie.  (There is laughter among the congregants, as Bonnie, the wife of the Pastor and a member of the choir, has made a move to stand, only to be restrained by her fellow choir members.)  Church is where imperfection finds a home and resides.

So, the bottom line is simple.  We are all standing in the need of— choose the word you like— reconciliation, repentance, confession, penance... healing.  We are all in need of healing.

Please note: rites of reconciliation are about healing.  Therefore, rites of reconciliation are not about making a list of our sins and naming them, although that can be psychologically helpful in the healing process.  Additionally, as humans, I suspect if we need healing of anything— if we need healing of anything as humans— it’s anger.  (Slight pause.)

One of my mentors in ministry, the Rev. Carol Anderson, and I had long conversations about the healing available in rites of reconciliation.  For me, what made those conversations especially meaningful was the realization that we all have and we all hold some level of anger within us.  That is a piece of our imperfection.

That we all harbor some anger is an unquestionable psychological truth— an unquestionable psychological truth.  That most of us strive to keep anger tapped down because we strive to behave in socially acceptable ways is probably also true.  But that we know there is anger within us is simply a truth.

Now, in those discussions I had with Carol what I discovered is, in a real sense, the only one with whom we should be angry... is God.  Why?  God can take it.  (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Jonah: “...Yahweh, God, said to Jonah, ‘What gives you the right to be so angry?’”  (Slight pause.)

I was glad Mary Williams decided to use the anthem Jonah by Paul Lee Johnson. [2]  Why?  Because it tells the whole story of Jonah right up to the point where the lectionary reading of Jonah for today starts.

So, for a moment, I am going to recapitulate the story.  God said to Jonah “go to Nineveh.”  And Jonah flees.  Why?

Jonah knows God is (quote:) “...gracious and merciful, tender and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in kindness and abounding in steadfast love, a God ready to relent from punishing or violence.”  And Jonah is not pleased.  Jonah is angered by that.  So Jonah flees.

The story continues that the ship on which Jonah sails runs into foul weather.  The storm ceases when Jonah is thrown overboard and devoured by a large fish.  Please note: whatever it is that swallows Jonah, it’s probably not a whale.

The words of the original language— and whales were certainly known in antiquity— the words of the original language indicate it is a ‘great fish’ or ‘big fish’ or a ‘huge fish.’  Indeed, one credible interpretation is this is some kind of sea monster.

Therefore, it is also a credible interpretation that the tale of being swallowed is meant simply to be a mythological allegory.  And sea monsters were a common part of myth and allegory in ancient times.  What’s an allegory?  An allegory is a story which can reveal a hidden meaning, a lesson.

So, for me, the story Jonah— in terms of literature, a short story, the kind of tale which readily conveys mythology and uses allegory— for me, the story of Jonah works on a number of levels as it conveys its message.  Let’s start with repentance.

We moderns commonly think of repentance as being sorry, asking for forgiveness.  That is not the Biblical meaning.  In the Bible repentance means turning one’s life over to God, turning one’s life toward God, in the direction of God.

Which brings up another American heresy.  ‘You mean my life is not turned toward God?’  How dare you?

Well, remember what I said earlier?  If anyone here is perfect, please leave?  Church is where imperfection finds a home and resides.

Yes, we all need to turn our lives toward God.  Turning toward God needs to be and should be a consistent, continual exercise, something done daily.

“But,” the observant among you will say, “Jonah is a prophet of God.  Has not Jonah— a prophet of God— by definition, already turned toward God?”  Why yes.  I quite agree.  I believe Jonah’s life is turned toward God and Jonah wants to do the will of God.

However, that is the very place things start to break down for Jonah.  You see, if there is one constant for Jonah throughout the whole story, it’s that Jonah is angry.

Jonah is angry with the world.  Jonah is angry with nearly everything that happens.  And, most important, Jonah is angry with God.

Again in the words of Paul Johnson, Jonah is pictured as saying this: “I am cast out; submerged with doubt.”  Why submerged with doubt?  Here doubt is simply a symptom of anger.

Therefore, Jonah is both repentant— has turned toward God— and Jonah is lost, quite lost.  Jonah is so angry that Jonah cannot see straight.  Jonah is in need of healing.

Which leads us to something we discussed in Bible Study this week— the fish.  Is Jonah swallowed by a big fish?  Yes.  And the name of that fish is anger.

Throughout this story Jonah is not only swallowed by anger, Jonah is consumed with anger.  Jonah is lost, lost because Jonah has not turned that anger over to God.

And God has actually been confronting Jonah about anger throughout the story.  But here, in this chapter, God very directly confronts Jonah about anger.  (Slight pause.)

There are two things of interest to note here: Jonah is never angry with anyone except God.  And God can take it.

But I think it’s even more interesting that Jonah can be counted among the repentant, among those who have turned their lives over to God.  And yet Jonah is still lost, submerged with doubt, angry with God.

So, for me, because of the reality of anger— and I don’t think any of us can deny that anger is real— because of the reality of anger, the story of Jonah— whale or no whale— is quite real.  You see, once you grapple, once we grapple with the allegory that abounds in this story, then the reality of the struggle we call life presents itself.

And indeed, once we grapple the allegory that abounds in this story, the reality of the struggle we call life not only presents itself, it becomes more than simply an interesting story.  It becomes quite real since the story addresses not fantasies we might have about the Bible, and not fantasies we might have about life.  Bottom line: this story addresses the reality of life— what’s out there, what we face, daily.  Amen.

09/21/2014
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 Congregational Response and Benediction.  This is an précis of what was said: “A Native American pastor/storyteller about whom I know says this: ‘I will tell you a story.  It is a true story.  I do not know if it happened.’  You see, the foundation of all theological discourse and all Biblical scholarship is this: God is unknowable. Therefore, all language which addressed God is, by definition, metaphor.”

BENEDICTION: God surprises us and provides for us.  Let us trust God and give thanks.  Let us seek God’s will.  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]   All this about sacraments is commonly known.  As it happens, I consulted the Wikipedia pages and stole some of the verbiage.

[2]

Jonah
    words and music by Paul Lee Johnson

The Lord said: “Go to Ninevah”
    but Jonah chose to flee,
and took a sailing
    ship across the sea.

And there he hid below the decks,
    not one among the crew
had any knowledge
    that Jonah was a Jew.

The storm was raging overhead
    the waves were crashing in;
the sailors’ prayers
    were drowning in the din.

Poor Jonah was discovered,
    an omen in their eyes
that they should suffer
    a Hebrew in disguise.

Jonah, Jonah, where you going to?
Don’t you know that God will follow you
    to the ends of the earth,
He will follow you,
    He will follow you.

Jonah, Jonah what was that you said?
Aren’t you really wishing to be dead
    to the love of the Lord,
what He wants for you,
    what He wants for you?

The captain asked, “What shall we do? 
    We wish our lives to keep.”
Said Jonah “Throw
    me in to the briny deep.”

They feared his blood was innocent,
    and on their heads would be
the dreadful onus
    of acting out the deed.

The sailors rowed with all their might,
    they failed against the wind.
When all was lost
    they threw poor Jonah in.

And as he plunged into the waves,
    the hurricane was through.
The sailors knelt and prayed
    to the God that Jonah knew.

I am cast out.
    Submerged in doubt.
But if I pray and turn about,
    my God delivers me.

And from the belly of a whale
    prayed Jonah day and night.
The Lord was well
    aware of Jonah’s plight;

for soon the whale had spit him out,
    he lay upon the sand
a sinner saved
    by God’s almighty hand.

I was cast out.
    Submerged in doubt.
And when I pray and turn about;
    my God delivers me,
        my God delivers me,
            my God delivers me.

SERMON ~ 09/14/2014 ~ “PROPHET SHARING” ~ A TWO CHARACTER PLAY WITH A NARRATOR

READINGS: 09/14/2014 ~ 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ (Proper 19) ~ Exodus 14:19-31; Psalm 114 or Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21; Genesis 50:15-21; Psalm 103:(1-7), 8-13; Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35 ~ First Day of Church School in the Fall Term, A.K.A. Rally Day.

09/14/2014  (On Sunday This Year) ~ Feast of the Holy Cross ~ Numbers 21:4b-9; Psalm 98:1-5 or Psalm 78:1-2, 34-38; 1 Corinthians 1:18-24; John 3:13-17.

NOTE: The following hymn was used as the Opening Hymn (v. 1, 2, 3) at this service.  Verses 3 and 4 were used as the Closing Hymn and verse 1 as a Congregational Response at the end of the service.

Come You Faithful, Raise the Strain (NCH # 230 - TUNE: ST. KEVIN)
    © J. F. Connolly 2014

Come you faithful raise the strain
    of our grateful gladness;
God has brought all Israel
    into joy from sadness;
Loosed from Pharaoh’s bitter yoke
    Jacob’s sons and daughters;
Let them with unmoistened foot
    through the reed filled waters.

We the people of the land,
    tribes but yet one nation
Follow God’s redeeming Word:
    promise of salvation.
When in depths of grief and pain
    We, in supplication,
Pray to Yahweh, God of love,
    God of all creation.

Spring has dawned and God has saved;
    Noone is forsaken;
Marched we boldly toward the East,
    Trust in God unshaken.
Archers, horses, chariots—
    Pharaoh sent to take us.
God protects us, liberates;
    Never will forsake us.

Now the joy of seasons, bright,
    pass each day in splendor;
God will lead us to the light,
    with a love so tender.
On this day we seek God’s will,
    grace and love bestowing,
Peace and joy which evermore
    passes human knowing.

Note: this setting is somewhat based on but significantly deviates from the lyric of # 230 in The New Century Hymnal.

A READING FROM THE TANAKH IN THE SECTION KNOWN AS THE TORAH  —  Exodus 14:19-24, 15:20-21 [ILV]

INTRODUCTION OF READING:
This reading has two segments: the first is a part of the story which retells the crossing of The Sea of Reeds.  This episode has commonly been connected to The Red Sea, not The Sea of Reeds, but that designation displays a poor understanding of the location and the nature of the event.  The event described is much more likely to have been the crossing of marshland, a sea of reeds.  Now, this event is also the primal, saving story of the Hebrew Scriptures, a tale of liberation in which Israel receives its identity and hears a clear disclosure about the nature of God.  Therefore, to see this story as merely a miracle is to fall short of understanding its implications.  The second segment of the reading is found at the end of the 15th chapter of Exodus.  Most of the 15th chapter is comprised of what is commonly called The Song of Moses.  We will hear the end of the 15th Chapter, commonly called The Song of Miriam.  Miriam is the sister of Moses and Aaron.  What is of interest here is we know The Song of Miriam is a much older text than The Song of Moses, perhaps as much as 500 years older.  Therefore, not only is it likely that the older text is a more accurate representation of tradition, we also need to realize the song is a primary description of that primal event in the history of Israel and it is recorded as being intoned by a woman.  Hear now this reading as it come to us from the Tanakh, in the section called the Torah, in the work known as Exodus.

    [19] The angel of God, who was going before the Israelites, moved and went behind them; the pillar of cloud left the front of their number and took its place behind them, between the Israelites and the Egyptians.  [20] All through the night the cloud provided light to one side and darkness to the other side, so there was no contact between them.
    [21] Then Moses stretched out a hand over the sea.  And Yahweh, God, swept back the sea by a strong east wind throughout the night and so turned the sea into dry land.  When the waters were thus divided, [22] the Israelites marched into its midst on dry land, with water on their right and on their left.
    [23] The Egyptians followed in pursuit and went into the midst of sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers.  [24] At the morning watch, at dawn, Yahweh, God, looked down upon the Egyptian forces from the fiery cloud, and threw the army into confusion and panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they could hardly turn.  The Egyptians turned to flee from the Israelites, saying, “Their God fights for them against us.”

And after the description of the crossing this is what was written in the last two verses of the 15th Chapter:

    [15:20] Then the prophet Miriam, the sister of Aaron, the sister of Moses, picked up a tambourine; and all the women following her danced and kept a constant rhythm with the tambourines as [21] Miriam sang this:
    “Sing to our God,
            Who has triumphed gloriously;
        horse and rider
    is thrown into the sea.”

Here ends this reading from Scripture.

PROPHET SHARING

(OR MIRIAM AND AARON)

A TWO CHARACTER PLAY WITH A NARRATOR
By J.  F.  Connolly

NARRATOR
When the Israelites pass through the waters it is probably not the Red Sea as Hollywood and Cecil B. DeMille might have us believe.  It is much more likely to be a marshy area called the Sea of Reeds.  So, that’s not the R-E-D Sea.  That’s the Sea of R-E-E-D-S.  Now, it needs to be noted that when we heard the reading from Exodus we heard that the Song of Miriam is more ancient than The Song of Moses.  Just as we can tell the difference between Elizabethan English and Modern English, we can tell the difference in Hebrew which has been recorded in different eras.  So, let me repeat the words said my Miriam in that passage.  “Then the prophet Miriam, the sister of Aaron, the sister of Moses, picked up a tambourine; and all the women following her danced and kept a constant rhythm with the tambourines as Miriam sang this: ‘Sing to our God, / Who has triumphed gloriously; / horse and rider / is thrown into the sea.’”

So, this is a play about the Exodus event.  And this is a play about how events can illuminate the relationship of humanity with God.  The setting is at the time of the Exodus, on the evening after the people of Israel have crossed the Sea of Reeds and the Egyptians have been vanquished by the power of Yahweh.  The play takes place on a rock strewn plateau, overlooking the encampment of the Israelites.  As the curtain rises it is night and we can see out into a valley in the distance.  There are many camp fires burning in the valley.  There is an occasional flash of lightning.  We can hear rolling thunder.  We can hear people singing.

CHOIR
Song of Miriam
    Music by Becki Slagle Mayo
    Words from Exodus 15, alt.

I will dance and sing and play the tambourine;
I will sing all day long!
I will dance and sing and play tambourine,
for the Lord is my song.

How awesome is your power, Lord;
you made a path in the mighty sea.
Faithful to your promise,
you rescued us from the enemy!

I will dance and sing and play the tambourine;
I will sing all day long!
I will dance and sing and play tambourine,
for the Lord is my song.

Your majesty forever reigns.
You led your people from Pharaoh’s land.
Faithful to your promise,
you rescued us with your mighty hand!

I will dance and sing and play the tambourine;
I will sing all day long!
I will dance and sing and play tambourine,
for the Lord is my song.
For the Lord is my song!

NARRATOR
Miriam comes on stage laughing and giggling.  Aaron follows.

MIRIAM
Oh Aaron, Aaron.  Isn’t it wonderful?  Isn’t it amazing?  Who would have believed this?  Who could have predicted this?

AARON
Marion, you could have predicted this.

MIRIAM
Me?

AARON
You do not give yourself enough credit, Miriam.  I have seen you.  I have seen you predict things, and they come true as surely as the sun rises.

MIRIAM
Speculate?  Yes.  Predict?  I think not.  And this?  Predict this?  This triumph is too... too... incredible.

AARON
Not at all.  It is not only possible, but predictable.  And these things that have happened are things that came about because you had a hand in them!  You are the one who is most apt to have seen these times coming.  Did you not know?  Were you not aware?  How could you fail to see them coming?

MIRIAM
But I had no hand in vanquishing the Pharaoh.  It was not I who set our people free.  It was not I who led the escape from the land of oppression.

AARON
Oppression is never overcome overnight, or by an individual, my sister.  It takes years, decades, centuries.  It takes many people, thousands of people, doing small things, working, building over a very, very long period.  Then when the timing is right... no, when Yahweh’s timing is right, it, it just happens!  (He sings joyously, clapping as he sings.) “I will dance and sing and play the tambourine;...”  (Now he laughs.)

MIRIAM
(Irritated.)  You mock me.

AARON
(Shocked.)  Never!  It is you who have had a great hand in this night, Miriam.  You will be remembered by many for what you have done.

MIRIAM
But what is it that I have done?

AARON
You still do not know?

MIRIAM
I am at a loss.

AARON
(He now becomes a reluctant teacher.)  Very well.  I will explain.  Our brother, Moses, and I went to Pharaoh and said “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.’”  Who was it who sent Moses to do this thing, to say these things to Pharaoh, and who told him that these things would come to pass?

MIRIAM
(Hesitantly, knowing that it was not her.)  It was not I.

AARON
No.  You know who.

MIRIAM
(Again, hesitantly, as if she is worried that what she full well knows is the right answer, might be the wrong answer.)  It was the God of our ancestors, the God of Abraham and Sarah, the God of Isaac and Rebekah and the God of Jacob and Leah and Rachel who sent Moses.

AARON
(With a small condescending chuckle.)  Very good.  Now, why did Moses believe God, this one called Yahweh, the one known as I am who am.  Why did Moses believe?  After all, Moses told us Yahweh spoke from a burning bush.  How is that possible?  Why would Moses believe?

MIRIAM
(Miriam thinks that Aaron is making fun of her and that this question is ludicrous, so Miriam uses a mocking tone toward Aaron.)  Oh, yes, how is it possible that Yahweh might speak to Moses from a burning bush and Moses would believe?  And well of course, who would not believe a command given from the midst of a burning bush which fails to be consumed?  And, indeed, who would not believe when a rod is turned to a serpent or a hand made leprous and made well again in the blink of an eye?

AARON
No, no, no.  You don’t understand what I’m getting at.  Of course, anyone who has amazing experiences of God believes— a burning bush not consumed, a rod that becomes a serpent, a hand made leprous and well.  But I want you to think about this in a broader perspective.  But I’m not asking how is it Moses believed God.  I’m asking ‘why?— ‘Why did Moses believe God’  (Pause.)  Tell me, who was it who taught Moses about the God of our ancestors?

MIRIAM
Well, Mother and... (She begins to realize what she is about to say and her voice trails off in wonderment.) ...I, we both took turns... No!  Why, we never dreamt!

AARON
Of course, you didn’t dream.  But you had a hand in this— a large hand.  And you didn’t dream about it, you never could have dreamed of a night like this, a night of freedom, a night when God’s salvation becomes real and tangible back then.  Who could have dreamed about these things when we were bound, as we were, in slavery.  Who would have believed the reality of what has happened?  But without your part— your part—  in teaching Moses about the God of our ancestors he never would have stopped to hear Yahweh speak!  As soon as he saw the bush, he would have run away.  He would have been just another shepherd having delusions from too much desert sun!  And now!   Now we have our freedom!  Because Moses listened to Yahweh!  And you did it!  It is obvious to me that you were part of a plan, part of a hope that would not die, part of a legacy that we will pass from generation to generation.  This is what makes us the people of Yahweh.  We are a light to the nations!  They shall bless us!  Our God, Yahweh, saw our affliction, and heard our cries, delivered us out of the hands of our oppressors and shall bring us to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites.  He shall take us to this land, a land flowing with milk and honey!

MIRIAM
Aaron, you are always the politician!

AARON
Am I?

MIRIAM
You go on and on.  You enjoy hearing yourself speak.

AARON
(He chuckles.)  You cut me to the quick.  You’re right.  I do enjoy hearing myself.  But it is you to whom Moses listened.

MIRIAM
Moses listened to Yahweh.

AARON
You are too modest.

MIRIAM
I am too honest.

AARON
And you are no politician?  (She nods affirmatively.)  Will you tell this politician what it is you told Moses when he was a boy and lived in the palace of the Pharaoh?

MIRIAM
Why?

AARON
Curiosity.

MIRIAM
Killed the cat.

AARON
We are no longer in Egypt.  That’s where cats abound.  I am interested in hearing this.  I want to listen to what you said, to how you told the story.  Perhaps I can say it the same way to my children.  Perhaps I can convey something of the same meaning and feelings that you imparted to Moses.

MIRIAM
What is it I told Moses?  (Pause.)  Over the years it was so much.  And it is now many, many years ago.  Of course, it started with the stories of Abram.  But I do not think I was very concerned with the facts of the stories.  Mother was.  I can never remember details.  I am only concerned with what things mean, not with what actually happened.

AARON
And what did you say to Moses about what the story of Abram means?

MIRIAM
I told him the obedience of Abram when God told him to leave the land of his parents.  And yes, of course, God promised to make Abram a great nation, that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I told Moses about that.  But it was Abram who accepted the challenge, was it not?  He packed his family and crossed miles of desert first to Shechem, then to Egypt, but always in obedience.  He never questioned.  And the covenants!  The covenants!  God’s promises!  I told Moses about those!  And I told Moses that Yahweh was Abram’s God— personal, real, familial!  And I told Moses God made promises with ancient ceremonies of animals and fire!  God promised to give us the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites!

AARON
I thought you were not good on details.

MIRIAM
I’m not.  I have no idea where these lands are.  But I know that God has promised to grant them to us and our God is a God who keeps promises.  Is our freedom not proof of this?  God promised to free us from our bondage, and God has.  Yes, it has taken time.  How did you put it?  God’s timing?  That is an apt phrase.  Often we have to wait and often we do not understand what it is that God has promised, but God always delivers what God promises.

AARON
Tell me more of what God and Abram did.

MIRIAM
Of course, God changed the name of Abram to Abraham.  And that of Abraham’s wife from Sarai to Sarah.  That was important.  The naming was an outward sign of the covenant.  And then God gave them a child in their old age.  Such a joy to have a child in their old age!  And this, (she sweeps her hand toward the congregation) this nation called Israel, these are the people of God, they will be God’s congregation.  And it is all from that seed!

AARON
So what have we learned from Abraham?

MIRIAM
God’s love for us.  God will provide, if we are obedient.

AARON
And what of Isaac?

MIRIAM
The boy named laughter.  That son of Abraham’s old age.

AARON
The son God would have Abraham destroy.

MIRIAM
But God did not have Abraham destroy Isaac.

AARON
No.

MIRIAM
No, indeed!  God provided for the sacrifice when all seemed lost.  Trust!  That is what we learn!  Trust!

AARON
Trust is hard sometimes.

MIRIAM
Is trust ever easy?

AARON
Well... no.

MIRIAM
I digress.  Trust is, indeed, one of the things we learn from Isaac.  Trust and God will provide.

AARON
Trust?  The stories of Isaac make life seem so easy.  It’s easy to trust when life is easy.

MIRIAM
Is that so?  Life was easy?  May you be blessed with two son’s like Esau and Jacob and we’ll see how easy life is for you!

AARON
I see your point.  So... you said that from the story of Isaac and Rebekah the people should learn something of trusting God, but what is it you told Moses of Jacob?  (Playing the devil’s advocate.)  What is it you could have told Moses of Jacob— Jacob, the great conniver— Jacob the schemer.  How could you have said anything good about him?

MIRIAM
Jacob, the one who wrestled with God?

AARON
Yes, Jacob— the one who wrestled with God.

MIRIAM
The story of Jacob is the simple story.

AARON
Simple?

MIRIAM
Yes.  If you wrestle with God, if you listen to God, if you grapple with God, then you may be the weakest clay that God, the potter, has, but God will mold you into the finest pot, fit for use at a sovereign’s table— at Yahweh’s table!  And if you wrestle with God your name shall be called Israel, for you have striven with God.

AARON
Miriam, you amaze me.

MIRIAM
How?

AARON
You have spun out the history of our salvation in these several minutes.  It is no wonder Moses listened to you.  You have summed up the meaning of Yahweh.

MIRIAM
You are mistaken.  It is not possible to really say in words what Yahweh means.

AARON
Even as you say it, I know you are right.  I have experienced Yahweh, and yet I can’t express it.  Not fully.  Not adequately.  Maybe that is why I asked to hear you talk about it.  There is no way to really express the inexpressible, is there?

MIRIAM
Only in metaphor, Aaron.  We can express the inexpressible only in metaphor.

AARON
Ah ha!  So, the only way we can describe the unspeakable is to speak, not with our mouths, but with our hearts, to say things with song and dance and stories and myths, to speak of the deepest truths and to be free to express our feelings about God with our imagination.

MIRIAM
Well said, my brother, well said.  And we must continue to tell and retell each other the stories.  We must remember Yahweh by telling these stories, for there is no other way to express the experience of Yahweh except by telling these stories, our stories.

AARON
And it will be as you say, Miriam.  We will tell and we will retell the stories of our ancestors.  We will retell the story of this night forever.

MIRIAM
There is one thing I would like to know from you, one thing that I would like you to explain, Aaron.

AARON
As if I could.  (Pause.)  Well, what is it?

MIRIAM
I can tell you that we have escaped the land of Egypt, the land of our oppression, but now that we have done that, what does that mean?

AARON
I, for one, do not care to know what it means.

MIRIAM
Why not?

AARON
We can only know meaning partially, and only then in the past.  I have no wish to know what it means now.  The only thing that I want to know is: what is gong to happen next?

MIRIAM
That (pause) I can answer!

AARON
I knew you were a prophet!

MIRIAM
(She shouts.)  Whatever will happen will happen in Yahweh’s timing! 
(She runs offstage.  He stands there for a moment stunned.  Then he realizes what she has said.)

AARON
Why yes!  How could it be otherwise!  God’s time!  God’s timing!  (Aaron runs after Mariam.)

NARRATOR
As Marion and Aaron leave there is again a bolt of lightening and a roll of thunder.  Singing is heard in the distance.

CHOIR
Song of Miriam
    Music by Becki Slagle Mayo
    Words from Exodus 15, alt.

I will dance and sing and play the tambourine;
I will sing all day long!
I will dance and sing and play tambourine,
for the Lord is my song.

How awesome is your power, Lord;
you made a path in the mighty sea.
Faithful to your promise,
you rescued us from the enemy!

I will dance and sing and play the tambourine;
I will sing all day long!
I will dance and sing and play tambourine,
for the Lord is my song.

Your majesty forever reigns.
You led your people from Pharaoh’s land.
Faithful to your promise,
you rescued us with your mighty hand!

I will dance and sing and play the tambourine;
I will sing all day long!
I will dance and sing and play tambourine,
for the Lord is my song.
For the Lord is my song!

THE END

SERMON ~ 09/07/2014 ~ “Without Malice”

09/07/2014 ~ 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ (Proper 18) ~ Exodus 12:1-14; Psalm 149; Ezekiel 33:7-11; Psalm 119:33-40; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 18:15-20 ~ Communion Sunday ~ Colorscape Weekend.

Without Malice

“Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love never wrongs anyone; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.” — Romans 13:10.

I am sure my late mother did not invent this.  But she often said it.  “I love humanity.  It’s people I can’t stand.”  (Slight pause.)

Let me take that thought somewhere else for a moment.  Amy Butler is a single mother of two in her mid-forties.  She is also an ordained pastor who has just been called to lead the largest church in the New York Conference, one with a national reputation: Riverside Church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

She recently posted a blog about being a stranger.  By definition, the day she arrived in Manhattan she was a stranger since before landing there she had only visited.

In her post she says: “It’s a commonly accepted biblical mandate that we welcome the stranger.  In our better moments people of faith manage to cross wide valleys of opinion to agree on that.”

“And while we can be good about quoting Scripture, we are rarely the stranger, ourselves.  What does it feel like to be a stranger?” she asks.

“After my first week in a new city, I remembered being a stranger has not been a common experience for me.  And I acknowledge my experience as a stranger has very little desperation associated with it, but this brush being new reminded me of what it might feel like.”

She continues: “First, I experienced anonymity.  Navigating the world with no recognition from the folks around you can be freeing, but there is also something a bit unmooring about it.”

“Freedom comes at the price of irrelevance.  And I remembered: we all need to be recognized, to fill a role in the lives of those around us.”

“Being a stranger also comes with strong discomfort.  Nothing feels quite normal; everything is brand new.  And as soon as the excitement of the new passes, a nostalgia for the familiar rises to the surface.”

“It’s not that the familiar was better but the territory was readily navigable.  We all long for familiarity and comfort.”

“Constant newness also brings to mind the built-in sense of incompetence being a stranger imposes.  Need to get across town?  Need milk for your cereal?  Need a doctor?  How is that done?  Who do I know who knows?”

“These are all puzzles of varying degrees.  At first a challenge, they readily grow tedious.  The feeling of incompetence humbles, then wears down the spirit.  Reminder: competence and value go hand in hand in our society; it’s discouraging to live with a steep learning curve.”

“Indeed, the stranger finds a constant need for getting help, which isn’t the most comfortable exercise; life as a repetitive receiver can be frustrating.  To learn to accept help can be a challenge for those of us accustomed to the other end of the equation.”

“So, strangers do see the world around them with new eyes.  In that window of time before anonymity becomes familiarity, before discomfort relaxes into ease, before incompetence develops skill, strangers can see a world with a clarity familiarity does not afford.”

“Welcoming the stranger, you see, should not be an issue-specific anomaly, not be a one time occurrence.  It should be, rather, a regular, daily Christian practice” — The Rev. Amy Butler, Senior Pastor, Riverside Church, New York City. [1]  (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Romans: “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love never wrongs anyone; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.”  (Slight pause.)

Like most pastors in Main Line Churches, I have a 90 credit Master of Divinity Degree.  Something I may never have said from this pulpit is my Bachelor’s Degree is in Creative Writing.

But way before I had that degree not only was I a professional writer— paid for my work— I was involved in writing workshops and writing classes.  One of the basic premises taught in such venues is called particularization.

Put succinctly, this is what particularization is about: no one really cares about the million people starving in— fill in the blank with the name of a country.  Why?  You see, when numbers get large they are hard to conceptualize.  It’s difficult, numbing, to grapple with something that big.

Writers learn if the situation is particularized— if, as a writer, you write about the needs, the wants, the pain of one person, one family, one child— then people not only pay attention.  They give money, food— nearly anything to help that one person, one family, one child, in need, in pain, in want.

Why?  A million people starving is a concept.  One person starving is personal, tangible, real— particularization.  (Slight pause.)

I think the Rev. Butler is on to something.  When you place yourself in someone else’s shoes, see things from another person’s perspective, that’s particularization.  But I also think seeing things from another person’s perspective is harder than we realize.

There are two reasons it’s hard.  First, to see things from another person’s perspective we need to leave our own, personal way of life, our way of seeing the world behind.

Another way to say that is we all have our own baggage.  In order to really see the world from another person’s perspective we need to leave our own baggage behind.  We should not force our vision, our solutions, our life, our way of seeing things on someone else.

To be clear, our baggage, our way of life, may be quite successful for us.  But we cannot presume our baggage, our way of life will be successful for someone else.

The second reason it’s hard to see things from another person’s perspective comes back to what my late mother said.  “I love humanity.  It’s people I can’t stand.”

Now, this is a truth none of us likes to admit: eventually people get on our nerves.  And when I say people, I’m not talking about the million people somewhere out there.

I’m taking about your spouse or your child or your in-laws.  I’m taking about your neighbor who just put up a fence you don’t like.  I’m taking about the person who jumped in front of you in the supermarket line.

I’m talking about the people in the restaurant three tables down who are talking way too loud.  This noise is flowing over you as you try to have a quiet dinner with your closest friend and ask them for advice because you are having a life crisis.

And you know your friend will help, even if it’s to just listen, to offer an attentive ear.  But that noise from the next table persists and you cannot be heard.  (Slight pause.)  In the words of Andy Rooney— “Don’t you just hate that?  (Slight pause.)

Well, I suppose all this is to say at least at first we should not worry too much about humanity, the one million people.  Rather, we need to find ways to love those who, in terms of distance, are much, much closer to us.  No matter how much those at hand get on our nerves, we need to put ourselves in their shoes, see things their way.

I think what I’m trying to say is Mom had it backwards.  First, we do need to love people— those at hand.  Once loving people becomes, in the words of Amy Butler, not an issue-specific anomaly, a one time occurrence but a regular Christian practice, that will empower us to not just love people who are near by.  It will empower us to love humanity also.

Theologian Bruce Epperly adds this: Paul tells us to put on the spiritual armor of light.  This is the armor of character, the armor of love, the armor of healing.  And if we do so, we find out the armor is called self awareness. [2]

When self awareness becomes real, true, that can empower us with a sense of divine awareness.  And, indeed, a sense of divine awareness helps us realize what divine protection is about.

Divine protection invites us to go beyond our own fears, our own sense of self protection.  Divine protection invites us to go beyond a sense of scarcity to a realization of abundance.  A divine self awareness does, in fact, allow us to see things from another person’s perspective.

Hence, when we understand God is with us always— that the Divine presence is with us, tangible, real— when we understand God is with us always, we can occasionally get to that place Epperly calls divine self awareness— divine self awareness.  And, indeed, this is what the Apostle Paul had to say about what happens when divine self awareness becomes tangible (quote:) “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love never wrongs anyone; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.”  Amen.

09/07/2014
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 Congregational Response and Benediction.  This is an précis of what was said: “It is sometimes said ‘don’t sweat the small things.’  It is sometimes said ‘don’t sweat the big things.’  I disagree with both.  Why?  It’s not about choosing one or the other.  Life is about discerning things, one step at a time.  And if w36e consistently strive love one another as we attempt to always discern the presence of God and always and strive to do the will and the work of God, that’s the kind of exercise will work up a sufficient sweat.  And then we’ll have to sweat neither the big stuff nor the small stuff because in so doing we will accomplish the work and the will of God more often than not— both the big stuff and the small stuff.”

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.  (Slight pause.)  Hear this is prayer of Melanesian Islanders: May Jesus be the canoe that holds us up in the sea of life.  May Jesus be the rudder that keeps us in the straight road.  May Jesus be the outrigger that supports us in times of trial.  May the Spirit of Jesus be our sail that carries us through each day.  Amen.

[1]
http://www.abpnews.com/opinion/item/29167-welcoming-the-stranger

Note: this was edited slightly for the context of this sermon.  Any change in meaning is unintended and my fault, not the fault of the Rev. Butler.

[2]
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadventure/2014/08/adventurous-lectionary-september-7-2014-pentecost-13/

Note: this was edited slightly for the context of this sermon.  Any change in meaning is unintended and my fault, not the fault of the Rev. Epperly.

SERMON ~ 08/31/2014 ~ “Holy Ground”

08/31/2014 ~ Proper 17 ~ Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Exodus 3:1-15; Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45b; Jeremiah 15:15-21; Psalm 26:1-8; Romans 12:9-21; Matthew 16:21-28 ~ Labor Day Weekend on the Secular Calendar.

Holy Ground

“God said, ‘Come no closer!  Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground!’” — Exodus 3:5.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a child of the church— a P.K., a preacher’s kid, the child of a pastor.  And, in part because of the leadership offered by King in the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and the 1960s, we sometimes forget he was also a pastor.  He served the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.

Two years before his untimely death at the hands of an assassin, Dr. King offered a sermon at Ebenezer which started with this sentiment (quote:) “I would like to preach on the subject: ‘Guidelines for a Constructive Church.’”

Then King said— and to be clear I am editing and paraphrasing this; I wouldn’t think of myself as standing in King’s shoes— then King said, he would like to submit since it is we who are followers of Christ it is we who must keep the church going and keep it alive.  Therefore, somewhere behind the dim mist of eternity, God has set forth guidelines.

Through the prophets, and above all through Christ, God said that, “There are some things my church must do, some guidelines my church must follow.”  The guidelines are clearly set before us, said King, in some words uttered by Jesus, who went to the synagogue one day, and quoted Isaiah.

“The Spirit of God is upon me, because I am anointed to preach the gospel— Good News— to the poor.  God has sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of God’s favor.”  These are the guidelines of the church.

You see, insisted King, the church is not a social club, although some people think it is.  Those who think it’s a social club are the ones who get caught up in exclusive-ism and feel it’s a club with a thin veneer of religiosity.  But the church is not a social club.

And the church is not an entertainment center, said King, although some people think it is.  Through their own actions people in some churches demonstrate they think it’s an entertainment center.  Movies are meant to entertain, not church members, not preachers.  The church is not an entertainment center.

Having said that, King turned to the work the church needs to do in the world by addressing what Jesus said.  When following its guidelines, he continued, the church first seeks to heal the broken-hearted.

Next, when it is true to its guidelines, the church sets out to preach deliverance to those who are captive— to free people.  Why?  We need to remember some people are slaves, captives, to prejudice and to fear and to their own possessions.

Then King came to what I think was the real point of the sermon by addressing what the acceptable year of God’s favor is about.  The acceptable year of God’s favor can be this year, said King.  This year is the year— and the church is called to preach it.

Pastor King then started to reel off in a rhythmic rhetoric so often associated with preaching this litany.  (Slight pause.)  The acceptable year of God’s favor is any year we decide to do right.  The acceptable year of God’s favor is any year we stop lying and cheating.  The acceptable year of God’s favor is any year we refuse to spread malicious gossip, false rumors.

The acceptable year of God’s favor is any year we stop throwing away the precious lives God has given in riotous living.  The acceptable year of God’s favor is any year we stop killing people engaged in the process of seeking their constitutional rights.

The acceptable year of God’s favor is any year we learn to live together as sisters and brothers.  The acceptable year of God’s favor is any year all the leaders of the world sit down at a conference table and realize unless humankind puts an end to war, war will put an end to humankind.

The acceptable year of God’s favor is any year we beat our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks and nations do not rise up against nations or study war.  The acceptable year of God’s favor is when we allow justice to roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

The acceptable year of God’s favor is any year we send to the Congress and to the state houses of our nation people who will do justice, people who will love mercy, who will walk humbly with God.  The acceptable year of God’s favor is any year we work on making the rough places plain, the crooked places straight.

The acceptable year of God’s favor is any year we do onto others as we would have others do onto us.  The acceptable year of God’s favor is any year we love our enemies and bless them that curse us.

The acceptable year of God’s favor is any year we discover that we are one race made by God to dwell upon the face of the earth.  This— this— is the acceptable year of God’s favor. [1]  (Slight pause.)

“God said, ‘Come no closer!  Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground!’”  (Slight pause.)

First, I probably need to apologize because I am sure I have not done the words of Dr. King justice.  The original sermon is one of great power.  When this sermon is posted online there will be a footnote where you can go find that sermon.

Next, I need to recognize the truth of what King had to say about the church.  We have guidelines.  Last, I need to say I believe the guidelines do come from a singular place: we— each of us— needs to realize the reality of the presence of God.  We need to realize we constantly stand on holy ground.

And when I say we stand on holy ground I want to emphasize I am not addressing location.  You have heard me say dozens if not hundreds of times this building is not a church.

In our congregational tradition this building is called a meeting house.  Why?  We, you and I— the congregation— we are the church.

And rumor to the contrary that word— congregation— does not only mean a method of governing ourselves— bottom up.  The word contains a larger idea than that.

The term congregation has its roots in the Hebrew Scriptures.  The words for assembly, company and congregation in the Hebrew Scriptures all become one word in the Greek — ekklesia.  And that word is commonly translated in the New Testament as church.

But what does ekklesia mean?  In one sense it means what was actually indicated in the Hebrew.  It means a gathering of citizens called out from their homes to some public place— a public place.

You see, we— the church— like it or not— are here for a public purpose.  We are here to serve.  We are here to love.  We are here to, in the words of Dr. King, “learn to live together as sisters and brothers.”  (Slight pause.)

All of which is to say I once again agree with Dr. King.  We, the church, we do have guidelines.  You’ve heard me repeat the simple version of those guidelines over and over and over.  Love God; love neighbor.

But yes— a version which is both more complex and more subtle has to do with Dr. King’s proclamation: the acceptable year of God’s favor is now— right now.  That we stand on holy ground means that we are not a social club or an entertainment center.

That we stand on holy ground means God calls us to action right now.  That we stand on holy ground means God’s realm is right now.

That we stand on holy ground means God’s is present with us right now.  And we do stand on holy ground now.  We do stand on holy ground now because the church is not the building.  That is not the holy ground.

We— you and I together are holy ground.  And we— you and I— the church together— we have guidelines.  And the prime guideline is to realize and to understand the fact that now— right now— is holy; holy— set apart to do God’s will.  And now— right now— is a time for action.  Amen.

08/31/2014
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 Congregational Response and Benediction.  This is an précis of what was said: “In the famous I Have a Dream speech, Dr. King reminded people of (quote:) “...the fierce urgency of Now.”  I think too often we, the church, do not understand that it is we who need to act.  And I think too often we, the church, do not understand now is when we need to act.  Why?  We are the holy ground.”

BENEDICTION: Through God’s grace, by being attentive to God’s will, our deeds and our words will change our world for we will discover ways to proclaim release from the bondage or narrowness.  Let us seek the God of Joy whose wisdom is our God.   Let us go in peace to love and serve God.  Amen.

[1]   This sermon “Guidelines for a Constructive Church” (5 June 1966), Delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia can be found here:

http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_guidelines_for_a_constructive_church/

To reiterate, I have edited this somewhat and paraphrased this somewhat.  I do not believe I have done severe damage to the message Dr. King offered in what I have done and I am clear in my text that this is not a direct quote.  If I have done damage to the text of Dr. King, I beg forgiveness.

08/24/2014 ~ SERMON (At the First Baptist Church) “Mythology and Theology”

08/24/2014 ~ Proper 16 ~ Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost ~ Exodus 1:8-2:10 ~ Psalm 124 ~ Isaiah 51:1-6; Psalm 138; Romans 12:1-8 ~ Matthew 16:13-20 ~ At the Baptist Church ~ Pastor Joe Shares the Word.

Mythology and Theology [1]

The Apostle to the Gentiles says this in the work known as Romans: “...be transformed by the renewal of your minds, so that you may discern, that you may judge what the will of God is— that which is good and acceptable and pleasing and perfect.”  (Romans 12:2)  And the writer of Matthew pictures Jesus as asking this question: “What do people say about who the Chosen One is?”  (Matthew 16:13)

Those who study popular culture will tell you the industry commonly known as Hollywood changed in 1975.  The summer blockbuster movie was invented.  And every year since then each studio tries to present a new Summer blockbuster.

That first Summer blockbuster was Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg.  (We all remember Jaws, right?)  Once released, it went on to be— at that point in time, at least— the highest-grossing film in history.  Two years later Star Wars, directed by Spielberg’s friend George Lucas, burst on the scene and became the new money making record holder for a film in its initial release.

Now, many people point to the reason for the success of these blockbusters as being everything from the direction to special effects to likeable stars— although I’m not sure a shark is very likeable.  I want to suggest the real reason these films were successful is they went back to a very old fashioned way of telling a story.

Both Spielberg and Lucas admit the way they tell stories is by using the old fashioned method called myth.  Contrary to popular belief a myth is not a lie.  But the details of a myth are not about engaging reality, either.  Rather, a myth employs story telling in an effort to engage larger truths, big ideas.

Indeed, a myth is not meant to relate mere facts but meant to expresses deep truth— the kind of truth facts sometimes hide.  Put differently, a myth addresses a bigger truth than the mere facts can represent.  Indeed, the opening words of Star Wars crawl across the screen and effectively insist the story we are about to see is fabricated.

(Quote:) “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....”  That’s a clear message: this is fiction— made up.  But it’s the final words in that introduction, words to which we might not even pay attention, which tell us what the myth we are about to see will be about.

It says the purpose of voyage on which Princess Leia now travels is to (Quote:) “...restore freedom to the galaxy...”  “...restore freedom to the galaxy...”  This is a big idea: restore freedom.

This type of big idea is an idea that can only be described with the kind of story we call myth.  Let me emphasize this again: a myth is a story which addresses a bigger truth— a bigger truth— than mere facts can represent.

That leads to something important about mythology we need to understand and we need to remember.  When it comes to the stories we call myths this is a question the stories, themselves, never ask: “Did the story happen?”  ‘Did it happen?’ is a moot point.

Please note: in saying that the question “Did it happen?” is a moot point I am neither denying the story happened or the details happened or the facts happened nor affirming the story happened or the details happened or the facts happened.  I am saying the story, itself, insists the particular details of the story have little traction.

When it comes to myth, the only valid question to ask is this: “What does the story mean?”  What does the story mean?  (Slight pause.)

The Apostle to the Gentiles says this in the work known as Romans: “...be transformed by the renewal of your minds, so that you may discern, that you may judge what the will of God is— that which is good and acceptable and pleasing and perfect.”  And the writer of Matthew pictures Jesus as asking this question: “What do people say about who the Chosen One is?”  (Slight pause.)

Biblical scholars insist there is little question about this timetable: the Resurrection of Jesus happened about what we would call the year 30 of the Common Era.  They also tell us all the true letters of the Apostle Paul are written before any Gospel is recorded.  The earliest work in the New Testament is likely to have been First Thessalonians, written around the year 54 of the Common Era, or about 24 years after the Resurrection.

Further, while fourteen letters are attributed to Paul, the Apostle probably only wrote seven of them.  And we are fairly confident Paul did not write after the year 64 of the Common Era because we are fairly confident Paul died about the year 64 of the Common Era.  So Paul’s starts writing in the year 54 and is done in the year 64.

When it comes to the Gospels, the sequence we find in the Bible is Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  However scholars, also with great confidence, say Mark was written first.  It’s unlikely Mark was recorded before the year 70 of the Common Era, about 40 years after the Resurrection.  Matthew is often dated as being composed about 15 years after Mark or the year 85 of the Common Era, 55 years after the Resurrection.

Luke and Acts are written together, at the same time and by the same author.  In short, Luke and Acts are simply two volumes of one work.  It is, therefore, never appropriate to think of Acts as being separate from Luke.  They are one.

Some scholars date the writings attributed to Luke as being written about the same time as Matthew.  Others say it was at least five years later, or about the year 90 of the Common Era.

Among the Gospels, John is the last one written, probably recorded around the year 100, 70 years after the Resurrection, 46 years after Paul first writes, 36 years after Paul is done writing.  Put differently, the Gospels are written over a thirty year span from the year 70 of the Common Era to the year 100 of the Common Era.  (Slight pause.)

Paul, that first writer, gives us very little in terms of story.  There is theological information, but it’s not an organized theology.  Rather, these are sporadic writings over the course of 10 years, mostly to places Paul has visited.  These words are not well organized because they are written in response to those who have asked for specific guidance about specific things going on in their community.  This circumstance produces the haphazardness in Paul’s theological writings.

And, indeed, we need to realize and to understand something important about what we call the New Testament.  For those who first heard these words or first read these words the Epistles and the Gospels were not Scripture.

What those who first heard or read the words of the Epistles and the Gospels saw and identified as Scripture is what we, today, call the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures.  The church does designate what we call the New Testament as Scripture only a couple hundred years after the First Century.  So the New Testament is not Scripture for several hundred years into the history of the church.  (Slight pause.)

Well, that was a bunch of facts.  Why are all these facts important?  Why is this information vital?  I think it’s vital because the first thing that gets written in the New Testament is not story.  It’s theology.  And like all theology Paul’s writings tends to be thick— hard to understand at times.

However, when the followers of Jesus turn to story, they do something very, very, very important.  They delve into myth.  Now, let me say this again: myth addresses a bigger truth, a deeper truth than the mere facts can represent.  And what is the truth all the Gospels address?

The Gospels tells us God is with us.  The Gospels tell us God walks among us.  The Gospels tell us God is present to us.

Let me elaborate on that in just one way.  In the modern myth known as Star Wars it’s clear the name Luke Skywalker is a mythological name— a name that tells us something.

In the Gospels Jesus is given two names.  One is Emmanuel, which means God is with us.  The other name is Jesus.  Jesus is only what the name sounds like in Greek.  The Hebrew version of the name is Joshua— Yehôshúa in the Hebrew.  And that name means God saves.

So, the two names Christ is given in the Gospels mean ‘God is with us’ and ‘God saves.’  Just the names tell us something.  The names tells us is Jesus is the Chosen One, Christ, the Messiah.

There is one last important fact to consider here.  It concerns those who first heard or read the words of the Gospels.  If you asked them if the details in the Gospels were true, they would not have understood the question.

Why?  They understood the point of the Gospels is not wrapped up in factual detail. They understood the point of the Gospels is to declare large truth, a big idea, deep truth.  And those who first heard or read these words were much more concerned with large truth, the big idea, deep truth than factual details.

And this is the large truth, the  big idea, the deep truth these words address: God is with us; God walks among us; God is present to us.  Jesus is the Chosen One, Messiah, the Christ.  And that is not the kind of myth we would label as a lie.  That is the kind of myth which reveals a deep, world changing truth.  Jesus is the Christ.  Amen.

08/24/2014
First Baptist Church, Norwich, NY

[1]   It needs to be noted that there were visuals accompanying projected on a screen this sermon from pictures concerning the movie Star Wars to charts with the dates which references the writing of the Epistles of Paul and the Gospels.

SERMON ~ 08/10/2014 ~ “Baseball, the Bible and Trinitarianism: A Tri-logue” - A Dialogue for Three People

08/10/2014 ~ Proper 14 ~ Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Ninth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28; Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b; 1 Kings 19:9-18; Psalm 85:8-13; Romans 10:5-15; Matthew 14:22-33 ~ At the First Baptist Church ~ David Spiegel and Joe and Bob Oehme Share the Word ~ The Baseball Sermon ~ Used: Exodus 3:1-16; Romans 8:14-17a; John 3:1-17.

READINGS:

A READING FROM THE TANAKH IN THE SECTION KNOWN AS THE TORAH —  Exodus 3:1-16 [ILV]
JOE:
In part because we read these words in translation certainly one of the things we miss is that God names God’s own self by using a form of the verb “to be.”  But perhaps of equal interest is that God uses three different forms of the verb in stating that name.  Hear now this reading as it is found in the work known as Exodus in the Third Chapter.

[1] Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, who was the father-in-law of Moses and was the priest of Midian.  Leading the flock beyond the beaten path, deep into the wilderness, Moses came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

[2] There a messenger of God appeared in a flame of fire from the midst of a thornbush.  Moses saw this— a bush ablaze with fire and yet not consumed— [3] and Moses said, “Let me go closer and look at this remarkable sight and see why the bush does not burn up.”

[4] God saw Moses coming closer and called out from the midst of the bush: “Moses, Moses!”

Moses answered, “I am here.”

[5] God said, “Come no closer!  Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground!”

[6] Then God said, “I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham and Sarah, the God of Rebecca and Isaac, the God of Leah and Jacob and Rachel.”

Moses looked away, afraid to look at the Holy One.

[7] Then God said, I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt; I have heard their cries as they suffer because of those who oppress them.  I have, indeed, felt their sufferings.  [8] Now I have come to deliver them, to rescue them from the hand of Egypt out of their place of their suffering and to bring them to a place out of that land, a place that is wild and fertile, a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey— the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.  [9] The cry of the children of Israel has reached me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.  [10] Now Go!  I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

[11] But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

[12] God answered, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign by which you shall know that it is I who sent you: after you bring my people out of Egypt, you will all worship at this very mountain.”

[13] “But” Moses said, “when I go to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ if they ask, ‘What is the name of God?’ what shall I say to them?”

[14] God replied, “I AM WHO I AM.”  God also said, I AM AS I AM.  Then God further said, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

[15] God spoke further to Moses, “Tell the children of Israel, ‘Yahweh, the I AM of your ancestors, the God of Abraham and Sarah, the God of Rebecca and Isaac, the God of Leah and Jacob and Rachel, has sent me to you’:

This is my name forever;
This is the name
you are to remember
for all generations.

[16] Now go and gather the elders of Israelites and tell them, ‘I AM, the God of your ancestors, ancestors the God of Abraham and Sarah, the God of Rebecca and Isaac, the God of Leah and Jacob and Rachel, has appeared to me and sent me to you.  Say to them I have heard you, I have heard your cries and I have seen the way you are being treated in Egypt.

Here ends this reading from Scripture.

A READING FROM THE EPISTLES —     Romans 8:14-17a [ILV]
BOB:
This passage makes it clear: through Jesus we are adopted by God as children of God.  Hear now this reading as it is found in that section of Scripture known as the Letter to the Church in Rome, commonly referred to as Romans.


[14] ...all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.  [15] You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear.  You have received a spirit of adoption, adopted by God.  When we cry, “Abba!  Daddy!”— for we think of God on intimate terms so we call God ‘Daddy’— [16] it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit which proclaims we are children of God.  [17a] And if children, then we are heirs— heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ....

Here ends this reading from Scripture.

A READING FROM THE GOSPELS —     John 3:1-17 [ILV]

DAVID:
The writer of John is clear: the Spirit of God has and is acting in Jesus, who is the Christ.  Hear now this reading as it is found in the Gospel According to the School of John.


Now, a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin— Sanhedrin - a Greek term which means ‘assembly’ or ‘council’— [2] Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin, came to Jesus one night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can perform these signs and wonders you do apart from the presence of God.”

[3] Jesus gave Nicodemus this answer:

“The truth of the matter is:
no one can see
the dominion of God,
the realm of God
without being born from above.”

[4] Nicodemus said, “How can anyone be born a second time, after having grown old?   Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?”

[5] Jesus replied, “The truth of the matter is:
no one can enter the dominion of God
without being born of water and Spirit.

[6] What is born of the flesh is flesh,
and what is born of the Spirit is Spirit.

[7] So, do not be surprised when I said to you,
‘You must be born from above.’”

[8] “The wind blows where it chooses.
You hear the sound it makes,
but you do not know where it comes from
or where it goes.
So it is with everyone
who is born of the Spirit.”

[9] “How can these things be possible?” asked Nicodemus.
“How can these things be?”

[10] Jesus answered, “Are you a teacher of Israel,
and you still do not understand these matters?”

[11] “The truth of the matter is:
we talk about what we know
and testify to what we have seen;
yet you do not accept our testimony.

[12] If you do not believe
when I have told you about earthly things,
how will you believe
when I tell you about heavenly things?

[13] No one has gone to heaven
except the one who
comes from heaven— the Chosen One.

[14] As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness,
so must the Chosen One be lifted up,

[15] so that whoever believes
in the Chosen One may have eternal life.”

[16] “For God so loved the world
as to give the Only Begotten One,
so that whoever believes
may not die but may have eternal life.”

[17] “Indeed, God did not send
the Only Begotten into the world
to condemn the world,
but that through the Only Begotten
the world might be saved.”

This is the Gospel of  Jesus, Who is the Christ, the Messiah.

***********************************************************************

Baseball, the Bible and Trinitarianism:
A Tri-logue
(A Dialogue for Three People)

JOE:
Well, I am here to offer a serious academic lecture about the connection between sports and the Bible.  I see some doubting looks out there.  But I do need everyone to know that there is a definite connection between athletics and the Bible.  In fact, did you know that strange as it may seem, the Bible is about Baseball.

DAVID:
(At the start of this David is sitting among the members of the congregation.)  Wait!  Wait!  Wait just a cotton picking minute.  Hold your horses!  Baseball?  How can the Bible be about Baseball?  As you know, I am a really, really big Baseball fan.  And if I know anything, I know Baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday.  Abner invented Baseball in Cooperstown, New York, just over the hills from where we are right now.  Now, on the other hand, Abraham is in the Bible and lived in the part of the world we today call the Middle East.  But Abraham probably lived about four thousand years ago.  And, Moses is in the Bible.  But Moses probably lived in the part of the world we today call the Middle East but about three thousand years ago.  And Jesus is in the Bible.  And Jesus lived in the part of the world we today call the Middle East but about two thousand years ago.  So, they all lived in what we today call the Middle East.  The Middle East— that’s thousands and thousands and thousands of miles away from here.  Even by jet, that would take better than a half a day to get there.  But Abner Doubleday— Abner Doubleday lived in Cooperstown, New York.  Cooperstown— it just ain’t that far from here.  And legend has it that Doubleday invented Baseball right there... in Cooperstown, in 1839.  I know because I’ve been in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and that’s what it says, right there in the Hall of Fame.  And if there is anything I know, it’s that 1839 is not thousands of years ago.  1839 is only about... 175 years ago, not 4,000 years ago and not 3,000 years ago and not 2,000 years ago.

BOB:
(Bob has been sitting in the congregation also, on the opposite side from David.)  David— I am sorry to say you’re wrong.  Baseball is in the Bible.  After all, don’t the first words in Genesis say: “In the Big Inning...”

DAVID:
Oh, yeah?

JOE:
Yeah.  You see?  There is a connection between Baseball and the Bible.

DAVID:
Yeah?  Well... well... who’s on First?

BOB:
What do you mean, who’s on First?

DAVID:
I just want to know the name of the player in the field, the position we call First Base.  Who’s on First?  After all, a lot of Baseball players have funny or a funny names.  I mean, in the past Baseball players have had names like Dizzy Dean who played for the Saint Louis team.  Or Mookie Wilson who played for the Mets.  (I love the Mets.)  Or Moose Skowron— he played for the Yankees.  Moose— you’d think he’d be from Maine and play on the Red Sox.  But no.  He played for the Yankees.  And today there’s a pitcher named Joba Chamberlain— Joba Chamberlain— that name doesn’t even sound like the name of a Baseball player.  That sounds like a character out of Star Wars.  But a guy named Joba Chamberlain plays for the Detroit Tigers.  At least when he’s not on the disabled list.  Anyway, there was this guy named Charles Dillon Stengel— speaking of funny names— Charles Dillon Stengel— Charles Dillon Stengel is known to most people as Casey Stengel.  Casey— he should have been managing a locomotive, not a Baseball team.  But Casey said you can’t have a Baseball team without a catcher— so let’s forget about a catcher and start on First Base.  I’ll say it again.  If the Bible is about Baseball, who’s on First?

BOB:
I still don’t quite know what you mean by who’s on First?  What happened to the catcher.

DAVID:
Never mind about the catcher.  Here’s what I want to know: if the Bible is about Baseball, what’s the name of the player who plays First Base in the Bible?

JOE:
What is not the name of the one who plays First Base on the Bible Baseball team.

DAVID:
I know that!  Who’s on First?

BOB:
Who is not the name of the one who plays First Base on the Bible Baseball team.

DAVID:
Look.  Do either of you know the name of the one playing First Base on the Bible Baseball team?

JOE:
I think we both know the name.

DAVID:
Great.  So can either one of you please tell me the name of the one playing the position of First Base on this Bible Baseball team?

BOB:
I AM.

DAVID:
You play First Base?

BOB:
No.

DAVID:
I didn’t think you were playing First Base.  So, the name of the one playing First is...?

BOB :
I AM.

DAVID
Look, you just said you are not the one playing First on the Bible Baseball team.  And then I ask you the name of the one playing First on the Bible Baseball team and what do you say?  You say, “I AM.”  No you are not.  You said you are not.  (Turns to Joe.)  O.K.  You— maybe you Mr. know it all about the Bible and Baseball can tell me.  What is the name of the one playing First on the Bible Baseball team.

JOE:
What is not the name of the one who plays First.

DAVID:
I think we’ve already established that.  So, let’s try this again: the name of the one playing First on the Bible Baseball team is...?

JOE:
I AM.

DAVID:
You play First Base?  (Points to Bob.)  First he said he’s playing First.  Then you say you’re playing First.  Who’s playing First.

JOE:
No.  I am not a good enough player to play First and who is not playing First, either.

DAVID:
O.K.  We got that straight now.  (Points to Joe.)  You’re not the one playing First.  (Points to Bob.)  And you’re not playing First.  So, who is playing First?

BOB AND JOE (TOGETHER):
I AM.

DAVID:
No.  Wait!  You can’t both be playing First!

JOE:
No.  We’re not.

DAVID:
So, who is playing First?

BOB AND JOE (TOGETHER):
I AM.

DAVID:
All right.  You’ve got two people playing First Base.

BOB:
No, no, no.  You don’t understand.  When Moses asked God to tell Moses what the name of God is so Moses could tell the people of Israel that name, the word God used to identify God’s own self was the Hebrew word Yahweh.

JOE:
And the Hebrew word Yahweh is, in Hebrew, a form of the verb to be.  Hence, the name of God is...

BOB AND JOE (TOGETHER):
I AM.

DAVID:
No.  That can’t possibly be right.  No one can be named ‘I AM.’  It’s just... just too strange.

JOE:
Hey!  If someone can be named Dizzy or Moose or Joba, how can you say ‘I AM’ is a strange name?

DAVID:
Well, I guess you have a point.  But I’ve heard people call God by a lot of names.  I’ve heard God called Creator.  I’ve heard God called the Light.  I’ve heard God called Rock— now that name sounds like a Baseball player— Rock.  I’ve even heard God called Father.

BOB:
Yes.  God is called by a lot of names in the Bible.  But of all those names you mentioned, Father is the one you will never find in the Bible.

DAVID:
What do you mean Father is not in the Bible?  Didn’t Jesus teach the disciples to start a basic prayer to God with the words “Our Father...”?

BOB:
No.

DAVID:
What do you mean no?  We say a prayer that starts with the words “Our Father...” at nearly every service on a Sunday.  And I know Jesus taught that prayer to the disciples.

BOB:
No.  The prayer Jesus taught the disciples was more personal and more intimate than that.  Jesus told the disciples to pray saying “Our Daddy...”

DAVID:
But this is God we’re talking about!  That sounds way too...too... too... informal— “Our Daddy...”

BOB:
But that’s what it really says in Scripture when we read it in the original language— “Our Daddy.”

DAVID:
All right, so where did we get Father?

JOE:
We got it from the Romans.  They called their chief God ‘Father.’  So you see, the term ‘Father’ is not in the Bible.  It just started being used because the Romans were using it for their god.

DAVID:
But the Romans worshiped a lot of gods; the Romans were pagans.

JOE:
I think you’ve made my point.  They were pagans.

BOB:
And since God is not called Father in the Bible, maybe we should just stick with the name Yahweh— “I AM.”

JOE:
And you know what we just said: who’s on First?  I AM is on First.

DAVID:
I AM is on First?

JOE:
I AM is on First.

DAVID:
O.K.  Who’s on second?  Bet I got you with that one.  Who plays second Base on this Bible team?  It ain’t ‘I AM’ is it?

BOB:
No.  It ain’t I AM.

JOE:
Jesus is on second.

BOB:
One of the basic Christian beliefs is the one many people label as Trinity.  And in Trinity Jesus is known as the Second Person— Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity— Jesus is on second.

DAVID:
Oh, yeah?  Think you’re smart with that one, do you?  (Mocking.)  Jesus is known as the Second Person of the Trinity.  So, Jesus is on Second.  Well, I know my theology too.  And Jesus had two natures.  Jesus is fully human and Jesus is fully divine.  You can’t pin Jesus down that easily.  So, maybe Jesus is not just on second.  Nah, nah, na, na, na!

JOE:
Shortstop.

DAVID:
What?

JOE:
Shortstop.

DAVID:
Jesus plays shortstop?

JOE:
You are right on that one, O grand inquisitor of all things Baseball and Bible.  Our Christian claim is that Jesus is fully human and fully divine.  So, Jesus gets to play second.

BOB:
And Jesus gets to play shortstop too.  Fully human and fully divine.

DAVID:
Who’s on second?

JOE:
Jesus.

DAVID:
Who plays short?

BOB:
Jesus.

DAVID:
But how can someone play two positions?

BOB:
David... it’s Jesus.

DAVID:
(Resigned.)  Yeah.... right... fully human; fully divine.

BOB:
Right.

DAVID:
O.K.  Explain that.  Explain how someone can play two positions.

JOE:
David... it’s Jesus.

DAVID:
(Resigned again.)  Right.  O.K.  It’s Jesus.  But you still have the hot corner!  You haven’t got to the hot corner covered yet!

BOB:
The hot corner?

DAVID:
Third Base!  Where you have to be ready for someone dropping down a bunt.  Where you have to be ready when the batters hit wicked shots down the line and you’ve got to dive for the ball and make a backhanded catch!  And you don’t have third covered on the Bible Baseball team, do you?!  Wham!  Crack!  And there goes a line drive over the bag...

JOE:
David.  David.  David.  David.  Slow down.  You know who covers the hot corner.

DAVID:
I do?

JOE:
You do.

DAVID:
(Long pause.  Quietly:)  Third Base... the Spirit of God?

JOE:
See?  You do know your theology.  The Spirit of God is sometimes called the Holy Spirit.  And, speaking of funny names, the Holy Spirit is sometimes called the Paraclete...

DAVID:
Hold it!  Hold it!  Hold it!  Nothing you’ve said so far proves the Bible is about Baseball until now!  That the Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete really proves the Bible is about Baseball!

JOE:
That the Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete really proves the Bible is about Baseball?

DAVID:
Of course it does!  The Holy Spirit must be wearing a pair of cleats.

JOE:
Right.  Well, the Holy Spirit is sometimes called the Paraclete, sometimes called the Spirit which is present to us, sometimes called the Spirit in our midst... the point is the Holy Spirit is here with us.  The Holy Spirit can handle all our situations, anything anyone hits to us... all those bunts which might catch us unaware and all the hot shots down the line.  The Holy Spirit helps us with everything.

BOB:   
Yes, the Spirit of God is always with us.  The gifts of the Spirit, sometimes called the fruits of the Spirit, these are gifts that God gives us and they are many: wisdom, knowledge, healing, prophecy, discernment, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, joy, peace and love.  The Spirit of God is at work in our lives.  And we can rely on the Spirit to guide us through life.

JOE:
And when we consider our experience of God which takes in the faithfulness of the one called I AM, the example of Jesus and the guidance of the Spirit— that is the real reason we say Baseball is mirrored in the Bible.

DAVID:
Why do you say that?

JOE:
David, what’s the object of the game of Baseball?

DAVID:
To score runs?

BOB:
Close!

DAVID:
Oh, I know!  The object of the game is to avoid three strikes and you’re out!

JOE:
Not quite right, either, although I think part of the point is to stay at bat until you realize that you can walk with God.

BOB:
So, yes, besides a walk with God, the real object of the game is to be safe at home.

JOE:
And if we pay attention to the fact that God, the Great I AM, is on First...

BOB:
And Jesus plays both second and short...

JOE:
And the Spirit covers third...

BOB:
And that God, Jesus and the Spirit is what Christians through the centuries have called Trinity and that God, Jesus and the Spirit are Trinity...

JOE:
When we pay attention to all that...

DAVID:
I know.  I know.  We will be safe at home with God.

JOE:
Safe at home...

BOB:
Safe at home...

ALL 3:
Safe... at... home...

JOE:
And you know, there are only two places people sing together in public any more.  One is in Church.  And one is in the ballpark for the seventh inning stretch.  It would not be church and it would not be a Baseball game if there was not community singing.  So, let’s all sing the song in the bulletin, Send Us Out.  Marcia!  Hit it!

LYRIC:
Send us out, God, in Your Name
God be there in the crowd!
By You we live and we play and run.
We are a part of Your Three in One!
And it’s root, root, root, for the One God—
Maker, Redeemer and Flame!
And it’s one, two, three ways to know:
God’s beyond all Names!

BOB:
Baseball and the Bible!

JOE:
That’s a real Home Run!

DAVID:
Amen, and again, Amen!

ALL 3:
Amen, and again, Amen!

SERMON ~ 07/20/2014 ~ “For the Love of God” ~ Water from the Well III ~ With Composer Lloyd Larson Conducting the Choirs.

07/20/2014 ~ Proper 11 ~ Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Sixth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Genesis 28:10-19a;  Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24; Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16-19 or Isaiah 44:6-8; Psalm 86:11-17; Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 ~ Readings Used: 2 Kings 2:9-14; Romans 8:31-38; and Matthew 13:24-30 ~ Water from the Well III ~ With Composer Lloyd Larson Conducting the Choirs.

For the Love of God

“I am convinced, certain, that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things future, neither height nor depth— nor anything else in all creation— will be able to separate us from the love of God that has come to us in Christ Jesus, our Savior.” — Romans 8:38-39.

The late Arthur Clarke was a British inventor, explorer and writer of both non-fiction and fiction.  I’m sure the way most know him is as a writer of science fiction.  Clarke wrote the novel and co-wrote the screenplay 2001: a Space Odyssey.

A friend of mine recently quoted Clarke on her Facebook page.  “The greatest tragedy in humankind’s entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion.”

I responded with another well known quote from Clarke.  “I don’t believe in God... but I am very, very interested in her.”

I, in fact, agree with that first quote.  Morality is often hijacked by religion.  But what we may not realize is, in many ways, commonly held morality— populist morality, if you would— is not a religious standard.  It is a secular standard.

So, for instance, not that long ago the secular standard was this: to hold slaves is moral.  What changed?  In America at last, Congregationalist made a religious claim.  We said faith insists slavery is immoral.

Yes, faith does influence moral standards.  And yes, it is also true religion has hijacked morality in ways which are inappropriate way, way too often.

Interestingly, the Pew Research Center which does research on religion conducted a survey among 40,000 people in various countries between 2011 and 2013.  The survey asked a simple question: “Is belief in God essential to morality?”

Majorities in all highly developed countries do not think belief in God necessary for morality with only one exception: the USA.  Even in Israel, whose basis in religion is clear, only 37 percent of the population connect God and morality.  But in America the number is 53 percent. [1]

My point is, at least in part, that connection— religion/morality— would seem to be culturally driven and culturally governed— not really religiously driven.  Which begs the question: if religion is not about morality, what is religion really about?  (Very long pause.)

Religion is about seeing the face of God.  Hence, religion is about cultivating a relationship with God and a relationship with others.

In Jesus, in the Messiah, Paul sees the face of God since the Apostle is (quote:) “convinced, certain, that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things future, neither height nor depth— nor anything else in all creation— will be able to separate us from the love of God that has come to us in Christ Jesus, our Savior.”  (Slight pause.)

I need to point out that, for all the standards of morality some read into the writings of Paul, one aspect of that Apostle’s writings clearly supercedes all others.  Paul constantly addresses the love God offers humanity.  And for Paul that love is made manifest in the living reality of Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ.  (Slight pause.)

This precept insists on a second question: how should we respond to the love of God?  (Slight pause.)  Love— unconditional love— this love God offers us is, by its nature, a gift freely given.  Therefore, the love God offers does not demand anything in return.

The love God offers does, however, invite our love.  And you have heard this invitation to respond hundreds of times.  You have even heard the invitation to respond in words of Jesus.  The invitation is simple: “love God; love neighbor.”

There are a multitude of ways to respond to the invitation.  These are just a few.  Feed the hungry; clothe the naked; house the homeless; care for the sick, etc., etc,. etc.

And that is where and how faith influences moral standards: when we respond by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, caring for the sick— these are the real standards of morality.  And they come from loving neighbor.  Love is, you see, the true and the only standard of morality.  (Slight pause.)

Today we have gathered for a day when we focused on the praise of God with music.  So, one question to ask is not what is religion about but, rather, what is song about?  How does song fit in?  (Slight pause.)

Song is also a response to the love God offers.  Song is, indeed, a very human response— an emotional response, a response based in our emotional life.  (Slight pause.)

Let me offer two things the famous composer and conductor, Leonard Bernstein, said about music (quote): “Every once in a while we have feelings so deep and so special that we have no words for them.  Music names them for us, only in notes instead of in words.”  And this: “Music... can name the un-namable and communicate the unknowable.”  (Slight pause.)

Do me a favor: close your eyes for a moment.  Now picture someone you love very, very deeply.  Can you ever know that person completely, totally, fully?  (You can open you’re eyes now.)

I think if we’re honest, the answer is ‘no’— we cannot know another person completely, totally, fully.  In a different Epistle Paul named a human truth for us: now we see things dimly, imperfectly.

Well, earlier I said “religion is about seeing the face of God.”  If we see dimly, imperfectly, can we fully see the face of God?  Can we fully name God?  If we’re honest, the answer is ‘no.’

That is a human truth.  Music, however, does help us with the emotional task of naming, the emotional task knowing, the emotional task of being aware of and therefore seeing God more fully, even when that task of awareness is limited by our own humanity.

All of which is to say Paul was right that nothing will (quote:) “be able to separate us from the love of God that has come to us in Christ Jesus, our Savior.”  Why?  Loving God is about our emotional life.  And that’s why music is so central in our prayer and in our praise.  Music does name the unnameable for us.  Amen.

07/20/2014
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 Congregational Response and Benediction.  This is an précis of what was said: “After all creation was formed, God called the angels together and asked them what they thought of it.  One of them said, “Something is lacking: the sound of praise to the Creator.”  So God created music.  And music was heard in the whisper of the wind, in the chirp of the birds, in the tympani of the thunder.  But that was not enough, so God gave humanity the gift of song.  And down through the ages this gift has blessed, comforted and inspired many souls.  This gift is a part of the covenant; we have the blessings and wonder which the gift from God bestows on and in us; and God is pleased when a joyful noise is heard.”

BENEDICTION: Hear now this blessing: 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]
http://www.salon.com/2014/0 /18/the_destructive_myth_about_religion_that_americans_disproportionately_believe_partner/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow