01/26/2014 ~ Third Sunday after the Epiphany ~ Known in Some Traditions as the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 4-9; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23 ~ Annual Budget Meeting. [1]
The Message
“...the message of the cross is foolishness, complete absurdity, to those who are headed for ruin, but to us who are experiencing salvation, it is the power of God.” — 1 Corinthians 1:18.
Well, here we are: in our two hundredth year. [The pastor places his hands over his eyes as if looking is the distance while blocking the sun.] Funny, you don’t look that old. But it is, of course, some two hundred years since Congregationalists took a stand to plant ourselves in the Chenango Valley. And we are a part of that history. (Slight pause.)
However, let me look at this and at us from a different perspective, another prism. By calculations on some calendars, here we are about two thousand years or so since Jesus was raised. And guess what? You still don’t look that old. But we are a part of that history.
So, let me look at this and us from yet another perspective, another prism. We are still going strong after some five thousand seven hundred and seventy four years on the Jewish calendar. And we are, as was Jesus, within that old, ancient tradition, that part of history. And guess what? You still don’t look that old.
Why do I say you still don’t look that old? Because I want to look at this and at us from yet another perspective, another prism. Our best estimates suggest the known universe is some 13.8 billion light years across.
As I am sure you know, light travels at 186,000 miles per second and a light year is the distance light travels in one of our calendar years. 13.8 billion light years— that’s a whole lot of miles and a whole lot of time.
And maybe we do look old from that perspective. But my point is not age. My point is... perspective. (Slight pause.)
Question: from what perspective was Paul looking when he said (quote): “...the message of the cross is foolishness,...” (Slight pause.) I believe we, in the West, have looked at the cross from a strange, odd perspective for quite a while. Or at least it would have been a strange and odd perspective from the point of view Paul had.
And what was that point of view, the perspective of Paul? Well, first things first. Did Christ die on the cross? Yes. There is no question about it. And we Westerners tend to associate the cross with death.
Now, why was Christ crucified? There is no question about this, either. Christ was an enemy of the state.
Indeed, many of the terms commonly applied to Christ, some in Scripture, some outside of Scripture— Lord, King, Prince of Peace, divine, holy— all these were also assigned to Caesar Augustus. All these terms were commonly assigned to Caesar Augustus. Even the name Augustus means ‘venerable.’
Augustus was, you see, not just the head of state. Augustus was the state. The state was venerated. So we need to realize when these terms— Lord, King, Prince of Peace, divine, holy— when these terms are originally applied to Christ, they are meant to mock the state.
Additionally, and again from the perspective of Paul, historians estimate that Jesus was one of perhaps 10,000 Jews executed by the state, by Rome, each year. So, Jesus is simply one of many Jewish enemies of the state.
And yes, Jesus died on the cross. For Paul that is real. But if Jesus is one of 10,000 dead Jews that year, from the perspective of Paul, how can the death of Jesus make the cross “foolishness?” (Slight pause.)
I think the cross, itself, is not what makes the cross absurd. It is the resurrection.
You see, in early Christian art, there is never a body on the cross. The cross is always empty. In early Christian art, the cross is not meant to recall death. It is meant to recall life, meant to recall the resurrection.
And that, my friends is the perspective of Paul. That is what makes the cross “foolishness.” The cross is empty. From the perspective of Paul Jesus lives. And for Paul that is real, more real than the cross, more real than death. (Slight pause.)
Well, what is the message we need to take away from our 200 years, our 2,014 years, our 5,774 years, our 13.8 billion light years? Put another way, from what perspective do we need to look when we see the empty cross?
I think we need to look at the cross from the same perspective Paul looked at the cross. We need to look at the cross understanding God is greater than we can imagine.
We need to look at the cross understanding, trusting, believing not in death but understanding, trusting, believing Christ has been raised. Indeed, from the perspective of Paul: Christ lives, Christ has been raised. That is the message of the cross. (Slight pause.)
So, I supposed the only question to be addressed is this: what message might the empty cross have for us after 200 years, 2,014 years, 5,774 years, 13.8 billion light years? For me, the message is made clear by the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah: Jesus lives. God is with us now. God is with us always. God is with us throughout eternity. Eternity— now there’s a long time. Amen.
01/26/2014
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: “So, here is a paradox for you: when you grapple with the idea that Jesus has been raised you are grappling with a spiritual experience not a logical or a physical experience. 20th Century Jesuit and theologian Karl Rahner said if Western Christianity does not rediscover its mystical foundations and roots, we might as well close the doors of the churches. Until people have had some level of inner religious experience, there is no point in asking them to follow the ethical ideals of Jesus or to understand Christian doctrines. Jesus has been raised: a spiritual experience.”
BENEDICTION: Go now— go in safety— for you cannot go where God is not. Go now— go in love— for love alone endures. Go now— go with purpose— and God will honor your dedication. And go now— go in peace— for it is a gift of God to those whose hearts and minds are in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] It should be noted that this meditation is shorter than most because the Annual Budget Meeting happens in the course of the service of worship. As might be obvious from the context of the opening remarks, this year is the 200th anniversary of the church.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
SERMON ~ 01/19/2014 ~ “The Church”
01/19/2014 ~ Second Sunday after the Epiphany ~ Known in Some Traditions as the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40:1-11; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42 ~ Weekend of the MLK Holiday ~ BTS Center Convocation Week.
The Church
“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified, consecrated, in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God, together with all those who, wherever they may be, call on the name of Jesus, the Christ, who is both their Savior and ours:...” — 1 Corinthians 1:2.
The information I’m about to offer you would get in a Bible As Literature undergraduate course in many colleges. Scholars believe Paul wrote only seven of the thirteen letters attributed to the Apostle.
It is also thought the first Epistle written, the earliest work in the Christian Scriptures, was to the church— ‘church’ meaning people, members of the church— the earliest Epistle written was to people in the Greek City of Thessalonika. That work is commonly called First Thessalonians and was composed about the year 52 of the Common Era.
The date most often assigned to the writing we heard today, First Corinthians, is 54 of the Common Era. We are fairly confident Paul died about the year 64. Hence, none of the seven letters authored by the Apostle could have been written at a later date.
We are fairly confident Jesus was raised in what we would call the year 30 of the Common Era. Scholars are equally confident the four Gospels were unlikely to have been composed until after the year 70, the first one being Mark. John was the last Gospel written as you heard earlier and it probably reached it’s final form about the year 100. [1]
What should be, therefore, obvious is twofold. First, the true Letters of Paul were composed before any of the Gospels. Second, the Gospels were recorded at least 40 years after Jesus had been raised. One was written some 70 years later.
So, I would also invite you to note when the works of Paul are considered— the works of Paul: First Thessalonians, Philippians, First and Second Corinthians, Galatians, Romans and Philemon— only Philemon, a personal letter to a friend— is not written to a community of faith. Only one letter of the seven is not written to a church.
Paul writes to churches, people. Paul writes to churches in towns we would today locate in Greece and Turkey— the towns of Thessalonika, Philippi, Corinth, Galatia. Finally Paul, knowing a trip to this location is about to be undertaken, writes a letter to the church, the community of faith, the people— the people in the church, in that group— located in the capital city of the Empire— Rome.
Some of these towns to which Paul writes are quite large. Those who study demographics in ancient times believe Rome had as many as 1,000,000 residents. And the Mediterranean Basin probably had better than 40,000,000 people.
I mention all these facts and statistics in order to ask a question: ‘what do those churches to whom Paul writes look like?’ ‘How many people do you think are in these churches to whom Paul writes?’ (Slight pause.) Now, do me a favor: if you’ve thought of a number, hold that number in your thoughts for a moment— number of people in that church, any of these churches. (Slight pause.)
Would it alter the number on which you decided if I told you historians believe that by the year 100 of the Common Era— 70 years after the resurrection of Jesus, 36 years after the death of Paul— the entire Mediterranean Basin with its 40,000,000 souls, had a Christian population of less than 10,000? (Slight pause.) You see, my point is when Paul is writing to all these churches— and clearly for two millennia we have treasured these letters— when Paul is writing to all these churches, they are made up of maybe 50 people each.
They meet in houses, not in public buildings. In short, they are what we in today’s society, would call small churches.
I was reminded of all this when I went to a clergy meeting this week. My colleague and friend, the Rev. Dr. Stephen Johnson, said something I knew. But he said it in a way I’d never heard it said before.
He said we tend to have the church of the 1950s stuck in our heads as a template. Therefore, what we fail to realize is the numbers we saw in the churches in the 1950s are a total anomaly, a very, very large deviation from what was historically normal.
How different was it? Well, we probably all think that at the time of the American Revolution everyone was God fearing— right? It’s often said today that this is a ‘Christian Nation’ and was founded by Christians.
Well, everyone might have been God fearing while the Revolution was in progress. But was everyone in church? No. In fact, the percentage of the population who were church members in 1776 was about 17%. (And the attendance was lower than that.)
So, what is (pardon the expression) ‘normal?’ (Slight pause.) I admit, the numbers I’m about to quote are a little out of date but not terribly so. And they do offer a realistic picture of what the church mostly looks like today. And these numbers might be a surprise to you also.
The percentage of churches with a weekly attendance— that’s an attendance— of 1,000 or more— your Joel Osteen, Robert Schuler style churches— churches with an attendance of 1,000 or more are less that one half of one percent of all the churches in America. Churches with a membership— that’s a membership not an attendance— churches with a membership of 100 or less number just over 50 percent of all the churches in America. (Slight pause.) So, what is normal? How should church be defined? (Slight pause.)
These words are in Fist Corinthians: “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified, consecrated, in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God, together with all those who, wherever they may be, call on the name of Jesus, the Christ, who is both their Savior and ours:...” (Slight pause.)
I think for Paul what is normal is quite obvious. For Paul normal is when church is defined as an assembly of people, no matter how many, who are called to be saints. Saints are people set apart to do the work of God and the will of God. (Slight pause.)
We humans have an interesting trait. We like to organize and, rumor to the contrary, we like to be organized. So, I think somewhere along the line Christianity, the church— which Paul describes as people called to be saints— this being called to be saints stopped being how we did church, stopped being what church is about.
What took over? What replaced Christianity? Church-ianity. We got organized. And church became about being organized instead of doing the work of God, instead of doing the will of God, instead of listening for the call of God. (Slight pause.)
I am sure you’ve noticed after the resurrection the descriptions of church structure in Scripture say there are only two offices. These are Deacons and Apostles.
In one sense, everyone is a Deacon. It’s not an elected office. Everyone is called to feed the hungry, clothe those in tatters, shelter the homeless.
The only reason the Apostles are split out is the work of the saints, the people of the church— feeding, clothing, sheltering— is so time consuming the Apostles need to be set apart so they can spend some time teaching. All of which is to say if there are only two real offices in the church Paul knew— that’s not a lot of structure; that’s not a lot of organization. (Slight pause.)
And guess what? Next week we will have the Annual Budget Meeting of the church in the 200th year of our organization. There’s that word again— organization.
Those of you who know me well realize I fully appreciate organization. Indeed, once it was known our church had re-worked its by-laws after I arrived, I was invited (that’s a euphuism) to participate in re-working the by-laws of both the Association and the Conference.
I suppose what I am trying to say is organization is important. But it is not church. Church is doing the work of God, the will of God, listening for the call of God.
Indeed, this weekend we celebrate the birth of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And why is it we celebrate King? Many will tell you we celebrate King because this cleric offered leadership to the Civil Rights movement.
I would maintain the real reason we celebrate King is the understanding of the work of the church as opposed to the organization known as church King brought to the mix. King understood doing the work of God, the will of God, listening for the call of God is vital. (Slight pause.)
So, what is church? How do we define church? When we start defining church with numbers, through buildings, with budgets, with by-laws we have it wrong. Church is people who are, in the words of Paul, “...called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God,...” Amen.
01/19/2014
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: “When we think church is about organization, it follows naturally that we might want to evangelize. After all, that’s the only way to grow an organization. Ask any Rotarian. Well, consider this from Barbara Brown Taylor: ‘The Desert Fathers and Mothers say the hardest spiritual work is to love the neighbor as the self— to encounter another not as someone you can use, change, fix, help, save, enroll, convince or control but as someone who can spring you from the prison of yourself, if you allow it.... And this can be as frightening as it is liberating as anything and may be the only real spiritual discipline.’”
BENEDICTION: Let us learn as faithful disciples of Christ. Let us know that God is available to us at any time and in any place. Let us give thanks for the grace of God in Christ, Jesus. Let us trust in God for all time and for all eternity. Amen.
[1] When the Gospel reading from John was introduced, this fact was mentioned.
The Church
“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified, consecrated, in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God, together with all those who, wherever they may be, call on the name of Jesus, the Christ, who is both their Savior and ours:...” — 1 Corinthians 1:2.
The information I’m about to offer you would get in a Bible As Literature undergraduate course in many colleges. Scholars believe Paul wrote only seven of the thirteen letters attributed to the Apostle.
It is also thought the first Epistle written, the earliest work in the Christian Scriptures, was to the church— ‘church’ meaning people, members of the church— the earliest Epistle written was to people in the Greek City of Thessalonika. That work is commonly called First Thessalonians and was composed about the year 52 of the Common Era.
The date most often assigned to the writing we heard today, First Corinthians, is 54 of the Common Era. We are fairly confident Paul died about the year 64. Hence, none of the seven letters authored by the Apostle could have been written at a later date.
We are fairly confident Jesus was raised in what we would call the year 30 of the Common Era. Scholars are equally confident the four Gospels were unlikely to have been composed until after the year 70, the first one being Mark. John was the last Gospel written as you heard earlier and it probably reached it’s final form about the year 100. [1]
What should be, therefore, obvious is twofold. First, the true Letters of Paul were composed before any of the Gospels. Second, the Gospels were recorded at least 40 years after Jesus had been raised. One was written some 70 years later.
So, I would also invite you to note when the works of Paul are considered— the works of Paul: First Thessalonians, Philippians, First and Second Corinthians, Galatians, Romans and Philemon— only Philemon, a personal letter to a friend— is not written to a community of faith. Only one letter of the seven is not written to a church.
Paul writes to churches, people. Paul writes to churches in towns we would today locate in Greece and Turkey— the towns of Thessalonika, Philippi, Corinth, Galatia. Finally Paul, knowing a trip to this location is about to be undertaken, writes a letter to the church, the community of faith, the people— the people in the church, in that group— located in the capital city of the Empire— Rome.
Some of these towns to which Paul writes are quite large. Those who study demographics in ancient times believe Rome had as many as 1,000,000 residents. And the Mediterranean Basin probably had better than 40,000,000 people.
I mention all these facts and statistics in order to ask a question: ‘what do those churches to whom Paul writes look like?’ ‘How many people do you think are in these churches to whom Paul writes?’ (Slight pause.) Now, do me a favor: if you’ve thought of a number, hold that number in your thoughts for a moment— number of people in that church, any of these churches. (Slight pause.)
Would it alter the number on which you decided if I told you historians believe that by the year 100 of the Common Era— 70 years after the resurrection of Jesus, 36 years after the death of Paul— the entire Mediterranean Basin with its 40,000,000 souls, had a Christian population of less than 10,000? (Slight pause.) You see, my point is when Paul is writing to all these churches— and clearly for two millennia we have treasured these letters— when Paul is writing to all these churches, they are made up of maybe 50 people each.
They meet in houses, not in public buildings. In short, they are what we in today’s society, would call small churches.
I was reminded of all this when I went to a clergy meeting this week. My colleague and friend, the Rev. Dr. Stephen Johnson, said something I knew. But he said it in a way I’d never heard it said before.
He said we tend to have the church of the 1950s stuck in our heads as a template. Therefore, what we fail to realize is the numbers we saw in the churches in the 1950s are a total anomaly, a very, very large deviation from what was historically normal.
How different was it? Well, we probably all think that at the time of the American Revolution everyone was God fearing— right? It’s often said today that this is a ‘Christian Nation’ and was founded by Christians.
Well, everyone might have been God fearing while the Revolution was in progress. But was everyone in church? No. In fact, the percentage of the population who were church members in 1776 was about 17%. (And the attendance was lower than that.)
So, what is (pardon the expression) ‘normal?’ (Slight pause.) I admit, the numbers I’m about to quote are a little out of date but not terribly so. And they do offer a realistic picture of what the church mostly looks like today. And these numbers might be a surprise to you also.
The percentage of churches with a weekly attendance— that’s an attendance— of 1,000 or more— your Joel Osteen, Robert Schuler style churches— churches with an attendance of 1,000 or more are less that one half of one percent of all the churches in America. Churches with a membership— that’s a membership not an attendance— churches with a membership of 100 or less number just over 50 percent of all the churches in America. (Slight pause.) So, what is normal? How should church be defined? (Slight pause.)
These words are in Fist Corinthians: “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified, consecrated, in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God, together with all those who, wherever they may be, call on the name of Jesus, the Christ, who is both their Savior and ours:...” (Slight pause.)
I think for Paul what is normal is quite obvious. For Paul normal is when church is defined as an assembly of people, no matter how many, who are called to be saints. Saints are people set apart to do the work of God and the will of God. (Slight pause.)
We humans have an interesting trait. We like to organize and, rumor to the contrary, we like to be organized. So, I think somewhere along the line Christianity, the church— which Paul describes as people called to be saints— this being called to be saints stopped being how we did church, stopped being what church is about.
What took over? What replaced Christianity? Church-ianity. We got organized. And church became about being organized instead of doing the work of God, instead of doing the will of God, instead of listening for the call of God. (Slight pause.)
I am sure you’ve noticed after the resurrection the descriptions of church structure in Scripture say there are only two offices. These are Deacons and Apostles.
In one sense, everyone is a Deacon. It’s not an elected office. Everyone is called to feed the hungry, clothe those in tatters, shelter the homeless.
The only reason the Apostles are split out is the work of the saints, the people of the church— feeding, clothing, sheltering— is so time consuming the Apostles need to be set apart so they can spend some time teaching. All of which is to say if there are only two real offices in the church Paul knew— that’s not a lot of structure; that’s not a lot of organization. (Slight pause.)
And guess what? Next week we will have the Annual Budget Meeting of the church in the 200th year of our organization. There’s that word again— organization.
Those of you who know me well realize I fully appreciate organization. Indeed, once it was known our church had re-worked its by-laws after I arrived, I was invited (that’s a euphuism) to participate in re-working the by-laws of both the Association and the Conference.
I suppose what I am trying to say is organization is important. But it is not church. Church is doing the work of God, the will of God, listening for the call of God.
Indeed, this weekend we celebrate the birth of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And why is it we celebrate King? Many will tell you we celebrate King because this cleric offered leadership to the Civil Rights movement.
I would maintain the real reason we celebrate King is the understanding of the work of the church as opposed to the organization known as church King brought to the mix. King understood doing the work of God, the will of God, listening for the call of God is vital. (Slight pause.)
So, what is church? How do we define church? When we start defining church with numbers, through buildings, with budgets, with by-laws we have it wrong. Church is people who are, in the words of Paul, “...called to be saints, a people set apart for the work of God,...” Amen.
01/19/2014
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: “When we think church is about organization, it follows naturally that we might want to evangelize. After all, that’s the only way to grow an organization. Ask any Rotarian. Well, consider this from Barbara Brown Taylor: ‘The Desert Fathers and Mothers say the hardest spiritual work is to love the neighbor as the self— to encounter another not as someone you can use, change, fix, help, save, enroll, convince or control but as someone who can spring you from the prison of yourself, if you allow it.... And this can be as frightening as it is liberating as anything and may be the only real spiritual discipline.’”
BENEDICTION: Let us learn as faithful disciples of Christ. Let us know that God is available to us at any time and in any place. Let us give thanks for the grace of God in Christ, Jesus. Let us trust in God for all time and for all eternity. Amen.
[1] When the Gospel reading from John was introduced, this fact was mentioned.
Monday, January 13, 2014
SERMON ~ 01/12/2014 ~ “No Partiality”
01/12/2014 ~ First Sunday after the Epiphany, Known in Some Traditions as the Baptism of the Christ and Know in Some Traditions as the First Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17 ~ Communion Sunday - moved from 01/05/2014 Which Became Music Sunday.
No Partiality
“Peter began to speak to [those gathered at the home of the Roman Centurion, Cornelius]: ‘Now I begin to see that God shows no partiality. I truly understand, that in any nation anyone who is in awe of God and does what is right is acceptable to God.’” — Acts 10:34.
When it comes to my reading list— my personal, general reading— I am and have always been fond of biographies. I think one reason that’s true is no one, no individual, can be reduced to several words.
To use today’s slang no one can be or should be reduced to a sound bite. Indeed, I like biographies because most of the time you need at least a book length treatment of a person to do justice to, to delve into the complexities of anyone’s personality, to do justice to, to delve into the ambiguities of anyone’s life.
To use myself as an example, Bonnie, my wife Bonnie— sometimes, and rightfully so— says I’m a geek. She once got me a pocket protector as a present because she noticed I had been in the bad habit of carrying a number of pens in my shirt pocket. Occasionally, they leaked. Pens in a shirt pocket, which leak— how geek-y us that?
On the other hand, there is a distinctly non-geek side of me. In my younger years I played second base on a softball team in a parks league in Queens, New York. That team finished in second place for the whole county. Mind you, we lost the championship game by a score of 19 to 1. But we did come in second.
Further, I was 35 before I had my first sit down, behind a desk, kind of job. I was always on my feet. Even when I worked at a brokerage I had to walk back and forth all over the floor of the 5 World Trade Center building.
That floor was the equivalent of a full square city block. I always wore a pedometer and most days I would log about seven miles. That doesn’t sound too ‘geek-y’ to me. As I said, it is impossible to define anyone in a couple of words. We are all by far too complex for that.
This leads me to a story, one which I may have told before, but if I did it was a long, long time ago. It’s about something which happened to me when I was in High School.
From the history about myself just outlined, you might be thinking— “Well, Joe only got geek-y when he got older.” And that would be wrong. As would be true of anyone, I am— my story, my history is— by far more complex and textured than that. The first two years of my High School career were spent in a parochial school under the tutelage of the Christian Brothers. In a history class one of the teachers, a cleric, pointed out the book of Luke and the Book of Acts were two volumes of one book, written by the same author at the same time. The Gospel of John somehow got stuck in between.
Having heard that information, the geek-y side of this active teen went home, pulled the Bible off the bookshelf and read through Luke and Acts as if they were one book. (Slight pause.) If I have said this once I have said it a hundred times. For me, reading Luke and Acts as one book was a conversion experience. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from Luke/Acts in the section commonly called Acts: “Peter began to speak to [those gathered at the home of the Roman Centurion, Cornelius]: ‘Now I begin to see that God shows no partiality, I truly understand, that in any nation anyone who is in awe of God and does what is right is acceptable to God.’” (Slight pause.)
The lectionary readings we hear on Sunday often do not tell the complete story. The portion of this story at the beginning of Chapter 10 we do not hear says Cornelius sees a vision. An angel instructs this Centurion to seek out Peter.
Cornelius and all of the household of this Centurion are described as (quote:) “God fearing.” In short, they are Gentiles who attend a local Jewish Synagogue and believe the God the Jews proclaim is the One True God.
But, as Gentiles— as uncircumcised— even if they go to the Synagogue and believe, they do not conform to the law. Hence, they can never be real members of the community.
In the meantime Peter has a vision. In the vision the Apostle sees a sheet lowered from the sky which has all kinds of animals in it. In terms of Jewish law, these animals should not be together because they are considered clean and unclean— animals fit for consumption and not fit for consumption.
An angel tells Peter to kill all the animals and to eat them all. This action does not conform to Jewish law. Yet this action is contained in a message from an angel.
Peter is confused. And that is when the people Cornelius has sent to fetch Peter show up and ask the Apostle to return with them.
Peter travels to the house of Cornelius. And this is where today’s reading picks up, with the response of Peter in the form of a sermon.
That brings me back to what I have labeled as my conversion, to my taking the Bible off the shelf and reading the Book known as Luke and the Book known as Acts as if they were one book. If you do that— and, indeed, I challenge you to do that— to sit down and read these books as one— I think you will find this story becomes pivotal. It sums up much of what the writer of Luke/Acts has to say.
And what is it the writer of Luke/Acts says throughout this writing? God is a God of all people, not just some. God is not a God of retribution.
Lt me add to that, though, some more things that can be drawn out of this writing. God is a God of the poor. God is a God of the rich. God is a God of the outcast. God is a God of the socially acceptable.
Perhaps more importantly, God is a God of mercy. God is a God of hope. God is a God of peace. God is a God of relationship. God is a God of freedom. God is a God of joy. God is a God of justice. God is a God of love. (Slight pause.)
I want you to notice some things about what I just said. First, if someone pictures God as a God of mercy, hope, peace, relationship, freedom, joy, justice, love— that pictures God as having many attributes. In short, God cannot be summed up one way. God is not one dimensional. God is not a sound bite.
On the other hand, when God is pictured as a God of retribution, that is a one dimensional God. God gets put in a box. God becomes a sound bite.
Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann has said the God of Scripture is drawn with intentional, artistic illusiveness. Intentional, artistic illusiveness— said another way, you cannot and should not put God in a box. You cannot and should not make God a sound bite.
And the box in which we humans seem to try to place God most often says God is not a God of all people. God is only a God of my group, my tribe, my race, etc., etc., etc.
If there is any lesson to be learned, if there is any conversion to happen when we read Luke/Acts, it is summed up in the words of Peter. (Quote:) “...God shows no partiality,....” (Slight pause.) I think when we understand God accepts all people, and can truly embrace and faithfully live out the imperative that God accepts all people, then we have had a conversion experience. Amen.
01/12/2014
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: “Community of Christ— [1] that actually came up in our adult study this morning. Community— together— you can’t commune with God unless you are in community. Now, that’s blasphemy in terms of modern thinking. It’s ancient thinking. Ancient thinking says (rumor to the contrary) ‘love your neighbor.’ You can only love your neighbor in community.”
BENEDICTION: May the Spirit of the God of light and love, the God of truth and justice, the God of song and joy, the God of all, be with you this day and forever more. Amen.
[1] Community of Christ (NCH # 314) was the closing hymn.
No Partiality
“Peter began to speak to [those gathered at the home of the Roman Centurion, Cornelius]: ‘Now I begin to see that God shows no partiality. I truly understand, that in any nation anyone who is in awe of God and does what is right is acceptable to God.’” — Acts 10:34.
When it comes to my reading list— my personal, general reading— I am and have always been fond of biographies. I think one reason that’s true is no one, no individual, can be reduced to several words.
To use today’s slang no one can be or should be reduced to a sound bite. Indeed, I like biographies because most of the time you need at least a book length treatment of a person to do justice to, to delve into the complexities of anyone’s personality, to do justice to, to delve into the ambiguities of anyone’s life.
To use myself as an example, Bonnie, my wife Bonnie— sometimes, and rightfully so— says I’m a geek. She once got me a pocket protector as a present because she noticed I had been in the bad habit of carrying a number of pens in my shirt pocket. Occasionally, they leaked. Pens in a shirt pocket, which leak— how geek-y us that?
On the other hand, there is a distinctly non-geek side of me. In my younger years I played second base on a softball team in a parks league in Queens, New York. That team finished in second place for the whole county. Mind you, we lost the championship game by a score of 19 to 1. But we did come in second.
Further, I was 35 before I had my first sit down, behind a desk, kind of job. I was always on my feet. Even when I worked at a brokerage I had to walk back and forth all over the floor of the 5 World Trade Center building.
That floor was the equivalent of a full square city block. I always wore a pedometer and most days I would log about seven miles. That doesn’t sound too ‘geek-y’ to me. As I said, it is impossible to define anyone in a couple of words. We are all by far too complex for that.
This leads me to a story, one which I may have told before, but if I did it was a long, long time ago. It’s about something which happened to me when I was in High School.
From the history about myself just outlined, you might be thinking— “Well, Joe only got geek-y when he got older.” And that would be wrong. As would be true of anyone, I am— my story, my history is— by far more complex and textured than that. The first two years of my High School career were spent in a parochial school under the tutelage of the Christian Brothers. In a history class one of the teachers, a cleric, pointed out the book of Luke and the Book of Acts were two volumes of one book, written by the same author at the same time. The Gospel of John somehow got stuck in between.
Having heard that information, the geek-y side of this active teen went home, pulled the Bible off the bookshelf and read through Luke and Acts as if they were one book. (Slight pause.) If I have said this once I have said it a hundred times. For me, reading Luke and Acts as one book was a conversion experience. (Slight pause.)
And these words are from Luke/Acts in the section commonly called Acts: “Peter began to speak to [those gathered at the home of the Roman Centurion, Cornelius]: ‘Now I begin to see that God shows no partiality, I truly understand, that in any nation anyone who is in awe of God and does what is right is acceptable to God.’” (Slight pause.)
The lectionary readings we hear on Sunday often do not tell the complete story. The portion of this story at the beginning of Chapter 10 we do not hear says Cornelius sees a vision. An angel instructs this Centurion to seek out Peter.
Cornelius and all of the household of this Centurion are described as (quote:) “God fearing.” In short, they are Gentiles who attend a local Jewish Synagogue and believe the God the Jews proclaim is the One True God.
But, as Gentiles— as uncircumcised— even if they go to the Synagogue and believe, they do not conform to the law. Hence, they can never be real members of the community.
In the meantime Peter has a vision. In the vision the Apostle sees a sheet lowered from the sky which has all kinds of animals in it. In terms of Jewish law, these animals should not be together because they are considered clean and unclean— animals fit for consumption and not fit for consumption.
An angel tells Peter to kill all the animals and to eat them all. This action does not conform to Jewish law. Yet this action is contained in a message from an angel.
Peter is confused. And that is when the people Cornelius has sent to fetch Peter show up and ask the Apostle to return with them.
Peter travels to the house of Cornelius. And this is where today’s reading picks up, with the response of Peter in the form of a sermon.
That brings me back to what I have labeled as my conversion, to my taking the Bible off the shelf and reading the Book known as Luke and the Book known as Acts as if they were one book. If you do that— and, indeed, I challenge you to do that— to sit down and read these books as one— I think you will find this story becomes pivotal. It sums up much of what the writer of Luke/Acts has to say.
And what is it the writer of Luke/Acts says throughout this writing? God is a God of all people, not just some. God is not a God of retribution.
Lt me add to that, though, some more things that can be drawn out of this writing. God is a God of the poor. God is a God of the rich. God is a God of the outcast. God is a God of the socially acceptable.
Perhaps more importantly, God is a God of mercy. God is a God of hope. God is a God of peace. God is a God of relationship. God is a God of freedom. God is a God of joy. God is a God of justice. God is a God of love. (Slight pause.)
I want you to notice some things about what I just said. First, if someone pictures God as a God of mercy, hope, peace, relationship, freedom, joy, justice, love— that pictures God as having many attributes. In short, God cannot be summed up one way. God is not one dimensional. God is not a sound bite.
On the other hand, when God is pictured as a God of retribution, that is a one dimensional God. God gets put in a box. God becomes a sound bite.
Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann has said the God of Scripture is drawn with intentional, artistic illusiveness. Intentional, artistic illusiveness— said another way, you cannot and should not put God in a box. You cannot and should not make God a sound bite.
And the box in which we humans seem to try to place God most often says God is not a God of all people. God is only a God of my group, my tribe, my race, etc., etc., etc.
If there is any lesson to be learned, if there is any conversion to happen when we read Luke/Acts, it is summed up in the words of Peter. (Quote:) “...God shows no partiality,....” (Slight pause.) I think when we understand God accepts all people, and can truly embrace and faithfully live out the imperative that God accepts all people, then we have had a conversion experience. Amen.
01/12/2014
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: “Community of Christ— [1] that actually came up in our adult study this morning. Community— together— you can’t commune with God unless you are in community. Now, that’s blasphemy in terms of modern thinking. It’s ancient thinking. Ancient thinking says (rumor to the contrary) ‘love your neighbor.’ You can only love your neighbor in community.”
BENEDICTION: May the Spirit of the God of light and love, the God of truth and justice, the God of song and joy, the God of all, be with you this day and forever more. Amen.
[1] Community of Christ (NCH # 314) was the closing hymn.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
SERMON ~ 12/29/2013 ~ “The Other Story”
12/29/2013 ~ First Sunday after Christmas Day, i.e.: the First Sunday After the Feast of the Incarnation ~ Isaiah 63:7-9; Psalm 148; Hebrews 2:10-18; Matthew 2:13-23 ~ HYMN SING ~ 5TH SUNDAY.
The Other Story
“Now after they, the Magi, had left, an angel of God appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and Mary, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you otherwise. Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’” — Matthew 2:13.
I had a friend, a member of the laity, a woman in her early 20s, who was put in charge of patching a Christmas Pageant together at a church in a metropolitan area. As is true in a lot of churches today, this was not a pageant just for children. A broad range of age groups were to be included in the cast— all ages— adults and children.
In this particular church happened to be very, very few children between the ages of say 3 or 4 and 11 or 12. Often this age group would be seen as prime candidates to populate these productions.
On the other hand, there were a lot of what we sometimes and quite loosely call youth— ages 13 through 17. Further complicating matters, there were about 8 boys and one girl.
My friend, being very organized, had obtained a script from some religious publisher. And that script relied heavily on quotes from Scripture, not necessarily a bad thing. But that’s where the trouble started.
In this case, that script relied on the King James Version of the story as we find it in Luke. The Twelfth Verse of the Second Chapter in Luke turned out to be quite problematic.
For those of you who, off the top of your head, cannot bring the Twelfth Verse of the Second Chapter of Luke in the King James translation immediately to mind, let me refresh your memory. The angel says to the shepherds (quote:) “And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” (Slight pause.)
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “What’s the problem?” The problem was teenage boys. Or more accurately, since I do not want to condemn all teen age boys as a group (I was, after all, a teen age boy once), the problem was one teen age boy.
The oldest among the aforementioned boys, their ring leader, a natural cut up, had been cast as the angel, precisely because he was the ring leader. The first time the youngster read through that twelfth verse, this is what it sounded like: “And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe...” Oh, wow! There’s a babe in this play. Is the babe an angel too?” And then he laughed and he laughed and he laughed. (Slight pause.)
That is when my friend decided the one girl present would read the part. And she decided none of the boys would have a speaking roles in this pageant. (Slight pause.)
We do find these words in the work known as Matthew: “Now after they, the Magi, had left, an angel of God appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and Mary, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you otherwise. Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’” (Slight pause.)
I have another story of a Christmas pageant gone amuck. This one concerns a large Episcopal Church on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The pastor felt fortunate that a professional actor, a young lady all of twelve years old who had already appeared in two Broadway plays, was available to play the part of Mary.
The young actor was given the script. So she went home to study it. This script included, as many pageant scripts do, the arrival of the Magi. Of course, it conflated, merged the Luke version and the Matthew version of the story— two very different stories.
Now, just like many other pageant scripts, it did not include what happened after the Magi arrived, everything you heard in today’s reading. It left out the fact that Mary and Joseph and Jesus flee to Egypt and Herod slays all the children under two.
Now, the young actor who had been assigned the part of Mary decided she needed to consult the source material, the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, and even looked at some commentaries for background. After all, she was a professional actor. That is what professional actors do. They research the part.
Having read the Gospels and some of what is said about them, she made an appointment with the pastor. When she came in she demanded to know why the script left out some important details. She had a whole list. I’ll mention two.
The shepherds were terrified when they angel appeared. The script did not say that. She also demanded to know why the script said nothing about Herod sending the palace guard out to kill all the children under two. (Slight pause.)
I need to be clear. I am not recommending churches suspend Christmas pageants. I am suggesting we do need to be clear that what we find in Scripture is not what we find in Christmas pageants.
Indeed, when we read portions of the Second Chapter of Luke on Christmas Eve, this introductory comment is made. (Quote:) “Our culture fails to recognize the announcement is not meant as a pastoral tale, but is meant as a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah that the birth of the Messiah will be announced to the poor and the outcast. The shepherds, in this era, would have been counted among the lowest of the low on the cultural ladder” (unquote).
Further, as must be clear to you, especially given the reading from Matthew, one of the things Scripture strives to deal with— one of the things Scripture strives to do— is to deal with reality. Indeed, earlier we heard The Coventry Carol.
As the write up about the carol in the bulletin says, it was a part of The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. [1] The pageant in which this carol was presented dates from at least as early as the Fifteen Hundreds, the Sixteenth Century. Historians are fairly confident it was performed for Henry the VIII— this pageant.
And this play did depict— did depict— the part of the Christmas story from Chapter Two in the Matthew. The carol, itself, clearly refers to the Massacre of the Innocents, as it is called. In short, the generation alive in the Sixteenth Century was dealing with the real issues this passage presents, perhaps more so than our so called modern society.
All of which leaves us with a key question: if we look at the message underlying the angels in Luke and the message underlying today’s reading, both of those messages— as we theater people might say, the sub-text in those messages— are about reality. So what conclusion can be drawn from that?
What conclusion can be drawn about the reality that Scripture, itself, addresses? (Slight pause.) God cares. God cares about human pain and human suffering in this world, right now. (Slight pause.)
There is one more conclusion which can be drawn from the two very different nativity stories: God is real. The birth of Jesus is retold in the Gospels to send us that one unmistakable message. God... is... real. (Slight pause.)
You see, I think one of our problems, especially in modern times, is we have actually trouble with the concept of the reality of God. So, for some reason, we find it easier to transform the reality of these stories into something which, perhaps, feels like magic.
In its own way, that substitution of magic denies a singular and basic truth about God. God seeks justice. God seeks equity and through justice and equity God seeks peace and joy and hope and love.
Jesus, you see, represents the true light of God. The true light of this God who seeks justice and equity and peace and joy and hope and love. And Jesus has come into the world to illuminate this truth, this reality, this light that God does, in fact, seek justice, equity, peace, joy, love.
All of which is to say God invites us to engage in the real world with all of its trials and all of its challenges. And God also reminds us with the birth of Jesus that the presence of God is with us always as we strive to engage the world.
God walks with us. God guides us. Dare I say it— God is still speaking to us. And I believe my friends, that this is a reality which we should not deny. Amen.
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: “Churches more liturgical than ours celebrate The Feast of the Holy Innocents sometime between Christmas and New Year’s Day. The Gospel from that Second Chapter of Matthew is read. Episcopal Theologian Diana Bass recently said this in reference to that feast (quote): ‘The Feast of Holy Innocents is always disturbing. The powers of this world want to destroy the Light; those who deny the justice and love of God seek to end the reality of light in its infancy.’”
BENEDICTION: Hear now this blessing from the words of the Prophet Isaiah in the 60th chapter (Isaiah 60:19-20a): The sun shall no longer be / your light by day, / nor for / brightness shall the moon / give you light by night; / for Yahweh, God, will be your everlasting light, / and your glory. / Amen.
[1] This was the write up in the bulletin.
THE COVENTRY CAROL
The Coventry Carol is a Christmas carol dating from the 16th century. The carol was performed in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors.
The play depicts the Christmas story from chapter two in the Gospel of Matthew. The carol refers to the Massacre of the Innocents, in which Herod ordered all male infants under the age of two in Bethlehem to be killed.
The lyrics of this haunting carol represent a mother’s lament for her doomed child. It is the only carol that has survived from this play.
It is notable as a well-known example of a Picardy Third (the use of a major chord of the tonic at the end of a musical section that is either modal or in a minor key). The composer of the carol is unknown.
The oldest known text was written down by Robert Croo in 1534, and the oldest known printing of the melody dates from 1591. The carol is sometimes sung a cappella.
The only manuscript copy of that text to have survived into recent times was destroyed by a fire in 1875. Hence, our knowledge of the original lyric is based on two very poor quality transcriptions from the early nineteenth century. As a consequence, there is considerable doubt about many of the words.
Indeed, it can be difficult to make sense of some of the transcribed words. For example, in the last verse “And ever morne and may For thi parting Neither say nor singe” is not clear.
Various modern editors have made different attempts to make sense of the words, so such variations may be found as “ever mourn and say,” “every morn and day,” “ever mourn and sigh.” The following is one attempted reconstruction.
Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
Lullay, thou little tiny Child,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
O sisters too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day
This poor youngling for whom we do sing
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
Herod, the king, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day
His men of might, in his own sight,
All young children to slay.
That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!
And ever mourn and sigh,
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_Carol
The Other Story
“Now after they, the Magi, had left, an angel of God appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and Mary, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you otherwise. Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’” — Matthew 2:13.
I had a friend, a member of the laity, a woman in her early 20s, who was put in charge of patching a Christmas Pageant together at a church in a metropolitan area. As is true in a lot of churches today, this was not a pageant just for children. A broad range of age groups were to be included in the cast— all ages— adults and children.
In this particular church happened to be very, very few children between the ages of say 3 or 4 and 11 or 12. Often this age group would be seen as prime candidates to populate these productions.
On the other hand, there were a lot of what we sometimes and quite loosely call youth— ages 13 through 17. Further complicating matters, there were about 8 boys and one girl.
My friend, being very organized, had obtained a script from some religious publisher. And that script relied heavily on quotes from Scripture, not necessarily a bad thing. But that’s where the trouble started.
In this case, that script relied on the King James Version of the story as we find it in Luke. The Twelfth Verse of the Second Chapter in Luke turned out to be quite problematic.
For those of you who, off the top of your head, cannot bring the Twelfth Verse of the Second Chapter of Luke in the King James translation immediately to mind, let me refresh your memory. The angel says to the shepherds (quote:) “And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” (Slight pause.)
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “What’s the problem?” The problem was teenage boys. Or more accurately, since I do not want to condemn all teen age boys as a group (I was, after all, a teen age boy once), the problem was one teen age boy.
The oldest among the aforementioned boys, their ring leader, a natural cut up, had been cast as the angel, precisely because he was the ring leader. The first time the youngster read through that twelfth verse, this is what it sounded like: “And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe...” Oh, wow! There’s a babe in this play. Is the babe an angel too?” And then he laughed and he laughed and he laughed. (Slight pause.)
That is when my friend decided the one girl present would read the part. And she decided none of the boys would have a speaking roles in this pageant. (Slight pause.)
We do find these words in the work known as Matthew: “Now after they, the Magi, had left, an angel of God appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and Mary, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you otherwise. Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’” (Slight pause.)
I have another story of a Christmas pageant gone amuck. This one concerns a large Episcopal Church on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The pastor felt fortunate that a professional actor, a young lady all of twelve years old who had already appeared in two Broadway plays, was available to play the part of Mary.
The young actor was given the script. So she went home to study it. This script included, as many pageant scripts do, the arrival of the Magi. Of course, it conflated, merged the Luke version and the Matthew version of the story— two very different stories.
Now, just like many other pageant scripts, it did not include what happened after the Magi arrived, everything you heard in today’s reading. It left out the fact that Mary and Joseph and Jesus flee to Egypt and Herod slays all the children under two.
Now, the young actor who had been assigned the part of Mary decided she needed to consult the source material, the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, and even looked at some commentaries for background. After all, she was a professional actor. That is what professional actors do. They research the part.
Having read the Gospels and some of what is said about them, she made an appointment with the pastor. When she came in she demanded to know why the script left out some important details. She had a whole list. I’ll mention two.
The shepherds were terrified when they angel appeared. The script did not say that. She also demanded to know why the script said nothing about Herod sending the palace guard out to kill all the children under two. (Slight pause.)
I need to be clear. I am not recommending churches suspend Christmas pageants. I am suggesting we do need to be clear that what we find in Scripture is not what we find in Christmas pageants.
Indeed, when we read portions of the Second Chapter of Luke on Christmas Eve, this introductory comment is made. (Quote:) “Our culture fails to recognize the announcement is not meant as a pastoral tale, but is meant as a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah that the birth of the Messiah will be announced to the poor and the outcast. The shepherds, in this era, would have been counted among the lowest of the low on the cultural ladder” (unquote).
Further, as must be clear to you, especially given the reading from Matthew, one of the things Scripture strives to deal with— one of the things Scripture strives to do— is to deal with reality. Indeed, earlier we heard The Coventry Carol.
As the write up about the carol in the bulletin says, it was a part of The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. [1] The pageant in which this carol was presented dates from at least as early as the Fifteen Hundreds, the Sixteenth Century. Historians are fairly confident it was performed for Henry the VIII— this pageant.
And this play did depict— did depict— the part of the Christmas story from Chapter Two in the Matthew. The carol, itself, clearly refers to the Massacre of the Innocents, as it is called. In short, the generation alive in the Sixteenth Century was dealing with the real issues this passage presents, perhaps more so than our so called modern society.
All of which leaves us with a key question: if we look at the message underlying the angels in Luke and the message underlying today’s reading, both of those messages— as we theater people might say, the sub-text in those messages— are about reality. So what conclusion can be drawn from that?
What conclusion can be drawn about the reality that Scripture, itself, addresses? (Slight pause.) God cares. God cares about human pain and human suffering in this world, right now. (Slight pause.)
There is one more conclusion which can be drawn from the two very different nativity stories: God is real. The birth of Jesus is retold in the Gospels to send us that one unmistakable message. God... is... real. (Slight pause.)
You see, I think one of our problems, especially in modern times, is we have actually trouble with the concept of the reality of God. So, for some reason, we find it easier to transform the reality of these stories into something which, perhaps, feels like magic.
In its own way, that substitution of magic denies a singular and basic truth about God. God seeks justice. God seeks equity and through justice and equity God seeks peace and joy and hope and love.
Jesus, you see, represents the true light of God. The true light of this God who seeks justice and equity and peace and joy and hope and love. And Jesus has come into the world to illuminate this truth, this reality, this light that God does, in fact, seek justice, equity, peace, joy, love.
All of which is to say God invites us to engage in the real world with all of its trials and all of its challenges. And God also reminds us with the birth of Jesus that the presence of God is with us always as we strive to engage the world.
God walks with us. God guides us. Dare I say it— God is still speaking to us. And I believe my friends, that this is a reality which we should not deny. Amen.
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: “Churches more liturgical than ours celebrate The Feast of the Holy Innocents sometime between Christmas and New Year’s Day. The Gospel from that Second Chapter of Matthew is read. Episcopal Theologian Diana Bass recently said this in reference to that feast (quote): ‘The Feast of Holy Innocents is always disturbing. The powers of this world want to destroy the Light; those who deny the justice and love of God seek to end the reality of light in its infancy.’”
BENEDICTION: Hear now this blessing from the words of the Prophet Isaiah in the 60th chapter (Isaiah 60:19-20a): The sun shall no longer be / your light by day, / nor for / brightness shall the moon / give you light by night; / for Yahweh, God, will be your everlasting light, / and your glory. / Amen.
[1] This was the write up in the bulletin.
THE COVENTRY CAROL
The Coventry Carol is a Christmas carol dating from the 16th century. The carol was performed in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors.
The play depicts the Christmas story from chapter two in the Gospel of Matthew. The carol refers to the Massacre of the Innocents, in which Herod ordered all male infants under the age of two in Bethlehem to be killed.
The lyrics of this haunting carol represent a mother’s lament for her doomed child. It is the only carol that has survived from this play.
It is notable as a well-known example of a Picardy Third (the use of a major chord of the tonic at the end of a musical section that is either modal or in a minor key). The composer of the carol is unknown.
The oldest known text was written down by Robert Croo in 1534, and the oldest known printing of the melody dates from 1591. The carol is sometimes sung a cappella.
The only manuscript copy of that text to have survived into recent times was destroyed by a fire in 1875. Hence, our knowledge of the original lyric is based on two very poor quality transcriptions from the early nineteenth century. As a consequence, there is considerable doubt about many of the words.
Indeed, it can be difficult to make sense of some of the transcribed words. For example, in the last verse “And ever morne and may For thi parting Neither say nor singe” is not clear.
Various modern editors have made different attempts to make sense of the words, so such variations may be found as “ever mourn and say,” “every morn and day,” “ever mourn and sigh.” The following is one attempted reconstruction.
Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
Lullay, thou little tiny Child,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
O sisters too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day
This poor youngling for whom we do sing
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
Herod, the king, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day
His men of might, in his own sight,
All young children to slay.
That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!
And ever mourn and sigh,
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_Carol
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
SERMON ~ 12/24/2013 ~ “The Glory of God”
12/24/2013 - 12/25/2013 ~ Nativity of the Christ, Known in Some Traditions as the Feast of the Incarnation, Known in other Traditions as the Feast of the Birth of the Messiah, Commonly Known as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day ~ Proper I ~ Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14, (15-20) ~ Proper II ~ Isaiah 62:6-12; Psalm 97; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2:(1-7), 8-20 ~ Proper III ~ Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12); John 1:1-14.
The Glory of God
“An angel of God suddenly stood before them and the glory of God shone around them— and they were terrified.” — Luke 2:9.
Benjamin did not know his father. Neither did he know his mother. His parents were never present to him.
Left on the street when he was an infant, he had been abandoned. A couple from the village took him in. By the time he was ten he was living on the streets of Bethlehem. By the time he was eleven he was part of a gang, hoodlums.
By the time he was twelve, he was adept at stealing fruit off carts at the bazaar without being noticed. By the time he was thirteen, he could easily climb a fence, gently pick up a chicken, keep the foul from squawking, be back over the fence and off with it in moments. Often it would be hours before anyone noticed the count of birds was off.
Many people knew exactly who he was. Most looked on him with scorn. Many people knew exactly who was in the gang. Most people looked on the gang with scorn.
The gang was, however, family to him, family for him. And they were family to one another, looked out for one another.
When any one of them was sick, the gang offered care, protection, food, shelter. They lived together in tents set up in a field, not far from town.
Occasionally the local authorities would come from the village, burn tents to the ground, scatter whatever else they found. The gang would rally, rebuild their tents still further out into the hills. (Slight pause.)
As Benjamin grew older— he was now seventeen— he moved into the leadership ranks of the gang. And he realized the problem with being a crook is the profession relies on opportunity. An opportunistic profession is always feast or famine.
When you steal chicken or fruit, it’s feast. But days might pass before another opportunity presented itself— famine. (Slight pause.)
Eventually, the gang decided moving still further out into the fields was smart, since they— the gang— had made peace with many farmers who were scattered over the hills away from the village. That peace grew from the fact that they had started to tend sheep for the farmers.
Sheep will eat nearly anything. The farmers needed someone to herd the sheep, to keep them away from the crops. Benjamin’s rag-tag crew may have been hoodlums, brigands, in town. But out in the hills they were just what the farmers needed.
This was hard work, marginal work. But it gave the gang just enough food and shelter to exist. Unlike the feast or famine business of burglary, it offered consistency. There was always just enough. Somehow, if felt peaceful— like a sanctuary. (Pause.)
And so, on a cold spring night the gang gathered outside their tents around a soft fire. [1] The full moon was as bright as Benjamin had ever seen it. In the distance they could hear jackals howling. (Slight pause.)
Benjamin once had a conversation with a Rabbi who told him ritual was important and prayer was important. So, as their leader, Benjamin had developed a ritual they followed before turning in each night.
They stood in a circle. They held hands. They prayed. They felt mutual support. They felt energy transfer from hand to hand to hand to hand. They were... family. (Pause.)
That night he was unsure what happened as they prayed. No one else in the gang could ever explain what happened, either.
All they knew was this: first, everything was suddenly dark. A full moon had been there moments ago. It was gone. Darkness surrounded them.
They were family, so they tightly held onto each other’s hands. And, despite or perhaps because of that hold on one another, it felt as if they were they were levitating. Their feet no longer touched the ground. (Slight pause.)
And then there was light. Or was it light? If felt like light, but it could not really be seen. It was more like a presence— like the Hebrew word kabod— glory: the presence of God. That was as close as any of them could come to describing how it felt.
And that was how they later described it: whatever was happening, was not seen. It was not heard. It was a presence. It was felt.
Then there was something which sounded like a voice. But the voice was not heard, either. It was felt. Again, the Hebrew word kabod— glory— seemed apt. The presence of God was close. That was the only way any of them could describe it. (Pause.)
Suddenly they were again standing around the fire. The moon was full. The jackals screeched. Yet something had changed. They felt at peace. They did not know what to make of it. (Slight pause.)
They were unsure why, but together, they started to drift toward town. When they were on the outskirts, they wandered toward a barn. They found a man, a woman, a newborn.
They formed a circle. They held hands. They prayed. This time there was no darkness. But there was this same presence— kabod— glory. Was it because of a child?
Benjamin looked around and saw... family. He had not known his father. Neither had he known his mother. His parents were never present to him. But he sensed this child was present to him, present to them. It felt... safe.
The child seemed to be somehow present to everyone in the circle, present to the family. He did not feel abandoned.
Was that possible? Could a child have that kind of presence— a sense of kabod— a sense of glory.
He did not know. He squeezed the hands of the shepherds on either side of him. They all let go. In unison they nodded to the man. They nodded to the woman. They bowed to the child. They turned and headed back toward the hills.
As they walked Benjamin had but one thought— kabod— a sense of the presence of God. Is it real? Is it possible? Can even lowly shepherds be so blessed as to experience the real presence of God? (Slight pause.)
Maybe that was what the presence of God— the glory of God— is about. It is about God Who is present, Who is real to all people, no matter who they are. (Slight pause.)
As they wandered back toward the hills Benjamin fully realized kabod was what he felt in the presence of the baby. And that was when Benjamin also fully realized there was something he had to do.
He had to tell everyone he met that God is real, that God is present for everyone. After all, God was present in the child. Amen.
12/24/2013 ~ Christmas Eve
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I have often said Christmas is the most important Christian feast on the secular calendar. At the very least for we Christians Easter, Pentecost, the Epiphany and Trinity Sunday should be counted as more important than Christmas. Which is not to say Christmas lacks importance. It is to say we need to reclaim Christmas as a Christian feast. In an effort to reclaim real Christmas, let me make a suggestion, one I make each year. Please do not wish people a ‘Merry Christmas.’ When you greet someone say ‘Happy Christmas.’ People can be merry about the new year, but let’s be happy about what we celebrate tonight: the birth of the Messiah, present in our midst. Further, if we are really interested in putting Christ in Christmas, we need to feed the hungry, clothe those in tatters, care for the ill, etc., etc., etc.”
BENEDICTION: Hear now this blessing from the words of the Prophet Isaiah in the 60th chapter (Isaiah 60:19-20a): The sun shall no longer be / your light by day, / nor for brightness shall the moon / give you light by night; / for Yahweh, God, will be your everlasting light, / and your glory. / Amen.
[1] At the beginning of the service this was said: “Ancient Rome had a winter solstice celebration, celebrating the return of the sun and on their calendar the solstice was on the 25th of December. It’s likely Christians adopted it to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, as we claim Jesus to be both the Messiah and the Light of God born to our lives. Many scholars think Jesus was born in what we would call the year Four Before the Common Era and not in the winter but in the Springtime of that year.
The Glory of God
“An angel of God suddenly stood before them and the glory of God shone around them— and they were terrified.” — Luke 2:9.
Benjamin did not know his father. Neither did he know his mother. His parents were never present to him.
Left on the street when he was an infant, he had been abandoned. A couple from the village took him in. By the time he was ten he was living on the streets of Bethlehem. By the time he was eleven he was part of a gang, hoodlums.
By the time he was twelve, he was adept at stealing fruit off carts at the bazaar without being noticed. By the time he was thirteen, he could easily climb a fence, gently pick up a chicken, keep the foul from squawking, be back over the fence and off with it in moments. Often it would be hours before anyone noticed the count of birds was off.
Many people knew exactly who he was. Most looked on him with scorn. Many people knew exactly who was in the gang. Most people looked on the gang with scorn.
The gang was, however, family to him, family for him. And they were family to one another, looked out for one another.
When any one of them was sick, the gang offered care, protection, food, shelter. They lived together in tents set up in a field, not far from town.
Occasionally the local authorities would come from the village, burn tents to the ground, scatter whatever else they found. The gang would rally, rebuild their tents still further out into the hills. (Slight pause.)
As Benjamin grew older— he was now seventeen— he moved into the leadership ranks of the gang. And he realized the problem with being a crook is the profession relies on opportunity. An opportunistic profession is always feast or famine.
When you steal chicken or fruit, it’s feast. But days might pass before another opportunity presented itself— famine. (Slight pause.)
Eventually, the gang decided moving still further out into the fields was smart, since they— the gang— had made peace with many farmers who were scattered over the hills away from the village. That peace grew from the fact that they had started to tend sheep for the farmers.
Sheep will eat nearly anything. The farmers needed someone to herd the sheep, to keep them away from the crops. Benjamin’s rag-tag crew may have been hoodlums, brigands, in town. But out in the hills they were just what the farmers needed.
This was hard work, marginal work. But it gave the gang just enough food and shelter to exist. Unlike the feast or famine business of burglary, it offered consistency. There was always just enough. Somehow, if felt peaceful— like a sanctuary. (Pause.)
And so, on a cold spring night the gang gathered outside their tents around a soft fire. [1] The full moon was as bright as Benjamin had ever seen it. In the distance they could hear jackals howling. (Slight pause.)
Benjamin once had a conversation with a Rabbi who told him ritual was important and prayer was important. So, as their leader, Benjamin had developed a ritual they followed before turning in each night.
They stood in a circle. They held hands. They prayed. They felt mutual support. They felt energy transfer from hand to hand to hand to hand. They were... family. (Pause.)
That night he was unsure what happened as they prayed. No one else in the gang could ever explain what happened, either.
All they knew was this: first, everything was suddenly dark. A full moon had been there moments ago. It was gone. Darkness surrounded them.
They were family, so they tightly held onto each other’s hands. And, despite or perhaps because of that hold on one another, it felt as if they were they were levitating. Their feet no longer touched the ground. (Slight pause.)
And then there was light. Or was it light? If felt like light, but it could not really be seen. It was more like a presence— like the Hebrew word kabod— glory: the presence of God. That was as close as any of them could come to describing how it felt.
And that was how they later described it: whatever was happening, was not seen. It was not heard. It was a presence. It was felt.
Then there was something which sounded like a voice. But the voice was not heard, either. It was felt. Again, the Hebrew word kabod— glory— seemed apt. The presence of God was close. That was the only way any of them could describe it. (Pause.)
Suddenly they were again standing around the fire. The moon was full. The jackals screeched. Yet something had changed. They felt at peace. They did not know what to make of it. (Slight pause.)
They were unsure why, but together, they started to drift toward town. When they were on the outskirts, they wandered toward a barn. They found a man, a woman, a newborn.
They formed a circle. They held hands. They prayed. This time there was no darkness. But there was this same presence— kabod— glory. Was it because of a child?
Benjamin looked around and saw... family. He had not known his father. Neither had he known his mother. His parents were never present to him. But he sensed this child was present to him, present to them. It felt... safe.
The child seemed to be somehow present to everyone in the circle, present to the family. He did not feel abandoned.
Was that possible? Could a child have that kind of presence— a sense of kabod— a sense of glory.
He did not know. He squeezed the hands of the shepherds on either side of him. They all let go. In unison they nodded to the man. They nodded to the woman. They bowed to the child. They turned and headed back toward the hills.
As they walked Benjamin had but one thought— kabod— a sense of the presence of God. Is it real? Is it possible? Can even lowly shepherds be so blessed as to experience the real presence of God? (Slight pause.)
Maybe that was what the presence of God— the glory of God— is about. It is about God Who is present, Who is real to all people, no matter who they are. (Slight pause.)
As they wandered back toward the hills Benjamin fully realized kabod was what he felt in the presence of the baby. And that was when Benjamin also fully realized there was something he had to do.
He had to tell everyone he met that God is real, that God is present for everyone. After all, God was present in the child. Amen.
12/24/2013 ~ Christmas Eve
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I have often said Christmas is the most important Christian feast on the secular calendar. At the very least for we Christians Easter, Pentecost, the Epiphany and Trinity Sunday should be counted as more important than Christmas. Which is not to say Christmas lacks importance. It is to say we need to reclaim Christmas as a Christian feast. In an effort to reclaim real Christmas, let me make a suggestion, one I make each year. Please do not wish people a ‘Merry Christmas.’ When you greet someone say ‘Happy Christmas.’ People can be merry about the new year, but let’s be happy about what we celebrate tonight: the birth of the Messiah, present in our midst. Further, if we are really interested in putting Christ in Christmas, we need to feed the hungry, clothe those in tatters, care for the ill, etc., etc., etc.”
BENEDICTION: Hear now this blessing from the words of the Prophet Isaiah in the 60th chapter (Isaiah 60:19-20a): The sun shall no longer be / your light by day, / nor for brightness shall the moon / give you light by night; / for Yahweh, God, will be your everlasting light, / and your glory. / Amen.
[1] At the beginning of the service this was said: “Ancient Rome had a winter solstice celebration, celebrating the return of the sun and on their calendar the solstice was on the 25th of December. It’s likely Christians adopted it to celebrate the birth of the Messiah, as we claim Jesus to be both the Messiah and the Light of God born to our lives. Many scholars think Jesus was born in what we would call the year Four Before the Common Era and not in the winter but in the Springtime of that year.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
SERMON ~ 12/22/2013 ~ “God with Us”
12/22/2013 ~ Fourth Sunday of Advent ~ Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25 ~ The Sunday in Advent on Which We Commemorate Joy.
God with Us
“While this was the intention of Joseph, and he had resolved to do this, at that point an angel of God appeared in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David— do not be afraid to wed Mary; it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child.’” — Matthew 1:20.
At the beginning of our shared time today you heard me briefly address the “Christmas Fund.” As I said, this money helps pastors who often retire at a relatively low fixed income. [1] For a bit, I’d like to look at the other end of that spectrum: from where do pastors come? Where does a call to ministry start? (Slight pause.)
The short answer is: a call to ministry starts in the pews. It starts with you. After all, we do make the claim that I am a “Pastor and Teacher” but you are the ministers. [2] Above and beyond that, the United Church of Christ is known to be a bottom/up, grass roots organization. Nothing illustrates that more clearly than the ordination process.
Generally, there are three participants when we ordain an individual to authorized ministry. The first is the local church— you. It is the duty of the local church, your duty, to identify those in your midst who have the gifts necessary for ministry.
When one such soul is identified, that local church needs to work with that individual and to then recommend that individual to the local Association as a candidate for ministry. This process is known as assisting a person in discernment— person in discernment— PID. In short, you act as mentors in this process.
That individual, raised up as a candidate for ministry, is assisted by the local church and by the local Association as training is pursued. In one sense, this is a time of test, trial and discernment which explores and questions whether or not a person does have gifts for ministry and where they might be used. But the process is also collegial, as the local church, the Association and the individual work together.
The third participant involved in ordination is the “calling body.” A calling body is a church, an institution or a ministry where the gifts and talents of the perspective ordinand will be initially used. Once a call is tendered by that church, institution or ministry, the local church who has supported the ordinand in conjunction with the local Association ordains the candidate. And that candidate is ordained for the whole church but ordained on the local level— bottom/up, not top/down. (Slight pause.)
Those of you who were here last week heard me say I was headed to Preble for an ordination last Sunday afternoon. We— the United Church of Christ in Preble cooperating with the Susquehanna Association the Association that this church is part of, we ordained the Reverend Ms. Brenda McCutcheon of the Preble Church.
Brenda is the Director of Elder Life and Spirituality at the Loretto Skilled Nursing Care facility. At one point, when an elder had passed away at Loretto, a funeral director would quietly take the deceased out a back door of the facility. This left other residents and staff with a longing to mourn, to remember, to appreciate and to celebrate a life well lived.
Brenda changed that. Now with Loretto’s End of Life program, which she established, calling hours are held in the chapel at the facility. Someone who has died is given a dignified departure out the front door. All who wish have an opportunity to pay respects, offer words of gratitude, to say good-bye. [3]
And so, the calling body this time, at this ordination— that necessary third piece on a path to ordination in the United Church of Christ— was Loretto Skilled Nursing Facility. (Slight pause.) Oh... by the way... did I mention that Loretto is a skilled nursing facility operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse? They were the calling body for a pastor with United Church of Christ. (Slight pause.)
And, by the way, did I mention a Roman Catholic priest led the Call to Worship at the service of ordination? (Slight pause.) And, by the way, did I mention a Roman Catholic nun held the cup at communion? (Pause.)
We find these words in the Gospel we have come to know as Matthew. “While this was the intention of Joseph, and he had resolved to do this, at that point an angel of God appeared in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David— do not be afraid to wed Mary; it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child.’” (Slight pause.)
You have heard me say this before: there are two things the Bible is not about. First, the Bible is not a rule book. Second, the Bible is not a history book— a repository of facts.
Equally, there are two things the Bible is about. First, the Bible is about the relationship of God with humanity. Second, the Bible is about the loving relationships God calls people to maintain with one another.
Within this passage we find exactly that idea. The Bible is about the relationship of God with humanity. And the Bible is about the loving relationships God calls people to maintain with one another. And most of the time we do not pay any attention to that important message contained in these words.
To what do we pay attention in this passage? We pay attention to this (quote): “All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by God through the prophet: “The virgin shall be with child, shall give birth,...”
We pay attention to the virgin birth. Hello! This is nearly meaningless— a historical oddity in the context of that era which gets included in part because Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar were also said to be born of a virgin. [4] If it was not included Jesus, in terms of the writings of that era, would have been seen as abnormal.
So, what is important here? The very next words (quote): “...‘the child shall be named Emmanuel’— a name that means, ‘God is with us.’”
There is something else important in the passage we tend to miss. It’s the fact that Jesus is actually given two names and a title. (Quote:) “...this is how the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, came about.”
The name with which we tend to be familiar— Jesus— this gets complex, so follow me now— the name with which we tend to be familiar— Jesus— is the English transliteration of the Latin version of the Hebrew name Yoshuah. The anglicized version of that Hebrew name is Joshua.
But, once you go back to the original Hebrew, the name is Yoshuah. And what does Yoshuah mean? Yoshuah means God is our salvation or God saves.
And, needless to say, this passage also states Jesus is the Messiah. Messiah means an anointed one of God.
All of which clearly insists this passage is not about virgin birth. It is about Jesus, the anointed one of God who is here to offer salvation. It is about Jesus who is with us now— Emmanuel.
That God is with us, present to us, now— illuminates a basic understanding of Christianity. God wants to be in relationship with humanity and God calls us to be in loving relationship with others. (Slight pause.)
That brings me back to the ordination— an ordination where brothers and sisters in Christ gathered to recognize that nothing separates us from the love of God in Christ, Jesus. It was an ordination where brothers and sisters in Christ gathered to recognize that one to one, person to person— the work of pastoral ministry, the personal work of pastoral ministry— is what we are called to do.
And where does that work of one to one pastoral ministry start? It starts in the pews. It starts with you and with you and with you and with you and with you, etc. (Slight pause.)
There is a fallacy which goes around. It says personal, pastoral, one to one ministry is easy for some— extraverts perhaps. That is not true. Personal, pastoral, one to one ministry is not easy for anyone. It is hard.
But the truth is personal, pastoral, one to one ministry is our calling. And this personal, pastoral, one to one ministry starts with you.
Why? God saves. God is with us. God is present to us. God is present to you and you and you and you, etc. And that, the fact that God is present my friends, does not just empower ministry. That is the real the message of Christmas: God is with us. Amen.
12/22/2013
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: “This is also something you’ve heard me say. In fact, I said it last week: Biblical prophecy is not about predicting the future. Biblical prophecy is about speaking the truth of the word of God. So here, once again, is a piece of Biblical prophecy: God calls us— each of us— to personal, pastoral ministry.”
BENEDICTION: Let us be present to one another as we go from this place. Let us share our gifts, our hopes, our memories, our pain and our joy. Go in peace for God is with us. Go in joy for God knows every fiber of our being. Go in hope for God reveals to us, daily, that we are a part of God’s new creation. Go in love, for we rest assured, by Christ, Jesus, that God is steadfast. Amen.
[1] The pastor addressed “The Christmas Fund” an all church offering for retirees at a time for mission.
[2] This is noted in the bulletin each week.
[3] http://www.loretto-cny.org/news-and-events/news/show/51
[4] The illustrates one of the dangers of public speaking: the pastor meant to say Caesar Augustus and it came out as Julius Caesar.
God with Us
“While this was the intention of Joseph, and he had resolved to do this, at that point an angel of God appeared in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David— do not be afraid to wed Mary; it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child.’” — Matthew 1:20.
At the beginning of our shared time today you heard me briefly address the “Christmas Fund.” As I said, this money helps pastors who often retire at a relatively low fixed income. [1] For a bit, I’d like to look at the other end of that spectrum: from where do pastors come? Where does a call to ministry start? (Slight pause.)
The short answer is: a call to ministry starts in the pews. It starts with you. After all, we do make the claim that I am a “Pastor and Teacher” but you are the ministers. [2] Above and beyond that, the United Church of Christ is known to be a bottom/up, grass roots organization. Nothing illustrates that more clearly than the ordination process.
Generally, there are three participants when we ordain an individual to authorized ministry. The first is the local church— you. It is the duty of the local church, your duty, to identify those in your midst who have the gifts necessary for ministry.
When one such soul is identified, that local church needs to work with that individual and to then recommend that individual to the local Association as a candidate for ministry. This process is known as assisting a person in discernment— person in discernment— PID. In short, you act as mentors in this process.
That individual, raised up as a candidate for ministry, is assisted by the local church and by the local Association as training is pursued. In one sense, this is a time of test, trial and discernment which explores and questions whether or not a person does have gifts for ministry and where they might be used. But the process is also collegial, as the local church, the Association and the individual work together.
The third participant involved in ordination is the “calling body.” A calling body is a church, an institution or a ministry where the gifts and talents of the perspective ordinand will be initially used. Once a call is tendered by that church, institution or ministry, the local church who has supported the ordinand in conjunction with the local Association ordains the candidate. And that candidate is ordained for the whole church but ordained on the local level— bottom/up, not top/down. (Slight pause.)
Those of you who were here last week heard me say I was headed to Preble for an ordination last Sunday afternoon. We— the United Church of Christ in Preble cooperating with the Susquehanna Association the Association that this church is part of, we ordained the Reverend Ms. Brenda McCutcheon of the Preble Church.
Brenda is the Director of Elder Life and Spirituality at the Loretto Skilled Nursing Care facility. At one point, when an elder had passed away at Loretto, a funeral director would quietly take the deceased out a back door of the facility. This left other residents and staff with a longing to mourn, to remember, to appreciate and to celebrate a life well lived.
Brenda changed that. Now with Loretto’s End of Life program, which she established, calling hours are held in the chapel at the facility. Someone who has died is given a dignified departure out the front door. All who wish have an opportunity to pay respects, offer words of gratitude, to say good-bye. [3]
And so, the calling body this time, at this ordination— that necessary third piece on a path to ordination in the United Church of Christ— was Loretto Skilled Nursing Facility. (Slight pause.) Oh... by the way... did I mention that Loretto is a skilled nursing facility operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse? They were the calling body for a pastor with United Church of Christ. (Slight pause.)
And, by the way, did I mention a Roman Catholic priest led the Call to Worship at the service of ordination? (Slight pause.) And, by the way, did I mention a Roman Catholic nun held the cup at communion? (Pause.)
We find these words in the Gospel we have come to know as Matthew. “While this was the intention of Joseph, and he had resolved to do this, at that point an angel of God appeared in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David— do not be afraid to wed Mary; it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child.’” (Slight pause.)
You have heard me say this before: there are two things the Bible is not about. First, the Bible is not a rule book. Second, the Bible is not a history book— a repository of facts.
Equally, there are two things the Bible is about. First, the Bible is about the relationship of God with humanity. Second, the Bible is about the loving relationships God calls people to maintain with one another.
Within this passage we find exactly that idea. The Bible is about the relationship of God with humanity. And the Bible is about the loving relationships God calls people to maintain with one another. And most of the time we do not pay any attention to that important message contained in these words.
To what do we pay attention in this passage? We pay attention to this (quote): “All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by God through the prophet: “The virgin shall be with child, shall give birth,...”
We pay attention to the virgin birth. Hello! This is nearly meaningless— a historical oddity in the context of that era which gets included in part because Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar were also said to be born of a virgin. [4] If it was not included Jesus, in terms of the writings of that era, would have been seen as abnormal.
So, what is important here? The very next words (quote): “...‘the child shall be named Emmanuel’— a name that means, ‘God is with us.’”
There is something else important in the passage we tend to miss. It’s the fact that Jesus is actually given two names and a title. (Quote:) “...this is how the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, came about.”
The name with which we tend to be familiar— Jesus— this gets complex, so follow me now— the name with which we tend to be familiar— Jesus— is the English transliteration of the Latin version of the Hebrew name Yoshuah. The anglicized version of that Hebrew name is Joshua.
But, once you go back to the original Hebrew, the name is Yoshuah. And what does Yoshuah mean? Yoshuah means God is our salvation or God saves.
And, needless to say, this passage also states Jesus is the Messiah. Messiah means an anointed one of God.
All of which clearly insists this passage is not about virgin birth. It is about Jesus, the anointed one of God who is here to offer salvation. It is about Jesus who is with us now— Emmanuel.
That God is with us, present to us, now— illuminates a basic understanding of Christianity. God wants to be in relationship with humanity and God calls us to be in loving relationship with others. (Slight pause.)
That brings me back to the ordination— an ordination where brothers and sisters in Christ gathered to recognize that nothing separates us from the love of God in Christ, Jesus. It was an ordination where brothers and sisters in Christ gathered to recognize that one to one, person to person— the work of pastoral ministry, the personal work of pastoral ministry— is what we are called to do.
And where does that work of one to one pastoral ministry start? It starts in the pews. It starts with you and with you and with you and with you and with you, etc. (Slight pause.)
There is a fallacy which goes around. It says personal, pastoral, one to one ministry is easy for some— extraverts perhaps. That is not true. Personal, pastoral, one to one ministry is not easy for anyone. It is hard.
But the truth is personal, pastoral, one to one ministry is our calling. And this personal, pastoral, one to one ministry starts with you.
Why? God saves. God is with us. God is present to us. God is present to you and you and you and you, etc. And that, the fact that God is present my friends, does not just empower ministry. That is the real the message of Christmas: God is with us. Amen.
12/22/2013
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: “This is also something you’ve heard me say. In fact, I said it last week: Biblical prophecy is not about predicting the future. Biblical prophecy is about speaking the truth of the word of God. So here, once again, is a piece of Biblical prophecy: God calls us— each of us— to personal, pastoral ministry.”
BENEDICTION: Let us be present to one another as we go from this place. Let us share our gifts, our hopes, our memories, our pain and our joy. Go in peace for God is with us. Go in joy for God knows every fiber of our being. Go in hope for God reveals to us, daily, that we are a part of God’s new creation. Go in love, for we rest assured, by Christ, Jesus, that God is steadfast. Amen.
[1] The pastor addressed “The Christmas Fund” an all church offering for retirees at a time for mission.
[2] This is noted in the bulletin each week.
[3] http://www.loretto-cny.org/news-and-events/news/show/51
[4] The illustrates one of the dangers of public speaking: the pastor meant to say Caesar Augustus and it came out as Julius Caesar.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
SERMON ~ 12/15/2013 ~ “Living in the Moment”
12/15/2013 ~ Third Sunday of Advent ~ Sunday in Advent on Which We Commemorate Love ~ Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:5-10 or Luke 1:46b-55; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11 ~ Music Sunday Added Readings: Isaiah 40:3-5; Isaiah 11:1-6, 10; Isaiah 9:2b, 6-7; Luke 2:15-17 ~ Music Sunday Canceled Due to Snow! Rescheduled for 1/5/2014.
Living in the Moment
“A voice cries out: / ‘In the wilderness / prepare the way for Yahweh; / make straight in the desert / a highway for our God.’” — Isaiah 40:3.
The late comedian George Cariln is famous for a lot of ironic but iconic one liners. I like many of them.
Certainly one of my favorite Carlin quotes is this one: “I went to a bookstore and asked the clerk, ‘Where’s the self-help section?’ In return I got a glowering stare. ‘If I told you,’ was the response, ‘it would defeat the purpose of self-help, wouldn’t it?’” (Slight pause.)
There is little doubt that one of the slogans of the self-help movement has been to (quote:) “live in the moment.” One author who wrote about this called it “the power of now.”
Whereas the implication of this current popular way of looking at one’s life and the world is that only now is important— only now, not the past nor the future— I think living in the moment needs to be approached in a different way. Indeed, I think the idea of living in the moment is an important concept. I approve of the idea.
Therefore, one of the things I think needs to be brought to the fore when we talk about living in the moment is the thought that it encompasses not just the present but the past and the future as well. I think when living in the moment, when living in the present, can somehow encompass the past and the future, it really does have the potential to be life changing.
You see, living in the moment while forgetting the past or the future is nothing more than ego-centric— not a good place to be, I think. That kind of approach insists only our time— not the past— is important. It insists only our time— not the future— has significant potential. In short, if only now matters ‘living in the moment’ rejects others— other times, other places, other people. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Isaiah: “A voice cries out: / “In the wilderness / prepare the way for Yahweh; / make straight in the desert / a highway for our God.” (Slight pause.)
I have said this here before: Biblical prophecy is not about predicting the future. That Biblical prophecy is about predicting the future is a conceit of the popular culture. Saying that Biblical prophecy is about predicting the future is, to put it bluntly, an anti-Biblical sentiment.
Biblical prophecy is not about prognostication. Biblical prophecy concerns speaking truth— a truth— about the Word of God.
I have also said this: in order to begin to understand what we read in Scripture we need to place ourselves in the time and the place of the people who were first hearing the writings. And, indeed, those who wrote what we now call Scripture and those who first heard what we now call Scripture did not know it as Scripture at that point in time. What was recorded was, in fact, nothing more than an attempt to understand their own experience of God.
They certainly did not think in terms of making a prediction that would be listened to as if it said about anything concrete or definitive about what might happen in the future. They were simply trying to address what God might be saying to them, right then.
In fact, it might be said that they were living in that moment. But in so doing, they were trying to make sense of the places from which they had come and the places to which God might be calling them. They were looking to the past and to the future but being in the moment.
Therefore, for us to use what we read in Scripture as a prediction of what might happen, is to start in the wrong place. In short, we always first need to ask what they recorded might have meant to them.
Indeed, I think what we fail to realize in what was recorded in the Fortieth Chapter of Isaiah is the immediacy of it. Let me repeat it: “A voice cries out: / ‘In the wilderness / prepare the way for Yahweh; / make straight in the desert / a highway for our God.’”
So, if they were living in the moment what was it they might have heard from these words? What might they have discerned? (Slight pause.) Perhaps one thing they might have heard was that God beckoned them to do the work of God, right then— in that place and in that time.
Given that concept, given that idea, we need to put ourselves in their shoes in order to begin to discern what Scripture might be saying to us. Certainly one question for us is this: ‘can we hear something in these writings about the place to which God calls us?’ (Slight pause.)
And that brings us to Luke. (Quote:) “When the angels had left and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this event which has taken place and which God has made known to us.’” (Slight pause.)
So, is this simply about the birth of the Messiah or is there sometime more being said? (Slight pause.) You see, once we understand Isaiah in its own context, on its own terms the words of Isaiah can clearly read as Biblical prophecy— speaking a Word of truth about God.
I say that because the Word which Isaiah speaks addresses God who calls us to do the work of God. And perhaps we miss this next piece. the birth of the Messiah also addresses God who calls us to do the work of God.
How so? It has been often said the birth of the Messiah is about the in-breaking of God into our lives.
Hence, the Biblical prophecy Isaiah addresses is that God beckons us to do the work of God right now in our place and in our time. And the birth of the Messiah also tells us God beckons us to do the work of God right now in our place and in our time.
And I do not think we have to look too far to find out what that work might be. We are to feed the hungry, clothe those in tatters, care for and comfort those who are ill, etc., etc., etc.
Last, I want to suggest the real way we can do those things God calls us to do, is by living in the moment. The real way we can do those things God calls is to do, is by listening to the Word of God and by recognizing what we are to do now and the places to which God continues to call us in the future. Put differently, this is the call of God: we are to live in the moment— God’s moment— remembering that God forgets neither the past nor the future. Amen.
12/15/2013
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: “There is no question that living in the moment calls us to remember the past, the history of the relationship of God and humanity, calls us to be aware that what we do today shall effect the future of our race. We should also be reminded that God calls us to live in the moment by reaching out to those around us as we share the love God offers to us with all people— that’s all people, not just some people. And perhaps, when we do all that we are, ourselves, fulfilling a prophecy by striving to do the will of God.”
BENEDICTION: Let us go in hope and in joy and in peace, for we find love in the One who has made covenant with us. And, indeed, God reigns. And may the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore. Amen.
Living in the Moment
“A voice cries out: / ‘In the wilderness / prepare the way for Yahweh; / make straight in the desert / a highway for our God.’” — Isaiah 40:3.
The late comedian George Cariln is famous for a lot of ironic but iconic one liners. I like many of them.
Certainly one of my favorite Carlin quotes is this one: “I went to a bookstore and asked the clerk, ‘Where’s the self-help section?’ In return I got a glowering stare. ‘If I told you,’ was the response, ‘it would defeat the purpose of self-help, wouldn’t it?’” (Slight pause.)
There is little doubt that one of the slogans of the self-help movement has been to (quote:) “live in the moment.” One author who wrote about this called it “the power of now.”
Whereas the implication of this current popular way of looking at one’s life and the world is that only now is important— only now, not the past nor the future— I think living in the moment needs to be approached in a different way. Indeed, I think the idea of living in the moment is an important concept. I approve of the idea.
Therefore, one of the things I think needs to be brought to the fore when we talk about living in the moment is the thought that it encompasses not just the present but the past and the future as well. I think when living in the moment, when living in the present, can somehow encompass the past and the future, it really does have the potential to be life changing.
You see, living in the moment while forgetting the past or the future is nothing more than ego-centric— not a good place to be, I think. That kind of approach insists only our time— not the past— is important. It insists only our time— not the future— has significant potential. In short, if only now matters ‘living in the moment’ rejects others— other times, other places, other people. (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the work known as Isaiah: “A voice cries out: / “In the wilderness / prepare the way for Yahweh; / make straight in the desert / a highway for our God.” (Slight pause.)
I have said this here before: Biblical prophecy is not about predicting the future. That Biblical prophecy is about predicting the future is a conceit of the popular culture. Saying that Biblical prophecy is about predicting the future is, to put it bluntly, an anti-Biblical sentiment.
Biblical prophecy is not about prognostication. Biblical prophecy concerns speaking truth— a truth— about the Word of God.
I have also said this: in order to begin to understand what we read in Scripture we need to place ourselves in the time and the place of the people who were first hearing the writings. And, indeed, those who wrote what we now call Scripture and those who first heard what we now call Scripture did not know it as Scripture at that point in time. What was recorded was, in fact, nothing more than an attempt to understand their own experience of God.
They certainly did not think in terms of making a prediction that would be listened to as if it said about anything concrete or definitive about what might happen in the future. They were simply trying to address what God might be saying to them, right then.
In fact, it might be said that they were living in that moment. But in so doing, they were trying to make sense of the places from which they had come and the places to which God might be calling them. They were looking to the past and to the future but being in the moment.
Therefore, for us to use what we read in Scripture as a prediction of what might happen, is to start in the wrong place. In short, we always first need to ask what they recorded might have meant to them.
Indeed, I think what we fail to realize in what was recorded in the Fortieth Chapter of Isaiah is the immediacy of it. Let me repeat it: “A voice cries out: / ‘In the wilderness / prepare the way for Yahweh; / make straight in the desert / a highway for our God.’”
So, if they were living in the moment what was it they might have heard from these words? What might they have discerned? (Slight pause.) Perhaps one thing they might have heard was that God beckoned them to do the work of God, right then— in that place and in that time.
Given that concept, given that idea, we need to put ourselves in their shoes in order to begin to discern what Scripture might be saying to us. Certainly one question for us is this: ‘can we hear something in these writings about the place to which God calls us?’ (Slight pause.)
And that brings us to Luke. (Quote:) “When the angels had left and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this event which has taken place and which God has made known to us.’” (Slight pause.)
So, is this simply about the birth of the Messiah or is there sometime more being said? (Slight pause.) You see, once we understand Isaiah in its own context, on its own terms the words of Isaiah can clearly read as Biblical prophecy— speaking a Word of truth about God.
I say that because the Word which Isaiah speaks addresses God who calls us to do the work of God. And perhaps we miss this next piece. the birth of the Messiah also addresses God who calls us to do the work of God.
How so? It has been often said the birth of the Messiah is about the in-breaking of God into our lives.
Hence, the Biblical prophecy Isaiah addresses is that God beckons us to do the work of God right now in our place and in our time. And the birth of the Messiah also tells us God beckons us to do the work of God right now in our place and in our time.
And I do not think we have to look too far to find out what that work might be. We are to feed the hungry, clothe those in tatters, care for and comfort those who are ill, etc., etc., etc.
Last, I want to suggest the real way we can do those things God calls us to do, is by living in the moment. The real way we can do those things God calls is to do, is by listening to the Word of God and by recognizing what we are to do now and the places to which God continues to call us in the future. Put differently, this is the call of God: we are to live in the moment— God’s moment— remembering that God forgets neither the past nor the future. Amen.
12/15/2013
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: “There is no question that living in the moment calls us to remember the past, the history of the relationship of God and humanity, calls us to be aware that what we do today shall effect the future of our race. We should also be reminded that God calls us to live in the moment by reaching out to those around us as we share the love God offers to us with all people— that’s all people, not just some people. And perhaps, when we do all that we are, ourselves, fulfilling a prophecy by striving to do the will of God.”
BENEDICTION: Let us go in hope and in joy and in peace, for we find love in the One who has made covenant with us. And, indeed, God reigns. And may the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)