Rev Brice and the Journey

Leaving the Nets

2012-01-22T08:39:00.000-08:00

Mark 1:14-20
Nowafter John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news ofGod, andsaying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent,and believe in the good news.” AsJesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrewcasting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. AndJesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”Andimmediately they left their nets and followed him. Ashe went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, whowere in their boat mending the nets. Immediatelyhe called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hiredmen, and followed him.

Theevening conversation around the dinner table that night began the same as everynight. It had been a long day—12 hours on the lake in the hot sun—arms achingand the stench of raw fish hanging in the air. Salome slapped the top of John’shand as it reached into the hot skillet to sample the sizzling sardine steaks.“Stop that, Jonathon! How can a son be so incorrigible?” she scowled—releasinga smirk across her mouth. “Mother—it’s been a long day. I’m tired andhungry—please throw me a scrap from your delicious cuisine!” “Ack, Ack! Washyour hands young man. And then set the table.”

Johnkissed his mother on the forehead as he snatched a smoldering olive from theskillet. “Love you Mom!” And off to the cleaning basin he went. At about thattime James came through the door with his wife Phoebe and little Joel in tow.“Grandma!” the boy toddler exclaimed running into Salome’s arms. “My littlegrandson—how big you are getting! Phoebe, what are you feeding this child?”“The same as you fed me, Momma—fish and bread.” James cut in. “What else is afisherman’s family to eat?”

“James—suchdisrespect for your mother,” Phoebe replied with a condescending grin. “Don’tpay attention to him, Mother. I fix him the same—and there are no complaints.Are there my dear husband?” she flashed her eyes. “No my love,” Jamesresponded. Fish and bread are good for the likes of one so in love—with afisherman’s wife like you.” “You see, Salome,” Phoebe smiled. “Your son hasbeen made respectable!”

Salomeand Phoebe laughed together. Nothing was so sweet as the combined collaborationof a mother and her daughter-in-law. In fact, no man could match the collectivepower of that kind of feminine energy. Salome and Phoebe continued thepreparation of the evening meal as James began to set the table. “Father,” littleJoel asked. “Yes, Son?” answered James as he pulled tin plates from thecupboard.” “Why do we eat fish all the time?”

Joelwas turning 5 next week. Although his mother didn’t allow him to follow hisfather to work on the lake—he often listened to the stories of the fishermen,told by his uncle John, with awe and wonder. “Fishing is an honorableprofession,” James said, lifting Joel upon his lap as he sat down at the crudewooden table. “My father was a fisherman, as well as my grandfather. And Isuspect you will be one someday—just like me and your Uncle John and the restof our family. And if that is so, then eating the fish that you catch yourselfis an honor too. You see, we fishermen provide good things to eat for many,many people—especially to people that can’t always work for themselves. You’lllearn more about it when you start school at the synagogue next year. Now, gowash your hands—and find out where your Uncle John is.”

Joeljumped off James’s lap and scampered outside. Phoebe slipped her arms aroundJames’s neck and kissed him on the head. “You are a good father, my husband—nowtime for you to wash those dirty fishermen’s hands.” “Yes, dear” and Jamesfollowed his son outside.

“Helooks tired,” Salome reflected. “Do you think something is wrong?” “I don’tknow,” Phoebe answered. “He has been quiet today. Perhaps something is going onat the docks.”

“Whatis this about the docks?” Startled by the booming voice Phoebe and Salomescreamed as Zebedee entered the kitchen and slammed the door behind him.“Zebedee!” exclaimed Salome. “Where have you been? We’ve been waiting for yourreturn and dinner is just coming to the table.”

“Speakingof the docks—just some trouble to contend with. I’ve been meeting with some ofthe other business owners after pulling in the nets for the night.” “What isthe matter?” Salome questioned her husband. “Oh, nothing too alarming. It seemsthat some of the fleet have unexpectedly closed their fishing business. I’m notsure who it is yet, but we are looking into it. An announcement is comingtomorrow concerning reallocation of fishing quotas.” Salome grabbed her husbandby the waist. “Why would anyone do such a thing? With the Romans exorcisingmore taxes on us, and businesses losing so many servants to military enlistment,you would imagine that anyone having a good paying job would stay with it.”“Not to worry, my wife. We will just have to increase our own efforts to makeup the quotas. More fish for us to catch means more denari in our pockets. Ourboys will be up to the challenge. Speaking of our boys, where is my littlegrandson?”

“Grandpapa!”shouted Joel as he ran into the kitchen followed by James and John. “Well! Hereare my strapping sons to share my table.” “And me too!” Joel yelled. “And don’tforget your beautiful and kind daughter-in-law!” Phoebe laughed, peckingZebedee on the cheek. “Now enough child’s play!” Salome exclaimed. “Everyone,sit down, sit down. Husband—bring us the blessing!”

Aftera second of scrambling for chairs, all were seated around the weathered woodentable. Zebedee grabbed the hands of his wife and grandson and bowed his head. “Sh'maYisrael Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Echad. Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God,the Lord is One. Your gifts of plenty bring seasons of thankfulness. And mayour thankfulness inspire new gifts from you. Amen.”

“Amen!”the family echoed—and dinner began as Salome passed the platter of freshlyfried fish around the table. “Have you noticed a decrease in musht over the last few hauls recently?”James asked his father. “I heard it was from the unusual winds coming from theGalilee hills,” John interrupted. “They say the storms will be the worst everthis spring. Fish don’t like storms.”

“Ithink it’s the young fishermen that don’t like storms,” laughed James. “I’m notafraid” John quipped back. “How could anyone be afraid of a little wind andrain?” “Well, I don’t think it’s the wind or the storms,” James reflected.“It’s the Romans.” “James!” Phoebe whispered in a quiet shout. “You mustn’tspeak so. There are spies everywhere. You know what happens to dissenters nowthat Caiphas and Pilate are bedfellows.” “I’m not afraid of the Romans! Or thepompous Pharisees,” John blurted. “How long will we let these foreign mongrelsand their puppet priests dictate what we discuss or how we live?”

“Enough!”Zebedee exploded. “Not in my house. We will eat tonight without speaking ofsuch things.” The room became silent with the exception of clinking spoons andknives on tin plates. Quietly a tiny voice pierced the silence. “What’s amongrel?” asked Joel. John turned to his nephew and smiled. “A mongrel is justa fancy name for a dog, Joel.” “I like dogs!” Joel replied. “Dogs get to doanything they want. Sleep outside. Play in the street. Take baths in the lake.And I bet they don’t have to eat fish every night!”

Laughterexploded around the table. “Yes, my grandson.” Zebedee smiled. “The life of adog can be very—care free!” Seconds passed without conversation. The night wasclosing in and a new day was just hours away. But James knew he needed to saysomething. The anxiety gripped his stomach as he struggled to form his words,when out of the blue John spoke up.

“Andrewand Simon left their nets today.” James looked at his brother and sighed. Theeasy part was over, but now came the tough conversation he and his brotherdiscussed having with their father. “What do you mean they left their netstoday?” Zebedee raised his eyebrow. “Father, they’ve left the business,” Jamesanswered. Salome gasped, “Andrew and Simon? But why? Where did they go? Whatwill they do? What about their families? Does their father, Jonas know? Did youtalk to them?”

“Woman,let them speak!” Zebedee shouted. “Tell me son. What happened?” “It was themost amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” James continued. “We were mending our netsafter pulling in the last haul for the day and we saw Jesus approach them fromthe shore. “Jesus? You mean my sister, Mary’s son? Your cousin Jesus? He’s herefrom Nazareth?” Salome asked. “Yes, he’s here!” John replied. “We heard Jesus waswith John the Baptist and his disciples in the wilderness. But today he waswalking along the beach and came up to Andrew and Simon and…” ”What John? Whathappened?” Salome cried. “Jesus told Andrew and Simon to follow him. He saidthat he would make them fishers of people. He told them to leave their nets andhelp him build God’s kingdom.”

“Buthow?” Salome asked in shock. “How will they live? What about their families?They can’t just leave the family business? What is Jesus going to do withthem?” “Now, Salome!” Zebedee interrupted. “You can’t expect these boys to knoweverything that happened. I’m sure there is a logical explanation for the wholething! Maybe Jesus just wanted a job. I’m sure they could use a few more hiredhands on their boat, right sons?” he turned towards James and John. A longpause drifted across the room as Zebedee looked into his son’s eyes—and thendown at the table. “He asked you too—didn’t he?” Zebedee looked up at James andJohn. “Yes, Father” James answered. “Jesus asked us to follow him too. And weare. We leave tomorrow for Capernaum.”

“You’releaving tomorrow—for Capernaum? Did you know this Phoebe?” “Yes, Salome. I didknow. We’ve discussed it, and Joel and I are going with James.” “I’m going to!”John added. “But how? How can you leave your father? How can you follow thisman? How will you live? What will you do?” Salome could take no more as shejumped from the table and fled into the bedroom. The table fell silent. After amoment Zebedee stood up from the table and walked behind his boys, laying hishands on each of their shoulder. “You are good men,” he began. “And times arevery different now than when I was your age. Yahweh’s people have been enslavedby evil influences. Our religious and government leaders value power over peaceand use our sacred texts as weapons against us. I didn’t bring you into thisworld to be oppressed by it. And I hope that this man, your cousin Jesus canliberate us from it.”

Jamesand John stood up from the table and embraced Zebedee. “We love you, Father”they said through tears. “You’ve taught us well—to act justly, love mercy, andwalk humbly with our God. And even though we are no longer fishermen, we willcontinue to cast our nets for God’s kingdom.”

Letus pray. Lord, we sit here today, in this community of teachers and bankers,caretakers of children and business executives, students and administrators,musicians and ministers, teachers and preachers—contemplating a gospel textthat challenges us in our day jobs. Just like fishing was to the disciples—wework in our chosen professions and hear your call to become more. We hear yourcall to become disciples of Christ—to dive into mission and ministry to theworld. Give us the fast reflexes of those first four disciples—Simon, Andrew,James and John. There’s a part of us that hesitates, afraid to get out of ourboats; fearful of setting aside our roles and personas. We know that your callmay come at any time to leave behind our comfort zones and respond to needs wenever expected.

But in that moment, give us the courage to make the immediatedecision to follow Jesus—and become who you challenge us to be, setting asidethe temptation to accumulate possessions, or accomplishments, or degrees, orlabels that attempt to bring us a sense of worth or value. Instead, reveal tous the opportunities in our own lives that will engage us in a deeper journeywith you. For we know that it isn’t what we do, that makes us your blessedchildren, but who you created us to be in each moment of our life. And all God’speople said, “Amen.”

Truth or Consequences

2012-01-15T15:38:00.000-08:00

John1:43-51
The next day Jesusdecided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him aboutwhom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph fromNazareth.” Nathanael said to him,“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him,“Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesusanswered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are theKing of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Doyou believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will seegreater things than these.” And he said to him,“Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of Godascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

So imagine this scenario…you are sitting in a meeting with otherfolks from work, or at a monthly organizational gathering of a fraternal orsocial club of which you are a member, or perhaps its sitting on a churchcommittee or sub-committee…when that certain someone, that person who is alwayspointing out the negative in every situation blurts out, “NO…there is no waythat that idea could work because we tried it before, and it didn’t work thenand it won’t work now…so we might as well not even bother!” If you had a nickelfor every time, right?

Now I love to get a good laugh out of people like that…especiallywhen it’s on television and not real life…but it does beg the question…how dowe deal with the naysayers in our midst? How to we establish mutuallyrespectful relationships with those that always put the brakes on when it comesto change, or progress or even critical evaluation?

Now, you wouldn’t normally think of the Jesus narratives in the gospelsdealing with the issue of critical people…but our text today gives us muchinsight into the way Jesus dealt with the ego in himself and others. Our storycould be a script for the television show “The Office.” Jesus leaves oneincredible impression on Philip after being introduced to him by his friendsAndrew and Peter from Bethsaida. And as Philip runs home to tell his friendsabout this experience he encounters Nathanael. Excitedly, Philip tells himabout this Jesus he met earlier in the day. “We found him! The one Moses wroteabout in our sacred scriptures. He’s the Messiah! And it’s Jesus, you know,Joseph’s son…the guy from Nazareth.”

Now we really don’t know much about Nathanael, but it appears fromhis response that he’s one of those “kind” of people. “What? Nazareth? You’vegot to be kidding…what good could come out of Nazareth?” It seems from this interactionthat Nathanael is one of those critical curmudgeons…”crackpots” as my Mom usedto call them. He’s the guy or girl that always finds the negative in everysituation. He’s the “Dwight Schrute” of the office. And he is somebody sodifferent than anybody else Jesus has called before that he seems to stick outlike a sore thumb.

Think about it…he’s not like one of those naive kids, Jimmy andJohnny, who had their "momma" ask Jesus for special treatment forthemselves. He’s definitely not like Thomas who was wishy washy about what hedid or didn’t believe. Wasn’t like Peter either, who regularly opened his mouthin order to insert his own foot into it. Nathanael knew exactly what he thoughtabout everything and wasn’t afraid to tell you so. And when Philip suggestedthat this new prophet was God's gift to Israel, Nathanael just rolled his eyes.“Nazareth? You’re kidding, right? Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"

And here’s where the story really gets interesting. Nathanaelwasn't saying anything that any good Jew wasn’t already thinking. The fact is; Nazarethwas no place any decent Jew would ever want to go, or claim to be from. It’snot that Nazareth was some dump or a hole in the middle of nowhere. It was infact a suburb of the largest city in Galilee, Sepphoris…one of the capitals ofHerod’s government. In fact, some scholars believe that Jesus and his fatherJoseph probably worked on its re-construction as skilled tradesmen. It’s notthat Jesus was some country bumpkin, but according to Nathanael, Jesus was tooclose to what proud Israelites considered traitor-country. He and his friendswouldn't be caught dead there. All Nazarenes consorted with the enemy.

It wouldbe like someone from Michigan trying out for OSU’s football team. You’d alwayssuspect that a football player from Michigan might have some ulterior motive,some potential for sabotage. Can anything good come out of Ann Arbor?

You see, Nathanael was a cynic. A cynic with a sharp tongue, toboot, probably with his eyeglasses sitting on the end of his nose with aproverbial look of disgust. And once Jesus lays eyes on him, once he gets areally good look at this old coot, he responds in such a wonderful way. "Behold,an Israelite in whom there is no guile.” The Message translation says, “Nowthere’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body.” It reminds me of MikeMyer’s character on SNL…Linda Richman…who could not sugar coat the truth evenif you paid her. And this quip…this quirky elbow jab stops old Nathanael in histracks. With his jaw hanging open, he looks this young whipper-snapper up anddown and fires back, "And just how do you know me?"

“Why, I had you spotted coming a mile away, long before Philipdragged you here," Jesus says to him, winking at him with one eye. Andwhatever it was that Nathanael took from that exchange, he became a convertright there on the spot. Jesus had this wonderful way of speaking truth in aloving way that cut through all of the illusions and drama that existed in hisrelationships and got right to the point. He could separate the roles andpersonas from who that person really was…and connect directly to the essence oftheir being.

One of my favorite authors, Eckert Tolle, says that there is noreal conceptual answer for the question, “Who am I?” But the moment that we stophaving to answer that question for ourselves, we become open to the oneness ofall of life…the essence of our being. For the need to define or label who weare, to have a clear understanding of our sense of self, is the work of our ego.And when the ego encounters other egos it doesn’t like…it comes into conflict.And that’s when drama happens. He says, “Whatever you react to in another, youstrengthen in yourself.” That’s why when you observe someone complaining aboutsomeone or some situation, it is a clear sign that they are trying tovalidate…and strengthen that tendency within themselves. I always try to keepan inner ear open to my own complaints. It helps me identify the things withinmyself that need healing or understanding. While complaining might be theprocess of strengthening the ego, resentment is the real emotional response.

Nathanael couldn’t believe anything good could come out ofNazareth. Perhaps someone had said the same about him? Maybe his distain of theRoman occupation had hardened his heart to any shred of hope that things couldbe any different. And what did Jesus do, he spoke truth to Nathanael in aloving way that melted the icy walls of resentment. “Now here comes someone whowill tell the truth about anything!” Jesus says. His response teaches us thatthe best way to break free from these egoist structures is by not-reacting. Andnon-reaction produces forgiveness. Now I’m not talking about indifference, butabout the process of seeing others for who they are on the inside…not who theyproject themselves to be on the outside. And every person deep inside is achild of God, asking for healing, love and transformation whether they canvocalize it or not.

Sometimes we get so accustomed to defending our right to be right,that we begin to believe we’re never supposed to be wrong. And being wrongreminds us that we are human. And being human is just where the ego wants us tostay. Awareness of our collective humanity is the beginning of ourtransformation, the raising of our own consciousness, and the evolution of ourentire species.

There is one absolute truth. That truth emanates from the sourceof our very being…it is the Christ within us. Jesus spoke of it as the “I AM,” theway, the truth and the life – that which was, is now and always will be; thatwhich is timeless. Eastern religions acknowledge it within each of us with thegreeting “Namaste.” We do it in Protestantism by passing the peace ofChrist to each other.

Barry Robinson suggests that "in the church we need folks who are not afraid to speak the truthto each other…even if they're wrong. It just doesn’t seem to be appropriate any more.It doesn’t make for a smooth facilitation. It makes the meeting run longer thanwe want it to. We aren’t comfortable with the power-struggle between competingplayers. It’s something to mediate, not learn from; to handle, not betransformed by. So concerned have we become about being fair to everyone thatwe are no longer concerned about the content of what is being said. We getcaught up in interpersonal politics; not critical debate. It is why curmudgeonsand cynics are no longer welcome in religious communities. They tend to disruptthe conspiracy of cordiality. They make us uncomfortable with what we areprepared to condone. It is why we tend to leave them outside. There was a timein Israel when they were invited in, when scolding was an instrument oftradition, not a threat to it; when the absence of guile was valued over theeasy deceits we tend to rationalize. Perhaps it was why Jesus himself couldn'twait to have someone like Nathanael on his team; somebody who wasn't afraid of heartfeltemotions. For there are values that are worth defending, truths that must beacknowledged and drama that needs to be exposed."

So many people leave the church because they “don’t like thepolitics.” But politics is people. People cause conflict. And conflict is thecourse for change. For churches that are in transition, naysayers keep ushonest. Their opinions often hold some kernels of truth in them; truth that isseldom ever spoken out loud. If we are not willing to hear the truth now, then wewill most likely suffer the consequences later!

What good can come from Nazareth? We all come from Nazareth, whenwe endeavor to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. And thatis a truth worth telling. Amen.

(Excerpts from Ian Lawton’s presentation, “Lesson Three: Sin & Evil”- www.christ-community.net and Barry J. Robinson’s sermon, “Give Me an Old ScoldAny Day” from January 19, 2003 – www.fernstone.org).

The Gospel Symbols of Christmas: Gift-Wrapped Presents

2011-12-18T17:33:00.000-08:00

Luke1:26-38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town inGalilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, ofthe house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said,“Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed byhis words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said toher, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, youwill conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He willbe great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God willgive to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house ofJacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to theangel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her,“The HolySpirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. Andnow, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and thisis the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will beimpossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; letit be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Ilike presents. No…that’s an understatement…I love getting presents. In fact, Idon’t just celebrate the day of my birthday; I celebrate the entire month of mybirthday. And for me, the Christmas season is the epitome of a surprisebirthday party. The anticipation of putting up the Christmas tree in my livingroom; shopping for presents for my family and loved ones; wrapping each giftand envisioning the look on its future owner’s face as it is opened. Now I admit,while I love giving presents…it really is so very exciting to get them. I mean,really, we all can be a little self-indulgent sometimes!

Iwill never forget Christmas morning as a child. I loved it. I would sneak outof bed on Christmas Eve night and sit in front of the Christmas tree, watchingthe lights twinkle and…count my presents under the tree. But I didn’t just count my presents, Icounted everyone’s presents. One particular Christmas Eve, I was around 10years old; I counted all of my siblings’ gifts. I went as far as puttingeveryone’s presents in little piles on the living room floor…and counted everyone of them. One particular Christmas Eve I discovered an upsetting surprise.All of my brothers and sisters each had eleven gifts…except for me. I only hadten.

Noweven as I retell this story, I feel a bit guilty. Not because I counted them,but because of what I did that next morning. I certainly expected aftereveryone had opened their presents, my eleventh present was hidden somewhere,either in a closet, or out in the garage. And just at the right moment, whenall of the gifts had been unwrapped…Dad would emerge from his bedroom with myamazing, exciting, exhilarating…and very expensive, eleventh gift. I was justsure of it. And I just knew that this eleventh gift was a bright, shiny newbicycle. Not one of those little tike bikes that was no taller than my waist,but an adult sized bike. This was my year. I was ready for that bike.

Iwaited with anticipation…unwrapping each of my gifts…still thinking of what laybeyond my pile of presents. And yet when all was said and done, the living roomfloor full of wrapping paper and toys and gifts scattered about…there was nosurprise eleventh gift for me. I sat there in the middle of the floor, a bitstunned and anxious. But wait, something’s wrong I thought. I went over to thetree, surveyed underneath its tinsel covered branches, looked behind the couch,peered into the closet, searched through my own collection of gifts…perhaps Ihad missed it. I couldn’t hold my grief and disappointment any longer. “Mom” Iexclaimed, “Is that all there is? I only have 10 gifts and everyone else has 11gifts each!” Why, I thought I was makinga fair claim. Something was not right. I had been wronged. Surely things werenot as they seemed. I demanded an explanation!

Well,our gospel text today suggests that there was someone else that really neededan explanation, probably more than me. Can you imagine what was going throughMary’s mind when she got this strange news from the angel Gabriel? Right fromthe start it seemed like an odd kind of salutation. “Greetings, favored one!The Lord is with you! Do not be afraid for you have found favor with God. Andnow, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name himJesus.” Found favor? Are you kidding me? Getting pregnant by someone other thanthe man she was engaged to was a death sentence for the likes of Mary. Inancient Palestine the amount of an engaged woman’s dowry was based onmaintaining celibacy before the wedding. She could have been stoned to death aspunishment for being unfaithful. But what is even more shocking than that? Evenknowing all of these potential consequences, Mary said yes to the angel. Shesaid yes to bearing the child that would reign over the house of Jacob; the onewho would become the long awaited King of Israel. Mary did two important thingsin this text that is relevant for us today; she believed and she chose. Shebelieved in the good news she was given by the angel in spite of the desperatesituation it would put her in. And she chose to respond to what was being askedof her. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord;” Mary said. “Let it be with meaccording to your word.”

Beliefand choice are the two most powerful gifts we have been given as creations inGod’s image. In fact, some progressive theologians suggest that being made inthe “imago dei,” or in “the image of God” means we have the same creativeability as God does. We are “co-creators” with God of our lives and our reality.This ancient formula for creation was that God thought it, then God said it,and it was became reality. Belief + Choice = Creation.

Nowbelieving in something might seem easy to do, but you really don’t know whatyou believe until you choose to act in accordance with that belief. Most of usrecognize the importance that belief makes in the successful accomplishment ofany endeavor. Whether you believe you can or can’t, you will probably be right.Mary teaches us in this text that developing a self-image based on positiveexpectancy and positive belief cannot be left to chance. Too many of us havebeen conditioned to believe in fear, shame, guilt, and scarcity.

We’ve heard somany negative messages and learned from negative experiences that beliefdoesn’t make much of a difference anymore. We only believe what we can see.Most churches are dwindling in attendance because there is fear that the goodold days of overflowing sanctuaries, generous giving and magnificent missionwork are over for good. The messages have even been ingrained in us. “Don’tbite off more than you can chew,” “Don’t try to be somebody you’re not,” “Don’trisk too much, you might lose,” or “This is too good to last.” We areconditioned in so many instances to look to our weaknesses than to ourstrengths—to look at problems rather than opportunities. But positive beliefand positive expectancy can be developed by choice, and once developed; theywill lead you to whatever you want.
(Excerpts from TerryMcBride’s DVD course, “Everybody Wins” at www.terrymcbride.info)

Nowhear me clearly about this. I am not talking about some new age concept like “TheSecret” or a motivational seminar on the power of positive thinking. Thesepopular self-improvement movements are secular versions of this Gospel truth. Thisis about acknowledging and using a gift that God has given to each of us; beingcreated in God’s image. And that image is co-creator of our life and our world.Jesus tells us in Matthew 21:22 “And if you believe, you will receive whateveryou ask for in prayer.” The season of Advent is about positive expectancy;expecting that we can have power over our lives and we can change our world. Weare changed by first believing in the simple self-emptying gift that God gaveto us, and then choosing to give ourselves wholly and completely back to God.

Belief + choice = creation.

Duringthe past four weeks we’ve been unpacking the significance of the Gospel symbolsof Christmas. From the hope of new life symbolized by the greenery hanging inour church and homes; to remembering our baptism through the new falling snowof Winter; followed by the twinkle bulbs and candles representing the light ofawareness that shines brightly in our hearts and minds; and landing today atthe base of our Christmas tree, cluttered with gifts and presents we’ve offeredto each other and to this community. The Christmas tree comes from an oldGermanic custom where bringing a tree into the house was like bringing God intothe house. Offerings to God were adorned on the branches as ornaments. Thiscustom evolved into putting wrapped gifts under the tree that are intended forthose that we love. These are gifts that draw our attention to who and what isreally important in our lives. Our connection to everyone around us is the giftwe celebrate. And it is simply called ‘presence.’

Inever did get an eleventh gift on that Christmas day 38 years ago. As you canimagine, my parents were not too happy with me. After all, they had given memore than they could really afford. And of course the uneven number of presentswasn’t intentional. What was intentional was their love for me even in the midstof my self-centeredness. I learned a valuable lesson then…that has hopefullystuck with me now.

It’s not what you get…
but what you give that blesses you.

Whatpriceless gift do you possess that may seem worthless on the outside? What canyou give as an expression of your love for the Christ-child? It may be a positiveword or smile for that depressed or grouchy person in your life. I could be a warmembrace for the unlovable relative, or a kind word for the sarcastic or hatefulcomment thrown in your direction. It may simply be believing in the potentialof a wayward child, grandchild or sibling, even when they can’t believe itthemselves. It could even be a church believing they have the ability to dogreat things for their community in their hometown, even when the future isuncertain. Saying yes with these seemingly valueless gifts can miraculouslytransform any situation or relationship this Christmas.

Thereis one present that I got that Christmas morning that I still have today. It’sthese old cowboy boots. Boot that I’ve worn since I was 10years old. These are the boots that carried me through some rough times injunior high and high school. They took me into the Air Force and a transfer to Germany. Theybrought me back to the U.S., protected me as I wandered and worked in some dangerousplaces, led me to college, transported me while I traveled, gave me a kick inthe pants when I needed to go to seminary, and eventually led me on my journeyto you. Yeah, these boots were made for walkin’. And I would have missed out ontheir specialness had I stayed asleep and kept looking for that eleventh gift. What’sthe surprise gift on this fourth Sunday of Advent? That a baby is coming—tolove the world. I for one, hope to stay awake for that! Amen.

(Excerpts from Barry J. Robinson’s sermon “Don’tGo to Sleep on Me” for November 27, 2005 –www.fernstone.org)

The Gospel Symbols of Christmas: Twinkle Bulbs and Candlelights

2011-12-11T15:07:00.001-08:00

John 1:6-8, 19-28
Therewas a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testifyto the light, so that all might believe through him.He himself was not the light,but he came to testify to the light. This is the testimony given by John whenthe Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”He confessed and did not denyit, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.”Andthey asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you theprophet?” He answered, “No.”Then they said to him,“Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you sayabout yourself?”He said, “I am thevoice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of theLord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said.Nowthey had been sent from the Pharisees.Theyasked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, norElijah, nor the prophet?”John answered them, “Ibaptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know,the one who is coming afterme; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.”This took place in Bethanyacross the Jordan where John was baptizing.

When it comes to watching Christmas moviesand holiday themed TV shows this time of year, I admit I am a bit of a junkie. Ihave to watch the old Christmas stand-bys…”A Christmas Story,” “A Charlie BrownChristmas,” and one of my favorites, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” But Ilike to surf through some of the cable channels for something differentoccasionally.

I was particularly intrigued by a show on HGTV this past week aboutextreme Christmas lights in America. One of the most extreme Christmas decorationsare by the Faucher family in Delaware who have been merrily setting a neighborhoodstandard for 23 years - decking their halls with an astonishing one millionChristmas lights. It's an impressive sight to say the least - and even more sowhen you consider what it must cost. Assuming that each one of the one millionbulbs is an average five watt C7 bulb, the cost of keeping the lights on forone hour is roughly $686. If the Fauchers keep their display lit for four hoursa night for 30 nights that means they are racking up an astonishing bill of$82,320. That is a lot of Christmas spirit.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1338033/The-house-MILLION-Christmas-lights.html#ixzz1fgPcpANr

So in keeping with our sermon theme, Iwondered what are the customs and traditions behind this decorating craze. Youmight be interested in knowing that the festival of lights is almost as old asthe church herself. From ancient times light has symbolized faith andintelligence. It has been a symbol of Christian joy which was adopted to dispelthe darkness associated with paganism. Torches, watch fires, beacon lights,lamps and candles often accompanied joyous occasions and festivities inantiquity. In fact, the Romans, during their celebration of a festival calledSaturnalia in December, would fasten candles to trees, indicating the sun’sreturn to the earth. The Jewish people started celebrating the 8-day Feast ofLights, known as Hanukkah, commemorating their victory for religious freedomfrom the Greeks nearly two centuries before the dawn of Christ.

And early Christians adopted many of theserituals, reinterpreting them to symbolize Christ as the light of the world. Asearly as 492 C.E., the Pope established Candle-mas Day as the time for blessingcandles in churches. In medieval Europe the custom arose of lighting a giantChristmas candle that would shed its glow on the festivities untilTwelfth-night. Martin Luther is credited for first placing tapers on the Christmastree.
(HerbertWernecke, Christmas Customs Around the World. Louisville: Westminster Press)

In 1882, the first Christmas tree was litby the use of electricity. Edward Johnson lit up a Christmas tree in New YorkCity with eighty small electric light bulbs. It didn’t take long for Johnson tocreate the first string of electric Christmas lights that were then massproduced around 1890. By 1900, department stores started using the newChristmas lights for their Christmas displays.
http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/Xmas_Lights.htm

I was very excited to put up my Christmas decorationsand twinkle lights this year. But there’s nothing worse than this happening…nothingmore frustrating than a half lit string of twinkle lights. I even tested eachand every unlit bulb and still could not get them to work. Until, I found atiny split in one of the wires. Now I’m not an electrician, but fixing thisseemed pretty easy. So I stripped both ends of the plastic casing, reconnectedthe tiny copper wires, and wrapped it tightly with black electrical tape.And…nothing. Seems my elementary electrical skills were not advanced enough tomake this work.

I am definitely not an electrician.

And sometimesit is helpful to remember who you are not.

That is probably the most important messageof this morning's gospel. It deals with the question of John’s identity. Just whowas John the Baptist? Where did he come from? What was his mission? Why did Godsend him? It was a big question by the time the author of our gospel wrotethese words for the church. Historically, the movement that John the Baptist started,independent of Jesus’ ministry, did not end with his death. The writer ofJohn’s gospel is very aware of the admiration of the Baptizer’s crusade. Someof his followers were still carrying on his cause long after the Jesus'movement got started. These followers were called the Essenes, and they weregrowing alongside the Christian community, perhaps even competing for converts.In fact, there is still a small sect in Iraq called the Mandeans who tracetheir history and teachings all the way back to John the Baptist and hisvision.

Perhaps this is why we understand theemphasis in our gospel text for making clear who John was not. The gospelwriter even interrupts himself when he is talking about the light that has comeinto the world. "I am not talking about John," he says. The author ofthe gospel even records John saying the same thing, with double emphasis. "Iam not the Messiah," John the Baptist states. Certainly, there is noevidence to suggest that John thought of himself as the Messiah, even though hedid believe the Messiah's arrival was imminent. But I wonder what it must havebeen like for him. Was it hard for him to realize who he was not?

I imagine there was a lot of pressure forhim to imposter the long-awaited Messiah. But it seems he resisted the pressureto be something he was not, as powerful as that temptation might have been. Inso doing, he was also able to accept who he was, what he had been called to be;the Messiah's advance man. He was the forerunner of the Anointed One. "Iam the one who has come to make his way straight," John said, "avoice crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.'"

Pastors sometimes face such pressure fromtheir churches. Whenever a new minister comes to town, there can be atemptation to make them into something they are not. All those glowingrecommendations. Those fervent expectations. "Now, things will really getgoing!" people begin to say. "This time we've got a winner!""This one is just what our church needs!" It is all verywell-intentioned. Very understandable. There’s usually a budding romance with anew minister; a honeymoon period at the beginning of a new pastorate. But, I'mtelling you, this expectation is a setup for everything that can and often doesgo wrong.

Mass Appeal (1984)
Movie Poster

There is that wonderful scene in the movie “MassAppeal,” for instance, where Jack Lemmon plays an older, successful priest whohas bent over backwards in order to be everything his new, affluentcongregation expects him to be. When a young pastoral apprentice comes to theparish, it isn’t long before he gets into trouble just for being himself. Theolder priest is conscience-stricken when he realizes that his entire ministryhas been a sham in order to cover up his deep fear of simply being the personhe really is. When he finally confesses this to his congregation whilecelebrating Mass, he says apologetically and somewhat thoughtfully,"Perhaps, now, you and I can really learn what it means to love oneanother."

But this is a dilemma for a lot of us, notjust church pastors. Most teenager are always trying to be the coolest kid atschool, or the smartest, or sexiest, or most athletic because they think it isthe only way to find acceptance. The young man trying to be what his parentswant him to be. The young wife trying to be what her husband expects her to be.The middle-aged person holding onto old regrets about the opportunities thatpassed them by. The senior adult who is unable to embrace the person that theyhave become; limited by the role their children or grandchildren need them tobe.

Our gospel text teaches us an importantlesson for advent. It encourages us to be willing to live within the limits ofwho we are, but also be the very best that we are, no more and no less. Duringthis Christmas season expectations may be very high to deliver that perfectpresent, or cook that perfect dinner, or be that perfect person at familygatherings. Like these twinkle lights that I tried to hang on my tree, we mightfeel “half lit” from all the pressure and expectations to be perfect. We mightfeel the need to make other people’s lives bright and shining, when weourselves feel dimmed and dull.

What mattered to John the Baptist, waspreparing the way for God's anointed one. Preparing the way, but not trying to competewith it. Why? Because being comfortable with WHO you are - no matter WHERE youare on your journey - is all that God asks. And what does God promise? That Godwill light the way for you. And that light will be the welcome for others tojoin you along the journey. The author of John's Gospel makes the sameaffirmation: "The true light, which enlightens everyone, is coming intothe world." Jesus the Christ is the light who bringsenlightenment; indeed, he is "the light of the world." This is thetruth in his birth stories, and it is true of your inherent nature as God’schild. How might you share your light today?

Might you kindle a smile in someone who seems down? Can you share what you have with someone whocould really use it? Will you offer akindness to a stranger? Perhaps you will call a friend and just say, “You areimportant to me.” When the light of Christ’s awareness is illuminated in you,no one will be able to turn off the twinkle of God’s love shining throughyou…even when you feel “half-lit” at times. So…light up the world, you littleChrist’s. It won’t cost you a cent! Amen!
(Excepts from BarryJ. Robinson’s sermon, “ALL THAT GOD ASKS” for December 15, 2002 - www.fernstone.org)

The Gospel Symbols of Christmas: Let it SNOW!

2011-12-04T13:12:00.001-08:00

Mark1:1-8
The beginning ofthe good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophetIsaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare yourway; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of theLord, make his paths straight.’ ”John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness,proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And peoplefrom the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were goingout to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing theirsins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around hiswaist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is morepowerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie thethong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize youwith the Holy Spirit.”

Anice married couple, we’ll call Bruce and Carol Davidson, were sitting down totheir usual morning cup of coffee, listening to the weather report coming overthe radio. "There will be 2 to 4 inches of snow today, and a snowemergency has been declared," the weather report said. "You must parkyour cars on the odd numbered side of the streets." Bruce says "Jeez,okay," and gets up from his warm coffee, bundles up and moves the car. Thenext day they're sitting down with their morning cups of coffee and the weatherforecast declares "There will be 4 to 6 inches of snow today, and a snowemergency has been declared. Now you must park your cars on the even numberedside of the streets. Again, Bruce says "Jeez, okay," and gets up fromhis coffee. Two days later, again they're sitting down with their cups ofcoffee and the weather forecast says, "There will be 6 to 9 inches of snowtoday, and a snow emergency has been declared. You must park your cars on the -"Just then the power goes out and Bruce doesn't get the rest of theinstructions. He turns to Carol and says "Jeez, what am I going to do now?"Carol replies "Aw, Bruce, why don't you just leave the car in the garagetoday?"

So,as you can guess, our worship theme this morning is all about Snow. Now unlessyou are under the age of 16, or don’t have your driver’s license, Snow ishazardous to your health this time of year. I really don’t like the snow. Oh,yeah, it’s all nice and fluffy looking as it first begins to fall to theground. It does bring some warm images of Christmases past to mind…and itwouldn’t really be much of a holiday season without at least one or two inchesof the stuff lying around. But if you are really honest with yourself, doesn’t allthe frozen wet stuff just bother you after the first couple days following thefirst snowfall…especially when it begins to turn black with soot and dirt fromthe passing cars. Let’s face it; does snow really have a purpose at all?

Well,I went to the internet and posed that exact question. What came up from mysearch was a bit astonishing! Scientifically, here were the answers: Snow is atype of precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of amultitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. We know that precipitation is amajor component of the hydrologic cycle, and is responsible for depositing mostof the fresh water on the planet. Now apart from the obvious role ofprecipitation in our ecosystem, snow serves as an insulating blanket, lesseningto some extent the extremes of temperature fluctuation to which the soil issubjected. But it also brings about a rapid cooling of the overlying atmosphere,which gives rise to polar air masses that drive the ocean currents like aglobal conveyor belt. In short, snow plays a dominant part in the climate ofmany of the Earth’s regions.

Besidesthe ecological benefits of snow, we can understand it to also have spiritualeffects. It can be viewed as one of God's instruments for assisting us in themaintenance of our spiritual growth. In dreams, liquid water represents ourconscious life experiences – whereas snow is made of frozen water particles. Itsymbolizes stagnancy, or unchanging life experiences. When there is no changein life, the same experiences are repeated. Have you ever had the sameexperience over and over, and just couldn’t understand why the same scenarioseemed to be constantly played out? It might be the same kind of relationshipwithin your family, or with your supervisor at a job. It could be with yourkids’ teachers at school, or with a waiter at a restaurant. Whatever thesituation, having the same kind of life experience is not just a coincidence,but is an opportunity for reflection and spiritual growth.

Let’sunpack that a little bit more. For instance, in our text today we have a reallyinteresting character that opens Mark’s gospel. John the Baptist is preparingpeople for Christ’s coming by calling them to repentance and baptism. He waswarning them about what, and who was to come. And what was coming was no picnicfor the Jews under Roman occupation. He was a preacher who had no qualmstelling people the truth. He showed up wearing clothing of camel's hair with aleather belt around his waist and chomping grasshoppers dipped in wild honey.Everybody knew what that meant. In the popular Judaism of Jesus' day, there wasthis expectation that on the day God started to make things right for the poorand dispossessed - Elijah would reappear. Of all the prophets of Israel, nochampion of the oppressed had been more popular than Elijah, a man, they said,who ate false prophets and evil kings for dinner.

It would have been somethinglike Abe Lincoln showing up during the march on Selma, Alabama in the 1960s; orGandhi walking in front of tanks in Beijing, China during the massacres onTiananmen Square in 1989; or Martin Luther King addressing congress about therights of immigrants, same-sex couples, and unemployed Americans suffering inthis decade of economic imbalances. John the Baptist wasn't just a popularprophet. He represented the very spirit of Israel at its most just andcourageous.

"Repentfor the kingdom of heaven has come near" he warned them, reminding hislisteners of that time in the future when everything that stood in oppositionto goodness and justice would be swept away once and for all. He was announcingthat the reign of God was drawing near and that it would be "gameover" for all who worshipped loveless power. "Repent," Johnpounded from his wilderness pulpit. But he didn't mean simply feeling sorry forcheating on your income taxes, but demanded a reorientation of your entire life.He called everyone to be baptized into a new orientation of life experience, todefrost the old way of thinking and thaw out frozen attitudes of selfabsorption and indulgence.

Itseems that this holiday season has brought out the worst in some people. On theday after Thanksgiving this past year, Black Friday they call it, the lines outfront of retail stores began forming the night before. On TV we saw stampedes recordedon security cameras in Wal*Marts across the nation as people rushed to buytheir $198 42 inch LCD televisions. A woman in Los Angeles even pepper-sprayeda crowd of folks that was in her way, injuring over 30 other shoppers.

Ourincessant need for more and blinding greed keeps our hearts and minds “snowedin” from responding to our true mission as God’s children. That mission is to bea people of faith that consider the needs of others before ourselves. And likeJohn the Baptist we are not simply preaching "self-help,” but are reorientingpeople to the necessity of change in response to the reality of a new set ofcircumstances. A new world is breaking in, one which would not tolerateinjustice, oppression, deceit, greed and fear. It is time to re-define one'slife, to re-align one's ethical stance in keeping with such a new order."The kingdom of heaven is drawing near."

Andthat is why John speaks so sternly, so sarcastically to the religiousconservatives and liberals who showed up to hear him preach; for that is whothe Pharisees and Sadducees represented. It wasn't enough to trust the oldpatterns of thinking, the frozen-in-stone rules, the predictable rituals - nomatter how honored or revered. It didn't matter whether you were Democrat orRepublican, fundamentalist or liberal, pedigreed or newcomer. It was deeds thatcounted not talk; action not reputation. And why was it so important for Johnthat people get their act together in a hurry? Well, here, of course, was themain point of his message. Because John believed that what he was doing wasjust a preview of coming attractions.

TheBible is very clear about this. It says that a day will come when God willbring an end to things as we have known it, which means an end to climbing overeach other for a bigger piece of the cake, an end to exercising power overothers simply because you can, an end to the importance of being famous, an endto the obscenity of fabulous wealth living alongside abject poverty - an end toall of that. And the one who will end it will be Christ, of all people. The onewho is coming to judge us most fully is the one who loves us the most fully. Hewill burn away all this chaff that makes us less than human and the world farless human than it is - precisely because he loves us. That is what we aregetting ready for - those of us who call ourselves Christ's people and who longfor the birth of such a love!

Andwhere will this Christ be born? You guessed it…in the stable of our hearts.Christ comes to us bathed in a new consciousness. He melts the frozen thoughtsof our conditioned life experiences with the warm light of awareness. Snow isthe water of our baptism, thawed out from frozen attitudes and frigid fears ofchange. It may seem like a hazard at first, but it can renew our understandingof communion with each other – and that’s what the Christ mass is all about,right? Amen!

(Excerpts from Barry J.Robinson’s sermon “A Preview of Coming Attractions” for December 4, 2005– www.fernstone.org)

The Gospel Symbols of Christmas: Hanging of the Greens

2011-11-27T12:12:00.001-08:00

Mark13:24-37

"But in those days, after thatsuffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in theheavens will be shaken. Then they will see "the Son of Man coming inclouds' with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, andgather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends ofheaven. "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomestender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, whenyou see these things taking place, you know that he is near, atthe very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until allthese things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my wordswill not pass away. "But about that day or hour no one knows, neither theangels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man goingon a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with hiswork, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake—foryou do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or atmidnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when hecomes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."

Anyone get to cleanout their refrigerators this past week? Did you pardon any turkeys inyour life? (You will need to read last week's post to get this in context.) I hope you continue this tradition next year, andremember to prepare your hearts for Thanks-forgiving every year.

And speaking oftraditions, did any of you participate in “Schwarzer Freitag” the day afterThanksgiving? Those of you with a German heritage will nonetheless know what Iam talking about…Black Friday? Anyone know why we call it that? Yes,most stores make enough sales after this day of the year that anything theysell afterwards is pure profit.

The fact is, likeBlack Friday in the secular world, we have lots of traditions or customs thatwe follow in the Christian church during this time of year. There are manytraditions that most young people don’t really understand, and even some of usolder folks have probably forgotten their original meanings. Over the next fourweeks we will be exploring these customs during our Advent sermon seriescalled, “The Gospel Symbols of Christmas.”

Well, we know thatthe Christmas season has been around for a long, long time. But do you knowjust how long? It is generally known by most folks that Christmas began as Christes Masse, a beloved religiousfestival originating from the angels’ song in Bethlehem, “Glory to God in thehighest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” This is really the GoodNews of the Gospel in simplest terms. But ChristesMass literally means the Eucharist of Christ, or Christ’s Communion withHumankind. It’s the season to remember why God came to earth enfleshed in humanform, to commune with us, God’s children.

Emperor Constantine

But what is lessknown is the face that only as late as 350 C.E. was December 25^th setfor the observance of the birthday of Jesus the Christ. The date was set by JuliusI, Bishop of Rome, after the Emperor Constantine had declared Christianity theempire's favored religion in 336 C.E. While the reasons for choosing thisspecific date are wildly different, it is assumed that because this time ofyear coincided with many pagan festivals, the church needed to offer people aChristian alternative to the pagan festivities. Eventually many of theirsymbols and actions were reinterpreted in ways acceptable to Christian faithand practice. Although the Christmas season has been developing for over 1600years, it is still changing and continues to grow as our customs are refinedand new traditions begin. http://www.gotquestions.org/December-25.html

Some of our modern traditionsstill originate in pagan customs and have little to do with the biblicalaccount of Christ’s birth. This morning I want to give you some history behindour “Hanging of the Greens” around the sanctuary and our homes. The hanging of greens, such as Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe is a British wintertradition with origins far before the Christian era. Greenery was used to lift people's spirits during the long winter and remindthem that spring was not far away.

Thereare more than 150 varieties of holly and ivy, and it grows in practically allthe countries of the world. It was used for centuries for decorative purposes,especially in winter festivals because it bore fruit in the winter. It came tobe a symbol of immortality. It was connected to Christmas, beginning inDenmark, as a symbol of the crown of thorns worn by Jesus, the red berriesrepresenting the blood. The Danes call it, Christ-thorn. In ancient yuletide songsthe holly was spoken of as the male and the ivy as the female. Whichever genderwas the one who first brought it into the house for the season would indicatewhich sex would rule the house that year. Anyone for a trip to the greenhouseafter church!

Another similarseasonal decoration is the Mistletoe. Its name is derived from the Norse word, misteltan, meaning “different twig.” Inancient Britain it was the sacred plant of the Druids, used in elaborateceremonies at the winter solstice. Because of its overt pagan associations itis seldom used in church decorations, but is commonly found in homes. As ithangs in the doorway anyone may claim a kiss from the person who stands beneathit. After the kiss they then remove one of the berries to give to therecipient. When all of the berries are taken, no more kisses are available. (Herbert Wernecke, ChristmasCustoms Around the World. Louisville: Westminster Press)

How about thewreaths that we hang on our doors and windows, or the greenery we string alongour banisters and archways? Evergreens, which flourish when all else is brownand dead, are obvious symbols of enduring life. Our primitive fore parentsbrought in green branches at the festival of the Winter Solstice, which occursevery year on December 21^st. They used them in magical rites toensure the return of vegetation in the spring. Holly, ivy and mistletoe werestrong life-symbols because they could bear fruit even in the winter. Andwreaths represented the Teutonic fire wheel, a symbol of the sun god.

But not all of ourholiday greens originate from our European ancestors. For instance; thePoinsettia as a symbol of Christmas comes from an old Mexican legend. A poorlittle girl was heartbroken because she had nothing of beauty or value to offerthe Christ child, so she plucked some weeds from the side of the road and, asher only possession in the world, laid them at the feet of the statue of theVirgin Mary. The legend says that the weeds were miraculously transformed intothe scarlet brilliance of the poinsettia flower that we know today. In fact, inpresent day Mexico people still refer to it as the flower of the Holy Night.

And, like thesemany symbols of our greens that mean more than they seem, we have an unusual gospeltext for the first Sunday of Advent. Just what do these apocalyptic words meanto the audience that the gospel writer was addressing? This is what we do know.Mark’s gospel was written during a turbulent political era in Judea.Judea was the area of ancient Israel that wasoccupied and governed by the Roman Empire. Thetime frame was about year 70 of the Common Era, or roughly 40 years after the death of Christ. The situation hadbecome gravely dangerous. Enemies and spies were everywhere. It was not safe tobe a known follow of Jesus. And people spoke in coded language for their ownsafety, especially members of that tiny, persecuted community called thechurch.

The author of thegospel of Mark writes about the time after the suffering of the followers ofJesus, “Then they will see ‘the Son of man coming in clouds’ with great powerand Glory.” As I read this I have to ask myself, is this a reference to a literal‘end of the world’ scenario? Growing up I was taught that this passage wasevidence that Jesus was predicting the end of the world with very specificsigns…and that only those who endure to the end would be saved. But what did thesewords mean to the people that Mark was writing to? We do know that Mark was indeedwriting about the end of an era when Jesus died on the cross. That was thebeginning of the end for Mark and that tiny Christian community. But Markbelieved that the powers that ruled their world were toppled in the very momentthat Jesus died on the cross. When Jesus stood up to the powers, it was thedawn of a new day, the beginning of the renewal of everything in the wholeuniverse. . . . stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in theheavens will be shaken, the scripture says. Nothing would ever be the sameagain.

Blossoming Fig Tree

And then Mark recountsJesus’ story about a fig tree that is about to blossom signaling the end of oneseason and the beginning of another. Mark confirms that the old order ofdomination is about to end and a new day is about to blossom. It is happeningnow. . Jesus is near, at the very gates. . . Mark tells us. It is the moment of truth for the Christian community—a chancefor things to begin. Pay attention! And then, just to make sure we get thepoint, another story hot on the heels of this one - about a man who leaves on ajourney, leaving his servants in charge, telling them to be ready for hisreturn, for they do not know when that will take place. It could be . . . inthe evening.

“Ah,” members ofMark’s community would have remembered. “That’s when Jesus met with his friendsin the upper room, wasn’t it? . . . or at midnight when Jesus was arrested . .. or at the cockcrow when Peter denied Jesus . . . or at dawn when the soldierscame to arrest Jesus!” You see? Coded language that Christian people would haveunderstood during those dangerous times to refer to the fact that they wereliving in a time of momentous importance.

“Beware, keepalert,” Mark writes, “for you do not know when the master of the house will come. . . or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. What I say to youI say to all. Keep awake.” It’s the same word Jesus used in the garden ofGethsemane when he begged Peter and James and John to stay awake with him. Stayawake! Stay alert! Stay conscious! Don’tgo to sleep on me! This is the hour, Mark is saying in coded language.

I’ve often wonderedwhy there is no story about the birth of Christ in the gospel of Mark. When itcomes to Christmas, Mark is not concerned about a stable, a star, shepherds orWiseman. For him, more cosmic things are happening. This passage is not avision of the end of the world but words of encouragement to a dispirited groupof Christians who were in danger of giving up the cause. The cosmic images andparables are ‘coded’ language, intended to remind members of the Christiancommunity of the importance of remaining faithful in these dark days of worldhistory, a time not unlike that time for Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane.

Our Christmassymbols represent a similar coded language that is intended to remind us ofexactly what we are waiting for during advent. Although some of these customsoriginated as pagan rituals, and were even at one time forbidden by the earlychurch, we understand that back them, like now they represented theever-living, eternal God whose constant and abiding love is always ours…andthat God is always present with us. Like the Hollydoes, what fruit will you bear when the environment around you seems cold andlifeless? Like the garland wrapped around our sanctuary, how will you expressthe enduring life of God within you when all else seems dead and forgotten?That is our gospel duty, not just through tough times like we are experiencingtoday, but in all the challenges and conflicts we experience in this human form.

Advent meanscoming. The Advent wreath symbolizes our journey of waiting for the Messiah,the anointed one who came to liberate us from our own personal bondage. Thelight is coming to wake us up from our slumber and lead us to a new way ofbeing.

Are you awake tothese dark days of so many in our world? Do you read about the suffering of thepoor, but have no desire to ease their pain? Have you fallen asleepspiritually? Do you snooze through the anticipation and excitement ofChristmas? Have you dozed off from following the gospel—no longer alert to therealm of God around you? Stay awake! Stay alert! Stay conscious! Don’t go tosleep during this season of advent! Get ready for the coming of our Messiah whomakes all things alive and green even when our world seems brown and lifeless.

So go home this afternoon, and…

(Excerpts from Barry J. Robinson’s sermon “Don’t Go to Sleep on Me” for November 27, 2005 – www.fernstone.org)

Cleaning Out the Fridge

2011-11-20T15:25:00.001-08:00

Matthew 25:31-46

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him,then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gatheredbefore him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherdseparates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right handand the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand,‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for youfrom the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I wasthirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomedme, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, Iwas in prison and you visited me. ’Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord,when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave yousomething to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomedyou, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or inprison and visited you? ’And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, justas you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, youdid it to me. ’Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that areaccursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and hisangels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave menothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and youdid not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. ’Thenthey also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty ora stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you? ’Thenhe will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of theleast of these, you did not do it to me. ’And these will go away into eternalpunishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

There are a fewtraditions we’ve started in my house for Thanksgiving over the past few yearssince moving into our new home. I’m not the cook in the family, so instead ofplanning menus or going shopping for the dinner ingredients I get to design thetable decorations and create a personal gift for each individual plate setting.In the past I’ve gotten some great ideas from Martha Stewart like making constructionpaper cutout Turkeys on which family members could record what they arethankful for. Sometimes I just shop for little Thanksgiving or harvest relatedchachkis at the dollar store or Flower Factory. This year I am filling thesecute little tins with candy. I know, I know…I’m copping out this year. Butthese are not the traditions I want to talk about this morning. No, thetradition I’ve been stuck with every year is…vacuuming and dusting the houseand…cleaning out the refrigerator.

Now some of youmight be thinking, that’s not a tradition…that’s just a chore. But according toWikipedia, a tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down withina society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past.Commonexamples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes (likelawyer wigs or Kentucky Derby hats), but the idea has also been applied tosocial norms such as greetings. The word "tradition" itself derivesfrom the Latin tradere literally meaning to transmit, to hand over, togive for safekeeping—and new traditions continue to appear today. For me,cleaning out the fridge before Thanksgiving is quite a ritual.

Those of you whoget to host Thanksgiving dinner for the extended family know good and well thatcleaning house from top to bottom is a very important part of the holidaypreparations. Amen? The fact is, since I clean-up all the dirty dishes afterthe cooking and eating is over, I also get to put away leftovers. And there isnever, never enough space in the refrigerator to store them all. So, I’velearned to clean out the fridge in advance in order to make room for theleftover turkey, stuffing, corn casserole, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, marshmellowed yams and delicious gravy. And in order to make sure I have enough roomfor all the leftovers, any containers that are expired, in plastic or nearlyempty are taken out of the fridge and sorted to be cleaned and recycled orthrown away.

In many ways,Matthew’s depiction of the last judgment in the Gospel reading today is likethis process of judgment and separation. Its purpose is not to condemn or scarebut to provide a glimpse at what habits and ways of life are inconsistent withthe realm of God. This particular parable of the sheep and goats is a narrativetale about the last judgment and criteria that the Son of Man will use in thissorting. The criterion is simple; has the person shown mercy to the oppressed?This parable is the answer to the questions asked in earlier parables inMatthew about how to be ready for the coming of God’s kingdom; by showing mercyand caring for the least. Our contemporary metaphor of this sorting is cleaningout the refrigerator, throwing out the food that is rotten or expired, andmaking room for the good food that will nurture our bodies, and souls.
(2002Lumicon Digital Productions exegesis for the Gospel text - www.lumicon.org)

So why do poor oldgoats always get the bad rap? I mean, have you ever had goats milk or goatcheese? It is delicious…and is considered a delicacy in many places since it’smore difficult and expensive to obtain. But this metaphor would speak loudly tothe agricultural society of the ancient Near East. Mixed herds of sheep andgoats are typical in Palestine. These herds have to be sorted in the eveningbecause goats need to be kept warm at night. Sheep are placed on the rightbecause they were more valuable than goats. They were better meat and theirwool could be sold for cash. The audience that Matthew is writing too wouldalso remember the texts in the Torah, specifically Leviticus 16:21-22. It saysthat Aaron laid his hands upon a goat and symbolically placed all of the sinsof Israel upon the head of the goat and sent it off into the wilderness. Theterm Scapegoat comes from this action; the idea of letting someone else takethe blame. In these rituals, the goat was sent out into a field symbolizingthat the Lord would remember their sins no more. In Christian contexts, the sheepare depicted as the meek and gentle followers of Christ (the Lamb of God).While goats are symbolized as unruly and outcasts, and have even been widelyused as the basis of portraits of the devil. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_in_the_Bible_are_goats_considered_bad

And even today weoften use the reputation of goats in negative terms. For instance, "Lookat the old goat" refers to an old fool or curmudgeon. "You get mygoat!" applies to a person who irritates another. Anyway you look at it;goats tend to be seen in a negative way. Perhaps it is because of the naturaltendencies that a goat displays. Whereas sheep are gentle, quiet and easilyled, goats are pushy, self-sufficient, and headstrong. Most goats are naturallyhorned, but many sheep breeds are naturally hornless. Those goat horns can beused to bring harm to another. Alas, goats are naturally quarrelsome and haveshort tempers. They rear and butt in order to establish dominance. Rather thanbeing a passive animal like the sheep, they have more aggressive tendencies.

How do these goatcharacteristics relate spiritually to the shepherd or leader? If a"goat" is part of a fold, you may see some of these characteristicsdisplayed. Goats are often pushy and can cause undercurrents and dissension.Turmoil and agitation are part of their nature. I believe this is because thegoat has a dominating and controlling temperament, rather than a passive andsubmissive one.

Goats tend to bemore self-sufficient than sheep, choosing to browse rather than graze in thepasture. They don't enjoy the green pastures in the same way as the sheep. Theyare not always satisfied with what the shepherd (leader) gives them. They willnibble on the Word of God, a little here and a little there, yet they love tobe seen in the high places. The goats walk with their tails held high,spiritually indicating pride, and they emit an offensive odor. There issomething distinguishing about the goat, and that is the odor, or"air" about them. http://www.watchmanbiblestudy.com/Documents/SymbologyofSheepGoats.htm

So, in light ofthis evidence I guess we can understand why goats are given such a bad rap. Andif we will scrutinize our bad behaviors in light of this goat metaphor, then wealso see the good news of the gospel in this text. We can be assured that if weengage in an exercise of “spiritual sorting” we might understand the value ofseparating our sheep and goat tendencies. We might value the opportunity to inspectour refrigerators of the heart and begin throwing out our rotten behaviors, thestuff that smells with the odor of our pride and self-righteousness, our stinkysense of superiority, our leftovers of unforgiveness.

As we prepareourselves for this time of thanksgiving I really believe that in order to trulybe thankful, we must first practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is the path tohealing; not just the healing of our hurt and pain, but a healing of our lackof compassion for one another. And let’s face it; we all have those hardenedplaces in our heart where we have neglected or ignored this call to forgive;hardened, frozen, leftover emotions of hurt, or disgust, or resentment, or evenhate. Jesus said “just as you did it to one of the least of these who aremembers of my family, you did it to me.” It’s not just about welcoming thestranger, clothing the naked, or visiting the prisoner. It can simply be aboutclosing yourself off from whomever Jesus calls you to love. And sometimesfamily can be the hardest of all.

About 15 years agomy brother and I became estranged for many years due to disagreements overreligious beliefs, and judgments we made about each other. While the reasons for thosedifferences are not so important now, the pain and resentment I held onto formany years tore at my heart over time. I decided to write a letter offorgiveness to my brother a few years after our separation so that I could behealed from our estrangement. I didn’t expect any changes to happen in eitherof our beliefs or perceptions about each other, and I never intended to evenmail the letter to him. But I needed to clean the rotten leftovers of anger andhatred from my heart and mind. I had too. They were poisoning me.

It didn’t take longfor God to work in me, and in him. In just a short time after I wrote thatletter my brother called me, invited me to lunch, and apologized for the thingshe said that had hurt me so. I asked for forgiveness for the resentment I hadheld in my heart against him, and together we repaired our relationship whileGod healed our hearts. It was the most liberating experience of my life, and Iunderstood from that moment on how the power of forgiveness is central to thestory of Jesus and the Good News of God’s love for all humankind.

You see, Godcreated the world out of an abundance of love. Like a bubbling fountain, God islove and overflows with love. In sending Jesus and the Holy Spirit, Godrepeatedly and generously pours love out upon all people, showing us God’s ownself as well as who we are. Created in this image of this freely giving God, weare empowered to also freely give. And when we embody that creativity, we can’thelp but give thanks for all that God does. Because love is for giving. And forthat I am truly thankful. But you won’t have much room for what God has to giveif the old fridge needs cleaning out. (Lindsay Armstrong’s thoughts on the Gospel text in“Feasting on the Word,” Year A, Volume 4 for Proper 29, p. 335.)

I invite you toclean out your refrigerators this week. In fact, I challenge you to make theweek prior to Thanksgiving a new tradition of cleaning out the old behaviors,or feelings, or resentments that inhibit you being filled with thanksgiving.It’s kind of like Lent, but before Advent instead of Easter. Let’s call it “AdLent.”In your bulletin is a formula for cleaning out the refrigerator of your heart. It’sa “Thanks-forgiving” exercise; to prepare you for healing through forgiveness.And if you have the courage to write that letter of forgiveness, no matter howlong the pain or hurt has been rotting inside of you, I guarantee your lifewill never be the same. Who knows, you might even pardon that turkey in thefamily! Amen!

Thanks-forgiving Exercise: preparingfor healing through forgiveness

Beginby relaxing, center yourself, and take a look at your life, remembering someone(living or dead) whom you have never been able to forgive for some hurt youexperienced in relationship to them. Write a letter to the person you want toforgive through these steps. (Note: thisletter is for your personal process and not a letter to send to the person.)

1) Describe the event– how it hurt you, what was painful, what your feelings were, and how it isstill affecting you. (i.e.,it hurts me when…, I feel sad about…, I feel angry that…, I resent…, I wasafraid that…, I’m still feeling…, I feel held back in my life now because…)

2) Identify the part you played– did you participate in the situation in any way? Are there any learnings orinsights that you have from the experience? (i.e., I realize my part in this was…, I amsorry that…, I didn’t mean to…)

3) Say what you really wanted– write about what you would have like to experience and how that affects yourlife and desires now. (i.e.,What I really wanted is…, I deserved to…, I would have liked…)

4) Lettingit go – Write down your release from thishurt and offer your forgiveness.

(i.e.,I understand now that…, I forgive you for…, I am releasing this now…)

5) I am grateful now– acknowledge the contribution this experience gave to your life, through whatyou understand now, or what you have learned. (i.e., I appreciate that…, I am grateful for…,What I gained from this experience is…)

6) GiveThanks – to complete you letter, givethanks for the person and the experience in your life. (i.e., in appreciation…, withlove…, sending you many blessings…,) and signyour name.
(Exercise from the “Healing through Forgiveness”exercise from the Center for Spiritual Living Foundations Student Workbook.)

Don’t Bury Your Head in the Sand!

2011-11-13T18:07:00.001-08:00

Matthew 25:14-30
¹⁴“For it is as if aman, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property tothem;¹⁵to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, toeach according to his ability. Then he went away.¹⁶The one who hadreceived the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made fivemore talents.¹⁷In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two moretalents.¹⁸But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug ahole in the ground and hid his master’s money.¹⁹After a long time themaster of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.²⁰Then the one who hadreceived the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying,‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five moretalents.’²¹His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave;you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of manythings; enter into the joy of your master.’²²And the one with thetwo talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me twotalents; see, I have made two more talents.’²³His master said tohim, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a fewthings, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of yourmaster.’²⁴Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward,saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did notsow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed;²⁵so I was afraid, and Iwent and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’²⁶But his masterreplied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I didnot sow, and gather where I did not scatter?²⁷Then you ought to haveinvested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received whatwas my own with interest.²⁸So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the tentalents.²⁹For to all those who have, more will be given, and they willhave an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will betaken away.³⁰As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness,where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

I begin my sermon today by asking aquestion: True or False - Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when they'rescared or threatened. ? Well, whileresearching my sermon this week I found an interesting factoid on the internet.In a study of 200,000 ostriches over a period of 80 years, no one reported asingle case where an ostrich actually buried its head in the sand or attemptedto do so. (www.ahajokes.com/fp036.html)

But in truth, this well known myth aboutOstriches is actually an optical illusion! Ostriches are the largest livingbirds, but their heads are pretty small. "If you see them picking at theground from a distance, it may look like their heads are buried in theground," says Glinda Cunningham of the American Ostrich Association. But ostrichesdon't bury their heads in the sand—because they obviously wouldn't be able tobreathe! But they do dig holes in the dirt to use as nests for their eggs.Several times a day, a bird puts her head in the hole and turns the eggs. So itreally does look like the birds are burying their heads in the sand! http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/animalsnature/animal-myths-busted

Now I give you this pretty useless fact toframe our discussion of a pretty controversial story in the gospel text today; somestories don’t have to be factually true in order hold some truth. Perhaps thatwhy I love preaching on the parables of Jesus. Let’s face it, Jesus told somereally outlandish stories that don’t seem to make much sense in ourcontemporary society. And when we encounter such a story, like the one thismorning, it is a great opportunity to again take pause and consider the reasonswhy such parables were told, and then written down and eventually published inthe collection of letters and writings that we called the Bible.

But if we consider this story in thecontext of Jesus’ circumstances at the time, we remember that in the previouschapter, Matthew 24, he had just come out of the temple in Jerusalem where hehad engaged in some pretty tense dialogue with the community’s religiousleaders; the scribes and Pharisees. They had been trying to trap him withtricky questions like; what is the greatest commandment? But Jesus wasn’tplaying into their trickery, and looses his temper calling them hypocrites,blind guides, snakes, and a brood of vipers—strong words for a Rabbi who wasquickly making more enemies and friends. And after this insulting discourse,Jesus leaves the temple and ascends the Mount of Olivesoverlooking Jerusalem.

When I was 12years old I went on a church trip to the Holy Land.One of the most memorable moments was hiking up the Mount of Olives, also knowas Mount Olivet, located across the valley fromthe Temple Mount where the Dome of the Rock sits. Mount Olivetreally isn’t a mountain at all, but a 2900foot hill that has served as one of the main burial grounds for the city of Jerusalem. From thisvantage point Jesus could easily view the Templeand observe the hundreds of squatters, lepers and poor people who lived outsidethe city walls. He would regularly retreat to this hill after teaching in thetemple. And it was on one of these nights, perhaps as the sun began to set, andthe hustle and bustle of the city began to die down, that Jesus sits and beginsto talk to his disciples.

As he stares out at the city he probablyobserved people bringing their trash out of the city gates and throwing it intothe valley below. This small valley where trash was collected and burned wascalled Gehenna. It was a garbage dump where fires were kept burning to consumethe refuse and keep down the stench. It was also the location where bodies ofexecuted criminals would be dumped. And it was to this place, Gehenna thatJesus said the scribes and Pharisees would be sentenced for their hypocrisy.

As they sit on the mountaintop Jesus gives descriptionsof the end of time and the coming of God’s kingdom. If you remember lastSunday, Jesus described the coming of God’s kingdom like 10bridesmaids, 5 who were foolish and 5 who were wise, when preparing for the bridegroom.

Which brings us to our text today—Jesus alsodescribes the coming of God’s kingdom like a man who decides to go on a journey.He summons three of his servants and divides all of his property between them.To the first servant the man gives five talents, to another two, and to thethird servant he gives one talent. Matthew tells us the servants were givendifferent amounts and he also tells us why. The man gave to each servantaccording to his ability, Matthew says, which presumably means that eachservant was given no more than he could handle.

It is not a story about sameness, in otherwords, or about one person being more deserving than the other. It is a storyabout the gifts that are entrusted to each of us. And what tremendous giftsthey are! For Matthew says that they are talents, which doesn’t mean what wemean by talents – the ability to play the guitar or to organize bazaars. Atalent was the equivalent of 6,000denarii, the earnings of a day laborer for twenty years. We are talkingfabulous sums of money, even for the one talent fellow. He was given theequivalent of a quarter of million dollars and that is nothing to sneeze at!This is a story, in other words, about an incredibly gracious and generousmaster, whose grace is clearly evident in the gifts he gives his servants – allof his servants.

Then, the story says, the man goes away. Heleaves them alone, trusts them to manage his money. Just like that. And youknow what happens - the five talent man invests his money and makes fivetalents more. The two talent man does the same and makes two more. But, ofcourse, it’s the third servant in the story that Matthew wants us to notice,the man who buries his gift of money in the ground. What precisely is thisman’s problem? After all, he is not a dishonest man who is out to steal fromhis master. There is no hint of fraud or deceit or greed when it comes to thisman. He’s not an embezzler. He’s not trying to swindle money from his master.He’s not a rascal like some of Jesus’ other notable characters. He’s not along-lost son who has spent his money on wine and women. He’s a cautious man,Matthew tells us, and what’s wrong with being cautious? After all, discretionand prudence are virtues, are they not? Wouldn’t you have been better off ifyou had been more practical with your money at times? Wouldn’t I? Of course, wewould.

This servant’s caution, however, turns tosomething else; and that something else is a thing called fear. For thisservant refuses to take any chances with what he has been given. The way thisservant figures it, he’s better off preserving his own safety and security thanrisking the wrath of his master because he judges his master to be a harsh man.

Now I was really tempted to make this asermon about stewardship. After all, today is Stewardship Sunday. Usually aroundthis time of year members in congregations are asked to consider how much theymight plan to give toward the work of this church next year. And this textwould make a great sermon about investing in the future of the church. And as easyas it could be for me to make this scripture about giving to God’s work accordingto what you’ve been given—I just don’t think that is what God is speaking tome—or to this church today. I think that would be a cop out—to make thisscripture coercive. The fact is, I think this story has a much bigger messagefor us. It’s not about committing a pledge to your stewardship campaign. Thisstory is about a man who is does not understand his Master. It’s aboutmisunderstanding our relationship with God.

I ask you to consider, “What has God givenyou?” And I’m not talking about your finances, your investments or even yourskills and abilities. I’m not referring to time, talent or treasure. What hasGod specifically instilled in you as a child of God? Each of us has thegreatest gift imaginable—the gift of life—but all too often we can’t imaginewhat to do with it. We feel adrift and lost, longing desperately for meaning.We want to make our life count and to express the gifts of Spirit we know weare here to bring forth. But we search in vain to discover just what theseunique gifts of ours are and how we might express them. We search in vainbecause we look outside of ourselves for answers. We look for an answer to ourlife’s purpose in family, fortune, and fame, or as George Carlin calls it:stuff, stuff, and more stuff.

Rev. Michael Beckwith, founder of the Agape International Spiritual Center in Southern Califormia, suggests that our very basic purpose forbeing here on this planet in this human form is to be an expression of God’slove. We are here to love—to perfect, amplify, and express the unconditionaldivine love of God. That’s our purpose. And if our life’s purpose is to expressGod’s love, then God’s vision for our life is the means or manner by which webring forth that love. That vision of our life includes our talents, our giftsand abilities, our personality profile, our heart’s desire. When we expressGod’s vision for our life, we feel fulfilled. However, if our relationship withGod is based in fear, or guilt, or shame, then we retreat into darkness. Weshield ourselves from relationship. We push intimacy and love away. We bury ourhead—and our talent—in the sand.

Think about it. What if all you had to givewas love? What if you no longer had time, talent or treasure to give? Could youstill love? So often in the church we focus on the tangible ways in which wecan express our commitment to God—our tithes, our service, our expertise. Theseare all critical to the work of ministry, but how do you know when they are motivatedby love? Jesus says in both Luke and Matthew: “Give,and it will be given to you in good measure; for the same measure that you givewill be the measure you get back.” To me “the same measure” also means themotive underneath the action—and that is what determines the nature of theresult. That’s why the servant with 5 talents got back 10, and the servant with2 talents returned 4.

Rev. Beckwich reminds us that "All that we do reflects who we are. Allthat attracts us, also reflects us. All that we give, we also receive." You can see evidence of this all around you.If you are drawn to the Humane Society display at the mall then you most likelylove animals, and probably honor all species of life. You express the divinelove of God in this particular way. If you love to cook for others, organizethe food drive, give homemade sweets away as gifts, you are one who naturallynurtures. You express love by feeding and restoring others. If you love thearts and give money to support them, you are probably naturally creative inyour own heart and celebrate the Divine creativity in all of life.

Our instincts for generosity, for serviceand for giving, are more opportunities for reflecting this Divine love of God,and when we are doing it, we catch a better glimpse of our own life purpose. Bylistening to your own heart in these activities, following your own instincts,and giving where you are inclined to love, you discover your own unique way ofexpressing the love of God. These are not hobbies or just random opportunities.They are manifestations of your Christ-like nature, your Christian identity.They are expressions of your purpose for being.

In the end, it is how you express thisDivine love gift from God that matters. Your life is God’s gift to you. Whatyou do with it is your gift back to God. Those who risk giving away whateverthey have been given will multiply their gifts. But those who surrender to fearwill experience more of the same. When we live in the confidence that God istrustworthy and generous and loving, we have nothing to fear. Besides, whowants to live with their heads buried in the sand? Not even ostriches do that!Amen?
(Excerpts from Barry J. Robinson’s sermon “Death ofa Salesman” for November 13, 2005 – www.fernstone.org)

Dear Lord, we thank you for the uniqueblessings and abilities you have given to each one of us. Help us to realizethat all you want for us is to express the gift of love you’ve given to us. Maythis love multiply our gifts of talent, treasure, time and trust to build your heavenlykingdom, both within ourselves, and throughout this whole earth.

Running on Empty

2011-11-13T17:27:00.001-08:00

Matthew 25:1-13
“Thenthe kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps andwent to meet the bridegroom.²Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.³When the foolish tooktheir lamps, they took no oil with them;⁴but the wise tookflasks of oil with their lamps.⁵As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy andslept.⁶But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is thebridegroom! Come out to meet him.’⁷Then all thosebridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps.⁸The foolish said tothe wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’⁹But the wise replied,‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to thedealers and buy some for yourselves.’¹⁰And while they went tobuy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into thewedding banquet; and the door was shut.¹¹Later the otherbridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’¹²But he replied, ‘TrulyI tell you, I do not know you.’¹³Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

“I’m gettingmarried in the morning. Ding, dong the bells are gonna chime! Pull out thestopper, and let’s have whopper. But get me to the church…(Sing with me!) Getme to the church. So get me to the church…ON TIME! Bravo! Give yourselves ahand!

One thing thatall of my friends, and most acquaintances know about me is my flair for thedramatic. In fact, one of my life’s goals in high school was to become aprofessional actor. I loved the theatre…and still do for that matter. One of myfavorite musicals is “My Fair Lady.” And one of my favorite musical numbers inthat show was “Get Me to the Church on Time." Today’s gospel text remindsme of that song—and as I read it more closely I imagined 5of these 10 bridesmaids singing thatsong on their way to the wedding.

But after furtherreflection, and a little study of early wedding practices in Palestine, I realized that even if, by someodd chance, these bridesmaids had been singing—I’m sure it wasn’t this songafter all. The fact is, that in Palestinian villages weddings were at night,and the bridegroom could show up unexpectedly. All he had to do was send arunner ahead to shout, "Behold the bridegroom is coming," and thewaiting bridal party had to be ready. In this case the clock was tolling twelve~ midnight. “Here I comeready or not” he shouted ~ and then the door to the church was shut!

So what is the gospel writing really trying to say in this parable? Well, inorder to understand that, we must dig a little deeper into what was going on inthe community. The writer of the gospel of Matthew was certainly dealing withthe discouragement of early Christians. They had been told that Christ would becoming back very soon—but the fact was, it had been over 40years since this promise, and still Christ had not returned. Matthew waspreparing them for such a delay. Yet it was how they would wait for Christ’sreturn, for the bridegroom that was the crucial message. I think that thisparable was a lesson about patience. In fact, the word for patience comes fromthe Latin word "patior" which means to suffer.

Patience is theability and willingness to wait a long time or to carry out a task that takes along time. It also means not easily getting angry in situations of human interactionswhere the other is unreasonable. It is commonly referred to as a virtue.

The story saysthat five bridesmaids were wise and five were foolish. It does not say thatfive were good and five were bad. In fact, when it came to their externalappearance, there was no difference. They all carried the same lamps; they all worethe same dresses, they all drifted off to sleep. We are dealing with characterand not image. And if the issue is patience, then the oil represents innerresources ~ what we have in reserve when a crisis comes. The lamp is the outerform, but the oil is the inner fuel. This parable addresses the experience of ignoring your spiritual needs andsuddenly facing a crisis in which you have no resources left. It’s like drivingyou car with the gas indicator always on “E”. Running on empty is a riskyspiritual practice.

It seems that somany of Jesus’ parables have to do with how we use our energy to serve andshare with our neighbor. And perhaps this one—the parable of the 10 bridesmaids addresses those who take that missionseriously. The oil, like the gas in your car, represents your spiritualresources of faith. When your oil, your gas, your inner fuel is running low,sometimes the darkness falls and the doors to your spirit are shut. We get burnedout, or stressed out. We are drained, empty, depressed and exhausted. Our depletedstores of love and hope and purpose flicker and sometimes die out in our workor family or church. For so many today the supply of oil is low, and depletionand depression are realities for followers of the bridegroom. A culture ofinstant gratification, lacking inner spiritual resources, resorts toartificial, addictive quick fixes to fan the flame.

In a machine often the bearings need oil to reduce friction or they wear outand wear down. To get our bearings we need the oil of God's grace to reducefriction in our personal relationships. There is depletion, but there is alsoreplenishment. Drained, we can be refilled. We live our life in the world, butwe draw our life from God. This grace from God is your renewable resource ~ andwe are recyclable. If your flame is burning low, listen again to God speaking ~"Come unto me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give yourest" ~ refreshment ~ renewal ~ replenishment. Jesus is the one whoreminds us that even when you give everything you have, God is still with youat every step of the journey. And there is replenishment!

This one thing Iknow. Those who believe and practice God’s presence in their lives every minuteof every hour of every day trim their lamps with the never ending oil of God’sgrace. And they will always have a spare gallon of grace in the back of theircar to give away. For if you have enough to spare, you will never run on empty.Amen.

Prayer: GraciousGod, the ways of this world tend to wear us down and burn us out. If ourdepletion is because of service to you, continue to use us as you will. Whereour depletion is because of wasted resources and poor preparation, disciplineus, strengthen the inner life, fill us again, that our lives may burn with thefire of your love for the sake of Jesus Christ, your Son, and our Lord. Amen. (Excerptsfrom Dr. Elton Richard’s sermon, “It’s Time to Add Oil” November 10, 1996 fromDay1- www.day1.net/index.php5?view=transcripts&tid=423).

The Faith of a Mustered Deed

2011-09-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

Matthew 14:22-33

22Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.23And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,24but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.25And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea.26But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.27But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”28Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”29He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.30But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”31Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”32When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.33And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

When Tino was only seven years old, his grandfather, Karl Wallenda, put him on a wire two feet off the ground. Karl taught his grandson all the elementary skills: how to hold his body so that it remained stiff and rigid; how to place his feet with only his big toe on the wire and his heel to the inside; how to hold the pole with his elbows close to his body. “But the most important thing that my grandfather taught me,” Tino said, “was that I needed to focus my attention on a point at the other end of the wire. I need a point to concentrate on to keep me balanced."

Of course, Karl Wallenda was not the typical grandpa. He came from an amazing ancestral family that traveled as a circus troupe consisting of acrobats, jugglers, clowns, aerialists and animal trainers all in one family. As far back as 1780, the Wallenda family traveled throughout the villages of Europe setting up and performing in the city squares, trusting in their talent and skills to provoke thrills and joy, and relying on the generosity of the audience to reward them as they passed the hat around. In the late 1800s, for the next two generations, they became known for their expertise in the art of the flying trapeze.

The Great Wallendas were headliners with Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus during much of the 1930s and 1940s. One frightening event happened in Akron, Ohio, when the wire slipped slightly as they were performing. All four members fell to the wire, yet they were relatively unhurt. The next day, a reporter who witnessed the accident stated in the newspaper, "The Wallendas fell so gracefully that it seemed as if they were flying,", and the headline read "THE FLYING WALLENDAS." And that name is still synonymous with the family to this day.

At age 19, grandson Tino thought he was a real intellectual. “I was always eager to talk with people about things, ¬even religion, ¬ on an intellectual plane. If someone would talk to me about God, I would say, "I have thought about this, and I'm an agnostic." But I should have known that God exists. From the time that I was young, my mother and my father told me about God and heaven. They taught me how to pray, and I had a grandmother who told me again and again that God answers prayer. And there were other people in the circus world who told me about the reality of God. It wasn't personal testimony, however, that made an impact on my life. The thing that brought me to an understanding of the reality of God was the Word of God.”

(Excerpts from articles on www.wallenda.com)

Now it’s this perspective about God that Tino Wallenda expresses that raises my first question about this week’s gospel reading. What is exactly the word from God in this text? The story has quite a few inconsistencies that I have to address. First of all, what on earth are experienced fishermen doing out on a stormy sea in the middle of the night? Now if you’ve seen any of those movies like “The Perfect Storm” or shows like “The Deadliest Catch” you know that modern fishermen know when not to go out into a treacherous sea. Is it really plausible that Jesus would deliberately have sent his friends out into the teeth of a storm while he went off by himself to pray? Is it reasonable to conclude that hardened fishermen – twelve of them, as a matter of fact - couldn’t read the clouds or that they couldn’t have put to shore at the first sign of a storm? The story defies common logic for what we know of history and culture in Jesus’ day. Are we really dealing with an actual historical event that took place on the Sea of Galilee?

What we seem to be dealing with, at least what the author of the Gospel of Matthew is dealing with, is a parable about the relationship that exists between Jesus and those who follow him. And what Matthew has very much on his mind is the situation disciples were facing in his own church. They were living in a time and place that was very turbulent indeed. The heart of this incident for Matthew is this interchange between Peter and Jesus. Matthew is the only gospel writer who inserts this intriguing conversation and incident into the story. Why? It’s not the fact that Jesus is the one whom even the wind and the sea obey. The other Gospels make that point without Peter sinking.

So let’s dig deeper. First, Peter makes a highly unusual request. “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” “If it is you . . .?” Why is there such uncertainty in Peter’s question? And who else would it be anyway? What is Matthew getting at here? Is Peter asking Jesus to make him capable of a supernatural feat? Once again, we need to consider what is plausible, reasonable; and what is certainly realistic. We know that the disciples of Jesus would indeed have been intimidated by the thought of carrying on the ministry of Jesus after his death. After all, they were surrounded by enemies who had demonstrated in no uncertain terms exactly what they had thought of Jesus and exactly what they would do to anybody who had similar ideas. We know that the reality of Good Friday and the scandal of the cross was very much on the minds of those first followers when they began to tell the story of Jesus. And now as it gets chronicled in written form at least 70 years after his death if not longer, the leaders of this emerging church face the same hostile environment. And yet Jesus had commanded them to do precisely that; to tell the story. The question was: would they be able to obey? Peter is clearly portrayed here as one who is questioning that command. “Uh, well, Lord, just in case I didn’t hear you right the first time, would you repeat that order? Give it to me one more time – just for the record.”

The second thing to notice is what happens when Jesus obliges him. Peter gets out of the boat. He begins to walk toward Jesus on the water. Dietrich Bonhoeffer commented on this story saying, “Peter had to leave the ship and risk his life on the sea, in order to learn his own weakness and the almighty power of his Lord. If Peter had not taken the risk, he would never have learnt the meaning of faith. Before he could believe, the utterly impossible and ethically irresponsible situation on the waves of the sea must be displayed. The road to faith passes through obedience to the call of Jesus. Unless a definite step is demanded, the call vanishes into thin air, and if men imagine they can follow Jesus without taking this step, they are deluding themselves like fanatics.” In other words, faith is only real when it is put to the test. If Peter had not taken that first step, his faith would have been worthless. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The Call to Discipleship.”)

Finally, it is when Peter starts walking that he becomes frightened by the wind and starts sinking. We need to get the connection between faith and doubt or between faith and fear. Matthew is not talking about some kind of intellectual doubt. He’s not talking about the kind of skepticism that some people exhibit, people who have no real interest in putting faith to the test, who are merely interested in debating the issue. Matthew is talking about someone who has the nerve to take that first step and then, because of circumstances beyond his or her control, begins to falter and sink beneath the waves. That’s the kind of person, Matthew says, who discovers Jesus’ steadying, delivering hand.

. . . and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

“You of little faith . . .” wasn’t something Jesus ever said to those who refused to follow him. He said it to those who did but who began to falter along the way. He said it to those who had the courage to take the first step. “If we would follow Jesus we must take certain definite steps,” wrote Bonhoeffer and that first step is the one that counts most of all. It is that step that makes following a serious business and not just an intellectual enterprise. That first step cuts us off from the way we have been living up to that point, just the way it cut Peter off from his nets. The only proof of whether are not we are serious about following is whether or not we are prepared to get up and muster the courage to take that first step; to begin a deed worth making. A mustered deed takes real faith.

Of course, it places us in an impossible situation. Of course, it forces us to traverse deep and turbulent waters. Of course, it plunges us into a situation of deep insecurity. Does anyone seriously believe for one instant that following someone like Jesus of Nazareth would mean making ourselves popular, safe, or successful? Faith is not about sitting still and waiting. It is about leaving the boat and risking your life. The reason Peter sank, of course, was because he started to doubt himself. It is an easy mistake to make. To think that being faithful to Jesus is all up to us, that it has something to do with our strength, our conviction, our will power, our emotional maturity. When Jesus finally did haul Peter up out of whatever waters he had begun to sink into, he must surely have said to himself, “What a fool I was. Here I thought that it was all up to me.”

(Excerpts from Barry J. Robinson’s sermon “The First Step” for August 7, 2005 – www.fernstone.org)

As an adult, Tino Wallenda still lives on the high-wire. And so does his family. He said, “At one time or another I have taken each of my four children ¬Alida, Andrea, Aurelia and Alessandro ¬ on my shoulders as I have walked across the high-wire. In those situations the children really can't do any balancing; I'm the one who has to balance and support them. And people have asked them, "Aren't you scared?"

"No," they have said. And when they have been asked, "Why aren't you scared?" They have answered, "Because that's my daddy." You see, they have confidence in me because I'm their daddy. (www.wallenda.com)

And because of that confidence, they have the courage to do it over and over again. And so can we, by the faith of just one mustered deed. Let us pray.
O God; your good news to us today is so simple. If it is our job to leap, then it is the Spirit’s job to catch us; if it is our task to yield, then it’s the Spirit’s job to strengthen us; if our task is total commitment, then it’s the Spirit’s job to bear us up; if it’s our job to trust, then it’s the Spirit’s task to see that that trust does not wither; if it’s our job to love and trust, then it’s the Spirit’s job to grow that love and trust stronger and longer. Thank you for being Abba to us. Thank you for being faithful. Amen.
– Andrew M. Greeley

Meditation: 1. What are the turbulent and violent storms you’ve experienced in your own life?
2. What did it feel like taking that first step into the unknown?
3. What did it cost you?
4. What was your experience of Christ’s hand reaching out to you?

Who's Our Guest?

2011-09-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

The Origins of Memorial Day in the United States (Sorry for the late posting! This sermon was originally preached on May 29, 2011)

It all started 147 years ago in the middle of the American Civil War when a battle at Petersburg, Virginia on June 9, 1864 caused the Ladies Memorial Association of Petersburg to be formed to memorialize the City's militiamen who had been killed. Mrs. John A. Logan visited Petersburg after the battle where she saw the flags and flowers on the graves of the fallen heroes. These memorial observances by the Ladies Memorial Association of Petersburg caused Mrs. Logan to tell her husband, who was a General, to do the same for all of the fallen heroes throughout the country. General Logan then established the practice of decorating veterans' graves all over the United States. General Logan also instituted the National Memorial Day to be the last Monday in May every year.

Who’s Our Guest?

John 14:15-21
15"If you love me, you will obey what I command.16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

While preparing for my sermon on this Memorial Day I spent some time reminiscing about my first experience of leaving home bound for Air Force basic training in San Antonio, Texas in the summer of 1981. Those of us who have served, or still serve in the Armed Forces will probably never forget the day we began our new life in the military. I was just barely 18 years when I stepped off the charter bus into the hot, arid heat of Texas. Now this was quite a shock to my Midwestern sensibilities, and those first few inhospitable days in the Texas heat was a wakeup call for me. I knew that, not only was I no longer home, but I had started on a journey so different than my experience of life so far…and I was scared to death. For the next six weeks I stumbled through basic training like a scarecrow, all the time repeating the words of Dorothy Gale, “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home!”

After basic training I settled into my Russian language school studies and realized that I wasn’t afraid as much of this military life, but still felt that something was missing. I needed to find a church. Being raised Pentecostal; I immediately gravitated toward the Assemblies of God pastor who held worship services at the base chapel and became fast friends with his family. I even started driving a church van picking up military men and women on base for their services. This church became my home away from home, connecting me to the community of faith that I had left behind.

And I had a similar experience once I moved to West Berlin Germany for my first duty station following the completion of my technical training. I arrived speaking no German, but immediately found a church full of people all ages who welcomed me with open arms, regardless of the language I spoke! I remember trying to communicate with just my hands and body language that first Sunday, listening to a worship service and sermon all in German, but somehow feeling such warmth as the congregation embraced me for who I was in spite of the strangeness.

These experiences remind me of the uniqueness of the Christian community; that you could go into any worship center in any part of the world and feel a part of something familiar, yet new and different. It could be that is our real call as Christians. Let me explain. I used to think that the biblical discipline of Hospitality was one of those “less important” spiritual gifts. I remember taking those spiritual gift inventories growing up, and thinking that gifts like hospitality, also known as helps or helping, seemed to be relegated to those who liked to “be in the background.” In fact, the classic story of Jesus chastising Martha for being too “busy” serving everyone else was case in point for me. Did Jesus really think that serving and helping others was not as important as sitting at his feet in worship?

But if we look deeply into this gospel text this morning a powerful image of hospitality emerges in this teaching by Jesus. Here’s a little background. In the lives of Old Testament Semitic peoples, hospitality was not an option in life, but a moral obligation. The harshness of the desert life made nomadic people sensitive to the needs of those who appeared at their tents seeking food and shelter. And it wasn’t just among the Hebrew people; many followers of pagan religions also considered it a duty. Yet in the New Testament hospitality has a different flavor. Inns and hostels that sprang up along Roman roads offered placed to say, which lessoned the importance of private accommodations. The strong sense of community was breaking down and with it the practice of hospitality. Even though the Romans like to throw lavish banquets, it was not their custom to offer hospitality to wandering strangers.

By the time of Jesus, hospitality had become something of a burden. The result was that people had to be reminded to show hospitality. And as it became less impromptu, it began to require rules. Invitations became more formal. Banquets, weddings, social occasions; all required an etiquette. It was to this reality that Jesus addressed his disciples on his last evening with them, and he was reminding them of the importance of hospitality from their ancient scriptures. Old Testament hospitality was not just about offering food and shelter to strangers; it was also marked by sacrifice. Killing an animal was regarded as a sacrificial act. Therefore when meat was eaten on festal occasions it carried sacred significance. In these sacrificial meals, the people and their God came together at the same table to partake of the same holy food. Eating together resulted in being drawn together, in a renewal of the covenant bond. Hospitality became an expression of the covenantal relationship with God and other human beings. The guest, when accepted into the sacred community, receives food for the body and for the soul. Through fellowship, story sharing, and being welcomed, the guest goes forth renewed and restored.
Both the Old and New Testaments stress that the primary recipient of hospitality is to be the stranger.

However, strangers are not necessarily those different in culture, race, or socioeconomic status. They may be members of our family, or friends or neighbors who have become alienated from us. When we offer hospitality to anyone “estranged” from us, some curious and unexpected results occur. To offer hospitality to a stranger is to welcome something new, unfamiliar, and unknown into our life. Strangers have stories to tell which we have never heard before, stories which can redirect our seeing and stimulate our imagination. Hospitality to the stranger gives us a chance to see our own lives afresh.

Hospitality is the hallmark of a welcoming community. When we take time to discern the needs of the local community and then find ways to express compassion; that process calls us to respond to the real needs of people. We each bring unique gifts to the community, and authentic hospitality invites us to share those gifts. Our mission efforts are never one-way streets. Risking outreach to others creates opportunities to, not just give, but also receive. Feeding the neighborhood, clothing the needy, visiting the sick and those in prison, and might even hosting a kid’s carnival on our lawn yesterday, are ways of welcoming Christ into the community. We who are sent forth into mission are uniquely able to return with lessons of hospitality offered by those who have been served. Our open hearts and serving hands that reach out to the world are the same hearts and hands that receive God’s hospitality in return.

This understanding of hospitality has both inspired and haunted me. For in it we, as God’s children, are called to not only give, but also receive hospitality. It is not a one way street. The communion table is a universal example of Christian hospitality in our worship. But it wasn’t until I began training as a hospice chaplain that I realized how the world that we live in and serve is much like the communion table. We partake of the gifts of God, receiving them in their broken state, and become nourished by their gifts back to us. We receive that which we are there to give. I have worked weekly in hospice settings over the past year. When I enter the room of a patient with the expectation of receiving the same measure of hospitality that I give, I am truly humbled and transfigured by these experiences.

Walter was one of my first hospice patients. I met him at a nursing facility that was pretty run down and located in a not so great part of town. As I was driving to the appointment I realized it was not far from where I grew up. Just up the street from this nursing facility my Uncle died in desolation five years earlier, lying in a dirty apartment littered with trash, empty beer bottles, drug paraphernalia, and filled with hopelessness. I’ll never forget the moment I arrived at his apartment as hospice was called in. My grandmother, who lovingly cared for him his entire life—was there by his bedside—holding his hand and sweetly singing. My Uncle’s death would close a difficult chapter in our lives. But he would not die alone because my Grandmother, perhaps the greatest living example of God’s love and hospitality to the “stranger,” was there with him—comforting him as he took his last breath. All of those memories flooded back to me as I entered the nursing facility and walked across the worn floors, the smell of urine and cries of pain and hopelessness filled the air. Who was I going to be in that place? Would I mirror the abandonment of the world which daily passed judgment on the undesirables and fringes of society? Or was I going to be the agent of God’s grace and love welcoming healing and wholeness into these least of God’s children?

Moving into Walter’s room I sensed his loneliness. Cognitively he didn’t seem “all there.” The nurse wheeled him in from the TV room and he seemed a little agitated. Walter didn’t know what a chaplain was, and seemed a little suspicious of me. I didn’t push Walter very hard and I excused myself after a few minutes and wheeled him back to the TV room. He didn’t say thanks. He didn’t say see you later. But I hoped he would remember me next time. Each time I returned to visit it seemed I moved one more step toward radical hospitality. I meet Walter next time around Christmas while his family visited, and led them in singing Christmas carols with him. A month later we talked a bit deeper about his love of bluegrass music and memories of his long departed wife. The next visit he stayed in bed facing the wall the entire time, but seemed willing to talk even though I had “interrupted” his nap time. And the last time I visited Walter invited me to stay and have lunch with me. There it was, radical hospitality in action, and I received it from Walter.

It is no coincidence that hospice and hospitality come from the same Latin root hospes, which is formed from hostis, which originally meant "to have power." Linguistically, the word served double-duty in referring both to guests and hosts. Hospitality is a two way street, where both guest and host are imbued with power to transform the relationship. Jesus is our host at the communion table where that which is broken and poured out is used to create a covenantal community. It was this sacred moment that Jesus expressed his affection and companionship for his disciples. But our text tells us that we will still experience this radical hospitality. Jesus said he was sending an Advocate, the Spirit of Truth, to be with us. The Greek word used here is “paraclete” which means, “one who has been called to our side” to stand up for us. Think of lawyer shows on television. Think of detectives and mystery and action. The Paraclete, the Advocate, is a force on the move…just as Jesus was a force on the move in his lifetime.

Jesus clearly promises his presence and the presence of the Spirit to those who keep his commandments to love and serve one another. The love Jesus commands is not a feeling—but an action of hospitality to the stranger. What if we really understood Jesus words this way? What if we were to recognize that Christ is truly present among us, not just within ourselves as Christians, but whenever we greet and serve the stranger, the guest, the visitor that walks through those doors? This is why the work of hospitality in the church has illuminated the power of the Christian way for me. For in Christ there is no stranger. There is no separation. And in the words of Dorothy Gale, “There is no place like home!” So click your heals together and believe it. Amen!

Communion as Hospitality

2009-04-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

In 1989 I took a vacation that I don’t think I will ever forget. It was to the Island of Maui in late November. If you’ve ever been to any of the Hawaiian Islands, I’m sure you will agree that they are paradise on earth. But it’s not just the great weather, the ocean views, and the beautiful beaches. The tourist activities are incredible. I decided not to bore you with posting the 800 pictures I took. But some of the highlights of my trip were snorkeling above the reefs; touring the pineapple fields; hiking up to the top of the volcano; and one of my most memorable activities, waterfall jumping.

But Hawaii is also the picture of hospitality. And the highlight of my trip was the traditional event that every Hawaiian tourist must experience. The Luau. It is, in fact, at the very center of the Hawaiian custom. But did you know this was not always so?

Believe it or not, in ancient Hawaii, men and woman had to eat their meals apart. Commoners and women of all ranks were also forbidden by the ancient Hawaiian religion to eat certain delicacies. This was all changed in 1819 by King Kamehameha II. Can you say that with me? Kam-e-ha-meh-a. King Kamehameha abolished the traditional religious practices and put on a huge feast. This feast where the King ate with women was the symbolic act which ended the Hawaiian religious taboos, and the luau was born.

The favorite dish at these feasts is what gave the luau its name. Young and tender leaves of the taro plant were combined with chicken, baked in coconut milk and called luau. The traditional luau feast was eaten on the floor. Bowls filled with poi, a staple of the Hawaiian diet made from pounded taro root, and platters of meat were set out and dry foods like sweet potatoes, salt, dried fish or meat covered in leaves were laid out on top of mats made of ti leaves. Utensils were never used at a luau, instead everything was eaten with the fingers.

These royal luaus tended to be big. One of the largest ever was hosted by Kamehameha III in 1847. The list of foods prepared included 271 hogs, 482 large calabashes of poi, 3,125 salt fish, 1,820 fresh fish, 2,245 coconuts, 4,000 taro plants and numerous other delicacies. Hawaiians used to thrown these feasts as celebrations for special occasions such as the launch of a new canoe.

Luaus today are not as big as those hosted by Hawaiian royalty in the 1800s, but they are a lot of fun and feature the same traditional foods… and of course, utensils are now allowed. Today, these types of luaus are still held, for example one to celebrate the first birthday of an infant. Your participation at a luau makes you ohana, or family. It is the greatest Hawaiian symbol of welcome and hospitality. (source: www.polynesia.com)

Now to us folk who live on the mainland, hospitality can also conjure up other images; white tablecloths, candles and RSVP invitations. A backyard barbecue, Christmas open house, a cup of coffee with a neighbor. The whole idea has fallen on hard times. Budy schedules, working mothers, the disappearance of servants, and the rise of a highly mobile population has combined to make genuine hospitality seem a thing of the past. We wistfully think of the “good old days” when neighbors dropped by or when company for supper was a regular occurance. Was hospitality just a passing fad, now obsolete, its usefulleness over?

In our scripture text this morning, Jesus must not of thought so. He apparently was facing the same decrease in hospitality as he gathered his disciples around him for their last meal together. In the Old Testament the stories of hospitality are rich and numerous. In the lives of Semitic peoples, hospitality was not an option in life, but a moral obligation. The harshness of the desert life made nomadic people sensitive to the needs of those who appeared at their tents seeking food and shelter. And it wasn’t just among the Hebrew people, many followers of pagan religions also considered it a duty.

Yet in the New Testement hospitality has a different flavor. Inns and hostels that sprang up along Roman roads offered placed to say, which lessoned the importance of private accommodations. The strong sense of community was breaking down and with it the practice of hospitality. Even though the Romans like to throw their own lavish banquets, it was not their custom to offer hospitality to wandering strangers. By the second century of the Common Era, hospitality had become something of a burden. The result was that people had to be reminded to show hospitality. And as it became less impromptu, it began to require rules. Invitations became more formal. Banquets, weddings, social occasions; all required an etiquette. It was to this reality that Jesus addressed his disciples on his last evening with them, and he was reminding them of the importance of hospitality from their ancient scriptures, the Torah.

You see, Old Testament hospitality was not just about offering food and shelter to strangers, it was also marked by sacrifice. Killing an animal was regarded as a sacrificial act. Therefore when meat was eaten on festal occasions it carried sacred significance. In these sacrificial meals, the people and their God came together at the same table to partake of the same holy food. Eating together resulted in being drawn together, in a renewal of the covenant bond. Hospitality became an expression of the covenantal relationship with God and other human beings. The guest if accepted into the family community and receives food, not only for the body but for the soul. Through fellowship, story sharing, and being welcomed, the guest goes forth renewed and restored.

Through our hospitality, it is possible to imitate God’s loving care. Our compassion and pity mirror God’s grace. There’s an old Arabic proverb that says, “The one who has bread is debtor to the one who has none.” When we have received God’s blessing of food, we bestow that blessing on others by sharing it with them, we owe it to them.
Both the Old and New Testaments stress that the primary recipient of hospitality is to be the stranger. However, strangers are not necessarily those different in culture, race, or socioeconomic status. They may be members of our family, or friends or neighbors who have become alienated from us. When we offer hospitality to anyone “estranged” from us, some curious and unexpected results occur. To offer hospitality to a stranger is to welcome something new, unfamiliar, and unknown into our life. Strangers have stories to tell which we have never heard before, stories which can redirect our seeing and stimulate our imagination. Hospitality to the stranger gives us a chance to see our own lives afresh. Genuine hospitality to the stranger calls us to do the following:

1) Value the strangeness of the stranger, accepting their differences without fear, annoyance or distrust. The guest is not someone for whom we are doing a favor, but one who is honoring us.

2) See yourself through the eyes of the stranger and either be affirmed or be willing to learn and change because of what has been revealed to you about yourself.

3) Recognize that we are strangers too. God’s faithful people have always been “exiles and strangers on the earth.” Abraham, himself, was a wandering Aramean. Even Jesus had no permanent place to lay his head at night. We to, are but travelers on a journey to somewhere yet discovered.

4) Bring about reconciliation and renewal for the one who is alien or lost. You just might be the one person in someone’s live that can offer them the healing they’ve desired.

5) Finally, you extend hospitality to God by showing lovingkindness to those in need. Jesus said, “When you show it to one you’d normally show the last, you show to me.” (source: Breaking Bread: The Spiritual Significance of Food, Sara Covin Juengst (1992: Westminster/John Knox Press).

I want us to consider some recipes for action, as we go and practice hospitality to each other and to strangers. The communion table is the place that we gather on a monthly basis to practice this covenant between each other and God. But this sacred symbol of hospitality doesn’t happen just here. It happens every moment that we share in an experience of giving and welcoming. Think of everything that you do for another as an act of hospitality. That’s why we don’t put restrictions on who can or can’t receive communion in this church. Although some might say you have to believe the same way, or have at least been baptized first, I don’t think that’s what Jesus intended to happen. He even extended hospitality to Judas, the one that, according to some texts, betrayed him. Jesus never turned anyone away, and neither should we. For it is in the moment that we embrace the stranger, we embrace God.

Drawing Power

2009-04-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

* John 12:20-33 - Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Magnets are an important part of our daily lives, serving as essential components in everything from electric motors, loudspeakers, computers, compact disc players, microwave ovens and the family car. Their contribution is often overlooked because they are built into devices and are usually out of sight.

Understanding the scientific properties of magnets can be a bit overwhelming at first. But there are some interesting principles about magnets that can inform or theological discussion today. At the very basic level, the motion of charged particles such as electrons produces magnetic forces. This magnetic force may cause attraction or repulsion, depending on the movement of the electrons, which may pull magnets together or pull them apart.

A magnet attracts iron, steel, nickel, and certain other materials. The attracted materials then become magnets themselves in a process called magnetization. For example, if you were to place a nail near a magnet, it would become magnetized and would then attract a second nail. Magnetization occurs because the magnet causes particles called electrons in the atoms of the nail to align along the magnet's lines of force. The atoms with aligned electrons then act like tiny bar magnets themselves.

Magnets have many uses in our everyday life as well as in our homes. We see them most frequently clinging to our refrigerator with pithy sayings or our favorite photos. However, the most important use of magnets in your home are the ones found in electric motors. Believe it or not it's electromagnetic and permanent magnets that help keep your blenders, vacuums, CD players and washing machines all running. They are also termed "heads" when referring to your VCR.

Scientists have also discovered that many animals, including pigeons, honey bees, salmon, tuna, dolphins and turtles are able to detect the earth's magnetic field and may use it to help find their way. Particles of magnetite have been found in the body tissues of these animals. They suspect the particles form part of a system that sense the geomagnetic field. Certain species of bacteria found in the water have also been found that use the geomagnetic field to find their preferred habitat. Each bacteria use the particles as tiny compass needles to guide them along the electromagnetic field. (Source: www.sdmiramar.edu/faculty/fgarces/ChemProj/Ch100_F2K1/Chem100Page/YarbroughL/magnet portfolio.html#hm)

After listening to this scientific summary, I’m wondering if you caught on to some of the properties of magnets that just might “attract” you to the Good News this morning. It is helpful to remember a few things about the ministry of Christ. He spoke pretty straightforward about it in verses 25-26 of our Gospel text.

If there is one sure thing we can say about Jesus’ life—it was a life of great extravagance—in the truest sense of the word. He was extravagant in his reckless and scandalous expenditure of his life for the sake of the world's life. That is what the author of John's gospel wants us to hear today. Christ gave his life away without thought of gain or reward. He loved people wastefully. As a result, his life was not a very prudent life. It was not a very conservative life. It was not a very cautious life. It was not - by the standards most people use to measure things - a very successful life.

He shunned no one, not even adulterers, not even tax gatherers, not even neurotics and psychotics, not even those tempted to suicide, not even alcoholics, not even poor people, not even beggars, not even lepers, not even those who ridiculed him, not even those who betrayed him, not even his own enemies. He shunned no one. And the words that describe his ministry seem to be words of sorrow, poverty, rejection and radical unpopularity —words of agony and loss.

“As I am lifted up from the earth, I will attract everyone to me and gather them around me.”

That is what John wants us to get from his gospel. It is something at the very heart of what John believed Jesus was all about. Jesus was a magnetic force in the world, because he knew his purpose. He understood his reason for being. And in the midst of a religious society that determined its connectedness to God according to how connected they were to wealth and power, Jesus message was a shock to the system. He believed that his connection to God demanded sacrifice and service to others.

It is the ultimate paradox, of course: lose life in order to gain it. That statement reflects the essence of all that Jesus said and did. It gave his life meaning. Trust life so much that you are free to give it away without thought of return. Apparently, he expected us to live our lives like that - so selflessly, so innocently, without thought for tomorrow - that our lives would seem to be profoundly careless. Was that not the kind of trust that marked the character of his life?

That paradox: giving our lives away in order to gain them is supposed to characterize the Christian life as well. We, too, are called to identify with the least of our brothers and sisters, as he did, that our lives take on the very same sorrow, poverty, rejection, agony and radical unpopularity that summarized his life. After all, he did not tell us just to "make it up as you go along". He called us to live the only life he considered worth living, which is, of course, the life he was and is.

From so many conversations I’ve had with other clergy within our denomination and outside of it, it seems that most churches these days are about preserving and maintaining what they possess. What do we need to do in order to reduce the deficit, repair the boiler, pay the staff, and keep the photocopier running? That's the stuff that usually takes up nearly all of their time and energy. Instead the very elementary question that we need to ask—in whatever church we find ourselves, is—do we have and hold what we do have and hold with integrity? The answer to that, of course, is that we do, IF we are free to give it all up for the world as a witness to the ministry of Christ, as a sign of dying in Christ, and as a way of attracting others to Christ. (Excerpts from Barry J. Robinson’s sermon “Paying the Rent” for April 6, 2003 – www.fernstone.org).

From the outside looking in, Jesus magnetic personality does seem to be a downer in our consumerist society that values ownership and affluence. But I think his way of being was so much deeper than we really understand. In fact, we are just beginning to unlock the secrets to his teachings. Jesus drew so many people to him, not just because of his philosophy about God; he knew who he was. He knew his purpose. He understood his reason for being.

One of the great laws of the universe is the Universal Law of Attraction. It states: We attract whatever we choose to give our attention to—whether wanted or unwanted.

This Law is Universal because it does not matter who you are, where you live, what your religious beliefs are, what year you were born...the Law is true for everyone equally. It is as true as the Law of Gravity. Most of the time, we attract by "default" rather than by deliberate choice. We just sort of go through our day, focusing on problems that need to be solved or on things that did not feel good nor seem right. In so doing, we are actually creating more problems, more of what does not feel good and more of what does not seem right.

Think of yourself as a huge magnet. The kind that pulls metal to itself from afar off. It doesn't "try" to attract, it simply does attract. It is the same way for us. Whether or not we are trying to attract, we ARE doing so all the time. And we attract the likeness of what we think about. If we are thinking about a lack of something, we are attracting more lack (scarcity). If we are thinking about something we love, we are attracting more of what we love and enjoy. I know it sounds incredibly simple, and it is. We humans are actually very powerful attractors and we can use this wonderful, God-given power to attract more of what we want in life-simply by paying attention to where we place our thoughts and desires. Picture your heart as a powerful magnet. Your heart is the "vibrator" of all the signals that attract.

Think of a radio. It has many different stations. To tune into a station you dial a specific frequency. As soon as we turn our attention to something it begins its journey to us. To be rid of something you do not want in your life, simply tune in to a different vibration (frequency or radio station)—to something that you do want. Just as magnetic fields are created by the motion of charged particles like electrons, our thoughts and emotions will create our reality. The first principle of the Law of Attraction is;

In order to attract what you need, be very clear about what it is you want.

The next principle of the Law of Attraction concerns magnetization.

You attract or repel negative and positive emotions by aligning your thoughts with what you want.

The more you focus on what you don’t want, the more likely you will get it.

And the third principle of the Law of Attraction;

Allow what you want and need to come to you.

You can do this through detecting the greater force that is around you; trusting that God and the universe will bring to you all that you need, and allow that to guide you.

Just as the magnet attracts and repels, we have the opportunity to gain clarity in knowing precisely what we want, through the many "contrasts" that life offers us. The key to successfully using contrast is to observe it briefly and use it to help you decide what you do want. This takes a little practice, since our habit is to talk about, tell others about and focus on what we did not like.

Our ministry, our work if you will, is to let go of all resistance and believe that what you want will come to you—simply because you want it. Jesus did the same. He knew his purpose, we focused on that intention, and he transformed the world by following it. And Jesus challenges us to follow to. Let go of your life as it is, being reckless in your love for God and others, and you will have God’s life—without illusion, real and eternal. The Universal Law of Attraction also confirms it: in order to receive love, you must first give it. How will you give love this week? And how will you receive it? (Source: www.law-of-attraction-info.com/whatisloa.html)

True Colors

2009-03-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

* John 3:14-21 - And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Most of us see things every day, from the moment we get up in the morning until we go to sleep at night. We look at everything around us using light. We appreciate kids' crayon drawings, fine oil paintings, swirling computer graphics, gorgeous sunsets, a blue sky, shooting stars and rainbows. We rely on mirrors to make ourselves presentable, and sparkling gemstones to show affection. But did you ever stop to think that when we see any of these things, we are not directly connected to it? We are, in fact, seeing light—light that has reflected from objects far or near to us and reached our eyes. Light is all our eyes can really see.

Now I am no scientist, and I certainly don’t completely comprehend the phenomenon that is light. But there are some interesting insights into light that can shed some “light” on the subject. So here’s your very short science lesson. Light is actually electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength that is sometimes visible to the eye. Although there are many dimensions of light, we only see a fraction of its spectrum. This is called visible light, and is seen in the colors of our prism this morning. There are three basic dimensions of light.

They are: Intensity, which is how we perceive the brightness of light, Frequency (or wavelength), which we perceive as the colors and Polarization (or angle of vibration), which is not perceivable by humans under ordinary circumstances.

We perceive the brightness, colors and the vibration of light through its properties of both particles and waves. From the time of the ancient Greeks, people have thought of light as a stream of tiny particles called photons. We don’t normally see these photons, but that is because they are too small or moving too fast. If we could see them with the naked eye, they probably look like something from Star Trek. If you are a Trekkie you might know what a photon torpedo is!

It’s easier to understand the experience of light through its second property called waves. It’s also helpful to think of light as a wave that we can see in the water. One key point to keep in mind about the water wave is that it is not made up of water: it is made up of energy traveling through the water. If a wave moves across a pool from left to right, this does not mean that the water on the left side of the pool is moving to the right side of the pool. The water has actually stayed about where it was. It is the wave that has moved. When you dive into a pool you make a wave, because you are putting your energy into the water. The energy travels through the water in the form of the wave.

All waves are traveling energy, and they are usually moving through some medium, such as water. Light waves are a little more complicated, for they don’t need a medium to travel through. They can even travel through a vacuum. A light wave consists of energy in the form of electric and magnetic fields.

Light waves are waves of energy. The amount of energy in a light wave is related to its frequency: High frequency light has high energy; low frequency light has low energy. Thus gamma rays have the most energy, and radio waves have the least.

Of visible light, violet has the most energy and red the least. Any light that you see is made up of a collection of one or more of these photons circulating through space as electromagnetic waves. If you look around you right now, there is probably a light source in the room producing photons, and objects in the room that reflect those photons. Your eyes absorb some of the photons flowing through the room, and that is how you see. (science.howstuffworks.com/light.htm)

Whew! I feel like I am back in science class. So what does this all have to do with our Gospel text this morning? I thought by talking about the scientific properties of light, we might be able to make sense of the theological aspects of light in scripture. Is it possible? Is there a connection? If we believe that God is the creator of all things, then the presumption is, yes. We can begin to understand God when we embrace science, and the reality of our cosmos. So let me set the context for enlightening our scripture with science.

This week's text is at the tale end of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. You might remember the character of Nicodemus. He is presented to us as a leading member of the religious hierarchy in Jerusalem, something like a professor of theology or a religious judge who has come to see Jesus in the middle of the night to discuss things. Now many of us know the story of Nicodemus quite well. And it’s from this dialogue that we get a quote from Jesus that has become the very core, the crux, if you will, of the Christian experience. Of course I’m referring to John 3:16.

I put it on the screen for you in the translation of the Message so we can refer to it. Why did Jesus say this? What exactly did he mean?Nicodemus apparently comes to Jesus because he appears to be troubled by what Jesus has been saying and doing. He wants to question him, get into a debate. Nicodemus wants some sign that Jesus really is from God and that the things he is saying and doing are true. Yet nothing Jesus seems to say is getting through to Nicodemus. And Jesus continues to frame his discussion in metaphors that perhaps Nicodemus might understand. He likens the Spirit of God to the wind. That in order to make sense of God you must be born from above. Jesus tells him, you're going to have to decide whether or not you want to debate what I am about or start living the way I lived. The people who live life like I am do so in the light, where everything they do and are can be seen. The people who don't are the people who stick to the shadows. It is the way it is, says Jesus. Those who hate the light always have something to hide. Those who love the light are not afraid of being seen for who and what they are.

Now we know from other passages in John’s gospel that he was writing to a Jewish Christian sect that still maintained its primary identity within larger Judaism. At the time John wrote these words, these Jewish Christians were being persecuted and expelled from the only religious home they had ever known, the synagogue. The message that John was conveying through Jesus was not about Jew versus Christian. It was about the kind of discrimination and persecution that goes on within religious communities. He's talking about the kind of evil that gets perpetrated by religious people against their own kind. In fact, even today we know what kinds of cruel things religious people are capable of doing to each other.

The story of Jesus and Nicodemus is not a story about private religious experience. It's about the radical protest Christ was and is against the evil we do to one another in the name of religion. Jesus is saying if you are going to trust God, then you have to be prepared to step fully into the light. You must embrace the light of God who loves the whole world—especially those who don’t believe the same as you do. Neither Jesus nor John was interested in establishing a belief system to be the cornerstone for acceptance or rejection by God. They were more concerned about how we might recognize the spectrum of God’s love and embrace for all humanity? What are God’s true colors?

And now, perhaps our scientific understanding of light can inform us. Remember the three dimensions of light—intensity, frequency and polarization—so too is our experience of God multi-dimensional. The first dimension is intensity; or how we see the brightness of God. And the best place to experience it is in a community of faith. Nicodemus comes to Jesus as one whose experience of God has been nurtured and supported by a community of believers. One of the unfortunate consequences of reading John 3:16 literally has been an excessive, almost exclusive focus on individual salvation. The central question becomes am I saved? Have I experienced personal salvation? Do I know Jesus as my Lord and Savior? But, for people like Nicodemus, whose faith was formed by the Hebrew Scriptures, the role of a community of believers was primary in his faith development. The songs we sing together on Sunday morning, the prayers we offer, the support we give and receive, the study and reflection of our sacred texts; all reflect the importance of our faith community in our spiritual formation. When we play hooking from our community of faith because of other commitments, or because we’d rather use our Sundays for some kind of recreation…we are cutting ourselves off from one of God's primary tools for inviting us into a deeper and more intimate encounter with God.

We also understand that in light is the dimension of frequency—or that which we see as color vibration—the visible light of God’s love. Service and caring for and about others, is the second dimension of faith when we encounter God. Nicodemus is quite clear the reason he comes knocking on Jesus door at night is that through Jesus healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and caring for those in need, they have experienced the presence of God. "No one can do the things you do apart from the presence of God", says Nicodemus. When we participate in the work of justice, caring for others, providing education to our community, and witnessing to God’s inclusive welcome we are shining the light of God’s grace to our world. For Nicodemus it was the acts of caring and compassion of Jesus, which further opened his heart to God's presence.

And finally our faith has a dimension of polarization—not in the divisive sense, but in the way that our light vibrates energy into the dark places through our openness to the guiding of God's Spirit. The question faced by Nicodemus and anyone seeking to grow in faith is, are you willing to let go of your certainties about who God is? Are you willing to experience God in new ways? Are you ready to step out on a journey with God without the comfort of knowing exactly where it will lead you? Jesus is inviting Nicodemus; and Jesus is inviting you and me to let the Light of God be our guide, to be reborn as waves and particles in God’s kingdom of light. Are we prepared to trust God enough to live without absolute certainty about whom God is?

When Jesus comes knocking on our door, it is an invitation to grow in faith through the guidance of the Spirit. It is the way in which we come to experience God’s true colors—the rainbow of God’s love shining in dark places.

(Excerpts from Barry J. Robinson’s sermon “Stepping Into the Light” for March 30, 2003 – www.fernstone.org).

Trading Up!

2009-03-23T15:05:00.000-07:00

* Mark 8:27-38 - Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

I’ve had quite a few hobbies collecting things in my life. I’ve collected stamps, foreign money, beanie babies, and beer steins. But my most recent collecting craze has involved collecting symbols of my faith. I’ve brought a few of items from my cross collection. As you can see, I have crosses that come from different cultures and theological perspectives. I don’t know what it is about the cross—but I am intrigued at how my understanding of cross and its place in my spirituality has evolved over the last decade. For me, the cross is not just a nice artifact that I like to collect, but has become one of the most important symbols of my faith. It wasn’t until I looked into the cross’s own journey as a symbol throughout the last 2000 years, did I come to understand it could have a deeper meaning for me.

I’d have to start by saying that I’ve always been intrigued by ancient symbols. During the season of Lent and Easter our Christian symbols play a vital role in connecting us to Jesus’ own journey to the cross and his crucifixion. We use a lot of symbols to identify Jesus as our center of worship.

Does anyone know what these letter stand for? It is the most common abbreviation used in churches, and they are on our altar, and on our banners. IHS stands for the first three letters of the name of Jesus in Greek—Iota Eta Sigma. The name Jesus was actually pronounced as Y-AY-SUS. Since there is no letter “J” in the Greek language, Jesus name actually begins with a “Ya” sound—as in “yoke.” The second letter of the Greek name of Jesus is the Eta. This Greek letter looks like an English “H” but sounds like a long “A” sound—as in “hay.” And of course the Greek “sigma” is our English “S”. Thus IHS is actually pronounced I-AY-S.

Disciples of Jesus have also been symbolized from ancient times by the word fish, which in Greek is “ICHTHUS.” ICHTHUS is also an acronym for Jesus.
During the early centuries following the death of Christ when it was illegal to be a follower of Jesus, the sign of the fish was used as a secret indicator of being a Christian. It was a symbol of brave faith and of deep conviction.

It is however during the season of Lent that we focus on a symbol that are probably the most well known through the Christian tradition. It is of course, the cross. However, you may have noticed that there are many different images of the cross. Perhaps we are most familiar with the Latin cross shown here. Our own crosses in the sanctuary are modeled after this cross. The Latin cross is a very plain image. Its simplicity and clean figure appeal to the time of Lent when we seek clarity and simple expression in our worship.

My favorite representation of the cross is the Celtic cross. I have several images of that version in which a circle is added to the classic Latin design signifying eternity. The Celts believed that the work of redemption accomplished on the cross was planned in eternity—and that work continues permanently. This cross suggests the timeless dimension of God’s salvific work.

But the cross has a dark history as well. Did you know that a cross hung over the concentration camp at Auschwitz? The cross greeted the thousands of Jews, homosexuals and others who were murdered by the 3rd Reich. In the face of such tragedy and brutality delivered in the name of Yaysus Christos, we have to ask ourselves; how did this symbol of faith evolve from the execution of Jesus to a symbol representing the extermination of millions of people who don’t follow him?

Perhaps Jesus himself can tell us a little about that. Our gospel text this morning comes at the middle of Mark's story of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus has begun his public ministry and people have started to follow him. But Mark wants this struggling and grassroots band of believers to know what's involved in following Jesus. In particular, he wants them to know that being a disciple is not some simple theological belief; but that it's about being willing to pay the price. Jesus asks outright, “Who do people say that I am?” The other disciples, of course, play the role of the clueless and ignorant. "How about Elijah?" one of them says. "Guess again." "John the Baptist?" another chimes in. "Wrong again." “Just another prophet?” still another suggests. Finally, good, old, impetuous Peter comes through for us. "I know who you are – You are the Messiah!" Ding, Ding, Ding! Peter hits the jackpot, he gives the winning answer. Peter has figured it out. Hooray for Peter! Hooray for all of us who know who Jesus really is.

But Mark doesn’t leave it there. Peter is immediately silenced by Jesus. “Yes, you are right. But I’m going to die for my cause. So keep quiet until it’s time.” Why would Jesus predict the end of his ministry this way? Why on earth would Jesus gain by scaring off his disciples prior to accomplishing his most important work? Jesus is telling his disciples that if they are to follow him they must confront the powers that be. Jesus will not enter Jerusalem as the triumphant military leader everyone expected the Messiah to be. Rather, he will be executed by the leaders of the nation; and if that weren’t enough; he would choose not to avoid it.

And what is Peter's response? “No Jesus! I refuse to accept this meaning of Messiah. There’s no way you are going to die. I won’t let it happen. Absolutely not! You’re not going to Jerusalem. I won’t let you. I won’t listen to this anymore!” This sharp exchange between the two escalates until finally Jesus silences Peter. "You are aligned with Satan!" he tells him. "Get out of my way!" Wow! Talk about a conflict of interest. But, if you think about it, we really shouldn’t be too hard on Peter. After all, we have had much in common with him. Christians still have trouble following a Messiah who ends up on an execution stick. The point being - the cross was not a religious icon in first century Palestine. Nor was "taking up the cross" a metaphor for surviving personal anguish. Crucifixion had only one connotation: it was the vicious form of capital punishment reserved by imperial Rome for political dissidents.

But it didn't stay that way for long. Around 312 C.E. the emperor Constantine was leading an army to battle against another Roman emperor, Maxentius, for control of the entire Roman Empire. Before a crucial battle Constantine had a vision of a cross with the inscription, "In this Sign Conquer". And the rest, as they say, is history. Christians started planting crosses all over the world, usually in the bodies of their victims. All in the name of Jesus under the sign of the cross.

The Crusades were followed by the Inquisition, in 1232 and lasted for more than 600 years down into the nineteenth century. Its high point was the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain in 1492. Women were singled out by the thousands and burned at the stake as witches. All under the sign of the cross. The cross at Auschwitz, in other words, did not get there by accident. It grew out of that particular mindset, ingrained into the Christian psyche, that we had a right, even a moral and spiritual obligation to rid the world of those who were not like us. The question is: how much is there left in this symbol of the humble Galilean and his vision of the kingdom of God—a realm where everyone is equal in God’s eyes? It’s not easy to hear what has happened to this symbol many of us have treasured all of our lives, is it? But we need to own what the church has done down through the centuries if we are ever to understand those who see us now as the infidels, the faithless ones. After all, our history speaks for itself!

So where is the good news today? How can we reclaim the image of the cross of Jesus as a symbol of salvation it was intended to be? I suppose the answer to that lies in how serious Christians are willing to suffer for Jesus' vision as much as he was; because that's what the cross was really about for him. The cross is a symbol of Jesus’ self-sacrificing life. And the cross in the daily life of a believer is not mere suffering, but is a symbol of our service to others—service which is often costly and burdensome. The authentic cross bearer is the one concerned about service instead of slaughter, kindness instead of killing, welfare rather than war, forgiveness more than fortune. That's what the cross really meant. The question is: are we prepared to live that way?

I collect crosses. I am intrigued by its symbolism, its beauty, and its meaning in my life. I enjoy reflecting on it as a vision of my own journey to be an authentic child of God. And like many of you, I’ve experience persecution because of that vision. I pray that I might live out that vision as one who embraces the cross of Jesus. For it is Jesus that asks us; "If any want to become my disciples, let them deny themselves and take up the cross and follow me." What will you trade for this kingdom value? What will you trade to join Jesus on his journey to the cross? Amen!

Test Time

2009-03-06T12:50:00.000-08:00

* Mark 1:9-15 - In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

The devil visited a lawyer's office and made him an offer. "I can arrange some things for you," the devil said. "I'll increase your income five-fold. Your partners will love you; your clients will respect you; you'll have four months of vacation each year and live to be a hundred. All I require in return is that your wife's soul, your children's souls, and their children's souls rot in hell for eternity." The lawyer thought for a moment. "What's the catch?" he asked. And it’s with that question in mind that I want to approach our gospel text this morning. “What’s the catch?”

There are many engaging images and characters in these few short verses. But what’s really interesting about these few scriptures from Mark’s gospel is not necessarily what’s in them, but what’s missing from them. Let me explain, when you read these scriptures in the other two synoptic gospels, Matthew and Luke (BTW…synoptic simply means a summary of an event), there are substantial differences in the telling of this wilderness story. Luke and Matthew actually expand the story to include an additional 10 verses. Within these verses we have a complex dialogue between Jesus and the Satan where the temptations have very specific form and function. In the original Greek, the word Satan actually just means accuser. You might remember these versions of the story. First the Satan challenges Jesus to turn stones into bread to satisfy his hunger from fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. Next the Satan tries to trick Jesus into showing off his special relationship with God by challenging him to throw himself off of the top of the temple so that the angels might save him. And the third temptation occurs after the Satan takes Jesus up a high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world. If Jesus would just agree to worship Satan, then all of these kingdoms would be given to Jesus. Of course, Jesus passes each test and the Satan or Accuser finally leaves him alone.

But in Mark’s gospel, the account which most scholars agree is much older than the other two gospels; there are just these two simple verses. After John baptized Jesus, “The Spirit immediately drove Jesus out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him.” Short, but not so sweet. We have just five characters in Mark’s version of the story; Jesus, the Spirit, Satan, wild beasts, and the angels—all of which are in the wilderness together for a period of forty days.

The first character in the story is the Spirit of God—or as we’ve come to refer it; the Holy Spirit. I know this might sound a little weird and sacrilegious, but the Holy Spirit in this story seems a little schizophrenic to me. Remember the baptism story of Jesus that we reviewed in early January during our service, “The Voice in Your Head“? The voice of God spoke words of incredible love and acceptance to Jesus when it said; “You are my beloved Son, in you I am well-pleased.” With that statement, the Holy Spirit suddenly appears to Jesus in the form that looked like a dove. It’s a beautiful image. But then, in the very next verse the Spirit 'pushes' Jesus into the desert wild. In the original Greek language the word used here “ekballo” actually refers to an action a bit more vigorous than just a slight push. It means throwing something or someone out of your presence. It’s the same verb that Mark uses when Jesus cast out demons. It’s the same verb that Jesus used when he healed the leper and then sent him away, warning him not to speak to anyone about it. And it is the same verb that is used when Jesus chases the merchants out of the temple, violently turning over their trading tables. Now can you see the context? The Holy Spirit adamantly, violently, shoves Jesus out into the desert! I just have to ask; why on earth would the Holy Spirit be so brutal?

An interesting statistic is surfacing again out of most of the news media that an unprecedented number of American adults are still living with their parents, or moving back in with them after living on their own for several years. Most obvious is the increasingly common phenomenon of men and women returning home after graduating college. Now there’s a variety of explanations, all of which were accurate: So many accomplishments – both academic and professional – are needed today in order to become self-sufficient. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense to stay home and save money while preparing for a future profession. But there’s also another explanation. Many psychologists say that far more adult children stay home today because it is often quite pleasant to live with one's parents. Now think about that! This is certainly a far different situation that what we know of the WWII generation and their baby boomer children. Very few people in the past would have liked living with their parents beyond childhood. In fact, many people did not even like living with their parents during their childhood. But today’s generation of Americans was raised with more freedom, more autonomy and much more respect than probably any past generation in history. And you have to admit that there have been enormous improvements in some of the ways children are being raised.

Do you remember the saying "Children should be seen and not heard"? That saying reflected past society's view of children. Children were not, to put it simply, taken seriously. They were rarely regarded as persons in their own right or as individuals who should be able to express themselves. Children were regarded more like clones whose primary reason for being was to give parents pleasure and reflect honor on them. This all changed with the baby boomer generation, who made their homes far more livable, even enjoyable, for their children than parents in the past did. As a result, more and more adult children do not regard being in their parents' company nearly as unpleasant or even embarrassing as children used to. Now let me remind you, I’m quoting from a newspaper article! (www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/698044/posts)

But stay with me for a second. After the baptism event, can’t we possibly imagine that Jesus could have felt this way as well? Basking in the warm cloud of God’s love and embrace, why would he ever want to leave? And you may have experienced this too in the past—experienced what God was feeling as well, with your children or grandchildren. Have you ever felt like you had to give a little push to someone you loved? Perhaps you knew they could accomplish the near-impossible; but they were unsure. They had the ability for greatness but lacked the initial confidence to take that first step; they had not yet been tried (which is the root word of temptation) to go out on their own. I think the Spirit so aggressively pushing Jesus out of that cozy cloud of God’s love because Jesus needed to be tried and tempted in order for his ministry to be thoroughly clarified. Yet, it was hard – even for the Son of God – to willingly walk into the wilderness where he would be tested by Satan.

Today is the fifth day of the Lenten journey. Many of you made a commitment to remember these 40 days by giving up something or taking something on. Some of you might be in a very real wilderness right now, not sure where you are or where you are going. You might be experiencing a lot of fear and wild beasts in your life—you might be confronting your own Satan or accuser right now. But no matter how you choose to live out these 40 days, remember this most of all. Even Jesus had to be pushed into those lonely places. He did not willingly walk into the wilderness, God’s spirit pushed him. And the account of Jesus’ temptation does not really offer us any ethical instructions for the choices that we must make in the wilderness. But it does describe the challenges that he faced, and that we must face on our spiritual journey. Our task this Lenten season is not adherence to a list of rules and regulations, or maintaining a level of piety for 40 days that can not be sustained all year long. It encourages us to be faithful to the journey that God has called each one of us to take.

I’d like you to take a few moments to fill out the survey I passed out during the passing of the peace. Answer the four questions. We are not going to collect them, or share them with each other…but during communion I want you to bring them forward, and we are going to pray over them after you receive the elements. We’ll anoint you with oil, and ask God to be present in your wilderness experience, creating a space around it so that you can experience God’s peace. And where there is peace, there is freedom to choose your response without fear or wanting.

Creating Inner Space

2009-02-25T11:36:00.000-08:00

* Mark 9:2-9 - Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.

Do you mind if I take your picture before I begin? I want to remember this moment. Could all of you kind of scrunch in together so I can get you all in the picture? Noel, could you lean in your head toward Elva? Perfect. Say Cheese. (Click!)

The world is full of amateur photographers, and I am one of them. I think that most of us are obsessed with taking pictures and having our pictures taken. In focus or out of focus, posed or candid, we are forever snapping pictures of each other, of the things around us, of things inside of us and anywhere else we can focus our trustworthy lens. There is nothing too sacred to escape the click of the omnipresent shutterbug. Baptisms, confirmations, weddings, birthdays, and especially family vacations are all fair game for amateur photographers.

And now in this new age of digital media, we put our photos not just in wooden or plastic frames, but on digital photo players, mouse pads, key chains, refrigerator magnets, slideshows, on internet web pages and social networking sites, even on DVDs. We have turned the photography business into a multi-billion dollar industry. Indeed, it wouldn't surprise me that if the Jesus appeared here this morning, someone would immediately whip out their camera phone try to digitally capture him.

It occurred to me, as I contemplated our obsession with picture taking, how things might have been in biblical times if these familiar characters had had the use of the modern camera. Can you imagine Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, with Eve trying to take a photograph of Adam for the grandchildren? "Stand up straight, Adam, and for goodness sake keep those leaves still. We will never get these pictures back from Walgreen's if you don't keep covered up!"

Or can you see Noah, after the flood was over, trying to get a picture of all the animals in front of the ark with the rainbow in the background? "Japeth! Tell those rabbits in the front row to stop fooling around. And get that giraffe to hold his head down so I can get him in the picture."

Or King Solomon taking a picture of all his foreign wives and concubines and kids? It might have looked like the Democratic National Convention last year.
Or can you imagine a church historian at Pentecost trying to get a picture of the crowd with the tongues of fire over their heads? "Preach that sermon one more time, Peter, I want to get a shot from the back."

Or the disciples taking pictures during Jesus' ministry? "Don't heal that leper yet, let me get my camera in focus. OK, go ahead! Oops, could you have him kneel away from the sun?"

Can you see Peter on the day of the Transfiguration? "Oh, isn't this wonderful? Lord, if only we could stay here always! Just a minute, let me get a picture of this so we can show all the guys when we get back. Jesus, could you have Moses and old E'Lije come back for just a minute so I can get a picture of the three of you together? No one is going to believe this!"

If Peter had had a camera that day he would have been taking pictures until everyone was tired of posing. Peter was just like most of us. He wanted to preserve a meaningful moment for all time. If he had had his way he would have stayed there forever. "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

We all try, in our own ways, to prolong the mountaintop experiences of our lives. But they never look quite the same in photographs or on videotape. The Holy can never be fully captured by pictures or stories. Jesus is always taking us back down the mountain, back to our everyday realities. The best we can do is to enter fully into the transfiguring experience so that the way we live our lives from that moment on will have a transfiguring effect on others.

“And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.” The language of transfiguration is not unfamiliar to us. We use phrases such as, “the radiant bride,” “the beaming father,” “her face just glowed.” When we use this language, we are describing a transfiguration of someone near to us. Transfiguration happens not only in the Bible but also to real people in the real world today.

I’ve truly had many experiences in my life when I was transformed from one state of consciousness into another. I remember the experiences of visiting a new country while stationed in the Air Force overseas…always meeting someone who was also traveling and sharing the experience…like; standing on the edge of the cliffs of the Island of Santorini in Greece. Riding my moped across the Island of Crete and picking olives for extra cash. I remember jumping off of waterfalls in Hawaii…and the feeling of exhilaration from such a perilous experience. The time I traveled to Israel, was baptized in the Jordan River and visited the places where Jesus walked. I’ll never forget standing at the entrance to Checkpoint Charlie in West Berlin, being inspected by Russian guards before crossing the border. Memories of; flying over the glaciers in Iceland in a helicopter; standing atop the Eifel Tower in Paris; climbing to the top of one of the pyramids of Giza in Egypt; all of which I’ve taken pictures.

But I’ve also been transfigured by every day ministry experiences; the death of my grandmother after her short illness, holding her in my arms and pleading for just one more minute of time with her. Walking into a hospital room and praying for a beloved church member as they pass from earth to heaven. Sitting in that first church service after 10 years of running from God, and feeling so much love as if it were a warm blanket surrounding me. Standing before our association and answer questions about my theology. Being applauded for my desire to risk ministry as an out gay man. Walking the aisle during my ordination service, and releasing all the memories of oppression and prejudice from the church of my past. The opening night of Common Grounds coffeehouse in Lebanon, and the hundreds of people surrounding me with good wishes and hope for my emerging ministry.

And often it’s not the mountaintop experiences that have the biggest impact on us, but the ones that occur while we are living the darkest valleys of our life; those dark night of the soul kinds of experiences. The phrase, "This too shall pass" is not telling you that you should not enjoy the good in your life, nor are they merely meant to provide some comfort in times of suffering. They have a deeper purpose: to make you aware of the fleetingness of every situation, and the transience of all forms. When you become of way of the instability of everything, your attachment to them lessens, and you then can disidentify from them. Knowing that change is inevitable, you can enjoy the pleasures of the world while they last without fear of loss or anxiety about the future. The recognition of “this too shall pass” brings detachment and with detachment another dimension comes into your life—inner space. It comes as a stillness, a subtle peace deep within you, even in the face of something seemingly bad. Suddenly, there is a space around the event. And from that space emanates a peace that is not of this world. This is the peace of God.

Whenever you are upset about an event, a person, or a situation, the real cause is not the event, person or situation but a loss of true perspective that only space can provide. The words, this too shall pass, can restore awareness of that inner dimension within you. And in this space do we find the perfect love of God.

What the disciples witnessed with Jesus was obviously a transfiguration. The fullness of his life burst out. The Spirit within him erupted. He was full of love for God and humanity. It was obviously a total, energetic love. Jesus turned his life over to humanity and God for the sake of God and humanity.

Marianne Williamson, a prolific writer on the power of love in spirituality, wrote “As you are liberated from your own fear, your presence will automatically liberate others.” The presence that Williamson speaks of is Christ consciousness, or oneness with Universal consciousness. Resting in the stillness of Christ consciousness, you cannot DO anything for another person. You simply manifest your stillness as outer purpose that automatically liberates others. You cannot DO anything. You cannot change anything. You can be the change, and by being the change, you align your purpose with the flow of the universe. Then change happens, and you are part of the co-creation of a new earth.

Just like it was for Jesus, the fullness of life and love is for us too. The transfiguration is about us. It is for us. It’s about being the incarnation of God. We trust God with our lives. We die to our old life and are born to a life in the Spirit. We shine with new life. And the transfiguration is for our churches. We talk of transformation and revival. What we want is transfiguration. We want energy, spirit and radiance. What we want is what God offers.

Transfiguration is about changing appearances. We change not because of necessity, but out of our desire to please God. How can we please God? What exactly did Jesus do to evoke such strong emotion from God? Can we do the same? What are the mountaintop experiences that change us? (Excerpts from John Keeny, “Lectionary Musings,” (www.gbgm-umc.org/daytonsouthdist/lectionary%20musing.html)

Love Is...

2009-02-25T10:55:00.001-08:00

* Mark 1:40-45 - A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

You’ll have to forgive me in advance today for what I’m calling my “sick sermon.” I call it that because I was literally sick while writing it. Now I’m not going to tell you a sob story about being ill with the flu this week…but, it was horrible. Ever have one of those weeks when everything just felt more depressing or chaotic because you were sick? I mean the dogs and cats around the house were more annoying than usual…you see I have 5 dogs…and, hmm, several cats, and have you ever realized just how loud a beagle sounds when you have a headache? Or how about a cat kneading its paws on your back while your trying to sleep away your flu body aches and pains? Feels like a frickin’ chain saw!

Okay…so you get the picture. I didn’t feel well. So as I’m laying in bed yesterday for the third day in a row, starting to think about how the heck I’m gonna write two sermons by tonight on seemingly two totally different subjects…one of which is about Love…possibly the biggest subject in the world…my mind kept going to the Gospel text for this Sunday. The story of the leper that finds Jesus in Galilee. On the surface it’s certainly doesn’t seem like a story about Love…at least not in the traditional sense. It’s not a story about Love like you find in Corinthians…oh you know that story…written by Paul to the church at Corinth; Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does this; Love does that. You know that Love letter…right? I mean, have you ever been to a wedding when that scripture wasn’t read? No…instead of concentrating on what the Bible might say about Love, in general, my mind kept seeing and hearing the chaos and conflict that must have been surrounding Jesus in our Gospel text for Sunday.

That’s why I love the lectionary. Instead of taking “pot shots” at our sacred scriptures, it forces us to look at the context of the stories of our faith, and helps us discern the Good News for this very time and place. So…in our text we find Jesus in the middle of taking a whirlwind trip through Galilee healing people with diseases, casting out demons in every small town up and around the Sea of Galilee. In just a very short time, perhaps only a few weeks or several days…Jews from all over the area hear about the amazing things this teacher and prophet from Nazareth is doing.

I mean…there is some serious stuff going down. The crowds are growing larger and larger…and even Jesus seems to be a little concerned. No longer is his anonymity a safe haven. The world begins to see him as a commodity and wants more of him. It kind of reminds me of a relationship I once had with a friendship I once had with someone I met at a Bible college I attended in the early 90s. His name is Kevin Jonas, and he was the worship leader at the college, with which I occasionally sang. Over the years I tried to get in touch with him, but without much success. I heard he had moved to the East Coast and was working in the music business. Well, one day I was flipping through TV channels and I got a glimpse of Kevin on...the Oprah Winfrey Show. I was as surprised to find out that his three songs, Kevin, Joe and Nick were actually the Jonas Brothers that had skyrocketed to fame within the last year. No wonder I couldn't find Kevin! He had been quite busy over the last 18 years!

So here we find Jesus in the midst of this rock star like atmosphere; and somehow this leper, some unclean person gets close to Jesus. Now the original Greek uses the terms leper and leprosy pretty interchangeably. It can mean a number of diseases or conditions. We now understand leprosy to be a skin disease that can take the appearance of scales (from the Greek – lepi, meaning scales of a fish). And it’s interesting to note that leprosy is not highly contagious like it was once thought. It is a bacterium that can be treated quite easily. Whatever the man was suffering from, it was bad enough to ostracize him from society. But I’m not talking about being talked about behind his back…or being blacklisted from the country club…this guy had been physically removed from the city limits by the religious leaders.

You see, according to Leviticus law, if the priest discovers that someone in the family has any kind of social illness; they are labeled impure, unclean, and a source of danger and contamination to the entire family. For that reason they must be expelled from the community according to sacred law (Lev 13-14). They can not pray in the temple or go to the synagogue, or eat at the dinner table with their family or friends…or spend the night in the homes. They become isolated people; a separate species.

So this outcast comes to Jesus, doing what he always does… begging, but instead of begging for money, or food, he asks for Jesus to make him ritually clean again. “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Now for this man…being ritually clean was the answer to everything. Being clean would mean he was restored to society. It means that he would be given a way back into relationship with his family and friends. He could once again eat at their tables, have Sabbath dinner again. He could celebrate all the Jewish festivals; spend the night at Mom and Dad’s house again. He could be made whole and complete…clean…again. Was he asking for healing? We don’t know…that’s not what it says…all he said was that he didn’t want to be ritually unclean any more. Remember, leprosy was a social disease.

And Jesus response was classic. The NRSV said, “moved with pity.” The NIV says, “filled with compassion.” But this Greek verb, “splanch-niz-omai” is only use 3 times in the entire book of Mark. It literally means to explode kindness, consideration and compassion upon another person.

Splanchnizomai - to be moved with intense emotions for another

To shower someone with intense feelings of care and concern overflowing out of an intense emotional response to their relationship with you. People…this is what LOVE IS! It is one of those truly Christ-like qualities that we rarely possess for very few people…and when we possess it they know it!

It’s like getting a bouquet of hear shaped balloons at your work desk from your favorite person. It’s opening a fresh box of Esther Price chocolates from your lover. It’s getting that Hallmark Card for no other reason than…there is someone that loves you. It’s dinner on their dime. It’s Valentine’s Day…every day. That is the kind of LOVE that Jesus is pouring out to this total stranger, this ugly, scaly, socially impure, not fit for anyone’s table broken down poor old man with leprosy. This is LOVE. This is Jesus.

We meet so many people looking for this kind of love in their lives. They search from church to church looking to be made clean again. The come to us in their rags of despair and isolation. Their skin bruised and discolored by the rules and regulations of our doctrines and dogmas. Their spirits broken by our self righteousness. And over and over they are turned away because they aren’t socially acceptable. And all they want is to be invited back into God’s family. And that’s where we’ve missed sharing the Gospel. Being the compassion of Jesus is not merely a matter of temperament, but is the mark of a disciple. As disciples of Jesus we are called to break down all barriers—social, economic, political, and yes, religious—between human need and God’s liberating mercy. To touch the untouchable, to violate our Christian rules and regulations and risk becoming unclean ourselves. To rewrite the book on God’s beloved community.

And so…do you know what love is? Have you ever received an unwarranted, unexpected act of compassion or kindness from someone you didn’t even know? Has someone ever broken down a barrier that kept you from feeling God’s grace and mercy? Have you been touched by the Christ and made clean?

We are the children of God, sent by Christ to do just that. Not just telling another that we love them…but by showing every person we meet the unbridled compassion and unrestrained grace of God. How do you do that? Well, you can start with “splancknizomai-ing” somebody today. Somebody that doesn’t deserve it…but somebody who desperately needs it. I bet you’ll know how. And I’ll bet you get “splancknizomai-ed” in return!

Breaking Free From Pain

2009-02-25T10:27:00.001-08:00

Excepts from Eckert Tolle's book, "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose" as it relates to the Gospel text in Mark 1:29-39 -

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

That is such a great line from the movie Shrek, “Ogres are like onions! Lots of layers.” Emotional pain is like Shrek’s ogre, layer upon layer of tears. Yet like the onion, the more layers you peel back, the lighter it feels, and the greater your relief. If you peel back the pain far enough you discover that it has no lasting substance and less hold on your life in the present moment.

Emotion is the body’s reaction to the mind. An instinctive response is the body’s direct response to some external situation. An emotion, on the other hand, is the body’s response to a thought. Although the body is very intelligent, it cannot tell the difference between an actual situation and a thought. It reacts to every thought as if it were a reality.

I recently had a frustrating text message exchange with someone who was very rude and insulting to me. This person has some serious problems...and was obviously activated by me call. I was so angry that I thought and thought about this text message exchange for hours. Before I knew it I was having a mental argument with the person. I was replaying in my head over and over what I should have said to them, how I was going to punish them for their insults, and even contact their place of employment to lodge a formal complaint against them. After obsessing about it for a few days, I realized that I had turned a few callous words into a full fledged fight to the death! I assumed so many negative things out of this really meaningless exchange.

Unconscious assumptions create emotions in the body which in turn generate mind activity and/or instant reactions. In this way they create your personal reality. Any negative emotion that is not fully faced and seen for what it is in the moment it arises does not completely dissolve. It leaves behind a remnant of pain.

Why indeed, do we choose to carry on living with the enormous residue of pain that mars a full experience of life? Both Tolle and the teaching of the Bible offer practical ways to lessen the pain. Christ can be seen as the archetypal human, embodying both the pain and the possibility of transcendence.

Pain is cumulative. Some of it predates your birth; including the sins of the fathers and mothers, e.g. the inherited cycle of abuse or addiction. Some of it is from childhood trauma, or unconscious messages of self-limitation and self-sabotage. The pain festers unresolved and sometimes suppressed. You add new pain to the mass every time you hold on to a grievance or a disappointment. The mass of pain becomes familiar, even comforting. The ego uses it to justify playing small or being a victim. In many cases, it becomes so massive that it begins to take over your identity.

Any emotionally painful experience can be used as food by the pain body. Because the pain-body has an addiction to unhappiness, it awakens when it gets hungry, when it is time to replenish itself. Alternatively, it may get triggered by an event at any time. The pain-body that is ready to feed can use the most insignificant event as a trigger, something somebody says or does, or even a thought. Suddenly, your thinking becomes very negative—followed by a wave of emotion invading your mind that might manifest as a dark or heavy mood, anxiety or fiery anger. Eventually the pain-body takes over and you become completely identified with the voice in your head that tells sad, anxious or angry stories about yourself or your life, about other people, or past, future or imaginary events. Every thought feeds the pain-body and in turn the pain-body generates more thoughts. At some point, after a few hours or even a few days, it has replenished itself and returns to its dormant stage, leaving behind a depleted organism and a body that is much more susceptible to illness. In essence—you were exposed to a psychic parasite.

If there are other people around during your exposure, the pain-body will attempt to provoke them—push their buttons, and feed on the ensuing drama. Pain-bodies love intimate relationships and families because that is where they get most of their food. Consider the layers of pain that relate to an insult. Someone insults you. Their words hurt. The pain reminds you of another time you were hurt. You make the insults mean something about your identity. Maybe you decide that you are unlovable. That heaps many new layers on the pain mass, and all because of a set of stories you told yourself. There has to be a better way to live.

Tolle says that if you begin to watch the tendency of your own mind to create stories, you will lessen your attachment to those stories. You can notice them from a distance and not allow them to run your life. It’s amazing how liberating it is to take just this one step. When you hear someone insult you, notice that this person is speaking from their pain and the story you create isn’t so personal and hurtful. Notice when you are speaking out of your pain, and you won’t hold on to resentment so fiercely. It’s not all about them, and it’s not all about you.

The beginning of freedom from the pain-body lies first of all in the realization that you have a pain-body. Then, more important, in your ability to stay present enough, alert enough, to notice the pain-body in yourself as a heavy influx of negative emotion when it becomes active. Conscious presence breaks the identification with the pain-body. When you don’t identify with it, the pain-body can no longer control your thinking and so cannot renew itself anymore by feeding on its thoughts.

Someone with a heavy pain body easily finds reasons for being upset, angry, hurt, sad or fearful. Relatively insignificant things that someone else might shrug off become the apparent cause of intense unhappiness. They bring back to life the old accumulated emotions that then move into the head and amplify and energize egoic mind structures. You look at the present through the eyes of the emotional past within you. What you see and experience is not in the event or situation but in you.

When you are completely trapped in the movement of thought and the accompanying emotion, stepping outside is not possible because you don’t even know that there is an outside. You are trapped in your own movie or dream, trapped in your own hell. To you it is reality and no other reality is possible. And as far as you are concerned, your reaction is the only possible reaction.

If you are able to stay present, it sometimes happens that your Presence enables the other person to disidentify form his or her own pain-body and experience the miracle of sudden awakening. In Zen Buddhism, this sudden glimpse is called satori, which is a moment of presence, a brief stepping out of the voice in your head, the thought process, and their reflection in the body as emotion. It is the arising of inner spaciousness where before there was the clutter of thought and the turmoil of emotion.

In the stillness of Presence, you can sense the formless essence of yourself and in the other as one. Knowing the oneness of yourself and the other is true love, true care, true compassion.

Human Being or Human Doing?

2009-01-26T15:53:00.000-08:00

* Mark 1:14-20 - Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”18And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

The evening conversation around the dinner table that night began the same as every night. It had been along day—12 hours on the lake in the hot sun—arms aching and the stench of raw fish hanging in the air. Salome slapped the top of John’s hand as it reached into the hot skillet to sample the sizzling sardine steaks. “Stop that, Jonathon! How can a son be so incorrigible?” she scowled—releasing a smirk across her mouth. “Mother—it’s been a long day. I’m tired and hungry—please throw me a scrap from your delicious cuisine!” “Ack, Ack! Wash your hands young man. And then set the table.”

John kissed his mother on the forehead as he snatched a smoldering olive from the skillet. “Love you Mom!” And off to the cleaning basin he went. At about that time James came through the door with his wife Phoebe and little Joel in tow. “Grandma!” the boy toddler exclaimed running into Salome’s arms. “My little grandson—how big you are getting! Phoebe, what are you feeding this child?” “The same as you fed me, Momma—fish and bread.” James cut in. “What else is a fisherman’s family to eat?”
“James—such disrespect for your mother,” Phoebe replied with a condescending grin. “Don’t pay attention to him, Mother. I fix him the same—and there are no complaints. Are there my dear husband?” she flashed her eyes. “No my love,” James responded. Fish and bread are good for the likes of one so in love—with a fisherman’s wife like you.” “You see, Salome,” Phoebe smiled. “Your son has been made respectable!”

Salome and Phoebe laughed together. Nothing was so sweet as the combined collaboration of a mother and her daughter-in-law. In fact, no man could match the collective power of that kind of feminine energy. Salome and Phoebe continued the preparation of the evening meal as James began to set the table. “Father,” little Joel asked. “Yes, Son?” answered James as he pulled tin plates from the cupboard.” “Why do we eat fish all the time?”

Joel was turning 5 next week. Although his mother didn’t allow him to follow his father to work on the lake—he often listened to the stories of the fishermen, told by his uncle John, with awe and wonder. “Fishing is an honorable profession,” James said, lifting Joel upon his lap as he sat down at the crude wooden table. “My father was a fisherman, as well as my grandfather. And I suspect you will be one someday—just like me and your Uncle John and the rest of our family. And if that is so, then eating the fish that you catch yourself is an honor too. You see, we fishermen provide good things to eat for many, many people—especially to people that can’t always work for themselves. You’ll learn more about it when you start school at the synagogue next year. Now, go wash your hands—and find out where your Uncle John is.”
Joel jumped off James’s lap and scampered outside. Phoebe slipped her arms around James’s neck and kissed him on the head. “You are a good father, my husband—now time for you to wash those dirty fishermen’s hands.” “Yes, dear” and James followed his son outside.

“He looks tired,” Salome reflected. “Do you think something is wrong?” “I don’t know,” Phoebe answered. “He has been quiet today. Perhaps something is going on at the docks.” “What is this about the docks?” Startled by the booming voice Phoebe and Salome screamed as Zebedee entered the kitchen and slammed the door behind him. “Zebedee!” exclaimed Salome. “Where have you been? We’ve been waiting for your return and dinner is just coming to the table.”

“Speaking of the docks—just some trouble to contend with. I’ve been meeting with some of the other business owners after pulling in the nets for the night.” “What is the matter?” Salome questioned her husband. “Oh, nothing too alarming. It seems that some of the fleet have unexpectedly closed their fishing business. I’m not sure who it is yet, but we are looking into it. An announcement is coming tomorrow concerning reallocation of fishing quotas.” Salome grabbed her husband by the waist. “Why would anyone do such a thing? With the Romans exorcising more taxes on us, and businesses losing so many servants to military enlistment, you would imagine that anyone having a good paying job would stay with it.” “Not to worry, my wife. We will just have to increase our own efforts to make up the quotas. More fish for us to catch means more denari in our pockets. Our boys will be up to the challenge. Speaking of our boys, where is my little grandson?”

“Grandpapa!” shouted Joel as he ran into the kitchen followed by James and John. “Well! Here are my strapping sons to share my table.” “And me too!” Joel yelled. “And don’t forget your beautiful and kind daughter-in-law!” Phoebe laughed, pecking Zebedee on the cheek. “Now enough child’s play!” Salome exclaimed. “Everyone, sit down, sit down. Husband—bring us the blessing!”

After a second of scrambling for chairs, all were seated around the weathered wooden table. Zebedee grabbed the hands of his wife and grandson and bowed his head. “Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Echad. Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. Your gifts of plenty bring seasons of thankfulness. And may our thankfulness inspire new gifts to you. Amen.”

“Amen!” the family echoed—and dinner began as Salome passed the platter of freshly fried fish around the table. “Have you noticed a decrease in musht over the last few hauls recently?” James asked his father. “I heard it was from the unusual winds coming from the Galilee hills,” John interrupted. “They say the storms will be the worst ever this spring. Fish don’t like storms.”

“I think it’s the young fishermen that don’t like storms,” laughed James. “I’m not afraid” John quipped back. “How could anyone be afraid of a little wind and rain?” “Well, I don’t think it’s the wind or the storms,” James reflected. “It’s the Romans.” “James!” Phoebe whispered in a quiet shout. “You mustn’t speak so. There are spies everywhere. You know what happens to dissenters now that Caiphas and Pilate are bedfellows.” “I’m not afraid of the Romans! Or the pompous Pharisees,” John blurted. “How long will we let these foreign mongrels and their puppet priests dictate what we discuss or how we live?”

“Enough!” Zebedee exploded. “Not in my house. We will eat tonight without speaking of such things.” The room became silent with the exception of clinking spoons and knives on tin plates. Quietly a tiny voice pierced the silence. “What’s a mongrel?” asked Joel. John turned to his nephew and smiled. “A mongrel is just a fancy name for a dog, Joel.” “I like dogs!” Joel replied. “Dogs get to do anything they want. Sleep outside. Play in the street. Take baths in the lake. And I bet they don’t have to eat fish every night!”

The laughter exploded around the table. “Yes, my grandson.” Zebedee smiled. “The life of a dog can be very—care free!” Seconds passed without conversation. The night was closing in and a new day was just hours away. But James knew he needed to say something. The anxiety gripped his stomach as he struggled to form his words, when out of the blue John spoke up.

“Andrew and Simon left their nets today.” James looked at his brother and sighed. The easy part was over, but now came the tough conversation he and his brother discussed having with their father. “What do you mean they left their nets today?” Zebedee raised his eyebrow. “Father, they’ve left the business.” James answered. Salome gasped, “Andrew and Simon? But why? Where did they go? What will they do? What about their families? Does their father, Jonas know? Did you talk to them?”

“Woman, let them speak!” Zebedee shouted. “Tell me son. What happened?” “It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” James continued. “We were mending our nets after pulling in the last haul for the day and we saw Jesus approach them from the shore. “Jesus? You mean my sister, Mary’s son? Your cousin Jesus? He’s here from Nazareth?” Salome asked. “Yes, he’s here!” John replied. “We heard Jesus was with John the Baptist and his disciples in the wilderness. But today he was walking along the beach and came up to Andrew and Simon and…”What John? What happened?” Salome cried. “Jesus told Andrew and Simon to follow him. He said that he would make them fishers of people. He told them to leave their nets and help him build God’s kingdom.”
“But how?” Salome asked in shock. “How will they live? What about their families? They can’t just leave the family business? What is Jesus going to do with them?”

“Now, Salome!” Zebedee interrupted. “You can’t expect these boys to know everything that happened. I’m sure there is a logical explanation for the whole thing! Maybe Jesus just wanted a job. I’m sure they could use a few more hired hands on their boat, right sons?” he turned towards James and John. A long pause drifted across the room as Zebedee looked into his son’s eyes—and then down at the table. “He asked you too—didn’t he?” Zebedee looked up at James and John. “Yes, Father” James answered. “Jesus asked us to follow him too. And we are. We leave tomorrow for Capernaum.”
“You’re leaving tomorrow—for Capernaum? Did you know this Phoebe?” “Yes, Salome. I did know. We’ve discussed it, and Joel and I are going with James.” “I’m going to!” John added. “But how? How can you leave your father? How can you follow this man? How will you live? What will you do?”

Salome could take no more as she jumped from the table and fled into the bedroom. The table fell silent. After a moment Zebedee stood up from the table and walked behind his boys, laying his hands on each of their shoulder. “You are good men,” he began. “And times are very different now than when I was your age. Yahweh’s people have been enslaved by evil influences. Our religious and government leaders value power over peace and use our sacred texts as weapons against us. I didn’t bring you into this world to be oppressed by it. And I hope that this man, your cousin Jesus can liberate us from it.

James and John stood up from the table and embraced Zebedee. “We love you, Father” they said through tears. “You’ve taught us well—to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. And event thought we are no longer fishermen, we will continue to cast our nets for God’s kingdom.”

Let us pray. Lord, we sit here today, in this community of doctors and firefighters, caretakers of children and business executives, students and administrators, musicians and ministers, teachers and preachers—contemplating a gospel text that challenges us in our day jobs. Just like fishing was to the disciples—we work in our chosen professions and hear your call to become more. We hear your call to become disciples of Christ—to dive into mission and ministry to the world. Give us the fast reflexes of those first four disciples—Simon, Andrew, James and John. There’s a part of us that hesitates, afraid to get out of our boats; fearful of setting aside our roles and personas. We know that your call may come at any time to leave behind our comfort zones and respond to needs we never expected. But in that moment, give us the courage to make the immediate decision to follow Jesus—and become who you challenge us to be, setting aside the temptation to accumulate possessions, or accomplishments, or degrees, or labels that attempt to bring us a sense of worth or value. Instead, reveal to us the opportunities in our own lives that will engage us in a deeper journey with you. For we know that it isn’t what we do, that makes us your blessed children, but who you created us to be in each moment of our life. And all the people said, “Amen.”

The Voice in Your Head

2009-01-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

* Mark 1:4-11 - John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.

It had been along time since I had remembered it, but every once in a great while a certain forgotten memory comes crashing back into the present. The story is that, growing up, I had been given a nickname at my high school—which on the surface didn’t seem that awful! There was this group of guys that apparently thought I was an odd sort—and would make a habit of embarrassing me in class. One of the guys would yell under his breath “nice” and the other would echo “Brice.” Well, as you can suspect—being considered “Nice Brice” should have been a compliment. But only if you were my grandmother. But in the context of a “Christian” school and in the company of some very unchristian behavior—it singled me out as a teacher’s pet or goody two shoes if you will. “Nice Brice” was a name I was called that eventually created my reputation as being abnormal—when normal was considered rebellious and renegade.

I also had other names though—especially when my mother was angry and then it was my first and middle name said loudly and fast. You can imagine my fear when hearing those two put together...Brice Arnold!!!!!! When you hear your own name spoken, what thoughts and ideas does it conjure in your mind? No doubt there is some baggage from the past, maybe some ideas about your past self that you are trying to shed, as well as hopes for the future based on wants and desires. These thoughts are just ideas. However; you tend to personalize them and make them mean something about yourself and life.

When you hear the name “God” spoken, what thoughts and ideas does that conjure in your mind? On page 15 of his book, Eckhart Tolle says that God is unnamable. God is not an entity that exists in some particular place. Rather God is the underlying essence of all things. This essence is beyond language. Tolle points to the danger of getting stuck on any particular names for God. These ideas about God tend to be the same as the mental ideas of self you get stuck on. In other words, if you have an idea that God is a personal being, you tend to believe that your ego is personal. If the ego is personal, then when someone criticizes a role you play it feels like a thoroughly personal attack on who you are. So much suffering in the world comes as a result of guarding your “self” against outside attack. So many wars begin because religions guard their names for God against outside attack.

One of the Hebrew names for God is Y-H-V-H....four consonants that are impossible to pronounce together. In Hebrew, it comes from the root word “to be.” God was introduced to Moses in Exodus 3 as Y-H-V-H, often translated as “I am what I am and always will be.” Y-H-V-H seems to be a combination of the past, present and future tense of the verb “to be”. So it might be more accurate to think of Y-H-V-H as eternally in process or “never-ending becoming,” manifesting as infinite possibilities in every moment. It's tough to get your mind around that concept. Even the ancient Hebrews felt the need to make name for God pronounceable by integrating the vowels of Adonai...another name for God...with the 4 consonants...which is our word for Jehovah. The concept of something that is unnameable is difficult for cultures that are defined by its language.

The New Testament picks up the same notion of eternal becoming. In John’s gospel, Jesus is recorded as identifying himself with a series of “I am” statements. Each one says something about a temporary role. For example “I am the shepherd” indicated his role as a rabbi…a pastor and teacher. But then, at other times Jesus was an indignant activist, like when he cleared the temple of financiers. Jesus manifested in whatever role seemed most appropriate at the time…healer, provider, intercessor, and ultimately sacrifice or Savior. However the “I am” refers back to the unnamable essence of eternal becoming. “I am” is Jesus’ awareness of a consciousness beyond his roles and ideas. In this sense, Jesus realized his divinity because he experienced himself both in particular time bound roles, but also in his connection with the very flow and essence of life.

Do you remember the famous line from the cartoon character, Popeye? When people tried to pigeonhole the spinach munching marvel with insults, he replied nonchalantly, "No matter what ya calls me, I am what I am an' tha's ALL that I yam!"

I love reading the words of our gospel text—especially the message from God directly to Jesus. The Message translation of the Bible says is this way. “The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God's Spirit - it looked like a dove - descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: "This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life."

Wow! Can you imagine hearing those wonderful words? We all enjoy being bragged on once in a while. My mother is probably my biggest fan and supporter of everything I’ve done in life. In fact, sometimes she really embarrasses me when I introduce her to a group of my friends or people in my congregation. “That’s my son!” I’ve heard her exclaim. “I powdered his behind when he was just a baby!” That’s the comment that usually gets the loudest laugh and turns my face the reddest shade you’d think I was a Maine Lobster. Ah yes, mothers do that sometimes. But I think that’s all of our responsibility in this life. Don’t you? I mean how else are we to express our praise and pride for the people we love but by bragging on them just a bit? Those moments make me think of how I believe God thinks of us. God is like the parent or guardian who is essentially proud of us. The same God that called Jesus, “Beloved” also calls us “Beloved.”

How do you respond when people aren’t so loving…and call you names or criticize you? The next time someone accuses you of being naïve or irrational or whatever insult it is, try responding the same way Jesus did when he was asked if he was the Messiah…the new king of Israel at his trial. Simply respond, “So you say.” Or maybe try out the wonderful line, “Thanks for noticing.” Maybe you could just say this in your own mind, to remind yourself that no matter what anyone says you are more than your roles, you are more than your successes or mistakes, you are more than your personality. You are “I am."

Take your roles and personas seriously. They are important. That’s how you get things done. Practice noticing the various roles you take on in a day, and some roles that are put on you by other people. With this increased awareness, you will begin to hold them only loosely as changing functions, but not your essence. You are so much more than your roles and personality. It is a liberating experience when you begin to understand that you don’t live life…life lives you. There is much power when you stop taking your life so personally.

Anais Nin, a Cuban-French author who published her personal journals about her life experiences spanning 60 years said, “You don’t see things as they are. You see things as you are.” I suspect this holds true for your portrait of God also. Humans tend not to see God as God is. We tend to see God as we are. Now relate this notion to your portrait of others around you. Do you see them as their roles or personas, or do you occasionally glimpse beyond their outer shell to the beauty of their eternal becoming?

Rabbi Rami Shapiro offers a wonderful spiritual practice. He says that when Y-H-V-H is written vertically in Hebrew, it looks like a stick-figure drawing of a human being. Rami suggests that you “visualize the Name of God as the physical body of any person you meet: the Yod is the head, the Hey is the shoulders and arms, the Vav is the torso, and the final Hey is the pelvis and legs.”

You are engaging with none other Y-H-V-H in the flesh. Your partner, child, friend, colleague, enemy is eternally becoming just as you are eternally becoming. Appreciate the roles, just don’t get stuck on them as unchanging and personal. Remember, they are there not to reflect who you are…but to teach you who you are becoming. Amen! (Excerpts from Ian Lawton’s presentation, “Lesson Two: Where Do You See God” - www.christ-community.net ).

Time to Wake UP!

2009-01-03T17:24:00.000-08:00

* Read John 1:1-9 then watch this hilarious video!

Let me tell you a familiar story...after all, it’s still Christmas.

One day in the past there was a baby that was given to unlikely and unsuspecting parents. Yet this unseemingly super-human being descended to earth from another place…some called it the heavens…by miraculous means. Upon arriving, he grew up as a precocious child with unusual gifts and was a source of consternation and anxiety for his human parents. He was intelligent beyond his years, and amazed everyone he encountered. Eventually, his legacy…or his mission to earth was revealed to him in the form of a luminous object, which he was apparently not able to utilize until he reaches the age of manhood - say about thirty years of age. To perform the rites of initiation, he had to enter a desert-ed place in order to ponder his role and his real identity. He subsequently launched his career as a hero to some, and an outlaw to others in a large, urban center. He became the defender of the weak, friend of the victimized and scourge of the self-righteous. His identity in the everyday world, however, had to be hidden, and so he is disguised as a mild-mannered everyday citizen.

You know the story right? Of course you do…we are talking about Superman. He came from Kryptonite and was delivered to a poor elderly couple. Once he entered adolescence it was apparent that he possessed some very unique gifts and they marveled at his abilities. He soon learned his mission to earth when he discovered an illuminating crystal that revealed his true identity. He then traveled to a desolate place in the North Pole where he was tested. Once he returned he moved to the big city disguised as a mild mannered reporter. He fights crime, is the defender of the weak, friend of the victimized and scourge of the self-righteous. He is hunted down, imprisoned in a prison of kryptonite, and left to die. Yet he defeated his arch enemies and rose again. Sound familiar?

In fact, the only difference between the mythic story of Superman and the story of Jesus is the presence of a love interest…Lois Lane. Well, at least we don’t know for sure if there was such a person known to Jesus. Interesting…huh? Why it’s the same idea at the base of the myth of the American west.
The good cowboy rides into a town beleaguered by villains, has a shoot-out with these perpetrators of evil, rescues those who are unable to rescue themselves, and then rides off into the sunset. The Lone Ranger was the original version of this myth. You television and movie buffs can probably name any number of replicas of this same plot line. And, of course, when the old West was no longer 'cool' as the setting for modern audiences, Captain Kirk and his crew came along to save, not just the world, but the whole darn universe.

And what is the common thread, the identical plot line running through all of these well-known myths? It is that of the extra-terrestrial, external redeemer who comes to us from somewhere else and does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. It is the same master idea behind John's prologue to his gospel and much of Christian theology: Jesus is the true teacher sent by God from heaven to a human world "below", whose mission is to go back to reclaim the glory that he had with God from the beginning, once he has accomplished his mission. He comes into the world as its light to rescue anyone who believes in him from being in the dark. The hero in this plot comes from beyond and belongs somewhere else. He is not one of us really. He is qualitatively different. Moreover, the way this plot-line works, humanity is basically flawed and cannot help itself.

The Jesus we find in the Gospel of John is not the Jesus we find in Matthew, Mark and Luke. John's Jesus does not speak in parables and witticisms to shock his listeners. He speaks in long, often boring monologues. This Jesus is not the one who seems to agonize over his mission, but the one who accepts it with seemingly super-human resolve. This Jesus is the one who always seems to be in control and to have advance knowledge of what lies ahead. When we read John, we are not reading a portrait of the historical Jesus so much as a church document designed to persuade and impress. It is theology, not history. A scholarly argument, not a documentary. John had one purpose in writing what he did and that was to convince people of who Jesus was. We also must remember that the people he was writing to tended to believe that saviours came from somewhere else and that they were different from everybody else. And that is, by and large, what we get in John: a hero who came from heaven. It is one of the founding myths upon which human civilization is built.

And it’s the same story that Christians have told the world. Why it’s become the greatest holiday in all of the world. Christians have said, for the most part, that Jesus came from somewhere else and belonged somewhere else and was able to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. The question, not just for those who study the Bible, but for serious-thinking Christians is not just whether this was who Jesus really was but whether this superhero Jesus is the one we really need.

This basic plot line of the redeemer from beyond who comes to save us from without has led to tragic consequences for the human race. If we are basically powerless to overcome the forces of evil both within and without, then we will always need someone else to take responsibility for what happens. It is that same attitude that convinced Christian missionaries to compel other people to submit to baptism. After all, "we" came from a superior world and "we" knew what was best for them! It is that same attitude that leads to the kind of bankrupt religion, morality and politics we know all too well. The average person, you and I, are really just pawns in the cosmic drama being played out for us. We do not need to get involved, nor assume responsibility for our lives or for anything else because the powers above us are going to do it for us. It is the plot that makes for spectator religion and impotent Christians; people who become tranquilized by their faith for a God who will do it all for them. When we have become convinced that we have been absolved of all accountability for the way the world is and the way it could be, what is there left for us to do? Just hold tight and pray that we make it until the end?

It's just that the Jesus of history, as far as we can guess, seems to have seen God in a very different way. Not the experience of God breaking into life from the outside but the experience of God breaking out of life from the inside. The worst thing that happened to Jesus, even worst then his crucifixion was when Rome shifted from persecuting Christianity to institutionalizing it as the official state religion under Constantine in the fourth century. From that time, Roman Christianity (both the Catholic and Protestant branches) has always been the predominant form of Christianity, and it has often brutally suppressed any alternate understandings of Christianity, including Gnosticism.

Roman Christianity is based on the authority of creeds, the inerrancy of the Bible and a personal salvation system through the death of Jesus. The church holds the keys to absolute truth and carries God’s authority. However, this wasn’t the only form of Christianity current in the first centuries after the life of Jesus. The Gnostics believed that Jesus’ life and death was an allegory for universal consciousness. He represented what every person must go through, dying to self and rising to a new awareness in the here and now. The Greek word that is commonly translated as “resurrect” is just as accurately translated as “awaken”.

There is solid evidence that Gnostic Christianity was the original and most pure form of Christianity. Christianity began with little interest in dogmatic beliefs, and more interest in the experience of self awareness. Roman Christianity was a later shift into rigid beliefs systems. Jesus’ life and death was a model for universal awakening, and the primary interest of early Christianity was to share Christ Consciousness, for people to realize the kingdom within, and to create a new earth of awakened human beings.

As we begin this sermon series using the book, “A New Earth” to inform us, I acknowledge that some Christians feel a profound clash between the spirituality of Tolle and their religious heritage. Here is the liberating truth. You can unite the spirituality of Tolle with your Christian heritage. In the process you can rid yourself of many limiting, literal interpretations of the Bible, you can discover amazing inner awareness, and you can open yourself to the essence of Christ Consciousness. This series will offer a way for you to unite the message of A New Earth with the original message of Christianity.

Jesus acted as a mirror to his disciples. He modeled union with God. At one point, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” He did this to illustrate that people were locked in a number of ideas about his identity. Jesus was the persona they needed him to be; a mighty victor, a compassionate savior, a superhero. Then he brought the question closer to home, asking them, “Who do you say that I am?” Now he was urging them beyond personas and roles to engage in the moment with him. The answer came, “You are the Christ, the Son of God”.

Ask yourself the question, “Who are you?” You too have all sorts of roles and personas. They are valid and important. Embody them fully. However, remember that they are bound by time and space. Your true essence could never be captured by an occupation, a gender, a religion or a personality type. Your true essence is beyond words and description. You are nothing less than a Christ, a child of God, an expression of universal love in this moment. You are the Word of God made flesh. Within you is the light that shines in darkness. It’s time to wake up and learn how to shine that light brighter and brighter.

The following affirmations will guide our search together:

1. The nature of Nature is to transform
2. Crises precedes transformation and problems are evolutionary drivers
3. Nature creates new whole systems out of separate parts (Synergy)
4. Nature creates evolutionary jumps through greater synergy and cooperation
5. Evolutionary advances; democracy, science, technology
6. Awareness of our capacities for conscious evolution is the key revelation of the 21st Century
7. Metaphor of the butterfly metamorphosis – in the birthing process the imaginal cells holding the image of the butterfly to come are expelled by it’s the immune system. Ultimately these cells multiply and overtake the caterpillar. Humanity has killed off its imaginal cells (JFK, MLK, Gandhi, Jesus) but they are proliferating and will eventually overtake it.

(Excerpts from Barry J. Robinson’s sermon “A Jesus With a Different Plot” for January 5, 2003 – www.fernstone.org), Ian Lawton’s presentation, “Lesson One: Christianity and A New Earth” - www.christ-community.net, and Barbara Marx Hubbard's documentary, "Humanity Ascending" - www.humanityascending.com).

The Gospel Symbols of Christmas

2008-12-08T08:54:00.000-08:00

Does God Want You to Be Rich?

2008-12-05T12:26:00.000-08:00

*Read Matthew 6:19-21; 25-33

There once was a rich man who was dying. While on his death bed, he tried to negotiate with God to have God allow him to bring his earthly treasures with him to heaven.

"God, please, I have worked so hard to accumulate all these riches. Can't I bring them along?" "This is very unusual," said God, "but since you have been such a faithful steward, I will allow you to bring one suitcase."

The man immediately had a servant fill a large suitcase with gold bricks. Shortly thereafter, he died. When he arrived at the pearly gates, he was stopped by St. Peter. "I'm sorry sir, but you know the rule -- 'you can't take it with you.' You may enter, but the suitcase has to stay outside."

"But God told me I could bring one suitcase," the man protested.
"Well, if God says it's okay -- but I still need to examine the contents before you enter." St. Peter took the suitcase from the man, opened it, and, looking very puzzled, said to the man, "You brought pavement?"

We have been tacking the tough questions over the past six weeks in an attempt to discern, do our beliefs as progressive Christians fit the stereotype that the culture perceives of us? For the past 11 years of my Christian life my spiritual beliefs have been in constant evolution. And the issue of prosperity has been one of those areas I’ve struggle most with.

A few weeks ago I talked about stumbling blocks – a physical obstacle in our path that trips us up and deters us from our destination. The promotion of a version of Christianity that is premised on the notion that God wants all of his followers to be financially rich is, in my opinion, the greatest of all stumbling blocks.

If we consider the history of prosperity in the church, financial prosperity is a relatively new concept. The fact is, the financial status of Christians through the ages has been fairly representative of the economic level of the society around them. Eking out a living has been most everyone’s primary concern through the history of the church. Until the middle of the last century, Christians were known for being hard working. Our Protestant work ethic “Idle hands were the devil’s playthings” was the rule by which we lived. But in the 1970’s a new kind of theology emerged; God loves you, and He wants you to have lots of money. It was the emergence of the “name it and claim it” gospel.

No the God that this gospel espouses is very, very appealing – after all, how could you resist a God who wants to poor out financial riches upon you? There are countless verses in the Bible to confirm this kind of God. Psalm 50:10 – The Almighty God says to King David, “I own the cattle on a thousand hills.” With all of these assets of the world at his disposal, wouldn’t he likely spread some of it around to his spiritual children? A Time Magazine poll suggested that 61% of Christians believe that God wants them to be prosperous. However, there is a “Catch” – God wants you to make you rich, but you have to get the ball rolling by giving money to him first. Giving so you can get has become the mindset of most Christians. Another Time magazine poll revealed that 31% of Christians surveyed agreed that if you give your money to God, God will bless you with more money.

There was a feature story in the Los Angeles Times that exposed these statistics about a prominent prosperity-gospel television ministry; 70% of contributions to the ministry’s $170 million revenue were made by lower-income rural Americans. Think about it. My gripe isn’t against poor Americans who make these donations; those who benefit from the charity in some way. I take issue with the way in which these funds are solicited. Ever listen to the pitch? My grandma faithfully watched these TV Evangelists and the statement that shocked me most was, “If you have been healed or saved or blessed through this ministry, and have not contributed…you are robbing God and will lose your reward in heaven.”

What is the theology behind the prosperity Gospel? God is a means to an end, not the end in himself. If that is indeed true, then apparently Jesus didn’t know how to work the system. If God wanted everyone to be rich, wouldn’t that at least include his only Son? But Jesus spent his entire life in poverty. What about the disciples? They should have been rewarded for their service to Jesus and God. Did they get it wrong too? What about poor Christians living in Africa, China and other 3rd world countries? Have they missed the boat too? The prosperity gospel has demeaned God to the status of an ATM.

The critical different between the Gospel of Christ, and the prosperity gospel is; Human Independence vs. Divine Dependence. Our independent nature affirms being self-made and self-sufficient; we want to be in control of our own destiny—and when we aren’t…then something has gone wrong and desperately try to correct it through blame or shame. The Bible frequently reminds us to rely on God for our well-being rather than our own ingenuity. The more we acknowledge our divine dependence, the more we appreciate God’s provision.

Jesus’ divine perspective on finances comes from Matthew 6; “Do not store up treasures here on earth, whose moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust can never destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” (19-21)

The apostle Paul encouraged the church of Philippi; “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. God’s peace will guard your hears and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (4:7)

The question of riches should draw us intead to an understanding of living in "Sacred Simplicity." In addition to wanting us to recognize him as our sovereign source for all that we have or need, God also wants us to disengage ourselves from the society pressure to accumulate enough to become self sufficient. God doesn’t want us to be motivated by a quest to possess but rather invites us to live in the context of sacred simplicity.

Jesus is clear, "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need" (Matthew 6:33). Just what is the Kingdom of God? It is your inner spiritual search for truth. Making your inner relationship with God and others the most important thing above all else will produce the prosperity you need to continue blessings others. Did you really get that? Let me say it again.

"Making your inner relationship with God and others the most important thing above all else will produce the prosperity you need to continue blessings others."

It’s not that money isn’t important; it’s just not to be our focus—ever. Paul summed it up in his letter to the Philippians; “Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength. (4:11-13).

The prosperity Gospel renders any notion of suffering or sacrifice for God null and void. The theology of mainstream Christian thought puts God at the center, and we are called to do whatever is necessary for us to serve others in God’s name. Sometimes our financial comfort is the stumbling block that keeps us from putting God in the center of our life. Chances are, financial hardship is a self-correcting way to remind us of who we are, and who our god is.

Does God want you to be rich? Perhaps the answer to that question just might be, IF: If God blesses you financially, he does it so you will be able to help others. And that golden nugget of truth…you can take to the bank! Amen!

Excerpts from Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz's awesome book, "I'm fine with God...It's Christians I Can't Stand" (2008: Harvest House Publishers) www.conversantlife.com

I Can’t Stand Christians Who Think Science is the Enemy!

2008-11-06T13:09:00.000-08:00

* Read Psalm 104:1-5; Romans 14:13

With all the controversary surrounding the Creation vs. Evolution debate over the past 80 years, I wonder if the deeper question on the minds of most fundamentalist Christians isn't really about science – is it good or bad for Church theology?

A little boy comes home from church and asks his father, "Daddy, in Sunday School, I was taught that we came from God but in Public School we are being taught that we are descended from the apes. Daddy, Daddy, which one is it?" Now the Dad who felt pretty uncomfortable when it came to religion vs. science discussions, thought a second and replied, "Well, the answer is very, very simple! My side of the family came from God and your mother's side of the family came from the apes!"

The question that is more often on my mind these days is: Which raises more questions these days - science or religion? Paul cautions us on the issue of being a stumbling block to our brothers and sisters. A stumbling block is a physical obstacle in our path that trips us up and deters us from our destination. In Paul's discussion, a stumbling block obstructs our spiritual journey as well; conceptual obstacles trip us up and deter us from our destination of getting to know God better and better.

Romans 14:13, “live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.”

A spiritual stumbling block can take the form of behavior—good or bad—that throws someone else off.

A short history of Faith & Science

Thomas Aquinas, in the 13th century published Summa Theologica which argued that all truth is one, so faith and reason were complementary rather than contradictory. During the Renaissance science advanced by leaps and bounds, and challenged certain assumptions by the church. Galileo was a Catholic but did not believe the earth was the center of the universe, so he was imprisoned. Darwin solidified the misconception that faith and science were incompatible in 1859 with the Origin of Species. His followers saw his theory of natural selection and common descent as a way to remove God as Creator. The result had two possibilities for Christian theologians; to harmonize evolution with creation, or reject the theory altogether, vilify Darwinism and deepen the divide between science and faith. The comes the evolution of Scientific Creationism in late 19th Century by the Seventh Day Adventists. They held three bedrock beliefs; 1) The seven days of creation were 24 hours long; 2) The great flood accounted for the geological changes that make the earth appear old; and 3) The Bible is a sourcebook for science.

The ramifications of scientific creationism movement concluded that there was only one possible interpretation of the biblical account of creation. Science was out to disprove God and the bible. and therefore all scientists are opposed to God. Any Christians who didn’t agree was opposed to Scripture.

What does God really think about all this?

I think first and foremost, God is all about truth – all God’s knowledge and words are both true and the final statement of truth. God is therefore reliable and faithful. This realization should encourage us in the pursuit of knowledge in all areas of the natural and social sciences and the humanities. Whatever the area of our investigation when we discover more truth about the nature of reality, we discover more truth that God already knows. In this sense, we can affirm that “all truth is God’s truth.”

Worldview of the Bible

As far as the ancients knew, the world was flat. There was a bubble surrounding the earth that was full of water. The sky was blue because it was made of water. The firmaments (known universe) was also enclosed within this bubble. When the bubble burst, the flood came and destroyed that worldview. No thinking Christian still believes that. Everone's understanding of science has changed, but God hasn’t - only our understandings have. New scientific understandings are truths that come from God, and therefore teach us more about God.

A theologian (person who studies God) and a scientist (person who studies nature) are both seeking truth. Shouldn’t the God of the world and the Bible be in harmony? Yes, but the conflict arises when we draw absolute conclusions from insufficient evidence. There is a new age emerging where Faith and Science are partners. What is this new consciousness? It is founded in a new worldview and belief in the unity of the Divine; that all living things are sacred and come from the Divine. There can be direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces that create and uphold life. It was the dawning of the Age of Aquarius on February 4, 1962 that began a departure from Western ideology that had oppressed many groups and damaged the Earth. This new ideology is relational, characterized by analytic thinking, intuition, the unity of all life, and the path to knowing.

Scientific knowledge lays the foundation for understanding our culture and our theology. God is now thought of in terms of relationships. Rather than being perceived as material—an old man in the sky—God is understood as power or energy which emerges when relationships are mutual and participatory. God is incarnate – embodied in all of life. We now imagine God as the “interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part” thus imaging a network, a web of connections, a system, a process in which the whole is more than the sum of its parts and in which any part affects the whole. Eastern thought gave us the paradigm long ago – reality is interdependent and neither the self nor anything is solid or permanent, rather constantly in process, affected by and affecting the whole. The Heart Sutra in Buddhism says that “Form is emptiness. Emptiness is form.” If we substitute form for the word matter, and emptiness for energy, then we have a primitive understanding of Einstein’s theory of quantum mechanics, E=MC2.

The incarnation of God becomes the work of Christ in his atonement. Yet the central meaning of that theological concept has been misunderstood. It is "At-one-ment" - when we open ourselves to the present moment, sensing that all we say or do influences what happens around us scientifically and spiritually, we experience the miracle of mindfulness, the loss of our egos and union with all that is. Aware of our interdependence we can let go of our need to be doing and in control…and just trust in being. Then when we return to doing, we can act out of compassion, accepting that we cannot be certain that the effects of our actions will be what we intended, but willing to take responsibility for them, even as we are not attached to their outcome.

Jesus said a new age was coming - the Kingdom of God was at hand. When will we Christians stop resisting it, and start affirming that Science is our partner in the revelation of God?

Excerpts from Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz's awesome book, "I'm fine with God...It's Christians I Can't Stand" (2008: Harvest House Publishers) www.conversantlife.com

Does God Really Care Who's Right or Left?

2008-10-25T17:19:00.001-07:00

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