Something was going on down by the river. Jesus' odd cousin John was there ahead of him and causing quite a stir in his camel hair (scratchy!) duds and that locust breath. mmmmmmm. Every one who could get loose was heading down to what was happening. There were people with nothing else to do. There were people desparately hoping for something new. They were looking for entertainment, energy, connection, healing. So people responsible for keeping order, the pastors and pillars of the community, followed them down to see what was going on. (We always have to keep our eyes open for where we pop up in these stories). Some of them probably really wanted to be baptised, renewed, refreshed. Others surely wanted to remind the folks they were watching. John's reaction to the newcomers was an emphatic welcome, right? Not! John was the shock jock of his generation, not motivated by fame and fortune, but with his back up, his hackles raised against inauthenticity and injustice. In scripture, it seems as though people either live with hearts open and ready for annointing or hearts so hard they have to be broken open. From John's reaction, we catch a clue of how tightly the leaders were clinging to control. maybe they were afraid. Roman authority was pretty good to those who stayed in line, but awfully hard on those who strayed out of line. Maybe they were frozen in habits that had sustained them through years of struggle for minority identity in a bigger stronger culture. Whatever it was, John was ready to crack it open. And this was the act Jesus had to follow! Two young men, called to unusual work on God's behalf, sons of mothers pregnant under strange circumstances, They were full of infectious enthusiasm if you were ready for them. And if not, well...... I found myself thinking about a video this week while grapping with what the relationship between these two might have been. Take a look at "Frst Follower" (above). When Matthew describes John and Jesus, he's showing us two young men who have each others' back. World War I fighter pilots, would say I "got your six." If you picture yourself at the center of a clock face, the area directly in front of you is twelve o’clock. Six o’clock is what lies behind you. Your “six” is the most vulnerable. So, when someone tells you that they’ve “got your six,” it means they’re watching your back (and you have theirs). Its the kind of trust that develops in service to a common mission. What did it mean to say, “I’ve got your back” when both of these young men would die horrible deaths? John’s head on a platter, and Jesus’s body outstretched on a cross? What could be more important than their very lives? What was worth following, one after another was God's vision of authentic living. They were men on a mission. Yesterday Jeff and I attended the funeral for an extroverted, mischievous, generous 20 year old. We listened to 3 generations of men, fathers, mentors, friends put into words what it meant to watch, and to help, a boy become a man. Ways they had each other’s back, ways they inspired each other to follow, first one, then another, on the sometimes winding path of learning to lead the life God gave them. THey shared what it means to lose sight of a life, for one you love to disappear over the horizon of our sight line and trust that, just as the earth is not a flat plain from which we can fall, the end of life as we know it is not the end of life as God knows it. This week the world has been watching South Africa as her people farewell Nelson Mandela. In the midst of mourning, reporter Grogory Warner said……..there is a sense that people feel that they're ready to take on a future, and as they say, “take the bait,” be the next Mandela. A lot of people talk like that. The people in South Africa have been dancing for days. Dancing for joy, dancing for grief, dancing for life. Its a resurrection-dance that is infectious, that catches up ready hearts and breaks others open to God's grace. Chidren dancing, college students dancing, grandmothers dancing, former jail guards dancing.... This is the startling claim of our faith. Death is not stronger than life. Life is infinitely larger than what we can see. [1] Gregory Warner, NPR 12-7-13, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=249434909
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12-1-13 And A Little Child. 10:30 MOSAIC Worship Message The NY Times Weekend arts section headline on November 1 was a cultural mash up of biblical prophecy and popular culture. It read : “And a little child shall lead them….Into Space Battle” and was a movie review for “Ender’s Game,” a sci-fi box office flop that may well become a cult classic. Listen to reviewer Manahloia Dargis” choice of words: “As the [adolescent hero] furiously moves spaceships and troops across computer screens, he looks by turns, like a superexcited kid, an orchestra conductor, Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and even a Christ figure. Childhood can be tough in movies, but rarely do screen children suffer for our sins as they do here.” Its no surprise that Mr. Card’s novel, which he followed with several sequels, has sold a zillion copies. The charismatic leader, the divine child, the possible Christ Child or potential Hitler stand-in…..Ender is singled out because he seems to be a natural leader, which in the logic of both the book and the movie means someone who imposes his will on enemy and friend alike. He’s rational and brutal. {His leadership potential was first spotted at age 6 when he] methodically brutalizes a bully, kicking the other boy repeatedly, including in the face. Ender has logically decided that by crushing the other boy, he will prevent future attacks. [1], We have many child heroes, and anti-heroes these days. Maybe its to be expected of a baby boomer generation never completely ready to grow up. Some of the heroes are real. Others are imaginary. Some reveal our win/lose, us/them assumptions about life as survival. Others make us wonder if there isn’t another way. Some are familiar Some are unexpected. I just finished reading a child’s version of the 2005 earthquake in Northern Pakistan. On October 8, In that disaster 73,000 people were killed, 11,000 orphans left, 3.5 million children lost their homes, 6,400 schools were reduced to rubble. In "I am Malala," the young author remembers her father’s trip to his family village in the beautiful Swat valley a couple of days later : .he told us that the last part of the journey had been very difficult. Much of the road had collapsed into the river and large boulders had fallen and blocked the way. Our family and friends said they thought it was the end of the world. They described the roar of rocks sliding down hills and everyone running out of their houses reciting the Quran, the screams as roofs crashed down and the howls of the buffaloes and goats. As the tremors continued they had spent the entire day outdoors and then the night too, huddling together for warmth, even though it was bitterly cold in the mountains….Mullahs from the TNSM preached that the earthquake was a warning from God. If we did not mend our ways and introduce shariat (Islamic law), they shouted in their thundering voices, more severe punishment would come. A few years later, that punishment came. But did it really come from God? I was ten when the Taliban came to our valley. Maniba and I had been reading the Twilight books and longed to be vampires. Now it seemed to us that the Taliban arrived in the night just like vampires. They appeared in groups, armed with knives and Kalishnikovs, and first emerged in Upper Swat, in the hilly areas of Matta. In the dark of night, one is taken and one is left, By a knife, a bullet, a drone strike. And a little child shall lead them. God’s purposefulness pops up in the most unexpected places, doesn’t it? The story Malala tells takes her readers through her efforts to keep schools open for herself and other girls until one day while she's rding home on the bus, a would be assassin not many years older than herself puts a bullet through her head. She rose to international attention, a story breaking open the reality of resilient everyday people struggling to live with hope and dignity under incredible odds. Malala’s story aligns with God’s story, incredibly expansive enough to exceed our expectations, enduringly persistent enough to keep startling us awake. Today we entered Matthew’s world. The text that will guide us through worship for the next year is not much longer than a comic book. With some pretty interesting characters to illustrate: Open it up, take a look at the first 2 chapters. Who do you see? ___The genealogy in Mathew 1 ___“will he or won’t he” Joseph, ___Magi,/Wise men/astrologers, (Why does the carol call them kings? Why do WE call them kings ___The unseen innkeeper (who we assume gave permission to stay in the stable) ___Archelaus ___Herod Jesus' strange cousin John will appear in next week's reading (springing onto the scene fully grown & oddly clothed) Who ARE these people? How do we dress them for the children’s pageant? Where do our Christmas stories come from? Movies, picture books, memories? Reading the scripture’s Christmas stories (plural: Matthew’s Luke’s John’s Paul’s) raises questions we may have forgotten about. Read them this week and ask yourself What do you notice? What do you want to ask? What good news do you hear? Will you see a God who divides and conquers or will you see a God who slips into humanity’s cracks and crevices and illuminates them with life and hope? Come, it is the season of watching and waiting, Even…no, especially, in the festival traditions and family gatherings, in end of year budget crunches and tight time schedules. Come, let us listen for stories with God’s power used in surprising ways. Come away and let this little child, Jesus, lead you as he sneaks into the world. Come, experience the redemption story anew. Prayer : Lord, we confess that our savior complex kicks in pretty easily: "I’ll take this one, and this one, and those two.Those others I’m ready to leave behind." Knowing that you see what we cannot, knowing that you love who we do not want to, ready to be awakened by your startling presence, We hold in prayer the unkown and the unloved. Draw our attention to the places you long to be so that we may watch for your coming. [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/movies/enders-game-with-harrison-ford-and-asa-butterfield.html?_r=0 (Manohlia Dargis, film review, (NY Time 11-1-13) 12-1-13 “Come, Let Us Go” 8:30 CELEBRATION service, Brunswick UMC Advent 1 Dec. 1 Watchfulness Matthew 24: 36-44, Isaiah 2: 1-5, Romans 13: 11-14 "But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. “Merry Christmas” Isn’t that what we’re supposed to be saying? (Or Happy Holidays, if we’re careful not to offend?) Merry Christmas…Noah? What on earth does Noah have to do with Jesus? Or with Christmas? What a strange start to a season we think we know everything about. The seasonal tug of war has begun. Do we look this way, or that? What are we supposed to see? What are we watching for? Today, we stepped into the worlds of Isaiah the prophet and Matthew the evangelist, our companions for the Journey toward Christmas. Isaiah looks forward. Matthew looks backward. What IS God doing in between? Two weeks ago I asked some of our youth group for their insights reading the first two chapters of Matthew. Their first reaction was to notice what’s missing: the manger, shepherds, animals, angels. It is a biblically literate group. No one asked where Santa Claus was. Their second reaction was, "This isn't our Christmas story!" The scripture we heard a few minutes ago seems even less Christmasy. Is God confused? Are lectionary planners just trying to fill space left vacant by the pieces missing from Matthew's version of the nativity? For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. What a crazy time. What should we be looking at? What are we watching for? It’s a season that’s easy on the eye around here. Look at all the beautiful decorations. It’s a season that plays havoc on the checkbook. Now you see it, now you don’t! It’s a season that’s disorienting on the moral compass. At the end of the day do we reserve a little bit for those without, Or At the beginning of the season, can we remember who Christ came for? One will be taken and one will be left. You wouldn’t leave me behind, would you, Jesus? Only, (turn back) could you hold off on the whole coming and going thing until I’ve got my cookies baked and my shopping list done and my cards mailed? They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Maybe that’s what’s happening with the “Sunday Assembly.” [1] In London, about 600 people began gathering monthly, and now twice a month, to sing, share liturgy, seek life’s meaning, and to be inspired in community. What they have in common is that none of them believe in God. They are atheists craving worship. Has absence made the heart grow fonder? Philosophical pragmatists believe we know something is true if it works. PUt another way, if something works then it is true. If worship works, might not the reality of God be true? Some observers believe that denying what motivates worshipful behavior will be its demise. How long can you keep putting energy into something that is not true? But I can’t help wondering if the practice of worship might not lead some to seek the object of worship, God. Watch and wait. if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. In the middle of our regularly scheduled show, Before the oven timer tells us the roast is done. While we’re fighting over the rules of the UMC or who will get access to health care this year or how much we’ll defund, (not defend) the Supplemental Nutrition Program this week…. In our tug of war where the winner takes….what? God will pop up. And not all of us will be ready. Airman Brandon Bryant wanted to be “part of a force for good” when he became a drone operator. For six years he worked in Nevada, using a computer console with vivid and violent scenes of Afghan and Pakistani villages 7,000 miles away. Interviewed this October by GQ, Brandon said that his “views about the morality of the operation changed when he saw a child vaporized on the screen and saw hundred of people blown to bits. He walked away from a $109,000 bonus with a severe case of PTSD and a final kill count of 1,626. ‘The number made me sick to my stomach,” he said.’”[2] What are we watching? Do we have a choice? Jesus’ words today remind us that being ready is not something we can take for granted, its not a permanent state of being that we achieve. It’s a watchfulness to be tended each day. Who will be left behind? We leave people behind everyday. We take people out every day. But if God has God’s way, the answer is “no-one.” All who are willing will be gathered into this Advent ark of salvation. So God reaches out to gather us in, -invites us to meet each morning- In prayer, in scripture, so that our eyes and ears are open as we enter the day. In the mid day, to notice what might be getting in our way: to meet with others trying to learn to keep their eyes open. To think of the end of the day less as a time for locking up what’s left that sharing what’s been given, leaving more room for God’s wide embrace in the restorative night hours. Paul, the church builder, wrote, Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; …..[Come], put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Romans 13:11-14) Odd words between black Friday and cyber Monday. It almost sounds like God lacks interest in our holiday preparations, our physical gratifications. On Christmas morning many of us will face a pile of presents meant to represent love. But God will be present as the face of love. Come, let us go and watch for the coming of Christ. . We’ll find Christ coming where God’s love is needed most. I invite you to practice watching by thinking of a person who you find it hard to love, or to forgive, or to help. Hold the image of that person’s face in your mind as we pray. For you, ________, Christ was born. For you, ___________Christ died. For you, _________Christ lives again. Prayer: by Thom Shuman In the compassion which can overturn injustice, in the forgiveness which can heal a broken heart, in the wonder which can illuminate shadowed longings: surely your days are coming, God of holy seasons. In the peace which can calm anxious souls, in the joy which can shatter our despair, in the songs which can lift sagging spirits: surely the signs of your Advent are all around us, Servant of justice. In the giggles of children who use too much tape and wrapping paper, in the warm cookie smells coming out of grandpa's kitchen, in the kindness of the stranger who lets us go ahead in the line: surely you are in our midst, Spirit of joy. [1] “Sunday Assembly,” Century Marks, Christian Century, 11-27-13 p. 8 [2] “Remote Control,” Century Marks, Christian Century 11-27-13, p. 9 Luke 21: 5-19, Isaiah 65: 17-25 What Isaiah’s people long for, Luke’s people enjoy. First we hear Isaiah describe the ancient people of Israel after the destruction of the original temple, Solomon’s temple. Then we hear the Gospel story with their descendents back in the Holy Land, back at the reconstructed temple, able to worship once again in their own space, in God’s house. What Isaiah’s people long for, Luke’s people enjoy. And yet, even as they worship, Jesus warns them it will not last. A third group, us, reads these stories as we prepare for Thanksgiving, It’s a time when we ask, “what are we grateful for at this time, in our lives?” Let’s ask these earlier people the same question. “What did you have to be grateful for?” It may help us answer the question for ourselves. 1. If we’re talking about tangible blessings, goods in hand, Isaiah’s people sure seem to have the least cause for gratitude. Look at them, ripped from their homes, forced to walk about 500 miles due east, away from the shores of the Jordan, the Mediterranean, and the Salt Sea, shores that bounded their land and their imaginations. It’s no wonder that they cry out in the songs of the Psalms: By the Rivers of Babylon-there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there, we hung up our harps. For our captors asked us for songs and out tormenters mirth, Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” But how could we sing the Lord’s Song in a foreign land? Psalm 137 One the face of it at least, Isaiah’s people, God’s people, have very little to be grateful for. And yet,….and yet… from the mouths of these same people, come these extraordinary words of hope! All the earlier troubles, chaos and pain are things of the past…. Look ahead with joy. Anticipate what I am creating! …I’ll take joy in Jerusalem and create my people as pure delight! They’ll build houses…and move in. They’ll plant fields and eat what they grow! No more building a house that some outsider takes over. No more planting fields that some enemy confiscates… For they themselves are plantings blessed by God. With their children and grandchildren likewise God-blessed. How did they get from point a to point b? What could possibly have changed? The singers haven’t gone home, they haven’t gained independence, what has caused them to find the song to sing? Read the words once more and listen for the answer. --------------------------------------------? Anticipate what I am creating! plantings blessed by God. And what can these people possible have to be grateful for? --------------------------------------------? They have God. And they have each other. II. Now let’s turn to the folks in the gospel story. Here they are, back in the temple again, and not just that prosaic little place that the first re-settlers rebuilt under Nehemiah. This place is gorgeous. Herod, has done himself up proud showing both the Jews and the Romans that he knows how things ought to be done. Of course, his house is still a bit bigger, but……hey.. The Jewish people can now worship their own God in their own temple. What’s not to be grateful for? Do you remember what passage is right before this one? A poor widow pours out her copper coins into the treasury and is commended by Jesus, while the wealthier patrons look on. “For all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.” Wait a minute. Why is there still poverty? Didn't God promise their ancestors that there would be abundance for all, old and young, when they returned to the their own land? But that doesn’t seem to be what’s on the people’s mind, does it? As our passage this morning picks up, they’re all craning their necks, gawking at the magnificence of the building and its accoutrements. Is the wonder of what human hands have made distracting them from God’s command to seek justice and love kindness and walk humbly with our God? Then Jesus says the unthinkable….its all gonna come down. its all gonna come down. That gets their attention! Oh Lord, how will we know???? Man I don’t want to be anywhere near this place when it falls! Aren’t you going to save us? Jesus' followers must have had a horrible case of historical déjà vou. Maybe Jesus was confused, momentarily living in the past……. They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" Now Jesus doesn’t always give a straight answer. (Have you noticed that?) He often gives us what we need to hear rather than what we want to hear. Teachers. Go figure. So Jesus tells them what NOT to pay attention to: people claiming to be messiah, doomsday predictions, …… And Jesus tells them what NOT to be afraid of: war, natural disaster, famines and plagues, even dreadful signs from heaven. Can you hear Jesus peeling away layers of security? He’s exposing our real need, the ultimate foundation of our lives. What is of lasting importance is not the beautiful gifts or the decorations in the temple. What is of lasting importance is not the temple itself. What is of lasting importance is not all of the things and circumstances in life that that make us feel secure: Jesus gets down to the most basic, ultimate matters of importance. If this place burned down tonight, what would he have left tomorrow? What is of lasting importance isn’t in our hands at all. It’s not our jobs, the ones we have or the ones we wish we had. Its not the retirement plans; the houses, big or small; or the well stocked grocery store right down the road. It’s not even the assurances of love we seek by finding the perfect holiday presents to give. Whether its shopping with the pre-dawn thrill of “black Friday,” or hours spent researching the catalog and internet pages, or knitting the perfect sweater, these things will not save us. Not only that, Jesus tells these folks that they have even more to lose in the hard times ahead. Even their friends and family will desert them. Its so hard to imagine times like that being truly possible. Times like the Civil War in our country when brother fought brother. Times like living in the mountains of Pakistan now. Times like the aftermath of the Typhoon in the Philippines when neighbors start looting for food to survive or anything they can lay their hands on because they’ve lost sight of any thing else they can count on. Jesus tells the followers with him that day that they will be stripped of everything important except one thing. The question is will they remember that one thing, or be absorbed by all that they have lost. The one thing is this: I, Jesus says, will help you remember who you are. I will give you words and wisdom. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. I am with you and you are with me. And that’s what saves you. By your endurance you will gain your souls. III. What do WE have to be grateful for? SO much that it sometimes becomes difficult to remember what is ultimately worthy of our deepest gratitude, God’s presence with us. There’s a story Jesus used to tell: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” And he said, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” -Mark 4 Too many wonderful options can create a weedy garden where the essential is choked out if its not nurtured. One wonderful project, if it displaces God, becomes an evil bird raiding the garden of it potential for growth. Admiring something beautiful becomes superficial, a ground of gravel, if one doesn’t move beyond the beauty to the source of all beauty. And the tough times that we all experience in our lives together and alone: -For Isaiah’s people, the Diaspora; for Luke’s people the looming destruction of their beloved temple; -For us, the trials we face as a nation and as a community, Those tough times will burn us to a crisp like an unrelenting summer sun if we do not protect and care for the tender and basic ground of our presence with God. This is where the real test comes. What we can and must ultimately be thankful for is God’s self, who makes all blessing possible, and even probable-the God who demands we express our thanks by seeking justice and loving mercy and walking humbly with our God. Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sucamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see. And when the Savior passed that way he looked up in the tree. And said, Zacchaeus, you come down! For I'm going to your house today. For I'm going to your house today! Zacchaeus was a wee little man, but a happy man was he, for he had seen the Lord that day, and a happy man was he; and a very happy man was he. Does this catchy old Sunday School tune start singing in your ear when you read today's gospel passage? It seems like a simple story, but I have to confess that I had a real problem preparing to preach on Zacchaeus' story. There have been at least 1 communion sermon, 2 stewardship sermons, and 3 titles dancing around in my mind: “Out on a Limb,” “Turning the Tables,” and “When a Little Goes a Long Way.” There's so much to be discovered in this story! So let's just go into the story and see what God has for us to read between the ines. Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. Just passing through. This is Jesus' last trip. He's moving toward Jerusalem and what we know waits for him in his final days. He dosn't seem to intend to spend any time in Jericho, but on the way in he's already instructed the crowd to "let the children come to me" and to bring him the blind man they don't seem to think he should bother with. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. Zacchaeus was a “big man” who was too short to see. His name means “pure, righteous,” but he wasn’t feeling it. He wasn’t living it. What got in his way? His job title, architelones, is only mentioned once in the bible, here. In fact, its the only time the term is used in all of Greek Literature. There's comething unique going on here. He was a little big man. His way of earning a living had determined his social position. Supervising toll collectors as goods moved over the Jordan river and through Jericho on their way to the city meant he worked for the unpopular Romans. And because he was rich people then would have assumed, whether it was true or not, that he was skimming off the top. That was pretty standard practice. Come to think of it, its still practiced now. Just this week it came to light that Homeland Security workers are regularly padding their pay checks with overtime they feel entitled to. It wasn’t all coming up roses for Zaccheaus. There was push back from the crowd, from his neighbors. His wealth was getting in the way of his happiness. His reputation was getting in the way of his belonging in the community. As a rsults, the crowd was now a barrier between him and this guy coming down the road. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. Zacchaeus saw where Jesus was headed and completely abandoned his dignity to get there in time to see him. A sycamore fig is an interesting tree to climb. Its taller than your average fig tree, up to 60 feet, and the fruit grows through the bark in clusters that would have made foot holds for children climbing. The fruit’s not as good as regular figs, but in hard times, the poor would eat it to survive. There's probably another sermon in the way Zacchaeus literally climbs on the food of the poor. For today, let's notice he's becoming childlike in order to reach Jesus. (Awareness of what he's done to get where he is in life may dawn later.) When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." file://localhost/Users/karenlmunson/Desktop/Z.jpg How did Jesus know he was up there in the shady leaves, probably because people were pointing and laughing. What outrageous behavior! He’s not “all that” after all, is he? But the outrage turns and cuts in their own hearts and minds when they hear what Jesus says to him. I MUST (divine imperative) stay at your house today. The very idea that Jesus would go to this man’s house for table fellowship, even invite himself, is so outrageous in its time that some scholars have come to the conclusion it must be made up. It can’t be true. But others point out the unique details in this passage that make it obvious its not a parable, or a fable, or a sermon illustration. It’s a real life encounter between Jesus and a desperate man, with us looking on trying to figure out what to make of it. At this point in the story the word "all" forces us to ask which character we identify with and why. The crowd? Zacchaues? Jesus? Why is grumbling such a great unifier? Have you ever noticed how it draws a crowd together? Wise managers will sometimes even give employees something harmless to grumble at. Are we in the grumbling corwd or are we ready and willing to risk indignity to see Jesus? Or are we modeling Christ, able to stop and notice someone like this strange little person up a tree? Did you notice that Jesus spoke first? Would Zacchaeus ever have spoken to Jesus? Why not? He seems to be silenced by public opinion, enslaved by professional success, locked down in battle between the power of money and the power of communal identity and acceptance. Some of us may be victims of success today. Its not just the tyranny of money. Who controls our time as we seek success at work, in sports, in our social lives? "Telones" (tax or toll collector) has the root "telos," used by philosophers to mean "purpose, or end." Zacchaeus turned from serving the purposes of the empire controling his people to serving the God who frees all people. Meeting Jesus shows him the way. Jesus will also become a victim of his success, literally, hung him on a cross at the request of the crowd. But you can't keep that good man down, can you?! The resurrection is God's declaration of freedom across all time and place. I think about some of that saints we remember in this season of Saints. St Francis was known for being free of the love of money. Was he also free to use his time as God led him? What would it look like to today to be free of the tyranny of time and money? And who are saints we’ve known who embody Christ’s freedom from the tyrannical aspects of money, time, public opinion, and selling our own selves short? Zacchaeus’ urgency, running, climbing, comes to a head in Jesus’ urgency, I must…… And then the mood shifts. As soon as Jesus speaks, Zachaeus responds with joyful abandon. (I like this guy more and more as the story goes on). Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." He’s turning his own tables over, not waiting for Jesus to give him instructions. He knows what he needs to do, because he knows Torah, the law of his people. He wants to do even more than the law requires. Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. Zacchaeus, who controlled our money as chief tax collector, is one of us, our family. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost." Those of us who forget God is saving us in our lostness find ourselves grumbling instead of rejoicing, feels like our privileges are violated (remember the prodigal son). Does anger also become a privileged possession if we refuse to give it up? Whose house would we rather Jesus didn't visit, much less stay at? Jesus looks at a rich man and instead of challenging him to give up his cash, invites himself to the man’s house, (which upsets everyone in the crowd), then witnesses and affirms the man's radical transformation. It’s another open ended story. We're left to imagine how we feel about the transformation of someone we've learned to love to hate. We're left to ask if we can see the direction Jesus is headed. We're left to wonder would it take for us to run ahead and meet him there? Things get in the way. We get weighed down with the things we have to take care of, house, barns, investments, and valuable objects….We get tied up in what people think about us, and in our opinions about other people. Zacchaeus was the goose ready to fall from the sky when Jesus came along side and said I"m with you, try your wings. Then the story goes from being a story of urgency to a story of freedom. This is the vision of beloved community. Opportunity overcomes pessimism. Repentance replaces guilt. Eagerness to do what's right pours out of the joy of being free. Christian tradition says that Zacchaeus became the bishop of Caesarea, appointed by Peter, and a model of Christian hospitality in the time of house churches. The little man went a long way after humbling himself. Not becuase he was rich, but becuase he learned what to do with his riches. Not because he was important, but because he was ready to meet Jesus, and willing to become part of the people of God. Because Jesus stopped for one man, and instead of giving him what his naighbors tought he deserved, gave him what God knew he needed. 10- 27-13 "My Bible" Reformation Sunday Luke 18:9-14 On October 31, 1517, a man walked up to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany and nailed a 95-part message to the door. He did so with conviction, not contempt. Each one was about the length of a tweet, or a face book post. Posts that packed a punch. Inspired by the bible, Martin Luther believed with every fiber of his being that others should have direct access to that inspiration as well. Luther started out as a regular middle class kid making the right moves toward success (laid out by his father) when one day the ground beside him was quite literally struck by lightening. Within 2 weeks he was in a Augustinian Monastery studying for the priesthood. He became a meticulous follower of rules, trying to earn an evasive assurance that God knew who he was and cared. (I"m humming "Blessed Assurance as I consider his plight). But instead, Luther became depressed. The closer he got to the center of his religion (literally Rome), the more he saw how the church had disintegrated, been hollowed out. It was reading the Bible that put his feet on solid ground. (And now for a verse of "On Christ, the Solid Rock I Stand.....") When Luther learned that faith was trusting God and God’s promises and that lack of faith was trusting anything else he wrote, “I felt myself born again.” His life work became translating scripture into German so that others could read it as well. He came to think of the lack of educated clergy as a key part of the crisis. Scripture was guarded by a select few and used to make their own lives better. Do you a special bible with you? What makes it special? Many of us have fond memories of people or events attached to our bibles. I brought a few of my own. Here's the one my parents received as a wedding present from their Swedish Lutheran pastor in 1959. Here's the white one I received in third grade from the little Methodist church in Indiana that taught me faith moves out of the building in mission. Here's the Serendipity Bible I bought for myself when I started leading small groups in college. There's the Neslte Aland I had to buy in Seminary for Greek class. Each one represents a part of my journey. There’s a new wave of folks tracking down family bibles that have been dispersed through good will, garage sales, and wandering family members. I wonder how many people actually read the bibles they bring back home. These bibles are precious not just for the family ties and memories, but because the inspired word of God shaped the lives of the people who carried and read them. Yesterday when I went to gather this stack of bibles, I realized I've now given away many in my collection. It brings me joy to imagine the role they may be playing in the lives they now share. We are 3 years from the 500th ann. of Reformation, (which will be in 2017, the same year we pay off the next of our 2 church mortgages, doubel the celebration!) We are on the painful cutting edge of reformation in our own denomination. We are a faith community finding new energy re-forming our local way of doing church. In every reformation some things are restored, some things are stored away for now, Some, like the violence in that earlier Reformation, we pray are gone forever, and some new work of God is always discovered. The bottom line is reset. Its tough work. Now, before we go giving Pharisees a completely bad rap, we might remember it’s fairly certain that Jesus was one. (Otherwise its unlikely he would have eaten with them frequently as scripture records.) And before we go giving the Medieval Catholic Church a totally bad rap, we should remember that Martin Luther was one of its priests, educated and ordained. These are family struggles, not wars with foreign agencies. They are internal reformations. And the Catholic Church after Reformation is not the same church it was pre-reformation. Luther’s public struggle began with the war against indulgences. I won't read all 95. Here are a few: 44. Because love grows by works of love, man thereby becomes better. Man does not, however, become better by means of indulgences but is merely freed from penalties. 45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a needy man and passes him by, yet gives his money for indulgences, does not buy papal indulgences but God's wrath. 46. Christians are to be taught that, unless they have more than they need, they must reserve enough for their family needs and by no means squander it on indulgences. 47. Christians are to be taught that they buying of indulgences is a matter of free choice, not commanded. 65. Therefore the treasures of the gospel are nets with which one formerly fished for men of wealth. 66. The treasures of indulgences are nets with which one now fishes for the wealth of men. Here’s a reality check: what would a reformer today nail to our church door? If it’s a real reformation wake up notice, it will come from radical encounter with scripture and with the full odd lot of people we share our world with. Becauce at our heart, Church is the living custodian of the living word not the keeper of relics. ( Singing, "Wonderful Words of Life.") The bottom line for Martin Luther was sola scriptura, a healing of the rift between God’s people and God’s word that couldn’t be paid out in coin with the false hope of forgiveness. We Wesleyans would add the spiritual disciplines by which we stay in love with God, all of which flow out of our encounter with the Holy One of scripture. In our Stewardship season we're inspired by words like Sirach 35:12-15 Give to the Most High as he has given to you, and as generously as you can afford. For the Lord is the one who repays, and he will repay you sevenfold. Do not offer God a bribe, for he will not accept it; and do not rely on a dishonest sacrifice; for the Lord is the judge, and with him there is no partiality. Every generation has to relearn the truth Jeremiah spoke to the God’s people so long ago: Thus says the LORD concerning this people: Truly they have loved to wander, they have not restrained their feet;(14: 10) …….Can any idols of the nations bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Is it not you, O LORD our God? We set our hope on you, for it is you who do all this. (14:22) I think the bottom line where God longs to meet Brunswick UMC right now, this year, is building relationship to sustain healthy discipleship. Martin Luther didn’t get every thing perfect, he had a horrible unexamined case of cultural anti-Semitism. We won’t perfectly embody God’s kingdom here and now. We’ll carry unexamined assumptions for the next generation to discover and discard. But that doesn’t mean we don’t try. In our increasingly fragmented society, held together by the duct tape of popular entertainment, Reformation means forming deep relationship that are radical in their diversity. Not hunkering down and digging in with others who reinforce our point of view but planting our roots in God’s perspective altering word, branching out with others who are truly different from us. Life would be so much easier if we could just think of changes in the church as fashion trends, if we could just pat ourselves on the back, and say good enough. Judgment doesn’t come until later…. There’s plenty of time to update our spiritual wardrobe. But this Jesus we meet in scripture gives us a reality check. He doesn’t want to meet us all decked out in our party clothes. Jesus wants us clothed in his character: in forgiveness, in mercy, in justice. Luke 18:9-14 [Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted." Every generation has to relearn the truth Jeremiah spoke to the God’s people so long ago: Thus says the LORD concerning this people: Truly they have loved to wander, they have not restrained their feet;(14: 10) …….Can any idols of the nations bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Is it not you, O LORD our God? We set our hope on you, for it is you who do all this. (14:22) But lately I’ve been wondering . . . Am I following Jesus or just believing in Christ? ‘Cause I can believe and not change a thing, But following will change my whole life. He never said, “Come, acknowledge my existence, Or “Believe in me, I’m the Second Person of the Trinity!” But 87 times he said, “Follow me!” Bryan Sirchio ,Lyrics to "Follow Me" Gordon Cosby once preached: There is absolutely nothing new about a new form of church. The church, the Body of Christ, is always changing. …we ask what Jesus would want his community to look like now, against this global backdrop. [of our particular period of history]. Jesus had to work out his life in the context of Pax Romana, and also in the context of Jerusalem, his local governing power center. [he summed it up for us in a little talk people call the Sermon on the Mount. That’s the only real peace.]…how are we who are followers of Jesus going to inwardly, faithfully embody God’s essence in our own Jerusalems? …, I am finding that there are two ‘givens’ – necessary components – for a true embodiment of Christ’s community: First, I will be a member of a small family group of extreme ‘opposites’ – people who represent diversity in terms of race and ethnicity, economics, education, personality and temperament, in all ways ….. Together we lift the extreme heaviness of each other’s burdens, and … participate in lifting the misery of the ages. Second, I will be a witness … – telling others of Jesus, who IS the good news. .. We easily ask each other, “How are you doing these days?” but the more important question, “How are you and Jesus doing?” goes unsaid. .. If we do a number of good works but never learn to introduce someone to a genuine relationship with Jesus and ways to nurture and deepen that relationship, we have failed to witness to the Source of Life itself. I know many of us have been offended or amused or even disgusted by the ways some have ‘witnessed’ to us, but why should that be an excuse not to speak of the Love that is our Source…. I’m not talking about twisting people’s wills or persuading their minds, but gently picking the locks of their hearts – becoming such well-tuned locksmiths that hearts can be eased open for a mighty in-rushing of Love.[1] [1] Gordon Cosby was the founding minister of The Church of the Saviour and a member of the Church of Christ, Right Now. “Being Church NOW” is condensed from a sermon preached on August 20, 2006. (MP3 Link) Pastoral Prayer God, we give you the praise that is due you, O you who answer prayer! To you we come with our brothers and sister around the world. When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us, you forgive our transgressions. You bless those who you draw near and satisfy us with the goodness of your kin-dom. O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. As the harvest comes home and nature clothes itself for winter, your creation shouts and sings together for joy. (adaptation of Psalm 65) With millions of our brothers and sisters in Christ we pray for the most representative gathering of World ever. Bless the more than 3'000 participants gathering this week for the 10th assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Busan, South Korea this week. We pray for the dramatic changes in the composition of World Christianity this gathering will represent, moving its epicenter to the South and demographically becoming younger and much more diverse. We hear the intense longings for justice, peace and reconciliation in the divided Korean peninsula …in the Middle East, in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and in our own United States. Bless the delegates as they ambitiously work to formulate a ‘theology of life' that integrates the dignity of all, respects the integrity of all creation and transforms value systems in order to break destructive trends in the global economy. (adapted from http://www.globethics.net/web/gtl/newsletter) Thank you, God for living in a state that helps lead the country farm-to-school participation and Maine has come out near the top. You bless the children in 85% of Maine schools participating in farm-to-school programs, and those that till edible gardens. Guide our own beloved United Methodist Church through the disturbing and sacred changes that rock our boats. From the cowardice that dares not face new truth, from the laziness that is contented with half truth, from the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth, God Lord, deliver us, AMEN (UMH 597, Kenya) *Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 Luke 17: 11-19 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well." Nine went on. Did they even realize they’d been healed? Can they even tell their own story? Did they keep on keeping on without hope to open their eyes? Or was realizing something was different so disorienting that they clung to habit, putting one foot in front of another? Or did realizing something was different disorient them with delight? The scripture lets us imagine our way in. One knew. He saw that he was healed and turned back to say thank you. And he was a Samaritan, He was descended from the same ancestors as Jesus’ folks, but by a family branch allowed to stay in the land when others were taken into Babylonian captivity. Their stories had diverged and religious practices grown subtly apart until the relationship between the two people became one of those extended family aversions. “They’re different.” Those nine who didn’t stop, I wonder whether the words of the psalm might have been so familiar that they’d stopped paying attention to what they meant, like the favorite familiar tune that lodges in our peripheral awareness, where we hum. I wonder whether, like the hometown crowd that turned on Jesus when he let out that he was God’s good news, these folks had lost the fresh eyes of hope. Can any of us blame them? Because of that strange one, the foreigner, who recognized and remembered what was going on, we hear his hope-full story. I’m struck again by how open ended the story is. What will the one who came back do next? "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well." Hope comes from those who remember, From those of us who can tell the story of new life God has brought through our little deaths: deaths of dreams, deaths of relationships, even the deaths of those we’ve loved. We wish we felt better. We hope for resurrection. Wishing entertains, it distracts. Hope empowers, it overcomes despair. You may have seen it in the news: FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Just five months after the lives of hundreds of innocent bystanders changed forever, 11 of the Boston Marathon bombing survivors made their way onto the Gillette Stadium field prior to Thursday’s Patriots-Jets game to a rousing standing ovation. …Prior to kickoff, the 11 survivors, including 27-year-old double amputee Jeff Bauman, emerged from the player tunnel wearing customized Patriots jerseys. Accompanying each of them were wounded military veterans from the nonprofit organization, Operation Warrior Wishes, who have overcome similar injuries while serving our country. The honored guests lined the Patriots sideline for player introductions before holding a moment of silence for those who lost their lives during the bombings last April - Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell and Lingzi Lu. www.operationwarriorwishes.org. While the article was primarily about the day’s celebration, with public support for survivors of both the Boston Marathon bombing and military incidents, about visits by cheerleaders, and the generosity of the Kraft family’s donations to the Boston Strong fund, the real underlying story is of people with enough hope to work their way back from devastating injury; people now willing to share that hope with others. It’s an incredible parallel to the Jesus story that draws us here each week. Friends of the Spirit, build up one another’s hope. “See How They Love One Another.” Hope is very different from wishful thinking, though we often use “wish” and “hope” interchangeably. Wishes escape from reality, its about what’s not there. Hoping is rooted in experience, and in relationship. Hope reaches for what may seem impossible and creates with whatever is available If the wise men had stopped in their travels to wish upon the star without traveling on in hope, we would not have their story of unlikely discovery in a manger. Do your dreams really come true when you sit and wish upon a star? It’s a lovely whimsy. It rarely produces what lovers with broken hearts or parents holding the bodies of their children long for. Hope inspires action that is hope full. Wishes long for fulfillment. When we stop at wishing we are help less. There was an interview on NPR a couple of weeks ago with one of this year’s MacArthur winners, Jazz musician, Vijay Iyer. He's the creator of the Veteran’s Dream Project: about how veterans live with the weight of those memories. IYER: Mike did a lot of interviews with… [Iraq war]veterans, and so many of the pieces on this album are derived from their telling of their dreams. But some of the people he interviewed said they didn't sleep at all, or didn't dream at all, and if they did, it was a medicated kind of sleep. That's where the song "Rem Killer" comes from: It's a litany of all the medications that people would take to not have to relive some of these memories in the course of sleep….This project is, first and foremost, for the veterans — it was created with and by veterans and it's very much for that community to experience. For me, one of the best responses we got was from Lynn Hill herself, who's one of our collaborators. She said that after being involved in this project, she was able to leave therapy and she stopped having nightmares, and now she's married and has a baby. So she underwent a certain healing process through the telling and through being heard. That, to me, is far beyond what we ever expected or anticipated. So the healing potential of this kind of work — whether it's this project or another one that it might inspire — I think that's what I would like to see. (9-29-13 5:30, “Veteran’s Dream Project” http://www.npr.org/2013/09/29/226844535/vijay-iyer-on-learning-from-war) Jeremiah, the 8th century BCE prophet, hoped against all odds. We’ve heard how he invested in land while he was in prison, knowing that the best and brightest young professionals and craftsmen were being exported to work in the empire of their subdoers. The land would be worthless for generations, except as a sign of hope. Jeremiah placed that there, in their future. Then he taught them how to practice hope while they’re living in the foreigner’s land: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. -Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 All around him, their world is crumbling. It is a time of utter despair, absolute rock bottom for an entire nation. And Jeremiah leads them to the deepest wells of memory tells them to live. This is what God wants for them, to live, to reclaim their identity. Land that seems worthless will once again be valuable. People who seem fragmented into “no People,” will re-emerge as a community bearing salvation for the world. Go deep into your losses and rediscover who you are. Go deep into your soul and rediscover the God who waits to reveals new purpose in your life, and new depths of love. Can you hear him leading them to embody hope, how to BE hope full? In that incredibly difficult time the people sang their songs of Zion in a foreign land, not only in private, but where their captors could hear, and be amused…. Or inspired. Psalm 66:1-12 Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise. Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you. All the earth worships you; they sing praises to you, sing praises to your name." Selah Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds among mortals. He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There we rejoiced in him, who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations-- let the rebellious not exalt themselves. Selah Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept us among the living, and has not let our feet slip. For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid burdens on our backs; you let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a spacious place. Can you hear what earlier trial their hope rests on? The Jewish people pass hope from generation to generation.
Hope comes from the ones who remember, PRAYER by -Ted Loder, Guerillas of Grace O God, let something essential happen to me, something more than interesting or entertaining, or thoughtful. O God, let something essential happen to me, something awesome, something real. Speak to my condition, Lord, and change me somewhere inside where it matters, a change that will burn and tremble and heal and explode me into tears or laughter or love that throbs or screams or keeps a terrible, cleansing silence and dares the dangerous deeds. Let something happen in me which is my real self, God…. O God, let something essential and joyful happen in me now, something like the blooming of hope and faith, like a grateful heart, like a surge of awareness of how precious each moment is, that now, not next time, now is the occasion to take off my shoes to see every bush afire, to leap and whirl with neighbor… 10-06-13 Who Cares?
“See How They Love One Another” –Tertullian Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4, 2 Timothy 1:1-7, Luke 17:5-10, 1 Corinthians 9: 1-7, 12, 19-23 In chapter 9 of his letter to the Corinthians, Paul articulate his struggle with who owes him what and vice versa, resolving the conflict with the purpose this freedom in Christ serves. We read the beginning and struggle and the concluding “a-hah.” World Communion Sunday began in the 1930s when Hugh Thomson Kerr persuaded other Presbyterians to “designate one Sunday as a day that American Christians would join brothers and sisters around the world at the Lord’s Table. It was a way of demonstrating the mutual care of Christians everywhere, of tasting the kingdom, if only for an hour. It was only as Christians practiced this annual ecumenical sacrament that we become aware of complicated “one table” turns out to be. What guests are really welcome? Who serves? Are we called to be masters or mustard seeds? What food must be served, or may be served? Can rice be the body of Christ? That was one rousing debate when I was in seminary. One common response was "Who cares" about such minutia? Another response was "who cares" - for the people hungry to receive God’s grace where western bread is unknown? Who cares, for a gluten intolerant youngste turned away from First Communion in Boston that year? What do we require in our representations of the body of Christ? Does the loaf we share look, small, taste just like the one Jesus broke in the upper room? Do the words we speak sound just like the ones coming from the mouth of Jesus, who spoke Aramaic? If Jesus walked in today just as he walked out in the middle of the first century of the Common Era, would we insist he perfect his English accent before we tried to understand him? (Remember that when Bishop Devadhar comes to visit in a few weeks!) The early Christians were known for this, “See How They Love One Another!” But its so complicated trying to actually sit at one table isn’t it? In the long years of practice before the final feast we discover how hard it is to remember who the host is. And whether the host is a gatekeeper or grace maker. Do you know where the gatekeeper image originated? At night, as Shepherds brought the sheep into the fold (often a cave in the hills), they made a gate with their legs for the sheep to pass through. A good shepherd would hold the sheep between his knees for as long as it took to make sure the sheep was well and unharmed. They intimately examined each sheep as it passed. The gatekeeper is the grace maker. But what is the body of our Good shepherd and how do we receive it? Is it communion if the celebrant is in one city and the people are in a dozen others, in the common space of the Internet or the cloud? Can virutal space be sacred space? What makes space sacred? What makes the Body of Christ? One summer while serving a tiny Scottish “kirk,” John Buchanan, now editor of the Christian Century, remembers hearing this story from a pastor in the next village. He was an infantryman in the British army in WWII and ended up in a prisoner of war camp in Poland. The conditions were dreadful. There was no heat and prisoners were given a single bowl of thin soup, and a small crust of bread daily. Men were starving, sick, filthy, and desperate. Suicide was a very real option. All one had to do was run toward the perimeter of the camp and leap against the barbed wire fence. Guards would immediately shoot and kill anyone trying to escape. In the middle of the night he walked to the perimeter and sat down beside the fence to think about going through with it. He heard a movement in the darkness fro the other side of the fence. It was a Polish farmer. The man thrust his hand through the barbed wire and handed my friend half of a potato. In heavily accented English he said, “The Body of Christ.” (CC 10-2-13 page 3). Who cares for the broken in body, mind and Spirit? How do we re-member, put back together the body of Christ that is broken? In the summer of 2010 I was in New Mexico on renewal leave. One of many highlights was a weeklong theology seminar on Water and Baptismal Theology hosted by Larry Rasmussen of Union Theological Seminary. That Tuesday we received an invitation to the Okhay Owingeh Pueblo’s Feast Day. About 30 of us loaded into ramshackle vans to time arrive before dawn. We joined members of the pueblo in an immaculate old Roman Catholic Church, the thrid built since that village had briefly been the first cpaital of New Mexico. When one more woman was needed to halp carry statues of saints to the river for blessing, one of us was hospitably recruited. There were more of "us" than "them." Men with drums and guitars led the small procession through cottonwoods, about a mile from the village to a river as the sun peeked up. The Pueblos's Governor was waiting on the bridge to exchange appreciations with the young new priest. It was quite clear that the priest was the welcomed guest. The Governor was the voice of the pueblo permiting the church to live in it. The ceremony was simple and lovely, lowering the statues down to be blessed by the river water that fed the people and the corps of the pueblo. We walked back to the church to wait for mass, surrounded by symbols of faith painted, carved, stitched and woven over centuries. The choir director, a retired nun with a huge smile, made sure that we visitors were oriented and welcomed before the service. The Gospel was read for this feast day in Tewa, Spanish, & English. A small choir of very elderly women led singing in the same languages. The preacher, Deacon John Bird, invited all present (now 250-300 people) to his house for lunch, and meant it, confident that his wife could handle the crowd! (Who cares for the travelor?) There’d been some murmur among visitors before the mass. The former priest was known for giving annual abrupt and emphatic instructions about who might receive the host. “Do we or don’t we” wondered we protestants. But the new priest, gently gave the historical welcome to members of the Roman Catholic Faith, in a way that suggested the sheep would not be divided at the altar (though afterward he thanked the few of us who did not go forward for honoring their tradition). Whether we did or we didn't, grace was offered. What I remember most from that day happened after the mass just as we were all poised to follow our nose to John Bird’s house for lunch and our ears to the drums preparing for buffalo dances. The priest stepped forward and, with a face animated by solemn joy, told us what we’d just been part of. This background I learned later gives his words even more meaning: When the first Europeans came in 1541, they made this pueblo the capital of New Mexico for a time. In the decades that followed, the people of Ohkay Owingeh, like other Pueblo Indians in New Mexico, suffered under an oppressive Spanish rule in which they were conscripted into forced labor, required to pay demanding taxes in goods, and their religious activities were suppressed. By the 1670s there was a great deal of discontent amongst the Pueblo peoples which came to a head in 1675 when 47 Pueblo religious leaders were jailed in Santa Fe and were subjected to whipping for practicing their religion, viewed by the Spaniards as idolatry. Four of the men were hanged [leading to the first rebellion of Native Peoples in the region.] In the eighteenth century the Spanish authorities, realized that the 1680 rebellion had been caused in great part by their harsh treatment of the Indians, and after the Re-conquest they adopted a much more lenient attitude. By 1820 the pueblo people were given citizenship and the right of local governance. (www.newmexicohistory.org) Now, in June 2010, for the first time in 400 years of Roman Catholic worship, the gospel had been read in their native language, Tewa. And for the first time the word had been preached by a member of the Pueblo, John Bird, celebrating his first anniversary as a deacon, with his grandson, John Bird, serving at the altar. What a holy moment! And we really were welcome, all of us, at his and every neighbor’s house for lunch, a ritual of deep hospitality that was as much a part of the festival as the mass, the dancing, and the market. It’s taken a while for we human beings to confess that we are all one species, This is a fairly recent development in human history. When the Israelites spoke of “Goy,” (in hebrew) or “Ethnos,” (in greek), Words we usually read or hear “Gentiles,” it meant literally, “those who are not us.” Not that long ago in our own history, Teddy Roosevelt’s Asian policies were based on a color code offered as scientific knowledge at the time, the whiter the skin, the more human the race. In fact the very notion of race developed as a rationalization for nineteenth century slavery. It’s taken a while for we human beings to confess that we are all one species, It may take a while longer to recognize that we are one flock. Our sight and hearing get caught on the perimeter of our own life, our own tribe, and we draw a line around the ones we think we can take care of, around those we count on to take care of us. That's enough. The apostles demanded that Jesus increase their faith in their little circle. Do it, Lord, do it! And Jesus jabs back, claim just the little faith you have and you will know that it’s not about you having more, its about you sharing more, serving more. Think mustard seed instead of master! We are born to serve God no matter how hard we try to flip that boat over in the water. God doesn’t care about you because you are great. God cares about you because God is God and you are God’s creature. Paul struggled with this in his relationship with the Corinthians. Something’s poking at him like a sharp stick. Who owes me what and what debts do I owe? Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. Your faith, he reminds the Corinthians is the fruit of my labor. I own you! You owe me! Who will care for me? It’s more than an ego trip; it’s a matter of how he’ll sustain a living (one reason he remained unmarried). By his work Paul has earned the right to physical support. Paul finally resolves the conflict by declaring that freedom in Christ is freedom, not obligation, to serve the others God places in our lives. And just as he is free in Christ, those he has led to Christ are free. So he remains a tentmaker to put food in his mouth and clothes on his back rather than risk owing anything to the church. The collection he takes goes to Jerusalem to feed the poor. He is born to serve God, not to be served. Freedom: The gospel is not that there is still more to come in the future. It’s not about going to heaven when we die, or about being forgiven now and awaiting freedom later. It’s not about experiencing the sacred in the midst of the secular. Neither is it a new teaching or a new moral code. It is the promised ‘power of God for salvation’ (Romans 1:16)–a power that frees us from all that opposed God and God’s will and all that alienates us from ourselves and each other. This power frees us to live according to God’s original plan, where selfless sharing, justice, mutuality, respect, trust, forgiveness and joyful community become realized. Charles Moore The Okhay Owingeh Pueblo’s hospitality extended to letting us watch the buffalo dances throughout the hot day. Not meant for entertainment, but a moving, physical expression of prayer, the buffalo dance involves every member of the community, from tiny toddlers stamping feet to practiced leaders. All were viscerally involved in a communal prayer of movement, with meaning known only to the members, but blessing shared with guests. This is worship at its best, catching participants up completely in an offering of praise, a rehearsal of identity, a community re-creation, a respectful interaction with guests of other traditions without losing an iota of the integrity of their own. If this faith community let the Holy Spirit carry us, where would the dream beat lead? Who cares? God cares. Pastoral Prayer: O LORD, we watch those who suffer cry for help, and are hard pressed to see your answer some days. Are you listening? We do not understand why you do not step in and stop the violence. We see a young mother confused to the point of danger gunned down in our capital and mourn for her life, her infant, and for police officers who had no wish to harm her. We hear of hundreds found bobbing the waters off Italy in a desperate journey gone wrong. We check the local police log in case heated arguments or drug busts have come closer to our own homes. It is hard to see what you want us to see, Lord. It is hard to keep our eyes open. We would rather dreams the dreams of sweet, false, innocence. But you promise to come to those who watch and wait. And so we will keep watch to see what you will say to us. When the headlines scream we will hear the needs of men and women and children. We will look and listen for the vision your heart desires in this time, in this place. We will look and listen until it becomes as clear to us as our neighbor’s face, no matter where they come from or what language they speak. Make us mustard seeds, soften our shells as we become so rooted in prayer that, as our Bishop urges us, we draw the strength and power to do greater things in ministry and mission for the Glory of God as disciples of Jesus Christ filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Even if it means letting go of things that are sacred to us… Including our fears. Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15, 1 Corinthians 14:26-33, Luke 19-31 A few years ago one of my friends came back from visiting our sister church in Kaoma Zambia with this worship story. Worship there involves hours of singing and scripture, of sharing what God's word is saying. When it came time to recieve the offering, people danced up to a large winnowing basket set before the altar. The singing and dancing went on and on, sometimes people came to the basket more than once with something to offer: a little money, some vegetables or handmade item, whatever God had given them to share. When they came with empty hands, the woman would step into the basket themself. I thought of that story recently when I heard someone say that worship is the offering plate into which we put our gifts, ourselves. We are God’s offering plate, gathering our collectively gifted lives for God’s purposes. Are you ready for more? More what? Well, can we stand a little more Jesus? Cultural observers tell us that people today are hungry for two things: 1) Significant relationship 2) meaningful responsibility. How many of us are longing to come to a 2 hour meeting this week? Go ahead, put up your hands. (OK, so there may be a few meeting junkies among us). Why Why not? How many of us long to do something meaningful this week than what we think we'll experience at the average meeting? We are creatures with limited lifespans who are coming to appreciate the value of every minute, every hour, as increasing demands squeeze them out of us. And the knowledge that our life is time limited frees us up to do what is most important . We need to be a community that brings out the flavor of salt, an environment for the yeast to rise. John Wesley wasn't afraid of very much, he was quite confident in the work Christ put before him. But he worried that the people can be quickly converted by enthusiastic preaching and just just as quickly fall away if they were not committed to daily practices and accountability groups. Are you ready for more? Are you ready for the kind of church that will help your faith grow and flourish instead of frazzle and fade? Paul wrote to his friend and student Timothy as they traveled through the wealthy trade towns of the Roman empire. A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God....Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:6-19 The Message (MSG) The NRSV reads: They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life. Are you ready for more than chasing after money and building your reputation? Paul’s letter to the Corinthians carreis a glimpse into the earliest believers’ worship What should be done then, my friends? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. (1 Corinthians 14:26, New Revised Standard Version) Eugene Petersen’s translation reads: When you gather for worship, each one of you be prepared with something that will be useful for all: Sing a hymn, teach a lesson, tell a story, lead a prayer, provide an insight. God gives each member of the body distinct and valuable work to be woven into our offering basket. Paul goes on, Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to someone else sitting nearby, let the first person be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged. And the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets, 33 for God is a God not of disorder but of peace. (As in all the churches of the saints….1 Corinthians 14:26-33, NRSV Petersen translates this as: When we worship the right way, God doesn’t stir us up into confusion; he brings us into harmony. This goes for all the churches—no exceptions. God's order is peace full, creating Christ centered order in place of compentitive chaos. God’s prophets see more where most only see less. Take Jeremiah. In the middle of a war zone, this holy fool makes a major land investment. For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land. This past Tuesday, up in Orono, Mike Slaughter told a bunch of his Mehtodist Clergy collegues that, “the problem with ministers is that we’re used to doing things “right” in a time when the need is to risk being wrong.” Its not a new problem. Charles Wesley was his brother John's partner in ministry and the creator of many of our greatest hymns. Do you know which one is printed first in our hymnals? (Its ok to look!). “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” is as familiar to a life long Methodist as church suppahs and Sunday School. (sing first verse). There, you've just made one of our church founders roll over in his grave. Becuase Charles Wesley famously declared that "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing" should never be sung in church worship. Never. It was set to a vile secular tune suitable only for evangelistic purposes, with the men truding out of the caol mines at the end of their shift. With the woman walking wearily out of mills and the children from factories hoping they had something to put on the table for supper. In the Christian Church, historically, real exponential growth has always been with people on the wrong side of the tracks, from the margins. Are you ready for more? Or are we settling for less? God’s grace is always seeking to break through, to crack open the places that are squeezing the life out of us. As outside forces bear down on the Holy Land, Jeremiah buys land and declares hope. Generations later, in that same land, God sends a beggar to rich Lazarus' door to remind him what his wealth is for. In Bethelehem, as crowds overflow the hospices of the city, one inn makes room for a young mother, who got pregnant too soon and too strangely, so that she can birth her child in the clean hay of a animal’s home. In Brunswick, a child given a second chance home snuggles next to the woman who opened her heart to him and says, “I love you, Mom.” Who is the gift, who is the giver? Are you ready for more? In lives where it feels like we already have too much, too much to manage, too much to juggle, too much on our plates (can you hear me, Lazarus?) In a world that tries to squeeze more and more out of us, are you ready to be filled up with the overflowing goodness of God until is spills out of your life? God invites, and expects, us to makes that choice now, in our living, not later, after our dying. Poor Lazarus, if he’d only known in time. Why didn’t he? He was so full of what he thought were good things, so sated, so bloated with what he mistook for the good things in life, that he missed it. He missed what God offered as more valuable than all his time, than all his money, he missed the purpose of living. You don't need to miss it. Are you ready for more? Prayer: God, I'm ready for more you in my life. Help me recognize whatever stands in the way and put it in its proper perspective. Take me hand. Help me into the basket of your people where I"ll find support to grow my gifts. Bless us as we become your offering. Amen Jeremiah 8:18-9:1, Luke 16:1-13, Excerpts from 1 Corinthians Jesus has just told us a story of how very complicated life can get. It is about ingenuity born of desparation, the actions of one who's never wanted to be part of the herd and now finds himself cut off by his own greed. Do'nt you wish that life could be simpler than that? Is Jesus really encouraging us to be liars, cheats, and general all around finaglers? Or is this one of those seed strewn stories ready for truth to break through the hard surface of our expecations, a yeasty tale ready to raise our awareness that God does things differently than the owner and manager of this tale? Our Jewish friends and neighbors have been observing Rosh Hashanah, taking seriously this business of cleaning out old yeast from every nook and cranny. (I Corinthians 5:6-8) Paul's first letter to the Corinthians spills over with evidence of the layers of transformation in which God is working. Corinthians 11 shows Paul himself bound by “old yeast.” And Corinthians 13 declares the balm in every Gilead:, the love that is the very character of God. Love that skillfully restores what is broken, Love that boldlyl renews what is worn out Love that gently recreates what has died and is ready for new life. Corinthians 14 gives an example of how a community can “grow up” and sets gifts in context of Community’s current needs. This letter asks its readers whether they are ready for solid food or content to wallow in perpetual spiritual infancy. Infancy makes demands (my need, my way, my opinion), Paul describes a church full of infants, upset by quarrelling, jealousy, competition. Growing up in Christ means more than trickery for survial. It means building muscle, increasing capacity, choosing to move toward fuller function, being able to do productive work without injury. It is a simpler way than the wreckage of holding onto infancy past its time. 1: 7-9: the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Sometimes God gives us parables in the world around us. Can you see the wisdom of a simpler way as we watch these geese? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rOg4WfNDfM Congregational Conversation: What did you notice? •Lessons from Geese Fact 1: As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an “uplift” for the birds that follow. By flying in a “V” formation, the whole flock has 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone. •Lessons from Geese Fact 2: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it. •Lessons from Geese Fact 3: When the lead bird tires, it rotates back into the formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it. •Lessons from Geese Fact 4: The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. •Lessons from Geese Fact 5: When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation to catch up with the flock. Mature Christian Community intentionally moves together into God’s transforming vision while providing care for the vulnerable among them. The need to care for one does not stop the purposeful momentum of all. 1 Corinthians 13 litany: response-“Love.” If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have _____(love), I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have _____(love), I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have _____( love), I gain nothing. Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.....When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is ______(love). |
Karen L MunsonUnited Methodist Pastor & Liturgical Artist Archives
September 2015
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