Sunday Sermon: Ministers -- ALL!

"Just do it!"

Matthew 28:16-20

The scene is a mountaintop.  Any time you have a mountaintop scene in the Bible, get ready for something big!  

Remember where Moses met God to get the 10 commandments?  A mountaintop.  The prophet Elijah ran away up a mountain when all looked lost for him and God showed up for Elijah where?  

On the mountain.  Jesus’ disciples surely would remember that amazing day that Jesus had taken Peter, James and John up the mountain.  It’s the day we call Transfiguration Sunday -- Jesus was transfigured, his clothes turned a dazzling white and two strangers appeared with Jesus -- guess who? -- Elijah and Moses! -- up on that mountaintop.

The disciples knew all about the mountaintop.  Back then, people believed that if humans were to encounter God, the best place to go was up the mountain.  

This mountaintop story is the very next story that Matthew tells after the story of Jesus’ resurrection.  Matthew says that newly-resurrected Jesus met the disciples and said:  “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” [Mt.28:9-10]

So here they are -- in Galilee -- this time ALL the disciples of Jesus gathered on the “mountain to which Jesus had directed them.”

What do you think they were expecting from Jesus there?  Some things they might have expected, they didn’t get:

Explanations -- Jesus didn’t explain to them what went so horribly wrong after that great Palm Sunday parade where Jesus was cheered as “King of the Jews” only to be crucified dead and buried in less than a week.  

Re-hashing -- If Jesus was still thinking about what had been done to him by the priests or the judges or the disciples even, Matthew didn’t find that worthy to talk about.

Solutions -- Jesus didn’t help them to understand how Jesus, dead and buried, was now Jesus back with them.

If Jesus did have some explaining to do, those explanations are not recorded by Matthew.

If Jesus told them important things to believe about him, we don’t know those beliefs from Matthew.

Matthew’s story of what Jesus did and said after the resurrection is so short and so direct, it is stunning.  If you want to see a contrast, go back to the beginning of the gospel of Matthew and see how many -- how many -- verses Matthew takes to lay out -- generation to generation -- the genealogy of Jesus -- from Adam to Joseph.  Matthew goes to great lengths to explain how Jesus has all the right ancestors.  Matthew also gives a very detailed account of Jesus being arrested, charged, tried, and crucified.  Matthew uses more words to tell what happens to Jesus’ crucified body than about what happens on this mountaintop.

About the resurrected Jesus, Matthew has few words.  

The gospel good news according to Matthew is simply this: Jesus is alive; he said “meet me at the mountain”; and the disciples show up where Jesus said he would be.

And then and there, on that mountaintop, Jesus gives them -- ALL of them -- their marching orders.  Church tradition calls this the Great Commission -- what Jesus said up on that mountain:  

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me...”  Whatever else this means, Jesus’ having been given “all authority” means that Jesus has the freedom and power to say and do whatever he pleases at this point.  All options are open to him. What will he require of his disciples? What will he incite them to do?  

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations [“the human family”], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Now, if you are a disciple on that mountain, hearing Jesus commissioning you in this way, sending you out to do what Jesus himself had been doing, what do you do?  

If you are a Peter-type disciple, you might say, “Gung ho!  I’m ready!  You can count on me, Jesus!”  Because that’s how Peter was:  bold, always ready for a challenge, ready to fail and get back up again and go on to the next place where Jesus was going.

But what if you are a Bartholomew or a Thaddeus?  Who? Bartholomew and Thaddeus were called by Jesus as two of those first 12 disciples, but we don’t hear much about them that was worth writing down.  They were never in a leadership role that we know of.  Other disciples were in the spotlight. Others are more famous. Yet unsung Thaddeus and Bartholomew are given the same commission as the others -- the same good news; the same marching orders; they were passed the same mantle of ministry that Jesus himself had carried out:

ALL of them were sent to GO to whomever and wherever God’s love and healing is needed.

ALL of them were being sent out to seek others in the human family and invite them to join together in community to learn and grow to love Jesus and serve him too.

ALL of them were being encouraged to introduce others to God the Creator, God the Redeemer, God the Sustaining Spirit.  Hadn’t Jesus initiated those first twelve into God’s holy priesthood?  Now ALL of them were to be priests to others.

And ALL of the disciples had graduated to become the teachers who would walk with new disciples.

In other words, ALL of them were now sent to do with and for others the very same things that Jesus himself had done with and for them.

ALL of them -- the confident Peters as well as the “who me?” types, the Bartholomew and the Thaddeus and the Mary and the Martha -- the unlikely YOU and the unlikely ME.

ALL of us sent off the mountaintop with a mission, and ALL of us held together by the same promise:  Jesus goes with us, always.

In our own United Church of Christ Statement of Faith, we say “yes” to following Jesus off that mountaintop.

God calls us into the church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be servants in the service of the whole human family, to proclaim the gospel to all the world …

"… We're not called to make churchgoers, [that is we are not called to “bring people in here” just to “fill the pews” with] people who include religion as one among many respectable civic activities. We're [each and every one of us] called to make disciples, people who really follow Jesus as Lord." [Dylan Breuer, with my modifications]

So to become a church member, then, is really to make the decision to enter the ministry. Each and every one of us has been given the ministry that Jesus had:  to share good news; to make disciples; to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  That’s the good news ministry of the church of Jesus Christ.  It is YOUR ministry – and mine!  The Bible tells us so.  Ready or not, Jesus goes with us.  So be excited!  Be ready!  If you are a baptized member of this church, Jesus has already called YOU to ministry in his name – and given you everything you need to be faithful to that call.  God has called US together – and made us ministers – ALL!  Thanks be to God!
============
Above photo is of a teen's feet from UCC General Synod 27

Friday Five: Discovery

On today's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five, Dorcas shares a beautiful experience of taking her four year old granddaughter to the symphony and wondering if young Trinity would enjoy the experience.  An avid Mozart fan, (in Dorcas' words): "[Trinity] was hopping with excitement, but we gave her lots of coaching, and when we arrived she gazed about with wonder at the lovely venue, and when the orchestra began to tune up she sat up straight and gazed, enraptured, with her mouth literally open. It was pure delight to watch her enjoying brand-new sights, sounds and surroundings."  A discovery moment for both generations!

Here is a Friday Five of my own moments of insight, discovery or awareness from childhood and later:

"Do what Daddy says."  Recorded in the baby book of my sister who is 19 months younger than I am is this precocious advice to me, uttered when she was probably two and a half:  "Sharon, if you would just do what Daddy says, you wouldn't get spanked so much."  I tried.  I tried to learn the "behave" lesson.  I'm not there yet.  Hence the pic above.  My hope: Maybe I'm making history!

Love is Awareness.  A fifth grade writing assignment was to complete the phrase "Love is . . ." with one, and only one, word.  My conclusion:  Love is Awareness

I am not a feminist!  Another assigment, this time in a seminary theology class:  Choose a non-traditional theologian's book to read and compare/contrast with more traditional theology. For those of us who had no clue where to begin with the long list the prof had given us, she suggested choosing a theologian that we thought we would not like. That was easy; this native Texan stay-at-home mom chose a feminist theologian.  I was about one and a half pages into Rosemary Radford Reuther's Sexism and God Talk and, to my incredible shock, I found that she was she was speaking my language about God things.  She made sense.  I had not even realized how much "translation" work I had been doing in order to make the gospel message real in my life. 

Please understand me!  I began to understand myself much better when I was introduced to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in seminary. I knew that people had different personalities, but I had never had the differences explained in categories that made sense. I began to see that there are many different ways that people approach life and process information, and that we need all kinds in order reflect God's image more authentically in community. Through further testing at the end of seminary, I discovered that I had learned to function a certain way (as an ESFJ) when I had to be "on" and in front of people.  When I am relaxed and safe and "off duty" or too tired to keep up the pretense, I go about life in a far different way (INFP).  Good to know!

Grandmother world.  Because we lived in the same city until I was 13, I was blessed to spend time with my grandmothers during my growing up years.  At their houses, I discovered the world of feeding chickens, gathering eggs, flower gardening, making jam, learning to sew, eating "ladies lunch" at the department store restaurant or at the lunch counter at the drugstore.  With them, I was someone I couldn't be anywhere else: a granddaughter.  And they got to be the grandmother.  Now I'm the grandmother to a grandson.  I wonder what we will discover with each other?

Friday Five: Summer Reruns

"The cousins" on the family cruise

Today's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five is an invitation by Songbird to be inspired by this season of summer TV reruns and list five things that are worth a repeat.  Coincidentally, today is also National Repeat Day!

1. Family vacations:  My extended family is spread all over the country from east coast to west coast to gulf coast and beyond.  We do attempt to gather for special occasions, the next one being my niece's wedding in September in Baton Rouge.  A few years ago, we took a family cruise -- my first cruise -- and all of us were there -- my mom, all of her children and their spouses, and all of their children and the newest family member at the time, my son-in-law.  We have also taken some beach vacations in Florida and met in Gatlinburg, TN one year.  We don't do it every year, but a family reunion-type gathering is always worth a repeat.

B.E. 4.0 new friends
at church together, sorta!

2.  A cruise:  Last year's RevGal B.E. 4.0 was my first repeat cruise after the family cruise.  I had an ever-lovin' blast!  B.E. is definitely an experience worth repeating, so I'm getting my application ready for next year's B.E. 5.0.  Since we sail from New Orleans, that week of Continuing Ed will definitely be combined with a vacation to the Louisiana relatives (see #1).

3.  Planting a garden:  I repeat the "dig in the dirt" ritual every year.  My main "crop" is herbs and this year's star is basil I grew from seed.  Some oregano apparently didn't make it from the plant, but did reseed itself.  The others are cilantro, parsley, sage, chives, mint, and dill.  I tucked in there somewhere an orange pepper plant.  I also sprinkled some extra color by planting few marigolds and impatiens among the perennials that are already looking great.  

GranGran and Daniel:
an "I love you" moment
between my mom and my grandson

4.  "I love you":  Always worth a repeat, as often as possible.  

5.  "Damages" TV show:  I had never heard of this show but ran across it on instant Netflix and was hooked on the reruns after watching the first episode.  Glenn Close stars as a lawyer, and it is dark and very suspenseful.  According to its Wikipedia entry: "The show is noted for its plot twists, nonlinear narrative, technical merit, season-long storylines and the acting ability of its cast."  I also have enjoyed reruns of "Deadliest Catch" and "Modern Family" and "Desperate Housewives."  I didn't get hooked on "Glee" or "Pushing Daisies," for what it's worth. 

Thanks, Songbird, for the rewind through some things worth rerunning!

Friday Five: All About Allergies



My nose started feeling sneezy as soon as I saw the picture of the ligustrum bush on this week's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five.  Mary Beth is highly allergic to them and I am too.  We had ligustrum bushes all around our house in El Paso because they grew so easily there.  That was the first thing I discovered I was allergic to.  So, here's my Friday Five about allergies:

1. Do you experience any season allergies?

Yes, I'm allergic to spring things, especially white flowering trees and bushes. 



Not allergic to chocolate!  (this cake is flourless)



Do you have any other allergies?  Yes, sadly -- aspirin, sulfa, keflex and penicillin as well as adhesive tape. It's not technically an allergy but wheat and gluten are not my friend.

2.  What kinds of symptoms do you experience during your allergic reactions? 

Let's just say it's not pretty.

3.  How do you manage your allergies? 

In my dreams, I'm on a cruise for May and June every year. In reality, I take Singulair daily, keep an inhaler for possible asthma emergencies, avoid all of those drugs as well as wheat and gluten.  I don't avoid going outside, but I would not knowingly go anywhere near a blooming ligustrum!

4.  What is the strangest allergy you ever heard of? 
Aren't some spouses allergic to each other? I think I've heard that, and that would be strange. (Had to google it to see; edited to add link)

5.  How do you feel about school policies banning peanuts and other allergens? 
I'm out of the school child loop, so I don't know about those policies.  In general, it would be challenging to ban everything that might be potentially harmful to someone else.  

Happy Birthday, Frank Oz!

Bert and Ernie

Today is the 67th birthday of creative genius Frank Oz.

How do I love him? Let me count some of the ways:

•  He was Jim Henson's closest collaborator
• On The Muppet Show, Oz was Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal and Sam the Eagle
• On Sesame Street, Oz was Bert with Henson as Ernie and was Miss Piggy to Henson's Kermit the Frog
• Also on Sesame Street, Oz played Cookie Monster and Grover.



Yoda

• Chief puppeteer and collaborator with George Lucas in creating Yoda for the Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back and was the puppet and voice for Yoda in that and later films
• Co-director, with Henson, of The Dark Crystal
• Directed the movies The Muppets Take Manhattan and Little Shop of Horrors
• Directed some of my favorite zany-yet-poignant movies: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, What About Bob?, In and Out, and Housesitter
• I wanted to like it, but I wasn't quite as thrilled with the Oz-directed Bowfinger
• Also directed The Stepford Wives and The Score

With gratitude, a very Happy Birthday, Frank Oz!

Sunday Sermon: Taste and See!

Perfection

Growing into Salvation
1 Peter 2:2-10
May 22, 2011 -- Jerusalem UCC

It’s always a special day to celebrate Confirmation.  Alissa, we rejoice with you today as you make public your affirmation of your baptism as you keep on taking steps of faith throughout your life.

Those of us who have already made Confirmation promises remember today our own Confirmation Day and the special moment it is to get up and say, in front of God and your church, that Jesus is -- for me and for you -- the way, the truth and the life.

On this Confirmation Day, the Word of the Lord comes to us from Peter, that disciple of Jesus who was the first disciple to proclaim “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”

Peter got it right, you see, in that moment.
And in the very next moment, he made a fool of himself by trying to protect his “Messiah” from the suffering and death that would come.  
Peter goes from head of the class to being called “Satan” in the blink of an eye.
Yes, that’s Peter!  
The one who declared that HE would NOT be the disciple who would deny knowing Jesus.
“Not me, Lord!” Peter swore.
Jesus knew better.  Not once, but THREE times, Peter denied Jesus to save his own skin.
Yes, that’s Peter!
Faithful disciple and faithless coward -- all in the same body.
Powerful preacher and pitiful example -- all rolled up into one.

The name “Peter” ironically means “rock.”
And it is on THIS rock -- Jesus said -- that he would build his church.

Real live people are the rocks -- the living stones of the church --
People like Peter and like you and me
Who, in our best moments -- in our high church moments surely --
KNOW the good news of Jesus Christ
KNOW God in Christ Jesus is alive
KNOW that the heart of the gospel -- the good news --
is simply that Easter proclamation:
“Christ is risen!”

We are as qualified as Peter
And as UNqualified as he was
to be claimed by God as God’s own
so that you and I and we
“may declare the wonderful deeds of the ONE who called you out of darkness
into God’s marvelous light.”

In Christ Jesus, we are the town criers -- we are testimony tellers -- about the reality of God in the real world of our lives.

How often do we talk about what God is up to?  

Recently -- a lot!  The past few days we have heard more about what God MIGHT be up to than usual, thanks to a doomsday message by Family Radio International founder Harold Camping.  His prediction of the apocalypse gained a foothold in the media and with certain groups of people.  People of faith and people of no faith have been hoping -- or dreading -- that God would fulfill history by bringing on the rapture -- yesterday -- at 6:00 p.m.  



A preoccupation with the end times is nothing new.  The early church had more reason THEN than we do NOW to believe that Jesus would return soon and very soon.  Peter turns every one's attention away from a super-natural rescue mission by God to the marvelous things that God has already done and what God is NOW DOING in the lives of resurrection people.

If nothing else was proven by all of this rapture talk these past few days, it is that the preoccupation with what God MIGHT do -- and the fascination with what ONE MAN proclaimed God WOULD do -- these are things that people are captivated by somehow.

The world is looking for God.  The world needs good news -- the gospel -- that resurrection people have to proclaim.  

I don’t have to tell you that people are hurting.  I don’t have to tell you that the environment is suffering.  I don’t have to tell you that stress is causing mental and physical pain in people’s lives.  I don’t have to tell you that way too many people in our wealthy country are food insecure.  You know.  So, really it’s no wonder that people who don’t even claim to be people of the Christian faith were sort of caught up in the idea that yesterday at 6:00 p.m. God would DO SOMETHING BIG -- maybe God would give us the break we crave and just scoop us up and show us some heaven.

People are hungry to know that God is alive.
People need to see where God is at work
People need to hear where God is alive
People need to be shown that God’s love is real.

And they are looking to people like us -- those of us who say that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life - the son of the LIVING God -  those of us whom God has called LIVING stones -- so that we “may declare the wonderful deeds of the ONE who called you out of darkness
into God’s marvelous light.”

The beautiful light of the day of our confirmation -- the beautiful light of the day of our baptism -- there is nothing like those days -- for the one who is baptized or confirmed -- and for the church.  TODAY is the day that we know we will taste and see that God is alive here.  God showed up and is claiming us and especially claiming Alissa today, but not just Alissa.  For when the Holy Spirit is poured out, we are all splashed on by power of God.

We call that “salvation” my friends.  Well, WE don’t always call it salvation in the United Church of Christ, but let’s do call it “salvation” today because big time, very real salvation is what the world is so very hungry for.

So, let me tell you about salvation so that you will know what salvation is and not be distracted by what salvation isn’t.

If you are getting nervous about this whole line of preaching, well so am I. There’s nothing that puts me in either a cold sweat or a bad mood worse than some well-meaning person in my face about my salvation.  “Are you saved?” some will ask. “How do you know?”  I can help you with this -- here’s the answer.  You can memorize it.  The answer to the question “Are you saved?” is “yes, no, and not yet.”

The “yes, I am saved” part is what has already happened to each of us.  There are different ways to describe that:  We have had an encounter with the risen Christ.  God is real to us.  If nothing else, you know that the Holy Spirit was poured out on you at your baptism and your confirmation.  Peter says, “Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good . . . “ (1 Pet. 2:2) There are different ways to describe it, but “yes” salvation DID happen to you in your past if the love of God in Christ Jesus is part of who you are.

The “no” part is that we HAVE been promised a day when God will save all of creation.  That day did not happen yesterday.  Don’t look for it or try to predict it.  No one knows the day or the hour so it’s not really a thing to spend a lot of time trying to nail down. No, God hasn’t saved the world yet. God’s history has not been fulfilled yet.  No, God’s kingdom has not come on earth as it is in heaven.  No, we are not saved in the way that God ultimately desires.

The part we live in every day is the “not yet” part.  Are we saved?  "YES," because of our baptism; "NO"because God’s fulfillment of history has not happened; and “NOT YET” because we -- who live between what DID happen and what WILL happen are the “works in progress” -- we are BEING saved all the time.

I like what author Maya Angelou says about this.  When someone says to Maya Angelou “I’m a Christian” her response is “Already?”

“Growing into salvation” -- you can also call it discipleship; you can call it following Jesus.   This is the life-long movement of our faith -- what we do together as the community of faith called teh church -- we are growing into salvation.


The apostle Peter says it this way in verses 2 and 3 (1 Peter 2:2-3)
“Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good, crave pure spiritual milk, the way that newborn babies do, so that by it, you may GROW into salvation.”

Getting stuck in the past --or being preoccupied with the future -- is to miss the opportunity to live in the good news and to proclaim good news for TODAY!

What Peter tells us about this is every bit as real -- maybe more so -- than looking to the clouds or to an earthquake to produce evidence of God’s real life salvation.

This is what Peter says to us:
Be like a newborn baby about it.
Crave the spiritual milk so that by it you may grow into salvation.

Now this is graphic if you take Peter seriously.  Because we know that Peter was not really talking bottles and formula.  

Peter gives us a very mother-like image of God.  If you are a mother, or have been close to one, with an infant, you know that Peter is talking about something very very real.

When it comes to milk newborns are relentless!  Do you want to be a hungry newborn?  REALLY?  Think about it . . .

When a newborn is hungry -- he is not all that cute.  She screams persistently. Baby knows who has the milk.  The baby gets close and can smell it. Baby gets all excited about it - baby roots around, little head bobbing all around -- almost breathless -- so eager sometimes that hungry baby makes it even more difficult to get the milk that is so badly wanted.

In a very real way, it is a cooperative effort between Mom and baby -- Mom needs to give milk to the baby and the baby needs the milk.

Once feeding the baby is vigorous and enthusiastic -- single minded -- concentrating on the milk only looking up to look into the mother’s eyes.

The newborn doesn’t quit taking in that milk until she or he is good and satisfied.  And a well-fed baby is peaceful, sleepy (or asleep), relaxed, happy.
We look at THAT baby and say “Aw … isn’t she cute? or isn’t he cute?”  Yes, for about 2 hours and then that precious baby is crying for that milk all over again!

THAT’S the way Peter is asking us to approach the “pure SPIRITUAL milk” that we are to have.

What is that pure spiritual milk?

It is what God has to offer us -- different from the imitations that we so often settle for
The pure SPIRITUAL milk is tasting that GOD IS GOOD,
the spiritual things that only come from God -- for our growth and nourishment.

It would be a misunderstanding and a mistranslation to hear that this milk is specifically the Bible words found in the book we call the Bible.  I want to convince you of the value of being fed by your Bible -- but the word “word” is not found here.  If you see this translated as “the milk of the word” that is a mis-translation.  The Greek word is an adjective not a noun, and that’s all you need to know unless you want to know more. But if you are going to feast on the milk of things that feed you, and if the Bible does feed you, and I hope it is ONE thing that does, then I want you to know what you are feeding on!  

Peter uses vivid colorful language here to make a point:  Peter calls us living stones.  Peter tells us to taste -- regularly -- that the Lord is good -- and to be relentless in pursuing that tasting -- like a newborn in search of milk.  Spiritual practice is what we call that in the Christian faith.

Peter pretty much calls God a nursing mother, ready and able and present with us to show us where the nourishment we really crave is to be found; God is ready to hold us in our anxiety and need; God is -- even now -- giving us exactly what we need to grow us into salvation.

God has literally spread a table before us -- in the life we have -- in the people, the situations, the circumstances -- even in the presence of our enemies -- even in tragedy -- Gods’ mighty acts are there to be seen and tasted -- and to be told.  And, of course, always in the church.  These rocks of the faith all around you are living stones, hungry newborns, not stuck on the birthing table, but still growing into salvation.

This table is ready.  Have you tasted that the Lord is good?

Keep on craving what God has to offer YOU
So that by accepting the gifts of God, you may grow into salvation, today and forever.  Amen.


(The very precious photo above is courtesy of Amy at Anktangle and was published in her post called Growing and Gaining, which would have been an excellent sermon title for this one!)

Friday Five: Favorite Words

Today's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five is inspired by the Spiritual Formation hour at Jan's church where they have been sharing special words with each other and the stories they inspire.  Jan has invited us to write about 5 words we really like and tell why you have chosen each word. These came to me today, in this order, when I was writing my 750 words to start the day.

Lagniappe -- (LAN-yap) a French word that means (my translation) "delightful extra things you didn't deserve"; it's the idea behind the baker's dozen of paying for a 12 donuts and getting 13.  Lagniappe represents the generosity and party atmosphere that characterizes both Cajun Country's "let the good times roll" and what I have known of God's grace.

Vocation -- from the Latin vocare meaning "to call" and  I know that because of a seminary paper I wrote at least 20 years ago!  I love this word because it inspires me and reminds me of why I do what I do when I don't remember.  It is also the antidote to un-church-like words like "hire" "job" and "volunteer."

Picnic -- I have always loved this word!  "Picnic" sounds like the party it is!  To declare "picnic!" is to set aside regular schedules and table manners, pack a basket, go outside, play games, eat finger food, take naps in the sun ... the list could go on and on.  And you have to add a crazy "K" before you add "-ed" or "-ing"!

Careful -- Word that inspires trust and comfort and sometimes slows me down in a good way.

Y'all -- The English language is bereft of a plural "you" and so we have made up our own.  My greatest linguistic prejudice (blush -- there are many!) is that I cringe every time I hear the northern plural slang of you -- "youse" or "you's" and sometimes "youse guys" -- my skin is crawling to even write those.  When I hear "y'all" I know I am close to people who get me.

Thanks, Jan, for the Friday Fun!

Recognizing Jesus in Life Abundant

Lakshmi Mandala of Wealth and Abundance

John 10:1-10; Acts 2:42-47
May 15, 2011 -- Jerusalem UCC

Remember Easter?

Merely three weeks ago, we gathered here to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

Remember Easter?

Easter was a great celebration of the resurrection of Jesus the Christ.  Easter is more than a celebration of what happened to Jesus.  Yes, Christ is risen; he is risen, indeed.  But to paraphrase the old riddle about the tree falling in the forest:  If a Savior is risen and no one sees the Savior / no one recognizes the Savior / then IS he risen indeed?  Is the Savior alive if he’s not alive with us?  In other words, what difference does it really make what happens to Jesus, unless something happens to us, too?

Radical conversion is not the preferred style of Pennsylvania German Reformed Christians.  The style in this corner of the world is the way of the ancestors who settled this territory and of the old country from whence they came:  You are born into the faith; your parents were Reformed or Lutheran, or your mom was Reformed, your dad was Lutheran (or vice versa) and you were baptized into the faith (I’ve heard) of the same sex parent and then confirmed into that same faith when the time came.  A radical conversion experience is not required, nor is it expected.

Sometimes … sometimes … you might run across someone who is not born into the faith but who begins following Christ later in life. One such man began his Christ following at mid-life.  He was a successful businessman.  As a successful businessman, he picked as his church the flashiest church, the one that seemed most successful in his town.  He had a fancy car that he parked with all the other fancy cars in the lot on Sunday.  He fit right in and thought that this would be the right place for him. He figured these fine upstanding folk would help him to follow Jesus more and more.

And then some months later, this man went through some economic hard times. That’s not hard to imagine in our world today, is it?  This man lost everything, including his fancy car.

So, he started walking to church.  He was wearing the same clothes week after week.  He was no longer like the others in the congregation; he stood out as different from them.  

Pretty soon, two of the church elders asked to come and visit him in his home.  They arrived to find a home that had been emptied by the Sheriff and the debt collectors.  He was asked -- nicely -- please -- to find another church community because he “no longer witnessed to the abundant life” that members of the church were called to live! [This story came from the blog “I Am Listening” by Peter Woods; blog post "Jesus the Gate, and Paddy Plenty" May 9, 2011]

Sounds pretty awful doesn’t it?  We would never judge someone for not having a fancy car -- we would never notice that someone is wearing the same clothes over and over again -- we surely aren’t the kind who would say that the abundant life of Jesus is absent when someone doesn’t have a TV or even if they don’t have furniture.  I hope we might suspect that Jesus is calling us to an abundant life not measured by fancy things -- yours or mine.

Comforting the Disillusioned

Monday, I was shocked and disillusioned when I heard that Sojourners made the decision not to post on their blog a video ad made by Believe Out Loud (ad is on the right after you click).  It was "deja vu all over again" reminding me of the rejection by CBS in 2004 of the United Church of Christ "Bouncer" ad as "too controversial" when it demonstrated that all people should be welcome in church.  And then in 2010, CBS accepted an issue ad by a conservative group, Focus on the Family. CBS defended their flip-flop, citing the economy as the reason for accepting FoF's advocacy ad. 

Tuesday, I was overjoyed when I heard that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has voted to allow the ordination of openly gay and lesbian ministers. 

So, you never know.  Sometimes progressives take an unexpected giant step backwards and sometimes the church takes a long-overdue step forward. And sometimes it's hard to tell what exactly is going on.

This "controversy" about who is welcome in church and who isn't, and why, reminds me of something that happened at the first church I served.  After one Sunday morning worship service, a woman came up to me, out of breath and excited (not in a good way), to report that there was a new couple in church that day.  They were both men, young men, she said -- "a couple!"  I was secretly excited to think that a same sex couple would come to our church!  So I asked her how she knew that they were gay.  "You can just tell," she said, sour-faced. She went on to describe how they sat close together, even had their arm around each other at one point, and talked to each other in a way that you "could tell" she insisted.

I still couldn't imagine this in 1994 in our American Baptist church. I mean, why would a young gay couple think we would be a cool enough church for them?  At least that was my thought!  So I asked her what they looked like.  The woman then began to give a great description of my 17 year old son (whom she didn't recognize because he had shaved his head during that week) and his 19 year old cousin (who was a "stranger" in our midst with long curly hair at the time). They had grown up favorite cousins and didn't see each other often, so they were affectionate to the point of being labeled correctly a same sex couple, but not in the way that she assumed!

She was relieved. 

Really? What had changed?  The only thing that had changed was her own perception.

In the midst of my own disillusionment with Sojourners, and now in light of my delight with the PC-USA vote, my own perceptions are challenged by an inspiring blog post written by Katie Mulligan entitiled "Believe Out Loud and the Sojourners Kerfluffle."  Katie's challenge is to go beyond disillusionment with Sojourners and, I would add, beyond celebration with PC-USA, to self examination and local action.  Katie asks the very direct question: What about your church?

How would a queer person know they are welcome in your church? How would they know that they could come to the potluck and not have to endure another conversation on how the gay are ripping the fabric of America? How would they know they could come to Bible study and know that they could talk about the fullness of their life without people praying that they straighten out. How would they know that you won't look at them and their family as if you'd just eaten rotten fruit? Because it's not on your church websites, friends. I look, and it's not there. It's not on my church website either. We're all just pussyfooting around this whole welcome the gay thing--and golly, I'm a queer pastor!

We have a ways to go!  The church's welcome is still too often full of pre-conditions not limited to sexual orientation and gender identification.  Progress seems too slow.  My comfort:  the great cloud of progressive and liberal Christians who are disillusioned right along with me, and also determined.  Even when it's with baby steps and measured voices, we are still working for justice and full inclusion and the good news of God's love for all people.

Sunday Sermon: Recognizing Jesus at the Table

Luke 24:13-35; Acts 2:14a, 36-41
May 8, 2011 -- Jerusalem UCC (Palmerton PA)


The Child by the Church Door

Cleopas and his wife were confused. They were walking to the town of Emmaus, trying to sort out what had happened the past few days. In deep conversation they were, and then this stranger joined them -- seemed to come from out of nowhere -- and not only that, this stranger seemed to not know anything about the big news coming out of Jerusalem.

Little did they know that this was Jesus.  Jesus was the stranger who had joined them on their walk to Emmaus. It’s a funny thing: Cleopas and his wife knew all about Jesus.  They knew he was a man of God, a prophet, powerful in deed, amazing teacher, God’s own, popular with the people. They knew that Jesus had been tried and sentenced to death and was crucified. They knew -- and they were confused -- that some women -- that very morning -- had found an empty tomb where the body of Jesus should have been and now were claiming that angels had said that Jesus was alive. Yes, Cleopas and his wife knew all about Jesus; they may even have been with Jesus just a few days before; but when Jesus joined them on the road in a new day, they didn’t know Jesus.

Imagine having Jesus walking along beside you, talking to you and asking questions, and even teaching them everything there is to know about the very history of the Messiah -- and still -- not being able to recognize Jesus when Jesus is right there!

The only thing worse would be to stop expecting Jesus to show up at all. I almost gave up -- years ago -- encouraged by my Sunday School teachers -- or I should say DIS-couraged by some of my childhood Sunday School teachers. You see, as a child, I had no trouble believing the bodily resurrection of Jesus.  I had the faith of a child -- a faith that said if God decided to raise Jesus from the dead, then it was done.

My urgent question was: “Where is he? Where is Jesus? If Jesus is alive [as I knew he was] then where is he NOW?” The answer: “He’s in heaven” didn’t help me out. I was old enough to have some sense that this heaven where Jesus was, was somehow different than the sky. But … but … more than that, I knew that, if Jesus was alive, he wasn’t out in space hanging out on some faraway planet somewhere. I knew -- somehow I knew -- that Jesus was a lot closer than that because Jesus loved me -- THIS I did know. I also found out that there are only so many of those hard questions that a Sunday School teacher will tolerate before she loses her cool. I grew up somehow holding onto “Jesus Loves Me” even when, at times, my Sunday School teachers seemed to have run out of love in the form of patience.

Friday Five: Word Associations

Songbird, who blogs at Reflectionary, just got back from a most excellent vacation. Today, as host of RevGalBlogPals Friday Five, she foldly remembers five words from that vacation and invites us to play "Word Association"!  Great idea!  Here are those words, with the first word that came to my mind: 

1) Airport - adventure

2) Baseball - Rangers

3) Art - children

4) Chocolate - heaven

5) Grill - party

Bonus: Tell us a story that comes to mind based on one of the word pairs.

ART - CHILDREN:  In my family of origin, there was not much emphasis on art.  We were all about the academics (dad was a high school principal, mom an English teacher) and I graduated from college as a science major, to become a med tech not a pastor, and thinking of "art" as an exotic thing for people who are not like me.

And then there were children!  I was blessed to be able to be a stay-at-home mom of three.  A most excellent thing about these children were that they were very responsive to play of all kinds.  Because it seemed like a fun thing to do, I kept an abundance of art supplies in the house, and on any given day, we were playing with play dough or finger painting or decorating the patio with sidewalk chalk.  My role was mostly the boundary-setter, encourager / art appreciator and cleaner-upper leader.

One day, I found the older two (at about ages 6 and 5) underneath the dining room table, painting the underside, Sistine Chapel style, with two bottles of White-Out liquid paper and the little brushes that come with it.

They are all grown up now, and all three are uniquely gifted artists and art savvy beyond what I ever could have imagined.  All are gifted writers.  All are culturally literate beyond my leading.  One is a beautiful dancer and draws; one is a writer by vocation (and does things that combine math and art!); and one has a great blog, crochets, and creates in the kitchen. 

I still keep art supplies handy, for any children who happen along and also for me.  Sometimes a girl just needs to get out the crayons or the water colors and have some fun!

Friday Five: Resurrection Preview

RevGal Dorcas extends the RevGalBlogPals Friday Five invitation today by asking us to anticipate resurrection:  "List five ways that your life is moving toward light, joy, hope -- new things:  new ideas, new people, new hobbies ... and so on."  Thanks, Dorcas, for a glimpse of resurrection as Lent becomes ever more arduous.

I once was a towel and now look at me!

1.  New Food: Curry -- I'm looking forward to experimenting with curry recipes.  I think I was sort of promised some delicious recipes by a few RevGals on Twitter the other day, that may be wishful thinking talking.  Something called "red curry" sounded fascinating.  If I get lucky, some curry recipes or links will be left in the comments.

2.  New Idea:  Blog -- I am still working up a new blog inspired by B.E.4.0.  Lent has demanded pretty much all of my creative time and energy.  I'm hoping the season of Resurrection gives me some time to pursue that further.

3. New People: Hispanic friends -- Our Penn Northeast Conference UCC has several things going relating to the Hispanic community that is growing in and around Allentown.  It's a whole new set of people to enjoy!

4. New Activity: Writing Online -- I haven't written "the book" yet, but I am writing regularly at 750words.com.  It's been more regurgitation therapy than anything else so far.  I'm a total sucker for the rewards and stickers and such that you get by doing the work.  

5. New Ministries: Lots! -- We have a ton -- I mean a ton -- of kids and youth in, and orbiting around, our church.  I am looking diligently for the needed lay leadership emerging that could give us a real youth group.  We have building challenges that could lead us to rethink the way we do Sunday School, or perhaps a new building program may be in the works.  And some of the complaints that have been swirling may be answered with technology rather than trying to patch old wineskins like the church newsletter.  

To See What the Good Shepherd Sees

My very favorite version of Psalm 23 by Bobby McFerrin.

I probably posted this before.  Well, here it is again!

John 9:1-41; Psalm 23

Life is difficult. And sometimes it’s even worse than that. Sometimes life is broken.

At this very moment, in this very place, a significant number in our congregation are grieving. If you have lost a loved one in the past two years, it would be totally normal for you to be still grieving pretty intensely, to have some tender places and some sad moments. If you are not one of those, you could reach out from where you are sitting right now and touch someone who is broken from the loss of a loved one.

If not that kind of broken, sitting among us today are other kinds of broken: Health is broken; finances are broken; relationships are broken;

I’m not speaking generally about what could happen among us. This is what is happening right now among us, to you and to me, to us.

One day, as Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. Broken eyes. Broken life. Never had seen the color of his mother’s eyes. Never had seen a sunset or a lightning storm. He couldn’t even see who was walking by him. Really broken man with blindness.

What do you see when you see broken? The disciples looked at the blind man and saw someone to talk about, someone to solve. They saw broken and wanted to find out who was to blame.

"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

In their question “Who sinned to make this happen?” is the unspoken put-down: “This blind man must’ve done something awful to have deserved this. Or was it his parents? Poor thing, bless his heart.”

They call them disciples because they have a lot to learn from Jesus. Don’t we all?

We see broken and we sometimes try to figure it out -- who is at fault -- who sinned -- who made this happen?

Or, we see broken and try to solve for the unknown, like broken life is an algebra equation.

Or, we see broken and secretly -- or not so secretly -- thank God that, even though I am broken in some way, even though we are broken in many ways -- there is always someone worse off, poor things.

When Jesus sees broken,

Jesus doesn’t assess the situation for fault or solutions;

Jesus is not the one who makes this situation into a Sunday School lesson or a sermon;

Jesus doesn’t look down on the person.

What Jesus did was to actually touch the man who was blind. Jesus used his very own warm spit, got his hands really dirty with actual dirt, and made mud to put on the man’s eyes.

Jesus wants the blind to see, whether it’s a man who was blind from birth -- or disciples who now are able to see that, in God’s eyes, broken is another word for someone who can be touched with good news.

Friday Five: Very Very Good



A snowy cemetery in December in PA



The Friday Five at RevGalBlogPals today is perfect for Lent-in-Full-Swing.  Thanks, Kathryn, for asking us to do something do-able for busy RevGals: a "quick pick" of five things that are good in our lives right now and -- the bonus -- one thing we could do without.

The five good things:

• Health and strength.
• Just the right amount of very good social life.
• An uncharacteristically peaceful spirit
• The awareness of co-workers in the struggle for justice and peace.
• I am looking forward to vacation the week after Easter!

And I could do without another funeral during Lent.  Monday will be number four of the season.

A blessed Lent, everyone!