Connect

Listen here. 

Grace to you and Peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our theme this Lent is “Connect.”  Last week I talked about “connectors” in scripture – those little phrases that string together the narrative like “Once, Then, Now, While this was happening, On the next day, etc.” Today our piece of the sacred story starts with a similar connector: “Just then.”  So as we pay attention to these connectors, we wonder: What happened “Just then” before the lawyer stood up to test Jesus?

This is when we are all sad that we do not have pew Bibles.  Though if you want to get out your smart phone to pull up your Bible App, please do – it’s Luke, chapter 10.  If you do, you can check out the verses immediately before our “Just then,” …/// Here, Jesus is rejoicing upon the return of the 70 returning.  The 70 disciples had been sent out to minister to many places and they returned, surprised of the great power the Spirit of God had done through them – specifically to cast out demons!  - Remember last week’s reading, when Jesus cast out a demon that the disciples could not?  So Jesus rejoices – in verses 18-24, I’ll read just 19-20:

¹⁹ See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. ²⁰ Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus is celebrating with the disciples and praising God for the work God is doing to bring in the kingdom.  To heal the world, and “Just Then”… a lawyer stands up.

What do you think he was thinking, that lawyer?  What is he trying to do? Is he challenging Jesus, or is he trying to connect with Jesus?  Is he setting up a road block, or inviting Jesus to explain further?  Something else entirely?

You have probably heard this parable before – the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Parables are great fun for they give us a story to unpack again and again in new ways for every new time.  Today we look at the connection of the parable to the people who were listening to it.  The context of this parable isn’t simply that a lawyer or scribe is asking Jesus a challenging question.  That question is asked “just then” after Jesus has been rejoicing with the 70 disciples who have just gathered together again after doing powerful ministry among the people.  Was this lawyer one of those disciples?  That’s what I am going with today.  Rather than the lawyer being an opposing force, what if he is one of those 70 disciples who has just had the awesome and life-changing experience of casting out demons with his own hands?  What if he is simply, being lawyer-like, trying to pin down that experience in words and rules he understands and can defend in court?  What if he is looking for the way to spread this good news further?  To explain it in plain terms?

Ok, Jesus… make it clear: what must I do, precisely, to harness this most amazing power I have seen working through my very own hands, this “Eternal Life”?  How do I make this feeling last forever? How do I give it to more people?  What’s the formula?  How can I codify this transformation happening, even now, in me?

And Jesus tells him a story.

But we cannot attempt to grasp this parable without knowing who Samaritans are.  For us, due to our Good Samaritan laws, “Samaritan” is generally thought of as a positive word.  But, let me remind you… a only a few verses ago, in chapter 9, verses 51 and following:

⁵¹ When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.⁵² And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; ⁵³ but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”^[k] 55 But he turned and rebuked them. ⁵⁶ Then^[l] they went on to another village.

These Samaritan villages rejected him.  And it was a sore point for the disciples.  This is not a new sore point.

Samaritans were the people who worshipped the same God (Yahweh), but came from the northern tribes of Israel, the kingdom which was destroyed before the southern kingdom of Judah.  The people from the Southern tribes were called Jews.  These are all descendants of Abraham.  But the Jews, when they came back from the Babylonian exile, did not recognize the Samaritans as people worshipping God rightly, as, of course, they were.  So the nation of Israel was split, along kingdom lines… that kingdom that God had not wanted in the first place, remember?

Religiously, Samaritans are the first cousins of the Jews of Jesus’ day.  And like often happens with tribes, it is easier to let the differences divide us, no matter our many similarities.

And so when the lawyer stood up in the midst of the rejoicing over the 70 who had just had such a beautiful experience of God’s restoring work… He speaks the same sentiment that Peter spoke on that mountain top at the transfiguration, “Tell us Jesus, how do we make this last?”

And Jesus’ response is… less than satisfying.  Did he really have to bring up the Samaritans?

How do you make this last?  Jesus says…You know the law and the prophets, what do they tell you? 

Love God, love your neighbor, replies the Lawyer.

Do this and you will live. Says Jesus.

But this is not enough for the lawyer. 

Who is my neighbor? 

Well, everyone knows the answer to that… “You shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:34).

It is a basic tenet of the Jewish Faith, and therefore the Christian faith.

But who is a “neighbor”?  Who is an “alien”  the one we have never met?  The one who lives next to us?  The one that is so strange to us… the one we despise and reject? 

And then Jesus tells the story.  Not about the Samaritan in the ditch, that would not have been so surprising – we all know that the one in the ditch needs a neighbor. 

Jesus tells the story starting with the men in front of him, Jewish man.  And says, suppose one of you was in a ditch, robbed and beaten. 

Now imagine who would come along to help you.  Would it be a priest?  A levite?  A scribe?  All Jewish authorities… well, not these, Jesus says. 

But imagine you are in a ditch, Jesus says.  And another man comes along who is not of your tribe.  The one person you would rather die than take help from. 

Who would that be for you?  

·        The brother you haven’t spoken to in years

·        The junior high bully who wouldn’t leave you alone

·        The investment banker who cheated you

·        The people who ignored you in a time of need

·        The politician you most despise

The good brother, the good bully, the good cheat, the good politician…That’s the Good Samaritan. 

…

The theme for us this Lent is “Connect.”  Jesus invites those faithful, dedicated disciples to consider with whom they may be denying their human connection.  Us too.  Jesus invites us, to think about what that kind of re-connection would mean for our lives. 

Who are our neighbors? 

·        The person across the street we just can’t stand?

·        The one who has more than us? The one who has less?

·        Those we serve at The Closet?

·        The Muslims who came to visit us last week? 

·        The Jews from whom we came as Christians?

·        The ones who are suffering hate at the hands of others?

And in re-defining “neighbor” one more time, Jesus invites to connect with God.  This is God’s will, that we might connect with God and each other. It’s as simple as the lawyers first answer, and as hard as the parable lets on. 

It’s as simple as serving with Martha’s heart and listening with Mary – not thinking we have to choose between one and the other.  And as hard as not resenting our sister may be. 

As we connect with God this Lenten season in prayer, fasting and giving, may God transform the connections among us at Bethlehem, and between each of us and the world. 

Amen. 

Back Down to Lent

Watch & Listen Here

Grace to you and Peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

“Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.”

Today’s gospel is a long one for us in a Lutheran worship service, we usually read just a snippet of scripture at a time.  But it is part of the gift of the narrative lectionary that we begin to embrace how those snippets fit together to make the whole story of the Good News of God. 

Notice how in our reading today there are several bridges from one scene to the next.  It starts off with “Once Jesus was praying alone…” as the gospel writer begins a new section of his story.  Then these bridges, “Then he said to them all,” “Now about eight days after these sayings,” “On the next day,” and “While everyone was amazed” serve to connect the action in the story.  What happens in one scene connects to the next.

Today’s good news is incredibly basic to our Christian faith, and also the greatest stumbling block for many.  So much so that Jesus has to tell the disciples three separate times.  Two of them frame our story this morning.

The story begins with Jesus in a time of prayer, engaging his disciples, his students, in the primary lesson of his life.  “They say I am John or Elijah reincarnated, but you know differently…” and Peter confesses, “Jesus, you are the Messiah.”  Then, their teacher
reminds me of an adult speaking to children who need to understand the dangers they may find themselves in if they are not careful: The fact that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of Man, as Jesus says, is a dangerous idea.   If caught thinking this way, the students will be in danger.  When the authorities hear this dangerous idea, Jesus’ life will be threatened.  In fact, Jesus clarifies.  It isn’t just a threat.  This will happen.  He will suffer, be rejected by their own beloved tribe and be killed.  Then, on the third day be raised. 

I wonder if the students could even hear that last bit.  By the time Jesus had brought the danger of the situation to their attention, could they even hear through their own hearts beating in their throats that Jesus would be raised again after death?

But Jesus plows ahead, apparently disregarding their level of comprehension. Or maybe he’s trying to make them understand? 

“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. ²⁵ What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? ²⁶ Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. ²⁷ But truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

These are powerful words: Shame, Deny yourself, Take up your cross, voluntarily lose your life for Jesus sake.  Jesus doesn’t mince words.  Following Jesus is not about getting power, profit and glory for ourselves.  Being a student of Jesus is about learning from him how we should live, even to the point of denying ones’ self for the sake of Jesus.  The sake of those in whom we see Jesus.  The sake of our neighbors, like us and unlike us – for this is where we know Jesus comes to us. 

Now about eight days after that conversation.  That’s when they go up to the mountain to pray.  Goodness knows, I am looking for more opportunities to talk with God after hearing that speech from Jesus. 

Since there is nothing between these two scenes, it leads us to believe that even if there was healing and preaching going on in those 8 days, everyone was a little distracted by that speech.  And I have to wonder what God was doing.  Did God make sure to put some space between the speech and this Transfiguration moment?  Did God give them plenty of time to excuse themselves from being Jesus students any longer?  Certainly, God knows we humans cannot handle all the information at once – and a little time between these events helps us to integrate them into our experience. 

On that mountain, there they are praying and Jesus starts shining – and it probably makes those students think about the other time in their Israelite history that someone’s face glowed – when Moses was up on the mountain getting the ten commandments from God!  And then, lo and behold, who shows up?  But Moses himself!  And Elijah, the whispered name of the prophet that people have been thinking Jesus might be. 

Then Peter, the spokesperson for the bumbling disciples, says “let’s build some houses up here!”  What was Peter hoping to do?  Mark the place like Jacob did at Peniel?  Naming that place “the Face of God”? But as the words are falling from his mouth, a cloud comes over them, they are terrified – because our God is a Fearsome God.  And they hear these words, “This is my Son, my Chosen;^[i] listen to him!”  

It’s true!  Jesus is the Son.  This isn’t just an amazing experience of encountering God on the mountain, this is God revealed in the human before them!  It isn’t even just that Jesus is the Messiah, the human who would save them from their oppression.  Jesus is actually God’s Son. And all he has been teaching them is more than just another wise man’s words.  This is divinity.  Fearsome, Awesome, Overwhelming divinity. 

“And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.”

Because wouldn’t you?

Then on the very next day.  Peter and the rest of the disciples, still grappling with the reality that has been revealed to them once again, and a father comes to plead with Jesus.  I imagine the disciples, continuing their stunned silence, gazing every so often at Jesus, the God-Man.  I imagine they have no doubt that Jesus can heal this child, though they could not when they were sent on their missionary journeys earlier.  And I imagine that they have a whole new understanding and empathy for Jesus when he says, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you?”   And they notice when he also says, “Bring your son here.” 

For this God does not leave the desperate father and the tortured son.  This father IS the desperate father and the tortured son.

…though they may not yet be able to comprehend it.

“Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.”

Let us enter Lent this week, letting it all sink in… God the desperate father, God the tortured son, God the one who will not let us go. 

Amen. 

Cracked Open

Christmas Eve 2016

Holy Storytelling

Tonight we hear the Christmas story from two different perspectives: Luke and Matthew… from the shepherd and the magi.  I invite you to consider how the stories each have a different focus, but moreso, what it is that each of them tells us about the good news of the coming of Jesus Christ.

Gospel 1: Luke 2

1 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!" 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Gospel 2: Matthew 2

2 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for from you shall come a ruler

    who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,

    wailing and loud lamentation,

Rachel weeping for her children;

    she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

Grace to you and Peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The children had set up the crèche in their sanctuary.  It was one of those beautiful ceramic sets, probably Italian, and the children had carefully carried the pieces over the stone floor of the cathedral.  The Mary, the Joseph, the Shepherds, the sheep and cattle and oxen.  This was one of those times where they even put the Magi in place early, all of them facing towards the manger, anticipating the coming Christ.  On the night of Christmas Eve, finally, after watching the empty manger for days, the shepherds and wisemen were getting their due.  Finally, in comes the child carrying the baby Jesus… and on his way to the scene, baby Jesus slipped from the small hands, falling to the stone floor.  The cracking sound, the gasp.  And baby Jesus’ head came off. 

The beautiful manger scene, with the light of the room glancing off that white porcelain, awaiting Jesus on Christmas Eve…. was broken.  Cracked open to reveal the gasping and faltering that we encounter in the Christmas Story.

Cracked open to reveal what we know, and what we don’t know.  Cracked open to reveal the pain of the world.

One wonders about those cracks. 

When we read these two stories side by side, one with shepherds, one with wise men, both telling of the wonderful news of Jesus’ birth.  We hear these two perspectives, one with ordinary laborers doing the good work of daily bread for themselves and the owners of those sheep, the other with bizarre sages from a far off land bringing a message of political upheaval, both stories revealing cosmic intervention.  We see cracks in the story that leave open questions for us and reveal brokenness, spaces, gaps where the story lets us wonder… what is God doing here? 

In Luke’s telling of the story, Mary is expecting a child.  Mary, the story tells us, was an unwed pregnant young woman.  Probably 14 or 15 years old. You all knew that already.  But there are some big cracks in the story on either side of that birth.  Anyone who has ever visited a baby in a hospital, or had a baby of your own, know there is a lot of story to be told around a birth.  How did the labor start?  How long was it?  How difficult?  And most of all, was anyone’s life in danger at any point? A very young woman like Mary would have brought more concern to labor and delivery, just as it would today.  The sacrifice she made was to risk her life to bring this child into the world.  Were there midwives attending?  We can only hope she wasn’t alone.  Where was her family?  And really, people saw a 9-month pregnant young woman and no one was willing to give up their bedroom?  Really?  Really. 

The story leaves out most of the domestic details, which leads us to wonder about them.   Especially when we are faithful people seeking a story that resonates with our own experience.  And through these cracks we wonder.  We may never have been shepherds, but we have been mothers and fathers.  Yet, the Shepherds themselves are focal because they represent us all.  The shepherds are the common folk who hear the good news!  The shepherds are, fantastically, the ones who come and see, and go and tell.  The shepherds show us that the story is for us and told through us.  If you come here seeking a story tonight because the realities of life for you are about relationships and love and kindness and mercy.  Even if the church is a struggle for you because Christianity seems preoccupied with institutions and meaningless rituals and abstract doctrines[i].  This is a story with cracks.  A story about you and me, about an unwed mother and her baby, about a guy who does the noble, foolish thing of marrying a young woman who has a baby that is not his own.  About the common people of the day, even those at the bottom rung of the social ladder being entrusted with the most important job – to tell of God’s wondrous work in the world.

In Matthew’s gospel, there are a lot of cracks around those Magi.  They can seem like such an unexpected imposition on the story!  (Especially if we only ever read Luke on Christmas Eve.)  We wonder how those magi found him?  What was this miraculous star?  Such a story is this that even Thursday on NPR they were talking about what phenomena this star might have been, planets aligned, comet bursts…?[ii]  What was so strange as to lead men to travel from their home country to a foreign place seeking a newborn king?  It’s no wonder they ended up in the story with their wonderings and wanderings like ours – wandering into Herod’s court, specifically.  Naturally!  The epicenter of power is where one would go to find a baby king.  But instead of finding him, the magi unintentionally set off the alarm.  Herod the puppet king fears the threat of this new king to his own power, and along with the chief priests and scribes, murderous intentions lurk.  It is a foreboding scene, anticipating the political turmoil that will end Jesus’ life.

It almost ends right there.  The whole story of God’s great work and intervention for us almost stops with the magi finding him.  For as they tip off Herod, any hope that this time it would be different is abolished.  Any hope that our infant king might win the world over with his tiny fingers and soft skin and cuddly packaging.  Any hope that our God might simply melt our hearts into good behavior evaporates.  Even God coming to earth does not stop conflict and political maneuvering, and acts of terror. 

We watch Rachel lamenting in Ramadah once again.  Crack, the perfect story breaks away from the “Perfect” we pretend is real. The cracks in these stories, the pieces that have fallen out of the memory of history, connect like threads when we remember that Rachel, Jacob’s wife, died here in Bethlehem, in childbirth.  This can make us all the more grateful for Mary’s safety, and aware of the danger she was in.  Rachel had longed for children, and upon her second child’s birth, she paid with her life for a son that she would never nurse or raise.  Her pain of longing for children becomes pain of loss of children here when Herod’s evil slaughters the innocents.  The story makes it hard to ignore the pain of our modern-day Syria, and the loss of its children.  Acute this week, when we stumble across film of a room full of children who have died, being marked with the sign of the cross on their foreheads.  With this holy story of unjust death due to Christ’s birth, we commend them to God.  And we wonder at the story when Jesus survives childhood only because he is allowed safe-haven as a refugee in Egypt.  We wonder what the story asks us to do with refugees fleeing violence like our Lord…?

The cracks left by the storytellers, allow us to see the world as it is.  Cracked and broken.  Hurting and begging for healing.  For wholeness. For peace.

And there is one more thing that the storytellers, with all these open cracks, lead us into infinite wonder.

It is into this world the savior comes.

This cracked and broken world, where the beautiful things entrusted to us regularly need to be put back together.  Where the porcelain baby Jesus has glue around his neck.

This world where the gift you gave to your family member was met with a forced smile and longing for a stronger relationship.  The world where the empty space in your heart remains for the one you have lost, if not an empty chair at the table.  This world where we let innocent children be massacred.

We can wonder over the beauty of God’s response. 

God comes to be with us.  God CHOOSES to come into this busted up world.  Over and over and over and over and over and over again.  God chooses to be BORN.  In BETHLEHEM.  The place where Rachel wept and Mary pondered.  The place from which Jesus fled, and shepherds ran to the manger.  The place where Shepherds and Magi told Everyone the good news, every day people and kings in their palaces. That Christ, our savior is born.  God has come to us, and is coming to us, and will come to us.  Through every cracked open life who longs for love.  God is there.  God is HERE.  Come to be with us in every crack, filling it with the bond of love, filling it with the glue of community.  Putting us together, over and over again, broken and cracked pieces fit together into the one Body of Christ. 

Amen.

---

[i] Sam Wells 2009 Christmas Eve Sermon Duke Chapel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDkinPZZD4U

[ii][ii] NPR http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/12/21/506395770/the-star-of-bethlehem-and-the-magi-myth-or-reality

Visiting the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester

Hello Friends!

I have had a few of you express interest in our visit to the local mosque yesterday.

It was beautiful.  Beautiful.  I am very sorry I didn't take more pictures for you to see what beauty is captured by people from different places sitting around one table.  Talking about their common American pride, their children, their different faiths in one ancient Abrahamic tradition.

I had gotten in touch with the lay leadership of the mosque by email a few weeks back.  I told them that I was beginning an adult forum in my congregation to talk about Islam, which prompted me to reach out.  In the short number of years I have been in this area, I have not yet had the pleasure of getting to know any Moslems.  Their immediate reply was to invite me to come visit, and to bring some friends.

Two weeks later, there we were around one table.

As Steven and I walked up to the building, we were greeted by teens and children enjoying the beautiful day in the parking lot.  The entryway held shoe cubbies and shoes of all shapes and sizes.  We found our way into a large carpeted room, our feet padding quietly across the floor to meet the padding feet of our hosts, eager to greet us.  Eight men and two women welcomed us with bright eyes, warm smiles and handshakes.  We sat down around a large table and talked about Bethlehem and our class on Islam being a blind-leading-the-blind kind of experience.  They offered to come help us!  We talked about our common religious heritage through creation to Abraham. We talked about the different ways we understand Jesus and other messengers of God. We were invited to observe one of their daily prayers and I admitted to some holy-envy for their communal commitment to the daily ritual of prayer.  We were grateful to be in one another’s presence so recently after the election, over which they expressed concern about the Islamaphobia that has been encouraged, especially for people in other parts of the country, and they affirmed the blessing of the timing of our meeting for them.  They even expressed that they feel it is important to engage in the political leadership of their communities, state and nation and how proud and blessed we all are to be a part of a democracy with the freedom of religion.

And it was easy.  To be together, to celebrate how much we have in common, to feed the curiosity that God put in each of us, and to wish we had brought our children, that they might know and grow in friendship with children from another religion and with skin tones different from their own.

It was easy.  And it was beautiful.

Moving through Fear.

20161106

After Pentecost 24

Isaiah 6:1-8

The Sacred Story from the book of Isaiah:

Isaiah: In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: 

Seraph: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.

Isaiah: The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: 

Seraph: Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.

Isaiah: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 

Lord: Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?

Isaiah: And I said, “Here am I; send me!”

Word of God, Word of Life. 

Congregation: Thanks be to God. 

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Fear. 

And it is real.  And it is valid.  Fear that you can’t cover your mortgage this month.  Fear that people have been given public permission by someone who will hold the highest office to demean women.  Fear that our families are tearing apart under political divide. Fear that President-Elect Trump will say something foolish and our international relationships will be strained or worse.  Fear of being one medical disaster away from financial ruin.  Fear that our friends who are brown, black, LGBTQ or Muslim will experience more psychological and actual threats on their life than they are already experiencing.  Fear that we are impotent to do anything about any of it.

These are real and valid fears. Democrats and Republicans alike are fearful.  Of different things maybe, but too many of us on both sides of the political divide have been overtaken by it.  Fear is the enemy.  Not democrats, not republicans.  Not independents, and not abstainers.

Dear friends who are afraid: You are loved, by God, by me, and by many, many, many people who will work to the death for love, compassion, inclusion and embrace of all our needs and all our diversity. Bless you. I will pray for you and all the fears you feel.

What does the Sacred Story have to say about this?  What does God have to say about this? 

Today we hear of Isaiah.  He is a prophet, much like Samuel, the man we heard about a few weeks ago who told David it wasn’t his job to build the temple.  Prophets are in the business of telling us what God says, and what jobs God has to give us.  And before they can do that, they themselves have to hear from God.  Like Isaiah does today. 

Isaiah has a vision.  It’s possible that he is in the temple, in the holy of holies, the place where only certain priests could enter to encounter God.  God’s strength is felt powerfully there, where the ark, the throne of God now resides.  But Isaiah’s vision allows him to see the power of God beyond what he can access in that central temple room.  God’s power is magnified and telescoped for Isaiah all at once. He sees the enormity of God, whose robe’s edge brushes into the temple and fills it completely. 

Isaiah is unexpectedly before God, and in the holy presence, Isaiah suddenly knows his own unworthiness – he says he is “unclean.”  Isaiah is full of fear.  He has found himself in the court of the most high God with nothing to offer.  The God who has made all life, and holds it all in the palm of his hand.  The God who gives life and takes away.  Isaiah fears because his life is surely nothing of value to this God.  Isaiah fears because he has no ability to make himself right and pure by God’s standards.  Isaiah fears because he knows precisely how poorly his whole nation is at following God’s commands, these people with unclean lips.

Reasonable fears.  Real and valid fears, that finding ourselves in the midst of God’s glory, we would experience as well. No matter who had won the election on Tuesday. 

The God of the galaxies and the ladybugs holds all of creation in the balance.  Giving us the gift of fear to know when we are near the edge.  When things are not right, not in line with God’s intentions for us.  

Yet, what is the first thing that is said often when angels show up on earth?  Do Not Be Afraid. 

In today’s story, rather than words, the angel responds to Isaiah’s fear by dispelling the reason for the fear.  Isaiah, the angel seems to be saying with the action of the coal.  Do not be paralyzed by your fear.  God has equipped you.  You are able to serve.  

Because what happens next?

God asks “Whom Shall I Send?”

And Isaiah is ready. 

Whether we are red, blue or purple, we too are made ready…through Christ, our purifier.

Christ is found in today’s scriptures in the equipping.  Christ came to die that our sin might be blotted out as the coal did for Isaiah.  Christ came to show us how God works in the world so that we might show up and work with God, rather than against him.  A little fear, when we have something big and new happening is an appropriate human response.  But God gives us what we need to not stay paralyzed by it.

No, we can go forth to speak the truth, as Isaiah is called to do.  We can go forth to tell the good news of God’s love in our actions.  In standing shoulder to shoulder with any who will speak against suffering, poor working conditions, unfair wages, predatory consumerism, abusive religion, or bullying of those who look or worship differently than we do.  

God has something for you to do, for us to do together. Prayerfully, keeping ourselves exposed to and listening for Christ in the sacred story and in our neighbor, we move through fear and into love for our neighbor.

Adult study today begins a new series, “My Neighbor is a Muslim.”  I hope you will all join us.  This is going to be a discovery of the faith of Islam and a conversation about the relationship between Islam and Christianity.  /This is an opportunity to move through fear.  We may be afraid of people who are Muslim, or of their religion.  We may fear an Islamic attack on American soil, yet know very little about the motivations behind such attacks or what the Muslims that live in our communities think about it.  There are lots of ways we can and will stand up for Christ in response to this week’s raucous election.  Here is an appropriate place for a faith community to start.  Later today I will be visiting the Worcester Islamic Society and speaking with two gentlemen in hopes of building a relationship with them.  And maybe finding a way to involve us all in interfaith dialogue.  But before we do that, it is respectful and helpful to learn something together about the conversation we might have.  Is God calling you to this today?  If so, the conversation will be happening just down the hall.

Let us pray,

God, we stand in awe of you, too often filled with fear because of things happening around us.  Give us strength to listen carefully to each other and to those we do not yet know.  Help us to listen with hearts open, and without fear.  For you say to us, “Be not afraid” and “Come, follow me.”  

Amen. 

For our sacred space today we will be blessing your hands as a sign of your baptismal calling to work God’s justice and peace in the world.  Please visit me at the font for an individual blessing and prayer. 

On the Presidential Election of 2016

Let us pray...

God of grace, you have entrusted us to steward this world and sometimes we wonder what the heck you were thinking.  This election has created fear and anxiety.  Enter our hearts.  Give us love for those who oppose us, and whom we oppose.  Give us clarity of purpose and drive to make political change for Your Good.  Thank you for the promise that you work all things together for good.  Help us to live in that promise today, and in the coming years.

Amen.

Friends on all sides of this election:

Those who voted for Trump, please let the Clinton supporters grieve. Though I know most of you voted for him because you want a huge change in federal politics, there are still very real divisive and hateful words said by the man who will now be our President. Please stand together against those words and ideas. If you are serious about Unity, gloating gets you nowhere. Find ways for our country to change that does not injure people who are LGBTQ, Latino/a, black, immigrants, refugees or Muslims. Your American Dream is OUR American Dream.

Those who voted for Hilary, I know it is too early for Unity. Just grieve. But when you have raged, cried, worried and denied it out, it is time to Love our Neighbor. And that means loving the one you don't like right now. Insulting your neighbor's intelligence gets us nowhere. Loving does not mean agreement. Loving does not mean going along with something you think is wrong. LOVE is about Justice. If you are a Christian, the Bible will help you understand justice. It will soon be time to be together with people of all political stripes to find solutions to real problems. To listen, listen, listen. To work hard to make real, helpful Change. 

If this was a change election, let the change begin.

Freedom Food

 Listen here. 

20161002
After Pentecost 20
World Communion Sunday

Psalm 149
Exodus 12:1-13; 13:1-8  ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Grace to you and peace from our lord and savior, Jesus Christ.
Either we have here a very particular, micro-managing God, or this is a very, very, very special meal.
It is so special, in fact, I had a hard time coming up with a secular equivalent.  Is it Thanksgiving? With turkey and mashed potatoes and remembering to be grateful to God and our forefathers?  Well, some of that is in there…
Is it like Christmas? Where, at least in some households, everything must be “just right” with traditions steeped in everything from the ornaments on the tree, to the hors d’oeuvres, to the candy dish. A bit…
Is it a New Year’s celebration with the recommitments, celebratory drinks and the joy of the fresh and new? There is something there too…
The trouble with either of these comparisons is that this meal contains in it a power that fails to come across in simply words. In fact, if you ever experience a seder or Passover meal with Jewish friends, you know that the words there are not just spoken, but are enacted with the eating.  The bitter herbs, the flatbread, the egg, the lamb… each food symbolizes a specific action and promise of God.  Each course of the meal is intended to more than remember, but to relive!  To relive the great gift that God gave the family of Joseph, Jacob, Sarah and Eve - the family called Israel.  You see, the whole point of the Passover story is that the people, through this meal, were freed from slavery.
I want to show you a trailer of a movie that is coming out soon, it’s called “The Birth of a Nation.”  You may have heard about it.  It tells the story of Nat Turner, a former slave in America that leads a liberation movement in 1831 to free African-Americans. This trailer gives us a glimpse into what slavery in America is like.  And from the Biblical description, we can assume it isn’t all that different across time, culture and place for the Israelites. 
[watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIlUerVomDE]
‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ – the last verse of our reading today.
It is because the Lord freed us from this wretched slavery, Says Israel.  Now of course, American slavery and Egyptian slavery are very different historical time periods, but the subjugation, the treatment, the pain of one group of people above another, is the same.
I imagine this meal being eaten on the underground railroad.  The bread that could not rise, the bitter herbs of hardship, the wine of freedom.
There is nothing easy about this meal.
For when a people lives enslaved, their hope is on freedom.  //
How did they get here? Last we heard, the Israelites were receiving promises from God and faithfully watching them be fulfilled, and now they are slaves in Egypt?
Joseph’s brothers and their wives grew to be a family that overwhelmed the Pharoah, the king, of Egypt.  The pharaoh forgot.  He forgot that it was this family who had given Egypt life through Joseph.  He forgot that it was God who had told the Egyptians about the famine before it came and gave Joseph the wisdom to understand and prepare.  The pharaoh forgot that these people came to Egypt as guests, as brothers and sisters of one humanity.  Pharoah, worried about his own security, forgot their common humanity.  He made slaves of them.  And so the people cried out to God.  They cried out against the harsh treatment.  They cried out against the bondage.  They cried out when a whole generation of their children were killed by Pharoah.  They cried out to God to free them.
And God did.
And to this day, when Passover is celebrated, the people Ask “How is this night different from all other nights?” and answer, “We remember this night how God led us out of Egypt and through the Red Sea.”  It is not those people back then, but “us” (the practicing Jews) now who God led.  Past and present are joined together.  They say: We were slaves, but have been set free by the God who loves us.
See, it’s more than just remembering… it’s more than Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Years.  If I had to pick a meal it comes closest to, I would choose Holy Communion.  Appropriate, as today is World Communion Sunday where we celebrate our union with the body of Christ around the world.
For while the Jewish tradition is in itself right and holy.  We who have been grafted in by Jesus Christ have also been given a meal to remember – a meal to never forget.  We do it each week, rather than each year for a 7 day celebration of Passover.  It is how we are “grafted in” to use Paul’s biblical language, to the Jewish family.  We too have been slaves and been freed by Jesus…
In fact, we might ask even today… How is this morning different from all mornings?
Answer: This is the morning Christ rose from the dead.
This is the morning Christ had victory over death for our sake.  Christ became the sacrificial lamb, our hope for survival in the midst of the bondage of evil.
In Communion, as in the Passover, we celebrate and thank God for the great gift God has given us: Freedom.
It’s not just words, it’s an enactment.  The bread and wine are Christ’s body and blood.  Christ is truly here once again.  Past and present joined together.
You may remember, it was at the Passover meal that Jesus gave us the sacrament of communion.  It was on a night that his very life was threatened.  And for the sake of us all, Christ’s self-sacrifing action gave us all the gift of a new exodus.  Christ, being God, laid his own life down so that we might be free.
So, as always with God’s Word, these stories give us a choice.  We can receive the gift of freedom offered here.  At this table, in bread and wine.  Or we can refuse the gift, believing we are free already.  We can, in our fantasy of freedom, concern ourselves more with our own security and risk the real threat that in so choosing, we may, like Pharaoh, forget our common humanity.
Both the Passover and Holy Communion are meals to enact our freedom.  To remember who we are and whose we are.  We are not of the world, but in it we live as God’s people.  We are a freedom people, called to share the good news with the world: Christ has freed us!
God has freed you!
It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt…
It is because of what the Lord did for me when he died and rose again…
It is because I am God’s alone, and no one else’s.  I stand to proclaim that God’s freedom is for all.
Will you pray with me
We whisper the word, and we shout the word,
FREEDOM!
Sometimes it’s ours, sometimes someone else’s
FREEDOM!
We love the sound of it ringing in our ears.
FREEDOM!
God, you are Love
Free us from fear of being hurt,
so that we might freely love!
Jesus, you are our Hope
Free us from despair …,
so that we might freely hope,
Spirit, you are Truth
Free us from lies about ourselves
so that we might freely live.
Love, Hope and Truth,
We come. We worship.  We are free.
Amen.