Job 42: 1-10
Mark 10:46-52
This is REFORMATION SUNDAY, and this the 500th birthday of John Calvin, from whom the theology of the Presbyterian Church was articulated. I debated what we could do. I am told Calvin wore a wide brimmed hat while preaching, but chiefly this was because they had broken all the stained glass windows as icons, and the pigeons would bomb him while preaching. I had thought of nailing 95 Thesis papers to the doors as Martin Luther had done in 1517, but the problems of the church today are not the same as in the era of Luther and Calvin. Luther's 95 Theses dealt with whether the Bible should be available to common people, and today we all have Bibles that few have ever read or used. The 95 Theses dealt with whether the worship service should be in the common language or only in Latin. The 95 These dealt with the Sale of Indulgences, lucky Charms and trinkets that you could purchase to take away your sins and make you feel better...and we still use shopping this way, don't we?
I am convinced we need a fresh Reformation Day, where we are called to examine and recommit to our faith in God, but not based on the old principles, so much as to use as a Theological Stimulus Package! If I understand the idea of the Federal Stimulus Package it is that by giving $3000 to a person for a car, or $8000 to new Home Buyers, not only would this spur consumer spending, but putting more money in the economy the car dealers would pay their employees who would buy DVD players or Computers. The New Home Buyers would use that $8000 to purchase furniture or appliances. So like the idea of a Tax Rebate that actually was an advance of Taxable Income, the point was not where it was taken from or how we got into this mess, but to be present and future thinking to use this experience to foster something new.
Throughout the last month we have been reflecting upon the Book of Job. Most often when we think of Job it is the Contest between Satan and God and the Issue of Human Suffering, or the Complaint of Job for a hearing, or the response of God from the whirlwind.
Regarding Human Suffering: Years ago, I took part in a panel discussion at University Hospital, that starts off like a bad joke, but was a true circumstance. The Medical College gathered A Jewish Rabbi, a Catholic Priest, a Muslim Emmam and a Presbyterian Pastor to debate human Suffering. The Medical Students understood that today we could virtually eliminate and control suffering, but should we? The Rabbi described that suffering of one could never compare to the suffering of 6 million in the Holocaust. The Priest named the Suffering of Jesus for all humanity and that in reciting the Rosary we atone for the guilt of our sins. The Emmam described the importance of the individual suffering, in order to work through their wrongs to be purified. The Pastor stated belief in a loving God, who would never punish individuals with circumstances for their sins, but that we can reflect and use our suffering to forgive and change.
Regarding the Complaint of Job, wanting a date and time to plead for Righteousness before God, as we reflected that week, Pleading Righteousness is more our speaking to ourselves than to God, proving to ourselves, convincing ourselves we were right.
The Response of God, I am convinced is not a rebuke of who do you think you are questioning God, so much as a reassessment that if Humanity is Co-Creator with God, if the Creature formed from Dust of the Earth and gifted with the Spirit of God had been there at Creation with God, then in the response from the whirlwind God is Calling Job to step up to a new and fresh responsibility. God is calling Job to understand the balance of Chaos and Grace, that God did not make chaos and suffering as a balance to grace and prosperity, but the reverse, that God created Grace and Order and Prosperity to balance the Chaos, Darkness and Nothingness that existed before God began to create.
But the point of the Book of Job, is not only Suffering, or Guilt, or Complaint, or Righteousness, or Redemption, but SO WHAT? After the contest was over, after all the Suffering, did Job go back to life as normal? I think not. But that the Wisdom of Job was that he reflected the remainder of his days upon this experience and what it taught him about life and value.
Previously, Job was a wealthy man, who would offer sacrifices after his children partied to make up for what they may have done. Now he has three daughters who he prizes above al else, and in whom he sees great joy. The story ends too quickly and neatly. I wonder what the Sequel to Job would be? When something happens to the Daughters of Job, what wisdom does he offer? How would a father respond?
This passage from Mark's Gospel too seems too nice and neat, entering into the City of Jericho a blind beggar, the Son of Timaeus cries out to Jesus “Son of David, have mercy on me” and Jesus heals the man, who then follows him.. What if this story were the conclusion to the earlier story of this chapter? The Rich Young Man had greeted Jesus on the Road by falling to his knees and declaring “Good Teacher what must I do to inherit Eternal Life?” And Jesus instructs him to follow the Commandments which he has done, and to go sell all he has and follow Jesus, to which the man went away sorrowful for he had many possessions. What if, this rich young man reflected on what was asked and did give away all that he had. He might then be a beggar on the street, as Jesus entered Jericho, and as one who likes to use titles for Jesus “Good Teacher” he has come to the new awareness that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah, LORD and Savior. Though he had given away all he had, he would have recognized his spiritual blindness and need for Jesus' mercy. After which he truly could follow Jesus.
The Theological Stimulus Package is to ask of ourselves in every circumstance, SO WHAT SHALL I DO? Do I approach life as a Victim of Cancer? As one is is Divorced? As one grieving loss? Do we focus on the Chaos and Loss and Suffering, or can we see ourselves as using these experiences to attain the wisdom of Job to see life differently because of what we has happened?
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Who Are You, Are You Able? October 18, 2009
Job 38
Mark 10:35-41
The questions of God to Job from the Whirlwind are the most basic questions we ask ourselves:
Who Are You? Were You There When? Are You Able? These are the questions we struggle with when filling our College Applications, and Job Applications, When Getting Married and Having Children, and Looking at our Reflection in the Mirror, Determining whether we can trust another with our greatest stories of suffering and of pain, and When we Retire and When we reach the end of Days.
Who are you? Were you there? Are you able? These are questions of identity, but even more of Honor, of Vocation and Call, not just of Career and Paycheck but of whether life has meaning and purpose, and what do we do about, what can we say about: Chaos.
We have become acculturated that if you show up at the right time, in the right place, and do what is expected, everything will work out. Follow the rules, meet and surpass the expectations. 90% of life is just showing up. We live in a disposable world, where everything is a facade, nothing in life is supposed to have meaning. I wish that all the world could have four days, on the first day to sit on a cliff at the shore watching the waves roll in and the tide go out, or to sail feeling the wind and the waves and charting a course to tack back and forth. The second day, to sit in the depths of a forest or stand in the center of a wheat field, watching and listening as the wind furrows and that which we thought was all the same is distinguished by a bird or a chipmunk or a deer. The third day, to sit on a mountain and look over the range of mountains, to witness how insignificant we are, but also that we could be part of any and all of those places. The fourth to stand in the midst of a cemetery, Arlington or Gettysburg, or even Lakeview, to read the inscriptions and families of so many who have gone before.
I recall a few years ago, climbing a mountain with my son and his friends. I thought it would be following a path, but this journey was straight up. Within the first hour, I determined that if I could keep pace for the day, we would get to the first night's rest, and I would not have embarrassed him, so I could climb down while they went on ahead. But about mid-morning we stopped to rest, and I looked over the range of mountains, and realized two things, first that there was no way down you had to follow the path and continue, and second that we were on this journey together dependent on one another's abilities. Who are You? Were you there when? Are you able?
God provides a wonderful response to Job in the midst of his chaos. Job has witnessed the loss of his career, his honor, his sons and daughters, his fortune, his body is covered sores and illness, and Job reaches back to the most basic understanding of the Old Testament: The Exodus. Job demands that according to Moses you were going to hear our prayers and respond. According to your giving Israel your name at the Burning Bush, we would call upon you especially in times of suffering and you would care, you would redeem, you would be God. It appears as though God has created chaos to balance God's blessings. Where is God? Where are you? Are you there? Are you able?
God undercuts, Job's identification of Who God is in the Exodus, with a more basic foundational identity, Were you there at Creation? God is the Redeemer who heard the people and led the nation out to a Promised Land, but God is also The Creator, Who are you? Were you there at Creation? Are you able to Create? Do you realize all Creation was chaos, and order and balance were made out of chaos.
James and John make the same assumption of Jesus, enabling them to make a juvenile request. As parents, we have each been trapped in the request they make... “We want you to do whatever we ask.” To which Jesus responds “What would you like?” Even more childish they reply, “We want to share your Glory, we want to sit one at your right and one at your left in heaven.” Time after time throughout the Gospels Jesus had described the suffering and disgrace and death he would have to endure, yet they had not listened. James and John and Simon Peter were among the inner circle of the twelve disciples, who were the core of the crowd of followers listening to Jesus. They imagined that by relationship, they could receive his glory, his honor.
In reply to James and John, Jesus did not rebuke them. The other disciples and the crowd become indignant, that James and John asked for favors they would have wanted, but Jesus takes these two seriously and questions them: Who are you? Will you be there? Are you able to drink the cup I drink? These are not rhetorical questions, but assessment, reflection, and asking more of the petitioner than showing up. The point of Jesus' assessment is that James and John will follow Jesus not only as Disciples and as Apostles, but as Martyrs as well. And yet the point of Jesus incarnation is not simply that he gave us Baptism as a Sacrament for the Remission of Sins, and Communion as a Sacrament for Forgiven Eternal Relationship with God, for us to follow by example, but that he did so in his own life. He was/is the pioneer and perfecter for us. In the only occurrence in all the New Testament, Mark uses the word “Ransom” to describe Jesus paying to redeem our lives. Yet in this conversation what Mark reveals is that James and John, like all of us are Very Human, wanting Honor, Glory and Respect, and also this moment's hesitation as Jesus assesses Who they are? Whether they can be there when he needs and Are they able? The persistent question of Christian faith today is not whether we understand, not whether we want to be baptized and to drink from his cup, but what difference it makes for us?
Reading these passages over and over this week, something occurred to me that I had never seen before, something which is not recorded in any commentary, but reading these two passages together seems to make sense. Jesus' reply to James and John, and God's reply to Job from the Whirlwind are not rebukes. God was not saying “Who do you think you are? You were not there at Creation! You are not able!” Not an indignant condemnation: “Silly Rabbit, Tricks are for Kids!” But rather, an appraisal that Job could be able to do more, to believe differently.
The Response of God to Job from the Whirlwind is reference not to Exodus but to Creation; However, rather than Genesis 1 where the last Creation formed after light and dark, and dry land from Water; Rather than Genesis 3's Adam & Eve and questions of Good/Evil and Perfection; the Creation God is recalling from the Whirlwind, assessing Job, is Genesis 2. “When in the day God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant in the field was yet in the earth, no herb had yet sprung up, a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground – then the Lord God formed Humanity from the Humus, dead decaying dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” The answer to God's question of Were you there at Creation? is Yes!
The question that is left is “Are you able?” Having faced the struggles of life, can you face chaos? Before God can restore Job, Job has to witness God's most terrifying creatures “Behemoth” and “Leviathan”. At which point we understand that God is God and we are Human, but we are in the image of the creator, we were there at Creation, and we are able to be far more than those who show up and those who consume.
The last several months our Session has wrestled around the question of “Who are We?” The Episcopal and Lutheran Churches have chosen identities as Social Witness Churches. The Pentecostal and Baptist Churches have claimed identity as Conservative Churches, with only male leadership. The Methodist and Episcopal and Pentecostal Churches have become Praise Churches. So “Who are We?” The identity we have discerned is that we will live and die as an INCLUSIVE CHURCH, where all are welcome, Conservative and Liberal, and we will go out of our way to HOST and Welcome. We are a PERMISSION GIVING CHURCH where all things are possible. We are a MISSIONAL CHURCH who serve both locally and around the world, who give of ourselves, our time and talents and money and relationships because we are able. We are a CHURCH which both has RESOURCES TO SERVE and USES them. We are a TRADITIONAL CHURCH in that we follow a liturgy which is Transformative, Confessional and Redemptive, we like hymns that tell a story and are not simply popular they are good music. We are the Church, which has been and is Reformed, and We are Able.
Mark 10:35-41
The questions of God to Job from the Whirlwind are the most basic questions we ask ourselves:
Who Are You? Were You There When? Are You Able? These are the questions we struggle with when filling our College Applications, and Job Applications, When Getting Married and Having Children, and Looking at our Reflection in the Mirror, Determining whether we can trust another with our greatest stories of suffering and of pain, and When we Retire and When we reach the end of Days.
Who are you? Were you there? Are you able? These are questions of identity, but even more of Honor, of Vocation and Call, not just of Career and Paycheck but of whether life has meaning and purpose, and what do we do about, what can we say about: Chaos.
We have become acculturated that if you show up at the right time, in the right place, and do what is expected, everything will work out. Follow the rules, meet and surpass the expectations. 90% of life is just showing up. We live in a disposable world, where everything is a facade, nothing in life is supposed to have meaning. I wish that all the world could have four days, on the first day to sit on a cliff at the shore watching the waves roll in and the tide go out, or to sail feeling the wind and the waves and charting a course to tack back and forth. The second day, to sit in the depths of a forest or stand in the center of a wheat field, watching and listening as the wind furrows and that which we thought was all the same is distinguished by a bird or a chipmunk or a deer. The third day, to sit on a mountain and look over the range of mountains, to witness how insignificant we are, but also that we could be part of any and all of those places. The fourth to stand in the midst of a cemetery, Arlington or Gettysburg, or even Lakeview, to read the inscriptions and families of so many who have gone before.
I recall a few years ago, climbing a mountain with my son and his friends. I thought it would be following a path, but this journey was straight up. Within the first hour, I determined that if I could keep pace for the day, we would get to the first night's rest, and I would not have embarrassed him, so I could climb down while they went on ahead. But about mid-morning we stopped to rest, and I looked over the range of mountains, and realized two things, first that there was no way down you had to follow the path and continue, and second that we were on this journey together dependent on one another's abilities. Who are You? Were you there when? Are you able?
God provides a wonderful response to Job in the midst of his chaos. Job has witnessed the loss of his career, his honor, his sons and daughters, his fortune, his body is covered sores and illness, and Job reaches back to the most basic understanding of the Old Testament: The Exodus. Job demands that according to Moses you were going to hear our prayers and respond. According to your giving Israel your name at the Burning Bush, we would call upon you especially in times of suffering and you would care, you would redeem, you would be God. It appears as though God has created chaos to balance God's blessings. Where is God? Where are you? Are you there? Are you able?
God undercuts, Job's identification of Who God is in the Exodus, with a more basic foundational identity, Were you there at Creation? God is the Redeemer who heard the people and led the nation out to a Promised Land, but God is also The Creator, Who are you? Were you there at Creation? Are you able to Create? Do you realize all Creation was chaos, and order and balance were made out of chaos.
James and John make the same assumption of Jesus, enabling them to make a juvenile request. As parents, we have each been trapped in the request they make... “We want you to do whatever we ask.” To which Jesus responds “What would you like?” Even more childish they reply, “We want to share your Glory, we want to sit one at your right and one at your left in heaven.” Time after time throughout the Gospels Jesus had described the suffering and disgrace and death he would have to endure, yet they had not listened. James and John and Simon Peter were among the inner circle of the twelve disciples, who were the core of the crowd of followers listening to Jesus. They imagined that by relationship, they could receive his glory, his honor.
In reply to James and John, Jesus did not rebuke them. The other disciples and the crowd become indignant, that James and John asked for favors they would have wanted, but Jesus takes these two seriously and questions them: Who are you? Will you be there? Are you able to drink the cup I drink? These are not rhetorical questions, but assessment, reflection, and asking more of the petitioner than showing up. The point of Jesus' assessment is that James and John will follow Jesus not only as Disciples and as Apostles, but as Martyrs as well. And yet the point of Jesus incarnation is not simply that he gave us Baptism as a Sacrament for the Remission of Sins, and Communion as a Sacrament for Forgiven Eternal Relationship with God, for us to follow by example, but that he did so in his own life. He was/is the pioneer and perfecter for us. In the only occurrence in all the New Testament, Mark uses the word “Ransom” to describe Jesus paying to redeem our lives. Yet in this conversation what Mark reveals is that James and John, like all of us are Very Human, wanting Honor, Glory and Respect, and also this moment's hesitation as Jesus assesses Who they are? Whether they can be there when he needs and Are they able? The persistent question of Christian faith today is not whether we understand, not whether we want to be baptized and to drink from his cup, but what difference it makes for us?
Reading these passages over and over this week, something occurred to me that I had never seen before, something which is not recorded in any commentary, but reading these two passages together seems to make sense. Jesus' reply to James and John, and God's reply to Job from the Whirlwind are not rebukes. God was not saying “Who do you think you are? You were not there at Creation! You are not able!” Not an indignant condemnation: “Silly Rabbit, Tricks are for Kids!” But rather, an appraisal that Job could be able to do more, to believe differently.
The Response of God to Job from the Whirlwind is reference not to Exodus but to Creation; However, rather than Genesis 1 where the last Creation formed after light and dark, and dry land from Water; Rather than Genesis 3's Adam & Eve and questions of Good/Evil and Perfection; the Creation God is recalling from the Whirlwind, assessing Job, is Genesis 2. “When in the day God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant in the field was yet in the earth, no herb had yet sprung up, a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground – then the Lord God formed Humanity from the Humus, dead decaying dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” The answer to God's question of Were you there at Creation? is Yes!
The question that is left is “Are you able?” Having faced the struggles of life, can you face chaos? Before God can restore Job, Job has to witness God's most terrifying creatures “Behemoth” and “Leviathan”. At which point we understand that God is God and we are Human, but we are in the image of the creator, we were there at Creation, and we are able to be far more than those who show up and those who consume.
The last several months our Session has wrestled around the question of “Who are We?” The Episcopal and Lutheran Churches have chosen identities as Social Witness Churches. The Pentecostal and Baptist Churches have claimed identity as Conservative Churches, with only male leadership. The Methodist and Episcopal and Pentecostal Churches have become Praise Churches. So “Who are We?” The identity we have discerned is that we will live and die as an INCLUSIVE CHURCH, where all are welcome, Conservative and Liberal, and we will go out of our way to HOST and Welcome. We are a PERMISSION GIVING CHURCH where all things are possible. We are a MISSIONAL CHURCH who serve both locally and around the world, who give of ourselves, our time and talents and money and relationships because we are able. We are a CHURCH which both has RESOURCES TO SERVE and USES them. We are a TRADITIONAL CHURCH in that we follow a liturgy which is Transformative, Confessional and Redemptive, we like hymns that tell a story and are not simply popular they are good music. We are the Church, which has been and is Reformed, and We are Able.
Monday, October 12, 2009
"Combinations and Passwords" October 11, 2009
Job 23:1-9, 16-17
Mark 10:17-31
A friend described coming to a new church, and on the desk in the pastor's office was an envelope inside were instructions that said “The church has a safe where all important papers and documents are kept. The combination is five numbers 50-30-20-40-10. The safe is quite ancient, so after you roll the combination, you need to jiggle the handle, then push in and lift on the door for it to open.” This to me seemed rather archaic, but as someone new, if it had worked all these years, he could get along, so he dutifully memorized the combination 50-30-20-40-10 and taped it to the bottom of his desk drawer. Years went by, only once or twice a year did he ever have to open the safe, sometimes the Treasurer or the Secretary went in there because they also had the combination. But invariably it required an extra three jiggles of the handle, pushing in and lifting to open. Finally, one day it no longer seemed to work, so we called a Locksmith. The locksmith worked for about 20 minutes, when he came out of the office and said “You've been using the wrong combination!” Sure enough, each digit was off by one or two, and when turning the tumblers to the correct combination, not only did you not need to jiggle the handle, you could actually hear the tumblers drop into position and the door pop open as if brand new. Upon further checking, it appeared the Treasurer and the Church Secretary also each had incorrect combinations that were different from one another and had been passed down from one person to another.
That is what the Book of Job and Jesus conversation with the young man and the disciples are all about. Our basic presuppositions worked for generations, being passed down from one to another to another, but they are off by just a digit or two, making it harder and harder for the combination to work.
Throughout the last few weeks, I have met with a number of folk who have said, “I don't get it. You speak of forgiveness, love and acceptance, but when do you speak of judgement? When do you say: “You should do this” or “If you do that you will be punished?”” That is the imprecise combination we have inherited. We have been the Church in this community for 208 years, and yet this is not our church, the church is the body of Christ, it belongs to God, and we are charged with being hosts.
In the first chapters of the Book of Job, Satan is described as having this contest with God, of whether suffering will make a person give up their faith. When I was a young boy, my brothers and I would spend summers at our grandfather's farm in Fulton. One of the mischievous things boys would do was to find frogs, then put them on top of fence-posts out in the field. Frogs are wonderful jumpers, but their skin is accustomed to being cool and moist, so sitting atop that fence-post the frog would begin to dry out. The question was always how long it would take for the frog to overcome their fear of leaping into the unknown, in order to escape the heat of the sun and the mischievous young boys?
But in the intervening chapters a shift has taken place. Rather than taking on Satan for his suffering, Job comes to realize that God is in charge, God is all knowing and all powerful. According to Moses and the promise at the Burning Bush in the sacred story of the Exodus, God listens to the voice of the oppressed, God pays special attention to their cries. So why, why did God allow this suffering? Job's questioning in this chapter exactly retraces Moses' Words at the Burning Bush, “If I go forward, will Thou be there? If I go backward? What then?” Job is questioning the most basic premise of the promise, God if we do all you expect, why do we suffer?
I have a good friend who spent his career as a management consultant. In his work he had routinely used a computer software for comparing statistics and demographic projections. When he retired the software company recognized what he had done, and gave him a special authorization to use their product. For life, he would have free access. But periodically, the software company made upgrades, every six months they changed their passwords, every three or four years the company was bought and sold. At each of these, they changed the password. He had been given AUTHORIZATION for life, but the PASSWORDS kept changing.
The rich young ruler comes to Jesus describing, “All my life, I have followed the commandments,” And Jesus loved him, and said one thing more must you do, Sell all you possess to give to others. When reading passages like this, we like to emphasize “It was a Man” “He was Rich” “He was Young” “He was a Ruler” and we discount and distance ourselves from being like him, who embodies all our ideals.
Are we to act as Hosts, welcoming others?
Are we not to Worship God?
To educate and develop Faith,
to do Mission and Service,
and Give?
We are, but just as having the combination off by one or two digits, the GIVING we are to practice, is to be without reserve, without possession, what we imagine to be extravagant! Francis of Assisi did not simply live a life of poverty, he was born and raised as the eldest son of a wealthy Fabric Merchant who renouncing his possessions literally stood in the Marketplace and stripped off all his father's fabric. The MISSION and service we are to do, is not simply writing a check, but walking 5 miles because in other parts of the world people walk 5 miles to get a jug full of water, then walk another 5 miles home. When John Dau receives the Caring Award this week, standing beside the Dalai Lama and Colin Powell, he also stands with you beside him, because you made it possible. Volunteers going to Sudan to offer Health Care to fight infectious disease for a people who never learned the technology of the Wheel. Not just education about faith, but developing intentional FAITH. Worshiping God, not as a routine, that you have to go to Worship. But PASSIONATE WORSHIP. Being Hosts in the House of God, is not simply worshipping beside someone attempting to not sit too close or sing to loud, but rather recognizing others as someone you do not know, so offering to guide them through the Worship. When photographers come for a Wedding, I take them aside to offer here are our recommendations and what we know work. This is what is unique and personal in this worship.
As such we recognize life differently.
This is not OUR TABLE, but to determine who belongs and who does not. THIS IS GOD'S TABLE. The loved one with Alzheimer's does not need us to correct them, they need to know they are loved.
It is possible for all of us to have been a digit or two wrong in life, and still loved by God, still used by God for God's Purposes, not necessarily as we choose, but continually learning new passwords to the everlasting life we are promised.
Mark 10:17-31
A friend described coming to a new church, and on the desk in the pastor's office was an envelope inside were instructions that said “The church has a safe where all important papers and documents are kept. The combination is five numbers 50-30-20-40-10. The safe is quite ancient, so after you roll the combination, you need to jiggle the handle, then push in and lift on the door for it to open.” This to me seemed rather archaic, but as someone new, if it had worked all these years, he could get along, so he dutifully memorized the combination 50-30-20-40-10 and taped it to the bottom of his desk drawer. Years went by, only once or twice a year did he ever have to open the safe, sometimes the Treasurer or the Secretary went in there because they also had the combination. But invariably it required an extra three jiggles of the handle, pushing in and lifting to open. Finally, one day it no longer seemed to work, so we called a Locksmith. The locksmith worked for about 20 minutes, when he came out of the office and said “You've been using the wrong combination!” Sure enough, each digit was off by one or two, and when turning the tumblers to the correct combination, not only did you not need to jiggle the handle, you could actually hear the tumblers drop into position and the door pop open as if brand new. Upon further checking, it appeared the Treasurer and the Church Secretary also each had incorrect combinations that were different from one another and had been passed down from one person to another.
That is what the Book of Job and Jesus conversation with the young man and the disciples are all about. Our basic presuppositions worked for generations, being passed down from one to another to another, but they are off by just a digit or two, making it harder and harder for the combination to work.
Throughout the last few weeks, I have met with a number of folk who have said, “I don't get it. You speak of forgiveness, love and acceptance, but when do you speak of judgement? When do you say: “You should do this” or “If you do that you will be punished?”” That is the imprecise combination we have inherited. We have been the Church in this community for 208 years, and yet this is not our church, the church is the body of Christ, it belongs to God, and we are charged with being hosts.
In the first chapters of the Book of Job, Satan is described as having this contest with God, of whether suffering will make a person give up their faith. When I was a young boy, my brothers and I would spend summers at our grandfather's farm in Fulton. One of the mischievous things boys would do was to find frogs, then put them on top of fence-posts out in the field. Frogs are wonderful jumpers, but their skin is accustomed to being cool and moist, so sitting atop that fence-post the frog would begin to dry out. The question was always how long it would take for the frog to overcome their fear of leaping into the unknown, in order to escape the heat of the sun and the mischievous young boys?
But in the intervening chapters a shift has taken place. Rather than taking on Satan for his suffering, Job comes to realize that God is in charge, God is all knowing and all powerful. According to Moses and the promise at the Burning Bush in the sacred story of the Exodus, God listens to the voice of the oppressed, God pays special attention to their cries. So why, why did God allow this suffering? Job's questioning in this chapter exactly retraces Moses' Words at the Burning Bush, “If I go forward, will Thou be there? If I go backward? What then?” Job is questioning the most basic premise of the promise, God if we do all you expect, why do we suffer?
I have a good friend who spent his career as a management consultant. In his work he had routinely used a computer software for comparing statistics and demographic projections. When he retired the software company recognized what he had done, and gave him a special authorization to use their product. For life, he would have free access. But periodically, the software company made upgrades, every six months they changed their passwords, every three or four years the company was bought and sold. At each of these, they changed the password. He had been given AUTHORIZATION for life, but the PASSWORDS kept changing.
The rich young ruler comes to Jesus describing, “All my life, I have followed the commandments,” And Jesus loved him, and said one thing more must you do, Sell all you possess to give to others. When reading passages like this, we like to emphasize “It was a Man” “He was Rich” “He was Young” “He was a Ruler” and we discount and distance ourselves from being like him, who embodies all our ideals.
Are we to act as Hosts, welcoming others?
Are we not to Worship God?
To educate and develop Faith,
to do Mission and Service,
and Give?
We are, but just as having the combination off by one or two digits, the GIVING we are to practice, is to be without reserve, without possession, what we imagine to be extravagant! Francis of Assisi did not simply live a life of poverty, he was born and raised as the eldest son of a wealthy Fabric Merchant who renouncing his possessions literally stood in the Marketplace and stripped off all his father's fabric. The MISSION and service we are to do, is not simply writing a check, but walking 5 miles because in other parts of the world people walk 5 miles to get a jug full of water, then walk another 5 miles home. When John Dau receives the Caring Award this week, standing beside the Dalai Lama and Colin Powell, he also stands with you beside him, because you made it possible. Volunteers going to Sudan to offer Health Care to fight infectious disease for a people who never learned the technology of the Wheel. Not just education about faith, but developing intentional FAITH. Worshiping God, not as a routine, that you have to go to Worship. But PASSIONATE WORSHIP. Being Hosts in the House of God, is not simply worshipping beside someone attempting to not sit too close or sing to loud, but rather recognizing others as someone you do not know, so offering to guide them through the Worship. When photographers come for a Wedding, I take them aside to offer here are our recommendations and what we know work. This is what is unique and personal in this worship.
As such we recognize life differently.
This is not OUR TABLE, but to determine who belongs and who does not. THIS IS GOD'S TABLE. The loved one with Alzheimer's does not need us to correct them, they need to know they are loved.
It is possible for all of us to have been a digit or two wrong in life, and still loved by God, still used by God for God's Purposes, not necessarily as we choose, but continually learning new passwords to the everlasting life we are promised.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Limitations, October 4, 2009
Job 1:1, 2:1-10
Mark 10:2-16
The great distinction between God and Humanity is limitation, defined boundaries to life itself.
Almighty God is all knowing, all powerful, boundless grace. The Alpha and Omega symbols in the stained glass point to God being the ultimate beginning before all else, and the absolute conclusion after all has been done. While there are those who believe the Apple in the Garden of Eden was knowledge of good and evil, others that this was knowledge of sex or war, or shame, others that this was knowledge of science and human learning, I believe the forbidden fruit was knowledge of our humanity, our mortality, our human limitations. Before that time, there is no discussion of death, only possibility. Tempted that limitations would not kill us, and were desired to make one wise, we bit, and following that first taste, we have been testing our limits ever since.
There are a wide variety of tests, from expansion of vocabulary and spelling, to mastery of concepts, physical exertion, and musical ranges we did not know we could reach, from standardized testing to essays that enable us to use concepts and theories to reach beyond what we thought we knew. The dual edge to testing is that we discern that despite all we know and are certain of, how little we actually understand; as well as being able to reach for immortality, for answers to what has always eluded us.
The book of Job is about testing a person. In Genesis, Abraham had been tested, with the sacrifice of Isaac, the difference in these stories being that when God saw that Abraham would not withhold his hand but would actually sacrifice his son at God's command, God spared both Isaac and Abraham. Here the test is not whether you love God, or how great is your love of God, but why do you love God, and is that love motivated by an implicit contract, or by honor, or piety or what? Because the question of faith is different, the test does not end when the child is about to be sacrificed, but rather this test begins with the death of all 10 of his children, and his land and crops and animals, and suffering in his own body and life. His wife and friends, all questioning why Job believes.
Many of us have been rereading the story of Joshua for the Women's Circles, trying to understand the importance for that people of there being a Nation of Israel, a Promised Land to inherit, while testing ideas of leadership and commitment and the persistent Old Testament ideal, that if you do right God will bless you, and whenever you do wrong, when you sin God will find a way to curse as well. The book of Job tests that ideal. Not an historic record like Chronicles or Kings. Not a book of Prophecy like Habakkuk, Isaiah or Ezekiel. The book of Job is didactic like the Parable of Nathan to King David. The result of telling the parable is to convince the listener there is only one answer for justice and righteousness in the world.
While many perceive Job to be a story of SUFFERING, Job is the story of God's Uncompromising HONOR, and the story of Job's unwavering TRUST. The last few weeks I have done a great deal of driving to host an event for retirees in Oneida, then a wedding rehearsal south of Canandaigua, Presbytery at Chittenango, and the wedding south of Canandaigua, a dinner to honor our departing EP's leadership in Fayetteville, and visiting our shut-ins and those in assisted care, as such I have listened to a variety of stations on the radio. Many of what are called Christian networks make great promises, that if we turn away from all temptation, if we abandon all the things of this world, we will be rewarded with far greater possessions... if we will send contributions to support their programs they will return to us seven-fold...my favorite is that you choose your top ten wishes from their list of forty: to win the lottery, to find true love, to live in a beautiful home, to be surrounded by the opposite sex, write these down on a slip of paper sending them to this address and within four to six weeks one will come true, and then and only then are you required to pay for your good fortune. It was as answer to this kind of faith, that the story of Job was told. JOB'S point is that if we believe we receive blessings from God, should we not then also expect that curses come from God as well? Far from a question of if there is a God, or if we have faith, or if there is suffering in the world, Job asks, Knowing that there is a God, having faith, experiencing suffering, “What are we to do, what are we to believe?”
Job's spouse is the sympathetic and supportive type who declares “Curse God already! Curse God and die!” But Job's faith cannot. Job's faith is based on unwavering TRUST, that even when, especially when what we believe in, the trusts we have known seem broken and betrayed, this is when we must believe.
Believing in wish fulfillment is a kind of implicit contract, that if we do the right things, belong to the right clubs, eat all our vegetables and say a prayer, our lives will be eternal blessing. The awful reality is that people do die, there was both a tsunami and an earthquake in the world this week. SU lost to Southern Florida. Chicago did not get the Olympics. Iraq continues to work at creating a nuclear bomb. The response of Job is sit upon the pile of debris that was his business, scraping the blisters of his flesh with a broken piece of pottery, trusting and believing that even if no one else understands, God cares.
Fool hardy, naïve? Perhaps. But Job is not questioning if there is a God, Job is confident that there is! Job's test is a different set of questions, questions of WHY, for what purpose, what am I to do?
I remember taking a test many years ago, perhaps you took the same one.
All the test booklets were passed out, each with 243 impossibly complicated questions, and the very last one on the last page, said that IF BEFORE TRYING TO ANSWER, YOU HAD LOOKED OVER ALL THE QUESTIONS TO SE WHERE THIS WAS GOING AND WHY, THEN YOU HAD PASSED THE TEST, SIGN THE TEST AND TURN IT IN.
So often we ask the wrong questions, looking for the wrong answers. Knowing that the Pharisees were putting Jesus to the Test, trying to trap him, many have taken Jesus' teaching out of context. In a question about “Divorce” the Pharisees ask Jesus about the LAW. He responds by asking “Do you know the Law as Moses gave it?” They respond “we do.” Then he goes on to describe not divorce, not adultery, but marriage, what marriage is truly all about, trust and commitment between two.
This week the media has had a field day, testing our culture's values, whether Roman Polanski who has so many influential friends and has gone on to make such award winning films, should be held accountable for having raped a 13 year old 40 years ago when he was 36. David Letterman has made a joke of his being blackmailed for having abused his power to have sex in the workplace with those who had depended upon him for their job and the feeding of their families. These are not questions of celebrity. These are not tests of a statute of limitations. Not questions of changing cultural mores. These are abuses of power, power over a child, power over those dependent upon you. These are violations of trust and we have been asking the wrong questions. The questions we need to consider are whether we have abused our relationships? What do our actions say to those who trust us? Can we be as vulnerable and transparent and open, as having parents of children bringing their children, or not?
Mark 10:2-16
The great distinction between God and Humanity is limitation, defined boundaries to life itself.
Almighty God is all knowing, all powerful, boundless grace. The Alpha and Omega symbols in the stained glass point to God being the ultimate beginning before all else, and the absolute conclusion after all has been done. While there are those who believe the Apple in the Garden of Eden was knowledge of good and evil, others that this was knowledge of sex or war, or shame, others that this was knowledge of science and human learning, I believe the forbidden fruit was knowledge of our humanity, our mortality, our human limitations. Before that time, there is no discussion of death, only possibility. Tempted that limitations would not kill us, and were desired to make one wise, we bit, and following that first taste, we have been testing our limits ever since.
There are a wide variety of tests, from expansion of vocabulary and spelling, to mastery of concepts, physical exertion, and musical ranges we did not know we could reach, from standardized testing to essays that enable us to use concepts and theories to reach beyond what we thought we knew. The dual edge to testing is that we discern that despite all we know and are certain of, how little we actually understand; as well as being able to reach for immortality, for answers to what has always eluded us.
The book of Job is about testing a person. In Genesis, Abraham had been tested, with the sacrifice of Isaac, the difference in these stories being that when God saw that Abraham would not withhold his hand but would actually sacrifice his son at God's command, God spared both Isaac and Abraham. Here the test is not whether you love God, or how great is your love of God, but why do you love God, and is that love motivated by an implicit contract, or by honor, or piety or what? Because the question of faith is different, the test does not end when the child is about to be sacrificed, but rather this test begins with the death of all 10 of his children, and his land and crops and animals, and suffering in his own body and life. His wife and friends, all questioning why Job believes.
Many of us have been rereading the story of Joshua for the Women's Circles, trying to understand the importance for that people of there being a Nation of Israel, a Promised Land to inherit, while testing ideas of leadership and commitment and the persistent Old Testament ideal, that if you do right God will bless you, and whenever you do wrong, when you sin God will find a way to curse as well. The book of Job tests that ideal. Not an historic record like Chronicles or Kings. Not a book of Prophecy like Habakkuk, Isaiah or Ezekiel. The book of Job is didactic like the Parable of Nathan to King David. The result of telling the parable is to convince the listener there is only one answer for justice and righteousness in the world.
While many perceive Job to be a story of SUFFERING, Job is the story of God's Uncompromising HONOR, and the story of Job's unwavering TRUST. The last few weeks I have done a great deal of driving to host an event for retirees in Oneida, then a wedding rehearsal south of Canandaigua, Presbytery at Chittenango, and the wedding south of Canandaigua, a dinner to honor our departing EP's leadership in Fayetteville, and visiting our shut-ins and those in assisted care, as such I have listened to a variety of stations on the radio. Many of what are called Christian networks make great promises, that if we turn away from all temptation, if we abandon all the things of this world, we will be rewarded with far greater possessions... if we will send contributions to support their programs they will return to us seven-fold...my favorite is that you choose your top ten wishes from their list of forty: to win the lottery, to find true love, to live in a beautiful home, to be surrounded by the opposite sex, write these down on a slip of paper sending them to this address and within four to six weeks one will come true, and then and only then are you required to pay for your good fortune. It was as answer to this kind of faith, that the story of Job was told. JOB'S point is that if we believe we receive blessings from God, should we not then also expect that curses come from God as well? Far from a question of if there is a God, or if we have faith, or if there is suffering in the world, Job asks, Knowing that there is a God, having faith, experiencing suffering, “What are we to do, what are we to believe?”
Job's spouse is the sympathetic and supportive type who declares “Curse God already! Curse God and die!” But Job's faith cannot. Job's faith is based on unwavering TRUST, that even when, especially when what we believe in, the trusts we have known seem broken and betrayed, this is when we must believe.
Believing in wish fulfillment is a kind of implicit contract, that if we do the right things, belong to the right clubs, eat all our vegetables and say a prayer, our lives will be eternal blessing. The awful reality is that people do die, there was both a tsunami and an earthquake in the world this week. SU lost to Southern Florida. Chicago did not get the Olympics. Iraq continues to work at creating a nuclear bomb. The response of Job is sit upon the pile of debris that was his business, scraping the blisters of his flesh with a broken piece of pottery, trusting and believing that even if no one else understands, God cares.
Fool hardy, naïve? Perhaps. But Job is not questioning if there is a God, Job is confident that there is! Job's test is a different set of questions, questions of WHY, for what purpose, what am I to do?
I remember taking a test many years ago, perhaps you took the same one.
All the test booklets were passed out, each with 243 impossibly complicated questions, and the very last one on the last page, said that IF BEFORE TRYING TO ANSWER, YOU HAD LOOKED OVER ALL THE QUESTIONS TO SE WHERE THIS WAS GOING AND WHY, THEN YOU HAD PASSED THE TEST, SIGN THE TEST AND TURN IT IN.
So often we ask the wrong questions, looking for the wrong answers. Knowing that the Pharisees were putting Jesus to the Test, trying to trap him, many have taken Jesus' teaching out of context. In a question about “Divorce” the Pharisees ask Jesus about the LAW. He responds by asking “Do you know the Law as Moses gave it?” They respond “we do.” Then he goes on to describe not divorce, not adultery, but marriage, what marriage is truly all about, trust and commitment between two.
This week the media has had a field day, testing our culture's values, whether Roman Polanski who has so many influential friends and has gone on to make such award winning films, should be held accountable for having raped a 13 year old 40 years ago when he was 36. David Letterman has made a joke of his being blackmailed for having abused his power to have sex in the workplace with those who had depended upon him for their job and the feeding of their families. These are not questions of celebrity. These are not tests of a statute of limitations. Not questions of changing cultural mores. These are abuses of power, power over a child, power over those dependent upon you. These are violations of trust and we have been asking the wrong questions. The questions we need to consider are whether we have abused our relationships? What do our actions say to those who trust us? Can we be as vulnerable and transparent and open, as having parents of children bringing their children, or not?
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