Jeremiah 1:1-10
I Corinthians 13
What if, everything we thought we knew, everything we have ever been taught, All was true, but had been intended for a slightly different, far more grand purpose? I was in a bookstore this week, and recalled that years ago the religion/spirituality section was confined to a small selection of Bibles, but now was three aisles long. As I went to check out, the store clerk took my credit card which said “REV” who then asked, “Why is it that there are so few books on Christianity that are selling and so many on Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and New Age Religions?”
My temptation was to shoot back, because stores must market those books better, or because Americans think we know what Christianity is all about and having a short attention span we are curious about obscure faiths we do not know about.
But instead, I decided to see where she was going, and asked “Why do you think?”
She replied, “In Sunday school and Confirmation Class the teachers taught us all this information, as if knowing the geography and names were a lesson like geometry or Spanish, some kind of system that if you could memorize or figure out, would give you life's answers. But these other books seem to be talking about faith, as if faith in God was a different way of life.” I thanked the clerk and left thinking: What if, faith in God were not about knowing who God is, knowing Paul's Damascus Road conversion, or that there were Twelve Sons of Jacob, Twelve Tribes of Israel and Twelve Disciples; but simply and sincerely, that we each were formed for a purpose, We have been Called by God to give ourselves to one another in love?
Now there is a frightening thought!
What matters is not what we know, not what we have possessed, or experienced or accomplished, but that we live out each day as a gift intentionally given to us to give to others.
Somehow we have made an equation between our lives and the game of Musical Chairs, that everyone is going around in a circle, and no matter how many or how few of us, there is always less than enough, so when the music stops and we know it will, we want to be certain we have a place to rest. We want to win every round and will fight to never be left out. What if, instead of pushing others off the chair to sit upon, we imagined life as a game of Hot Potato. We each want to receive the gift, we are starving to receive, but we know our role is to pass the gift to others. This week, we were blessed with being able to receive a gift of using someone's home on the beach in Florida. Part of the fun was lying on the beach, as people walked by complimenting one house after another, thinking to yourself I get to live in one of these. Imagine you have been invited to a glorious party, in one of the finest of homes, there is exquisite food, as you float from room to room there is awe-inspiring music, in one space to dance, in another to listen, and just as the party is to begin, the host sends word to you that they will be late, and you are to host until they arrive. This is life, we are temporary hosts making others feel welcome, sharing the gifts entrusted to our use.
This passage from Corinthians we have taken out of context and usurped as being guidance about marriage to a naïve virginal couple, as if a Best-man's answer to marriage before you encounter trouble. The words are among the most beautiful poetry ever penned, and fitting for us all to imagine in marriage, that more important than money, or children, more important than our hopes and dreams, is love. Important to remember in every marriage. But these words as prophecy, were spoken to the Church at Corinth, a cosmopolitan city, filled with learned people, Romans and Greeks Christians and Jews each of whom wanted to be right, each of whom wanted to be in charge and to have others listen because they had figured out the answers to all of life's questions. First Corinthians 13 is a rebuke to all those who imagine they know the mystery, to those who possess the word of truth. Instead of any one having the system and knowing the answer, the way of life is to love.
One of the questions I routinely ask couples wanting to get married is “How did you know you were ready to be married?” Which is a far different question from, How did you know this was the right person. Rather than the other person making you complete, it is a question about your maturity and your readiness to give to another.
Every pastor, every believer has a story of what it is to be Called.
For me the Call involved having had a mother who died and literally the church raised and nurtured us. Loving the integration of ideas I saw the church as a resource for the community. Growing in faith, I came to understand and appreciate the symbiotic relationship of Church and Community, challenging one another and representing the same people. Being in a time where churches struggle with survival, my continual calling has been to challenge the church to new resurrection and new life.
Over the years, I have worked with a number of churches, and the three questions that continually need to be asked by the Session and by the membership are
1)Is the church The Church, and
2)What are you prepared to give to others, and
3)What is your Calling?
Often Churches are prepared to describe being a Family, a GREAT GROUP of people, a Membership, doing wonderful charitable works...all of which are good, though I have known a number of dysfunctional families some of whom carry their problems to the church, but being the Church is also different. The Church follow the Way of Jesus Christ. The Church act, not only out of charity, but out of love, out of mission and purpose, as if God has us by the short hairs on the back of our neck and being dragged to the problems of life we can do no other, that our identity is in devotion to God and giving to one another.
DO we welcome strangers who come to us or do we invite others and share our faith? Do we allow others to rent our property/Do we perceive all that belongs to the church as gifts to be put to God's use? In that way, we have a responsibility to use the website, to share fellowship with those outside, to celebrate weddings and memorials and baptisms for those seeking to believe; and for us to struggle with the meaning of sacraments and acts of faith as sacred mysteries in our time. Are we willing to be inconvenienced, to risk the future on what we believe?
What we are Called to do, who we are Called to be, is an ever changing question as we follow the Way.
For the last decade, we were the church with BOCES Alternative School, and now we have given birth to that program. For the last five years, we have been the church creating a Clinic in Sudan, but now that Clinic is created. Since the 1970s we have been the church with Presbyterian Manor, and in recent years a supporter of the Ecumenical Food Pantry. With our architecture and music we are the Classical Church in town, recognizing that as a patron of the Arts, quality music and art and ideas never go out of style. We are also a church of those seeking faith in God. But the question we never fully answer, is what are we being called to be now?
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
This is the Day, January 24, 2010
Nehemiah 8:1-10
Luke 4:14-30
THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HATH MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!
How different those words, on Easter morning at the Beginning of Spring, or at a wedding or baptism, than when they are spoken at a Funeral or Divorce, or when we have cancer or a child died, for it is hard for us to accept that ALL of life belongs to God.
Two weeks ago, there was a PBS broadcast, that described that after electing a new President, and years of hard work, billions of dollars in International Aid to build a new infrastructure, the Nation of Haiti was rapidly approaching what the rest of the world describes as being THE POVERTY LEVEL. Two days later, the fault lines of plate tectonics shifted, miles beneath the earth's surface, and earthquakes shattered reinforced concrete as if it were glass, stores and schools collapsed on top of people, 1/5th of a Million people were killed. In the aftermath, as seemingly the last of the survivors have been miraculously exhumed after 12 days of having been buried alive beneath their own homes, and countries from around the world have sent aid not to refugees of war, but refugees of Natural Disaster. How hard to declare THIS IS A DAY THE LORD HATH MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!
Pat Robertson and others have seized on human tragedy, to decry vengeance, that earthquake, fire and flood are instruments of their God, punishing a heathen people. I cannot comprehend these words, for the God we know and worship is not a petty and vengeful bully, like a bitter and angry old man, but is instead a God who loves, who loves so much as to give us God's only Begotten Child; and taking on human life, loves and suffers and dies for that humanity to live life differently, to be saved from ourself. I have never been to Haiti, the closest comparison I can make, is that when traveling to Sudan's Mud huts and drinking water out of a diesel oil drum that had been taken from a stagnant pool, I became deathly ill with high temperature, loss of fluids and dehydration, and that night, lying beneath the stars, a group of men who had absolutely no education, who had been ordained by another laying hands upon them as Anglican and Presbyterian pastors knelt beside my body and prayed, prayed the Lord's Prayer “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done.”
This is a marvelous narrative at the beginning of Luke, that tells the story of Jesus as if a PARABLE. As an adult, after his Baptism, after the Temptation in the Wilderness, as word of Jesus was beginning to spread, he came home to Nazareth of Galilee, the town where he grew up. You can almost hear the voices behind the text, the voices in the Market, and the Temple... Did you hear Mary's boy is coming home? Joseph the Carpenter's Son. I understand he has grown up to be quite respected, a Rabbi, some say he even healed a man at Capernaum, one man at Capernaum I heard it was 3 Lepers on the road to Samaria, those poor people. And the Village gathers for worship at the Temple, as Jesus steps forward to read the scroll and offer the sermon. He reads beautifully and the passage he read is Isaiah Chapter 40, “Comfort, comfort My People says your God.” The crowd waits expectantly to hear him speak of his home and his family and his neighbors and all he will do for them. When instead, he describes having come for all the people of all the world. There is foreshadowing here, of Jesus' arrest and trial. There is challenge to us as the Church, whether what we possess and represent and offer, is for ourselves and for our members, or the church doing for others?
The Ancient text for this day, comes to us from the Prophet Nehemiah. We do not read from Nehemiah very often. What is especially notable here, is that this impoverished people, who returned to the land after terrible devastation and war, as exile refugees, THIS PEOPLE gathered together at the Square. THIS PEOPLE asked EZRA the Scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses and to Read for all.
THIS PEOPLE built a pulpit for EZRA the Priest to read from. And when the book was Opened, the People rose to their feet at attention. And as the Word was read, their Elders and Deacons, both current and those ordained long before, interpreted what was read, explaining and applying to each one's life. How often, the Word of the Lord comes to a given Prophet, Jeremiah or Ezekiel or John, and that Prophet then speaks to the People. But here, the PEOPLE GATHERED AS ONE, The people ASKED EZRA TO READ, The People BUILT A PULPIT for the Word, and the People rose up to stand at attention.
There is no description of which part of the Pentateuch was read, for all of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are referred to as the Law of Moses. But, that as the people listened and heard the love of God, who had created all things, God who had listened to the cries of slaves in Egypt, who had parted the seas and wasted the army of Pharaoh, who led the people through the wilderness for generations, while they complained, and the God who brought the people to this land, the people wept. This however, we do know from the text, that when Ezra read the Law of Moses, the elders and deacons here named encouraged the people to be thankful, to rejoice at their blessings, and use this sermon as inspiration to live differently. Faith is not for bullying, and for vengeance. Faith is to spire, to comfort and to challenge, that we reflect on our lives to disciple us for living as if THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD GOD HAS MADE FOR US TO REJOICE.
This is the point of The Annual Meeting. At times throughout history, the Church has been confused. Some have believed the Annual Meeting was the occasion to vote on the Pastor, or at least on whether to pay the pastor. This year, the economy does not allow us to consider increases, so there is no vote on the Pastor's Terms, they simply continue. Some have believed the Annual Meeting was opportunity to approve the Budget, but that is actually a responsibility of the Session. The point of the Annual Meeting is to stop to reflect upon what has been, and to set plans and leadership for the years to come.
We live in a changing culture, family life, goals and values of the 1980s are different from today, as different as our expectations of the 1950s or 1920s or when this Sanctuary was built in the 1890s, or this church established in 1801. While NEVER voted on, the underlying mission and purpose of this Church today has become: Responding to People's Needs, Extending to Sacraments and Services of the Church to all who desire them; spoken by one: To address what Google Cannot answer.
This is a multi-edged sword. On the one hand, RESPONDING TO PEOPLES' NEEDS WITH THE SACRAMENTS and SERVICES, means that at times our traditional understandings of Membership, and Baptism and Funeral and Sacrament will be challenged and stretched.
This year, we had a Memorial that was a Potluck in the Fellowship Hall, surrounded by the loved one's artwork, and children playing.
We had a couple request to name their child before God, to express their commitments to share their faith with their child, to ask for the prayers and support of family and friends in the raising of this child of God, while they were in the midst of a divorce.
Over the last several years we have extended membership to those who live in the village only a few weeks during the summer and holidays, as this is their church, where they attend and worship and were married and present their children for baptism.
In all probability these same folk, will not be able to serve as Elders and Deacons.
But, in the last term we had an elder who attended and participated Virtually, by connecting computers so we could hear and he could hear, and he had access to all the reports.
This also requires a different discipline for those of us who can to step up differently.
The challenge of the Church in the 21st century is not whether there will be people who believe, or traditional versus new music...The challenge of the Post-Modern Culture is that everyone is different, unique, and how we can each be pinched and discipled to new commitments and faith is real.
Our Nominating Committee and Stewardship and Christian Education have spoken of the difficulty in this economy and times finding volunteers, and have come back describing this a renewed sense of discipleship, that everyone is busy and feeling the pinch, but as each have resources and ideas, there are infinite possibilities.
THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HATH MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!
Luke 4:14-30
THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HATH MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!
How different those words, on Easter morning at the Beginning of Spring, or at a wedding or baptism, than when they are spoken at a Funeral or Divorce, or when we have cancer or a child died, for it is hard for us to accept that ALL of life belongs to God.
Two weeks ago, there was a PBS broadcast, that described that after electing a new President, and years of hard work, billions of dollars in International Aid to build a new infrastructure, the Nation of Haiti was rapidly approaching what the rest of the world describes as being THE POVERTY LEVEL. Two days later, the fault lines of plate tectonics shifted, miles beneath the earth's surface, and earthquakes shattered reinforced concrete as if it were glass, stores and schools collapsed on top of people, 1/5th of a Million people were killed. In the aftermath, as seemingly the last of the survivors have been miraculously exhumed after 12 days of having been buried alive beneath their own homes, and countries from around the world have sent aid not to refugees of war, but refugees of Natural Disaster. How hard to declare THIS IS A DAY THE LORD HATH MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!
Pat Robertson and others have seized on human tragedy, to decry vengeance, that earthquake, fire and flood are instruments of their God, punishing a heathen people. I cannot comprehend these words, for the God we know and worship is not a petty and vengeful bully, like a bitter and angry old man, but is instead a God who loves, who loves so much as to give us God's only Begotten Child; and taking on human life, loves and suffers and dies for that humanity to live life differently, to be saved from ourself. I have never been to Haiti, the closest comparison I can make, is that when traveling to Sudan's Mud huts and drinking water out of a diesel oil drum that had been taken from a stagnant pool, I became deathly ill with high temperature, loss of fluids and dehydration, and that night, lying beneath the stars, a group of men who had absolutely no education, who had been ordained by another laying hands upon them as Anglican and Presbyterian pastors knelt beside my body and prayed, prayed the Lord's Prayer “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done.”
This is a marvelous narrative at the beginning of Luke, that tells the story of Jesus as if a PARABLE. As an adult, after his Baptism, after the Temptation in the Wilderness, as word of Jesus was beginning to spread, he came home to Nazareth of Galilee, the town where he grew up. You can almost hear the voices behind the text, the voices in the Market, and the Temple... Did you hear Mary's boy is coming home? Joseph the Carpenter's Son. I understand he has grown up to be quite respected, a Rabbi, some say he even healed a man at Capernaum, one man at Capernaum I heard it was 3 Lepers on the road to Samaria, those poor people. And the Village gathers for worship at the Temple, as Jesus steps forward to read the scroll and offer the sermon. He reads beautifully and the passage he read is Isaiah Chapter 40, “Comfort, comfort My People says your God.” The crowd waits expectantly to hear him speak of his home and his family and his neighbors and all he will do for them. When instead, he describes having come for all the people of all the world. There is foreshadowing here, of Jesus' arrest and trial. There is challenge to us as the Church, whether what we possess and represent and offer, is for ourselves and for our members, or the church doing for others?
The Ancient text for this day, comes to us from the Prophet Nehemiah. We do not read from Nehemiah very often. What is especially notable here, is that this impoverished people, who returned to the land after terrible devastation and war, as exile refugees, THIS PEOPLE gathered together at the Square. THIS PEOPLE asked EZRA the Scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses and to Read for all.
THIS PEOPLE built a pulpit for EZRA the Priest to read from. And when the book was Opened, the People rose to their feet at attention. And as the Word was read, their Elders and Deacons, both current and those ordained long before, interpreted what was read, explaining and applying to each one's life. How often, the Word of the Lord comes to a given Prophet, Jeremiah or Ezekiel or John, and that Prophet then speaks to the People. But here, the PEOPLE GATHERED AS ONE, The people ASKED EZRA TO READ, The People BUILT A PULPIT for the Word, and the People rose up to stand at attention.
There is no description of which part of the Pentateuch was read, for all of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are referred to as the Law of Moses. But, that as the people listened and heard the love of God, who had created all things, God who had listened to the cries of slaves in Egypt, who had parted the seas and wasted the army of Pharaoh, who led the people through the wilderness for generations, while they complained, and the God who brought the people to this land, the people wept. This however, we do know from the text, that when Ezra read the Law of Moses, the elders and deacons here named encouraged the people to be thankful, to rejoice at their blessings, and use this sermon as inspiration to live differently. Faith is not for bullying, and for vengeance. Faith is to spire, to comfort and to challenge, that we reflect on our lives to disciple us for living as if THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD GOD HAS MADE FOR US TO REJOICE.
This is the point of The Annual Meeting. At times throughout history, the Church has been confused. Some have believed the Annual Meeting was the occasion to vote on the Pastor, or at least on whether to pay the pastor. This year, the economy does not allow us to consider increases, so there is no vote on the Pastor's Terms, they simply continue. Some have believed the Annual Meeting was opportunity to approve the Budget, but that is actually a responsibility of the Session. The point of the Annual Meeting is to stop to reflect upon what has been, and to set plans and leadership for the years to come.
We live in a changing culture, family life, goals and values of the 1980s are different from today, as different as our expectations of the 1950s or 1920s or when this Sanctuary was built in the 1890s, or this church established in 1801. While NEVER voted on, the underlying mission and purpose of this Church today has become: Responding to People's Needs, Extending to Sacraments and Services of the Church to all who desire them; spoken by one: To address what Google Cannot answer.
This is a multi-edged sword. On the one hand, RESPONDING TO PEOPLES' NEEDS WITH THE SACRAMENTS and SERVICES, means that at times our traditional understandings of Membership, and Baptism and Funeral and Sacrament will be challenged and stretched.
This year, we had a Memorial that was a Potluck in the Fellowship Hall, surrounded by the loved one's artwork, and children playing.
We had a couple request to name their child before God, to express their commitments to share their faith with their child, to ask for the prayers and support of family and friends in the raising of this child of God, while they were in the midst of a divorce.
Over the last several years we have extended membership to those who live in the village only a few weeks during the summer and holidays, as this is their church, where they attend and worship and were married and present their children for baptism.
In all probability these same folk, will not be able to serve as Elders and Deacons.
But, in the last term we had an elder who attended and participated Virtually, by connecting computers so we could hear and he could hear, and he had access to all the reports.
This also requires a different discipline for those of us who can to step up differently.
The challenge of the Church in the 21st century is not whether there will be people who believe, or traditional versus new music...The challenge of the Post-Modern Culture is that everyone is different, unique, and how we can each be pinched and discipled to new commitments and faith is real.
Our Nominating Committee and Stewardship and Christian Education have spoken of the difficulty in this economy and times finding volunteers, and have come back describing this a renewed sense of discipleship, that everyone is busy and feeling the pinch, but as each have resources and ideas, there are infinite possibilities.
THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HATH MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!
Monday, January 11, 2010
"Baptism and Baptism" January 10, 2010
Luke 3:15-22
Acts 8:14-17
For the second time in less than a month, this week, a person attempted to board an airplane, with intent to blow up themselves, the plane and everyone on board. Overhearing reports of this, someone named: “What is it with religion, that people believe God told them to kill themselves and others?”
Despite the Media attention, the point is not Airplane safety. Two persons in a month, both being caught before they caused deaths, out of all the millions of passengers on all the planes flying internationally, does not compare to the dangerous, self-destructive behavior of people in cars, and in their own homes. Despite the Government's concern to increase Airport security those wanting to cause pain will find a way to break through, to harm others. The real point comes back to the observation, “What is it with religion, that people believe God told them to kill themselves and others?”
That is not faith, it is not religion as you and I have affirmed, that is about power and politics and hate. It is too easy to consider all religions as cults and, all of any particular religion as evil. That is instead fanaticism. Believing so completely in your right, that others have no rights, others are no longer human but only political tools of power.
Our Scripture passages this morning, and the circumstances of the day, demand that we differentiate between Religion and Faith, and between Being Open to God & Manipulating gods to what we want. As demonstrated by John the Baptist calling Everyone to be Baptized for Repentance and Jesus being Baptized, at which, a voice from heaven affirms “Thou Art My Beloved With Whom I AM Pleased!
As demonstrated by Philip baptizing the Samaritans, and the Holy Spirit coming upon these...
There is a difference between Baptism and Baptism.
More than the difference between religions, between Believer Baptism or Confirmation, more than the quantity or quality of a person's faith; there are times in our lives when we are open to change/to repent and to receive and to affirm the love of God.
The greatest affirmation I think I have ever heard, was, “I left Church thinking, Huh, when suddenly during the week, it occurred to me Oh that's what that was about!” Faith is not simply understanding, philosophical logic. If it it were, we could, like Simon the Great, each be taught the trick and we could do amazing things: walking on water, healing the blind, deaf and sick, feeding thousands with a few crumbs. The painful reality, is that this means faith is not entertainment, not a spectator sport where we watch unmoved, unchanged. But rather, that FAITH REQUIRES A CONVERSATION. Faith requires our taking in the Scriptures and our experience and integrating these with our questions and doubts and affirmations, to come back for more and different a week later.
Religion, is “the Routinization of Charisma”. Others before us had a faith experience, which changed their lives, their understanding, their experience. At that time, those who believed before us, began making those experiences into regular practices, in order that their children and their grandchildren might have similar experiences of faith. We sing hymns, because something resonates, both in our chests and in our hearing, harmonically, but even more in our fellowship of uniting together. We give gifts at Christmas, both because of the gift we received from God, but also because we each enjoy giving and receiving, knowing that we were thought of and appreciated by others.
I have a confession, that WORSHIP is an act of Religion, like a farmer casting seed upon the whole field, you know that the exact circumstance of every kernel will be different. Some are ready to grow, some are buried in snow, some are buried in overly fertile stuff. Faith comes as we use what is given in worship, what occurs in life and we struggle to make sense.
As human beings we are extremely self-reliant. We like CONTROL. We like routine. A year ago, throughout the Nation, throughout the World, the theme repeated over and over was CHANGE. Yet, very quickly we recognized how hard it is to CHANGE, how unwilling we are to give up what we know. CHANGE requires that we temporarily suspend our control, in order to trust others, to trust doing something new and different, knowing that however temporary we were promised change would be, the world will not be as it once was. Life is continually in motion, in change. REPENTING of what we know, leaving the direction we have gone to try something different is hard and often only comes when we recognize that the direction we have been going no longer works.
We are not programmed to automatically receive. A compliment is offered, a word of thanks given, and we defer, that this is not necessary, we are happy to give. Receiving requires a VULNERABILITY both that others will not hurt us, and that as self-reliant as we may be we are not self-contained. RECEIVING also requires a self-worth that what we have given is APPRECIATED and of VALUE to others. It is hard for us to RECEIVE.
What a Vulnerable Act, for all the Nation to hear John the Baptist preaching, and everyone the whole Nation went to be baptized, everyone went to repent, to change, to hope to receive something that would validate life!
For Jesus, the Messiah to be Baptized, not only for his own repentance, but on behalf of all the world, to be claimed by God, to name that this life is a gift received from God!
How Vulnerable of the Samaritans, who for generations had worshipped the same God as all Israel, had followed the Laws of Kosher, were descended from Moses as the indigenous Nation of Faith, but had been persecuted and rebuffed as impure, half-bred Gentiles, for these to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and ask to be Baptized!
But increasingly, I am convinced, that faith requires this kind of vulnerability, in order for us to receive the Holy Spirit. As CONTROLLING and Scheduled as we are, we do not allow the Spirit to enter in. At 9:30 this morning we worship, At 2pm the SU Game begins, at 4pm is Confirmation Class and at 5pm the Travel Group is having dinner.
Years ago, I contacted 100 congregations that were identified as having each come through extreme circumstances, to discern what they had in common, to better understand how faith happens. And all 100 Churches responded saying we cannot talk about it. Unless you experienced that time, you cannot understand, and we really do not want to go back to that, but we are changed. No one would inflict pain and suffering and conflict on others, but in those times in which we are not in control, the Holy Spirit does act!
Conversely, when everything about faith becomes routine, when there is no room for the Holy Spirit, then we cannot Affirm the Love of God, the Grace of God, because there is no room. Religion becomes a celebration of the past, of power and hate of anything different. Religion needs to continually have tension between routinization of the past and a vulnerability to what might be.
The irony is that as much as Religion is the Routinization of Charisma, attempting to replicate and establish practices to pass along experiences of faith, the routines rarely do. A couple comes to be married, and gathered with both their families, with all the traditions, the hopes and dreams, and flowers and flower-girls, BEING MARRIED is not about the Vows or the Pastor Pronouncing it so. Parents present a child for BAPTISM, yet with family and friends gathered, affirming our love for this child as a Gift from God, BEING A PARENT occurs over a lifetime.
Acts 8:14-17
For the second time in less than a month, this week, a person attempted to board an airplane, with intent to blow up themselves, the plane and everyone on board. Overhearing reports of this, someone named: “What is it with religion, that people believe God told them to kill themselves and others?”
Despite the Media attention, the point is not Airplane safety. Two persons in a month, both being caught before they caused deaths, out of all the millions of passengers on all the planes flying internationally, does not compare to the dangerous, self-destructive behavior of people in cars, and in their own homes. Despite the Government's concern to increase Airport security those wanting to cause pain will find a way to break through, to harm others. The real point comes back to the observation, “What is it with religion, that people believe God told them to kill themselves and others?”
That is not faith, it is not religion as you and I have affirmed, that is about power and politics and hate. It is too easy to consider all religions as cults and, all of any particular religion as evil. That is instead fanaticism. Believing so completely in your right, that others have no rights, others are no longer human but only political tools of power.
Our Scripture passages this morning, and the circumstances of the day, demand that we differentiate between Religion and Faith, and between Being Open to God & Manipulating gods to what we want. As demonstrated by John the Baptist calling Everyone to be Baptized for Repentance and Jesus being Baptized, at which, a voice from heaven affirms “Thou Art My Beloved With Whom I AM Pleased!
As demonstrated by Philip baptizing the Samaritans, and the Holy Spirit coming upon these...
There is a difference between Baptism and Baptism.
More than the difference between religions, between Believer Baptism or Confirmation, more than the quantity or quality of a person's faith; there are times in our lives when we are open to change/to repent and to receive and to affirm the love of God.
The greatest affirmation I think I have ever heard, was, “I left Church thinking, Huh, when suddenly during the week, it occurred to me Oh that's what that was about!” Faith is not simply understanding, philosophical logic. If it it were, we could, like Simon the Great, each be taught the trick and we could do amazing things: walking on water, healing the blind, deaf and sick, feeding thousands with a few crumbs. The painful reality, is that this means faith is not entertainment, not a spectator sport where we watch unmoved, unchanged. But rather, that FAITH REQUIRES A CONVERSATION. Faith requires our taking in the Scriptures and our experience and integrating these with our questions and doubts and affirmations, to come back for more and different a week later.
Religion, is “the Routinization of Charisma”. Others before us had a faith experience, which changed their lives, their understanding, their experience. At that time, those who believed before us, began making those experiences into regular practices, in order that their children and their grandchildren might have similar experiences of faith. We sing hymns, because something resonates, both in our chests and in our hearing, harmonically, but even more in our fellowship of uniting together. We give gifts at Christmas, both because of the gift we received from God, but also because we each enjoy giving and receiving, knowing that we were thought of and appreciated by others.
I have a confession, that WORSHIP is an act of Religion, like a farmer casting seed upon the whole field, you know that the exact circumstance of every kernel will be different. Some are ready to grow, some are buried in snow, some are buried in overly fertile stuff. Faith comes as we use what is given in worship, what occurs in life and we struggle to make sense.
As human beings we are extremely self-reliant. We like CONTROL. We like routine. A year ago, throughout the Nation, throughout the World, the theme repeated over and over was CHANGE. Yet, very quickly we recognized how hard it is to CHANGE, how unwilling we are to give up what we know. CHANGE requires that we temporarily suspend our control, in order to trust others, to trust doing something new and different, knowing that however temporary we were promised change would be, the world will not be as it once was. Life is continually in motion, in change. REPENTING of what we know, leaving the direction we have gone to try something different is hard and often only comes when we recognize that the direction we have been going no longer works.
We are not programmed to automatically receive. A compliment is offered, a word of thanks given, and we defer, that this is not necessary, we are happy to give. Receiving requires a VULNERABILITY both that others will not hurt us, and that as self-reliant as we may be we are not self-contained. RECEIVING also requires a self-worth that what we have given is APPRECIATED and of VALUE to others. It is hard for us to RECEIVE.
What a Vulnerable Act, for all the Nation to hear John the Baptist preaching, and everyone the whole Nation went to be baptized, everyone went to repent, to change, to hope to receive something that would validate life!
For Jesus, the Messiah to be Baptized, not only for his own repentance, but on behalf of all the world, to be claimed by God, to name that this life is a gift received from God!
How Vulnerable of the Samaritans, who for generations had worshipped the same God as all Israel, had followed the Laws of Kosher, were descended from Moses as the indigenous Nation of Faith, but had been persecuted and rebuffed as impure, half-bred Gentiles, for these to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and ask to be Baptized!
But increasingly, I am convinced, that faith requires this kind of vulnerability, in order for us to receive the Holy Spirit. As CONTROLLING and Scheduled as we are, we do not allow the Spirit to enter in. At 9:30 this morning we worship, At 2pm the SU Game begins, at 4pm is Confirmation Class and at 5pm the Travel Group is having dinner.
Years ago, I contacted 100 congregations that were identified as having each come through extreme circumstances, to discern what they had in common, to better understand how faith happens. And all 100 Churches responded saying we cannot talk about it. Unless you experienced that time, you cannot understand, and we really do not want to go back to that, but we are changed. No one would inflict pain and suffering and conflict on others, but in those times in which we are not in control, the Holy Spirit does act!
Conversely, when everything about faith becomes routine, when there is no room for the Holy Spirit, then we cannot Affirm the Love of God, the Grace of God, because there is no room. Religion becomes a celebration of the past, of power and hate of anything different. Religion needs to continually have tension between routinization of the past and a vulnerability to what might be.
The irony is that as much as Religion is the Routinization of Charisma, attempting to replicate and establish practices to pass along experiences of faith, the routines rarely do. A couple comes to be married, and gathered with both their families, with all the traditions, the hopes and dreams, and flowers and flower-girls, BEING MARRIED is not about the Vows or the Pastor Pronouncing it so. Parents present a child for BAPTISM, yet with family and friends gathered, affirming our love for this child as a Gift from God, BEING A PARENT occurs over a lifetime.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
A New Destiny, January 3, 2010
Letter to the Ephesians 1:1-14
John 1:1-18
How we perceive our Beginning is important.
According to the Rules of Literature, the Beginning introduces who the characters are and the plot.
According to Philosophy, if we accept the Foundational Principles, then we must accept what follows.
According to Geometry, if we accept the Givens, the Conclusions are self-evident.
The New Year gives us opportunity for a Fresh Beginning, a New Destiny.
Recently, something caught my attention, that I had not seen before, which seems to change everything.
This morning's date is what: January 3, 2010
Now the Terrorist Attack on the World Trade Center was September 11, 2001
And yet, earlier times: World War II was December 7, 1941-1945, Prohibition was the 1920s,
The War Between the States was 1860-1865, Our Revolutionary War was 1776 and following
Luther's Nailing the 95 Theses was October 31, 1517
The Great Schism under Pope Leo IX between the Eastern and Western Orthodox Churches was 1054
Throughout human history from the Roman Empire to the last decade we have referenced time by Hundreds and Tens and Years, 10-54, 17-76, 18-60, 19-45; until we began the current Century.
In the first Decade of this era, we began Two Thousand and One, rather than continuing 20 and One.
The argument is made more clear in other languages, where instead of thousands, they have referenced every place marker and Zeros as described as “Ought”, so we have been living in the year: ought nine.
I propose a new beginning this morning, a time without OUGHTS, when we continue the beginning begun at the birth of Christ and this instead of Two Thousand and Ten, is the year 20-10.
The Gospel of John is different from the other Gospels, not only because there is greater reference to miracles, different parables and a different timetable through Jesus' Suffering Death on the Cross. John's Gospel does not set out as Matthew to tell the Genealogy of Jesus of Nazareth, or as Mark the Call of Jesus, or even as Luke the Birth of Jesus. John understands that God has done something fresh and new in the birth of Jesus, Jesus is the INCARNATION of God in Humanity. John is telling the Gospel of God!
The Ancient World from Abraham through the Greeks believed in DUALISM. There were understood to be Two Realities: Good and Evil. Divine and Human. Right and Wrong. Black and White. But God has done a new and different thing, the INCARNATION is God entering into Human reality. The Light in the Darkness, the Divine in the World. No longer are there separate realities, but time and space and reality have been collapsed and integrated and transformed all at once. According to John's Gospel, no longer can we describe Isaiah lifting his vision from above the pageantry of Kings in the Temple to the Kingdom of God where he says “Woe is Me, for I am a Man of UnClean Lips”, because God became human. No longer need we tell the Story of Job, where God and Satan discuss what would happen to a man who had always been faithful if the blessings were removed, because God and the Man are One. No longer need we tell the tale of Jonah the Prophet being sent by God to Ninevah, because God has come to all humanity.
The Passover Seder of Judaism begins with a prayer at the lighting of the Candles: Elohim, Adonai, Elahanu: “Blessed are You, Lord, our God, who makes us Holy with Your Commandments and commands us to light the festival lights.”
Throughout the meal, every element that is offered is introduced with a similar prayer of Blessing, so that by the end, the visitor at the table and the youngest child can recite: “Blessed are You, Lord, God!”
Instead of beginning, FORGIVE ME FATHER FOR I HAVE SINNED, or GRACIOUS GOD GRANT, which start with our sins or our needs and desires, Ancient prayers and the Letter to the Ephesians began by Blessing God, giving thanks for What God has Done.
Does it make a difference, our beginning? Our starting the year Blessing God for what God has done? Our expectation that the world is different because God is the Incarnation of Jesus?
Recently, we saw the film “Invictus” which is a wonderful film about South Africa in 1995, Nelson Mandella and the Game of Rugby. The part I had to continue to remind myself throughout the film, was that this was taking place in 1995. At one point a Commercial Airplane flies directly at a Stadium and the thought in our minds in 2010 is that this is a Terrorist Attack, but in 1995 airlines had not been used as weapons. At another point, a Black child comes up to a police car with Caucasian Officers, and the child begins searching in his paper bag while looking out of the corner of his eye at the police. In an age of suicide bombings and children used as guerilla soldiers, my heart was in my chest, only to realize that child is taking out cans of Pepsi to offer to the men in exchange for his listening to their radio. We are jaded, our experience has been altered by the constant reports of bombings and hate. How different our Destiny if we believe God is in all things, for the salvation of all, than if we live in fear!
The intriguing nature of this is appreciation that as described by Ephesians and understood in John, God has a Plan for the Universe. A Plan for every element, from the spider web, to the snow falling and blowing outside, from our falling in love, through the break-up that eventually allows us to fall in love all over again, in a love that allows us to stand beside and sit beside, and make decisions for a spouse who is dying. The intriguing nature of this plan is as named by John, that God knew Humanity would turn away! While Judaism knows the Old Testament to be their Full Scripture; and we as Christians can hear and accept the teachings of the First, we can also witness to the reality of the Incarnation that God has lived among a people who reject God, and still God would give up life for us, not only for those we love, but for those who hate us as well.
Recently, I was told a horrible tale, of a woman who had been born with severe Autism and Retardation her family recognizing their limitations, when she was born in the 1950s and had her institutionalized. She had spent over 50 years in an institution. At her best, she was able to color with crayons. She had no knowledge of numbers, no understanding of letters. Rarely did she know to recognize another person. Recently, she had had a blockage in her heart, and the surgeons did a valve transplant and bypass surgery. She had had to have a tracheotomy, which eventually was able to be reversed. And the question that was asked, was should all this have been done? Medically there was no question, these were treatable circumstances. But this is not a person who can communicate. Not a person who can contribute to the society. Not a person who can pay taxes or work at a job. And the point of the INCARNATION is all life is sacred. We cannot discriminate because God is in that other person.
What a different Destiny, if we did not fear; if we did not take life for granted as known; if we did not expect terrorist acts; if we did not need to weigh the costs and benefits, but could perceive God as present in all things and all life as being a mystery.
John 1:1-18
How we perceive our Beginning is important.
According to the Rules of Literature, the Beginning introduces who the characters are and the plot.
According to Philosophy, if we accept the Foundational Principles, then we must accept what follows.
According to Geometry, if we accept the Givens, the Conclusions are self-evident.
The New Year gives us opportunity for a Fresh Beginning, a New Destiny.
Recently, something caught my attention, that I had not seen before, which seems to change everything.
This morning's date is what: January 3, 2010
Now the Terrorist Attack on the World Trade Center was September 11, 2001
And yet, earlier times: World War II was December 7, 1941-1945, Prohibition was the 1920s,
The War Between the States was 1860-1865, Our Revolutionary War was 1776 and following
Luther's Nailing the 95 Theses was October 31, 1517
The Great Schism under Pope Leo IX between the Eastern and Western Orthodox Churches was 1054
Throughout human history from the Roman Empire to the last decade we have referenced time by Hundreds and Tens and Years, 10-54, 17-76, 18-60, 19-45; until we began the current Century.
In the first Decade of this era, we began Two Thousand and One, rather than continuing 20 and One.
The argument is made more clear in other languages, where instead of thousands, they have referenced every place marker and Zeros as described as “Ought”, so we have been living in the year: ought nine.
I propose a new beginning this morning, a time without OUGHTS, when we continue the beginning begun at the birth of Christ and this instead of Two Thousand and Ten, is the year 20-10.
The Gospel of John is different from the other Gospels, not only because there is greater reference to miracles, different parables and a different timetable through Jesus' Suffering Death on the Cross. John's Gospel does not set out as Matthew to tell the Genealogy of Jesus of Nazareth, or as Mark the Call of Jesus, or even as Luke the Birth of Jesus. John understands that God has done something fresh and new in the birth of Jesus, Jesus is the INCARNATION of God in Humanity. John is telling the Gospel of God!
The Ancient World from Abraham through the Greeks believed in DUALISM. There were understood to be Two Realities: Good and Evil. Divine and Human. Right and Wrong. Black and White. But God has done a new and different thing, the INCARNATION is God entering into Human reality. The Light in the Darkness, the Divine in the World. No longer are there separate realities, but time and space and reality have been collapsed and integrated and transformed all at once. According to John's Gospel, no longer can we describe Isaiah lifting his vision from above the pageantry of Kings in the Temple to the Kingdom of God where he says “Woe is Me, for I am a Man of UnClean Lips”, because God became human. No longer need we tell the Story of Job, where God and Satan discuss what would happen to a man who had always been faithful if the blessings were removed, because God and the Man are One. No longer need we tell the tale of Jonah the Prophet being sent by God to Ninevah, because God has come to all humanity.
The Passover Seder of Judaism begins with a prayer at the lighting of the Candles: Elohim, Adonai, Elahanu: “Blessed are You, Lord, our God, who makes us Holy with Your Commandments and commands us to light the festival lights.”
Throughout the meal, every element that is offered is introduced with a similar prayer of Blessing, so that by the end, the visitor at the table and the youngest child can recite: “Blessed are You, Lord, God!”
Instead of beginning, FORGIVE ME FATHER FOR I HAVE SINNED, or GRACIOUS GOD GRANT, which start with our sins or our needs and desires, Ancient prayers and the Letter to the Ephesians began by Blessing God, giving thanks for What God has Done.
Does it make a difference, our beginning? Our starting the year Blessing God for what God has done? Our expectation that the world is different because God is the Incarnation of Jesus?
Recently, we saw the film “Invictus” which is a wonderful film about South Africa in 1995, Nelson Mandella and the Game of Rugby. The part I had to continue to remind myself throughout the film, was that this was taking place in 1995. At one point a Commercial Airplane flies directly at a Stadium and the thought in our minds in 2010 is that this is a Terrorist Attack, but in 1995 airlines had not been used as weapons. At another point, a Black child comes up to a police car with Caucasian Officers, and the child begins searching in his paper bag while looking out of the corner of his eye at the police. In an age of suicide bombings and children used as guerilla soldiers, my heart was in my chest, only to realize that child is taking out cans of Pepsi to offer to the men in exchange for his listening to their radio. We are jaded, our experience has been altered by the constant reports of bombings and hate. How different our Destiny if we believe God is in all things, for the salvation of all, than if we live in fear!
The intriguing nature of this is appreciation that as described by Ephesians and understood in John, God has a Plan for the Universe. A Plan for every element, from the spider web, to the snow falling and blowing outside, from our falling in love, through the break-up that eventually allows us to fall in love all over again, in a love that allows us to stand beside and sit beside, and make decisions for a spouse who is dying. The intriguing nature of this plan is as named by John, that God knew Humanity would turn away! While Judaism knows the Old Testament to be their Full Scripture; and we as Christians can hear and accept the teachings of the First, we can also witness to the reality of the Incarnation that God has lived among a people who reject God, and still God would give up life for us, not only for those we love, but for those who hate us as well.
Recently, I was told a horrible tale, of a woman who had been born with severe Autism and Retardation her family recognizing their limitations, when she was born in the 1950s and had her institutionalized. She had spent over 50 years in an institution. At her best, she was able to color with crayons. She had no knowledge of numbers, no understanding of letters. Rarely did she know to recognize another person. Recently, she had had a blockage in her heart, and the surgeons did a valve transplant and bypass surgery. She had had to have a tracheotomy, which eventually was able to be reversed. And the question that was asked, was should all this have been done? Medically there was no question, these were treatable circumstances. But this is not a person who can communicate. Not a person who can contribute to the society. Not a person who can pay taxes or work at a job. And the point of the INCARNATION is all life is sacred. We cannot discriminate because God is in that other person.
What a different Destiny, if we did not fear; if we did not take life for granted as known; if we did not expect terrorist acts; if we did not need to weigh the costs and benefits, but could perceive God as present in all things and all life as being a mystery.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)