Isaiah 2:1-5
Matthew 24:33-46
What is the vision we wait for, work for, long to make real?
As temperatures become colder, as we sort through the decorations and ornaments of our family's past, as we have gathered and anticipate holiday occasions at the table, we reflect on where we have come from and where we are going. Not simply turning off the alarm, dressing for work, and going through the motions of the day; but wondering what vision could be witnessed, what difference made in life?
There was a time, when our vision was to fix everything that had been broken for so long, both in our building and relationships. The pipe organ was tied together with baling wire and duct tape. Our hope was to have hot water in the bathrooms and cold water in the kitchen. There was a time when our dream was that Nurseries would be bright and attractive and near the Sanctuary. We longed to celebrate weddings and marriage, to hear the voices of children glorifying God. Our vision was to be done with asbestos and waste. The answer to our nightmares, was that we could undertake all these things and not leave a debt for our children's children.
There was a time, not so long ago, when our hopes and dreams were for the Church, this Church, to be a Center of Community Activity, where every portion of every day throughout the week, something would be taking place at the Presbyterian Church. In that vision, that the Church would be a patron of Art and Music, we would host Quilt Shows and Art Exhibits, Concerts and Forums.
We dreamed we would create musical instruments to inspire, like the Great Cathedrals of Europe.
There was a time, when our vision was to provide a home for those who had had theirs taken away. We dared to dream that the Church could through prayer and caring relationship redeem those, whom others saw as lost. We believed in a vision of providing a home and common dinner table for our elders.
There was a time time, when our vision was to build the endowments and reserves from being The Manse Fund, to having over a Million dollars, which could compound and grow for future ministries. We saw that fulfilled, and given the volatility of the market, half disappeared, yet through vigilance and vision the nest-egg again attained the first million, now invested in over 700 diverse stocks and bonds.
There was a time, we dared to dream that we could host those strange to us, seekers of faith in non-traditional ways. We began anew with singing the Psalms and Taize pieces like “Spirit of the Living God”; we created a permanent Labyrinth in the floor for Spiritual journeys, and a place for Tai Chi and Raike and alternative forms of faith for seeking balance.
Throughout each of these visions, we wondered about salvation, about Christian faith. We questioned and pondered. As we rebuilt the Church center and lifted the timbers supporting the place of worship, we asked: what are the foundations of our faith? As we opened walls, we named all the weddings and baptisms, and funerals that had taken place in this place. As we cared for refugees from Africa, we placed babies in the arms of our sons and daughters going off to war and to places of redemption, vowing to pray these children. We studied Scripture both through curriculum guided learning and having on-going conversation with the texts and our teachers.
What is the vision we now wait for, work for, long to make real?
This has been a long and difficult year. There have divorces and deaths, economic fears and tragedies. Throughout this year, our Session have been engaged in a mission study, asking what are our Core Values? We are in our 210th year as a congregation, what are the significant events of recent memory, of these which were transitions and which were cultural changes, shifts to a new normal, and also which were spiritual and why? What do our statistics tell us about ourselves? Can we develop Long-Range plans for routine matters like maintenance and investing? What is unique about this community from the rest of the region, from the rest of the world; and within this community, what is unique about the Presbyterian Church? What we came to realize is that our fellowship is in a unique circumstance. We are more than double the size of any Presbyterian Church in N.New York, Utica, Albany, the Southern Tier, and Cayuga-Syracuse. The vast majority of these churches today have 50 to 100 members, many struggling with 13 to 25 in worship. This is not a time for complacency! Where Vision Fails the People Perish!
In the time of Isaiah, the Priest and Prophet, the Nation was at War on every front. Weapons were their most costly investment. Today, with modern manufacturing of steel, we can mass produce, our most costly investment is in new technology, but in that time, the mining and manufacture of bronze and silver for shields and swords created a National Debt. In a time of war, when there is little hope of winning, of making a difference in the lives of others, when fighting is a mater of National Defense against being taken over, the Prophet saw a vision of the future.
A time in Days to Come, when people would not learn war anymore. When God would be so revered and trusted, that it seemed the mountain of God, the place of God in our universe would be elevated above everything else. All people would be seeking to know and understand and live according to God's precepts, God's Covenant. While God would have won the battle for people's hearts and minds, God would not act as Conquerer and Champion, but instead as Teacher, instructing everyone, including us, what it is to be faithful. In this time to come, those weapons that were so costly to manufacture, in the first place, would be reformed by common blacksmiths into farming implements and tools of cultivation.
This represents a cultural shift in human development. There was a time when people were hunters and gatherers; and those who brought reserves home shared with others in need. All were considered part of the community, one, as family. When people became land owners and developed civilizations, we developed a monetary system, and land value, profit and loss, mortgage, retirement and a class system, as well as desire for power. Isaiah's Vision is of a future Day to come. A new normal, a different reality, where the values we have had, desire to possess more and more, faster and newer, where searching for a new fossil fuel or gas to allow us to continue as we have been, becomes an old idea; abandoned for values of self-worth, integrity, appreciating and enjoying time with one another.
The pulp fiction industry has seized on the Middle Ages idea of “Dispensationalism”. In those Dark Ages, there were created visions that every thing you do equates to gold star or an evil demerit. Eventually there would be a time, when we needed to atone for every demerit, and there were varying levels of Heaven and varying levels of Hell, as well as Purgatory and Limbo. All the dark romance literature about Devils and Vampires and those Left Behind after the Quickening, are based on this vision.
But the vision of Jesus in Matthew is different. There are only two options here, and we cannot know whether our neighbor and co-worker, or even ourselves, are one or the other, so be diligent, try harder. What is intriguing is how Jesus inverts the parable. In the story of Noah, all the people, all the corrupt world were washed away in an instant. What Jesus describes, is that on the day the Son of Man comes, some will be taken and some left. In Matthew's Gospel there are not levels of Heaven or gradations of Hell, or a dispensationalism that you made a grade of C-, but simply that God knows the difference between those who will not receive grace, those so full of themselves and their own desires.
Years ago, our home was broken into. That is an odd thing to say, when you had not bothered to lock the front door. During the night the dog had begun barking, but as we had appeared repeatedly at Village Court for barking, we simply quieted her down and went back to sleep. The back door was broken, an ironing board and iron had been smashed. Nothing that could not be replaced. Actually, in the morning, I had come downstairs, and was surprised to find the robber passed out on our couch, very well dressed, but looking horribly disheveled. At first I thought he was a roofer, as we were having this work done, but realizing it would be presumptuous even for a contractor to come into the house they were working on to sleep on their couch. So I woke the man and gave him a cup of coffee. He asked where he was and I asked what he remembered. He described being at a Rehearsal Dinner the night before and drinking Uzo with the Groomsmen. We sent him on his way and I began calling the other clergy to make certain he got to the wedding that afternoon. We thought nothing more about it for about 18 months, when one of the College kids in Church described being at a Holiday party where word was passed, If you pass out, make certain you go to the Lindsey's they will give you a cup of coffee, make certain you get where you need to go and won't call the police. Which we decided was a pretty good vision to put forward.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
"Forgive Them, They Know Not" November 21, 2010
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Luke 23: 33-43
The other day I was visiting with a young couple, whom we had had the pleasure of marrying, about the Baptism of their newborn child. Cradling the child close to my breast, as I looked deeply into her eyes, her father asked “Rev. Lindsey, does the Presbyterian Church believe our child is damned to Hell?” Much like having cold water splashed in your face, as one representing the love of God, representing the Church, I instinctively replied: “Not This Child!”
But then inquired, What do you mean? And he said, “You know, in that stuff about Original Sin?”
I think there is a correlation here, that just as there is decreasing belief in the institution of marriage, because so many couples experienced the wedding, then realize that marriage is about a life together;
And there is decreasing belief in being a Family, because so many couples had sex, then realized that being pregnant they would spend a lifetime raising the child, who often return home after college;
So also there is decreasing understanding of what We Believe taking theological ideas out of context.
Original Sin is not the belief that Babies are Evil, or That Innocence is Condemned, not by any means. But Rather, that all of us, as Human Creatures, do exactly what Adam and Eve had done; when given the choice between acting in righteousness, a committed relationship with God, or satisfying our desires, we choose Candy, Fluff, Satisfaction of our Lusts and Desires in the Moment.
Original Sin is the Claim that we are Human, Creaturely, Driven by Desires, Sinful and thus Mortal. Are there any among us who doubt that this is so?
But the Context is not that we were created in Sin, not that God formed evil, horrible children, who would grow up to be evil horrible people; but rather that God formed humanity, all creation as naïve, therefore “Not Knowing”.
A basic flaw in beliefs today is that we have believed as SUPER-SESSIONISTS!
How is that for a $100,000 term from Seminary?
Almost as obscure as Supercalafragilisticexpialadocious!
Super-Sessionism is believing that everything that came before us was wrong and we possess all the answers. What a flawed way of thinking! Much like blaming someone who is blind, that they sinned. Or blaming those who are divorced for having been without love, it is simply not true.
There are times when human circumstance are insurmountable for human beings to control or conquer.
Rather than Humanity having Original Sin, or being destined to be profane, Christian Faith begins that humanity has been naïve, not knowing, awaiting a Savior who would lead us to God, bringing justice, transforming us from naïve creatures as hard-headed as a rock, as stubborn as a mule, to being divine. There is nothing wrong with being a Rock or a Mule, they are Creaturely, the reality is Not that we were evil, not that we were born into Original Sin, but according to Genesis, God Blessed Creation including Humanity as “Good, Very Good” for a Starting Point in Paradise.
But that at that point in human history, repeated over and over throughout time, we chose to satiate ourselves, gorging on Stuffing, entertained with parades, rather than giving thanks to God for our blessings.
The point of Christianity is not that Jesus is the answer to Judaism, to the Old Testament; but rather that Christ is the response to all in our lives that is not divine, not right with God.
The prophecy of Jeremiah was indictment that JUSTICE and AUTHORITY were to have been aligned! Instead of Kings acting as Shepherds, who risk their lives caring for the sheep; Leaders have lined their pockets and sacrificed the weak to make themselves more powerful. Jeremiah's promise is that there will eventually come one, who will lead, by caring for the least and lost. Rather than Kings and Priests serving as intermediaries, bearing our prayers to God and meeting out justice between people; that all would have direct access to God as their Shepherd, who knew and cared for each one as a lamb of God.
Life is not fair!
My parents had four sons. My father would repeatedly describe to each of us, that they would not treat us equally. Not that they did not love each of us, but that the needs of each in their time were different. The morning before I candidated here, a 9th Grader approached me and said “Rev. Lindsey, I want you to know that there are 412 tiles in that ceiling. I have counted every one repeatedly during sermons.”
Five years later, in 2001, four children came to us, as refugees from Civil War. One did not like the cold and wanted a family. One wanted a career in the Military and perhaps in Medicine. One wanted a career in Banking. One wanted to have a Clinic in their home village. Today, there is a Clinic in their village providing quality Health Care. The one wanting a Career in Banking entered the job market as the world economy went through chaos. He found a job and was laid off, and found a job and was laid, and found a job. One graduated Cum Laude from College in Biology, and is now the Executive Officer of the Army base in Utica. And one, this day, stands with a family of his own, presenting his second child for the Sacrament of Baptism. Each of us is unique, each is loved by God and by the community of Faith.
In this Sacrament, when celebrated for an Infant, we ask the parents to extend their faith to their child. Asking who is your Lord and Savior is demanding what is the greatest authority in your life as a parent. Is your aspiration that your child will be rich, that they will be healthy, that they be educated or Free? Or is it that God demonstrated to us in the Love of Jesus Christ would be their child's goal?
This Sacrament has in earlier times been described as washing away Original Sin, but even more is a claiming by God and by this community, that you will be loved. What ever your needs in life, to be challenged to use your gifts at math or computers and technology for the church, to be a leader sacrificing for others, to be warmed by love, if your son or daughter is far from home at war, if your daughter or son has done something horribly wrong, still they will be loved. No matter what.
I think the failing of the 20th Century was that people came out of the Great Depression, and back from War, THANKFUL to be alive, and we made them Members, assigning each to roles of administration. For a time, the Churches burst at their seams with thankful people. But Administration cannot hold people's faith! Instead the purpose of the Church is to teach people Discipleship and Compassion. If humanity cold learn those two lessons, what a different world this would be.
DISCIPLESHIP, continually learning, seeing the parables of life and interpreting faith in the world! COMPASSION, caring for others without reserve, giving of ourselves as others have need.
In recent years this congregation has radically changed. Someone described that as much as they loved and revered and feared Dr. Dobson, in his day, Children were not tolerated in the worship of God. Last Sunday, someone else described that what they love about the Church is that we are Child-Friendly.
Years ago, there was a story that Grandparents wanted their grandchildren baptized but were rejected; today we have come to recognize that residency is not requirement of the sacraments. That those wanting to receive the resources of the Church, wanting to celebrate their faith or struggle with their circumstance should be given everything we have to make a difference. We have positioned ourselves and challenged ourselves to continually be more compassionate and trusting. We have worked to be of service and mission. What I believe the Church could and needs to strive for, is to make disciples. The responsibility of the Church is not to have all the answers, but to probe the faith questions beneath the surface. When asked questions like “Is my child Damned to Hell” to ask “Why?”
When an infant or new believer is baptized, that we would not simply perform the ritual that day, but accept responsibility to pray for them, to hear their questions and look for their needs, that all of us might come to be Thankful for All God has given.
Luke 23: 33-43
The other day I was visiting with a young couple, whom we had had the pleasure of marrying, about the Baptism of their newborn child. Cradling the child close to my breast, as I looked deeply into her eyes, her father asked “Rev. Lindsey, does the Presbyterian Church believe our child is damned to Hell?” Much like having cold water splashed in your face, as one representing the love of God, representing the Church, I instinctively replied: “Not This Child!”
But then inquired, What do you mean? And he said, “You know, in that stuff about Original Sin?”
I think there is a correlation here, that just as there is decreasing belief in the institution of marriage, because so many couples experienced the wedding, then realize that marriage is about a life together;
And there is decreasing belief in being a Family, because so many couples had sex, then realized that being pregnant they would spend a lifetime raising the child, who often return home after college;
So also there is decreasing understanding of what We Believe taking theological ideas out of context.
Original Sin is not the belief that Babies are Evil, or That Innocence is Condemned, not by any means. But Rather, that all of us, as Human Creatures, do exactly what Adam and Eve had done; when given the choice between acting in righteousness, a committed relationship with God, or satisfying our desires, we choose Candy, Fluff, Satisfaction of our Lusts and Desires in the Moment.
Original Sin is the Claim that we are Human, Creaturely, Driven by Desires, Sinful and thus Mortal. Are there any among us who doubt that this is so?
But the Context is not that we were created in Sin, not that God formed evil, horrible children, who would grow up to be evil horrible people; but rather that God formed humanity, all creation as naïve, therefore “Not Knowing”.
A basic flaw in beliefs today is that we have believed as SUPER-SESSIONISTS!
How is that for a $100,000 term from Seminary?
Almost as obscure as Supercalafragilisticexpialadocious!
Super-Sessionism is believing that everything that came before us was wrong and we possess all the answers. What a flawed way of thinking! Much like blaming someone who is blind, that they sinned. Or blaming those who are divorced for having been without love, it is simply not true.
There are times when human circumstance are insurmountable for human beings to control or conquer.
Rather than Humanity having Original Sin, or being destined to be profane, Christian Faith begins that humanity has been naïve, not knowing, awaiting a Savior who would lead us to God, bringing justice, transforming us from naïve creatures as hard-headed as a rock, as stubborn as a mule, to being divine. There is nothing wrong with being a Rock or a Mule, they are Creaturely, the reality is Not that we were evil, not that we were born into Original Sin, but according to Genesis, God Blessed Creation including Humanity as “Good, Very Good” for a Starting Point in Paradise.
But that at that point in human history, repeated over and over throughout time, we chose to satiate ourselves, gorging on Stuffing, entertained with parades, rather than giving thanks to God for our blessings.
The point of Christianity is not that Jesus is the answer to Judaism, to the Old Testament; but rather that Christ is the response to all in our lives that is not divine, not right with God.
The prophecy of Jeremiah was indictment that JUSTICE and AUTHORITY were to have been aligned! Instead of Kings acting as Shepherds, who risk their lives caring for the sheep; Leaders have lined their pockets and sacrificed the weak to make themselves more powerful. Jeremiah's promise is that there will eventually come one, who will lead, by caring for the least and lost. Rather than Kings and Priests serving as intermediaries, bearing our prayers to God and meeting out justice between people; that all would have direct access to God as their Shepherd, who knew and cared for each one as a lamb of God.
Life is not fair!
My parents had four sons. My father would repeatedly describe to each of us, that they would not treat us equally. Not that they did not love each of us, but that the needs of each in their time were different. The morning before I candidated here, a 9th Grader approached me and said “Rev. Lindsey, I want you to know that there are 412 tiles in that ceiling. I have counted every one repeatedly during sermons.”
Five years later, in 2001, four children came to us, as refugees from Civil War. One did not like the cold and wanted a family. One wanted a career in the Military and perhaps in Medicine. One wanted a career in Banking. One wanted to have a Clinic in their home village. Today, there is a Clinic in their village providing quality Health Care. The one wanting a Career in Banking entered the job market as the world economy went through chaos. He found a job and was laid off, and found a job and was laid, and found a job. One graduated Cum Laude from College in Biology, and is now the Executive Officer of the Army base in Utica. And one, this day, stands with a family of his own, presenting his second child for the Sacrament of Baptism. Each of us is unique, each is loved by God and by the community of Faith.
In this Sacrament, when celebrated for an Infant, we ask the parents to extend their faith to their child. Asking who is your Lord and Savior is demanding what is the greatest authority in your life as a parent. Is your aspiration that your child will be rich, that they will be healthy, that they be educated or Free? Or is it that God demonstrated to us in the Love of Jesus Christ would be their child's goal?
This Sacrament has in earlier times been described as washing away Original Sin, but even more is a claiming by God and by this community, that you will be loved. What ever your needs in life, to be challenged to use your gifts at math or computers and technology for the church, to be a leader sacrificing for others, to be warmed by love, if your son or daughter is far from home at war, if your daughter or son has done something horribly wrong, still they will be loved. No matter what.
I think the failing of the 20th Century was that people came out of the Great Depression, and back from War, THANKFUL to be alive, and we made them Members, assigning each to roles of administration. For a time, the Churches burst at their seams with thankful people. But Administration cannot hold people's faith! Instead the purpose of the Church is to teach people Discipleship and Compassion. If humanity cold learn those two lessons, what a different world this would be.
DISCIPLESHIP, continually learning, seeing the parables of life and interpreting faith in the world! COMPASSION, caring for others without reserve, giving of ourselves as others have need.
In recent years this congregation has radically changed. Someone described that as much as they loved and revered and feared Dr. Dobson, in his day, Children were not tolerated in the worship of God. Last Sunday, someone else described that what they love about the Church is that we are Child-Friendly.
Years ago, there was a story that Grandparents wanted their grandchildren baptized but were rejected; today we have come to recognize that residency is not requirement of the sacraments. That those wanting to receive the resources of the Church, wanting to celebrate their faith or struggle with their circumstance should be given everything we have to make a difference. We have positioned ourselves and challenged ourselves to continually be more compassionate and trusting. We have worked to be of service and mission. What I believe the Church could and needs to strive for, is to make disciples. The responsibility of the Church is not to have all the answers, but to probe the faith questions beneath the surface. When asked questions like “Is my child Damned to Hell” to ask “Why?”
When an infant or new believer is baptized, that we would not simply perform the ritual that day, but accept responsibility to pray for them, to hear their questions and look for their needs, that all of us might come to be Thankful for All God has given.
Monday, November 15, 2010
"There, There...No More", November 14, 2010
Isaiah 65:17-25
Luke 21:1-19
This morning's readings do not assume a Prosperity Gospel, some rosey belief that if I simply believe enough everything will turn out all right, or that following the Covenant is a roadmap to riches. Instead, that we live in a culture of loss, hoping for redemption from Almighty God. In September of 2001, the 21st Century Changed. Never before, had our mainland been attacked. On a bright blue Autumn morning, suddenly we realized how fragile life is, or the reality of hate. From that moment on, our economy has faced loss after loss, as our personal IRA's 401Ks and Pension plans were raided. Haiti suffered an Earthquake, then Cholera, now Hurricanes. Dormant volcanoes have erupted. Where earlier generations knew of the successes and failures of wars, we have had cameras imbedded with the troops reporting with images first hand. During the first Gulf-War, I recall families describing their three year olds standing in front of the television screaming “No More News, No More.”
20th Century Americans knew about developing technologies, expanding potential, reaching to touch the moon, knew about everything from the Jitter-bug to the Twist to Rock & Roll to Disco; but LOSS was not part of our vocabulary. As a technological people, we need to continually remind ourselves that this technology is so new, we have not learned the safeguards. After 90 years with automobiles we have mandated airbags and seat-belts, speed-limits, and laws against the stupidity of drunk-driving. But we do not yet know how to seat-belt our lap-top, or where the airbag is on an iPod. We have created a culture dependent upon consumerism, always needing the latest, fastest, newest product. No where is this more visible than in the News Cycle. Every hour of every day, we are supposed to be connected with the World, to have something new and news worthy, in competition with all the other investigative news reporters. Not simply to attain a pulitzer for the ground-breaking story, but assuming a 2 minute sound-byte, having a new earth-shattering revelation every 58 minutes.
Steve and Julie, as the one who married you, I have been in awe, watching as you have chosen, instead of going into international land-development to choose product engineering; instead of choosing to report the news, to be a stay-at-home parent, together raising four children. How tempting it would be to go there and there and there, wherever the latest most exciting development is breaking, but instead to intentionally choose to spend time with your children in years that cannot ever be recaptured.
The Bible speaks directly to our time, with insights and wisdom from long ago. We are a loss avoid-ant world. When devastation happens, we try to imagine that it does not affect us. Mom was 89 years old and with Dad passing, her life did not seem as vital. They always fought, seeming to have different values and priorities, is it any wonder they divorced. We justify, we avoid, we placate, we drink and anesthetize ourselves from feeling, we find ways to not GRIEVE. The first 39 Chapters of the Book of Isaiah are about LOSS. This is the Centuries long-struggle of the Greatest, Most-powerful, most-affluent Nation on the face of the Earth, greater in wealth and power than the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, losing all of that to become prisoners of war, aliens in a foreign land. Even more frightening, some of the latest archeological evidence is that perhaps the people of Israel never physically left their promised Land, but that like ourselves the culture changed so much around them they became out of touch, becoming aliens in a foreign land when geographically the Nation of Israel became a State of Babylon and the Capital of Jerusalem lay in ruins.
We are so frightened of LOSS, that the Lectionary selections from Isaiah typically are: The Call of Isaiah in Chapter 6 saying “Woe is me, I am a Man of Unclean lips dwelling among a people with unclean lips, when suddenly the sins are burned from our lips, and we respond to God, Here Am I Send Me!” Then, Isaiah 40's “Comfort, comfort my people says Your God.” And finally this word in the 65th Chapter describing “a new Heaven and new Earth, God creating a new Jerusalem.” While it would seem EASIER in the midst of world-wide devastation to witness a vision where our sins are taken away, and suddenly we are comforted, when we rush too quickly to offer comfort, we bury our feelings, we bury ourselves.
In the Bible Study this week, someone described “How come God is So Unfair? Why must our hearts be hardened, why must there be suffering for the world to change?”
To read Isaiah faithfully, is to read an account of Loss longer than most other books of the Bible. 39 Chapters of their banks and storehouses being raided, 39 Chapters about their homes being devalued, their closets opened as others rush to take their jewelry and shoes, much like yesterday's auction at Krebs of bidding on plates and silver and linens, tables and chairs as odd lots.
After 10 years of War in Afghanistan and Iraq, what more can we say. After the Dot-Coms and the Housing Market Bubbles burst, two decades of warnings that the Social Security safety net no longer fits our time, and while we as a church have been able to raise funds to create a clinic in East Africa there are hundreds of thousands in our nation without health care. Suddenly, after 39 Chapters of Loss, the Word of the Prophet Isaiah changes. According to the time references there is 150 years between the end of Chapter 39 and beginning of Chapter 40. Some have proposed that the idea of GRIEF changed, from historically describing loss in detail, to instead creating a New Normal by LAMENT. The Book of Lamentations is a series of 5 poems, the first two and last two being of 22 verses, the middle Chapter being 66 verses or 3 sets of 22, and in Hebrew instead of the 26 letters in our alphabet there were 22. Lamentations is a means of identifying who we are as different from what we once were. Similar in the 1930s there were Love Songs that developed alphabetically
A is for the AFFECTION of your Heart.
B is for the BOUNTY of your Love.
C is for COMPASSION strengthening me for every day.
D for the DESIRE to make a difference.
And finally, after 150 years of LAMENTATIONS, a new word is heard in Israel: “COMFORT, COMFORT, My People, says your God. There, there, I am with you. I hear you and I care.”
I have been doing a Scientific Study the last many years. When an infant cries, what it wants is for someone to pay attention, to be soothing. It really does not matter who that someone is, even a stranger in grey robe, provided we hear the words “THERE, THERE” and you are not alone, “I AM with you!”
After we have had ample opportunity to unpack our grief, to come to grips with a NEW NORMAL, then we can be comforted and truly cared for, rather than blanketing our loss.
But there is only so long, we can be comforted, in Chapter 65 The Lord God offers a New Reality, a Peaceable Kingdom. Envisioning a new Society, not built on human greed or the latest human technology, or with human hands, but a NEW HEAVEN and NEW EARTH and NEW JERUSALEM. A reality where we do not need to be comforted and consoled, where there is no need to weep, where there is no longer LOSS. But instead when a person reaches the age of a Hundred they will be seen as still a child!
There is a vision here that has inspired humanity for thousands of years. The Wolf and Lamb laying down together, the Lion and calf eating straw rather than fearing one another. Still, while all the rest of creation will be redeemed, the snake shall never again be tempted by the Apple, dust shall be the serpent's food. No longer will there be need for a Baby to cry, for before people Call, God will answer.
Just imagine, if instead of all those forwarded emails asking you to send this to 100 people, before we could close our eyes, we knew God knew our needs. I believe in that future. A short time ago, I was speaking with a colleague, describing there are so many labels we put on one another, so many different camps within Christianity, let alone different religions, so how do you see me? Without hesitation she responded: “You, You are an Evangelical?” Imagining Jerry Falwell and Tammy Baker, I was a bit surprised, and she said “NO, but you believe God is real! Your believe miracles happen! You actually believe all the things that are prophesied, like the coming of a new heaven and new earth, where there will be no suffering, is not only possible but a reality!” And I said to her, I have seen miracles!
Luke 21:1-19
This morning's readings do not assume a Prosperity Gospel, some rosey belief that if I simply believe enough everything will turn out all right, or that following the Covenant is a roadmap to riches. Instead, that we live in a culture of loss, hoping for redemption from Almighty God. In September of 2001, the 21st Century Changed. Never before, had our mainland been attacked. On a bright blue Autumn morning, suddenly we realized how fragile life is, or the reality of hate. From that moment on, our economy has faced loss after loss, as our personal IRA's 401Ks and Pension plans were raided. Haiti suffered an Earthquake, then Cholera, now Hurricanes. Dormant volcanoes have erupted. Where earlier generations knew of the successes and failures of wars, we have had cameras imbedded with the troops reporting with images first hand. During the first Gulf-War, I recall families describing their three year olds standing in front of the television screaming “No More News, No More.”
20th Century Americans knew about developing technologies, expanding potential, reaching to touch the moon, knew about everything from the Jitter-bug to the Twist to Rock & Roll to Disco; but LOSS was not part of our vocabulary. As a technological people, we need to continually remind ourselves that this technology is so new, we have not learned the safeguards. After 90 years with automobiles we have mandated airbags and seat-belts, speed-limits, and laws against the stupidity of drunk-driving. But we do not yet know how to seat-belt our lap-top, or where the airbag is on an iPod. We have created a culture dependent upon consumerism, always needing the latest, fastest, newest product. No where is this more visible than in the News Cycle. Every hour of every day, we are supposed to be connected with the World, to have something new and news worthy, in competition with all the other investigative news reporters. Not simply to attain a pulitzer for the ground-breaking story, but assuming a 2 minute sound-byte, having a new earth-shattering revelation every 58 minutes.
Steve and Julie, as the one who married you, I have been in awe, watching as you have chosen, instead of going into international land-development to choose product engineering; instead of choosing to report the news, to be a stay-at-home parent, together raising four children. How tempting it would be to go there and there and there, wherever the latest most exciting development is breaking, but instead to intentionally choose to spend time with your children in years that cannot ever be recaptured.
The Bible speaks directly to our time, with insights and wisdom from long ago. We are a loss avoid-ant world. When devastation happens, we try to imagine that it does not affect us. Mom was 89 years old and with Dad passing, her life did not seem as vital. They always fought, seeming to have different values and priorities, is it any wonder they divorced. We justify, we avoid, we placate, we drink and anesthetize ourselves from feeling, we find ways to not GRIEVE. The first 39 Chapters of the Book of Isaiah are about LOSS. This is the Centuries long-struggle of the Greatest, Most-powerful, most-affluent Nation on the face of the Earth, greater in wealth and power than the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, losing all of that to become prisoners of war, aliens in a foreign land. Even more frightening, some of the latest archeological evidence is that perhaps the people of Israel never physically left their promised Land, but that like ourselves the culture changed so much around them they became out of touch, becoming aliens in a foreign land when geographically the Nation of Israel became a State of Babylon and the Capital of Jerusalem lay in ruins.
We are so frightened of LOSS, that the Lectionary selections from Isaiah typically are: The Call of Isaiah in Chapter 6 saying “Woe is me, I am a Man of Unclean lips dwelling among a people with unclean lips, when suddenly the sins are burned from our lips, and we respond to God, Here Am I Send Me!” Then, Isaiah 40's “Comfort, comfort my people says Your God.” And finally this word in the 65th Chapter describing “a new Heaven and new Earth, God creating a new Jerusalem.” While it would seem EASIER in the midst of world-wide devastation to witness a vision where our sins are taken away, and suddenly we are comforted, when we rush too quickly to offer comfort, we bury our feelings, we bury ourselves.
In the Bible Study this week, someone described “How come God is So Unfair? Why must our hearts be hardened, why must there be suffering for the world to change?”
To read Isaiah faithfully, is to read an account of Loss longer than most other books of the Bible. 39 Chapters of their banks and storehouses being raided, 39 Chapters about their homes being devalued, their closets opened as others rush to take their jewelry and shoes, much like yesterday's auction at Krebs of bidding on plates and silver and linens, tables and chairs as odd lots.
After 10 years of War in Afghanistan and Iraq, what more can we say. After the Dot-Coms and the Housing Market Bubbles burst, two decades of warnings that the Social Security safety net no longer fits our time, and while we as a church have been able to raise funds to create a clinic in East Africa there are hundreds of thousands in our nation without health care. Suddenly, after 39 Chapters of Loss, the Word of the Prophet Isaiah changes. According to the time references there is 150 years between the end of Chapter 39 and beginning of Chapter 40. Some have proposed that the idea of GRIEF changed, from historically describing loss in detail, to instead creating a New Normal by LAMENT. The Book of Lamentations is a series of 5 poems, the first two and last two being of 22 verses, the middle Chapter being 66 verses or 3 sets of 22, and in Hebrew instead of the 26 letters in our alphabet there were 22. Lamentations is a means of identifying who we are as different from what we once were. Similar in the 1930s there were Love Songs that developed alphabetically
A is for the AFFECTION of your Heart.
B is for the BOUNTY of your Love.
C is for COMPASSION strengthening me for every day.
D for the DESIRE to make a difference.
And finally, after 150 years of LAMENTATIONS, a new word is heard in Israel: “COMFORT, COMFORT, My People, says your God. There, there, I am with you. I hear you and I care.”
I have been doing a Scientific Study the last many years. When an infant cries, what it wants is for someone to pay attention, to be soothing. It really does not matter who that someone is, even a stranger in grey robe, provided we hear the words “THERE, THERE” and you are not alone, “I AM with you!”
After we have had ample opportunity to unpack our grief, to come to grips with a NEW NORMAL, then we can be comforted and truly cared for, rather than blanketing our loss.
But there is only so long, we can be comforted, in Chapter 65 The Lord God offers a New Reality, a Peaceable Kingdom. Envisioning a new Society, not built on human greed or the latest human technology, or with human hands, but a NEW HEAVEN and NEW EARTH and NEW JERUSALEM. A reality where we do not need to be comforted and consoled, where there is no need to weep, where there is no longer LOSS. But instead when a person reaches the age of a Hundred they will be seen as still a child!
There is a vision here that has inspired humanity for thousands of years. The Wolf and Lamb laying down together, the Lion and calf eating straw rather than fearing one another. Still, while all the rest of creation will be redeemed, the snake shall never again be tempted by the Apple, dust shall be the serpent's food. No longer will there be need for a Baby to cry, for before people Call, God will answer.
Just imagine, if instead of all those forwarded emails asking you to send this to 100 people, before we could close our eyes, we knew God knew our needs. I believe in that future. A short time ago, I was speaking with a colleague, describing there are so many labels we put on one another, so many different camps within Christianity, let alone different religions, so how do you see me? Without hesitation she responded: “You, You are an Evangelical?” Imagining Jerry Falwell and Tammy Baker, I was a bit surprised, and she said “NO, but you believe God is real! Your believe miracles happen! You actually believe all the things that are prophesied, like the coming of a new heaven and new earth, where there will be no suffering, is not only possible but a reality!” And I said to her, I have seen miracles!
Monday, November 1, 2010
"To Infinity and Beyond" October 31, 2010
Habakkuk 1:1-4 & 2:1-5
Luke 19: 1-10
Is there FAITH beyond all that we know? When we know devastation, can we still believe?
When there is suffering, to the point of hopelessness, do we give up hoping? Is there still a God?
In January the people of Haiti experienced the worst earthquake in 200 years, now there is Cholera.
Sudan, where we have worked to overcome Decades of War and Poverty, is waist deep in flood waters, praying for a January Referendum with the promise of peace and fear of renewed fighting.
Closer to home, are those with Cancer in the 3rd and 4th recurrence.
Those who have buried the person they loved more than life itself trying to teach their children to live.
Those who have cut back, and laid off, and sold everything, declaring bankruptcy, yet still must go on.
Those whose sons and daughters are in War, who know the corruption of those they are trying to teach, knowing they are leaving soon and the future seems bleak, it would be easy to hope simply to get out, but still they try to eliminate the terrorist, to teach a different way.
Every generation has their way of expressing, “what is there to hope for beyond all we know?”
According to Habakkuk, STILL THE VISION AWAITS ITS TIME, IF IT SEEMS SLOW – WAIT!
In the words of Jesus, WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH HUMANITY, IS POSSIBLE WITH GOD!
In the 1960s charge of Captain Kirk: TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE!
In the words of Buzz Lightyear, TO INFINITY, AND BEYOND!
To Hope, to Believe, to know that still There is a God.
It is not hard for us to imagine the character of Zaccheus. A man pre-occupied with money. In our own time a Bernie Madoff, or Michael Douglas character in the Movie WALL STREET. His career has not been making anything, or selling anything, or providing a service. The Government demanded taxes in order to fund the Roman Legion, to enforce peace, and Zaccheus was Chief Tax-Collector. In addition to forcing people to pay by extortion and fear, Zaccheus added his own embezzlement on top. We have made this a palatable story by singing a little tune Zaccheus was a Wee Little Man, a Wee Little Man was he. But if all we remember of Zaccheus was his stature and Sycamore tree, we miss the point. Zaccheus was a small man in people's lack of respect for his humanity. Zaccheus was preoccupied with money. He had no compassion for others, no family, no friends, no love, he lived for his work and his work was making money by taxing others. We have heard the story of the Prodigal who wasted all he had until he found himself in debt; we have just heard the story of the Rich Young Ruler who came to Jesus and went away sorrowful. What hope could there be for one like Zaccheus?
What happened that day was not being affected by the Star-power of Jesus. What happened was not like the Samaritan woman at the Well, where asking for water or for Zaccheus to share food changed him; but rather because Zaccheus knew people thought him to be a sinner, because he knew he was feared and hated and had no hope of anyone ever befriending him or listening to him, when Jesus did Zaccheus responded.
It is one thing for us to confess, “I am human, I have made mistakes” we all do, and the words seem to trip easily off our tongues...I am sorry. What Zaccheus did that day is his own day of reckoning, to be the richest, most powerful, most feared man, who confesses “I have sinned. I am a Sinner.”
Zaccheus without being convinced, or pushed, sees Jesus risk to be vulnerable, to be identified with and stand in solidarity in the home of Zaccheus, and Zaccheus responds with Giving half of everything he has to the poor, and a willingness to repay his debts four times over... The Camel went through the eye of the needle, the man whose whole life was about Getting Money found reason to give away what he thought he possessed.
Many of us think we have Hope. Hope that Doctors can determine what is wrong, can prescribe a pill to make us feel better, or with surgery the specialist can cut away what is corrupt, what is Cancerous. We know surgery or medication or exercise will be costly, will be hard, will be a matter of sheer endurance; but that is not HOPE. Hope comes afterward. When the specialists describe they have done all they can, there is nothing more that can possibly be done. Cancer has gone into remission four times and returned yet again. To still believe, we can have comfort. To know we are loved. To witness the meaning of our lives, this overcomes all cancers, undercuts anything that could seem to destroy us.
We are such a foolish people!
How often a person dies feeling so very alone, possibly surrounded by family, but their spouse and peers and siblings all have died. Then afterward, at a funeral we all turn out! Would that we could witness the lives our life touched before we die! Not to be present at our Funeral, but to know that life was not in vain. To be able to look deeply into the eyes of those we have hurt, and who have hurt us, and confess the wrongs we have done, and be redeemed.
Historians provide a marvelous timeline of human history, which is difficult for our minds to keep in perspective. We know that first the Egyptian Pharaohs ruled, then after a time in the wilderness the Nation of Israel became an independent Monarchy, only to fall to the Babylonians, then to the Persians, to the Greeks then to the Caesars in the Empire of Rome. Habakkuk is a prophet from those Centuries of occupation by foreign powers. To wonder “How long O Lord, How Long until we can be Free?”
The Prophecy of Habakkuk is challenging for us, for the role of the Prophet was not to salve and comfort, but to challenge. HOW LONG UNTIL WE SHALL BE FREE? Will the Vision of Freedom ever be real? And the prophecy that comes to him is, so long as within your own culture there is a desire to put down others, to blame those who are poor for their need, there will continue to be only a vision of freedom. But STILL WRITE THE VISION, write it large so others can see it, and WAIT knowing that the Vision of freedom will be made real.
Reformation Sunday is a marker, that at one time, the Church became so stuck, that a priest posted on the doors of the Church 95 Theses papers inviting public discussion of the problems of the Church and society. This led to creation of the Commercial economy from the Feudal State! This led to putting the Bible in the hands of the people. It led to worship services being led in a language the common person could understand. If this act were done today, what would be the issues we would lift up for public debate?
Luke 19: 1-10
Is there FAITH beyond all that we know? When we know devastation, can we still believe?
When there is suffering, to the point of hopelessness, do we give up hoping? Is there still a God?
In January the people of Haiti experienced the worst earthquake in 200 years, now there is Cholera.
Sudan, where we have worked to overcome Decades of War and Poverty, is waist deep in flood waters, praying for a January Referendum with the promise of peace and fear of renewed fighting.
Closer to home, are those with Cancer in the 3rd and 4th recurrence.
Those who have buried the person they loved more than life itself trying to teach their children to live.
Those who have cut back, and laid off, and sold everything, declaring bankruptcy, yet still must go on.
Those whose sons and daughters are in War, who know the corruption of those they are trying to teach, knowing they are leaving soon and the future seems bleak, it would be easy to hope simply to get out, but still they try to eliminate the terrorist, to teach a different way.
Every generation has their way of expressing, “what is there to hope for beyond all we know?”
According to Habakkuk, STILL THE VISION AWAITS ITS TIME, IF IT SEEMS SLOW – WAIT!
In the words of Jesus, WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH HUMANITY, IS POSSIBLE WITH GOD!
In the 1960s charge of Captain Kirk: TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE!
In the words of Buzz Lightyear, TO INFINITY, AND BEYOND!
To Hope, to Believe, to know that still There is a God.
It is not hard for us to imagine the character of Zaccheus. A man pre-occupied with money. In our own time a Bernie Madoff, or Michael Douglas character in the Movie WALL STREET. His career has not been making anything, or selling anything, or providing a service. The Government demanded taxes in order to fund the Roman Legion, to enforce peace, and Zaccheus was Chief Tax-Collector. In addition to forcing people to pay by extortion and fear, Zaccheus added his own embezzlement on top. We have made this a palatable story by singing a little tune Zaccheus was a Wee Little Man, a Wee Little Man was he. But if all we remember of Zaccheus was his stature and Sycamore tree, we miss the point. Zaccheus was a small man in people's lack of respect for his humanity. Zaccheus was preoccupied with money. He had no compassion for others, no family, no friends, no love, he lived for his work and his work was making money by taxing others. We have heard the story of the Prodigal who wasted all he had until he found himself in debt; we have just heard the story of the Rich Young Ruler who came to Jesus and went away sorrowful. What hope could there be for one like Zaccheus?
What happened that day was not being affected by the Star-power of Jesus. What happened was not like the Samaritan woman at the Well, where asking for water or for Zaccheus to share food changed him; but rather because Zaccheus knew people thought him to be a sinner, because he knew he was feared and hated and had no hope of anyone ever befriending him or listening to him, when Jesus did Zaccheus responded.
It is one thing for us to confess, “I am human, I have made mistakes” we all do, and the words seem to trip easily off our tongues...I am sorry. What Zaccheus did that day is his own day of reckoning, to be the richest, most powerful, most feared man, who confesses “I have sinned. I am a Sinner.”
Zaccheus without being convinced, or pushed, sees Jesus risk to be vulnerable, to be identified with and stand in solidarity in the home of Zaccheus, and Zaccheus responds with Giving half of everything he has to the poor, and a willingness to repay his debts four times over... The Camel went through the eye of the needle, the man whose whole life was about Getting Money found reason to give away what he thought he possessed.
Many of us think we have Hope. Hope that Doctors can determine what is wrong, can prescribe a pill to make us feel better, or with surgery the specialist can cut away what is corrupt, what is Cancerous. We know surgery or medication or exercise will be costly, will be hard, will be a matter of sheer endurance; but that is not HOPE. Hope comes afterward. When the specialists describe they have done all they can, there is nothing more that can possibly be done. Cancer has gone into remission four times and returned yet again. To still believe, we can have comfort. To know we are loved. To witness the meaning of our lives, this overcomes all cancers, undercuts anything that could seem to destroy us.
We are such a foolish people!
How often a person dies feeling so very alone, possibly surrounded by family, but their spouse and peers and siblings all have died. Then afterward, at a funeral we all turn out! Would that we could witness the lives our life touched before we die! Not to be present at our Funeral, but to know that life was not in vain. To be able to look deeply into the eyes of those we have hurt, and who have hurt us, and confess the wrongs we have done, and be redeemed.
Historians provide a marvelous timeline of human history, which is difficult for our minds to keep in perspective. We know that first the Egyptian Pharaohs ruled, then after a time in the wilderness the Nation of Israel became an independent Monarchy, only to fall to the Babylonians, then to the Persians, to the Greeks then to the Caesars in the Empire of Rome. Habakkuk is a prophet from those Centuries of occupation by foreign powers. To wonder “How long O Lord, How Long until we can be Free?”
The Prophecy of Habakkuk is challenging for us, for the role of the Prophet was not to salve and comfort, but to challenge. HOW LONG UNTIL WE SHALL BE FREE? Will the Vision of Freedom ever be real? And the prophecy that comes to him is, so long as within your own culture there is a desire to put down others, to blame those who are poor for their need, there will continue to be only a vision of freedom. But STILL WRITE THE VISION, write it large so others can see it, and WAIT knowing that the Vision of freedom will be made real.
Reformation Sunday is a marker, that at one time, the Church became so stuck, that a priest posted on the doors of the Church 95 Theses papers inviting public discussion of the problems of the Church and society. This led to creation of the Commercial economy from the Feudal State! This led to putting the Bible in the hands of the people. It led to worship services being led in a language the common person could understand. If this act were done today, what would be the issues we would lift up for public debate?
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