"Limping" May 29, 2016

I Kings 18: 21-22 Luke 7: 1-10 When the Biblical Prophet begins: “How long will you go about limping?” those of us with replacement knees, hips and shoulder joints perk up a bit because we know about limping about. There have been two things I was not prepared for in these three years after falling from a ladder: First, being confident of the final result, but caught up in the day to day and night to night of how to get there! This season, of people returning from Florida to CNY, going from Pentecost working Toward Christmas, is that. We have witnessed the Resurrection of Easter and Pentecost, and now we have to work to get to the place of recognizing the Christ we know as Lord and Savior, is coming as the Gift of God for the Salvation of the world!The story has a natural progression from Advent to Christmas to Lent to Easter; but most of us have come into the story of life, knowing Jesus died and rose again, and need to figure out why and who we are because of this. This is like reading the last pages of a Mystery novel, then beginning at the front cover to see who the characters are and how they work toward the conclusion. Second there have been changes in posture, standing, walking. After carrying hundreds of children around in sermons, teaching thousands of bridesmaids how to walk up the aisle, I had accommodated, I shifted my weight, as if in high heels pushing forward my uterus, which clearly had to be corrected; I had to learn to stand upright, then having one surgery after another, changing postures again, and having to exercise to stay that way. Correcting this limping both after the world and God, is what the Prophet was naming. King Ahab married Queen Jezebel who provided the culture an accommodation: You can try to follow the Law, be Circumcised, Kosher, keep Sabbath; or you can worship the idols of Baal and Asherus, which as idols have no laws, and as fertility gods the worship has the enticement of being sexual with no guilt. As people bought idols and participated in the cultural desires instead of the worship of God, the weather was gorgeous 80-90 degrees, day after day without rain or snow, which eventually became a drought. After three years of drought, the Prophet Elijah was sent to Ahab, and spoke to the people. The problem was the people's accommodating posture had been wrong so long they no longer recognized they were not upright and were limping. That is the way with addictions that grow displacing affection and real love until we no longer know how to find normal. Elijah does what we least expect, the Prophet establishes the First Reality Show Contest. He calls all the Nation to watch five things. On one Team are all 450 of the Prophets of the Fertility idol Baal; standing alone on the other team is Elijah. First he summons the people; then he restores the place of worship of YHWH; then he sets up the instruments for worship; next he digs an enormous trench around the place; then he arranges the wood on the altar for the offering. Sounds like an enormous piece of work! There was a time when going to Church was normative for everyone, and today it is not. Last week I shared a Memorial with a Syracuse Rabbi who describes their having 900 families, and only having 30 each week. A decade ago at a Syracuse Church, controversy developed that some stayed away in fear of confrontation, and the Preacher announced that “Next Sunday everyone will be present or they will burn in Hell.” Surprisingly, the next week, the whole congregation were present! I have often wondered what it would be to Preach like that, instead of preaching forgiveness and love? We have been blessed with an anomaly, across this Nation, churches like ours have had more persons die per year than become members. While we average 100 on a Sunday, in the last 19+ years we have buried 120 (an average of 6 per year); we have added 475 new members, baptized 257 with another 6 scheduled for July. Rebuilding this Church, was about more than clearing debris away! How many recall, when Gail and I had offices in the Narthex? When we had pledges on Capital Campaign I and Campaign 2 and increases to the Operating Budget all at the same time? Replacing this Chancel was more than stacking up boulders and we have been Debt Free for over 8 years! While one of the projects done in the Building renovation was to bury a French Drain in a trench round the building to keep the basement from flooding; Imagine that “trench” as stretching what we do in mission to work ecumenically with others in this Village and throughout the Presbytery and in Africa, we have dug deep that perimeter. As to arranging the wood, someone reminded me last week, that at the end of our first year together, I came to the Christian Education Committee saying we needed an Associate Pastor and several said “Never again!” But we have been blessed, not with a Youth Pastor, or a Minister for CE, but a Real Associate Pastor for the Church. While Elijah's preparations seem to take a day, this has taken us the better part of 20 years to accomplish, but where in our first ten years we increased giving annually, in recent years we have not kept up with inflation. Next Elijah offers that the Baal Worshipers go first, in selection of a sacrifice. They make their offering, nothing happens. They pray and nothing happens. They whip themselves and cause themselves to bleed and nothing happens. And again Elijah declares “Draw near” and the people come. After three years of drought, he asks the unthinkable, telling them to go fill their jugs with water, then pour it on the offering and the wood. When they do, he says “Do it again!” When they do, he says “Do it again!” They have poured so much water over the offering and wood, the excess has filled the trench around the altar. While all the activity of Elijah and the People has matched that of the 450 Prophets of Baal, the Baal worshippers only drew attention to their desires, and Elijah and the People had a different purpose: to ask God to turn their hearts and to receive their offering. All too often, we have made our Offering into paying our bill, contributing our dues to belong. How much sexier it is to give in a Capital Campaign when you can see things happen because of your purchase? But our Offerings are something different. Like going to the Y each morning to cycle half an hour, lifting weights, and running the treadmill, it seems we go no where, but we are strengthening our position, changing postures, working out the day to day from where we are to salvation. The last several years we had the luxury that our contributions paid our bills, so we did not have to sweat. What if we re-adjust our posture? You chose to be part of this church to be married in before God. You chose this church to present your child to be part of the community of faith and to know God. You have given your time in teaching, in serving on committees and singing in choir. One of the interpretations I inherited when I came here, is that we do not dedicate the money of our offerings, we pray to dedicate our lives, our selves, to God's service. The Gospel of Luke tells an intriguing story. The passage began “When Jesus had finished these sayings...” what Luke is describing is Jesus' Sermon on the Plain with the Beatitudes, describing what it means to love an enemy and to truly be a disciple. Immediately after, comes this story about a Roman Centurion. Whereas the Gospels of Mark and Matthew were written to Jewish audiences, the Gospel of Luke is addressed to a non-Jewish audience, who would have been part of the Empire of Rome. In this, we have a story, which also appears elsewhere, the Roman Centurion has been generous to the Jewish community, quite literally he built their Synagogue and has protected them, in response the people want Jesus to show him favoritism. However, the Centurion demonstrates greater understanding and adherence to the Jewish Law than the leadership of the Synagogue! For as Jesus is being encouraged to go to heal the Centurion's Slave, the Centurion stops Jesus, understanding that it would be a violation of the Levitical Law for a Jew to enter the house of a Gentile, even one who had been generous to the Synagogue. Recall how we read a few weeks ago of Saul who became Paul's struggle with Jesus' Apostles over this very issue. That in itself, would have been an important lesson but the story goes further, as the Centurion this representative of the powers of the world, of the Empire, explains his understanding of commitment and authority. The Centurion commands soldiers to go, and they go, there is no equivocation, no questioning. Imagine in the role of the Centurion, Jack Nicholson as the General on the Witness stand in the film “A Few Good Men,” he gives an order and soldiers follow or they die, he commands them to march and they march all day, all night, until they drop. This Roman Centurion asks that Jesus Command the Centurion's slave to be healed, and the Centurion knowing the power of a command, knows he will be. More than a different level of commitment, this is a different understanding of a Command, different from a Law or Commandment that we try to find the least possible way to fulfill or the loophole to avoid, for the Centurion following a command, giving our faith is the highest honor we could give. Recently we have experienced the Funeral Processions of several neighbors and friends. Where in the past, people stopped to bow their heads, or to cover their hearts, at every corner there has been the constant risk of someone trying to break in to get ahead of the parade of cars because we do not want to be delayed. Tomorrow many of us will march, others will line the streets and stand in the Veterans' Park to watch. The point is not to call attention to those who have served, or to our community leaders on parade, but for those of us marching and speaking: to honor those who have given their lives for us, and to honor the loved ones widowed or orphaned, for faith and freedoms we too regularly take for granted as we fight to be first, to win and to possess the latest vanity.

"Dancing In the Time Being" May 22, 2016

Romans 5:1-5 John 16: 12-15 Part of my joy living in Central New York has been researching family history, among which we discovered that I had a great great great Aunt who was buried in the Borodino Cemetery overlooking Bunt Osborne's farm. She had been a devout Methodist and life-long Sunday School Teacher. However, eighty years after her burial, a distant cousin who was Mormon, had my great great great Aunt reBaptized Mormon. As a Christian, I found it offensive that long after a person died, others could impose a faith upon them, for a religion they never accepted. Part of the beauty of this morning's passage from Proverbs about Wisdom is the idea that we do not choose, nor are we taught what to believe, but The Holy Spirit chooses us to play with, to believe. After a recent funeral, a relative of the deceased sought me out to challenge why I provided a Christian Burial for someone he judged was not a Christian. With all the guests and immediate family in earshot, I danced around the question, by stating that the deceased had been Baptized and it was their intent and the wish of the immediate family that we extend this Grace. At which, the man became indignant, that he had examined the faith of the one who had died and he judged that they could not confess his belief in Christ. Standing before the Casket, surrounded by those grieving, I chose that that was not the appropriate time to enter into an extended argument or theological debate. But this morning, this being Trinity Sunday, and within this worshipping congregation, I believe the Time Being is an appropriate time for this family discussion, which is really the purpose of any sermon, not to lecture, not to teach but a family discussion. Trinity Sunday is an odd occurrence, different from seasons like Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter or Pentecost. Trinity Sunday is recognition of the completion of everything needed to Dance with God, to explore our convictions and commitments and identity. While I empathize, we cannot impose our beliefs on family who do not believe, however one distinction for both of these who had died, each had been Baptized. In Baptism we are not expected to possess a thoroughly composed systematic theology of the Ontology of God, the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Ecclesiology of the Church, and all Wisdom of the Holy Spirit; instead what we vowed as the Body of Christ in this place and time, is that as they begin we extend our faith to them, loaning our faith, covering them, until such time, in such a place, as they are able to decide for themselves what they believe. One of the Sudanese we sponsored 15 years ago came to me recently asking if I could sponsor his Mother-in-Law coming to America. The act cost me nothing, risks my lending of my identity and commitment that when she arrives, as a friend I will be here for her, as a refugee in a foreign place, no matter what she needs. I would admit that sending my identity information to unknown officials in Kenya gave me pause, but I fear we tend to judge and to fear one another and the system, especially a stranger, more often than we are willing to risk lending our identity and friendship. Part of our fear is that most often, we do not see those whom we Baptized, for many years, then like Jesus' Parable of the Sower, the seed which found a place to grow does take root and blossoms! The wonder of the Parable of the Sower is not that we are able to judge those whose faith dried up, or to condemn those whose faith was crowded out by other things, but that we celebrate that any of the seed actually did reach maturity and bear fruit, because life is not easy. That we have faith in anything, or anyone is itself an act of God! Recently one of our Confirmands inquired of our Church Session “What it means to live a Good Christian Life?” A 2nd distinction of each who received a Christian burial is that in their lives they knew they were Good! They were each surrounded by a Christian community who believe in the Trinity of God, Christ and the Holy Spirit. That they had been buried in a Christian burial, would not have been a surprise or hypocrisy to either of these who died, because whether they could profess their faith or not they had surrounded themselves with people who did, and who had regularly prayed for them. You have often heard me say, I believe standing before God saying “Craig Lindsey told me what to believe” will not gain anyone entrance into Heaven. But I honestly believe confessing “I was surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who shared in acts of faith, compassion, love” is good life. Description of God being a Trinity, came from a different time and culture, where people identified themselves, confessed their commitments, and what they believed, by Creedal Formula. Today, we identify ourselves by labels as Liberal or Conservative, and think others know what we mean, but part of what each of this year's Presidential Campaigns are reacting to, is a testing of what it means to be a Republican, or a Democrat, a Socialist, and whether the presumed candidates will represent us, our commitments, if elected. In the 21st Century, when we identify ourselves, we use isolated words or phrases as labels: Male/ Female, Married/ Single, Recovering, Alcoholic, Addicted, Middle-Class, by Myers/Briggs types ENFJ or ISTP. Which for those who Text, further reduces identity to only the first characters of each characteristic, so I guess I am a M:M:CE:BB:NE:CNY:Fo2:EN:o50:P:C, identifying labels as Male, Married, College Educated, Baby-Boomer, North Eastern, Central New Yorker, Empty Nester, Father of 2, over 50, Presbyterian, Christian. In the 4th Century, during the late Empire of Rome, a Council of Church leaders were gathered together to define what we mean by claiming the identity: “I believe in God.” The Council at Nicea determined that to say you “Believe in God,” you then need to describe Which God, in Which time. If we recognize God before time as Creator yet still creating, and 2000 years ago as Redeemer yet coming again; do we also acknowledge the presence of the Holy Spirit with us in the here and now? How are these related, how are they different? Is this One God or three, how are these related to Wisdom and Understanding? Life might be more explicit, if we were able to work out a Creed to describe each identity of who we are and what we believe, but Creeds are also more cumbersome, attempting to explain every element of our identity: “I Believe in God.” There is a story about St. Augustine, who was Bishop of North Africa at the end of the 4th into the 5th Centuries. One day Augustine was walking along the shore, when he saw a child who had dug a hole in the sand and was busily carrying buckets of water from the ocean to pour into the hole. Asking the child what they were doing, they replied “I am pouring the whole ocean into this hole.” Augustine thought to himself, “The whole ocean can never fit into that hole.” When a voice spoke to him, “Neither can the infinite Nature of God, ever fit into your finite mind.” Do you recall the Paul Newman/Robert Redford film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?” Wanting to see Sundance shoot, someone asks him to stand in the City Square, raise and point his right hand, close one eye and stick his tongue out, before the man throws a silver dollar in the air. And of course Sundance misses terribly. At which he asks if he could be allowed to move? And moving, the Gunfighter is able to hit the same Silver dollar repeatedly in mid-air. Rather than a fixed definition or Creed of what we memorize, our beliefs are often more fluid, like dancing, that we understand God brooding over the deep, God like a Mason creating a firmament in the heavens, here and now in the sorrow and devastation of an earthquake a plane disappearing, but also present in a child taking their first steps, or a parent at their child's wedding. As much as we try to nail down exactly what we believe, faith requires that sometimes we step outside ourselves, our reality, risk everything we know. A driver was trying to get to an appointment and exceeded the Speed limit doing 80mph in a 55. They were stopped by the Police and charged with a ticket. Knowing they had done wrong, but not able to pay the fine, they appeared before the Judge. The Judge pronounced Sentence, “You have been found guilty of breaking the Law, driving 80 in a 55, the fine is $100.” But the Driver protested, “Yes, your Honor, but I do not have $100.” The Judge pronounced sentence, “If you cannot pay the Fine of $100, you must spend the weekend in Jail.” To which the Driver responded, “Yes, your Honor, I cannot spend the Weekend in Jail.” The Judge replied, “The Law states the Sentence is either $100 or time served in Jail.” The Driver pleaded, “I understand your Honor, but I do not have the $100 and I cannot spend the Weekend in Jail, is there no other way?” At which point, the Judge rose, stepped down from the Bench, unzipped his robe and put on a suit-coat. The Judge reached into his pocket and pulled out a $100 Bill, placing this on the Bench. The Judge then took off his suit coat, put on his robe and resumed his place at the Bench. The Judge once again Pronounced Sentence, “You have been found Guilty as Charged of breaking the Law. You have been sentenced to pay $100 or time served in Jail. You could not pay the $100 or the time served in Jail. However, someone has paid your fine for you. You may go.” Do you recall the story of Terry Barton? In 2002 she had been a Forest Ranger patrolling for campfires in Pikes Peak Colorado, when she stopped to read a letter from her fiance who was ending the relationship. Angry, she burned the letter in what she thought was an extinguished campfire. The ensuing forest fire destroyed 140,000 acres, 133 homes, estimated at $45,000,000 in damages. She was tried and convicted and sentenced to prison. Later that fire forced a change in the way forests are maintained and wildfires are managed. Terry Barton's sentence was reduced to 7 years in Prison, Probation for 15 years, and responsibility to repay the damages. Being on Probation, she has only been able to find minimum wage jobs, but she has made the effort she has paid $75/month every month, at which she will continue paying until November 25, 9995. Homes, businesses, virgin Ponderosa Pine, Trout fishing rivers, all were destroyed, the lack of trees resulting in annual floods. But in the 14 years since, the earth has healed, Grasses, Flowers, Shrubs, Deer and Elk have returned, the Trout are back to about 75% of what they were, and seedlings of Ponderosa Pine have re-emerged. While it will take nearly 8,000 years to repay her debt to Society, the earth has forgiven and God has forgiven. Suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint. Instead of $100 for speeding, imagine the brokenness is your marriage that has reached an impasse; imagine a cancer on your health, or that this is your child and the sentence is death. Forgiveness, as an act of hope, is monumental; that compassion is God being with us, God behind us, God before us.

"And They Settled" May 15, 2016

Genesis 11: 1-10 Matthew 5 Acts 2:1-11 Being in Skaneateles, I prepare a lot of couples for getting married, with 20-30 weddings per year, which is a lot of Pre-Marital Counseling. We regularly begin by describing “the point of blessing relationship in the Church is Not just to Get Married;” if it were, you could go to the Village Hall for a NYS license, and avoid the costs of the wedding, dress, flowers, music, photos, Reception, and all the work of bringing together family & traditions. At which point there is realization that family and traditions, and expectations, are what make both the wedding and marriage. I usually ask each “Why they believe they are ready to be married?” Which is less about why they chose this person, and more about who they are, what they are seeking, and whether they are in a place in life to be married. I have known couples who were grieving a former relationship, others families were not supportive, and some where they came to the realization that while getting engaged was exciting they were not prepared to be married. The point of this time in a congregation's life is Not to Get a new Pastor, but to figure out who you as the Taunton Church are, what is important to you, in order to connect with the right pastor for this time in this community. Let me set the foundation straight at the outset. There are always rumors about Presbytery trying to close churches... First, our Presbytery no longer has any office or staff, so there is no one wanting you to close. Related to that, you have a consistent attendance and membership and giving, so you are a stable congregation. The story of Babel is one of the simplest and most misunderstood teachings of the Bible. This is not about how or why languages came to be; not about people trying to make themselves into God by building a stairway to Heaven; not about technology or God frustrating them for building a Tower. Instead, this passage begins, “As they migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they settled there” and at the end “The Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth...” The problem in the Tower of Babel is that people settled, they stopped trying, they stopped searching for God, they settled as if all they had ever known was all there could ever be, and God frustrated them to make them no longer settled but searching. Similarly, believers routinely quote the Sermon on the Mount, or make reference to the Beatitudes, these verses in Matthew 5 of Blessed are the Poor... or Do not hide your light under a bushel, but serve as a beacon on a hill. Yet few ever preach on “When salt has lost its saltiness it is good for nothing except to be thrown on the ground and trodden under foot.” However, we are Salt-City! Our origins, in addition to being sacred to Iroquois Nations, was in the Salt Industry, the Erie Canal was created for the transport of Salt. In ancient times, before the invention of electricity or refrigeration, salt was used for everything from seasoning foods, to curing and preserving meats, or cauterizing a wound, fertilizing the ground as well as poisoning an enemy's land from ever growing crops again; here in Central NY we well know about throwing salt on the ground to absorb impurities, to dissolve ice and rust cars. I recall our family churning Ice Cream and using salt to lower the temperature of the ice for freezing. The difficulty Jesus names is when salt has been used you cannot salt salt, you cannot absorb the impurity from out of salt. The Church too has many uses, many equate the Church with schools, with music, with fellowship. So who are you and what do you want to do as the Church? One of the churches I served no longer had enough leadership for Presbyterian Women's Circles. So for years held a Craft Bazaar to raise money for Missions. When they could no longer do that, they recognized the Church had long supported a Half-Way House for Women Prisoners. They made a commitment, that every Thursday they would come for lunch to teach a Craft-project. I'll admit, that as Pastor I thought these 80 year old ladies would go once or twice and tire of this. But what no one anticipated was that for the Women Incarcerated, they had never completed anything, they never had mentors or Role-Models, or Grandmothers, and they did not own anything of their own. By making wax-paper placemats, or crocheted toiletpaper covers, they completed stuff, which was their own, which they could now give to family and friends. Which motivated them to complete their GEDs, and to follow through on the Half-Way House program so as to not become Repeat Offenders. Reading the Minutes of the Skaneateles Church, I discovered their origins were as the local school and place of worship, as well as courts for resolving conflict. The difference being that in the early 1800s, the purpose of the Courts was not the Rule of Law, or judging between people who was right and wrong, but rather when there is conflict: How do we forgive? If we take Communion seriously, how do we not inflict our pain on God or others? At one time, there was a conflict between two Elders that split the Church, and for 5 years, there were Two First Presbyterian Churches in Skaneateles, competing over the same building, the pastor's time, the membership and mission. The only record of which, comes on the next page of the Session Minutes, which reads “We confess that we have done harm to God! We have Crucified the Body of Christ! We repent, we have purged the Minutes of those years and are stating again to try to be a Church living in grace and forgiveness.” Writing my Doctoral Thesis, I researched and interviewed the leaders of a number of Presbyterian Churches, which different from Taunton, seemed stuck, continually changing pastors but fighting old battles over and over, being so settled as to not know how to get out and go anywhere. What we came to realize was that each of those congregations had at least one of four problems, which until the problem was resolved they continually talked around. The First was whether the Church saw itself as actually being The Church in this place and time? Often we describe ourselves as a family, a club, a nice group of people, good folks. The Rotary, The Lions, Masons, Odd Fellows, Garden Club and Junior League, All do great work in the community and in the world, but these would never describe themselves as being The Church. If you described this Church to a stranger, who had never been to Church, knew nothing of God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit, what would you say? One of the things we know about those writing the written text of the Bible, is that they loved language, they enjoyed word games and similar sounding words, and words with dual meanings. We know that Jesus did not speak English, but most probably Aramaic. The English translation of the text from Matthew, I most enjoy, is: “But when Salt has lost its savor, it is good for nothing” which sounds not dissimilar to “When the Church has lost its Savior, it is good for nothing.” Second, was whether the Church had the resources to make a difference in their situation? Their are Churches which grew up in a neighborhood, where that neighborhood is no longer there, and like an absentee landlord the congregation drive in on Sunday mornings use the building for an hour and lock everything up until next week. Those are also churches without the people, the time, the financial resources to make a difference. Third, is whether the Church is willing and able to use those resources? There once was a Church which had over $3,000,000 in endowments, and three men who rotated as Treasurer spending primarily on the building. The members of the Church no longer saw reason to give their offerings or their time. Eventually, that congregation perceived that their building had been a liability for maintenance and repair, but the property was valuable, so at their request with the Presbytery sold their property, and now had over $13,000,000 for the congregation to effect change. Fourth, was the level of Conflict. The reality is that conflict is natural. I want Chicken for dinner and you want Steak, or I need to turn left and you are in that lane. Teachers know another level of Conflict, I want you to learn multiplication and you do not believe you can, so I have to push you and convince you of your possibility. Anyone who has been in a competition, has experienced the third level of Conflict, there can only be one winner, so we do anything we can to not lose. But sometimes our desire to win becomes so strong, that we prevent others from winning. Even more, we sometimes shame others so that no one will ever try to compete with us again. Compounding all this, is that in America today, we assume a level of Competition as normal, so if anyone tries get ahead of us, it does not take much for us to escalate to wanting to destroy them. If someone is tailgating, and you slow-down, they will pull around you, because you are no longer competing. If I want Chicken and you want Steak, we both want a delicious meal and we want to share it together. The power of Easter, was that the Crucifixion lost its power, when death itself was conquered. When all these four: How high is our conflict? Are we willing to use our resources to try new things? Do we possess the gifts we need? Are we truly the Church acting as the Body of Christ? are addressed, new ideas and new possibilities seem to find you. Being the Church, having faith in God, was never intended to be private, or for worship behind locked doors. Pentecost is about sharing new ideas, being sent out into the world, speaking in the world's language, for the faith to grow.

"Whose Are You?" May 8, 2016

Acts 16: 11-15 John 17: 20-26 Last Sunday's reading from the Gospel of John and this morning's identify something that we have misconstrued. Christianity is routinely described as special and difficult to fulfill, which the command to love as we have been loved, is. But what Jesus here describes is that all the world, all people and all Creation... already belong to God, what Jesus has given has been to make relationship with God easier for us than it is for the rest of humanity, by giving us a foretaste of what relationship with God is all about. In both of the Memorials we shared this weekend, I named that life is going to be different, in as much as in the one case sons will want their Father at their HS Graduations, and College Graduations, and Weddings, and birth of his Grandchildren... He cannot. In the other, as much as a husband wants his wife beside him, as much as their grandchildren want their Baba to be there at their weddings and birth's of their children as she has always been... She cannot. What is the most important in all of that, for each, is that they WANT their Parent, their Grandparent. In a world where we know how many children are unwanted, where the father is not known, where harsh and hurtful words have been said in rejection of one another... here, both recognize that the relationship they took as routine, was actually a blessing and all they want is to feel that relationship for another moment. Jesus names in this morning's prayer in the Garden, that God formed Creation to be completely interdependent and in harmony, but we re-created the world in our image, we tried to be Masters of our Universe in control of life and doing so created death. Jesus has recreated his followers, as Adams and Eves anew. We fit with God's Creation of Reality, we do not fit with the balance the world has adopted. So the question is as Nature seeks balance, as we seek stasis, which reality will win out? Whose will we be? Children of Adam, following in the context and culture of humanity's past; or Children of God as we had been created to be, and now are again but out of cinque with the world around us? Many of us this morning have sent our Mothers or our Spouses: a “Hallmark Mother's Day Card.” You know the ones, dripping with sentimentality, perfume and lace. One, at the Post Office, had a drawing of SuperWoman flying through space, with a briefcase in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other. While I am convinced that this congregation is filled with “Hallmark Mothers” who are highly educated professionals, who do everything, and do so with elegance, grace and love; I know from listening that many did not have Mothers cut of that mold. A miraculous shift of DNA occurred, that you chose to not repeat the mistakes inflicted upon you. Refusing to be so Chauvinistic as to attribute the whole of this change of Maternal identity, behavior, relationships to your Fathers and Husbands, I believe that for many, an act of faith occurred, a conscious / intentional act claiming who you wished to be when in relationship, as more and different than whose you were. Being a parent does not come with an instruction manual. It was the height of irony that when Dr. Spock's Baby Book was published, simultaneously Mr. Spock became the well-known character on Startrek, who while part human tried to overcome his humanity with logic. Relationships, particularly those that provide role identity of whose we are, are based on responsibility, and whether we realize or not an implicit power. When the parents come home from the hospital, suddenly in addition to being partners, husband and wife, they have become Mom & Dad not in an abstract sense but to this child, and the child looks to them for safety, food, support, hygiene and life. When ordained and installed as your Pastor, I suddenly had the ability to Pray and Preach and officiate at the Sacraments for this church, but that also came with Trust and Context for being the pastor of this congregation at this time. Perhaps it has happened before, but for the first time this week, I heard Mario introduced not only as Rev. Bolivar our Associate Pastor, but also as Mel's Husband and as Dante's Dad. Identification of relationship, is an identification of power through responsibility. Our first acquaintance with Paul had been as a Persecutor of the faith, one who had been given arrest warrants by the Roman appointed leaders of the Jewish Council, with chains/ropes to bind any he may find belonging to The Way. Yet here, we see Paul on a journey, like Homer in The Odyssey or The Iliad, in the same region 800 years later, but instead of chaining and binding prisoners, now Paul is setting every person free, and protesting the indignity of his arrest for the Gospel. So much is compacted into this one Chapter of Acts, I wanted only the first verses read, so you might hear the development and relationships. Missionaries Paul and Silas set out bringing Christianity to Europe for the first time. They arrive, and not only can they find no Christians, because of persecution there is not even a Jewish Synagogue or Temple in the place. Typically, if there was not a house of worship, or a school of learning, believers gathered at the Water's edge to pray. So many of the stories of faith revolve around the water: Creation, Noah, Baby Moses, the Liberation of Israel, Thirsting in the Desert, Jonah, the People Weeping at the Waters of Babylon, John the Baptist, Jesus and the Fishermen, Calming the Storm, Walking on Water, etc. Sure enough, as Paul and Silas are praying at the Water, Lydia overhears them and becomes so moved as to be baptized, set free from the identity of her birth: as a woman in a world where women could not speak publicly, set free to believe and to speak as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Now Lydia, the first European Convert to Christianity is not only a Woman, she is a woman of means as a Seller of Purple. We can interpret a great deal about her wealth and position because, before the age of Nylon and Synthetics, all thread, yarn, wool and cloth came in various shades of gray, white, brown and black. Fabric of the color purple was expensive, because the dyes were expensive. Imagine how many lilac flowers you would need to gather, to boil and to strain, to create a concentrate that was not simply gray or light blue but rich purple? Also, Lydia invites Paul and Silas to her home, not the home of her father, or husband, but to HER Home. In contrast to Lydia (this Woman of means who quietly overhears their prayers and seeks to be Baptized), the following day and every day after, they are sought out by a Slave-girl who is owned by two men for their profit, as she has the gift of fortune-telling. Every day, wherever Paul & Silas go she announces to all the world that “They are Slaves of God Most High, they are a source of Salvation!” Sort of like an ancient form of Caller ID, would you allow yourself to enter into a conversation with Paul or Silas if you knew they were Slaves of God, and that everything that was said or done would be advertised by this young woman, that they were speaking with you to offer you Salvation? Finally, according to the Bible in frustration, Paul exorcises the Spirit enslaving the Girl. There are wonderful contrasts here between whether what enslaves us are the gifts inside us, or what is outside. The Slave-girl was enslaved, both because she had this Spirit which gave her this ability, and because these men profited from her affliction; and when the Spirit within is gone, her worth to them was gone as well. Historically, the legal system has been based on objective laws being applied to subjective cases; the difficulty being that when a human being gets angry, when one feels wronged, all objectivity goes out the window, as they seek vengeance and retribution, not justice. The two un-named men, whose business was prostituting this girl's affliction, when deprived, sought Criminal Charges against Paul and Silas, having them publicly whipped and beaten, then thrown into the darkest cell, at the center of the jail. How we react describes a great deal about our faith and life. When these un-named men lose their profit, they seek litigation, they seek Paul and Silas to be thrown in jail until what they perceive as the debt owed is paid. When Paul and Silas have been arrested, the Magistrates and Town leaders have them stripped and beaten, put in chains and marched off to jail, their feet put in stocks so they cannot get up and move or use the bathroom, they are forced to sit on the ground in the dark, in Jail, and their response was to sing hymns and to pray to God. The Slave-girl had named power by identifying relationship. Paul and Silas were no ordinary men. Just as she had been owned by these men, the lives of Paul and Silas were owned by God, Creator of all Creation. So by praying and singing, do Paul and Silas feel better? Do we expect them to come to new understanding? Do we expect when we pray for the skies to part, or the waters to open? An Earthquake ought to be an awesome experience, as the ground beneath our feet trembles and shakes with all the power of Creation. Instead, we often freeze immobile waiting for the world to pass. Growing up in St. Louis in addition to Fire Drills, we had regular Tornado drills in which we marched into the hall away from windows and crouched against the cinderblock walls. If you are as old as I am, you may recall we also had Practice drills for what to do if there were a Nuclear bomb, where like Ostrich we opened our desks and put our heads inside, until we were told it was over. I mentioned at the outset that Power is related to our Identities and Relationships. The Jailer's total identity had been keeping prisoners locked away. When the earthquake happened, he no longer had any means of keeping the prisoners locked away, the locks and chains are broken, the doors and walls smashed, there was no means of putting the prisoners back as they were. With a break in his responsibility, this becomes a break in his identity, in his reality, and all he can think to do is end his life. Which Paul stops by telling him that all the Prisoners are still there though there were no locks or cells, Walls and Chains were not why they were here. At that point, there is a parallel between the Jailer and the Slave-girl, each had their perverse power, which by faith Paul asked God to set free. Different from Baptism, they simply were set free, no longer having their former ability, no longer having their former identity, not yet being part of something with new relationships or responsibilities. This can be the failure of Retirement or Job Change, or our kids moving out, or the end of a marriage, that we feel as though we have lost our identity and purpose. Having just been rescued by those whom he imprisoned, the Jailer asks what we routinely forget to do: “What must I do to be saved?” We can fill in the blank what we are saved from. The question changes our perspective from loss to new possibilities. The reply of Paul is simply “Believe, trust in the the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your whole household.” Did we know the jailer had a family? When we feel at a loss in one part of our lives, we often ignore everything else, as if when one of our identities is changed everything was lost. The Jailer takes Paul and Silas into his home, where he washes and cleans their wounds, and they Baptize him and his family. The following day, the Magistrates gave orders for Paul and Silas to be released without further trial. But Paul again responds, “They condemned us, beat us and whipped us, stripped us, locked us in Jail as having no rights, when we are Roman Citizens, Citizens with rights, among which is to not be imprisoned without charge. AND NOW they wish to send us away without public trial? We will not leave the Jail, until the Magistrates come and apologize.” And they did, and Paul and Silas and the Jailer and his household ALL went to the House of Lydia. We are aliens in a foreign world, a world of mortal creation. But we choose to be who we are and whose we are. We can view faith as a burden, that we have to go to worship, we have to take responsibility for the Church, we have to be true and ethical; or we can recognize all of that actually makes life easier for us, because we know we belong, we know we are loved.

"Alleluia! Amen!" May 1, 2016

Luke 24: 44-53 Acts 1: 1-11 Recently we went to see the latest Tom Hanks film “A Hologram for a King,” about an American Salesman trying to compete in the Global Economy. Similar to his talking to Wilson the Soccer-ball or growing up “Big” overnight, it is an offbeat film. Afterward, I posted on Social Media that based on this film, I wonder what hope competition, when China has so large a population as to grossly reduce labor costs? ALSO, that the more restrictive cultures become, the more intimate behavior continues by becoming illicit. One friend replied that we need Strong borders like A Wall and High Tariffs to restrict less attractive Imports. Another that we need Open Borders with Maximum Exports to reach into new markets. A third, that we need to innovate with the latest technology. A fourth that once America develops renewable affordable energy, this will level the playing field. Yet, I believe the readings for this Ascension Day point us to Another Alternative of what has not been revealed. Ascension Day is a Strange Occasion. Christmas, the Various Miracles, Easter all defy human expectations, yet when it comes to Jesus stepping on a cloud and floating to heaven, we balk and doubt. The knowledge and practices of this life weigh us down to where we cannot accept or believe. All we can say, is what the Hymn we sang responded: “Alleluia? Amen?” Just as there were 40 Days of Preparation & Prayer leading to Easter, Ascension Day is the 40th Day after Easter. Jesus appeared to the disciples repeatedly over those 40 days, demonstrating the Resurrection. Almighty God created this world as part of this cosmos. Jesus is the Savior, who demonstrated love by dying for us and rising, but Jesus is no longer among us, so something happened. “Alleluia? Amen.” The Apostles' Creed states that we believe “On the third day Jesus rose again; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the quick and the dead.” “Alleluia... Amen.” Most Sundays, we read a Biblical passage, then relate the text to our times, making comparison with circumstance in our lives, demonstrating the truth and reality in order to demonstrate the insight of Christian Wisdom for our Reasoning, our Philosophy of life, the Morals and Ethics, and Commandments of our lives. The problem which The Ascension points to, is that that accepted practice of Reason, of explaining and turning Biblical truth into Psychology Today, Reader's Digest Wisdom or Philosophies to fit our needs, is not Christian! Reasoning our way through Christian faith, accepting only what is reasoned, and dismissing what is revelation, what cannot be proven by logic, is what the Early Church described in abandoning the Heresy of Gnosticism. What sets us apart as Presbyterians, why I am a Presbyterian, has nothing to do with the Political positions of the Church, and those positions are why I become so tired of debates about Politics masquerading as Religion: regarding Israel, Sexuality, Nuclear weapons, Abortion, Euthanasia, Immigration, etc... What I find unique in the Presbyterian Church is that following from the Reformation, we have been committed to repeatedly recognizing when we were Wrong, when our practices did not fit with the Bible, and we returned to the more pure practice of the Early Believers, the Early Church. Other Denominations, other Religions have made a commitment to Biblical InErrancy, or Papal InFallibility, that their ordained leaders, their historic interpretation, their ways of interpreting, could not be Wrong. So when Circumstances Change, when Ordained Leaders are found to be human, when our Traditions weigh people down, people either abandon all belief, giving up on God, or they bifurcate their beliefs saying I am Christian but I do not accept the teachings of the church, or I am Spiritual but not Religious, Baptized but in Recovery from the Church. Which only leaves one saying “Alleluia... Amen.” The passages we have read this day from the Bible emphasize and underscore that God is the Creator and Judge. Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior who lived a human life and died the most gruesome, fear-inducing human death, to conquer death, to conquer fear, to atone for Sin, to drag us back into relationship with God once and for all. Jesus gave us 4 gifts: The Sacrament of Communion; the New Commandment to Love as we have been loved; the Grace of God that Salvation is not warranted, not deserved, not bought, Salvation is a Gift from God; and finally here 40 days after Easter, to demonstrate that there is faith beyond our understanding, there is ever new revelation which requires power from God which will come through the Holy Spirit. We live in an era, within a Nation and Culture, deluded by the notion of Manifest Destiny. We have been convinced we could Master the Universe, we could have it All, possess whatever we desire, whenever we want, and that life not only does not have to hurt, but that life can be avoided, and most foolish of all that we have no need of anyone. Ascension Day is a declaration of faith that we believe Life is Real, we believe in God, a being outside ourselves and beyond our understanding, we believe in faith that comes to us in relationship with God. Gnosticism came from Greek Philosophers, longing to reach beyond the weight of matter, to live in an ideal realm of pure spirit. Gnosticism encouraged ignoring all relationships, all responsibilities, anything and everything that weighed a person down, to ignore the reality of gravity, to be with God in another different place. John describes that the disciples who had accompanied Jesus stood absolutely still, stoic, stiff-necked, staring up at Heaven as they watched Jesus ascend. But, that suddenly there were two individuals with them dressed in white, who asked “Why do you stand, staring into heaven?” The point of the Ascension, the whole point of life, is not to try to get beyond this life to be with Jesus in heaven, but that You have been sent to live, to share belief in God, the command of Jesus to love, to be witnesses to the coming of the Holy Spirit in people's lives. ALLELUIA! AMEN! This is Jesus' final address. He had the Last Supper with them, they heard his words from the Cross, he appeared to Mary at the tomb, he taught the two on the road to Emmaus, he appeared to them on the shore offering forgiveness and challenge to Peter. The disciples know they are saying goodbye for the final time and are filled with anxiety. I have a couple being married in the next several days who are extremely anxious about being in front of family and friends. I have described to them, that whatever it takes to get you through your celebration is what we are here to do. I will give you the words we are going to say. We will rehearse the vows once a week. Jesus has several statements in the passage from John which answer their anxiety. First, that “Those who love me will keep my word. Whoever does not love me, does not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.” This is not a statement of love and hate, or rejection of Jesus. But the reality that all the world, all time and space are the creation of God. The only faith which has emphasized the Incarnation of Christmas is Christianity, that God became a human being to Call disciples, to heal and to teach and die for us. Judaism believes that you come to faith and demonstrate that faith by the Law, the 10 Commandments and the Prophets. Islam teaches that you come to faith by following the Teachings of the Koran. So in an explanation of ecumenism, Jesus describes “Those who love me will keep my word. Whoever does not, does not keep my word but God is still available, and continues to reach out.” If anything, Jesus makes God easier and more available for us. “ALLELUIA! AMEN!” I believe there is a connection here with the image from Revelation of the New Heaven, the New Jerusalem, where there will be no need for religion, no need for a Temple, no need even for a Lamp, because here you will know God constantly with you, here will be no dark, no chaos, no fear. “ALLELUIA! AMEN!” Second, Up until this moment in the Gospel story, Jesus has made repeated reference to God, and to his own death and resurrection, but now names that Creation Theology and Sacrifice on the Cross are not all that we need. God will send another, the Counselor, our Advocate, who will continue to teach us, revealing what we did not see in earlier times. Christianity, particularly in the last several decades has become mono-theistic as if we only believe in Jesus, without any acknowledgement of the existence of God, or that we are not on our own here, we continue to be challenged and encouraged by the Holy Spirit with us. “ALLELUIA! AMEN!” Third, the phrase Jesus says more than anything else in all the Bible: “Peace.” But this time, he explains peace in a little different way. “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let your hearts be not troubled, be unafraid.” Most often when we pray for peace, it is for an end to conflict, an end to war. When someone describes being at peace, they do not express an emptiness or a void, they describe a wholeness, a sense of fulfillment. But here, I think Jesus offers us more than the absence of something negative. Dietrich Bonhoeffer described “The Incarnate Jesus takes up space on earth. Because of his weight, because he is real and tangible, the Body of Christ makes footprints. There is almost an exchange here between the presence of Jesus with us and the presence of peace. A Philosophical truth, a Doctrine, a Religion needs no MASS, it is an idea. But peace, peace is a heavy thing, peace requires making room for it. Peace is different from the way of the world. This world gives us trouble. We give ourselves to relationships, only to have our hearts broken and marriages divorce. We live in a world of famine and war, that if the 1st World would share 7/10 of 1% of our financial resources, we could eliminate all poverty and starvation. We live in a world that perceives limited resources, rather than abundance. We live in a world of trauma. We live in a world of depression. We live in a world of watching helplessly as loved ones are sucked into addictions and violence. The Greek word Jesus uses here for PEACE is EIRENE, which was used primarily to describe National Tranquility, exemption from war. No wonder the disciples responded asking: “When will you bring about the Kingdom of Heaven?” But then, Jesus adds a verb THARSEO meaning do not let yourself be troubled or worried; it is actually not a passive verb but an active one, To TAKE HEART, to intentionally be NOT AFRAID. The world can throw all of these sticks and stones, but you are held in the hand of God! You are loved so much as to be a motivation of your love for others. You have the Holy Spirit as a Companion in all that is to come, so HAVE PEACE; TAKE HEART and BE NOT AFRAID. “ALLELUIA AMEN”