October 7, 2018, "Certainty Not Security"

Job 1:1-2:10 Mark 10: 2-16 Seeing that we had Job for this morning, gave me pause. Knowing relationship between a Pastor and congregation, for Better and Worse, is like a Marriage, reading what has been referred to as “Jesus’ condemnation of divorce,” gave me no comfort. However, I made a decision before last Sunday, not to follow the advice of friends to wait until the Sunday prior to leaving, then rush as quickly as possible head-long through departure, for someone else to clean up; but that there is vital importance to taking time with one another, to name how we feel, what we believe, and to seek resolution. Our world is filled with unresolved wounds. People going from relationship to relationship, carrying with us baggage, hurts and abuses, that we do not realize we inflict on others. In the first place, I do not believe Jesus was condemning divorce! A loving forgiving Savior does not condemn. What I read in the Bible, what I believe is that Pharisees, the Lawyers of their culture, tried to Test Jesus. They sought to trap Jesus in a Legal question, about Divorce, either that he would shame the people involved, or Jesus himself would be shamed for not following Moses’ tradition. Trying to explain this passage in the 5th century, St. Augustine described that in Latin there are two kinds of LOVE: “UTI” and “FRUI”. Uti is where we derive the word “Utilitarian” meaning for a purpose. UTI Love is our love of “money”, most of us do not love money for its smell or color, weight or feel, we love money for what we can do with it. With money I can buy stuff, pay for a roof over my head, a car for transportation. To tell the truth, I am uncertain “Love” is strong enough to describe “FRUI”. I love Ice Cream, not because of what I can do with ice cream. Not because it gives me high cholesterol or fat, but simply because I love ice cream. God created us to be “FRUITful”, because God loved us and God’s desire was we would love God. However, we confuse the two, we try to approach God and all our relationships with an underlying test of “What do I get out of it?” We make God into a Cosmic Rabbit’s Foot, a Good Luck Charm, or Genie, that we say a prayer, hoping to have Success and Happiness, parking spaces and health. We have our weddings inside the church, and our children baptized, so they will be blessed, as if a Spiritual insurance or vaccine against evil. Then, all we have is a cardboard cutout, a flat 2 dimensional drawing, not a faith with depth or integrity, we practice SAFE SECURITY rather than believing with CERTAINTY and CONVICTION. When problems arise, we question “Why do bad things happen to Good People? Why don’t Sinners Suffer more?” I sincerely believe God’s intent is that all the world live in balance and harmony. What I have been most troubled by in all the Supreme Court testimony and the Me-Too Movement, is disclosure that at least 1/3 - ½ all the women in the World and ¼ - 1/3 of men have suffered Sexual abuse. We were created to love, not to get our way, not to satisfy our desires on the weaker. What a simple reality, if we approached LIFE, and the Kingdom of God, as we receive a child. Knowing children go through periods of screaming, the fun of responding to questions “NO!” then learning instead to answer every statement with “WHY”, I do not believe what Jesus said was to approach the Kingdom of God like a Child. But instead, like receiving a child. Fearing how to hold and care for life. Witnessing a child’s fingernails, and lips, eyelashes, and having our hearts soften that is the FRUI kind of Love we are to have toward everything in God’s creation, one another, God. Prosperity Gospel thinking was popular long before Joel Olsteen, or Norman Vincent Peale. The wish-fulfillment of being Rewarded for Doing right, being good, doing the right thing in the right place does work for potty-training. But as a rule for life, equating sin & suffering, religion & rewards, does not work out and never has. The Book of Job, wrestles with all of these ideas. Job’s friends assume a flat Security Gospel, that there is suffering in the world because of Sin. So either Job sinned and needs to confess; or there is a cosmic imbalance like a high pressure weather system passing over, where there is so much sin in the world, Job needs to beg forgiveness. But the Bible puts forth a different reality. God created the Universe and everything within Creation to be Good, Blessed, and Job is a prime example. God loves Job and showers blessings upon him. Job has 7 sons and 3 daughters thousands of sheep, cattle, camels, goats and servants. And Job loves God Throughout literature, we have created a malevolent creature of Evil, with horns and a tail, a pitchfork and soul patch beard, that we call Satan, Mephistopholes, Baalzebub, The Devil. That is not The Satan described in Job. Instead, “The Satan,” is more like a Title. The Satan literally means “The Adversary,” like the Angel in the path of Balaam, or Guarding the way into the Garden of Eden, this is a Creature of God, whose purpose is to test us, to reveal the Certainty of our Conviction. In this Once Upon A Time story of Job, God points out to The Satan that in all the world no one is as faithful and right with God as is Job. And the Adversary challenges: “Is Job faithful only because God has showered blessings upon him, or not? If you took away the blessings, will Job complain about God, even curse God? God authorizes the test, but with the restriction to spare Job’s life. And in one afternoon, Job suffers the loss of his property and servants; all of his cattle, sheep, camels and goats; as well as the death of all 10 of his children. But Job is faithful. And the Satan responds to God, yes but Skin for Skin, afflict his health and body, and see what happens. Job is left sitting atop a dung heap, a pile of ash, covered in loathsome sores, so itchy he scratches and cuts at them with a piece of pottery. From this point on, The Satan is not part of the story. Job is a test of God and of Job. I once owned a piece of property that had both Poison Oak and Poison Ivy, and I literally became covered in weeping blisters from head to toe, Yes, there too. I have known families who have done autopsies to try to know Why, the Security that we tried everything; what we want is not Why, but Certainty: Comfort sorrows, soothe our pain. We have become very adept at fixing situations. Clearly an all powerful God could have created a world of perfection, with robots who do not feel. But instead God created us human, we suffer, but we can experience Love. What Jesus promised was not to take away all the problems in the world, but that all the problems in the world, the power of Armies, Kings and Emperors, the greatest depths or highest mountains, even death itself, could never keep us from the love of God.

"Who Are You?" September 30, 2018

Esther 7 Mark 9: 38-50 Who are you? No, who are you really? How do you want people to remember you? Do you define yourself by your age? By your accomplishments? By your family? By significant experiences in your life? At one point, I came to recognize that from the time we get working papers, until we die, we describe ourselves in 1-3 page Resumes, as Pastors a 14 page PIF. Then because our family have to pay per letter, they reduce who we are to an obituary; lifted up verbally in a 30 to 60 minute memorial. After which, our entire existence, who we are, is reduced to “The Dash” between our date of birth/death on headstones, a begat in Genealogies. When our youngest son was on the Wrestling Team, I remember Coach Dick Campbell and Coach Tim Green describing that who you are is part of “This Team,” within the church we call that “The Body of Christ.” They described that in wrestling you can get points for showing up, for taking someone else down, for breaking a hold, for a pin, but the most points are awarded for a Reversal, when you surprise everyone, because you had been held down in a hold and you reversed everything. Being true to who we are when life reverses is what our readings are about. The Book of Esther is unique, it is the only book in the Canon of Scripture that never explicitly names God, the Torah, the Temple, or the Law. It is in the Bible because the Book of Esther is the basis for the season of Purim, 10 Banquets in August, which tell the story of reversal from genocide to Salvation. Historically, after Chaldea conquered Judah, Babylon was itself conquered by Persia, and King Xerses believing the Enemy of my Enemy must be my friend, released the Jews paying them a severance to return to rebuild their lives in Israel. However some remained behind in Persia. Accordingly the Book of Esther is written as a Melodrama, King Xerses here also known by the name Ahasuerus, was seen as such a fool for letting go the Jews, and so prideful of all he possessed, that one day gave a Banquet for everyone to see how much he had. Therefore whenever the names of King Xerses or Ahasuerus are pronounced the congregation is to respond with: “Duh!” At this banquet, he tried to have all the Emperors and Kings witness how powerful he was by displaying the beauty of his wife Queen Vashti, having her appear Nude. She naturally refused, No One could stand up to the King, so Xerses had her killed. Wanting to have the most beautiful wife in the Persian Empire, King Xerses had the World’s First Beauty Pageant. Esther was a Jewish orphan, whose Uncle was named Mordecai. Mordecai is the hero of the story, so when we hear his name we cheer! Mordecai, adopts Esther as his own daughter, and enters her in the beauty pageant, without revealing she is Jewish, and of course she wins. So when Esther is named, we WolfWhistle. One day, Mordecai overhears the guards plotting to kill King Xerses, and Mordecai tells Esther, who tells King Xerses saving the king from assassination, which of course is then forgotten by King Ahasuerus. The Villain of this story is the Grand Vizer: Haman, who like every villain is Boo-ed. The Grand Vizer Haman is angered because whenever he appears in public everyone is supposed to bow down to him, but Mordecai refuses to bow down. In anxiety, the Grand Vizer Haman not only has a Gallows built 150 feet tall immediately next to his house so he can watch when Mordecai is executed, he also creates a policy that all Jews be executed the same day as a genocide, of course having this unwittingly signed by King Xerses. Being a farce, King Xerses has a law that anyone trying to see him without permission will be killed, so Esther sends a dinner invitation to Xerses and Haman, so that she can ask a favor. Like a shaggy-dog story, at that dinner, the favor she asks is that they will come to dinner again the next night, so she can ask another favor. At that dinner, you have this morning’s reading of Chapter 7. Esther who was an Orphan, reverses to become the Queen, the Jewish people who were to be exterminated in genocide find salvation. Haman who was Prime Minister and plotted against everyone, is executed on his own gallows outside his own home. Mordecai goes from being on death row, to becoming Prime Minister. And the King, who was naïve to everything taking place around him, still is King Ahasuerus: “Duh!” The Gospel reading and the rest of our sermon are filled with just as many reversals, but nothing humorous. The Gospel writer is making the point that from the time of the early Church, there have been different denominations, expectations and groups dis-agreeing. The Disciple John comes to Jesus proud that he told the Catholics, Mormons and Pentecostals that they were not following Jesus in Presbyterian Decency and Good Order. To which Jesus says, “NO!” Painfully, we live in such a polarized society that people believe whomever is not for us is against us; when one of the sayings of Jesus is “whomever is not against us, is for us.” There always seem to be those trying to control and anxiously keep others out. What I hear Jesus instructing is that rather than cutting off and judging others, ethical questions are for each of us, to examine our own hearts and souls. As your pastor I have tried to live my life with integrity, humility and transparency. Therefore the following letter is being sent out to all your homes. One on one, in meetings, in worship, in the community, I have always tried to be the same person, to answer any questions people asked, with truth. I believe it is easier that way, because I do not have to remember what I said. I have loved you, trusted you, and I have been loved and trusted by you, for that I am truly thankful. There is nothing wrong, no one committed any offense, there are no longer secrets. We have shared the joy of being pastor with you for 22 years. In that time, we have witnessed miracles, we have made a difference in this community, in the world, in each others’ lives. I have never tried to impose my will or direction on anyone, or to tell the church what I Want, instead I have sought to walk with you and lead you where you have wanted to go, as gracefully, faithfully and as effectively as possible. Since January our Session and I have talked about the church’s needs for the future and for transition. At times, this has felt like my being a terminal patient, as people tiptoed around me to be certain I had not died yet, while others have been unaware anything was going on! I do not know if I will be called to another Church or if I will need a Severance package from you for us to survive. Announcing this, not knowing, is truly a leap of faith. I am thankful for having been able to serve you faithfully and effectively throughout all our years and will do so as long as I am your pastor. Most of us will find this news of transition upsetting, as we do not like to have our routines disturbed, our plans, expectations upset. All of which also makes the wounds of separation painful. This is as difficult for me to leave being your pastor, as it is for you to accept. Some have reacted during this time, with crisis and anxiety, but we described all of this being expected years ago. I am confident this church is in the hands of The Session, Deacons, and those who lead us in the worship of God: Bruce, Brian and Sue, as well as Lori, Peggy and Eddie, who will continue to support you just as they did in partnership and laughter with me. We profess being Christians. The core belief of Christianity being that we own death as necessary to life, even more, that death is essential for resurrection to be appreciated. Over the next several weeks there will be opportunities for us to share stories and to try to develop closure. October 21st immediately after worship, we will have a Special Congregational Meeting to act upon how to formally end our pastoral relationship. At 5pm on Sunday, October 21st we will have a special worship service followed by a dinner for our congregation, our community and Presbytery, to celebrate and give thanks for our journey together in this pastorate. Years ago, Gail Banks had a cartoon of a Deliveryman delivering a large crate asking where she wanted the new Pastor Installed! This worship service will be our “un-installing,” a memorial service to give thanks to God for what we have shared, to laugh, to cry, to be real with one another. After October 21st Judy and I plan to sell our home and move, we will maintain contact as friends (you are very dear to us) but I need to leave, for the church to be able to continue to thrive. Also, I am still young enough to hope to have the fun of doing this yet one more time! 25 years ago, members of another church I served, began writing in a book that I hope you will make the effort to sign, with remembrances and stories of the faith we have shared. I have already cut all my ties as your pastor with the John Dau Foundation, the Fire Department, and Presbytery responsibilities. On October 22nd , I will no longer be part of this church, talking with you about the needs, joys or problems of this church, officiating at Baptisms, Weddings or Funerals. But I hope and pray you will redouble your commitments, because the church will need to build on the foundation established. With love, I Am Craig Lindsey

"Fear and Vulnerability" September 23, 2018

Psalm 31: 10-31 Mark 9: 30-37 A close friend described to me the other day, that all other people ever see of us is this little bit. We live in fear, hiding what is really going on behind 4 letter words like: FINE, OKAY, GOOD. We encounter so many people every day, if we actually knew what each were thinking, the fears of one another, if we did not have filters on what we see and what we hear, we would be overwhelmed. So we witness and know only this little bit about our families, colleagues, neighbors, friends. In a world where there are cameras on computers, in elevators, in traffic lights, we try in vain to control what others know about us. Christianity is unique from other religions, which focus on Atonement, Morality, Reincarnation; Christianity’s goal in this life and in life ever-lasting is Absolute Communion, not simply the elements of Bread and Wine, but letting down our guard, openly sharing our thoughts and desires, trusting we will be accepted and loved. We seek forgiveness, we confess our sins, in order that we not inflict our imperfections and dirt on one another. But to be one with God, in harmony with life and everyone in it, what greater goal could there be? A year ago, our Wednesday evening Bible Study group read the book of Proverbs. The difficulty is that this is not a narrative like the Torah and Gospels, not the Visions of a Prophet, not a Letter from an old friend. Proverbs are just that, very brief wisdom sayings, that offer meaning to life. We imagined the thousands of years of life farming, where you would take one proverb as you went out into the world for the day, and repeat it over and over, working on that thought like a prayer all day long. There is also a tradition that the Book of Proverbs are the teachings of a royal couple, a King and Queen to their child coming of age, imparting wisdom about God and Life; Here, about what he should look for in a partner. A difficulty of language, is that in Hebrew the word for WOMAN is the word WIFE because every Wife happens to be a WOMAN, but not every woman is a wife. Orthodox Judaism requires that you are Jewish only if your mother was Jewish. Religion is not something in your DNA, but imparted in small doses in the foods we eat, the songs we sing, the prayers we learn, the stories we were taught before anything else. I had a friend who was an old Rabbi, who described that every Sabbath beginning at sundown Friday, the woman of the house lit the candles and served a sacred meal, during which the family pray to recall that God is God, not us. God is the maker of the Universe, and Ultimate ruler of our lives. And in recognition of the woman of the house, the father at the table, recites Proverb 31, ending by speaking directly to his wife in thanksgiving for her, and to do so every week. While this little Gem is among the best known of all proverbs, what intrigues me in this, is that the Woman is far more than a Stepford Wife on Steroids. Proverbs 31 does not mention her looks. Is she comely, voluptuous, what my father used to call Zoftik, does she have the Piercing eyes of Rachel or the Soft eyes of Leah, blonde, brunet, redhead, young or seasoned? Instead, the reader describes her character, this is a woman who can bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan! However, an unexpected quality of her is what in Hebrew is named “CHAYIL”, some translate this as VALIANT, some as FAITHFULLY HONEST, some as COURAGEOUS, when the literal Hebrew meaning is: POSSESSING The STRENGTH OF A WARRIOR. But what sets her apart from all others and makes her who she is, is that she knows and fears only one thing: the Lord. According to Mark’s Gospel, the disciples had shared in all of life with Jesus for years, they had listened to his sermons, and had him explain and interpret them. The 12 had witnessed his healings and miracles. They had stood up with him in confronting the Pharisees and Elders. Simon Peter had even confessed that Jesus is the Messiah sent from God, the anointed one to save the world. But still they knew only that little bit, and could not understand, even feared who he was, the meaning of being the Christ. Years ago, there was a joke in this Church, that we did not want a Co-Pastor, or Interim Pastor, or Associate Pastor, but a REAL PASTOR. How could he explain, not only am I willing to devote my life to you, but I give my life for you? We do not like talking about Death, Endings. We often times respond with Fear, trying to take control, to lead, to be strong. I was talking with a group of Medical students at Doug’s last evening, who asked for strength to take on the responsibilities before them. But what they needed was vulnerability. Spouses concerned about the future of their marriages, and bearing with their partner in medical illnesses, who ask for strength, but need vulnerability. It takes a different kind of strength to be vulnerable. Many of us are like beginning swimmers, who out fear, exert wasted energy and thrash about trying vainly to stay afloat. The more confident swimmer, rests effortlessly on the water, allowing their nose to break the surface, only to breathe when needed, but otherwise trusts that the water will keep us afloat. Strength in our world is confused with Power often confused with coercion. Can I exert enough Physical, Economic. Social or Political pressure on the other, or on a situation, in order to make them follow my will? Jesus knew what the disciples had been arguing about before asking the question. James and John were brothers, the sons of Zebedee, and like siblings always contesting for who is strongest, who is greatest. Jesus turned their power paradigm on its head. The model of greatness in the kingdom of Heaven, is a powerless child. When I first went to South Sudan, I recall John’s Father stating “We do not need you to come here and do things for us as Americans.” He took a 1 year old child and holding out his finger assisted the child to rise and stand. He said, “All we need is someone to give us a steadying hand of reassurance as we learn to walk.” When we are in crisis, filled with fear, seeking power, control, strength, we cannot listen to hear each other. When we make the effort to really listen, not trying to answer, not trying to control, but to listen… then, we find something each of us can identify with – all of us have a frightened child within. Children, even before they have words, have an ability to communicate with a common language, because they have no roles to play, no prestige or wealth or power to lose. The real irony of this passage is Jesus knows he is going to the Cross to die, and James and John ask to be at his right and left sides, which instead of power, became the position of the two Criminals who also were crucified.

"AfterWords" September 16, 2018

Jeremiah 4: 18-28 Mark 8: 27-38 Sunday, September 9th, 2001 we as a congregation read this passage from Jeremiah for the first time as part of the Lectionary. I knew the passage well because for Ordination, I had to translate this from Hebrew, write a 15 page research paper and Sermon on this text, all within 4 hours. Tuesday Sept 11th, the sky was a brilliant blue, when suddenly Our Reality changed. Other than the Revolutionary War, our Mainland had never been attacked by a foreign power. Since that time we have become almost accustomed to Terrorist Attacks. We have learned to take off our shoes and belts at the airport, to take cell phones and lap tops out of suitcases, that we cannot carry nail clippers, or pen knives, liquids, or aerosols, and those with artificial knees and hips may be subject to a body search pat down. On Sept 11th the Clergy of our Village had been gathered together to meet. Skip Adams had just left to become Bishop, Natalie Scholl and Deron Melville had recently arrived at the Methodist and Lutheran Churches. When we were told what happened, we prayed, then promised to worship together that evening here, then Natalie and Deron went to the Schools and I went to the Welch Allyn Factory, Father McGrath joined me there as we did grief counseling and prayed, listening to stories of family who live in NYC, or work at the Pentagon. At 2pm I was called to come lead prayer services with the telephone operators and also the engineers, and I recall recognizing that my own sons would be eligible if the Draft were activated for War. That evening, I had written prayers and all of the Clergy shared in leadership. But when I preached on this passage, it was different. At Ground Zero, the sky was black, ash was falling in snowdrifts, space seemed to ripple as temperatures shifted from extreme heat of airplane fuel fires, to extreme cold; but most difficult, no bodies were found, there was no sound, no birds, no traffic. Seventeen years later, we have learned to be suspicious. We have learned fear. We have become accustomed to Orange Alerts and Mass Killings, barriers and cameras. But have we found any redemption, any new faith, or understanding? We have returned to routines, added new ones, all rooted in fear, not based on faith. That December I wrote a piece: “This Christmas is Different.” ➢ In Christmases past, we often thought about all we did not have; this Christmas we recognized all we do possess. ➢ Christmas past we hung wreaths on doors, then placed wreaths @ cemetery. ➢ In the past we counted our 401Ks, Christmas 2001 we counted our blessings. ➢ Christmases past we paid lip service to Holidays; then began to honor them. ➢ Christmases past we gave kids toy guns, then had to teach: Guns are not toys. ➢ Christmases past we wondered how to afford all the presents, Christmas 2001 we imagined all money cant buy: Security, safety, peace. ➢ Prior Christmases, Relatives got on our nerves, then we got on our knees. ➢ Christmases past we complained about Office-stress, then offices were gone ➢ Some Christmases we wondered what it was to be affluent, then to be alive. ➢ Heroes played sports, now we know Heroes who run into burning buildings. ➢ In Christmases past we contemplated the changes we wanted to make, Christmas 2001 we began considering all the accommodations we had made. Here we are, as Survivors, each of us have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. What are we going to do with life, that we have nothing to lose by living? Frederick Buechner, was a classmate of our Veterinarian Bill Nichols who wrote the book Listening to Your Life asking questions about where we are going, and who we are: • When you look in the mirror, What do you most like and what do you not? • If you had only a brief message, 25 words or less, to leave, what would it be? • Of all the things you have done, which would you like to undo? • Which makes you the happiest to remember? • Is there anyone or any cause, you would be willing to risk your life for? • If today were the last day of your life, what would you choose to do? The things done in fear, are the ones, I would undo, the times I backed down. But the ones I am happiest about, revolve around family and faith. What I have been willing to sacrifice for, to make, amends or to accept loss for, have also been for the Family of Faith, the Church, You. Jesus went about life with his congregation, when he asked: “Who do they say I Am?” Some called him a Rabbi, some a Priest, some a Faith-Healer, some a Charlatan, some said he was Elijah Returning for a new Era, some a new Moses, some a Prophet, some said the reincarnation of John the Baptist. Andrew’s Brother Peter loved Word-Games. In Hebrew, the Name of God, the name given at the Burning Bush to Moses, “Yahweh” means “I Am,” so if Jesus asks “Who I Am” the right answer had to be God; but saying that out loud would be blasphemy because only GOD could be God, so Jesus was “sent from God” the anointed “Messiah!” in Latin “The Christ!” Jesus says “Exactly! But what does it mean to sent from God?” The Messiah is not a King, not a Warrior, not a Scholar. To come from God means to be a gift of love, of redemption and transformation for the world. Frederick Buechner, whom I quoted writing about Life & faith also wrote about love. o To love an equal, a friend, a brother, a spouse, is a very Human thing. o To love those less fortunate, to love those who suffer, is Compassion. o To love those who succeed when we fail is rare. The world is bewildered and awed by Saints, uncertain whether to envy. o To love those who undermine, who inflict pain, who have hurt you, to love an enemy is God’s love, which conquers the world. Phillip Yancey writes in his book The Jesus I Never Knew that as a journalist he had opportunity to interview famous people: Sports Greats, Politicians, Authors, Movie Stars, Royalty, and he found a People dominated by self-doubt and worse. So he set out to interview “Saints” Medical personnel working with outcasts, Relief Workers, those who run Homeless shelters. He said he was prepared to Honor and admire them, as inspiring examples; but he was not prepared to envy them, but he did. He found that these who were underpaid, and often unpaid, owning little or nothing, had found joy. Wasting their time on the uneducated, and on those who would never pay them back, provided riches unknown anywhere else in the world. In the process of losing their lives, they found the meaning of life. And so will we.

"Hard Sayings" August 26, 2018

I Kings 8: 1-6, 22-30, 44-43 John 6: 56-69 This week Pope Francis had the courage to admit to the Abuse of Children by priests, and their church having sheltered those priests. A monumental challenge to the authority of the Catholic Church, yet still not quite the profession by Jesus’ “If any should mislead one of these little ones it would be better if a millstone were hung round their neck.” Before any rush to judgment, recall that we had our own experience with abuse, yet at that time, and 30 years later when he was prosecuted and removed from the ministry, our Session Minutes never acknowledge anything ever happened. It is as if it was not there. What is the purpose of the Church, Justice, Truth, Faith? Are Sanctuaries like this, Sacred, a Refuge from the pressures of the World, or a museum of art, music, architecture, a community resource, a financial albatross, Sanctuary from the Law? Is a Sanctuary of the Woods, a Mountaintop, the Lake, just as holy and sacred to us? My own sons have begun describing their father as a Community Leader and Organizer, Caring for People, rather than as a Pastor or Minister, because their friends have no experience of the Church, at least none positive. 95% of the weddings I have officiated this year have not been in a Sanctuary, but in the Gazebo, at a State Park, at a Winery, at their Home, at a Casino. Recalling the Temptations of Jesus in his 40 Days in the wilderness, 5,000 people were given bread from him to eat; as far as the eye could see were people healed of incurable diseases simply by his touch or even his words; crowds tried to throw him down a high cliff and he walked away; the parables of Jesus are better known than Aesop’s or Plato’s. When the world then came looking for him to continue doing more, to be their miracle whenever we wanted; instead he described the need to embrace and own and correct the sins and addictions of our lives. Most everyone turned aside, naming these are “Hard Sayings”, and they are! Christian faith in God is not a thing you can be taught or master or understand, or own, not the answer to prayers or magic words. While the Grace of God and Love of God appear so simple, Grace and Love and Sacrifice, Communion, Humility, are neither cheap nor easy. To which Simon Peter responded: Where else can we go, You alone have the words of eternal life? Do we still believe in Eternal Life, in Heaven & Hell, or reincarnation, or Nirvana, do we know what “Salvation” or “Justice before God” are? Let alone do we really want these, or do most of us just want our problems and pains to go away and continue with life, never to die? While many have struggled at other passages, about the only way to the Father is through Jesus, or the need to be Born Again from above, I believe this is the critical statement that sets Christianity apart from all the rest. Christ alone has the words of Eternal Life. Judaism possesses The Law, Islam Koran, there are ways to Wisdom, HOWEVER Resurrection/Forgiveness/The Covenant of Grace Love from God for Eternal Life is only available through Christ by sacrificial relationships, like Jesus demonstrated. Do we desire “Justice or only Judgment? I serve as a Justice on our Church’s Appellate Court. A congregation in Iowa had a member who was a pain in the neck, a bully and everyone knew it. Finally one night, she had pushed so far that the Choir Director left rehearsal, walked out, questioning if life was worth this or whether to die; but after several minutes he returned to finish the rehearsal. The next morning, the pastor questioned if the problem was the Choir Director or this member. After interviewing everyone involved, it was recommended that perhaps voluntarily the member could take a break for a while to let things cool down. She accepted, but changed her mind when this voluntary absence turned out to be 18 months. She brought this to Session, and was over-ruled. She appealed to the Presbytery, and was over-ruled. She appealed to the Synod and was over-ruled, all with no explanation. More than twice the 18 months requested had passed, the Choir Director was gone, but still she appealed to our court. Initially, it appeared quite simple, she was a bully, controlling, demanding, and hard headed. Had the church colluded against her, No. had the church gone on a witch-hunt against her, No. But suddenly someone questioned whether the courts making a decision, without explanation "why", was not fair or just. While we ruled against her being granted what she wanted, the court also sought her redemption as not clearly understanding why she was wrong. Do the courts simply need to find who is guilty, whom to blame, or do we need to consider what comes next after and how to again be the church? Current circumstance is relevant to what we consider Justice, but a community’s earliest identities establish the DNA of the church and what are among our core issues. In our earliest, before we were a Church, before there was a Village or community, before we had a Pastor or Building or regular Sunday morning worship, we were Called to be A Religious Society, a City of God which was not about Baptism or Confession as Christians but the way we relate to one another. Our ancestors heard complaints between people. Their purpose was not to judge or blame or correct, but in how to forgive and find a new relationship of communion, trust. Over and over again, I find circumstance of our knee-jerk reactions, without ever considering how will we get along afterward? How can we continue to be, after trust is broken? Admission of our own wrongs, our brokenness there are Hard Sayings. Our reading from I Kings includes Solomon’s prayer dedicating the Temple at Jerusalem. I recall reciting this the Sunday in 1998 when we completed our first two building campaigns and rededicated this Sanctuary. The difficulty is Solomon’s father David had been told not to build a House for God, instead God would build a lasting commitment out of their family, the word for Lasting commitment is HESED. But Solomon built the Temple, one of the greatest Temples ever constructed, which stood over 800 years. Yet even today, after being destroyed for almost 2000 years, it is remembered as “Solomon’s Temple”, not as the House of God. A Sanctuary, is like a transmitter, a microphone to God; and a meeting place for us to gather to prepare ourselves to reach out to God, and for us to heal what we have done to one another apart from the world. This prayer begins with that “lasting covenant” (HESED), promised by God to Abram, to Moses, to David and by Solomon to God, which is more than treaty or contract. Hesed refers to Relationship, Commitment, Grace, Hospitality and Trust. We have a way of compartmentalizing, that God is in God’s House, Work is at an Office, Family at Home, Learning at School. But barriers are coming down. Many of us work from home, we take on-line classes. So also, we come to recognize that God is loose in the world calling into question our reality of Justice, and our commitment of faith. This morning, this first day of this new week, I beg of you, in the midst of plans, in the midst of arguments and pains, to stop to consider What comes next, after? And also, the Hard things, like where we might be wrong.

"Being the Elect" August 12, 2018

2 Samuel 18: 5-9 John 6: 35, 41-51 What does it mean to be Elect, to be a Chosen People? There are responsibilities that come with being in leadership. For some, this means seeing yourself as being Special, privileged, able to do what you want, that rules for other people/ordinary people, do not apply to you. This is what Frederick Nietzsche described as “Men and Supermen”, not the kind from Krypton with an S on their chest, but that some understand others to be animals and themselves, by race, by power, by education, to be Better, to be elect, to chosen. Judaism, Christianity had a different revelation from this, of Election, being Chosen. In Fiddler on the Roof, Tevya says “I know there is no shame being chosen to be poor, but it’s no great honor either”! Throughout human history, God has demonstrated to the world: Being in Relationship with God, through individuals, a tiny remnant of all humanity, who are an example for all the world. God’s identification of a King, a Son of a King, A Messiah, was never an identity of power or privilege. God’s election in Jesus, Job, Daniel, the Judges, Isaac, Simon Peter, James, John and Paul, was A Life as an Offering, one who bears the responsibility of a relationship of faith with such humility they die not for believing they are right, but for offering everything including their lives to God. When in the Gospel of John, Jesus describes himself as being sent from Heaven, the crowds hear him claiming scandalous authority as being Superhuman, being Chosen by God, when they knew his father the Carpenter and his mother. One of the cultural lessons we learned from Africa, is that there is The Tall Poppy Syndrome. In a field there are always individual plants that grow up higher and faster than all the rest, which causes the others to choke that one for standing out. One of the early fears about Christianity, was that we practiced Cannibalism by eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood. All of the Christian denominations have described what happens in Communion is a Mystery, “The Visible Sign of Invisible Things”, yet each has also tried to explain that Mystery. The Roman Catholic Church described “Transubstantiation” that the Ordained Priest changed the substance of the bread into Jesus’ Flesh, and the Wine becomes Blood. Martin Luther in the 1500s described that, as Magic; reciting an incantation in Latin, to change a Rabbit into Flowers, or Bread into Flesh. Luther instead described “Consubstantiation”, that “The Real Presence” of Christ was invited to come down out of heaven to be present in relationship with the Church. The Swiss theologian Ulrich Zwingli, who wrote the specifics of the Reformed Church, emphasized the importance of “Remembrance” that believers remember what Jesus did for us once and will do for us again. John Calvin at age 27 wrote the theology adopted by the Presbyterian Church, that Communion is more than Remembrance or Magic, and that we cannot command Christ do anything. He emphasized that what Jesus meant by saying that we need to eat his flesh and taste his blood, is that every believer in Communion needs to name and own: the sins of their own broken relationships and lives, for we are human. Only in naming these addictions, human wounds, sins, can we then have a foretaste of the new Covenant, where we are in full communion and sharing with God and with one another without sin. This morning’s passage from Samuel is among the most scandalous soap operas in all Literature. I am forever shocked by Sunday School teachers who complain about the stories of Wars and killing of thousands in the Book of Judges, because this story of a family, the love of a father, I believe is far more troubling than any in other in the Bible, Shakespeare, or Stephen King. Two weeks ago, we read of the Love of God for David, God choosing election that no matter the sin David committed God would chastise and forgive rather than destroy. Last week, we heard of David’s sin, coveting the wife of Uriah, committing adultery, lying, and murder, and that the sins of the King would be born by his loved ones. The baby conceived by Uriah’s wife and David, died. Afterward, they conceive again, and this one is Solomon. But David had other children, as well. David’s son Amnon lusted after his sister Tamar. In order to take advantage, Amnon pretended to be too ill to feed himself. David sent Tamar to Amnon with food, and Amnon scamming that he did not want to be seen so weak, demanded that everyone leave the room while Tamar fed him. Alone with her, Amnon raped his sister. Afterward, Tamar’s brother Absalom avenged her, by having Amnon come out to the field, and like Cain killing Abel generations before, Absalom killed Amnon. One chosen-son killing another, inciting a Civil War between those following Absalom, and those loyal to David. But David provided an odd request of his Generals. Do not kill the boy Absalom, for he is a Son of the King. This morning’s Scripture, is that Absalom riding a donkey, gets his head caught in a tree, where the Son of the King is suspended high up between heaven and earth by crossed wood. The New Testament uses this as foreshadowing for what happened to Jesus, lynched on a tree, lifted up for all to see, not in heaven/not on earth, as he died. Although David had instructed them not to do so, his Generals pierced his sides with spears until he was dead. This week one of the Bishops of Pennsylvania testified before the Attorney General the names of over 300 Priests who had committed sexual abuses. In our own community, I was never trained for this in Seminary, but we have had a number of marriages destroyed by pornography on the internet. The issue in each of these is that ones you trusted have betrayed that trust. We cannot simply remove the offender (the Tall Poppy) and imagine everything is better, we are broken, we are wounded, there is sin, that we need to own and discuss until it is dry as dust. The issue of election, of being chosen, as described by our Scriptures and the sung Prelude this morning is not that “Love” is good or evil, but what Love bids us do. Love for their King and Nation, bid the Generals to kill Absalom. Love for his own Son, bid David sacrifice the Nation. Love for his sister Tamar, bid Absalom to kill Amnon, as Cain killed Abel. Love for her brother and Father, bid Tamar make herself vulnerable and alone. Lust, masquerading as love, bid Amnon rape his sister Tamar. Love, bid God, offer God’s own son to save the world. Love bid Jesus sacrifice life, for the sins of the world. What would we not do for love? While those seeking power and control, as the world does, read Nietzsche and wonder whether their desires are more important, than everyone else’s, whether they know better than others do, and that the rules established do not apply to them; believers have always loved the Lord and loved people so much as to sacrifice all that they have, to offer their lives rather than cause greater conflict and suffering.

"Grace Beyond our Conceiving" July 29, 2018

2nd Samuel 9: 1-3 John 6: 1-21 Several years ago there was a book about Simple Acts of Kindness. A week ago, we had the burial of a good friend up in Alexandria Bay. Although the family had been intentional that they wanted me to ride with them, at the appointed hour I was standing out in the Church Parking Lot, all alone. Realizing I kind of needed to be there for the burial to take place, I hopped into my Mini Cooper and drove the 2 ½ hours to Alex Bay. But when I typed into the GPS “Cemetery”, the technology claimed there was none. I phoned the Funeral Director, who laughed when he realized they forgot to pick me up; then directed that the Cemetery was actually on one of the Thousand Islands in Canada, and not only did I need $3 for the Bridge but they would not accept EZPass! I stopped into a Motor Court and described who I was and my problem to the 15 year old Desk Clerk, asking if she could give me a Cash Advance on my VISA Card. Instead, she opened her own purse gaving me 6 -$1 bills. A simple act of kindness. When I returned home, I sent her $12 in repayment. This morning’s Scriptures are about more than a Simple Act of Kindness, Beyond our Conceiving, this is “Amazing Grace”, which is so much greater than our imagination, so great as to transform our lives and relationships! You will recall that the First King of Israel was a Warrior named Saul, and Saul had a son named Jonathan. The Shepherd boy David who had killed the Philistine Goliath came to live in the palace as best friends with Jonathan. But Saul turned away from God, thinking only of his own power. Saul then tried to kill David who escaped, and the Nation entered into conflict as those who followed Saul fought against those who followed David. In the end, Saul and Jonathan were killed at a place called Jezreel, and David became King. The last many weeks we have read of King David taking Jerusalem as his Capital, building a Palace there, wanting to build a House for God, bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. This morning, David the King demonstrates an act of Faith, a measure of Grace far beyond our concept of Kindness. As the King of Jerusalem, this act of grace demonstrates the grace of God for us. Realize that American heritage of succession is unique, for throughout history, when Kings arise, they not only kill their predecessor, they shame and destroy all those related to their opponent who might in a future day become a threat. BEHOLD, David was Living as King and asks if anyone remembers if Saul’s son Jonathan had children? Ziba the Servant describes that Jonathan did have a son named Mephibosheth and where he was hiding. Years before, when the child was five years of age, word came that Saul and Jonathan were trapped and killed. In a rush to escape, the child’s Nurse bundled up the child, and tripped and fell, the nurse’s own body crushing the legs of the child. So now the child was a triple threat, he was the surviving descendant of a competitor; he was abandoned in hiding; and his legs were crushed. Imagine living 15 years in hiding, always in fear for your life, always in shame, staying out of the light… One day, you hear the trumpet blasts of an advancing guard of soldiers. On the horizon you see pennants, horses of the King, as they advance closer and closer. You have to get away, you have to hide, or be put to death. Suddenly there is a pounding on the door. You are dragged out from under your bed; dragged where you do not want to be found, brought to the King’s Palace. Brought inside, to the Court of the King, and made to prostrate yourself before the throne of the very One who took the place of your Father. The only words you can manage are to ask what the King desires with a Dead Dog? He has had everything taken away, living for years in shame and hiding. When suddenly, King David decrees that from this day onward, the property of your grandfather shall be returned to you, you shall have a place at the King’s own table, in fact, the King will not sit down to eat until you are at the Table. What an act of grace, that for the remainder of his life, at every meal there would be the call of your name MEPHIBOSHETH, and the scraping of your feet, as everyone waited to welcome you at the Table of bounty! He spreads a Table before me, my cup run over. A meal of Grace, beyond everyone’s imagination to conceive… On the Northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, rises a mountain, the face of which forms a natural concave shell. Somehow, I always imagined Jesus standing at the top of the Mountain preaching down to the people; but instead, I have now come to believe that the 5000 had gathered on this hillside, and Jesus was on the shore. So the story about such a great crowd coming to listen that he had to get into a boat and push off from shore to preach, may well also be about this same event! And while the Disciples cannot imagine the costs of how to feed all these people, reminiscent of Moses and the tribes in the Wilderness (according to the text) Jesus fed 5000 men, plus their wives and children. He has them sit in small groups, to share together, all together being the Body of Christ. From 2 fish and 5 loaves, not only does he feed 5000, but afterward there are 12 Baskets full of leftovers! The issue is not about how, or the cost, those are rational concerns. No, the issue in meal like communion is what the Grace represents. There is limitless bounty for everyone to share! The disciples got into a boat, as Jesus continues to heal and dismiss the crowds. The Disciples had been right there, they were Jesus’ inner circle, but they still could not conceive: what was going on. Growing up, my family had boats, and the name of every boat began with a “W”, There was a ski-boat called Whitecap, a Flying Scot called the Windsong, a Lazer called the Whisper, a kayak called The Worry, and an ugly old rowboat called the Wart. When I got a day-sailer, my family named it the Whimper, because I liked to risk the opposite gunnel under water as you leaned out. Imagine, you are on a large lake, the Sea of Galilee, at dusk when a gale force wind comes up. What is the last thing you could imagine happening, something so impossible as to be beyond conceiving? Jesus came walking to them on the water! Rather than worrying about how or where, pay attention to the subtleties of the text. Just before they saw Jesus walking on Water, they had been rowing for 3 or 4 miles when what happened? A Wind came up on the face of the water! Just as at Genesis, and the future day of Pentecost, the Wind always indicates a Miracle, the presence of the Holy Spirit! And on what day did this miraculous meal, and the walking on water take place? On the Day of Passover, celebration of God’s presence in Grace over the people of faith!

July 15, 2018 "Never A Quiet Moment"

2nd Samuel 7: 1-14 Mark 6: 30-34 & 53-56 My parents owned a summer house in Northern Michigan, on a lake identical to Skaneateles. While many have questioned that anything in the world is like Skaneateles, there is no mystery in this, as my parents grew up in Syracuse and Fulton, spending time at Skaneateles, so when they went looking to build a house they went searching for something like this. Beginning the day we first saw the property, Mom kept a Journal of what happened each day, each year. We often chided her that every day during the summer included water skiing and sailing, picking strawberries and playing games long into the night. But as time went by, and there developed confusion what happened which year those Journals became known as The GOSPEL ACCORDING TO VIRGINIA. This morning Virginia’s Gospel, seems a lot like The Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which over a three year period without saying May 31st, describe Jesus met Nathaniel who questioned if anything good could come out of Nazareth, July 1st met Fishermen on shore of the Lake, Simon and his brother Andrew, James and his brother John whose father was Zebedee; July 2nd Jesus healed a Leper, July 3rd he told a Parable about a man with two sons, July 4th a Parable about planting Seeds, On the 5th he touched 7 Lepers! July 12th Jesus healed a 12 year old and also a Woman with Bleeding for 12 years, July 13th Jesus sent out his Disciples in pairs as Apostles. Once my brothers and I grew up, the House at the Lake became a site for “BASHES”. These were annual occasions for “Home-Comings”, as we brought friends and eventually girl friends to become wives, and our own children, and late into the night Family stories would be told of the time this happened and that, as well as updating, what transpired in life’s journeys. After 30 years of these, my parents described hoping that in the future we might each return to the House separately with others, because as much fun as the Family parties were, they did not have the chance to spend time with any of us, because all of us were there. Now that the parents have been gone several years, and the Lake House sold, what Nathan described to King David seems especially appropriate, that while we thought our Family were building a Family House, installing Garbage Disposals, putting in the Dock and Boats, planting trees and flowers; what God did over those decades was to build a House of our Family. Throughout the Centuries there have been countless works of art, depicting nearly every story of the Bible. The old old Bibles had Lithograph line drawings of The Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve being Ejected and the Angel with Sword in hand; Elijah and the Contest on Mount Carmel; Warner Sallman created a familiar image of the Long-haired White robed Jesus in a lighted Garden, knocking at the knobless door to our Hearts. In another Church, a former Pastor had caused a controversy because one family had donated an 8 foot tall framed picture of the bust of a Blond-haired Blue Eyed Jesus that they wanted to be hung on the wall behind the Pulpit, and the former pastor moved it to the Library, which made the family quiet upset. When I came, I found the picture oversized for the small Library, so had it rehung in the Gathering Space as you came in and out of worship, which seemed a minor thing, but the right place and made everyone happy. But in all the Artwork, I never have seen a portrayal of the Return of the Apostles. Imagine on the shores of the Lake, an immense tree covered in hues of green leaves dancing in the breeze, and beneath the tree, eight of the apostles laying in the grass and sitting down in pairs, while the others are returning, with Jesus seated at the center rooted against the tree. Each are exhausted from their journeys, but aglow with their experience. These were fishermen who had spent their entire lives, for generations living and working on the same lake, who suddenly had seen the world! They had preached and told parables exactly as Jesus had taught, they had exhorted demons and diseases, they had witnessed miracles; and the world opened in faith! Just to the right of the canvas storm clouds are brewing, the sea beginning to churn, down low in the foreground are the fishing sailboats that brought the disciples and Jesus, across from the other-side. As you look, the Apostles each are animated in their talking, all at the same time, all trying to tell their own stories for him to hear. Instead of looking at them, Jesus is looking off to the other side. On the other-side of the Canvas, there are crowds of thousands coming, carrying those who are lame on stretchers, leading those who are blind, walking beside those hurt, seeking Jesus. If it were up to me, I think I would title the painting “Distractions” because the apostles are each distracted by their lives, the crowds are distracted by their needs, the storm clouds coming distract people with fear, Some are distracted by how to feed thousands on the hillside, AND JESUS is watching, attentive to each. We are so distracted by our own lives, by all we try to accomplish. I would go so far as to say “We each try to accomplish, to workout, our own salvation without need for God”. I am told that a new cultural tradition has begun in China, that whenever asked the Greeting question “How are you?” The polite response is to say “I am very busy.” Being Busy has become the measure of happiness and success. Whether every minute of every day, you are doing something, trying to accomplish something, rather than getting away to a quiet place by yourself. There is a wonderful old fable, that reminds us the foundational truth: How God formed every element of Creation not out of nothingness, but out of the waste and void. At each stage, God called life into being. God named what was to be and declared “AND IT WAS SO” and it was so! After all the developments, God created Man and Woman, and God was most pleased with these, because they were the most like God of all God’s creations, but also because God had breathed God’s own Spirit into them, and most of all because being in relationship to God made God happy. But the humans stopped listening, they became pre-occupied with everything in their lives, all that they wanted to do and to control as legacy to their accomplishments. Because they were not listening, it seemed that God stopped talking, stopped Creating, stopped Calling life into being. Then one Day, God vowed to speak One Last Word. All Creation became attentive, because if God was only going to say one word for all the rest of time, what word would that Be? And God spoke the name “Jesus”. And the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us. To some it was a word of folly, an outdated idea that seemed without meaning; but to others the name Jesus embodied boundless: Compassion, Empathy, Love, Grace, Mercy, Communion and Truth.

"Coping With Interference" July 8, 2018

2nd Samuel 6: 1-19 Mark 6: 12-29 Decades ago a couple were married, and the Groom’s great grandmother gave a gift. The great grandmother was known to be eccentric and her presents quite bizarre, so without opening, they placed the unopened box in the spare bedroom, later moved to the hall closet, then to the attic. One day their son found it, and asked if he could open the present and have what was inside? Thinking better of it, his father said “Okay.” Inside, was an empty wooden box, which allowed the Father to breathe a sigh of relief. The son kept the box on his desk for change, pens and treasures. Over the next several years the box became quite worn. The boy grew up, fell in love and planning to marry, his partner was going through their accumulated stuff for what to purge and save, and unfortunately the scratched old box was in a box for the transfer station. But as the cardboard box was lifted, the little box fell out, and when he picked it up, it rattled as if something was inside. Secured inside, was a Pewter coin wrapped inside a letter. The Letter gave thanks for the generosity of a couple, who had provided a place of warmth and shelter from the storm, along with food for the stranger and his men. The author described that they were involved in a great battle for the future, and while this fledgling people did not have much to offer by way of payment, this was the first dollar struck by the Continental Congress. And the letter was signed G. Washington. So be careful what you try to put in a box and how you treasure it. In both of this morning’s readings, the Kings determined that possessing articles of faith was something they wanted, but they were not ready for what came with it. During the 40 years in the Wilderness, God gave, to Moses to give, to Israel, the 10 Commandments, and the Priests placed these along with a jar of Manna in the Ark of the Covenant. Those of us who remember The Indiana Jones’ Film recall that The Lost Ark was a large box with two cherubim on the top, all encrusted with gold, as a throne for God. As Israel crossed the Jordan with Joshua, and throughout the years of the Judges: Gideon, Samson, Deborah, the Ark of the Covenant led them into battle, with prayers and singing and sacrifice; and Israel was victorious. But in a particular battle with the Philistines, Israel possessed the Ark and neglected to pray and sacrifice to the Lord, and the Philistines were able to rise up against Israel. This was the point at which, the people lost faith in Samuel and God, demanding a King instead. The Ark was captured by the Philistines as a trophy of war, but any who came near the Ark sickened and died. After the deaths of Samuel and King Saul, when David was in Jerusalem, he remembered the Ark and decided it would be nice to have. David and his army went to take possession of the Ark, and the Philistines were only to happy to be rid of it. Except, like the Philistines, King David did not know to treat faith with respect, or how to demonstrate giving honor to God. They placed the Ark on a Cart which Ahio drove, and Uzzah walked behind, which seemed a practical means of transporting a heavy box encrusted with gold. However when they hit a pothole, the ark began to slide off the cart, and Uzzah reached out to catch the thing. As Uzzah touched the Ark, Uzzah died, and David determined to leave the dangerous power outside the City. Like the Raiders of the Lost Ark film, all that the David, and in the film the Nazis, could understand was that the box was full of limitless power, rather than being a foundation for the Holy Spirit. Growing into faith and relationship with God, David recognized that the Ark was not a treasure to be treated as cargo on a wagon, but as extension of the living God, to be carried on the shoulders of the Priests, literally with two long poles. Different from before, the King stripped in humility, wearing only a linen ephod. The priests blew the shofar, praying and singing, and every Six steps, every twelve to fifteen feet, they sacrificed both an Ox and a fatling calf. And the King threw himself into dancing. This was not a ritual procession, this was not a parade as the Army, or somber dirge, this was A Man of Faith and his followers demonstrating unbridled joy. His wife, Michal did not understand, expressing her embarrassment and shame at her husband’s public display of dancing, as wives are sometimes want to do! Do you recall when John and Martha were married here in 2005, the wedding was a marvelous occasion, but that evening two things happened. The African music began to play and the crowd began shouting and dancing. At 11pm I became nervous of the reaction of the neighbors and asked that we try to keep it down, but was told “Pastor, how do we control the volume of our joy?” Also, the children of those attending the wedding were City Kids unfamiliar with having backyard lawns, toys and equipment that could safely be left outside. So they began going from yard to yard, shooting Basketball, playing Catch and Football with whatever they found. The next morning, I sent letters to all the neighbors thanking them for their hospitality and hoping there had been no problem. The response was how wonderful for children to play with children of color in their backyard! King Herod was no King David! He had the DNA pedigree, of being descended of David, but Herod had traded faith in God for faith in the Empire, wealth, power and popularity. Herod lusted after his brother Phillip’s wife, so having limitless power, Herod had his brother killed and took Herodias as his wife. We tend to read of John the Baptist in December at the start of Advent, crying “Prepare the Way of the Lord” and in January with the Baptism of Jesus. But John was a prophet, who spoke Truth to Power, Comforting the Afflicted, and Afflicting the Comfortable! John publicly condemned Herod and Herodias’ marriage as being based in murder and coveting. Herodias was outraged, but Herod recognized the wisdom and insights of John, so threw him into a dungeon, but kept John alive as a possession of faith. Then came King Herod’s Birthday, and his niece, daughter of his wife and brother, danced for his banquet. Her dancing was not like the dancing of David. Herod was so enflamed with lust for his own step-daughter, King Herod offered her half of Israel! But, remember this was not a holy feast. This was not Feeding the 5000, or celebration of Communion. This was a Bacchanalia celebration, of the power of King Herod Under the Roman Empire. So the final course of the night was not a sweet delicacy, not an extravagance of fruit, a dessert of Jello, Chocolate or pastry, but the grotesque severed head of John the Baptist displayed on a Silver Platter. We make a great deal of beginnings, Weddings, Baptisms, Confirmations, where the vows we take, are declarations for us to live into. It is one thing to be able to say that we renounce evil and embrace the grace of God; to claim Jesus Christ is my Lord & Savior. It is another, to live life with all the temptations and struggles to win, that surround us, but to choose to trust God and rely only on God’s grace.

"A Different Alternative" July 01, 2018

2nd Samuel 5:1-8 Mark 6: 1-13 We come for Worship, Baptism, Communion, and our task is not Political Editorial, not to convince you of opinion, AND not simply for the Business of the Church. “The Word Of God” is too important, our need to be comforted, challenged in faith too great, for us to be divided. As The Church in this place and time, as The Body of Christ, our purpose is A DIFFERENT ALTERNATIVE, to preach the Word of God, so as to go out to share with the world that The Kingdom of God is at Hand! Over recent years leaders humanity has become divisive and divided. 2nd Samuel describes the Ancient Nation of Israel in Divisive times. After the time of Moses and Judges, the Tribes banded together demanding a King, and they chose Saul. But Saul was not a good King, Saul believed only in himself not God, so the Prophet Samuel anointed the Shepherd boy David ALSO. Civil War erupted between those who supported Saul and those who supported David, as Nation & people were broken. Afterwards, King Saul and his son Jonathan lay dead, but the divisions and brokenness would not heal just because Saul was gone. David needed to create a new Nation, a new People, with a new Capital. Different from their first experience, which the Bible describes as Saul was Elected Over the People, this passage began, “And the people came to David, saying we are bone of bone”, in grassroots support. David realized that if he chose a city of Saul’s Kingdom, it would send a message; if he chose a City aligned with his lineage, it would be equally divisive; he needed a DIFFERENT ALTERNATIVE. Smack dab in the very Center of the territory of Israel was an ancient Canaanite City called “Jebus”, their people the Jebusites! Jebus did not belong to David’s followers, and did not belong to Saul’s, it was no man’s land for Israel. Except that Jebus had an amazing fortification, ancient stone walls had been built the stones 6-8 feet across, laid out in concentric circles surrounding the city like a bulls eye. The Walls were 50 feet high, and built atop a Plateau on Mount Moriah, the Guards of the Jebusites could see advancing armies days away. When this happened, the Jebusites cemented rocks into the gates, making an impenetrable series of walls. If it should happen that invaders broke through one barrier, they were then trapped between that and the next, where archers could shoot down on them from both sides, wall upon wall, over and over, before ever reaching the city. So if you are David and you want to capture this City, there are no Doors and no windows, the Walls are 6 feet thick stone 50 feet high, and if you could even breach one, there was another and another… How do you gain entrance? Eighteen months ago Wesley John’s Grandfather who is of the Order of Free Masons, found the means for me to go to Israel as your Pastor. While I am not big on Tourist sites, you feel greatly moved by standing on the Mountain where they believe Elijah had his contest with the 500 Priests of Baal; and to see a Fishermen’s Sail Boat from the Sea of Galilee that had been Carbon Dated to the time of Jesus, Peter, James, John and to pray beneath 2000 year old Olive Trees in what is supposed to be The Garden at Gethsemane, as well as, at the Stone tablet where they believe the body of Jesus was taken down from the Cross. But for me, what was most inspiring was a DIFFERENT ALTERNATIVE from tourist shops and restaurants. The Jebusites, had found a Stream from the top of the mountain, outside the walls, which drained into a cave. So we put on swimsuits, the water at first just ankle deep, got deeper and deeper until chest deep and came up inside the city in a pool, that supplied the city’s fresh water. From the time of the Jebusites, throughout the history of Jerusalem, and the Greek and Roman occupations, including the time of Jesus of Nazareth, the water passing through limestone had created an effervescence, which was to have had healing powers. Later this was named “The Pool of Siloam”. The reference to the Blind and the Lame, is that the Blind and the Lame, seeking salvation would have been the only ones present at the Pool when David came up inside and captured the City! That works for King David uniting a Nation thousands of years ago by military capture of a Canaanite Neutral turf, but what do we do when friends and neighbors, coworkers and family only argue, refuse to believe anything other than themselves? Jesus came to his home Village. While many interpret this, as being a wonderful homecoming, I believe there is something different going on here. Jesus is not described as Joseph the Carpenter’s son! He is described as “Son of Mary”, clearly the old rumors about her conceiving Jesus before she married had followed Jesus all his life. Many knew him as a stone and wood carver, a rough contractor, whose hands were worn and rough, blistered and cut. How could hands like that, ever heal a 12 year old child, a leper, or a woman who had had constant bleeding for years or touch the tongue of a man unable to speak? They doubted him. Scoffed “Where did he ever get this stuff?” The text describes Jesus could not accomplish any great miracles there, only healing a few people. In cultures based on US vs THEM, shame, guilt and ridicule become common, the attitude is that if I give you any encouragement, that is taking power away from me. There is vital importance when Ministers, Elders and Deacons are installed that we ask the congregation for a Vow to trust the leadership of this person. In Baptism, that we vow to pray for this family and individual. Without that support, none of us can do anything. Personally, I read this section of Mark as a wonderful joke from Jesus… When no one believed in Jesus, he chose a DIFFERENT ALTERNATIVE, he sent out his disciples two by two granting them power and authority to preach and teach and cast out demons, to heal diseases, and to make a difference. BUT recall who the Disciples were, Most of these were fishermen, not like those of us who have a new Fly Reel, or Boston Whaler, but those who spent their entire lives, night and day fishing. Fish oil saturated in their clothes and skin, they reek of old fish! And Judas paired with Matthew a Tax Collector, wouldn’t those two be especially welcome when showing up on your doorstep! But, they each knew, Jesus believed in them! They believed, that HE believed, they could do miracles! Scholars often identify the Gospel of Mark as having a “Messianic Secret” as a literary device that Jesus/ the world have to discover who/what is the Son of God. I believe, that more than a literary device, this Messianic Secret is a theological point. Until people believe in The Messiah, they miss the secret: The Kingdom of God and power of God’s love is available to us all, here and now. God believes in You! Frederick Buechner once wrote of his encounter with a Christian Healer named Agnes Sanford. She described the image of Jesus standing in Worship services in Churches throughout the world, BUT she said in her vision he had both of his hands tied behind his back, because the ministers and those in the churches, did not expect anything to happen and did not ask him to. And the most amazing thing, is that when people hear that story, whether Ministers of Church members, we each nod our head in our own identification.

"GRADUATED FAITH" June 24, 2018

I Samuel 17: 8-11, 40-49 Mark 4:35-41 This is The Day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it! You will recall, that, in each of the Gospels, Jesus says “Let the little children come to me, do not withhold them, for unless you come as a child, you have no place in the Kingdom of God”; yet in Ist Corinthians 13, Paul says “when I was a child I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child, I acted like a child, when I became an Adult I gave up childish ways” Today, GRADUATING, we are both children and adults… So which is it, are we to be the child within, or be Grown up? When we were in Chemistry and Home Ec, whether last week or 50 years ago, we used what are called Graduated Cylinders or Graduated Measuring Cups. The purpose of which was not just to hold a sum quantity, but to recognize that 100 milliliters is more than 50, more than 10. A Weight Scale gives only a Total amount, where Measuring Cups that are Graduated demonstrate when you have 10 milliliters plus 40, plus 50 for 100; and if needed you could pour off or boil off excess, precisely back to any “graduated” level. Today, your name is called before the community, a sheepskin parchment is placed in your hand, you move a Tassel from one side to the other and you are “Graduated!” I am so to disillusion your parents, but several believe “Thank God, We are done!” While at 18, you are no longer Minors, our relationship for each other does not end because you are Graduated, in some ways our relationships and responsibilities get more expensive, both with College, and the problems you are able to get into! But being High School Graduates, or College Graduates, or Married, or Singing in the Choir 50 years, we can remember all the Gradations along the way… Remember your Junior Prom… Remember Crossing over from Middle to Hi School… Remember Going to State Street… Remember riding the Bus for your first day at Waterman, or in the Bus Garage for Kindergarten? And as you do, we also remember the gradations, not only as Educational memories, but as you were Baptized and entered on the Rolls of The Church, as you were Confirmed as Adults, You were claimed as Members of the Body of Christ, and we will always re-Member You. When you were 5 or 7 years old, things made sense, differently, than today. I remember my first Sunday in this Church, we read this much of the story of David and Goliath, and a 7 year old insisted that we had to finish the story, AS HE TOLD ALL, that David the Shepherd Boy, took the Sword of Goliath, cut off his head and raised it up in Victory! To him that bloody, gory, gruesome detail, was essential. We can each recall when what we were intrigued by was a favorite part of a story, a favorite line of a song, a favorite scene in a movie. Yet, Graduated, to where we are today, we sometimes return to see that reality, only to see that the lockers we had at State Street really were not as big as we recall, or your teachers were not as old as you thought. For that 7 year old, we can still remember that raising up the decapitated head of Goliath the Philistine of Gath, was as required as knocking two more times after rapping Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock; HOWEVER, as Graduates, we now hear the story and pay attention differently, as well. The last two weeks, as Pastor Mario has had his Flat Jesus, I have been waiting for someone to send us a Photo of their swimming under water in the Lake, holding up Flat Jesus as if Walking on the Water! Because, the point of the Gospel is not that Jesus floats, as much as people have been awed by that for Centuries. At first we see the face value, of an underdog standing up against a Bully, of a Shepherd boy with a slingshot and 5 Smooth Stones against a Combat Veteran; but as FAITHFUL GRADUATES we also search beneath the surface. What we suddenly hear, is that after Israel demanded to have a King, in our reading two weeks ago, the Army of the Philistines drew up against the Army of King Saul in battle-lines for War, because that is what “The Armies of Kings” do. Goliath stood some 6 Cubits, Nine feet Tall, with numerous powerful heavy weapons of War and Armor, a Shield and Javelin, a Spear and Sword. Goliath shamed and taunted the Army of Israel, calling “Instead of all my Philistine soldiers fighting, I will take on the mightiest warrior of King Saul, winner take all!” But is this, are we, the Army of King Saul, or the People of God? Is righteousness dependent upon who is biggest, strongest, who has the most powerful weapons, and who is the most afraid or shamed? Little David went out, to defend the honor of God. David was not a soldier of King Saul. David was a Shepherd, a boy who wanted to defend his father’s sheep against beasts, bears and lions. For David, this was not about Nations or Kings, Armies, Weapons, Fear or Shame. Night and Day, out in the world beyond the Walls of the City, a Shepherd risks his life against Beasts, not only to defend themselves and the flock, but to rescue even a remnant from the jaws of a monster. This was to be the image of the Real Future King of Israel, the Good Shepherd of the Flock of God. According to the Gospel, Jesus had already been Baptized by John with the Heavens opening and Almighty God declaring “This is my beloved Son, I am Well Pleased”. Jesus had stood up to Temptation in the Wilderness. Jesus had called his disciples and Preached and Healed people. And still people doubted, not just the Romans, not just the Crowds of Palestine and Galilee, not just Jesus’ own family, but even his disciples doubted and were afraid. Whether you know it yet, or are about to discover this going outside this bubble, we have lived a charmed life. The rest of the world is not just like Skaneateles. What we have witnessed on a regular basis are miracles, miracles of faith. And no matter what, this community has stood beside you. No matter what, this community of faith has prayed for you, by name. No matter what, you have been loved. I pray that sometime soon, we each open our eyes to the reality, that even the Winds of the Holy Spirit and Seas of Chaos have obeyed God! That nothing, nothing ever can separate you from God’s love! We have been and are incredibly blessed, which is not the reality everywhere in the world. This day, not only do you become Graduates of this High School, you are graduated in Christian Faith, able to re-member that you were Baptized and loved. Able to re-member that you are accepted as an essential part of the Body of Christ. Able to re-member that you can see both as an adult and still as a child of God. Many of you have run Track and Cross-Country. In Relay-races, there are various legs of the race. During the first leg, we carried you, and during this second, we have run along beside pacing you as you have excelled! Now you carry the baton forward, as we witness and cheer you on. A secret, many do not understand, the goal is not simply to WIN at your leg of the Race, but instead as part of the marathon, who are you going to chose to pace and teach and pass your Baton along to, on their journey?

"Living Life As A New Creation" June 17, 2018

Ezekiel 17:22-24 2nd Corinthians 5: 6-17 A true story, that starts off like a joke… Once upon a time, the Chaplain at University Hospital invited a Jewish Rabbi, a Catholic Priest, Muslim Imam, a Presbyterian Pastor to answer questions of 1st year Medical Students, most of whom claimed to be Spiritual and not Religious, questions about Faith & Medicine. We thought this could have gone any number of ways: When does life Begin, When does life End, Questions of Ethics, Do we Play God? But the question the Students were most interested in was: Their understanding the importance, and the Role of Suffering for each of us. Caught unprepared, the Rabbi and the Priest were like Deer in Headlights both said, “Suffering is bad, we try to comfort those who suffer.” The Imam protested, “Suffering is Good! Suffering is important! Only by suffering can the sinner atone for their sins.” The Medical Students began shifting in their seats, getting up, afraid one or more of us might enter patients’ rooms to cause suffering. At which point, I spoke to the Rabbi about the Book of Job and how despite suffering illness, the death of children and loss of his career; despite his friends and spouse pressuring him, Job never gave up his faith. I turned to the Priest, reminding him of the Passage in Paul’s Letter to the Romans that “Suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, character produces hope and hope does not disappoint… And to the 3, that there is a powerful connection between us: Islam, Judaism, Christianity (Catholic and Protestant) in that all of us have Scriptures about the Suffering Servant, whose sacrifice for the world, brings us all closer to God. Then turned to the Students, describing that we look to Medicine, as professionals possessing an arsenal of different tools to alleviate suffering and pain. Whereas, Our emphasis is on Redemption, and What Else is needed to Heal Suffering of the Whole Person, which does not automatically come because you took out the malignancy, or healed the disease consuming life. As Religious professionals in the business of caring, No one would ever inflict pain or suffering on anyone, but it is true that Suffering changes us! Suffering allows us to appreciate Life, to hope and dream differently than we ever could have without suffering. Actually, as much as Science and Religion have fought for years over the Origin of life, what I have experienced as far more relevant, have been the times of being Recreated, of Reconciliation and Redemption, that have come because of suffering, and the ability afterward, to LIVE LIFE AS A NEW CREATION! Those in the Wednesday Evening Bible Study, recently read the whole of Ezekiel, which began with Visions/ Hallucinations of Monsters, Men with 4 heads, each of which had 4 faces, and multiple pair of Wings. Then there were Wheels, with wheels inside of wheels, all spinning in different directions, that seemed to us like gyroscopes, however the wheels were covered in eyes staring in different directions. There comes realization, that connected to Suffering is Fear, fear of the Future. After the Vision of Beasts came chapters of Nebuchadrezzar’s destruction of every Ancient Nation and Kingdom, all justified in that time in the ancient past because: the World had forgotten God, Nebuchrezzar King of Babylon brought all the powerful low, then God entered in to reclaim and rebuild as a New Creation; that this new Creation would know and listen and love the Lord God. Next follows this poem, this parable, of how God like a mighty Eagle with outstretched wings and the razor-sharp dexterity of talons, takes the top sprig, the newest growth of the tallest Cedar, and plants this sprig on the top of a mountain on top of the world. The Sprig will grow tall enough and strong enough that all the world will make its home in the branches, and all will come knowing this new creation is a gift of God. In Corinthians, Paul describes that At one time, we each saw Jesus from a human point of view, then he suffered and died for us, and was resurrected by God, so none of us can see Jesus only like that anymore! In the same way, we cannot see each other only as sinners, but each and every person as part of the Body of Christ. A hundred years ago, at the height of the Evolution Debate, Henry Sloan Coffin, the Preacher of Madison Avenue in NY preached a sermon “From the Natural to the Spiritual”, describing Nature’s desire for Primordial Species of life to crawl Up from out of the Water to live on the Land. The thickening of skin, the development of lungs as they changed from fish to mammals. The growth of hair on our bodies for warmth and covering. The use of clothing and tools. In the seas, water provides air and food and a home for young; but on land, families must be carried and nurtured and sheltered in homes, developing a societal bond between us. There is a parallel development, as we are Called by Christ suffering to struggle to grow from Evolved Natural beings to Spiritual Relationships with one another and with God. One of the greatest experiences for me with my sons was Mountain Climbing the High Peaks which included a good deal of suffering. Parker Palmer has a story of Mountain climbing like this, with his greatest fear of repelling on a rope down the side of a sheer face cliff. Palmer describes that there were three plateaus, as he stepped up to the edge of the cliff, he was told to turn around and keeping the line taught gradually lean further and further backward until you could walk down the face of the mountain. He took a first step, and having not leaned far enough his feet went out from under, he crashed into the cliff and fell to the first plateau. His spotter called out, that that was a great first try, but he had to lean further, to risk more. He took a deep breath, rapped the rope around himself and leaned out far further than the first time managing to take one step, then another, when suddenly his feet went out from under and had again fell to the next plateau. Trying the third time, he managed to step over the cliff and walk backwards down the side of the mountain, when suddenly, he realized there was the large hole of a cave beneath him, and no where to place his footing! His Spotter called out, “Now you learn the meaning of when you can’t go round it, you have to trust to go deeper in faith!” The greatest joy of being a Father, is the Joy I hope we each experience this Day… The joy of coming through life to be God’s New Creations! This Joy comes in pausing to remember and reflect upon how blessed, how very blessed we have been by God, and to be part of the Church together. Otherwise we only “exist from day to day”, and we forget what it is to Live as a New Creation of God.

"Renouncing Sin to Trust God" June 10, 2018

I Samuel 8:4-22 Mark 3: 20-35 Listening to the Confirmands last Sunday, like you, I was reminded of my own Confirmation years ago. They did a very fine job, not only professing what they believe, but leading us in worship as the Church! At that time in 1972 when I was Confirmed, and with each of the New Members and Baptisms, there have been 3 questions required in professing Christian Faith: 1) Who is your Lord and Savior? 2) Do you want to be his Disciple? 3) Will you give of your self in every way? The chief concern being that the highest authority in our lives, more important than Nationalism, more than quest for a Career or dollar, more than following a Hero, more important than anything else… is our Faith in God. AND that instead of asking “will you have perfect attendance, will you give a minimum amount throughout the year”; our hope is that you would be involved because you want to be; you give without reserve because you care and want to see change in the world. Suddenly, without debate, in the last year, a fourth question has been added, not to The PC(USA) Book of Order but Ecumenically to Book of Common Worship. Do you renounce Sin and Choose to Trust Grace from God? Oddly, instead of this being an added commitment, it is something of a pre-requisite. Before claiming faith in Jesus Christ, in order to give of your self, we first must consider and choose whether to Renounce Sin. What is it to renounce Sin? There was a time in the life of this Church, where the Session held heresy trials, because as “role models”, as Christians they were witnessed to be crawling in and out of someone’s bedroom at The Sherwood! Because they were so intoxicated as to be unable to walk home… because they had sworn profane language… or worked on the Sabbath… or made an idol of their politics, their houses or their car. As asked this morning, I want to suggest that Sin is our prideful desire for Control. Our desire to have what we want, to have recognition, in short to make ourselves God, denying the Lord that identity. SO, in order to demonstrate your faith in God, will you intentionally abandon trying to control your world, your own life? Will you instead trust the grace/love of God? This trust is not in something you can hold, acquire or merit, not something you inherit, or master in school or sports. Like “Job” can you accept all the opportunities, and tragedies of life, as being like the blessings of health and a new Day, unwarranted, undeserved gifts of God’s grace? We pride ourselves on Our accomplishments and believe that we have to work to create everything that happens in our lives. Trusting God, trusting that we are loved by God, so much that God will provide for us without our asking, that is a mind-shift. In ancient times, before our development of government or recorded history, our Ancestors demanded, “We want to be like everybody else!” Other Nations have Kings, we want a King! To which the Prophet Samuel replied “How dare you, there is One King, God and God only!” But God replied, if they want a King, let them have a King, but choosing this, recognize, a King is going to demand Taxes, your children for Soldiers, your daughters as his wives. Chose the Living God and you chose to trust, chose a King and you pay over and over each day from all that you possess. We have an historic advantage over the Bible Stories we read. The Wednesday Bible Study Group this week, listened to Paul’s explanation that Jesus was human until the point he suffered through death and was resurrected by God, at which point he became divine. We have Creeds and Gospels, to know Christ is God’s Son, Thousands of years later, we read of the people being tempted to eat the Apple they were told to not eat, and we know what will happen. We read of the People demanding to be like everyone else, with a King, and we know they were rejecting God. Before we even read from the Gospel, we know Jesus is the Son of God, we know he suffered and died and was resurrected for us as our Messiah; but the Scribes and Pharisees and Jesus’ own family, did not. They witnessed his performing miracles, they heard his wisdom, but they were not convinced to renounce the Sinful desire for control; to trust the compassion, grace, covenant commitment of God through Jesus Christ. We have been the Church of Christ in this place for the last 217 years! We came into this family knowing Jesus to be the Son of God, our Lord and our Savior, knowing God to be God, the Creator of everything tangible and intangible, knowing that God did not abandon us when Christ ascended, but ever since that first Pentecost has continued to blow through us. We have witnessed people who were infected with disease and as good as dead, who through faith/prayer have been returned to life. Marriages that were over, that shame/betrayal had broken, that have been renewed and reclaimed. Children that were arrested and incarcerated, who have succeeded and made both their parents and their community, proud. We have witnessed refugees of Civil Wars, whose own family “un-named as being a John Doe”, whom the world pointed to as being Lost, who not only found their families and brought to them resources they never knew, these refugees gave this Church new understanding of the Bible and of Christian faith, that we are survivors who never give up, and we call others to faith! But still we agonize and struggle. “I Want! I Need! Everyone else has, so I want”… To place our trust in the Grace of God, the love of the Church, is hard. Over the years we have known one another, we have baptized over 400 new believers together! As an installed pastor for 34 years, I have experienced the Church claiming over 900 persons, in an era when the Church has been hemorrhaging members and people have claimed to no longer be religious. There is an arrogance in Baptism... Having young parents bring forward their new born, and declaring you cannot do this alone! There has been a running joke in each of the congregations I have served, that whenever parents have difficulties, the Preacher will provide babysitting. There have even been Grandparents who were suspected of pinching infants, in order that we would carry them around. But the truth is that in all these years, we never tried and never believed that we could raise someone’s children better than they, only that when needed we could provide help better than being alone, trying to live, to raise children, as if there was no one other than you in life. The Great Uncle of our members Reinhold Niebuhr was a great theologian in the 1930-60s. Reinie described that Christian Faith involves REFLECTION and UNDERSTANDING of the Social, Political and Economic realities of the culture in which we live, faith is not abstract theory! However, he went on to say that with all our powers of thought, all our advanced human understanding, WE MUST NEVER CLOSE THE DOOR TO THE POSSIBILITY OF GOD’S INTERVENTION. Something different than we expect, different from what we can make happen, is always possible with God. That possibility from God, is what keeps Christian Hope alive! The people of Israel demanding a King, The Scribes and Pharisees, and Jesus’ own family his brothers and sisters and Mother Mary were not Evil, they were not Bad People. They were simply PEOPLE without HOPE. When God intervened in their lives, through Jesus Christ, they reasoned it to be illogical, they were afraid, they wanted to be in control. The Latin root of the word RELIGION = “ligare” means to determine what is legitimate, what is truth, what is right and wrong. Their thought led them to the conclusion that Jesus must be THE LORD OF THE FLIES, BEELZEBUB, and that he was calling on powers of evil, because they could not imagine something more, something given by LOVE instead of by making it happen.

"What Are You Searching For?" May 27, 2018

Isaiah 6: 1-8 John 3: 1-17 This is Memorial Day Weekend, which invites us to think about our heritage. This is Trinity Sunday, which directs our worship to the reality believing in 1God 3Persons! But this is also The day the Lord has made, challenging: What are you searching for? It is not enough to want More, or different. What are your dreams? Be careful your dreams, where you insert yourself, because they may come true. During the great Depression, people dreamed of a job, food, a home, survival. During WWII, people dreamed of Victory, ending tyranny & oppression, of surviving as bullets and mortars shot at you. I love the description in 1940’s Movies of getting a Job after the War to be a $15,000/ year Man! In the 1950s and early 60s, Fallout Shelters were built and at school we practiced putting our heads inside our desks seeking survival when an Atomic Bomb went off. A few weeks ago our youngest turned 30, and I recalled that at 30, we were already married 7 years, with two children, two cars, a mortgage, our Graduate and Undergrad Loans repaid, and a Beagle. There was a year in which our Church and I as Pastor, received 5 subpoenas of Law Suits, all I wanted was for people to trust. There were years when family members and loved ones were chronically ill, and our dream was to do our best to help them. What are you searching for? What do you want to accomplish, to volunteer to be a part of with others? BEING TRINITY SUNDAY, THIS MORNING’S SERMON IS IN 3 PARTS: God’s relationship with the Prophet Isaiah is unique! Noah, Abram, Moses each of the Disciples, were “Called”. Most, like Moses, responded to God saying “Not me, I stutter,” “I am not worthy,” “Get my brother instead!” Isaiah is the only prophet to volunteer, saying “Here am I, send me!” The boy Samuel, said words like those, but only because he was told to say them by Eli! Like an overanxious student, Isaiah raises his hand shouting “Ooooh, Oooh, Ooo, Here I am, Call me!” In all the Bible, the only other One to Volunteer, is God. In Isaiah 65 God says “I was ready to be sought out by those who seek God! I said “Here I Am, Here I AM!” to a nation and people that did not Call.” I have always identified with Isaiah, an Ordained priest, son of High Priests, wanting to be a prophet leading the Community to God! There are some of us HARD-WIRED to Speak, others to Listen. I readily admit to being an Extrovert. Some of us listen, to avoid being wrong. We listen, waiting for when and how to offer a suggestion, no matter how interminable the pregnant pause, considering with what inflection, so as to not be misunderstood. When I was in Doctoral Study, it became a game among the other students “How many times can Lindsey be told he is wrong?” Because in the classroom, misunderstandings are only clarified by trial and error. We learn by trying, by testing out possibilities, and if they are wrong: they are wrong and we try again, and again, until better answers are found among all the alternatives. The only wrong answers are to keep trying the way we always have done, because you already know what will happen; or to change only for the sake of change. Stopping at Verse 8, it appears as though Isaiah is a Success story: God Calls and Isaiah answers! But After verse 8, God reports that the one Sent is to go to people who refuse to listen, the changing of people’s hearts, is not possible. But for Isaiah and to God, that immediate outcome is not what matters. Our great heroes are not remembered because they succeeded, but they tried and refused to give up trying. SECOND, Would that those appointing Scriptures stopped the reading from John at verse 15! John 3 would be a passage about Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night, searching for truth, searching for God, searching for understanding, a leader of Israel seeking the Messiah and struggling to reconcile what he knows // with the incarnation of Jesus. Struggling, not only because the Old Testament World and Gospel collide, but because Jesus does not give a logical argument, but mystical spiritual description that life is not about our accomplishments, but about relationship with God. This search for meaning/ understanding is overwhelmed by Jesus’ announcement, that “God so loved the world that God gave God’s only begotten Son”. That statement undercuts and re-orients everything. Our lives are not about our accomplishments, the point is not to be Right, or to Win! Instead of victory, winning, instead of survival // the spiritual quest, “the meaning of Life is to be in relationship with God!” NO OTHER WORDS have been so twisted by preachers as these. Jesus does NOT say the Only way to GOD is my way; but the only way to the FATHER is through me. Christianity is unique in emphasizing “Seeking relationships of faith”. And the most wonderful part is that before we chose God, God already loved us, loved us so much as to try to change our reality. Different from Isaiah, where a person attempts to convince others to change, to listen; here The Prime-mover, the Artist of Creation, enters into Creation itself, and does so not from a desire to win, not to change the world, but simply purely because God cares, God loves the world so much. THIRD, This is Trinity Sunday, appointed as a corrective for the Church, because many of us have come to believe in Jesus and only Jesus, as if we could extract Jesus out of the Bible; or as a Dualistic faith with God and Jesus only; when since the Day of Pentecost, since the adoption of the Nicene Creed, the Church has claimed A Trinity. This is not an argument from logic but from faith. Throughout the entire Bible, God extended Covenant Relationship with individuals, with families, with Nations, with the world. Covenant-Relationship, not a contract, not a Law, but a straight-forward Relationship of Trust: Follow wherever God leads, and God will be God, and we will be God’s people. YET everyone broke the Covenant. We tried to make ourselves God, or to find meaning in National Pride, in Accomplishment, in Success. For thousands and thousands of years across races, tribes, empires, people sought their own desires; instead of trusting God. The point of the Covenant is, simply being faithful, trusting no matter what, loving with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength. Having loved the world so much as become mortal, Jesus never broke Covenant with God and the world. The Spirit continues to Call us to dream and to work at Trust. Christian faith is unique, even counter-cultural because our faith is based on a relationship, call it faith, hope, love. You cannot be part of Creation alone.