Genesis 1:1 - 2:3
Matthew 28: 16-20
Every story growing up seemed to begin differently, “Once upon a time,” “In the Beginning,” “Long, long ago, in a far distant land, in a different galaxy,” “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Yet, at the end of the story, all the plots were reconciled, all the characters cared for, “And they lived happily ever after,” or as in a Shakespearean drama, everyone save the narrator lay dead, and there was the postscript “The End.” But in every way, the Bible is a curiosity, just a little bit different. Every ending seems to be an Ever New Beginning. “And there was evening and there was morning.” Jesus, the Savior, the Rabbi and Teacher, was arrested and put to death, his body buried, on the third day he rose from the dead, led the Disciples to Galilee of the Gentiles and Commissioned that they baptize and teach in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We are a people, whose imaginations are locked in a fixed reality. For the last few hundred years, we have known the dimensions of everything that exists in length and height and width, by breadth and depth, even in order from beginning to end. Our greatest desire seemed to be to quantify, to qualify, to order and control life itself. But we now live in a New Beginning, where in addition to what is tangible IS what is Virtual. Where in addition to speaking words and writing language, we blog and text, where we can share all our thoughts. Our histories are written of persons like Paul Revere, who rode through Village and Town calling “To Arms to Arms, the British are Coming.” Of underground groups working together, communicating by code. In the last several months we have been witness to Revolutions across the Middle east, orchestrated and a critical mass accomplished by Facebook and Twitter. A generation ago, we were taught The Scientific Method as absolute, that the goal of education, the whole purpose of knowledge was to prove, to know, to have certainty. In the early 1980s two students working on their degrees in Education came to the realization that nothing could ever be proven. There was always exception to the rule, bits of evidence that began new theories. All we can know is our experience, and how that reality creates new beginnings for others.
In Confirmation Class, the minister attempted to explain the Trinity that God was the Creator. Jesus was the Redeemer, the Savior, who was born and lived and died and rose again 2000 years ago. Which meant that the Holy Spirit is God with us today. As if these were three separate historically bound Gods or God at different ages. But what if Creation is not fixed and static and controlled? What if God is continuing to Create ever new ideas, ever new dimensions to reality, today? What if Jesus were not only that one man born in Bethlehem in the time of the Caesars, but present in redemption, offering hope throughout human history? What if Genesis is not so much about HOW Creation Began, or WHY, but instead an affirmation of WHO Created?
There are so many delightful elements to this passage of Genesis! First, the Ordering, both that beginnings arise out of what has been before, not destroying so much as providing balance. Light does not destroy the darkness, Dry land does not replace the water, what is created creates a new beginning with a new balance. But also, that everything, all of creation from light and darkness, to microscopic organisms and sea monsters, God and humanity, ALL are inter-related in this creation. No one element can be removed without effecting everything else. The first half of Creation is about creating a HABITAT, a place of being. The Second half involves filling that Habitat with INHABITANTS and how they shall procreate and replicate and continue throughout time.
What is Fascinating about this narrative, is that thousands and thousands of years before Darwin, before Sir Isaac Newton, before Plato and Aristotle, the Ancient Believers got the Order of Evolutionary Creation! Prior to there being human beings, there had to have been other mammals, and before these birds and fish and organisms in the waters. Before Vertebrates and Invertebrates there had to have been plants and for plants there needed to be soil in balance with water, there needed to be an atmosphere, for lack of a better word a firmament (foundations that hold up what is out there) and that light was created out of the dark and void. SO before anything else, do we believe that life as complicated and complex as this creation, do we believe that life began as an accidental cataclysm of combustible gases? Or, do we believe that greater than anything we can know, before anything we can imagine, that there is God wanting us to exist?
Language, be it that “God Said Let There Be,” or the finest compilation of words and idioms, grammar and poetry, or the texting of letters and numerics to instantly express our thoughts inspiring revolutions, language continually opens up new beginnings. In the Beginning, the Spirit is described as BROODING OVER THE FACE OF THE DEEP. Do we understand this to mean that God was introspective, moody, searching the Depths of Chaos, Expectantly Waiting, all of which are words describing closure, focus, going more and more intense? But the same phrase which is translated as BROODING can also mean SWEPT as like a broom that pushes and moves, gathering together, while also scattering beyond.
A more basic and volatile argument than between Creationists and Evolutionists, has been over translation of the very first word of Creation. In Hebrew the phrase can be translated either “IN THE BEGINNING” or “WHEN GOD BEGAN TO CREATE”, which suggests that before time and space, God may have done something else. Which then also establishes that everything we know and have experienced is simply foundation for what is to come in Ever New Beginnings.
The end of the Gospel of Matthew is delightful. Earlier, Jesus had already SENT OUT the Disciples with power to Preach, to Heal, to Pray, to Accomplish Miracles. What happens in Matthew after the resurrection, is that The Teacher Commissions the Disciples to go and Teach. Rather than possessing some new power or understanding, rather than having mastered knowledge and being graduated to be experts, Jesus sends the disciples out as INTERNS. Interns have a wealth of knowledge and need to experience, need to ask questions, need to make applications of what they know, the miracles they have seen and heard done to their lives.
How different would our faith and understanding of life be, if the Canon of Scripture were not arranged from Genesis to Exodus to Kings to Prophets to Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, Epistles to Revelation, but Instead Began with The Parables of WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR and REDEEMING THE LOST, Commissioning the INTERNS to Go and Teach and Learn and Baptize, that eventually led to EVER NEW BEGINNINGS?
The World, even our membership seem to have discounted what we believe/ who we are as believers, as if the Church were a static institution, a known quantity, with established answers as opposed to fresh experience and questions. I am about as thoroughly learned as a pastor can be having gone on for seven years of education after College Graduation, my father and mother were also were Seminary trained Presbyterians, and their fathers and mothers were Presbyterians. Yet, a few years ago, we experienced something I had never seen before. There was a woman who was an active leader in the Church, an ordained Elder, Chair of our Missions. Her husband was a man who had retired from Professional life, who had grown up in Edinburgh and though he now wanted to be had never been Baptized. We met together over several weeks, the morning we were to share the Sacrament, he walked up this aisle, and having recited the phrases we did this morning “We Baptize in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”, we asked “Who is Your Lord and Savior?” And rather than giving the established Answer, he stopped and you could see from his expression he was weighing the possibilities, thinking through what do I believe, who is the greatest authority in my life, do I have a Lord and Savior, and having thought about the answer, he replied “GOD!” I am not certain I can describe what witnessing that has meant as it created ever new beginnings of others being baptized.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
"Would that the Lord Would", June 12, 2011
Numbers 11:24-30
Acts 2:1-21
REMEMBER this day. Not because of some terrorist attack, or cataclysm of the Stock Market. Remember this day. Not because of some great birth, or some tragic loss. Remember this day! Because in about seven to nine months, we will be whining and complaining about the cold and snow, and many will have forgot that we had a week last June when the temperatures in CNY were at 100 and we cried out that it be cooler. The great difficulty is that God has No Modulation. Faith in God cannot be controlled. There is evidence God heard the people's cry and responded. There is evidence of God setting the people free. God dispersed the people of God to the ends of the earth. God became human, demonstrating what it is to be neighbor to one another, using neighbor as a verb-form of how to live/act and the human response was “But which neighbors? Who is my neighbor?” God is an All or Nothing. We cannot be devoted to God and also have other equal priorities. Sarah, Hannah, Elizabeth, Mary could not be a little bit pregnant, there was only barrenness, or being filled with the holy spirit.
There are those who read the Bible, self-assured that every passage has a particular answer, and all we need do is to be taught to have the proper questions when reading, to have the right answers given to us. But the beauty of Scripture, like a painting of one of the Great Masters, is that beholding the story, we glimpse minor stories in the crowd as well. The Book of Numbers describes the Wilderness Wanderings, as the escaped Slaves from Egypt are multiplied to become a great Nation. Numbers is the personal revelation of Moses, being changed from the Shepherd of his Father-in-law's flocks into the Archetype of Leader, who was Prophet and spokesperson for God, recipient of the Commandments, the leader of the Nation of Israel, who guided the people of God for 40 years, guided them from Slavery and Oppression to the Promised land. Here in the 11th Chapter, there is description of the miracle food of the Wilderness: MANNA. Manna was gritty and seed like, the size of coriander seed, and the consistency of gum resin, but dried it could be ground like flour, Manna was naturally filled with protein and nutrients. What Manna truly was, know one knows, for it was the food of the wilderness.
Like flour, manna could be made into pancakes and tortillas, doughnuts, and bread, cakes and pie crusts. Manna was the ubiquitous food that could become anything, and used to hold or compliment any meal... but therein was the difficulty, because there were no other foods. Manna was like eating Hotdog buns, without the hotdog. Like a multi-layer cake without icing, a piecrust without filling, a tortilla with nothing inside. So it was that the people were not satisfied and complained of wanting more, wanting meat, where's the beef. Moses heard their complaints and whining, and Moses did some complaining of his own. Being alone as Leader was no fun. The responsibilities were more than any one person could do. In addition to the expectations of the Job, there were people's other expectations, and his expectations of himself. Certainly there was with him Moses' brother Aaron, the first priest, but the last time Aaron was left alone to lead, there was that incident with the golden calf and idol worship. There was Moses' and Aaron's sister Miriam, but she had a rather vicious side, watching from the riverbank without saying a word as Baby Moses floated down the river Nile, dancing and singing over the dead bodies of Pharaoh and the Egyptians and their horses, the morning after the Red Sea. Pentecost emphasizes that as a people of faith none of us can be that community alone. No one of us can have faith for a lifetime, can change the world, can cope with the loneliness of life, alone.
The great difficulty is that God has no modulation, faith is an all or nothing proposition, where if we choose to believe in God, then God must be allowed to be God and we cannot try to be God ourselves. Sarah, Hannah, Elizabeth, Mary found they could not be a little bit pregnant. We had over 200 inches of snow, an accumulation approaching 20 feet and many of us complained wanting warmth, wanting sun light, wanting an end to snow. Whereupon in May and June here in the northern-most climates the heat rested in the 90s and approached 100. The people of Israel complained of the lack of anything but Manna, when suddenly they found quail, not just a few birds for 20 miles in every direction, three feet deep, there was quail. Like one of the Plagues of Pharaoh suddenly they had quail until it was coming out their noses! Moses had whined about the lack of leadership, the need to have others to share responsibility with; and at God's command he appointed 70 elders who went out to the Tent of Meeting to receive the Holy Spirit, but Eldad and Medad who had not gone out to the Tent but remained in the Village received the Spirit as well. Like quail 3 feet deep, like 100 degrees in the Spring, Moses recognizes God's gift of leadership cannot be controlled, and this is not an attack on his authority, but rather “WOULD THAT GOD WOULD APPOINT THE WHOLE COMMUNITY TO BE PROPHETS TOGETHER.”
We are very blessed as the Church in this place this day. We have one of the most gifted Sessions and Board of Deacons, any Church has ever known. This Church has continually had strong leadership, the distinction of this moment is that Session and Deacons each seem to recognize the gifts each possess and the enormous responsibilities of faith. In many ways, the tasks before the Church today are as monumental as any we have faced. No longer do we need to raise millions of dollars. No longer do we need to be displaced, with offices in the narthex and dust everywhere, because of renovations. But as a Church, we have invited and welcomed and broadened the Church, now needing to deepen commitment, to challenge involvement to accept the all or nothing of God.
Acts 2:1-21
REMEMBER this day. Not because of some terrorist attack, or cataclysm of the Stock Market. Remember this day. Not because of some great birth, or some tragic loss. Remember this day! Because in about seven to nine months, we will be whining and complaining about the cold and snow, and many will have forgot that we had a week last June when the temperatures in CNY were at 100 and we cried out that it be cooler. The great difficulty is that God has No Modulation. Faith in God cannot be controlled. There is evidence God heard the people's cry and responded. There is evidence of God setting the people free. God dispersed the people of God to the ends of the earth. God became human, demonstrating what it is to be neighbor to one another, using neighbor as a verb-form of how to live/act and the human response was “But which neighbors? Who is my neighbor?” God is an All or Nothing. We cannot be devoted to God and also have other equal priorities. Sarah, Hannah, Elizabeth, Mary could not be a little bit pregnant, there was only barrenness, or being filled with the holy spirit.
There are those who read the Bible, self-assured that every passage has a particular answer, and all we need do is to be taught to have the proper questions when reading, to have the right answers given to us. But the beauty of Scripture, like a painting of one of the Great Masters, is that beholding the story, we glimpse minor stories in the crowd as well. The Book of Numbers describes the Wilderness Wanderings, as the escaped Slaves from Egypt are multiplied to become a great Nation. Numbers is the personal revelation of Moses, being changed from the Shepherd of his Father-in-law's flocks into the Archetype of Leader, who was Prophet and spokesperson for God, recipient of the Commandments, the leader of the Nation of Israel, who guided the people of God for 40 years, guided them from Slavery and Oppression to the Promised land. Here in the 11th Chapter, there is description of the miracle food of the Wilderness: MANNA. Manna was gritty and seed like, the size of coriander seed, and the consistency of gum resin, but dried it could be ground like flour, Manna was naturally filled with protein and nutrients. What Manna truly was, know one knows, for it was the food of the wilderness.
Like flour, manna could be made into pancakes and tortillas, doughnuts, and bread, cakes and pie crusts. Manna was the ubiquitous food that could become anything, and used to hold or compliment any meal... but therein was the difficulty, because there were no other foods. Manna was like eating Hotdog buns, without the hotdog. Like a multi-layer cake without icing, a piecrust without filling, a tortilla with nothing inside. So it was that the people were not satisfied and complained of wanting more, wanting meat, where's the beef. Moses heard their complaints and whining, and Moses did some complaining of his own. Being alone as Leader was no fun. The responsibilities were more than any one person could do. In addition to the expectations of the Job, there were people's other expectations, and his expectations of himself. Certainly there was with him Moses' brother Aaron, the first priest, but the last time Aaron was left alone to lead, there was that incident with the golden calf and idol worship. There was Moses' and Aaron's sister Miriam, but she had a rather vicious side, watching from the riverbank without saying a word as Baby Moses floated down the river Nile, dancing and singing over the dead bodies of Pharaoh and the Egyptians and their horses, the morning after the Red Sea. Pentecost emphasizes that as a people of faith none of us can be that community alone. No one of us can have faith for a lifetime, can change the world, can cope with the loneliness of life, alone.
The great difficulty is that God has no modulation, faith is an all or nothing proposition, where if we choose to believe in God, then God must be allowed to be God and we cannot try to be God ourselves. Sarah, Hannah, Elizabeth, Mary found they could not be a little bit pregnant. We had over 200 inches of snow, an accumulation approaching 20 feet and many of us complained wanting warmth, wanting sun light, wanting an end to snow. Whereupon in May and June here in the northern-most climates the heat rested in the 90s and approached 100. The people of Israel complained of the lack of anything but Manna, when suddenly they found quail, not just a few birds for 20 miles in every direction, three feet deep, there was quail. Like one of the Plagues of Pharaoh suddenly they had quail until it was coming out their noses! Moses had whined about the lack of leadership, the need to have others to share responsibility with; and at God's command he appointed 70 elders who went out to the Tent of Meeting to receive the Holy Spirit, but Eldad and Medad who had not gone out to the Tent but remained in the Village received the Spirit as well. Like quail 3 feet deep, like 100 degrees in the Spring, Moses recognizes God's gift of leadership cannot be controlled, and this is not an attack on his authority, but rather “WOULD THAT GOD WOULD APPOINT THE WHOLE COMMUNITY TO BE PROPHETS TOGETHER.”
We are very blessed as the Church in this place this day. We have one of the most gifted Sessions and Board of Deacons, any Church has ever known. This Church has continually had strong leadership, the distinction of this moment is that Session and Deacons each seem to recognize the gifts each possess and the enormous responsibilities of faith. In many ways, the tasks before the Church today are as monumental as any we have faced. No longer do we need to raise millions of dollars. No longer do we need to be displaced, with offices in the narthex and dust everywhere, because of renovations. But as a Church, we have invited and welcomed and broadened the Church, now needing to deepen commitment, to challenge involvement to accept the all or nothing of God.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
"Returning to Return", June 5, 2011
Acts 1: 1-14
Ephesians 1: 15-23
What do we believe? Of all the elements of faith, this is the one that gives rational people fits. We can explain away, how God created all Creation in seven days, speculating that as time was not yet created, there were more than 24 hours/ day, and as we have wished more than 60 minutes in an hour. We can conceive how Moses and the Israelites escaped through the Red Sea and survived for 40 years on Manna in the wilderness; how the blowing trumpets and prayer could bring down a City's walls.
We can even imagine that because God So Loved the world, that Almighty, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Ubiquitous God could take off divinity to be INCARNATE in Jesus Christ. We can listen to all the miracle stories, including the resurrection from death upon the Cross to life ever-lasting. For the last 40 days, we have read of his appearance and teaching the disciples after the resurrection of Easter morn, with proof of the resurrection in that he broke bread, cooked and ate fish with them, and they physically had touched his wounds and suffering. But that Jesus' body then stepped upon a cloud and flew into heaven, takes a suspension of reality most of us have difficulty understanding.
Faith is not about understanding HOW, unpacking those realities is a matter of science and physics. Faith gets at THE WHY of what else goes on in life. When a good friend develops dementia, we can hear explanations about the quantity of Seratonin and Neoponephran in the brain. When a loved one dies, we can have an autopsy done to determine causes of death, and how often we abuse ourselves questioning what we could have done to prevent this. But these do not address the hole and void we feel, at their being gone. Just as when a couple fall in love, we can interpret how differing experiences and stimuli were right to bring these two together at precisely this moment in their lives, but that does not explain love. All these do not address the WHY of the meaning of life.
To every person, there come points of realization, that as much as we try to control our lives, as often as we inadvertently attempt to make every circumstance about ourselves, there are limits to our control and influence, and we know there must be, has got to be, something greater than we ourselves. Whether the intricate complexity of the universe' intelligent design; the humility of another's compassion; or awe at the mystery of birth, with the beauty of cuticles and eyelashes; or simply the need for companionship in the dark nights of our souls, we need God. Not physical idols created by our hands, not gods of war, gods of love and gods of mountaintops, but need of God who is above all and in all, the source and judge of all life, who cares about each of us. Even more, that nothing in life, not Angels, Governments, or Armies, not Economies or Quarantines, not even death, nothing can separate us from the love of God, which was demonstrated for us in Jesus Christ! But as proof of his humanity, Jesus' body died and rose again.
The Ascension settles three things for us.
First, foremost, that all that Jesus experienced, knew in life and death and resurrection is not lost, gone. Generations afterward, we have the words of Lincoln; we possess the thought of our Nation's Founding Fathers, and the purpose of the Supreme Court is to interpret and apply their expressed intent in the Constitution to differing circumstance today; we possess the words of Shakespeare and every actor and director find ways to make the words come alive differently. However, the Ascension is faith that Jesus Christ is alive, able to feel, to suffer, to know. Not interpreted and applied, but that the same Jesus lives. Second, that the Messiah sits at the right hand of God. God may be able to be at all places at all times, the Holy Spirit is able to be felt and change the lives of people everywhere, but Jesus had a physical body, which atoned for our sin, which is right in front of God. Is there anything, in all of life, that God cannot forgive, seeing the witness of Christ continually before God's face?
He stepped upon a cloud and floated, we cannot explain, except that as Christ came from God, he returned to God, that he can return at any point in our lives, in our suffering or in our love, there will always be forgiveness.
What the Ascension does for us, is to allow us to believe spiritually, theologically, to think not only with our rational minds, but our relational selves as well. The Enlightenment is less than 500 years old, described as an experiment, to attempt to describe and to know the rules governing the natural world. But humanity knew of life long before the Enlightenment, before Descartes and Sir Francis Bacon, before Ben Franklin, before Isaac Newton. Somehow, we have come to believe that life was an either/or proposition; either we can believe in Natural Law and Natural Order, or we can believe in things spiritual. But as much as we have proven, as much as we can know, there are always exceptions to every rule.
The Letter to the Ephesians is delightful for so many reasons, chief among them, that it begins: “I have heard of your faith in the Lord and your love toward all the saints.” There is a difference between publicity and reputation. Publicity are those things we put forth about ourselves, for others to know. I have even had those, who so desired to control how people thought of them, that they left word for what was to be said at their funeral after they were dead. Part of the joy of celebrating weddings is working with couples listening to what they want their marriages to be. Reputation is how others describe us, what happens outside of our ability to control.
Yesterday, it poured rain, and the bride fretted about how to control the heavens. There was also a wedding across the street, and how to orchestrate parking. Yet, at the appointed hour, everyone came together, and as the bride stood with her groom, the two year old flower girl cheered “YEA!” And in that their day was also the anniversary of their parents' wedding, we had the parents stand and renew their vows as well. One of my favorite memories of any wedding, was the one where at the end of the wedding, I raised my hand for the Blessing of the Couple and the bride seeing my arm in the air, High Fived the minister. There is a spontaneity to life itself, far beyond our ability to explain, to document, to plan or to control. Far more important than what publicity we tell others about ourselves, are how we are known.
It would be easy for us as a congregation to publicize that in addition to our annual budget which designates 15% for Mission, we have created and partnered with others to create non-profit corporations funding a Clinic in Sudan, an affordable Seniors' Residence and Food Pantry, and so many other causes locally that together generate 4 times as much being given to Charitable Causes as we spend upon ourselves. But giving up CONTROL and trusting the Spirit, it is far better to hear others describe, “When my mother died, the church were there for her and for our family.” “When my daughter married, and her sister wanted her children baptized, the church found ways to make their dreams come true.” When the clinic was built, “Miracles took place” the day we discovered the well had run dry, a well driller came to a wedding in the village. In the past 8 out of 10 babies died, 50% of mothers in labor and delivery, and today infant and maternal death is seen as rare and preventable. Presbyterians in Central New York, particularly people from Skaneateles, are not usually known for our faith in miracles; but such experiences have changed us... empowering us to look at life and at one another differently, that this Reality is God's creation. That there is Forgiveness. That in addition to Forgiveness and making amends, there can be true Redemption. That in addition to our individual relationships with God, we also have a communion among ourselves, that as we are forgiven we are changed and brought closer to God, we also are brought closer to one another in Christ's love.
Each of the Four Gospels tell the events of Jesus' Life, Teachings and Ministry in slightly different order. I have always thought that the conclusion of the Road to Emmaus actually belongs with the Ascension. That he took bread and giving thanks to God, broke it, and their eyes were open but now they saw him in many other places in life.
Ephesians 1: 15-23
What do we believe? Of all the elements of faith, this is the one that gives rational people fits. We can explain away, how God created all Creation in seven days, speculating that as time was not yet created, there were more than 24 hours/ day, and as we have wished more than 60 minutes in an hour. We can conceive how Moses and the Israelites escaped through the Red Sea and survived for 40 years on Manna in the wilderness; how the blowing trumpets and prayer could bring down a City's walls.
We can even imagine that because God So Loved the world, that Almighty, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Ubiquitous God could take off divinity to be INCARNATE in Jesus Christ. We can listen to all the miracle stories, including the resurrection from death upon the Cross to life ever-lasting. For the last 40 days, we have read of his appearance and teaching the disciples after the resurrection of Easter morn, with proof of the resurrection in that he broke bread, cooked and ate fish with them, and they physically had touched his wounds and suffering. But that Jesus' body then stepped upon a cloud and flew into heaven, takes a suspension of reality most of us have difficulty understanding.
Faith is not about understanding HOW, unpacking those realities is a matter of science and physics. Faith gets at THE WHY of what else goes on in life. When a good friend develops dementia, we can hear explanations about the quantity of Seratonin and Neoponephran in the brain. When a loved one dies, we can have an autopsy done to determine causes of death, and how often we abuse ourselves questioning what we could have done to prevent this. But these do not address the hole and void we feel, at their being gone. Just as when a couple fall in love, we can interpret how differing experiences and stimuli were right to bring these two together at precisely this moment in their lives, but that does not explain love. All these do not address the WHY of the meaning of life.
To every person, there come points of realization, that as much as we try to control our lives, as often as we inadvertently attempt to make every circumstance about ourselves, there are limits to our control and influence, and we know there must be, has got to be, something greater than we ourselves. Whether the intricate complexity of the universe' intelligent design; the humility of another's compassion; or awe at the mystery of birth, with the beauty of cuticles and eyelashes; or simply the need for companionship in the dark nights of our souls, we need God. Not physical idols created by our hands, not gods of war, gods of love and gods of mountaintops, but need of God who is above all and in all, the source and judge of all life, who cares about each of us. Even more, that nothing in life, not Angels, Governments, or Armies, not Economies or Quarantines, not even death, nothing can separate us from the love of God, which was demonstrated for us in Jesus Christ! But as proof of his humanity, Jesus' body died and rose again.
The Ascension settles three things for us.
First, foremost, that all that Jesus experienced, knew in life and death and resurrection is not lost, gone. Generations afterward, we have the words of Lincoln; we possess the thought of our Nation's Founding Fathers, and the purpose of the Supreme Court is to interpret and apply their expressed intent in the Constitution to differing circumstance today; we possess the words of Shakespeare and every actor and director find ways to make the words come alive differently. However, the Ascension is faith that Jesus Christ is alive, able to feel, to suffer, to know. Not interpreted and applied, but that the same Jesus lives. Second, that the Messiah sits at the right hand of God. God may be able to be at all places at all times, the Holy Spirit is able to be felt and change the lives of people everywhere, but Jesus had a physical body, which atoned for our sin, which is right in front of God. Is there anything, in all of life, that God cannot forgive, seeing the witness of Christ continually before God's face?
He stepped upon a cloud and floated, we cannot explain, except that as Christ came from God, he returned to God, that he can return at any point in our lives, in our suffering or in our love, there will always be forgiveness.
What the Ascension does for us, is to allow us to believe spiritually, theologically, to think not only with our rational minds, but our relational selves as well. The Enlightenment is less than 500 years old, described as an experiment, to attempt to describe and to know the rules governing the natural world. But humanity knew of life long before the Enlightenment, before Descartes and Sir Francis Bacon, before Ben Franklin, before Isaac Newton. Somehow, we have come to believe that life was an either/or proposition; either we can believe in Natural Law and Natural Order, or we can believe in things spiritual. But as much as we have proven, as much as we can know, there are always exceptions to every rule.
The Letter to the Ephesians is delightful for so many reasons, chief among them, that it begins: “I have heard of your faith in the Lord and your love toward all the saints.” There is a difference between publicity and reputation. Publicity are those things we put forth about ourselves, for others to know. I have even had those, who so desired to control how people thought of them, that they left word for what was to be said at their funeral after they were dead. Part of the joy of celebrating weddings is working with couples listening to what they want their marriages to be. Reputation is how others describe us, what happens outside of our ability to control.
Yesterday, it poured rain, and the bride fretted about how to control the heavens. There was also a wedding across the street, and how to orchestrate parking. Yet, at the appointed hour, everyone came together, and as the bride stood with her groom, the two year old flower girl cheered “YEA!” And in that their day was also the anniversary of their parents' wedding, we had the parents stand and renew their vows as well. One of my favorite memories of any wedding, was the one where at the end of the wedding, I raised my hand for the Blessing of the Couple and the bride seeing my arm in the air, High Fived the minister. There is a spontaneity to life itself, far beyond our ability to explain, to document, to plan or to control. Far more important than what publicity we tell others about ourselves, are how we are known.
It would be easy for us as a congregation to publicize that in addition to our annual budget which designates 15% for Mission, we have created and partnered with others to create non-profit corporations funding a Clinic in Sudan, an affordable Seniors' Residence and Food Pantry, and so many other causes locally that together generate 4 times as much being given to Charitable Causes as we spend upon ourselves. But giving up CONTROL and trusting the Spirit, it is far better to hear others describe, “When my mother died, the church were there for her and for our family.” “When my daughter married, and her sister wanted her children baptized, the church found ways to make their dreams come true.” When the clinic was built, “Miracles took place” the day we discovered the well had run dry, a well driller came to a wedding in the village. In the past 8 out of 10 babies died, 50% of mothers in labor and delivery, and today infant and maternal death is seen as rare and preventable. Presbyterians in Central New York, particularly people from Skaneateles, are not usually known for our faith in miracles; but such experiences have changed us... empowering us to look at life and at one another differently, that this Reality is God's creation. That there is Forgiveness. That in addition to Forgiveness and making amends, there can be true Redemption. That in addition to our individual relationships with God, we also have a communion among ourselves, that as we are forgiven we are changed and brought closer to God, we also are brought closer to one another in Christ's love.
Each of the Four Gospels tell the events of Jesus' Life, Teachings and Ministry in slightly different order. I have always thought that the conclusion of the Road to Emmaus actually belongs with the Ascension. That he took bread and giving thanks to God, broke it, and their eyes were open but now they saw him in many other places in life.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
"Naked Revelation", May 29, 2011
John 21:1-9
Acts 17:22-34
When Simon Peter heard that it was the LORD, he PUT ON SOME CLOTHES for he was NAKED, and jumped into the sea. There are portions of the Scriptures which make reason self-apparent, Noah saw that it had rained for 40 Nights and 40 Days, so prayed! Jesus looked out upon the crowds and saw that they were hungry so fed them. But this, this is idiotic! Any parent who has taken a toddler to Diaper-Dippers in the Pool knows that once cloth gets wet it sinks like a stone. High school swimmers shave their leg and arm hair, even their heads, to have less friction and absorbency in the water. So why What is the Scriptures trying to tell us, that Simon Peter heard that it was the LORD, he PUT ON SOME CLOTHES for he was NAKED, in order to swim to shore?
The other parts of this narrative seem to follow such clear logic and reason. Days after the resurrection, Simon Peter was feeling depressed and despondent, so wanted something familiar, a place to think, and he went fishing. Understanding that Peter was depressed and despondent, the other disciples did not allow him to go alone but said “We are going too.” How often, when someone dies, we all rally round, we are there for the burial and the weeks immediately after, but we cannot live in that hyper-vigilance forever, and it is at those times, when after the resurrection has happened that life and faith and all relationships become hard.
There was a family, whose husband/father died, and afterward the wife and her adult daughter were out to dinner, when the mother looked around and declared “I can tell every person in this restaurant, by whether they are married or dating!” The daughter was slightly embarrassed, but also curious, and asked “How?” To which her mother said, “Those who are dating are asking questions and talking together, the married couples are silent.” and after a pause, she said “I miss sharing the silence with your father.”
Being stripped down for work, catching nothing and having Jesus declare “Throw your nets on the other side”, even coming ashore to have Jesus walk along beside Peter saying “Feed my sheep”, all is reasonable and follows logic, so why, why when Simon Peter heard that it was the LORD, did he PUT ON SOME CLOTHES for he was NAKED to jump into the Sea? Why not Skinnydip, and swim to shore? There must be something about putting on clothes to swim we do not yet understand.
Leaving Peter naked in the boat, or clothed and swimming to shore,... We turn to Paul, who at this point in Acts has made his way to Athens, to the Areopagus, the center of Logic and Reason, of Socrates and Plato and Philosophy.Throughout human history, there has been a dichotomy, between thought and spirit, between philosophy and religion, between what can be proven by logic and reason, and by what defies logic and must be accepted on faith, adhered to as Covenant or LAW. Typical of discussions of Religion and Politics, Paul quickly gets into a series of arguments. Being a people who love debate, they have Paul come to the Square, where he can explain himself and this new means of knowing.
So often today, we begin as adversaries, with a binomial understanding that the answer must be either 1 or Zero, Democrat or Republican, Conservative or Liberal. There is no middle ground, no grey area, all who are not for us, must surely be against us, we know one another's trigger and immediately go for the jugular. Yet this is not where Paul begins. In trying to meet people where they are, he starts out, “I perceive you are a people who are SEARCHING for MEANING, for UNDERSTANDING.” As I wandered about, I saw idols to everything in your creation, statues to the Greek Gods and statues to the Gods of Rome, to Music, to Love, to Art, to War, to Medicine, even a Statue to the Unknown. He identifies with the Athenians in their quest to understand, to believe and know with certainty and where that certainty is limited to believe in what is beyond our grasp. Are there any among us who have never stood in awe of what is beyond our ability to control? How a newborn infant has cuticles and eye lashes? How from the moment of their birth they know their mother's and father's voices, and how amidst of crowd, a parent can identify their own child's cry? Have you never sat in the presence of one who is dying, and known the peace and wonder of that acceptance. Not the warring struggle against entering into that long goodnight, but the peace of the ages, the comfort of knowing you are part of something far larger than yourself, part of all creation.
Paul's argument then shifts from Searching and Seeking after what is beyond our grasp, to what is known all around us. As powerful as are the greatest armies of war, there is a greater destructive force in Earthquake, Fire and Tornado. Have you ever waded into the waters and realized how small we are, how insignificant? How alive the water of moving creek-bed and lake, even the smell of living earth? Have you ever walked in the woods and in that absolute quiet, known you were not alone? Have you stared up at the heavens losing track of the sheer number of stars, each a universe unto itself? Have you seen a comet, or a storm of dying stars? Have you witnessed the divinity of a rainbow, or the aurora borealis dance in the northern sky?
Having met the philosophers of Greece in Seeking and Searching after what is beyond knowing; having shared in what we do know and the divinity of life all around us; Paul ratchets the argument one deeper. For while the three year old may be able to tell us the mystery that “God is in The Rainbow”; or the hunter may be able to identify with God's Sanctuary that is a mountaintop; Christian faith is about more than what we feel, see and hear and touch and taste; more than what human minds can ever know or reason to be unknowable; Christian Faith is grounded in the reality that the Creator and Judge, this unknowable GOD loves us, loves us so much as to become one with us in life and death, demonstrating that death does not part us from God, not ever. At this point, many scoffed, because faith is illogical and unreasonable. But where he did not convince all the world, Paul's witness, his own story of having been a thug, a gang member who terrorized and beat those who stood up to him, who one day was brought to his knees by the love of God, his blindness, his weakness, his vulnerability became Paul's greatest strength of faith, his story touched the lives of individual believers.
Maybe that is it! NOT that Simon Peter PUT ON SOME CLOTHES to jump into the Sea, but that finally Simon Peter who always leapt at having the answer who wanted to demonstrate his knowledge and his wisdom, and his control, in that morning after a long night of catching nothing, FINALLY saw what ADAM and EVE had first witnessed, that in their humanity, in their sin, they were NAKED before the LORD. Before he could stand before the Lord, before he could leap to swim to get to him, Peter KNEW HE WAS NAKED and put on some clothes.
Why the number 153 FISH? Some scholars claim there is relevance in abstract numerology. That if you multiply 15 times 10 and cube the number, numbers which added together equal 153, but given these mathematic formula you arrive at the number of days until the end of time. But then you would also need to add the 5 fish caught in Peter's clothing that represent another five months or else the date would be in error!
When Simon Peter reached the shore, Jesus had a charcoal fire burning. When we were younger, we would go swimming and afterward, chilled to the bone would stand beside a roaring fire to dry out the cold wetness. Have you ever? And the warmth of the fire, the crackling and popping of the flames, the smell of smoke reminds you of other fires. The last time, Simon Peter was recorded as being beside a fire was the night of Jesus' arrest, as first one, then another and finally a third asked: “Did you know him? Are you one of them? Are you one of his disciples because you are a Galilean?” and Peter had denied Jesus three times. Walking along the shore, clothed in heavy wet coverings, as Jesus asked of Peter three times “Do You LOVE Me?” is re-enactment of the worst sins of his life, but it is no longer the isolation and loneliness of night, it is the dawn and this time, three times, he gets it right!
Sometimes in order to witness a revelation, the truth must be naked right before our eyes. To some it will appear as non-sense, defying their binary sense of either you are a 1 or a Zero. To some the revelation will be illogical. Some will try to dress it up and hide the truth. But in our experiences, in our relationships of life, we know more than SEARCHING, and more even than the divinity of RAINBOWS, we know the FORGIVENESS and love of God.
There is a Post-Script in the Gospel of John, a PS. After covering himself, after swimming to shore, after standing beside the fire, after Jesus asking for his Confession of Faith Three Times, Simon Peter looks over his shoulder and asks “So what about him?” Peter, like Jesus, and Stephen, and so many others, died as Martyrs, dying for what they believed in. What about those who simply Love, and live their faith without dying for it? To which, Jesus responds “What is that to you? Follow me!” I have to believe that there are those who by their death witness what they believed. Soldiers on the battle field. Politicians who gave their life to public service. The women and men who brought down the plane in a field rather than allowing a fourth target to be taken by terrorists. Martin Luther King Jr. There are also among us, those who by the living of their lives have demonstrated what it is to live what we believe. I fondly recall my father describing the Ordained ministry, as a vocation where you work every holiday and weekend, and get phone calls at home, there is no such thing as a day-off. But that at weddings and births and deaths, we are privileged to be there. I would add to this, and to Paul's testimony to Illogic at the Areopagus, that faith can be standing alone when people call you all manner of different names, when they sue you, and when you have to stand alone even against those whom you have called friend; but that at times we are able to see the lost come home, the prodigal return, and we create a new relationship in the silence of being together, feeding the lambs.
Acts 17:22-34
When Simon Peter heard that it was the LORD, he PUT ON SOME CLOTHES for he was NAKED, and jumped into the sea. There are portions of the Scriptures which make reason self-apparent, Noah saw that it had rained for 40 Nights and 40 Days, so prayed! Jesus looked out upon the crowds and saw that they were hungry so fed them. But this, this is idiotic! Any parent who has taken a toddler to Diaper-Dippers in the Pool knows that once cloth gets wet it sinks like a stone. High school swimmers shave their leg and arm hair, even their heads, to have less friction and absorbency in the water. So why What is the Scriptures trying to tell us, that Simon Peter heard that it was the LORD, he PUT ON SOME CLOTHES for he was NAKED, in order to swim to shore?
The other parts of this narrative seem to follow such clear logic and reason. Days after the resurrection, Simon Peter was feeling depressed and despondent, so wanted something familiar, a place to think, and he went fishing. Understanding that Peter was depressed and despondent, the other disciples did not allow him to go alone but said “We are going too.” How often, when someone dies, we all rally round, we are there for the burial and the weeks immediately after, but we cannot live in that hyper-vigilance forever, and it is at those times, when after the resurrection has happened that life and faith and all relationships become hard.
There was a family, whose husband/father died, and afterward the wife and her adult daughter were out to dinner, when the mother looked around and declared “I can tell every person in this restaurant, by whether they are married or dating!” The daughter was slightly embarrassed, but also curious, and asked “How?” To which her mother said, “Those who are dating are asking questions and talking together, the married couples are silent.” and after a pause, she said “I miss sharing the silence with your father.”
Being stripped down for work, catching nothing and having Jesus declare “Throw your nets on the other side”, even coming ashore to have Jesus walk along beside Peter saying “Feed my sheep”, all is reasonable and follows logic, so why, why when Simon Peter heard that it was the LORD, did he PUT ON SOME CLOTHES for he was NAKED to jump into the Sea? Why not Skinnydip, and swim to shore? There must be something about putting on clothes to swim we do not yet understand.
Leaving Peter naked in the boat, or clothed and swimming to shore,... We turn to Paul, who at this point in Acts has made his way to Athens, to the Areopagus, the center of Logic and Reason, of Socrates and Plato and Philosophy.Throughout human history, there has been a dichotomy, between thought and spirit, between philosophy and religion, between what can be proven by logic and reason, and by what defies logic and must be accepted on faith, adhered to as Covenant or LAW. Typical of discussions of Religion and Politics, Paul quickly gets into a series of arguments. Being a people who love debate, they have Paul come to the Square, where he can explain himself and this new means of knowing.
So often today, we begin as adversaries, with a binomial understanding that the answer must be either 1 or Zero, Democrat or Republican, Conservative or Liberal. There is no middle ground, no grey area, all who are not for us, must surely be against us, we know one another's trigger and immediately go for the jugular. Yet this is not where Paul begins. In trying to meet people where they are, he starts out, “I perceive you are a people who are SEARCHING for MEANING, for UNDERSTANDING.” As I wandered about, I saw idols to everything in your creation, statues to the Greek Gods and statues to the Gods of Rome, to Music, to Love, to Art, to War, to Medicine, even a Statue to the Unknown. He identifies with the Athenians in their quest to understand, to believe and know with certainty and where that certainty is limited to believe in what is beyond our grasp. Are there any among us who have never stood in awe of what is beyond our ability to control? How a newborn infant has cuticles and eye lashes? How from the moment of their birth they know their mother's and father's voices, and how amidst of crowd, a parent can identify their own child's cry? Have you never sat in the presence of one who is dying, and known the peace and wonder of that acceptance. Not the warring struggle against entering into that long goodnight, but the peace of the ages, the comfort of knowing you are part of something far larger than yourself, part of all creation.
Paul's argument then shifts from Searching and Seeking after what is beyond our grasp, to what is known all around us. As powerful as are the greatest armies of war, there is a greater destructive force in Earthquake, Fire and Tornado. Have you ever waded into the waters and realized how small we are, how insignificant? How alive the water of moving creek-bed and lake, even the smell of living earth? Have you ever walked in the woods and in that absolute quiet, known you were not alone? Have you stared up at the heavens losing track of the sheer number of stars, each a universe unto itself? Have you seen a comet, or a storm of dying stars? Have you witnessed the divinity of a rainbow, or the aurora borealis dance in the northern sky?
Having met the philosophers of Greece in Seeking and Searching after what is beyond knowing; having shared in what we do know and the divinity of life all around us; Paul ratchets the argument one deeper. For while the three year old may be able to tell us the mystery that “God is in The Rainbow”; or the hunter may be able to identify with God's Sanctuary that is a mountaintop; Christian faith is about more than what we feel, see and hear and touch and taste; more than what human minds can ever know or reason to be unknowable; Christian Faith is grounded in the reality that the Creator and Judge, this unknowable GOD loves us, loves us so much as to become one with us in life and death, demonstrating that death does not part us from God, not ever. At this point, many scoffed, because faith is illogical and unreasonable. But where he did not convince all the world, Paul's witness, his own story of having been a thug, a gang member who terrorized and beat those who stood up to him, who one day was brought to his knees by the love of God, his blindness, his weakness, his vulnerability became Paul's greatest strength of faith, his story touched the lives of individual believers.
Maybe that is it! NOT that Simon Peter PUT ON SOME CLOTHES to jump into the Sea, but that finally Simon Peter who always leapt at having the answer who wanted to demonstrate his knowledge and his wisdom, and his control, in that morning after a long night of catching nothing, FINALLY saw what ADAM and EVE had first witnessed, that in their humanity, in their sin, they were NAKED before the LORD. Before he could stand before the Lord, before he could leap to swim to get to him, Peter KNEW HE WAS NAKED and put on some clothes.
Why the number 153 FISH? Some scholars claim there is relevance in abstract numerology. That if you multiply 15 times 10 and cube the number, numbers which added together equal 153, but given these mathematic formula you arrive at the number of days until the end of time. But then you would also need to add the 5 fish caught in Peter's clothing that represent another five months or else the date would be in error!
When Simon Peter reached the shore, Jesus had a charcoal fire burning. When we were younger, we would go swimming and afterward, chilled to the bone would stand beside a roaring fire to dry out the cold wetness. Have you ever? And the warmth of the fire, the crackling and popping of the flames, the smell of smoke reminds you of other fires. The last time, Simon Peter was recorded as being beside a fire was the night of Jesus' arrest, as first one, then another and finally a third asked: “Did you know him? Are you one of them? Are you one of his disciples because you are a Galilean?” and Peter had denied Jesus three times. Walking along the shore, clothed in heavy wet coverings, as Jesus asked of Peter three times “Do You LOVE Me?” is re-enactment of the worst sins of his life, but it is no longer the isolation and loneliness of night, it is the dawn and this time, three times, he gets it right!
Sometimes in order to witness a revelation, the truth must be naked right before our eyes. To some it will appear as non-sense, defying their binary sense of either you are a 1 or a Zero. To some the revelation will be illogical. Some will try to dress it up and hide the truth. But in our experiences, in our relationships of life, we know more than SEARCHING, and more even than the divinity of RAINBOWS, we know the FORGIVENESS and love of God.
There is a Post-Script in the Gospel of John, a PS. After covering himself, after swimming to shore, after standing beside the fire, after Jesus asking for his Confession of Faith Three Times, Simon Peter looks over his shoulder and asks “So what about him?” Peter, like Jesus, and Stephen, and so many others, died as Martyrs, dying for what they believed in. What about those who simply Love, and live their faith without dying for it? To which, Jesus responds “What is that to you? Follow me!” I have to believe that there are those who by their death witness what they believed. Soldiers on the battle field. Politicians who gave their life to public service. The women and men who brought down the plane in a field rather than allowing a fourth target to be taken by terrorists. Martin Luther King Jr. There are also among us, those who by the living of their lives have demonstrated what it is to live what we believe. I fondly recall my father describing the Ordained ministry, as a vocation where you work every holiday and weekend, and get phone calls at home, there is no such thing as a day-off. But that at weddings and births and deaths, we are privileged to be there. I would add to this, and to Paul's testimony to Illogic at the Areopagus, that faith can be standing alone when people call you all manner of different names, when they sue you, and when you have to stand alone even against those whom you have called friend; but that at times we are able to see the lost come home, the prodigal return, and we create a new relationship in the silence of being together, feeding the lambs.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
"Our Parents' House", May 22, 2011
John 14:1-14
Acts 6:8-7:6 & 7:35-60
Each of us have an image of our Parents' House, our ancestral home. For some, it was that place we longed to leave, to grow up/ away from. To get out on our own, to explore freedoms and diversity, without having to be responsible to sisters, brothers, parents, neighbors, and expectations. To others, our Parents' House was where we belonged and still long to return. As one of our earliest and most redundant set of memories, our Parent's House is hardwired into us with accompanying rooms, smells and music. Our Parents' Room, always neat with the bed made/the scent of Face Powder and Old Spice, the sound of Easy Listening Music. The Baby's room with the smells of Baby Powder and Diaper Pails, the sound of tinkling Lullabies. Sisters' room with Noxema and Chanel #5 and Blondie, or PINK. Older Brothers' with the smell of Sneakers and Right Guard, tripping over piles of clothes and Heavy Metal Music. And the Eldest sibling's room in the basement, that each of the others longed to possess; only as adults to revisit, wondering why a damp basement, with poor lighting, the neon light of a Fish tank, the constant squeek of a hamster wheel and the sounds of the Washer and Dryer, were so enticing? In our Parents' House there was a place for each of us, where we knew we had always belonged. Our Home.
Our family moved several times, so the lakefront home we lived in every summer was the House that stayed with us over time. There was no television, only One bathroom, so amongst all the swimming, one dip in the lake each day was with soap and shampoo. We played games and read books and talked beneath the stars. Family and friends would each come to our Parents' House for a week at a time. Older siblings' groups of friends loved visiting so much, that after the brother had gone to California, the group of friends still came without him. Often times, it seemed we entertained so many guests, that half the family waved goodbye to one group, while the other half greeted those arriving. Lots of family remembrances about living in our Parents' House with many rooms, one of which was our place. There was one rule, we all knew implicitly without it ever being spoken, that in front of guests, there could be No fighting. I do not know if it was the fear that without television, and only one bathroom, who knew what the parents might threaten to take away if we misbehaved; but there was understanding that shame would be brought on the whole family if we fought in front of others.
That is how this passage from Acts begins, with a dispute between family members, in front of Others. In these early years, the number of new disciples had grown with enthusiasm, both Greek and Hebrew speaking were part of the body of Christ, as Peter had described in his Sermon, no longer are their differences between Jew and Gentile, Slave and Free, Parthians, Medes, Cretans and residents of Mesopotamia. The Christian community had continued meeting at the Jewish places of worship and feasting, because the disciples had all been Jewish and had seen no reason to leave what was familiar. Explicit throughout Luke and Acts, is that being part of Christ requires different behavior from us, than is routine among Others in the world. Luke is the evangelist who gave us the story of the GOOD SAMARITAN. Throughout this continuation of the Gospel, when confronted with those we differ, when confronted with those we disagree, our responsibility is NOT to try to stone them to death, not to beat them into submission, not to try to win, not even to outlast their endurance, but rather to demonstrate the kindness of the Samaritan who though hated by others acts in compassion.
In this description, the Greek Speaking and the Hebrew Speaking Christians and all the Others, act as creatures do when concerned with their survival. The Greek speaking Christians were frustrated that the Disciples were not providing as much pastoral care to their widows and orphans, as to the Hebrew speaking Christians. In the world, in school, among neighbors, at work, affinity groups/cliques routinely form, that is natural. But when different groups are treated differently, it is a responsibility of leadership to make certain those in need, are cared for. Consequently, in this story, the leaders accept responsibility! We do need to be doing more in Pastoral Care, particularly for the widows and orphans, spreading the Word of God rather than waiting Tables.
The pain of the ministry is that we enter seminary and seek to be ordained in order to Nurture People's Faith, to do Ministry, and most often we are involved in administration and programs and meetings. I understand this and have learned to be quite adept at administration, programs, ministry and leadership, but if you ask a pastor what they long to do, it is to minister; if you ask a preacher, it is to preach. The conclusion of the disciples is to have the community elect additional leaders to serve as Deacons, to do what ever is necessary for the Disciples to fulfill the Word of God, which includes caring for all the community in pastoral care.
Luke's point is that this is “leadership”, this is taking responsibility for a problem and ensuring basic pastoral care occurs. But all that is prelude. For as soon as Stephen is ordained he is bated and accused as having blasphemed against God and the Law. When asked for a defense, Stephen provides one of the most eloquent and thorough recitations of the history of the people of God seeking to make themselves God, seeking to control God, and God seeking to love. But the people seeking to win, to dominate, the crowd took up stones to put him to death as a mob. Make no mistake about it, this is the Crucifixion being played out all over again in Acts, except that at the center is not Jesus, it is a follower of Jesus. Stephen acted as the Samaritan, who takes the abuse of others and offers healing and forgiveness.
There are probably no more problematic and divisive words spoken by Jesus than Jesus saying “No one comes to the FATHER EXCEPT BY ME”. Do we not believe in one, absolute and Sovereign God, Alpha and Omega? Had Jesus not only just stated that in my Father's House and many rooms. How do we put the two together? Pay attention to the particular words, Jesus used. He did not say “NO ONE COMES TO GOD EXCEPT BY ME”. Of all the different religions of the world, Judaism claims that we come to God by ADHERENCE TO THE LAW. Islam claims coming to God through STUDY OF THE KORAN. Buddhism one comes to God by SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT. Christianity, begins with the INCARNATION, that Jesus was God's ONLY begotten child, the only one who identified God as Father. Therefore, the only way to THE FATHER, is by Jesus. His words are not dismissive or blasphemous against other faiths, but rather that there is a place for us. Recognition that to each us, our room had no odor, and no mess, it was ours. While clothes and toys may have been in piles on the floor, everything was where we knew. It made sense to us, just as making the bed, shaving in a mirror and using Old Spice, or wearing gloves made sense to our fathers and mothers.
In our earlier description, every room had a different style of music. Music is unique to people. The question becomes how we judge, and whether we can admire and appreciate one another's choices.
The Romance Pianist: Franz Liszt was the 1800's version of a Rock Star! Liszt was flamboyant, for those over 40 he was the equivalent of Elvis and the Beatles rolled into one, for those under 40 Hannah Montana, Justin Bieber, the Cast of Glee! Liszt thundered on the piano. Women would throw their silk gloves. Women and men would faint at the passion of his music. All across Europe, his concerts were sold out. Then, as suddenly as he had appeared, Liszt disappeared. It was said, he had had a break-down, his own description was that he had found God, or God had found him. His music changed radically, his lifestyle changed, he gave away all that he had. Rather than performing for sold-out amphitheaters, Franz Liszt delighted in offering piano lessons to the poor and to children. In Franz Liszt's last days he began work on a composition called “Out of the Depths”, and for days he pounded out these frenetic passages, each contrasting and tormenting the other, until gradually working themselves out in Shalom. Franz Liszt had a daughter who was married to the Anti-Semitic German Composer Wagner, who hearing his Father-in-law night after night going from frenzy and torment into calm and gentleness, is remembered as describing that Liszt had gone insane. The difficulty of any musician judging another, is which is the sane: Frenzy being resolved into Shalom; or the dominant, unrepentant , anti-Semitism of a Wagner?
Eric Clapton, arguably the greatest living rock guitarist, had a four year old son who fell from a 53 story window. Clapton took nine months off and when he returned his music had changed. The hardship had made his music softer, more powerful, and more reflective. You have perhaps heard the song he wrote about his son's death. It is a poignant song of hope:
Would you know my name, if I saw you in heaven?
Would it be the same, if I saw you in heaven?
I must be strong and carry on, 'Cause I know I don't belong, here in heaven.
Would you hold my hand, if I saw you in heaven?
Would you help me stand, if I saw you in heaven?
I'll find my way through night and day, 'Cause I know I just can't stay here in heaven.
Time can bring you down; time can bend your knees.
Time can break your heart, have you begging please, begging please.
Beyond the door there's peace I'm sure, And I know there'll be no more tears in heaven.
Like Stephen, we seek to do more than provide leadership in the community.
We seek to LOVE GOD with our whole Heart and Mind and Soul and Strength, and
to BE NEIGHBOR to one another, like the SAMARITAN, even as it means suffering for others.
For we know that this life is not all there is, Christ has gone before us, to create a PLACE FOR US, a ROOM OF OUR OWN within OUR FATHER'S HOUSE.
Acts 6:8-7:6 & 7:35-60
Each of us have an image of our Parents' House, our ancestral home. For some, it was that place we longed to leave, to grow up/ away from. To get out on our own, to explore freedoms and diversity, without having to be responsible to sisters, brothers, parents, neighbors, and expectations. To others, our Parents' House was where we belonged and still long to return. As one of our earliest and most redundant set of memories, our Parent's House is hardwired into us with accompanying rooms, smells and music. Our Parents' Room, always neat with the bed made/the scent of Face Powder and Old Spice, the sound of Easy Listening Music. The Baby's room with the smells of Baby Powder and Diaper Pails, the sound of tinkling Lullabies. Sisters' room with Noxema and Chanel #5 and Blondie, or PINK. Older Brothers' with the smell of Sneakers and Right Guard, tripping over piles of clothes and Heavy Metal Music. And the Eldest sibling's room in the basement, that each of the others longed to possess; only as adults to revisit, wondering why a damp basement, with poor lighting, the neon light of a Fish tank, the constant squeek of a hamster wheel and the sounds of the Washer and Dryer, were so enticing? In our Parents' House there was a place for each of us, where we knew we had always belonged. Our Home.
Our family moved several times, so the lakefront home we lived in every summer was the House that stayed with us over time. There was no television, only One bathroom, so amongst all the swimming, one dip in the lake each day was with soap and shampoo. We played games and read books and talked beneath the stars. Family and friends would each come to our Parents' House for a week at a time. Older siblings' groups of friends loved visiting so much, that after the brother had gone to California, the group of friends still came without him. Often times, it seemed we entertained so many guests, that half the family waved goodbye to one group, while the other half greeted those arriving. Lots of family remembrances about living in our Parents' House with many rooms, one of which was our place. There was one rule, we all knew implicitly without it ever being spoken, that in front of guests, there could be No fighting. I do not know if it was the fear that without television, and only one bathroom, who knew what the parents might threaten to take away if we misbehaved; but there was understanding that shame would be brought on the whole family if we fought in front of others.
That is how this passage from Acts begins, with a dispute between family members, in front of Others. In these early years, the number of new disciples had grown with enthusiasm, both Greek and Hebrew speaking were part of the body of Christ, as Peter had described in his Sermon, no longer are their differences between Jew and Gentile, Slave and Free, Parthians, Medes, Cretans and residents of Mesopotamia. The Christian community had continued meeting at the Jewish places of worship and feasting, because the disciples had all been Jewish and had seen no reason to leave what was familiar. Explicit throughout Luke and Acts, is that being part of Christ requires different behavior from us, than is routine among Others in the world. Luke is the evangelist who gave us the story of the GOOD SAMARITAN. Throughout this continuation of the Gospel, when confronted with those we differ, when confronted with those we disagree, our responsibility is NOT to try to stone them to death, not to beat them into submission, not to try to win, not even to outlast their endurance, but rather to demonstrate the kindness of the Samaritan who though hated by others acts in compassion.
In this description, the Greek Speaking and the Hebrew Speaking Christians and all the Others, act as creatures do when concerned with their survival. The Greek speaking Christians were frustrated that the Disciples were not providing as much pastoral care to their widows and orphans, as to the Hebrew speaking Christians. In the world, in school, among neighbors, at work, affinity groups/cliques routinely form, that is natural. But when different groups are treated differently, it is a responsibility of leadership to make certain those in need, are cared for. Consequently, in this story, the leaders accept responsibility! We do need to be doing more in Pastoral Care, particularly for the widows and orphans, spreading the Word of God rather than waiting Tables.
The pain of the ministry is that we enter seminary and seek to be ordained in order to Nurture People's Faith, to do Ministry, and most often we are involved in administration and programs and meetings. I understand this and have learned to be quite adept at administration, programs, ministry and leadership, but if you ask a pastor what they long to do, it is to minister; if you ask a preacher, it is to preach. The conclusion of the disciples is to have the community elect additional leaders to serve as Deacons, to do what ever is necessary for the Disciples to fulfill the Word of God, which includes caring for all the community in pastoral care.
Luke's point is that this is “leadership”, this is taking responsibility for a problem and ensuring basic pastoral care occurs. But all that is prelude. For as soon as Stephen is ordained he is bated and accused as having blasphemed against God and the Law. When asked for a defense, Stephen provides one of the most eloquent and thorough recitations of the history of the people of God seeking to make themselves God, seeking to control God, and God seeking to love. But the people seeking to win, to dominate, the crowd took up stones to put him to death as a mob. Make no mistake about it, this is the Crucifixion being played out all over again in Acts, except that at the center is not Jesus, it is a follower of Jesus. Stephen acted as the Samaritan, who takes the abuse of others and offers healing and forgiveness.
There are probably no more problematic and divisive words spoken by Jesus than Jesus saying “No one comes to the FATHER EXCEPT BY ME”. Do we not believe in one, absolute and Sovereign God, Alpha and Omega? Had Jesus not only just stated that in my Father's House and many rooms. How do we put the two together? Pay attention to the particular words, Jesus used. He did not say “NO ONE COMES TO GOD EXCEPT BY ME”. Of all the different religions of the world, Judaism claims that we come to God by ADHERENCE TO THE LAW. Islam claims coming to God through STUDY OF THE KORAN. Buddhism one comes to God by SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT. Christianity, begins with the INCARNATION, that Jesus was God's ONLY begotten child, the only one who identified God as Father. Therefore, the only way to THE FATHER, is by Jesus. His words are not dismissive or blasphemous against other faiths, but rather that there is a place for us. Recognition that to each us, our room had no odor, and no mess, it was ours. While clothes and toys may have been in piles on the floor, everything was where we knew. It made sense to us, just as making the bed, shaving in a mirror and using Old Spice, or wearing gloves made sense to our fathers and mothers.
In our earlier description, every room had a different style of music. Music is unique to people. The question becomes how we judge, and whether we can admire and appreciate one another's choices.
The Romance Pianist: Franz Liszt was the 1800's version of a Rock Star! Liszt was flamboyant, for those over 40 he was the equivalent of Elvis and the Beatles rolled into one, for those under 40 Hannah Montana, Justin Bieber, the Cast of Glee! Liszt thundered on the piano. Women would throw their silk gloves. Women and men would faint at the passion of his music. All across Europe, his concerts were sold out. Then, as suddenly as he had appeared, Liszt disappeared. It was said, he had had a break-down, his own description was that he had found God, or God had found him. His music changed radically, his lifestyle changed, he gave away all that he had. Rather than performing for sold-out amphitheaters, Franz Liszt delighted in offering piano lessons to the poor and to children. In Franz Liszt's last days he began work on a composition called “Out of the Depths”, and for days he pounded out these frenetic passages, each contrasting and tormenting the other, until gradually working themselves out in Shalom. Franz Liszt had a daughter who was married to the Anti-Semitic German Composer Wagner, who hearing his Father-in-law night after night going from frenzy and torment into calm and gentleness, is remembered as describing that Liszt had gone insane. The difficulty of any musician judging another, is which is the sane: Frenzy being resolved into Shalom; or the dominant, unrepentant , anti-Semitism of a Wagner?
Eric Clapton, arguably the greatest living rock guitarist, had a four year old son who fell from a 53 story window. Clapton took nine months off and when he returned his music had changed. The hardship had made his music softer, more powerful, and more reflective. You have perhaps heard the song he wrote about his son's death. It is a poignant song of hope:
Would you know my name, if I saw you in heaven?
Would it be the same, if I saw you in heaven?
I must be strong and carry on, 'Cause I know I don't belong, here in heaven.
Would you hold my hand, if I saw you in heaven?
Would you help me stand, if I saw you in heaven?
I'll find my way through night and day, 'Cause I know I just can't stay here in heaven.
Time can bring you down; time can bend your knees.
Time can break your heart, have you begging please, begging please.
Beyond the door there's peace I'm sure, And I know there'll be no more tears in heaven.
Like Stephen, we seek to do more than provide leadership in the community.
We seek to LOVE GOD with our whole Heart and Mind and Soul and Strength, and
to BE NEIGHBOR to one another, like the SAMARITAN, even as it means suffering for others.
For we know that this life is not all there is, Christ has gone before us, to create a PLACE FOR US, a ROOM OF OUR OWN within OUR FATHER'S HOUSE.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
"Be Not Conformed to the Passions of Ignorance", May 8, 2011
I Peter 1:1-2 & 13-23
Luke 24:19-35
It is Mother's Day, and it is not snowing in Central New York!
It is Mothers' Day. A time to focus on joy and love and the ones who nurtured and cared for us, baking cookies and being there for us to sort out life's problems.
Ten years ago, on a Tuesday in September, a terrorist convinced others to fly fully gassed up planes into the Center of World Trade, into the Pentagon and into The Capital Building and 3,000 people died, beginning the longest war in our history. Two weeks ago, tornados blew over the face of the Midwest and another 3,500 people were killed. One week ago yesterday, NATO forces bombed the compound of Molmar Ghaddafi and while he was not there, his son and grandchildren were killed. A week ago today, Special Forces of the United States Military entered Pakistan, landed in the compound of the one who was behind the bombing of the World Trade Center and took him out. Since Adolph Hitler, there has not been one so filled with the evil of hate, with desire to kill Americans as Osama Bin Laden, and he is now dead and buried in an untraceable grave in the chaos of the ocean depths. Moments thereafter, flash mobs took to the streets to celebrate.
All throughout this time, I have prayed what to say this morning.
Routinely we follow the Lectionary, as means of preaching the variety of the Bible, as well as all Christian Churches preaching on the same passages so that when talking with your neighbors, or when your children phone this afternoon, we all had common points of reference from the Scriptures. There is no law dictating that we have to follow the Lectionary, and at times of National or International Circumstance, we often select passages fitting to the moment.
This week, I had contemplated, that while we tend to remember Charlton Heston raising his arms as the Red Sea parted and the Israelites were set free, the Book of Exodus describes that once the Israelites had escaped and Hard-hearted Pharaoh and his Chariots pursued them, Moses let down his arms and the enemy was killed. Then Moses' sister Miriam led the people in singing and dancing over the death and destruction of those who oppressed and hated the People of God.
And in the period of the Judges, in addition to Samson and Gideon, there was a General of the Canaanites named Sisera who had killed many, and being pursued by Deborah and her army, he hid himself in the bed of a woman, who herself drove a tent peg through his temple.
For a moment, I listened to the word that came through the Prophet Jonah, who hating the Ninevites, wanting to see them destroyed, sat down to watch their decimation, and the word of God came to Jonah asking “Do you do well to be angry?”
Often believers quote the Old Testament out of context, as if there were a Law demanding an Eye for an Eye and Tooth for a Tooth, justifying revenge. When what the Scriptures actually describe is that if your neighbor has blinded your one eye, the worst you are permitted to do to him is to blind his eye. At the imagination of this evil man, sons and daughters, wives and husbands, fathers and mothers were killed, and now he too is dead.
Returning to the passages appointed by the Lectionary for this day, Two of the disciples were walking to Emmaus. Where exactly Emmaus was, or what they needed there is unclear. Like us this morning, these disciples were trying to make sense of what happened and where do we go now. For the last several years, Jesus had been their Teacher and they his disciples, and now he was gone. How can you continue to be disciples, when there is no one of whom to be a disciple? They had lost their homes and families and businesses and careers over these years. They felt the sense of personal loss watching him die on the cross, burying his remains in the tomb. Just for an afternoon they wanted to get away from it all, just for an overnight to leave our responsibilities and problems in Jerusalem while we go to Emmaus. For 10 years, we have been at war, our mothers and fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters all have fought. At the same time, the economy has changed, and many have lost businesses, homes, dreams. Perhaps Emmaus, is not so much a particular place, as a get away. The opportunity to delve into a trashy novel, to get lost in an old movie, to wander through a garden, to go away without responsibilities for a brief moment. Yet along the way, to discover that we can never go back, and our thoughts continue to try to make sense. When suddenly, we realize there is another component to the equation.
Before September 11th, we took life for granted. One of the newscasters the other day made reference to PAX AMERICANA, playing off of the Ideal of the Roman Empire, that during the time Rome ruled a citizen of Rome could go anywhere in the world in safety and security, PAX ROMANA. But eventually their eyes were opened to the needs of people where they travelled. In addition to being at war, during the last decade we have built schools and hospitals and roads, where there were none. We have left the comfort and security of our homes, and made new relationships, friendships and commitments, we otherwise never would have made. In recent months we have learned that the schools and orphanages and hospitals built by the fortunes of Oprah and Greg Mortenson's 3 Cups of Tea, have not done all the good they set out to do. But, we were motivated to care, in ways never before; and oppressed people, who never before were given the hope of education, or healthcare, or clean water, have had hope.
I love the beginning of this Letter from Peter, TO THE EXILES OF THE DISPERSION. That is who we are as believers, is it not? Dispersed individuals who believe in God, living in a Man-made world? We are the humanity of God, those spreading compassion, in a world bent on a margin of profit, a stock portfolio, technological advancement. Gird your minds, set your hope upon the grace of Christ, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, instead be holy!
Be honest for a moment, how many have wished for, coveted, wanted one of the latest and greatest technological advancements, only to have it, and discover you have no clue how to work it? While it is helpful, it requires more time of us? While it allows us to be connected, we do not have anything important to say?
I remember when my family first moved to Skaneateles, we arrived the Friday before Christmas. Which in addition to all the expectations and turmoil of the holidays and family visiting before boxes were unpacked, meant that we had multiple worship services that Sunday morning, and Monday evening was Christmas eve. And somehow in the move, my computer had crashed, with all the sermons locked inside. I quickly recreated Sunday morning's, and the Family service. But for the life of me, I could not recall the Word that was to be preached at Midnight. Desperate, I grabbed a book, titled A Cup of Christmas Tea. It described going to visit a maiden aunt in the old part of the City. There were worries about the safety of the car on the street. Worries about taking time out of a busy life. Standing on the doorstep, waiting in the weather, as you heard shuffling inside. The door opened and there were the familiar smells, and the warmth and glow as those eyes looked up at us from behind thick glasses and suddenly recognized us for who we were. And the story went on to describe spending the late afternoon together with this one who had loved us into being, who had always accepted us, comforted us and helped us find meaning. Somehow the worries of time no longer mattered, we were ransomed from the futile ways of perishable things, like silver and gold, to consider what has been since before the foundations of kingdoms, Empires and Nations.
There is something wonderfully fitting about Mother's Day coming in the season of Easter, as our humanity and hope and faith are resurrected anew.
Luke 24:19-35
It is Mother's Day, and it is not snowing in Central New York!
It is Mothers' Day. A time to focus on joy and love and the ones who nurtured and cared for us, baking cookies and being there for us to sort out life's problems.
Ten years ago, on a Tuesday in September, a terrorist convinced others to fly fully gassed up planes into the Center of World Trade, into the Pentagon and into The Capital Building and 3,000 people died, beginning the longest war in our history. Two weeks ago, tornados blew over the face of the Midwest and another 3,500 people were killed. One week ago yesterday, NATO forces bombed the compound of Molmar Ghaddafi and while he was not there, his son and grandchildren were killed. A week ago today, Special Forces of the United States Military entered Pakistan, landed in the compound of the one who was behind the bombing of the World Trade Center and took him out. Since Adolph Hitler, there has not been one so filled with the evil of hate, with desire to kill Americans as Osama Bin Laden, and he is now dead and buried in an untraceable grave in the chaos of the ocean depths. Moments thereafter, flash mobs took to the streets to celebrate.
All throughout this time, I have prayed what to say this morning.
Routinely we follow the Lectionary, as means of preaching the variety of the Bible, as well as all Christian Churches preaching on the same passages so that when talking with your neighbors, or when your children phone this afternoon, we all had common points of reference from the Scriptures. There is no law dictating that we have to follow the Lectionary, and at times of National or International Circumstance, we often select passages fitting to the moment.
This week, I had contemplated, that while we tend to remember Charlton Heston raising his arms as the Red Sea parted and the Israelites were set free, the Book of Exodus describes that once the Israelites had escaped and Hard-hearted Pharaoh and his Chariots pursued them, Moses let down his arms and the enemy was killed. Then Moses' sister Miriam led the people in singing and dancing over the death and destruction of those who oppressed and hated the People of God.
And in the period of the Judges, in addition to Samson and Gideon, there was a General of the Canaanites named Sisera who had killed many, and being pursued by Deborah and her army, he hid himself in the bed of a woman, who herself drove a tent peg through his temple.
For a moment, I listened to the word that came through the Prophet Jonah, who hating the Ninevites, wanting to see them destroyed, sat down to watch their decimation, and the word of God came to Jonah asking “Do you do well to be angry?”
Often believers quote the Old Testament out of context, as if there were a Law demanding an Eye for an Eye and Tooth for a Tooth, justifying revenge. When what the Scriptures actually describe is that if your neighbor has blinded your one eye, the worst you are permitted to do to him is to blind his eye. At the imagination of this evil man, sons and daughters, wives and husbands, fathers and mothers were killed, and now he too is dead.
Returning to the passages appointed by the Lectionary for this day, Two of the disciples were walking to Emmaus. Where exactly Emmaus was, or what they needed there is unclear. Like us this morning, these disciples were trying to make sense of what happened and where do we go now. For the last several years, Jesus had been their Teacher and they his disciples, and now he was gone. How can you continue to be disciples, when there is no one of whom to be a disciple? They had lost their homes and families and businesses and careers over these years. They felt the sense of personal loss watching him die on the cross, burying his remains in the tomb. Just for an afternoon they wanted to get away from it all, just for an overnight to leave our responsibilities and problems in Jerusalem while we go to Emmaus. For 10 years, we have been at war, our mothers and fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters all have fought. At the same time, the economy has changed, and many have lost businesses, homes, dreams. Perhaps Emmaus, is not so much a particular place, as a get away. The opportunity to delve into a trashy novel, to get lost in an old movie, to wander through a garden, to go away without responsibilities for a brief moment. Yet along the way, to discover that we can never go back, and our thoughts continue to try to make sense. When suddenly, we realize there is another component to the equation.
Before September 11th, we took life for granted. One of the newscasters the other day made reference to PAX AMERICANA, playing off of the Ideal of the Roman Empire, that during the time Rome ruled a citizen of Rome could go anywhere in the world in safety and security, PAX ROMANA. But eventually their eyes were opened to the needs of people where they travelled. In addition to being at war, during the last decade we have built schools and hospitals and roads, where there were none. We have left the comfort and security of our homes, and made new relationships, friendships and commitments, we otherwise never would have made. In recent months we have learned that the schools and orphanages and hospitals built by the fortunes of Oprah and Greg Mortenson's 3 Cups of Tea, have not done all the good they set out to do. But, we were motivated to care, in ways never before; and oppressed people, who never before were given the hope of education, or healthcare, or clean water, have had hope.
I love the beginning of this Letter from Peter, TO THE EXILES OF THE DISPERSION. That is who we are as believers, is it not? Dispersed individuals who believe in God, living in a Man-made world? We are the humanity of God, those spreading compassion, in a world bent on a margin of profit, a stock portfolio, technological advancement. Gird your minds, set your hope upon the grace of Christ, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, instead be holy!
Be honest for a moment, how many have wished for, coveted, wanted one of the latest and greatest technological advancements, only to have it, and discover you have no clue how to work it? While it is helpful, it requires more time of us? While it allows us to be connected, we do not have anything important to say?
I remember when my family first moved to Skaneateles, we arrived the Friday before Christmas. Which in addition to all the expectations and turmoil of the holidays and family visiting before boxes were unpacked, meant that we had multiple worship services that Sunday morning, and Monday evening was Christmas eve. And somehow in the move, my computer had crashed, with all the sermons locked inside. I quickly recreated Sunday morning's, and the Family service. But for the life of me, I could not recall the Word that was to be preached at Midnight. Desperate, I grabbed a book, titled A Cup of Christmas Tea. It described going to visit a maiden aunt in the old part of the City. There were worries about the safety of the car on the street. Worries about taking time out of a busy life. Standing on the doorstep, waiting in the weather, as you heard shuffling inside. The door opened and there were the familiar smells, and the warmth and glow as those eyes looked up at us from behind thick glasses and suddenly recognized us for who we were. And the story went on to describe spending the late afternoon together with this one who had loved us into being, who had always accepted us, comforted us and helped us find meaning. Somehow the worries of time no longer mattered, we were ransomed from the futile ways of perishable things, like silver and gold, to consider what has been since before the foundations of kingdoms, Empires and Nations.
There is something wonderfully fitting about Mother's Day coming in the season of Easter, as our humanity and hope and faith are resurrected anew.
Monday, May 2, 2011
"God's Word in Common Language" May 1, 2011
James 1:1-9
John 20:19-31
According to a survey which has been repeated time and again, in every different denomination, ¼ of the Church believe the Bible to be the Literal Word of God, while another ¼ believe the Bible to be the Inerrant Word of God, another ¼ believe the Bible to be the Inspired Word of God, and the fourth ¼ believe the Bible to be the Word of an Inspired People of God. When asked “What are the Laws of the Covenant, some will respond The 10 Commandments, some will reply the Book of Leviticus, some will respond the Five Books of Torah, and others will reply the whole First Testament. It appears as though as Christians we have are hard time agreeing about anything!
With the excitement of Prince William and Kate Middleton, becoming Princess Catherine, to be wed this week, we remember an earlier time in the history of Great Britain, and the origins of the Church of England and Church of Scotland, from which arose the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches. In the 1500s, Martin Luther, called for Reforms within the Church, correcting the traditions that had grown over time, correcting the Sale of Indulgences, correcting that the preaching of the Worship service be in the language of the Nation rather than only in Latin or Greek. For which Luther was Excommunicated as a Priest, and over the next 100 years, an Orthodox Church and a Protesting Reformed Church began to arise. When Henry VIII was monarch, he broke with The Church at Rome, not over theology, faith in God or the Church, but over POWER, over SEX and the AUTHORITY of the Church versus that of the GOVERNMENT. Today, we have made it common, but when Henry wanted to be divorced and wanted to change from one denomination to another, this was monumental. His son Edward ruled a very brief time, then Henry's daughter Mary became Queen, taking the Church back to Catholicism and executing Protestants who were found, causing many to go to Scotland where John Calvin and John Knox developed the community of believers into the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. When Mary died, her sister, Elizabeth, daughter of Anne Boleyn took the Church back to the Church of England. Decades later, when James I of Scotland became King, he sought to end this persecution of both sides against the other, by calling for a fresh translation of the Bible.
We know from history, that the Scriptures of the Jewish people were written in Hebrew. When conquered by the Greeks, the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek as the Septuagint. When the Canon of the New Testament (Gospels and Epistles), originally written in Greek, were added to the Septuagint, the whole Bible was then translated from Greek into Latin as the Center of the Church was at Rome. What was once referred to as the Catholic Bible was actually an English translation of a Latin Translation, of a Greek Translation, which in Old Testament was written in Hebrew as the Scriptures. In establishing a new foundation for The Church, King James sought a fresh translation of the Old and New Testaments, without going through Latin, directly from Hebrew and Greek into English. But how do you go about translating the whole Bible? First you need scholars who can read Hebrew and Greek. But is there any competition between scholars and between Universities? Say between Penn State and Syracuse University? Or between Dartmouth and Harvard? SO on the 2 and 20th Day of July in 1604, King James commissioned 4 and 50 Scholars from Cambridge, Oxford and Westminster to each translate the whole of the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into English. Then once we had three translations the Oxford, the Cambridge and the Westminster, to sit down with these and their notes, to formulate one Holy Bible. The translations were completed in 1608, and on the 5th of May 1611 three years later, the King James Bible was created. None was paid for the task, all were given letters of reference that they should be given every honor for having committed to this task. For seven years, from 1604 to 1611, translating, interpreting, arguing for what the Bible says. Not about personal beliefs but literally about what the Bible, the Word of God says and means. Their wording, simple phrases and poetry and rhyme, became the foundation for Shakespeare, became the basis for our Declaration of Independence, for Lincoln. In the last 20 years, differing publishing houses selling Bibles have each put forward new translations and transliterations. How different this from the practice of the making of the King James' Version of the Bible.
More than a simple task of translation, Hebrew and Greek each are filled with words that can have multiple meanings. When Jacob fell in love with the younger sister Rachel instead of Leah, according to the King James Bible it was because Leah had “Weak eyes”, yet the same Hebrew phrase can also mean “Tender and Beautiful”. At the reading of the prophecy of Amos, we have described that Hebrew had no word for Plumb-line, that this was a Syro-Phoenician phrase, but that Hebrew had a word that sounded like “Anah” which meant a “Sigh”, so do you translate the prophecy as Hard and fast and straight and narrow as a Plumb-line, or God's Sigh? In the most familiar passage of I Corinthians 13, the King James Bible did not translate the verb as Love, but instead as COMPASSION. How different all of our marriages might be, if instead of believing in the power of LOVE, as being greater than Faith and Hope and Prophecy and Generosity, instead we had heard “Faith, Hope, Compassion, Abide these three, but the greatest of these is COMPASSION.” Imagine every passage of Scripture, having these multiple meanings, and your task as the King's Translators is to publish the Word of God without error in the language of the Common People.
Getting it wrong is our principle concern, isn't it? If this is the literal Word of God, then to change it, to corrupt the Word, would be blasphemy. Funny the way, familiarity effects us. Will Rogers once claimed that “Rumor spreads faster, but doesn't stay put as long as the Truth.” Today, we are effected by the rumors of the day, by believing what seems to be true, what is repeated the most often.
Universally, this passage from John is accepted as being about “Doubting Thomas.” Thomas did not want to get it wrong, having witnessed Jesus' death, having had his heart broken, Thomas claimed he needed proof in order to believe. Actually, what he voiced, was no different than the doubts of each of the disciples, and the doubts we all feel at times. This is not a passage about the Doubts of Thomas, so much as it is about the Commitment of Jesus to meet those reservations. Thomas claimed, UNLESS I PUT FORTH MY FINGER AND TOUCH AND FEEL, I SHALL NOT BELIEVE, and seven days later Jesus stood among them and said “Thomas put forth your finger and touch and feel.”
Thomas should have been able to believe the Resurrection stories of the Disciples,
the Disciples should have been able to believe the resurrection stories of Mary,
without God taking on human form to become one with us, we should have been able to believe... but knowing we were not able, God became Christ, Christ died for us and was buried, Mary was called by name and her heart turned, the disciples were locked away in anxiety and fear when Jesus stood among them and breathed upon them, Thomas touched the wounds and believed.
The challenge of faith is not that we will get it wrong, in all likelihood, we will, the challenge of faith is whether we then give up, or persevere and try? The Letter of James is about perseverance. Human hope is not to be spared love, or challenge, but instead, when persecuted, when our hearts are broken, when we are overwhelmed with anxiety, shall we give up or shall we reconsider and believe anew?
John 20:19-31
According to a survey which has been repeated time and again, in every different denomination, ¼ of the Church believe the Bible to be the Literal Word of God, while another ¼ believe the Bible to be the Inerrant Word of God, another ¼ believe the Bible to be the Inspired Word of God, and the fourth ¼ believe the Bible to be the Word of an Inspired People of God. When asked “What are the Laws of the Covenant, some will respond The 10 Commandments, some will reply the Book of Leviticus, some will respond the Five Books of Torah, and others will reply the whole First Testament. It appears as though as Christians we have are hard time agreeing about anything!
With the excitement of Prince William and Kate Middleton, becoming Princess Catherine, to be wed this week, we remember an earlier time in the history of Great Britain, and the origins of the Church of England and Church of Scotland, from which arose the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches. In the 1500s, Martin Luther, called for Reforms within the Church, correcting the traditions that had grown over time, correcting the Sale of Indulgences, correcting that the preaching of the Worship service be in the language of the Nation rather than only in Latin or Greek. For which Luther was Excommunicated as a Priest, and over the next 100 years, an Orthodox Church and a Protesting Reformed Church began to arise. When Henry VIII was monarch, he broke with The Church at Rome, not over theology, faith in God or the Church, but over POWER, over SEX and the AUTHORITY of the Church versus that of the GOVERNMENT. Today, we have made it common, but when Henry wanted to be divorced and wanted to change from one denomination to another, this was monumental. His son Edward ruled a very brief time, then Henry's daughter Mary became Queen, taking the Church back to Catholicism and executing Protestants who were found, causing many to go to Scotland where John Calvin and John Knox developed the community of believers into the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. When Mary died, her sister, Elizabeth, daughter of Anne Boleyn took the Church back to the Church of England. Decades later, when James I of Scotland became King, he sought to end this persecution of both sides against the other, by calling for a fresh translation of the Bible.
We know from history, that the Scriptures of the Jewish people were written in Hebrew. When conquered by the Greeks, the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek as the Septuagint. When the Canon of the New Testament (Gospels and Epistles), originally written in Greek, were added to the Septuagint, the whole Bible was then translated from Greek into Latin as the Center of the Church was at Rome. What was once referred to as the Catholic Bible was actually an English translation of a Latin Translation, of a Greek Translation, which in Old Testament was written in Hebrew as the Scriptures. In establishing a new foundation for The Church, King James sought a fresh translation of the Old and New Testaments, without going through Latin, directly from Hebrew and Greek into English. But how do you go about translating the whole Bible? First you need scholars who can read Hebrew and Greek. But is there any competition between scholars and between Universities? Say between Penn State and Syracuse University? Or between Dartmouth and Harvard? SO on the 2 and 20th Day of July in 1604, King James commissioned 4 and 50 Scholars from Cambridge, Oxford and Westminster to each translate the whole of the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into English. Then once we had three translations the Oxford, the Cambridge and the Westminster, to sit down with these and their notes, to formulate one Holy Bible. The translations were completed in 1608, and on the 5th of May 1611 three years later, the King James Bible was created. None was paid for the task, all were given letters of reference that they should be given every honor for having committed to this task. For seven years, from 1604 to 1611, translating, interpreting, arguing for what the Bible says. Not about personal beliefs but literally about what the Bible, the Word of God says and means. Their wording, simple phrases and poetry and rhyme, became the foundation for Shakespeare, became the basis for our Declaration of Independence, for Lincoln. In the last 20 years, differing publishing houses selling Bibles have each put forward new translations and transliterations. How different this from the practice of the making of the King James' Version of the Bible.
More than a simple task of translation, Hebrew and Greek each are filled with words that can have multiple meanings. When Jacob fell in love with the younger sister Rachel instead of Leah, according to the King James Bible it was because Leah had “Weak eyes”, yet the same Hebrew phrase can also mean “Tender and Beautiful”. At the reading of the prophecy of Amos, we have described that Hebrew had no word for Plumb-line, that this was a Syro-Phoenician phrase, but that Hebrew had a word that sounded like “Anah” which meant a “Sigh”, so do you translate the prophecy as Hard and fast and straight and narrow as a Plumb-line, or God's Sigh? In the most familiar passage of I Corinthians 13, the King James Bible did not translate the verb as Love, but instead as COMPASSION. How different all of our marriages might be, if instead of believing in the power of LOVE, as being greater than Faith and Hope and Prophecy and Generosity, instead we had heard “Faith, Hope, Compassion, Abide these three, but the greatest of these is COMPASSION.” Imagine every passage of Scripture, having these multiple meanings, and your task as the King's Translators is to publish the Word of God without error in the language of the Common People.
Getting it wrong is our principle concern, isn't it? If this is the literal Word of God, then to change it, to corrupt the Word, would be blasphemy. Funny the way, familiarity effects us. Will Rogers once claimed that “Rumor spreads faster, but doesn't stay put as long as the Truth.” Today, we are effected by the rumors of the day, by believing what seems to be true, what is repeated the most often.
Universally, this passage from John is accepted as being about “Doubting Thomas.” Thomas did not want to get it wrong, having witnessed Jesus' death, having had his heart broken, Thomas claimed he needed proof in order to believe. Actually, what he voiced, was no different than the doubts of each of the disciples, and the doubts we all feel at times. This is not a passage about the Doubts of Thomas, so much as it is about the Commitment of Jesus to meet those reservations. Thomas claimed, UNLESS I PUT FORTH MY FINGER AND TOUCH AND FEEL, I SHALL NOT BELIEVE, and seven days later Jesus stood among them and said “Thomas put forth your finger and touch and feel.”
Thomas should have been able to believe the Resurrection stories of the Disciples,
the Disciples should have been able to believe the resurrection stories of Mary,
without God taking on human form to become one with us, we should have been able to believe... but knowing we were not able, God became Christ, Christ died for us and was buried, Mary was called by name and her heart turned, the disciples were locked away in anxiety and fear when Jesus stood among them and breathed upon them, Thomas touched the wounds and believed.
The challenge of faith is not that we will get it wrong, in all likelihood, we will, the challenge of faith is whether we then give up, or persevere and try? The Letter of James is about perseverance. Human hope is not to be spared love, or challenge, but instead, when persecuted, when our hearts are broken, when we are overwhelmed with anxiety, shall we give up or shall we reconsider and believe anew?
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