July 21, 2013, "One Thing Is Important"

Amos 7:7 – 8:7 Luke 10:38 – 42 I greatly appreciate the opportunity to have been away last weekend to have a Bus drivers' vacation by officiating at a family wedding, and understand that Elder Weiss preached on The Good Samaritan. One of the difficulties of our recalling that passage is that it has become so familiar to us that we all want to be Good Samaritans, instead of perceiving that the Samaritans were a feared and hated people. The shock and surprise of the Good Samaritan parable for Jesus' listeners can only be heard today, if the Samaritan were compared to a member of Al Qaida who stops to help a stranger. If instead of Trevon Martin and George Zimmerman each “standing their ground” with weapons, the Neighborhood Watch guard had protected and accompanied the other on his way to his parents' home. The point of Jesus' parable was not to choose to be a Samaritan, but rather that even one we have no expectations could act in faith, can act as neighbor in the way God intended for us. Some react to the hearing of that parable by interpreting, what the Samaritan did was to busily do stuff. Where the Priest and Levite walked by on the other side, the Samaritan got down, cleaned and bound his wounds, placed him upon the Samaritan's own beast, took him to an Inn and paid for his care. In response to which comes Luke's passage for this morning. Martha acted with compassion and hospitality by inviting Jesus to her home, but then realizing that the Messiah sent from God was coming to her home with 70 of his closest disciples, she anxiously frets and is distracted by many things. The verb Jesus used to describe Martha, was that she was being pulled in many different directions. The model for Martha's behavior is Abraham. Our Call to worship this morning Genesis 18, is readily used to describe acts of hospitality and hosting, the Chuppa in a Jewish Wedding is a dwelling like Abraham sat in, when it was over 90 degrees, open on all four sides so as to greet strangers. However, before these visitors could even introduce themselves, Abraham rushed to get water to bathe their feet, instructed his wife to bake bread, milked the cows, butchered and cooked a goat. Jesus' response to Martha is not “Well done good and faithful servant. Mary act more like your sister!” but instead “Martha, you are distracted by many things, one thing is important. Mary has chosen that thing and it shall not be taken from her.” Faith is not a problem to be solved, not a challenge of figuring out that one thing, but rather a lifelong journey in discerning and making applications to our lives. The Bible does not change, but every time we read a passage, we hear new elements based on who we are different from ever before. The Book of Amos is not one most pastors choose to model their lives upon. About a year ago, the Wednesday Bible Study challenged that someday they wanted me to preach a hellfire and brimstone sermon. I do so here, with fear and trepidation, because Amos well loved, is not caring and compassionate and forgiving, but if our faith is to have integrity we must hear the gospel both in words of challenge and rebuke as well as words of comfort. Even more, Francis of Assisi is credited with having said “Preach the Gospel everywhere and in all things, if you must use words!” Roger Shinn was professor of Ethics and Theology at Union Seminary, who was fond of asking “What is Theology?” Students would respond “God, Spiritual stuff, Teachings of the Church.” And he would say “NO, Theology is about everything!” There are religions of people's own manufacture blessing God for our comforts, prosperity and securities. But Judaism and Christianity emphasize that God cares about everything, everything in all Creation God uses for us to be in closer relationship. According to the Book of Amos, on the occasions where the prophet finds God, the Almighty is angry. Periodically, people will lift up the “moral decay” of our times, in reference to personal relationships, sex, family values and divorce. But according to the Book of Amos, God's anger is over Economic Injustice, over Systems created to protect and make safe those with excess while buying and selling the poor as if no longer people. First, God is fashioning a swarm of Locusts and Cicada to consume all food so people rich and poor will be equal in their suffering. And the Prophet says “No, Lord.” Next God is creating a heat and drought, not dis-similar to our last several weeks, a fire so hot as to burn the oceans, lakes and rivers. And the Prophet entreats God “No.” But God having relinquished twice, names to the Prophet that the People have not changed from their sin. God shows the Prophet a third vision. In the original Hebrew of the Old Testament, the vision is of “anak” which is translated as Plumb-line. The traditional interpretation of the vision, is that God is revealing just how corrupt and off-base the culture is. The only solution to a wall being out of plumb is to tear it down and build again. The difficulty is that “anak” in Hebrew does not mean “plumb-line.” In the Syro-Phonecian language, anak means plumb-line, but in Hebrew it means “tin”, which could refer to the weight at the bottom of the line, or that God was smelting tin to copper to form Bronze weapons to wage war against Israel. However, we need to remember that just as the Bible was not originally written in English but translated, neither was the Bible originally written using a printing press or computer, but a crude pen and ink on parchment or skin. The difference between anak and anah is simply the addition or subtraction of a dot inside the letter, but anah with a soft “h” did not mean “plumb-line” but rather “a sigh.” So what the Lord showed to Amos in the third vision was not a hard and fast line, but rather a sigh, that God is distressed by the inability to change us. The real vitality of this prophecy then becomes the verb of what God is promising to do because we refuse to listen to God's sighs. God vows to never again “abar” to never again pass by Israel. Recall that what identified Israel was not Circumcision, not eating a Kosher diet, what identified Israel for all time to all peoples was that God had “passed over” Israel bringing judgement on Egypt and the Canaanites. So for God to reveal that God will never again “pass-by” is that no more shall Israel have “passover!” No more shall Israel be protected by God's forgiveness, but the people of God shall suffer like everyone else in the world. Finally, God provides a pun. God asks the Prophet Amos what he sees, and Amos says “a bowl of ripe summer fruit” what the Prophet is supposed to recognize is summer is quickly vanishing, Fall is approaching, and with Fall comes “The Fall” of all of us. The point of which is not rush trying to hide everything in the closet because company is coming. The point is so recognize how important is sharing every moment with one another and with God. People are funny in our reactions. Amaziah was the King's own prophet, something like being the Chaplain at the United States Senate. If you were pastor and prophet to the Congress, would you speak truth to power, or bless those elected in everything they decide? Amaziah's response to Amos was “If you want to prophesy doom do not do so in the King's Temple. Who do you think you are?” As clergy, when asked “by whose authority” often respond with our pedigree, that my father and father-in-law were Presbyterian ministers, my father within the church, my father-in-law in alternative ministries; we list the schools and seminaries we attended; we bring out our resumes of serving on this committee or that; or when pressed we describe the nature of our Calling. Amos when challenged by Amaziah responded “I am not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet. I am a herdsman and dresser of sycamore trees, whom God took.” Years ago, I recall John Dau asking for someone to go for the Sudanese refugees to S.Sudan. I turned to the person next and said “I do not want to presume, but I just had all my plans cancelled and I could go if it would be helpful.” Over the next six weeks I wrote letters to everyone in every position of authority for support and guidance, hearing back nothing. I got all the shots and bought everything I could think to carry. When I arrived at Kenya and was greeted by the Pastor of Duk who had been displaced by war, he asked “By whose authority are you here? This is my parish, I am the pastor and priest, who do you think you are ministering on my turf?” I responded that I had written letters to his Bishop and other leaders but got no response. He said “That's correct. By not responding to you, they were denying you permission. But now you are here, so we each must pray asking God what to do with you!” The following day, he volunteered to act as my companion if I would pay his way. The difficulty of being a Presbyterian pastor with a church, is there is no Bishop, not outside authority with abstract guidance for how things should be done. Instead a pastor and Session are installed, as human beings in relationship. We are a very human church, of very human people, who listen to one another, sometimes laughing, often “sighing” but in relationship with one another. Arriving in S.Sudan, one of the chiefs took his one year old child, stood him up on his own legs and steadied him by allowing the child to grasp the adult's finger. He said, this is who we are. “We do not need you to do for us, to give to us. We need you to stand along side and offer support while we learn how to stand and walk on our own.” How hard it is for us, when we see a need, or feel threatened to not act, but to be in relationship as true partners and companions.

"There IS A God" July 7, 2013

2nd Kings 5:1-14 Luke 10:1-20 Life exists on many different planes simultaneously. We begin with biological needs for survival, accompanied instantly thereafter by the need for love. This week, in addition to having been the celebration of our Nation's Independence was the birthday of our firstborn, whom I delivered. I recall that first cry, searching one another's eyes and face for recognition, the first bath, the smells and touch of that intimate moment of claiming. The great disappointment of the last Century has been an assumption that either there was Scientific explanation about reality, OR there was a Religious explanation, and we both had authority and need to choose. One might as easily differentiate between whether you believe in a Political Reality to life or a Communal, belief in Economic Competition versus Human Compassion. When Jesus sent out the seventy in pairs, which was the more powerful that they/we were given authority to tread on scorpions and snakes, to cast out demons and cure problems, OR that they took nothing accept one another and had to trust on each other and on those who welcomed them? Speaking with a family whose father had been their most significant relationship, they described talking about sports, relationships, careers, money, fears, dreams, but never about God. Speaking with a groups of “Millenials,” those between 20 and 30, they named that their peers do not go to church, do not talk about God, are not even certain there is a God. I have to believe there is a relationship between one generation speaking about everything except our faith, and the next not practicing, not believing. What I hope to make clear this morning, is that all realities are happening simultaneously. The world is political, our survival is based on economics and awareness of the biological impact of our actions, and the world is also personal and intimate, and we are motivated by compassion and caring, and while all of this is going on, THERE IS A GOD. The last several weeks, we have been reading the stories of Elijah and Elisha, dramatic tales demonstrating proof of the reality of God, yet throughout, these are very human stories and it is easy to believe Elijah had called upon fire to come down form heaven and it did. He called upon God to act and God did. He went to the cave where Moses had witnessed evidence of God, and he saw Fire and Wind and Flood. And we begin to question whether reality only exists (whether God only is manifest) in our own imagination, in our reality? Then there is the story of Naaman, A Great Man, a powerful Warrior, a Syrian Military Officer who has made his King great. But also, following all the descriptions of Naaman's personal power, reputation and authority, he was a leper. More than an Infection, a Virus, a Chronic condition unto death, Leprosy carried a social stigma. For many of us, while Leprosy is not common, social stigma is very real: fear of how others would treat us if they knew we had Cancer, had Parkinson's, had Depression or Alzheimer's, or had lost our job, or had an addiction, or an affair, or were getting a divorce. Naaman recognizes that this social stigma, this illness, is his one barrier to success, to acceptance. Syria under King Aram had won one victory after another over their enemies, over Israel; and Naaman had given those victories to the King of Syria (though the Biblical text explains to the reader that God had done so through him). Out of respect and obligation to Naaman, the King of Syria sends with Naaman a letter to the King of Israel commanding him to to heal Naaman. Often times I feel like this at weddings, baptisms and funerals. Peoples' expectations are that if the wedding takes place in the church, if an Ordained minister pronounces the blessing, the couple will live happily ever after; and as pastor I profess to you the secret that I do not have that power! Like the King of Israel, the response of many in our culture today is to say “So why get married at all?” or at least “Why get married by a minister in the church, why not go on the internet to be ordained and solve our own problems?” The King of Israel received and read this letter from the King of Syria as a Political issue, of one power commanding a lesser power to act, with the threat that if he personally could not fix it, he would be destroyed. The Prophet Elisha asks the King to send Naaman to him. Imagine that Naaman the greatest most powerful General of the army of Syria, with all of his horses and chariots and gifts of reward to offer comes riding up to the hut of Elisha, commanding that this prophet of Israel come out and fix him up. Naaman expects Elisha to come running out and bow down, to say the right words and wave his hands to magically fix him, that is how religion works is it not like magic. Naaman is a Syrian compared to this Israelite, Naaman is the greatest most powerful warrior, Naaman exudes pheromones, he is every inch a Man. This is Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Arnold Schwarzenegger, compared to a prophet from a beaten vassal kingdom, not even a legitimate pastor or priest or king, just a powerless person of God. But where Naaman has these expectations, Elisha does not even come out to acknowledge him. Naaman has traveled all this way, is surrounded by all this power, yet this Elisha does not even come out to look him in the eye or speak to him. But eventually Naaman does what Elisha had told him to do. I have to believe that it was not the chemical composition of the Jordan river that healed Naaman. But that in the act of vulnerability, accepting what another had told him to do, stripping down naked, and in essence being baptized, seven times doing so, that Naaman changed and instead of trusting only in his armor, his shield, his power, his Race, his Nationality, his reputation and influence, Naaman came face to face with whether or not THERE IS A GOD and was healed. According to Luke, Jesus had already sent out the Twelve to preach and teach and heal, casting out demons. Eventually, after the Resurrection, according to Luke, Jesus would give the Great Commission making his Disciples into Apostles “those who are sent”. But here, Jesus sends out 70 persons as Special Envoys of God. They are not sent out as individuals, but as pairs. They are not to take anything for security, for safety, for comfort, for any assistance, but simply to go where they are sent. They are sent to share with the world that the Harvest is ready. Not that they are able to create the Harvest. Not that they are to do the Harvesting. But rather, that as Special Envoys of God, we are sent out into the world in twos and threes to share with others that there is a Harvest, there is a God, and God's Harvest is ready! We are sent out, to also give evidence of that Harvest. When a crop is ready, a farmer goes into the field to pluck and carry back a few grains, several ears of corn, a handful of cherries, a ripe peach, so that others will know and will share in the harvest. Being sent out, we are not to gather corn or wheat, or peaches or apples, but stories of the presence of God in one another's lives. We are to recognize that going out in this way is dangerous, you are confronting your own fears and the evils of this world, by naming what we have witnessed. A year ago, a refugee from Civil war had come to America and had found a home, and wife and children, a new life. His brother who had remained was shot dead, and distraught, seeking compassion and to make sense out of life, this man had come before his church for prayer. A woman who feared ever having Cancer, was diagnosed with this. Fearing Radiation, she needed to have the Cancer killed, and to wear a monitor of her vitals. Wearing the monitor, those supporting her were able to see she was having problems with her heart, and to have these corrected. Had she not had the Cancer, not had the Radiation, she might never have known the other problem that could be repaired. Living next to the lake, our worst fears were realized when a child drowned. Yet the family was not alone to drown in their loss, they have been continually surrounded by family and friends and the church. Recently, I was speaking with the Catholic priest, who described that the ArchDiocese sees this Village and town as being a plum position, where a pastor can enjoy the lake, and the social life, and relax. The reality is that this Village has known more loss and pain and suffering than most places in the world. Oh, we complain about the heat, or the snow, but the reality is that we have known friends and family in Domestic Violence. The weekend does not go by when there is not a Rescue call about a drunk driver on the road or the lake. Drug abuse is normal and available to all our children. Rape. Mental Illness. Victimization. Economically having your home taken, are realities. But also, there is a God, a God who cares, and as we minister to one another, and hold each other up in prayer, lives are changed. Luke's telling of the Sending of the Seventy, Commissioning us to go out into the world in twos and threes, is different from the sending of the twelve, and the commissioning of the apostles. We are to live our lives, in all the other realities we know, witnessing and believing, and sharing with others that GOD IS REAL, the HARVEST IS READY, and to speak to one another about what is important, what we have witnessed.

Single-Minded in a Multi-Tasking World

I Kings 19:19-21 II Kings 2: 1-8 Luke 9:51-62 Increasingly, we are surrounded by competing priorities and pressures. Immediate Family, Work, Extended family, Mortgage debt, School loans... What must we do to get our kids through High school and College? Will Cancer treatments work? Will Marital counseling help? Throughout all human history, we each have been searching for the same thing, called by a wide variety of names, but it is all the same: Paradise, Heaven, Tranquility, Peace, Home. In response to all the other stuff of life, there is one single-minded reality, One-ness with ourselves, one-ness with God, True Communion, Spiritually Centered, Completion. This single-minded search is why we marry, why we search for our career vocation, why we have children, why we join a church, why we align with different parties, why we pray. HOWEVER, in the midst of all the competing priorities, all of the distractions and complaints, as we multi-task listening to the news, while holding a conversation with our loved ones, while texting or cooking or cleaning, that “spiritual homing mechanism” becomes one more competing goal instead of listening to our true self. The only answer to life's competing questions and pleas, is to be single-minded in faith. A week ago, as we read together, the Great Prophet Elijah as an act of faith had taken on 450 prophets of Baal, King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, Elijah had called down fire from heaven and it happened, his sacrifice, his altar, even the water it was all soaking in was utterly consumed, whereupon he killed all 450 prophets of Baal. When confronted what he had done, Elijah ran away, ran away from the Promised Land, ran away from himself, ran away from God, searching for a cave, a particular cave, the home where God had hidden Moses Moses needed assurance from God. But finding that place, meeting God on Elijah's own terms, still God was not in the fire, flood, wind, or earthquake. After listening to Elijah, God gave the prophet a list of things to do, acts of faith to follow. Anoint a king for Samaria, anoint a king for Israel, anoint a king for Judah, anoint these persons as priests and these as prophets, and anoint Elisha as a companion to continue your work of faith. Seeing a possible way out, Elijah goes looking for Elisha. Now this is a strange circumstance, because Elisha was plowing in the field working with 12 yoke of oxen, when Elijah draped his mantle over Elisha. On a crowded street corner, in an elevator, as an act of worship for a religious leader to drape their stole over another is possible, but Elisha would have been in the middle of this huge field being plowed, and he did not see Elijah coming? Immediately, Elsiha responds. Allow me to build an altar, allow me to sacrifice these 24 oxen, allow me to break the plow and use the wood to create a great fire, allow me to cook the meat and feed the poor, allow me to say goodbye to my family, and I will follow. Everything about Elisha's response emphasizes his single-minded commitment, he can have no turning back. He will have no Oxen, no plow, no field, he will have used these to make a sacrifice to Gods and to feed the community, he will even have left his parents for ever. It seems a paradox then, that when Jesus meets followers on the road who want to wait to bury a father, or dispose of a single pair of oxen, Jesus says NO. But the point is that they are distracted that these other responsibilities are just as important, even that they must be done first, where Elisha is acting in faith to make the commitment. Where Elisha had only been asked to act as a companion with Elijah, the text jumps to Elijah's final day. While Elijah and the prophets and priests of every community are distracted by this, Elisha has a single goal: “Wherever you go, I go, I will follow you to the very end and continue your calling.” Even when asked directly by Elijah what Elisha wants, he describes “Double Your Faith” which is not a quantity matter, but to know what you have done in life and continue that work to completion. Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his classic treatise The Cost of Discipleship, names that the most costly final sacrifice is giving up our own self-will, our desire for what we want in order to serve as God uses us. The Gospel of Luke is different from the other Gospels. Up until this point, Luke has pretty strictly adhered to the biography laid out by Mark, yet at this point in Mark's Gospel Jesus sets his face to Jerusalem and he goes there. In Luke, when Jesus sets his face to go to Jerusalem, it is the beginning of 10 chapters of teaching along the road to Jerusalem and he and the disciples do not arrive until Chapter 18. The Samaritans as an outgrowth of Judaism were also seeking the Messiah sent from God, and they listened and followed Jesus as a possibility. But the Samaritans were seeking a Messiah who would meet them where they were, affirm their holy places as sacred, and settle with them. When Jesus set his face on Jerusalem, when he accepted that single-minded goal, the Samaritans rejected him. In the other Gospels, these occurrences along the road are times for teaching about discipleship. But the focus of Luke's Gospel is not about Discipleship, at every occurrence the Disciples of Jesus do wrong, they fall asleep, they are incompetent. For Jesus to set his face of Jerusalem, in Luke, is naming of why the incarnation happened, what God is doing here. As stated so simply in the Gospel of John, God so loved the world, God gave God's only begotten child. Luke's entire Gospel is description of what that gift means. When the Disciples ask if like Elijah they should command fire to come down from heaven to consume the Samaritans, Jesus says NO. He does not act in retaliation or vengeance or hate or anger. Jesus acts in compassion and one-ness with those in need. Jesus single-mindedness is assurance that the fulfillment of his life as this gift of God, demonstrating God's own single-minded absolute love, is to suffer for others and die on the cross to bring us into relationship with God. As each of these followers come to Jesus, he responds with statements that have been taken out of the story: Foxes have holes, Birds have nests but the son of Man has no where.” “Let the dead bury the Dead.” “Anyone who puts their hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.” Within this story, these are demonstrations, that the single-minded nature of faith requires abandoning honor and prestige. How many people have described meeting Mother Theresa, or meeting Gandhi, yet each was doing the work of God not looking for followers. Jesus' foxes and birds metaphor is the paradox that while all of us seek that relationship, that place within ourselves and in the world where we can be at one, that place of home, the Messiah sent from God has no Home, because his whole life is about bringing us into full commitment and relationship. The point is not about abandoning the dying, abandoning responsibility, or abandoning family, but rather that at times these competitions for our attention, for our priority, mean that we continually react and respond rather than following our faith. This is not about seeking safety or security, or sanctuary from our problems. The single-mindedness of which we speak is devotion of ourselves to full commitment, to complete communion with God and the needs of others. The Great Italian Composer of Operas Puccini was working on a final opera “Turandot.” He was gravely ill and gathered his students together, telling them that this work was more important than anything he had done, and if he had not completed it when he died, their responsibility as his disciples was to complete the symphony for him. Toscanini conducted the debut performance without an ending. The following evening, the audience sat in rapture listening. When suddenly, the conductor named “This is as far as the Master got. This is our fulfillment of his calling.” The completed work is described as the greatest of all Puccini's masterpieces. What are we searching for? And How can we devote ourselves to helping one another.

"Identity in the Silences", June 23, 2013

I Kings 19: 8:15 Luke 8: 26-39 We create ridiculous expectations. At Graduations, at Weddings, Anniversaries, even Funerals, we expect someone to stand up and hand us Wisdom that will satisfy. At 5am this morning, there were already 150 folding chairs set up around the Gazebo. We expect Salutatorian, Valedictorian, Commencement speakers, Scholarships; yet for 13 years, since our children were in Kindergarden, what we looked forward to was leaping in the lake. No one will remember the words said this day or any of those days. Years ago, here in the Village, the clergy tried to have a Baccalaureate and not only could we not get the graduates or families to come, we could not even get the teachers, Principal or Superintendent, because they all wanted to be at Bacchanalia parties. The point of this morning is not a David Thoreau's Walden “Go off into the wilderness, searching for silence and solitude!” But afterward, when in the night you awake to find you have a spouse sleeping on the pillow, when after 9 months you lay your baby on the mattress, when the party is over, when the last relative leaves, when your graduate is left at College, there will be SILENCE. And in that silence the identity question, “What are you doing here?” or as spoken by Legion: “What has God to do with my life?” The point of the story of Elijah, was not that God is NOT in Earth, Wind, Fire or Silence. Just before this, is one of the most dramatic Miracle Stories of the Old Testament, the Man of God stood up before the entire Nation, with confidence and resolve questioning everyone: “How long will you try limping in two opposite directions?” Either worship and serve the Fertility Idols made by your own hands, or serve God. Human culture has continually told us that we are lacking, we are in need, and fulfillment will come with New Shoes, a Car, the Lottery, purchase of some thing not in us. Elijah boldly stands in opposition to 450 Prophets of Cultural Worship. Almost 500 Prophets choose the best sacrifice, and pray together, and whip and beat themselves to attract attention, to stimulate feeling, but nothing. Old Man Elijah, with his own hands, lays one boulder atop another to make an altar to God. Elijah sacrifices a bull, then lays half a steer, on top of half a steer. He has 12 buckets of water poured over it. Then Elijah prays to God and God responds with lightning bolts from heaven to consume the sacrifice and all the water. Arrogantly, boldly, with absolute dominance in his belly, Elijah sacrifices all 450 prophets of Baal. Suddenly, in the silence after the contest is over, Elijah loses his nerve, loses his own prophetic voice, questioning “Who am I? What has God to do with me?” God did not need to be present in a miracle in earth, wind or fire, God had already shown the King, all the Nation and World the power of God, and God's relationship with Elijah who believed in God. Perhaps like me, you have discovered there are times, when what we want most of all is to be heard, to state our case and be proven right; but what this story tells us is often what we want is to be able to hear ourselves, as God reminds us that there are still 7000 other believers who also never gave up on God. I think when JR Tolkien set out to write The Lord of The Rings, he patterned the character of Gollum/Smeagol after this creature Jesus finds at Garrison. Abandoned, unclean, no longer Human, unable to wear clothes, unable to stand upright, hurting himself and hurting others, shackled with broken chains, he dwells among tombs and graves. When asked his name, this stranger does not say “I am Possessed by a Demon” because in truth he is more than possessed, he is occupied by an army of demons, the Roman Legion was 6000 voices and weapons laying siege to a place and people. One of the points of this story, is how often we allow circumstances, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, a divorce, to define who we are. Our language is painfully clear, when we make someone an “invalid” what we are saying is they are “In-Valid” when we claim a handicap, we are labeling a person as “incapable or incompetent.” What Jesus does first is to listen and to treat the man as a human being. As vegan animal rights people of the 21st Century, we may react to this story, that Jesus sent the demons into poor pigs, who ran off a cliff, or as capitalists we may identify with those who owned the pigs. But in that time and culture, pigs like these spirits were horrible, unclean, creatures of destruction, and what was left when they were gone was a whole human being, a rational and compassionate mind. Naturally the first request of one who had been chained, who had been shunned, who had been treated as less than human for a lifetime was “Take me with you” but Jesus sent him into his own community, his own people to describe what God had done for him. Often times, particularly in the Silences of life, we question our identity. Ironically, for the last 100 years our search for identity has been, if abstracted from everything else, if we could go back and fix our relationship with our Mother, our Father, who are we, pure and whole without anything else. However, a great part of who and what we are, we develop in relationship with our community, and with God. We cannot live unto ourselves without God. So the Baptismal question in times of silence is “Almighty God, What would you have me do?”

"Forgive Us Our Shame", June 16, 2013

I Kings 21: 1-7 Luke 7: 36-8: 3 This morning, Father's Day, we read a story of a great community feast in which Jesus is invited. And in the Town of Skaneateles, Father's Day is the day of a great feast! We are mortal creatures, which more than meaning that we were born and will die, identifies routines of daily living. Every day, we Sleep and Work and take Meals. Some meals are in isolation, some are very public like a Wedding Feast or the Rotary Pancake Breakfast, all are filled with circumstances of ritual and expectations. We know it will be difficult parking and given how much rain we have had, that the grass around Allyn arena will be wet. We knowing as we enter there will be this long line, as you see and are seen by the whole Village. We know there will be Sticky Plastic Checkered Table cloths. Before we are given food, we will have that plastic sleeve with napkin, fork, knife, spoon, salt and pepper. We know the smells of the Band and the Sound of cooking, and the feel of the cement beneath our folding chairs.This morning from Luke we read the story of a great feast, with circumstances of ritual and expectations. In human history, in addition to being Mortal, we have become Creatures of Commerce. Increasingly over the last decade, our worth, our measure, the minutes of the day and years of our lives are measured in dollars and cents, not simply in quantity but quality valued above all else. The difficulty, identified in this story of Ahab, as well as the Housing Boom and Bust, Inflation and Recession, is whether there are things beyond monetary value? Whether integrity has limits? Whether Promised Land and inheritance still have meaning, or does everything in our world have a price? If so, then the wealthiest and most powerful bully has the ability to manipulate, to accuse and destroy, to put to death, to cover-up scandal. In each story there are three characters. Can we agree, right up front, that NONE of US is God? As much as we want to believe and to follow, none of us, are able to put ourselves into the position of being God or Jesus Christ. Which in each passage leaves two identities. Rather than claiming we are always Sheep at Jesus' Right Hand, and Sinners are Goats always at the left. We recognize some of each in each of us. As we begin interpreting, we recognize the name Ahab. There is reason why, Herman Melville in Moby Dick, chose this as the name of the flawed Sea Captain. Ahab is an Obsessed man, willing to sacrifice everything to get vengeance. No price, not even the sacrifice of his leg or his boat or his crew, are too great compared with getting what he wants. Ahab's identifying characteristic is that he has sacrificed a part of himself, and replaced it with a lifeless block of wood. In Moby Dick with a wooden leg, in the Bible with the wooden fertility idols of Baal. Also, we know that a Jezebel is one who puts themselves and their desires above all else. A Jezebel is one who will sell themselves to control what they want. In this case, Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab, is willing and able to set herself up as if GOD. All this we know before the story ever opens. King Ahab is now Monarch over All Israel, Samaria and Sidon. Ahab has the entire Nation, Israel's Economy and Military and Government as his power. Anything, everything, and everyone, he controls. But from the window of his summer palace, King Ahab is able to see the Vineyard of his Neighbor, Naboth. In the Bible, there are certain words that carry meaning. “Vineyard” reminds us of the Garden of Eden, Paradise, which God created and we were intended to care for but trying to control we lost! Over and over, in Jesus' parables, when he names a Vineyard, it is a symbol of God's Created Order, Promised Land. And “Neighbor,” given Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan, always reminds us of our responsibility to care for others, to put ourselves out by attending to the needs of those weak or in trouble. All of which sets up, that Ahab wants his neighbor's land. He will trade anything for it, or pay any price. However, to Naboth, this Vineyard is not Real Estate to purchase or sell, this was the Promised Land given to his ancestors, and inherited generation after generation. Identification with The “Promised Land,” Moses, David, Solomon, these are what Ahab had forgot. And even the King could not by eminent domain, over-rule the Law of Promised Land and Inheritance. As the most powerful man, who is blocked from what he wants, Ahab is Depressed and goes to Bed. Jezebel is willing to play God, and give Ahab what he wants. She writes Letters with his signature and seal, to have Naboth accused not only of Treason against the King, but Blasphemy against Israel's God. The problem of Capital Punishment, is that errors have been made. Power has been abused. Naboth is stoned to death and his blood runs into the ground. Remember Cain and Abel? Ahab cannot avoid the Prophet Elijah, like Cain with God, he knows he has done wrong and will be punished for all eternity. The passage from Luke appears in each of the Gospels. In Matthew and Mark, a woman anoints Jesus' head with oil as preparation for his death and burial. In Luke's Gospel, I think we need to first recall a story from John. Jesus was writing in the dirt, when the crowd bring forth a prostitute who was caught in the act and they want him to judge her to be stoned to death. Jesus never even looks up, but says, “Let the one who is without sin, cast the first stone.” One by one, they all go away, and Jesus refuses to condemn the woman of the City. Imagine a public meal like the Father's Pancake Breakfast. Simon is a Pharisee. The Pharisees were not Pastors, not Priests, not Prophets. Pharisees were Powerful Aristocrats, Highly educated Judges, who knew and manipulated the Law, judges who liked to name other people's sins and condemn them. Jesus was in town, so Simon had to invite him. On the one hand, if he turned out to be the Messiah, to be able to say he was the first to have Jesus over for dinner! Making another your guest, created a debt of gratitude, to be called in and repaid at a later date. On the other hand, if Jesus turned out to be a fraud, Simon would show no kindness to him, and be able to say, “He ate at my house, but I gave him nothing.” Envision the woman of the City. She is not strident. She is not pretentious or powerful. She knows what she has done, and who she is, and how others judge her. She is un-named. The only clothing she would have would be those of a prostitute. She would have the aroma of cheap perfume, and liquor seeping out of of her pores. Her long braided hair piled high to reveal the nakedness of her neck and shoulders and ears. Her make-up smeared. Piercings and markings from her earlier life would never come off. Of all human emotions, shame is among the most destructive. The importance of shame is feeling embarrassment, knowing when we cross boundaries or violate taboos. But when bullied, when day after day we are pushed and embarrassed and made to feel less than equal less than human, we bow our heads, and slump our shoulders, as if weighed down by an oxen's yoke. This woman, who earlier on that day had been publicly shamed, yet Jesus protected her from being judged, from being killed, she walked through the crowd to kneel behind Jesus and touch him. Touch is important in the Bible. Last week, there was one story after another about touching a dead body, and being unclean, or offering life from the Savior to the one who was dead. Here, the Prostitute's touch is intimate. For water to wash his feet she weeps sincere tears. Instead of a towel, she lets down and uses her own hair. She kisses his feet, the act of one whose life has been spared for the one who saved them. How Jesus left that dinner, is not described. But for the woman, where she entered stooped, she left without burden, without sin, walking as a whole human being who has given themselves in acts of love. In recent decades, there has been a silly argument between Churches. Whether when translating the Prayer Jesus' Taught do we say “Debts and Debtors” or “Trespasses and those who trespass Against Us” or “Sins and Those who sin against us”? In the world today, I think all of these have become words distant and meaningless to us, and perhaps what we want and need to pray is FORGIVE US OUR SHAME as WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO HAVE SHAMED US.

June 9, 2013 Children's Leadership Sunday "Life-Saving"

I’m from this little town named Zarapheth, in the Middle East. You’ve probably never been there, but once there was this guy named Elijah who showed up on our doorstep. He asked my mom for some bread and water. She was good with the water, but she didn’t want to give him our last bit of food, and she told him so. My dad had been dead for a couple of years – she’d tried to provide for both of us, but it was really hard on her. And then the drought came and dried up all the wheat plants she’d planted, so we were down to our last bit. He told her that her oil jug and flour jar would never give out until the drought was over. She didn’t believe him, but fed him anyway, hoping beyond hope that the Lord would provide for us. She fed the two of us, as well, but for me it was a little too late. In the morning, she found me dead. She ran to get Elijah, and told him that I was dead. She was wailing and stuff – hard to understand. When Elijah saw me, he cried out to God, “O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?” Then, according to the neighbors, he laid his body over mine three times, asking the Lord to let my life return to my body. And the Lord did, which is why I’m standing in front of you today, a living miracle. Thanks be to God for miracles. I Kings 17:8-24 Realize that the name Zarapheth is pretty obscure. Zarapheth only occurs 3 times in the whole Bible. First, when the people were following God with Moses in the Wilderness. And the people revolted against God and Moses, Zarapheth is identified as one of the few who did not turn away from God or Moses. When they came to the Promised Land and were about to enter Jericho, Joshua divided up the land for each of the families by their father's name. And the daughters of Zarapheth came forward. They said, “We were born in the wilderness, our father Zarapheth was faithful and good, who never turned away from God. But he had no sons, only daughters. While it goes against tradition and custom, we have been faithful and we would like to inherit our father's portion. And they Did! So the name Zarapheth identifies these daughters as standing up against the crowd, against tradition, to be faithful and endure. Good morning. I’m here to tell you about what Jesus did for our family. My mom had had such a tough life. She had been doing pretty well until my dad died. Then things started to get rough for her. A couple weeks after dad died, I got really sick as well, and everyone tells me that I died as well. My mom asked a few of her friends to help her by carrying my dead body out of the city gates, to the place she’d buried my dad. They had just left the gates of the city when they came upon this huge crowd of people heading towards the city. I guess my mom was making quite a scene, because the whole group stopped, and this guy, Jesus, asked my mom what was wrong. She told him, and he said that she didn’t need to cry anymore. Everything would be OK. Then he said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” and I did. Dead one minute, hugging my mom the next. That Jesus. One heck of a prophet is what everybody said about him. Mom did OK after that – she became a bit of a celebrity, because of me I guess. I’m sure glad Jesus came along at the right time. Thanks be to God for miracles. Luke 7:11-17 What is the difference between Charity and Compassion? Between Enabling Entitlement and Empowering? This woman had lost her husband and now her son, and with them all rights. She could be a beggar, dependent upon people's charity to keep her from dying, but instead Jesus returned her son to her. Sometimes our generosity and compromises do more harm than good. Sometimes returning from death to life means more than a heartbeat. So my mom was friends with this guy named Elisha. She was pretty old when I was born, and didn’t expect to have any more kids, but when Elisha told her to expect me, she didn’t have a choice. When I was about ten, I got this pounding headache, came out of nowhere. My head felt like it was going to explode. I ran out to find my dad working in the fields, crying, it felt so bad. He had a servant bring me to my mother, but by noon I was dead in her arms. Mom took me upstairs and laid me in the bed that Elisha had slept in and then set out to go find him, where he was working with some folks at Mount Carmel. When she got there, she wouldn’t tell anyone what was wrong, except Elisha. When he heard, Elisha sent his buddy, Gehazi, ahead of him, and told him to lay his staff on my head, see if that helped. It didn’t, so Gehazi returned to Elisha to tell him. So Elisha came himself. Once he got there, he asked everybody to leave him alone with me, and then the man began to pray. Then, I’ve been told, Elisha lay on top of me, mouth to mouth, eye to eye, hand to hand, and my body grew warm. He got up, paced a bit, and then did the same thing – lay on top of me. Weird as it might sound, once Elisha arose, I sneezed seven times and was back among the living again. My mom couldn’t stop thanking God. Thanks be to God for miracles. II Kings 4:20-37 Caring for people has a cost, it is intimate and personal. Elisha told Gehazi all the things to do, but he kept the dead body at a distance. Elisha, lay face to face, mouth to mouth, eye to eye. Communion, solidarity, is about more than saying we are committed, being part of the Body of Christ costs. I’m here to tell you about what happened to my buddy. One of my friends had died recently, and we were planning on burying him, when a bunch of Moabite raiders came riding hard up behind us. We’d dressed my buddy up in his best clothes to bury him, and we didn’t want the Moabites to steal my friend’s clothes, so we threw him in the pit that we were passing. Come to find out, the prophet Elisha was buried in that pit, and as soon as my friend’s body touched Elisha’s body, he jumped up out of that pit, as alive as ever. Almost scared us to death, but our friend is still with us. Thanks be to God for miracles. II Kings 13:21 Have any of you seen the film “Epic”. It's a wonderful cartoon movie about nature. The description at the beginning is that life is not about a battle between Good and Evil, sometimes it feels like that, but the real battle, at the most basic level is between Decay and Life. We as part of creation, die, we are mortal. We fight against it, but from the moment of our birth, we are aging. What happened when they put the body of this young man into the grave of Elisha, is that going through the motions of life, being afraid of death and afraid of their enemies, suddenly came up against Faith in God and nothing can withhold faith in God, not height, nor depth, nor fear, not even death. My name’s Lazarus. Let me tell you my story. You might know my sister, Mary. Well, she wrote to Jesus, and told him that I was really sick, but he didn’t come right away. When he finally got there, I’d been dead for four days. My sisters wanted me out of the house, because I was starting to really smell, so they’d already put me in my tomb. Martha, my other sister, went out to talk to Jesus. Jesus told her that I would be raised up. She told him that she understood all about the resurrection at the end of time, but she was hoping for something a little sooner than that. Jesus told her that he, Jesus, is the Resurrection and the Life, and that if she believed, it would happen. Martha went back and told Mary, and so when Jesus showed up, they took him to my tomb. That really got to Jesus. He was pretty mad, and he even cried a bit. He wanted to know why they’d stuck me in a tomb, and Mary explained about the smell. He told them to roll away the stone, and commanded me to come out. I shambled out, looking straight up zombie, wrapped in all of my grave clothes. Jesus told them to unwrap me and let me loose. Believe me, after that, everybody believed that Jesus was the miracle worker. Thanks be to God for miracles. John 11:1-44 It's funny, that when Jesus came to their home, the Bible records Martha served and Mary listened to Jesus as a disciple. BUT where was Lazarus? Sometimes, it seems as though the biggest thing in our life, is that we died. They were only 15 when they had a car accident. The baby was born and died. But the most important part of the Burial of Lazarus, Mary and Martha's brother, is that when Jesus got to the tomb, he WEPT. The point of Life is not whether or when or how we die, but that our lives and our deaths touch other people. I want to tell you about my daughter. When she was 12, she died. I was heartbroken. The neighbors all showed up with casseroles – all of us were sitting in the living room, talking over happier times and crying, when my husband shows up with this guy he’d been talking about, Jesus. So Jesus wants to know why all of these people are hanging around our house and we tell him, and Jesus says it isn’t true, that my daughter is only sleeping. Then he tells everybody to leave. I’m so upset, I just watch everybody leave. Jesus goes into my daughter’s room, along with my husband, myself and Jesus’ three buddies, Peter, James and John, and he grabs my daughter’s hand and says “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, get up.” And what does she do? She gets up and starts walking around! I mean, I was so excited. I thought my daughter was dead, and then she isn’t? Jesus, he just told us not to tell people what he’d done and give my daughter something to eat. Just happened that I had quite a few casseroles on hand. Thanks be to God for miracles! Mark 5:35-43 My name is Anna Margaret Biss, and I’m a miracle girl. When I was born, God only gave me half a heart to pump my blood. My mom and dad were scared, but not me. I had my first surgery when I was one day old – it took the surgeons six hours to fix my heart. My mom and dad prayed. The people of this church prayed. I came through with flying colors, even if it did take me a month to heal. When I was nine months old I had my second surgery, and my last surgery was just this year, in October. Like some of the people in the Bible, I was in need of healing in order to live, and with the help of some wonderful doctors and a whole lot of prayers, I’m pretty good to go now! My mom and dad thank God for me every day, and without the prayers of the people in this room, I might not have made it this far, but because of faith, I’m here today. When I grow up I’m gonna be a heart surgeon, so I can help other children like me. Thanks be to God for miracles! Hey. My name is Martha, and I’m from the Sudan. I’m here to tell you how God saved me from death. When I was six, my village was attacked by another tribe. My parents were at church, and I was staying at a neighbors with my three year old sister. We had to run away, so we wouldn’t be killed like my parents. A bunch of us got together and started walking from my village to Ethiopia. We had no food, no water, and had to walk through some very hot country. When we got to Ethiopia, things were not good there, either. The UN came, and helped out some, but there were too many of us, so my sister and I were moved to Kenya. It was there that we found out that many Sudanese boys had been sent to America – we wanted to go there, too! In Kenya, my sister and I had already been settled with a foster family, but I didn’t want to stay with them. They had already arranged a marriage for me, and I did not want that – what would happen to my sister if I married? So, I secretly applied to go to America with my sister. Our application was accepted, and here we are – with a husband I was free to choose, beautiful children, and no threat of starvation, or war. God, it seems, had found me when I needed him most, and provided me with the miracle I needed. Thanks be to God for miracles.

"Power, Authority and Competition" June 2, 2013 Confirmation

I Kings 18: 17-39 Luke 7:1-10 Chris: The last several weeks, Rev. Lindsey had us read over these Bible stories again and again. He kept asking us to brood over them and think about what they meant. Grace: The one about the Centurion is about authority. This is an Officer among Soldiers in the Roman Legion everything about this guy, from his armor and sword, to his scars and muscles, screams of authority and is designed as symbols to invoke fear. Andrew: Yet, he is also someone who has compassion and cares about others. Not what the Roman Legion was known for! The people speak of his caring and empathy. This same Centurion has a servant, not even his own child, but a servant who was ill, and he asked Jesus to heal him. He believed in authority. If he had power to command troops into battle, and they went at his command, then if Jesus commanded his servant to be well, the Centurion believed he would get well. Emma: I am not sure if he really believed in Jesus, but he believed in power to make things happen, he believed Jesus could. And according to Jesus' words, that was all it takes. Elsa: The other is about Competition, a competition between the forces of God and faith in idols. Except, the King and Queen of Israel worshipped those idols. So part of the question is does it matter what we believe in? That is the question of today isn't it? In a time when every institution, all authority, are up for grabs, when there is competition in our time and commitment for what matters, what do we believe in and does it matter? Tate: When there were Tornados, I bet people prayed to God to be spared. Andrew: When the people were watching the Boston Marathon, and trying just to survive running the Marathon, and suddenly bombs exploded. When everyone was told to shelter down, to stay in one place, as two bombers roamed their neighborhoods. I would pray. Rachel: When Hurricane Sandy, excuse me “Superstorm Sandy” devastated 19 states, the people prayed. Grace: When a crazed gunmen went onto a school to kill children, that was reason to pray. Elsa: There is an awful lot of bad stuff happening all around us. Whether we believe in God, praying to God, does matter. Andrew: So how do we describe the greatest Competition we know? Tate: Well the greatest Competition each year is easy, it's the Superbowl. Chris: Yeah, but what is the Competition of the Superbowl between? Emma: What do you mean, the Superbowl is a competition between the two most winning teams of the year. Andrew: No it is not. The Superbowl may have started out being about Football, but a large percentage of those who watch the Superbowl, do not watch for the football, they watch for the commercials. Chris: I like the Puppies. Elsa: Do you remember last year's Superbowl, with the baby Clydesdale! And that guy who raised him, and loved the colt, and remembering his love for the horse he went to see him in the parade. But when they unhitched the horse, he took off down the street to find the man he loved. Emma: Yeah, but the greatest Superbowl commercial of all time was the one with the little kid imagining he was Darth Vader. Trying to use The Force to operate the Washer and Dryer. Trying to make his sister's doll fly. Finally, trying to start his dad's car, and the Dad pushed the remote, making him wonder. Rachel: So, if the Superbowl is not really about the competition between football teams,but between football and commercials, or between the show and the half-time show, or even between all the commercials, and the Superbowl takes place on a Sunday, then how can faith in God compete? Grace: What if, at next year's Superbowl, the announcer called everyone's attention at the start of half-time. Then the announcer asked that people remember all the things that have happened in the last year. Tate: Okay, but that is just going to make people feel sad, what do we do with people's sadness, with their loss? Elsa: What if we asked the whole world for a moment of silence? Chris: What if we asked people to think about their priorities, about what is important. Andrew: And if they know someone with whom they are angry, that instead of stewing about it, or talking to other people about it, if they would go and ask them directly, if they could find some way to compromise? Is there some way they can respect each other and work together for a different future?