March 26, 2017 "A GodWork"

I Samuel 16:1-13 John 9: 1-41 As scientifically advanced as we have become, as much as we know about human nature and the balance of the universe, we tend to ask the Wrong Questions, to seek Easy Answers to Complex Problems. When someone dies, we do not ask Jesus Question of Lazarus’ Sister: “Do you believe in the resurrection?” “How would you like to honor their faith?” We do not even inquire if they believed in God or if we do? We ask the Forensic Question “How did they die?” or “Did they suffer?” As if knowledge of a pulmonary embolism, versus ventricular blockage, were something important, and that a quick unexpected death may or may not be preferable to Cancer or a lengthy goodbye. Last Sunday, with the Samaritan Woman at the Well, we named that of necessity every household had to go to the Well at least daily. This morning Jesus disciples observe a blind beggar at the Pool of Siloam. Everything in the Middle East, whether Israel or Palestine, is made of limestone. The houses are limestone, the churches are limestone, even the aqueducts and public water pools are constructed of limestone. Trees are scarce and limestone is plentiful. However, limestone can be extremely porous, absorbing water until super saturated, then gushing forth as the air bubbles trapped in the rock react to being compressed, consequently the pools routinely erupt and surge, much like the geyser Old Faithful, or a living mammal breathing, Creation breathing life into the world. Because of this, there was an ancient myth that if you were blind or lame, and could be physically in the water of one of these pools when it surged, your ailment would be cured. Perhaps it was the mineral deposits or metals, but then again the water is polluted enough you do not want to sit in it waiting for the surge. That, made the pools a place where the poor routinely gathered and begged. None of Jesus’ Disciples asked “Why is there suffering?” “How do we solve poverty?” or “Will the poor always be with us?” Not even, “Is pain and suffering related to sin?” Instead, like us they assigned blame asking “Who Sinned, This man or his parents?” We have a desire to attribute blame with responsibility and to project our interpretation on the circumstance of others. We jump through complicated mental gymnastics to avoid responsibility, in order to blame someone. Around the world, climates have been changing. Possibly this is a Cycle that occurs every two hundreds years, possibly it is natural, possibly it is related to pollution. Polar Icecaps are melting, There have been greater number and velocity of Hurricanes and Volcanoes than previously on record; YET, 10 days ago, when we had +29 inches of snow in 24 hours, we described An ACT OF GOD! Not a Miracle, but Curse. In our minds we have made an equation, People (either do Good or Sin) PLUS not what we want or expect {Blindness and Disability, Illness, Devastation, Snowfall}, EQUAL Punishment for Sin. Who did it? Who angered the Gods, to cause our suffering? Whether Greek or Roman or Canaanite Gods, or the One Creator. Redeemer and Sustainer, we are human and we ask the same questions. When there are suspicions of Cancer, well meaning friends ask: Did you smoke? Were you exposed to carcinogens? Are there others in your Family who gave you this gene? As if, by asking questions, we can assign blame, either to the individual, or those responsible for them, or to God; and can comfort ourselves that we are safe. I served as a Chaplain in Clinical Practice at Harlem’s Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in the early 1980s when the AIDS epidemic was first being diagnosed. The fear was that no one knew the cause. The disease was first named GRID, because the victims tended to fit a GRID of being Hispanic, Caribbean or African, related to intravenous drug use, tattoos, or prostitution and homosexuality. Overtime, we have come to recognize correlation as being different from causation, just as Fire Engines do not cause Fires, we came to understand that AIDS was not as contagious as we feared, but came to understand that victims of AIDS had less immunities against the germs we carry. In the early 1980s, fear was the reaction. The dilemma, according to Jesus, is that the blindness of this man cannot be attributed to he or his parents, those are irrelevant! The point of his blindness was to demonstrate a GodWork. Much like the conversations Jesus had with Nicodemus, and with the Samaritan Woman, we have to stop here, letting go all our pre-conceptions about Suffering and Sin, and Blame, and projections of Acts of God. Rather than asking Who Sinned, or Why do Good People Suffer, or Why do Corrupt people get away with it? We have a different starting point, of asking, “How has God used this circumstance for us, for others?” The point of this stranger’s blindness, was to demonstrate the power of God to heal from our worst fears, and also that there are blindnesses of vision, and there are blindnesses of our vision of the world. Remember back to the Book of Genesis, the story of Abraham’s Great Grandsons who try to get rid of their father’s favorite, Joseph and his many colored coat and dreams of power. They threw him down a well. They sold him into slavery. They told their father he was mauled to death and there was no hope in searching for him. From a different perspective, we hear of Israel going down into Egypt during a Famine, and we see the beginnings of Slavery and bondage. But in their lifetime, when Joseph had the opportunity of punishing those who sold him, as one in absolute economic/political/legal and religious power able to punish them for their sins, instead he named that God had used this circumstance to provide for their family’s survival and ultimate salvation. In this morning’s first reading. The people of Israel had never had a King, they were led by Moses, by Prophets and Priests as a Holy People of God. But the people wanted to be like everybody else and Samuel said NO. But God allowed the people to choose Saul as King. When Saul became seduced by power, Samuel could have said “See, I told you so!” or “You sinned and now you are going to suffer” instead God told Samuel to go to Bethlehem to ordain the one of God’s choosing. He went, and the one God chose was not a great leader, a great warrior, handsome, or wise, or ethical, the one God chose was a child, a shepherd boy; not for immediate leadership but years later, having been ordained as a child, claimed by God, he would become the best-loved if even one of the most humanly flawed Kings of Israel. In South Sudan, there is a marvelous and painful story, of a man who became blind. He came with his wife and daughter and three grandchildren to the Clinic and Surgeons. And they were able to surgically arrest his blindness and save his sight. When they took the bandages off his eyes, he took the youngest grandchild in his arms, because he had never seen her before. And he danced and sang, because he was able to enjoy this moment. The following day, walking home, he was shot and killed. We might, and many have questioned, Who sinned this man, or the one who shot him, that he lost his sight, and when his sight was restored he was murdered. But his wife’s response was “This was a “GodWork” the one thing he wanted in life was to see his grandchild and he was be satisfied.” Twenty-five years ago, my bride organized and led a Conference on the topic of AIDS Women and Children, with Elisabeth Kubler Ross as the keynote speaker. Elisabeth had pioneered the field of Hospice Care, the processes of death and dying and Grief and Loss; but in her own last two decades of life, Elisabeth transformed her home into an orphanage for children with AIDS. Our children had just been born, and Elisabeth asked the audience, “Who would be willing to parent a child? Of those, who would be willing to do so, if that child had a disease without a cure? You will have to glove to change the baby, disposing diapers as a bio-hazard waste. They will have temperatures and childhood ailments, that could be fatal to this child. You will need to administer shots to that infant every day, several times a day. You will need to take that child to the doctor, possibly several times a week. Now, how many of you would adopt a child, under those conditions? Now, imagine, that that child whom you claimed knowing that they had this fatal disease, what if, instead of only living for a few weeks or possibly years, became yours to walk down the aisle at their wedding, and to send them to college? Elisabeth said, few of us would, but that is Manifesting a GodWork.

"Scandalized Whacking" March 19, 2017

Exodus 17:1-7 John 4:5-42 Two years ago on Easter, I arrived at the Church early, to prepare before the 6:30am Sunrise, and when I went to unlock the doors, there was a man sleeping against the door. I awoke this young man with shoulder length brown hair and a beard and invited him to come in where it was warm and dry. He brought in his sleeping bag. I asked if he needed food or a hotel, he said “No, just a place to rest from the world, and maybe your blessing” I made him a cup of coffee and rushed off to the Gazebo. But that experience changed me. We do not need to fear strangers, they may not be looking for a great deal, maybe not even all that we have to offer, just a blessing and a place away from the world. So Tuesday and Wednesday, when the Winter storms came, I intentionally left the Church unlocked. Yet, throughout, I received texts and calls from others saying “I found the church unlocked, so locked it up. Is everything all right?” Lent is not the time after Christmas and before Easter, when nights are longer than days, and bitter winds blow: that is winter. Lent is the season of 40 nights and days (not counting Sundays) for repentance and self-revelation. Nostalgically perhaps, there was a time of Community Support, Negotiation and Compromise between people who disagreed. However, times changed, conflict escalated, with every Tribe, Nation and Political Party believing they could teach others. This escalated further, into each wanting to Win, in the 1980s the phrase was coined “Road-rage,” when people were so bent on competition, that they had to get ahead at all costs to others. Over the last 30 years, our distrusts of one another have escalated, to where what matters is not winning, but making certain others lose. Ironically, when we disagree, whenever there is conflict, all we need do to escalate the conflict is to match one another, making them back down or raise. YET to lower the tension between us, we simply need to try to not beat the other, to recognize that being part of something together, living in relationship is more vital than winning, or causing them to lose. All we ever need do is to forgive, which is not about giving-in to the other but changing how we claim the other. Bottom-line, there are two ways to live life, unexamined, going from circumstance to circumstance never learning, making mistakes again and again, always in a state of dependence, as the Slaves to the Egyptians, and lost for 40 years in the Wilderness of Tzin; as the Samaritan Woman, going from her father’s house to each of her husbands in succession; OR whether to Stop as a Sabbath, and re-examine living life differently, in Covenant faith, trying to trust, revealing to ourselves who we are. The descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob over time had become slaves of Egypt. They prayed and cried out to God, and miraculously God heard their prayers! Through Moses, God brought a series of 10 Plagues upon Egypt! God blotted out the Sun, turned the Nile River to Blood, rained down hail and lightning, finally killing the first born child of every Egyptian family right up through the Pharaoh, but passing over the Hebrews. Although pursued by Pharaoh’s Military in Chariots, they were miraculously protected by God, led by a pillar of fire, hidden by a column of smoke! Trapped with their backs to the Red Sea, God miraculously parted the waters of chaos and drowned Pharaoh’s Army and horses. In the Wilderness the only water was brackish, unfit to drink, and God miraculously gave Moses the strength to pull a tree out of the ground and throw it into the water, which caused the water to be cleansed pure! The Hebrew people who left Egypt were over 2,000,000 and they were hungry, and miraculously God gave enough Quail for them to eat. Then daily gave them Manna in the wilderness to sustain their lives. The Hebrews encountered Canaanite armies, and miraculously whenever Moses lifted his arms to Heaven, the Hebrews were victorious, but when Moses lowered his arms from fatigue and weariness, the Hebrews failed. Would you be convinced of the reality of faith, the love of God for you, the power of God, by a miracle? How many times, how many miracles would it take for you to be convinced to change? What does it take to believe? The Hebrews were one of the first to have a written language with letters and grammar, as such they loved word-games, nuance in synonyms and homonyms. “The Hebrews moved on by stages” literally means that all 2,000,000 did not break camp at once, but day after day, week after week, they ventured out in groups like wagon trains of 100 people. “TZIN” is an area of the wilderness north of the Sinai desert and south of the Dead Sea. However, “moving on by stages from the wilderness of Tzin,” paints a picture of stumbling from one bad experience into another, living from crisis to crisis, compounding sin upon sin. Family Therapist David Mace described that “Relationships are not built on shared experience, common goals or genetics, but the Trust of Self-Revelation.” Massah and Meribah is a poignant story of people putting God to the Proof, testing God to see if they could get God to do whatever they desired, when they wanted? Taking the stories of Massah and Meribah together, the first time they were thirsty, God instructed Moses to take his staff and whack the rock for what they needed; but later, the people of faith (because of our doubts it is difficult to refer to us that way), commanded Moses to take his staff and strike the rock when people wanted. The pain of the Scriptures is that we do get what we want when we want, but doing so betrays our trust, breaks covenant with God. Adam and Eve did not die by eating what they desired, when God had told them to exercise their will to restrain desire. They did not die, but they became mortal, knowing death, knowing loss, which in covenant that never experienced before. God provided for the every need of the people in the wilderness, as the people learned to trust God rather than being dependent on Pharaoh. But when people demonstrated their fear and distrust by making Creation obey them to have what they desired when they wanted, God chose to not bring this generation out of the wilderness. It is a scandalous story. A story of the People of Faith not having faith. God’s people did not trust God. The faithful did not believe and broke Covenant with God by hacking at the Rock of their salvation. Earlier this week, I was visiting with someone who described “A Mixed Marriage” in their family, what she meant was not racial, not cultural, not even between different religions, but marriage of two Christians, one was Lutheran and one Catholic. One of the earliest laws of the Jewish people, prevented their inter-marriage with non-Jews. The Samaritans were Hebrews who when conquered by the Greeks were bred with their victors. Throughout the culture of the Bible, there was nothing approaching equal rights for women or children. The only ones permitted to speak in public were men. This week was St. Patrick’s Day, in Ireland before 1800, the only persons recorded in a Census were men, men who had paid taxes on property; all others were not counted and did not have rights to vote, or authority to speak in the Courts. In the Middle-east at that time, it would have been scandalous for a man and woman who were not married or at the least betrothed to speak alone, far more so to speak in public, and a Rabbi to ask a favor of a Samaritan Woman! Women and children, and those not purely Jewish, were considered unclean; and Water represents Life and Purity, would be a thing no man would not ask of a decent woman, let alone a scandalous one. We have the modern luxury of turning on the tap, whenever we desire, hot or cold water. We can purchase Spring Water, Mountain Water, Skinny At Last Water, we can acquire water from any sink, even refrigerator doors, and we have luxurious indoor plumbing. In our lifetimes, we have known homes without indoor plumbing, and with racially segregated laws about water to drink. This particular Samaritan woman had had a hard life. We have no way of knowing why she had been married so often, why she presently lived with one who was not her husband. Perhaps she had had the horror and loss of burying a succession of five husbands each whom she loved. Then again, given Jewish Levitical laws, she may have had one man as husband, but when he died, her husband’s brother took her into his home to provide for her, then another brother was responsible for her, then a cousin. Like the example given in Luke, to put Jesus to the proof, a woman had one brother after another, and now survived as an indentured servant, or slave. But she was scandalized by the very culture that provided for her in these religious laws. Ordinarily, in South Sudan, and Israel and Samaria alike, the very first chore that a woman does, every woman, every day, is go to fetch buckets of water, while it is still cool out, while the water in the well is undisturbed and clear. The Biblical fact, that at midday, she was fetching water, indicates that she was not allowed by others to get water in the morning Daily she was hacked away by the scandal of others. What she heard Jesus offering in Living Water, is the opportunity to not be scandalized, not be attacked by others every day, but simply to live life. What Jesus means by Living Water is the trust of self-revelation, living in covenant with God. The marvelous part of the Gospel of John, is that before anyone else, anyone else, this woman, this Samaritan, who had had five husbands and lived with a man not her husband, left behind the vessel of daily water, and became the first Evangelist, the first one in the Gospel to go and tell others of the love of God and to bring them to faith. What will it take, how many miracles, before we will let go of our trying to swallow our thirst, when we want, in order to share with others Living Waters?

"Do You Not Understand?" March 12, 2017

Genesis 12: 1-4 John 3: 1-17 Who are you? Who do you identify as? I am: an American, a Central New Yorker, a Midwesterner, Married to my Bestfriend and College Sweet-heart, father of adult children, a Middle child, Pastor to this community, a Doctor of Ministry, a Master of the Divine, a Union Seminary NY Grad, a Wooster Alum, re-uniter of “The Lost Boys” with their families, connected with Health Care in South Sudan, host to the Music Festival, part of the Manor, Middle-aged, Middle-income, a double knee replacement survivor, an elected Justice for the Presbyterian Church, a Child of God. Our identities name who we are, and want to be, our most precious relationships, the experiences that define us. Often these identities are grouped from earliest to most recent, or greatest point of connection to being most unique. But what if, we recited our identities backwards. Something unfortunate happened in the 1970s, that a part of the Church took the phrase “Born Again” out of context, to become a Litmus test for who belongs and who does not have the secret elect identity in common. What matters, what is vital, is not the time of the day of which year, that you realized you had always-been-loved by God. While we can each remember, where we were when 9-11 happened; where you were when President Kennedy was shot; that Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7th, 1941; where we were and what day and time it was, are irrelevant, in relation to our Country being attacked, our President being killed, our culture and way of life being changed forever. And by insisting on that interpretation of “Born Again” as exclusive we have dissuaded one another from claiming first and foremost our identity is as Children of God who then happen to be whatever else. This Call of Abram comes at least 430 years before Moses’ 10 Commandments and the claim that “The Lord our God is One and God only shall you serve”; 450 years before the Book of Leviticus and the Command to “Love your Neighbor as you love yourself”. Abram has done nothing to earn God’s love. There is nothing about his family of origin, or his profession. What is significant about Abram was that God spoke to Abram, telling him to abandon his Country, Home and Family and He Did as God commanded. The Book of Genesis does not name a terrible famine in the land, great war, flood or pestilence. But Abram was called by God, chosen to be a Resident Alien, a Nomad, without home, without nation, without family, whom we remember as being the Father of Nations, Patriarch to Judaism and Christianity and Islam, but before any of those, whose primary identity is that God Called and Abram Followed. Such a simple thing. One experience, out of a life-long relationship, that redefines everything about who we are, that gives value and meaning to life. Years ago, there was a couple who telephoned the Church Office Sunday morning before anyone else had arrived. When the pastor answered they identified themselves as being the Thompsons, Bill and Mary. They explained that they could not attend worship yet that morning, but wondered if the pastor could stop by their home about 8pm. As the Pastor walked up to their home, he wondered whether this couple so much a part of this community were part of another church, looking to make a change; or whether their were some significant change or loss in their lives that they wanted to see the pastor. They quickly invited him in, taking his coat, thanking him for making the effort, asking if he wanted a glass of wine. A voice in the back of his mind questioned if this were some sort of test, but he assured himself that Jesus drank wine, and this is the Wine-region of Central new York. Mary and Bill explained that they were Baby-boomers, who had everything they could imagine. They had each done well in business, they had a lovely home and solid marriage, each served on several civic committees and philanthropies, they gave money to a number of charities, and had even established a private foundation. They had been raised to be ethical and had always tried to be. They went away each winter to ski in Aspen and enjoy time in Florida, they had several BMWs, and everything was fine. Which in fact, was their problem, they had it all and were not satisfied, they felt somewhat hollow as if questioning, Is this all that there is? They were seeking a Value-Added Life, everything they were, but for it to have more meaning and purpose. They had wondered about coming to church, but being well known and comfortably affluent, they were afraid to come because people would wonder Why they were there, and Why this church, and What if they attended once or twice and people started looking for them to get involved. Which is why they asked him to come to them, at night, when neighbors might not notice. The pastor smiled and said: “there are two stories, one in the Gospel of Matthew, one in John, while different, being in separate Gospels people have wondered if they could reflect the same story. The first, is that a rich young ruler came to Jesus saying he had always been faithful and ethical, but wanted more. Jesus said to him, Go, sell all you have, give to the poor, then come follow me.” Bill interrupted, “So you want us to give away everything we have? I never thought of the Presbyterian Church as being a cult?” The pastor said, “You do not have to give everything away, at least not yet.” “The other is the story of Nicodemus, a well respected, established Pharisee, who came to Jesus at night, recognizing that Jesus must have come from God, to be able to be who he was, to say what he did and do what he did. Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to be Born from Above.” Mary asked, “And how do we do that? Is there a class we go to, or a book we can read?” The pastor said “No, it is more passive than that. Just like your being Born biologically, you did not read a book to do so, you did not even have to try, you just experienced it.” Bill responded, “So this is where you want us to pay to attend?” The pastor said, “Instead of having expectations about what you are going to give, or what you have to offer, or why; how are you at receiving?” Bill said, “You mean like at Christmas?” Mary jumped in, “He’s awful. Bill loves to give, to surprise others, but not only does he not expect anything in return, it sort of embarrasses him.” The pastor suggested that “you come to worship for the next two months, and when the offering plate is passed, when there are invitations to join choir, to teach, to serve on a committee, that you wait for at least the first six weeks.“ The next Sunday, Mary and Bill were in worship, not in the front row, but not coming in late to sit in the back either. While there were numerous opportunities that they could give, Mary and Bill were struck by listening to the relationships of people, to each other and to God. They were struck by the feeling of thankfulness people seemed to have. To survive cancer, to be remembered, appreciated. When the little girl gave them a bulletin, when the child carried the Bible to present to the Pastor, when people remembered their names. Mary and Bill began thinking about relationships, not simply for what they had gotten out of it, but what that relationship had meant to them. The Tuesday after the 4th week, Mary phoned her sister to reconnect, really to connect for the first time. Not long after, Bill went to Cemetery where his father was buried, and had a long talk with his Dad. On the seventh week, the pastor became anxious, because Mary and Bill were no where to be found. But the week after, they were, describing that they had chosen to make time for each other, to share with the other the hopes and dreams they had never shared with anyone, that they had believed no one would want to know, and they found it a gift to be trusted with what the other had to share.

"Wrestling With Demons" March 5, 2017

Genesis 2: 15-17, 3: 1-7 Matthew 4: 1-11 As much as we each believe we are unique, in control of our lives, decisions, our destiny, that we are special, “Nobody knows the troubles we’ve seen,” the truth is that the human condition has encounters with Demons and God, which we call Tests of Faith, Temptations, Faith Struggles, Power Struggles, that we each face. One of my favorite stories is of Prophet Elijah on Mount Carm-el with 500 Prophets of Baal, which ends with Elijah in the cave of a mountain confronted with Fire, Flood, Wind, Quake, and a Still Small Voice, asking “What are you doing here Elijah?” The first Sunday after Christmas, churches were directed to read the story of Jesus’ Baptism, the climax of which was that a voice came from Heaven declaring “You are my beloved, with whom I Am well pleased” and he was driven to Temptation. For 6 weeks we heard Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, with Blessings on our struggles, on life circumstance. Last week, Larry preached Jesus’ Transfiguration atop Mount Tabor, wrestling with all The Law and The Prophets, and when he came down he set his face toward Jerusalem, toward the Cross, and would not be swerved. What I had not perceived until witnessing it, is that Israel and Palestine have 4 parts, there is the desert of Sinai, and to the north is Jerusalem built atop Mount Moriah where Abram sacrificed his son, and also where Jesus was sacrificed on the cross, and to the north is Galilee surrounding the Sea of Galilee, and to the north is the Mountainous region of: the Beatitudes, the Multiplication, the Temptation, the Transfiguration, Carmel, and the Valley which in Revelation is named Armageddon. Blessing and Temptation are the mountains and valleys which define each other. The 40 Days and Nights of Lent, literally the Church Season of Spring, begins with the Temptation, because this event is pivotal to Christian faith. Because of the number 40, we routinely transpose Noah and the Flood, Moses and the time in the Desert, the Exile in Babylon, Jesus’ Temptation, as being 40, which was a symbol for temptation by Demons / a long time a season of purification, redemption, testing. The first thing to note, is that the Devil never says “IF YOU ARE the Son of God,” but rather “SINCE you are…” The temptation is not to prove that Jesus is the Messiah, that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Devil knows Jesus is; but instead, Being Created in the image of God, being blessed by God, what are you going to do about it? Will you act as if you are God? Will you use your gifts and abilities to change the world, so that there is no need, no hunger or starvation? Faith confronting the powers of the world is struggling with the complex immensity of problems. “No one wants war, but everyone wants to win, and bodies pile up.” “No one desires homelessness, but we always have the poor with us.” “No child, especially in the richest Nation in history need die of hunger, but they do.” “We are not really living, simply being driven along by powers beyond our control.” Oddly, the temptations do not begin right away but 40 nights &days after Baptism when Jesus had fasted. The first Test, reminds us of Moses’ Nation in the Wilderness crying out for food and God provided Manna for them to eat. How often we eat by routine and not from need or hunger, or even from want of desire. Jesus was surrounded by rocks / unwilling to give up his body and soul to the desires of flesh, the wants of false security and satiation. In a consumer-driven emotionally “Self”- indulgent society, surrounded by all the things that could satisfy, providing for his survival, Jesus says “No” and this sets up his willingness to go to the Cross for us. The Temptation of Adam and Eve was one of Free Will. God gave them opportunity to live together as Help-mates equal to one another, and able to walk with God, that they possess everything they need, they could consume anything except from that one tree. When confronted with the talking serpent, their trust in God was Tested. Will you be faithful, or will you use what you have been given for your desires, as if there were no God except you? And seeing that it was beautiful, and to be desired because it made one wise, they took and ate. The problem in the Garden of Eden, is that everything the serpent said, was a Truth. The Fruit was to be desired. Choosing your own desires instead of being faithful to the Covenant with God is an option, but one which exiles you to a world outside where you witness your nakedness shame. That does not mean God ceases to exist, only that what you thought would open your eyes actually blinds you to everything good, satisfaction is not salvation. From Isolation of the Wilderness, Jesus is transported to the Pinnacle of the Temple at Jerusalem. It is hard to imagine just how congested is Jerusalem. On a cliff on the side of a mountain, was a Jebusite Walled City of the Canaanites, built within concentric walls all around, that David conquered not by knocking down barriers but by coming up inside. As the City of David, unable to grow beyond the perimeters, new generations built one story atop another of their ancestral family home. In the time of King Solomon, the Temple at Jerusalem was constructed taller and more beautiful than anything anyone had ever seen. Generations later, after the Greeks, and Medes, when the Roman Empire ruled with King Herod the Great, the Herod who had killed all the baby boys at the time of Jesus’ birth, Herod chose to expand Jerusalem by cutting off and moving the top of the mountain, after 16 years of work creating a great plateau, which Jerusalem quickly worked to fill. The Second Temptation, throwing yourself off the Pinnacle of the Temple so all would witness God rescuing you, is claiming God is on your side against everyone & everything else. Seeing truth only as you see it, using position and authority for your ends, there have been preachers, leaders throughout history, who have claimed “God spoke to me, God told me God’s will for you!” That is twisting the role of the servant of God to be the master of the universe. Jesus’ 3rd Temptation was the Dominance of Power, Jesus could have it all, be King of Kings and Ruler of the Empire, but just as God refused to create humanity without a Freedom of Will, Jesus refused to Conquer the World through domination and violence, yielding to the desire to Control, yielding to the Devil. Painfully, Jesus’ denial of the Temptations is what led him to the cross. By saying “no” to power to satisfy his needs; by refusing to use power to force others to worship him; by refusing to use power to dominate and destroy, Jesus was set against the Self-indulgent powers of this world who would use power for their desire, for their being followed and worshipped, for their being able to dominate and control, as if God.

Ash Wednesday 2017, "Ambassadors of Christ"

2nd Corinthians 4: 13-6:10 Matthew 6:1-21 About seven or eight years ago, after a worship service, a trusted friend in the congregation commented that when Earle had been overloaded, our church had given he and Jane a trip to the Holy Lands as a sabbatical, and maybe I needed that. I recall quickly dismissing the idea, because I knew that when he returned, there were those who believed he would be leaving, and actually it was only about a year later that he did retire, so I did not want to encourage any similar ideas. Before going to Israel, with stress and worry over whether I was up to the trip, whether it would be safe, concerns about the two jury trials I had to be part of when returning, whether my computer and materials would make it to Texas while I was in Israel, all the plane connections, as well as the normal stresses of the church, of marriage and life: like Jacob I had put my hip out of joint. Actually it was more than that, in all humility I share with you that my father had been my role model, my pastor, my confidant and friend, as well as my father. When he died eight years ago, a stranger contacted us saying that my trusted father had had an affair and he was an illegitimate brother who had been put up for adoption. The whole story violated everything I knew about the man I had loved and trusted, it was a secret I could not accept and rejected. This Christmas I had asked for one of those Genealogical DNA Tests, and in February the results came back stating that I was not the 3rd of 4 but instead the 3rd of 5 sons. There is an importance in owning our story, owning the story of our faith, because secrets/things which are hidden, are carried on and perpetuated eternally, but when secrets are owned and brought into the light, they become only temporary. There is an importance in faith Not being about pride of station, or respect for piety, but humbly accepting the brokenness and need for communion. So I had been going to the local Physical Therapist for exercises and adjustments. This morning I returned to see him, and in surprise he described “You are so much more relaxed, your whole posture and demeanor is different. It is as if, you not only got away to a different place, but if you did not see God at least you saw where Christ lived and it effected you.” It was a marvelous experience, where 45 pastors were explicitly told we were not and could not be in charge! We stayed in the very best hotels, ate incredible foods on a Mediterranean diet, had the most plush tour bus driven by a retired Israeli Police Detective who literally could back a camel through the eye of a needle, with a Tour Guide who had been a Colonel in the 1967 War and the Primary Instructor and President of the Israeli Tour Guide Academy. We witnessed Israel and Palestine, in ways that challenge every story we as preachers thought we knew, and created something of a 5th Gospel, or at least added 3 Dimensions to the Gospels we know. But somewhere along the journey it occurred to me, that what was most powerful was that as a Reformed Protestant, a life-long Christian, both of my seminary educations and experience had all been tailored for being a Professional Leader of the Church, a Pastor, your Pastor. I had studied preaching and counseling and had over 33 years experience. But it had always been more important to me that “God so loved the World God Gave God’s Only Begotten Son;” and that “Christ died for our sins,” than it mattered where these occurred. Knowledge of the Life of Paul and the Prophets had been like knowledge of the history of Abraham Lincoln or George Washington, and preaching and teaching had been on “Trust” “Love” “Justice” “Commitment.” Suddenly, you could not escape the reality that the 2000 year old Olive Trees in the Garden of Gethsemane where we prayed on the Mount of Olives immediately outside Jerusalem, were the actual trees that were there, and this was The Garden of Gethsemane on The Mount of Olives. But also, that the same mountain that we were looking at, with the Muslim Mosque with a Golden Dome, was the place where Mohammed claimed to have gone to Heaven to receive the Koran and returned; was built atop the Place of Jesus Crucifixion and Resurrection; atop the ruins of the 2nd Jewish Temple built under Ezra, Nehemiah and Zerubbabel when the Israelites returned from Babylon; was built atop the ruins of Solomon’s Temple; built in the City of David, because David and his army had taken this fortification from the Jebusites, this was where he had seen Bathsheba on the rooftop; and this had been the same mountain on which Abraham had sacrificed Isaac; the mountain called Moriah because decades before God had told Abram to leave his home and family to go to the place God would point out, and Moriah means the “Place Pointed To.” We celebrated the Sacrament of Communion together in the actual Upper Room. We waded through the water and crawled through the underground tunnels that David had done coming up at the Pool of Siloam where Jesus had healed the Man born Blind. I am incredibly thankful that Mario, who did not simply go on a pilgrimage as I was given, but he went on a Mission trip to the Yucatan Peninsula to build a roof on the Presbytery building, to construct the foundation and walls of a church, to paint a Seminary. And as a Resident Alien, he took part in this mission aware that he might not be able to cross the border back into this Country. One of the circumstances Mario and I have spoken of several times, that we both are committed to is that Mission is and has to be a two way street. Mario has received from the Church, and from his faith and experience he is an Ambassador of Christ to the North American Church. I am also incredibly thankful, that while I was away, and Mario was away, and the circumstances of the church went on, you the Choir, the Deacons, the Elders, the Women’s Association, and Members stepped up without us directing you, to be the Body of Christ, to be the Church to one another and this community. So, I am afraid to tell you, Mario and I are both back, and neither of us is planning to go anywhere, but we are not the same as we were. Having been in Mission elsewhere, having knelt down on my knees at the foot of the Cross, we are “Ambassadors of Christ, God making God’s appeal to you through us.”

"Table D'Hote Not Ala Carte" February 12, 2017

Deuteronomy 30: 15-20 Matthew 5: 20-37 Often when we go into restaurants today, the menu is Ala Carte. Would you like a wine, if so, Red, White or Rose, from NY or California, France, Argentina, Spain… Then would you like an Appetizer and there is a list, Soup or Salad and there are possibilities. All before you get to selection of the Entre. And later selection among desserts. Last Summer, we went to a restaurant that advertised Prie Fixe, and having studied languages I wondered how dinner was a Prefix, only to learn that this meant there was a Fixed Price for a Fixed Menu, with an Appetizer, Soup, Entre, Dessert and Wine all paired by the Chef as to what goes together. They referred to this as Table D’hote, meaning the Table is set by the host. This portion of the Sermon on the mount, Jesus connects the dots between the 10 Commandments and the Book of Righteousness in Leviticus. It can feel like an old joke about a thief breaking into a house at night. And the thief hears a voice saying “Jesus is watching you!” Using a flashlight, he identifies a Parrot, who says “Jesus is watching you!” But as the thief’s eyes acclimate to the light, he sees an Attack Dog crouching beneath the parrot’s cage, and the parrot says “Sick’em Jesus!” The implicit problem we have reading our Scripture for today is we live in an Ala Carte world. Computerization, prosperity, trade intended to make life easier, instead means that we have greater and greater choices. Because of this, we have been acculturated to believe that we are in control of our lives. We are the Masters of our Universe. We have each made ourselves, into our own Pastor and Pope. Jesus states here in the Sermon on the Mount that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribe and Pharisee, the most religious persons you can imagine, you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. By identifying that you are your own Pastor, means that You have no one else in your confidence, no confessor, no advocate, no one to trust, no intermediary with God. One of Martin Luther’s Theses was whether we needed a Priest to act as Intermediary between us and God, whether we were so sinful, so profane we could not approach God. However, emphasizing the Christ is our Intercessor, Christ stands between us and God, Luther was not encouraging that you avoid confession, or avoid using the resources available, but that you trust Christ. If Mario and I are only here to preach sermons and post videos, it is a poor use of the skills you have called us to address. I am a practitioner in planning and counseling in Family Systems, in helping families (and the church has always described itself as a Family) to recognize that when one person is abused, when one person suffers, that affects the entire family. Mario in his being, represents a missionary to two cultures. The Pope, was always the highest human authority, the only man entrusted to place the crown upon the King or Queen of Countries of Europe, Central and South America, and the highest authority on Moral Teachings. So if we make ourselves our own Pope, we become our own authority on right and wrong. Jesus begins with a statement of caring. Then explanation that the world we have remade is broken and corrupt. Left as it is, our world is destroyed and hopeless, except, that Christ has Called you, God has appointed you to be Salt purifying and curing the world’s problems, bringing light to these Dark Ages. Then Jesus delivers a sermon which combines the 10 Commandments of Deuteronomy, with the Morality Code of the Book of Leviticus. That if you cannot fulfill and obey the Law and Commandments, you should have your eye plucked out, or your hand cut off. From the time of Moses, through today, in parts of the world, these have been the punishment for theft, for adultery, for witnessing what you had no right to see. The problem of right and wrong is the crux of the problem with these teachings of Jesus. Over the years I have heard two interpretations of these. The first, is Jesus offering a new teaching, a new law, that undercuts and supercedes the old law, making it irrelevant. “You have heard it said, But I say unto you…” While that interpretations fits with and makes the teaching work, it also means that the 10 Commandments and Book of Leviticus, the whole of the Old Testament are irrelevant and inadequate. The alternative, is that Jesus is putting the 10 Commandments on steroids, that no one, no one can ever live up to. Who among us has never lusted, never been angry, never coveted what they could not have? So the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest Moral and Ethical Teaching ever given, only serves to accuse us all of being sinners? What if, instead, we understood Jesus’ point was not LEGALISM but RELATIONSHIP. In an ALA CARTE World, we chose which laws defend our cause and which are to be ignored. I know the speed limit, but I am in a hurry. Years ago, there was a couple who came to worship, and after several weeks, we sent a letter to their address inviting the two of them to become members…except these were two people who worked together, they were each married to others, and coming to worship together was their date, their affair. Did the place of meeting make this any less a betrayal? Following Moses and Joshua, if we CHOSE THIS DAY to enjoy TABLE D’HOTE, rather than our choosing ala carte which elements, we choose to live in covenant relationship. A Relationship cannot chose under what circumstance I will or will not love you. A Relationship accepts the other, no matter what. HOWEVER, there is still an accountability for what is right and wrong, but instead of it being my choosing or defending my rights and your wrongs, Relationship speaks to my soul, wanting to pluck out my own eye, or cut off my own hand for offending. Jesus uses the phrase, “if you are on the road to court with your adversary.” Adversary does not mean ENEMY, Adversary is your competitor, the one who challenges you to do more than what you would do on your own, your ADVERSARY demands the utmost from you. And you are not objectively thinking morals through in your mind, but LIVING LIFE OUT on the Road. Finally, imagine there were 11 soldiers, who were in battle together, they have fought beside each other and defended one another, laying in mud and blood together. When suddenly all 11 were killed. They arrive at the Pearly Gates, with St. Peter, who says, “Welcome, but before you can be admitted, you need to take a Final Exam. Sit down at these 12 desks, take these sheets of paper, write down along the left margin the numbers 1 through 10. This is a simple “Yes or No” Test. Ready? Number 1. Did you Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength? Yes or No. Number 2. You shall not take the name of the Lord in Vain. Did you ever? Number 3. You shall not worship other Gods, or make an idol of any thing. Number 4. You shall not kill. Have you killed? Number 5. Have you kept the Sabbath for ever? Number 6. Did you honor your Mother and Father, in all times? Number 7. Did you ever commit Adultery, in your mind have you lusted after?” Peter continued through 8, 9, and 10. You could hear the soldiers exhale, when one raised his hand and asked “What if we got two right. Would that count? How about three or four. Without a hint of hesitation, Peter said this is all or nothing, 100%. Just then they recognized Jesus had been sitting at the 12th desk, who said “You killed following the orders of those you trusted to be in authority. You killed because you believed your cause was right. You killed, so as to not be killed. God loves you so much, God gave my life to you. I love you so much, that I die for your sins. Brothers and sisters, enter now the Kingdom of God.”

"The Next BHAG" February 5, 2017

Isaiah 58:1-12 Matthew 5: 13-20 The point of the Superbowl is not watching how much pain one team can inflict on another, or whether we can fast forward through the program to the commercials as well as we fast forward through the commercials to watch recorded shows, but the competition to be your very best on that day. The Strength and elasticity of Christianity, is that while known for Heresy Trials, Witch Hunts, Church Discipline, we has encouraged, even demanded Critique and New Ideas. From the Preaching of Jesus on the Montainside on, there has been an internal tension between ritual and reform, being willing to risk question. The same cannot be said for Judaism or Islam, Orthodoxy or Evangelicalism. Religion has been critiqued by those outside, in other religions, in atheism, secularism, philosophy, but that is different; the Internal Critique is over whether salt has lost its savor, over whether the light shines. Isaiah 58 names the tension between formulaic ritual of fasts and standing up for others, challenging what you know to be wrong. This week at UC Berkeley there was a riot. 100 people, with their features hidden in Ninja Costumes and Masks, came onto campus to commit vandalism. These were not students, faculty or staff, they were not part of the University body, and did not come for debate or learn, they came only to disgrace. Challenge for the sake of challenge is short-lived and wastes energy. To try to shift from 5th Gear into first, or worse Reverse causes damage to the engine and everyone on board. When sailing, there is a planned moment of chaos, when shifting direction, it is a moment of danger, but that moment is anticipated, practiced and planned for, in order that everyone on board can work together to shift their mass as one and compensate as the captain cries “Hard-a-lee” to use the wind differently. Too early, too late, poorly executed can spell disaster, or being dead in the water. Jim Collins in his book Good to Great describes that he expected organizations that were the best to have adopted bold new vision, setting new strategies, with revolutionary technology; but instead, what he found was that FIRST, they selected the right people, making certain they were in the right seats, and that they shared where they were going. It always amazes me when on a plane that after locking the door, before all the Safety instructions, before getting into position to taxi, the Stewardess names their intended destination; even in this day of high security and computerization, people can realize they are going in the wrong direction and have to get off, and that is the time to do so. In the Church, getting the right people in the right places is what Baptism, Communion and Ordination are all about. Is there a reason we cannot work together? Are we willing and able to trust one another, especially knowing that this is the neighbor who drives you crazy, and beside you is the one whom you had a fight with? Is there aggregate grinding away at us? Can we forgive, or are we nursing that anger? Do we all endorse One Faith that we refuse to lose, despite everything else that may come? SECOND, we have to confront the curse of Competency. It is not enough to carry on tradition. Not enough to have perfect attendance. Not enough to have been elected to positions of authority, you have to strive to make faith your own. Due to the risk of fire/ known building materials, all houses, churches, factories and offices were limited to how high they could build, ordinarily two stories maybe as many as five. When suddenly at the 1889 World’s Fair a French Architect and Engineer built the Eiffel Tower, defying all the rules except that it be structurally stable, built to last, and taller than anything else. However, the Eiffel Tower inspired something within Americans, that by 1930 we constructed The Empire State Building, a taller structure, but more, one that provided useful space for offices and work to be done. In 1961 the Russians were the first to put a person into Space, and Gagarin’s taunt was that “Having visited Heaven God was not there.” The following year, President Kennedy pledged “We choose to go to the Moon.” And having had astronauts land on the moon and return safely, live in space stations, they have sent back visions of Earth that defy words, defy the imagination, one world in tranquility, is that not proof of the existence and power of God, a God whose ego does not need to be seen? In 2004, we shared a sermon, using Jim Collins’ Good to Great, emphasizing his concept of a BHAG, a “Big Hairy Audacious Goal.” Inviting listeners to consider what we might do, how we might work to create something that was the best in the world. We were not complacent to accept worshipping God on Sunday morning. We did not accept having the prettiest building, or being free of Debt. Jack Howard and John Dau gathered people of differing gifts, all who cared, each who could give something of themselves. We set out to succeed, no matter the obstacle. Overtime, this has meant shifting tack, from providing a welcome to Refugees of Civil War, to re-uniting these same refugees with their families. Then to trying to do something to alleviate suffering for a people in poverty. I am a man whose own mother died because of medical complication during birth and delivery. Imagine what it means, to know that every woman who gets pregnant stands a 50/50 chance of dying, and we made a difference. I am a father of two, even more, I have carried many of you, and your children in my arms in baptism and because they wanted comforting, imagine what it means that 80% of all the children died before 60 months of age, and we changed that. I wear glasses, and due to age have the floating spots of Retinal detachment and hardening cataracts, and we have been able in 2 Surgical visits, to restore sight to over 600 people who were blind. Due to politics and fear, tribal war began again, and yet that only served to force us to consider both expansion into other places, and that due to war crops were not planted, food was burned and people were starving, so we began medical intervention for 190,000 who were dying due to poverty and malnutrition. Have we ended wars? No. Have we resolved poverty? No. But we have acted in faith. Now that that infrastructure is established, now that the reputation for what can be has been built, the question becomes, What is to be our next Big Hairy Audacious Goal? According to Jim Collins, organizations can sustain one of these in 20 years, but now is the time to consider where do we need to dedicate ourselves in faith? Rather than being complacent, how can we work together to do what no one else has ever done? What if, in this time of social dischord and distrust, where we are creating terms to explain away “Alternative Facts,” what if we demonstrated integrity and trust, forgiveness especially in brokenness. Strangers routinely ask, how do you pronounce Skaneateles or how do you spell Skaneateles, no one ever asks “Why would you want to live there?”