"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?

"Hope of Sharing God's Glory" May 26, 2013

Romans 5:1-11 Luke 6: 39-49 This week, after the devastation of Tornados in Oklahoma, and before the dedication of the Jersey Shore Boardwalk rebuilt after Hurricanes, our Confirmation Class were introduced to our Session. Every year, that meeting fills me with awe and amazement. For those who 9 months ago were gawky teenagers, who throughout the year you tried to develop relationship, tried to impart information, tried to develop trust, gather at the Table filled with confidence that they are not alone, filled with assurance that they are loved, filled with faith that whether they know answers or not they are welcome and claimed. In the end, a member of Session asked a Question “What they want to know that they had not learned?” As we looked round the table, the Confirmands were silent, at 14, 15 and 16 knowing trust, knowing acceptance, but not yet knowing what they do not know which is the beginning of knowledge. So we opened it up and asked the Session if there were questions of faith that they wanted to know and for which we had no answers? And an Elder with little hesitation said, “I do not understand suffering.” Some tried to offer answers they felt certain. The whole nature of suffering raises questions for us of punishment and sin, and abandonment, and whether God is All Powerful and All Knowing so makes us suffer, or if God is not all that we want God to be. I sensed round the table great discomfort with the whole idea of human suffering, which I believe is addressed by this morning's Scriptures. Remember back to when we were 14, 15 and 16 years of age. We were learning the basics of algebra and geometry. In those Mathematic Proofs, there were “Given” certain information, knowledge that formed the basis of all our theories, formulas, supposition and conclusions. Part of our problem with suffering, our problem with faith, is that we have begun with the wrong Given. We like people who like us. We judge those who are different. We hate and seek revenge on those who hate us. It all seems logical. According to Genesis, when in the Garden, Adam and Eve were given access to any fruit of any of the trees, but they chose to eat what was forbidden. Increasingly, I am convinced, that the fruit of knowledge would not always have been denied, but first we were to have developed an appetite for trust, first we were intended to have developed a diet of love and grace from God. Having established the essentials of trust, love and grace, we then could stomach knowledge. But having a taste for knowledge, without first claiming that trust, we will always search to know more and more, without ever being satisfied, without the salvation of acceptance and love. Our Mathematic Proof, is given in Genesis 1. In the beginning the World was without shape and void, and darkness covered the earth. And for each reality, God created balance. God did not eliminate dark, God called forth and provided light. God did not destroy the chaos of the waters, but God put limitations on the waters in the heavens, and the waters in the seas, and God established a place for us. Starting with knowledge, instead of the access of trust and grace and love, we jump to the conclusion that darkness is evil, that chaos represents sin and suffering and death then represent punishment for being mortal. That is a faulty proof based on a lack of full understanding. If we begin at the beginning, that God loves the world and everything and everyone within the world, then God did not seek to hate the darkness, or wipe away the sea, but instead sought a partner, a compliment for each and everything. Therefore death is not a punishment, but only definition, boundary ending this life and beginning eternity with God. Suffering is a human response to loss, to deprivation. The question we need to be asking is not “Why is there suffering,” but if humanity is to endure suffering, if we are ever to have hope that people won't be killed by storms, then there need to be shelters from storms. Repeatedly this week people asked “Why would anyone live in Tornado Alley?” It is where they were born, where their families live, where they have found work. All the reasons we live where we do. The question is why are there not storm shelters and basements in a place like tornado alley? The simple answer is that the soil is sandy and not clay, so walls must be built and reinforced, then backfilled. The more complex answer is, that engineering the walls and reinforcements and trucking in the fill is expensive, and these homes had no foundation. It is simple enough for us to blindly go through life, judging and being judged, the greater expense is to try to do something to help others. Years ago, I met the head of the New York State Department of Labor, who asked “What is Power?” People volunteered, that Power is Money. Power is Information, Power is Knowledge. Power is Influence. Power is Authority. Power is Dominance and Control. To each, he said No. Finally he said, while people think Money, Knowledge, Information, Authority, Influence, Control are all powers, the real POWER is access. You do not have to have authority or influence or money, if you have access. When I sit down at my computer, when I take out my smart phone, I gain access by having the password. Without that access, nothing works. When it comes to life, the access is God's grace, trust and love. While attending Seminary, I enjoyed listening to William Sloan Coffin at Riverside Church. Coffin often described that the opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is fear. When Moses and the people came out Egypt into the Wilderness of Sinai, Moses went up the mountain and brought down for the people the Law, the Commandments, how the people of faith were to be in relationship with God and one another. In Luke, Jesus had this sermon, which serves the same purpose for the people of faith, for us, access to how we are to relate to God and one another. If you love only those who love you, it goes no where. If the gospel is to change the world, then you have to risk loving those who do not love you, loving those whom you fear, trusting those you do not know. The temptation of this passage is to say So and so needs to take the log out of their eye, before they try to help others, instead of questioning where are my blind-spots, where have I heard the words and failed to forgive, to act in love and hope and grace. Ironically, God's glory is not a thing to be grasped, not that all the world will lift up your name, or that your experience of life will be drenched with significance, but that you acted with compassion, you acted in faith, you began in life with trust and acceptance and love. If we begin at that beginning, then our suffering does produce endurance, and our endurance produces character, and our character produces hope, hope which does not disappoint.

"Not Long, Long Ago" May 19, 2013

John 14: 8-17 & 25-27 Acts 2:1-21 Pentecost is hard. The Old Testament seems somehow safer. We have since childhood heard the ancient stories of long, long ago, in far off Egypt, the Wilderness, Israel and Babylon. Stories of Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, David and Goliath, Daniel, Joel, Shadrack, Meshack and Abednago. The Gospels seem more easily accepted than Pentecost, after all there are four different versions! Jesus told stories and healed people, and throughout everything the Disciples knew God was with us in Jesus. The Gospels too, were long, long ago, in the time of ancient Rome, with Caesars, there is no mention of the Presbyterian Church, of Skaneateles, or America in the 21st Century. Pentecost is different. Pentecost acknowledges that there is a world outside Jerusalem. While the names are difficult to pronounce, all the cultures of the known world are mentioned, every culture. Pentecost is a day of Mystery, a day of the Holy Spirit among us, with tongues of fire, speaking in different tongues and wind, un-control-able, unpredictable, breath of God. 50 Days after Easter, 50 Days after Passover, the Disciples were once again in the Upper Room. Like an episode of Seinfeld in the Diner, That 70's Show in the Basement, Downton Abbey in the Kitchen or at the Table, there are familiar places we return to in fear; ever since the Last Supper, the last time all twelve were together with Jesus they went to the Upper Room. All the times before, when locked in the Upper Room for fear, Jesus would stand among them and breathed his spirit on them saying “Peace Be With You.” But this morning is not about what is familiar, what is safe, what was long long ago with Jesus in that time, this is real. What has changed, was that ten days before, 40 days after Easter morning, Jesus ascended to be with God, and Jesus gave a charge and benediction. In every worship service, whether a Typical Sunday morning, or a Wedding, or Baptism or Funeral, the Minister raises their hand for this blessing. The words are familiar and comforting an assurance that we can go out into life with God watching over us. But rather than the words “The End” being inscribed across the heavens, Jesus commanded the disciples to go out into the world, baptizing, preaching, teaching, doing everything he had done, knowing all the time you are not alone. This morning, they gathered in the Upper Room in Fear, when something happened, something mysterious. The words of Acts of the Apostles are translated that Fire appeared between them and resting upon each. While I know all things are possible, I am not a big fan of spontaneous combustion. And quite clearly the Disciples here are not suffering Burn Out. There are times for each of us when we suddenly are ignited with passion, when there is fire in our belly, when there are words that you say to another with burning tears in your eyes, words you had not planned out, that just seem to flow. That morning, like this morning, the disciples changed from being followers to being Apostles sent out. There are those who have made the equation, that in the Book of Genesis humanity settled, and humanity in our own aggrandizement built towers as a staircase to heaven that we could prove God was not there, so here thousands of years later, after the personal experience of knowing God through Jesus, filled with Holy Spirit, everything is put back just like it was before being upset. Now, in faith everyone can understand and share together. Except the story is not that easy, nice and complete. When brokenness happens, there can eventually be forgiveness, there can be reconciliation, there can be true communion, but nothing is ever able to go back to how it was before, even with all the Kings horses and all the kings men, Humpty Dumpty cannot be put back together again. The story of the Tower of Babel was a story about humanity's desire for control, for our overcoming every obstacle to be able to chose for ourselves what we want in life. Pentecost is about a far different power. No, the story of Pentecost is that those who had been disciples of Jesus Christ, witnesses to the crucifixion and resurrection, who had been charged and commissioned as Apostles let go control of doing things as they always had done, and addressed each different culture in the language of that culture. This is not a mater of speaking Greek, or French, or German, Hebrew or, Tia, Szechuan, or Lao-dician, and not about inventing some glossalalia language, but instead adapting, interpreting, risking, communicating what we have experienced in our lives, in our sharing in community to the culture around us. Due to the invention of television, our culture changed. When computers and the internet were first made available they were for the storage, processing and retrieval of known information. Culture has adapted and changed, so all our computerized devices today are means of communication, networking. No longer do we have the Nielsen Family, Mom and Dad, the two kids and dog, gathered around the television together watching Gunsmoke. Instead, one is on Facetime, one is watching a show they saved on Tivo fast-forwarding through commercials on their iPad, another chatting on their smart phone while searching for answers, and another watching the news, while bulletins scroll across the bottom of the screen. We have become a culture that is no longer obsessed with words. We communicate in images, icons, symbols, pictures. But those pictures still tell a story. The question of Pentecost, is how do we in this upper room where we have shared our encounters with the Lord, our communion and experiences of faith, in the language of the culture out there? Last Sunday, before I left for this Preaching Conference, I received an anxious phone call from a friend who is a Funeral Director. He needed a Christian minister to officiate at a Graveside for a family who were not part of any Church. I was all set to explain that I was on my way out of town for the week and really could not, but then realized, it's on my way to the airport, a graveside is such a brief service, I could take my robe in the car and say the prayers and give the benediction if we could gather first thing in the morning. My friend described that this was one of those little tiny cemeteries, so small there are not paved driveways and it is only accessible from the middle of May until the first of October. As I arrived the family were waiting, having a small car I pulled into an out of the way spot beneath a large sign saying that the Cemetery is only open the middle of May until the First of October. I put on my robe, met the family, listened as they shared stories and processed their grief, then offered a beautiful prayer and got back in my car. Knowing I was in a tight spot, I began to back up, when suddenly it felt as though my car was being lifted off the ground. I put the engine into drive, but the ground was muddy, and the car would not move. There was a huge boulder that I had backed up onto so the wheels no longer touched the ground. I wanted to look up to Heaven and say “Really God!” The family came over to the car and searched for ways to help. The Groundskeeper came over shaking his head, saying “This is why we don't allow people to drive in here until after the middle of May.” He went away to get a front-end loader, as the family and I looked for what we could do. Suddenly a group of women came running up, wearing T-Shirts that said “Mom's Body Builder's Bootcamp.” They said, we saw this image, this car high and lifted up, and all these people dressed in black looking sad, “Can we help?” I explained the grounds keeper had gone to get a machine. When suddenly this group of Moms worked together, knelt down (I thought possibly to pray) but they lifted my car and set it down in a different place. Culture has changed. All week long at the conference, 2000 pastors listened and discussed how the culture claims to be spiritual but no longer religious. How attendance and participation have suddenly added to loss. On the way home, I sat on the plane and the woman next to me said “So what do you do.” I said I was pastor of a church, and she responded “Oh I don't go to church anymore.” Having been at this conference all week, I asked her why. She said “The church always had so many rules. They were against this and had a law against that. I went to one church that was so conservative, then to another that did not believe in anything. Then all these priests were found guilty of far worse things, and it seemed the church had paid them off to cover up the problem.” I responded, the church I know, recognized that we are made up of human beings. We recognize that some horrible things have happened in our past, but owning that, we have forgiven one another and tried to relate differently. She asked “how?” and I explained we are incredibly diverse, which means rather than standing for nothing, we have to work really hard to be the Church. It is not easy, because there is no book of sins. Instead, whatever causes you to feel broken and isolated, loss, those are the things we need to grieve and repent and find ways, real ways to live differently. I described Presbyterian Manor, how people volunteer to share a meal, and provide a home for those who cannot live alone. And the work in Sudan, as each individual stepping up to do what they could, without guilt if you could not, or if you were not interested. It takes hard work, constant work, questioning how we can compromise, where we can adapt to address the culture, while maintaining faith with integrity of relationship. Then she surprised me, by asking “Why?” And all I could say, is that we are in relationship, we pray for one another, we share our wounds and our joys, knowing God cares, and that the Spirit of God is not a thing in the Bible long, long ago in a distant holy land, but a passion burning in and between each of us and between us and God.

May 12, 2013 "One-ness In-Between"

Acts 16:16-32 John 17 More than Christmas's Incarnation, More than Easter's Resurrection, More even than Pentecost's Life in the Spirit, this morning embodies the identity of believers in the world today. The other day I was listening to a couple preparing for their wedding, who identified so much going on in their lives, the stress was overwhelming. They had found one another and claimed their love, they had sent out invitations, bought the rings, bought property and were building a new home. All of these “things” were done, and yet their wedding was still weeks off, the house was not yet finished to move into. Anxiously, they waited for summer to come, when all this would be done, ignoring the reality that we would then have other things. Later, I sat with a beloved friend, who described that after more than 80 years of life, and surpassing all life expectancies, they were ready, but still we are here, not yet taken. In the midst of the here and now, after all that has been and before all that is to come, God is with us, watching over us, Christ is praying for us. We are not alone. There is a story about Heaven, that we appear before St. Peter at the Pearly Gates, and everything exceeds our wildest imagination. Existence is fuller, more meaningful than any of us ever knew. Yet, as incredible as Heaven is, as awesome, St. Peter instructs that as we go passed each separate house we have to be absolutely silent. After the 12th house, someone asks Peter Why when everything is so glorious we have to be quiet whenever we walk passed one of the separate houses? And Peter explains that every different religion, every different people of God, think that they are the only ones who can get to heaven, and we do not want to disillusion them! Thursday of this last week was the 40th Day after Easter. While much of the world acknowledges Easter, according to the Scriptures, the Resurrected Jesus appeared to the disciples over and over again throughout those 40 days. Having completed that season, Jesus ascended to sit at the right hand of God; and a week from now, according to the Calendar on the fiftieth day we celebrate Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. But we live and move and believe, in a time in between. What defines us, are not our accomplishments, or our dreams, but who we think we are in the here and now. There is a poem called “The Dash”, which describes that none of us are in control of when we were born, or where, or to whom, even how, or why. Few of us are in control of when we die, where, with whom, how or why. But on Headstones in Cemeteries, in between the dates and circumstance of our birth and of our death, is a Dash, and how we run that Dash determines all of life. A week ago, we read of Paul and Silas going to Europe, where they were listened to by Lydia. This morning, still in Philippi, no longer in Jerusalem not yet in Rome, they again went to where people congregate, but circumstance was different. A young girl was possessed by a demon that does not allow her do what she wants, but speaks through her like a ventriloquist through a puppet. Her gift/ her affliction, is so great a curiosity, that the girl was bought and owned as a slave, who made money for those who owned her by telling peoples' fortunes. This young slave-girl begins following Paul and Silas, the spirit declaring that these men are slaves of the Great God Almighty. Paul is not a man known for exceeding patience, and frustrated that she is doing this, he turns and commands the demon to come out of the girl. Once the demon is gone, the girl no longer has the affliction/the gift of telling fortunes, so those who owned her no longer stand to make a profit. Upsetting the balance of things, these local entrepreneurs identify Paul and Silas as outsiders, troublemakers, foreigners. As Strangers, they were arrested, beaten and imprisoned. In those days, there were cells with windows, that allowed light and air to pass, while the inner cells for solitary confinement had no windows, the air was heavy with sweat and stale air, the only light in a time before electricity, would be from a candle or torch brought in, and when taken out, everything was as dark as chaos. Having been beaten, Paul and Silas had their legs put in stocks and locked. Yet, instead of weeping and mourning, they prayed. Instead of singing “Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen” they sang “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost”. When suddenly there was an earthquake. Often when there are earthquakes, people run in chaos. But Paul and Silas remain where they were. The stocks binding their legs were broken open, the doors racked off their hinges. The jailer seeing the cell doors open, jumped to to conclusion that the prisoners had escaped and prepares to kill himself. When suddenly he hears Paul, calling to him, that they are safely where they should be, and describing what salvation from chaos and imprisonment in life are all about. The Jailer, so awed by what has taken place, asks that he and his household be baptized. In the morning, after Paul and Silas had been beaten and spent a night in jail for disturbing the peace, the magistrates came to release Paul and Silas, telling them that they can leave. But Paul describes, wait a minute, we did nothing wrong, and were beaten and imprisoned. Not only that, but although you see us as foreign, we are in fact Free Roman Citizens who could not be punished by a Village Court but only by the Roman Empire. There accusers, and the Town Justices suddenly recognize that they could be accused of wrongs against these men. SO the question of this story becomes, who were those who really were slaves and who were free? The slave-girl who was owned because she was possessed by a demon, had that demon removed and no longer was of worth to her owners. Paul and Silas who were named by the girl as Slaves of God, beaten and imprisoned in darkness for being strangers, were set free, and in the light of day found to be Roman Citizens. The Jailer, was saved from executing himself and with his family was Baptized. The Accusers and the Judges, were found to have actually done wrong. Many of us do not feel competent to pray, honestly we do not feel confident in our faith to pray. So we close our eyes and wait. We plan all the details and control as much as we can in life, then worry about how the circumstance will be judged, rather than praying. In the act of prayer, two things occur. First, we claim and affirm that we are not alone, there is a God, so we do not have to be in control, to be God. Second, prayer is an act of Hope. Prayer anticipates something might happen, beyond our ability. Norman Cousins was a man afflicted with terminal illness, twice. Both times, he was given a death sentence and because he had hope, proved the world wrong. Cousins eventually became a faculty member at Yale Medical School, then at UC Berkley Medical College. Cousins describes two Clinical Oncologists discussing Papers they were going to present, and comparing notes one said “I just do not understand, we each used exactly the same drugs, in the same dosages, on the same schedule, with the same criteria. Yet, I only had a 22% effectiveness, and you report a 74% result against metastatic lung cancer!” The other doctor reported “We both are using Etoposide, Platinol, Oncovin, and Hydroxyurea. You describe to your patients that you are giving them EPOH, I describe that I am giving them HOPE. Sure I tell them that this is experimental and lay-out all the possible side-effects. But I tell them that with HOPE we have a chance, and sometimes all we need is a chance.” After everything else, after the Last Supper was over, after Jesus had washed their feet and Judas had left, Jesus went to the Garden to pray. In this prayer, he names that he did not do this on his own. God was in Christ Jesus. Jesus was one with God. In the beginning God had formed humanity as a companion for God, but we chose to fulfill our desires instead of loving God. In this prayer in the Garden, Jesus names that through him, we are now one with God and God with us. Mother's day is not about Hallmark Cards and idyllic perfect families. As wonderful as each of us are, I know there are no perfect families. Being family is messy. But no matter what. No mater if our mother was the worst person in the world, still they were our mother. Jesus' prayer to God, is no matter what these are Children of God. The region in which we live bears a unique mark in Religious History. This part of Central New York is described as The Burned Over District. There was a pastor named Jonathan Edwards, who led a movement of Religious Revivals which ignited peoples' passion. When asked what he did, Edwards described simply that he invited people to pray, to believe in the power of prayer. Would that in this time in between, we could unite as one, in prayer.

May 5, 2013 "Listen for the Holy Spirit"

John 14:23-29 Acts 16: 9-15 Take a deep breath and let peace come upon you. Take a deep breath and let it out, and listen. Anything and everything we need is right here. But rarely do we stop to listen, to wait, to pray. Few of us really ever expect the Holy Spirit to come to us, to dream, to have a vision, that God would be real. Recently I was speaking with a group of perspective members, persons who had been baptized and grown up in the church, but been away for a time, saying: Let's talk about the Trinity. Who are the three identities of God? They quickly identified the Creator, that Supreme Deity who formed the cosmos and set everything in motion; and they identified Jesus who entered into life, to redeem, who came to die and be raised again. There was an awkward pause as we each recognized there are three persons of God in the Trinity, when someone suddenly said, Oh yeah, there is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! But No, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is that same Supreme Deity, who formed and created, who wandered with these ancestors, and later caused plagues upon Egypt that led the people out of bondage and slavery and gave them the Covenant of the 10 Commandments. There is the God of the Old Testament, and the Christ of the Gospels, but the third is the Holy Ghost, that from the Beginning has brooded over the face of creation, that on Pentecost called the Disciples out of the Upper Room, and for over 2,000 years has been present in and challenged the Church. We often forget and ignore the Holy Spirit. That there is a God, certainly, this universe is too complex, too inter-related, too ironic to simply have come by chance, and it is certain we did not make ourselves. That there is a Christ, we affirm every Christmas with the gift of a baby, a sweet gift of love, who historically we know was not only a Carpenter, but a teacher, a miracle worker, and who died but there was a happy ending because death was not the end and he returned on Easter. But Spirits and Ghosts, scare us! God is safe if a Creator who formed life Millions of years ago with Adam and Eve. God is safe if a baby in a Manger in a far off place and forgotten Empire. When a circumstance is before us, we hire consultants, we make plans, we analyze and do studies, and create SWAT analyses, and Strategic Plans, and Longitudinal Studies. We have learned how to meditate, all the poses of Tai Chi, we can sing and harmonize hymns, but do any of us really expect an answer to prayer coming from the Holy Ghost? Many of us anticipate and expect a Second Coming, an Apocalypse, in which Jesus will judge the world, but taking seriously that God would speak to us in visions, in dreams, about ordinary experience, seems like fantasy. And yet, the George Gallup Institute of the Gallup Studies, asked people if they had ever had a Vision, and over 50% of Believers claimed they had, even more surprising over 60% of clergy claimed to have had a vision. When we do pray, our prayers sound like like Aladdin with the Lamp, like children writing to Santa... Lord, I wish so-and-so would fall in love with me... Lord, I want to have a baby... I want this malady this problem taken away... Dear God, I want a new job, and I want it locally so we do not have to take the kids out of school, or sell our house and if it could provide Dental and Retirement Options that would be great... Almighty God, lower my weight, take away my cancer, make my marriage better, fix me. Instead of listening, for where the Spirit will lead. Personally, I love the irony of Acts of the Apostles. We have this character Saul, who is a bully, who is obsessed with being right and feeling righteous, so much so that anyone who disagrees should be put to death, though Saul will not dirty his own hands with the killing. Once he convinced others how dangerous these Christians might become, he gets a warrant to have them arrested and persecuted, only to have Saul himself knocked down, humbled, blinded and baptized. The leaders among those he had been persecuting to death have a little trouble trusting him, so Saul, who now is named Paul goes out to spread the Gospel. His first journey is extremely successful, although in a very limited region. So Paul sets out to go on a Second Journey, still not too far away, not leaving Asia. And the Holy Spirit will not let him go. It is not a question of authority from the Apostles. It is not a question of finances. Paul tries and tries, and the Holy Spirit will not allow him to go. Have you ever been set on doing something, and you try and you try, but we are frustrated. Finally, Paul has a Vision, in this vision a man in Macedonia pleads with Paul to come there. And suddenly, according to Book of Acts, Paul is not longer alone but accompanied by companions, and they make every connection, setting out across the Sea instead of across land, the winds blow them to Philippi, and with this, Christianity comes to Europe. It is easy enough to imagine Christianity having remained with Peter and the Disciples, extending only to Jews to become Christians as a sect within Judaism, a Jewish reformation. Paul's Gentile ministry set out to take the faith of this Galilean Jew (Jesus) to all those who were not Jews, but in these verses Paul takes Christianity to the whole of the Western World. The case could be made, that had Paul not taken this second journey, European Colonialism might never have happened, the Crusades might never have occurred, but also Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Mozart and Beethoven, Brahms and Bach might never have been inspired. As many throughout humanity who quote the Creation of Genesis, who know of Noah and the 40 Days of Rain, as many as know the road to Bethlehem, and the way to the Cross, as often as we read the story of Pentecost, this venture of Paul to Philippi where he meets a woman named Lydia, a seller of purple cloth is how the Christian faith was brought to most of us in North America! Like Paul, life is often frustrating, and what we want rarely happens we we desire. But even more, when we do receive what we had hoped and prayed would miraculously take place, we rarely give thanks. We move on to the next thing. We mouth the words of commitment and affirmation, claiming to believe, but what Jesus described was Every time you break bread, do so in Remembrance, Every time you lift the glass to your lips pray for reconciliation and forgiveness. Like Paul, I know I was a self-made individual. I had had a good education, I had worked hard, and kept my nose clean, and success seemed to happen just by showing up. But then hardship came, circumstances I could not fix no matter how hard I worked or what it cost. Increasingly, I am convinced that while we often bring problems upon ourselves, there are times in which we get knocked down only to be able to hear the Spirit which otherwise we are too pre-occupied too busy to listen. A good friend described, his wife had been ill, bed-ridden for years. One day he commented to the nurse, that he had not held his love in his arms in years, she was too ill, too frail. The nurse said “Ridiculous” and she transferred his wife fro her hospital bed to their bed and placed his wife's head upon his shoulder. He described holding her, just holding her, and that he slept through the night, the best sleep he had known in years. When he awoke, his wife was looking up at him, smiling. A sort-time later, she died. If he had not stated his need. If he had not listened to the other who said his fears were ridiculous, he never would have had that closure, that experience of love. Years ago, we had a number of problems. Problems we had brought upon ourselves both by deferred maintenance, lack of vision in anything beyond what we had known, and conflict from having too many secrets buried and kept down. We could not even agree on which direction the Church should face, let alone our missions were gifts to charity. We can honestly say, that all those problems are addressed. We worship in an air-conditioned Sanctuary, we have met all our bills, and found the way to do mission locally and around the world. Where most churches have ten times as many funerals a year as Baptisms, and cannot recall the last wedding, through care and support many of our most senior have lived into their nineties and surpassed 100. We have move Baptisms than Funerals and more Weddings than we can keep track of. But the underlying problem of faith is still here, do we take time to listen, to wait for and look the Holy Spirit to lead? I am told there is a story of Columba a 6th Century priest from Ireland. One day, he set out in a rudderless boat to go wherever the Spirit would lead. He pushed off from shore, and at one point, when the boat touched shore he looked round and saw he could still see home, so pushed off again. When next the little boat touched shore, it was on the isle of Iona, when Christianity first came to Scotland.