"Hellfire or Rejoicing" January 21, 2018

Ezekiel 2: 6 - 3:11 Mark 1: 14-20 As North Americans in the 21st Century, when we do read the Scriptures, we weigh in our minds whether this is just good literature, historic fact, myth, truth, wisdom, moral teaching. A telling part of the identity of this House of God, of this Congregation, is that when built in the 1800s every pew had cast iron feet at the base not for kneelers, but for steam bent oak footrests, so every listener/believer could sit back, put their feet up and think for themselves about what was read and preached, considering before deciding how to act. On the one occasion every 3 years when our ecumenical Lectionary calls us to read Ezekiel, it has consistently been the Dead Dry Bones passage at the conclusion, asking after everything, when faith and life are dry as dust, is there still the possibility for faith of life? To which the MAN OF GOD/the SON OF MAN declares GOD, ONLY THOU ALONE KNOWS! Which we have castrated through singing the 1950s Mitch Miller Song Rejoicing “The Hip bone’s connected to the Thigh bone, the thigh Bone’s connected to the Knee Bone, the Knee bone’s connected to the Shin bone, so Hear the Word of the Lord!” We tap our feet along with this morning’s Anthem as a Spiritual, like Old Hound Dogs, muttering “Somebody’s Knock’n at the Door,” ignoring the immediacy of the Call, for each of us to question, am I the “O Sinner, unwill’n ta answer?” Historically, the Bible has often been used by Hellfire and Brimstone preachers, to scare folks into acceptance the Preacher’s political concerns or morality issues. This week I listened as a member of another church repeatedly phoned to complain how her Preacher and her Session’s decisions did not match her morality. Instead of either façade extreme of REJOICING without knowing Why, or Browbeating others, we need to listen and to hear the Word of the Word. This week, I also spoke with a friend, of the experience we each shared, when your spouse is ill, unable to get better, and you cry out to the Lord, “WHY? WHAT AM I TO LEARN FROM THIS?” When afterward, the person you fell in love with, is returned… At the outset, we need to confess… as your Pastor Preacher, I confess, that if right, now asked to abandon everything to “Come, Follow” my thoughts jumps to “But what about my wife? My work Responsibilities? People who depend upon me? What about our Mortgage? What about Retirement and plans… The Call to follow, names an ideal, a heart-image of Jesus Calling and our responding IMMEDIATELY. I am intrigued, how often our heads and our hearts respond differently. In faith, we feel and know from relationship how to respond, but intellectually, socially, professionally, economically, politically we have commitments, alternate answers. But in addition to holding up an IDEAL, these passages and our Anthem, speak of our need as believers to do more than consider ideas, to listen and go on with life… instead, to confront nights when we question, “I am uncertain how much more I can take.” “How much longer can we go on in a relationship this way?” “When will we confront our drinking, our affairs, pornography?” “When will we take responsibility for our sins?” When in Seminary, as 25 year olds, we were instructed that only those over 40 years of age had been allowed to read The Book of Ezekiel, not that it was dangerous, but that life-experience changes us, and after 40 years of life we perceive circumstance and visions with different eyes than in our 20s. The Major Prophet Ezekiel is not a series of sermons, or prophecies as we think of telling the future, these are visions that happened to Ezekiel as personal embodiment for the suffering to come to the Nation, and to Israel for the World. Ezekiel comes from the darkest period in all Israel’s history, which is saying something. Under Kings David and Solomon, the City of Jerusalem had been fortified with the Building of Walls, concentric walls 60 feet high, twice the height of out Sanctuary, all the way round the borders of the city. But the Assyrians had conquered Israel, carrying off and dispersing the people of God. Over the next 200 years, the Southern half of the Nation, Judah, was repeatedly attacked, the Walls they built reduced to landscape retaining walls. The Babylonians put then Zedekiah on the throne, as a puppet king, who then tried to align with the Egyptians against the Babylonians, so Babylon carried off all the educated as Prisoners of War, every able bodied person exiled to Babylon. The Book of Ezekiel begins on the Banks of the River in Babylon, having witnessed the power of their enemy as an invading Monster. Babylon is envisioned as a Beast, a Monster with the Bronzed Body of a Warrior, Four Immense pair of Wings, and 4 heads, the front of which being the face of a Human, the face of an Ox on the left , and the face of a Lion on the right of each, with the face of an Eagle on the back. The Babylonian Beast pulled a throne on wheels, with wheels within wheels. How long does it take? How many failures must we endure? After 200 years of being attacked and beaten down, being exiled from your homes and everything you have ever known, loved or cared about. When you have a vision of such a monster, and you Hear from God: a challenge, speaking the Truth. Will you listen and respond? Will you fall down and pray; or stand up and respond? We know our sins. We know our human failings, we need no one to rub salt in them. But we turn away afraid of our sorrows, afraid of lament. We know that our sorrows will taste of the salt of tears. We know Lament is a Bitter Pill. AND YET, as Ezekiel eats the Scroll, these words of lamentation and sorrow are to him Sweet as Honey. In places, the Holy Word of God’s Scripture seems extremely graphic. We have had folk wanting to form committees, because the Bible translation said that Abraham went into his wife and she conceived! That Rachel suckled her child. Or that Jeremiah was told to wear nothing but a linen diaper for 18 months, and when it was covered in filth to bury it, then dig it up and wear again. Here in Ezekiel, as in Communion, there is instruction to Take and EAT, the point being that consumption, literally involves our taking a thing into ourselves. A dozen years ago, my first night of being alone in South Sudan, we heard gunshots. The next morning, at Worship there was report that a man found his wife in the bed of another, and killing them and himself, their blood had become part of the sand and earth of this place. When it was my turn to preach, I knelt down, taking a handful of the dirt, placing a pinch upon my tongue and swallowing. In like manner, as your Pastor, this Church, and community, and people of God, You have become part of my soul and identity. But the fear of God for Ezekiel, is whether you can listen to one who is so familiar, or if you need in order to pay attention to have the voice come in a dialect and language more difficult to grasp? When Jesus walked passed the shore, calling to Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John, the image is not as simple as “He Called and Fishermen became Disciples.” They each left family, home, traditions and family systems, careers and identity, to experience something different, trusting the unknown, trusting God. As Creatures, we follow the patterns we know, we cook the recipes we do because this is what our family’s ate; we have affairs because our fathers’ did, we live where we do, driving the kind of car we do, having expectations for our children, all as we inherited. To leave all that, and try to do something different, is a monumental risk, none of us commit to because of HELLFIRE or REJOICING. “COME, FOLLOW ME” is to risk failure, to risk everything, because we cannot stay as we were, weeping on the shore, we must take and consume faith into our being. That is the meaning of the Baptism and Membership and Ordination of this day!

"What Is Your Dream?" January 14, 2018

I Samuel 3:1-20 John 1: 43-51 I like the story of the Boy Samuel misunderstanding and coming to Eli half-asleep. When my brothers and I were very young, one by one everyone passed the Flu. About 3am the eldest went to our parents saying he had just gotten sick in the night. Our parents clearly recall saying “Leave a Light on In the Hall.” So that if he needed to get up again, the way to the bathroom would be lit. Instead of “Leave a Light on in the Hall,” the eight year old boy heard, “Leave, Go Lay Down in the Hall.” So he did, until about an hour later, when the next brother awakened and feeling ill he ran toward the bathroom, tripping over the elder’s body in the Hall. It took Eli and Samuel, four attempts to understand that it was God speaking to Samuel and how to listen. What is your dream? When someone tells me “I have a Dream,” I find myself wanting to know more, wanting to see that impossible dream fulfilled. A dream implies that this is a Vision of what today is impossible, but differently could be. A dozen years ago, the Refugees whom we had taken into our lives and our Church surnamed as “Lost Boys” shared a Dream of being reunited with their families. When they said they could not go, their dream called to my unconscious saying “In caring and commitment You could.” When one shared, the nearest Doctor of any kind to our families is 70 miles away and there are no roads, I have a dream of our providing them health care… When my companion/a pastor described, “I know you have a dream, and others have shared with you their dreams, my dream is that the Church could own oxen and plows that people could share in cultivating the soil for crops, rather than sticking their finger in the dirt to plant a single seed.” I had to respond. When I got off the plane in South Sudan, and the local Outreach Worker described every time a woman gets pregnant, she has a 50/50 chance of dying, I muttered under my breath, “My Mom died in my labor and delivery” and suddenly you could have heard a mosquito flying in that open-air gathering of 300 people. Had we been able to know the total cost, that instead of a Clinic costing $30,000 we would be at this for 10 years, now providing Food as well as Health Care to 500,000 people, Logic & Reasoning the Impossibility might have put on brakes. But DREAMS envision a new different reality. There are several “Loaded Phrases” in these two periscope, “The Word of God was Rare and Precious in those days” and “The Eyes of Eli had grown dim.” Rare and Precious is ordinarily used in the Bible for a fine Jewel, valued because of its scarcity. This is the only place in all of Scripture used in reference to God’s Word. The reality is that the Hebrew people lived in relative calm and great transition. There were no Burning Bushes, no Red Seas to cross, no Slavery or Wilderness to exit, but the Philistines stole the Ark of the Covenant and 10 Commandments, and there was change from the time of Judges to Kings, from Nomads to a Monarchy. Much like today, there was a burning desire to fix the world, to change where we were going; Hopeful expectations and vision and dreams were rare. There are several: Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, in the First Testament who are described as living far older “and their eyes had not dimmed,” yet like Isaac the father of Esau and Jacob who would become known as Israel, Vision Grew Dim, this phrase has to mean more than: Cataracts /Bi-Focals. While I have not found this from any scholar, at any of these references, I think the reference to “Dim of Sight,” refers to having Clear A DREAM of The Present into a New Future. Right now, we know something radical is happening in our culture, and past abuses are no longer tolerated, as several have chanted: “Time’s Up,” but we cannot yet see beyond the present to what the future will be. As the aged Priest Eli is like Isaac without Vision, the story of Nathaniel links to Jacob. Jacob the younger twin of Isaac remember was a deceitful schemer, who wrestling in a dream, receives the new name Israel, “one who wrestles with God.” Here wrestling in words with Jesus, The Messiah calls Nathaniel an ISRAELITE in WHOM THERE IS NO DECEIT. Even more, that Jacob you recall had a Dream of a Ladder connecting HEAVEN & EARTH for Angels to travel back and forth upon. Here Jesus names to Nathaniel “You will see Heaven opened and Angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” Meaning the resurrection is a new connection between God in an Open Heaven and Earth. But I have gotten ahead of myself, according to John, the day after Jesus’ Baptism, John the Baptist points him out to John‘s Disciples saying “Behold, The Lamb of God” so two spy on Jesus following him to see Who he is. But Jesus catches them following and asks “What do you Seek?” in essence “WHAT IS YOUR DREAM?” oddly they respond “Where are you staying”, which I guess means that our homes and people says a great deal about us… But Jesus responds with invitation: “Come and See”. That is the invitation to faith. There is not requirement of a Confirmation Class, or Memorization, no Pledge or Vow, but invitation to “Come be part of this, tell others.” Nazareth was a totally forgettable place. Not being in Medical Equipment, when we came to Skaneateles we know nothing of what comes from here, and over time have delighted in learning not only of Funduscopy, the Otoscope, the Opthalmascope, but also NECCO Wafer Candies, TC Timber Wooden Trains, Granola, Mottville Chairs all came from here. Until the 3rd Century, there is no reference, in any writing, nor in all the Old Testament, to there ever having been a Nazareth. It appears Nazareth was very near (2 miles)the City of Sepphoris, in Greek Zippori, where the Sanhedrin and Jewish Scholars had gathered for the writing of the Talmud, there was a Jewish Synagogue here, a City set atop a Hill, where Jesus may have gone to school. But Nazareth, was not known for anything. When Nathaniel responds “Could anything good come out of Nazareth?” Jesus does not get defensive, but simply says Come See which disarms Nathaniel, much like our telling others “I saw a great Film” in hope they will Come along and join in. Robert Scharlemann’s book “The REASON of FOLLOWING” provides an intriguing argument, that traditionally we have thought of 3 forms of Greek Philosophy: Pure reason: KNOWLEDGE; Practical Reason: ETHICS; and Artistic Reason: AESTHETICS. But here, Jesus uses a 4th kind of REASON: The Reason of Following: DEPENDENCE. The Disciples never asked Jesus “What is True” (Pilate does but not Jesus’ Disciples) that would be using the REASONING of KNOWLEDGE; or “What is The Good” which would be ETHICS; or “What is Beautiful?” instead, like God Calling Abram, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the Prophets, Jesus speaks to their INNER HUNGER of each person for COMMUNION, together and to God, to Belong, for Absolute Dependence not to be cut off, alone or isolated. There is no questioning before beginning; there are doubts, questioning along the way as we encounter circumstances, as DREAMS are made real, and as Hardships are part of experience being reformed by what we believe. “Come and See”!

"Now the Work Begins" January 7, 2018

Isaiah 60 Matthew 2: 1-12 The Great Wonder of the Bible, the Glory of Epiphany, the Beauty of Faith, Love, Life is that we can experience each as written; and yet also, over and over through life we can use Scripture to interpret Scripture, experience to give greater depth of meaning to life, beyond simply observing what is expected. In December we elected Officers, we gathered to sing Silent Night Christmas Eve, we received the Sacrament of The Lord’s Supper, and have now Answered the Questions and Installed Leaders. EVERYTHING IS READY, NOW THE WORK BEGINS… It could and would, were we only a Charitable Non-Profit, 501c3, doing the Busyness of Business, Administering Ministry. But in the same way that the Officiant instructs “You may now kiss the Bride” grants you legal right to consummate and to inherit; whereas, over a lifetime, we grow in love and commitment. The Ordained placing their hand in Water thrice and touching the forehead confers Baptism; but faith and compassion, belief, confirmation, love… mature night after night, year upon year. The Wisemen followed Isaiah’s text, and as Astronomers followed the nightly course of the stars, which took them to King Herod at the Palace and Temple in Jerusalem. Following the Instructions, All of the Wisemen missed the Birth of the Savior! The Incarnation of the Son of God, by 9 or 10 Miles! It could have easily been 9-10,000. Catholic Theologian Ray Brown was one of my favorite New Testament professors at Union Seminary, and Father Brown used to say that the Evangelist of Matthew gave the Early Church the outline pencil drawings of the Infancy, for the Church to color-in. Over Centuries, the Orthodox Church attempted to stay within the lines, filling in… that as there were gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, that there were 3 and only 3 Magi who brought gifts to Bethlehem. Filling in one advanced in age, assigning to him cultural and racial identity as East Asian, giving him the name Caspar. A Second was Middle aged, from Africa, whose name was Balthasar. The 3rd was a youth, representative of the young Empires of Europe, named Melchior. When consulted, King Herod’s Scholars responded to Herod and the Wisemen that there was a missing piece to their Treasure Map! Just as none of us can believe in isolation, none can celebrate the Sacrament of Communion Alone, they needed Scripture to interpret Scripture. The passage from Isaiah brought them to Jerusalem, to the People. Faith and Land of Ancient Israel, but they also needed Micah 5: 2-4. The distinction being, that Isaiah brought them to Jerusalem, brought believers to the Kingdom of David, to the Temple and Royal bloodline of Messiahs; but Micah’s “But You, O Bethlehem Ephratha, Bethlehem of Judea, from you shall come forth for Me, one who is to rule in Israel, whose Origin is of old”. This is a voice different from Jerusalem’s urban civilization, A voice of hope, for a future not impressed with high minarets, and palace towers, or Roman Arenas. The prophet Micah envisioned a leader without political ambition, concerned with the plight of righteousness for the land and justice for the poor. Matthew was not the first to dream of wisemen coming from the East to Jerusalem. Matthew’s storyline and characters for the Infancy narrative, come directly from Isaiah 60, a poem recited by Jews in the City of David, 500–700 years prior to Jesus. Assyria, Modern-day Afghanistan, had bombed Jerusalem, breaching her concentric stone walls, followed by centuries of looting by the Egyptians, then the Babylonians, contemporary Iran and Iraq, until her towers, Palace and Temple, were rubble. All the people lived in despair. Who wants to live in a devastated war-zone, where there is no economy, where all the educated, the leaders and craftsmen have been taken away in a brain-drain? A people who have watched their governmental leaders fight over power and wealth, as the world passed by. To this depressed and angry people, a Poet of Faith spoke a Vision of Hope, expecting there would yet come a time where everything would change... “Rise, Shine, for your light has come! Nations shall come to your light, and Kings to the brightness of your dawn! Lift up your eyes to a higher vision, your sons shall come from afar, your daughters carried on the arm. A multitude of camels shall come, camels of Asia, Europe and Africa, bringing Gold, Frankincense and perfume.” But more than offering a new and different hope, Isaiah 60 describes what would happen in a future where there are two populations, coming to live together. Those who stayed, were left behind, poor, aged, survivors, who have always lived here; and those coming from distant lands with power, affluence, with different culture and different education, different ideals. Do those in power, with ability, give up their dreams and beliefs in order to fit into this place? OR Do those who have fought to survive, who have become the Old Guard give up ethics and moral beliefs that they fought for, died defending, because others have come to power? How can two live as one? Instead of one dominating, oppressing the other, instead of a fight for which is fake and which is real, according to Isaiah 60, both would seek Glory’s Light illumination. Glory here, does not come from a Star in the heavens, but an aura from God, glory shows all around us. We come to recognize we have been living in Dark Ages, in a world composed of many times 50 shades of grey. We did not know, none recognized how depressed we were, how much we had been made to compromise, to endure, until our hearts are thrilled and we believe in hope. Any of us can go through the motions of responsibilities, even of elected leadership, but for the Work of Ministry and Faith and Love to Begin, we need to recognize our need to kneel down, to listen, to pray and consider… before speaking, because what we thought was right might, be off by nine miles.

"A Time of Purification" December 31, 2017

Isaiah 62 Luke 2: 21-40 On New Year’s Eve, we stand on the precipice between the year ending and the new, literally where Past and the Future meet. I want to challenge us to live into the New Year boldly, with hope, optimism and confidence. We must chose whether to live as in A Time of Mourning over losses or a Time of Purification for what God may do? Either way, the past is over and done, we cannot go back and change things; the future is yet to be, and all we can be certain of, is that the future will be different. In preparation, do we grieve, do we wish with longing to return to our old lives, sad and great, when everybody pulled his weight… or do we look to live into the future, cognizant that doing so we must leave behind our dreams, wishes and expectations, for something different? As a parent, I recall snowy holiday weekends like this for reading to our children, one of my favorites was the Winnie the Pooh Series, in particular whether we want to be an Eeyore or a Tigger. Eeyore forever had his head down, looking back, certain only that the future would never be as bright as the setting sun. Tigger, well Tiggers bounce, bright and happy, hopeful and idealistic without a care to carry. December 31st 1999, the world was poised for technological catastrophe, all the computer systems everywhere had been established in the 20th Century, and no one knew if elevators and traffic lights, banks and telephones, weapons and satellites, could/would transition as we entered the new Century. I recall a Winter, when all the properties in our Township were re-assessed and everyone was in shock at what the Assessors believed our homes and properties could be worth, instead of what we knew about our homes. On September 11th 2001, all the world was shocked, because the isolation and dominance of the United States was attacked. Sixteen years and more have gone by, as our economy, and government, the World Order have been established anew. Growing up, I thought my family enjoyed playing games, but we were babes in the woods compared to my wife’s family. They not only played games, they developed strategies for how to win, and keep the other from winning. That is a lesson we learn playing TicTacToe, that there comes a balance of competitors where it is no longer about who is better or who wants to win, only chance; and yet while you cannot be assured of always winning, there is a strategy for playing to deny the other ever has the ability, and all either can do is stalemate. Nostalgically, it seems there once was a time of compromise, of competitors working together for a common good. We pick up the Gospel of Luke 40 days after the birth. There is much of Ancient Judaism we have forgotten and no longer comprehend. Many have suggested I have a love for History, which actually is not accurate, the truth is that I love Systems, and without knowing history we lack understanding of meaning, of core purposes and relationships. Part of the importance of a Time of Purification, is a time of reflection and cleansing apart from living the past, in order that we can chose our future wisely, with less mistakes. We celebrate Christmas from sunset on the 24th through sunset on the 25th, as Labor and Delivery for the Birth of the Savior; while the for Centuries the Church named TWELVE DAYS for Christmas. In Judaism a birth is a private family thing between husband and wife, the child does not even have a name, is not part of the community until brought out into the world for the Circumcision and Gifting of a Name, as in the Covenant of Abraham. The ending of private, intimate, family claiming, and the claiming by the whole Community, was this Time of Purification. According to the Law of Moses, all Creation Belongs to God. We belong to God as Creatures, and are given dominion only in relationship to our claiming: God as God… Do you believe this? When we receive a Gift from God, any Blessing in life, we owe a debt of First Fruits, demonstrating thanksgiving to God, making an offering of the first and best of what we have received, in hope that God will continue to be generous in the future. Judaism and Christianity never practiced child sacrifice, although other cultures in the Ancient World had done so. Instead, like a graduated Income Tax, there were expected offerings for the birth of the firstborn to a couple of substance and those in subsistence. A Heifer, a Lamb, or two Pigeons in the Carol Two Turtledoves. Only after the Sacrifice and Offering was made, only after the Community had claimed the child, could life begin. As much as we place emphasis on Mary and the Incarnation, on Shepherds and Strangers from the East, Anna and Simeon, two individuals at worship, bear the greatest similarity to our roles. Like each of us, Anna and Simeon are WITNESSES. These two do not passively ignore or tolerate the strangers who come before God. Anna and Simeon commend and encourage, offering blessings to the parents for this child, this gift. Would that instead of our critiquing others, we could be so bold as to offer them blessings and affirmations. As the year ends, we complete our Stewardship & Pledging Seasons. Through careful spending, we end the year $11,000 Under Budget on Expenses; and through your Generosity we received $10,000 more than anticipated! Eight years ago, our Session made a bold move, that instead of continuing as we had always been, we might Call an Associate Pastor. In this way to offer a youth program and technology, a solo pastor could not provide. After studying this, and prayer, our Session chose to intentionally enter into a time of spending from the Reserves we had accrued over the prior twelve years. Yet since that time, there have been grave concerns and dire fears of using Reserves HOWEVER, OVER HALF of those making a pledge did so with significant increases. Where churches across the Nation are closing, and cutting back; where the pundits are afraid because changes in the Tax Laws might reduce incentive for giving to NonProfits, we continue to have new believers take up the mantle of those who have laid this foundation. Like old stories, especially at the Holidays I enjoy old Movies. One recently described a parable of a couple in a Village who received the gift of a child. Everyone said “What a blessing!” and the Priest replied “We’ll see…” And the father gave his son a horse and Everyone said “What a blessing!” and the Priest replied “We’ll see…” Then the boy fell from the horse Everyone said “What a tragedy!” and the Priest replied “We’ll see…” And war came Everyone said “What a tragedy!” and the Priest replied “We’ll see…” Because of his bad leg, the boy could not fight and Everyone said “What a blessing!” and the Priest replied “We’ll see…” The reality is none of us know what the future will be. We live in a time of preparation a time of purification for what will be. May this be a time of hope, a time of purification, in order to embrace the future as new and exciting, filled with possibility.

December 24, 2017, Midnight "Christ Is Come"

Matthew 3: 1-3, 13-17 Luke 2: 1-20 The most beautiful and painful part of this night, is our giving over control to God. Advent was all about our preparations, our lighting the Candles, getting in the mood, our decorating the Tree, wrapping the gifts, cooking the feast, our singing the Carols. But to tell the Gospel truth, similar to being congratulated for having a Birthday, we had very little choice and little to do with Christmas happening. We began this night “Joy to the World”, the message from Heaven, the message to the world this night. We respond to the Scriptures and Sermon, by joining together singing “O Come All Ye Faithful”, sharing Communion, passing Christ’ light of “Silent Night, Holy Night.” Different from other Christmases, where we have read from Isaiah, this evening we also read a passage from Matthew, not of Jesus’ Genealogy or Joseph’s story of the birth. The Gospel at a different beginning time in Jesus’ life, also describing Jesus being announced to the world and a voice from Heaven. The point being, that while we can be filled with the warm glow of the Nativity story, as we have received it from the Evangelists Luke, Bing and Mariah Carey; Christmas, in both of these Gospels, Announces from Heaven and throughout the World that Jesus Christ is COME, the Immortal, Eternal, Incarnation of God present in Human History. As your Pastor, I have a Christological Pet-Peeve. In large part, Christianity in the 21st Century has forgotten all about the Trinity. We replaced Faith in God, with Worshipping Jesus, and the Holy Spirit does not enter into our imagination. If God cannot be God, then there is no reason for Jesus… The beauty of the Trinity, is the Spiritual Mysticism, the claims of Transcendence over what is tangible. God is still God, the Creator of reality, time and space, who chose Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; who as Savior entered into the History of Egypt during the building of the Pyramids, becoming Law Giver to Moses. The Holy Spirit continues to brood over the face of the waters, blowing upon the Church, inspiring ideas we never would have imagined. No Where, in all of Scripture, does Jesus invite us to worship Him as God. Repeatedly, Jesus announced that his purpose is to bring people into covenant relationship with God. THAT itself is monumental! Philosophy, Science, Other Religions, never approach declaring an Incarnation. Judaism continues to await the coming of the Anointed Messiah sent from God. Islam claimed The Great Prophet Mohammed was transported to Heaven to return. Philosophy separated the mind and pure thought, from reality of life’s aches/ pains. Only Christianity describes God the Creator and Sustenance of Life, entering in to save us. Faith requires a kind of Quantum Physics, that God was/is and will be, and can be in all places and also in the particular life of Jesus of Nazareth born at Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph. In the early Church, there was a great division between the more Mystic emphasis of the Eastern world, and the more Rational of the Western. The Holy Roman Empire following Emperor Constantine looked to the Crucifixion, the Suffering and Death and Resurrection as being the Central Core of Christian Faith because Constantine’s Mother Helena was a Roman Christian. As the Protestant Church arising in the Enlightenment, we required understanding to be part of faith. While the Eastern Church, recognized a change in Reality, in Time and Space, in History. God Almighty, the Creator and Judge, had entered into our lives. For the Eastern Church, this emphasis is just as real, and just as much about the challenge of Christ to the world. as the Crucifixion and Resurrection of the Western Church, but Christ in the Eastern Church is not focused on understanding Jesus “Becoming” the Christ, he has been the Anointed one from the very beginning of time and space. Making the Angels’ message to Shepherds, the same as John the Baptist’s announcement, that we need to “Repent”, to stop and reflect upon who we are and what we are doing in life, whether God is in our lives or not. Whether we have any room for JOY and WONDER whether all that matters to us: is winning? Our Christmas story has been heavily influenced by our Western Europe Ancestors. At the time of the Crusades, in Europe they celebrated Madrigal plays, as we did my 2nd Christmas here years ago with a Boar’s Head Feast, with everyone dressed up as Lords and Ladies gathered, when a troupe of local people and children with a Burro and Lamb acted out the story of Joseph and Mary being told there was No room for them at the Inn. Ironically, as we read the story over this night, there was no Inn, and No Inn Keeper. The question is whether there is any room in Us, in imagination for God to be in us? The difficulty with our proving Christmas, is historically, during the era of Herod, there never was a Census during the era of Emperor Caesar Augustus. Had there been, women would not have been counted as persons, so there would have been no need for Mary to make the journey. Instead, where Augustus Caesar was acclaimed to be the Prince of Peace in the enforced Pax Romana, Jesus is recognized as being the True Prince of Peace for all the world. Having been to Israel this year, there are few trees, mainly Olive and Fig Trees and Myrtle, so the Manger would not have been made of Wood but of Rock. Joseph being a Carpenter meant he worked in both Wood and Stone. How much more stark an image, that instead of the infant sleeping on clean straw in a wooden trough, the Newborn is laid in a cold stone feed trough. A Feed Trough, representing both the humility of simple poverty; but also, the Manger is the first Communion Table, the Altar of God holding the Bread of Heaven for all to see. Christmas is our recognition that there is more to this life than the harsh brutality we so often focus upon. There is Divinity in our midst. What if, we realized we are The Missing Link! The link between Humanity and God? What if we looked at every person we met, our children Christmas morning, our Spouse, our Parents, Neighbors and Friends, Strangers, the guys at the Transfer Station and Fire Department, and Mail Delivery, as having God in them. How differently we might regard one another, if we saw the Divine in each person. If we believed God is God, Christ has Come for us to STOP our MerrygoRound, and that the Holy Spirit continues to inspire and blow our minds. But also, while Jesus is the Messiah Sent from God, the Perfect Union fully Divine and Fully Human, so also as Followers of Christ, are we.

"God With Us" December 24, 2017 9:30am

Isaiah 40 Luke 2: 1-14 Twenty-one years ago I brought my family to Skaneateles from Milwaukee. There were not a lot of accommodations for us to make. Wisconsin had lakes & cold temperatures, in those days CNY got more Snow… We could continue to root for the GB Packers, St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers, along w/ Syracuse Orange Basketball. Skaneateles and Onondaga were no more difficult than Oconomowoc, Winnebago, and Manitowoc. But there were nuances… In Wisconsin, a Drinking Fountain was a “Bubbler”; a Traffic Light was “the Stop & Go”; sentences could be made into questions by adding “Eh?” and instead of “May I go with You?” Accommodation to the Other was Assumed by saying “Can I Go with?” That assumption, that there is no accommodation on anyone’s part, is what I want to address this morning. Life, Change, is not simply about adding another experience. Every relationship, every commitment demands that we re-evaluate, acculturate to a different reality. The purpose of those ubiquitous Family Christmas Letters, was not bragging rights of how marvelous your life was compared to your siblings; but opportunity to name what circumstances have happened, have impacted and altered our lives this year. For the Tracy family the addition of Jacoby makes this Christmas an entirely new adventure that Mom and Dad and Grandma and Grandpa have never before witnessed. The addition of Thomas to the Corsello-Morabito family, brings changes that the first born and first two did not initiate, because each of us is unique. In America in the 1920s, Women were finally granted the Vote as Equal Citizens. Prior to that time, while there were loving and affectionate relationships, women “could” be treated as second-class, without rights, given as property from Father to Husband. When finally those archaic laws were changed in America, it appeared as though the battle of the sexes was over. But throughout the last Century, America has continued to struggle with change and acceptance of races, sexes, boundaries, roles, relationships and what are appropriate and inappropriate Manners. The scandals of sexual abuse coming out of the shadows over the last many weeks are a realization that many of us have continued to act as if everyone else did not matter, and culturally there had been no adaptation to human equality in the last Century. Isaiah 40 is an incredible passage of Scripture, because “Comfort, comfort my people is not simply “And they lived happily ever after”… From the beginning, whether the Dawn of Humanity, the Exile from the Garden of Eden, or the Children of Noah, … Humanity had evolved in height and stature, migration and survival, we had advanced from the Stone Age to the Iron, to the Bronze…while at the same time, the history of the Bible is that we evolved further and further away from God, away from our Natural selves and trusting relationships. Abram and Sarah and their descendants had received the Covenant of God, but “election” did not mean God has to forgive you no matter what. You are a chosen people, who will be blessed. However, being “Elect” and chosen is a representation of all humanity, so when humanity separates from God, the children of God would feel that exile most of all. The Nation of Israel, which conquered the world under King David and King Solomon, itself fell to the Assyrians and Babylonians, who gave way to the Persians and the Medes and the Greeks. “Comfort, comfort, my people says your God” is the WORD of God through Prophecy that Atonement is more than Being Caught, or Serving your punishment. God recognizes that Israel exiled to Babylon 70 years, has served their sentence, but more, even though God put Israel away, God loves the people and wants the Children of God to be redeemed. YET, at this point, there has been so much broken trust, so many violations, how can we ever look to God and worship God as Good, Awesome and Loving. So God promises to enter into our reality, our relationships, our lives, anew differnt. This last year, in February, I was given the gift of going to the Holy Lands, and even in the locations most sacred to the Church, there is dispute whether this was the location of the Tomb and Crucifixion, or that was; whether this was Mary’s house or that one, because the Empire’s control of Christianity did not begin until 300 yrs after, when the Roman Emperor Constantine became Christian, and his mother went on a quest for the place of the Crucifixion and the Birth. Imagine Today, trying to find the House where Ben Franklin was born, and he had been revered? It is awesome and powerful to Celebrate Communion in The Upper Room above the Sarcophagus of King David; even with replaced knees to kneel and touch the place Jesus’ body laid, and the tomb of the resurrection… But the point of the story in Luke, is not about the details we focus on: the Stable, the Manger, the Magi… most of which has been shaped and changed by our Western European forbearers. There is something very earthy and raw to the reality. Maybe Joseph and Mary gave birth in a stable… but culturally, in Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, homes had beneath them an underground cellar hewn like a womb from the earth. Have you ever been in a severe storm, tornado or hurricane, and sought shelter in the basement. As scary and creepy as we often imagine, we feel safe going into the earth, into this stone womb. Customarily in the Middle East, this is where women went to give birth, away from the family, in the womb of the earth beneath the foundations of their family household. There are stark contrasts between the softness of a newborn and the stone floor, or a Manger carved from Rock. All the more powerful, when the Infant nestled in the earthen Rock Manger is the Divinity of God. And why a Manger, because that was the Food Trough of the Creatures, Just as Christ is the Bread of Heaven. Our Daily Blessings, the experiences and relationships of a lifetime, are not disposable throwaways. Our reality is composed of all these many points of light, like an immense mosaic or puzzle. Recognizing that as much as we take one day after another, one year lived, one life like every other, God loves us, each of us, and enters in to change and shape us by our experiences. Twenty-one years ago, in my first sermon that first Joy Sunday as your Pastor, I recall emphasizing that Jesus is both fully God and fully Human, and that as a culture we had at times over-emphasized God being separate from us in goodness and purity, more recently Jesus being one with us in suffering, emotion and compassion. But years ago, a trusted friend challenged me with: There Being The DIVINE in Us! As much as Human culture has searched for the Missing Link, the connection between Apes and Humans, the first Adam and Eve; quite possibly, we are the Missing Link, between Humanity and God, bringing our children, and grandchildren and neighbors, and strangers to God.

"One More Thing" December 17, 2017

Luke 1:45-55 Mark 1:1-8 There are EXPERTs for everything today. Librarians are Information Specialists. Sommeliers who have expert taste-buds. Medical Specialists. Roofing Specialists. Information Technology Specialists. Expert Heart Surgeons. Expert Fly Fishermen. What I had not realized was that there were even SPECIALIST Stringers of PEARLS. The Jeweler claimed that in addition to size & quality of the Pearls, the expertise of the Stringer threading and tying the knots could decrease or increase the value of a necklace. The Jeweler added the advice that a really good string of pearls should be restrung annually; if worn often, twice a year. Which got me to thinking that while there are Pearls from the Sea and Fresh Water as the irritation of Oysters; there are also Pearls we have grown, from the irritations in our lives working upon us. Pearls of Wisdom. Pearls of Belief and Ethics and Values. What we do at Advent is to worry those Pearls, not over their value or safety, but handling, rubbing and restringing our irritants, as being Pearls of Great value to us. This is one of the most stressful times of all the year! We have our normal routines of every day, our work, responsibilities, doctors’ appointments, maintenance of the house, car, stretching finances to cover bills, when suddenly, we are expected to have gifts, cookies for all the events, and the number of events goes from monthly/weekly to every group having a Holiday. And if we are willing to go there, the most stressful circumstance for each of us is the deaths, having the reminder of “their ornament”, “their recipes” for us to make, what to do with “their stocking”, “their empty place” at the table. Christmas feels like the JENGA game of a tower of stacked blocks, ever withdrawing one more foundation, and ADDING ONE MORE THING until we collapse. Advent questions “Who are we?” This morning, we have those who instead of seeing Christmas and faith in God, as one more thing added on, each recognize RELATIONSHIP TO GOD as their one thing, their core identity, and everything else develops from that faith. Instead of being a Virgin, betrothed to Wed who suddenly finds herself PREGNANT… MARY identifies as being The Handmaid of the God, God’s instrument of Incarnation, that her life, her whole existence, her purpose in being, is to magnify the Lord. JOHN the Baptist refuses to see himself as a Prophet, a religious professional, born into the family business, rejects all the world’s claims that he might be The MESSIAH … instead is devoted to Calling others to REPENT, to be Baptized, to start their lives over rejecting everything else and beginning with God. Funny, the Scriptures actually tell us Very Little about Mary. JOHN’s Gospel does not mention her. MARK begins at Jesus’ Baptism as an Adult so nothing about Mary. MATTHEW names her, but the whole Emphasis is on JOSEPH. Only LUKE provides this speech, called The MAGNIFICAT, both as Scripture, in Theology and in Music, not because it is magnificent, which it is… The LATIN word “MAGNIFICAT” means MAGNIFIES, because Mary’s opening words are “My Soul Magnifies the Lord.” Modern Translators have made this “My Soul PRAISES God” or “My Heart REJOICES” Instead MAGNIFIED to me, emphasizes that this is not about REVERING MARY, so much as about THIS GIFT OF GOD’s LOVE, solely and completely about God’s Love, and the relationship of Mary to God. As a MAN I dare to say, that there is something awesome and incredible in the choice of a couple to give birth. At one moment, you live your life for yourself, in the next and for the rest of your life, a part of you exists in the life of this other. You may never understand their feelings, their thoughts, their experiences, but they are a part of you and you are part of their life. So how much of a stretch is it for us to see GOD Our Father, as integral to our lives? The GOSPEL of LUKE actually begins before Mary with the birth of John to Elizabeth and Zechariah, as this High Priest praying in the Temple becomes HYSTERICAL… The DICTIONARY explains “HYSTERIA” as “an UNCONTROLLABLE EMOTIONAL OUTBURST AS FROM FEAR OR LAUGHTER”. Plato and Aristotle had reasoned that MEN are different from WOMEN because women possess a WOMB, in Greek “HYSTERA”, which is also why removal of the Womb is called an Hysterectomy. Greek Philosophy prized REASON at the expense of Emotion. They reasoned that a PERSON’s Soul was located in his CORE, and the perfecting of a MAN was moving his soul from his BOWELS to his BELLY. Where as a woman, Plato and Aristotle believed was governed by the Womb at her Core, so when a person was ruled by Emotion they were Hysterical. In the year 70 AD, as the Early Church was forming, immediately before the writing of the Four Gospels, the Temple was again destroyed by the Roman Empire, the only evidence existing today is the Wailing Wall. Imagine how revered and holy is The Wailing Wall by Jews and Christians throughout the Centuries, and that is the remainder of one wall of the Holy of Holies. We begin here, because Zechariah was chosen for a once in a lifetime experience, chosen to be the Priest to go into the Holy of Holies to present the Confessions, atonements, and prayers of the People to God, following which he was to come out to grant people assurance of the Forgiveness and Grace of God. But entering the Holy of Holies inside the Temple, atop the Mountain at Jerusalem, the Angel Gabriel was waiting for Zechariah. An Angel who told the Priest, you and your wife are to have a baby, who will announce the coming of the Savior. And instead of being true to the Scriptures of miraculous births for miraculous children, Zechariah became HYSTERICAL. Zechariah demanded a Sign. You are chosen to be the Priest, dressed in the Holiest of Robes, you are inside the Holy of Holies inside the Temple, confronted by an Angel, and you need A Sign? And the Angel says, I will give you a Sign, “You will not speak, you will not be able to offer complaint or question, or even to assure the people of their forgiveness and the Grace of God, until after the child is born, and you Zechariah name him John.” CD Meigs wrote a wonderful little poem descriptive of the faith conceived in Zechariah, the faith present in Elizabeth, and Mary and John who would be Baptizer: Lord, help me to live Day to Day, in such a self-forgetful way, That even when I kneel to pray, my prayers shall be for others. Others, Lord, yes, Others, let this my motto be Let me live for others, that I may live like Thee. Advent is both a time of repentance, and devotion of our lives to others. We were never Created to be OUR OWN, to Possess all we could Get. Instead, we were created to live our lives for others. That is what it means to be a Partner, a Spouse, a Parent, a Child, a Christian… John lived his entire life devoted to announcing the Coming of Another. CS LEWIS once wrote: “If we let God, for we can prevent God if we choose, but if we allow God in, God will make the feeblest and filthiest of us, DIVINE, a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating throughout with such energy, joy, wisdom and love, as we cannot now imagine; a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly, God’s own boundless power, delight and grace. The process is long and painful, but that is what we are in for. Nothing less.” Recently someone told me, “These are supposed to be our Golden Years, they seem pretty tarnished to me.” I think our task, beginning in this season of Advent is to polish the tarnish to be a brighter more stainless mirror of God