Showing posts with label justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label justice. Show all posts
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Brief Political Rant
If conservative politicians think corporations will leave the US if tax loopholes are closed, why are they throwing stones at the government? Where is the outrage that companies would function in such unjust and manipulative ways? Exploiting loopholes is still cheating because it violates the spirit of the law. Holding cheaters accountable is not unAmerican.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Further Travels Along the Way
In June of 2010 I began working as the regular supply pastor
at a Presbyterian church (PCUSA affiliated) in Northwest Indiana. At the time, it seemed like somewhat of a
cruel irony since I had left the PCUSA to become UCC after meeting and marrying
my wife which put me at odds with PCUSA polity.
Nevertheless, this church seemed like the place God was directing me so
I tried to stay open to where my faith journey and calling was leading.
Among my first hurdles were those of ethics and
transparency. I am gay and my wife and daughter
would likely come with me to church. The
exiting interim minister had known me for years and knew about my sexuality but
I didn’t think she outted me to the church.
So, I had to make a decision.
How was I going to answer the questions? Would I just go ahead and come out? What was the right thing to do so that I had
integrity while not opening my family to undue scrutiny? Furthermore, I didn’t want to bring to the
church additional turmoil in the midst of a time that was already fragile.
Very quickly I decided to answer any questions from congregants
honestly but not bring up the fact that I’m gay. I advised my family to do the same. All the same, we did not necessarily go about
drawing attention to ourselves in that way.
My reasoning for this choice was three fold. First, I personally have borne much pain as
some of my Christian sisters and brothers have hurled stones of hatred and fear
at me over the years. It’s been a tough
journey that I still weep over from time to time. Second, as a family, we did not have a need
to be supported in that faith community so our transparency was not necessary
for our well-being. Likewise, we did not
need the pain that would come with a negative outcome. Third, and most importantly, I believed my
time with them would be short and deemed the painful transitions of the church
and the existing sorrow of its members to be more important to address than
introducing an additional issue that would only serve to distract them from
what they actually needed. They had
already been though too much to have someone “dump” an extra issue on
them. They deserved to grieve and grow
through their existing difficulties before dealing with one more thing.
With all that in mind I moved forward and what I thought was
going to be a “few preaching gigs” turned into more and ultimately lasted 20
months before they called a full time pastor.
I didn’t realize it would happen but I quickly fell in love
with the people at that church. I saw in
them such love for one another and a deep faith. They could not have endured the kind of pain
they had without it. You see, in the
past 10 years they had lost a much beloved pastor and then had a series of
short lived calls and interims that introduced various conflicts and near scandals
(the reasons for this are so complicated I will not even dare deal with it in this
writing because I can never do their experience justice). In the face of all this strife, the church
and its programs survived... they even thrived in some ways. It was easy to for me to admire and even love
them.
It seemed that they loved me too. They liked my preaching style of balancing
teaching with practical ways of living faithfully. They appreciated my reluctance to make grand
claims on behalf of God in favor of journeying together. Most of all, they loved the way I loved
them. For a group of people who had felt
rejected and shat upon, they just wanted so badly to know that it wasn’t their
fault and that they were still loved by God... and a pastor. I could give them that.
One of my early sermons at the church was entitled “Along
the Way” and was based upon Psalm 107:1-9, 43.
In it I said, “this is a passage about life
happening. Life includes the joyous and
the tragic and all that lies in between.
Not all these events happen because of God but God is in the midst of
them and still with us after them. Our
job is to be open to God’s help. Our job
is to keep journeying. Our job is to
share in the journey with others around us.
And we do this with hope knowing God is with us all along the way.”
“Along the way” became a phrase that I
would utter many many more times during my service at that church. It became my mantra to them as I sought to
illuminate God’s presence and work in their midst. It also became a mantra to myself as I
experienced a home and sense of calling like I had not previously had or
expected.
In my time there, I never did out myself
from the pulpit even though I uplifted the justices issues associated with
gender and sexuality. I kept my emphasis
on what they needed most. Even as my
sexuality became known to many in the congregation, what people stayed focused
upon was what we had in common as people of faith trying to find our way
forward. With all the talk in our
culture about what is wrong with the church,
let me tell you that what is right was
the people of that church staying focused on loving one another and honoring
faith.
Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t always easy. I know for a fact, my sexuality became a catalyst
for heated discussion amongst the Pastor Nominating Committee. Also, I had many conversations with congregants
who were unaware of my sexuality as they made their opinions known about Presbyterian
polity, theology, and sexuality. They
said things that were insensitive and at times even hateful. Yet, my response was always to broaden our
understanding of love and keep us focused upon what God is doing and calling us
to.
In the months since my time ended at that
church, I’ve had time to reflect on what this journey meant and how it touched
me in ways I never imagined. I’ve come
to believe even more in the mantra of God with us “along the way” because of
the relationships that my family and I have formed with the people of that
church. Our lives are forever changed
and better because of them. Furthermore,
the church’s constant affirmation of God’s gifts in me and my time with them
served to heal old wounds that I thought would always be festering. Honestly, I rarely know where God is leading
me but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that God has been, is, and will be
with us all along the way. Amen.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Serving Together
Serving Together (off lectionary sermon series on the body of Christ based upon Matthew 28:16-20, Galatians 5:16-6:2, & G-2.0101)
Good morning. If you were here last week, you know that this is week 2 of a 3 week sermon series on being the church alive in the world. But as I said last week, don’t worry if you’re not here for all of them. They stand alone nicely so even if you missed it, you won’t be lost today. But just to recap, we looked at scripture and at a passage from the book of order and talked about how Christ is the only true authority in the church. Our job is to faithfully live out Christ’s calling. So we do not stand over or under one another in our workings and callings. No one calling is more special than another. Whether it’s my calling to be a pastor or someone else’s calling to put out donuts, we are faithful together… side by side.
So this week, we are taking the next step trying to unearth what those callings might be for each of us and as a church and our scripture for the day gives us a great place to start. But much like last week, I want to weave in another nugget of wisdom from the Book of Order that we might use as an outline for our thinking today. It comes from G-2.0101 and is entitled "Christ’s Ministry." It reads:
The Church’s ministry is a gift from Jesus Christ to the whole Church. Christ alone rules, calls, teaches, and uses the Church as he wills, exercising his authority by the ministry of women and men for the establishment and extension of God’s new creation. Christ’s ministry is the foundation and standard for all ministry, the pattern of the one who came "not to be served but to serve" (Matt. 20:28). The basic form of ministry is the ministry of the whole people of God, from whose midst some are called to ordered ministries, to fulfill particular functions. Members and those in ordered ministries serve together under the mandate of Christ.
Well, given what I just read, you might be thinking "isn’t that the recap of last week’s sermon?" Well, sort of. But we are going to go deeper in to 2 of these ideas and think about "Christ’s ministry is the foundation and standard for all ministry" and "The basic form of ministry is the ministry of the whole people of God." And I think today’s scripture lessons have some guidance for our thinking.
Our scripture passages are The Great Commissioning found in Matthew where Jesus calls on his followers to go out into the world and baptize, teach, and fellowship with others while all along knowing that Christ is always with us. The second passage is about the fruits of the spirit and reminds us what living by the spirit looks like. It also calls on us to be healers of one another as we struggle to claim who and whose we are.
So we have these very big ideas and as a big picture kind of person, these are the things that ignite in me curiosity and wonder about how it will all unfold. But I realize that for more detail oriented people, these open ended visions are somewhat anxiety producing. So, we’re going deeper today to look for the practical ways of ministry and our callings within it. We are doing so because some of us are curious. Some of us find comfort in details. Others of us need reassurance.
I raise this issue of what we are each getting by our study together because it has bearing on what we will uncover. See, if it is that "Christ’s ministry is the foundation and standard for all ministry" then a great thing to recognize about the life and teachings of Jesus is that he lived and taught in ways that spoke to people the way they each needed to experience it.
We are all very different from one another. Different gifts, different personalities, different interests, different struggles, different experiences… all of which come together to make us unique and yet somehow only made whole in the body of Christ. So to reach out to such diverse groupings, Jesus used stories so that people would zero in on the parts they each needed to hear. He also shared a lot of meals and living room time where people have their guards down and true relationships are built. He used symbols and metaphors so that people would have to think and stretch themselves to understand. And no matter where he was or what was going on, his starting place was that of love for God’s special creation… people.
Over and over again, he astounded people by loving them instead of judging them because he knew that judgment is God’s and the path to true healing is that of love. He didn’t walk up to the woman at the well and call her wretched names or think judgmental thoughts about her. His starting place was that of love for who she was: a child of God with gifts and struggles that was living a life of suffering. Harsh words would have just alienated her more but love heals and transforms.
And while we’re looking at Jesus as the foundation and standard for all ministry, let’s not forget his humility. He is the one who came "not to be served but to serve." Ministry that models Christ is that of service rather than status. Born in a barn, murdered for his faith… those are extraordinary bookends to a life. But in some ways, even more extraordinary are the pages between the bookends that tell of a life of reaching out in search of God as a young child and extending the love of God as an adult. What would our lives look like if we each had such love?
And that’s the question of the day. Christ modeled what ministry looks like and we are called to minister to the "whole people of God." So what would our lives look like if we each had such love? What does ministering to the "whole people of God" look like?
Last week we read scripture that talks about the body of Christ and the different callings. This week we see in Galatians different gifts that we are given by the Spirit. And all along we have Christ telling us to go out and do something with these callings and gifts.
So what does it look like? Well, it starts by taking the time to find out who God made us to be. Jesus invited us to look into ourselves to know and honor this special creation of God. Searching ourselves is critical to knowing how we can serve. God asked Moses to live beyond his skills and God still asks the same of us today but we can’t go farther if we don’t know where to start.
So we each need to consider what our personality is, what our interests are, and what we have to offer as we look to see how we each may minister in the body of Christ. For example, you wouldn’t want me to sing in the choir but thanks be for those that can and we welcome them back this year. And I would be pretty bad at serving on the budget committee because I get overwhelmed with all the numbers. But you know what? I love the bible and I love people so one thing I can do is weave those two together into sermons and worship leadership.
See, it’s pretty much as simple as that. We start with who we are and what God has given us and ask "where can God use me?" Lend a Hand Day, teaching Sunday School, greeting, serving on committees, and all those other forms of stewardship are servant ministry. And even talking and sharing with one another is servant ministry because we are building up the body of Christ as we extend ourselves to one another in fellowship.
But ministry is about far more than what happens inside these walls. The real work of Christ is out there in the world. So again, let’s ask the question, what would our lives look like if we each had such love as Christ? What is our ministry in the world? When we look at our gifts and skills, how do we serve in the body of Christ beyond these walls?
The answer to those questions are as varied as can be. But I think our scripture can guide us. Galatians 6:1 reads, "My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness." What does that have to do with our servant ministry? Well, most of our work both inside these walls and beyond is about healing. Almost everything we experience boils down to the brokenness we encounter within ourselves and around us. So much of our ministry and ministering is about being conduits of peace, healing, and reconciliation through the love of Christ.
Our charge is to heal with a spirit of gentleness. When we see wrong doings, we’re not called to judge, we’re called to restore. Sisters and brothers, each and every one of us struggle. When we think about the things we do wrong, we see a chain of events where we didn’t set out to hurt anyone but it all made sense at the time. As Paul said, "why is it I do what I don’t what to do?" As parents, as teachers, as ministers, as friends, as business people… we all struggle because we all have broken places in us and all need the grace of God and the love of Christ. The surest path to healing is not by wagging a finger at ourselves or others. Changing our behavior out of guilt isn’t really living in the Spirit. Healing comes by modeling Christ and loving the wounds away.
So if our lives are at the intersection of brokenness and love, who are we each called to be in the world? For the person who’s a little shy but always watching, maybe part of their calling is to be the one who always extends a kind smile. For the one gifted with leadership skills, maybe servant ministry looks like being a business person of respect who looks out for how employees are treated. For the ones with a mind for numbers, maybe it’s being a beacon of integrity so that wealth is not used to corrupt or squash others. For those who cook well, maybe it’s offering a meal to someone struggling or bringing the cookies to a meeting that reminds us of what’s important. Perhaps for those of us with old wounds that have been healed, it’s about sharing our path with those in need. If one of our blessings is extra time, maybe servant ministry is about volunteering.
And when the big stuff like 9/11 happens we still see the same things. Firefighters being firefighters and caring about people, even at the risk of losing their lives. Everyday folks dropping everything to clear debris because it serves and restores hope. People far away donating money, blood, and other resources because they love enough to want to be a part of the healing.
See, we get caught up in thinking of our daily lives as work, chores, and strife but if we look deeper we’ll see the way we are functioning as the body of Christ and honor that. And when we look deeper, we might even see new and different ways of sharing our gifts and callings. And that’s what we’ll talk about next week.
But for now, Christ invites us to see who God made us to be and offer that back to creation. As we go from here this week, may we look more deeply at who we are and what we can be in the body of Christ. And most importantly, may we live that calling each and every day. Amen.
Good morning. If you were here last week, you know that this is week 2 of a 3 week sermon series on being the church alive in the world. But as I said last week, don’t worry if you’re not here for all of them. They stand alone nicely so even if you missed it, you won’t be lost today. But just to recap, we looked at scripture and at a passage from the book of order and talked about how Christ is the only true authority in the church. Our job is to faithfully live out Christ’s calling. So we do not stand over or under one another in our workings and callings. No one calling is more special than another. Whether it’s my calling to be a pastor or someone else’s calling to put out donuts, we are faithful together… side by side.
So this week, we are taking the next step trying to unearth what those callings might be for each of us and as a church and our scripture for the day gives us a great place to start. But much like last week, I want to weave in another nugget of wisdom from the Book of Order that we might use as an outline for our thinking today. It comes from G-2.0101 and is entitled "Christ’s Ministry." It reads:
The Church’s ministry is a gift from Jesus Christ to the whole Church. Christ alone rules, calls, teaches, and uses the Church as he wills, exercising his authority by the ministry of women and men for the establishment and extension of God’s new creation. Christ’s ministry is the foundation and standard for all ministry, the pattern of the one who came "not to be served but to serve" (Matt. 20:28). The basic form of ministry is the ministry of the whole people of God, from whose midst some are called to ordered ministries, to fulfill particular functions. Members and those in ordered ministries serve together under the mandate of Christ.
Well, given what I just read, you might be thinking "isn’t that the recap of last week’s sermon?" Well, sort of. But we are going to go deeper in to 2 of these ideas and think about "Christ’s ministry is the foundation and standard for all ministry" and "The basic form of ministry is the ministry of the whole people of God." And I think today’s scripture lessons have some guidance for our thinking.
Our scripture passages are The Great Commissioning found in Matthew where Jesus calls on his followers to go out into the world and baptize, teach, and fellowship with others while all along knowing that Christ is always with us. The second passage is about the fruits of the spirit and reminds us what living by the spirit looks like. It also calls on us to be healers of one another as we struggle to claim who and whose we are.
So we have these very big ideas and as a big picture kind of person, these are the things that ignite in me curiosity and wonder about how it will all unfold. But I realize that for more detail oriented people, these open ended visions are somewhat anxiety producing. So, we’re going deeper today to look for the practical ways of ministry and our callings within it. We are doing so because some of us are curious. Some of us find comfort in details. Others of us need reassurance.
I raise this issue of what we are each getting by our study together because it has bearing on what we will uncover. See, if it is that "Christ’s ministry is the foundation and standard for all ministry" then a great thing to recognize about the life and teachings of Jesus is that he lived and taught in ways that spoke to people the way they each needed to experience it.
We are all very different from one another. Different gifts, different personalities, different interests, different struggles, different experiences… all of which come together to make us unique and yet somehow only made whole in the body of Christ. So to reach out to such diverse groupings, Jesus used stories so that people would zero in on the parts they each needed to hear. He also shared a lot of meals and living room time where people have their guards down and true relationships are built. He used symbols and metaphors so that people would have to think and stretch themselves to understand. And no matter where he was or what was going on, his starting place was that of love for God’s special creation… people.
Over and over again, he astounded people by loving them instead of judging them because he knew that judgment is God’s and the path to true healing is that of love. He didn’t walk up to the woman at the well and call her wretched names or think judgmental thoughts about her. His starting place was that of love for who she was: a child of God with gifts and struggles that was living a life of suffering. Harsh words would have just alienated her more but love heals and transforms.
And while we’re looking at Jesus as the foundation and standard for all ministry, let’s not forget his humility. He is the one who came "not to be served but to serve." Ministry that models Christ is that of service rather than status. Born in a barn, murdered for his faith… those are extraordinary bookends to a life. But in some ways, even more extraordinary are the pages between the bookends that tell of a life of reaching out in search of God as a young child and extending the love of God as an adult. What would our lives look like if we each had such love?
And that’s the question of the day. Christ modeled what ministry looks like and we are called to minister to the "whole people of God." So what would our lives look like if we each had such love? What does ministering to the "whole people of God" look like?
Last week we read scripture that talks about the body of Christ and the different callings. This week we see in Galatians different gifts that we are given by the Spirit. And all along we have Christ telling us to go out and do something with these callings and gifts.
So what does it look like? Well, it starts by taking the time to find out who God made us to be. Jesus invited us to look into ourselves to know and honor this special creation of God. Searching ourselves is critical to knowing how we can serve. God asked Moses to live beyond his skills and God still asks the same of us today but we can’t go farther if we don’t know where to start.
So we each need to consider what our personality is, what our interests are, and what we have to offer as we look to see how we each may minister in the body of Christ. For example, you wouldn’t want me to sing in the choir but thanks be for those that can and we welcome them back this year. And I would be pretty bad at serving on the budget committee because I get overwhelmed with all the numbers. But you know what? I love the bible and I love people so one thing I can do is weave those two together into sermons and worship leadership.
See, it’s pretty much as simple as that. We start with who we are and what God has given us and ask "where can God use me?" Lend a Hand Day, teaching Sunday School, greeting, serving on committees, and all those other forms of stewardship are servant ministry. And even talking and sharing with one another is servant ministry because we are building up the body of Christ as we extend ourselves to one another in fellowship.
But ministry is about far more than what happens inside these walls. The real work of Christ is out there in the world. So again, let’s ask the question, what would our lives look like if we each had such love as Christ? What is our ministry in the world? When we look at our gifts and skills, how do we serve in the body of Christ beyond these walls?
The answer to those questions are as varied as can be. But I think our scripture can guide us. Galatians 6:1 reads, "My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness." What does that have to do with our servant ministry? Well, most of our work both inside these walls and beyond is about healing. Almost everything we experience boils down to the brokenness we encounter within ourselves and around us. So much of our ministry and ministering is about being conduits of peace, healing, and reconciliation through the love of Christ.
Our charge is to heal with a spirit of gentleness. When we see wrong doings, we’re not called to judge, we’re called to restore. Sisters and brothers, each and every one of us struggle. When we think about the things we do wrong, we see a chain of events where we didn’t set out to hurt anyone but it all made sense at the time. As Paul said, "why is it I do what I don’t what to do?" As parents, as teachers, as ministers, as friends, as business people… we all struggle because we all have broken places in us and all need the grace of God and the love of Christ. The surest path to healing is not by wagging a finger at ourselves or others. Changing our behavior out of guilt isn’t really living in the Spirit. Healing comes by modeling Christ and loving the wounds away.
So if our lives are at the intersection of brokenness and love, who are we each called to be in the world? For the person who’s a little shy but always watching, maybe part of their calling is to be the one who always extends a kind smile. For the one gifted with leadership skills, maybe servant ministry looks like being a business person of respect who looks out for how employees are treated. For the ones with a mind for numbers, maybe it’s being a beacon of integrity so that wealth is not used to corrupt or squash others. For those who cook well, maybe it’s offering a meal to someone struggling or bringing the cookies to a meeting that reminds us of what’s important. Perhaps for those of us with old wounds that have been healed, it’s about sharing our path with those in need. If one of our blessings is extra time, maybe servant ministry is about volunteering.
And when the big stuff like 9/11 happens we still see the same things. Firefighters being firefighters and caring about people, even at the risk of losing their lives. Everyday folks dropping everything to clear debris because it serves and restores hope. People far away donating money, blood, and other resources because they love enough to want to be a part of the healing.
See, we get caught up in thinking of our daily lives as work, chores, and strife but if we look deeper we’ll see the way we are functioning as the body of Christ and honor that. And when we look deeper, we might even see new and different ways of sharing our gifts and callings. And that’s what we’ll talk about next week.
But for now, Christ invites us to see who God made us to be and offer that back to creation. As we go from here this week, may we look more deeply at who we are and what we can be in the body of Christ. And most importantly, may we live that calling each and every day. Amen.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Of Patriots and Prophets
Ordinary 14A - A sermon based upon Matthew 5:38-48
Good morning. When I left here last week I was aware that we would have patriotic music and a flag pole dedication today. I was also aware that tomorrow is Independence Day so I wanted to work the sermon into the theme.
But when looking at the bible, that’s harder to do than you might think. You see, God, Jesus, and the prophets of the bible spend more time speaking against governments than nearly any other single thing in all of scripture. Yet, governments throughout history have prayed for and claimed God’s favor in the name of their nation.
Truly, the history of humanity has all kinds of governments claiming God’s support and provision. They range from governments like ours which uphold virtues of justice, equality, and liberty to dictatorships and tyrants like Hitler and Nazi Germany. So, how do we know that we’re being patriotic in a way that has honor and integrity?
See, I think we live in a time that it’s easy to be cynical or overzealous about patriotism. Our cultural climate and the events of the world almost make us go to one extreme of excessive skepticism or the other of unencumbered dedication. But national allegiance, like faith is not that easy. Being an engaged citizen of a nation, state, city, community, or even a congregation takes work that can’t be boiled down to either / or kinds of stances.
So, where can we find guidance on what patriotism looks like? Well, I think there are several biblical passages we could look to for guidance on this but for today, we’re looking at part of Matthew chapter 5. As Christians, I think Jesus would tell us that our patriotism should look pretty much like our faith.
The hallmarks of our faith are about glorifying God and living our salvation and freedom from sin in a way that works for the healing and betterment of others. That hymn lyric, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love” comes to mind.
In today’s scripture reading, we get a very straightforward message from Jesus about how to live in community and even in the world. The message is that we love. We love our neighbor. We find ways of loving our enemy. We go the extra mile to care for those in need. We don’t lash out at others. And we humbly acknowledge that God is already working in others and for others in ways we don’t always recognize or understand.
Now that last one may seem like it doesn’t fit in that list but it does. Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” God’s provision is being poured out on all, not just the good people or the right nations or a certain kind of people. And we are responsible for being bearers of love in all people’s lives with the hope that we all cultivate greater awareness of the One from whom all blessings flow.
Now that’s a tall order for sure and it leaves some questions that I think we should at least pause to think about even if we can’t answer them with fullness and certainty. The first question we might should think about that comes from applying this biblical passage to our lives as nation citizens is, do we put the names of God and Christ on everything and do we spend time trying to prove God’s involvement in events of the world? I don’t raise that question to sound antagonistic. Given the deeply divided debates in this nation about displaying the ten commandments and prayer in schools, it seems to be a worthy question. Do we spend our time proving that God has a hand in Government and world affairs?
First, I want to suggest that much of what comes up in this sermon looks very different for each and every one of us because we each have different gifts and responsibilities. So what our civic actions look like are different much like we each have different functions in the body of Christ. But to start to answer this question I think we can go back to the question of does it look like our faith? If the hallmarks of our faith are, as was said earlier, to glorify God and to uplift others, does spending so much arguing really do either of those?
It seems that repeatedly the biblical message is about getting out there and doing the work of love rather than arguing whose ideas are better. Perhaps a better use of time for most of us… keep in mind I’ve left the door open to the idea that some of us are called to do that kind of work… but for most of us our time would be better spent being beacons of love, justice, and mercy rather than pouring so much energy into arguing for who’s faith gets the credit.
This leads to the question can a nation claim God? Well, I think nations, groups, and people should claim when they recognize something as being a gift from God but we must be careful to not claim God’s preference for one nation over another. Just like the Matthew text says that God pours out provision on all, we must first hear that God’s preference is for humanity, not a particular nation. It may be that the United States can trace ideals of justice, freedom, and liberty to Christian beliefs but we by no means have a monopoly on God’s desire for all to experience justice and freedom from that which binds us. So, when we claim God’s presence and work in this nation, we must first claim God’s overarching love and work for all humanity.
Now I think we should pause here for a moment and lift up calling in the body of Christ that can really help us here. When asking the question of what nations should be doing and how we as Christians should be participating I left the door open to the idea that some are called to be civically engaged in different ways. And I think no discussion of patriotism is complete without honoring the calling of the prophet.
In biblical times, the prophet did the same as today. This is the person who stands up and says what goes against the flow but brings us back to the ideals of honoring God and making God’s creation a better place. Prophets are the ones who make us see differently and wonder more deeply. They are the ones that often make our blood boil and step on our toes. They are clarifiers and proclaimers of God’s voice in the world and if we are to be both faithful Christians and patriots, we would do well to listen to them.
Take for example, Martin Luther King, Jr. In his Nobel Peace Prize speech, he said, “Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.” Dr. King was a voice that repeatedly called us back to passages such as the one from Matthew. He was saying that we have to find peaceful and loving ways of dealing with conflict. Lashing out is not an option. Embracing our enemies with love is the only way.
And don’t think that there are no living prophets right now. There are plenty. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Susan Burton, and Robin Blakeman come to my mind and if you don’t know who the last two are, don’t worry. They work on local levels and will never gain national attention but they are prophets of God nonetheless.
So what does all this mean for us? What do we need to be doing to cultivate love and glorify God on this Independence day and all days? Well, I think we do get involved. Our Christian calling tells us that we are to act for and on behalf of the poor and the ones without support. We do this within our faith community through all kinds of outreach programs but we can also do it through civic action. What about helping out with after school reading programs or letter writing to politicians for education funding? Some of us even hear God’s call to protect others and go into military or public service. The list of things that our faith might compel us to do when we act as a citizen of the United States is endless.
And that’s a real gift of our faith in this nation. We do have the freedom to grow in our faith out in the light of the world. And because of that freedom to engage our religion so openly, we can do even more to help bring about justice in the world.
Sisters and brothers, it is right and good that we celebrate fellowship with our family, friends, and community this weekend. Celebration is holy and a gift from God. But as we move past the festivities and cook-outs, the invitation of Matthew 5 is to ask what more can we do to bring about an experience of God’s love in the world and then go and do it. And that is patriotism we can live into. Amen.
Good morning. When I left here last week I was aware that we would have patriotic music and a flag pole dedication today. I was also aware that tomorrow is Independence Day so I wanted to work the sermon into the theme.
But when looking at the bible, that’s harder to do than you might think. You see, God, Jesus, and the prophets of the bible spend more time speaking against governments than nearly any other single thing in all of scripture. Yet, governments throughout history have prayed for and claimed God’s favor in the name of their nation.
Truly, the history of humanity has all kinds of governments claiming God’s support and provision. They range from governments like ours which uphold virtues of justice, equality, and liberty to dictatorships and tyrants like Hitler and Nazi Germany. So, how do we know that we’re being patriotic in a way that has honor and integrity?
See, I think we live in a time that it’s easy to be cynical or overzealous about patriotism. Our cultural climate and the events of the world almost make us go to one extreme of excessive skepticism or the other of unencumbered dedication. But national allegiance, like faith is not that easy. Being an engaged citizen of a nation, state, city, community, or even a congregation takes work that can’t be boiled down to either / or kinds of stances.
So, where can we find guidance on what patriotism looks like? Well, I think there are several biblical passages we could look to for guidance on this but for today, we’re looking at part of Matthew chapter 5. As Christians, I think Jesus would tell us that our patriotism should look pretty much like our faith.
The hallmarks of our faith are about glorifying God and living our salvation and freedom from sin in a way that works for the healing and betterment of others. That hymn lyric, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love” comes to mind.
In today’s scripture reading, we get a very straightforward message from Jesus about how to live in community and even in the world. The message is that we love. We love our neighbor. We find ways of loving our enemy. We go the extra mile to care for those in need. We don’t lash out at others. And we humbly acknowledge that God is already working in others and for others in ways we don’t always recognize or understand.
Now that last one may seem like it doesn’t fit in that list but it does. Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” God’s provision is being poured out on all, not just the good people or the right nations or a certain kind of people. And we are responsible for being bearers of love in all people’s lives with the hope that we all cultivate greater awareness of the One from whom all blessings flow.
Now that’s a tall order for sure and it leaves some questions that I think we should at least pause to think about even if we can’t answer them with fullness and certainty. The first question we might should think about that comes from applying this biblical passage to our lives as nation citizens is, do we put the names of God and Christ on everything and do we spend time trying to prove God’s involvement in events of the world? I don’t raise that question to sound antagonistic. Given the deeply divided debates in this nation about displaying the ten commandments and prayer in schools, it seems to be a worthy question. Do we spend our time proving that God has a hand in Government and world affairs?
First, I want to suggest that much of what comes up in this sermon looks very different for each and every one of us because we each have different gifts and responsibilities. So what our civic actions look like are different much like we each have different functions in the body of Christ. But to start to answer this question I think we can go back to the question of does it look like our faith? If the hallmarks of our faith are, as was said earlier, to glorify God and to uplift others, does spending so much arguing really do either of those?
It seems that repeatedly the biblical message is about getting out there and doing the work of love rather than arguing whose ideas are better. Perhaps a better use of time for most of us… keep in mind I’ve left the door open to the idea that some of us are called to do that kind of work… but for most of us our time would be better spent being beacons of love, justice, and mercy rather than pouring so much energy into arguing for who’s faith gets the credit.
This leads to the question can a nation claim God? Well, I think nations, groups, and people should claim when they recognize something as being a gift from God but we must be careful to not claim God’s preference for one nation over another. Just like the Matthew text says that God pours out provision on all, we must first hear that God’s preference is for humanity, not a particular nation. It may be that the United States can trace ideals of justice, freedom, and liberty to Christian beliefs but we by no means have a monopoly on God’s desire for all to experience justice and freedom from that which binds us. So, when we claim God’s presence and work in this nation, we must first claim God’s overarching love and work for all humanity.
Now I think we should pause here for a moment and lift up calling in the body of Christ that can really help us here. When asking the question of what nations should be doing and how we as Christians should be participating I left the door open to the idea that some are called to be civically engaged in different ways. And I think no discussion of patriotism is complete without honoring the calling of the prophet.
In biblical times, the prophet did the same as today. This is the person who stands up and says what goes against the flow but brings us back to the ideals of honoring God and making God’s creation a better place. Prophets are the ones who make us see differently and wonder more deeply. They are the ones that often make our blood boil and step on our toes. They are clarifiers and proclaimers of God’s voice in the world and if we are to be both faithful Christians and patriots, we would do well to listen to them.
Take for example, Martin Luther King, Jr. In his Nobel Peace Prize speech, he said, “Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.” Dr. King was a voice that repeatedly called us back to passages such as the one from Matthew. He was saying that we have to find peaceful and loving ways of dealing with conflict. Lashing out is not an option. Embracing our enemies with love is the only way.
And don’t think that there are no living prophets right now. There are plenty. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Susan Burton, and Robin Blakeman come to my mind and if you don’t know who the last two are, don’t worry. They work on local levels and will never gain national attention but they are prophets of God nonetheless.
So what does all this mean for us? What do we need to be doing to cultivate love and glorify God on this Independence day and all days? Well, I think we do get involved. Our Christian calling tells us that we are to act for and on behalf of the poor and the ones without support. We do this within our faith community through all kinds of outreach programs but we can also do it through civic action. What about helping out with after school reading programs or letter writing to politicians for education funding? Some of us even hear God’s call to protect others and go into military or public service. The list of things that our faith might compel us to do when we act as a citizen of the United States is endless.
And that’s a real gift of our faith in this nation. We do have the freedom to grow in our faith out in the light of the world. And because of that freedom to engage our religion so openly, we can do even more to help bring about justice in the world.
Sisters and brothers, it is right and good that we celebrate fellowship with our family, friends, and community this weekend. Celebration is holy and a gift from God. But as we move past the festivities and cook-outs, the invitation of Matthew 5 is to ask what more can we do to bring about an experience of God’s love in the world and then go and do it. And that is patriotism we can live into. Amen.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
For Faith's Sake
For Faith's Sake <-- Audio File - Sermon based upon Luke 18:1-8
Good morning. If you haven’t noticed, today is Children’s Sabbath. Children’s Sabbaths is celebrated throughout the world and throughout many faith traditions, not just Christianity. It is a special day to pause and appreciate the amazing gift of children… the ones in our midst and afar. It is also a time to bring awareness to the plight of children because they are among the most vulnerable in our world. Vulnerable to abuse and neglect. Vulnerable to the effects of poverty and marginalization. And vulnerable to be forgotten and ignored in public policy and politics. Finally, Children’s Sabbath is a day to call us to advocacy. And what that advocacy might look like, we’ll talk about later.
So, for now let’s dig into this Gospel text which is a true gem for such a day as this. You see, this parable is a bit interesting because first of all Jesus shares with us it’s intended meaning. Right out of the starting gate he says this passage is about the need to pray always and not to lose heart. What’s also interesting is that we hear from the bad guy’s inner voice. The unjust judge says of himself in this passage that “I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone.” And yet, in the end, he does what is right and just for the widow. And then Jesus ends the whole thing by turning it around on us to find out if we will persist by asking, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
You see I think this passage has a lot to offer us and I could probably preach a different sermon from this text for weeks and weeks to come but we have to limit the scope through the question, “What is it that God wants us to hear today?” I think the message to us today is that for our faith’s sake, God calls us to persist in seeking justice. Let me say it again. For our faith’s sake, God calls us to persist in seeking justice.
Now you may ask how I got that seemingly simple statement from a parable about untiring prayer. Well, let’s dig into what the bible has to say to us. The first hurdle we need to make is to understand that prayer is far more than quiet meditation or private time with God. Deuteronomy, Matthew, Luke and many other scripture texts tells us are called to be a living prayer and 1 Thessalonians and Ephesians tell us to do so without ceasing. Mother Teresa said, “Prayer in action is love, love in action is service.” Dean Inge said, “Action is the normal completion of the act of will which begins as prayer.” From outside our tradition, Mahatma Gandhi said, “Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.” You see, prayer and action always go hand in hand. Our actions are prayers. So a parable about faithful prayer is also about faithful action in the Christian life.
For our faith’s sake, God calls us to persist in seeking justice. Well, we’re definitely called to living prayers of action but what’s this thing of justice? The message of God’s justice is woven throughout the bible and maybe most famously stated in Micah 6:8 which reads, “what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” So this passage stands as one among many rather than a rare mention of justice. And just like we hear the inner thoughts of the unjust judge, we also hear Jesus’ clear reference to God and justice in this passage. So, our calling to work in justice is clear and clearly linked to our faith. But what does it look like?
This is where I think the passage has a lot to say to us on Children’s Sabbath. When considering the plight of children in poverty and suffering from the effects of poverty, the statistics are staggering. In looking at the global numbers we see:
So again I ask, what does justice look like? I mean, Repeatedly it has been shown that effects of poverty and inadequate healthcare hit children the hardest and have the longest legacy. So, what is justice? Well ultimate justice is a world where all those statistics are gone and all that’s left is the joy of looking into the eyes of children, all children, and seeing pure hope. A world where no child goes to bed hungry. A world where no child is bullied or teased for any reason. A world where how much money a family has does not limit the opportunities of a child. A world where children laugh and play without fear of returning to an abusive home. A world where the weeping for the joy of children is louder than the weeping of grieving mothers and families. A world where we’ve participated in making all that happen.
Now I don’t know about you but that vision brings tears to my eyes. And I’d like to tell you such a world will happen in our lifetime but it probably will not. The reality is that children are thousands of times better off than they were 100 years ago because of the advancement of medicine. And better off than they were a few hundred years ago because they are no longer view as property but rather as people under the law. So we’ve made significant progress in protecting children and we’ll continue that… because that is what we are called to. This scripture passage calls us, just like the persistent widow, to persist in prayer and justice work regardless of how just or unjust the system is because it is our faith filled response to God. It is the right thing to do. The widow persisted and justice was restored. But even if the wrongs being inflicted on her had continued, she would have persisted because it was the right thing to do.
Now this is a good time to address one of the toughest parts of this parable. Verses 7 and 8 read, “And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them.” Now, to a child being picked on or suffering from a preventable disease, this verse must make them say, “When? I’m suffering now and where’s the justice?” When we look at the reality around us these verses make us pause and question if Jesus is really telling us the truth.
First of all, let’s be clear, all injustice is an abomination to God because it seeks to break down God’s good creation. But how is God restoring justice? What we need to recognize in this passage is something that is lost in translation from the original Greek text, the difference between chronos and kairos, calendar time and God’s time.
You know that old saying there’s our time and there’s God’s time? Well there really is. See, chronos which is calendar time or clock time is about how long it took for me to get from the start of this sermon to the end of it or my speed from here to the coffee. Kairos is about the “rightness” of the moment. It’s about being in a moment where there’s no doubt or hesitation or unwillingness. And it’s also God’s relationship to us in our moments. God is the “rightness” in the moment.
You see when we look at this parable, we are told that God will “quickly” grant justice. The word we translate as quickly and the words around it are not talking about speed or chronos. The words used are talking about assuredness and lack of hesitation or kairos. God will quickly grant justice because God has not hesitated in proclaiming injustice. God will quickly grant justice because we don’t need to wonder if God wants us to advocate for the poor and oppressed because God has already on their side and has been sitting at the side of the poor and suffering as a comforter for a long time. I don’t know what date and time is when we’ll live in a world without suffering children but I can assure you that we don’t have to convince God that there’s injustice or beg of God to hear because God is already her in the midst of it! God is on the side of the oppressed and suffering EVERY TIME.
God has been working through the parents, advocates, and all those who heed the call of love throughout all time and all creation. God has been comforting the afflicted through the work of our hands, the compassion in our eyes, and love and passion in our voices for a long time. We ask “How long O Lord how long will the children suffer?” and God has answered until the work is done. We ask “How long O Lord how long will the children suffer?” and again God answers until the work is done. But rest assured those who are suffering always have an advocate and a comforter in God. The question to us, is how hard will we work to make sure those suffering experience that advocacy and comfort?
So, what advocacy can we do to make a difference? Advocacy can take on lots of different forms. Whether it’s being the regular neighborhood front porch where all kids know they can come to talk or donating money to an after school program, it’s still saying that children matter. We can be involved in letter writing campaigns or public advocacy about policies that support children. That work is much like the widow and the unjust judge. If we persist, sometimes even unjust politicians relent and do the right thing even for the wrong reasons. There are all kinds of programs to be involved in and all kinds of relationships we have with children in which we can be their comforter and their advocate.
Even if you don’t realize it, this congregation is already doing lots of good things for kids. These children and youth would not be participating in the service were it not for your faithful witness. Portions of the offering go into programs that make a difference in children’s lives. And all of us have made a difference in some child’s life whether we’re 9 or 90. We have been, are, and continue to be God’s hands at work in the world.
You know, I entitled this sermon “For Faith’s Sake” on Monday last week but yesterday I was at the association meeting which is the United Church of Christ’s equivalent to Presbytery meeting. While I was there, I found this bumper sticker, “For God’s sake, do something.” I think that would have been a better title for this sermon. For God’s sake, do something. For God’s good creation’s sake, do something.
Our call is to continue the work of advocacy and comforting, faithfully and persistently. Our call is to seek more ways and new creative methods for doing that work. When you leave here what more can you do? What child will be touched by your time, love, resources, and most importantly by our faithfulness?
Amen
Good morning. If you haven’t noticed, today is Children’s Sabbath. Children’s Sabbaths is celebrated throughout the world and throughout many faith traditions, not just Christianity. It is a special day to pause and appreciate the amazing gift of children… the ones in our midst and afar. It is also a time to bring awareness to the plight of children because they are among the most vulnerable in our world. Vulnerable to abuse and neglect. Vulnerable to the effects of poverty and marginalization. And vulnerable to be forgotten and ignored in public policy and politics. Finally, Children’s Sabbath is a day to call us to advocacy. And what that advocacy might look like, we’ll talk about later.
So, for now let’s dig into this Gospel text which is a true gem for such a day as this. You see, this parable is a bit interesting because first of all Jesus shares with us it’s intended meaning. Right out of the starting gate he says this passage is about the need to pray always and not to lose heart. What’s also interesting is that we hear from the bad guy’s inner voice. The unjust judge says of himself in this passage that “I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone.” And yet, in the end, he does what is right and just for the widow. And then Jesus ends the whole thing by turning it around on us to find out if we will persist by asking, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
You see I think this passage has a lot to offer us and I could probably preach a different sermon from this text for weeks and weeks to come but we have to limit the scope through the question, “What is it that God wants us to hear today?” I think the message to us today is that for our faith’s sake, God calls us to persist in seeking justice. Let me say it again. For our faith’s sake, God calls us to persist in seeking justice.
Now you may ask how I got that seemingly simple statement from a parable about untiring prayer. Well, let’s dig into what the bible has to say to us. The first hurdle we need to make is to understand that prayer is far more than quiet meditation or private time with God. Deuteronomy, Matthew, Luke and many other scripture texts tells us are called to be a living prayer and 1 Thessalonians and Ephesians tell us to do so without ceasing. Mother Teresa said, “Prayer in action is love, love in action is service.” Dean Inge said, “Action is the normal completion of the act of will which begins as prayer.” From outside our tradition, Mahatma Gandhi said, “Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.” You see, prayer and action always go hand in hand. Our actions are prayers. So a parable about faithful prayer is also about faithful action in the Christian life.
For our faith’s sake, God calls us to persist in seeking justice. Well, we’re definitely called to living prayers of action but what’s this thing of justice? The message of God’s justice is woven throughout the bible and maybe most famously stated in Micah 6:8 which reads, “what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” So this passage stands as one among many rather than a rare mention of justice. And just like we hear the inner thoughts of the unjust judge, we also hear Jesus’ clear reference to God and justice in this passage. So, our calling to work in justice is clear and clearly linked to our faith. But what does it look like?
This is where I think the passage has a lot to say to us on Children’s Sabbath. When considering the plight of children in poverty and suffering from the effects of poverty, the statistics are staggering. In looking at the global numbers we see:
- There are 2.2 billion children in the world and 1 billion of them live in poverty.
- 10.6 million children die each year before they reached the age of 5
- Over 11 million children die each year from preventable causes like malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia.
- 121 million children are not in any sort of formal education whereby they may better their condition. They are only living lives of survival.
And let’s look closer to home. In the United States:
- Every 18 minutes a baby dies before his or her first birthday.
- Every 45 minutes a child or teen dies from an accident.
- Every 5 hours a child or teen commits suicide.
- Every 6 hours a child is killed by abuse or neglect.
So again I ask, what does justice look like? I mean, Repeatedly it has been shown that effects of poverty and inadequate healthcare hit children the hardest and have the longest legacy. So, what is justice? Well ultimate justice is a world where all those statistics are gone and all that’s left is the joy of looking into the eyes of children, all children, and seeing pure hope. A world where no child goes to bed hungry. A world where no child is bullied or teased for any reason. A world where how much money a family has does not limit the opportunities of a child. A world where children laugh and play without fear of returning to an abusive home. A world where the weeping for the joy of children is louder than the weeping of grieving mothers and families. A world where we’ve participated in making all that happen.
Now I don’t know about you but that vision brings tears to my eyes. And I’d like to tell you such a world will happen in our lifetime but it probably will not. The reality is that children are thousands of times better off than they were 100 years ago because of the advancement of medicine. And better off than they were a few hundred years ago because they are no longer view as property but rather as people under the law. So we’ve made significant progress in protecting children and we’ll continue that… because that is what we are called to. This scripture passage calls us, just like the persistent widow, to persist in prayer and justice work regardless of how just or unjust the system is because it is our faith filled response to God. It is the right thing to do. The widow persisted and justice was restored. But even if the wrongs being inflicted on her had continued, she would have persisted because it was the right thing to do.
Now this is a good time to address one of the toughest parts of this parable. Verses 7 and 8 read, “And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them.” Now, to a child being picked on or suffering from a preventable disease, this verse must make them say, “When? I’m suffering now and where’s the justice?” When we look at the reality around us these verses make us pause and question if Jesus is really telling us the truth.
First of all, let’s be clear, all injustice is an abomination to God because it seeks to break down God’s good creation. But how is God restoring justice? What we need to recognize in this passage is something that is lost in translation from the original Greek text, the difference between chronos and kairos, calendar time and God’s time.
You know that old saying there’s our time and there’s God’s time? Well there really is. See, chronos which is calendar time or clock time is about how long it took for me to get from the start of this sermon to the end of it or my speed from here to the coffee. Kairos is about the “rightness” of the moment. It’s about being in a moment where there’s no doubt or hesitation or unwillingness. And it’s also God’s relationship to us in our moments. God is the “rightness” in the moment.
You see when we look at this parable, we are told that God will “quickly” grant justice. The word we translate as quickly and the words around it are not talking about speed or chronos. The words used are talking about assuredness and lack of hesitation or kairos. God will quickly grant justice because God has not hesitated in proclaiming injustice. God will quickly grant justice because we don’t need to wonder if God wants us to advocate for the poor and oppressed because God has already on their side and has been sitting at the side of the poor and suffering as a comforter for a long time. I don’t know what date and time is when we’ll live in a world without suffering children but I can assure you that we don’t have to convince God that there’s injustice or beg of God to hear because God is already her in the midst of it! God is on the side of the oppressed and suffering EVERY TIME.
God has been working through the parents, advocates, and all those who heed the call of love throughout all time and all creation. God has been comforting the afflicted through the work of our hands, the compassion in our eyes, and love and passion in our voices for a long time. We ask “How long O Lord how long will the children suffer?” and God has answered until the work is done. We ask “How long O Lord how long will the children suffer?” and again God answers until the work is done. But rest assured those who are suffering always have an advocate and a comforter in God. The question to us, is how hard will we work to make sure those suffering experience that advocacy and comfort?
So, what advocacy can we do to make a difference? Advocacy can take on lots of different forms. Whether it’s being the regular neighborhood front porch where all kids know they can come to talk or donating money to an after school program, it’s still saying that children matter. We can be involved in letter writing campaigns or public advocacy about policies that support children. That work is much like the widow and the unjust judge. If we persist, sometimes even unjust politicians relent and do the right thing even for the wrong reasons. There are all kinds of programs to be involved in and all kinds of relationships we have with children in which we can be their comforter and their advocate.
Even if you don’t realize it, this congregation is already doing lots of good things for kids. These children and youth would not be participating in the service were it not for your faithful witness. Portions of the offering go into programs that make a difference in children’s lives. And all of us have made a difference in some child’s life whether we’re 9 or 90. We have been, are, and continue to be God’s hands at work in the world.
You know, I entitled this sermon “For Faith’s Sake” on Monday last week but yesterday I was at the association meeting which is the United Church of Christ’s equivalent to Presbytery meeting. While I was there, I found this bumper sticker, “For God’s sake, do something.” I think that would have been a better title for this sermon. For God’s sake, do something. For God’s good creation’s sake, do something.
Our call is to continue the work of advocacy and comforting, faithfully and persistently. Our call is to seek more ways and new creative methods for doing that work. When you leave here what more can you do? What child will be touched by your time, love, resources, and most importantly by our faithfulness?
Amen
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