Living My Sermon: 2016

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Could have been easy: December 25, 2016

Christmas Day
John 1:1-14

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” These words are familiar to us, painfully familiar to those of us who preach on it every year. As Christians we hear it quoted often enough. We hear it on Christmas Day (for those loyal souls who attend) and then again on the Sunday after Christmas. But the Jews who were hearing John’s words for the first time would have also found it somewhat familiar.

The very beginning of the Hebrew Bible (The Torah) starts with, “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth…” Genesis goes on to describe how God created the world with words. It would appear that the author of John knew what he was doing when he wrote the introduction to his Gospel. He was making a connection for those people who knew the story of the creation of heaven and earth from the Hebrew Bible. John was trying to fit Jesus into that story. Jesus was not just some creation of God who came on the scene a couple thousand years into the story. He was the Word, the Word that created the heavens and the earth.

Julian of Vezalay, a Benedictian monk, once said, “At his command, (God said) ‘Let there be a world,’ the world came into being, and when he decreed, ‘Let there be human beings,’ human beings were created. But the Word of God did not remake his creatures as easily as he made them. He made them by simply giving a command; he remade them by dying. He made them by commanding; he remade them by suffering.” [1]

The story of the creation of the world is dramatic, dramatic in its simplicity. God created the whole universe in 7 days. God did not have to break a sweat. Yet something went wrong along the way, humanity turned away from God. Early on, God created a flood to wash the world clean, to start afresh. Yet being a merciful God, he provided an ark for a couple humans, and of course, the animals. And maybe that was where he went wrong, because the humans he spared managed to sin as soon as they got off the ark. So God sent prophets, prophets to bring the people back to God, to show them the light. That didn’t work either.

Then God tried something crazy, so crazy it just had to work. He came down himself, in the form of the most vulnerable human of all, an infant. Imagine being in paradise, sitting on a mighty throne, then coming down to spend 9 months in a womb, and then 33 years in a world that struggled to accept him. Jesus lived as a poor man amongst suffering people. He lived with the knowledge that he would have to be crucified. Then he died in the most agonizing way possible.

Sometimes you have to wonder why God did not just start over again—wipe the slate clean and start a whole new world. All he had to do was say the word. You might think, well God already tried that with the flood. And then God promised not to do it again. So that option is out. But let’s be real here. This is God we are talking about. God can do whatever he wants. In fact, this time God could do it right, destroy the whole thing and start over again, just like in Genesis 1. It only took him 7 days the first time, wouldn’t that be easier than 33 years? That is what I cannot wrap my head around. Why take something that could have been so easy and make it long and painful? “He made (us) by simply giving a command; he remade (us) by dying. He made (us) by commanding; he remade (us) by suffering.”

Sometimes I’ll start a sermon and write almost the whole thing and then realize that I hate it. Then I have 2 choices. I can scrap it completely, or I can work with what I have and fix it. There are a couple of times when I have taken that first option. Then I have started over and the next one turned out better. However, most of the time I try to work with what I have. Part of it might be because I really hate the idea of starting over when I have already put in a good deal of time. But the main reason is that I think what I have is redeemable. What I have written is worth saving. I think that is what happens when you have something you have created. You can always find some good in it. Humanity is God’s creation, and no matter how far we wander, we are God’s. Because of that, I believe that God always wants to find a way to redeem us, no matter how hard that is for him, no matter what kind of sacrifice he has to make. God could have started all over again and done it all with a couple of words. Instead, he took the one word that was hardest to lose, his very own son, God incarnate. He took that all powerful word and gave It up to redeem his creation.

[1] Sermon 1 on Christmas by Julian Vezalay: SC 192, 45.52.60 http://liturgy.slu.edu/ChristmasC15/theword_journey.html

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Who's child is this? December 18, 2017

Year A, Advent 4

Matthew 1:18-25

One of the things that you have to come to terms with when you have chosen to adopt is that it is unlikely that you will have a child who looks like you. No one will ever say, “He’s got your smile” or “Wow, look at those eyes…I wonder where they came from?” It’s a small thing….especially when you see your child smile and you think, “There could be no smile more beautiful than that smile.” But it’s still something that you need to consider.

When we talk about the story of Joseph (which we don’t do very often) the focus is usually his reaction to the information that his fiancée is pregnant and it’s definitely not his child. We usually refer to Mary and Joseph as engaged. This is not the most accurate translation. Our understanding of engagement today and what it was at this time period are two very different things. Today there are elaborate proposals and photo documentation of the proposal. Engagements are important. It is a commitment, but it is also pretty easy to break. In the time when Jesus and Mary lived, engagements were more than a ring and an extended time to plan the perfect wedding. An engagement (or more accurately a betrothal) was a legal agreement that two families made. After the betrothal, they were legally wed, but not yet living together. To break a betrothal, one had to get a divorce. To have relations with someone other than your betrothed would be adultery. It had the same punishment for the woman…public stoning.

One can only imagine what Joseph felt in hearing that his wife was pregnant. Despite the fact that they did not live together, they were still referred to as husband and wife. He must have felt betrayed by her and even her family who had arranged this. Most likely, their marriage had been planned for years, perhaps their whole lives. Suddenly, his whole life was changed. Certainly, he could find another wife. Yet even if he could, people would still wonder if the child Mary had was actually his and he divorced her so no one would condemn him for having marital relations before they were officially married. He could have survived the embarrassment and shame, but it would have probably followed him and his whole family the rest of their lives. These are all reasonable assumptions for his initial reaction to the news.

What I wonder is what he felt after the angel came and told him, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All we know is that Joseph woke up and followed the angel’s instructions. He took Mary as his wife. Let’s assume for a minute that there was no doubt in Joseph’s mind that this had really happened….an angel had appeared to him and told him that the child who would be born to his wife was actually the child of God. The father of the child was God. Did he wonder: what is this child going to look like? Will he look like God? What does God look like? Will God give this child the physical attributes of Mary but no attributes of me? When this child comes out of Mary’s womb and I cradle him in my arms, who will I see….my son or the son of God?

I like to think that Joseph was asking these mundane and rational questions, because that is what I would be wondering. Now that we know the whole story, they seem like foolish questions. But all he knew was that that this child was from the Holy Spirit. In this time period, the first son was a very important thing in a family. The first born would very likely acquire all that the father had. The first son had a position of importance. Yet was this Joseph’s first son? The questions that were whirling around his head and almost surely the head of Mary must have been unlimited.

Think about it, everyone wonders what their child will become. Will he be an athlete…a musician, a scientist. Those were not the questions Jesus’s parents had. Their son would save the world. I am sure that put all their concerns to rest. After this initial dream with the angel….consider the dreams or nightmares that followed. Perhaps this child would come out of Mary not as a baby…but as a full grown man. No baby could save the world. That is ludicrous. He would have huge eyes that would see all things and a huge head that would know all things. The possibilities are terrifying.

Who knows what he must have envisioned in the dead of night as he lay awake with fear and anxiety? What we know is this: Joseph took Mary as his wife and he claimed Jesus as his son. He might have looked at Jesus and seen Mary’s eyes or Mary’s smile. But I bet what he really saw was what we all see when we see babies. He saw a miracle. He saw a child of God…someone so precious that God had to be involved somehow. At that moment, it did not matter if he had his DNA…he had God’s DNA. He was infused with the Holy Spirt. He was love in the flesh.

People make a big deal of the fact that Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus. For some, it has even become a litmus test for true Christian faith. For my part, I believe that Mary was a virgin. I believe that is important not because it makes her pure or holy, but because it makes it clear to all of us, that this child born was no ordinary child, no matter how ordinary he looked. The virgin birth and Joseph’s acceptance of that story is proof that something special was happening…something beyond our understanding. We can tell the story over and over again, but we can never make it our own. We can never tame this story because it is so amazing, so out of this world.

When Joseph looked into that newborn’s eyes, he saw pieces of himself…not because this child carried his DNA, but because this child knew him more than anyone else. This child could see into the depth of his soul. At this time of year, we have an amazing opportunity. We have the chance to imagine the eyes of Jesus, the eyes that know us and loves us….without condition. We have the chance to see ourselves through those eyes, just like Joseph saw himself in Jesus’ eyes.

Let’s try it. Let’s close our eyes for and take a deep breath. Then for a moment, imagine that you can see the eyes of Jesus and you see yourself reflected in those eyes. What do you see? Do you see beauty? Do you see pain? Whatever you see, don’t allow yourself to judge what you see. This is not a mirror you are looking at…this is you, through Jesus’ eyes. What you see is holy. What you see is your divine image. Take that with you when you leave this place. Remember that you are holy and that you too carry the Holy Spirit. Let that be your Christmas miracle.

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Burning makes us Brighter: December 4, 2016

Year A, Advent 2

Romans 15:4-13

Most of us have heard of Sigmund Freud, a famous Austrian Psychiatrist who lived in the beginning of the 20^th century. He was a Jew and died shortly after WW2 began. There was another Austrian Psychiatrist who was younger, but considered Freud to be a mentor. His name was Viktor Frankle and he was also Jewish. In 1942, he and his whole family were sent to Auschwitz. He spent three years in various concentration camps. He was there until the concentration camps were liberated.

As you can imagine, much of his later work was informed by this experience. In reflecting on his experience in the concentration camps, he tried to determine what the difference was between those who died in the concentration camps and those who survived. He said that it was not about physical strength. He saw many strong men die and many weaker men survive. He said that finding meaning in your own life was critical to survival and that sometimes we need to find meaning in the suffering. He concluded that the difference between those who died and those who survived was hope.

The Apostle Paul lived through a great deal of suffering. He was a strong believer in hope. Our reading for today begins with, “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might find hope.” Paul found hope in the Holy Scriptures. You might think, wait Paul wrote the scriptures. That is true. Paul wrote a good portion of what we consider scripture, the New Testament. However, in Paul’s day, the only scriptures were the Hebrew Scriptures, what we refer to as the Old Testament. He believed that the hope the Old Testament promised was embodied in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfilled the prophesies of the Old Testament.

This did not mean that Jesus brought utopia to earth. He did not bring freedom to the Hebrew people, which is what many expected from the Messiah. In many ways, he left the earth in the same place it was before he was born---but not in the important ways. For people who knew Jesus, who experienced his love, the world was forever transformed. There was also a hope in what was to come, when Jesus came again. Jesus left this world with a promise to return, a promise that something better was coming. Paul believed in this promise. He believed that after death, he would meet God. He believed that we all have that potential, which is why it was so important to him that he share the good news of Jesus Christ.

This did not change the fact that people were suffering under the Roman occupation. They were oppressed and hurting. Even those who knew of Jesus and believed in Jesus were losing hope. They had assumed that Jesus was going to return in their lifetime. But Jesus wasn’t back. The Romans were still oppressing the Jews. Their lives were no better. It is understandable that they were growing weary and losing hope.

Earlier in Paul’s letter to the Romans, he wrote, “For inhope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”[1] One of the things we have to remember is that Paul did not know Jesus while Jesus was still living. Paul heard the voice of Jesus only after Jesus died and ascended to heaven. He did not even see Jesus--he heard his voice.

Therefore Paul knew all too well what it was to believe without seeing. He knew what it was to suffer and hope when there seemed to be absolutely no reason to hope. For Paul, hope was dependent not on the current situation but the ability to believe despite the current situation—to hope when there seemed to be no reason to hope.

In my life, I have found hope in despair, but only when there was a spark, a spark of light in the darkness. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be to find hope when there is only darkness and a promise of more darkness. As Christians, we always have a reason to hope, even when all seems lost. We find that reason in scripture. We find it in this community of faith. We find it in our worship.

However, sometimes we do not have the energy to look for hope. We don’t want to have to find it. We want it to come to us. Occasionally that happens. Sometimes, hope is easy. In times of suffering and despair, it is not. It can feel almost impossible.

After his experience in the concentration camp, Viktor Frankle wrote a lot about humanity’s search for meaning. He specialized in the study of psychology and religion. While he survived the concentration camp, both of his parents and his wife died. There is no way to explain away the murder of 6 million people. We cannot always explain suffering away by saying there is a reason for it all. While I doubt that Frankle claimed a reason for the suffering of so many, he found a way to learn from his own. During his life and career, he was able to help a lot of people because of what we had learned from his own suffering. He wrote, "What is to give light must endure burning."

In Advent, we talk a lot about light. We light a new candle every week and sing about the light of Christ. Even in popular culture, there is light. We hang lights on our bushes and trees. We put up a tree inside the house and cover it with lights. We put electric candles in our windows. We do that because it is festive and pretty. We do it because we don’t want to be the only house on the block without lights. There is also a deeper reason. We do it because the nights are longer and the days are shorter. We need more light in our lives.

While Christmas lights are easy to hang (relatively) and candles are easy to light, discovering the light within ourselves can be much more challenging. In life, we will endure hardship and pain. Often we find the strength to endure those things because we know they will end. Sometimes that hope that the suffering will end is not enough. Sometimes the suffering is so great, the pain lasts so long, we need something else to keep us going. In those times, we tend to look for a reason for the suffering. Perhaps we would be better not to look for a reason why we are suffering, but to search for something that we can learn from that suffering. Because in learning something from our own suffering, we might be able to ease the pain of another. We might be the light of Christ for someone who cannot find it on their own.

While I do not agree with Frankle that what gives light must endure burning, I do believe that our lights have the capacity to burn a little brighter after we have endured the burning. And because they are brighter, they will reach even farther into the hearts that need the light the most.

In the end of our reading, Paul provides a benediction. Benediction is a fancy word for blessing. We end every service with a benediction from the clergy. This was Paul’s blessing to the Romans and one I share for all of you, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

[1] Romans 8:24-25

Sunday, November 27, 2016

The War We Fight: Nov. 27, 2016

Year A, Advent 1
Isaiah 2:1-5

WWI is sometimes described as a chemical war because of the use of chemical weapons. One of the most effective chemical weapons was Mustard Gas. One of the first recorded uses was in Ypres Belgium in 1917. While the effects of the gas were not immediate as it could lead to a long and painful death, it is believed that 10,000 men were killed from the gas in this one battle. Many hoped that this great war would be the last. However, we all know that is not the case. When it became evident that another world war was on the horizon, scientists started to look into possible antidotes for Mustard Gas. Two American doctors studied the medical records of soldiers who had been exposed to Mustard Gas. They learned that these soldiers had very low count of immune blood cells and hypothesized that if this substance could kill immune blood cells, then it could also kill the cells that lead to Cancer. After more research and testing, they developed what would soon be known as chemotherapy--the first successful treatment of cancer. [1]

During the season of Advent and Christmas, we will hear a lot from the prophet Isaiah….every Sunday in fact. The Book of Isaiah is one of the longest books in the Old Testament and one of the books of Old Testament most often quoted in the New Testament. Isaiah preached over the span of three kings at a very critical time in the history of Israel.[2] Israel was divided between the North and the South and these sides were often at war with one another and under attack from foreign lands who were often much more powerful. Isaiah attempted to counsel the kings and lead them in the ways of God. Sometimes they listened, but often they did not. Often these kings would choose to ally themselves with more powerful countries like Assyria. This never turned out well for Israel.

In our reading for today, Isaiah is talking about the future, the time when all things will be made new. This reading is sandwiched in between two sections in which Isaiah lectures Israel on their inability to remain faithful to God and the sinfulness of their people and leaders. This reading is a brief reprieve in a litany of doom and destruction. It is a spark of hope in a wasteland of fear and grief.

One of the unique attributes of the prophet Isaiah and one of the reasons he is mostly likely referenced so often in the New Testament is because he refers to God as the God all of nations, not just the God of the Jews. All nations will receive both the judgment and the forgiveness of God. Isaiah also speaks poetically of his vision of peace between the nations. “He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” This is a particularly beautiful part of our reading for today. We know this quote from Gospel hymns, war protest songs, pop songs, and speeches of world leaders. It is also depicted visually in paintings, statues and sculptures. One of these sculptures is in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York City and depicts a man pounding a curved sword into the ground. The Soviet Union gave it to the United States in 1959, right in the midst of the Cold War.

By Neptuul - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32412758

Not being a farmer or familiar with farming techniques, I had to look up what a plowshare is. Not surprisingly, it is a part of a plow. It is the sharp edge of the plow that breaks up the earth making it fertile for planting, for new growth. It is therefore, not very farfetched to turn a sword into a part of a plow. It is a nice image, taking something intended for destruction and making it into something that would create life… But the idea of no longer needing weapons, of no more wars or fighting among nations--that seems like an impossible ideal, does it not? It seems like dream not worth dreaming, words that are not worth saying.

In 1987, President Reagan addressed the United Nations and said the following, “Cannot swords be turned to plowshares? Can we and all nations not live in peace?” He then went on to hypothesize that perhaps the nations of the world could unite if we had some alien force against us. That always happens in the movies after all. He then said, “And yet, I ask you, is not an alien force already among us? What could be more alien to the universal aspirations of our peoples than war and the threat of war?[3]”

We have become so accustomed to violence and war, we have accepted it as the default and the norm. It is the status quo. Since Cain murdered Abel, violence has been part of the human family. However, just because that is the case, does not mean that is how God intended it. Isaiah’s vision was that one day we would be able to take these instruments of war and turn them into instruments that would create new life. We would not have to learn war anymore. I am not sure that we will ever know a time where there is no violence. Even for Isaiah, it was a dream, an image of what it would be when the Lord came to earth.

Yet even if we are to be practical and assume that wars will not end, that does not mean we cannot do our part to create peace. One of the most destructive weapons of WWI became a drug to combat one of the most destructive diseases of our time…it became an instrument of new life. Wars continue and Cancer continues to claim far too many lives, but that does not mean that this advance, this evolution did not make a difference for many people.

Right now, our nation is at war with itself. It is not a Civil War like the one that burned this town and this church. It is a war that we wage every day with our actions, our words, and our lack of actions. Our brave military is not fighting this war. It is each one of us. We contribute to this war when we allow hate to spread, when we do not speak up for those who cannot defend themselves, when we talk over one another because we are too afraid to take a breath and listen to the other, when we forget that our God is a God of all nations.

Our politicians did not start this war. We cannot merely turn to the leaders of our world or our nation to stop this war. One of the prophet Isaiah’s frustrations was Israel’s tendency to put their faith in human kings, instead of the Kings of Kings, the Lord of All. We continue to make that mistake. Yes, our national leaders and government have a huge effect on our nation and our world and that effect is not to be underestimated. Much like Isaiah, we have to continue to speak out to those leaders when we disagree or agree with what they are doing. At the same time, we must also live in a way that shows that we serve a far greater power than any that exist in the world. Each one of us has the ability to serve that power in such a way that we can help the people who are powerless, the people who cannot help themselves. Swords and spears will continue to be produced, but we can also create opportunities for life in the midst of words and actions that bring nothing but pain.

The hope that Isaiah prophesied was that hope that Jesus brought when he was born, died and was resurrected. We have tasted what life and hope is all about. We taste that in the Eucharist every week. We have seen the light and it is up to each one of us to walk in the light of the Lord…to be the light in the darkness. Will you be that light? Can we be that light together?

[1] http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2014/08/27/mustard-gas-from-the-great-war-to-frontline-chemotherapy/

[2] Most scholars agree that there are multiple authors of the Book of Isaiah. For the purposes of the sermon, I will refer to the author as one person because it would take way too long to explain 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd Isaiah and would not contribute anything to the sermon.

[3] https://reaganlibrary.archives.gov/archives/speeches/1987/092187b.htm Address to the 42d Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, New York September 21, 1987

Monday, November 7, 2016

Love everyone, even the person who voted for the other candidate: November 6, 2016

Year C, All Saints
Luke 6:20-31

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” This is the last sentence in our Gospel reading for today and probably one of the most familiar of the Bible. It is sometimes referred to as the Golden Rule, possibly because it is the most important rule---or maybe because it is a rule that is consistent across most of the world religions. Confucianism says, “Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.” According to Buddhist teaching one must, “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” Hinduism says, "Do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you." [1] While these are all very similar to Jesus’ statement, one thing that differentiates them is that they are negative statements. Don’t hurt other people in ways that you would not want to be hurt. Jesus turns it around. He makes it positive, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Jesus was not the only person to make the Golden Rule positive. He was a Jew and was heavily influenced by the Jewish scriptures. When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, he answered “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind….and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[2] This is essentially another version of the Golden Rule and comes directly from Leviticus and Deuteronomy which are both books of the Hebrew Scriptures. What Jesus was saying when he said, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (while wise and profound) was not exactly ground breaking. It had been said before.

But there was more to it than this one statement. This was essentially a sound bite to a much larger lesson. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” Woh….that is taking the Golden Rule a few steps farther, maybe even too far for our comfort. It is hard enough just to treat others the way we want to be treated. Now Jesus is telling us that he wants us to treat people better than they are treating us??? That seems almost unreasonable.

There are some people who have been able to follow Jesus’ example and treat others better than they were treated and not all of them have been Christians. Gandhi was a devout Hindu and is well known for his devotion to non-violence and passive resistance. He lived out these words---loving his enemies and praying for those who abused him. He respected and admired Jesus. He followed many of the teachings of Jesus. When asked his views about Christianity he reportedly responded, “Oh it would be wonderful.”[3] He was not critical of Christianity as much as he was of Christians ability to follow the teachings of Christ. And who can blame him? Loving people who hate us…that is some hard stuff. Imagine a world where we could do that. Imagine a world where we were willing to try to do that. It would be wonderful.

It is hard to imagine that right now, especially with this election coming up. I know that every election divides people to some extent, but this one seems worse. Perhaps it just seems that way because of social media. It is a lot easier for people to air their grievances. Don’t worry, I am not going to talk about the candidates and I am definitely not telling you who I am voting for. I am sure we have people in this parish on both sides of the aisle. While we cannot all agree on who to vote for, I think we can all agree that the run up to this election has been crazy. Many people have told me that they cannot look at their facebook feed…or anything on the internet for that matter because there is so much vitriol and hatred. Even people who love one another, cannot talk about this election without getting angry. That was the rule at our recent family vacation. No talking about politics! It was the only way to maintain the peace. My concern is that it won’t be any better after the election. One of these candidates has to win. At the end of it all, most of us will all probably still stay in the country despite our threats to leave if our candidate doesn’t win.

Whatever happens, we have to find a way not merely to live with one another, but to love one another…love the people who we cannot understand or agree with. It is easy to see the divisiveness of this election and assume it is about the political candidates. But the reality is that this polarization in our nation and our world has been growing for years. Whatever we may be experiencing now is not the problem itself, it is merely a symptom of a greater problem. I could try to articulate what that problem is, but I am not sure I know. However, whatever the problem may be, the answer is not talking over one another until we grow so loud that we create a cacophony of hate and discord. There has to be a better answer than that.

There are three different words for love in Biblical Greek, the language the Gospel of Luke was written in. One word is for romantic love. One is for love of family. Then there is the word that refers to a love that is rooted in God’s love. That is the word from today’s reading when Jesus tells us to love our enemies. Romantic love, family love, while those are certainly not easy loves, they are more natural, more convenient than godly love. The kind of love that is required to love our enemy, or those who hurt us, or those who voted differently, or those whose opinions are vastly different than our own--- that is a love that requires our will and our effort. Yet even our will and our effort is not enough to produce that kind of love. That kind of love also requires the grace of God. That is what gives us the strength to love our enemies and those who hurt us.

It is easy to say that we should love our enemy. Why? Because generally, we don’t know our enemy. In theory, sure we can love that enemy who we will never meet. I am tempted to say that the hardest people to love are the people who are closest to us. But that is not even right. I think that the hardest people to love are the people who we know just enough about…just enough that we can say with certainty that we don’t like them and we certainly don’t trust them. They might be the person who is posting super obnoxious things on facebook. It might be the co-worker who always disagrees with you, even when you are clearly right. It might be the person who lives next door to you who complains even when you are being super quiet. It is the person who is not worth the trouble of knowing, because let’s face it, you know you are not going to like them.

That is why we are divided. We don’t have to know one another anymore. We can stay in our own little silos and interact with people who we know will agree with us, or at least have the good manners not to admit when they disagree. While that is a convenient way to live, it’s not what God intended. That is why the church, the body of Christ is so very important. It is one of the few places where we do not have to have anything in common with one another, except the love of God. That is all we have to know about one another… at least to start. If that is where we start, then imagine how far we can go. We can go past the church. We can look at every person and say, I know what I have in common with them. God loves them and God wants me to love them too. In the end…that is all that matters. God loves us. God loves them. We should love them too. And you know what…if just the Christians in this world could display that kind of love, that would be a wonderful thing. The world would be transformed. Let’s stop imagining and starting being that vision of the world.

[1] These are just pieces of these major religions. They do not represent everything this religion said regarding how to treat others.

[2] Matthew 22:36-40

[3] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=816 (I have not been able to find the source of this quote. However, it aligns with other things that Gandhi said about Christianity.)

Monday, October 24, 2016

Fight the Good Fight: October 23, 2016

Year C, Pentecost 22
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

We have all heard stories about people’s last words before their death. Sometimes they are profound and meaningful. Occasionally they are words only understood and appreciated by the few who are closest to the individual who has died. Often, there are no words at all. We hope that when we die, we will die feeling as though we have lived a good life, a life that we are proud of instead of having a litany of regrets. No one wants to die with regret. This 2^nd letter to Timothy was essentially Paul’s final words--his last goodbye. They were written to one of his followers (Timothy) when Paul was imprisoned in Rome. He knew that his death was near and he had some things to say.

Last week, we heard the beginning of chapter 4, the final chapter of Paul’s letter to Timothy. This week we heard the middle and a bit of the end. Paul was encouraging, possibly even begging Timothy and other followers of Christ to preach the word of God, even when it was inconvenient and to never give up. In the reading from today Paul was reflecting on his own ministry. It is a deeply personal part of the letter. There are a few verses that are not included in the excerpt of the reading we heard today. In those verses, Paul asked that Timothy visit him as soon as possible. He then mentioned several people who had deserted him and might even harm Timothy in some way. If you look at that and the beginning of the chapter when Paul was encouraging the readers of this letter to persist in the Gospel, it seems that Paul might have been a little anxious about the future of Christianity.

When he wrote this letter, Paul was about to die. It would almost surely be a gruesome death because the Romans liked to make examples of people like Paul. Paul knew all this. While he had evangelized far and wide and introduced many people to Jesus, there was only one person who was still with him, providing for his needs while he was in prison. The prison system then was not like ours today. It was not a system. There was no meal plan. The prisoners were cared for by their friends and family. If they had no friends and family, they probably starved to death or froze. That was why Paul asked Timothy bring his cloak and bring it before winter. That was the only way he would survive the winter. Times were indeed desperate. He had been abandoned by those closest to him. Obviously he had faith in the resurrection. He knew that his death would bring him a new life. But he was also human. He must have been scared and discouraged. He might have even wondered if he really accomplished anything at all.

When you look at a map of all the territory that Paul covered, all of the people who he reached without modern transportation, social media, or even the postal service, it is amazing. He travelled over 10,000 miles by foot and far more by sea.[1] But he didn’t have the full picture that we have. He didn’t have the map. He was just looking at 4 walls. He was bound to be a little discouraged by yet another imprisonment. Yet Paul was never one to be discouraged easily. As he looked back at his life and forward to his death and new life, he had no regrets. Paul was a fighter to the very end. He wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” While at times Paul seemed to take credit for his accomplishments, even seem a little arrogant, in the end he always gave credit to God.

After mentioning the people who had deserted him, he reminded Timothy that the Lord had stood with him through it all and it was the Lord who had given him the strength to persevere. It was the Lord who gave him the will to fight, the power to persist in his mission and the faith that made it all possible. Not only that, but his trial which led to his death, had given him an opportunity to testify to his faith in front of the leaders of the Roman Empire. He was able to evangelize one last time before his death. For him, it was a gift.

Since I do not have the tenacity or courage of Paul, I keep coming back to the frustrating part of this whole story. While the Lord stood by him and Paul was able to make his case to the most powerful leaders of the Roman Empire, he was still put to death. Those leaders did not convert. Rome continued to persecute Christians for hundreds of years. I am sure there were people who abandoned the cause after Paul died. They perceived his ministry as a failure. But we know….we know that was not the end of the story. No, he did not convert the Roman Emperor. His followers did not stream in and demand his release. There was no overwhelming display of support. But his letters circulated and people were so inspired by his life and his words that more people wrote about him. We do not know what happened to the people who abandoned him during his life, but I bet some of them returned to the faith and spread his message, the message of Jesus Christ. Otherwise, we would not be reading his words today. I certainly would not be preaching on them.

There are times when I look at the statistics on church decline and I worry for the future of the church. The Episcopal Church alone has lost a quarter of its membership in the last 10 years and other Christian denominations are facing similar decline. There are moments…days even when I can be extremely discouraged by this. At times, it seems almost hopeless. But then I think of what the early church had to overcome. I think of Paul staring at the four walls of his cell, alone and probably a little scared about what kind of death awaited him. Yet even as he faced what to me would seem like insurmountable odds, he never gave up. When he realized that he would face trial, he saw it as an opportunity for evangelism. When his friends left him, he found comfort in the one who stood with him--God. When there was nothing left to say, he gave glory to God. He ended his letter by asking Timothy once again to visit soon but also to send greetings to several people. He encouraged people to the very end.

We cannot always see the fruit of our own labor. Sometimes, what we perceive as our own failure can inspire others to take a risk. Sometimes the trial we are going through is also an opportunity for evangelism, for talking about our faith. When we talk about our faith, we don’t have to sound like Paul, we might just be admitting that we are struggling, but we are definitely not giving up. Life is full of frustration and discouragement. It can be overwhelming at times. God never gives up on us. As long as we don’t give up on God, then failures are never really failures. They are just opportunities for more attempts. God willing, at the end of it all, we can say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/20767427

Monday, September 12, 2016

September 11: Finding Joy

Year C, Pentecost 17
Luke 15:1-10 & Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28

Most of us here probably remember where we were when the planes hit the towers on September 11^th, 2001. It was before smart phones and massive use of social media, but the news spread quickly. I was packing to go to seminary and my brother called us and told us to turn on the news. It was the most surreal thing I have ever seen. It seemed like we were watching a movie. When the 2^nd plane hit, it felt apocalyptic. There was a sense of losing control, like you could not possibly imagine what could come next. I thought of those moments when I read Jeremiah. “I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light…I looked and all the cities were laid in ruins.” Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet because he tends to be a little depressing…a lot depressing. One commentary described this text as total despair. Obviously this text was not chosen because this Sunday fell on the 15^th anniversary of September 11^th, but it seemed appropriate to have a text about total despair on this day.

Within hours of the destruction of the towers, the news started covering stories of heroes, people who risked their lives to save others. Between the destruction of the towers and the attack on the pentagon, there were countless stories of heroism. Often it was the first responders, the firefighters, police officers and the military, but sometimes it was just ordinary people. The news could have just reported the people who had died, the suspects who had committed this heinous crime or the bombs that were being dropped in retaliation. They did report that, but they also reported stories of courage and sacrifice—which gave us a little hope for humanity, hope for a God who had not abandoned us.

It seems as though each year after 9-11, we hear new stories of heroism. I read several over the last few days. The ones that were the most compelling to me were the people who kept going back into the towers to look for more people who needed saving. There was one story about a chef who worked on the 96^th floor of the South Tower. He was credited with saving hundreds of lives by bringing people to safety. He too would have made it to out but he stopped to help someone in a wheelchair. They never found his body. He left five children. While I was deeply moved by his bravery and selflessness, I could not help but think about those five children. If only he had not stopped to help that one person. He still would have saved hundreds. He would have still been a hero. His mother said that he had been a Marine and Marines are taught never to leave anyone behind.[1]

Our Gospel story is much more uplifting than Jeremiah. It is more suitable for Kick off Sunday and dixie land music. We hear about the Scribes and Pharisees who were mad because Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors. These people weren’t sinners in the way that we are all sinners. They were sinners who were known by the whole community as sinners. We might call them notorious sinners. What upset the Pharisees was not that Jesus was merely talking to these sinners, but that he was sharing a meal with them. According to Jewish law, observant Jews were not supposed to eat with notorious sinners. Jesus was not just an observant Jew, he was recognized as a leader in the Jewish community. This act was scandalous.

In response to the grumbling of the Pharisees, Jesus told three parables. We heard the first two a couple of minutes ago. The first was about a shepherd who left 99 sheep to find the one who got away. The second was about a woman who lost one coin and while she still had 9, she looked fervently for this one lost coin until she found it. When both the shepherd and the woman found the sheep and the coin, they called all their friends and had a party. They were so happy they had found the one thing that they had lost.

Being pragmatic, I always wonder about the shepherd who left 99 sheep to find the one who went missing. Sheep are not bright animals. My concern is that by the time he got back with that one little sheep, a bunch more would be missing….and that is assuming that he even found that one missing sheep. Yet these stories are not about pragmatic people. They are about people who care deeply about the one thing that is lost. Jesus wanted everyone to understand that this was exactly the way God was…the way he was. He cared so much about every person, every child of God--that he would risk everything to find that one lost sheep—that one lost person. These stories are not about the one missing sheep or the one missing coin. These stories are about a God who would was reckless in his pursuit of his lost children. Sometimes (often) the people who were most lost, most in need of finding, were the very sinners he was eating with.

Days and weeks after the towers fell, rescue crews were still going through the rubble. It was a horrible task because almost everything and everyone they found was destroyed. Anyone could have gone to Ground Zero and used Jeremiah’s words, “I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light…” But these people who were still looking days after the attack maintained slivers of hope, even if it was finding a dead body that would provide closure for a loved one. On September 13^th, a weary excavator found something that gave him a shard of hope. He called for a priest who was on site working with the first responders and blessing the remains of those who had died. He said to the priest, “Father, you want to see God’s House? Look over there.” A reporter described the scene this way, “Against seemingly insurmountable odds, a 17-foot-long crossbeam, weighing at least two tons, was thrust at a vertical angle in the hellish wasteland. Like a cross.”[2]

In the end of our very depressing reading from Jeremiah, God says, “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.” A lot of people have debated what that line means. I think it means that in a hellish wasteland like Ground Zero someone can find a cross and describe it as God’s house. It is God saying, I am not giving up on you and you cannot give up on me. For a year that priest held a service at that cross every Sunday, where sometimes hundreds would gather at God’s house.

Sometimes, the things and the people who are hardest to find, become the most precious to us. God is that chef who kept going back into a collapsing building and died trying to save one more life. God is the shepherd who recklessly searched for one lost sheep because he knew that sheep needed to be found. God is the excavator who found a crossbeam in the midst of death and chaos and declared it to be God’s house. God never gives up on any one of us even after we have given up on him. Not only that, but God rejoices when just one of us finally hears his call and comes out of our hiding place.

It is the 15^th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in the history of our nation. It is not something to rejoice. But we rejoice in the people who sacrificed their time, their health and sometimes their lives to help others, to provide hope in a place that appeared to be a wasteland. We rejoice in the people who were found. Today is our kick off Sunday. We are kicking off our Christian Formation. It is a day when our children, youth and adults come back together to learn about Jesus on Sunday mornings. We welcome people back who have been a way for a week, a month, a year, maybe longer. We welcome people who we have never seen. We rejoice in each one of you because whether you know it or not, you are here for a reason. God has found you and no matter how far you wander, God will never stop looking.

[1] http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/11/the-story-of-an-unsung-9-11-hero.html

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/911-memorials-the-story-of-the-cross-at-ground-zero/2011/09/07/gIQA2mMXDK_story.html

Picture from http://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/crossinrubble.jpg