Sacred texts:

Luke 2:41-50

⁴¹ Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. ⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. ⁴³ After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

⁴⁹ “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Parent’s house?” ⁵⁰ But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

Matthew 12:46-50

⁴⁶ While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. ⁴⁷ Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

⁴⁸ He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of my Parent in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

John 19:25-30

²⁵ Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” ²⁷ and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

²⁸ Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

End of sacred texts.

The readings for today come from the gospels and they provide us with insight into how Jesus understood family.  I am quite confident these readings are more easily understood by persons who have been pushed away by their biological families.  The dominant culture portrays an idyllic image of biological families as places where we are loved and protected.  Today we celebrate Father’s Day with all the sentiment of all we owe our fathers.  Unfortunately, these messages are often gender normative suggesting our fathers are the ones who provided for us by earning the household income, or our father’s taught us to be strong, or taught us how to be a man.  The reality for many is that their father did none of these things, and they may still have been a very important part of the child’s life.  Dads don’t have to earn money, or have to be macho, or even have a strong understanding of what it means to be a man in this culture to be good fathers.  There is also the reality that some men who participate in the conception of a child never do anything to father that child.  Some men are nothing more than a sperm donor and some women are all the father a child could ever need.  It is interesting that in the patriarchal culture of the Christian Testament era, there is no other reference to Joseph after the Holy Family returns from Egypt than the one for today when Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem and even that is pretty much a passing reference.  Mary does all the talking for the parental unit.  No one felt it important to record stories of Joseph teaching Jesus the carpenter trade or teaching him how to be a man, no record of Jesus’ bar mitzvah, not even a mention of Joseph’s death.  Clearly Joseph was not perceived as a major influence in the life of Jesus and Jesus did not live in a traditional family.  Those who grew up in homes that do not fit the image culture holds up as the traditional two opposite gender parents lovingly providing for, caring for, and loving their children can much easier relate to Jesus who redefines family relationships.

The story of Jesus redefining who are his mother, brothers, and sisters is seen by some as a harsh rebuke of Mary and siblings but it can also be seen as an expansion of his family rather than a rejection of his biological family.  Clearly Jesus still had great love for his mother as demonstrated in his final breath he arranged for her to be taken care of the rest of her life by the disciple he loved.  Jesus did not say he was rejecting Mary as his mother or denying his brothers and sisters, he said anyone who did the will of God was brother, sister, and mother to him.  Mary and her children could be his mother and siblings as long as they were working in support of what God had for Jesus to do.  It is possible Mary had come to Jesus with his siblings to plead with him to stop making powerful people mad at him.  They may have been concerned for his safety, maybe they were having a rough time because they were related to Jesus.  Perhaps Jesus was saying I will recognize them as my family unless they want me to deny who I am and what I have been called to do.  This understanding of this story would certainly resonate with those who have been forced to choose between being true to who they are and how they have been called to live and remaining in their biological families.  

Too often, even today, children are seen as property to be controlled by their parents.  Rather than experiencing unconditional love in the family unit, the children are taught early their parents’ love for them is very much conditioned on the child’s performance and obedience to parental rules and expectations.  Is it any wonder that many of the marginalized that come to our churches react so negatively to the image of God as father, or as parent at all?  A great deal of work must be done if we are to salvage that image for those who have been brutalized, humiliated, and rejected by their parental figures.  We as spiritual leaders and members of faith communities must redefine what father, mother, parent means as Jesus did when we offer those titles as descriptors of God and when we define our communities as families.  One of the greatest push backs I receive as an intentional interim specialist in churches is when I suggest we stop calling our congregation and family and call ourselves a community instead.  The concept of family is so often exclusive of those who are different, intolerant of disagreement, difficult to join.  Communities are more often diverse, full of different ideas, and allow relative ease of moving in and moving out.  If we are going to be God’s family, then it must be on Jesus’ terms, the only deciding factor is whether a person seeks to know and do God’s will.  Differences in appearance, ideology, even theology must be tolerated in our church families.

We speak of our family of choice and there is legitimacy in having that circle of people you know you can trust, the people who will always love and accept you without condition.  Some of us are blessed to include our biological relatives in our family of choice.  In our faith however, the family is not our family of choice, it is God’s family of choice and we are so blessed when we realize God has chosen us.  The world is blessed when we realize God has chosen everyone!  Amen.

Ruth 1:1-19a

In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. ² The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.  ³ Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. ⁴ They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, ⁵ both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.  ⁶ When Naomi heard in Moab that God had come to the aid of the people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. ⁷ With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.  ⁸ Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May God show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. ⁹ May God grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”  Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud ¹⁰ and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”  ¹¹ But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? ¹² Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— ¹³ would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because God’s hand has turned against me!”  ¹⁴ At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.  ¹⁵ “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”

¹⁶ But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. ¹⁷ Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” ¹⁸ When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.  ¹⁹ So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem.

2 Samuel 1:17-27

¹⁷ David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan, ¹⁸ and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):

¹⁹ “A gazelle lies slain on your heights, Israel.
    How the mighty have fallen!

²⁰ “Tell it not in Gath,
    proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad,
    lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.

²¹ “Mountains of Gilboa,
    may you have neither dew nor rain,
    may no showers fall on your terraced fields.
For there the shield of the mighty was despised,
    the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil.

²² “From the blood of the slain,
    from the flesh of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
    the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied.
²³ Saul and Jonathan—
    in life they were loved and admired,
    and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter than eagles,
    they were stronger than lions.

²⁴ “Daughters of Israel,
    weep for Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and finery,
    who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.

²⁵ “How the mighty have fallen in battle!
    Jonathan lies slain on your heights.
²⁶ I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother;
    you were very dear to me.
Your love for me was wonderful,
    more wonderful than that of women.

²⁷ “How the mighty have fallen!
    The weapons of war have perished!”

End of sacred texts.

Everything you desire is the other side of fear.  I could not find the author or source for this statement.  It is on several motivational posters and motivational sites, I first saw it on Facebook.  It is for me a profound insight.  We are indeed kept from what we desire by our fear.  We don’t approach another person for a possible friendship or relationship because we are afraid of rejection or appearing foolish.  We don’t pursue and education or a employment opportunity for fear of failure or fear of being told we are not qualified.  We even let fear keep us from doing what we might enjoy.  We are afraid we will get hurt, or we will fail, or it will cost us too much in money, time or other resources.  The truth that fear is a powerful motivator is not lost on those who wish to control us, particularly those who wish to control us when they have no legitimate reasons for control.  I remember when I was growing up in a company town some citizens expressed ideas contrary to the position of the company and so the company released statements that it as considering a relocation of the plant which would have devastated the local economy.  They were not arguing the facts of the issue, they were arguing out of fear.  The locals capitulated on the issue rather than risk losing the economic base.  I have sensed that our recent elections have also been more about fear than a reasoned debate about the issues.  Each candidate or political action group trying to convince us the consequences will be dire if their opponent or the issue they oppose is elected or approved.  The ultimate effect is that we live in fear no matter who is elected or what proposal is passed or defeated.  We have an underlying culture of fear.

The natural outcome of fear is distrust.  We don’t trust government, we don’t trust organizations, we don’t trust corporations, we don’t trust each other, and we don’t trust religion.  This culture of fear results in withdrawal, we move toward greater isolation to isolate ourselves from those who are different or just not us.  The increase of cybernetworking and other electronic means of connecting with each other is a symptom of our increasing isolation.  I have heard people say in crisis they prefer to be alone and connect with others by their cell phones or computers than to be with others.  I think this is so very sad.  Fear has created
this need for isolation that comes from desire for security.  Fear divides us.  Fear is what feeds the irrational rejection of the value of treating those who are different from us as being equal to us.  There is no rational reason to believe that the marriage of two same gender persons will adversely affect the marriage of opposite gender persons.  There is no rational reason to believe allowing adult mentors of youth to be open about their gender affection will increase the likelihood a child will be molested.  It is the secrecy and the shame that allows predators to function in youth organizations whether they are preying on same gender youth or opposite gender youth.  There is no rational reason to believe that an elected leader who is a person of color is going to fail to represent all persons or give preferential treatment to persons of color, at least no reason to believe this will happen any more than it as with Caucasian elected leaders.  There is no rational reason to believe a female in a position of authority is going to be any less rational in her decision making or any more emotional than her male counterpart.  There is no rational reason to believe that a person of a different faith is going to me anymore violent, or exploitive than a person that professes to be Christian.  There are violent and exploitive persons who claim to be Christian with the same frequency as there are in other faith traditions.  And yet we are encouraged to believe these irrational claims and too many of us do.  We are taught to fear these differences so as to divide us, to distract us to the real threats to our security and our happiness.  The threats that are posed by the destruction of our climate, the threat of our food and water becoming toxic, the threat of our economic survival being concentrated in the hands of a very few, and the threat of violence unrestrained by any sense of connection with the other.

The opposite of fear is not courage or confidence, the opposite of fear is love.  Because love casts out all fear.  When we love and know we are loved, we don’t believe the fear mongers and we don’t embrace the isolation.  Consider the story of Naomi and Ruth.  Naomi is afraid.  She is a widow without sons and a woman without a male in her time is very vulnerable.  Naomi’s fear drives her back to her homeland where she intends to cast herself on the mercy of her kindred.  Her fear causes her to drive her daughters in law from her.  She cannot protect them, they will be not only woman without a husband protector, they will be foreign woman of a different faith and she pleads with them to go back to their homes where they will be safe.  Ruth responds out of love.  Ruth’s love for Naomi is so profound it is a common reading at weddings, it is written on tokens and exchanged between lovers.  Her love drives out not only her own fear but Naomi’s fear.  David and Jonathan are separated by fear, Saul fears David and fears his dynasty will be destroyed by David.  Saul’s fear drives him to seek the destruction of David and causes a war between the followers of Saul and the followers of David.  In the war, Saul and Jonathan are killed.  David’s love for Saul, and even more for Jonathan prevents him from celebrating the death of Saul and Jonathan.  He laments the loss of what could have been had fear not driven them to hostility.  It is love that brings us together to achieve what we desire.

We are not called to be a people of fear.  We are told that we will be known as followers of Christ by our love, not by our fear.  Jesus did not bring us a message of fear, not fear of each other, not fear of those who have control over us, not even fear of God.  Jesus taught us to approach God as a loving parent not a wrathful and vengeful judge.  The most common greeting messengers of God bring us is to “Fear not.”  When we trust in the love God has for us just as we are, in all of our diversity, we are then able to love others in all of their diversity, to see in their differences our strength and not a threat.  The only hope we have to come together and realize our dream, our desire to live in peace together is give up the fear that divides us and embrace the hope that unites us.  Amen. 

Esther 1:1-19

This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush: ² At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, ³ and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the provinces were present.

⁴ For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. ⁵ When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa. ⁶ The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones. ⁷ Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king’s liberality. ⁸ By the king’s command each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, for the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man what he wished.

⁹ Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.

¹⁰ On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Karkas— ¹¹ to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. ¹² But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.

¹³ Since it was customary for the king to consult experts in matters of law and justice, he spoke with the wise men who understood the times ¹⁴ and were closest to the king—Karshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memukan, the seven nobles of Persia and Media who had special access to the king and were highest in the kingdom.

¹⁵ “According to law, what must be done to Queen Vashti?” he asked. “She has not obeyed the command of King Xerxes that the eunuchs have taken to her.”

¹⁶ Then Memukan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes. ¹⁷ For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ ¹⁸ This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.

¹⁹ “Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she.

Acts 8:26-40

^26-28 Later God’s angel spoke to Philip: “At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” He got up and went. He met an Ethiopian eunuch coming down the road. The eunuch had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was returning to Ethiopia, where he was minister in charge of all the finances of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was riding in a chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah.

^29-30 The Spirit told Philip, “Climb into the chariot.” Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

^31-33 He answered, “How can I without some help?” and invited Philip into the chariot with him. The passage he was reading was this:

As a sheep led to slaughter,
    and quiet as a lamb being sheared,
He was silent, saying nothing.
    He was mocked and put down, never got a fair trial.
But who now can count his kin
    since he’s been taken from the earth?

^34-35 The eunuch said, “Tell me, who is the prophet talking about: himself or some other?” Philip grabbed his chance. Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him.

^36-39 As they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch said, “Here’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water, and Philip baptized him on the spot. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. But he didn’t mind. He had what he’d come for and went on down the road as happy as he could be.

⁴⁰ Philip showed up in Azotus and continued north, preaching the Message in all the villages along that route until he arrived at Caesarea.

Mark 11:15-19

^15-17 They arrived at Jerusalem. Immediately on entering the Temple Jesus started throwing out everyone who had set up shop there, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of the bankers and the stalls of the pigeon merchants. He didn’t let anyone even carry a basket through the Temple. And then he taught them, quoting this text:

My house was designated a house of prayer for the nations;
You’ve turned it into a hangout for thieves.

¹⁸ The high priests and religion scholars heard what was going on and plotted how they might get rid of him. They panicked, for the entire crowd was carried away by his teaching.

¹⁹ At evening, Jesus and his disciples left the city.

 

The month of June is Pride Month and some choose to celebrate it, some choose to minimize its value, and some believe it to be an abomination leading to God authored calamities.  Those who reject a month of pride often cite Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.”  So, are we wrong to be proud of who we are, to celebrate the wide diversity of gender affection and gender expression found in humankind?  And what does the story of Vashti have to do with this?

Most of us have read the story believing Vashti was haughty and this is what led to her fall.  She would have had to be not only haughty but foolish too.  As queen she had no power beyond what King Xerxes granted her.  It is possible we have missed the point of the Vashti story because it has been so sanitized so as to make it acceptable to Victorian sensibilities.  A cultural historian has suggested and the text supports the possibility that King Xerxes’ request was not as innocent as we have been led to believe.  Consider that the king has been hosting a drunken party for a week and he decides to invite Queen Vashti to come to the party.  He specifies she is to wear her royal crown so that all might be able to see her beauty.  The suggestion is that the king wanted her to wear only her royal crown and parade naked in front of his drunken guests.  If this is the situation, then it is much easier for us to understand why the queen would risk all she had, even her life to defy the king.  She responded not out of haughtiness but out of a deep sense of her personal value and unwillingness to be debased for the king’s pleasure.  You might even say she responded out of her pride.  This way of telling the story is further supported by the way King Xerxes responded when his head cleared enough to realize what he had done and how Vashti had responded.  We are told that those who annoyed the king were regularly executed so it would have been expected that Vashti would be killed.  Instead he councils with his think tank to come up with another solution.  It is even possible that he wanted to overlook the whole matter but his think tank was concerned about the empowerment such an action might give the marginalized women of the kingdom.  Read this way the story has much to say about those who are marginalized and the importance of pride in confronting their marginalization.

June became Pride month to remember a group of cross dressing men who stood up and said they weren’t going to be treated as powerless victims any more.  One of the saddest things for me in contemporary pride celebrations is the people who wish the drag queens, the dykes on bikes, and the disco boys would tone it down.  If it weren’t for the radical misfits that couldn’t blend into society, we would have no pride celebrations and many of us would still be hiding in our closets hoping no one would guess that we are different.  We are tempted to believe our safety is in staying under the radar when the truth is we are never safe until we are safe being just as God created us.  The clearest message I find in the sacred texts is the message of God’s love for us just as we are.  God created the diversity and God loves our diversity.  In the time of Jesus, eunuchs were thought to be unclean and outside of God’s love.  Certainly Philip would have been taught to avoid contact with a eunuch as contact would make him ceremonially unclean and yet the Spirit tells him to go where the Ethiopian eunuch was traveling and get right in the chariot with him.  Philip knew the eunuch was worthy of hearing about Jesus and he baptized the eunuch right on the spot.  We claim this story because it speaks so clearly to God’s love and acceptance of those marginalized by their sexuality and their sexual expression.  Philip did not pray for a healing of the eunuch or insist he attend eunuch conversion classes before he could be baptized into the community of Jesus.  Clearly there is much in these stories to commend our taking pride in the way we are, how God has created us, and not letting anyone treat us as though we are unworthy of being treated as God’s beloved children.

Does this mean the Proverbist got it wrong, there is nothing wrong with pride?  I think the problem is the word pride can mean very different things.  When the word is paired with haughtiness, it carries the connotation of superiority.  Being proud of the way we are and how God has made each one of us does not mean we consider ourselves superior to others.  Imagine the story of the eunuch and Philip had the eunuch considered his position in the court of Candace made him superior to Philip so that he would not invite him into his chariot?  He would have missed the opportunity of hearing the Gospel message and receiving his baptism.  The story of Jesus clearing the temple is also a story of the pride of superiority.  We often hear the story as a condemnation of buying and selling in churches.  Jesus’ anger wasn’t about the marketing that was going on, his anger was about the dishonesty, the cheating, and the superiority of those who took over the temple for their purposes.  To understand Jesus’ rage, you need to understand about the temple.  The temple was designed with several distinct areas.  The outer court was open to all, including Gentiles.  The other areas were restricted to Jews.  Jewish women could enter only one of the inner areas of the temple.  Men could enter all areas of the temple but some areas were restricted to only priests who were only men.  The Holy of Holies was entered only once a year and only by the high priest.  What had happened was that these Jewish merchants had taken over the outer court making it difficult for the gentiles to have access to the worship of God.  Jesus was angered that they were acting out of their sense of superiority and ownership of God’s temple.  This is why he quoted this scripture, “My house was designated a house of prayer for the nations; you’ve turned it into a hangout for thieves.”  They had driven out the aliens from God’s temple because of their sense of privilege. 

We do not need to worry about our fund raising activities in the church, we need to worry about the ways we push the aliens out of worship.  The sin of pride is when we feel some people are not worthy to worship with us.  Perhaps it is the person who comes to worship but doesn’t dress the way we dress, perhaps they come in poor clothing or perhaps they come in finery that we think is off putting.  Perhaps it is the person who comes to worship but doesn’t worship the same way we do, perhaps they are too loud or perhaps they are too quiet.  Perhaps it is the person who comes to worship and sits where you have always sat in worship.  Perhaps it is the person who comes to worship with new ideas about how we could be church together.  Perhaps it is someone who comes to church and does something that you consider to be your job.  Perhaps it is someone who comes to church and you feel they are exuding too much male privilege or perhaps someone who is a bit too aggressive woman.  Perhaps it is the person who attends and we aren’t clear on what gender they are expressing and they don’t feel the need to clarify for us.  Perhaps it is the person who comes but expresses political ideas that are too conservative or too liberal for our taste.  Perhaps it is the person who attends with clear emotional or intellectual deficits that make us uncomfortable.  It is not for us to determine the worthiness of anyone to come into God’s Holy temple to worship.  It is up to us to make a space for them because our pride gives us the confidence to serve others with the humility with which Jesus came to serve them and the acceptance that God had for us even when others considered us to be unworthy.  Amen.

Text Source:

Proverbs 8:1-4 and 22-31

Does not wisdom call out?  Does not understanding raise her voice?  ² At the highest point along theway, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; ³ beside thegate leading into the city, at the entrance, she cries aloud:  ⁴ “To you, O people, I call out;I raise my voice to all humankind.

“God brought me forth as the first work,before God’s deeds of old; ²³ I was formed long ages ago, atthe very beginning, when the world came to be. ²⁴ When there were no watery depths, I was given birth,when there were no springs overflowing with water; ²⁵ before themountains were settled in place,
before the hills, I was given birth, ²⁶ beforeGod made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth.  ²⁷ I was there when God set theheavens in place, or when the horizon was marked on the face of thedeep,  ²⁸   orwhen the clouds were established above and the fountains of the deepfixed securely. ²⁹ when the sea received its boundary so thewaters would not overstep God’s command, and when the foundations of the earthwere marked out.  ³⁰ Then Iwas constantly at the side of God. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in God’spresence, ³¹ rejoicing in the whole world and delighting in humankind.

Romans 5:1-5

5 Therefore,since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our SovereignJesus Christ, ² throughwhom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. Andwe boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; andcharacter, hope. ⁵ Andhope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into ourhearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

John 16:12-15

¹² “I have much more to say toyou, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when the One I told you about, the Spirit of truth,comes, you will be guided into all the truth. The Spirit will not speak independently;the Spirit will speak only what has been told, and will tell you what is yet tocome. ¹⁴ theSpirit will glorify me because it is from me comes what will be made known toyou. ¹⁵ All thatbelongs to the Creator is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive fromme what will be made known to you.”

Message:

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday in the lectionary and inchurch tradition.  It is also the Sundaybefore Memorial Day.  Both topics presentchallenges for me.  I do not identify asa Trinitarian and I struggle with how we recognize and celebrate the sacrificesof those who have served in the military, particularly those who gave theirlives in that service, while still holding to account those who have sent ourmilitary into harm’s way.

My denomination affirms its belief in the Trinity and so Iprofess to believe but my belief is that God is manifest in the Creator, theRedeemer, the Sustainer, and in many more manifestations.  I believe God was manifest in the life andteachings of Buddha,  Confucius, Mohammed,and many more spiritual guides.  Thedoctrine of the Trinity is a creation of the church to explain theunexplainable nature of God.  These earlytheologians sought to explain how there could be God the parent to whom Jesusprayed and God the Holy Spirit that Jesus said would come to guide thedisciples after Jesus ascended.  I do notbelieve God ever intended for humankind to perceive God in these distinctpersonas.  God was quite clear in thedeclaration that the Sovereign, your God is One.  My thinking and theology is likely as flawedas that of the ancient theologians who crafted the Doctrine of the Trinity butit works for me and I am keeping it and sharing it with you for yourconsideration. 

God is One.  Our humanlimitations make it impossible for us to comprehend that which is God and soGod is revealed to us in ways we can comprehend.  In the beginning, humankind had a veryintimate relationship with God and then humankind became aware of good and eviland began to judge each other and themselves. This desire to do God’s work of judging distanced them from God and itall became more difficult, more complicated, life became work.  I have no quarrel with the creation story butI also believe this is informative for each one of us in our walk withGod.  As infants we fully trust withoutreason.  We expect someone to be therewhen we are hungry, uncomfortable, or injured. As we “mature”, we become more critical of the behavior of others andeventually we become critical of ourselves. This sense of things not being as they should be and our not being as weshould be creates a distance from God because we begin to question God and welose trust in God.  God became for thepeople and for us something to be served, feared, and manipulated to our owndesires.  Throughout history God hasrevealed God’s self to humankind as being a source of wisdom.  God wanted the people to give up the judgingand the fear and live in harmony with all of creation and with God but we justcouldn’t get it.  God then created Jesus,so that Jesus might live God’s Word for us, as an example of how to live infull trust of God.  Jesus did not come tobe God, Jesus came as a bridge to our understanding of God.  Jesus lived the example we are tofollow.  Jesus knew people would losetrack of the teachings and so he told us we didn’t need to be able to seeJesus, we needed to open ourselves up to hear God speaking to us just as Jesusheard God.  The Spirit was alwayspresent, the Spirit has always revealed God to creation.  The Spirit was not a third God, the Spirit isanother way we connect to God.  I supposeI could be Trinitarian in that I believe these to be the primary ways God isrevealed to us, that it is the Spirit that spoke to the spiritual leaders ofevery age.  It is the openness of someparticular persons to living out God’s way that have shown us that it ispossible to live out what God tells us. The important fact for me is that God is one, and our desire to divideGod is the source of so much of the conflict in the world that God abhors.

Speaking of conflict God abhors brings us right to theMemorial Day and how to balance service and rejection of war as theanswer.  I recognize it is not possibleto survive as a nation without the ability to defend ourselves and thisrequires a military and weapons of war. I do believe this is not God’s will for the world.  God wants us to create a world where we cantransform our weapons of war into implements to feed and nurture theworld.  I believe there is no greaterlove than to be willing to lay down our life for others.  Love enough to die to protect those we knowand care deeply about, but een greater to offer your life to defend totalstrangers, people who do not know you and people you might find difficult totreasure.  Those who serve in the armedforces must always be honored and thanked for their service.  One of the best ways I believe we honor andthank them is to hold those who have the authority to deploy them to do so onlywhen there is no other way to prevent greater evil happening to those whocannot defend themselves.  We seem tohave come to the place where using military force is seen as diplomatictool.   We send in the military when wefail to convince other governments to see things our way.  There does not need to be clear threat to ourcitizens or citizens of other nations for us to conduct a military intervention.  Political leaders have used our military todemonstrate the power of the United States to control the world.  Other countries have also brought out theirmilitary might to prove they don’t have to do things our way.  I would try to convince you that this is aresult of the human need to judge and control the behavior of others.  We use our military might and our sense ofmoral authority to force others to behave in ways we think right.  We fail to listen for what God has to say, toseek to live as Jesus and every other spiritual leader has told us is God’s wayof peaceful coexistence.  There are thosewho insist Islam is not a peaceful religion but the truth is Islam teachespeace as much as Christianity and Judaism do. And Christianity and Judaism also have histories of violence perpetratedin the name of God and this is what God abhors. 

It is my hope and prayer this Trinity and Memorial DaySunday that we understand that God is one and respect the path others take tounderstand and live out God and that this understanding of God will lead us topeaceful coexistence where we will only use force and sacrifice lives in thedefense of the defenseless when all other solutions fail.  Amen.  

Acts 9:36-43

The Message (MSG)

^36-37 Down the road a wayin Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, “Gazelle” in our language. She waswell-known for doing good and helping out. During the time Peter was in thearea she became sick and died. Her friends prepared her body for burial and puther in a cool room.

^38-40 Some of thedisciples had heard that Peter was visiting in nearby Lydda and sent two peopleto ask if he would be so kind as to come over. Peter got right up and went withthem. They took him into the room where Tabitha’s body was laid out. Her oldfriends, most of them widows, were in the room mourning. They showed Peterpieces of clothing the Gazelle had made while she was with them. Peter put thewidows all out of the room. He knelt and prayed. Then he spoke directly to thebody: “Tabitha, get up.”

^40-41 She opened her eyes.When she saw Peter, she sat up. He took her hand and helped her up. Then hecalled in the believers and widows, and presented her to them alive.

^42-43 When this becameknown all over Joppa, many put their trust in the Christ. Peter stayed on along time in Joppa as a guest of Simon the Tanner.

Revelation 7:9-17

The Message (MSG)

^9-12 Ilooked again. I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there—allnations and tribes, all races and languages. And they were standing,dressed in white robes and waving palm branches, standing before the Throne andthe Lamb and heartily singing:

Salvation to our God on the Throne!
Salvation to the Lamb!

All who were standing around theThrone—Angels, Elders, Animals—fell on their faces before the Throne andworshiped God, singing:

Oh, Yes!
The blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving,
The honor and power and strength,
To our God forever and ever and ever!
Oh, Yes!

^13-14 Justthen one of the Elders addressed me: “Who are these dressed in white robes, andwhere did they come from?” Taken aback, I said, “O Sir, I have no idea—but youmust know.”

^14-17 Then he told me,“These are those who come from the great tribulation, and they’ve washed theirrobes, scrubbed them clean in the blood of the Lamb. That’s why they’restanding before God’s Throne. They serve God day and night in this Temple. TheOne on the Throne will pitch a tent there for them: no more hunger, no morethirst, no more scorching heat. The Lamb on the Throne will shepherd them, willlead them to spring waters of Life. And God will wipe every last tear fromtheir eyes.”

John 10:27-30

The Message (MSG)

^25-30 Jesus answered, “Itold you, but you don’t believe. Everything I have done has been authorized bymy Creator, actions that speak louder than words. You don’t believe becauseyou’re not my sheep. My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they followme. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyerfor good. No one can steal them from out of my hand. The Creator who put themunder my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one couldever get them away from God. I and the Creator are one heart and mind.”

I confess that I did not decide to write a sermon this weekuntil Saturday after noon.  I had done mymorning chores and I had the time to work on a sermon even if a sermon wasn’trequired of me for worship tomorrow.  Myfirst thought was to skip the lectionary readings and just speak from my heartabout the events of this past week.  Youwould think I would know better by now. I read the lectionary readings and was again struck by how timely God’sWord is for us when we need it and are willing to turn to it.  The Psalm for this Sunday is the 23^rd.  What better message than God’s guiding usthrough the valley of death and restoring our souls in the presence of thatwhich threatens us.  Yes, God does havecomfort and guidance for us in the time of suffering, God will restore oursouls if we turn to God and listen for God’s voice.

My reaction to the bombing in Boston and the explosion inWest, Texas was how very unfair they were. Innocent bystanders seeking to share in the joy of accomplishment areblown to bits, one of the a young boy who had made a poster asking people tostop hurting each other.  In Texas it wasthe first responders that had come to protect the people and the property offactory that were killed in the explosion. 

The first reaction for most of us to these tragedies is asense of soul wrenching grief for those affected and most of us follow that upwith a desire to know why this horrible event happened, followed closely bywanting to identify who was responsible and making sure they are punished.  The persons believed to be the Boston bombersare immigrants from a predominantly Muslim part of the world.  So we can blame immigrants, and Muslims, andmaybe even irresponsible young people. The explosion in West, Texas was at an industry and the first responderswere volunteer firefighters.  So we canblame greedy industrialists for lack of concern for their employees and thepeople who live nearby.  We can alsoblame the government for lack of regulation and for underfunding emergencyservices.  Now don’t we feel better thatwe have identified the evil that caused the tragic events of this week and wecan sleep better knowing the evil is not us and we can channel our anger intoefforts to control immigration, or vilify Islam, or clamp down on unruly youth,or shame the government for not doing enough to regulate weapons of massdestruction, or for not supporting the first responders.  Maybe we even want to complain to God aboutnot being there to protect us from evil. Didn’t Jesus say, “They are protected from the Destroyer for good. Noone can steal them from out of my hand. The Creator who put them under my careis so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get themaway from God.”  Doesn’t this mean Godwill protect us from evil?

I don’t believe being a person of faith is a guarantee thatwe will not suffer or experience the pain of others suffering.  The story from the book of Revelationdescribes the faithful arriving in heaven and cleaning up after enduring thetribulation.  They didn’t get a freepass, they endured it and when they arrived in God’s dominion they were cleanedup, refreshed and restored and they would suffer no more.  Tabitha was a good person and yet she gotsick and died.  Being a good person didnot protect her from sickness and death. Peter did restore her to life but that does not negate that she sufferedillness and died.  I think it is veryinteresting that in none of the stories of individuals being restored to lifedo they have the person rejoicing and praising the one who restored them.  Lazarus isn’t mentioned thanking Jesus.  The young man restored to his grieving motherisn’t recorded as rejoicing.  Tabithadoesn’t praise Peter.  There is norejoicing by the person raised by Paul after he fell and died during one ofPaul’s sermons. We have stories of lepers, blind, and crippled folk rejoicingand coming back to thank those who healed them. I think the reason is because death is not such a horrible event as weimagine and those who had gone on may not be all that thankful for comingback.  Certainly those who loved themrejoiced at having them restored and that made the act of restoring them tolife a compassionate one but I find comfort in knowing those who died weren’tall that thrilled at coming back.  Ibelieve the promise of God is that in God’s dominion we will not suffer and wewill not grieve.  In this world, where weare given the freedom of choice, we will suffer and we will grieve.  God’s promise in this world is to be with us.

I have decided the evil in the Boston bombing or in thefactory explosion is not immigration, or Islam, or youth, or regulation, orinadequate funding.  I believe the evilin these events is our willingness to tolerate the injustice that feeds thesethings.  If I accept that violence isever the answer to conflict, then I am part of the evil.  I was struck by the fact that if the men whoplaced the bomb at the Boston Marathon had done the same thing in Afghanistanat a gathering of the Taliban they would be heroes or patriots orsoldiers.  We have become tolerant ofsending destruction into communities in the name of bringing peace.  How can we be horrified when others senddestruction into our communities out of some sense of righting injustice?  We tolerate a rhetoric that demeans those whoare aliens in our society and wonder why they respond with anger.  We have created a world where the future isfrightening, we are condemning our youth to live into a world that isunsustainable and we criticize the youth for having a bad attitude.  We shame elected representatives for notmaking good decisions and yet we continue to elect them to office.  We elect people who promise us what we wantto hear rather than electing people who demonstrate wisdom and moral integrityand then wonder why they behave in unenlightened and immoral ways.  Jesus warned us that we become the evil inthe world when we fail to listen to the Word of God, the Word that challengesus to care for each other, to act in ways that nurture justice and peace.  We should not ask where God is when we seeevil, when we experience suffering. Instead we should ask what are we doing to remove the evil from our ownlives so there will be less in the world. What are we doing to live justly, to live in peace with each other andwith the world?  Amen

 

 

 

On Palm Sunday, we celebrate a critical point in Jesus’ earthlyministry.  Jesus has set his course forJerusalem knowing that his presence in the seat of Judaism will spark aconfrontation with the religious and political leaders of his time.  I am not convinced that Jesus, the human,fully understood the plan.  God may nothave revealed the plan to Jesus any more than God reveals the whole plan tous.  Jesus was sent to teach us throughhis life how to live as people of faith. Faith means we trust God without having the whole plan for our livesrevealed to us in advance.  I believeJesus knew this was the time for God to demonstrate God’s power over humanfears; the time for God to prove we have nothing to fear if we trust inGod. 

 

About three years earlier, Jesus had made another change of coursein his life.  He went from an unknowncarpenter to miracle worker, teacher, and vocal opponent of the religiousoppression of the people.  Jesus startedhis ministry with forty days in the wilderness without food or companionship.  His forty days of preparation compares to ourforty days of Lent.  We are called tomake sacrifices and focus ourselves on the meaning of approaching HolyWeek.  I doubt that most of us make thetype of sacrifice that Jesus did in the wilderness nor do we confront thedemons in our lives as Jesus did. Perhaps it is because of the lack of genuine sacrifice and focus onidentifying what must be confronted in our lives that we do not fullyappreciate the events from Palm Sunday to Easter morning.

 

Jesus came to the earth as the suffering servant, as God humblytaking on the form of humankind, and obediently serving God and humankind.  Christ gave up the privilege of being of theGodhead to become human.  Jesus gave upthe comfortable and safe life of village carpenter to become a homeless itinerantholy person.  The ministry of Jesus wasto reach out to the people, to bring them healing, to teach them of God and ofGod’s love for them, and to challenge the religious leaders to serve the peoplerather than to exploit them.  Theministry of Jesus gave the people hope and a vision of a better world.  They embraced Jesus for what herepresented.  Jesus had to resist theirattempts to make him king.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday, he was at theheight of his popularity.  The crowdslined the streets to shout their Hosannas. The religious leaders saw his presence as a threat.  There is good reason to believe that both thepeople and the religious leaders expected Jesus to lead an insurrection againstthe Roman occupiers and restore the monarchy of David.  I have heard it suggested that Judas acted ashe did to sell Jesus out to the religious leaders because he thought Jesus wasmoving too slowly in establishing the new world order.  He may have believed the arrest of Jesuswould force him to command the overthrow of the Romans and the religiousleaders that conspired with the Romans. Jesus’ only act of revolution was to throw the money changers and theshopkeepers out of the temple to restore it to the house of prayer for allpeople.  It may have been his failure tooverthrow the occupation of Jerusalem that caused the people to change their “hosannas”to cries of “crucify him!”

 

It is easy for us, two thousand years later to judge them for beingfoolish and shortsighted.  We marvel athow they could have turned on this righteous person who had spent three yearshealing, teaching, and encouraging them. He had come to bring them hope and a vision.  How could they demand his crucifixion andeven accept the consequences not only for themselves but also for theirchildren.  I believe they were able to dothis because the hope and vision that Jesus brought them required them tochange, required them to sacrifice, required them to treat each other asequals, and required of them hard work. They wanted a messiah that would make it all happen while they sat onthe sidelines and cheered.  They didn’twant to change, they didn’t want to sacrifice, they didn’t want to treateveryone as their equals.  They wanted anew order where they were the privileged ones and where everyone else wasrequired to be like them or to be outcasts. They didn’t want what Jesus required of them to bring in the new order.

 

How much have we changed in two thousand years?  Regardless of your political persuasion youcannot deny that the campaign of Barrack Obama five years ago brought anintense level of excitement.  People whofelt they had been excluded from full participation in this country saw newhope.  People who despaired for thefuture of this nation saw a new vision for how it might be.  People of privilege and power saw a threat totheir privilege and power.  On January20, 2009, the nation was alive with both excitement and dread.  People looked forward with great anticipationto see what our new president would do. And this is where it seems to have unraveled.  People wanted to sit on the sidelines andeither watch President Obama singlehandedly change the culture of the countryand the world or they wanted to sit on the sidelines and snipe at his everyeffort to effect change.  People quicklybecame disheartened and they began to criticize the slow pace of change.  Others set about to create as many obstaclesto change as possible without actually making any constructivesuggestions.  We heard the message thatchange wasn’t going to be quick or easy and we didn’t like it.  We heard the message that we would have to bethe change we sought and we didn’t want to change.  We were asked to make sacrifices and we feltthere were others in a better position to sacrifice.  We were asked to think of others as our equalsand as partners and we preferred to see ourselves as special or at least moreequal than others.  The hope and thevision diminished for lack of will on our parts to do what was necessary tobring them to reality.

 

Itmay seem presumptuous to some for me to compare President Obama to Jesus but Ibelieve comparing others and ourselves to Jesus is exactly what we are supposedto do.  To identify the ways in which ourthoughts and even more our actions reflect what Jesus modeled for us.  I believe on this Palm Sunday we are allcalled to identify how our words and actions shout “HOSANNA!” and how theyshout “CRUCIFY!”  Amen.

Sacred text sources:

Isaiah50:4-9a

⁴ The Sovereign God has given mea well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.
God wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen likeone being instructed.
⁵ The Sovereign God has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have notturned away.
⁶ I offered my back to thosewho beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.
⁷ Because the Sovereign God helps me, I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will notbe put to shame.
⁸ The One who vindicates meis near.  Who then will bringcharges against me?  Let us face eachother!
Who is my accuser?  Lethim or her confront me!
⁹ It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me.  Whowill condemn me?

 

Philippians 2:5-11

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the samemindset as Christ Jesus:

 ⁶ Who, being invery nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be usedto advantage;
⁷ rather, Christ made himselfnothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in humanlikeness.  ⁸ And being foundin appearance as a human, Christ agreed to be humbled by becomingobedient to death—even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted Christ to the highest placeand gave Christ the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of JesusChrist every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongueacknowledge that Jesus Christ is Sovereign, to the glory of God the Creator.

 

 Mark 11:1-10

11 As theyapproached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives,Jesus sent two of his disciples, ² saying tothem, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as youenter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untieit and bring it here. ³If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it andwill send it back here shortly.’” ⁴ They went and found a colt outsidein the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, ⁵ some people standing there asked,“What are you doing, untying that colt?” ⁶ They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the peoplelet them go. ⁷ Whenthey brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.⁸ Many people spread theircloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.⁹ Those who went ahead andthose who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of God!”  ¹⁰ “Blessed is the coming dominionof our ancestor David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

 

Luke 23:13-24

¹³ Pilatecalled together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought me this man as one whowas inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence andhave found no basis for your charges against him. ¹⁵ Neither has Herod, for he senthim back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.¹⁶ Therefore, I will punishhim and then release him.” ^[17]

¹⁸ But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with thisman! Release Barabbas to us!” ¹⁹ (Barabbashad been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

²⁰ Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed tothem again. ²¹ But they kept shouting, “Crucifyhim! Crucify him!”

²² For the third time he spoke to them: “Why?What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the deathpenalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”

²³ But with loud shouts they insistentlydemanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. ²⁴ So Pilate decided to grant their demand.²⁵ He released the man whohad been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they askedfor, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

Second Sunday in Lent 2/24/13

Genesis12:1-12, 17-18

Philippians3:17-4:1

Luke13:31-35

 

God promised Abram descendants more numerous than the starsin the sky and a land.  The passage fromGenesis tells us Abram believed God’s promise of descendants but asked forproof they would have a promised land. That is pretty interesting in itself, but it becomes even moreinteresting when we consider the rest of the story.  Abram is said to believe God would providehim in descendants but he then sets about to produce descendants through hisown plan.  He does not make his own planto occupy the Promised Land despite having doubts about this promise.  I find Abram or Abraham to be a clear exampleof how we live as people of faith; Abraham is clearly our parent when it comesto how we live as children of the promise when it comes to the future whileacting as if achieving the promise is dependent upon us in the immediate.  The challenge for people of faith is in knowingwhen we are required to act to achieve the promise of God and when we are totrust God to bring about the promise.  Ifind this much easier to do in retrospect. It is easy enough for us to read the Genesis story and criticize Abrahamand Sarah for taking the matter of an heir into their own hands and using humanwisdom to solve the problem for God.  Butwe are not so good at looking at the problems in our own lives and discerningwhat God is doing and knowing what God is calling us to do.  Perhaps we can learn something from lookingat the behavior of Abraham and Sarah.

Abraham and Sarah were told by God that they would havedescendants beyond numbering.  Abraham believedand Sarah laughed.  When the promise didn’tcome about quickly, they set their own plan in motion.  God did not fail to deliver the promise butthe actions of Abraham and Sarah complicated the situation and have continuedto be a source of conflict in our world to this day.  God did not ask Abraham to do anything.  When you look at the promise of a land forthe descendants of Abraham, Abraham tests God and God asks for sacrifice.  If we consider the sacrifice of the animalsto be symbolic, then it is reasonable to conclude the promise of a landrequired sacrifice.  God did ask Abrahamto do something.

God’s promises can be put into two basic categories; theunconditional promises and those that require action on our part.  God’s promise to love us, to always be withus, to be our God all fall in the unconditional category.  There is nothing we can do to make God loveus, or to be with us, or even to make God be our God.  And yet, we put so much work into decidingwhat we must do, and even more what others must do to earn God’s love.  We make rules for others and for ourselves todemonstrate our worthiness of God’s love. We also speak as though we have to be in certain places, engaged incertain activities for God to be present with us.  People will assert they avoided somecatastrophe because God was with them. The implication being that there are times when God isn’t with them orthat God isn’t with the other person who experienced the catastrophe.  I read the promise that God will be with us tothe end of the age as being universal. God doesn’t say I will be with you when you are in the sanctuary, orwhen you are doing good works, or when you call on me.  God’s promise to be with us isuniversal.  God said, I will be your Godand you will be my people.  God doesn’tsay I will be your God if you get the rituals right, or have the right dogma,or even if you claim my name.  God is ourGod regardless of our position on God.  Iread a statement that said it doesn’t matter if you believe in God, Godbelieves in you.  God is God regardlessof how we choose to relate to God.  Westill use speech that suggests there are competing gods.  The Christian God, the Islamic God, the HinduGod’s, and so it goes.  There is one Godand we have varied ways of understanding and approaching God but there is oneGod whether we behave like it or not. Foundational to being people of faith is our acceptance of theseunconditional promises of God.

There are other promises that clearly imply action on ourpart.  The promised land of milk andhoney is one where I believe God could provide the land but it was up to thepeople to make it a paradise.  God knewthey would fail and they would be driven out of the land but God also wasfaithful to draw them back to the promise of a paradise on earth.  The promise requires sacrifice on the part ofthe people.  We cannot sit back and waitfor God to produce paradise, we have to be willing to work for it, to changethe way we live, the way we treat each other and ourselves if we want ourpromised land.  We like to claim thepromise of God to work all things around to our good but we drop off thecondition, for those who love God and who live as called into God’sservice.  We cannot do anything we pleaseand expect God to fix it.  God will takeour honest efforts to live in God’s will and, when we fall short of the mark,God will work it around to our good, and I believe that is our collective goodnot just my personal good.  Anotherexample of conditional promise is in the prayer Jesus taught the disciples.   God’s promise of God’s dominion on earth isdependent upon our willingness to forgive others.  We cannot expect to have our daily bread andto be kept from temptation to be disobedient if we cannot even show forgivenessand love to those around us.  We do haveagency in God’s promises being realized in this world because God has given usdominion and the freedom to choose good or evil.

Simply put, we are to surrender our plans to God’s plan andtrust God to bring them to fruition in God’s time.  And we are to open ourselves up to theleading of the Holy Spirit as to what is ours to accomplish.  Jesus did not go into the wilderness becausehe thought it would be a good idea. Jesus was driven there by the Holy Spirit and while there he was guidedby the Word of God as to what he was to do and say.  Jesus made the right choices, did what wasexpected of him, and spoke from his knowledge of God.  He trusted in the promises of God andperformed based on his understanding of God’s will.  God leads us to our promised land but wechoose how we will live there and whether we will make it paradise or hell onearth.  Jerusalem, the holy city of God,was also the place where God’s prophets were persecuted and martyred.  In this season of lent, we are called to takestock of our lives, to identify those things that have gained too muchimportance in our lives, those things that distance us from God, those thingsthat are our plans and let them go.  Weare also called to seek to know God’s will for the ways we are to bring aboutGod’s dominion here on the earth.

Personally, the challenge of this message comes to me whileI am struggling with why I am not called to serve a congregation.  I too must let go of my plans and my ideas ofwhat I ought to be doing.  I need to seekto understand what my role in this is and let the plan unfold in God’s time andGod’s way.  I suppose I should begrateful when a message speaks to me but sometimes I would prefer a moreobjective message.  Amen.

One of the responsibilities of a pastor/theologian is to readthe sacred texts intentionally to discover what God was saying to those whorecorded their encounter with God and then to listen for what God is saying tothose who hear the story today.  I amfirm in my belief in the living Word of God. We are celebrating the Word became flesh and lived with us in the personof Jesus.  We are also reminded the Wordof God was in the beginning and the Word spoke everything into existence, andthe Word lives today speaking understanding into being.  The Word lives in the sacred writings, in thelife of Jesus, and in the Spirit that speaks to us today, and the Word willexist with God for eternity.  For me,this means the sacred writings are also alive and meant to bring us newunderstanding of God and to speak to us in new ways in each age and in eachsituation.  When we refuse to hear theWord of God in new ways, we have attempted to kill the Word and confine it to aprevious time and to a different people.  There is an interesting saying, I believe itis from a gospel song, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.”  Implied in this catchy phrase is if we don’tbelieve it, God saying it isn’t enough to settle it.  We can be such arrogant creations.  I think it would be better phrased, “Ibelieve God said it and that settles it for me.”  We must each one struggle with what webelieve God has said to us and even when we are confident we know what God issaying, it only settles it for us individually.

 

All of this as lead in to how we understand what it means tobe a child of God.  We have three textsfor this week and each one has to do with children of God.  Jeremiah has the confusing declaration by Godthat God is the parent of Israel and Ephraim is God’s first born.  How can this be?  The problem comes from reading the passage asliteral.  Israel is the grandfather ofEphraim and God cannot be the Parent of Israel and Ephraim be the first bornchild of God.  God is speaking to thepeople of ancient Israel who would have understood this not in a literal sensebut in the sense of relationship.  Thenation of Israel has been dispersed and the tribes driven out of the PromisedLand.  Jeremiah is telling them not to despair,God gave birth to the people of Israel and God still loves them as a parentloves their child.  In ancient times, thefirst born son was particularly important to his parents, both mother andfather.  Producing a male heir was to assurethe survival of the family name and was seen as proof the mother had foundfavor with God.  The people wouldunderstand God was saying the people of Ephraim were important to God becausethey would assure the name of God would survive and others would learn of Godthrough them.  They were a sign of God’sblessing.  Ephraim being God’s first bornchild was all about the relationship between the people and God.

 

The reading from Ephesians tells us about being adopted intoGod’s family.  Adoption is all aboutselection, choice, and affirmation.  Adopthas the general meaning of: to take up. We adopt a way of doing something, we adopt an idea, and we adopt anindividual.  We select a person and wechoose to make them our own, and we affirm they are a member of ourfamily.  Adoption is a special way ofcoming into a family in that much of the mystery about the child is gone, thechild is born, many of the issues related to bringing a child into the familyhave been exposed, the adopting parents know more about this child than they doa child who comes into the family by birth. Similarly God adopts us into God’s family knowing everything there is toknow about us.  Adopted children areconsidered to be just like children brought into a family by conceptioninvolving the parents.  They are recognizedby law as being equal to all other children of the parents.  Being adopted into God’s family means we areequal with all of God’s children, there is no distinction and we are equalheirs to all God offers God’s children. It is true that sometimes society struggles with adopted children andwanting to set them apart as different or not quite as much a part of thefamily as biological children.  Even somesiblings want to make a distinction as the status of their adopted brothers andsisters.  Sometimes the children of Godwant to make distinctions as to who are the most loved of God’s children.  They want to make distinctions as to who ismost like God, or who has been in the family the longest, or who has theauthority to speak for their Parent God. Some children of God even act as if God has died and they are now incharge because they were God’s favorites. Ephesians tells us we are all adopted into God’s family and God adoresall of us and celebrates with each one of us as we grow in God’s family.  We are all full sisters and brothers ofJesus.

 

The Gospel of John tells us of the birth of God’s onlybegotten child.  As I have stated, thisisn’t about Jesus being the most loved child of God, or even being the mostimportant child of God.  God loves all ofGod’s children equally and expects as much from all of us as God expected fromJesus.  The significance of Jesus beingbegotten of God has to do with the way God is expressed in Jesus.  There is no difference between adopted andbiological children in the way they are considered to be children of theparents and heirs of the parents and there should be no difference in the waythey are loved by the parents but there is a difference in the way they expressthe parents.  From the very first day ofthe child’s existence, people observe whose eyes the child has, how the childhas the shape of one parent’s head, or their body shape, some even seem toexpress the temperament of parent of the other. As the child grows, their appearance my change as to which parent theylook like and their temperament may reflect the other parent but there arealways way in which the parent’s genetic contribution to the child is expressedalong with what the child has learned from being so close to the parent.  Jesus reflected for us the genetic makeup ofGod.  Jesus showed us how the very essenceof God is expressed in human form so we, the adopted children could also growin expression of God in our lives.  Jesusclaims us as his brothers and sisters and assures us we are equal to him inParent God’s eyes and we have all we need to do what he did and more.  Jesus encourages to live into being all Godhas created us to be and to claim all God has promised us as God’s heirs.  Jesus does not jealously claim superiority asGod’s only begotten but expresses the humility of being one of God’s childrenequally loved.

 

We are God’s children because Jesus claims us as brothersand sisters, because God has chosen us, and because of our relationship withGod.  As God’s children we are to assurethat God’s name and God’ will is kept alive for this and futuregenerations.  We are God’s children andGod expects us to act that way.  Amen

Rev. Edwin asked me for song suggestions for today and Icame up with “They will know we are Christians by our love.”  It wasn’t until I was crafting my sermon thatI realized a good hymn for today would have been, “Love came down at Christmas,Love all lovely, love divine, Love was born at Christmas, star and angels gavethe sign.”  Love was born at Christmas,we are one in the bond of love, and they will know we are Christians by ourlove.  These are all very powerful hymnsof faith about our Christian love.  Theearly church was defined by its love, not just for members of the church butfor the communities where the church existed. Their new way of treating others earned them the nickname, people of theway.  These early Christian congregationscreated innovative ways of caring for people that evolved into hospitals,orphanages, and food cooperatives.  Theearly Christian church had a strong tradition of love, love for all of God’screation.

 

What about today? Would you expect most people when asked what word they would associatewith Christian would come up with the word love?  I don’t know that even most of us in theChristian Church would come up with love as our first word of association withthe word Christian.  What happened?  I do not believe it is a coincidence that thedecline of the Christian Church as a model of compassion for others seems to parallelthe church’s rise to power in political institutions.  The church no longer persecuted became moreconcerned with increasing its power and wealth since it was not focused onsurvival of not only its members but the message of God.    While Jesus lived on the earth, he shunnedevery suggestion he assert political authority and claim the throne ofDavid.  Even when the Pharisees tried toget him to speak out against the rule of Caesar, Jesus answered render untoCaesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s.  Christian love is not about forcing otherpeople to accept our authority and live as we think God wants them to live.

 

I have been so distressed with those who have tried to turnthe discussion about the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary into a referendum onprayer in schools and whether we say “One nation under God” in ourclassrooms.  Forcing children to recite apledge about God’s sovereignty or praying to God is meaningless to children whohave no personal relationship with God. Schools are not where children should be taught about God or forced to repeatsomeone else’s prayer to God.  Childrenshould learn about God from those who know God and who know the child and willtake the time to answer the child’s questions. Loving relationships are never forced relationships.  God was present at Sandy Hook and those whoknew God knew God was there with them. Those who didn’t know God may have got a glimpse of God when God’speople responded in God honoring, self-sacrificing ways.  The letter to the church of Colossus tells usto put on God’s love like a garment.  Itdoes not say to put the garment on others, or tell others how they should livein God honoring love.  We put on thegarment of love and we find ourselves bound together with all of the rest ofcreation in that God honoring love.  Christianlove does not make us superior to anyone, Christian love binds us to everyoneelse is shared community of compassion and support.

 

I read the story of Jesus in the story from Luke that weheard today in a very different way than I understood it from my early Christianeducation.  I was told the story showedthe divinity of Jesus.  He was in thetemple demonstrating his superior knowledge and confounding the Rabbis andpriests.  But that isn’t really what thestory says.  The story says that Jesuswas with the Rabbis and priests and listening and asking questions.  Jesus was learning from them and they wereamazed at the depth of this questions and understanding.  Being Christ did not mean Jesus did not havethings to learn from those around him, nor did it mean he was not to be subjectto authority.  The story says Jesus wenthome with Mary and Joseph was obedient and matured in stature and wisdom.  The implication is that Jesus should not haveworried his parents, should not have stayed behind in the temple when it wastime to return home and he needed to do some growing up.  I believe this story speaks to us asfollowers of Jesus.  Sometimes we need tobe willing to be taught, sometimes we need to submit to authority, and sometimeswe just need to grow up.

 

The sweet sentimental concept of Christian love is not amature image of God’s love.  God’s lovesometimes means we must speak truth to power and not hold back our directlanguage.  Sometimes God love requires usto clearly define for ourselves what is Caesar’s and what is God’s.  We cannot surrender our morality to thegovernment because that is God’s.  Whengovernment rules and actions our immoral we are compelled to say, NO!”  We cannot surrender our compassion to thegovernment because that is God’s.  Whenthe government fails to care for the poor, the ill, the children, the aliens,or for the environment, our compassion compels us to act.  I do not believe God judges us on what ourgovernment does.  I believe God judges uson what we do.  We will not answer to Godas a US citizen, or a Michigander, or as a citizen of some localauthority.  We will all be asked how weshowed Christian love in our own actions. It is not enough to have said loving things, and spoke kindly toothers.  That isn’t Christian love.  Christian love is how we lived out Jesus’example of healing others, giving to those who had nothing to give in return,showing respect to those who were considered outside of polite society, andspeaking out against the use of religion to exploit or demean others.  That is what Christian love is to me.  When we love as Christ loves, then otherswill know we are Christians by our love. Amen.

Micah 5:2-6

The Message (MSG)

^2-4 But you, Bethlehem, David’s country, the runt of the litter—fromyou will come the leader
who will shepherd-rule Israel.  He’ll beno upstart, no pretender.  His familytree is ancient and distinguished.  Meanwhile,Israel will be in foster homes until the birth pangs are over and the child isborn, and the scattered siblings come back home to the family of Israel.  He will stand tall in his shepherd-rule by God’s strength, centered in the majestyof God-Revealed.
And the people will have a good and safe home, for the whole world will holdhim in respect—
Peacemaker of the world!  ^5-6 And,if some bullying Assyrians show up, invading and violating our land, don’tworry we’ll put them in their place, send them packing, and watch their everymove.  Shepherd-rule will extend as faras needed, to Assyria and all other Nimrod-bullies.
Our shepherd-ruler will save us from old or new enemies, from anyone whoinvades or violates our land.

 

Hebrews 10:5-10

The Message (MSG)

10 ^1-10 Theold plan was only a hint of the good things in the new plan. Since that old“law plan” wasn’t complete in itself, it couldn’t complete those who followedit. No matter how many sacrifices were offered year after year, they neveradded up to a complete solution. If they had, the worshipers would have gonemerrily on their way, no longer dragged down by their sins. But instead ofremoving awareness of sin, when those animal sacrifices were repeated over andover they actually heightened awareness and guilt. The plain fact is that bulland goat blood can’t get rid of sin. That is what is meant by this prophecy,put in the mouth of Christ:

You don’t wantsacrifices and offerings year after year;
you’ve prepared a body for me for a sacrifice.
It’s not fragrance and smoke from the altar
that whet your appetite.
So I said, “I’m here to do it your way, O God,
the way it’s described in your Book.”

When he said, “You don’t want sacrifices and offerings,” he wasreferring to practices according to the old plan. When he added, “I’m here todo it your way,” he set aside the first in order to enact the new plan—God’sway—by which we are made fit for God by the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus.

 

Luke 1:39-45

The Message (MSG)

^39-45 Mary didn’t waste a minute.She got up and traveled to a town in Judah in the hill country, straight toZachariah’s house, and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,the baby in her womb leaped. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and sang outexuberantly,

You’re so blessedamong women, and the babe in your womb, also blessed!
And why am I so blessed that the mother of my Lord visits me?
The moment the sound of your greeting entered my ears, thebabe in my womb
skipped like a lamb for sheer joy.  Blessed woman, who believed what God said,
believed every word would come true!

 

Advent is allabout anticipation.  The Hebrew Testamentcontains a promise to the village of Bethlehem that it would play a veryimportant role in God’s plan to restore the nation of Israel.  They waited for the time when God’s redeemerwould come and lead the children of Israel home and establish the nation ofIsrael as a great power.  I imagine thepeople of Bethlehem repeated the words of Micah whenever they would gather,perhaps the words were part of the city’s logo. They must have had great anticipation of the coming Messiah that wouldcome from their city.  Then there is thestory of Elizabeth and Zachariah desperately praying for a child and then receivingthe promise of a child. I would expect the anticipation in their home was veryhigh.  And Mary, I am told Jewish girlsanticipated they might be the one chosen to bear the Messiah.  Mary must have anticipated what it would meanto give birth to and raise the Child of God. So much anticipation by so many people.

 

Anticipationhas another side to it.  Anticipation canmake us weary and it can distract us from pressing matters of the present.  This past week there were two eventspredicted for Friday.  The first andglobally felt was the anticipated end of the world due to the Mayan calendarending on that date.  The second was muchmore local but possibly more significant to those of us affected, it was theprediction of a major winter storm dumping up to six inches of snow on theKalamazoo area.  I didn’t believe theMayan’s had any particular insight into the future of the world, after all ourcalendar runs out every December 31.  AndI don’t put that much confidence in weather predictors.  Even though, I found these predictions to bedistracting.  I found myself wondering “whatif?”  I did make preparations for thewinter storm by getting out the snow shovels, starting up the snow blower, andmaking sure I had basic supplies to weather the storm.  The anticipation for each was different butthey were distractions.

 

I wouldassume these anticipations were similar to the anticipation of Bethlehembirthing the new leader of Israel and maidens giving birth to the Messiah ascompared to the anticipation of Elizabeth, Zachariah, and Mary of the comingbirths.  The first being something alwaysin the background, maybe possible but probably not now and not me.  While the second was impending and requiredactions of preparation.  I think that itis possible we live with anticipation for a long period of time and we fail tosee that the thing anticipated has actually happened.  The sleepy town of Bethlehem seems to havetotally missed the birth of the One long expected.  They couldn’t even find a room for him to beborn in.  Despite the proclamation of theangels and all the hubbub of stars and signs. And perhaps, in all the anticipation of the end of the world as we knowit, we have missed that the world as we know it has ended.  We sit waiting for the world to come to an endwhile all around us the world is changing, the world as we know it is ending,and we are ignoring the proclamations and the signs.  I world’s ecology is radically changing andmay soon not be able to support life as we know it and yet we go on as if thereis nothing wrong.  Our society is disintegratinginto isolation, selfishness, and fear and we go on as if there is nothingwrong.  Occasionally we are confronted bythe stark reality of our isolated culture by events like what happened andSandy Hook Elementary and we weep, and shout but what changes?  We watch the catastrophic effects of climatechange and we act amazed as if it were unexpected but nothing changes.  There is a story, I do not know the accuracyof it and I do not intend to test it, the story says if you drop a frog into apot of boiling water the frog will jump out but if you put a frog in a pot ofroom temperature water and put it on a burner the frog will sit in the potuntil boiled.  We may be the frogssitting in the pot as the water temperature rises and we do not react becausethe change is slow and we are waiting for something dramatic.

Another partof anticipation is we don’t clearly understand the totality of what we areanticipating.  We hope for change, we askfor change, and yet we do not like the cost of change.  Bethlehem did not know the fulfillment of theprophecy that the redeemer of Israel would come from there would also lead tothe fulfillment of the prophecy in Jeremiah of Rachel weeping for her childrenwhen Herod slaughtered the innocents to try to kill the new born king of theJews.  The maidens that hoped to be themother of the Messiah could not have known the suffering Mary would experiencebecause of her pregnancy, her flight to Egypt, and watching her childcrucified.  And Elizabeth and Zachariahcould not have known their much desired child would become a social outcast andultimately be beheaded.  As we anticipatethe Christ returning to this earth, we tend to think of Christ making the worldright, avenging the wrong, and setting up God’s dominion here on earth.  We may be missing the truth that Christ isreturning each time one of God’s people speaks up, acts up, and lives out God’sjustice in their lives and for others. We may also be missing the truth that Christ returning in us does notmean all will be wonderful and we will have a life without struggle andheartache.  Christ being born in us meanswe weep for the slaughter of the innocents and we struggle with the Godhonoring response.  Responding with a desireto have more weapons of destruction is not God honoring and is not what Jesustaught us.  Having Christ born is usmeans we must work for all of creation, Christ is the Word that spoke creationinto being and God said it was good.  Wecannot wait for God to do some miraculous thing to fix the world.  We are God’s fix for the world and it is upto us to live in a world sustaining way, to live out the life Jesus taught usrespecting each other and the world we have been given.  There is no promise this will be easy or willcome without cost.  The promise is thatGod will be with us in the struggle.

 

In thisAdvent season, anticipate the coming of Jesus in your life and anticipate thecost of this, and anticipate the reward of allowing Christ to be born in usagain and again.  Amen.