The Pastor's Corner

Rock Climbing Discipleship

2007-06-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

Some of you already know that flying is not one of my favorite pastimes. When I was traveling on business in my previous career, I flew frequently enough to graduate from a "white knuckle" flyer to a "sweaty palm" flyer.

What is really strange though, is that although I don’t like flying too much, I want to have a window seat as often as possible when I fly. Maybe it is a subconscious attempt at distracting my attention from the fact that I am hurtling along at an altitude of 30,000 feet, at a speed of 500 miles an hour, in a pressurized metal tube.

But I think another reason I enjoy window seats so much when I fly is that I love heights. My love of heights is probably one of the reasons rock climbing interests me, as well. I imagine standing on top of a mountain—any mountain or big hill with a great view will do—and just taking in the wonder of it all.

Of course, getting to that point tends to be an issue. Have you ever watched rock climbers? There are no escalators on those places they are climbing! Hey, there aren’t even any decent steps! Rock climbing takes strength, endurance, dedication, intelligence, and the willingness to take risks. Rock climbing can be both exciting and dangerous at the same time.

Come to think of it, this description sounds a lot like Christian discipleship, doesn’t it?

Jesus knew all of this and more about discipleship. That is why Jesus gave instructions to the 70 women and men whom he was sending to the towns to which he himself intended to go. Like Jesus sent these folks ahead to proclaim the kingdom of God before Jesus arrived, we who call ourselves Christians are called to proclaim the kingdom of God before Jesus returns. So what were these instructions of Jesus?

First, pray. Notice how prayer was the number one instruction? Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." In other words, there is more than enough for all of us to do, folks. Christian discipleship is not a spectator sport! Amen?

Jesus went on to say, "Therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." We are supposed to be praying for one another , as well as for others to become disciples of Jesus Christ as well!

Next, travel light. You’ve heard this from previous sermons I have preached. Like rock climbers cannot make their ascents with a lot of extra gear, neither can we be successful disciples of Jesus Christ if we are carrying around a lot of unnecessary baggage.

Baggage takes a lot of forms, too. For example, jealousy is an extremely heavy (and worthless) item of baggage; jealousy about the gifts of other disciples that we do not share; jealousy about the leadership positions others have that we want; jealousy about the really fabulous programs and facilities of other churches.

All that baggage slows us down, folks. Let’s lose it and concentrate on the work God has for US, using and honoring the resources with which God has blessed US. Remember, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. There is more than enough work to go around. Amen?

The next instruction was to focus. Jesus said, "Greet no one on the road." Jesus wasn’t saying the disciples should ignore others; Jesus was basically saying, "Don’t let anything or anyone distract you from your mission."

Distraction is a big challenge in today’s world. There is so much going on around us that it is easy for us to lose our way. Professional rock climbers would probably tell us that losing your focus on a climb could have deadly consequences.

What distracts us? The desire for more money? The desire for more power or prestige? The desire for a partner? These things are not evil in and of themselves; but if they distract us from the work that God has called us to do, they could spell spiritual disaster for us.

Let’s look even closer at Jesus’ instructions to the 70.

"Whatever house you enter, first say, "Peace to this house!" "Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid." "Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’"

Basically, we are to approach our call to discipleship peacefully. Like Jesus, we are to meet people where they are; which means if we are talking to friends in a bar, we do not enter Bibles blazing and telling everyone there they are going to hell because they have not confessed Jesus Christ as Lord. Such heavy-handed approaches to evangelism have turned far more people away from Christ than they have brought people to Christ.

Christian discipleship also means presence, in whatever healthy forms that presence takes. For it is through that presence that God can work miraculous healing—in the lives of others, as well as in our own lives.

Finally—and this is the hard part—we are to proclaim the Kingdom of God both in our words AND through the examples of our lives. While Jesus did say to approach others with a greeting of peace, to meet others where they were, and to help others—named in this passage as curing the sick—Jesus also said to proclaim the Kingdom of God.

Jesus didn’t say to proclaim the Kingdom of God unless it offended others. Jesus didn’t say to proclaim the Kingdom of God unless it meant your offerings would go down. Jesus didn’t say to proclaim the Kingdom of God unless it meant upsetting denominational leaders. Jesus said to proclaim the Kingdom of God--period.

It’s that "proclamation of the Kingdom" part that gets us into trouble—at least it has gotten me into trouble. See, some folks don’t like to hear that the Kingdom of God is inclusive of people who are a lot different than them.

On the other hand, there are others who don’t like to hear that, while the Kingdom of God is full of inclusive love, there is judgment involved as well. That means God has standards, folks. The Kingdom of God is not "an anything goes" kind of place. As the old saying goes, "we don’t change the message—the message changes us."

So, while we don’t run into the bars or coffee shops, parties or classrooms with our Bibles blazing, we don’t change the inclusive, yet challenging message of the Word of God to make people comfortable, either—and some folks are not going to appreciate that one bit.

Jesus knew there would be those people who would reject the message of his disciples. The advice of Jesus then is just as solid today: "Move on." Rejection hurts, yes; but rejection is not fatal. Move on. There is actually a term for this type of moving on in rock climbing. Its called "fallure."

Fallure occurs when a climber falls onto his or her safety rope after using every physical, mental, and spiritual resource at his or her disposal. "Isn’t that failure?" we might ask. No, failure is when you give up and let go. The difference is subtle, but important.

Where are we accepting failure instead of fallure? Where is it in our lives that we are giving up and dropping, without using all the physical, mental, and spiritual resources with which God has blessed us? If we push for fallure, we may actually tap into more Godly power and opportunity than we ever thought possible!

Look at the 70! They returned after their mission excited beyond belief, even though I am positive at least some of them experienced some painful rejections!

One type of outreach program isn’t working for you? Pray and then try another one! The target group your leadership worked so hard to identify would rather eat glass than listen to you share the good news of Jesus Christ? Pray and then go back to the drawing board!

Sure, it would be great if everything we touched turned into discipleship gold! But sometimes it seems like everything we touch turns into something else—and here’s a hint: it makes great fertilizer! But guess what? What we think is just "fertilizer" can be the foundation of some amazing growth we never expected!

The lesson for today: Yes, discipleship is required of all Christians—not just clergy. Yes, discipleship is tough sometimes; not everyone is going to love us—in fact, some people may even hate us. And yes, we are going to fall sometimes.

The good news: We don’t have to worry about any of those things. Why not? Because if we strive for fallure, with Jesus Christ as our safety rope, there is no way that our discipleship climb will fail.

Think about it. Let us dare to imagine the view from the top.

Then, let us start climbing together.

Real Survivors

2007-06-15T11:21:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else remember the "Survivor" series craze of a few years ago? Or am I so out of the loop that there is another series airing as I write this? Just in case, as a review, the premise of these shows went something like this: You take a diverse group of people, drop them in a challenging environment, and give them various tasks to do. In a show of true community spirit, the group slowly eliminates other members by vote each week. Catfights, backbiting, and drama ensue.

Somebody eventually wins the million-dollar prize, and we have a big group hug at the end of it all. All the contestants hit the talk show circuit for a time, and a year or so later, we have Survivor Reunions.

Just like real life, huh?

While I am poking fun at the whole Survivor series, I must admit I have no desire to attempt the challenges faced by these women and men, and absolutely no stomach for some of the things eaten on those shows. I do well to eat some of my own culinary experiments sometimes.
But while there are men and women out there who are very adept at surviving under some of the most extreme circumstances, we could all take a few lessons from the Desert Tortoise of the Mojave Desert. Deserts are harsh, ruthless, and unforgiving places. So it is especially fascinating to learn how a creature can not only survive, but thrive in such an environment.

Question: What do the Desert Tortoise, Elijah, and us have in common? A lot more than you might think.

First things first. How in the world does the Desert Tortoise of the Mojave manage to survive in such a harsh environment?

He gets plenty of sleep. The Desert Tortoise goes to sleep sometime in November, and awakens sometime in March. This routine probably reminds some of us of our school days in years past, huh?

She finds nourishment in unexpected places. The Desert Tortoise at times gets some of the minerals in its diet from gravel. This information could actually be used as a good excuse for those of us who experiment in the kitchen. Tastes like gravel? Hey, it’s full of minerals! It’s good for you!

Every year or so, it rains in the Mojave, causing plant life to spring forth. The tortoise eats the plants then stores the water from the plants, and reabsorbs it and recycles it into her body as it is needed until the next rain falls in a year or so. The tortoise is actually able to control its internal environment in the face of external and hostile conditions.

Elijah actually chose to head for the desert in today’s reading from 1 Kings 19, which says a lot about the hostility of his environment. At this particular time, Queen Jezebel was killing God’s prophets, and the few that were left were in hiding. Baal was her god, and she had no patience for competing deities. So, silence the prophets, and you silence the deity.

But not this time.

In response to God’s call, Elijah confronts Jezebel’s husband, Ahab, the king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and challenges the prophets of Baal to a show of ultimate divine power. In a show of mighty power, God silences the prophets of Baal, and puts to rest any question as to who is truly God.

This turn of events did not set well with Jezebel, and she sent word to Elijah that now he was on her hit list—and Elijah hits the road. Now, that is one hostile environment.
After journeying to the wilderness, it appears that Elijah has had enough. He sits beneath a broom tree, and tells God he’s had it, that he is no better than his ancestors, and that he just wants to die. Then, he rests.

Notice what Elijah does. He vents to God. He’s tired, he’s done what God wants him to do, and to say the least, the people in power weren’t impressed, and even the God-fearers weren’t coming to his defense. Then, he rests.

Notice what God does. God lets Elijah vent and God lets Elijah rest for a time. God does NOT annihilate Elijah for being tired and discouraged. God doesn’t replace Elijah with a younger prophet and give him a gold watch for faithful service.

The point, folks, is there are times in our lives when we are tired and discouraged. We may be doing the best we can for God, for our employers, for our families and friends. But stuff just happens; and sometimes a lot of stuff happens that just seems to pile up on us.

The good news is we can take it to God. If God is big enough to create the universe, God can surely deal with our telling Him about our problems.

Then, get some rest! Put yourself in timeout for a little while. It’s OK. The world will get along fine without us while we are resting. Just remember that there will come a time to continue our journeys.

After some rest, Elijah woke up and took nourishment prepared by an angel. Talk about finding nourishment in unexpected places! But then he does something we might think is a bit odd—he goes back to sleep! But then he wakes up again, takes more nourishment, then continues his journey.

Folks, we aren’t going to survive long on this journey called life without good spiritual nourishment. Where do we get our nourishment for the journey? From worship services? From Bible studies? Maybe we get some of our nourishment from friends who listen to us and give us good, healthy advice. Maybe we get nourishment from support groups or therapy.

Wait a minute! Nourishment from support groups or therapy? Isn’t that a little unusual? Think about it. Is it possible that "angels" come in many different forms?

There is one more lesson we can take from Elijah’s taking nourishment. It takes more than one meal to give us the strength we need to continue our journeys.

What that means is that it takes more than one worship service, one Bible study, one recovery group meeting, one session with our therapists, or one prayer to Almighty God to give us the strength we need to survive in an often hostile environment! Like the Desert Tortoise, what we don’t use today, we can always store for those dry periods in our lives that are sure to come our way.

Elijah continues his journey for 40 days and nights until he hides in a cave at Mount Horeb. He’s still running. But not for long.

God asks Elijah, "What are you doing here?" Elijah basically replies, "I’ve had it. Life stinks. Death is stalking me. Nobody likes me. Everybody hates me."

But God is having none of it. "Come out of the cave!" God commands Elijah. But even through wind, earthquake, and fire, Elijah didn’t move. Why not? Maybe it was because all those things were too much like what Elijah was experiencing in his life at that time—upheaval, turmoil, persecution, strife. Maybe Elijah just wanted some peace and quiet.

So peace and quiet is what he got—and it is exactly where Elijah found the presence of God. In that peaceful moment, even though Elijah still complained, he found a presence of God that assured Elijah that he mattered. Yes, life is harsh; but I am with you, and I have a job for you. Your life has meaning. In that moment, Elijah found the inner peace he needed to face the hostile conditions of his external environment.

Who needs the Desert Tortoise? Future generations, if the species is to survive. Who needed Elijah? A lot of folks! He was one of the few true prophets left to carry on God’s message to the children of Israel. They definitely needed Elijah to train other prophets if they were to survive.

So it is with us.

Each and every one of us matters to Almighty God. We may not always feel like that we matter; but we do. Who needs us?

Some of us have partners who need us—and we them. Some of us have children and other family members who need us. Most all of us have friends who need us. Our churches need us. Our community needs us to speak out for equality on behalf of those who feel they are silenced. All of us are needed to serve God in one capacity or another. Each and every life has meaning to God, and God has something for each and every one of us to do.

So, get your rest, get proper nourishment, and listen for that inner peace that only God can give. And for goodness sake, come out of that cave! We need you out here!

There’s no need to be afraid, either. After all, if God is for us, who is against us?

Herding Cats

2007-05-10T18:01:00.000-07:00

I read in an article recently that it is a well-known truth that you can’t herd cats. Pigs, sheep, and cattle are really no problem. But you can NEVER herd cats.

As I contemplated this well-known "truth," one of our cats was either lying on my lap, or sitting very close to me on the couch (I can’t remember which). A second cat was lounging on the back of the couch just behind my head, occasionally licking the ever-growing bald spot on my head; and the third cat was sleeping on the love seat nearby.

Now I’m not sure who was the originator of the comment that you can’t herd cats. But I can tell you this: this person did not ever visit the Lofstrand-Spears household!

Don't misunderstand me; our cats do have attitude. There is an old T-shirt I remember from years ago whose message read: "In ancient Egypt, people worshipped cats—the cats haven’t forgotten." That would pretty much describe our three feline children. But they CAN be herded.

All you have to do in our house to herd cats is shake their food container. I don’t care if they are under the bed in the back bedroom sound asleep; within mere seconds of this sound, you will have three very impatient, yet three very well lined-up cats in your presence.

Bedtime is a potential—but not guaranteed--herding time, too. If Richard and I are both in the house, it means we both have to go to bed at the same time, AND turn out the lights. Then, within a very short time, we normally have three cats in very inconvenient places in our bed; and whatever you do, once they are in place, PLEASE try not to disturb them!

For the most part, though, cats are pretty hard to keep under control, I must admit. But if you think cats are difficult, try managing those pesky critters called "temptations". Temptations are a whole different ballgame, now aren’t they?

Temptation is the subject of today’s Gospel lesson from Luke 4:1-13. Of course it’s hard for many modern readers to relate to this reading. After all, it isn’t everyday the Devil literally shows up on our doorsteps to offer us the world. "And besides,’ we may say to ourselves, ‘this passage doesn’t address MY particular temptations."

Well, that may be true in a sense. Maybe the Bible doesn’t detail every little (or big) temptation that may come our way. The Bible IS inspired; but it was also written in a particular cultural context. So the human authors of Scripture would not have been aware of some of the temptations of the 21st century. But if we take a look at the bigger picture, I think we will see that the Bible does actually address the core issues underlying our temptations—and how to handle them—right here in these 13 verses. How is that? How can these words written so many years ago speak to 21st century humanity?

Each of the four Gospels emphasizes a different aspect of Jesus. John focuses on Jesus as the Word Incarnate. Matthew focuses on observing the teachings of Jesus, and Mark stresses the "suffering servant" aspect of the ministry of Jesus Christ.

In Luke, however, we see Jesus as embodying Christian virtues: he is empowered by the Holy Spirit; he associates with women, tax collectors, and other "sinners"; he is compassionate toward the sick and outcast; he dies a martyr’s death while praying for his persecutors. In other words, in Luke we see the "How To" Jesus as it relates to Christian living. So, following this logic, the temptation narrative can be seen as an example for all of us who are tempted in various ways.

In the first temptation, the Devil says to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Now Jesus had been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, so naturally he was weak and hungry; and I am sure a loaf of heavenly bread was sounding REALLY good about that time.

Isn’t that just like temptation? It seems that temptation shows up most often when we are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. In recovery language, there is an acronym for this situation called "HALT." The logic here is that if you become too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, you are more susceptible to a "slip", and begin indulging in your addiction of choice once again. So the point is to HALT before the situation reaches that point.

Now that logic is great, and it has helped many a person in recovery to avoid relapse and to grow stronger in his or her journey toward wholeness. But if we look closer, this temptation is about more than food or recovery. The NRSV translation of this passage reads, "…command this stone to become A loaf of bread." So this temptation can be seen as symbolic of misusing our God-given gifts for our own selfish self-interest.

Jesus knew his call was to feed others spiritually—and sometimes he even fed people physically. As Christians, we too are called to use our gifts and resources to feed others spiritually, physically, in whatever ways we can. But when we use our gifts to benefit only ourselves, we are straying from the Christian mandate of serving others.

So how did Jesus handle this temptation? Jesus used scripture. In fact, if you will notice in our reading for today, when Jesus spoke, it was only to quote scripture. Notice there was no debate with the Devil. Jesus knew that there was more to life than self-gratification, and he used Scripture to support that truth.

"But preacher, what if I don’t know that much scripture?" Well, if that is the case, I have two words for you: Bible study. While I think group Bible study can be far more effective than studying alone, sincere and prayerful study of scripture in ANY format can be an enormous help in dealing with temptation.

The second temptation is interesting. The Devil shows the glory of all the kingdoms of the world at once and offers it all to Jesus. Now this temptation is a little trickier than it first looks. If Jesus knew there was more to life than what was on this earth, why would the Devil even think such a temptation would be attractive to Jesus?

But let’s take this temptation a little deeper. With all the power and glory of the earthly kingdoms, Jesus could have made some great reforms: world peace, universal employment, and eradication of hunger, protection of ALL human rights, the establishment of true justice. Good stuff, huh?

But there’s a catch. The Devil said, "if you worship ME…" Ah, the temptation of misplaced ambition. Now, healthy ambition is a wonderful trait. The problem with ambition, however, is that when it is misplaced, it means worshipping someone—or something—other than God.
This temptation is a tough one for many of us. We start out with good intentions. We begin to excel in our careers (secular or faith-based). Then the time comes when, in order to move up, we are asked to do things that we know are not right—or maybe we are asked (either directly or indirectly) to turn a blind eye to behaviors that are unethical (or in the case of Christian denominations, un-Christ-like). After all, "no one is really getting hurt here, right?"

Or, are they?

So what do we do? Keep silent and hopefully move up in the world, or speak up at the risk of being exiled (either figuratively or literally) from our jobs or communities of choice?
How did Jesus handle this temptation? Jesus used scripture. Jesus told the Devil, "It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.’" The message for us here is: stay true to your Christian calling—whatever that calling may be. Stay focused on your relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Remember: There is no goal so noble that it is worth abandoning God along the way! There is no ambition so pure that it can achieve a godly end without having God in the process.

The final temptation may be a little confusing for some modern readers. The Devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple of Jerusalem and said, "If you are the Son of God throw yourself down from here." THEN the Devil adds, "For it is written, ‘on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone’". So, when’s the last time the Devil asked you to throw yourself off the top of our church?

This third temptation can be seen as the temptation of testing God. How did Jesus respond to this temptation? He used Scripture! You’re beginning to see a pattern here, right?

Jesus said, "It is said, ‘do not put the Lord your God to the test.’" Now notice how Jesus not only quotes the scripture, but he also follows through by not putting God to the test. What an example for all of us! Even though Jesus was Emmanuel—God With Us—throughout all these temptations he is identifying fully with humanity as well by saying in effect, "The instruction of the scriptures apply to me as well."

We may not tempt God by literally throwing ourselves off the top of tall buildings, but some of us do tempt God in other ways.

For example, we may say something like, "Well, the Bible says God will forgive me if I repent of my sins, so I’ll just live any way I want to live, and then make sure I make it to church on Sundays to repent. Well, if I can get up that early after being out all night the night before."
Scripture DOES say God will forgive us if we repent of our sins. And as Christians, we DO believe that God loves us and protects us. But folks, that does not give us license to go out and tempt God by abusing our bodies, our relationships, our planet, and our very souls in any of the several ways we tend to do. Amen?

Using Scripture. Staying true to our calling as Christians. Refusing to tempt God. These things may not help us herd cats—or any other animals for that matter—but by following the example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are our best hope for herding those pesky critters called "temptations."

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ—the peace that passes all understanding—the peace that can bring us through every temptation, be with you all.

Amen.

The Gospel Truth

2007-04-27T07:52:00.000-07:00

I love the comics! Comics such as Doonesbury, Peanuts, Non-Sequitir, and For Better Or For Worse (as well as many others) make some very serious points in a comical way. Just when you think you are doing some light reading, BAM! Right between the eyes! Entertainment and education in mere minutes—I love it!

I also enjoy watching "animated features." That’s just the adult way of saying, "I like watching cartoons on TV, DVD, or in theatres, too." I don’t think I’m alone, either. If you have noticed, in the past few years there have been quite a few animated movies that, while fine for older children, are geared for adults as well.

For example, what about the lessons of history respect for the land, as well as Native American theology taught in "Pocahontas"? The movie "Shrek" was filled with messages of not judging others based on appearances; and that true love and friendship has many expressions and faces. That movie had some great jokes in it, too!

In the Disney feature, "Hercules," there was an animated chorus (ala Diana Ross and the Supremes) who, in true Greek theatre fashion, helped move the story along with their narratives. They would often emphasize their claims by repeating the refrain, "And that’s the Gospel truth!"

Unfortunately, the "gospel truth" this choir was proclaiming was a hard-nosed, hard-boiled truth about the world in which we live. Sure, there was a lot of humor in the movie; but at the same time, some of the "truths" presented in it could be seen as seemingly without hope.

Now, we may say that "Hercules" was just a myth, and the movie just a cartoon. But at the same time, there are grains of truth in most all myths, and cartoons can make some very strong points—even in a very adult world. But is the hard core hard-nosed reality of today all there is to the gospel truth?

Speaking of the difference between gospel truth and "myth," the passage for today comes from the book of Revelation, chapter 21, and verses 1-6. People have made millions off this particular book of the Bible by using it as a "code" of sorts to figure out when the second coming of Christ will occur, and who all the creatures in Revelation represent in terms of the people, places, and events of today.

On the other end of the spectrum are people who treat Revelation as symbolic only—so they don’t preach on it at all. As with most everything else in life, I believe the "gospel truth" lies somewhere between these two extremes. That is to say, Revelation is not a code to be cracked; but at the same time, there are relevant messages in it for us today.

As a pastoral letter, Revelation was addressing a particular situation for a particular group of
people living in a particular time. It is believed that the author of Revelation wrote the book while in exile on the island of Patmos, and this exile was a direct result of his Christian preaching. In other words, persecution was his "gospel truth." The author saw his persecution, as well as that of his brothers and sisters in Christ, as just the beginning of things to come.

Now there is something interesting to note about the persecution theme here. According to church history, during the time period the book of Revelation was thought to have been written, persecution of the church was probably occasional at the most. So, if persecution wasn’t a huge problem at the time, what could the author have had in mind with this book? Could it be maybe that he was warning the early church against complacency in the absence of persecution?

Think about it. What happens today when world, national, state, and even local events don’t seem to pertain to our individual situations? We get complacent. "You know that world hunger issue is just getting out of control. Could you pass me another helping of mashed potatoes, please?"

While some of our sisters and brothers in other countries take their very lives into their hands by attending worship services, many American Christians are busy complaining about the temperatures of their spacious sanctuaries. In our own community, there are people who can afford to speak out on issues of equality and oppression, yet refuse to do so, because whatever the issue may be never seems to be "their issue." After all, It is not THEIR jobs, nor the sanctity of THEIR relationships, nor their religious freedom that is at stake.

Yet.

Addressed to the church at Laodicea, Revelation 3:15-16 states, "I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Complacency, folks, is a far more deadly enemy of churches and whole communities than persecution.

If we follow the complacency theory, then it could be that the author of Revelation is saying, "WAKE UP, PEOPLE! It may not be bad for you, now; but look what is coming! Will you be able to stand?"

What follows looks pretty serious, too: famine, disease, earthquakes, hail and fire mixed with blood, falling stars, and the list goes on. Everything was looking pretty bleak at that point—and that was the gospel truth.

Today we have famine, disease, earthquakes, war, violence of all kinds, abuse, addiction, and the list goes on. Churches splitting over who is in and who is out; indifference to the pain and suffering of our sisters and brothers who were not fortunate enough to be born in a free and wealthy country like ours’. Everything is looking pretty bleak at this point—and that is the gospel truth.

But, that is not the WHOLE gospel truth.

Our reading today starts with a new heaven and a new earth, and the sea is no more. The terms "heaven and earth" refer not to two distinct places; these terms refer to the entire cosmos! So, things are definitely beginning to change in radical, new ways. From where does this new heaven and new earth—this new cosmos-- come? Let’s look at verse 5: "And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See I am making all things new."

Notice God did not say, "I am making all new things." The words are, "I am making all things new." The symbolism here is powerful. God does NOT start all over from scratch. God does not REPLACE creation—God REDEEMS creation—including you and me.

While the imagery of no sea sounds confusing at first, it may help to know that in Near Eastern literature the sea represented chaos. There were monsters in the sea, and all kinds of unmentionable evil and horrors. With the new heaven and the new earth—with God’s redemption--the chaos disappears.

But it gets even better. In verse two, we see the vision of the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. In verse three, a loud voice proclaims that God will dwell with humanity; we will be God’s peoples—that’s plural, folks—and God will be with us.

The symbolism here is amazing. In Jewish history, Jerusalem was seen as the dwelling place of God. With the coming of the New Jerusalem, God not only redeems all of creation, God’s immanence—God’s closeness—becomes incredibly real for creation.

Isn’t that great news? No matter how bad it gets, the day is coming when God’s redemption will remove ALL the chaos from our lives! Not only that, God’s love and presence is going to be made manifest in ways we can’t even imagine! THERE IS HOPE, folks! THERE IS HOPE!

How do we know this is true? Because Revelation 21:6 tells us that God said, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end." In Hebrew, the word for truth is "emet," spelled aleph, mem, taw. Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; mem is the middle letter of the Hebrew alphabet; and taw is final letter of the Hebrew alphabet. What does that mean?

God was. God IS. God always will be. Emet. Truth.

And because God was, because God IS, because God always will be—because God loves us so much—God sent Jesus, so that whosoever believes in Jesus may not perish, but may have everlasting life.

"Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true."

God was. God IS. God always will be. There IS hope.

And THAT, my friends, is the "gospel truth."

Spiritual Pacifiers

2007-04-13T08:47:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of talk throughout the ages as to the best way to bring about world peace. Some folks believe pre-emptive strikes and using the threat of nuclear annihilation are the ways to go. Of course, what many of the "nuke’em all" camp seems to forget is when WE nuke THEM, it tends to destroy the planet in the process. "Yeah! We’ll show you! You don’t play by OUR rules, we’ll destroy civilization as we know it! That’ll show you!"

Of course, on the other end of the spectrum, we have the John Lennon Fan Club singing, "All we are saying, is give peace a chance," while terrorism is on the increase. So what DO you do?
I submit to you today my proposal for the best way to achieve world peace. I submit to you today---the binky! Or boo, or pacy, or whatever you called this amazing peacekeeper when you were a child.

Some of you laugh. Some of you are probably in shock. But if you have ever raised or otherwise cared for an infant, you KNOW the power of the binky! And since I personally feel that war is the result of the ultimate in childish, immature, and selfish behavior, a binky might be just the ticket we’ve been looking for all these years.

No, none of us can really doubt the calming effects of a pacifer. Not only does it give the child using it a sense of security, it also gives the adults around the child a sense of peace and quiet.

Then the day comes when its time to lose the pacifer. And oh, what a traumatic time that can be for anyone within hearing distance of the child being weaned from his or her "best friend." But everyone eventually realizes that it is in the child’s best interest for he or she to move on to the next level of maturity, and that means losing the binky. Amazingly enough, everyone always seems to survive this growth process in one piece—a little frayed around the edges, maybe—but OK nonetheless.

You may be surprised to learn that there are things called "spiritual binkys", too. Spiritual binkys are those things we cling to (whether they are healthy or not) that make us feel secure, peaceful, and calm in our spiritual lives.

Actually, spiritual binkys are not a new phenomenon. Take the twelve apostles—well, now eleven as of today’s Gospel reading--for example. We can look at this reading and pick up a few examples from them.

First, in today’s reading, the apostles are hiding in fear for their lives. They have either seen, or been told about, the empty tomb, but as scripture last week told us, they still didn’t quite understand what was going on.

To be fair, they probably had every reason to be afraid. They were Jesus’ main entourage just days earlier. No doubt the religious leaders had picked up on that bit of information. While those leaders may have thought Jesus was the big problem, no doubt they would be looking for the apostles, as well. After all, if one crucifixion is good, just think of the message they could send with eleven more!

The apostles were basically paralyzed with fear; so they tried hiding behind closed doors.
Believe it or not, safe space can actually become a spiritual pacifier. Week after week, people who feel persecuted, beat up, and just plain worn out make their way to churches all over the world. Behind those closed doors, many of these people find safe spaces where they can be loved, affirmed, and refreshed—and that is wonderful! It is my prayer that you find our church a safe place where you feel loved, affirmed, and refreshed by the Holy Spirit, as well.

But just as the time comes to lose the pacifier, the time also comes for us to leave these four walls. We can’t live here. This isn’t a monastery, and it isn’t a convent. The church IS a place of spiritual rest and refreshment. But it is also a place of training where we do NOT sit paralyzed with fear, afraid to leave for fear of what people may say or do when should they just happen to find out we are Christians. The church of the living God is NOT just another closet where we hide in fear! Amen?

Besides, Jesus isn’t going to let us do that for very long, anyway. That is, IF we are open to receiving the power of the Holy Spirit. Scripture today tells us that even though the windows and doors of the place where the disciples were hiding were locked, Jesus STILL came and stood among them!

The symbolism here is very powerful. The locked doors and windows could very well indicate that the disciples really weren’t expecting Jesus to show up; and even if he did, they may have been afraid of what he would do to them since they had deserted Jesus at his darkest hour.
Let me ask us all a question this morning. Do we REALLY expect Jesus to show up here on Sunday mornings? Do we REALLY expect Jesus to show up in our day to day lives? Or, are we more like the apostles in today’s reading? Not really expecting Jesus, and maybe actually afraid for him to show up because we don’t know how he is going to respond to how we’ve been living our lives.

I don’t know about you, but I also really think it is a shame today when Jesus basically has to break into some churches because their doors and windows are locked in fear. Windows and doors that are locked in fear of change, fear of welcoming ALL people, fear of challenging "the way it’s always been done around here." Doors and windows locked in fear by a few people who are afraid of losing their spiritual pacifiers of power, prestige, and—dare I say it—history.
However, the good news is Jesus DOES show up! Like the apostles, it is probably going to freak us out when He does walk through those locked doors of our lives AND our churches, too—ESPECIALLY if we aren’t expecting him.

But we have no reason to fear when Jesus breaks into our lives. Scripture today tells us that Jesus said to the disciples, "Peace be with you, as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you."
Now Jesus had every reason to be disappointed and angry with this group of men he had loved, cared for, and taught over the past three years. But yet he brings greetings of peace.

Jesus Christ does the same thing in our lives. If you had told me ten years ago that one day I would be pastoring a church in Corpus Christi, Texas, I would probably have laughed at you. You see, I wasn’t living exactly what you would call a "pastoral" kind of life at that time.
But as Christ had—and still has—plans for me, so Christ has plans for YOU. Jesus brings greetings of peace, yes; but Jesus also presents us with a job to do. Remember, Jesus told the apostles, …"so I am sending you…"

Sending us? Sending us where? EVERYWHERE, folks! We are called to leave this place and proclaim God’s life-changing love for ALL people to our families, to our friends, to our co-workers…everyone who will listen!

How do we do that? We get the answer from scripture today. Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. God equips us through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives to go out and make disciples of all nations.

You may still be thinking, "OK, the Holy Spirit helps me out. Great! Still HOW do I make disciples of all nations? How do I make Jesus REAL for others?"

We make Jesus real for others—those whom we may call "Doubting Thomas or Doubting Teresa"-- through the examples of our lives. We show the nail prints of Christ’s hands to others when we put our hands to work to help those who are less fortunate than us.

We show the wound in Jesus’ side to others when we bend and stretch ourselves to not only look at, but also to ACTUALLY TRY new ways of doing ministry in this changing world. Jesus Christ demonstrated a radical new way of discipleship, service, and relating to one another in the culture in which he lived. If we call ourselves Christian, I ask you, "Can WE really afford to do anything less?"

As God sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us. Scary thought? You bet it is! But when we are afraid, let us take comfort from these words of Christ: "Remember I am with you ALWAYS, even until the end of the age."

It’s a promise we can all count on. Amen?

The Three G's of Palm Sunday

2007-03-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

Whether we admit it or not, most of us probably enjoy checking out some of the awards shows on television. Not necessarily to listen to the over-inflated egos of some otherwise truly talented people as they accept their awards, though. No, I dare say some of us much prefer to watch the stars arrive on the red carpet before the shows begin, then we switch back and forth between other programs of interest, waiting for the awards categories that interest us most.

The conversations at some of these home (or dormitory, or bar) awards parties can be quite interesting, too. "Oh no she did NOT wear THAT outfit to the Oscars!" "Oooooo, I thought she was seeing THIS man, and now she shows up at the awards with that WOMAN!" And who does he think HE is? Is that girl he’s with even legal age?" Glitter, glamour, and gossip. The 3 G’s of the Hollywood red carpet treatment.

Today we are looking at the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It is a day of loud "Hosanna’s!" "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!" It is a day of red carpet treatment. It is a day of glitter, glamour, and gossip. It is a day that marks—quite literally—the beginning of one "hell" of a week for Jesus Christ.

Well, that last comment was certainly an interesting way to enter into a sermon, wasn’t it? After all, isn’t this particular Sunday supposed to be all glitz and glamour? Then, we come back next week for the greatest news of all history!

Well, that’s partially true. There is a lot of joy in today’s reading, and we can’t deny that next week marks what should be a huge celebration of what Christians believe is the greatest news of all time.

But there is a whole lot that happens in the week in-between these two events—a lot of stuff that we would just as soon not think about. So many of us go from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday without missing a beat. But today, I am going to attempt to take us a little deeper than the glitz, glamour, and gossip of Palm Sunday.

In today’s lesson there is certainly a lot of glitz and glamour. Jesus arrives in Jerusalem with lots of fanfare. Like of lot of celebrities, I imagine Jesus’ growing celebrity reputation somewhat preceded him.

The disciples did some additional advance PR work under Jesus’ direction by arranging for appropriate transportation. We really don’t know if the person who gave his colt to the disciples knew WHO the disciples meant when they told him, "the Lord needs it;" but I can imagine word got around pretty fast that SOMEONE important was coming to Jerusalem for Passover.

Of course there is no one EXACTLY like Jesus—not then, and not now. But we can draw a few parallels. The office boy who becomes a media mogul—that is the story of David Geffen. The once financially comfortable woman who became a servant to some of the world’s poorest people—that is the story of Mother Teresa. It happens, you know. Little known people DO become celebrities sometimes, whether they like it or not.

Then the big day arrives. Praises are shouted from all around Jesus as he rides into Jerusalem on a colt. People throw down their cloaks before him. It had to be heart-warming to Jesus to look out over the crowds and feel the love of so many people.

I can imagine Jesus seeing some of the people whose lives he had touched directly, and wondering how many people’s lives he had touched indirectly. Sure Jesus was fully divine; but Jesus was also fully human. This entrance to Jerusalem had to be a huge "feel good" moment for him.

Life is good when everybody loves you, isn’t it? If you’ve ever led a life-changing Bible study, negotiated a major deal to the satisfaction of everyone involved, preached a good sermon, put together a fabulous Easter musical, and people recognize you, it’s a good feeling. If your success continues, eventually it feels like everyone wants a piece of you. It seems you can do no wrong. Even your mistakes are seen as "innovative experiments." Life is not only good-it’s great!

But, the major difference between Jesus and us in this respect is that he also knew this moment wouldn’t last. He knew that many of the same people who were shouting, "Hosanna!" today would be shouting, "Crucify him!" in just a few short days. What they say about Hollywood was probably true in Jerusalem as well: "People in Hollywood are always touching you—not because they like you, but because they want to see how soft you are before they eat you alive."

This is where our third "G"—gossip—comes in. There was always a certain amount of gossip that surrounded Jesus: "Who is this that even the wind and sea obey him?" "Who is this that even forgives sins?" "Who is this? He speaks with such authority!" Indeed, who IS this?

We can begin to understand at least a little more about who Jesus is though the symbolism in today’s Gospel reading. First, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a colt that has never been ridden. Some scholars say that this choice of animal points to the humility of Jesus. However, other scholars say that since in the Old Testament, Solomon rode a colt before his coronation has king of Israel, this choice of animal points to the kingship of Jesus Christ.

Why can’t it be both? Why does it have to be either/or? Why can’t Jesus be the king who comes not to bring war, but who comes in humility to bring peace?

Did you notice that there are no palm branches mentioned in today’s Gospel reading? Why is that? It could be another indication of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

It is said that at one point in Jewish history, that Palestine was under foreign rule, when a series of Jewish military actions defeated the occupation force and liberated the land. When the Jewish people entered the Temple, they waved branches, which quickly became symbols of Jewish independence.

The point here is Luke could be urging his readers to not think of the church as a community that will rise up in military rebellion against Rome. The placing of cloaks before Jesus’ path was symbolic of acknowledging the arrival of a new ruler. So, Jesus IS a ruler, but he is a different kind of a ruler.

And that’s when the gossip mill goes out of control.

Jesus comes to Jerusalem with a ragtag group of followers—not with a trained military AND religious elite who are "packin’ heat". I can hear some of the crowd now: "It’s all good, Don’t worry. They’re just bein’ cool about the whole thing. This is just a diversionary move. The reinforcements will slip in at night when no one is looking. You just wait."

But as the week progresses, the crowd mentality changes. Jesus overturns tables in the Temple! Jesus challenges the RELIGIOUS establishment, not Roman authority! What’s probably worse is there is even division in Jesus’ own entourage. Betrayal, denial, and desertion.

Jesus went from "feelin’ the love" on Sunday to feeling the crucifying rage on Friday. Why? I think this change occurred because Jesus did not live up to anyone’s expectations—not the crowd, the religious leaders, and not even his own disciples! Jesus lived up to GOD’S expectations—and that is what got him killed.

What about us? What do we do when Jesus doesn’t live up to all the glitz and glamour we expect of him? What do we do when we expect Jesus to swoop in and take care of all the oppression, pain, and hurt in our lives in dramatic fashion worthy of an Oscar nomination, and instead Jesus shows up in our lives as stage hand who challenges our preconceived notions of what is right and what is wrong? And even worse, what if Jesus tells us that WE who call ourselves Christians are actually part of the problem in the first place?

Do we shout "Hosanna!" or do we shout "Crucify him!"

Are we ready to let Jesus be Jesus? Are we ready to accept the fact that Jesus Christ does not fit anyone’s—and that includes OUR--preconceived notions of what it means to be the Way the Truth, and the Life?

If we are, then let’s get ready for some major changes. I say "changes," because Jesus is not about the 3 "G’s" of glitter, glamour, and gossip. Jesus is about the 3 "G’s" of grace, giving, and goodness. And the "3 G’s of Jesus" are neither cheap, nor short-term.

We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus gave of himself until there was nothing left to give. The goodness of Jesus cannot be compared to anyone before his earthly existence, nor after it.

While we can never duplicate the grace, giving, and goodness of Jesus Christ, it is these examples of his life that compel us to change our behavior. That is, if we take Jesus seriously. Making these changes means moving beyond giving Jesus the Hero’s Welcome on Sunday only, to making Jesus Christ a part of our daily lives—as boring as some of us may consider them.

The life of Jesus Christ is a life we are called to emulate. It is through Jesus Christ that we can begin to move from the shallowness of a live lived in and for glitz, glamour, and gossip to the fullness of a live lived in grace, giving, and goodness.

It is through Jesus Christ that we can do all these things.

And THAT is something to shout about!

Amen?

God bless you, and amen.

Channel Surfing Discipleship

2007-03-10T08:55:00.000-08:00

In the theology of domestic bliss (you didn’t know there was one of those, did you?), it has been said that, "the one who holds the television remote, holds the power." Can I get an amen?
Now Richard and I don’t argue much over what television programs to watch. After almost 11 years together, we have learned to "share the power," so to speak. Well, at least most of the time.

But do you know what really annoys me about using a television remote? Channel surfing. Now I must admit there are times when I partake in this particular activity. But what I am talking about are those people who cannot seem to stay on any one channel for any length of time. 30 seconds into a program and zip! Next channel, please. "You know, this program looks—click—interesting."

Cable television network executives have picked up on this little habit of ours’, too. This habit of channel surfing is one of the reasons you see the same movie scheduled multiple times during the day, or over a period of days. Channel surfers like to "drop in" on movies to watch their favorite scenes, and then they are off to the next program. In a society of convenience seekers, this programming makes perfectly good sense.

Now this habit of channel surfing is not a threat to anyone’s salvation; in fact, compared to what is out there, channel surfing is a pretty harmless habit. But all habits—harmless or not—have a way or shaping our lives. Our habits are those practices that eventually shape who we are. For example, if we get so used to channel surfing when it comes to our television viewing habits, how long will it be before we begin to practice channel surfing when it comes to our relationships?

Extreme? Maybe. But if our attention spans are conditioned for little "snippets" of information, eventually it is going to be challenging—if not impossible—for us to give our full attention to anyone or anything, including God, for more than a few minutes.

Call it "channel surfing discipleship."

The children of Israel were certainly familiar with the concept of channel surfing discipleship. Some of you may remember how God worked through Moses and Aaron to deliver the children of Israel from bondage and put them on a journey to the Promised Land.
But it wasn’t long after leaving Egypt that they began to complain. "We’re hungry!" "We’re thirsty!" "Are we there yet?" God would send a miraculous sign—sometimes a good sign, and sometimes a plague of some type—the people would repent, then would return to their old ways soon after.

The Israelites followed this pattern of behavior until eventually God allowed them to be defeated by their enemies and scattered. The devastation was so complete you could say it was the lucky ones who were taken in captivity to Babylon.
Now from our vantage point, we may look at the Israelites and say, "Why didn’t they get it? God had blessed them so much! Why did they not pay attention? How could they let themselves get so side-tracked?"

Let me ask us all a question today: "How different are we from the children of Israel in this regard?" Think about it. God has truly blessed us in many ways. God has delivered—or is in the process of delivering us—from the various things that hold us captive: addictions to various substances, sex, love, money, work, and power, to name just a few.

Then the going gets tough—and believe me, I know it gets tough sometimes. But what do we tend to do? We change the channel. It’s somewhat like watching a movie at home, and switching to another channel when we get to the scary part.

The sad part is we tend to change the channel back to a program with which we are more familiar. Like the children of Israel, we begin to think that maybe our "Egypt’s" weren’t so bad, after all. Then eventually, also like the children of Israel, we end up back in bondage—usually worse off than we were before.

But, praise God that is NOT the end of the story. Amen?

Today’s reading is dated by scholars at around 539 B.C, around the time of Cyrus of Persia’s edict when the Israelites were granted the right of return to Jerusalem from their exile and captivity in Babylon. This is a message of restoration—and responsibility.

I think it is important to note that the verbs at the beginning of our verses this morning are imperatives in the Hebrew language. What that means is they are to be read with emphasis—almost like commands.

In verse one, God issues the invitation, "Come!" Come to the water! Come buy and eat! Taste and see how good God is! And here’s the best part: "without money and without price!" God’s gracious invitation to all is FREE! We do have a responsibility here, however. God sets the table, but we have to pull up the chair. The first move is God’s—always—and our appropriate response is faithful obedience—always.

I believe verse two is VERY relevant to us today. "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?" God, through the prophet is asking the Israelites, "Why are you wasting your resources—your very lives—in a place which will never be your home?"

See the Israelites were now free to return to Jerusalem. So we could look at this question as God’s way of saying, "What are you waiting for? Quit wasting your time and come home!"

Good question, huh? Why do some of us waste so much of our time, talent, and resources on things that do not build up the kingdom of God? Why do some world leaders continue to use the lives of others to build their own little empires? Indeed, why do some Christians waste so much of their time building their own little ecclesial power structures—and getting sound bites on CNN-- at the expense of sharing the good news that is Jesus Christ with a world that desperately needs such good news?

In verses two and three we are told to both "Listen," and "Hear." There is a big difference between the two, believe me. When we listen, we pay attention to sound, we pay attention to God’s voice, and we do that by tuning out the competing voices of the world around us. When we hear God is when we actually begin to get the message.

So, what is God saying to us?

I think that at least part of that message is to seek God. Search diligently for God. Make being in the presence of God a priority—not only on Sunday mornings, but each day in prayer and devotional time. We can be in the presence of God as we study, work, and minister to others in various ways.

Of course choosing to be in God’s presence means letting some other stuff go. According to verse seven, we are to forsake whatever hinders our relationship with God. Look at what is holding you back from growing into a mature relationship with God through Jesus Christ and LET IT GO! Give it to God.

So how do we just "give it to God?" Is "letting go" all there is? What do we do after that? After letting go of the bad, grab the good. Turn to what is right, good, and positive. Turn to God for forgiveness and mercy. Our reading today tells us that when we do that, God abundantly pardons!

So how do we "grab the good?" Becoming part of a Christ-centered community of faith can be a huge support in growing in our walk with God. But if we need additional help in the form of support groups or therapy in our struggles, I say, "Amen!" Do it! God’s mercy and healing comes in so many ways we can’t count them.

God’s message through the prophet probably didn’t make sense to some of the Israelites. Sure they were free; but for some it probably looked like they were being set free to return to the devastated ruins of a city to face what looked like a very uncertain future. Maybe Babylon wasn’t so bad, after all.

Maybe some of us feel that way when preachers tell us to turn from what is keeping us from growing in our relationship with God, and to live a life of discipleship that requires more than a channel surfing mentality. After all, wouldn’t that mean giving up the remote? Probably.

That’s why the prophet reminds us that God’s ways are not our ways, and God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. That is the heart of the life of discipleship, really. If we order our lives by a higher reasoning, a different way of doing business, a divine wisdom, we will then begin to align our lives more in accordance with God’s purposes, rather than our own.

The relationship that God wants with us is not of the channel surfing variety, where we drop in and out at our leisure. The mature life of faith feasts on a deep and abiding relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Dropping in or dropping by isn’t enough.

This kind of deep relationship with God can be compared to a long and satisfying meal where we linger over the food, and the conversation is lively and interesting. It’s a wonderful time; one that we never want to end. And do you know what? I believe God feels the same way.
The choice is ours’, you know. We can come, taste and see how good God is, or keep flipping through the channels of life. My prayer for each of us today is that we choose God—and lose the remote.

God bless you and amen.

Ash Wedneday Reflection

2007-02-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

I started this Ash Wednesday reflection last week because I knew this particular week would be very busy, and I wanted to be prepared. But no matter how much I read, no matter how much I tried to weave some very deep theological points in with a little humor to offset the solemn nature of this day, nothing I wrote really felt right to me.

Our church’s Anniversary weekend this past weekend, however, started the old wheels turning again as I took yet another look around at the diversity of our membership—younger, older, men, women, black, white, Hispanic, straight, gay, transgendered, bisexual, and undecided. Not only that, we have a ton of spiritual traditions in our midst. We have Catholic. We have just about the full buffet of Protestant traditions, and we have Native American spiritual traditions represented in our membership, as well.

What that means for us is that our understanding of Lent runs the spectrum. This point was driven home to me yesterday as I substituted at a local middle school. The teacher with whom I was working asked the simple question, “How does your church celebrate Lent?” And as surprised as I KNOW some of you are going to be, at first I was left speechless. I finally gave her a lame textbook answer about the practicing of giving something up, while not actually requiring our members to do so.

But, her question has stuck in my mind. “How does your church celebrate Lent?” Given the diversity of our congregation, the most accurate—and painful—answer is, “We don’t.” At least not as a church family.

Of course, some folks may respond to my comment by saying something like, “But pastor! We’re MCC! We don’t fit any church’s mold of religious practice! We’re free to be the people God has called us to be—ashes or not.” Our people with more evangelical backgrounds tend to be uncomfortable with the more traditional church practices like wearing robes, and especially the more somber parts of the church year. Therefore, they tend not to participate in services like Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, or Good Friday. For these people, the church year is all about Easter and Christmas. Also, some of us have been taught to be ashamed of who we are, who we love, who God created us to be. So, anything that smells of shaming, we tend to avoid like the plague.

Our evangelical sisters and brothers do make some good points, however. First, we are free to be the people God has called us to be, and sitting in sackcloth and ashes like our ancestors from the Old Testament does not make us any holier. At the same time, though, there is much more to the church year than Easter and Christmas. Jesus was born, yes, but as fully human, that meant he had to die. Yes, Jesus rose again, but the road to the resurrection goes through the cross.

Other folks with more Catholic or traditional-liturgical backgrounds dive into seasons like Lent with a passion—the more somber the better! 40 days of penitence and ashes—doesn’t get much better than that! These sisters and brothers tend to give up all kinds of things—from alcohol to tobacco to chocolate. With this mindset, denying ourselves certain luxuries of life enables us to appreciate the plight of the poor, the hungry, the homeless, and the addicted.

These folks make some good points, too. While God does love each and every one of us, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a healthy sense of responsibility that causes us to stop and take an inventory of our lives. And if it takes wearing sackcloth and sitting in some ashes for 40 days to make that happen—then so be it! If we need to give something up to kick start a reflective process—go for it!

At the same time, there is more to Lent than giving up something we like and beating ourselves up for sins past and present. After all, giving up alcohol for 40 days might give us a good head start on recovery; but if we don’t plan to stick with it after the 40 days of Lent, what’s the point? Giving up one meal a week might make us think about hungry people; but if we don’t take those thoughts and translate them into action, what’s the point?

In the end, Lent is not an “either or” proposition. Lent is “both and.” It is good and it is right—although somewhat painful—to stop and take a personal, and communal inventory of our lives. The ashes we take on Lent remind us of our mortality, of our place in the world, that we do not know it all, that we are part of the created order, and not the Creator—a fact of which we need to be reminded often.

But that is not the end of the story.

We are also spirit, and as such, we belong to God, who scripture tells us is Spirit. What this truth tells me is that while we will all die one day, our spirit will live again another day. During Lent, my prayer is that, as individuals, we use whatever practices that are useful to us to begin the process of dying—dying to practices that are harmful to ourselves and to others—practices like racism, sexism, homophobia, emotional and physical abuse, addiction, and attitudes of chronic negativity. But I also pray that we rise again on the other side with healthier spirits filled with the warmth, grace, and peace of the Holy Spirit.

As communities of faith, my prayer is that in this season of Lent, we do more than go through the motions of reflection and worship. My prayer is that in this season of Lent our communities of faith dig deeper, and begin the process of dying—dying to negative and defeatist attitudes, dying to the spirit of, “We can’t,” and rising on the other side with the Holy Spirit power of, “With God’s help, we can!”

And above all, may God create in each of us—and in our communities of faith—a clean heart, and a new and right spirit.

God bless you and amen.

February 13th

2007-02-13T14:50:00.000-08:00

Least Likely to Succeed

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

High school is probably one of the most potentially traumatic times of our lives. Now I realize that is a pretty strong statement. However, based on conversations I have had with a variety of people throughout the years, it is clear to me that very few people have had uneventful high school years. My very unscientific research has further led me to believe that there are really only two groups of kids in high school—at least there were when I was growing up.

The first group was the “Popular Kids.” You know the ones. The jocks; the impossibly attractive, clear-skinned kids, the kids whose parents bought them new cars at age 16; the homecoming queens and kings. If you were in this group, you could cut classes at will, smoke in the bathrooms, and STILL not serve one day of detention! Faculty, staff, and other students practically worshipped the ground these young people walked on—or so it seemed.

Then there was the rest of us.

For some of us, it seemed that we never had a pimple until the first day of our freshman year. Then, on that day, our faces exploded into one big zit. We gained 50 pounds. Some of us couldn’t even BUY a date for the prom! And why did it seem that the one or two times we tried to be cool by cutting class, we ALWAYS got busted? The only saving grace for some of us was we were reasonably intelligent and did the homework of some of the popular kids—using the wrong answers! Ah! Sweet revenge! That is, of course, until you were cornered in the locker room after gym class, and subjected to the ultimate punishment. No, not a beating; not a stabbing; not a shooting. I’m talking about the ultimate humiliation—the wedgie!

But probably the worst high school experience—at least for me—was the Year Book. That was the time of year when your social ranking—or lack thereof—was documented for historical purposes.

Do you remember some of the categories? Although I went to a school that was about 35% African-American, the couple voted “Most Likely to Succeed” was ALWAYS a picture-perfect white couple—as were the Homecoming Kings and Queens for each class. I could never figure that one out—at least until I got a little older.

Have you ever wondered why there was never a “Least Likely To” category? I could’ve made at least one of those--Least Likely to Survive Rope Climbing in Gym Class!

Now what in the world does any of this have to do with our reading in Genesis for today? Especially when we consider the human subject of the reading is none other than Abram—later called Abraham—otherwise known as “The Father of Faith.” Talk about most likely to succeed!

But not always. Let’s take a quick look at Abram before his rise to biblical fame. In chapter 12 of Genesis, God calls Abram to “go to the land that he (God) would show him.” God promises Abram that He will bless him, and make Abram the father of a great nation, as well as make Abram a blessing to others.

Now at the time of his calling, Abram wasn’t exactly dirt poor. He had a certain amount of livestock, as well as an extended family that had joined him in Haran. But financially speaking, Abram wasn’t what we would call anything special.

Well, even if he wasn’t rich, Abram had to be a man of great honesty for God to call him, right? Not necessarily—at least not in the beginning. We see while in Egypt, Abram lied to Pharaoh, and told him his wife Sarai was actually his sister in order to save his own skin! But after God sent a plague on Pharaoh’s family, Pharaoh became wise to the deception and sent Abram, Sarai, and their crew out of the country—with many gifts of livestock and servants.

By the time we reach our reading for today, Abram is much wealthier than he was at the time of his calling. Abram has also become a bit of a military hero by rescuing his nephew Lot from an evil alliance of kings led by King Kedorlaomer, and has even been blessed by the high priest Melchizedek. Now things are beginning to look up for Abram, right?

Not really. See, in Abram’s time and culture, a big part of a man’s success was determined by the size of his family—particularly the number of sons he had. Since scripture tells us Sarai was well past child bearing age, even with all these awards, in the eyes of at least some of Abram’s peers, he was probably still seen as “LEAST likely to succeed.”

By the tone of the reading today, it appears at first Abram himself may have been feeling a little bit like “Mr. Least Likely to Succeed.” Abram had responded faithfully to God’s call, and God had taken care of him so far; but without children, what good would any of that be? Without what gives honor, an heir, no gift will matter. Who knows? Maybe in Abram’s mind, he was still a loser.

Abram’s considerations brought him to the point we so often reach. Life is sometimes a tragic affair. It is sometimes full of loneliness, broken hopes, irresolvable conflicts, painful illnesses, and death. God tells us that He loves us, and we try to believe it; but then we look at the world around us and say, “Does it really matter?” “I can’t do anything about all of this.”

Maybe that’s the whole point. Let me explain.

Scripture tells us that God took Abram outside to look at the sky. God told Abram to count the stars—if he could—and God promised that Abram’s descendants would be like those stars. Think about it. Stars were—and still are--unable to be counted. Stars are also part of God’s creation for which God—not Abram and certainly not us—is responsible. Whenever God makes a promise, it is God’s to fulfill, and God doesn’t need our help to decide how He is going to fulfill it, or WHO He is going to use to fulfill it. Amen?

Scripture goes on to tell us that at that moment, Abram believed, and God reckoned it to him as righteousness. The word “reckoned” in the Hebrew has priestly connotations, and it means a gift has been properly offered. In other words, Abram’s gift of belief was the appropriate proper response to God’s promise.

It has been said that it is this moment—when Abram believed-- when Abram received what had been around him all along—God’s love for him as the human being he was. Abram had tried so hard to act in ways that illustrated he was open to doing what God wanted him to do. After all, when God first called him to go, Abram left without question.

Yes, Abram was dishonest with Pharaoh to save his own skin. But then he took care of his nephew Lot by rescuing him from King Kedorlaomer, and even tithed a full 10% of the spoils of his victory to the high priest Melchizedek.

But none of that mattered to God.

God didn’t say to Abram, “Because you have done thus and so, I am going to reward you.” God didn’t say to Abram, “Because you tithed that 10%, I am going to make you a great nation.” God also didn’t say to Abram, “Because of that deception in Egypt, the whole deal is off,” either.

The point here is despite Abram’s worthiness or unworthiness, he was accepted by God. God wasn’t as concerned about Abram’s past as God was concerned about humanity’s future—God had chosen Abram to be part of God’s plan for humanity’s future, and Abram responded to God’s choice in faith.

So it is with us. God doesn’t care whether or not we were voted “most likely to succeed” in high school. God doesn’t care whether we thought of as “least likely to succeed,” either. It is our response to God’s offer of saving grace that matters.

The first move is God’s—always—and the appropriate response from us is faith—always. A faith that includes questions? Yes, Abram had them. A faith that even includes doubts? Yes. History is full of people of faith who had doubts from time to time. Theologian Paul Tillich even tells us that “Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.” But the appropriate response to God’s offer is still always faith.

Can we do that?

Can we trust a promise from God that cannot be measured by reason or history? That’s what grace is, you know. Can we combine that trust with a willingness to nevertheless enter the adventure of life—as crazy as that adventure may sound at times?

Well, I guess we’ll never know until we try, now will we?

Like Abram, may we, too, respond to God’s offer of saving grace with the one response that will be reckoned to us as righteousness. Let us believe. Let us respond to God in faith.

God bless you and amen.

January 14th, 2007

2007-01-14T12:17:00.000-08:00

Worship:It's Not Just for Sundays Anymore

Isaiah 6:1-8

It has been said that worship is a great mystery. If the words weren’t spoken so long ago, I would swear the person who spoke them HAD to be a member of an MCC church!

You have to admit it; we’re a little different—OK, so we’re a LOT different. Our worship is usually a blend of at least a few hundred Christian traditions. Maybe I exaggerate; but we certainly aren’t one size fits all, either.

As many of you know, I was raised in a Pentecostal church where the use of a bulletin was seen as an attempt to script the Holy Spirit. Funny thing, though; it seems the Holy Spirit started moving at exactly 11:00AM each Sunday morning, and rarely stopped no later than 12:30.

I walked into my first MCC in Houston, Texas in 1981, and boy was I in shock! Oh, no! They used bulletins! Their clergy wore robes! Color-coordinated with the altar linens at that! Surely incense couldn’t be far behind! (there was no incense, by the way).

Little did I know that 20 years later I would be preparing weekly worship bulletins and at least occasionally wearing robes that are color-coordinated with the altar linens. The length of the services still hasn’t changed that much, though, from the Pentecostal services of my youth; and no, we don’t use incense here—yet.

But what IS worship, really? Is there a “right” way to worship? Is there a “right” place to worship? Is there a “right” order of worship? What is the purpose of worship, anyway? I invite you to come with me as we explore the Old Testament reading from the book of Isaiah.

Today we are looking at worship—celebrating God’s unconditional love. So what can we learn about worship from our reading from Isaiah this morning? First a little background.

At the time of this writing, Isaiah had already retired as a counselor to the court of King Ahaz. An alliance was made between Ahaz and the threatening army against the strong warnings and advice of Isaiah. Sensing a shift away from God and toward political alliances, Isaiah left the court, never again to speak in the council of Ahaz. Now THERE’S a sermon—but not for today.

The setting for today’s reading is thought by some scholars to be an annual religious drama conducted in the temple. This drama, known as the Enthronement Celebration, depicted the return of the Divine King to his temple as victor over the forces of evil to be crowned as king, creator and judge of his people.

So Isaiah is participating in worship, and somewhere in the midst of what was probably a pretty routine annual service, he encounters God in a radical new way. Now we throw the word “radical” around a lot; but what does it mean?

“Radical” is used to describe an event or an experience that transcends the ordinary, that is in both quality AND quantity different from other events or experiences or its kind. In other words, Isaiah had a major “God moment.”

The point here is real worship occurs whenever God is radically present. Notice, too, that scripture doesn’t say everyone had the same experience as Isaiah. Isaiah is experiencing this miraculous presence and call of God while everyone else is basically “going through the motions” of worship. Why is that? What causes some people to be able experience God’s presence while others “go through the motions?”

Theologian Soren Kirkegaard tells the story about a community of ducks waddling off to duck church to hear the duck preacher. The duck preacher spoke eloquently of how God had given the ducks wings with which to fly. With these wings there was nowhere the ducks could not go, there was no God-given task the ducks could not accomplish. With those wings they could soar into the presence of God Himself! Shouts of “Amen!” quacked throughout the duck congregation. At the conclusion of the service, the ducks left, commenting on what a wonderful message they had heard—and waddled back home.

Face it, folks, many of us are way too comfortable in our worship routines. In at 11:00—out by 12:15 (of course noon is preferable during football season). A few peppy songs, a short, not-too-challenging sermon, and a rousing benediction to send us over to the Fellowship Hall for some tasty food and great gossip. Yep. I went all the way there, didn’t I?

Real worship happens when we become open to the presence of God in our lives—even when that presence challenges us and takes us WAY beyond where we want to go!

Real worship is transforming. Isaiah realized he was in the presence of God, and he recognized how short he fell of God’s expectations. Now how humbling is THAT? But in that moment, God impressed on Isaiah the grace that forgives sins. When Isaiah was able to confess his inadequacy before God, God was able to use him as a prophet to the people.

The point? Worship happens when human inadequacy is met by the grace of Almighty God.

Now I’ve talked about what real worship looks like: it occurs when God is radically present; real worship challenges us; real worship also transforms us. But where does real worship take place?

Surprise! Real worship CAN take place anywhere, anytime, any day of the week! That’s right; worship is not just for Sundays anymore. Actually, it never was meant to be—we’ve just made it that way to fit our schedules. See, it appears that we may be willing to meet God, but only on our terms.

Yes, Isaiah’s experience happened in the temple during a worship service—and what an experience that was! For those who you who may think our worship experience here is a little too formal—re-read the passage in Isaiah. We are no where near formal.

But what about Moses? Moses’ transforming worship experience happened in front of a burning bush in the wilderness. Saul, who was renamed Paul, was knocked to his knees on the road to Damascus. Some of the disciples were called while they were at work!

Some people experience worship during the musical portion of our services. Others during the sermon or prayers. For others, communion is the time when they feel God’s presence most closely.

At the same time, others experience the presence of God as they walk along the beach or the bay. Others feel God as they watch the sunrise or sunset, or as they feel the gentle caress of the wind. If it’s all God, it’s all good. Amen?

Finally, true worship results in a positive response to God’s actions in our lives. It is important to note that God’s question, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” was not directed to Isaiah, but rather to the attending seraphim. Isaiah simply overheard the question and immediately stepped forward. Isaiah was so grateful for the grace God had shown to him that he didn’t ask who, what, when, where, or why? Isaiah said, “Here I am—send me!”

Church, like Isaiah, we’re blessed. I’ll bet most of you here can say you have sensed God’s presence in your lives at one time or another. I KNOW God has moved and will continue to move in the life of this church. God has shown ALL of us an amazing amount of grace. The song isn’t called “Amazing Grace” for nothing. Amen?

You know, I think Soren Kirkegaard made a great point in his story. By sending Jesus Christ, God really HAS given us wings to fly. Scripture tells us we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Why waddle when we can fly?

Are you ready to experience true worship? Are you ready to stretch those wings?

Here we are, Lord. Send us!

God bless you, and amen.

December 8th

2006-12-08T17:22:00.000-08:00

A New Word for An Old World

Luke 3:1-6

So, what do you think about the lectionary scripture readings for this week? Certainly an improvement over last week, don’t you think?

After all, last week it was the foundations of the heavens shaking, seas churning, waves rising, and people fainting! It was very much like a “Left Behind” movie plot, minus Kirk Cameron playing the lead role. But hopefully, we all got a little more out of the message than, “”The world is coming to an end, and it is not going to be pretty. By the way, Merry Christmas.”

By comparison, today’s reading from Luke is rather tame. Ah, but looks! They CAN be deceiving, can’t they?

So, what can be so unnerving about today’s reading? Isn’t it just one of the nice, warm Advent readings with the good news about the birth of Jesus the Christ?

Well, there IS good news in the reading, to be sure; but it also gives us much to think about if we study it a little closer.

For example, there is actually scandal in the first two verses. I know at first it looks like an interesting—or not so interesting—bit of history. When this book of the Bible was written, rather than use dates like we do today, people often used the reigns of government and religious leaders in an attempt to pinpoint when events took place. So, this list from Luke can be seen as the author’s way of telling us when the ministry of John officially began.

But the scandal is actually in verse 2. …”the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” Think about it. From all the list of government AND religious leaders in high places, the word of God came to who? John! You remember John--John the guy whose mother dressed him funny in camel’s hair and leather. John—the guy who ate locusts and wild honey. Yeah, THAT John!

Notice, too, the word of God didn’t come to the most noticeable and powerful locations in either the political OR religious world, either. The word of God came to a person considered an outcast, who was located outside of the mainstream of political and religious power!

Then notice what John does. John does not sit on his blessed assurances in the wilderness. No, scripture tells us that John came out of the wilderness. John starts proclaiming a message of baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins—and John took his message all the way to the top of both the government AND religious power structures of his time.

Because John’s message was from God, it carried authority—it influenced opinions and commanded attention. John did not have power—at least not as the world defines power—he had something far better.

John’s message drew some very unfavorable attention from both the government and religious powers of his time. Why was that? Many of those in power did not like John’s message because it called them to task. It told them to change the way they were doing things.

I have said this before, but it bears repeating here. The Greek word for repentance used here is “metanoia.” This word means “change of heart.” Repentance signals a commitment to address wrongs, to make necessary changes, and to participate in relationships in new ways.

Does all this still sound a little distant to you? Let’s try something different, then. From the 2006 version of this passage:

In the sixth year of the presidency of George W. Bush, when Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cronyn were Senators from the State of Texas; when Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson was Moderator of UFMCC, and Henry Garrett was Mayor of Corpus Christi, the word of God came to US. The word of God came to US at the corner of Craig and 11th in a former Jewish synagogue in Corpus Christi, Texas—of all places! Then WE (that’s WE folks, not just ME) called and wrote our government officials. WE attended City Council meetings and met with local law enforcement agencies. WE wrote and met with religious leaders from other denominations as well as our own denomination.

And what did we do? We told them to REPENT! We told them something is terribly wrong and some changes need to be made!
 When our government can vote to spend BILLIONS dollars on war while the poverty level of our own country increases, and social service agencies like Loving Spoonful fight to maintain adequate funding to keep their doors open, SOMETHING IS WRONG!
 When adults fight like children over how we should or should not spend money to develop, or not develop, our Bay front property, while literally tons of trash float in the very waters of that Bay—the Bay that God gave us to care for, by the way, SOMETHING IS WRONG!
 When there are mammoth churches in this world furnished with precious metals and only the best of just about everything from furniture to sound equipment, while people are literally sleeping and begging for money from the very steps of these institutions, SOMETHING IS TERRIBLY WRONG!
 When Christian denominations of ALL types and their leaders become so focused on political issues that they seem to lose all sight of our primary task as Christians, which is to make disciples of all nations; when they forget we are to SERVE and NOT BE SERVED, SOMETHING IS TERRIBLY, TERRIBLY WRONG!

OK, so did I bring it a little closer to home for us? Maybe a little too close?

I know. There is a whole lot to change in this world, and let’s be honest, most of us don’t like change. Even changes for the better require each of us to step up and step out somehow to try to make a difference in this world, and that makes us uncomfortable.

Where does this change start? It starts here with each of us.

As I say each week at Communion, it is important we look inside our hearts. Look at our lives to see what may need to change. Look in our hearts to see what stuff may need to be cleaned out.

Why is this necessary? Because as we clean out the useless stuff in our lives, we make way for Jesus Christ to fill not only our hearts, but our entire lives. We make way for the comforting, empowering Holy Spirit to fill us with HUMBLE authority to address the Pilates, Herods, and religious authorities of this world.

It is through the power of Jesus the Christ in our lives that we, like John, can begin to prepare the way of the Lord. It is through the power of Jesus the Christ we can straighten the curves of this world that distract us, making straight the path.

It is through the power of Jesus the Christ in our lives that we can overcome the mountains and hills that threaten us, and it is this power that helps to smooth the rough areas that are part of all our lives from time to time. It is power of Jesus the Christ in our lives that leads us past all the other crooked gods of this world in a straight path to eternal life with Almighty God.

But this wonderful news of salvation and hope of life eternal does not end with us. Remember, if we call ourselves Christians, we are called to serve not only God, but also to serve God through serving others.

It is my prayer for each of us today, that not only in this season of Advent, but also in all seasons, that we continually prepare our hearts and our lives to receive Christ DAILY into our lives. As John prepared the way for Jesus, and as Jesus the Christ—who IS The Way—made a way for us to experience eternal life with God, let us too, prepare the way for those around us today who do not know Christ. Let us also prepare the way for those who will come after us, so that they, too, may know the Good News that IS Jesus the Christ.

Let us prepare the way the way for others so that all flesh may one day see the salvation of God.

God bless you and amen.

November 20th

2006-11-20T18:29:00.000-08:00

Christian Survivor

Mark 13:1-8

I have to be honest. When it comes to the “Survivor” series, I do not have a clue—not one. I’ve heard of an “immunity challenge;” but I thought that was a legal term.

I’ve also caught parts of conversations about these shows. I’ve heard about the back biting, deal-making, and ruthless behavior all in the name of money; but I thought the topic of conversation was just another presidential election year.

Stephanie Reznick of Eel Magazine has come up with a good idea. How about some Biblical reality shows? For example, what about “Temptation Garden?” Couples are put in an idyllic garden, where all their needs are gratified. The hook is that they cannot eat the forbidden fruit cup. The evil host tries to tempt them into eating it by telling them they will know all the answers to the questions on “Jeopardy.” The first one to eat the cup is kicked out of the garden. The winner gets eternal life.

Hey, in my book, eternal life beats a million dollars by a long shot!
Here’s an interesting one: Fear-the-Fish Factor (otherwise known as the “Jonah Game”). A large marine animal swallows contestants whole. They have three days to get out. The winners get to survive. The losers? Well, we won’t go into that.

Believe it or not, there is a survival message in today’s Gospel lesson. Today’s reading in Mark picks up from last week, where we discussed Jesus’ teachings on the “smell” of religious hypocrisy in the temple, compared to the sweet “smell” of humility and generosity in the story of the widow’s offering.

As Jesus and the disciples were leaving the temple, one of the disciples made an innocent enough observation about the architecture of the temple. Apparently the buildings which made up the temple were quite impressive. In fact, this temple was seen by many people as not just any building; this temple was the very place where Heaven and Earth met. This place was the dwelling place of God. The historian Josephus noted that “the temple was not only impressive to Jews, but it was also revered by aliens from the ends of the earth who have heard of its fame.”

So imagine the surprise of the disciple when Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; it will all be thrown down.” Ask a simple question…

But what was it about the temple that provoked such a response from Jesus? Maybe we can get a few clues from earlier readings in Mark. In chapter 11 of Mark, Jesus cleanses the temple by driving out the money changers--a signal of the end of the temple’s function. Jesus’ overturning of the tables may be seen as an overturning of what had become a corrupt system.

Notice the positioning in verse 3 of today’s reading. Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives OPPOSITE the temple. The language and imagery of positioning here is very strong. Jesus has set himself opposite, not of Judaism, not of the physical buildings that made up the temple itself, not even of the wealth it held. These things—wealth and buildings—are neither good nor evil in and of themselves. Jesus set himself opposite of what the whole institution had come to represent.

The temple had come to represent power, wealth, privilege, well-placed political alliances, and not just a few shady financial dealings. In the midst of all this corruption, however, the temple was still seen by many as THE ONLY PLACE people—AND ONLY CERTAIN PEOPLE AT THAT—could find God.

In other words, the “institution” (and many of its leaders and members) had somehow lost their focus on love, service, hospitality, sound teaching, and modeling ethical behavior. They built their faith around an institution, rather than the One who that institution was supposed to represent. They had lost their focus on the REAL God.

Unfortunately, many people continue to do the same thing today. We place our faith not so much in God as we do in structures—particular government structures, particular political parties, and yes, even particular denominations. But really, is that so bad? Is it so wrong the support your government, political party, and denomination?

Of course not. The problem surfaces when WE try to put GOD in our particular “temple.” The problem intensifies when we start thinking that our government is the only one God blesses. The problem actually becomes ridiculous when we think the agenda of our political party is the only one that God supports. Finally, the problem becomes heretical when we begin to think that God is on the side of OUR denomination because we’re the “conservative” church, the “liberal” church, and-- I’ve got to say it-- because we are the only truly “open and affirming” church.

Besides, rather than God being on “our” side, aren’t WE supposed to be on GOD’s side? Think about that for a minute.

When Jesus made the comments about the destruction of the temple, he was probably referring to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in the year 70CE by the Romans. But the spiritual message we can take from this Jesus’ comments is this: No matter how secure institutions—ANY institution-- may appear, they can ALL be overthrown.

Now this message frightened the disciples. Peter, James, John, and Andrew begin asking the questions, “When? and “How?” “When will these things happen?” “How will we know?” In other words, “How are we going to survive?”

When we place our faith in institutions, rather than in God, eventually something is going to happen to cause the walls of that institution—whatever it may be—to come tumbling down. It may be literal—as was the case with the temple. Or it may be figurative—our government lies to us; our political party starts talking out of both sides of its mouth; our denominations become more interested in numbers and playing politics than they do in spreading the Gospel message of Jesus the Christ.

Our walls are down, and our weakened faith is exposed and susceptible. Like the disciples, we are frightened. How can we survive?

At first, Jesus is really no help at all. He speaks of wars and rumors or wars, famines, and earthquakes as only the beginning. Jesus then goes on just past our readings for today to tell the disciples how they will be arrested and turned over to councils and kings to testify.

Jesus tells the disciples they are going to be beaten—and listen to this—they are going to be beaten IN THE SYNAGOGUES! The very religious institution that used to welcome them will one day beat them and drive them out because they will proclaim the Gospel of Jesus the Christ!

I can imagine the disciples thinking, “Uh, thanks, Jesus. We ask for when and how, and we get world upheaval—not to mention that whole arrest and beating part.”

But Jesus doesn’t leave the disciples OR us empty-handed. Jesus gives us a clue to Christian survival in a hostile environment in verse 5. …”Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.

The clue here is BE AWARE. Be aware of your surroundings. Be part of the world around you; listen; learn. At the same time, it is important for us to drink in the “living water” of Christ daily through prayers, study and service. This “living water” can keep us strong against the elements of a hostile environment that seeks to spiritually dehydrate, disorient, and eventually destroy us and our witness to the power of Almighty God.

Jesus gives us a second clue to Christian survival just past our reading for today in verse 10. “And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations.” The clue here? FOCUS ON YOUR CALLING. What Jesus was telling the disciples in effect was, “Don’t be so worried about the when and how of the future. Your priority is to focus on doing your job—preaching the Gospel—in the here and now.”

The 2003 translation of this passage could sound something like this: “Yes, there are wars, domestic violence, disease, poverty, a dying ecosystem, and numerous forms of oppression. But rather than focusing on these tragedies, focus on the root cause—a broken world that, for the most part, has turned its back on God.

Then proclaim the good news of Jesus the Christ! Give people hope! Proclaim Christ through your words! Proclaim Christ through your actions! Proclaim Christ through the example of your lives! THAT is your job as a disciple of Jesus Christ!

No, not everyone will love you. Your government structures may reject you. You will probably be arrested for non-violently protesting unjust laws, and will have to explain your actions to hostile judges.

By the way, don’t be surprised if some of your churches reject you for proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ because others in your denominational structure may see that as “offensive” or “exclusive”.

But, there is no need to fear any of these things. As we are strengthened by drinking from those “living waters”; as we focus on our calling as disciples of Jesus Christ to proclaim the Good News through our words, deeds, and indeed, by the examples of our very lives, we build endurance. We begin to have hope.

It is a hope that tells us that in the midst of chaos and distress, Jesus comes. It is a hope that tells us in times of wars and rumors of wars, Jesus comes. It is a hope that tells us in an era when safe havens are hard to find, Jesus comes. It is a hope that tells us that even when leaders fall, institutions fall, and families threaten to fall apart, still Jesus comes. It is a hope that enables us to survive—it is a hope that enables us to thrive!

Christian Survivor. It’s no game. The stakes are high—very high. The challenges we face today are much like those of the disciples: to not only survive, but also to thrive; to bring hope to a world that is dying for change. It’s not easy; it can be downright dangerous sometimes.

However, with the hope we have in the love of God that is revealed in Jesus the Christ, not only can we survive, not only can we thrive, through Christ Jesus, we can change the world!

Be strong. Stay focused. Keep the faith. And as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Keep hope alive.”

God bless you and amen.

October 16th

2006-10-16T20:27:00.000-07:00

Back to Basics

Hebrews 4:12-16

Most of you who know me already know that I am not really what you would call a “techno guru.” Now, I can build a decent Excel spreadsheet, and I definitely know my way around Word software. Hey! I even learned how to blog this year! But much beyond those applications, I am pretty useless when it comes to being a computer pro.

But e-mail? Hey! I am all over e-mail! Can I get an “amen” from the Board of Directors and our bookkeeper? In fact, I am usually so on top of my e-mail that it has become a source of, well, let’s say “discussion” in the Lofstrand-Spears household. See, Richard checks his e-mail maybe once every week or so. I check my e-mail at least daily, unless we are on vacation.

What makes my obsession with keeping my e-mails up to date so strange, though, is that 10 years ago I hated using e-mail. When my company installed e-mail on our computers and made using it mandatory, I was one of those folks who complained that we would lose that “personal touch” so valued by our customers. I joined the chorus of those shouting, “We need to get back to basics!” Never mind that I worked for a hazardous waste removal company. Oh, yeah! A lot of personal touch required in that industry! Truth be told, I was probably a closet technophobe.

But as wonderful as e-mail can be, it also has a dark side. For example, have you ever been upset about an issue, typed out a flaming e-mail, and as soon as you clicked on the “Send” icon, said, “Oh….golly gosh darn it all (or words to that effect)? Um hmm. Thought so. So have I.

My worst e-mail moments normally happen when my intention is to be professional, firm, clear, and direct. I click on the “Send” icon, confident that I have presented my position well. But sometimes the replies I receive to these well-intentioned e-mails have singed the hair on my eyebrows! E-mail has truly become today’s two-edged sword. But as we learn from our passage in Hebrews today, there was something long before the invention of e-mail--and something that will outlast e-mail--that is even sharper—the word of God. But exactly what is the word of God?

Well, today, when we speak of the “word of God,” most Christians think of the Bible; and that is certainly one way of looking at this term. But, I want to challenge us this morning to go beyond this more traditional view of the “word of God” to a view that may be a little less concrete, but also a view that may be more personal to us, as well. To do that, we need to know a little more about the context, or setting, for the book of Hebrews.

Remember last week when I said Job is one of those books many pastors avoid when it comes to preaching? Well, Hebrews is another one of those books. A big reason for this avoidance is that Hebrews is full of symbolic language and imagery that make a lot of the passages from this book difficult to apply to everyday faith and living.

Take the term “word of God,” for example. As I said earlier, when we hear that term today, most of us here think of the Bible. But that is not what the “word of God” means in Hebrews. Early on in this book, we read that, “long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets.” You see, our ancestors did not have a handy dandy, Old Testament or New Testament they could download from a multitude of various websites, or maybe even actually pick up and read in paper form! No, while these writings did eventually come along at a much later time, in the beginning, we had the basics—the word of God through the prophets.

This word of God is the living, breathing word that spoke the universe into existence. This word of God is the word that came through leaders and prophets like Moses, Ezekiel, Elijah, Elisha, Hosea, and Jeremiah. This word of God is the word that came through the actions of wise women like Deborah, Rahab, and Naomi. This word of God is a personal, loving word that provided protection and guidance to our ancestors.

This same word of God is still around today, too. But to be honest with you, I think we’ve lost a lot of that “personal touch” that comes with experiencing the word of God outside of the Bible. Don’t get me wrong; I think the Bible is great. When we really—and I mean, really—read and study the scriptures, I am convinced that God speaks to us through them. The Bible provides us with guidance, direction, and hope. Some of us use daily devotionals that include biblical passages. These devotionals are great ways to make the Bible even more accessible to people who may be a little lost on how to start reading the Bible. There are also Bibles that have the scriptures arranged by the day of the week so you can read through the Bible in just one year! These are wonderful study tools!

But as valuable as Bible study is, there is just something about the word of God coming through another person or event that seems to make a far more lasting impression than the written word alone. For example, it is one thing to read about God’s love in the Bible. It is a different thing altogether to experience God’s love in deep and personal ways in a community of faith, as we pray together, hug one another, and share one another’s joys and sorrows.

But there is also another side to God’s word—a side we don’t like to talk about too much. You see, folks, judgment also comes through God’s word. Leaders and prophets in the Old Testament, and apostles in the New Testament called people on their stuff as God spoke through these leaders, prophets, and apostles. The book of Hebrews recalls how some of the children of Israel died in the wilderness as a result of their disobedience.

In our passage today we read how the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. We read how the word of God is able to separate soul from spirit, joints from marrow. Not only that, the word of God is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The word of God cuts through all the fluff. The word of God cuts through all the garbage. The word of God exposes us completely—and we don’t like that kind of exposure one little bit, do we?

It has been said that, “the word of God is not merely a collection of words from God, a vehicle for collecting ideas. The word of God is living, life changing, and dynamic as it works in us. With the precision of a surgeon’s knife, the word of God reveals who we are and who we are not. The word of God penetrates the core of our moral and spiritual life. It discerns what is in us—both the good and the evil. The demands of the word of God require decisions. We must not only listen to the word of God, we must also let it shape our lives.”

It is one thing for me to stand up here and talk to you about living honestly and with integrity, as well as avoiding excesses in all areas of our lives. You expect that from me. You expect to read about issues like that in the Bible, too. So, as a result, some people tend to avoid churches that preach about responsible living. And while these folks may own a bunch of Bibles, chances are they avoid the passages they don’t like—if they read their Bibles at all. So, if we avoid the nagging preacher and don’t really read the Bible, we have an excuse for our actions, right?

Think again. Remember, the word of God is living and active. The word of God is not limited to the writings of the Bible, or the scriptures of any other faith tradition, either! And do you know what else? The word of God can come through some pretty strange sources too, sometimes! You see, I think the word of God can come through friends and family who may not even claim to be Christians! Folks, I’ve had non-Christian friends call me on some of my stuff in ways that were far more effective than any sermon or Bible study! Think about it. If the Bible challenges us about an issue in our lives, the preacher challenges us about this issue, and even loving, open and affirming, non-Christians call us on it, chances are we should be paying attention! Amen?

So here we are—spiritually sliced open, exposed, naked, bare before God. And it ain’t a pretty sight, either. How can we even pretend to be able to stand under such judgment?

The good news is we don’t have to pretend. Jesus Christ, who experienced the full range of human mortality, this same Jesus Christ intercedes for us before God. Whenever we are at our most vulnerable, our most exposed, whenever we are at our lowest and think we have no where to go, scripture tells us that we can approach God’s throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.

My sisters and brothers, as we look around at our world today, I think it is time we got back to basics. So whether it is written, electronic, spoken, or experienced through events in our lives, let’s get back to the word of God. For it is through the living, active, sharp word of God that we discover the way to God’s throne of grace.

And couldn’t we all use a little more grace in our lives?

God bless you and amen

October 10th

2006-10-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

When Bad Things Happen to Good People

Job 1:1; 2:1-10

In the past 10 days, a schoolgirl has been killed in Colorado, a principal has been killed in Wisconsin, and five Amish schoolgirls have been killed execution style in Pennsylvania. And on top of that, Fred Phelps and his bunch of so-called Christian followers were planning on protesting at the Amish funerals! The only reason they didn’t was some ultra conservative radio host offered Phelps an hour of airtime if they would call off the protest! Can you believe that?

But do you know what I think is really insane? There will be far more air time and media attention given to the Mark Foley scandal and how it may or may not affect the Republicans in the November elections than these senseless tragedies. Is anybody else here asking the question: “God, what is going on here?”

If you have been coming to church here for any length of time, you know that normally I try to ease into the topic of the day. I love using humor and making fun of myself and family members, as well as poking fun at situations to which most of us can relate. But there are just some passages of scripture and some topics that just do not lend themselves to humor—like our passage from the book of Job today, and all the senseless violence and just flat out stupidity of Fred Phelps and his followers that I mentioned in my opening words.

Human suffering is part of life, and do you know what? It stinks! The subject of human suffering takes up the vast majority of the book of Job, and for that reason, the book is disturbing to a lot of people—myself included. But why does the book of Job bother so many people? Why do a lot of preachers shy away from preaching on passages from the book of Job? Maybe this book disturbs a lot of folks because humanity tends to be cause and effect oriented. That is, you do “A”; “B” is the logical result.

Well, the book of Job throws all that nonsense out of the window. In biblical times, people explained everything as a result of God’s pleasure or displeasure with humanity. If it rained and your crops grew, you had God’s favor. Droughts meant that God was unhappy with you. What we would consider normal skin allergies would be considered punishment from God by some of our biblical ancestors.

But wait a minute! Job is described as “upright” and “blameless.” Some of the Hebrew words describing Job indicate he was “whole,” or “complete.” In other words, while Job wasn’t perfect, he was pretty darned close to it. So the authors of the book of Job—being the cause and effect people they were—seem to describe the reason for Job’s suffering as the result of some contest between Hasatan—also known as “Satan” or “The Accuser” and God.

But notice something here: The Accuser does not have a problem with Job as much as he has a problem with God. Satan is challenging the whole premise of why people have faith in God. “Well of course Job loves you! Look at the way you bless him! Of course he reveres and worships you! But take all that away, and Job will curse you to your face.” What Satan is basically saying is that people will love God only during the good times; but let the storms of life come our way, and we will jump ship in a heartbeat.

I hate to admit it; but Satan has a point. It is really easy for us to love, trust, and worship God during the good times, isn’t it? When we have health, a job, maybe a partner, and a roof over our heads, it is pretty easy to be thankful—especially when we look around and see others who don’t appear to be as fortunate as we are.

But then it happens. The partner leaves, we are downsized at our job, we get a very bad report from our doctor—you name it, it happens to us. Sometimes these things seem to happen all at the same time, too! To be honest, sometimes we are our own worst enemies. By that comment, I mean there are times when we have a hand in our own misfortune. We don’t take care of our bodies, we miss too much work, we drink and drive, we cheat on our partners, and we suffer the consequences of our choices. Can’t really pin those things on God, now can we?

But there are those times when it seems the world has just gone to hell in a hand basket, and we have absolutely no clue why. For example, we don’t know why Charles Carl Roberts IV killed those innocent Amish girls. Syndicated religion columnist Terry Mattingly tells us that witnesses said the killer was angry with God, angry with himself, haunted by guilt, fed up with life and driven by a hellish grudge.

We don’t know why some children are horribly abused, why so many people are homeless, emotionally disturbed, or physically challenged. We don’t know why sometimes our own lives just seem like one never-ending soap opera. When these things happen, we begin to ask God, “Why?” Why does God allow these things to happen? Why do bad things happen to good people? Do you really want to know?

So do I, folks. So do I.

The not-so-simple truth of the matter is that not all human suffering is deserved—period. Jesus knew this fact when he said that “God sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” You see, folks, not even God in the person of Jesus Christ gave us the reason for unjust human suffering.

So what do we do in the face of unjust human suffering? Some people point to the example of Job and suggest we just have to learn to be patient in the face of unjust adversity. Let me clue you in on something, folks. That whole “patience of Job” business? Not true. Nope, Job was not---repeat not—patient. In fact, the word for “patient” or “patience” is not even found in the book of Job!

The whole third chapter of Job is a lament—and it starts with Job cursing the day of his birth! From chapter 10, verse 1: “I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak of the bitterness of my soul.” From chapter 17, verse 1, Job screams, “My spirit is broken, my days are extinct, the grave is ready for me!” In chapter 23, verses 16 and 17, Job moans, “God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me; if only I could vanish in darkness, and thick darkness would cover my face!” Job was ticked off, folks! And do you know what? He had every reason to be upset!

OK. So if patience is not the lesson from Job, what is the lesson? I think there are at least a few things we can learn from Job. First, life is a mixture of both the good and the bad. All our confessions, all our prayers, and all our good works do not exempt us from experiencing life’s sorrows. Job drives this point home nicely when he asks, “Shall we receive the good at the hand of God and not receive the bad?” It was this understanding of life that put Job far ahead of his friends who tried to come up with nice and tidy explanations for Job’s troubles. Sometimes these explanations simply do not exist.

A second lesson we can learn from Job is that it is perfectly OK—in fact, I think it is even healthy sometimes—to faithfully and honestly question God. Job never turned his back on God; but Job was honest in offering his passionate complaints. So, when we are going through times of unjust suffering, I believe it is completely appropriate to question God! Check out some of the Psalms and the book of Lamentations. Being upset with God is nothing new, folks.

Yet another lesson we can learn from Job is to be persistent in seeking an answer from God. Job kept talking to God until he got an answer. It wasn’t necessarily the answer Job wanted; but he did eventually hear from God. You see, Job did not get a nice neat explanation from God about the nature of human suffering. Job did not get a catchy little saying he could write down and put somewhere to remind him the next time life began to stink.

But what Job did get was a sense of peace in his relationship with God. Job said, “I know you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” See, Job didn’t know why, but Job knew who. Job knew who was ultimately in control, and it was that knowledge that gave him peace.

So I think maybe rather than focusing on the patience of Job—something that didn’t exist anyway—maybe we should focus on the faith of Job. It was a faith that was severely tried, but a faith that chose to trust God anyway. Even though he couldn’t explain the loss of his wealth, his children, and his health, Job chose to trust that when all is said and done, God will make all things clear.

The good news today is that same peace is available to all of us. Like Job, our challenge is not to make sense of all the bad and good things that happen in life. But at the same time, like Job, to honestly question those things we don’t understand. We won’t get all the answers, of course—at least not in this life. But the most important point is that we are to remain in close contact with God throughout it all; because it is that intimate relationship with God that will ultimately save us, and put us in a position to discover true serenity and peace.

May it be so for you, for me, and for our world.

God bless you and amen.

October 3rd

2006-10-03T18:29:00.000-07:00

Tattletale!

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22

“Tattletale! Tattletale!” Remember using that line growing up? We usually reserved it for that annoying goody two shoes who was always getting us into trouble by telling our parents, teachers, or other care givers about some of our more, well, creative endeavors. For example, like the time I tossed my sister’s Barbie clothes down the chute of my Mamaw Polly’s outhouse. I thought it was a rather clever stunt—that is, until I had to retrieve the clothes and wash them by hand!

Probably the cleverest tattletale in my life growing up was my older sister, Beth. You see, Beth did not always just run and tell on me—she timed her revelations to suit her purposes. The best example of her ingenuity came when she overheard a friend and I using 4-letter words in a conversation. She told my friend’s sister, who told her parents within a couple of days, and the parents promptly punished my friend.

Not Beth, though. Nooooooo! She held what I considered to be this potentially life-threatening information over my head for months! I did her bidding day and night, which was particularly humiliating for an 11 year-old little brother. Finally, in a fit of exasperation, and fearful for my life, I confessed my horrible secret to my father—as well as why I was doing so. Dad—from whom I had learned most of those 4-letter words, by the way—shook his head, smiled, and told me to never let it happen again. I am sure that he got a big kick out of the story; he just couldn’t let me know that he did!

But as annoying as the whole concept of “tattling” can be for children as well as adults, there is actually a time and a place for it. Since the 1970’s, tattling in the adult world has become known as “whistle blowing.” You see, sometimes there are products, policies, or procedures within an organization that can cause harm to customers, stockholders, or employees; but that information is being kept from the public. Whistle blowers are the folks who make this potentially harmful information public.

Now we might think that people would be grateful for receiving this information, and sometimes they are—Sherron Watkins, the whistle blower in the infamous Enron scandal—is a case in point. But most of the time, whistleblowers are despised—sometimes even by the people who benefit from their actions! Many whistle blowers face harassment and lawsuits. Sometimes investigators dog whistleblowers for months and even years. With all this stress, it is easy to see why many whistle blowers wind up emotionally distressed. So, to put it mildly, whistle blowing ain’t for sissies.
But while the term “whistle blowing” has been around only since the 70’s, the practice has been around since at least Old Testament times, and Esther is a prime example of a biblical whistleblower. Let’s take a look at her story.

Esther was a beautiful young Jewish woman who lived in Persia after the end of the Babylonian exile. She became queen after Queen Vashti was banished for refusing to appear in the Persian royal court at the king’s command. However, neither the king nor anyone in the Persian court realized that Esther was Jewish. So while Esther becomes queen, Mordecai, who was Esther’s guardian and cousin, was making a name for himself in the Persian court. He even discovered a plot to assassinate the king, told Esther, who told the king, and the plot was foiled. So far, everything was looking pretty good for Mordecai and Esther.

But things started changing for the worse when Haman was appointed second in command. You see, Haman was a leader who was full of himself, and became enraged when Mordecai would not bow to him, which was a way of acknowledging Haman as divine. But since Mordecai worshipped only the one true God, Yahweh, he would have none of that bowing to humans business.

So Haman decided to run and tattle to the king. But there was a twist to Haman’s tattling. He knew that the king liked Mordecai, so Haman had to disguise his plot by making his accusation generic. So, Haman runs to the king and says, “Oh your majesty! Your majesty! There is a group of people in your kingdom who are different than everybody else! They don’t even keep your rules! Personally, I wouldn’t put up with it. If I were you, I would annihilate them! Oh, and by the way, if you do, there is a nice contribution in it for the King’s Treasury.”

So the king—not one for details—issues the edict, not knowing that he has placed his own queen in danger. Mordecai, however, learns of the edict, and tells Esther. Now we might think that the next logical step would be for Esther to run and tell the king what the real deal is. But there was just one small problem. Even though she was queen, Persian court protocol dictated that Esther could not approach the king without being summoned by him. If she did so, Esther was risking her own life. And here is where we get to the point of our lesson today: the differences between “tattling” and whistle blowing.

Tattling is usually selfish in nature. Children tattle because they have been offended somehow by another child—you know, “He’s looking at me; make him stop! Tattlers also usually make the situation look worse than it really is. For example, “She took my blue crayon!”---even though there are about a dozen blue crayons all over the place.

Of course, children are not the only tattlers. Haman was a tattler. He was personally offended by Mordecai’s refusal to bow to him, and rather than at least trying to work through the situation with Mordecai, he ran to the king. And on top of that, out of his hatred for one person, Haman blew the whole situation out of proportion to where a whole race of people was put at risk!

We have examples of adult tattling in modern history, too. Sexist men and women were—and still are--offended by “uppity women” who have the nerve to demand equal pay for equal work; racists were—and still are--offended by African Americans who have the nerve to demand equal rights; homophobes were—and still are—offended by gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people who have the nerve to demand equal rights. These people, like Haman, are offended because we do not bow to them as morally superior to us, so they run to our elected officials with promises of contributions to their election campaigns, if only they will issue edicts preventing equality for the people they don’t like. Then, on top of that, these folks bolster their claims by telling these elected officials how such equality is a threat to the moral fabric of society! In other words, “These people don’t follow our rules, your Majesties.”

Whistle blowing on the other hand is usually done for the common good of the community. Corporate fraud, unsafe health care practices, hostile takeovers, and terrorist plots are good examples where whistle blowing is not only the right thing to do—it is the only thing to do!

Children become whistle blowers when they report abuse of various kinds by family members, friends, or other caregivers. This type of reporting is so crucial not only for the safety of the children being abused now, but to hopefully prevent the abuse of future generations by these abusers. But again, children are not the only whistleblowers. Esther was a whistleblower. In her case, the issue was genocide. Failure to report Haman’s plot to the king would result not only in Esther’s death, but also the death of her people. She had to risk her life in order to expose this plot; but Esther—unlike Haman—was able to look beyond her own needs, and risked her life for the common good of her people.

Finally, whistle blowing that is rooted in goodness, is whistle blowing that is rooted in God. Haman did not consult even his own pagan gods for direction. But Esther asked her fellow Jews to join her in a three-day fast, which was a means of seeking God’s help and blessing.

When Esther took a calculated risk by “coming out,” so to speak, and that risk was rooted in God and for the common good of her community, she who risked her life saved it—as well as the lives of her people. And Haman, who sought to save his life, defined here as his position and reputation, lost it all—including his life.

Folks, effective, positive, long-lasting change does not come from always playing it safe. But neither does it come from a yearly parade, occasional protests, and pointing fingers at one another—regardless of the group whom is seeking the change.

Let’s take a lesson from Esther this morning. If we really want to see positive change in our world, let’s be willing to take calculated risks—risks that are courageous, but are also based on planning and common sense. And may those risks be rooted in God’s goodness, bathed in prayer, and for the common good of our communities.

Otherwise, our communities might just end up like our tattletale friend Haman—just swinging in the breeze.

God bless you and amen.

September 26th

2006-09-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

Size Does NOT Matter

Mark 9:30-37

Some of you already know that I started substitute teaching this school year. And I have to say, it has been quite the experience! I have “subbed” for all grade levels—elementary through high school—and at various locations throughout the city.

But, while my experience has spanned the various grade levels, about 95% of my assignments to this point have been for middle school—grades 6-8. Oh, yeah! Grades 6-8, ages 11-13, where raging hormones, peer pressure, and attitude all combine to produce some very interesting situations.

One thing I have noticed, however, is that no matter where I sub, almost every middle school classroom I enter asks me three questions. First: “You talk funny, Mr. Spears. Where are you from?” Now, with this question, I have learned I can score some “cool points” if I tell the class I moved here from Atlanta. Why is that? Atlanta is home to a lot of hip hop and rap stars. So, being from the “ATL” gives me some “street cred.” And trust me, folks, in today’s classrooms, you need all the “street cred” you can get.

The second question is, “Mr. Spears, are you related to Brittney Spears?” I actually messed with one class and told them I was Brittney’s grandfather. One very bright young person immediately picked up on the fact that I was far too young to be the pop star’s grandfather—an uncle, perhaps—but not a grandfather. It’s nice to know that brown-nosing the teacher hasn’t gone out of style. Of course I had to confess to them that I was not related to Brittney, and the kids who did not buy my story had a great time teasing those who did.

The third question is, “Dang (or some other four letter word), how tall are you, Mr. Spears?” You see, for these young people, size—defined here as height—matters. For example, there have been a couple of instances where a student has stood up from his seat to challenge an instruction I have given, looked up and saw that I was not amused, and has immediately sat back down. Hey, whatever works!

Of course, middle school students are not the only people who put a premium on size. As we grow into adulthood, we tend to move toward a fascination with size measurements of different kinds—bank accounts, number of vehicles, square footage of homes, number of homes, titles, honors, and the list goes on.

Followers of Jesus Christ are not exempt from these fascinations, either. If you remember the reading from Mark last week, Peter and the rest of the disciples seemed to have their minds set on human ego, glory, and honor. Jesus set both them and the surrounding crowd straight on the meaning of discipleship when he basically said, “Look if you want to be my disciple, it isn’t always going to be easy, You’re going to have to learn how to deny yourself. You are going to have to learn to give your live away in service to others.

Picking up from last week, we know that the disciples now know that Jesus is the promised Messiah, and that Jesus has explained to them what being the Messiah and following the Messiah means. So, to review, their systematic theology of confessing Jesus as the Messiah is on track, and they have received their first lesson in practical theology—in other words, what their confession means in practical terms.

What’s next? Putting their practical theology to work in the community. Just before today’s reading the disciples are unable to cast a demon out of a young boy. Jesus saves the day, and later the disciples ask him in private why they could not cast out the demon. Jesus told them that the kind of demon the boy had could come out only through prayer.

Hmmm. It looks like the disciples forgot to pray. In other words, they were still relying on their own sense of perceived greatness and connections to Jesus rather than praying and relying on God to work through them in order for positive change to occur.

Sound familiar? Sure it does! All of us here have faced challenges in our lives that we thought we could handle on our own. Maybe the challenge was a rough relationship or an addiction. Whatever the challenge, folks, what this lesson means for us is that as much as God loves us, no matter how smart we are, no matter how talented we are, there are going to be certain “demons” that we can deal with only by prayer and reliance on the power of Almighty God.

So, still not quite getting the meaning of Jesus’ message, in today’s passage, Jesus takes the disciples away for a “retreat” of sorts to give them a little more in-depth training. Now, after what just happened, we might think the disciples would be pondering the meaning of Jesus’ last words to them about prayer. Oh, but no! They are having a “Muhammad Ali” moment. They are arguing about whom is the greatest. Can you imagine the conversation?

James and John, otherwise known in the Bible as “the Sons of Thunder” start the argument by making their claim to greatness because they think they deserve to sit at the right and left hand of Jesus in heaven. But of course Peter will have none of it. “You might recall, that it was I who got out the boat and walked on the water during the storm. The rest of you were practically wetting your robes!”

Matthew shoots back, “Yeah, you got out of the boat, alright—and sank like a rock!”

While the other disciples laugh, Peter doesn’t miss a beat. “Go ahead, laugh all you want. But speaking of “rock,” I don’t remember Jesus calling any of YOU the rock upon which he would build his church!”

“True’, replies Andrew, ‘but he didn’t call any of us Satan, either!”

Always having to have the last word, Peter says, “Well, he may have called me Satan, but he was looking at all of you when he said it!”

Jesus apparently is walking ahead, and just like on a road trip with the kids, he is acting like he doesn’t hear a thing. But trust me, he knows every word that has been spoken. But Jesus doesn’t say anything—at least until they arrive at Capernaum. Jesus then asks, “OK, guys, what’s all the commotion about?” And in true middle school fashion, the disciples clam up because they know that they are so busted.

But of course Jesus knows what is going on. So, to make his point—again—Jesus tells them, “Look, if you are so hung up on being first, here’s the secret: you have to be last and you have to be everyone’s servant.” Then, to emphasize his point, Jesus takes a child from the family in whose household they are staying and says, “By welcoming a child like this, you are welcoming me, and really you aren’t welcoming me as much as you are welcoming the One who sent me.”

Now we may not think welcoming a child is such a big deal. After all, most people love children and would not think of abandoning them, or otherwise mistreating them. But to understand what Jesus was saying, we have to understand that in Jesus’ time, children were non-persons. Lower than women and just slightly above slaves, children had no rights. Now this does not mean that parents did not love their children. It just means that in the public arena children had no place, and therefore, no honor. But to tell the disciples of a great teacher like Jesus that they had to respect and welcome even non-persons like children was simply unheard of!

But Jesus was saying even more than that. Jesus was telling his disciples they were to welcome all the powerless, unclean, and lowly people of society. All those folks that “polite society” refused to touch! How scandalous! After all, these were the disciples of the promised Messiah! Weren’t they are above all that?

Apparently not. For you see, folks, when it comes to Jesus Christ, size really does not matter.

I am here to tell you today that from the least to the greatest, God loves us all! From the man who begs for money at the intersection of Crosstown and Morgan to the President of the United States, God loves us all! From the prostitute on Leopard to the Pope in Rome, God loves us all! And scripture tells us that if God is for us, who is against us? Sisters and brothers, as disciples of Jesus Christ, believe the good news! We are not powerless! Through Jesus Christ, we have the power to become agents of positive change in our world!

But how do we access that power? We access that power by welcoming Christ into our lives. And how do we welcome Christ into our lives? First, we welcome Christi into our lives by repenting of our sins, and asking Christ to fill us with the presence of the Holy Spirit. But then, we welcome Christ into our lives whenever we volunteer at places like CASA, an organization that advocates for children in the Coastal Bend. We welcome Christ into our lives whenever we help to feed the hungry, house the homeless, speak up for equality, visit the sick, and sometimes even by just being a positive presence in a hurting person’s life.

My prayer for all of us today is that we make the choice to welcome Christ into our lives. Let’s serve the poor, the weak, and the oppressed. Let us serve one another during life’s challenges. Let’s take the love, grace, peace, and power that Almighty God has so graciously given to us, and share it with others so that they, too, may taste and see how great God is! Amen?

God bless you and amen!

September 19th

2006-09-19T07:39:00.000-07:00

It's All About Who?

Mark 8:27-38

How many folks here today are “middle children?” In other words, you aren’t the first born or the baby of the family, but somewhere in the middle. I am the youngest child in my family, and my older sister still teases me about being the “Golden Child,” or the “Male Heir.” Or course, we haven’t quite figured out the male heir to WHAT, but at least we know the pecking order, right?

Probably the ultimate middle child was Jan Brady of the Brady Bunch. Remember Jan? She was the middle child of the three girls in the blended Brady family. Cindy was the curly-haired blonde, blue-eyed youngest girl, and the glamorous, popular, cheerleader Marcia was the oldest girl. Stuck in the middle, Jan was sort of plain in her younger years, complete with braces and glasses. Finally, in one episode, Jan finally let out all her pent up frustrations with a line that was plastered all over t-shirts and shouted in gay bars way back in the day. The line? “All I hear ever is Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!”

Poor Jan. She just wanted to feel special. Of course, we are all a lot like Jan, too, aren’t we? We really don’t like that feeling of being lost in the middle—faceless, nameless, and unimportant. Everyone wants to feel special; and do you know what? There is absolutely nothing wrong with that! But there are times when it really is not all about us, and that is a big part of our lesson from Mark this morning.

Our passage opens with Jesus and the 12 on a road trip to Caesarea Philippi. Along the way, Jesus asks the disciples a question, “Who do people say that I am?” The disciples give Jesus a variety of answers: John the Baptist, Elijah, or maybe one of the prophets. But then Jesus asks the 64 Million-Dollar Question: “But who do you say that I am?”

People have been trying to figure out who Jesus was—and is—for at least a couple of thousand years. There are those like Thomas Jefferson who saw Jesus as a great teacher of common sense. Others see Jesus as a revolutionary proclaiming liberation to all who are oppressed. And in all fairness, there is enough evidence in the Bible to support these views, too. But, if we call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ, we must answer the question, “Who do we say that Jesus is?”

Enter our friend, Simon Peter. Peter is often the disciple who spoke up first in these conversations with Jesus. He is a little bit like that child in school who raises her hand saying, “Ooooo, pick me! Pick me!” Then blurts out the answer before the teacher calls on her.

But this time, Peter gets it right. “You are the Messiah,” he says. But then, Jesus does something weird. Rather than say something like, “Great job!” he orders the disciples not to tell anyone about this wonderful news. What’s up with all the secrecy?

Honestly, we don’t really know. One very good theory, however, is that the disciples were not ready for what it meant for Jesus to be the Messiah. So, before they went running out and telling everyone that Jesus was the promised Messiah, Jesus wanted to make sure they had a clear idea of the possible consequences for proclaiming this message. It is as if Jesus was bringing the disciples along in stages. “OK. Your systematic theology is on track. Now, let’s talk about how that theology translates into every day life.”

And apparently that translation isn’t too pretty, as Jesus promptly turns the disciples’ world completely upside down. Rather than all the glory, power, and honor they were expecting, being the Messiah meant rejection, persecution, suffering, and death! And since they were so closely associated with Jesus, they could expect this same kind of treatment!

This news was more than the disciples could handle. So, in true form, Peter is the one who speaks up. It appears he is trying to be at least somewhat respectful of his teacher by pulling Jesus aside, but then Peter lets loose with a rebuke. And the Greek for “rebuke” here is more than a warning or admonition. This wasn’t Peter pulling Jesus aside saying, “Uh, are you sure about all this, Jesus?” You can think of “rebuke” here almost as if Peter is getting up in Jesus’ face.

“What?!? Suffering? Persecution? Death? What is that all about? You mean after all the miracles, all the lessons, all the public admiration, I left my fishing business to walk into an ambush in Jerusalem? Is that what you are saying? Oh, no! I did not sign up for this!”

Then notice what Jesus does. Jesus turns from Peter, looks at all the disciples and basically says, “You best get out of my face, Satan! You’ve got it all wrong. It’s not about human ego and human plans, It’s about God, and God’s plan for humanity!” In other words, it’s not all about us, folks. It’s all about God.

Jesus then expands his teaching by calling together the disciples with the surrounding crowd, and says, “OK, folks. Listen up. Here is the deal. If anyone wants to become my follower, they must deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow me.”

If we think about it, we can’t really blame the disciples for being upset, can we? See, today we often talk about the cross in symbolic terms; but the cross meant one thing—and one thing only--in 1st century biblical times: humiliation, suffering, and death. Now I don’t think Jesus meant that everyone who followed him would have to literally suffer and die on the cross. But I do think Jesus was saying that following him meant that life would be tough sometimes. Confessing that Jesus is the Messiah could result in social and economic hardships, which sometimes made death look good by comparison.

Now, here’s a question for all of us: “How different are we from Peter and the rest of the disciples—really?” We give our lives to Jesus Christ, and we are filled with the healing power of the Holy Spirit. Maybe we are starting to feel hopeful about our lives for the first time in a very long time. But then some crazy guy in a bright green outfit stands up one Sunday morning and tells us something like, “Oh, by the way, Jesus really does love us. In fact, Jesus loves us so much Jesus died for us. But guess what? In the end, it’s not all about us! Oh, and there is something else I should tell you, following Jesus means dying to ourselves and living to serve Christ by serving others.”

Part of that following Jesus means addressing some very unpopular topics at times. And when we do that, there is the possibility that not everyone is going to like what we have to say, either. You know what I mean, right? Like when we tell our families, friends, and elected officials that loving a person of the same gender is not a crime, a sin, nor a sickness. Or when we tell our friends who are caught up in various addictions that there is a better way to live. Or when we talk to church leaders and tell them that Jesus Christ said, “Whosoever will, let them come.” And that is whosoever, not just rich, white, straight folks, either. Or even when we tell our sisters and brothers that being a follower of Jesus Christ means more than sitting in a building for an hour or so on Sunday morning.

Sisters and brothers, just as Jesus Christ loves us every day of our lives, if we call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ, we give our lives to Jesus Christ not just once in a lifetime, but each and every day of our lives. So, what does that look like?

I think renowned preacher Fred Craddock gives us a beautiful description of what it means to give our lives to Christ when he says, “We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking a $1,000 bill and laying it on the table—‘Here’s my life, Lord. I’m giving it all.’

But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $1,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there…Usually giving our life to Christ isn’t glorious, It’s done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time.”

So, given that definition, what does giving our lives to Christ look like? Well, maybe it is a phone call to a homebound person here, and a giving a person a ride to church there. Maybe it is increasing our financial support a little here, and volunteering to help with a Fall Festival there. Maybe it is listening to a friend’s troubles here, and praying with and for them there. For you see, no two people give their lives to Christ in the exact same way.

My prayer for each of us today is that, through prayer, discussion, therapy, trial and error—whatever it takes—my prayer is that we each make the decision to give our lives to Christ. Not just for an hour or so on Sunday morning; but each and every day of our lives, in our own unique and God-gifted way. For as scripture tells us, it is in giving, that we truly begin to live. Amen?

God bless you and amen.

September 13th

2006-09-13T16:43:00.000-07:00

Nice Folks Finish Last

Proverbs 22:1,2,8,9,22,23

The title of the sermon may sound familiar to some of you. It comes from a quote of former baseball manager Leo Durocher. Leo’s actual words were, “Nice GUYS finish last.” But, hey! I’m an equal opportunity kind of guy, so I changed it.

Of course these words go against almost everything most of us were taught growing up. Remember hearing the words, “Now behave and play nice!” from parents and other relatives when you were growing up? I seem to remember my Mamaw Carrie saying to us on more than one occasion, “You kids will either play nice, or you won’t play at all!” Normally, Mamaw was holding a house slipper or switch when she said it, too. So you better believe we played nice—at least when she was watching.

The concept of “Nice people finish last” also seems to be in direct contrast of what it means to be a Christian, too, doesn’t it? After all, didn’t our Sunday School teachers tell us how important it was to be nice to others? Don’t I preach on peace and “speaking the truth in love” to one another?

So if nice people finish last-- and Christians are supposed to be nice people-- are we headed in the wrong direction here? Should we just resign ourselves to the fact that we are a bunch of boring losers, move to a mountain and wait for the Second Coming?

Well, that all depends on the definition of “nice,” now doesn’t it?

So, what exactly is the definition of “nice?” Well, Webster defines the word “nice” variously as “agreeable, passive, socially acceptable.” Agreeable in this context may be seen as “willing or ready to consent or conform.”

So that is the definition of “nice” according to Mr. Webster. But here is something that may surprise you: No where in the Bible are people called to be “nice”—at least not in Webster’s definition of the word. But if we aren’t really called to be nice, then what are we called to be?

I think we can look to Proverbs for at least part of our answer. Proverbs is one of my favorite books in the Old Testament. The reason for my love of Proverbs is that most of the passages in the book are so practical. The bulk of Proverbs addresses the issues of what it means to be good, righteous, and wise. Most of us have heard of the books for dummies series, right? Cooking for Dummies, Computers for Dummies, etc? Well, think of Proverbs as “Wise Living for Dummies.” Proverbs reshapes the concept of what it means to be nice—in other words, good or righteous in God’s eyes--and the writer spells out what that means for us.

First of all, Proverbs 1:7 tells is that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” This fear is a healthy respect and reverence for God, not the fear of being zapped if we make a mistake. God desires our authentic and passionate love and worship, and love and worship based on fear is neither authentic nor acceptable to God.

So now that we know that the foundation for being “nice” people of God begins with a healthy respect and reverence for God, let’s look at some of the more practical applications of this somewhat radical concept of “nice.”

According to Proverbs, it is better to choose a good name rather than great riches. In Old Testament times, your name was more than just a name. Your name said something about your reputation. Unlike today, it took more than leaning on the family name to establish a good reputation. You chose a good name through your choice of actions. And while riches were sometimes associated with a good name in the Old Testament, this scripture makes it plain that wealth is secondary to a good name.

What this scripture means for us is if we are going to choose the name “Christian,” it is going to take more than being passive, socially acceptable, and accommodating members of a particular community, church, or denomination. The term “passive Christian” is an oxymoron—in other words, it doesn’t make sense.

No, we are not called to be passive; but as Christians we ARE called to be PASSIONATE people of God. Proverbs 22:9 says the generous are blessed for they share their bread with the poor. How do we do that? We have the opportunity to share our bread with the poor in our community by supporting our Food Pantry. Not only is this sharing of bread literal, we can also share the bread of our knowledge, time, talent, and financial resources with other.

Verse 22 of this same chapter also discusses not “robbing the poor because they are poor,” and not “crushing the afflicted at the gate.” What does all that mean? In the times of the Old Testament, the “gate” was the city gate, where public business—including the business of justice—was done. The “poor” and “the afflicted” are also symbolic terms for not only the poor and sick, but ANY disadvantaged people. This passage is not only a judgment against the rich getting richer at the expense of the poor, it is also a judgment against those people who are in power who use that power in abusive ways to keep others in submission to their oppressive agendas.

At the same time, this passage of scripture is also a warning to legitimate authorities who do not plead the cases of those who are disadvantaged. We aren’t just talking about legal authorities here, either. We are all called to use whatever perceived leverage we may have to plead the cases of those who feel they have no voice. Let me give you a personal example.

Some years ago when I was still in the field of accounting, someone told me, “Danny, you are an intelligent person with the potential to make a lot of money. You just have to learn to play the game and not be so vocal about equality—especially when it comes to the whole gay thing.”

What this person was REALLY saying was, “You’re an educated, middle class, white guy. Use your skin color, gender, and education to YOUR advantage. Keep quiet. Play nice.”

I really don’t think so.

See what this passage in Proverbs says to me is that I have the responsibility to use whatever leverage my skin color, gender, education, and position as a clergy person gives me to do just the opposite of what my friend suggested. I am not called to be quiet. I am not called to “play nice.”

And neither are you.

How can I say that? How do I know that? I can say these things because for those of us who call ourselves Christian, Jesus Christ is our example. And guess what? Jesus Christ wasn’t “nice.” At least not according to the world’s standards, and not according to Mr. Webster. Let’s face it, if Jesus Christ was nice—you know, passive, accommodating—why did the religious authorities want him dead? Why did they work so hard to turn popular opinion and governmental authority against him?

Jesus Christ was anything but passive and accommodating. Jesus Christ was constantly in conflict with popular opinion. Jesus cared only about the approval of God—not opinion polls. Jesus was compassionate toward the spiritual and physical needs of people that the religious authorities wouldn’t touch. Jesus Christ was courageous, and didn’t play the victim. And if Jesus Christ is our example, can the Church afford to do anything less? Can the church afford to BE anything less?

Some of you today may be thinking, “What can I do, though? I’m just one person, and there is just so much going on that needs changing.”

The good news is we are not alone. God doesn’t expect any of us to do it all alone. That is one of the reasons why we have this institution we call the Church. We have a community of sisters and brothers around you to worship, fellowship, and yes, WORK with to better become the presence of Christ in the world. Not only do we have our sisters and brothers in Christ, we have God Almighty with us.

Maybe you really want to be a part of a Christian community, but you haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If that is the case, we will have a time for you to do just that during Communion, and I encourage to seriously consider making the decision to ask Christ to come into your life. I promise, you won’t regret it.

Maybe you are already a Christian, but you just aren’t feeling that passionate about it right now. I encourage you today to rededicate your life to Christ, rededicate yourself to a life of living passionately for Christ and for others. Again, you won’t regret it.

Maybe you’re already passionate about living for Christ and for others, but you just don’t know what direction that passion should take. You may be thinking, “I want to do something; but WHAT should I do?” I encourage you—actually I encourage all of us—to check out what your church is doing here in this place, in the community, and in the world. I encourage each of us today to become a passionate part of our family of faith through the giving of our time, our talents, and yes, our financial gifts. As Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord God of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.”

Leo Durocher said nice people finish last. Well, he may have something there—if you’re reading Webster.

However, if you’re reading the Bible, passionate people, Proverbs people, committed people, servant people, finish first in God’s eyes. And aren’t those the only eyes that really matter anyway?

God bless you and amen.

August 29th

2006-08-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

Dressed For Success

Ephesians 6:10-20

OK. Honesty check this morning. How many folks here talk to their TV’s? Come on, now! You know you do! How about some of those football games we watch? The quarterback makes a perfect pass—only to have that multi-million dollar butterfingers so-and-so wide receiver drop the ball in the end zone! Oh, yeah! I am just so sure that some of our sisters here just sit there and let that play slide with no comment, right?

And some of our brothers can’t laugh, either! What about wardrobe malfunctions? We will watch awards programs of all types just for the opportunity to comment on the outfits worn by some of the stars! “Now what was she thinking wearing that outfit? You know, I believe in freedom of expression, but there are just some things that are better left to the imagination!”

I did quite a bit of talking to the television over the past month of so. Most of my rants were directed at the talking heads on CNN during the whole Israel-Hezbollah conflict. “Israel is using too much force!” “Well, Hezbollah started it by kidnapping two Israeli soldiers!” I looked at the TV and said, “It doesn’t matter who started it! Innocent people are dying!”

Then came the cease fire agreement. I didn’t hear a lot of positive news there, either. In fact, it seems that all the arm chair military quarterbacks were all over the news discussing the question: “Who won?” The first time I heard that question, I nearly came up off the couch! “Won!?! Won!?! It’s WAR! NOBODY WINS!” Richard just looked at me as if to say, “All righty, then! I think someone has had a little too much CNN.”

So, I guess you can tell I am not a big fan of war. Don’t misunderstand me; I believe a country should defend itself against attack. But some of the stuff that is going on today folks is just insane! Then I start reading the Ephesians passage for this week. Oh, great! More military imagery! Onward Christian soldiers! Let’s just take out our “swords” called the Bible, and slay a few heretics for Jesus!

But then I had to check my attitude and ask myself the question, “Is that really the message of this passage from Ephesians? I don’t think so. So this morning, what I would like to attempt is to give this passage a 21st century “fashion makeover.” The question for today? “As a Christian, what does it mean to be dressed for success in world full of challenges—especially when those challenges are to our faith?”

Now, for some of us, this military imagery might be disturbing not so much because we are personally opposed to war, but more because violence just did not seem to be part of the teachings of Jesus Christ. Sure, Jesus got upset and tossed a few tables in the Temple once. But he also told Peter to put away his sword when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. We also know that the reason some people turned away from Jesus was because he really was not the military leader they were expecting to come and overthrow the Roman government. So, how does a passage like the one we are looking at today fit with what seems to be the teachings of a peace-loving Jesus Christ?

Well, I believe we have to take the context of this passage into consideration. In order to get his message across, the author of Ephesians had to use language and imagery his audience would understand. First-century people would definitely understand all this military imagery, because it was so much a part of their daily lives. In fact, this imagery was carried well into medieval times as the Crusades and other religious wars raged on in parts of the world.

But what about 21st century Christians in the United States? We don’t really relate to full body armor very well; and the images of so-called “holy war” we see on television do little to encourage us to sign up for the Army of God. So, is there anything we can take from this passage for our lives today? Actually, I think there is.

First, as Christians, we can expect that we will be challenged about our faith at times. People may not threaten us physically; but we can expect to be challenged intellectually. For example, we may get the question, “How can you say there is a God? Look at all the pain and violence in the world?” Or, “If you’re such a good Christian, why did God allow you to have this disease?” Sometimes, these attacks do not come so much from individuals as they do from the negative powers and principalities of darkness that are working through them. The difference between the two? Normally, individuals will ask questions with respect and a genuine desire to know more about our faith; the powers of darkness will attack will cynicism and accusation. So again, as Christians, how do we dress for success, as we face these challenges of life?

Well, I am going to start with the feet. We are told to wear whatever it takes to help us proclaim the gospel of peace. So, if what is going on in the world today is any indication of things to come, we are going to be standing and proclaiming for a long time. Amen? So, we cover our feet with the sensible shoes of peace. The steel-toe boots of “We’re right and everyone else is wrong” may protect us; but in the end, we end up crushing a lot of innocent lives and ruining relationships in the process. The sensible shoes of peace are open to the light of God’s love for all people. They are lightweight so we may stand longer and journey farther down life’s road without being weighed down with the certainty of our judgments of other people and their viewpoints.

Accessories are critical for our look, too. Now, the belt of truth is not one that is to be taken off and used as a whip on those who disagree with us. But it is the truth of God’s love for us as God’s children, as well as the truth of our responsibility to live moral, ethical lives that holds up the some of the garments that we may call our actions. For when our actions are held up by the truth as best as we can determine it, there is little chance we will be caught with our pants down. Amen?

The successful look seems to be a layered look, as well. But rather than a heavy breastplate of self-righteousness stuck out for the whole world to see, how about a lightweight jacket of righteousness that surrounds our lives? It is a garment that is attractive. It is a garment that people ask about. The jacket of righteousness made of God’s justice and mercy is a garment people will want for themselves.

What about protection from the sometimes-harsh elements of life? How about an umbrella of faith? Not only can we hold it in front of us when the powers of darkness attempt to splash us with the mud of false accusations and the other lies that evil throws our way, we can also hold it over us when the storms of life threaten to soak us with depression and despair.

Ah, and that ever-important head covering! Now, in biblical times a heavy metal helmet was required to protect a person from serious head injuries. Unfortunately, today, some people tend to wear the heavy metal helmet of salvation in order to block out any views that differ from their own. Sure, their beliefs are kept in tact, but those beliefs can also stagnate in the darkness of that helmet.

Now salvation is critical—no doubt. And yes, people and the powers of darkness will challenge our minds regarding our faith. But rather than closing our minds off with a heavy metal helmet, why not develop those minds that God gave us? When we are challenged by those powers and principalities, a strong and open mind coupled with a strong faith is far more nimble and valuable than heavy metal shields and helmets that weigh us down and block our vision.

And there is another reason why a strong and open mind is so important. A strong and open mind is important for us to be able to use the most important accessory in our wardrobe: The Bible—otherwise known in some church circles as “The Sword.” And believe me, some people use the Bible just like a sword as they slice and dice their way through the lives of people with whom they disagree.

Folks, let me tell you something. The Bible was never meant to be used as a weapon—never. Like a well-worn and often-used wallet or handbag, the Bible contains valuable information we need to get by in this life, as well as some hints about the next life. Oh, and notice I said, “well-worn,” and “often-used.” Just like that collection of wallets and handbags some of us have collecting dust in our closets at home, a collection of Bibles collecting dust on our bookshelves means absolutely nothing to us if we don’t use them. Amen?

OK. So it looks like we’ve got that outfit going on, doesn’t it? Traveling pretty light--umbrella of faith, strong and open mind, Bible for directions, belt of truth and jacket of righteousness, sensible shoes of peace—yep! We are ready to work the runway of life! So how do we do that?

Well, when we are dressed for spiritual success, first we stand. And when we move, we move forward. We don’t turn around and go back. And how do we move forward? We move forward as a community, powered by prayer both with and for one another.

So, let’s drop all that heavy metal armor that weighs us down, and travel light. Let us travel in the light of God’s Holy Spirit, wearing the sensible shoes of peace, our actions held up by truth, our lives surrounded by God’s righteousness, secure in our faith and in our salvation, opening our minds to God’s Word, and then sharing that Word with others.

Besides, full body armor is sooooo Middle Ages!

God bless you and amen.

August 22nd

2006-08-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

Silence Can Be Golden

Ephesians 5:15-20

I have a confession to make this morning. There are some pretty neat perks to being a clergy person. For example, I have found that when I wear my clerical collar, I am far more likely to get free coffee at one of our local convenience stores than when I am “out of uniform.” Of course, I drink so much coffee that a few of the stores wave me through whether I am wearing my clerical collar or not.

I also have to admit to a certain perverse pleasure in looking at the reactions of people when they find out what I do as a life calling. One of the best reactions came within a month after my arrival in Corpus Christi. It was early one Saturday evening, and I was at the Hidden Door. I was talking to the manager of the bar, when a man came up to us, apologized for interrupting our conversation, but he just had to tell the manager about his weekend so far. And then the young man proceeded to do just that—in very explicit detail.

Butch—the manager—just smiled from ear to ear. At the end of the story, pointing to me, he said to the young man, “I don’t believe I have introduced you to this gentleman. Please meet the Rev. Danny Spears; he’s our new pastor.”

The look on the young man’s face was priceless.

He began to sputter apologies for his language, then went into a litany of confession regarding his past. I assured him that I had heard similar language in the past, that God was always ready to listen to his confessions, and that I was looking forward to seeing him in church on Sunday.

I have to admit though, this episode made me wonder what it is that causes us—all of us—to just open our mouths sometimes and let ‘er rip before stopping and assessing the effects of our words on other people. Indeed, given humanity’s tendency to twist and torture language, you have to wonder why God seems to trust us to be divine mouthpieces in the first place.

But, while God does seem to trust us with this task, we are not left without instructions. For example, Ecclesiastes 5:1 from the New Living Translation tells us: “As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut! Don't be a fool who doesn't realize that mindless offerings to God are evil. You just gotta love some of the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament like Ecclesiastes don’t you? No fuss, no muss, just straight to the point. I wonder if Will Rogers had this verse in mind when he said, “It is better to be quiet and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” In other words, silence can be golden.

Seems kind of harsh though, doesn’t it? I mean, after all, aren’t we supposed to pray, sing, and offer praises to God? Sure we are! But at the same time, we are supposed to be thinking about the meanings of what we are saying and doing. Our confessions—whether spoken or silent—should be sincere. Our prayers—whether written out or not--should be offered in reverence. We listen to the words of the songs and to the sermons with a desire to learn more about how to offer the very best of ourselves to God and to one another.

Our passage from Ephesians picks up on this theme of mindful living and takes it a step further when it tells us to be careful how we live, not as fools but as those who are wise. And how is wisdom defined? Well, Psalm 111:10 tells us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This is not a fear of being zapped by God; it is a holy reverence, respect, and awe of the power of God. It is a healthy fear that encourages us to be still and know that God is in charge.

So, with that definition of fear in mind, maybe one interpretation of this verse in Ephesians is, “Watch what you say and do. Listen, then, if you need to speak or act, choose your words and actions carefully.” You see, if we call ourselves “Christians,” a lot of people look at us like representatives of the teachings of Jesus Christ. So what we say and what we do matters—and it matters a lot.

There are some very good reasons for us to practice the art of wise and mindful living outlined in Ephesians. First, when we stop and take the time to prayerfully discern and assess situations before engaging not only our mouths, but also our resources of time, talent, and finances, we can do a much better job of setting God-based, Christ-centered priorities for our lives—both individually, and as a community of faith. We have to make the most of the time we have, because there are more than enough issues in the world for us to address. Amen? Put simply, wise and mindful living is good stewardship of our lives, folks.

There is another advantage to wise and mindful living, and it is related to the first. If we look at verse 18, the author of Ephesians says, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.” In the times when this passage was written, many people worshipped the Greek god of wine, Dionysus. We might call him the “god of the party” today. When the followers of Dionysus got drunk, not only did they think they were having a good time, many also thought they were worshipping and experiencing the blessing of their chosen deity.

Now, folks, let’s just be really honest here, OK? For those of us who have ever had too much to drink at various times in our lives, just how wise were those decisions we made when we were under the influence? And I’m just talking about the decisions we remember making! And worship? Oh, yeah! We worshipped all right—maybe at the foot of the porcelain god or goddess in the bathroom—but hey! We worshipped!

But I think this verse goes well beyond drunkenness, too. What I mean by that comment is that sometimes we fill our lives with the worship of many different gods. We fill ourselves with a need for power and control. We fill ourselves with the need to have more money or material things. We fill ourselves with the need to be loved to the point that this need expresses itself in some very unhealthy ways. Sometimes we are so full of ourselves that we have no room for those people or opinions who do not coincide with ours.’ And do you know that the saddest thing to me is? When we are that full of ourselves, not only do we not have room for others, we don’t have room for God, either. And folks, we need God far more than we need all that other stuff. Amen?

But this passage gives us a hopeful alternative, too. Rather than letting ourselves be controlled by all those other wanna be gods and goddesses of our world, we can open ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Sounds good; but how can we know when we are being led by the Holy Spirit?

When the Holy Spirit leads us, we begin to become more open-minded. Please note: open-minded does not mean “empty-headed.” People who are open-minded genuinely listen to the viewpoints of others and take them into consideration. And while we may still disagree on this issue or that, open-minded people do not demonize others. We share our thoughtful viewpoints with others and listen to those thoughtful viewpoints of other people so that together we might grow in understanding, wisdom, and knowledge. Such understanding, wisdom and knowledge are necessary if we hope to build communities that offer hope to a hurting world.

When the Holy Spirit leads us, we begin to become more open hearted. One anonymous writer describes open heartedness in this way: “To be openhearted to the joy of this singing Spirit is not sappy sentimentality—the Psalms confront God with genuine human fears, anger, loss, misery, joy, hope, love, and dreams. The psalmists poured out their hearts to God in song, leaving them openhearted to welcome the healing, soothing Spirit into their breast. The heart which is genuinely opened to God’s Spirit directs the words that escape our lips. No false confessions or flowery sounds of insincere piety may escape from a mouth that is controlled by an authentically open heart.” Isn’t that a great thought?

A life that is led by the Holy Spirit is also open handed. When we begin to let go of our need to control every little detail of our lives—and sometimes the lives of those around us—we are far more open to share the abundance with which God has blessed us with others, whether it is our time, our talent, or our financial gifts. When the Holy Spirit leads us, we reach out with open hands to other people without reservation. We do the best we can with what we have to worship God, build community, and offer hope to as many people as we are able. For as it has been said, “an open hand speaks louder than an open mouth.” Amen?

My prayer for all us today is that we begin to let go of the need to fill our lives with useless stuff, and rather allow God to fill us with God’s Holy Spirit. And as the Holy Spirit fills us, may we learn to open our minds, our hearts, and our hands long before we open our mouths.

For silence, my sisters and brothers can be truly golden. Amen?

God bless you and amen.

August 14th

2006-08-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

Grace Full Living

Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2a

I have already shared with most of you that Richard and I probably watch waaaayyy too much HGTV. Although we lean toward the budget-friendly home makeover programs, recently we have been watching a program called, “Generation Renovation.” In this program, people take a variety of structures not normally considered “home material,” and spend what seems to me to be a fortune making them not only into homes, but fabulous homes! Churches, banks, barns, even old tugboats go from “drab” to “fab.”

A renovation segment normally begins with the proud renovators telling how they found their future home. “Oh, we were just driving along this lovely country road, and saw this old, rundown mill house. We decided to stop, and take a look inside. As we opened the mold-covered door, it fell off its rusted hinges. The scurrying of rats greeted us as we stepped inside. Much of the roof had caved in, and you could even see through parts of the floor to the stagnant pool of water below that probably fueled the old mill’s wheel a hundred years ago. It was at that moment that we just knew that this was our dream home!”

Of course by this point, I am thinking these people need professional help. Yet, I am intrigued, and continue to watch the program. And I must admit, watching the progress of once abandoned structures become inviting and spectacular homes is a sight to behold. The “before” and “after” pictures shown during and the end of each segment of this program are a testament to what vision, creativity, blood, sweat, tears--and yes, money--can accomplish.

So, using our passage in Ephesians, what I would like to do this morning is look at our lives as sort of a renovation project in progress. The subject today? How we can move from a life lived in darkness and spiritual bondage to a renovated “grace full” life bathed in the light of the Holy Spirit.

Now, what is normally the first thing that happens with most renovation projects? Well, we normally have to clear a lot of stuff out of the space we plan to renovate. For example, on a recent installment of “Generation Renovation,” when a couple decided to renovate an old bank into their residence, they had to clear out all the adding machines, typewriters—yes, typewriters and not computers—and a ton of other stuff that the previous owners had simply left behind. And although some customers had never picked up their valuables kept in safe deposit boxes, unfortunately, no huge sums of money were left behind.

Like the beginning of almost all renovation projects, the renovation of our spiritual lives begins with all kinds of happiness and anticipation. We accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we join an open and affirming community of faith, and we are ready to go! So, notice right off the bat that our spiritual renovations are not lone ranger projects. These projects are community projects.

We are filled with hope that our lives are changing in positive ways. There are, however, some items that may need to be cleared from our lives for our life renovation project to stay on track. So, what are some of those items?

Well, dishonesty definitely has to go. Scripture tells us to speak the truth to one another. Please note: we are to speak the truth to one another, and not about one another to other people. And there’s a big difference between the two. Amen?

In the culture in which Ephesians was written, truth was a matter of relativity. If it benefited a person to tell the truth—in other words, if telling the truth meant the person could receive more money, power, or prestige—then truth was a good thing. But, if telling the truth could somehow dishonor that same person, well, then telling the truth could be seen as foolish.

But, if we call ourselves “Christians,” we are to speak the truth in love to one another. Why? We are to speak the truth to one another because we are members of one another—we are a community. Before, we were living solely for ourselves, but now, as a member of a community of faith, we live as part of a body of believers. If we allow the cancer of dishonesty to enter our body and do not address it, soon the entire body will suffer. Left unchecked, this cancer has been known to destroy entire bodies of believers, as well. So, there is no room for dishonesty in our spiritual homes. Amen?

Something else that needs to be cleared out in our spiritual renovation is inappropriate anger. Please note I said, “inappropriate.” I say that because thee is a time and a place for anger. There are plenty of places in the Bible where God was angry at injustice. Jesus was angry at what he saw as the desecration of the Temple, and threw a major fit! There is also the story of the forgiving ruler who was angry at his unforgiving servant. So, anger does have its place.

But anger that is thoughtlessly expressed can hurt people and destroy relationships. Therefore, it is not good for the community. Anger that is stored up can cause us to become bitter and destroy us from within—not only spiritually, but also physically. So, in the renovation of our spiritual lives, maybe we can look at anger like one of those items left behind that, with some polishing and removal of the sharp edges can actually be a beneficial part of our newly renovated spiritual life.

Now, while anger can be rehabilitated, it is one of those projects that must be dealt with in a very timely manner. It can’t be like that old table that has been sitting in the garage for the last 5 years just waiting for us to clean it up, collecting dust and becoming a home for rodents all the while. In a way, anger is much like dishonesty. That is, left alone, it can destroy individuals and communities of faith. Whatever we need to do, whether it is prayer, support groups, therapy, or a combination of all these things, it is absolutely, completely, and totally necessary for us to renovate our anger. If we don’t, our whole spiritual house is at risk.

Renovation projects of all types require that everyone pull his or her own weight. They are team efforts. If it is a home renovation, we may have professionals of all types working with us in areas where we have no clue how to proceed. If it is a spiritual renovation we are talking about, we may have pastors, teachers, and long-time Christian sisters and brothers lifting us up. But as we grow, each of us has her or his own talents to add not only to their own spiritual renovations, but also to the building up of the community of faith of which they are a part.

When we don’t share of our time, talent, and financial gifts—when we always only the beneficiaries of the gifts others share—we are, in effect, stealing from the community. Remember: life lived in community is a life lived in relationship, and that means it is a life of give and take.

Renovation projects can work our nerves, too. They can be long and exhausting. And since they are community projects, everyone has an opinion about how best to complete them. Amen? It is easy for us to criticize, too. But when we unfairly criticize ourselves and one another, rather than clear the clutter from our lives, we just “rearrange the junk,” so to speak.

Once we let go of these behaviors, however, once we have cleared the work area, so to speak, we are free. We are free to build one another up. We are free to work together to help one another with our personal spiritual renovations, as well as with the spiritual renovations of our communities of faith. We are free to be forgiving and kind to ourselves and to one another.

When we toss out the useless junk of the past that clutters our lives with bitterness, anger, and malice, we are free to experience the freedom and warmth of a new life. We are freed from a life filled with darkness to live a new “grace full” life---a new life renovated with Jesus Christ as its foundation.

Scripture tells us that God so loved the world that God sent the very best—Jesus Christ, so that whoever believes in Jesus may not perish, but may have everlasting life. In response to this amazing love, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, may we be imitators of this kind of love—giving the very best of ourselves to God, and to one another, as we grow into the Generation of Spiritual Renovation that God would have us to be.

Oh, and if you just so happen to find a huge, broken down structure that you feel just has to be your next personal residence, please feel free to call me. I have the names and numbers of some excellent therapists you might need.

God bless you and amen.

August 9th

2006-08-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

United We Stand

Ephesians 4:1-16

OK. I am going to start this morning by asking for a little honesty from everyone. How many people here remember going to the clubs back in the day? Now, by “back in the day,” I mean early 80’s and earlier. Now, let’s take it a step further. How many people remember going to some of the really small clubs where the main DJ was the jukebox, and the drag queens and drag kings sometimes had to drop their own quarters and find their numbers on that jukebox?

Now, being from a small town in western Kentucky, and being a certain age, I tend to remember a few such experiences. And do you know what? For the most part, those experiences were a lot of fun—minus the throwing up after drinking too much Southern Comfort, of course.

One memory that sticks out in my mind is how a lot of the drag shows would close with the anthem, “United We Stand.” Remember it?

For united we stand,
divided we fall.
And if our backs are up against the wall,
We’ll be together,
Together, you and I.

We would all stand, join our raised hands, and sing these words loud and proud. OK. So some of us slurred the words loud and proud—but the thought was there. Of course, it wasn’t a perfect setting of unity. We still had drag queens snatching wigs of each others’ heads, and butch women fighting over girlfriends. But when that song came on, people seemed to stop—if even just for a moment—and remembered that it was important for us to stand together against a world that sometimes feared us, sometimes hated us, and sometimes, literally wanted us dead.

At the same time, it is hard to pinpoint exactly what united us. Was it fear? Was it our sexual orientations? Was it the alcohol and other drugs? Was it a mixture of all these things? Whatever it was, those precious moments of unity—while making us feel better about ourselves and our places in the world--didn’t often transfer into positive action in our communities.

What is it that unites us? That is the question we will be looking at today, as we examine our passage from Ephesians.

In today’s passage, the author of Ephesians is discussing unity in the church. Ephesus, as the Roman capital of Asia Minor, was a center of commerce and religious pilgrimage. Like all such cosmopolitan centers, it most likely attracted the best and the brightest in all walks of life. Now, that probably meant that the church at Ephesus had some of these very talented people as part of its worshipping community, as well. And we all know what tends to happen when you get a group of talented folks together, right? The polite term for these times is called “creative differences.”

As far as we can tell, however, the church at Ephesus isn’t experiencing any serious creative conflict. So, why this letter? Maybe the author of Ephesians had heard about all the drama at the church at Corinth. Remember the folks at Corinth? All kinds of strange behavior and “creative” theology were happening at the church in Corinth. Like Ephesus, Corinth was a major cosmopolitan area, and it attracted a diverse group of folks. But the church at Corinth was anything but united. So, maybe the author of Ephesians is attempting a little “preventative maintenance” here.

But there is another possibility, too. Maybe the writer of Ephesians is giving us a few of the identity markers of what it means for any group to be a united, Christian community of faith. So, with that in mind, what is it that unites us—MCC of Corpus Christi--as a community of faith?

Is it our sexual orientation? Hardly. We have folks who identify as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, celibate, questioning—you name the category, and chances are there is someone here who identifies as a member of that particular category. At MCC of Corpus Christi, because we are a community church, we welcome everyone. What’s our name? Metropolitan Community Church. Say it with me, “Metropolitan Community Church.” What is at the center of that name? Community.

OK. So, now maybe we are getting a little closer to the answer to our question of the day. Community is at the center of our church. But there are many communities represented here, too. For example, we are all members of racial, socio-economic, political, and gender identification communities. So, what is it in our community that unites us?

Look at verse 11. “The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers.” Ah ha! These all seem to be leadership positions in the church; so, maybe it is the leadership that unites us. After all, isn’t that why we pay a Pastor and elect a Board—to hold all this thing we call “church” together?

Well, Pastors are called by congregations, and paid with certain expectations in mind. Boards, too, are elected with certain expectations in mind. The question becomes “Are those expectations based on scripture?” Not always. So, what are these leaders supposed to do? Our answer from scripture is, “To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.”

What that means is, while leaders are to promote unity, everyone has a role in promoting unity in our community of faith. You see, folks, my job is not to make everyone happy, because that is not true unity. My primary job is to preach, teach, and challenge us—including myself--to grow up spiritually. There are other lists of spiritual gifts in scripture, and we are instructed to discover, develop, and use those gifts to build up the body of Christ. The fact of the matter is, leadership changes over time. If any community of faith builds its hope on any human leader, or any group of human leaders, it will not stand.

Hey! Maybe our location is what unites us! After all, don’t we need a place to worship and grow together? Well, yes and no. We do need a place to worship. But it might do us well to remember that the children of Israel wandered for 40 years with the presence of God represented in the Ark of the Covenant. When it comes to church unity, worship location may be important; but the fact that we worship God, build community, and offer hope is what is important. What I am saying is when our priorities are in order, God provides—everything else is secondary.

So, let’s review. We know the concept of community is at the center of our church. We know that leadership has an important role to play in promoting unity in our church. But we also know that leadership is not here for entertainment value—that’s just an added bonus! Everyone who commits to a community of faith has the responsibility of supporting, promoting, and strengthening the unity of that community through the sharing of their spiritual gifts—which includes the gifts of time, talent, and financial support. And, as long as our priorities are in order, God can work through us wherever we happen to be at the time.

As long as our priorities are in order. Could it be? Could it be that rightly ordered priorities are the key to unity in our church? If so, what are those priorities? Actually, there may be only one key priority, and when we get that one in order, other issues will begin to come together as God works through us. And what is that priority?

That priority is found in verses 4 and 5. “The is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Parent of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” If we call ourselves a Christian community of faith, our unity is found in one God made incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ, and experienced today through the power of the Holy Spirit. Following the example of Jesus Christ, our baptism is a marker of our Christian identity.

That, my sisters and brothers, is what unites any community of faith that calls itself “Christian.” We may sing praise songs in a tent on a vacant lot, or we may use the highest forms of liturgical worship in a Jewish synagogue; but if our priority is in order, God is there. We may call and elect different kinds of leaders throughout our history; but if our priority is in order, God is there. How we “do church” may shift and change; but if our priority is in order, we will always be the church.

It is when we recognize that Jesus Christ is not only the cornerstone, but also the Head of the church, that the Holy Spirit will enable us to be patient and to bear with one another in love. It is when we get this one thing right, that we are able to speak the truth to one another in a spirit of love—whatever that truth may be at the time. And not only will we be able to speak those truths, we will also be able to hear those truths from our sisters and brothers, as well.

One. One body. One Spirit. One Lord. One faith. One baptism. One God and Parent of all. For unity in our faith community, nothing more is needed, and nothing less will do. Amen?

God bless you and amen.

July 31st

2006-07-31T07:13:00.000-07:00

The Power of Choice

1 Samuel 11:1-15

When was the last time you had one of those, “What was I thinking?” moments. You know the ones, right? You find a poor, helpless starving kitten in your yard, sweltering in the hot, Texas sun. Telling yourself that the situation is temporary, you take the little darling in to nurse it back to health. It is now several years later, the cat weighs about 20 pounds, and has you wrapped around its now-chubby paws.

What were you thinking?

And what about those home decorating and fix-it projects? After overdosing on HGTV remodeling programs, some of us run out to our nearest home improvement store convinced that we, too, can “redesign on a dime.” We buy the materials, and print out the project instructions from HGTV’s website. Then, several hours later, we step back, look at the mess we’ve made, and say to ourselves…

“What was I thinking?”

Now what I have just done, of course, is share some examples of the power of choice in our lives. We can choose to adopt stray kittens or take them to a no-kill—repeat no-kill—shelter. We can choose to do our own home design projects, or pay someone else to do them. But whatever choices we make, there are consequences that accompany each choice. Now some of those consequences can be good, some neutral or pretty harmless, and some consequences can be quite long-reaching and destructive to our lives.

No one knew more about the power of choice and its consequences than King David, a man the Bible calls, “a man after God’s own heart.” Now many of us here are probably pretty familiar with the story of David. David was the youngest son of Jesse, the shepherd boy who was secretly anointed by Samuel to be the eventual successor to King Saul.

David went on to become a great warrior who was very faithful to Saul—and especially to Saul’s son, Jonathan (but that’s another sermon altogether). Now David knew he was anointed to be king; but he chose to remain faithful to Saul even when Saul was trying to kill him. David chose to remain faithful to Saul even though at one point, David had the opportunity to kill Saul while he slept in a cave. So to this point in his life, David seems to be choosing fidelity and faithfulness even when he is given every reason to choose otherwise.

David continued to rise in power, authority, and popularity with the people. Eventually Saul died, and David is made king. By the time we get to the reading for today, David—probably a middle-aged man by now—pretty much has it all. He has power, wealth, the big house with the fabulous view of the city, wives, concubines, and most importantly, it seems David has found favor with God.

In fact, David has it so made that he doesn’t even have to go to war anymore! He can delegate his wars to other people—a concept I think we’re familiar with today. But, I digress.

So, one afternoon David gets up from a nap and takes a walk on his roof top terrace. Now the view is normally really good; but today that view has improved about 1,000% because—hello and look out—the beautiful and quite naked Bathsheba is taking a bath on a nearby roof. At this point, David could have simply chosen to think to himself, “Hey! Lookin’ good!” and moved on. But, noooooo! David is thinking with a part of his anatomy a bit farther south than his brain. So he sends someone to find out more about this bathing beauty.

It doesn’t take long for David to find out that the woman’s name is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam. But then he also gets the big red flag, the fax from God, the slap upside his head—Bathsheba is married to Uriah the Hittite. OK, David. Pick up the scroll—the one with the 10 Commandments on it—and read number 7. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” In other words, “Hands off. Not for you.”

But obviously David wasn’t in a reading mood. His thinking is still oriented to the southern regions of his body, and his choices follow the same route. David chooses to ignore the commandment against adultery, sends for Bathsheba, and satisfies his desires. David crossed the line—big time. Today some folks might say, “What’s the big deal? He’s a big boy—a consenting adult. It was his choice.”

But let’s just take a look at this power of choice, and where it can lead.

“Safer sex” obviously was not in the vocabulary of ancient Israel, and lo and behold, Bathsheba sends word to David that she is pregnant. Uh oh. Now what? David has another choice to make.

Does David come clean and confess his sin? Nope! David’s choices continue to spiral downward. He sends for Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, under the false pretense of finding out how the battle was going. David tells Uriah to go ahead and head home to spend a little “quality time” with Bathsheba in hopes of covering up his adulterous affair.

But now it is time for Uriah to choose. Uriah chose to honor the soldiers’ vow of abstinence during war. Nothing David tried—not even getting Uriah drunk at a palace party—swayed Uriah from honoring this vow. Obviously, David could have taken some lessons from Uriah when it came to honoring vows.

At this point, David could have chosen to confess his sin to God and to Uriah and hope for the best. But, nope! David’s choices get even worse. David sent Uriah back to the general, Joab, with a set of orders. What Uriah obviously did not know, however, was that these orders were for Joab to send him into the fiercest fighting, then have the army pull back from Uriah so he would be killed. Poor Uriah did not have a clue! This servant was faithful to his king—like David used to be to Saul. Uriah trusted in the power and integrity of David’s leadership. And he received the ultimate betrayal for his faithfulness.

From noticing a beautiful woman to lust, from lust to adultery, from adultery to deceit, and from deceit to murder. Many biblical scholars view this story as the turning point of David’s rule—the beginning of the end. After all, with great power comes great responsibility, and in this case, David was anything but responsible. And do you know what? It all started with the power of choice.

How does this story apply to us today? After all, we aren’t adulterers, murderers, deceivers, and the like, right? And while we may have a lot of royalty in our congregation today, we do not have the royal power of a King David.

But we do have power.

We all have the power of choice. We may not always be able to choose our circumstances, but we do have the power to choose our responses to those circumstances. And our responses can go a long way in determining our future reality.

We may not like the fact that most of us here today cannot legally marry the people with whom we have chosen to build our lives. But we can choose to work for positive change in our marriage laws. Some of us have been hurt and abused by friends, families, and churches. We may not have done anything to deserve such pain, but we can choose to forgive, work for reconciliation, and move on; or we can choose to remain bitter.

We can choose to admit our mistakes and confess our sins, and let the healing begin, or we can live in denial—and like David—experience a major downward spiral in our lives. Folks, we can choose to be victims, or we can choose to be victorious!

We have another kind of power available to us, as well. We have the power of Almighty God through the Holy Spirit available to us. And that is a power that surpasses the power of all our earthly leaders combined! It is a power that can lift us up when we are down. It is a power that can help us defeat the temptations of corruption and evil in the world. And when we fall—for none of us here is perfect—the Holy Spirit is the power that can help us confess our failures to God and to one another, then let it go and move on!

I think I’m going to take something back I said just a minute ago. I said we didn’t have the royal power of a King David. I don’t know about you; but I think with the Holy Spirit, we might have access to even more royal power than David himself! And as with King David, with great power comes great responsibility.

And what is that responsibility? Our responsibility is to make wise choices. We are to use the blessings of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to stand up and speak out for God’s justice and love for all people. We are to use that power to serve Christ by serving others. We are to use the power of God’s blessings not solely for our own benefit, but to bless those who may feel powerless; so that they, too, can taste and see how great God is!

The great news today is that even though we do not always have power over our life situations, there is a God at work in, among, and around us, calling us to trust in God’s grace and goodness. We may choose to accept or reject that offer of God’s grace and goodness, for God has given us, God’s creation, the power of choice.

My prayer for each of us today is that we choose wisely!

God bless you and amen.

July 27th

2006-07-27T07:22:00.000-07:00

It Takes Every Kind of People

Ephesians 2:11-22

If you were at church last Sunday, you know it was my birthday—thanks to our illustrious Treasurer, Diane Creson—who, by the way, will be the subject of a sermon in the near future. If you were not at church, we’re glad you’re here this week, and if you are a member of the church and you weren’t here, please remember to double your giving this week to atone for your sin of last week.

I want you to know that I did appreciate the song. You see, when the phone rang, I was attempting to check us out of our room at conference by using the so-called “Express Checkout” via our room’s television. I am here to tell you that Express Checkout is a lie of the Devil! So, when the church called to sing “Happy Birthday,” I was in less than a pastoral mood. But your song and the thought behind it brought me back to what is really important—people—every kind of people.

One thing I have learned as I have gotten ever so slightly older is that I tend to relate to a particular era of music better than others. That era spans the late 70’s through the early 90’s. Now there has been wonderful music made throughout history. But there is just something about Janet Jackson’s “Miss You Much,” Boy George’s “Miss Me Blind, “ and Jane Child’s “Don’t Wanna Fall in Love” that gets my body moving—which is a strange spectacle in itself that NOW takes place ONLY in the privacy of our home. This music takes me back in time, brings memories flooding back, and—most of the time—those memories make me smile.

There is a song from that era that does not have near the glitter, makeup, and nose ring appeal of Janet, George, and Jane; but it has a extremely powerful message nonetheless—a message that we need to hear today. That song is “Every Kinda People,” by A. Fraser, and adapted by Robert Palmer on his 1989 CD, “Addictions—Volume 1.” Listen to the words of the chorus:

“It takes every kinda people
To make what life’s about
Every kind of people
To make the world go round”

Those words sum up a large portion of today’s passage from Ephesians. You see, church unity—a major theme in Ephesians—was just as important in the first century as it is today. And while there was no major drama going on in the church at Ephesus—at least none that we know of—the question of who was “in,” and who was “out” was always a topic for discussion in the early church.

Some things never change, do they?

The challenge of who was “in” and who was “out” in the first century was based primarily along the lines of race and religious tradition. In the old tradition, there was a wall in the temple of Jerusalem that divided the court of Jewish women from the court of the Gentiles. Since God was thought to reside only in the innermost court, this wall reminded the Gentiles that they did not have access to God. It’s like being put in the “nosebleed section” of a stadium where you might be able to hear a little of what is going on; but you can’t see a thing, and if you try to move closer to the action, you risk being tossed out on your behind. Of course in the first century, they just killed you. No fuss, no muss, no appeals to the congregation or Regional Elder, no long, drawn out lawsuits.

Now the writer of Ephesians acknowledges this unfortunate situation as part of the past. But then he goes on to say that Jesus Christ broke down those dividing walls of hostility so these people could be united into one group.

And we’ve been doing our darndest to rebuild those walls ever since!

Some churches build walls that exclude the full participation of women, people of color, people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, people who aren’t members of particular denominations—and in some cases, even those people who aren’t members of particular congregations within those denominations. For example, growing up in my Pentecostal tradition, a person had to be a member of an apostolic, oneness, Pentecostal church in order to be a real Pentecostal.

And as members of the dominant religious and government structures of ancient times killed the prophets, the apostles, and Jesus Christ for tearing down their precious walls of cultural and religious exclusion, some churches today are still killing people who are trying to tear down these divisive walls of hostility! The only difference is the killing of the 21st century prophets of inclusion takes different form. For some churches today are killing the “Gentiles” in their midst spiritually through divisive church politics and more church bylaw red tape than any department in the United States government! This death is a slow, painful, process that has turned many people away from Christianity altogether.

Now, as MCC clergy, it is easy for me to rip on churches and governments that practice blatant exclusion. But even denominations like ours’ have walls, sometimes. Last week, 6 people from this church attended a wonderful conference at the Fairmont Princess Resort in Scottsdale, AZ. The place was amazing! But it was also a stark reminder of the walls that we sometimes build between the have’s and the have not’s.

Like the synagogues of the 1st century—and many of our sister denominations today— in MCC, we too, have different sections for “evangelicals” and “progressives;” Americans and non-Americans, clergy and laity; women and men. These walls may be invisible to the physical eye; but they are all too evident to the spiritual eye.

And do you know what I really find amazing? We actually build some of these walls using our versions of Jesus Christ! You know the Jesus I’m talking about, right? The Jesus who wouldn’t want women in leadership positions in the church because all the apostles were male. The blonde-haired blue-eyed Jesus who favors the United States because we are, of course, a Christian nation. Now how are these versions anything like the Jesus who tears down walls of hostility and brings peace?

I have to tell you, I am with Bishop Yvette Flunder on this one. Last week at the Clergy Conference she told us that maybe it is time we forgot about designing “Jesus Saves” campaigns, and come up with a “Save Jesus” campaign! We could go door to door. Better yet, we could go to church doors! “Hi! We’re with MCC of Corpus Christi. We’ve heard you’re trying to hold Jesus hostage in an exclusive, narrow-minded, racist, sexist, homophobic theology. So, we’re here to roll away the stone from that tomb, because it’s resurrection time!

Of course, Jesus doesn’t need our help. But, boy do we need his! Amen?

You see, folks, in the church of Jesus Christ, there should be no wall between the rich and the poor! In the church of Jesus Christ, there should be no wall between the races! In the church of Jesus Christ, there should be no wall between the gay and straight! In the church of Jesus Christ, there is only one humanity, one body, and one peace.

Easier said than done, right? I mean, how do we even attempt such radical unity in our communities without killing each other in the process? Well, like anything else we attempt in life, we have to focus if we hope to have any measure of success at all. We need a cornerstone on which to build our community of inclusion.

We need the cornerstone that is Jesus Christ.

Scripture tells us that it is in Jesus Christ that the whole structure, that is, the church, is joined together and grows into the holy temple of God. Please note that the scripture says, “grows into the holy temple of God.” What that means is we aren’t there yet, folks. It’s a process. So when things go wrong, as they definitely will in this growth process, remember these words: It is through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we can have peace with one another. That is, if we choose to have peace with one another.

Now, I want everyone to stand as you are comfortable and take the hand of the person next to you. If you can, reach across the aisle, too! Now, repeat after me:

“It takes every kinda people
To make what life’s about
Every kind of people
To make the world go round”

Let’s try to remember that the next time we start building walls. Amen?

God bless you and amen.

July 7th

2006-07-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

Freakonomics

2 Corinthians 8: 7-15

How many people here today remember taking Economics in either high school or college? Now I was a business major; but to be perfectly blunt with you, all I remember about Economics is that it bored me to tears and confused me to no end.

Give me accounting any day of the week! You have debits in one column, and you have credits in another column. You add up the columns. If they don’t balance, you find out why, make any legal—repeat legal--adjustments that are necessary, and begin making other business decisions from that point.

But if you have watched the financial news very much, you know that economics is a world all unto itself. There are unemployment rates for various labor sectors to consider, foreign trade deficits and surpluses, that drama we call “world politics”, which apparently affects stock markets all over the world, which somehow ties into interest rates and inflation. Then there is the second full moon in the third quarter in the house of Aquarius to consider. You get my point, right? All I know is this: oil companies are making record profits, and gas still went up 20 cents a gallon overnight this past week! What is up with that?

Well, economist Steven Levitt and partner Stephen Dubner might have something to say about this phenomenon. The premise of their recent book is “if morality represents how we’d like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually works.” So, while we’d like to think that record setting profits would result in a price break at the gas pump, the reality of the situation is gas went up 20 cents a gallon overnight this past week.

Levitt further proposes that “economics is, at root, the study of incentives: how people get what they want or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing…an incentive is an often tiny object with astonishing power to change a situation.” If the incentive is great enough, folks will do some pretty freaky stuff for good or evil purposes. So, if economics is based on incentives, “Freakonomics is the hidden side of these incentives really work. Here’s an example from Levitt’s book:

In 1987, 7 million children in the United States disappeared on April 15th! Was it the rapture, and we were all left behind? Nope! Before 1987, people were only required to put the names of their dependents on their tax forms. Beginning in 1987, however, both names and social security numbers were required for each dependent listed. Overnight, 7 million children who never existed in the first place, disappeared. The risk of getting caught outweighed the incentive of the tax break.

So, what I would like to propose this morning is that, while there are usually many factors that influence all our decisions, basic, core incentives are the main factors that cause us to make the decisions we make. Not only that, those core incentives can determine whether or not our decisions will stand up to the test of time.

I think the church at Corinth is an excellent case in point here. The issue at the heart of today’s passage in 2 Corinthians appears to be a faltering fund raising campaign meant to alleviate the suffering of Christians in Jerusalem. This campaign apparently started out with a bang a year earlier. But now it appears to have all but stopped. What happened?

Well, scripture doesn’t tell us exactly what happened. So, let’s dig a little deeper. The city of Corinth was a thriving cosmopolitan culture where economy, status and religion were all based on competition between individuals and groups. So, we can safely assume there was a lot of “one upmanship” going on in such a city. And since the church at Corinth was made up of people from the surrounding culture, it is reasonable to expect that some of that same behavior found its way into the church. In fact, both 1 and 2 Corinthians address some of the “less than Christian” behavior going on in the church at Corinth.

I can almost hear some of those discussions now.

“We have this request from Paul to take up a collection to help the church in Jerusalem. What do we do?”

“Well, is anyone else taking up a collection?”

“I heard he’s asking those little Macedonian churches to do what they can. But you know they’re not nearly as wealthy as we are; not to mention our superior spiritual gifts.”

“I think it’s important that we lead the way. After all, we are “First Church Corinth. Who knows? Maybe a little money will keep Paul quiet about some of the stuff that goes on around here. Hey! If the collection is big enough, maybe Paul will ask us to host the next General Conference, and we’ll be honored for all our contributions to the Movement!”

Now it’s a year later, and what started out as a great idea is deader than the Dead Sea itself. Not only that, but those “poor little Macedonian churches” have given sacrificially and enthusiastically while facing their own economic challenges. And on top of that, it seems they are actually begging for the privilege to do more! What is up with that?

Could it be that while “First Church Corinth” was practicing “freakonomics,” that the Macedonian churches were practicing what has been called “graceonomics?” In other words, could it be that the Corinthians were giving based on what they thought might be in it for them, while the Macedonians were giving based on what had already been done for them through Jesus Christ? Could it be that they realized it wasn’t important how much money they had, or how much property they owned, but rather the important thing was how much they could serve others? See, the Macedonian churches may have been economically poor, but they realized how rich they really were because of God’s grace toward them.

What about us? Why do we give? Why do we give ourselves to another person in a relationship? Is it because that person has a good job and can provide us with financial security? Is it because that person is really hot, and therefore makes us look good? Is it simply because we are lonely, and a warm body is better than no body at all? If those are the core incentives for a relationship, folks, that relationship will not last—at least not as a healthy, loving, growing, relationship. Healthy, loving relationships require both giving and taking—not just taking.

Here’s a touchy question: “Why do we give our time, talent, and financial resources to any community of faith?” You see, some folks participate and give for what they can get out of it. If it is “behind the scenes” service, these folks want no part of it because it is “not their gift.” In other words, it is a power trip they are seeking. Others practice what I call “Carrot on a stick Christianity.” That is, they are working for that extra star in their crowns—or maybe in the case of MCC, we are working for that extra rhinestone in our tiaras’. That is spiritual “freakonomics,” folks—and it won’t stand the test of time.

Now I am not saying that it is wrong for us to feel good about ourselves for giving—that is a perfectly logical and normal feeling. Giving of our time, talent, and financial resources in God’s service can result personal growth and a freedom from dependence on material things for happiness. If we call ourselves “Christians,” however, we give because God has already given us so much. We may not have a penny to our name; but we are already rich because of God’s gift of grace through Jesus Christ. We give because we have received. We love because God Almighty loves us.

The same “graceonomics” applies to us as a community of faith, too. We are not here to make a name for ourselves in Corpus Christi, or even in our denomination. We are not here to amass wealth for our own benefit, either. We are here to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ to a broken world. We are here to worship God, build community, and offer hope! We are here to serve—nothing more and nothing less, and nothing else will do! Amen?

We give all that we have and all that we are because God has already given us so much. We do our best to love all people because God loves us unconditionally. That, my sisters and brothers, is “graceonomics,” and that is what will enable us to stand the trials and tribulations that come our way—both as individuals and as a community of faith.

When I pray over meals, I often use the following words. They seem to be especially appropriate today. “Let us share of our abundance with others so that they may be blessed and that God may be glorified in all that we say and do.”

Amen?

God bless you and amen.

June 25th

2006-06-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

Some Days You're the Pigeon; Some Days You're the Statue

1 Peter 2:11-17

There is an old saying that maybe some of you here have heard. It goes something like this: “To succeed in life, we must accept the fact that some days we are the pigeon, and some days we are the statue.”

You know what I mean, right? There are those times when we are flying high. Our friends affirm some profound theological insight we share at a Bible study. If we pastors believe our own press, it seems that our sermons are touching almost everyone in our congregations—at least that is what folks are telling us as they shake our hands on Sunday mornings. Our employers praise our work to no end. If we have partners, they seem to worship the ground we walk on. If we are single, everyone wants to date us. It seems that whatever we touch turns to gold. Oh, yeah! Life is good!

Then there are those other times when we are the statues. We try to get a new and creative program off the ground at work, and SPLAT! The pigeon named “Status Quo” drops his “gift” on us. We pastors work hard to make our sermons educational, relevant, and entertaining, and SPLAT! Both the red and blue pigeons of partisan politics splatter us with “helpful corrections” as they leave the church. When we share our views at Bible study, people give us this look that says, “What planet are you from?” If we have partners, it seems we can’t even go to the bathroom in a way that satisfies them. If we are single, it feels like our phone hasn’t rung in months! It seems that everything we touch turns to, well, something other than gold. Life stinks.

Yep! Some days we’re the pigeons, and some days we’re the statues.

Our passage in 1 Peter this morning may be seen as a bit like a lesson in “pigeon and statue” living for Christians—only on a far more serious level than my examples. After all, as far as I know, none of us here have experienced the same level of persecution due to our faith as was faced by some of the earliest members of the Church. But then again, persecution does come in many different disguises. Amen?

This passage is most likely part of a letter that was written to groups of exiles or resident aliens in different cities that were part of the Roman Empire. It is important to note that these folks were not members of the dominant cultures in the areas in which they lived—in other words, they were in the minority---and as Christians, they faced possible persecution from a variety of sources.

Christian wives could face abusive treatment from non-believing husbands. Non-believing family members could make life unbearable for Christian family members. Government-sanctioned mistreatment by other non-believing members of the community at large was always a possibility. There were possible economic consequences for being “out” as a Christian, as well. So, at first glance, this passage may seem like more of a “statue” passage than anything else. In other words, “Yeah, life may stink; but as Christians, this is how you are to behave.”

But here’s a thought: What happens when you are no longer the exile? Do the rules change? You see, I think if we were all honest with ourselves, we would admit that, while we have different genders, races, sexual orientations, and gender identities represented here today, as Christians we are no longer the exiles—at least not in our churches, communities, and the United States at large. So, what happens when the minority becomes the majority?

Well, if the information we have from Church history is reliable, Christians didn’t get off to such a great start. Popes ex-communicating everyone who disagreed with them—including each other at one point in history; the burning of so-called “heretics;” the Crusades; the Inquisitions; the 30 Years’ War; the burning of alleged “witches;” the forced removal of Native Americans from their lands; slavery. I am sure some of you Church history buffs could name more of Christianity’s more “pigeon” moments—moments where some of our ancestors in the faith dumped a lot of “stuff” on various “exiles” and “resident aliens”—all in the name of God.

Now some of you are probably thinking, “But that was then, and this is now. We don’t do that stuff anymore! So, what’s your point, preacher?” My point here is that there is still a lot of “dumping” going on today—whether we care to admit it, or not.

For example, some folks seem to be trying to protect marriage from what it is supposed to encourage—loving, stable, committed relationships. Racial minorities and women still face discrimination in employment—both inside the church and out. Immigrants who want to be legal residents of the United States face a government system that tends to work against them rather than for them.

And guess who is responsible for shaping a lot of these institutions and policies? Surprise! Many of the folks who are responsible for writing and enacting the policies that shape our society today identify as Christians! And some of these folks actually invoke the name of God as justification for some of these oppressive policies!

So, what do we do about this situation? Is there even anything we can do about this situation? The good news is I believe there is something we can do, and I believe we can find at least one possible course of action in our passage from 1 Peter.

Much of 1 Peter is full of instructions for how Christians are to conduct themselves. So, what I am proposing this morning is that it does not matter whether we are “exiles” or “Gentiles,” whether we are in the minority or in the majority,—whether we are the pigeons or the statues---if we call ourselves Christians, that identity requires us to embrace the practices of appropriate love and respect for all people and human institutions. Sounds like a nice idea, right? But, what does that look like?

At the most basic level of community interaction, we are called to do our best to work within the guidelines of our established institutions. Note I did not say that we have to like these guidelines. We may not particularly care for our elected officials, or the laws they pass. We may not care for our employers and their hiring and promotion practices. We may not even particularly care for our denominational and local church leadership as well as the laws they enforce. But as strange as it sounds, at first glance, this passage seems to tells us, “Oh, well. Too bad, so sad. Today is your day to be the statue. Pray for pigeons with bad aim.”

But is there more behind this passage? I think so. You see, while we are called to accept the authority of all human institutions, and to respect all people, as servants of God, we are also free. Fortunately for us, we are free to question what we see as unfair government laws. What we are not free to do is commit acts of terrorism against our government institutions. We are free to respectfully contest the questionable ethics of the leaders of human institutions, as well. What we are not free to do is slander and physically attack these people.

We are free to question our denominational and local church leadership, as well. What we are not free to do is unfairly attack them and unjustly malign the character and integrity of that leadership. We are free to protest what we see as unjust treatment of various groups of people, animals, and the environment. What we are not free to do is use violence and unjust treatment of others to make our points.

Maybe we could all take a lesson from the civil rights movement here. It may help us to remember that the civil rights movement made some of its biggest strides through the use of non-violent protest. So, is it possible that by respectfully, yet consistently challenging the unfair practices of various societal structures, we can begin to silence the ignorance surrounding issues like immigration policy, poverty, racism, sexism, and homophobia? Is it possible that our examples of positive Christian social action can actually cause folks to eventually glorify God by truly respecting the rights and dignity of every human being?

You see folks, to me, the question isn’t whether we are the statue or the pigeon. To be perfectly blunt, there are probably days when we feel like both. Amen? The question for us is, “If we call ourselves Christian, how do we respond to the challenges of life?”

Maybe in the end, the best we can do is to be in awe of God’s unending love for, and patience with, us—God’s imperfect, but good creations—to honor God by loving one another, and respecting all of God’s creation—including those institutions and people we don’t always like.

Can we do it? Sure we can! For it is through Jesus Christ that we claim our identities as Christians, and it is through that same Jesus Christ that we can do all things.

Maybe even get along, eventually. Amen?

God bless you, and amen.

June 11th

2006-06-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

I See Your Lips Moving, But All I Hear Is, Blah, Blah, Blah!

Acts 2:1-21

There is an old story told of a revival in Tennessee where a barber was ‘saved.’ The preacher told him that since he was a barber and got to meet a lot of people, he could do a great work for the Lord if he would talk to them about religion and salvation. When the barber asked how he could get into a conversation like that with his customers, the preacher said, ‘Just do it casually. Talk to them about their souls, ask if their houses are in order, if they are prepared to die, and so on.’

So, full of excitement, the barber headed to work the next day. The first man to come in wanted a shave, so the barber put a hot towel over him, while making small talk. Then, after lathering the man up good, the barber figured it was time to get down to the religion part. He grabbed up his razor, strapped it a few times, pointed it at the man, and said bluntly, ‘Brother, are you prepared to die? The man jumped up and ran out of the barbershop with the lather still on his face!

Ahhhh, communication! Its use—or misuse—can make all the difference in the world.

Communication is a very big part of our reading in Acts. Today’s passage marks what many Christians think of as the birthday of the Christian Church. It is marked by an amazing display of the Holy Spirit through rushing, mighty winds, and the appearance of divided tongues of fire. But, as amazing as that manifestation of the Holy Spirit must have been, it would have all been for nothing without effective communication—communication in different forms from a diverse group of people.

The first forms of communication take place just before our reading for today. The risen Christ has already communicated with the disciples what they are to do—go to Jerusalem, and wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit that would empower them to be witnesses to Jesus’ life and teachings to the ends of the earth.

The disciples didn’t just go hang out in Jerusalem, though. Scripture tells us that while they were waiting in one place for the fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit, they devoted themselves to another critical form of communication—prayer. So while they were not uniform—they were still individuals with their own views and personality quirks—but by being in one place, they were unified in their prayers and their purpose of obeying the instructions of Jesus.

It is also important to point out that the 12 apostles were not the only folks that were part of this prayer group, either. Mary, the mother of Jesus, other women, and Jesus’ brothers were also part of this group—about 120 people in all, according to Scripture. So, over against a patriarchal culture that tended to oppress women, the poor, and other outcasts, we can already see the stirrings of the “new thing” that God is doing, even before the Holy Spirit makes its dramatic appearance on the Day of Pentecost.

Today, as people of the Christian faith, it is critical that we, too, be unified in prayer and in our purpose of following the teachings of Jesus Christ. And the ways in which we pray, and the positive, life-affirming methods we use to follow Jesus will be just as diverse as that first group of believers on the Day of Pentecost. And when we are unified in prayer and in purpose, we can rest assured that the Holy Spirit will blow in.

In our lesson today, the Holy Spirit arrives on the scene with some major special effects, too! Sounds like the rush of a mighty wind, divided tongues, as of fire appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. Change was definitely happening—and in a big way.

Note, too, that the Scripture tells us that, “all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” In other words, it wasn’t just the male apostles who were speaking out here. Men, women, younger, older, people from different walks of life—all of them—were filled with the Holy Spirit, and all of them began to speak in other languages as the Holy Spirit gave them ability.

Now the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly how these Spirit-filled folks responded to all this commotion; but I can imagine they were somewhat afraid at first. After all, this event was something totally different from anything they had experienced in their lives before. God was moving in a new and amazing way among them! What did it all mean?

But check it out! As confusing as all this change was at first, we don’t read anything about anyone saying, “Wait! We can’t do this!” They didn’t say, “This isn’t orthodox!” “This isn’t in our Book of Worship!” “This isn’t covered in our denomination’s bylaws!” No, these earliest members of what could be called the first Church were open to the movement of the Holy Spirit among them—regardless of the form that movement took!

The Holy Spirit communicated with these first believers in a new and powerful way, and they listened. But not only did this diverse group of people internalize the message of the Holy Spirit, they also shared it with everyone around them!

The Holy Spirit is still communicating in new and powerful ways, folks. The question for us is, “Are we listening?” Today, we face the challenge of opening ourselves to a renewal of the Holy Spirit’s work in our own lives, and in our communities of faith. This renewal means that the rushing, mighty winds of life-affirming change may very well have to intrude upon our lives to get our attention, too.

As a diverse people of God, we are challenged to allow those divided tongues of fire of the Holy Spirit to rest upon each of us—women and men, straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, all nationalities, from every walk of life. We are challenged not only to internalize the life-saving message of God’s love for all people; but we are also to share that message with everyone around us. We are challenged to use those tongues of fire in positive ways—to challenge racism, sexism, homophobia, and unjust government policies that keep some people imprisoned in life-threatening poverty, while the rich keep building larger barns to store their ever-accumulating wealth.

How do we meet these challenges? The key is in verse 8 of today’s reading. The huge diversity of people that witnessed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit heard the message of God’s mighty deeds in their own language. To communicate effectively, we have to know the language. That is why it is so important we have a plurality of voices witnessing to the availability of God’s life-changing love for all people.

But the issue of effective communication is a faith community issue, as well. For if we do not learn to speak the language of God’s love, peace, and justice for all people to oppressive structures of all types—including oppressive church structures—and speak to those structures in language they will understand, all they will hear is, “Blah, blah, blah.”

Of course, just like on the Day of Pentecost, there will be those people who will not accept the truth of the message that God’s love, peace, and justice is meant for all people. They will not accept the message that diversity in creation has been part of God’s plan all along. They will be unable or unwilling to accept the “new things” that God does throughout the course of human history.

There will be people who will accuse those of us who proclaim this liberating message of being drunk with the “new wine” of a liberal or even heretical theology. And at times, those of us who proclaim this so-called heretical message of liberation may doubt that we are capable of meeting the challenges of the unjust social structures of our time, for these structures can be quite powerful.

But the good news is this: the Holy Spirit that empowered Peter to preach on the Day of Pentecost—Peter who nearly drowned due to his lack of faith; Peter, who Jesus at one point sharply rebuked; Peter, who denied Jesus three times on the night of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest—this Holy Spirit empowered this very same man to stand strong in the face of adversity. It was this Holy Spirit that empowered Peter to share the great news of the gospel of Jesus Christ—even when it took him to places and put in situations he could never have imagined.

And the even better news for us today is this: the power of that same Holy Spirit is available to each one of us today. It is available to empower us to live in unity with one another, to promote a better understanding of one another, and to work together to promote peace, equality, and justice for all people.

So, let’s take up the challenge of the Holy Spirit to improving our communication skills by learning a new “language” or two. Let’s jump into new and exciting ways of living our faith. Let’s ride with the winds of Holy Spirit change, and carry the message of God’s life-changing love for all people to all people.

God bless you and amen.

May 28th

2006-05-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

Left Behind

Acts 1:1-11

I was raised in a religious tradition that is big on the rapture—the second coming of Jesus Christ. I remember sermon after sermon about the events leading up to the second coming, as well as the truly scary cosmic shakeup that involved things like stars falling from the sky and the moon turning into blood. The worst thing that could possibly happen to a person was to witness these events, to see others being literally taken up into the heavens to meet Jesus, while your feet were still firmly planted on the ground. In other words, the worst possible fate for a person was to be left behind.

Now I had been listening to these teachings since I was about 6 years old, and there were times when they plagued my dreams. Sometimes I was on the guest list for the Rapture; sometimes I wasn’t. I specifically remember one incident when I was about 8 or 9 years old. I walked out into our front yard one beautiful evening in western Kentucky, looked up into the sky, and there it was—a huge, beautiful bright reddish-orange harvest moon! Of course, in my young mind, the moon was turning to blood—and my feet were still firmly planted on the ground. Not a good sign!

I rushed back into the house and took a quick inventory. My Dad was sitting in the living room watching T.V. Of course, since my Dad smoked, drank, and went to church only once a year on Easter, I wasn’t surprised that he was still around. Then I saw my older sister. Now she played the piano at church, was baptized, and had spoken in tongues! But, maybe she had backslidden and not told anybody.

But then I saw my Mom and thought there was no way God would leave Mom behind. I looked outside again and didn’t see a lot of folks rising up in the sky, either. So I began to think maybe there was a little more to this story than I was being told. Looking back now, it seems that maybe I was right.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the fear of being left behind has completely disappeared from our minds. A few years ago, a couple of men by the names of LaHaye and Jenkins began writing a series of books about the second coming, the events that follow the second coming, as well as the final battle between good and evil. Most people know these books as the “Left Behind” series. These books are like the “DaVinci Code” in that they combine some truth, some speculation, and a lot of imagination that make for some very interesting reading. They are, however, on the totally opposite end of the theological spectrum.

A big part of the message of the “Left Behind” series seems to be that in the end, there is no worse fate than being left behind. But, while I am definitely no expert on this series, it seems that there was still a lot of work left to do in the world for folks who were left behind after the rapture. Could it be that sometimes being left behind is actually part of God’s plan somehow?

Well, it certainly seems that way from our passage in Acts today. In today’s reading, we see the resurrected Jesus speaking to the apostles about the kingdom of God, and instructing them to wait for the promise of God’s Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. The power of the Holy Spirit would then give them the strength to be witnesses to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. As Jesus said this to them, scripture tells us that Jesus was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. There they were, mouths hanging open, looking up into the sky, feet still firmly planted on the ground.

The apostles, you see, were left behind.

Now can you imagine how the apostles must have felt? Think about it. They had left everything to follow Jesus for the past 3 years. Then, just when things seem to be taking off, Jesus is crucified. Now what? But then, Jesus is resurrected from the dead! This has to be it! Now, Jesus will establish God’s kingdom on earth. That has to be the meaning of these teachings for the past 40 days!
So, they ask the question, “Is this it? Is now the time?” Jesus basically tells them that God’s timing is none of their business, to go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise of God’s Holy Spirit, then be witnesses to Jesus’ life and teachings to the end of the earth. And then Jesus leaves—just like that! Then, to add insult to injury, two guys in white robes show up and say, “What are you looking at? Jesus is gone.”

So Jesus is gone, and here we are—left behind. Now what?

Well, according to verse 8 of today’s reading, if we call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ, we are to be witnesses to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. Well, that’s easy enough. We just grab our industrial sized Bibles, go out and start whacking people over their heads with them, right? We just tell folks if they don’t straighten up and fly right, they won’t be flying at all in the end. I call this method of witnessing, “Fly or Fry” witnessing.

This method of witnessing can be quite effective, too. We can scare people into behaving as we think they should behave by threatening them with eternal damnation. Hey! It certainly kept me in line for many years. The problem with this method, however, is that it tends to develop what I call “Bystander Christians.” These are the folks who stand around gazing into Heaven trying to figure out exactly when Jesus is coming back, while doing their best to make sure all those sinners out there don’t contaminate them somehow. In the meantime, God’s good creation—the creation that God told us to take care of-- is going to Hell all around us.

I think what we forget sometimes is that while there is an eternal dominion of God that will be realized one day, Jesus also told the disciples that the kingdom of God was within them. Think about it. Jesus spent a lot of his time teaching the disciples how to live in the present—how to love, heal, and change the lives of those around them through the power of his Spirit. What that means for us is becoming co-creators with the Holy Spirit in the here and now, witnessing to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ by loving, healing, and changing the lives of others around us through the power of God’s Holy Spirit. But where do we start?

Well, I mentioned being “co-creators” with the Holy Spirit. We tend to be most creative when we are passionate about a project or issue. For instance, people who are passionate about cooking are always finding new way and creative ways to take simplest food and make it mouthwatering. If you have ever tasted Don Schifke’s chicken and dumplings, then you know what I mean. Passionate artists can take materials many of us would toss in the garbage, and create works of art that are both beautiful and amazing! If any of you here know Bob Yates, then you know exactly what I am talking about.

So, take a look at the community around you. What is your passion? Does your heart break when you hear stories of child abuse? Then volunteer at CASA, and become an advocate for children. Do you see people sweltering in the Corpus Christi heat with no homes to shelter them? Then volunteer at Metro Ministries, the Salvation Army, or the Good Samaritan, where people are sheltered every day. Is feeding the hungry your passion? Then volunteer at our Food Pantry here at MCC of Corpus Christi!

Is HIV/AIDS your passion? Maybe you have heard that funding for HIV/AIDS services is being reduced—and trust me, it is. Or, maybe you have already heard that Corpus Christi’s South Texas Interfaith Council is closing at the end of June. Then maybe the Congregational Care Team of MCC of Corpus Christi can step up to fill at least part of the void sure to be left by the closing of this wonderful agency. And guess what? You can be part of that team!

You see, through the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, we already have the vision of what God’s kingdom on earth should look like. It is a dominion of peace, equality, and love. It is a place where resources are shared. It is a place where all people are valued, and none are left behind to needlessly suffer. It is a place where God is worshipped, communities are built, and hope is offered to all people. It is a place where, by their words and the example of their lives, people motivate faith, create unity, communicate the good news, challenge injustice, and celebrate God’s unconditional love!

Folks, do you have any idea what we have here? We may not be a huge group; but we have some strong backs, sharp minds, and a whole lot of love to share! Through Jesus Christ’s saving work in our lives, we have a message of hope! We have a message that can save lives! The challenge for us is, how are we going to focus our God-given gifts and resources to share that message with a community that so desperately needs to hear it—so that no one is needlessly left behind?

I challenge us today to put on those thinking caps. Then let’s sit down and talk.

God bless you, and amen.

May 21st

2006-05-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

Change: It Can Do a Body Good

1 John 5:1-6
Acts 10:44-48

Most of you know that before I accepted God’s call to ordained ministry in 1999, I was an accounting professional with Chemical Waste Management, CWM-AETS, AETS, CWM-WMI, and Onyx Environmental Services. Sounds like a lot of job hoping doesn’t it? Well, believe it or not, it was the same company! Yep! In my seven years with this company, I survived 5 name changes and about 11 or so supervisors.

But it gets even better than that. I moved 5 times in those 7 years, as well. First, I moved from Dallas to Houston to accept the position. Then, a year and a half later, the Houston office was scheduled to close; so my position and I packed our bags and moved to Bensalem, PA, just outside of Philadelphia. Then, a year and a half after that move, the Bensalem office was scheduled to close. I was given the choice of moving to Pensacola, FL, Atlanta, GA, or Houston, TX. Since I still had plenty of friends in Houston, and my church—Resurrection MCC was there, I chose Houston.

However, on my way to Houston, I was asked to work in the Atlanta office for a month or so because that office was short-staffed. So, since I had never spent much time in Atlanta, I figured, “Why not?” Then, the Friday before I was supposed to be heading to Houston, another Atlanta staffer submitted his resignation! Soooo, I was asked to please move to Atlanta instead of Houston. I found an apartment in Atlanta and re-routed my furniture from a truck headed for Houston to a truck headed for Atlanta in what had to be at least close to record time!

Then, after a year and a half in Atlanta, the powers-that-be decided there was not enough work in the Atlanta office to keep me busy. So, the move to Houston was back on. However, by this time, I had met Richard, and I wasn’t so sure about moving again. But after a lot of discussion, we both decided it would probably be the best thing to do at the time. So, I headed to Houston via Pensacola, where I had another project to finish.

But, after only 6 weeks, I decided that I had had enough. The job in Houston wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be, my college education had been put on hold for the umpteenth time for this move, and most of all, I missed Richard. So, I worked out a deal with my boss in Houston, and headed back to Atlanta. In 2000, I left the accounting profession to attend seminary, was ordained as MCC clergy in November 2001, accepted the call to Corpus Christi in December 2001, and moved here in January 2002. So, after all that moving, we ended up back in Texas, after all! So, you could say that I am a bit familiar with the concept of change.

As I look back on those days, I found that with each move I experienced pretty much the same emotions: disbelief (“You have got to be kidding! Another move?); fear (“Is this really the right move to make?”); and finally, acceptance (“Yep, I guess this is how things were supposed to happen, after all.”). Now these emotions came at different stages, and expressed themselves in different ways—not all of which were healthy, either. But the most important things I learned from all those moves was: (1) change happens, so get used to it; and (2) how we handle change can make the difference between growing and learning and never reaching our God-given potential.

These observations are a big part of our lesson from the 10th chapter of Acts today. Just prior to our reading, Peter has seen a vision from God. In this vision, God is letting down a sheet from heaven, filled with animals. God commands Peter to “Rise, kill, and eat.” Well, Peter was hungry; but the problem was that the animals in the sheet were considered unclean by Jewish dietary laws. So, Peter basically responds, “You’re kidding, right? I have never eaten anything that is unclean or profane!” It takes three times, but Peter eventually gets the message from God that it is God who makes the determination between what—and who—is clean and unclean.

It just so happens that very soon after this experience, Peter is called to the home of Cornelius, a Roman centurion who was very supportive of the Jesus Movement. Nice guy; but there was just one problem: he was unclean by Peter’s standards. So if Peter went into the home of Cornelius, he risked becoming unclean himself. But, since he had seen this vision from God, Peter decided to risk it. So, we have Peter’s initial disbelief, and probably fear as well as he risked becoming unclean to witness to Cornelius. I can almost hear Peter now. “OK, God. Are you sure about this? Was that a vision, or was I just dillusional from hunger?”

But as Peter spoke with Cornelius, the Holy Spirit moved, and the whole house who heard the word were filled with the Holy Spirit! Peter’s eventual openness to change, and his willingness to take risks—despite his fears—resulted in the potential for extraordinary growth in the earliest church, as the good news of Jesus Christ was beginning to be shared with all people! Even those people once thought to be unclean!

We can all learn a lot from the example of Peter, folks. First, notice who initiated the change: God. In our lives, God may initiate change in a number of ways. God may speak to us through friends, pastors, family members, and—as much as it scares me to say this—even some televangelists! It is also possible for God to use certain events to point to our need to consider making some needed changes in our lives.

And like Peter, we don’t always get the message the first time around. It may take two, three, or several messages in various forms for us to finally be able to take that first shaky step of faith toward change. And as hard as that first step might be, as long as we remain faithful to what we feel is God’s desire for our lives, we will get stronger with each additional step we take. Sure, we’re gonna fall from time to time on this road to change. But just remember this: when we fall, a saint is just a sinner who fell down—and got back up.

Change involves taking risks beyond those initial first steps, too. Change means trying new and different things, while remaining true to our core values. That’s a critical point, folks, so I’ll repeat it. Change means trying new and different things, while remaining true to our core values. If change for you means dedicating yourself to climbing the corporate ladder, there are several ways of doing that. But those promotions don’t mean a thing if you mistreat and step on people to effect that change. If change for you means obtaining a college degree, that’s wonderful! But that degree won’t mean a thing in the long run if you get it through cheating.

This point is especially important for our communities of faith. Sometimes, in an effort to increase our market share of available souls, we make wholesale changes in order to create “brand loyalty.” On one end of the spectrum these changes may involve requiring a congregational vote to move the organ in order to protect our beloved tradition from those heretics who want to bring in electric keyboards and drums. On the other end of the spectrum these changes may involve removing any Christian symbolism from the sanctuary, having nothing but a rock band for music, and requiring the preacher to dye his hair to look more like the target audience. Of course in our case, that would require the preacher having enough hair to actually dye!

And in the end, both of these churches have missed the point. That point? Changed lives! You see, change is essential for any church that preaches Christ. But not change for the sake of change alone. Change born of God means keeping one eye on improving of how we do things, and the other on our purpose: to bring people into a closer relationship with God through Jesus Christ by motivating faith, creating unity, communicating the good news, challenging injustice, and celebrating God’s unconditional love.

How will we know when the changes we are making are the right changes? God will affirm those changes in one way or another. In our passage from Acts, the Holy Spirit filled all who heard Peter preach the word. In our personal lives, God may not always bless us with enormous wealth; but God will eventually bless us with a sense of peace and satisfaction that is better than all the goods that money can buy.

And in our communities of faith? We may not all grow to mega church status. But if we are faithful to making the changes that we feel God is calling us to make, lives will be changed for the better and to the glory of Almighty God. And isn’t that the point of Christianity, anyway?

So, let’s start listening for God folks. Let’s take that first step toward fulfilling God’s potential for our lives. Then, let’s start looking for God to do new and wonderful things in our individual lives, as well as in our communities of faith. And as strange and impossible as some of those changes may seem, remember this: all things are possible with God.

Even change in the church.

God bless you and amen.

May 14th

2006-05-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

The Love Child of Jesus

1 John 4:7-12
John 15:1-8

So, how many people here today have read the book, “The Da Vinci Code?” What do you think? Exciting? Disturbing? Blasphemous? All the above? To be sure, this book has generated no small amount of controversy. Folks have killed a few trees writing responses to this book with titles such as “Da Vinci Decoded,” “The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code,” “Secrets of the Code,” “Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code,” “Breaking the Da Vinci Code,” “Exploring the Da Vinci Code,” and “Cracking Da Vinci’s Code.” Churches are all over the Da Vinci Code, as well. There is even one church in Corpus that is advertising a series on the Da Vinci Code entitled, “The Da Vinci Code: Fact or Fiction?”

One of the funniest—and saddest--responses to this book came from my own sister—God bless her heart. I was visiting her sometime ago, and during that visit, we watched a short news story about the Da Vinci Code. I asked my sister what she thought about the book, and full of righteous indignation she replied, “It’s blasphemous!” “Really? I replied. “What parts?” Then came the priceless reply, “Oh, I’ve never read it. I’ve heard enough about it to just know that it is!” I won’t tell you where the conversation went from there.

But, regardless of what you think about the book, hang on! The movie version of “The Da Vinci Code” is due out this Friday, May 19th. Briefly, the story is centered around a murder and religious symbology expert, Robert Langdon. Langdon becomes tangled up in a murder investigation of a historian at the Louvre in Paris, because the murdered historian left behind clues in the form of a cryptic code that leads to several more codes and puzzles. As it turns out, this trail of clues leads all the way back to the life and times of Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, Langdon winds up being a suspect in the murder case and must run from the law. So, while on the run, he searches for both the real killer and the ancient secret the historian was trying to protect. The story line includes a very close inspection of Da Vinci’s painting, “The Last Supper.” Now in the painting, at the right hand of Jesus, there is a clean-shaven, feminine-looking figure who everyone has always assumed was the youthful disciple, John. But the book---and movie—present another possibility. Could it be that the person in the painting is actually Mary Magdalene, the follower of Jesus who would also be the first person to see the risen Christ? And where is the Holy Grail—the cup thought to be used at the Last Supper? It is missing from the painting.

All this speculation leads to the big secret that the doomed historian was trying so hard to protect. That secret? Jesus was not the celibate, single man that most Christians assume he was. No. Jesus and Mary Magadalene had a child, beginning a bloodline that continues to this day! And the Holy Grail was not the cup Jesus used at the Last Supper. Mary Magdalene was the Holy Grail—the vessel that carried the child of Jesus! OK. So that little bit of information is probably enough to ruffle a few feathers. Is there a possible explanation for these assertions?

Well, actually there is. Feminine portrayals of men were pretty common in Da Vinci’s time period. So it is entirely plausible that the figure next to Jesus in Da Vinci’s painting is indeed John. And the missing cup? Da Vinci based his painting on the gospel of John, and John’s story of the Last Supper doesn’t include a cup. So, it follows that there would be no cup in Da Vinci’s painting.

So, is everyone breathing just a little easier, now? I think one of the best reviews I read about the “Da Vinci Code” puts it all in perspective by pointing out that what author Dan Brown has done is take some historical truth, mix it some speculation, and a lot of imagination. The result is a faced-paced, fascinating best seller that you will find in the fiction—repeat fiction—section of your favorite bookstores.

But some of you may be shocked to hear that Jesus did have a love child. That’s right! In fact, Jesus had many love children. For example, Don Holder is a love child of Jesus! Jean-Marie Clark and Linda Hull are love children of Jesus! Tom Thrower is a love child of Jesus! Each one of us here is a love child of Jesus Christ! For you see, to be connected to Jesus Christ has nothing to do with the question of Jesus’ celibacy—or lack thereof. Our connection with Jesus Christ relates to our being healthy, productive branches on the Jesus Vine. So, what does it mean to be a healthy, productive branch of the Jesus Vine?

Well, before I get into that subject, please note that I said our connection with Jesus Christ relates to our being a healthy, productive branch on the Jesus Vine. I don’t think I have to tell anyone here that there is a lot of production going on in the world today. The question is, “How much of that production is actually healthy?”

Take governments, for instance. Governments pass legislation that financially benefits the wealthiest members of society, while reducing funding for HIV/AIDS and other types of social services. The most powerful nations on the planet are reluctant to take a firm stand on the genocide occurring in parts of Africa, but they are more than willing to invest billions of dollars in a pre-emptive war in an oil rich country like Iraq.

And where is the church in all this social upheaval? Well, we have our own “production issues,” folks. Many churches today seem to be more interested in fighting over trivial, political matters, and attracting the “right” type of people who will keep the structure financially profitable and culturally cool, while the homeless and hungry are literally sleeping on their doorsteps!

OK. So if these are examples of unhealthy production, what do we need to be healthy, productive branches on the Jesus Vine? Well, everything I am about to say can probably fit under one umbrella, and that umbrella is called an attitude check, folks.

First, it is important for us to realize that, as Christians, the source of our strength and growth is Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who keeps us from being destroyed by the storms of life. Jesus Christ is the One who offers us “living water” when we are spiritually dry. We are nourished by the teachings of Jesus Christ when we wander away into dangerous territory. It is Jesus that forgives us when we sin, and it is Jesus who breathes new life into us when we feel spiritually dead. It is this rootedness in Jesus that allows us to be productive. For without this source of nourishment, we become broken, dried out, fallen, and spiritually dead. So, tell me, who is the source of our spiritual strength and growth?

Once we realize the source of our strength, it is important for us to stay connected to that source of strength, because as our passage tells us this morning, apart from Christ we can do nothing. We stay connected through real fellowship—not just social hour but real fellowship—in a Christ-centered community of faith that is focused on serving God, building community, and offering hope to all who enter its doors. We stay connected through study of the Scriptures, honest and open dialogue with one another, and through serving Christ by serving others!

Staying connected means keeping together. While we all need time alone for rest, reflection, rejuvenation, and prayer, for the most part, Christianity is a community-based faith. Sure, there may be some folks whose spiritual gifts cause them to stand out from time to time in the community, and yes, we are all gifted in different ways. But, that diversity of gifts is to be used for the benefit of the whole community, to promote unity and health. In other words, our gifts are meant to promote service to others, not servitude to our egos.

And the really great news here is anybody can serve. Quoting Martin Luther King: “Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

Once we tap into the Source of our strength, get connected and stay connected with a healthy community of faith, chances are we will eventually start producing some fabulous spiritual fruit! And once we start producing that fruit, we are called to continue producing that fruit until the day when we transition from this life to the next and hear the words, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” And as impossible as this challenge may seem sometimes, remember that it is through Jesus Christ—the True Vine—that we can do all things.

So, get connected and stay connected to Jesus Christ. Get connected and stay connected to a healthy community of faith. Get productive and remain productive. Focus on fruitfulness, and graceful, loving service. Call it “The Christ Code.”

And unlike the Da Vinci Code, there is nothing fictional about it. Amen?

God bless you and amen.

May 7th

2006-05-08T12:01:00.000-07:00

Thinking INSIDE the Box

1 John 3:16-24
John 10:11-18

It seems like these days everyone is talking about getting out of the box. Corporations are willing to pay enormous salaries to executives who think outside of the box. When it comes to our relationships, many so-called “experts” encourage us to explore new ways to “spice things up,” to take our relationships outside of the boxed in mentality of the traditional relationship models we have attempted to follow all our lives.

Many church folks talk a lot about thinking outside the box, as well. For example, the story is told of an elderly priest who had a meeting with a new, younger priest in his church to discuss some changes the younger priest had made in the life of the church. The elderly priest said, “It was a good idea to replace the first four rows of pews with plush bucket theater seats. It worked like a charm. The front of the church always fills first now.”

The young priest nodded, and the old priest continued, “And you told me a little more beat to the music would bring young people back to the church, so I supported you when you brought in that rock ’n’ roll gospel choir. We are packed to the balcony!!”

“Thank you, Father,” answered the young priest. “I am pleased that you are open to the new ideas of youth.”

“However,” said the elderly priest, “I’m afraid you’ve gone too far with the drive-thru confessional.” “But, Father,” protested the young priest, “my confessions and the donations have nearly doubled since I began that!”

“I know, son, but that flashing neon sign, Toot ’n’ Tell or Go To Hell, just can’t stay on the church roof!”

Now, that is thinking outside of the box! Amen?

But is it possible to get too far outside of the box? Remember the Coca-Cola experiment of years ago when they came out with a different formula for the legendary soft drink? What happened? The new product fell flat on its face! Then there was the “Clear Pepsi” experiment. Who were they trying to be? 7-Up?

What about churches? Well, we now have churches with specialty coffee shops and cafes in their buildings. We have Christian news stations that attempt to broadcast a portion of the daily news complete with the Christian perspective; because you know there is only one true Christian perspective. Of course, if you drive long enough and listen long enough, that perspective tends to change from Texas to Louisiana to Mississippi to Alabama to Georgia.

Now, is thinking outside of the box and trying new things necessarily a bad thing? No! Not at all! God is the author of diversity! But, while it is OK to get out of the box, it is not OK to lose the box altogether. I like to think of the box as our healthy core competencies—our healthy core values—what we do well. And when we stray too far from those foundational values, our relationships on all levels become as flat as the “New Coke.”

Maybe it is time for all of us to remember both who and Whose we are. Maybe it is time for us to take the time to find out what Jesus wants us to do, and do it well. Maybe it is time for us to get back into the “Christ Box.” So, what is this thing that Jesus wants us to do, and do well?

Our reading in 1st John today makes it very clear that our core value should be love—nothing more, and nothing less. Just before our reading for today in 1st John, we are told that this is the message we have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. But we find in our reading today that this isn’t just a love we talk about; this is a love that results in concrete actions, as well. Scripture further defines this type of love using the example of the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ for all people, then states we should do the same thing! No wonder people want to get out of the Christ box! Apparently, this box can be quite hazardous to our health!

But we may not be talking about literally losing our physical lives here, folks. Clarence Jordan captured the practical nature of this type of love in his Cotton Patch version of 1st John 3:18: “My little ones, let’s not talk about love. Let’s not sing about love. Let’s put love into action and make it real.” Making love real. Putting love into action. Keeping love real. These are the challenges of this passage from 1st John.

Make no mistake about it, this kind of love is hard work. For some of us, this kind of love means being willing to not only talk to our families about our sexual orientations, but also to listen to their viewpoints, and to provide them with accurate information regarding issues surrounding our lives. We are not called to change their minds or hearts—only God can do that—but we are called to be vessels of God’s grace and love.

If we are in a committed relationship with another person, this kind of love means learning to sit down and talk to one another about the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful things in our relationships. This kind of love may mean getting professional help, or enlisting the ear of a clergy person. This kind of love means being vulnerable to sharing our deepest joys and fears with the people closest to us, the people we call “partners,” “lovers,” “wives,” or “husbands”—you know, those people we say we love.

Love in action means not only shaking our heads at stories of hunger, homelessness, disease, and oppression of all types that we see on television or read about in our newspapers. Love in action means not only writing a check to help out—although financial gifts are always needed and welcomed. Love in action means more than turning the television channels from these painful stories to more pleasant programming. Love in action means turning the television off, putting the paper down, getting up, and getting involved as we are able!

And what about love in action in our communities of faith? Love in action in both our denominations and our local churches means going beyond drawing lines between “progressive” and “charismatic,” “liberal” and “conservative.” Love in action in our churches means learning to talk about our differences with one another, rather than forming comfortable support groups that talk about one another. Love in action in our churches means getting beyond concentrating our efforts on partisan politics, and concentrating those efforts on the business of serving God by serving others!

Practicing love God’s way is tough sometimes. Maybe that is why so many people want to get out of the “Christ Box.” Loving God’s way means change and often compromise is involved, as well. Unfortunately, we humans tend to prefer crushing our opponents so we don’t have to change. But crushing our opponents is not what Jesus taught. Jesus challenges us by saying, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Parent in Heaven.” So, if we are going to think inside the Christ Box, we are going to have to learn to practice love in action. We are going to have to learn to make love real, and we are going to have to learn to keep love real.

There is something else we should know about this love in action, as well. Sometimes this love means saying, “No.” We are called to do the hard work of loving our families, partners, and friends. But sometimes, people do not respond to our attempts to establish healthy, loving, mutually respectful relationships. So, while we are called to say “Yes” to healthy forms of love, we are also called to say “No” to all forms of toxic, abusive behavior in all our relationships—both in our personal lives and in the lives of our communities of faith.

Mercy! This love in action thing is certainly a tall order, isn’t it? If you’re anything like me, you are probably wondering if it is even possible for us to really practice this kind of love at all. Well, the good news is that, in fact, it actually is possible for us to practice this kind of love. But this kind of love does not come from implementing the latest new worship format, opening a coffee shop just off the sanctuary, or installing a drive-thru confessional.

This kind of love is a love that comes from Almighty God. This kind of love is a love that was made manifest in Jesus Christ. This kind of love is a love that is available to us today in the form of the Holy Spirit living in us, working through us, and reaching out to others from us. And as I have said so many times before, all we have to do to receive this gift of God’s Holy Spirit is simply and sincerely ask God for it.

Then, once we start getting a handle on the basics of real love, maybe we can look at installing that drive-thru confessional—complete with gourmet coffee to go!

God bless you and amen.

April 30th

2006-05-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

We Are Family

1 John 3:1-7
Acts 3:12-19

Sometime ago Richard and I were invited to a party at the home of some friends of ours’. As part of the entertainment, we all watched a video of a benefit show that was done to raise money for The Passage, the AIDS hospice that was operating in Corpus Christi at that time.

The illusions were both spectacular and funny. We saw Judy Garland and the Sweet Transvestite, Franknfuter from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. We saw The Village People! Of course, women portrayed the Village People—go figure, right?

But later in the show, a group of “sisters” performed “We are Family”—the disco anthem for marginalized people of all types. Remember some of the words? “We are fa-mi-ly! I’ve got all my sisters with me!” After looking very closely at some of those “sisters,” though, I was tempted to request a DNA test. For you see, as much as I love my biological sister, she has never looked as glamorous as some of the “sisters” performing at this particular benefit.

But , whether we were disco queens—and I know some of us were—or political activists, this song spoke to many people as an anthem of unity. For some people the song reaffirmed that regardless of what others thought of them—regardless of what even their biological families thought of them—that they were part of a
larger fellowship.

What we don’t realize, however, is that we truly are a lot closer than we think.

For example, did you know that the research of Yale statistician Joseph Chang, reveals that the most recent common ancestor of every European today was someone who lived in Europe long ago, and through that person every European has a connection with Charles the Great!

That’s wonderful news for Europeans, but what about Americans? It seems we are royalty, too—whether we are of predominantly African, Native American, or Caucasian ancestry. Chang makes this claim based on the long history of intermarriage in the New World. So, through this complex web of relationships, we can all somehow be traced back to Charles the Great.

But the story gets even more detailed than that. The hypothesis now is that the most common ancestor of all six billion people on earth today probably lived just a couple of thousand years ago. This means through this single person we can trace our family ties back to Confucius, Nefertiti and just about any other historical figure who ever lived.

So, not only are we family—apparently we are REALLY close, too.

And since we are all family, it shouldn’t surprise us too much when an argument breaks out in the ranks. That is the context for our reading in First John today. The community to which this letter was written has experienced division and disagreement. There was a group of people who doubted the humanity of Jesus Christ, and they did not tolerate anyone who held different views. The disagreement reached the point to where this group apparently left the community of believers.

Family splits are tough on everyone—whether the family is a biological family, a family of choice, or a church family. There is always a certain amount of hurt and confusion. It is in the midst of this conflict and unstable circumstances that the writer of 1 John seeks to unite this particular community around the central belief in Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine, as well as Christ’s instruction for to love one another. It is in today’s passage of scripture that he gives us some of the shared characteristics of the family of God. Call it our “spiritual DNA,” if you will.

Let’s start with the good news: We all have the same Parent! The first verse of our reading today says we are children of God. Not only that, the second verse says we are God’s children NOW.

Remember that old saying, “You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your relatives” (although maybe some of us wish we could)? Well, that is certainly the case here. In fact, we did not choose God, but God chose us! Ephesians 1:5 tells us that God “destined us for adoption as God’s children through Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of God’s will…” So to begin with, we have got some spectacular DNA! Amen?

But good DNA isn’t quite enough. In other words, we can’t rely just on good family genes to get us through life. I think most of us here have either read about or seen examples of people who have tried to make a living off of “the family name.” Chances are they have many of the same genetic markers for success that other members of their family share. However, because they choose not to develop these talents, many times their lives result in terrible sadness and emptiness.

The same concept applies to our spiritual lives as well. Becoming a member of the family of God is just the first step. You see, one DNA marker of children of God is that we are growing, developing, and maturing. Verse two in our 1 John reading today says, “what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when Christ is revealed, we will be like Him, for we will see Christ as He is.” Scripture tells us that God has gifted each of us through the power of the Holy Spirit with different abilities for the purpose of building up the Body of Christ known as the church. In other words, we’ve got the spiritual genetic markers from our Parent, God. But, it is up to US to grow, develop, and mature into the people God has called us to be as members of the family. So, how do we do that?

Growing in the image of Christ means finding new ways to share the good news of God’s love, serving God by serving others, growing in our knowledge of God’s Word through study, growing in relationship with one another through fellowship, and magnifying and praising God our Creator through sincere worship.

Growth also involves change, and change means trying new things sometimes. As part of the church of the living God we may try new things from time to time; but the church of Jesus Christ itself is not an experiment. We are here to stay. That’s our destiny. That’s our DNA. And we must evolve, grow, develop, and mature to fulfill that destiny.

A final characteristic of a child of God mentioned in today’s reading is a commitment to purity and righteousness. This is where our scripture reading for today gets pretty strange, too. Verses four through seven address sin and righteousness in some very direct terms. The author of 1st John challenges us to purify ourselves because God is pure. He also tells in that those who abide in God do not sin. Finally he tells us that everyone who does right is righteous, just as God is righteous.

Sinless and righteous like God? Yeah, right!

Confusing, isn’t it? Earlier in this book, the author states that the Christian is not without sin. Scripture also tells us that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” So, what is going on here?

Maybe a different translation will help us sort this issue out. The New International Version of the Bible translates this verse “no one who lives in God keeps on sinning. So, using this translation, this verse may make more sense to us. After all, the Bible tells us that “anyone who is in Christ is a new creature; the old things are passed away; behold new things have come.” If we have truly confessed Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, it will show in the outward expressions of our lives.

While some of the language surrounding the issue of sin may be somewhat confusing, what IS clear is this: we are called to strive AWAY from sin and towards righteousness because God our Parent is sinless and righteous. What this means for us is living lives that reflect God’s love.

Living lives that reflect God’s love means learning to live with, love, and doing our best to work with other members of this family we call “human”---Christian and non-Christian, all races, all genders, all sexual orientations, all people period. For those of us who call ourselves “Christian”, living lives that reflect God’s love means living lives centered in the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Does this call to righteousness and purity require perfection from us? No, we will never be perfect in this life. Remember this: the Christian life is a journey, not a destination. Hear again the words of 1st John 3:2: “What we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: When Christ is revealed, we will be like Christ, for we will see Christ as He is…” You see, if we are truly growing, maturing, and developing as children of God, the final destination for us is eternal life with God. And it doesn’t get much better than that, now does it?

So, hear the good news today: We ARE family! We ARE children of the Most High God! My prayer for each of us here today is that we allow the Holy Spirit to move in us in such a mighty way that the world can look at us and see the “family resemblance.”

God bless you and amen.

April 23rd

2006-04-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

A Call for Unity

Psalm 133
Acts 4:32-35

Tune in, turn on, drop out. Remember those words? You might if you are a child of the 60’s. This phrase came from Timothy Leary, Harvard professor, hippie guru, and psychedelic pied piper.

In response to his message, hundreds of young people left colleges, families, conventional lifestyles, and formed intentional communities called “communes.” These young people pooled money, labor, and dreams to purchase land and old farms in various areas of the United States in a movement known as the “Back to the Land” movement.

These were the people some of our parents warned us about. Maybe some of us WERE those people our parents warned us about. The hair was long, the clothes were loud, the music was even louder, feet were sandaled, and phrases like “Peace”, and “Make love, not war” were the mantras of the time.

Parents and other “Establishment” types were not impressed. If we think back far enough, some of us with much more conservative church backgrounds can even remember our pastors railing against these young people from the pulpit. Men with long hair! Women without bras! It was Sodom and Gomorrah! It was the end of civilization as we knew it! Surely the Second Coming was at hand!

Now there were some things about the modern commune movement that weren’t especially healthy. Unfortunately, some of the young people caught up in this movement interpreted the “turn on” and “drop out” portions of Timothy Leary’s call to change in negative ways, as they turned to drug abuse and promiscuity to escape their unhappiness with their own lives as well as “The Establishment.”

But that wasn’t the founding idea behind the movement. The modern commune movement was a psychedelic investigation set in tie-dyed idealism and bell-bottomed open mindedness. It was not based in the button-down, uptight refinement of the Establishment. No, the basis of this movement was actually found in the Bible itself!

Think about it! The church as a commune! MCC of Corpus Christi as a commune! Break out the love beads and tie-dye!

OK. So maybe we aren’t exactly ready to live together at 1315 Craig Street yet—unless, of course, Corpus Christi is hit with a hurricane. Then we may not have a choice. Pray hard that doesn’t happen.

But back to the original Back to the Land movement. If we think about it, in many ways Jesus Christ would have fit right in with the Commune Movement of the 60’s and 70’s. Some of you may remember the sermon I preached sometime ago titled “The Jesus Look.” One of those looks I mentioned was a bearded Jesus.

Can you picture it? Jesus, longhaired and bearded, sandaled and drinking wine with all those “outcast types.” Jesus Christ, who preached love and compassion with fire and passion in His eyes. Jesus Christ, who preached against The Establishment and for The People.

Jesus called, and people followed. Twelve men became his closest associates—the apostles. The death of Christ was just a momentary downturn in The Jesus Movement, but the Resurrection got things back on track.

But what kept the momentum of this community founded by Jesus Christ not only going, but growing as well?

First, the apostles tuned in. They tuned in to the message of Jesus Christ. Did they get the message the first time around? No. They didn’t even get it the second, third, or fourth times around, either. But they followed Jesus anyway, and eventually when they DID get Jesus’ message of love, grace, compassion, and obedience to God, they didn’t keep it to themselves, they shared this great news with as many people as they could!

For example, today’s reading in Acts follows a big victory in the ministry of Peter and John. They had been thrown in jail for healing a lame man and preaching the Gospel. Because they had tuned in to the message of Jesus Christ, they were turned on by the power of the Holy Spirit, which enabled them to perform this miracle. The Holy Spirit also enabled them to boldly proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to the Council of Rulers and Elders in Jerusalem. Even though the Council released Peter and John, they warned them not to spread this message to others.

After their release, Peter and John found other believers and shared their experience with them. The believers united in prayer for their leaders and their community, and as a result of their prayers, scripture says “the building shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they preached God’s message with boldness.”

Notice it started with the leaders. Today, as the leaders of the church listen to AND FOLLOW God’s directions for their lives—as they tune in—they are turned on to the power of the Holy Spirit working in their lives and great things begin to happen in the communities they serve as they faithfully proclaim God’s Word. And let me tell you something, folks. The powers of darkness do not like it when good things start to happen in a community of faith. Just look at the persecution faced by the apostles!

But notice it doesn’t stop with the leaders. The believers could see the apostles’ message was real through the deeds the Holy Spirit was performing through them, and how the unbelievers on the Council really could not deny the reality of these miraculous deeds. As the believers tuned in to the words AND works of the Holy Spirit through apostles, they too, were turned on by the power of the Holy Spirit and proclaimed God’s message with boldness.

What does this mean for today’s believers? It means we are to pray for our leaders, open our minds to the messages God gives them, and open our hearts to the power of the Holy Spirit. As we do that, then we too are empowered to share the message of God’s love with as many people as we can.

What happened when the first leaders and believers tuned in and turned on? What made their community so attractive to others?

First, it was a unified movement. “All the believers were of one heart and soul…” This phrase suggests that the level of unity among believers was deep and genuine, penetrating to their innermost being. What this means folks, is that they trusted each other. For where there is no trust, there is no real relationship—only superficial words. And do you know what? Superficial words will not stand when times get tough. And any relationship, organization, or community of faith built on such a foundation will eventually fall. Not every church in the first century exhibited this degree of unity, although it was—and still is-- the goal.

Please take note here. The scripture did not say everyone agreed on everything all the time. In fact, conflict—IF it is handled well—can actually be helpful as a source of further growth and maturity. This scripture is referring to spiritual unity. Loyalty, trust, commitment, and love for God and God’s Word are essential if the church is to survive.

Next, they shared their possessions. The early church was able to give and share as a result of the unity brought about by being open the power of the Holy Spirit working in their lives. Notice a couple of things about this sharing. It was voluntary; and it didn’t involve all private property, but only as much as needed. How do we know that? Because verse 34 tells us “there was no poverty among them.” Using today’s terms, call it an “equal distribution of wealth.”

How does the example of the early church work for us today? We share, as we are able in practical ways that help one another. We have an advantage over the early church, too. We have the means and technology to not only help those in this place, but also those far outside our walls as well.

Maybe it means bringing a few cans of food to our food pantry. Maybe it means helping with the Easter Basket Drive as so many wonderful people did. See, as with the early church, it wasn’t any ONE person doing spectacular things, it was the Holy Spirit working through MANY people that caused this once radical movement to not only survive, but to thrive as well.

OK. So we’ve got tuning in and turning on. What about dropping out? Did the first Christians drop out of society? Not at all. Remember I mentioned earlier that as a result of their prayers they spoke the message of God boldly. They shared not only their possessions with one another, they shared the good news with as many people as they could, both inside and outside of their walls. They dropped out to a life lived for self alone, and began living for God and as a result, living for others as well.
Tuning in, turning on, and dropping out radically and forever changed their lives.

People noticed that kind of change, too. Not only did they notice it, many wanted to be part of it.

Guess what? They still do. Do you know what, folks? People want to be part of something that is life-affirming and positive. If they wanted drama, they would stay home, curl up on the couch, eat bon-bons, and watch soap operas! At least that way, they wouldn’t have to worry about anyone asking them for any kind of commitment!

Picture it—a worshipping community who, through tuning in to the message of Jesus Christ through prayer, study of the Bible, and listening to the Word of God faithfully proclaimed has a solid focus on their internal identity as a church community.

Picture it--because a church community turned on by the power of the Holy Spirit moving in, through, and among them. While not uniform, they are unified. Dropping out of lives lived for self alone, they show genuine love and concern for those inside and outside of their community in life practical ways. God’s grace is upon them all as they boldly proclaim God’s life changing love for all people through not only their words, but through the examples of their lives as well.

The possibilities are endless.

Tune in to the life saving message of Jesus Christ.

Turn on to the healing power of the Holy Spirit.

Drop IN to the possibility of eternal life with God.

I come to you in love, and I speak to you in peace.

God bless you, and amen.

April 16th

2006-04-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

Stone Rollers

Acts 10:34-43
Mark 16:1-8

Many of you here today know that our daughter Kimberly, her partner, Dana, and our 4 year-old grandson, Preston, were here visiting just a week or so ago. We were on the go every day, from Progresso to San Antonio, 3 different beach trips, the aquarium, and the list goes on.

Then there was the home entertainment. We have never watched so many cartoons in our lives! We can even quote lines from the Wallace and Grommit movie! Of course, that shouldn’t be too surprising since we watched it three times! We did not watch any significant amount of adult television until Saturday morning after our family had headed back to Georgia. But, several hours of sleep later, Richard and I agreed that we really did have a lot of fun with our family.

Preston was particularly entertaining—as only four year-olds can be. During the commercial breaks of one of our cartoon marathons, he was pointing out to his Grandpa Richard everything he wanted for his upcoming birthday in August. And when I say, “everything,” I do mean “everything.” At one point, Grandpa Richard looked at Preston, smiled and said, “You just want everything, don’t you?” Preston’s confused look seemed to say, “Well, yeah. Duh! What? Is there a problem with that?”

Later, however, during one of our very brief CNN commercial breaks, Richard was mentioning how he liked some of the various products that were being advertised. Preston promptly said, “Grandpa Richard, you just want everything, don’t you?” All I can say is, “Touche’!”

Ahhh, to be a child again! To want everything, to have most everything handed to us, and to have no real responsibilities at all! Sounds great, huh? Of course, the time eventually comes in our lives when we learn that all those wonderful gifts—while given freely in love—also have a certain amount of responsibility that comes with them. And that is when life can get very interesting!

Responsibility. That is the topic I would like to address this beautiful Easter morning. Now I know what some of you are thinking. “Responsibility? What happened to the resurrection? Isn’t that why we’re here today? Well, that and to share some good ‘ol church food!

Well, Jesus Christ is risen; and that is the wonderful news that we are celebrating. Jesus Christ came, lived, died, and rose again so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. As Christians, we believe that Jesus died for the sins of the entire world. Jesus gave his life freely and in an amazing spirit of love for humanity—all of us, everyone, no exceptions! Furthermore, Christianity teaches that salvation is a free gift of God’s grace through our faith in Jesus Christ.

Abundant life! Everlasting life! Eternal salvation! We want it all, and through Jesus Christ we can have these things! This isn’t just good news; this is great news! Amen? These gifts are given to us freely in love. We can do nothing to earn them. But as free as these gifts are, from our reading in Mark today, we learn that there just may be some responsibility associated with these gifts, as well. Let’s take a closer look.

We begin with Mary Magadalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bringing spices to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. Along the way they are wondering who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb. They are looking for a way to get inside the tomb—a safe place, a place sealed away from the rest of the world. See, they thought that this place was the only place they would find Jesus.

Sounds a lot like us sometimes, doesn’t it? By that comment, I mean we sometimes treat the church like it is the only place we can find Jesus—you know, a safe place, a place sealed away from the rest of the world. We come, we worship, and we leave. But Jesus? Jesus stays right here.

Or so we think.

Can you imagine the fear of the women when they arrived at the tomb? First, the stone was already rolled away! Could there be grave robbers inside? Dare they venture into the tomb itself? I can see them oh-so-carefully peeking into the tomb. Nope! No grave robbers; but who is this guy in the white outfit? And most importantly—where is Jesus? Somebody has stolen our Jesus!

Seeing their fear, the young man basically says, “Don’t panic. You’re looking for Jesus. Yep! He was here. But check it out! He’s long gone. Don’t worry, though; I know where he is. Go tell his disciples—yes, even Peter—tell them all that Jesus is on his way to Galilee, and he will see you there. Remember? Just like he told you before.”

You know, I think we Christians sometimes come to church with our own variety of “spices”—that is, our own versions of what we think it will take to preserve our version of Jesus Christ in ways that make us feel comfortable and secure, locked away from the rest of the world. But then lo and behold, we get there, and our version of Jesus is gone! We start to panic! Somebody has stolen our Jesus! Not only that; then somebody in a white outfit has the nerve to tell us something like, “For goodness sake, get out of the tomb! Jesus is on his way to Galilee and said he would see you there!”

And do you know where “Galilee” is, folks? “Galilee” is right outside of these four walls! Jesus Christ did not suffer, die, and rise again so we could sit safe and locked away from the rest of the world! Jesus Christ suffered, died, and rose again so we could leave this place of safety and security and head to Galilee.

Now I want to be clear here. I’m not saying the church is useless. We come here to worship God, and we receive the gifts of God’s strength, grace, and peace through the Holy Spirit. We come here to hear a message of hope! We come here to hear the message that Jesus Christ is risen indeed! But then we are to take those gifts and that message of hope with us and head to our own “Galilees!” We are to take those gifts and become “Stone Rollers.”

And just what do Stone Rollers do? Stone Rollers go out, and we put our backs into helping others roll away the stones of their lives that keep them locked in dark, deadly tombs. Tombs like addiction, depression, loneliness, poverty, oppression, and abuse. We help roll the stones away that keep people locked in tombs of spiritual darkness that tell them that God cannot possibly love them!

Sure, these stones are heavy; but there are a lot of creative ways to move them, too. All we need are Spirit-filled people who are willing to stand up, speak up, and put their backs into rolling these stones away! And let me tell you something, I purposely added that part about putting our backs into it, because talk by itself is cheap. If we truly desire positive change, we have to be that change!

Scary? You bet it is! That’s at least part of the reason the women in today’s passage ran. The message of the guy in the white outfit completely freaked them out! The same thing happens to us sometimes, too. We hear a message that just completely blows us out of the water. That message may offend us; that message may inspire us; that message may even make good sense to us. But often, like the women in today’s passage, rather than take action, we are frightened into silence.

But I am here today to tell you that we have nothing—absolutely nothing—to fear! How do I know that? Because we have a God that goes before us! When the children of Israel left Egypt, God went ahead of them as a pillar of fire by night and smoke by day. When the Israelites were struggling to establish a foothold in the land of Canaan, the Ark of the Covenant—God’s presence in their midst—went ahead of them.

And today, we celebrate the greatest go-ahead ever—Jesus Christ, God’s presence incarnate, willingly goes ahead of us into the future, through suffering, death, and beyond. And if God will go ahead of us—even into suffering and death—then how much more will God go ahead of us to wherever life may take us; be it medical treatments, recovery, a new career, a new city, or a new relationship?

So, hear the great news today! Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! And because Jesus gone has gone before us, we too, can leave this place today without fear, meet him in our own “Galilees,” and start rolling some stones!

Christ has died.

Christ has risen.

Christ is waiting in Galilee.

Let’s join Him there. Amen?

God bless you and amen.

April 9th

2006-04-10T09:18:00.000-07:00

The Jesus Look

Philippians 2:5-11
John 12:12-16

A couple of weeks ago I opened the sermon by mentioning a song from the 80’s—“Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places.” Well, today we are back in the 80’s with yet another song. The song? “You’ve Got The Look,” by Prince and Sheena Easton. Remember some of the lyrics? “You’ve got the look, you must’ve took, a whole hour just to make up your face!” They must have been talking about Boy George from the group Culture Club.

Ahhh, the 80’s! The decade that gave us Madonna singing “Like a Virgin,” while rolling around on the stage at the Grammy Awards. Boy George singing “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” while taking the art of gender bending to a whole new level. And let’s not forget all those homophobic rock n rollers that had bigger hair and wore more makeup than many drag queens I know!

And a lot of folks—some of us here included—wanted those looks, too! Women and men brushed, teased, sprayed or Geri-curled their hair into all kinds of shapes and forms. Some of us painted our eyes and dyed our hair almost every color of the rainbow, too! And for what? Just so we could sweat it all off on the dance floor on the weekends!

And as much fun as those looks were, today we are talking about a totally different kind of look—the Jesus Look. So, what exactly is the Jesus Look? Well, let’s see if we can’t find a few of the accessories necessary to get this look from our scripture readings today.

Today is Palm Sunday. It is the day we normally celebrate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. We have upbeat music, people are wearing palm crosses, and we can see the victory of the resurrection just ahead.

Frankly, we aren’t much different than many of those people who lined the streets of Jerusalem on the day of Jesus’ arrival. They, too, celebrated Jesus as their Sovereign shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!” And when they shouted “Hosanna!” they were actually shouting, “Save us, we beg of you!” See, many of these people had seen that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. If Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead, surely the oppressive Roman government was no match for Him! They had finally found their Savior!

The Jesus Look this crowd wanted was a political conquering hero, someone who would restore the ancient greatness of Israel. They got a conquering hero all right—just not the kind they expected—or wanted, for that matter. During the course of the following week when they finally began to understand the “Jesus look” just a bit better, the once adoring crowds decided they did not like what they saw, and the cries of “Hosanna!” became “Crucify Him!”

Even the disciples weren’t much ahead of the crowds when it came to understanding the true likeness of Jesus. Verse 16 of today’s reading in John tells us that even those closest to Jesus—His very own hand picked 12—“didn’t understand these things at first.”

Ah, but WE’VE got it all down pat don’t we?

Well, not really. I think if we were all honest here, we would admit there are times in our lives when we are no better than the crowds that week so long ago in Jerusalem. We come to church in search of something new—a new look, if you will. We come shouting, “Life stinks! Nothing makes sense anymore! Save us, we beg of you!” And when we get our first taste of the Jesus Look, chances are we really like the joy, peace, and sense of victory we can feel.

But then, like those very same crowds, when we learn that there is a whole lot more to the Jesus Look than celebration, we may begin to reject Jesus. Why do we do that? Well, sometimes we reject Jesus because He doesn’t always fulfill our deepest hopes and aspirations for security in this world in the ways that we think He should fulfill them. We reject Jesus when He does not preserve for us our own little worlds that we hold so dear—when He overturns the tables of self-comfort in our lives in radical ways, much like He overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the Temple.

But if there is more to the Jesus Look than simply celebration, what are some of the other accessories that make up the Jesus Look?

Well, humble service is a big part of the “Jesus Look,” and it’s not a pretty look sometimes, either. In John 13, scripture tells us Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. This act of humble service is in stark contrast to the disciples, who had argued over the seating arrangements in heaven on more than one occasion. Picture this: At the Last Supper, only days after Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, the disciples were still arguing over whom among them was the greatest! They had just eaten the bread and shared the cup, and a fight breaks out! Talk about not getting the concept!

Now I want to make something very clear about the huge role humility plays in the “Jesus Look.” Healthy humility is not a self-degrading attitude, OK? As Pastor Rick Warren says, “Humility is not thinking less of ourselves, it is thinking of ourselves less.” Let me repeat that: “Humility is not thinking less of ourselves, it is thinking of ourselves less.” And there’s a big difference in those two statements too, folks.

When Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, ate with sinners, touched the unclean, and paid special attention to the poor and the oppressed of society, he did not stop being the Word Incarnate. Jesus didn’t lose any of his divinity. But at every turn and detail in Jesus’ life, he revealed an utterly different kind of power. I think author David Prior makes a great point when he says, “While it has been traditional to see Jesus’ self-humbling as God some way hiding or suspending for a time God’s divinity…what if God in Jesus’ actions was actually revealing God’s true divinity?”

The divine power of Almighty God revealed through humble service---now there’s a radical concept! And if that is the case, our notions of power and the proper use of it must be radically revised, as well. Amen?

In our Philippians passage today we find yet another clue to the Jesus Look. Although Jesus was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God as a thing to be grasped. In other words, Jesus was secure in His identity. See, Jesus was secure enough in who He was that crossing lines of gender, race, and economic status did not threaten His ego.

The religious authorities of Jesus’ time certainly didn’t get this point, as they did all they could to keep their distance from the “common folks,” while all the while touting their so-called religious superiority. And I’ve already mentioned earlier how Jesus’ own disciples were not immune to a little “power trippin’” of their own.

What about us? Are we secure enough in our identities as beloved children of God to serve Christ by serving others in ways others—or maybe even we ourselves sometimes---may see as beneath our station in life? Or do we tend to use the age old (and very lame) explanation, “That’s not my gift” to excuse ourselves from the “less glamorous” forms of service?

The Jesus Look is obedient. Philippians tells us that Jesus was obedient, obedient even to death on a cross. Now probably most of us here have not felt the call to die for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our lives have not been threatened for expressing our beliefs. But there are a lot of ways to die, too. We are also called to die to those things that keep us from fulfilling the mission that God has for each of our lives—things like a false sense of pride, power, and privilege.

The Jesus Look is a focused look. Jesus knew His mission, and Jesus stuck to it. Jesus didn’t always like it—he sweat drops of blood during his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane—but Jesus completed his mission in excruciating style when He said, “It is finished.”

“It is finished!” This was not a death sentence, by the way. It was –and still is—a life sentence. Because Jesus was secure in His own identity, He was able to focus on his mission of welcoming compassion, humble service, and sacrificial love. Inner security, a positive focus, welcoming compassion, humble service, and sacrificial love. That, my sisters and brothers, is the Jesus Look.

I have a question for you. Are you searching for a new look today? Have all the outer changes you’ve made not lived up to your expectations of them? Why not try an inner change? Why not try the Jesus Look? The good news today is, “The Jesus Look” is available to all who desire it. All we have to do is ask.

The Jesus Look. It may not always be pretty or easy to maintain. But no matter how hard we dance, or how much we sweat—no matter what life throws at us—the Jesus Look will never leave us looking like the 1980’s version of a tearful, makeup streaked Tammy Faye Bakker after a passionate plea for money on the PTL network.

The Jesus Look—the look for life; both for this life and the life to come.

God bless you and amen.

April 2nd

2006-04-05T15:14:00.000-07:00

Change or Die

Jeremiah 31:31-34
John 12:12-16

Here’s a joke for you: “How many church members does it take to change a light bulb?” Answer: “Change?!?! What do you mean, change?!? Heresy! Burn the heretic!”

You may chuckle at this little joke; but you might be surprised at just how hard change really is for us. For example, imagine your doctor tells you that you are going to die within the month. BUT, if you significantly change your lifestyle right now and for the next month and beyond, you’ll live a long and happy life. In other words, change or die.

Could you do it? Could you make such a radical and immediate change if it meant your life was at stake? Probably not. As a matter of fact, studies show that odds are 9 to 1 that we wouldn’t change. Think about it. How many of us have sat in the doctor’s office and been told that we really should avoid the buffet lines, and that cheesecake does not count as a serving of dairy? Or that just because Jesus turned water into wine doesn’t mean that it is the only thing we should be drinking with our meals? Or better yet, that walking from the refrigerator to the couch to the bathroom to the bed does not count as a cardio workout?

So, we get the message and push back from the table, find out that drinking water isn’t so bad after all, and discover the joys of walking in our neighborhoods, or along the beach or bay. But then it isn’t long before the weather, work schedules, aches and pains, and those tempting church potlucks dampen our enthusiasm, and we are back to square one. No real change. No real chance at a healthy life.

This inability to change seems to have been part of the human condition throughout history, too. For example, the children of Israel prayed to be released from bondage in Egypt, and through Moses and Aaron, God answered their prayers. Then, once they learned that this new found freedom included a lot of change, they started complaining and wanted to go back to Egypt. You see, they may have been in bondage in Egypt, but at least they knew what they were dealing with there! All the unknowns that came with their freedom were too much for the Israelites to bear.

Then the Israelites asked for directions. They asked Moses to speak to God for them. God provided Moses with the 10 Commandments—clearly written rules for change--which the Israelites proceeded to constantly violate. See, even though God had called them separate themselves from the practices of the pagan groups around them, the Israelites simply could not do it—even when God threatened them with exile, destruction, and death!
Now some of us may think, “Well, that’s them—not me. If I were threatened with death, I would pay attention. Maybe so; but consider this. Studies show that within 2 years, 90% of heart bypass surgery patients do not significantly alter their behaviors—even though they know that they will die sooner than later if they don’t make some much-needed changes in their lives.

But change isn’t the perceived enemy only when it comes to health care issues. Oh, no! Corporations spend billions of dollars a year on consultants and programs to promote change. But more often than not, these corporations implement either short-term change, or the changes suggested are flatly rejected. And what happens? Most of these businesses end up dying.

And don’t even get me started on churches…

So, if not even impending, exile, destruction, and death can make us change, are we doomed? Well, not really. There are those people, corporations, and—believe it or not—even churches that can make healthy, lasting changes in their lives. While there is absolutely no doubt that change is tough, change is possible. So, what is the secret to healthy, lasting change?

Maybe the secret lies in how we address the very issue of change. Let’s look at the children of Israel again. In the beginning, change was all about rules and the structure. They were informed. They knew the rules. They knew the consequences of breaking those rules. And the rules and structure weren’t so bad and useless, either. But none of that stuff actually touched them inside.

I can almost imagine God sitting back and thinking, “OK. They asked for deliverance and I provided it. They asked for leaders and direction. I provided both. They asked for protection. I provided it. They break the rules, I allow them to experience the consequences of their decisions. Obviously, the message is not getting through. It is time for me to initiate a change—a radical change—a change that is nothing like humanity has ever experienced before. Maybe what humanity needs is a fresh start—just no flood this time, or fire and brimstone like I used for Sodom and Gommorah. Here’s what I’ll do. Instead of working from the outside in, I will work from the inside out!”

The change process God started here was nothing short of amazing. While not completely tossing out the law and structure, God was initiating a move from commandments to conversation, from rules to relationship. So, if we pay attention, there are a few things we can learn about real, lasting change from this passage in Jeremiah.

First, God is open to change! God even initiates change! God tried one approach with the Israelites, and when that wasn’t bringing about the desired changes, God started shaking things up. Kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it? I mean, if God seems to be OK with change, what is our problem?

Second, real change comes from the inside, not the outside. Don’t misunderstand me here. Rules and structure are not always bad things. After all , we do need some guidelines, folks. For example, we need to know as much as we can about the condition of our health so we can make informed choices about treatment options. But, unless the desire to become healthier comes from deep inside of us, any positive changes we make will be short-lived at best.

And we definitely need some structure when it comes to living together as a community of faith. You think changing government economic policy is serious? Just try changing the order of worship in a church! I have heard of more than one pastor that has been encouraged to explore an alternative calling for his or her life for changing the order of worship.

And speaking of the order of worship, did you notice anything different about ours’ today? Now if you’re a new visitor, you probably didn’t notice anything too far out there. But if you are a regular, you have probably noticed that nobody robed today, and that the Prayer Minister, TC, and I did not process. And guess what? The roof didn’t fall in! We’re still having church!

I made this change for today to make a deeper point. As you know, we are in the beginning stages of a revisioning process. But we are approaching this process a little differently than what is considered “normal.” We still have rules and structure. And believe it or not, there is somewhat of a plan. But we are starting the move from rules to relationship, from commandments to conversation. In other words, this process is different, and that means change. And change can be frightening sometimes, can’t it?

You see, this process isn’t about changing our denominational affiliation. And this process isn’t about changing all our programming. The purpose of this process is not to give the Board and myself yet another “to do” list. This process is about changing US—the community of faith known as MCC of Corpus Christi—from the inside out. Sure, we can change worship. I can dress like I am dressed today in a collar and jacket, and we can even have Christian rap music. After all, who wouldn’t love to see Brother Don in a “do rag” and some major bling?

We can change our programming as much as we want. But do you know what? Unless those changes come from an inward sense of holy urgency that is then directed outside of these four walls, unless those changes are born of God’s direction and leading, all we are really doing is rearranging the furniture, so to speak. And while rearranging the furniture isn’t necessarily always a bad idea, such changes never last.

But let’s get even more personal. Let’s talk about our individual spiritual lives. Like the children of Israel, we may know the rules. Hey! We can even quote scripture! We may have even been exposed to loving, open, and affirming church environments. But for some reason, it just doesn’t seem to be making that much of a difference in our lives. We realize that something needs to change. Unfortunately, we tend to look on the outside rather than inside.

The point here is pretty simple, folks. We can quote the Bible from front to back. We can have perfect church attendance. We can serve on as many boards and councils as our time allows. But do you know what? All that effort will not result in positive change. That change has to come from inside of us.

And where do we find the strength to make such radical changes in our lives—both individually, and as communities of faith? This kind of strength does not come from fear of punishment; for change born of fear is not true and lasting change at all. True and lasting inward change is a change born of love. It is a change born of God. We find that kind of strength to change in the new covenant mentioned in Jeremiah today. We find that inner strength that comes from God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We find that strength to change as Christ comes and dwells in our very hearts. All we have to do is ask. For as Philippians 4:13 tells us, it is through Christ that we can do all things.

Even, I dare say, find the strength to change.

God bless you and amen.

March 26th

2006-03-28T08:03:00.000-08:00

Lookin' For Love In All The Wrong Places

Numbers 21:4-9
John 3:14-21

How many people here remember the movie, “Urban Cowboy” with John Travolta? Personally, I think it was the Village People and this particular movie that put “cowboy drag” on the map.

There is a song in Urban Cowboy by Johnny Lee entitled, “Looking For Love in All the Wrong Places.” “Looking for love in all the wrong places, looking for love in too many faces…looking for a friend and a lover, thank God for the day I found you, looking for love.” And how many of us danced to that song weekend after weekend in 1980? And some of us we were dancing with a different person each weekend! You would think we would have paid closer attention to the lyrics of the song.

But it isn’t just love we are looking for, either, is it? The song also mentions looking for “a friend.” We always seem to be looking for something—love, friendship, acceptance, healing—you name it, and we are looking for it. And the clubs aren’t the only places some of us go looking for these things, either. We head to the gym, the local coffee shop and bookstore, and chat rooms on the Internet. We may even shop at the local home improvement store--although we may not know the difference between a hammer and a screwdriver. Oh, yeah! We’re shopping alright; just not for home improvement accessories.

All this searching points to the fact that we humans tend to be a restless, easily bored bunch. And when this boredom reaches a certain level—and we still haven’t found what we think we’re looking for—we normally begin complaining to anyone who will listen to us.

This tendency is just one of the many characteristics we share with the children of Israel. I love speaking about the children of Israel because we are sooooo much like them in sooooo many ways! Take today’s passage in Numbers, for example.

The children of Israel are headed to the Promised Land. God has already delivered them from bondage in Egypt, parted the Red Sea so they could escape from Pharaoh’s army, and provided fresh water and manna for their journey. Now we would think that by this point they would be sufficiently impressed with God to move forward with confidence, trusting in God’s mighty power to lead, guide, direct, and protect them.

Oh, but no! The Israelites have been pretty much complaining all along about the lack of meat, water, leadership—you name it, they probably whined about it. But in each case, Moses interceded for the people, and God graciously provided for their needs.

Today’s story is a little different, though. We read that the children of Israel are taking the long way around a place called Edom to the Promised Land. Why? They are taking the long way because they did not want to fight the people of Edom. OK, let’s review for a moment. The children of Israel have a destination, a goal—the Promised Land. God has provided for them all along the journey so far. They face a serious challenge, and… they decide to avoid it. When the Israelites finally figure out that this was probably not the best idea after all, they become impatient and started whining.

And what were the Israelites whining about this time? “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this wretched manna!” Now if you will notice, God had not stopped providing for the Israelites at all; they were just bored with the menu. The Israelites had made a wrong decision by not facing the challenge of the Edomites. But rather than remembering God’s past and continuing provision for them, acknowledging their mistake, and getting back on track, they not only complained against Moses, this time they also complained against God. Not a good move, as it turns out.

We all have destinations—goals, if you will—in our lives, as well. And if we think about it, God has provided for us all along our journeys, too. And what happens sometimes when we face serious challenges along our journeys? We do our best to go around them! Rather than attempt the sometimes-difficult work of facing our challenges through prayer, medical treatment, dialogue, education, support networks, and therapy, we may choose the longer and potentially far more dangerous route of the desert of avoidance and denial.

God allows us to make these choices, too. Then, like the children of Israel, when our choices result in discomfort, we become impatient. We tend to play the “Blame Game.” We blame the government. We blame our bosses at work. We blame family members and friends. We blame the church. We accuse everyone of abandoning us. We point fingers at anyone and everyone.

Everyone that is, but ourselves.

Like the children of Israel, we forget about God’s past and continuing provision. God provides us with manna in the form of positive and healthy people who love with us no matter what we may say and do. God provides us with manna in the form of open and affirming communities of faith that offer healing and hope during the wilderness times of our lives and beyond.

But, for whatever reason, when we are bored and unhappy with our lives, we tend to forget all the good people and spiritual nourishment that God provides. Or, maybe even worse, we may begin to unfairly criticize and actually detest God’s provision for us through these people, communities or faith, and other forms of modern day manna. In other words, we get bored with the menu.
And like in the case of the children of Israel, I think God eventually gets tired of all the whining and self-pity.

You know, I have heard it said that occasionally it is OK to sit on our pity pots—as long as we remember to flush when we are done. The problem is, we sometimes sit for far too long and don’t flush. Eventually, the system backs up, everything starts stinking, and the stench eventually reaches the nostrils of God. Then, God basically says, “OK. You don’t like the way I have provided for you; fine! Go ahead without my guidance and protection.”

And what happens? We get bitten! The fiery serpent of haughty pride and arrogance bites us. The fiery serpent of self-sufficiency bites us! The fiery serpent of unreasonable fear and doubt bites us! And without treatment, the poison from these serpents will cause us to die long, slow, agonizing spiritual deaths.

The point here is simply this: our actions have consequences. Does that mean God doesn’t love us? Not at all! God will always love us! Scripture tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. But that does not mean God will always spare us the consequences of our actions. Please hear me: there is absolutely no limit to God’s love; but there is a limit to God’s tolerance.

The good news is that there is a cure for this particular case of snakebite.
First, there is confession. The people came to Moses and confessed their sin. For the power of God’s redemption to work in our lives, we have to admit we are infected with the poison of sin in our lives. Until we confess our wrongful actions to God, we will continue to die slow, painful spiritual deaths.

Second, there is obedience. To be healed, the people also had to obey the command of God through Moses to look upon the bronze serpent on a pole that Moses had lifted up. Symbolically speaking, they had to face what was killing them. It wasn’t the bronze serpent that healed them, however. It was the belief that God could heal them. So, the healing of the children of Israel required confession, obedience, and faith.

To avoid spiritual death, we too, must not only confess our sins, we have to face what is killing us spiritually, and believe that somehow through it all, God both can and will heal us from the poisonous bite of sin in our lives.

But where do we look?

Well, how about the cross? After all, when Jesus Christ was lifted up on the cross, he took on all the sins of the world—including yours’ and mine.
Is it really that easy, though? Does the cross take away all the potential danger and death that sin poses for our lives? Does the cross heal us? Well, no and yes. In our Old Testament passage today, you will notice that God did not take the serpents away. In other words, the danger was still there, but God provided a way for healing to take place.

So it is for us today. The cross of Jesus Christ does not take away the dangers that sin poses to our world today. Unfortunately, the effects and scars of sin remain in our world. However, God has provided a way for healing to take place. In fact, God has provided “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

For God so loved the world, that God sent Jesus, that whosoever believes in him may not perish, but may have everlasting life. It is when we look upon the cross of Jesus Christ and acknowledge that there is no hope for healing and life except in God’s saving power through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we truly begin to heal. It is when we look upon the cross of Jesus Christ that we truly begin live.

Looking for love? Look at the cross of Jesus Christ. Look at the cross of Jesus Christ and believe in the redemptive power of Almighty God. Look at the cross of Jesus Christ, believe, and be made whole.

God bless you and amen.

March 19th

2006-03-21T08:57:00.000-08:00

Picky, Picky, Picky!

Exodus 20:1-17
1 Corinthians 1:18-25

The story is told of a missionary serving in a remote part of Africa, who was attempting to convert a native chief to Christianity. Now, the chief was very old, and the missionary was very Old Testament—that is, his version of Christianity leaned heavily on the “Thou shalt nots!”

The elderly chief listened patiently and finally said, “I do not understand this religion of yours. You mean I cannot steal?”

“That’s right!” said the missionary.

“You mean I cannot take my neighbor’s wife?”

“Quite right!”

“Or his ivory or his oxen?”

“Precisely!” answered the missionary.

“You mean I cannot dance the war dance? I cannot ambush the enemy? I can’t kill?”

“Absolutely right,” said the missionary.

Then the native chief said regretfully, “But I can’t do any of those things anyway—I am too old!” Then, with a wave of the hand, the aged chief added, “To be old, and to be Christian—it is the same thing!”

Well, as much as the old chief’s words may sting, there is some wisdom in them. Many people cite the picky and negative nature of much of religious tradition as their main reason for not being part of a community of faith. And who can blame them? We have some seriously detailed-oriented religious folks in the world today. Some might call them obsessive—or worse.

Take Old Testament Law for example. Now, I have mentioned this fact in previous sermons, but it bears repeating here. Did you know that by the time all is said and done, there are actually 613 laws? This doesn’t take into account all the additional rules and regulations some of the religious authorities of Jesus’ time added to the list. Good grief people! We can’t even keep the original 10!

Many people look at the negative tone of the 10 Commandments, and immediately think, “No thank you. No one is going to tell me what I can and cannot do—especially if those rules come from writings that are thousands of years old!” See, some folks look at what they see as the negative tone of the commandments, and feel their freedoms are being violated somehow. And you know how people are—especially we Americans—it is all about the freedom! But rather than limit our freedom, the 10 Commandments are actually designed to give us freedom!
So, what I want to do this morning is try something a little different. I want us to symbolically “rewrite” the 10 Commandments in a positive voice. Maybe by going through this little exercise together we can gain some more insight to the positive message of the 10 Commandments.

Here goes…

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.”

Translation: God first. God before our jobs, God before our partners, God before our families. Even God before “church work” (after all, sometimes there is a difference between doing something for God and “church work”) But why God first? Because it is God who brought us—and continues to bring us--- out of the bondage of sin in our lives. While we will never be perfect, it is because of God’s grace that we can be brought into a freer, more peaceful existence than we have ever experienced before in our lives trying to juggle all those other “gods” we tend to serve.

“You shall not make for yourself an idol…” OK. How about “Worship God in spirit and in truth?” Let’s free ourselves from worrying about whether God is male or female, and how we express that. Let’s free ourselves from worrying about how much we think we know about the mind of God! Once we are able to put God first in our lives, and accept the truth that there are just some things (probably a lot of things) about God that we cannot know, we are on the way to true freedom in our lives.

“You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God…” Use God’s name with reverence and respect. This commandment is about more than just not cursing. In ancient contexts, a name signified more than a convenient label. One’s name related closely to the very being of that person. This commandment is a reminder of God’s holiness. Whenever we use God’s name, we are invoking God’s presence! That is some serious stuff, folks! God’s wonderful gifts to us are worthy of our highest praise. Reverence and respect are very positive responses to these gifts.

“Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.” Translation: Take some quality time off to spend alone with God. Take some time off from everything—frantic work, frantic consumption, even frantic leisure! That’s right, even frantic leisure! Ever notice how many times we are more tired when we come back from a vacation then when we left? Why is that? Well, usually it is because we feel like we have to do everything in just a few short days to get the most “bang for our buck.” Then we come home, and what is usually the first thing we do? Take a nap!

Take intentional time to be alone with God. What’s more positive and freeing than relaxing—really relaxing—and enjoying a time of renewal and refreshment with the One who makes all things possible? Your time of renewal may be Sunday, but it could be any other day of the week as well. Remember the words of Jesus: “The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath.” It’s a gift, folks—not a burden.

“Honor your father and mother.” For many people obeying this commandment is not difficult, as their parents loved and cared for them, and modeled mostly good values for them. For others this commandment is negative; it is especially hard for those of us who have suffered abuse from one or both of our parents or other caregivers.

But think about it. We all have had at least one positive adult role model in our lives. These are the people who may have raised us in spite of our parents; or they may simply have been there for us in our darkest hours, guiding us to make wise choices for our lives. The word translated “honor” in Hebrew means “give weight to.” In the context of the children of Israel it meant ensuring the successful transfer of the covenantal vision from one generation to the next. For us, this commandment can take the form of taking care of our seniors, giving appropriate weight to their wisdom so we may learn from them, and passing their wisdom on to those younger than us. Obeying this commandment isn’t restrictive or negative; it is life giving.

“You shall not murder.” Respect life. All life. We respect the life God has given us, and we respect the lives of others. Life belongs to God because it is God who has given life to us. We don’t have to get even, folks! When we get that thought through our heads, it frees us to focus on more positive and life-affirming activities like feeding the hungry rather than killing them in war, then calling them “collateral damage.”

“Thou shall not commit adultery.” Translation: respect relationship covenants—not only yours’, but those of others’ as well. When we cross relationship boundaries, not only are we guilty of adultery, we can also be guilty of murder. By that comment I mean we can destroy relationships between others and ourselves. We can destroy the life and love and trust between others and ourselves. By obeying this command, we are not restricting ourselves, we are celebrating God’s gift of human love and relationship. By obeying this command, we are free to love in a way that clears our lives of the clutter that the deceit, guilt, and pain that dishonesty in our relationships brings.

“You shall not steal.” Translation: Respect the property of others. That property includes intangible assets, too; for example, respect the dignity of others. Respect the boundaries of others. Respect the opinions of others—whether we agree with them or not. This commandment does not restrict us; it builds people up.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Speak only the truth. That is the whole truth, by the way. A half-truth is not truth at all. When we present something about an individual or a situation as true when we do not know that it is, we can be guilty of not only bearing false witness, but also we can be guilty of stealing and murder as well. We can steal a person’s reputation—we can even kill it. Falsehoods and half-truths damage and destroy people, relationships, and institutions—including churches!

Scripture tells us to speak the truth in love. Scripture tells us we shall know the truth, and the truth shall set us free. And by the way, just because we might know the truth about a person or situation does NOT mean we are obligated to share it! The next time we are about to share some information, why not ask ourselves these questions, “How will this sharing make a positive difference? How will this sharing build up the community?” If the sharing doesn’t make a positive difference or build anyone up other than ourselves, maybe we should just keep our mouths shut. Amen?

“You shall not covet…” In other words, be content with what you have. This is not to say it is wrong to work hard to make a decent living and have nice things. It is when we want what others have so bad that those things become our goals in life that we begin to break all the other commandments. We begin to worship the idols of materialism, we may forget about our elders, lie, cheat, and steal to claw our way to the top. Worst of all, we forget God, and guess what? We end up right back in bondage.

OK, so what are the points of the 10 Commandments? Respect, freedom, and love. If we take the commandments to heart, following them can lead to true freedom, to be the people God has created us to be, and to whole relationships where real love and intimacy can prevail. Still, it is a lot of information isn’t it? How do we keep track of all the details? The truth is, we can’t.

But the good news today is that Jesus Christ took the Ten Commandments and summed them up for us: “Love the Lord your God above all things, and love your neighbor as yourself.” He said on these two commandments rested all the law and prophets. From 10 commandments to 613-plus laws to 2. And there is only one detail to remember: love. And from love, respect and freedom can follow.

The 10 Commandments. The freedom to love—God’s way.

Now, THAT is true power for positive living!

God bless you amen.

March 12th

2006-03-14T09:17:00.000-08:00

The Good Thing About Dying Is

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Mark 8:31-38

My Mamaw Carrie—God rest her soul—may not have had an extensive education, but she was still quite the philosopher. Take her philosophy on death, for example. When her children asked Mamaw what she would prefer regarding her funeral arrangements, she replied, “Well, I really don’t care. I’m going to be as dead as I’ll ever be. I won’t be around for the funeral; and besides, you kids are going to do whatever you want, anyway. So why are you even asking me? You see, that’s the good thing about dying; I won’t have to worry about those kinds of things anymore.”

She makes some pretty good points, doesn’t she?

But there are some other benefits to dying, as well. In fact, to be perfectly blunt, we wouldn’t be alive without death. Specifically, I am referring to cell death. Cell death in our bodies is programmed for our own good. Look at your hand. We have fingers because the cells that used to live between those fingers died when we were embryos. Embryos depend on cell death; if it did not occur, our human development would go off course. It is even possible to say that without a certain amount of cell death, we would not even be born.

Here is another example of a good thing about dying. Cell death is necessary to prevent our bodies from being filled with cancer. In fact, did you know that our bodies have natural surveillance systems that detect almost all cancerous mutations? Those systems, when working properly, actually instruct the affected cells to commit suicide. In other words, the cancer cells die that we might live.

Dying in order that we might live. Sound familiar? For some of us, it does. For others of us, this concept might sound foreign, ridiculous even. We have examples of both attitudes in today’s reading from the Gospel of Mark. Just before today’s reading, Peter has correctly identified Jesus as the Messiah, and now it is time for Jesus to take his training of these 12 disciples to the next level—explaining what the role of Messiah really means.

Jesus understood that he would have to undergo suffering, rejection, and death as part of God’s plan for the salvation of humanity. He would have to die so that we might live. And apparently, Jesus was right up front with the disciples about this confusing part of God’s plan, as well.

The disciples were not happy with this revelation, either—especially Peter. They must have missed that last part about Jesus rising again, because Peter pulls Jesus aside to have a chat with him. Wouldn’t you have just loved to have overhead that conversation?
“Jesus, you have GOT to be kidding, here! We’re just getting warmed up here! The crowds love us! You’re the Messiah; remember? The Messiah is supposed to kick butt and take names! If you start talking about getting killed, everyone will desert us. Look, if it is a matter of those religious authorities, maybe we can just soft pedal the message a bit and sidestep them until we have become more powerful. Then, BAM! They won’t even know what hit ‘em!”

Now we all tend to make fun of poor old Peter. He just can’t seem to open his mouth without inserting both feet. But we can’t really blame Peter, though. Maybe he was just trying to protect his Messiah—his hope—from unnecessary harm. But, Peter may have had his own behind in mind, too. He was scared, and with good reason, too. For you see, if Jesus started stirring up too much trouble, not only would Jesus’ life be at stake, everyone who was seen as a follower of Jesus would be at risk, as well.

Peter may have known who Jesus was, but he didn’t really know what Jesus was about. He had a certain view of who Jesus was and what Jesus should do. When Jesus didn’t fit those expectations, Peter became scared and insecure. In a way, in his rebuke, he was offering Jesus—and the disciples—an “easy out,” just like Satan offered Jesus when he first tempted Jesus in the wilderness.

Sound familiar? Sure it does! We’ve all played the role of Peter at different times in our lives. By that comment, I mean we all have our own ideas of who Jesus is and how Jesus should behave. Think about it. We all love “Victorious Jesus,” don’t we? We sing hymns like “Victory in Jesus,” and we fall right in line behind Jesus when the miraculous healings are happening, when the crowds love us, and our lives are full of joy.

But when our expectations of who Jesus should be and what Jesus should do don’t quite match up with what Jesus is really about, like Peter, we are often frightened. When we are reminded that our lives are not always full of joy, when following Jesus means taking unpopular positions—positions that may jeopardize our standings with our families, governments, and churches—like Peter, we may look for creative ways to side step the tougher issues that Jesus calls us to address.

But Peter wasn’t alone in his fear and confusion. Peter probably most often said what the rest of the disciples were thinking. Jesus may have rebuked Peter, but notice scripture tells us that he turned from Peter, looked at the disciples and said, “Get behind me Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things!” Jesus probably knew they were all thinking the same thing as Peter. So Jesus just told all of his disciples—and by extension, us today, “It is time for an attitude check here. It is not about you. It is about God.”

But if that wasn’t harsh enough, Jesus then takes his teaching to yet another level. He calls not only the disciples, but also the crowd—Jesus gets everybody involved! Basically Jesus tells them, “OK. You want to be part of this? Then here is the deal. You have to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.” So much for an effective marketing strategy, huh? Let’s look at each of these requirements for Christian discipleship.

First, denying ourselves. Let’s face it, we are an immediate gratification society, folks. Many people are offended at even the mention of the word “discipline.” But discipline is literally at the root of discipleship. So, what does denying ourselves look like?

Well, let me start with what denying ourselves isn’t. Some of our Christian predecessors took Jesus’ words to the extreme—even to the point of refusing adequate nutrition and dying as a result. Fasting is a valid spiritual discipline; starvation serves no purpose. Dead people can’t deny anything. Dead people can’t take up anything. And most importantly, dead people can’t follow anyone. So what is the point of such extreme self-denial?

This type of denial is not what Jesus is talking about here. I believe when Jesus refers to “denying ourselves,” he is referring to denying ourselves of the things that come between us and serving God. What is it that prevents us from serving God with all being? Is it the love of money, career, gratification of physical desires, pride, a special relationship—or lack of such a relationship? If there is something in our lives that prevents us from serving God with all our being, then it is something that has far too much control over our lives.

And what is this “take up our cross” business? Well, the cross symbolizes the submission required of those of us who call ourselves disciples of Jesus Christ. Like self-denial, the idea of submitting to authority is not attractive to us, to say the least. But do you know what? Like it or not, we all submit to something, whether we realize it or not. For Christians, submission means we recognize that we do not always know what is best for us; and in a spirit of faith, prayer, and discernment, we submit to the will of God for our lives as best as we are able to do that.

And on top of it all, there is this whole “follow Jesus” thing. Follow Jesus? Follow Jesus where? He doesn’t say exactly where, now does he? So, we have self-denial, submission to an unseen power, and then following this unseen power to who knows where. Oh, yeah! Sign me up!

But let’s think about it for a minute. Once we let go of those things that hold sway over our lives—those things that come between us and serving God—and when we are able—really able—to “let go and let God’ in submission to God’s will for our lives, we’re actually free! We’re free to follow Jesus! We’re free to follow Jesus wherever we are called to go, whether it is to a mission field outside of our home country, or the mission field of our immediate neighborhood.

We’re free to follow Jesus to the offices of political officials and work for more funding for social services and less money for senseless wars! We’re free to follow Jesus to the streets to march for equality for all people. We’re free to follow Jesus to our friends and families and let them know through both our words and our actions how good God truly is!

So, what is the good thing about dying? By dying to ourselves, we can tap into the most powerful life force in human history through Jesus Christ. For it is through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that the power of evil, sin, and death are forever defeated. By dying to ourselves through Christian discipleship, we can learn what it means to truly live.

God bless you and amen.

March 5th

2006-03-06T10:14:00.000-08:00

Brain Buckets

1 Peter 3:18-22
Mark 9:15-22

So, did any of you read the sermon title, “Brain Buckets,” and think to yourself, “OK, what is Danny up to now? What in the world are brain buckets?”

Well, simply put, “brain buckets” are just another name for “helmets.” And helmets have come a long way since many of us here were children, too, haven’t they? Of course, if any of you were like me growing up, about the only time we wore helmets was if we played an organized school team sport like football. We just didn’t think that much about the risk of head injuries. Besides, helmets were for “sissies.” Then again, you have to wonder if, after looking back at some of the stunts we pulled back in the day, maybe using helmets would have not been so bad after all!

But it seems that now helmets are “cool,” as well as wise safety choices. I read this week that there is now a helmet with integrated headphones for snowboarders to listen to their iPods while speeding down the slopes—otherwise known as “thrashing some powder.” Some models of this particular helmet even incorporate a cell phone! Oh yeah! That certainly makes sense, now doesn’t it? Although I guess you could use the cell phone to call for help after you’ve had an accident caused by using that same cell phone— you could, that is, if you were conscious.

But helmet use is now going far beyond the typical sports of cycling, snowboarding, and whitewater rafting. For example, the government is currently reviewing a patent for a child-sized car helmet. There is even discussion about helmets for walkers! Now a helmet for walkers may sound strange at first; but with all the gulls flying around in Corpus Christi, it actually makes perfectly good sense to me!

With the increased use of helmets these days, one would think that the number of head injuries would go down, right? Well, believe it or not, that is not the case! Studies have shown that helmet use can, in some cases, cause a person to take greater risks than he or she would take without the helmet. So, it appears that this risk-taking behavior leads to more injuries. Apparently, as the article put it, “Wearing a brain bucket is no substitute for actually using the brain it protects.”

Just as we need the right protection to keep our physical bodies together, we could also use some “spiritual brain buckets”—what some people refer to as “holy helmets”--- to keep our spiritual lives in tact when we enter the wilderness experiences of our lives. As we take a closer look at our reading from the Gospel of Mark, we can see that Jesus knew this fact all too well.

Today’s reading begins with the baptism of Jesus. So right off the bat, we face a deep theological question: If John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, why would the Son of God need to be baptized? The question of whether or not Jesus himself needs to repent is passed over in this particular passage, and the author doesn’t seem to have a problem with the omission. Some scholars suggest that the fact John baptized Jesus suggests only that Jesus associated himself with the need to prepare for the coming of the Lord with this gesture of repentance—whether repentance on Jesus’ part was actually needed or not. But maybe there is another clue to this mystery further along in our passage. Let’s take a look.

Just as he was coming out of the water, Jesus saw the heavens torn apart, and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” God is the one who gives Jesus his identity in his baptism by sending the Holy Spirit to descend upon him, marking Jesus as someone special, someone who has God’s favor. So it is possible, for Mark at least, that the baptism of Jesus wasn’t a question of repentance, as much as it was a question of identity and obedience.

So, what does any of this lofty theological stuff have to do with “brain buckets?” Well, with the tearing open of the heavens, and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus, we can say that Jesus began his ministry equipped with and protected by nothing less that the “holy helmet” of the full love of God. Scripture tells us that immediately after Jesus was baptized and received the gift of the Holy Spirit that the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. Jesus needed all the holy helmet protection he could get, as he entered the dangerous environment of the wilderness.

Now the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness receives just two verses in Mark’s Gospel; but these two verses are packed with meaning for us. For Mark, the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is not reduced to three specific temptations after 40 days of fasting. From Mark’s account, we can see that Jesus’ time in the wilderness was a full 40 days of trial and testing. Also, you may notice that this account of the temptation of Jesus does not mention fasting, and we may even infer from this account that the angels ministered to Jesus throughout his time in the wilderness—not just at the end of his 40 days in the wilderness! There is an Old Testament connection here. For as God provided for Israel throughout its 40 years in the wilderness, God provided for Jesus throughout his 40 days in the wilderness.

There is a lot of powerful symbolism in this passage for us, too, folks. Wilderness experiences are often times for sorting out our priorities—what matters most to us, and to try to get clear about God’s will for our lives. In fact, many Christians use the 40-day season of Lent that we have just entered as a symbolic wilderness period when we undertake these tasks of reflection and discernment.

Of course, “40 days,” when used in the Bible, is often symbolic language for “a really, really, really long time,” and sometimes our wilderness experiences do last a lot longer than 40 days, too. For some of us, these times of trial and temptation may seem a lot closer to the 40 years experienced by the children of Israel! Amen?

And what forms do these trials and temptations take? Well, our passage in Mark doesn’t give us exact details, and in this case, the silence of scripture can be deafening. By that comment, I mean by not detailing the exact nature of these trials and temptations, we can infer that they can take on any form at any time—even when we aren’t observing an “official” time of reflection and fasting, such as Lent.

For example, perhaps satisfying our hunger is the temptation—and “hunger” comes in many forms, too. “Hey, go ahead and party like there’s no tomorrow! Drink and drug all you want! Sleep with whomever, wherever, and whenever you want! Satisfy all your desires! After all, if God really loved you, wouldn’t God want you to be happy?” Well, of course God loves us! But the brain bucket of self-denial reminds us that our bodies are temples of God, and that we should take care of them.

Maybe the temptation is power and authority. “You know, you could get that promotion. All you have to do is change a few numbers on that year-end report, maybe forget to report a few small items to the IRS, and bingo! The corner office is yours’! Besides, if God really loves you, God will protect you from the IRS.” But if we are wearing the brain bucket of common sense, we will realize that people who have real power earn it honestly, don’t need to show it off, and don’t use it to suit their own needs.

Or, maybe the temptation is a combination of all these; in other words, the desire to have it all. “It can all be yours—wealth, fame, fortune, friendship—everything! All you have to do is forget all this God stuff. Besides, if you have it all—who needs God, anyway?” But if we are wearing the holy helmet of humility, we realize that the world and all that is in it belongs to God. And we know that God is the only One worth serving.

You see, Jesus knew who he was, and what he had to do. Through his baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit, Jesus knew in a powerful way that he was loved. It was this knowledge that kept Jesus’ mind guarded and his heart protected throughout his ministry here on earth.

We, too, are beloved children of God. Through our obedience in following the example of Jesus Christ in baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, we too, can know in a powerful way that we are loved. The knowledge that we are beloved children of God is the protection that our minds and our hearts need. It is this knowledge that we are children of the Most High God that sustains us not only through the difficult wilderness times of our lives, but also heals the bumps and bruises that can come from day-to-day living.

God’s love. It is the ultimate brain bucket. God’s love. It is the holy helmet for all occasions.

Don’t leave home without it. Amen?

God bless you and amen.

February 26th

2006-02-28T05:56:00.000-08:00

Transformed
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Mark 9:2-9

How many folks here watch those home transformation shows on HGTV? Aren’t they something else? Depending on the show you watch, within just a very short time period, and with very little investment, your home can go from “blah” to “fabulous”! Again, depending on the show, it seems that sometimes that all your home needs to be transformed is to take some everyday items found in your garage or basement, spray paint them or cover them with fabric found in the corner of one of your closets.

Well, that and a crew of VERY talented and creative people who often don’t add their labor costs to the final tab for these truly magnificent transformations! But if you watch these shows closely, there are several emotions exhibited during these transformations as well. We may see confusion, fear, frustration, wide-eyed amazement, silence, disappointment, and joy—all in one hour or less!

As unbelievable as some of these television shows may seem to us, one thing we can learn from them is that transformation is not always a smooth and pretty process. Using our Gospel reading from Mark this morning that is the subject I would like to address. More specifically, what are some of the feelings we can experience during our own transformations, and how can we navigate this very unpredictable journey we call “transformation?”

Just before today’s reading, Jesus has told the disciples that he must undergo great suffering, rejection, and death. Then Jesus follows up that cheerful and uplifting discussion with an even more public declaration to the crowds, telling them that any who want to become his followers must deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow him.

To say the least, these teachings were not good recruitment material to strengthen the Jesus Movement! The Messiah was thought to be one who would come with great military might, and overthrow the oppressive Roman government. The Messiah would come and right the wrongs of this world! So, what is up with all this suffering, rejection, denial, cross, and death language? Sure, Jesus mentioned the resurrection; but that was probably even more confusing than all the suffering language put together!

Confusion. Discomfort. That is how our transformation experiences begin sometimes. Maybe that discomfort starts with something we see in the news about unjust and discriminatory government practices—whether it is a foreign government or our very own United States government.

Maybe that discomfort starts with that still small voice of God telling us that something has to change in our lives—like facing an addiction rather than rationalizing it; or maybe it is time we worked on reconciling some broken relationships in our lives, rather than continuing to place all the blame for that brokenness on everyone else except us. Maybe God is dealing with us about our lack of commitment. After all commitment means putting others first sometimes, and it means putting God first all the time. And face it, folks, as good American citizens, second place just isn’t too appealing to us.

Scripture tells us that six days after these teachings, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain where they were alone. Now some of you may remember that all through the Bible that mountains are symbolic of the place where God’s power can be found. So, what does that mean for us in our journeys of transformation?

Well, during our journeys of transformation, I believe it is always necessary for us to spend some time alone with God “on the mountain”, so to speak. I know, I know; we’re a little short on hills—much less mountains— here in Corpus Christi. The important thing to remember is that spending time alone with God—whether it is on the beach, on a boat fishing or just relaxing, or taking a prayer walk in our neighborhoods—time alone with God is required if we are going to truly be transformed.

While on the mountain, Jesus is transfigured before Peter, James, and John. His clothes became dazzling white. Not only that, Moses and Elijah—long since dead and gone—show up and start talking with Jesus! Can you imagine the amazement of the disciples? Can you imagine their fear?

Amazement and fear are also part of our transformations. You see, we start with that feeling of discomfort—what some people have called a feeling of “holy discontent”—in our lives. As we begin to explore these feelings by spending some quality “alone time” with God, the time eventually comes when we get a glimpse of what God is trying to show us. In the case of the disciples, God was showing them that the glorification of Jesus Christ was the completion of the law, which was represented by Moses, and the prophets, represented by Elijah. They were getting a brief glimpse of the resurrection.

But maybe there was another connection here, too. Remember Jesus told the disciples six days earlier that he would have to undergo pain, rejection, suffering, death, and THEN be resurrected on the third day. In other words, to get to this glorification and resurrection, Jesus had to take the way of the cross.

When we get a glimpse of what God is trying to teach us, it can be pretty scary, can’t it? Although we don’t have the full story yet; we have a glimpse of what can be, and that’s great. But we also begin to comprehend what it is going to take to get there, and that is what can be so very frightening for us.

Maybe we begin to realize that getting to sobriety means going through the cross of detox, and then down the long road of support group meetings. Maybe we begin to realize that getting to the point of reconciliation in our relationships means going through the cross of humility and compromise. Maybe we begin to realize that saying “yes” to Jesus Christ means saying “no” to all those other loyalties in our lives that have already taken up far too much of our time, talent, and financial resources. Maybe we begin to realize that saying “yes” to Jesus Christ means that we will face rejection, ridicule, and even the loss of certain relationships in our lives.

So we have confusion, discomfort, awe, and fear. But have you noticed the silence in this passage of scripture so far? Even with all the spectacular actions taking place, not one word has been uttered so far. Could it be that silence is another very necessary part of our transformation journeys? Why is that? Maybe it is because sitting in silence takes trust, it takes faith, and it takes risking an openness that reveals our true selves. Silence often means relinquishing control. Maybe silence is necessary because it is in those moments of silent surrender—when we are in the least control—that we are most deeply connected to God.

But silence is uncomfortable, and like Peter, we tend to want to fill those uncomfortable gaps with words. Now, I think Peter probably had good intentions in wanting to build booths for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. In a way, it is almost as if Peter wanted to somehow honor a defining moment in his life that he didn’t fully understand yet. Maybe he wanted to compartmentalize this moment, therefore, somehow controlling it.

But God will not be controlled! Only a joyless, heartless, and often grueling existence comes from always having to be the one in control. Giving ourselves totally over to God, and living our lives as genuine disciples of the transfigured Jesus, the transforming Christ, is the only way we will truly experience the transforming power of Almighty God in our lives.

Finally, transforming experiences—as wonderful as they can be—are only stops on this journey called “life.” Jesus led these three disciples back down the mountain to continue the work of day-to-day ministry. We cannot live on the mountaintop, transforming experiences of our lives, either. These experiences are meant to be strength for our journeys—strength for the day-to-day ministry that each and every one of us is called to do. But as Jesus went up the mountain with the disciples, and as Jesus went back down into the valley with the disciples, so Jesus Christ goes with us!

You know, in the end, I bet if we took the time to really get behind the scenes of those HGTV home transformation shows, we would probably see that it takes more than a little money, a few talented folks, and a couple of days to take a home from “blah” to “fabulous.” And I can guarantee you there is probably far more drama involved than we see televised.

It is much the same with the transformations of our lives. We start with some good basic material; after all, we are part of God’s creation, and God has proclaimed that creation is good. Then after a period of time, for whatever reasons, we can fall into physical, emotional, and spiritual disrepair.

But eventually, if we are smart enough to be silent for a time, let go of our need for control, and listen, we will hear that still, small of God calling us to transformation. OK. So maybe that voice will have to yell from time to time. But folks, unlike home transformations, life transformations take more than a little paint, some supplies, and a couple of days work with talented people.

True life transformation is a lifetime journey full of ups and downs, and it takes nothing less than taking up our crosses and following Jesus Christ—the One who came, lived, died, and rose again so that we might have life and have it more abundantly.

My prayer today is that we all start to let go and let God transform our spiritual dullness to dazzling white. May we, through the power of God’s Holy Spirit, be transformed from spiritually “blah” to spiritually “fabulous,” so that through us, others may see how great God truly is.

God bless you and amen.

February 19th

2006-02-22T06:21:00.000-08:00

A New Thing

Isaiah 43:18-25
2 Corinthians 1:18-22

Do you remember back in the day when, if you wanted to take a long car trip, all you really had to guide you was one of those large, difficult to handle, paper maps? You know the one I’m talking about, right? It is that map of the entire United States that has been in the glove compartment of your vehicle since the days of 8-track tapes and rotary dial telephones.

I remember the time when people would plan long trips with these maps close at hand. Then, somewhere in the middle of Timbuktu, Kentucky, they suddenly learned that that little red line on the map labeled Route 4 no longer existed. Oops! Lost. Now what? Think about the implications here. For example, have you ever been lost in a place like Timbuktu, Kentucky while sporting a rainbow flag on your vehicle? You would be amazed at how quickly your prayer skills come into play in just such a situation!

Well, now, thanks to some wonderful technological advancements, we can print off not only maps specific to our trips, but even directions that have been updated in the last 24-48 hours for any major changes that have taken place on the roads on the route. Hey! We can even get street names, exit numbers, the works! Now, for people like myself who are not inclined to read maps, these directions are truly a gift from God.

So you can imagine my concern when I read in an article this week that urban planners in Holland and London are redesigning strategic traffic areas by stripping the area streets and thoroughfares of all signage—no traffic lights, no white crosswalks on the streets, no red hand crossing signals, no stop signs—and get this—no speed bumps or speed limits! Are these people crazy, or what?

Well, as crazy as this idea sounds, you may be as surprised as I was that it has worked rather well so far. People on foot, bicycles, and in motorized vehicles share the same space; and with no strict traffic laws to guide them, everyone seems to slow down, calm down, and pays close attention to their surroundings. Also, this “new thing” actually seems to be encouraging healthy human interaction! The golden rule from the Bible is in full effect: “In everything do to others as you have them do to you.”

While I am really happy that this experience seems to be working so well in areas of Holland and London, I still have to admit I have some reservations about how such a system would work in the United States. We tend to operate under the rule, “Do unto others BEFORE they do unto you.” Taking away the familiar rules and regulations that we have always followed—because you know that is always the way we have done things—can make us feel unsafe, lost, insecure, and threatened. Loss of the familiar can make us feel like we are wandering in the wilderness, or like we are in exile in a foreign land.

The children of Israel certainly knew a lot about wandering in the wilderness and being in exile. Of course, the main reason they had wandered in the wilderness, and after a time of prosperity and blessing, were now in exile in Babylon is because they had not paid attention to the signs that God had provided through Moses and the prophets. These were signs that said, “Slow down and pay attention to your relationship with God and with others.” These were signs like the Ten Commandments, for example.

So you can probably imagine how unsettled the Israelites were when God, through the prophet in Isaiah basically says, “Quit living in the past. I am about to do a new thing,” and then does not exactly define that “new thing.”

I can almost hear some of them now. “New thing? What new thing?” “What? No more partings of the Red Sea?” No more laws written on stone tablets? No more crazy prophets? No more fire and smoke, wind and hail? After all, that’s the way it has always been done before! Oh, we simply can not function unless this “new thing” is all spelled out for us!”

You see, the children of Israel had become accustomed to God acting in certain ways. And even though they were now in exile, they were still remembering the “good old days” of the exodus out of Egypt. Now don’t get me wrong; there were a lot of wonderful and powerful memories in the Israelites’ past. But, they were so stuck in that past, they were having trouble perceiving that God was about to do a new thing. Can you imagine some of those discussions?

“Yep, I heard the story about how God parted the Red Sea, and our ancestors crossed on dry land. Then God caused the sea to cover the entire Egyptian army. I’ll bet that was a sight to see!”

“Um hmm. I heard the story about how Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from Mt. Sinai. The Lord actually spoke to people back then. God’s voice was like thunder, and you had better believe people respected that kind of power!”

“Were you ever old the stories about how God provided manna in the wilderness, and caused water to spring forth from a rock? Haven’t seen anything like that in my lifetime!”

“Yep! Those were the days!”

Sound familiar? Sure it does! Today we have some of the same types of conversations. For example, some of us mourn the loss of our youth, and we recall how much better everything was “back in the day”—whether things really were better or not. Sometimes we become so preoccupied with romanticizing the past that we cannot see any signs of the wonderful “new things” that God can do in our lives—regardless of our ages!

And church folks? Oh, church folks are really good at having these kinds of conversations! Some of us remember fuller sanctuaries and offering plates, potlucks and fundraisers, and we recall over and over how much more spirit there seemed to be “back in the day”—whether there really was more spirit or not. Sometimes we become so preoccupied with romanticizing the past, that we cannot see the signs of a wonderful “new thing” that God is about to do in our midst. Not one sign.

No signs. That can be scary, now can’t it? No blinding flashes of light from heaven complete with an instruction manual written in stone giving us step-by-step instructions for living full, happy, and successful lives as individuals and as a community of faith. Sure we have the Bible, and here we teach that it is the inspired word of God. But it isn’t always user-friendly, now is it? Sometimes we may even begin to wonder, “Why doesn’t God act like God used to act back in the days of the Old Testament?”

Is it possible that maybe—just maybe—that the reason we don’t see all the obvious signs from God that we read about in the Old Testament is that this lack of signage is actually part of God’s plan? Could it be that by not giving us every little detail of God’s plan in obvious back and white signs, that God is encouraging us to slow down, and be more observant of life around us? Could this maybe even be God’s way of prodding us to use the intelligence with which God has blessed us to figure out a few things? Could it be that this lack of obvious signage is God’s way of encouraging us to be more caring and more cautious about how we relate both to God and to one another?

Well, those ideas are definite possibilities. Or, what about this idea? What if God has provided this signage for us; but rather than using outward signs, God has placed this signage inside of us? After all, God did promise to write it on our hearts. For as Jeremiah 31:33 tells us, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

And the fulfillment of that law written on our hearts came in the person of Jesus Christ—the ultimate “new thing” that God has done to this point in history—God with us, and God within us.

Of course, accepting this “new thing” in Jesus Christ means stepping out in faith and letting go of the familiar past to face an uneasy present, and an even more uneasy future. How do we find our way? How do we get nourishment for those dry times on the journey? Can’t we just feed off the past? Well, the answer to that last question is simply, “No.” Positive past memories are comforting, but they don’t provide the nourishment we need for our journey into the future God has planned for us.

Sometimes stepping out in faith can feel like we are wandering in the wilderness. But hear the good news today! In our reading from Isaiah today, God says. “I will make a way in the wilderness.” Jesus Christ says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

God says, “I give water in the wilderness.”
Jesus Christ says, “Those who drink of the water I give them will never be thirsty.”

If you’re here today feeling like you need a fresh start in life—whether you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your Lord and Savior, or if you just feel “out of touch” with God right now, I pray that you open your heart—perceive and receive the “new thing” that God wants to do in your life.

If you’re here today and you are happy in your relationship with God, know this—God is not through with you yet—the best is yet to come.

And as for our church family, today we celebrate 24 years as a community of faith. We honor the “new thing” that God did here in 1982, and we honor those first members through whom God worked to found this church. But if you think God has done great things for MCC of Corpus Christi in the past, you had better hold on; because we ain’t seen nothing yet! The best is yet to come!

God bless you, and amen.

February 5th

2006-02-06T20:52:00.000-08:00

The Purpose-Driven Life
1 Corinthians 9:16-23
Mark 1:29-39

Most everyone here today has at least heard of Rick Warren’s very successful book, “The Purpose Driven Life.” In Warren’s book, he outlines what he believes to be the 5 biblical purposes that God has for our lives. I do believe that God has worked through the message of this book, and lives have been changed for the better. And as I have said many times before, if it brings people closer to God and spiritually strengthens them in positive ways, go for it!

Our Thursday night Bible Study Group had a book discussion on “The Purpose Driven Life,” too. Now, that was interesting! I say that because, being the melting pot of faith traditions that MCC of Corpus Christi is, we were all over the map with this book. Our former Baptist sisters and brothers dominated one side of the table. I mean that literally, too. “In this corner, 3 former Baptists and 1 former Catholic!” “And in this corner, well, one of everything else!” Most of the time, the conversations were lively, thought provoking, and best of all, no one told anyone else they were going to hell! So, all in all, it was a very successful study.

I think some of the selling points of Warren’s book are that it reads at a pretty rapid pace, isn’t very theologically difficult, and has a clear purpose. The Gospel of Mark shares some of these very same characteristics. A majority of scholars believe that Mark was the first gospel written. It is short, fast-paced, and usually its message is pretty much to the point. Mark emphasizes the mighty deeds of Jesus Christ, as miracles make up about 1/3 of Mark’s gospel. For Mark, the kingdom of God is visible through Jesus Christ’s powerful deeds of healing, casting out demons, and teaching with authority.

Take the first chapter of Mark, for example. No genealogy of Christ like in Matthew. No Virgin birth story; no explanation of how Mary and Joseph came to be in Bethlehem. No angels, shepherds, wise men—nothing. John the Baptist is already an adult baptizing folks, and Jesus arrives as an adult to receive his baptism from John. And all that is in just the first 11 verses! And the temptation of Christ in the wilderness? 2 verses! Jesus went, overcame temptation, received care from the angels, and moved on!

Jesus goes on to call his first 4 disciples, and they head to Capernaum. Mark then relates to us what I call, “A Day in the Life of Jesus.” Jesus heads to synagogue, where he establishes his authority first through his teaching. While he is there, he heals a man by first silencing then casting out an unclean spirit from that man.

From there Jesus heads to house of Simon, and heals Simons’s mother-in-law. Later that evening, he continues to silence demons and cure the sick of the city. Then, before daylight, he gets up and goes to pray in solitude. The disciples find him, and Jesus tells them it is time for them to move on to the neighboring towns.

And we thought our days were busy!

Jesus was a man on a mission. He had a purpose. What was that purpose? Well, according to Jesus from verse 38, “Let us go to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.”

So, Jesus’ purpose appears to be proclamation. But “proclamation” tends to be a pretty broad term. How do we proclaim the message in the 21st century? Using our passage from Mark today, I would like to offer four suggestions for our consideration.

First, Jesus was involved in worship and teaching in the synagogue. Today, we proclaim the message of God’s life-changing love for all people when we show up in this place to sing, pray, and share the bread and the common cup. When we study the scriptures together, we can both learn from and teach one another about both God’s mercy and judgment, as well as share our views on how to better live out God’s purposes for our lives.

Second, Jesus responded to the pressing need for care and healing among those closest to him and for others as well. Jesus’ healing of Simon’s mother-in-law as well as those who came to him from around Capernaum symbolizes that the healing power of Almighty God is not just for the select few. God’s healing power is available to all people!

By the way, did you notice what Simon’s mother-in-law did once she was healed? She immediately got up and started serving others! The Greek word used for “serve” here is the same word used to describe the angel’s service to Jesus in the wilderness. It is the same word used to describe the service to others of Jesus himself. However, it is not used to describe the service of the disciples. Could it be that this outsider, this woman, this person with no real authority outside of her home responds as an ideal disciple should, with service to the community?

There is a HUGE lesson here for us, folks! Many times people come to church in so much pain. We have believed the demonic lies that God cannot possibly love us. We’re old and useless; we’re poor; we’re drunks; we’re queers; we have AIDS—you name it---the lies are endless!

Then somehow God heals us miraculously through caring, loving, open and affirming communities of faith. And what happens? Well, some folks tend to sit down, put on a spiritual bib, and say, “Feed me.” And in the beginning of our Christian walks, that’s fine, too. But as Rev. Carol West once told me, the time comes in all of our lives when it is time to take off the bibs and put on the aprons! In other words, the time comes for us to grow up and move from always expecting to be served to serving others.
Folks, if all we do is sit around on our blessed assurances expecting to be fed all the time, we are going to end up being spiritually fat and lazy. And as complications from obesity are huge contributors to physical death, I am convinced that spiritual obesity can lead to spiritual death!

The task of proclamation does not ask—it requires--each of us who call ourselves “Christian”—those of us who have been healed of our own sicknesses—to lift up our ailing sisters and brothers. We are called to not only cast out the demons of self-hatred, unhealthy doubt and fear, we are also called to tell those demons to “Shut up and move on! You have no power here!” And we are to take this message from this place and out into our community, where every one of us here knows it is needed!

As you can see, proclamation can be very demanding work sometimes. It can drain us physically and spiritually. In fact, twice more in the book of Mark, in chapters 6 and 14, we read where Jesus goes away to pray in solitude. So it is very important that, like, Jesus, we take enough time to retreat for a time of prayer and rejuvenation.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of prayer in our lives. Sometimes we get so caught up in the “doing” side of Christianity, we forget the “being” side. It is in our being alone with God that we can receive the comfort and strength that we need to face the challenges of day-to-day living. Both the “doing” of service and “being” of prayer, solitude, and rejuvenation are necessary if we hope to move toward living a more balanced Christian life.

So, Jesus models for us an example of proclamation that includes worship within a community of faith, and serving those close to him, as well as those not so close to him. The example of Jesus further points out the necessity of our maintaining a close relationship with God through prayer.

Then, after a really hectic 24 hours or so, what does Jesus do? He moves on! The disciples came looking for him, telling him that everyone was looking for him back in Capernaum. Jesus was definitely a hit with the crowds at this point in his ministry, and he probably could have stayed in Capernaum and settled into a comfortable position as a healer and prophet, loved by the masses in that city.

But proclamation doesn’t really allow us to sit on the laurels of our past successes. Proclamation means reaching out to new people and into new areas of ministry. Jesus knew this, too. He knew that the news he had to share was too good and too important to limit it to just a particular group of people. That is why in the book of Acts that Jesus told his disciples that they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The purpose and mission of Jesus Christ was fueled by an outwardly focused sense of holy urgency. It is that same outwardly focused sense of urgency that has carried the message of Christianity through some of its darkest hours. It is a message that, when rightly proclaimed, continues to save lives every day.

I want to ask each of you to look at the banner high on the wall behind me. That is the mission statement of MCC of Corpus Christi. Motivate Faith. Create Unity. Communicate the Good News. Challenge Injustice. Celebrate God’s Unconditional Love. It is a message that can save lives.

I have a question for us today, church. Is the mission of our church fueled by an outwardly focused sense of holy urgency? Do we really believe we have a message that can save lives? If so, I want to challenge us. I want to challenge us to take off the bibs, put on the aprons, get out there, and start proclaiming it! Let’s proclaim the message of God’s life-changing love for all people with the examples of both our lives and our words! For we never know whose lives are depending on our proclamation of this life saving message.

Lives are at stake, folks. It is that important.

God bless you, and amen.

January 29th

2006-02-02T18:59:00.000-08:00

Little Ones Are Watching
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
1 Corinthians 8:1-13

If you have been a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or anyone responsible for the care of a child for any length of time, you will probably have no trouble relating to the following story.

Some of you here have already heard the story of my nephew, Matthew. I was very close to Matt. In fact, I helped raise him for the first months of his life while my sister and brother-in-law both worked to make ends meet. As I have said before, for a time it seemed as if I had this growth on my hip in the form of a small child named Matthew. Where you saw Uncle Danny, you normally saw Matthew, and vice-versa.

At a family dinner back in 1977, when Matthew was just 2 years old, he decided to act out at the dinner table like many 2 year-olds are prone to do. His father looked at him, and said in a very stern voice, “Boy, if you don’t straighten up, I’m gonna bust your bottom!” Matthew looked at his father, smiled, and said, “Bull.”

This response was, of course, not well received by my brother-in-law. But do you know what happened? Everyone at the table turned at looked at me. Thoroughly offended, I said, “What? Why is everyone looking at me?” “Well, came the reply, he spends more time with you than he does anyone else. Where else would he have picked up that phrase?”

To be honest with you, I really can’t remember if Matthew heard the word “bull” from me or not. It was a word our family tossed around pretty often, so who knows? But the point was made: little ones do listen. Not only do little ones listen, they watch what we do. So it is important that we, as adults, mind our manners around young people.

The letters to the Corinthians are evidence that Paul knew this truth all too well. The first letter to the church at Corinth does not outline a rigorous theological system as much as it responds to specific practical concerns. That is probably part of the reason why it so challenging to both preach and teach from Corinthians. I mean, you can theologize a lot about the Trinity, Virgin Birth, and Resurrection. But drunkenness, sexual immorality, being honest with one another, and other similar topics are pretty straightforward—and the Bible’s teachings on these subjects can be quite disturbing to us, too.

The surface topic Paul is addressing today relates to the eating of meat that has been offered to idols. I say “surface” topic because, as I have said so many times before, surface issues in the Bible often point to deeper, core issues in our lives, as we will see later.

The question before Paul today is whether or not it is OK to eat meat that has been offered to idols. You see, idol meat was all over the place in Corinth. People would offer a sacrifice to one of the Greek gods, burn some of the meat on an altar, and then eat some of it in a ritualistic meal.

The remainder of the meat usually found its way to the local meat market and to the restaurants that were located in and around the pagan temples. So, whether you ate at home, ate at a restaurant, or ate at a friend’s home, unless you were a vegetarian, chances are you were eating meat that had been sacrificed to a Greek god or goddess.

Now for some of the Corinthian Christians, this dietary challenge was not a big problem. They took the teaching of Paul seriously when he said, “no idol in the world really exists.” But for others—and especially for those new to the Christian faith—eating meat offered to idols was a big problem. These folks were serious about following Jesus Christ, and wanted to remain as pure as possible. They were concerned that eating this meat would somehow defile them and prevent them from fully following the teachings of Jesus Christ.

So, on the one hand, you have a group of people who possess a certain amount of knowledge on this subject who don’t see what the big deal is about eating meat that is sacrificed, in reality, to nothing. On the other hand, you have a group of people who aren’t so sure they agree with this “liberal” behavior. Sounds like a church fight in the making to me! What is a good Corinthian Christian to do?

Enter our Master Moderator, Paul. Paul begins his discourse by warning those with this knowledge that they should be careful. Notice he doesn’t say knowledge is bad, per se. Paul is just saying that it doesn’t really matter how much we think we know, because none of us really has the full picture. So knowledge is fine—to a point.

Paul then, however, affirms the knowledge of the Corinthian meat eaters by saying that we really know that no idol exists. And while there may be other so-called “gods” in heaven and on earth, for us, there is but one God, and one Lord, Jesus Christ. Our closeness to God is not dependant upon whether or not we eat. So, Paul is affirming the right of this group of Christians to eat meat offered to idols. BUT, Paul tells this same group of folks to take care that this liberty of theirs’ does not cause others to stumble. After all, not all Christians share all this same knowledge.

In other words, little ones are watching.

Eating (the surface issue of this passage) is actually an excellent metaphor for describing all of life. When we eat, we acknowledge our dependence upon some of the remainder of God’s creation, and therefore, our dependence upon God. Humans—and all of creation—are from God and all of human life is lived toward God. In fact, Paul appears to affirm eating as well as drinking as a metaphor for all of life in 1 Corinthians 10:31 when he says, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” So the deeper issue here for us is that whatever we decide or choose in life must ultimately be decided and chosen in the light of what we know and believe about God.

But, like the Corinthians, we too have a responsibility to use our liberty wisely, and in ways that build up the community. And while I believe this statement is true for all Christians, I believe it is especially true for those of us who identify both as Christians as well as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered.

Why do I say that? Because people are watching us, folks. There are the people who say we can’t be Christians for no other reason than being the people God created us to be. Of course we know better. Like the Corinthians, we have a certain amount of knowledge on this subject that they may not possess. But then we tend to write these people off as “bigoted,” or “homophobic,” or as “sex negative fundamentalists.” Many times we don’t even bother trying to dialogue with these folks.

Then there are those within our community who are considering giving God another chance. Maybe these people were spiritually abused in the faith traditions of their youth, and after years of running from God, they have now decided to check out an open and affirming community of faith. Folks, what we say, what we do, where we go and how we behave when we get there, how we treat one another—in other words, how well our “talks” match our “walks”--can make the difference in the life-changing decisions that these people will eventually make. So, are we going to go the way of knowledge, and insist on exercising our liberties, disregarding the feelings of others, or are we going to go the way of love, and build up community?

For Paul, love trumps knowledge every time. In today’s world, love means getting the liberals and conservatives to talk to one another. It means taking the time to build such deeply personal relationships that church members will trust and support one another as they seek to do Christ’s work in the world. Love means dialoguing with one another to identify shared Christian principles that reach beyond the rhetoric of calling ourselves either “progressive” or “charismatic.” And most importantly, love means putting those shared principles to work both in this place and out in the world!

God wants us to be well nourished as a community of faith, and strong enough to do God’s work in the world. That is why God sent Jesus, the Bread of Life. That’s why God offers us the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. God spreads a banquet before us so that we can eat, be healthy and strong. That’s why God gives us the Table, where we can come together in this place each week, eat, and receive the strength to show each other the kind of love that is grounded in trusting personal relationships and shared Christian principles.

Speaking of the Table, many of you here know James. James is Makaylah’s big brother, and helps his Mom Annette take care of her. James also sometimes helps his Grandma Jean and Granny Linda sing up front here. Well, one day recently, the family noticed James standing over a plastic cup that was carefully covered with a white washrag. James removed the washrag, held up a plastic tomato from his Dora the Explorer Kitchen, and said, “Communion—for everybody!” James gets it. Don’t you wish more of us were like him?

Little ones are watching, folks--little ones of all ages and stations in life. With the help of God’s Holy Spirit, may we be examples of God’s inclusive love, grace, and peace in this world, so that these little ones may see how good God truly is. Amen?

God bless you and amen.

January 22nd

2006-01-26T11:38:00.000-08:00

Let’s Hit The Road, Church!Jonah 3:1-5 Mark 1:14-20

I am sure that what I am about to say will not come as a shock to most of you. But, did you know that working can actually be hazardous to your health? Of course, some jobs are more dangerousthan others. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 10 most dangerous jobs are:timber cutters, fishers, pilots, and navigators, structural metal workers, drivers, roofers, electricalpower installers, farm workers, construction laborers, and truck drivers.

And while it may not be in the top ten—actually it is probably not on the list at all—I think we should add “biblical prophet” to this list. No more dangerous job in the Bible than being a prophet. Why is that? Because prophets frequently got killed. But why all the hostility? Well, many times prophets were the bearer of unwelcome news. Prophets often told both religious and political leaders that their policies, practices, and treatment of people were out of line with God’s plan for humanity. And since no one really enjoys being called on the carpet, these leaders would sometimes silence the dissension by silencing the prophets—permanently.

This little occupational hazard was not lost on Jonah. God told Jonah to go to the great city of Nineveh, and cry out against it; for the wickedness of that city had come up before God. But, there was just one little problem. Nineveh was the long-time capital of the Assyrian empire. As such, it represented to the Jews the cruelty of Assyrian warfare and iron rule. Today, this assignment could be compared volunteering to going to Baghdad, walking the streets, and calling Muslim extremists to repent of their sins. Get the picture?

Jonah certainly did. First of all, he didn’t even like the folks in Nineveh, and who could blame him? Second, scripture tells us that Jonah knew God would forgive the Ninevites if they sincerely repented of their evil ways. So, he boarded a ship and headed as far in the opposite direction of Nineveh as he could go. But again, there was just one little problem with Jonah’s plan. You see with God, we may be able to run, but we can’t hide.

Jonah learned this lesson the hard way. Now, many of us here know the famous “fish tale” of Jonah. In an attempt to escape the call of God, Jonah boards a ship for Tarshish (think “Timbuktu” here). A horrible storm threatens the ship and the lives of everyone aboard. The pagan sailors pray to their gods and cast lots to see who is the cause of this disaster. Survey says: Jonah! After speaking with Jonah and trying in vain to navigate the storm, the sailors finally and reluctantly toss him overboard. From that point, it is smooth sailing for everyone.

Well, everyone except Jonah, that is. Scripture tells us that God provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. By all conventional wisdom, Jonah was as good as dead.

Now it is at this point where a lot of folks head down a variety of rabbit trails. What kind of fish would be large enough to swallow a human? How could a human survive three days and three nights in the belly of such a creature? How could such a creature vomit up a human on dry land? Does this passage prove evolution is part of God’s plan for creation? Or, is the story of Jonah made up, and therefore, we can’t trust the authority of scripture?

Folks, whether or not there was a real big fish or not is NOT the point of this passage. Jonah was called to do something he didn’t want to do. He was afraid—and with very good reason. Jonah stood to lose everything—including his life—for a group of people he didn’t even like. Jonah tried to escape the voice of God and found he couldn’t do it. Whether or not he was literally in the belly of a fish for three days and nights is not the point of the passage, either. Jonah struggled in darkness. It was a darkness so deep that Jonah felt his life was ebbing away. Read Jonah chapter 2 sometime. Notice the pain in Jonah’s lament.

But God did not abandon Jonah. God was still with Jonah in his distress. God was still with Jonah even though Jonah deliberately ran in the opposite direction of God’s call. God heard Jonah’s lament from the very depths and darkness of Jonah’s pain.

And God delivered Jonah!

We read in scripture that the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” This time, however, Jonah gets up, brushes off the fish puke as well as various and sundry parts of other sea creatures and seaweed, and hits the road for Nineveh. Now did you notice that while God delivered Jonah from his distress, God did not deliver Jonah from his responsibility?

After a short trip on the revival circuit, God worked through Jonah, and the Ninevites listened to Jonah and repented. Even their animals were covered in sackcloth and ashes! Now that had to be one powerful message! Amen? And just like Jonah thought, when God saw that the Ninevites had turned from their wicked ways, God changed His mind about bringing calamity on their city.
Now, this portion of the book of Jonah is often used by clergy types to describe their stories of God’s call to ordained ministry—and that’s fine. But what I want to suggest to you this morning is that we have all been Jonah at different times in our lives. Not only have we been Jonah as individuals, we have also been Jonah as communities of faith.

Individually, God has different callings for each of us. That call may be ordained ministry, and it may require us to leave our jobs like the disciples did in today’s Gospel reading. That calling may be to leave an abusive relationship. That calling may be to lovingly confront a friend or family member with his or her addictive behavior. God’s calls may be as varied and diverse as creation itself.

And like Jonah, we don’t always like what God asks of us. For example, when it comes to ordained ministry, I have to tell you all something. I love what I do; but ordained ministry is not something you do if you’re looking for easy hours and a lucrative retirement plan.

And what about that abusive relationship? We may think, “Hey! It ain’t much, but at least I have someone.” Addiction intervention? Not pretty, and we definitely do not want rock our already unstable family boats, or risk losing friends by confronting them with the truth about their addictive behaviors.

As communities of faith, God sometimes calls us to address unjust structures of oppression and discrimination in society. Sometimes God calls us to speak the truth in love to another within our communities of faith about issues of inappropriate behavior. There are also times when God calls us to call denominational leadership to accountability for the direction of those denominations.

But again, like Jonah, we run. How do we run? Folks, we run when we try to ignore these issues—whatever they may be--hoping they will just go away. Why do we do that? Why do we run? Well in church, sometimes I think we run because we don’t want to lose congregants—especially if they are good financial supporters. “Sure, so-and-so is overbearing and causes division in the church, and yeah, he or she treats the church social hour like a singles bar happy hour, but they give a lot of money.” So, we tend to turn a blind eye. When it comes to denominational structures, I think maybe we feel our voice doesn’t count, so why bother? In fact, in some church systems, if you happen to be clergy and challenge the system, future appointments and even your credentials may be at stake. Besides, who needs all that drama?

The problem is though, with God, we can run, but we can’t hide. If God is calling you to do something, and you continue to run, eventually you are going to hit bottom. It will be dark, it will be nasty—and trust me on this one—you won’t like it. I say this because I have been there more than once. You see, Jonah was a lot smarter than me. He needed only one trip to the bottom.

But hear the good news, sisters and brothers! I don’t care how low we go; God is there! God is listening! God cares! And as God delivered Jonah, God will deliver us as well! All we need to do is ask.

No, deliverance does not mean that God is going to let us out of our responsibilities, either. And yes, we may smell a lot like fish puke at first, but like God was with Jonah in Nineveh, God will be with us in our “Nineveh’s” as well. We have nothing to fear. For as scripture tells us, “If God is for us, who is against us?”

So, let’s hit the road to Nineveh, church! Whatever issues we may face as individuals or as a community of faith, know that God is with us on the journey. “And what if people don’t listen?” you may ask. Well, partially quoting the words of Mother Teresa, “God does not call us to be successful, God calls us to be faithful.” So, let’s move forward in faith, church. Let’s make a positive difference in this world in the name of Jesus Christ! Amen?

God bless you and amen.