Worship for Sunday, February 20, 2011

Worship for Sunday, February 20, 2011

The Seventh Sunday in Epiphanytide

Theme: All Is Ours

We are God’s temple, called to be a holy people. Let us offer prayers for all in need of

God’s mercy.

For the church of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

Lord, have mercy.

For our Regional Church, and ministers Bill, LaTaunya, Steve, and Brenda, and all who minister in Christ, and for all the people of God.

Lord, have mercy.

For those chosen to govern peoples and nations especially our mayors, city councilors, and county commisioners, and for the welfare of their people.

Lord, have mercy.

For the poor and the alien, the deaf and the blind, and for all who suffer from oppression.

Lord, have mercy.

For our enemies and all who persecute us.

Lord, have mercy.

For all who are sick and in need of prayer, and for the dying and the dead.

Lord, have mercy.

Loving heavenly Mother and Father, thank you that your Son loved us

even when we were enemies, and that he prayed for those who killed him.

Teach us to be merciful like you, and do good to all people, even to those who do us harm.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

¹⁰God was kind and let me become an expert builder. I laid a foundation on which others have built. But we must each be careful how we build, ¹¹because Christ is the only foundation.

¹⁶All of you surely know that you are God's temple and that his Spirit lives in you. ¹⁷Together you are God's holy temple, and God will destroy anyone who destroys his temple.
¹⁸Don't fool yourselves! If any of you think you are wise in the things of this world, you will have to become foolish before you can be truly wise. ¹⁹This is because God considers the wisdom of this world to be foolish. It is just as the Scriptures say, "God catches the wise when they try to outsmart him." ²⁰The Scriptures also say, "The Lord knows that the plans made by wise people are useless." ^21-22So stop bragging about what anyone has done. Paul and Apollos and Peter all belong to you. In fact, everything is yours, including the world, life, death, the present, and the future. Everything belongs to you, ²³and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

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“The Living Temple”

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Two Catholic schoolboys were so disruptive in class that the teach sent them to see the priest. She dragged them down to the office and Said, “Father, I can’t teach these two little heathens anything. May be you could try.”

The priest brought one boy into the office while ordering the other one to sit outside.

He closed the door and asked the boy, “where is God?”

The boy stood silent.

“Once again, where is God?”

Silence.

The priest was starting to understand the teacher’s frustration, and said, “I’m only going to ask you one more time--where is God?”

Once again, silence.

The priest threw the boy out into the hallway and closed the door. The kid then sat down next to buddy, who asked him, “What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure,” the boy replied, “but I think that somebody’s kidnapped God, and their trying to pin it on us.”

The JerusalemTemple was a complex structure with progressively restrictive areas. As you can see, there were different courts with varied access. The biggest area was the court of the women. Up the steps, men could enter the court of the Israelites--if they were circumcised and not deformed. Further in, the priests could go--the court of the priests was where the slaughterhouse sand altar were located. Further in was the sanctuary, and within the sanctuary was the holy of holies, or most holy place. This is the place where the very presence of God was said to reside. It was considered to be so holy that only the High Priest could enter it, and only do so on one day of the year--Yom Kippur--the Day of Atonement. The High Priest could enter that place with the sacrifice which would atone for the sins of the people.

Perhaps if the boys had paid attention in class, they might have given that as an answer--but the question that answer would qualify might be, “where was God?”

Paul had a different answer.

the first letter to the church at Corinth lets us know that this was a very sick church. They had moral problems, fellowship problems, Christology issues, and factions.

In fact, a part of today’s reading refers to the faction problem. Some of the members of that church identified more with the teachers they followed. Some said they were of Paul, some of Peter, some of Apollos. They not only strongly identified with their particular teachers, but thought that only their little group had it right.

I smiled when I read Marjorie Lybarger’s obituary yesterday, in which she was identified with the Wilcox Bible Class. I think that the strong identity we have with our groups within the church is great. The Pioneers class. The Chapel class lunch get-togethers. The Christian Builders’ Christmas party. If our group identities became like the Corinthians, that would not be good. It would be like saying, “if you’re not in the Wilcox class, you’re doomed!”

But, we’re not that way. Because, what holds us together as a church is not our particular interpretations of doctrine, our identity with a particular teacher or group, and certainly not our politics. What holds us together is Jesus Christ--and it was the same for the church in Corinth. Paul says that the only foundation that a church can have is that of Jesus Christ.

The differences between Paul, and Peter, and Apollos are miniscule if the church is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

Paul here calls the church a temple and this is significant.

The Temple in Jerusalem was build on a solid foundation--the Temple Mount, or Mount Zion. And on that foundation, the Temple was constructed that was magnificent that it could contain the very presence of God.

But Paul says that the church that is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ houses the Spirit of God. The place where God lives is no longer the Holy of holies on Mount Zion, but wherever the church is gathered in the name of Jesus. What was it Jesusa said? “wherever two or more are gathered in my name…?”

It’s important to note that the “you” that is the Temple of God’s Spirit is plural. The King Jimmy--400 years old this year--renders it “ye.” You plural. Y’all. Youse. You’uns. Unlike the image on the cover of the bulletin today, the Spirit of God doesn’t live in one rock--but in the house of living stones--as 1 Peter describes it.

The Contemporary English Version, from which I read today, gets it right when it says that “all of you surely know you are God’s temple.

This is huge--God is no longer limited to a place, but lives wherever people are built together on the foundation of Jesus Christ. This is huge, indeed.

Because when we are God’s temple, we have nothing to fear. Paul says to this very sick church that they don’t need to worry about whether they are Paul’s or Peter’s. Because, in God’s temple, all belong to all. We are all Paul’s and Apollos’ and Peter’s. And all these teachers belong to us.

Indeed, writes Paul, everyting--all--belongs to us. The world, life, death, the present, the future belong to us--because we belong to Christ, and Chriswt belongs to God. That sounds like that phrase that keeps popping up in my funeral services. In life, in death, in life beyond death, we belong to God.

And therefore, we don’t need to worry about anything.

All of you have been given a personal invitation to gather here next Saturday for the discernment process called New Beginnings. We’re going to spend some time together as one, and then several weeks in groups around the city looking at what we’re passionate about, what we’re really good at, and what resources we have to do what we’re passionate about and good at doing. And in so doing, we will try to discern what the Spirit of God is calling us to do and to be.

In order to do this, we have to confess that we don’t know everything that is out there. And while the unknown can be daunting, we have nothing to fear. Why? Because Paul says it right here. Everything is ours. The present, the future. All of it. Why, because we belong to God.

What do you think?

Offertory Prayer

For the healing of the nations, we present a portion of the riches that you have entrusted to us. Make of us people of healing and grace in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Benediction

God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, sends you holy ones out to love in the face of evil.

We leave this building to be the temple of the Holy Spirit for the world. Alleluia! Amen!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Worship for Sunday, February 13, 2011

The Sixth Sunday in Epiphanytide

Theme: Radical Faith

Prayers of the People

We praise you, God, for guiding the Church with your commandments and other teachings. Continue to cultivate us, construct us. Lord of All, (congregational response: heal and teach us.).

We exalt you for the human race and magnificence of creation. Bless the State of Ohio, and those who lead her, our Governor John, our Senator Kris, and our representative Jay. Bless the United States and people all around the world, that we may be one according to you love. Bring peace to Egypt. Make us all instruments of liberty and equality. Lord of All, . . .

Loving God, we are in awe of love. We thank you for such a mysterious and beautiful gift. Help us to use love in accord with your love. Guide us to bring comfort to the lonely on Valentine’s Day. Lord of All, . . .

It is easy for us to get caught up in jealousy, mean-spiritedness, and divisive competition. Tutor us to be one, cooperative, working together to promote love. Lord of All, . . .

You have shown us love through healing. Heal everyone in need now. Guide our hands to assist you. Lord of all, . . .

Hear us as we pray in silence.

We know you hear us. We thank you for taking care of us. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Matthew 5:21 ¶ "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’

22 But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.

23 So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,

24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.

26 Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

27 ¶ "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’

28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

31 "It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’

32 But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

33 ¶ "Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’

34 But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,

35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

37 Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

“The ‘Buts’”

This week, I couldn’t help myself in thinking about President Jimmy Carter--then Candidate Jimmy Carter, who 35 years ago gave an interview to Playboy magazine. In the interview, Carter confessed to a sin that probably most of America never much thought of before: “I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times…”

Mort Sahl had a great joke that came out of that--playing on the old Goldwater ’64 slogan. Remember the Goldwater slogan? “In your heart, you know he’s right.” Speaking of Carter, Sahl’s version was, “In his heart, he knows your wife!”

This all comes out of the passage before us today, a snippet of the Sermon on the Mount. At first look, it might seem that Jesus is picking on various unrelated things--murder and anger, adultery, divorce, and swearing oaths. But, as Disciples scholar Ronald Allen points out, “the four themes cohere around a common motif: broken relationships.”

New Testament scholars refer to this passage and the one that follows as the “six antitheses.” I prefer to think of them as “the buts.”

Here’s where you come in, I will make a statement that Jesus quotes from the Law, and you yell out, “but!”

We can all see that murder is wrong--but Jesus points out that the relationship is broken when anger begins and is not rectified.

We can all see that adultery is wrong--but Jesus points out that the relationship of husband and wife can be torn apart by a leering, fleeting look.

The law, says Jesus, says it’s ok to swear an oath, but what does that say about the rest of what we say? Do we then just assume that if you don’t say “I swear” you must be lying?

The Law existed for the same reason it exists today--so that people can live together in community. Any community of human beings has to have some guidelines as to how its members live out their life together. That’s why we have stop signs and speed limits.

Now, even though Jesus says in the passage that immediately precedes this one that he has come to fulfill the Law, not destroy it. But, as Disciples’ scholar Eugene Boring points out--no rabbi ever contrasted his own pronouncement with what God had said in Torah.

In fact, Rabbi Jacob Neusner, who is a foremost authority on ancient Judaism, and a leader in Christian-Jewish dialogue, says that it is here--right here--that Jesus separates himself out from the rest of the Jewish tradition. He gives a clear indication of departure from the Torah by the use of that word--BUT. It is right here that Jesus lays it out--you can go the old way, or you can go the new path.

What Jesus’ audience found so amazing is that this Rabbi didn’t just quote the scripture--he spoke of this own authority. Matthew makes it clear that from this point on, large crowds followed Jesus everywhere he went--choosing Jesus over Torah. Or did they?

Boring writes that Jesus is not so much departing from Judaism and Torah, but radicalizing it. Now we complete misuse the term in our context. We think of a radical as someone who is way different from us in our faith or our politics. We’ll speak left- wing radicals, and far-right radicals, but that’s not what the word means.

In radicalizing the faith, Jesus does not depart from Torah, nor does he expand it. We may think that Jesus is expanding the law--making it bigger, but nothing could be further from the truth. Literally, radical means root--taken from the same word--radix--from which we get the word radish.

Radicalizing the faith makes it--not bigger, but smaller--by getting down to the roots. Jesus drives us down under the soft, conventional, pretty, bushy leaves of the faith which we can plainly see above ground to the small, pithy, sharp, and even bitter root.

To follow this radical Jesus, is not about making big choices, but small ones.

Kill? Of course you wouldn’t, but the root of killing is anger.

Illicit sex? Of course you wouldn’t. But, at the root of sexual relationship which don’t honor God is the treatment of someone made in God’s image as a thing.

So, what would this radical Jesus say to a bunch of folks who call themselves by his name and gather around his table week-in and week-out, say his words, and eat bread and grape in as seemingly absent minded state? What does Jesus say to us this morning as we prepare to gather around his table? If he told those folks on the mountain way back when that they should turn back from worship and mend relationships. What would he tell us?

Leave the bread and wine on the table. Go reconcile with your neighbor, and the come worship. Leave the elements and go away, then come back. Really? How long is this gonna’ take, cause, if you get to the buffet line before noon, the Baptists will get it all.

Does Jesus mean for us to take this literally? In his time, worshipers would come to the Temple from all over the world--traveling days and weeks to get to Jerusalem would Jesus really expect them to drop their offering and run off to make nice?

Let’s say that if we don’t take this teaching literally, we take it seriously. Joey Jeter reminds us that the opposite of remembering is not forgetting, but dismembering. What a perfect metaphor for celebrating communion in the midst of broken relationships--what you get is a dismembered body of Christ!

Most of you know that I grew up in the fellowship of the a capella Churches of Christ. Now, we Disciples have common roots with the Churches of Christ, but we are very different.

For a very long time, it was very difficult to go back--to worship in that context, after having becoming a Disciple. But, when my Mother was living, nothing pleased her more than having me take her to church. And nothing could please me less than going to church with my Mother. I’d rather do 30 days in Richland County lockup.

But, I was a good son. So, I went. On one such occasion, I found myself sitting on the back pew of my parents’ church in Chattanooga. I’d just heard the worlds’ worst sermon--so bad that God has blocked it from my memory completely. I sat as the communion elements were passed--with no music, so you hear each person snap off a piece of the unleavened bread. With each snap, I got more and more agitated and angry. What was I doing there with those people? I loathed being there. The thought of sharing the body and blood of Christ with those people disgusted me.

The tray was passed to me, and I started to simply pass it on, but, something happened. I held the tray and looked at it, as Jesus’ words convicted me--rolling across the centuries, across my barriers, across my prejudice, across my own shame. Jesus words cried out to me for reconciliation and peace.

I looked up, and suddenly became aware that I was surrounded, not by those people, but by my brothers and sisters who welcomed me as Christ would. Communion that morning--and every Sunday since--has become for me both the conviction to work for reconciliation, and means of grace to do it.

I’ll never forget the taste of that bread that morning. It was so different, so fresh, so strange. It tasted, well, like one of these.

Offering Sentences

Giving is an act of faith. We believe that what we have to offer makes a difference in this world. But more than that, we believe in the One who is behind our giving. We may not "see" God with these "eyes of flesh"; we may find it difficult to even catch a glimpse of what God may be doing around us and in us. Likewise, we may not see the effect of what we give, of what we do for Christ. But still, we believe, trusting in the One who is faithful, whose "new mercies" we often can only see by faith, day by day. I invite you, my sisters and brothers in Christ, to give now as an act of faith.

Offering Prayer

Holy God, your holiness makes us more than uncomfortable. In times of surface living, when we think we are doing pretty well in our relationships and actions, we gloss over your demanding call to fulfill your teaching. Forgive us, we pray. Prompt us to realize how totally every one of us relies upon your grace. We bring you these gifts of our finances and our prayers, not to earn our way to you, but in overflowing gratitude for your grace. This we pray by your power through the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Benediction (Deuteronomy 30)

Go forth to walk in God's ways.

May your ways be blameless.

Hold fast to God in all you do.

Your hearts belong to God.

May the love of God be yours.

God's blessings rest upon you, and give you peace. Amen.