Sunday, November 20, 2011

November 20, 2011

Morning Prayers

Let us pray to the Lord our God, who seeks the lost sheep, binds up the injured, and

strengthens the weak.

For Bill,Steve, LaTaunya, and Brenda, our Regional Pastors, and for all who serve your church.

in every place.

Lord, have mercy.

For the leaders of the nations and all in authority, and for mercy, justice, and peace.

Lord, have mercy.

For good weather, abundant fruits of the earth, and peaceful times.

Lord, have mercy.

For our city and those who live in it, and especially for those who serve our cities and townships (and of those, especially our own Russ),, and for our families, companions, and all those we love.

Lord, have mercy

For all those in danger and need: the hungry and the thirsty, strangers and the naked, the

sick and those in prison.

Lord, have mercy.

For those who rest in Christ and for all the dead.

Lord, have mercy.

For our deliverance from all affliction, strife, and need.

Lord, have mercy.

God our shepherd, who raised your Son from the dead and made him king of all creation,

hear the prayers we offer this day and enable us to see your glory in the face of the poor;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Gospel Lesson Matthew 25:31-46

Mt 25:31 ¶ "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.

32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,

33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.'

37 Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?

38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?

39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?'

40 And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'

41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;

42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,

43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'

44 Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?'

45 Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'

46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Hear what the spirit…

Sermon “The King and the Nations”

Do you know “Rent?” It’s one of most successful Broadway musicals in the last 40 years, and it’s actually a reworking of Puccini’s “La Boheme.”

Only instead of Paris in the late 19^th century, it’s set in NYC in the late 20^th century. And instead of tuberculosis, the plague that is taking the lives of all their friends is AIDS.

There are some great songs in that show—some that you’ve probably heard like “Seasons of Love.”

But, the song that’s been in my head this week is titled, “What You Own,” which pokes fun at American consumerism:

“You're living in America

At the end of the millennium

You're living in America

Leave your conscience at the tone

And when you’re living in America

At the end of the millennium

You are what you own”

And, because they are dying of AIDS, the song concludes:

we’re dying in America

at the end of the millennium

dying in America

to come into our own

and when you’re dying in America

at the end of the millennium,

you’re not alone.

I get this feeling every year about this time. After the Christmas ads and decorations have been in full swing about a month.

After watching ads for cars in bows which cost more than our first house--and we’re not that old--I get a little queasy. When you’re living in America on either side of the millennium, you are what you own--or at least what you buy, indeed!

I get that feeling because we have evolved to the point where we celebrate our Lord’s birth by engaging in the sin of idolatry.

Idolatry is the sin of holding other gods before the God who has created us, redeemed us, and sustains us. Idolatry is a denial of the truth of creation.

Instead of knowing who we are by the God in whose image we are made, we are known by what we own.

Idolatry.

What would you guess is the number one theme in all of scripture? Anybody?

According to Jim Wallis, it is idolatry. And the second most frequently occurring theme is poverty. Could there be a connection?

Of course, there is a connection! The balance between idolatry and poverty is obvious.

The effects of idolatry on the “haves” is that we become more oriented to things that capture our worship and less oriented to God, and certainly less oriented to the poor, leading to an impoverishment of the soul.

And the effect on the poor is that other idolatries--idolatries of survival, power, and violence--move in to fill the void of God. And if you don’t believe this is true, look, not only at America, but throughout the world and see if this is not the case in Israel and Palestine, Jordan, in Darfur in Sudan, in Iraq.

And so, with each passing moment, the haves and have-nots move farther from each other and more dis-oriented toward understanding each other.

Each moment we sink further into idolatry, we are less able to know God and less able to know God in each other.

Less able to know God in the faces of the folks who will get their holiday meal from the Grace Episcopal’s food pantry instead of the grocery store.

Less able to know God in the inmates in all the correctional facilities in in our county.

Less able to know God in the people living and dying with AIDS in and among us.

Less able to know God in the guy at the bottom of the panhandler whom we turn our head to avoid.

Less able to know God in anyone as we sink deeper into our various idolatries.

Last Sunday, one the folks who regularly seeks help here came to me to ask for assistance. I caught this person in a lie last year and I will no longer help her, because I don’t want to support or encourage scammers.

And yet, today’s Gospel compels me to see God in the scammers, too.

It’s a curious thing, this parable of the final judgment. The participants--the nations-- in this drama are equally clueless as to the identity of the king as seen in the hungry, the poor, the naked, the imprisoned, the stranger. Both the goats who ignored those people, and the sheep who cared for them were oblivious to the eternal implications. They both say so. The ones who did connect with their fellow humans are non-plussed about the situation.

“When did we see you, Jesus?”

The goats, the ones who failed to reach out ask the same question, but it has a totally different feel to it.

“Well, Jesus, if we had known it was you, we would have done something.”

The story is told that some years ago, an American soldier on a bus in Stockholm told the man sitting next to him, “America is the most democratic country in the world. Ordinary citizens may go to the capitol to see their representatives and discuss things with them.”

The man said, “That's nothing. In Sweden, the King and the people travel on the same bus."

When the man got off the bus at the next stop, the American was told by other passengers that he had been sitting next to King Gustav Adolf VI.

It’s hard to see a king in an ordinary person, but that is the point. And the sheep do it without trying to or even realizing it. We can only expect to encounter God-in-Christ in the faces of ordinary people if we immerse ourselves in the worship of God and God alone. If we take seriously the words in the first creation story--we are made, each of us, in God’s own image.

Even then, it’s hard. It’s hard to see the face of God in the sex offender released into our neighborhood. It’s hard to see the face of God in the guy who scams churches for money. It’s hard to see the face of God in the faces of those living or dying with AIDS--or folks dying with anything.

But, seeing the sacred in all the world is a beautiful thing. Seeing Christ in people with disabilities changes things. Seeing Christ in the hungry changes the reality for both us and them.

Look in the mirror when you get home today. Do you see a sheep or a goat? Perhaps, more importantly, do you see God? That may be the most crucial matter. Because loving one’s neighbor as yourself, involves loving yourself. And loving one’s own self involves acknowledging that you are made in God’s own image--just like everyone else.

Go check the mirror for God. God’s already checking for you, and calling to you from the lives of others. You don’t prepare for this exam--God prepares you. Connecting with the God in ourselves and others is a first step out of idolatry.

Everyone you meet--on the street or in the mirror--is made in God’s image.

What do you think?

Offertory Sentences and Prayer

This Sunday, you are invited not only to make your regular gift in the offering plate, but an estimate of your giving for the coming year. May both be offered in the same spirit: the product of much prayer, thought, and with great joy. Let us present our present and future gifts together.

Great and loving God, we are thankful all you have given us. Help us today to see your world as one of abundance, not scarcity. Help us to give of ourselves in time, talent, and treasure. May these gifts for now and the year to come bring blessings upon your world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Benediction

Go in peace; love and care for one another in Christ's name,

- and may our Lord and King watch over you,

- may our shepherd and our shield defend you,

- and may our rock and our fortress, our judge and our hope keep you safe and strong within his life-giving word now and forevermore. Amen

November 6, 2011

Morning Prayers

Ever living, and ever loving God, we come today in thanksgiving for this day. For the joy of gathering in this place to praise your name. It is good to be here, God.

We come seeking your wisdom and guidance always, but especially this day. Pour out your spirit on us that we may do your will and see your call for this congregation. Help us, no matter what decisions we make, to know that you are with us and that you call us to love one another.

We come seeking guidance for our nation. We pray for our President Barack, our Vice-President Joe, our Senators Rob and Sherrod, and our Representative Jim. Give them wisdom, mercy, and compassion in all they do.

We come seeking guidance for our state and our city. Bless all who will vote on Tuesday with your wisdom as we choose the paths for our future.

We come as a people who are not whole. There are sick among us and known to us, and we pray for their healing--both those we have named aloud, and those whose names we call out to you in silence.

Remind us, O God, that above all, we are not here for each other, but for all your children in a hurting world. Give us the compassion and courage to reach out to others in your name.

We lift all these prayers in the name of Jesus. Amen.

I Corinthians 13

1 ¶ If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 ¶ Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant

5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.

7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 ¶ Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.

9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part;

10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.

11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.

12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

“Faith, Hope, Love: These Three”

This passage has earned a beloved place in the hearts of Christians over the centuries--and deservedly so.

It has been called Paul’s “Hymn to Love,” “The Love Chapter,” the “Love Letter,” among many others. It has been a favorite to read at weddings over the years, although I wonder about its value for that.

You see, this passage is all about love--but not romantic or spousal love. This passage is about love in a very sick church.

Let’s look at a laundry list of problems in the church at Corinth in the 1^st century:

· item-the members were dividing themselves by the names of the one who’d baptized them.

· item-there was rampant sexual immorality in the church. It had been reported to Paul that one member of the church was sleeping with his mother-in-law.

· item-members were suing each other in the civil courts, rather than trying to remedy their disputes within the church.

· item-they were fighting over whether or not people should marry in the church. (maybe this works as a wedding text, after all)

· item-they were fighting over the role of women in the church.

· item-they were having potluck suppers but not allowing the poorer members to share in the food.

· item-they were fighting about which kinds of service (and which gifts of the Spirit) were superior to others.

And that’s just some of the high points.

And Paul begins to address these problems by talking about the gifts and the body.

The gifts given by the Spirit are not ranked--they’re just different, like the eye is different from the hand. He writes, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you.’”

That reminds me of something Joey Jeter wrote in his book Re/Membering. He writes that when we speak of the church and re/membering the body of Christ at the table, the opposite of re/membering is not forgetting, its is dismembering. For any part of the body to say to another--either with words or feet--“I have no need of you,” is to dismember the Body of Christ.

God has so arranged the body that different parts have to work together in order to function.

After describing how the different gifts can function together, “He asks, “are all apostles? Are all prophets” are all teachers?” and so on. And then he says to strive for the greater gifts.

Which brings us to this chapter, and the greater gifts are faith, hope, and the greatest of all, love.

Let me say that entire series of sermons have been preached on this one chapter--so I can hardly do it justice. Let me just lift up a few points.

1. While this letter was written to a sick church, we are not a sick church, at all. Crossroads? Yes. Sick? No.

2. Paul writes that even if you have all the gifts available to you--like speaking in tongues, prophecy, faith to move mountains, giving away everything--all this, but without love, it means nothing. Nothing we can do in the church, whether it be ministering, being a trustee, a Sunday School teacher, a musician matters if we don’t do it with love. Jesus said all the law and prophets hung on two commandments--Love God, and love neighbor. So it is in the church. Without love, we are nothing.

3. Love is patient; love is kind. If these two descriptions of love were all we had, it would be pretty good. Can we approach all our interactions in the church with patience and kindness? I believe we can.

4. Paul writes about what love is not. Not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude or insistent in its own way. To love is to acknowledge that we won’t always get our own way.

5. Love bears all things and endures all things--and dare I say it--endures together, even when we--no, especially when we disagree.

The greater gifts are these--faith, hope, and love. We are here because our forebears had faith and hope when they first me in the blockhouse and made their journey down the generations to this beautiful place. Without faith and hope, they would never have dreamed that the people who call themselves Disciples would still have such a place in this city. But, I suspect that in addition to faith and hope, they also had lots of love in all their dreams and decisions. Were it not for love, we would not be here. May it be so for us today, and wherever God calls us to be in the future.

Offertory Invitation and Prayer

The invitation to give comes from Jesus, who said, “Give, and it will come back to you.” Sounds like a good investment, don’t you think?

Giving God, Thank you for all your gifts. Bless these that we return to you, and bless us always to your service.

Benediction

Go out into the world in peace, knowing that you are children of God, called to be the church in all that you say and do. Comfort the afflicted, welcome the stranger, and above all, love. Love.

Love. Amen.

October 16, 2011

October 16, 2011

Morning Prayers

Let us remember before God all who labor in the faith and love of Jesus Christ and all in every danger and need.

For this gathering, and for the people of God in every place.

Lord, have mercy.

For all peoples and their leaders, for candidates for public office, and for mercy and justice in the world.

Lord, have mercy.

For good weather, abundant fruits of the earth, and peaceful times.

Lord, have mercy.

For doctors, nurses, and hospital staff, and for all who work in healing others.

Lord, have mercy.

For the sick and the suffering, travelers and refugees, prisoners and their families, and the dying and dead.

Lord, have mercy.

For our city and those who live in it, and for our families, companions, and all those we love, and those for whom we pray in silence.

Lord, have mercy.

Loving and true God, who raised your Son from the dead, hear our prayers and make us imitators of Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

²We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly ³remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake.

⁶And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit,

⁷so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. ⁸For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. ⁹For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, ¹⁰and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

“What Is Your Reputation?”

Many years ago whi8le I was serving as a hospital chaplain, Kate and I began looking for a Disciples congregation to join. In Lexington at that time, there were thirteen churches and so we had our pick.

We were told in particular to beware of two different congregations which had “bad reputations.”

One had been bearing this “bad” reputation based on something that had happened 79 years before. Can you imagine that? 79 years before, the elders moved the pastor’s belongings out to the street in the middle of the night--and people still remembered.

The other church had gotten its bad reputation only months before with a vote it had taken opposing the candidate for General Minister and President. The word of that vote got around pretty quickly, and within days, this church had a bad reputation.

And so, I ask you today, First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Mansfield, Ohio: What is your reputation?

Before we can get to that answer, we need to look at our text for today.

The book before us, 1 Thessalonians, is an example of apocalyptic thought, though not apocalyptic literature. Apocalyptic literature would be the books of Daniel and Revelation, while this letter of 1 Thessalonians only suggests what is full blown in Revelation.

The Thessalonian letters are very much shaped by apocalyptic thought, in which it is held that there is a fundamental distinction between the forces of good and the forces of evil. They envision an “old” age ruled by the forces of evil, and a “new” age ruled by God. They envision an imminent judgment in which God will bring an end to all the evil forces.

Before that imminent judgment occurs, the followers of Jesus Christ must straddle the two ages or two worlds. They must exist in the old “evil” age, but live according to the spirit of God’s new world ways. This will bring about a clash between the old and the new that will result in persecution.

Thessalonica was a stronghold of idol worship. The cults of the Roman gods were the center of social networking in that city. You weren’t anybody if you didn’t “belong” to one of the Roman temples.

Alan Segal writes that “no truly committed Christian could maintain idol cult membership. Thus Christianity was subversive to the basic religious institutions of society.”

And so Paul writes to encourage continued faithfulness to an already faithful church. In many ways, it’s a simpler, plainer version of the book of Revelation.

Revelation, for all its bizarre imagery and numerology, has a very simply message: keep the faith, and everything is going to be alright.

And here in 1 Thessalonians, that’s exactly what Paul writes to the church suffering under persecution and disenfranchisement.

I want to lift up four points from this particular passage as it relates to the early church and to ours.

First: “We always give thanks to God…and mention you in our prayers constantly.”

It mattered to Paul and to the early church to pray for the churches--so much so that Paul makes note of it in his letter, offering both thanksgiving and petitions before God.

You need to know that your church leaders pray for you. Our Elders pray for this congregation and its members, and I give thanks every day that you have called me to be your pastor. My prayer is that all of you will also be in prayer for our church and seeking God’s direction for us.

Second: “…the gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit…”

When Paul preached at Thessalonica, it wasn’t just words that were heard, but an encounter with the risen Christ.

My prayer is that every Sunday in this place, we encounter the risen Lord--in song, in bread and wine, and in the love we have for each other. Remember, when we invite our neighbors to come to church, we’re not asking them to just occupy the pews, but rather inviting them to encounter Jesus Christ.

Third: “…in spite of persecution you received the word with joy…”

The Thessalonians were under fire from the culture around them and experienced estrangement from family and friends and even torture, and yet, they did not turn away from Jesus Christ--knowing that if they endured sufferings as Jesus suffered, they would share in his glory.

We live in difficult times, and our church is in a thorny place--though I could not call our situation persecution. Yet we are called to be joyful even in the midst of difficulty. We must continue to be joyful amongst ourselves and to the world around us. I wish more of you could see the joy that goes on with the Saturday Community Breakfast, as we put the gospel into concrete action. We need to translate that joy to inviting our friends and neighbors to encounter Christ in our worship.

Finally: “…you became an example to all…”

Here’s where the reputation part comes in. The church at Thessalonica was so amazing in their faith that the whole Mediterranean world knew of it. Their reputation of faith under pressure was so widely known, that Paul write they didn’t even have to speak of it.

And so, what is our reputation? How are we known to those around us? I can tell you this--the other Disciples churches in our Regional Church know of you. They know you to have good lay leadership and a hopeful and positive outlook.

But what is our reputation in our community? What do people in Richland County know of us? Do they know us at all, or are we the best kept secret in Mansfield?

I’m not going to answer those questions. Instead, I’m going to ask, how would you respond?

Offering Invitation and Prayer

As one wise soul once said, “If we are to give unto God what is God’s and give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, there will not be much left for poor Caesar!” Everything is of God and belongs to God, so what we give now is a thankful response for blessings of creation.

God of Wisdom, we rejoice that you have provided us with numerous examples of generous giving. We obediently share this offering in full knowledge that all of our resources and assets are ultimately a gift from you. Help us to use them wisely and to share them generously. We pray in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, who gave his life, so we may live abundantly. Amen.

Benediction

Go in peace,

- and may God's love surround you and fill you;

- may the Spirits power support and guide you,

- and may the grace of Christ our Lord shine in all that you say and do,

both now and forevermore. Amen

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Morning Prayers Gracious and loving God, whom we have long called Father and are still learning to call Mother,we come before you today as a people who are hurting. Jobs are scarce. Money is tight. And sometimes we don’t seem to know what to do. We ask you to bless us with good things, but that you will also make us mindful of the riches we already have. Riches of shelter, food, and family. We pray for our families, o God. These are times where children of all ages are at risk on many fronts. Help us to seek your protection and guidance as we raise our children. We pray for your church, O God. You have blessed us in so many ways over the years and we can never pay you back, Help us to grow in generosity so that your church can bless the world. We pray for the troubles in the world around us. We especially pray for your children in Israel and Palestine. We don’t claim to know how peace is possible there, O God, but pray your grace and peace be upon them. May all your children know peace. We pray for healing--for those names we have called out loud, and for those we now lift in silence. Give your healing touch, o God to all who grieve. Help them to know your presence and feel your comfort. We lift these prayers to you in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Philippians 2:1-13 1If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. 9Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

“The Emptied Church”

Tony Campolo is one of my heroes. He’s a sociologist and Baptist preacher who works hard to remind the church of its commitment to justice and the poor. He’s also the best preacher I’ve ever heard, and I am indebted to him for much of this sermon. Max Weber, the father of modern sociology, states that with power comes the ability to coerce. For example, the county has power over me when it comes to paying my property taxes. If I don’t pay them, the county can take away my property. That’s power and coercion. If I see the lights spinning behind me in my car, I pull over and follow every instruction given to the letter. Why? The officer in that car has a gun, and I don’t want to give her reason to use it! That’s power and coercion.

Authority is different. Authority is earned. When the District 6 Disciples’ pastors gather on Tuesday morning, Dr. Harold Hopkins will join us. Harold is our District Elder, meaning he has pastoral responsibilities for all the ministers and churches in District 6. When Harold speaks, we listen, because Harold has authority. Harold has zero power or the ability to coerce us, but he has authority that has been earned by his years of service to the church, and his gentle and kind ways through which he has nurtured all of us.

That’s authority. Jimmy Carter speaks with authority. Agree with his politics or not, when he speaks, people listen. Not because he was a governor or president, but because he has earned the authority he has by building houses and digging wells and countless other acts of self-emptying over the years.

Jesus was said to be one who spoke with authority. And here in Philippians, we see how he earned it. According to Paul, he didn’t see equality with God as something to be grasped. That word that is translated “grasped” is meant to evoke memories of the first humans, Adam and Eve, who did think equality with God was something to be grasped, and they grasped at the fruit in order to become like God.

Jesus, however, did not want to take the shortcut. He was in the form of God, but in order to carry out his mission on earth, he emptied himself. And that’s primarily what we want to talk about--the emptying of one’s self”--or kenosis, which is the Greek word for it. To convey this mystery, Paul uses first of all the words "emptied himself," which refers especially to the reality of the Jesus becoming human.

"The Word became flesh" (Jn 1:14). God the Son became one of us. It means rather, as Paul wrote, that "he did not deem equality with God something to be grasped," but "though he was in the form of God,” as the true Son of God, he assumed a human nature without glory, subject to suffering and death, in which he could live in obedience to God, even to the ultimate sacrifice. In becoming human, he did not wish to belong to the powerful; he wished to be as one who serves. "The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve" (Mk 10:45). He lived out what Paul wrote here about putting the interests of others first--ahead of his own.

We see in the Gospels that Jesus’ earthly life was marked by poverty from the very beginning. This was clearly set out in the story of his birth, when Luke observed that "there was no room for them [Mary and Joseph] in the inn," and that Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger (cf. Lk 2:7). From Matthew we learn that already in the first months of Jesus' life, he experienced the life of a refugee--to Egypt and back (cf. Mt 2:13-15). His life at Nazareth was lived in extremely modest conditions; his father was a carpenter (cf. Mt 13:55) with whom Jesus himself worked (Mk 6:3). When he began his teaching, his situation continued to be one of extreme poverty, as he himself bore witness to in a certain way by referring to the insecure conditions of life imposed by his ministry. "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head" (Lk 9:58). That’s what it means to empty one’s self--to be able to have it all, but to choose not to have anything at all, in order to carry out the mission of good news for the poor and lowly of the world. And, as Paul writes, because he chose this lower path, he is given the name above all names that shall be called Lord by all people. He could have chosen power, but instead chose service and humility, thereby earning authority. And it looked like, at least on Good Friday, that power won. The coercive power of the Roman Empire appeared to have beaten down love and humility. But on Easter morning, the resurrection proves that loved beats power every time. Jesus earned his authority on a cross--but the cross didn’t have the last word.

I’ve been wondering the past few weeks if we have the authority to speak to the community at large about the gospel. I wonder if we lack authority because we have not emptied ourselves and done more for the poor. Maybe the Community Breakfast isn’t enough. There are 89 other mealtimes in a month.

Maybe we need to continue to look further beyond ourselves in order to earn the authority to speak in our community.

Maybe our families need to look for ways in which they can empty themselves so that their kids can understand what a life lived in Jesus Christ looks like.

Maybe we all need to look beyond our thresholds to see how God can use us in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ in word and deed--in other words, not just by what we say, but what we do.

In fact, the authority to speak can only be earned by the example of what we do. Mother Teresa of Calcutta spoke with authority. She once gave an address to students at Harvard University about the value of chastity. Can you imagine that? Ann aged nun lecturing Harvard students about sex! How do you think they responded? With a standing, thunderous ovation. Why? Because she spoke with authority, earned on the streets of Calcutta by caring--emptying herself--for lepers and others whom the world would rather forget.

We are never going to be Mother Teresa. She was an extraordinary individual with a unique calling. But we can be the best us we can be. Maybe in our families this week we can think of one thing--even a small thing we can do to empty ourselves in some way. To put others’ interests ahead of our own. It’s not in our nature to do, but with God’s help, we can. And maybe all of us can find ways not just to empty selves, but but to have emptied (not empty!) church as well. Then maybe we’ll be heard in Mansfield, and beyond.

What do you think?

Offering Invitation & Prayer

We are invited to the harvest. There are many workers needed and the reward is the same: to be present for the purpose that God gave us. Our offerings help us to do that. What a joy it is to know we are a blessing to God’s ways. Come, for the work has begun! God, we are thirsty, give us drink! Only you can satisfy our thirst by baptizing us with the spirit of abundant life. We find ourselves full of gifts to share, but often unaware of what to do with them. With this money and our time and talent, we pour ourselves into the vessel of your Word, Jesus, and water with which we thirst no more. Thank you, it is great to be in this place! Amen.

Benediction

In the power of the Holy Spirit we now go forth into the world, to fulfill our calling as the people of God, the body of Christ. Go in peace - love and care for one another in the name of Christ and may the blessings of God, known to us as Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer be with you, both now and forevermore. Amen

Worship September 18, 2011

September 18, 2011 Matthew 20:1-16¶ "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 1 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

"Fairness Doesn't Enter into It"

Kate grew up in a family with four children, and from the way she tells it, her mother’s life’s work seemed to be enforcing strict fairness among the four of them. If one got a toy for Christmas that cost seven dollars, everyone’s toys must cost seven dollars. If one kid needed something for “back to school,” then everybody got the equivalent amount spent. Even into adulthood, when her children had children of their own, she kept to strict spending guidelines to make sure everything was fair. Once, when they decided to forgive some debt that some of their children had borrowed from them, she and my father-in-law sent checks to the other kids for equivalent amounts. After all, what’s fair is fair.

God bless her, Kate tries to do the same with our kids and even with the dogs. If Toto gets a biscuit, then Buster has to get one, too. After all, you can’t play favorites. Even Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer,” says that if you have a favorite dog, you are not a pack leader!

Which brings us to the scripture for the day. The parable that Jesus tells here in Matthew and only in Matthew’s gospel fits hand in hand with the parable of the Prodigal Son. You remember the one about the Prodigal Son. Father has two sons. The Younger one wants an early distribution of the inheritance, takes Dad’s money, spends it on prostitutes and booze, and then shows back up at home. Meanwhile, the older son--the good son--has remained at Dad’s side doing whatever Dad wants. When the younger son returns, Dad throws a grand reception and the older, “good” son goes nuts, because what has happened is patently unfair!. The message here is that in the kingdom of God, you don’t get what you deserve, but rather you get what God has for all--grace and pardon.

Today’s parable is a little different. A man goes out to hire laborers. He hires some at first light, others at 9:00, noon, 3:00. and 5:00 and sends them all to work in the vineyard. At the end of the day, he pays the last one’s hired a full day’s wage. In fact, he pays all of them a full day’s wage, which is upsetting to the ones who were hired at first light. They thought they should get more because they worked longer. But the landowner says to them, didn’t I pay you what I promised? Why are you jealous of my generosity?” The long-tenured workers expect more for being there all day, and the good son expects the reward from his father for being the good son. And both are miffed that the ne’er do wells and Johnny-come-latelies are getting more than their fair share of the pie. Pies are only so big you know, and there’s only so much to go around.

And yet, these parables are very different from each other because they are told to different audiences. The definition of a parable is a story told to convict the hearer. And so, to find the real meaning of the parables, we have to look back and see to whom the parables are told. The Prodigal Son appears only in Luke, and is told by Jesus to the Pharisees and Scribes who complained that Jesus was spending time with “tax collectors and sinners.” The Pharisees were the holier-than-thou folks who sought to make ritual purity a matter for everyday living, as opposed to just for Temple worship. The Scribes were the lawyers--the folks who every bit of the tradition, both from Moses and the Rabbis--that is the Torah and the Talmud (the oral Torah.). The point of telling the story of the Prodigal Son to the most religious people of the day was this: You may do all the right things and observe all the right practices like the Good Son, but that doesn’t mean you’re more important to God, who loves all his children no matter what they do., or don’t do.

But to whom is this parable told and when? It comes right after Peter asks if the disciples will get a special reward in the kingdom of God. After all, they’d left everything and walked with him and eaten with him and stayed with Jesus--and not in the nicest places, mind you. Three years of following Jesus ought to have an upside, don’t you think? A special reward for the closest friends? And so Jesus tells this parable to Peter and the twelve and the message is clear. This parable is told to teach Peter that the kingdom of heaven is not earned, it is generously given.

Everything is a gift. Even the work in the vineyard itself was a gift for which the all day workers should have given thanks. On New Year’s Day, 1957, I did not exist. I had no body. I had no being. I had no more way of making myself an alive entity than those day laborers had ways to make work. As soon as I stay in touch with the fact that my sheer birth is windfall, that my life has been given to me as an incredible gift, then something deeper becomes the way that I look at this whole mystery of existence. If it ever stays with us that life is gift and birth is windfall, then we can begin to be generous with our lives exactly as God has been generous with God's life.

Fairness doesn’t enter into it; fairness is we get what we deserve. But no gift can truly be deserved, much less fair.

There is an old Talmudic parable about a farmer that had two sons. As soon as they were old enough to walk, he took them to the fields and he taught them everything that he knew about growing crops and raising animals. When he got too old to work, the two boys took over the chores of the farm and when the father died, they had found their working together so meaningful that they decided to keep their partnership. So each brother contributed what he could and during every harvest season, they would divide equally what they had corporately produced. Across the years the elder brother never married, stayed an old bachelor. The younger brother did marry and had eight wonderful children.

Some years later when they were having a wonderful harvest, the old bachelor brother thought to himself one night, "My brother has ten mouths to feed. I only have one. He really needs more of his harvest than I do, but I know he is much too fair to renegotiate. I know what I'll do. In the dead of the night when he is already asleep, I'll take some of what I have put in my barn and I'll slip it over into his barn to help him feed his children.

At the very time he was thinking down that line, the younger brother was thinking to himself, "God has given me these wonderful children. My brother hasn't been so fortunate. He really needs more of this harvest for his old age than I do, but I know him. He's much too fair. He'll never renegotiate. I know what I'll do. In the dead of the night when he's asleep, I'll take some of what I've put in my barn and slip it over into his barn." And so one night when the moon was full, as you may have already anticipated, those two brothers came face to face, each on a mission of generosity. The old rabbis said that there wasn't a cloud in the sky, a gentle rain began to fall. You know what it was? God weeping for joy because two of his children had gotten the point. Two of his children had come to realize that generosity is the deepest characteristic of the holy and because we are made in God's image, our being generous is the secret to our joy as well.

Life is not fair, thank God! It's not fair because it's rooted in grace. The kingdom is not about fairness, but about grace. What might you be thinking?

August 28, 2011

August 28, 2011

Romans 12:9-21

Love should be shown without pretending. Hate evil, and hold on to what is good. Love each other like the members of your family. Be the best at showing honor to each other.

Don’t hesitate to be enthusiastic—be on fire in the Spirit as you serve the Lord! Be happy in your hope, stand your ground when you’re in trouble, and devote yourselves to prayer.

Contribute to the needs of God’s people, and welcome strangers into your home.

Bless people who harass you—bless and don’t curse them.

Be happy with those who are happy, and cry with those who are crying.

Consider everyone as equal, and don’t think that you’re better than anyone else. Instead associate with people who have no status. Don’t think that you’re so smart.

Don’t pay back anyone for their evil actions with evil actions, but show respect for what everyone else believes is good.

If possible, to the best of your ability, live at peace with all people.

Don’t try to get revenge for yourselves, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. It is written, Revenge belongs to me; I will pay it back, says the Lord. Instead, If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. By doing this, you will pile burning coals of fire upon his head

Don’t be defeated by evil, but defeat evil with good.

+++

On October 2, 2006, immediately after I began work as you pastor, an unspeakable tragedy occurred in Nickel Mines, PA in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish country. A man who was angry with God over the death of his infant daughter decided he would make God pay for that death with the deaths of some of his children.

The man burst into an Amish schoolhouse, shot 10 little girls, killing 5 of them before killing himself.

The world was horrified by the news, and strangers form around the globe sent $4.3 million to the Amish community to help cover their medical bills. Now, Amish folk do not have medical insurance, and so what they did with the money after paying medical expenses was shocking. They gave money to the emergency services who came to help, and they gave a large portion of the money to the family of the man who’d brought violence to their children.

But, even before the money arrived, in fact, on the very night of this tragedy, members of the Amish community went to the murderer’s home with food and consolation to the widow. But the most important thing they brought with them--forgiveness. The stunned world watched this play out as television cameras captured the Amish making their way to the man’s home with casseroles and pies.

The whole world turned its eyes to Nickel Mines. The world has become accustomed to bloodshed and slaughter--we see that all the time. But what fascinated the world was this notion of repaying evil with good. The whole world had a whole new “f” word to deal with--forgiveness: as foreign a word as most folks will ever know, spoken in a strange language--the language of love.

What a mixed-up world those Amish live in! They don’t even know when to be angry or vindictive. To be fair, one of the Amish men told a reporter that it’s easier to forgive an outsider for murder than to forgive each other for petty offences. One Amish woman explained that she thought it must be much harder to the mother of a murderer than to be the mother of a victim.

As we approach the fifth anniversary of the Nickel Mines tragedy and the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, I have to confess to you that that “f” word is often foreign to me, too.

When I heard of Osama Bin Laden’s death, I was ill at ease. Sharon Watkins, our General Minister and President put it so well:

The death of Osama Bin Laden gives rise to conflicting emotions. There’s a kind of relief – even gladness – that he’s finally out of the picture. There is a sense of completion that a goal, long set, is now accomplished - maybe that’s partly where the celebrations have come from. There’s renewed sadness as memories of 9/11 come flooding back - I can’t imagine what it’s like for the people who lost loved ones in the attacks, who live with these memories every single day. There’s renewed gratitude for the people who were the first responders on 9/11. Gratitude for those who stepped up to answer their nation’s call to respond in the various ways, right or wrong, our leaders have felt necessary.

In the midst of these conflicting emotions, we hear Jesus say, “If anyone strikes you…turn the other cheek,” and “love your enemies.” And here today, we have Paul saying much the same thing--but perhaps even more powerfully. Paul quotes from Proverbs 20 & 25 when he advises to repay evil with good.

Now, I know that this is not the most realistic thinking. You may note correctly that you are neither Jesus nor Paul. You may note that we live in an extraordinarily different time than did Paul and Jesus, and such things as turning the other cheek, loving enemies and doing good to those who do us evil is simply unrealistic.

I agree. We live in quite different times. Jesus said what he said in the context of a people being burdened and belittled by an occupational army from Rome. And Paul was writing to a church which was under constant persecution from the Roman Empire. Yes, our time is different from theirs.

But the feelings of hatred, violence and love are no different. And we have the power to respond to whatever the world gives us with love in the name of Christ. We have the power to recognize that we don’t have to answer in kind when we are injured.

When we do answer in kind, Woody White, a United Methodist Bishop calls this line of thinking, “Christian, But…” thinking and we all have done it. There are times when being a Christian is impractical, inconvenient, illogical, even embarrassing--I’m a Christian, but.

As in, “I’m a Christian, but you didn’t see the way that blankety-blank cut me off on the 30!

I’m a Christian, but that woman cut in line in front of me a Kroger yesterday…

For Jesus and Paul, Christianity is not a thinking religion (well it is, but it doesn’t end there). Christianity is a doing faith.

Paul uses very active verbs in this passage long before he gets to the enemies part. Listen to these verbs:

Love - Genuine

Hate - Evil

Hold - Good

Love - One Another

Rejoice - Hope

Show Hospitality - Strangers

Some years back, former President Jimmy Carter wrote a book entitled Living Faith, in which he wrote about his personal faith journey and how it has influenced his life.

In it he wrote, “"To me faith is not only a noun, but also a verb." He went on to say, "In Christian tradition, the concept of faith has two interrelated meanings, both implying fidelity: confidence in God and action based on firm belief."

Carter was writing nothing new. Jesus said it long ago, and Paul wrote it down quite plainly. Living out our faith in concrete ways has two effects.

First, it reminds us of whom and whose we are. Secondly, this helps us see that genuine love is not just being nice to people. Secondly, genuine love has a moral orientation toward the good. When we show love toward someone, we are moving them toward God's goodness. To love someone is not simply to cater to specific likes and dislikes of that person. It is rather to act toward them in ways that help them experience more of God's goodness.

From time to time, it will appear that evil is winning battles all around us, but the Nickel Mines tragedy reminds us that Jesus Christ has already won the war, and each act of love is one more step in the triumphant march.

What do you think?