My Blurred Vision: Life at the Intersection of Theology, Music, Politics, and More

A Sunday Sermon: Keeping Score

This week I used the gospel text (Matthew 18:21-35) as the text for the sermon.  This text includes the "Parable of the Unforgiving Servant" and includes Jesus instructing Peter that it is not enough to forgive 7 times, but that his followers should be willing to forgive seventy-seven times. Here is the basis for my manuscript from this morning:

Keeping Score

More than a dozen years ago ESPN, the cable sports network, started running updated scores from every conceivable sporting event across the bottom of the screen. This technological gift to sports junkies like me provided the ability to glance at the TV screen and find out the score to any game we cared about without really having to disconnect from what we were doing. ESPN called this revolutionary technology the “sports-ticker,” having modeled it of course on the stock-ticker that announces stock prices on the New York stock exchange. Although high-speed internet access has deemed the sports ticker a bit quaint, I must admit I rejoiced more than once at the brilliant sports-addled mind that created the sports ticker…because I am one of those people. I am one of those people who keeps always wants to know the score…of the Mariners game or any baseball game for that matter, most every Pac-10 football game, the first few days of the NCAA basketball tournament is sports heaven…well you get the picture. I have an obsessive, but mostly benign little habit that is enabled by the text scrolling across the bottom of the TV screen…it allows me to easily keep score.

Now, if keeping score was limited to being a bit obsessive about who won and who lost or to tracking the ups and downs of stock prices, well then I’m guessing matters of faith might never intersect with this technological gift to the sports obsessed, and then keeping the score would be irrelevant to anything Jesus ever said. But the truth is, in the lesson we read from Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is offering the parable of the unforgiving servant as a lesson for all of us who keep score. In this parable Jesus is responding to Peter’s question about the breadth of forgiveness—and when Jesus commands that a person should be forgiven “seventy-seven times,” (for those of you keeping score at home) he is sending a message to early church members and to contemporary readers alike—that in order to truly follow Jesus and understand the breadth and depth of God’s love and grace, we must be willing to put away the scorecards that we use to keep a running tally of those who have sinned against us and instead enter in to the grace-filled world that only exists if we take seriously the task of forgiveness.

Subtlety, you see, is not something that Jesus valued as a teacher. In this parable Jesus leaves no room for debate concerning how important he believes it is to be able to forgive. In this parable Jesus uses a discussion of financial debt as his teaching tool, but rather than reduce the equation to simple math like 1 + 1 he chooses to make his point with absurd quantities—for a talent was worth something around 6000 denarii—or about 6000 days worth of wages. And so in this parable we have the one who is at first forgiven for an amount equal to many thousands of days labor refusing to negotiate a compromise with the one who owes for about 100 days labor—a tiny fraction of what they have just been forgiven. And Jesus makes it clear that he believes a grave error in judgment has been made by the unforgiving servant as he tells of the unforgiving one being tortured for his failure to pass on and learn from the forgiveness that he has received. Jesus, with this very harsh reprisal, leaves no room in the kingdom for the one who fails to understand the meaning of forgiveness.

Now Peter and all those who heard Jesus teaching would have been well-versed in the Hebrew scriptures and in its calls toward forgiveness, but in the teachings of Jesus they were hearing something quite new. The Jewish community to whom Jesus was teaching would have known that the book of Amos commanded them to forgive someone three times for their transgressions, but Jesus it seems is not content to let the ordinary stand and that is why we hear this parable as an ancient ode to the ridiculous.

But what is interesting about this parable is that it is still quite ridiculous today, in the same way it always has been and in new ways also. First, the jarring use of the huge sums is no less ridiculous today than it was in the past. In fact when huge financial sums have become an abstraction when we live in an era when we talk about budgets reaching into billions and trillions of dollars, the idea of forgiving huge sums is still virtually unfathomable to believe, perhaps more so because we often aren’t in touch with what numbers really mean. Next, this passage violates our sensibilities with its talk of torture and the conclusion that the Heavenly Father likewise will torture those who do not forgive. Who is that God? Is that who I want to follow? I read that and I was immediately looking for the eject button…which reminds me of the way I often want to critique those who take a literalist approach to the bible. Jesus is speaking in ridiculous terms in order to teach a lesson and we cannot get lost in the words and forget the message. Jesus wants us all to know, in no uncertain terms, that offering forgiveness is central to God’s plan for us. But he knows something about us humans, namely, that we don’t often react until the situation seems grave and so Jesus offers the gravest of all possibilities so that he can guarantee that we are listening. Torture, in this case, is a torture of the mind and of the soul—and Jesus wants us to know that there is another way if only we follow him on the path of forgiveness.

Finally this passage is ridiculous in its attempts to draw a parallel line between forgiving a financial debt and offering forgiveness when someone as sinned against us. It’s ridiculous right? No one would see these as parallel, right? But wait, because rather than being ridiculous this is where this passage gets real, this is where it cuts to the heart of the matter. Think about words from the Lord’s Prayer—forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Jesus uses the language of finance here—not because it was a convenient convention, but because it allows us to understand that forgiveness isn’t just an exchange of words, handshakes, or hugs. Forgiveness, in the way that Jesus teaches it is talked about in financial terms because true forgiveness has a cost—on both sides of the equation.  For the person who is tasked with seeking forgiveness the cost is in admitting the way they have caused damage to a relationship, there is a cost in admitting that they have harmed another. Without doubt, when we are the one who has caused a fracture in a relationship getting to the point of asking for forgiveness does in deed seem very costly.

But more importantly perhaps I would note that forgiveness is costly to the one who is asked to forgive also…we can see how difficult it is to bear that cost in our scripture lesson. Offering forgiveness to another is costly because it forces us to give up our sense of superiority, it forces us to let go of the hurt rather than using it to find strength in the midst of our anger, it forces us to see the humanity in another rather than merely seeing their failings. Offering forgiveness is costly because it is a completely counter-cultural thing to do…especially in the quantities that Jesus is talking about. Quite simply it is easier to stay angry and bitter than it is to offer forgiveness and that is why the call to forgive at a rate of seventy times seven is so ridiculous, so costly, and yet so very necessary—because it confirms that the grace and love that God has granted to us is not some cheap relic of our mind. Instead, the fact that forgiveness, such a foundational piece of our faith experience is so very costly and difficult…that is precisely how we know its value.

         So I wonder…what would it mean to live in a world where forgiveness was our baseline experience rather than something we had to be cajoled into living out?  Think about that for a moment—And now I invite you to look at the front of your bulletin, because I think the words written there offer us a picture of what that reality might look like—because forgiveness I think is the road to freedom. It is interesting that those words were chosen, because they were chosen with story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt in mind. Yet I believe that it is in a world where we take seriously Christ’s call to forgive not once or twice, not 2 dozen times, but seventy-seven times then that we might really find ourselves living free. We will find freedom not just from the lists of slights that we so often keep in our mind, but we will also find ourselves free from the list of our transgressions that haunt us and keep us from being whole.  This lesson provides for one of those moments where I believe we can say that there is new life offered in Christ.  For in this forgiveness equation that Jesus talks about in this parable we have the opportunity to find a way to unburden our souls so that we might truly walk down life’s road and experience all things anew. No more shall we worry about mis-speaking our intentions for we know that our errors will be forgiven. No more shall we fear re-connecting with that friend who was lost amid a disagreement, no more shall we be burdened by our misdeeds or by the misdeeds that are perpetrated upon us…because forgiveness will be our starting point rather than that long sought-after objective. What a nice place that would be to inhabit—don’t you agree?

So, let us return to the sports-ticker of our faith…let us return to the scorecards that tabulate both our guilt and those who feel guilty around us …and let us change how it is that we keep score. Let us join Jesus in the ridiculous ritual of forgiveness as we seek to tabulate not the transgressions, but the full measure of God’s grace that we can impart to one another. Imagine it…imagine a running scroll showing nothing but the names of people who have been offered forgiveness. That would truly be a score worth keeping!

Thanks be to God, Amen!

Last Sunday's Sermon: Challenging Scripture on A Tough Day

Not much in the way of posting for the last couple of weeks.  Here is a bit of an explanation and the sermon that was born last week.

Last Sunday we announced that my colleague Liz was going to be taking a leave of absence to be with her daughter Jessie while she is being treated for leukemia up in Seattle.  We also had a laundry list of pastoral care issues that we lifted up in prayer...folks dealing with grief, heart attacks, strokes, ovarian cancer, and mononucleosis.  The past two weeks have been the difficult weeks I have ever experienced in my short time in professional ministry and I say that knowing that I am not among those who are ill or most effected by the grief.  Sunday's worship was hard because we had to announce several of the illnesses for the first time and people were stunned.  Somehow I think my sermon connected with some of the struggle that we were all feeling.  For those who read this post I simply ask for prayers for our congregation, for my colleague Liz, her daughter Jessie, and for the others who are struggling with illness and grief (who I won't name because I haven't asked their permission!).

Here is my sermon, simply titled "If," which touches on the challenge and the call of wrestling with God:

Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7

Matthew 4:1-11

The First Sunday in Lent, Year A

“If” is a powerful word that interrupts the flow of things and casts doubt into a scenario or story.  The readings for today are filled with places where “if” might logically enter into the picture. What if the stories had ended differently?  What if Adam, Eve, the devil, Jesus, or even God had made different choices or asked for allegiance in different ways?  We know these texts well, but as I read them this week it seemed that there were layers in each of these stories that aren’t often confronted and these layers might just impede our ability to fully know God or be fully known by God.  And as we enter into Lent it seems that much of our journey centers on how to more fully know God so that we can be prepared for the joy of Easter.

 

Our texts take us into some interesting places—First, we have the Genesis text, which offers us the first example of sin in the bible.  This text has thus been used to paint all of humanity with the scarlet “S,” (not the Superman type either!) This one marks us all as sinners under the banner of Adam and Eve’s “original sin.” Adam and Eve fell and thus we are all fallen or so the theology goes… This week Adam, Eve, and the serpent are paired with the story of the temptation of Jesus and his hat-trick of scholarly and faithful responses to the devil that tempts him.  These are interesting texts which are appropriate on the first Sunday of the season of Lent when we are called to admit to and wrestle with our sins, but I would argue that these texts also spark some pretty interesting questions that begin as we insert one of the shortest words in our language…the word “if.”

As we explore our texts let’s begin with Genesis and the depiction of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Let me be perfectly honest here…this thing seems like a set-up .  I imagine God setting Adam and Eve amid a beautiful buffet of vegetation, amid a beautiful buffet of plants and animals, and as they walked around to inspect their new digs God notes that everything is theirs—well, almost everything.   “Don’t touch that tree—the one in the middle, the one that offers the knowledge of good and evil and is filled with beautiful fruit and placed at the center of your garden home.”  Now I’m not a literary critic, but you can see where this is going from a mile away.  My own parallel experience has played out more than I would like to admit when the waitperson says, “Don’t touch that plate, it is hot!” And of course, once they have turned their back there I am touching the plate to see exactly how hot it is.  So part of me wants to ask God for some kind of “fairness rule” here, because we all know, serpent or not, Adam and Eve were going to eat from that tree.  Which leads me to the whole “original sin” idea…if we all would all find ourselves eating from the tree…what is so original? 

Moving away from the tongue-in-cheek response, I know that Adam and Eve’s sin was in not listening to God and in not following the one command they had been given. But honestly, I struggle to understand how this one moment should have us all labeled as “fallen” and thus somehow doomed to sin.  Clearly we are called to follow the commands of God—I know that to be true.  But I wonder whether the rather hopeless position that Adam and Eve found themselves in doesn’t say as much about God as it says about humankind. I know that I will never have the totality of knowledge and experience possessed by God and I suspect that Adam and Eve knew this also.  Why then was it necessary for God to tempt them?  This may seem theologically irresponsible to say, but Adam and Eve’s punishment doesn’t seem to fit the crime.  And that is where I begin to wonder about how this story is told…because the God I know is equitable, is loving, is concerned with reconciliation, and in this story I struggle to find these things, yet I continue to hold to my belief that they are central to who God is. But if God is all that I claim God to be…then how does the set-up “fall” of Adam and Eve offer proof of God’s love, compassion, and grace?  If God really is love, and grace, and compassion, then why aren’t we all living in Eden? If we are really supposed to confront our own sins doesn’t the fractured relationship between Cain and Abel offer a more convincing depiction of sin than Adam and Eve’s choice of food?  Clearly God was with Adam and Eve even after their sin, but as I read this story I cannot help but find myself wondering what their sin really means!

The gospel reading likewise has me baffled, but in a different way.  Quite frankly I think our gospel reading provides a perfect answer for anyone who is struggling with how to understand the divinity of Jesus.  In my mind the story of the temptation proves that Jesus is divine, because if he was just an ordinary human I guarantee you that those rocks would have been turned into bread and I guarantee you the angels would have been forced to catch an ordinary human being. And I also know that someone would have placed a “sold” sign on all the real estate that could be seen from that hillside—because an ordinary person—this ordinary person included, would have eventually succumbed to the possibilities that the devil was offering.  And that is why I am not exactly sure how the temptation of Jesus is really all that instructive to me and to us.  Sometimes it seems that because the gospel writers seem so concerned with conveying that Jesus is the savior that there are times when the stories are just not that convincing.  This is one of those moments because temptation, especially the temptation to test God, is an all too familiar reality for humankind. But unfortunately this passage doesn’t seem to offer much to us mortals. This is frustrating because we are all accustomed to testing God and then we find ourselves living in fear of being voted off the island by our God…because we cannot match the perfection of Jesus and we know what happened to Adam and Eve.  And thus our sin becomes shame and our relationship with God becomes perilously fractured.

But we all ask the questions:  If God is love, what must I do to get God to listen or answer?  What if God isn’t generous and compassionate like we believe?  If I go too far with my questions and fears, will God still listen? God, if I do “x” will you answer in the way that I want?  These are the ‘cosmic bargains’ as I like to call them that we all attempt to make with God, but our desperation is compounded because in our questions we find ourselves living in fear and shame.  And thus the distance we feel between ourselves and God is multiplied and the stain of that original sin grows.  It becomes a nasty cycle of questioning and fear and drifting away because we are somehow convinced that we have left God.  And that is why our unwillingness to speak the language of sin is so dangerous—because it convinces us that we are not worthy when the truth is we are just as worthy of God’s love as any generation of followers has ever been. Humankind has always wrestled with God…and God has remained steadfast by our side, but too often that story is not told or remembered.

From the time of Adam and Eve we humans have been bargaining with God…sometimes it has been about what food we can eat, and other times our arguments have taken on a more personal tone.  Liz alluded to her own wrestling with God in the newsletter this week…and I recognized myself in some of her questions.   My wrestling and my screaming at God took place while I was in seminary (of all places).  It was there that God and I had a series of ongoing negotiation session that began after Shauna and I had a miscarriage during my first year in Berkeley.  I vividly remember standing on the shore of the San Francisco Bay and shouting to God that "I am seminary, we have moved away from our friends and family, what more can you want of me?" I remember the bitterness I felt when I was sure that, even with our sacrifices, God had abandoned us.  I remember the shame that I felt sitting in my New Testament class while trying to talk myself back into the faith that had been my rock for my entire life.  I remember wondering if God might be as angry at me as I was at God…and I remember hoping that somehow I would find my way to a time when I wasn’t tempted to turn my back on God…when I could find the strength to claim my faith and my God.  I wasn’t sure it was possible, and I would guess that for many of you there have been moments when faith moves from being a known quantity, and instead becomes contingent on an “if.”  If I can find it, if only I could see clearly, if I could be whole again…maybe then I could find my way to God.

But as we throw our questions and our “ifs” at God some ancient and traditional theologians would say that we just don’t have faith enough, that we don’t truly understand the nature of God, that we can’t grasp the true power of God when we insert an “if” into our understanding of God.  But I think this is garbage, theologically garbage maybe, but garbage nonetheless. Because I believe that to eliminate God from being susceptible to our questions and our doubts is to assume that God is less than who we know God to be.  Our questions don’t really impugn God…they are merely an avenue for the fullness of God to be more completely revealed.  Our attempts to bargain with God do not fracture some contract with God, but instead they illuminate the places where our relationship with God can grow.  I am convinced by God’s love that even in our moments of greatest doubt, even in our moments of gutless and faithless hypocrisy, and even in our most heated bargaining sessions with God—that God remains intimately connected to us in a way that cannot and will not be compromised by our humanity, and that is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ that is beyond question.

As we enter into Lent it is vital then that we do not see the stories of sin or the perfection of Christ as a sign that we are somehow unworthy of God’s love and redemption.  The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to free us—not just of our sins, but of all our fears.  But God can only free us if we are honest with God and we can only be honest with God if we put our questions out there.  So as we move into Lent, let us do so by taking an honest look at our sins and by honestly confronting God with our questions, our fears, and our doubts.  Let us not limit God by hiding who we are…God can take whatever we throw out there.  God’s love is not bound by our “ifs”—and thus we should not be bound by them either.  Open your hearts to God…pour out your questions, your anger, your indignity…and let God have it all.  God will redeem us and nothing will impede God’s grace…  Let our journey be an honest one.  I promise, God can handle it!

Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Lectionary for Epiphany 2, Year A

Hebrew Bible:   Isaiah 49:1-7

Psalm:               Psalm 40:1-11

Epistle:             1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Gospel:             John 1:29-42

The reading from Isaiah is the second Servant Song from Isaiah and in this song I cannot help but think of some of the thoughts that were revealed in the diaries of Mother Theresa that were published last year.  In this servant song the prophet wrestles with whether or not he is worthy for the task and whether he is actually any good at the task.  In Mother Theresa's diaries, the great saint of Calcutta struggled to understand her faith and her calling in light of feeling that she was left cold and isolated by her faith.  The servant in Isaiah, and Mother Theresa like him, exemplify what I think is one of the common struggles for contemporary people of faith--an abiding concern that their standard of work might not be sufficient to their call, that their call is overwhelming, or worse perhaps that their call has taken them places and they cannot comprehend what they can do or what they can take from their experience.  A recent post by Real Live Preacher touches on and exemplifies the struggle that the prophet and the nation of Israel are experiencing in this text.  Who hasn't asked, "Are we worthy of God's call?" Or "What difference do I make?"  However, this servant song tells us that we are ready and worthy for God's continuing call, just as Israel was 500 years before the birth of Jesus.  This passage speaks to the "ongoing maintenance" that God authors upon humanity and the ongoing chance that we have to respond to God's love.

This week's Psalm is the first eleven verses of the Psalm 40.  As a U2 fan I have to say that I believe this passage should be a benediction because this psalm has been turned into the song '40' by U2 and has been used as the closing anthem at their concerts for many years.  However, in the context of the lectionary this passage is a prayer of thanksgiving and a plea for mercy. This psalm opens with the writer thanking God for hearing his (and Israel's) cry, for God's protection, and for enormity of God's actions on behalf of Israel.  The psalm's tone then changes a bit as it arrives at verse 7.  At this point the psalmist begins speaking about how he has followed the commands of God and the "law that is written upon my heart."  At this point the psalmist is pleading the case of Israel, a mode that culminates in our lectionary with the eleventh verse "Do not withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever."  The grand sweep of this psalm is what is most impressive to me--from praising God to lifting up ones own call to asking God to remain close.  Isn't this how we pray?  Haven't we all uttered this prayer, "Loving God, thank you. Insert laundry list of needs, wants, petitions, and hopes.  Stay near God."  This psalm is powerful because it testifies to who God is while it also testifies and affirms our humanity.  In U2's benedictory use of this song the crowd sings, "How long...to sing this song" over and over until it filters through the rafters and through the bodies of those present.  I imagine that God too sometimes wonders how long we will sing the same song to God.  I am thankful that through the generations God has remained steadfast in the desire to hear our songs and our prayers. 

The gospel reading offers John's depiction of the events that take place after the baptism of Jesus and includes what seems to be the call of the first disciples.  My colleague, Liz Oettinger, and I were speaking about this passage earlier this week and she was particularly interested in the exchange between Jesus and the two disciples because the response of the disciples to Jesus' question makes no sense at all:

When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.”

Rather than answer that they were looking for the Lamb of God as John had just pronounced him, rather than say they were looking for Jesus, rather even than saying they were looking for a lost puppy the disciples asked Jesus where he was staying.  This response seems to show how befuddled they were in the presence of Jesus, but it wasn't about being in awe of him, it was about being confused about what he was and how he would lead them and the world.  I can almost picture them barely finding a way to stammer out, "Where are you staying?"

And how does Jesus answer their oddly timed question?  By inviting them to journey with him. "Come and see" is an invitation to a couple of people who had no idea where they were headed.  In fact, I am not even sure they knew what they wanted, they were only sure they hadn't found IT yet. (Think: U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For) And now Jesus stands before them inviting them into the unknown.  Just as the disciples didn't know what they were getting themselves into the fact that this passage comes on the weekend we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. makes me think about all those who marched with Dr. King, all those who heard him preach, and all those who were compelled to work for civil rights because of the work and witness provided by Dr. King.  Dr. King's preaching was filled with moments that implored folks to join him, to "come and see" where the road to justice and equality might take us.  It is unfortunate to say that 40 years after his death we aren't where we should be, as exemplified by this magazine cover, but we are still working toward fulfilling the vision that Dr. King longed for, lived for, and ultimately died for.  Just like the disciples in our lectionary text we still haven't found what we are looking for...but because of the courageous life and ministry of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. we are closer to finding it (and the justice, mercy, and love that comes with his vision).

A Call to Creation Care: Of Water, Doves, and Other Sacramental Things

At First Congregational United Church of Christ in Corvallis we are in the midst of a month-long adult education series on Sustainability and Faith.  Our series began on January 6 as we explored the biblical mandate for care that comes from such places as Genesis 1, Leviticus 25, Psalm 8, John 3:16, and Revelation 21.  Last week Larry Thornton used a video called "The Blue Nuns Go Green" that focuses on sustainable ministry decisions made by the IHM sisters from Monroe, Michigan as an avenue to discuss how we make decisions.  This week my spouse/partner Shauna will present a session on planning for home energy savings, and our final session will have us look at options for living as a more sustainable congregation. I am excited about the engagement that is coming from the congregation on this issue and hopeful that this series and the work that will come out of it will lead our congregation to dedicate itself to undertaking long-term strategies that focus on sustainability as a faithful choice and even as a obligation of our faith. 

With all of this in mind my sermon last Sunday was focused on moving from the Gospel of Matthew's rendering of the baptism of Jesus to seeing the water, grains, and grapes used in our sacraments as a call to observe all that is sacramental about and around us.

"Of Water, Doves, and other Sacramental Things"

Psalm 8

Matthew 3:13-17

On the Sunday after Epiphany the lectionary speeds us away from the Magi’s adoration of the infant Jesus straight to John’s baptism of Jesus on the shore of the River Jordan. In Matthew’s rendering of the life of Jesus we are moved at whirlwind pace through the early years of his life—the magi’s visit in fact is the only childhood story we hear before we encounter Jesus by the river.  In this passage Matthew seems to highlight the sense that baptism is the critical beginning in the life and ministry of Jesus—and it is true, because in his baptism Jesus claims his ministry and God claims Jesus—and both the event and those involved are marked as sacred.
 
There is an interesting turn of events here as John both cedes his place and anoints his successor when he baptizes Jesus, but John seems strangely well-prepared for the moment.  Earlier verses in Matthew tell us that he has been busy telling the Sadducees and the Pharisees that “the kingdom of heaven is near” and “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”—so there is no drama or jealousy here.  CNN would be so disappointed!  Instead as Jesus emerges from the water he takes hold of the responsibilities of his ministry and we know it is right when the Spirit of God descends like a dove and the voice of God announces “This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Now the scene is set:  God’s booming voice has called out from the heavens and Jesus is anointed.  Here stands the king—sure he is a little wet, but he is ready!

Now, for as much as this story is about Jesus, and it is—today I would like to say that it is also about creation, about God’s plan for creation, the baptism of Jesus is about being immersed, literally and figuratively, in the blessedness of all that God commands, and finally, and perhaps most importantly, the baptism of Jesus—that long ago event—is about us as contemporary people living amid all the sacramental things that God has created.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word sacrament as “a Christian rite that is believed to have been ordained by Christ and held to be a means of divine grace or a sign or symbol of a spiritual reality.”  In this church we hold baptism and communion to be our sacraments.  Interestingly, both of these are deeply connected to God’s creative impulse, the same one beautifully described in the first creation story in Genesis and praised in the words we heard from Psalm 8.
 
The sacrament of baptism depends upon water and the sacrament of communion is a feast built upon the grains and fruits of the earth.  And thus, in our sacraments we are taken back to God separating the land and sea, to God creating the plants of the earth, and most importantly to God giving humankind the responsibility to care for it all.   So often we speak of our sacraments as “simple observances made up of simple things,” and while it may on the surface be true, the reality is that our sacraments and the sacramental elements employed in them aren’t simple at all.  Grains for our breads, grapes for juice, water for our baptismal font…these elements require care and on the Sunday when we celebrate the baptism of Jesus and when we have baptized MaryAnn Som using the sacramental waters that flow from the tap right here in our building, I believe we need to be reminded of all that this means.  Sacramental things are all about…they surround us…and they also ache for our care.

Let me give you an example…This past August there was a triathlon planned for Portland, Oregon.  The swimming portion of race was to take place in the Willamette River that bi-sects the city.  The race organizers had spent years planning for this race because it was to be in celebration of the work that was done by citizens and cities to clean up the Willamette over the last 40 years.  At one time the massive amounts of pollution in the Willamette River led to it being classified a “dead” waterway.  40 years of work has brought it back to life and the race organizers wanted to celebrate with hundreds of people swimming in the waters of the Willamette to start a race.  But then 3 days before the race came news that due to a computer error the city of Portland had accidentally released raw sewage into the river just upstream from where swimmers would enter the water.  The swimming portion of the race had to be cancelled, which drew renewed attention to the fragility of our waterways and the ease with which we can damage them. The Willamette River is no longer dead—but it still aches for our care, and it is every bit as sacramental as the Jordan was on the day when Jesus was baptized.  We want and need our sacraments, but our sacramental elements need someone to speak for them, to protect them, to nurture them. Imagine Jesus and John standing beside the shore of the Jordan…and discovering that it wasn’t safe for triathlons or baptisms either.
 
When Jesus was baptized Matthew notes that the voice of God said “This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”  Traditional theology tells us that this is an announcement of the divinity Jesus, of God’s pleasure that he has “answered the bell” if you will.  However, I want to say that I believe that every time someone is baptized, every time someone reconciles their life with God, every time someone decides “whoever I am I am now God’s” that God announces “This is my child, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”  I believe this because I believe that each and every one of us is of God, that each and every one of us is divine in the way that God is surely pleased when we say “yes” to God—and God likewise says “yes” to us.  We are sacramental—that is, we are “a means of divine grace” and as we take up our place within this faith we are intimately connected to our creator God.  And thus taking care of one another, taking care of this local community that we call home, and taking care of this island Earth is exactly what we are called to do.  We cannot gather today and celebrate with the holy and sacramental waters of baptism—and then go out and poison gallons of water with our insecticides if we take seriously the idea that we are all at our essence sacramental.  We cannot use more than our fair share, we cannot make policies that ignore the needs of animals and those downstream if we are to say we truly value God’s gift that comes in the form of water.  The sacramental waters that sustain us…for baptism and for drinking must be clean, flowing with fish and other species, and available for all.  In the same way the lands where the grains and grapes grow to feed us for both our holy and our less-than-holy feasts, must be protected, they must be free of toxins, they must be used in careful, faithful, and just ways, and they must be loved as a sign of our love for the one who calls us “beloved.”

There is a great deal of energy and money currently be poured into research on climate change.  There is a great deal of passionate debate about how the United States might best address climate change and sustainability issues while balancing economic and political stability.  Many people are operating out of fear concerning the idea that humankind may be too late in addressing critical issues of fuel consumption, green-houses gases, CO2 emissions, and sustainable living.  I have absorbed a great deal of information from many different perspectives on these issues, and the way forward that I see, is one that combines diligent science with faithful living.  We need diligent science to give us the facts about the products we should use and those we should not.  We need science to give us the empirical data about weather patterns, global temperatures, and options for new cleaner energy.  We need diligent science to test our ideas, to reject our failures, to encourage our dreams of new ideas and new and better ways of living.  However, we also need faith and faithful living. We need faith and faithful living because there are no easy answers concerning how best to use our planet.  When God set Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden at least they were told “don’t eat from that tree.”  We, on the other hand, spend our time flailing about on this earth, creating new and better products, hoping to make life better…and often, there are unintended consequences that harm us and harm God’s creation.   But still…and this is the good news…I believe God repeatedly announces that we are God’s beloved children and we are taken in and loved even as we so often destroy what we have been given.  As faithful people we bring something important to the table where the conversation about caring for the earth is happening.  We bring proclamations of grace, hope, and love…and while these may seem trite or trivial I believe there is an immense need for our faithful voices in this conversation.  The baptism of Jesus marked a pivotal moment in the life of our faith…it was the moment when Jesus chose to immerse himself in the sacramental.  As people of faith…sustained by the grace, hope, and love of our faith tradition…we are called to come with our truths into this conversation and speak courageously for all that is sacramental—for all that is a sign or symbol of divine grace, for all that God has created!  And why, you ask, does naming the sacramental things matter in this conversation?  Because I dare you—to take a walk, to have a conversation with a neighbor or friend, to fill your grocery cart with produce, to take a deep breath, to look up at the stars…and not see that which is sacramental.  I simply believe it cannot be done…because everywhere you look is God’s creation demanding to be cared for. Perhaps we have waited too long, but today I ask you to say that we will not wait any longer.  Rise up, and come out of the sacramental waters of your baptism.  Let us join hearts, hands, and voices to care for this sacramental place given by our beloved creator God.  There is no better way to remember and celebrate our baptisms!

 

Thanks be to God for all the sacramental things that surround us!  Amen.   

A Sermon from December 30, 2007: A Theological Wrap-Up of the Year

Our faith doesn’t take place in a vacuum and the year 2007 is continued proof of this truth. For our sermon time this week I will be lifting up and giving brief explanations about key events or people that have had specific relevance to faith communities in 2007. These are in no particular order, but they have relevance to this faith community or faith communities across the nation or globe. On the heels of the Christmas story, as we continue to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and as we look ahead to the year 2008 these events have shaped 2007 and I believe they will continue to shape us and our faith as we move into the future together.

Episcopalian Church’s continued struggle for Unity In 2003 the Episcopal Church, a member of the larger Anglican Communion, voted to consecrate Gene Robinson, an openly gay priest as Bishop of the New Hampshire Diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States. Many more conservative and traditional diocese and congregations began to speak out against the denomination after his consecration as Bishop. The struggles for unity within the Episcopal Church have increased further since the 2006 election of Katharine Jefferts Schori as the presiding Bishop of the entire Episcopal Church. This is the first time that a woman has been the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church and her gender and supportive vote for Bishop Robinson’s consecration have been key issues in a number of Episcopal churches and dioceses have sought “alternative Episcopal oversight” seeking to align themselves with what they call more traditional Episcopalian beliefs and leadership. However, this has required them to seek inclusion in dioceses in West Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe, which seems inconvenient at best, and deeply damaging to the unity of the church at worst. Finally, some Episcopalian churches have decided to leave the denomination due to these issues which has sparked lawsuits over who ultimately owns the church properties and other assets. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the leader of the world-wide Anglican Communion has a difficult road ahead as he seeks to shepherd the diverse Anglican Communion into the future.

The Greening of the Church Stewardship of Creation has been a buzzword within certain circles of Christianity for nearly 40 years now…recycling, energy conservation, and even some sustainable building projects have found their way into the church. However, there has long been tension in the Christian community about how much responsibility we have for stewardship of the Earth when Genesis, the first book of the bible, offers the instruction to “be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the fish and birds and every living thing.” Some mainline churches have been speaking out concerning the environment for some time, but the issues of earth stewardship, global warming, and eco-justice have been largely ignored by evangelical and conservative churches largely because of the theological belief that we are approaching the second coming of Jesus, and thus the end of time, and therefore there is no need to protect the planet because it is merely a transition place. However, something is changing in the evangelical church movement and leaders like Rick Warren and Bill Hybels are beginning to speak out and preach a green and sustainable gospel. This is a dramatic change and it may very well lead to a dramatic alteration in how the church addresses the issues of climate change and ecological justice. I am proud to say that our own congregation will be focus on this topic during a series of Adult Forums during January.

The Death of Jerry Falwell The Rev. Jerry Falwell died on May 15, 2007 leaving behind a huge legacy as a leader in the conservative evangelical church in the United States. The Rev. Jerry Falwell was pastor of the Lynchburg Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA, a church that grew from a few dozen when he began as pastor to now claim 24,000 members. He used his pulpit to become one of the leading conservative voices in religion and politics. Moving from his role as a televangelist on “The Old-Time Gospel Hour,” Falwell was able to found Liberty University—a leading evangelical college, found the Moral Majority, and provide leadership for countless other conservative and evangelical church movements. Rev. Falwell was able to leverage his powerful voice into a political movement that has changed the course of American politics over the last 25 years. As the leader of the Moral Majority he was fond of saying, “Get them saved, baptized and registered to vote.” Although the Moral Majority folded in 1989, the leadership of Rev. Falwell should be credited with creating a space in the religious and political landscape for the creation of organizations such as the American Family Association and the James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. Whatever one may think of Rev. Falwell’s theological beliefs, and he often frustrated me with his attacks on anyone who he felt operated from a progressive theological or political belief, his influence on both the religious and political landscape of our time cannot be denied.

UCC’s 50th Anniversary—General Synod in Hartford, Connecticut The United Church of Christ turned 50 years old in 2007 and the 26th General Synod in Hartford, CT was the place where we celebrated. Led by General Minister and President John Thomas nearly 10,000 delegates and visitors descended upon Hartford to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our denomination and acknowledge that while we have been around in this configuration for only 50 years, our reformation tradition stretches nearly 500 years back to Martin Luther, and our Christian tradition stretches 2000 years. We are young and we are ancient and with addresses by Bill Moyers, Barack Obama, Marian Wright Edelman, Walter Bruggeman, and Peter Gomes we celebrated the breadth and history and future of the United Church of Christ. The General Synod attendees included nearly 1000 youth which I believe spoke to the bright future of the church. One of the most compelling things about the General Synod in my eyes was the fact that although it was a birthday celebration it was also a business session, and the visitors and delegates were “treated” to business in the UCC tradition—complete with hand recounts, difficult and painful testimony, struggles between progressive statements and traditional ideals. In a session that could have been acrimonious one of the best moments came when the Synod affirmed the need for breadth within our denomination by calling for further work at including the ECOT (or Evangelical, Conservative, Orthodox, and Traditional) churches in our midst. We are a diverse denomination and we celebrated that in Hartford!

Religion and politics—Presidential style Hillary Clinton has been traveling Iowa speaking of her faith. Mitt Romney made a recent address concerning his Mormon faith. Mike Huckabee has been rising in the polls in Iowa based largely on his evangelical credentials. Barack Obama has had to repeatedly announce and explain his membership in the United Church of Christ while some have questioned his close relationship with the sometimes radical political statements of his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, from Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. Rudy Giuliani has been criticized by some Catholics due to his divorces and nearly every other candidate has been asked to discuss their faith in some forum or another. This is a strange time—when the faith traditions of our presidential candidates are becoming key questions. Faith has sometimes been an issue in politics, but perhaps never in the way that we are seeing the faith traditions of our presidential candidates be fodder for both political gain and distraction. When John F. Kennedy ran for President he consistently answered questions about whether he would be the President or whether the Pope would be in charge. In a different way Jimmy Carter’s evangelical faith was a key part of his campaign and his identity. However, more than ever our candidates are being asked about their faith and being judged based on their faith traditions. I am not sure what to make of this, but it does throw new light on the importance of faith traditions at the ballot box. It remains to be seen whether this issue will have a lasting role in presidential politics, but I must admit that I am somewhat troubled by the personal beliefs of our candidates being used as weapons and opportunities for scoring points and influencing voters. This is surely one of the emerging faith topics of 2007.

The War in Iraq The War in Iraq continues to be a key issue in faith communities across this nation and around the world. We are seeing veterans return to faith communities changed by their experiences. We are continuing to see long deployments that require families to make dramatic changes in the way they exist. Children and spouses are spending long periods of time without their loved ones as they serve in Iraq and Afghanistan and we continue to mourn the mounting numbers of dead. This year there have been more revelations concerning the tactics used in warfare by our government and by al-Qaeda and faith communities are beginning to wade into the discussion concerning what tactics should be used in warfare and which should not. What is torture? What if a despicable tactic will save lives? What are the costs to the souls of our soldiers and to the soul of the nation? The war in Iraq continues to place a huge burden on many people and continues to raise important questions for people of faith. Our own congregation currently has Josh Mater and Emilie Goodling serving in combat zones.

Further protections for the GLBT community-maybe Among the important legislative decisions made in Oregon in 2007 were two that spoke to civil right for gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual folks. One legislative decision set in motion a new law that made it illegal to discriminate against GLTB folks in housing, work, and public spaces. Basic Rights Oregon and the Community of Welcoming Congregations were groups with large religious bases that helped lobby for this law to be enacted. Another law that was set to go into effect on January 1 was one that would have allowed civil unions in Oregon, which would have allowed gay and lesbian couples to have all the state rights accorded through civil marriage. On Friday however a federal judge blocked implementation of this law until a hearing can be held on February 1. Gay and lesbian couples continue to wait to have their relationships honored. Faith communities played a large role on both sides of a signature gathering effort seeking to place these legislative decisions on the ballot—and faith communities will continue to play a role in the ongoing process of determining how and if gay and lesbian relationships will be honored by the state. This issue didn’t begin in 2007 and I would guess it will not end in 2008.

Atheism and Christopher Hitchens One of the interesting people who has had a great deal of impact upon the world of faith is someone who claims to have no faith at all. Christopher Hitchens, with the publication of his book, God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything has been drawing huge and sometimes angry crowds virtually everywhere he goes. I have not yet read his book, although it is in my stack. However, I have watched him speak a number of times and although he is thought-provoking, no matter what his message he has been able to grab onto our culture’s habit of substituting rude and boorish behavior instead of openly debating topics. Quite frankly I have found the issues raised by Hitchens concerning the damage that has been done in the name of religion to be compelling, but by simply adding another shrill and uncompromising voice to the fray I believe he has not done much other than provide an atheistic addition to the shrieking that often comes via Rush Limbaugh and even Air America. However, because Hitchens is often confronted by anger his defensive tone is somewhat understandable. It is my hope that his writing as well as that of several other prominent Atheist voices could bring new avenues for discussion and open up dialog concerning the danger of presuming that there is one true faith or one national faith tradition. And thus an atheist makes the list of important religious voices in 2007.

The Opening of the Cold-Weather Homeless Shelter in Corvallis I admit I am cheating a little bit because the shelter actually opened on Christmas Eve 2006, but the fact is that in this area the effort to open the cold-weather shelter has been a rallying point for inter-denominational work. The opening of the homeless shelter has been important because it has brought together people of myriad faith traditions around the idea of making our community a better and safer place to live. The dream of the cold-weather shelter was hatched as a combined effort of the downtown business community and several lay leaders in faith communities across Corvallis. In the end, faith communities and civic groups have lead the way in providing the important volunteer hours that have made the shelter a success. Liberal and conservative, mainline and evangelical—people of faith have acted and given of their time and financial gifts and there are men who are warm, dry, and alive because of it.

The Doubts of Mother Teresa Finally, the diaries of Mother Teresa were published during this past year and one of the most profound things that came from their publication was the fact that for much of her ministry she felt that she was left cold and isolated by her faith and she questioned whether or not she was being faithful enough. On the cusp of the New Year I give thanks for these revelations because I think they are a bellwether admission that speaks to the desperate questioning that so many people of faith experience. If Mother Teresa had doubts about her faith, then my own doubts are not nearly so frightening. If Mother Teresa felt alone and isolated from God, then I am not a heretic when my own struggles overwhelm me. Mother Teresa’s faithful struggles are good and profound news for people of faith…even the most faithful among us have doubts and crises of faith…and still remain imbedded in the faith. Our faith is not solely a faith for those who have it all figured out. The ministry of Mother Teresa has continued through her diaries and I give thanks for the model she authored and the struggles she weathered. As we enter 2008 I only hope that we can work as faithfully and prophetically as she did…

Thanks be to God for the gifts of this past year and for whatever lies ahead in 2008. Amen.

Lectionary for Proper 27/Ordinary 32-Year C

Hebrew Scripture:  Haggai 1:15b-2:9 or Job 19:23-27a

Psalm:  Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21 or Psalm 98 or Psalm 17:1-9

Epistle: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

Gospel:  Luke 20:27-38

When I originally began this blog my plan was to post with my reflections about the lectionary texts on a weekly basis, and I was largely successful in that endeavor for the first 9 months.  However, over the last year the only posts that spoke of the lectionary have been the sermons I have posted here.  I am honestly not sure that my schedule will permit me to get to a lectionary post each week, but I will try to post as often as I can with my thoughts on the lectionary. 

I was originally slated to preach this week, and as a worked through what would be my fall preaching texts and themes in late August I chose the Haggai and Luke texts after much wrestling. I was less than enamored with the combination of texts and I really struggled to choose texts and arrive at a title.  Looking back at my notes my title was to be:  "Taking Courage...somewhere" with a focus on the text from Haggai.  Rather than having to struggle through that sermon First Congregational United Church of Christ will instead be lead in worship by the Rev. Leah McCullough and students from WestM (United Campus Ministries at Oregon State) as they go "off lectionary" and focus on theme of "being the body of Christ."

With that stellar lead-in, here are my thoughts on the lectionary:

The text from Haggai has the prophet Haggai seeking to inspire the remnant of Israel for the process of rebuilding the temple. Haggai is faced with doing this amid laments and fears that the temple will never again have the grandeur of the previous temple, and thus it seems there is no enthusiasm for the building process.  We wrestled with the meaning of this passage in our Tuesday lectionary bible study and one of the things that was lifted up was the idea that we often fail to have proper enthusiasm for current things when the successes of our past are our focus.  Israel was to rebuild the temple, but there was no energy for the task because they were stuck in the past.  This passage reminds me of how music critics and fans (myself included) often tend to judge the newest disc offered by an artist simply by comparing it to their past work.  There is something natural about comparing an artist's new work to previous works, but too often our judgment is handed out based on a "it has changed, therefore it is bad" mentality. Change or variance should not be equated to failure, but it often is when we speak of the latest music, the latest movie by our favorite director, or the latest book by an author.  And I think the same mentality is used to judge our churches.  Don't change worship, don't use those new songs or hymns, don't let young people speak, don't paint that wall, don't project that image...all of these are variations on the apathetic and less than forward thinking attitudes confronted in Haggai.  Just as Haggai was calling upon Israel to rebuild the temple without concern for its looks, we too should be willing to be courageous in our building of our faith and our congregations.  The gold, the silver, the people, and the future are not ours...they are God's and that should comfort us and give us permission to be creative and bold as we build and nurture the body of Christ in our many contexts. 

The Luke text portrays an interaction between Jesus and the Sadducees.  The Sadducees were testing Jesus by throwing out an atypical, but still possible marital scenario, all in an effort to confuse the message of Jesus. They ask their question of him in this way: 

"If a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.”

Now our first temptation is to delve into the debate about such a convoluted marital arrangement, but the truth is that the marital arrangement in question is of no consequence to Jesus, and it should be of no consequence to us either.  Jesus refuses to address the marriage situation by saying that "those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage."  By this statement Jesus makes it clear that the marriage relationship is an earthly reality, but that God's realm reaches beyond the scope earthly traditions and rites.  Ultimately Jesus is pointing to the notion that God should be at the center of our concerns, not legalisms or traditions  The Sadducees were mocking the language of resurrection, but rather than enter into that conversation and attempt to answer the Sadducees unanswerable questions, Jesus instead asserts that that the answer to the resurrection questions can be made known only in acknowledging that God is the God of the living, a statement that has meaning because all are alive to God.  That is, all will have the opportunity for resurrection and it is not their marital status (or any other earthly measure for that matter) that matters in the equation.  Instead, resurrection is available to all.  For the legalistic Sadducees I am sure this didn't sit well, but for ancient and contemporary Christians this is a message of hope...because this passage promises that we too can know the resurrection, that we too can know grace, that we are more than the sum of our demographic data.  We are God's...and that is enough!

A Sunday Sermon: Placing our Hope in a Jar

Sermon Texts:  Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 and Luke 16:19-31

Ron Cey was the third baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team for much of the 1970’s.  He was a man who had such an odd and slow stride that he was named ‘the penguin’ by Tommy Lasorda.  He was also a six time All-Star, an above-average fielder, compiled a lifetime batting average of .261, and hit a over 300 home runs in his career.  He was involved in one of the most horrific moments in any World Series in 1981 when he was hit in the head by a pitch from Rich “Goose” Gossage, and that moment is widely credited as being a turning point for the Dodgers as they came back from a 2 game deficit to win the World Series. All of this is interesting to a few of you I would guess, but all of you may be wondering why the minutiae of Ron Cey’s major league career warrants a mention in a sermon.  I bring up Ron Cey this morning because I believe that the theme that ties our two scripture lessons together this morning is investment, and at one time in my life Ron Cey personified investment in my life.

I spent a great deal of time during my elementary and middle school years collecting and trading baseball, football, and hockey cards.  I still have most of those cards, and Shauna will roll her eyes and attest to the fact that we have moved boxes and albums of those cards with us wherever we have lived.  If you were to open up those albums, you would notice that they were organized by team, and it would be clear that I had several players who were my favorites. Nowhere would this be more true than when you look at my Los Angeles Dodgers section, where you couldn’t help but notice that along with Don Drysdale, Steve Garvey, and Fernando Valenzuela cards there are probably 20 Ron Cey cards that stretch from the beginning of his career all the way into the years when his skills were declining and he had moved on to play for the Chicago Cubs.  The existence of those 20 cards may tell you that I was invested in Ron Cey, but it doesn’t tell you the whole story because in order to do that I must tell you that at one time in my life I would have traded nearly any card in my collection to get another Ron Cey card.  I remember arguments with a couple of my friends who offered me nearly every card they had, if only I would trade them a Ron Cey card that they needed to complete their set.  I never made those trades and the continued existence of those Ron Cey cards attest to the investment I had in those cards and to some degree in Ron Cey.  Life however is not all about baseball cards.

As we move from baseball cards to our scripture lessons I believe we continue to uncover that which we value and that which we claim investment in.  Our lessons, from Luke and Jeremiah are both rather confusing lessons, offering insight into our faith if only we can muddle our way through the complexity of the words and events.  In our gospel reading we hear a parable of a rich man and Lazarus.  This is a morality tale, told in the form of a folklore story concerning the afterlife.  But really this story is not about what happens at the moment of our death, it is instead about the types of investments we make during our lifetime.  This passage tells of a rich man, who upon his death, finds himself tormented because of the choices he made during his lifetime.  The rich man discovers that while he persists in Hades, Lazarus the poor man who once lay outside the gates of his home, has found comfort in death.  This passage offers a stunning view of the reversal of fortunes that Jesus often spoke about, a reversal that Jesus indicated was necessary in order for the kingdom of God to come about.  While the rich man seemingly was invested in his fine linens and the status afforded him by his gated home, Lazarus had lay dying just outside.  This passage is fascinating because even as the rich man attempts to find a way to get away from the torment of this own doing, he continues to play the role that placed him there in the first place.  When he needs cool water—he asks Lazarus to get it for him and when he wants to try to save his brothers from the hell that he is experiencing, again he wants to send Lazarus—as if Lazarus is there to do his bidding.  The rich man, far from being indicted because of his wealth, is being indicted because of his investment in his wealth.  That is, the rich man cannot seem to get beyond the power that his wealth has always given him. He seems stuck there—but the chasm that is described in this passage is not a chasm between an Eden and the place of torment where the rich man has landed.   Instead the chasm that is described here exists between the apathetic, aloof, and shielded existence that the rich man had to live as he stepped over Lazarus to enter the gates of his property and the other option that he had—to be invested not solely in himself, his money, or his stuff; but in his society, in his family, and in those who crowd around the gates and fences of his property.  The chasm that exists here is based upon what the rich man has invested himself in.  Jesus is not speaking at all about the amount of wealth that the rich man had; instead Jesus is using this parable to speak about the rich man’s lack of investment in compassion and love for anything other than his own interests.  In this passage the last become first and the first become last, and Jesus would have us invest in no other system.  But alas, for the rich man this is a bewildering concept that requires an investment strategy with a greater vision than he can imagine…and thus he remains stuck with an investment with little hope of long-term dividends.

Our lesson from Jeremiah however is based on the hopefulness of a long-term investment strategy.  There are a lot of names and places in this passage so let me sort it out a bit:  The Babylonians are practically beating down the walls to the city, soon Jerusalem and Judah will lie in ruins and if we remember the ominous, angry, and prophetic words that Jeremiah has spoken as the voice of God, the coming destruction is exactly what Israel deserves.  However, as the opposing armies prepare to attack, God instructs Jeremiah to purchase buy a field at Anathoth.  The next part of the passage involves the ritual of procuring the deed, and doing so in the way that sets up a proper contractual agreement complete with two parts to the deed so that if there is any doubt about its authenticity Jeremiah would be able to prove his ownership.  Then, after rushing around to make this purchase as the Babylonians ready their attack, Jeremiah is to take the deeds of this new purchase and place them in an earthenware jar “so that they may last for a long time.”  This is an odd time to look for a great deal on real estate, but that is what Jeremiah does!

As odd as this moment seems it is really a compelling moment because this purchase is about much more than piece of property, it is about a promise for the future.  This purchase shows proof of God’s investment in Israel; it is another moment in the long history of Israel where God stands steadfast with Israel even when it seems that everything is bleak and hopeless.  Our scripture lesson ends with these words:  Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.”  These are the most critical words of this passage because they clearly promise a future for God’s investment in the people of Israel.  After all the ominous warnings that Jeremiah has spoken this purchase signals something different—that a long-term investment has been made by God and that although everything seems like it is just about to be lost—there is hope for Israel, and lest anyone forget about that hope, it has been placed in an earthenware jar.

As I read the scripture lessons I was made to think about what it is that we in contemporary times invest in.  What is it that we value? Where do we get our sense of hope?  I can look back at my baseball cards and see the naive and uncomplicated life of a child, but although there are moments when I long to return there, that isn't where I will find hope.  The gospel of Jesus Christ calls us toward more than that.  We can find ourselves like the rich man who had invested everything he had in his things and in status, or we can seek wisdom from the hopeful nature of Jeremiah's purchase.  This is a purchase tha calls us toward an investment strategy that is based on future returns of an extraordinary type. Forget looking toward the Standard and Pours Index, because the return we are called toward can only be measured in hope. This passage should also inspire hope in contemporary times.  It should inspire us to pull on our rose–colored glasses and think our most hope-filled thoughts.  Our culture tells us to invest in the present, it tells us to invest in that which can be measured, that which can easily be converted to dollars and cents, and honestly that is probably the paradigm out of which the rich man in Luke operated, but our faith calls us to something else entirely.  Our faith calls us to put our hope in the immeasurable, in that which we cannot see, in that which is not provable—our hope will only be found in the love and grace of God.  For Jeremiah the deed in the earthenware jar was a tangible reminder of God’s promise as well as a tangible reminder of what it means to follow God into the unknown.  Honestly, I am not always very good at taking those type of risks—I tend to be someone who looks for the cautious way, for the easily calculated risk, or for the sure thing. However, as people of faith we need to be less restricted, less cautious, and above all else we need to be more faithful.  Jeremiah’s purchase is valuable only in the hope that it inspires because as that land is about to be controlled by the army of the enemy.  It could have been “Jeremiah’s folly,” but instead it marks the promise of a bright future that is to come for Israel.

And so today, I am going to invite you to do something as a sign of our collective willingness to put our hope in God.  In the pews you will find blue cards, and before the Hymn of Dedication I ask that you write down something that you would ask God’s help with, something for which you need God’s hope…and I invite you to come forward during the Hymn of Dedication to put your hope in the jars that are up here.  This is our opportunity to dream and hope big—hope for a cure for what ails us, hope for peace in our time, hope for new life in your relationship—hope for whatever it is that you need.  Place your hope in one of these jars and entrust it to God. It may be our folly, but our faith calls us to actively place our hope in God and this is our chance.  Invest in hope, invest in God’s promise…you are invited to place your hope in one of these earthenware jars and trust the rest to our God.

Thanks be to God.  Amen.

My Sunday Sermon: Tending Sheep in Dangerous Time

Here is my sermon from last week, written in the aftermath of the violence at Virginia Tech, hoping that all of us will take steps to stop the violence.

"TENDING SHEEP IN DANGEROUS TIMES”

                                                       

“I’m going fishing.” I wonder how many times that statement had welled up inside of Peter during the course of his time as a disciple of Jesus? When the Pharisees were haranguing Jesus, was Peter dreaming of his former life as a fisherman?  When Jesus began to foretell his death, was Peter thinking of those times when he had hauled in a great catch?   When Jesus violated his personal space by washing his feet, did Peter block it all out by remembering a great day of fishing?  In our gospel passage it feels like he has finally had enough, and he is returning to what he knows best:  the fishing boat, the nets, the sails, and the camaraderie with his friends. I wonder if Peter, for the first time since that cock crowed, has found himself comfortable again, able to leave it all behind.