YBAshWed18sr                          A Lenten Spirit                                                       

Yesterday morning, one of my clergy colleagues remarked on how the imposition of ashes was becoming more popular in Christian churches. It seems for a long time, that many people thought of ashes as a particularly Catholic tradition. However, more and more protestants seemed to be coming around to the idea.

Of course this comment prompted a response from another member of our group. She spoke about a story she read about the tradition of imposing ashes. The story went that the imposition of ashes were reserved for the worst members of a church. In the middle ages, being a part of the church was an important thing. Much of the labor that built cathedrals and other did other public works were done through the church – so everyone tried to stay in the good graces of their local parish.  

Well, on the first Sunday in lent, a tradition developed where the priest would call forward two to three especially bad people, those who had cheated their neighbors, or spread lies, or worse, didn’t contribute. These people would be marked with ash, and then led to the door of the church, and told to pray and consider the peril to their souls until Good Friday, when they would be allowed back through the doors, to hear the Good news of what their Savior suffered for them. Whew! That’s harsh!

However, the people of one parish had an answer for this. Many of the people who were given ashes, had friends and family in the church who cared about them.  So, one year, when three people were called up front, and their sins were announced to the church, 5 more got up and came forward, confessing that their sins were just as bad, and asking for ashes as well. And so, in the space of a few years, the whole congregation, asked for ashes as well, and as you can imagine, the priests didn’t really feel like they could banish them all, so they made lent a time of penitence and reflection for all. 

This evening, in our gospel lesson, Jesus addresses the same kind of religious corruption as found in our story this evening. The Chief priests and Pharisees had made it a practice of pointing out sinners and casting them from the community of faith. In addition, they made a great fuss about those who made a great show of giving of alms, of prayer, and of fasting into an outward ritual. Indeed, one commentator noted that some Pharisees put tassels on their robes to identify how many times they had fasted. But our religion is not for show, and that is what Jesus is trying to tell us.

The time of lent is a time of repentence and self-reflection. A time of repentence for us to repent of the worldly spirits of arrogance, fear, and prejudice that consume so much of our lives. A time of self-reflection for us in humility to consider how we might be better disciples of Jesus Christ. It is important to note in our story, how the people stood together, but it is even more important to note that they did not give up going to church. The giving of alms, the prayers, the time of fasting did not end, but the people did these things for the right reasons, to grow in their relationship with God and with each other, not as a show for their leaders to judge their righteousness.  

This morning, I went to the Ash Wednesday Prayer Breakfast at the Federated Church. There Pastor Wayne Derber told us about Christianity for Dummies – many of you know these books that try to make complicated things easy for us to understand. His scripture lesson was on the greatest commandment. Love the Lord you God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.  Lent is a time for us to consider this commandment and to evaluate our lives, to ask ourselves if we are truly seeking this, or just pretending for show. So I would encourage you in this Lenten season, to start some kind, any kind of religious discipline. To put some money aside to give to a mission of the church, to spent some time each day in prayer, to consider how you might honor your body and seek for it to be more healthy. After all, you body is a temple to God, how can you make it more holy!

If we are pretending, then moths and rust will consume our Christian faith, but if we are sincere in our hearts, then we shall indeed have treasure in heaven, stored up for us in this life, and in the life that is to come. And that is the Good News of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

February 11, 2018             Veiled and UnVeiled                              

One of the experiences I shared in my clergy profile, was an experience I had on a mountain top in Ecuador. I was in Ecuador, because I served for a week as chaplain of a group of UCC youth who had gone to build Habitat for Humanity houses there. On the final day of our two week trip, we were in the city of Quito. Now the city of Quito, Ecuador sits on a mountain shelf about 8,000 ft above see level. And just below the summit of the mountain it sits on, there is a cable car that will take you almost to the top. So, on that final afternoon, we took the cable car up 4,000 feet to another shelf, and then climbed the last 1,000 ft to a place just below the summit.

Now I had never been that far above see level in my life, and one of the things that struck me was what it was like to look down on the clouds, and just how brilliantly white they were from above. They weren’t just white like we see from below, above them they directly reflected the sunshine and they glowed white! And at the time, it reminded me of the story of Jesus transfiguration.

Anyway, just below, we sat down in the grass in a circle and we talked about the experiences the kids had during their two weeks. They talked about how they had worked to get here, doing rummage sales, cookie sales, car washes and etc. They talked about not knowing what to expect when they got there, and about not knowing so many of the others in the group – because they were from so many other churches. They talked about the poverty of the people, and the lack of technology that they had access to. They talked about the faith of the people of Ecuador, how it was a part of their daily lives. They talked about how hard the people worked, and how happy they were with so little. And they talked about realizing, that so much of the stuff we have in our lives, is really a distraction from what is most important. The work we do, and the relationships in life that we have.

And I think that may have been a little bit of what was happening on that mountain top with Jesus so long ago. Like these youth, the disciples had responded to Jesus call to leave their world behind, and to be a part of a new community of Jesus disciples. There on the mountain top, above the clouds, their eyes were open to what life was all about. It’s about faith in the one who loves us beyond measure, it’s about faith in our loving one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, it’s about being that community of this love that seeks to create a world in which the hungry are fed, the sick are healed and comforted, and in which no one is alone or left out.

In Jesus day, there was just as much injustice, prejudice, apathy and fear as there is today. And while there may not have been as much technology in Jesus day, there was still just as many things that people allowed to get in the way of being the people god calls us to be. The struggle is for us to not allow that to happen, and more importantly to share that good news, when we go down the mountain, to those who have not seen it yet.

Since I have returned from Quito, I was friended on facebook by all of the kids who went on the trip, and I get to watch their news feeds, and I get to see their posts. What a wonderful group of kids, they are getting married, having kids, serving in their churches, and doing a variety of Christian mission. They have really developed a maturity in Christ that is amazing! 

Now some of you may say, that’s wonderful for them Pastor Ted, but we don’t all have a chance to go to Ecuador or some other country to have these mountain top experiences. And to that I would say, you don’t have to go anywhere. You have this wonderful church, you do such wonderful missions, you care about each and every one in this congregation. It is so easy to take for granted all the great things that you do, because you believe in Christ your Savior. And because of this faith, your eyes are not veiled, but unveiled to what life is all about, and God is present with you here, every bit as much as if you were on the mountain top.  And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

February 4, 2018           Healing                                                 

Once upon a time there was a famous pianist who flew over all the world playing for kings and presidents of all nations. One time, when he was playing for a king, there was a plot to overthrow the government. Someone lobbed a grenade on stage in front of the king, and although the king and the pianist survived, the concussion from the explosion caused the pianist to slowly lose his hearing until he became deaf.

After this incident, the pianist returned home to his penthouse overlooking central park. Having become a somewhat arrogant man, from all of the years of people celebrating him, he became very angry that such a thing should happen to him.  And he became so angry with the world and with God, he decided that he would no longer step forth from his penthouse or receive people, or ever play again.

Now this went on for some time, but being alone in a penthouse became tiresome, and so to break the monotony, he had a pair of binoculars, with which he would watch the people in the park, and he even became quite good at reading their lips and listening in on their conversations.

One day, he spied a young couple who were so poor that they were having a discussion about putting their child up for adoption, because they could barely make ends meet for themselves. For some reason, the thought of this young child not knowing it’s parents moved the pianist to send a servant down to them, to ask their address so that money could be sent, and they would not have to give up their child.

And so it began, the pianist became the man who played God, he would watch the people in the park, read their conversations and dispatch his servants to meet their needs. He even seemed to relish the idea that it was he who helped them, and not some imaginary God. However, one day a thought occurred to him, what if there was a God, who was using him, to carry out his plans. At first this made the pianist very angry that he should be used in such a way, but then, as he considered all of the people he had helped, and the change that playing God had wrought in his life, he came to give thanks to God. And he decided to go forth from his penthouse, and perhaps even perform once again.

Whenever I read that story of Jesus healing Peter’s mother in law, I think of this story of the man who played God. So many times, when people face tragedies in their lives, they tend to withdraw from the world and those around them. Sometimes they even become angry with God and withdraw from their community of faith. Even worse, sometimes they become lost and even self-destructive of their own lives and of the lives of those closest to them.

I think Peter’s mother in law, suffers a kind of spiritual illness that keeps her confined to her home and even to her bed. And I think that Jesus represents not only the good news of God’s love for us, but also from this 1^st chapter of Mark, a call to repent of these ways that keep us bound to ourselves, and a return to spiritual health that is found in serving others. Now this is not a simple formula, you can’t just make yourself spiritually healthy by doing lots of things for others. But I believe God offers us these opportunities as we are ready for them, just as God offered these opportunities to the pianist, so that we may be returned to spiritual health and life.

Many of the members of this church, who have faced tragedy in your lives and have come through it, know that a large part of coming back to health is found in thinking of others, of the troubles they face, of knowing you are not alone, and in finding ways to help others. And so when we are facing your own personal trials and troubles, we should consider taking advantage of this wonderful treasure that God has given us in one another, to consider the ways in which we might let God into our lives, in our love and caring for others. For there is healing and new life to be found in this!  

And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ 

January 28, 2018            Jesus Authority

                                                                                           

A friend of mine from seminary once told me the story of putting an elevator in his church. He told me that the church appointed a task force to find, purchase, and get it installed. One of the members on the committee, just happened to be a local town official who approved such building projects, so, they felt like with his guidance, this would be a snap. Problem is, it wasn’t.

The local town official wasn’t really set on this elevator thing, it was a waste of a lot of money, and the church needed to be more concerned about it’s bottom line. And so he kept finding reasons why it wouldn’t pass inspection, and couldn’t be completed, and so the committee became mired down in the decision making process.

Finally, the pastor and the council president decided to talk to the man. They spoke to him about the church making a difference in the lives of those who could not climb the steps to the church, about the church being first in the community to welcome those who were handicapped, about the church seeking to realize the promise of God’s kingdom, and that he – could make all of this work! But the man kept insisting this was not the right thing for the church, cost to much money, and not everyone agreed with it.

So as they left the meeting they felt like they had failed, and they wondered what would become of the project. However, after a few days of thought, the town official had a change of heart, and helped the church within a few months complete the project. What had happened? My friend thought that Jesus had opened his eyes, to the idea of changing the world, and making a difference in people’s lives. 

    

As I have studied the gospel lesson this week, two things stood out for me. Jesus preaching with authority, and the unclean spirit. And so I would like to speak about these two topics this morning.

This morning in our Sunday School Class, I noted that the Gospel of Mark came from the preaching of Peter to the church in Rome. Now the church in Rome would have consisted of two groups of people. First there would be the Roman citizens, for whom the promises of the Roman empire and the Roman Gods had not been fulfilled. And secondly, there would have been the Jewish people, who had come to believe that God’ promises had not been fulfilled. And so Peter, in his preaching, tells them of the fulfillment of God’s promises in Jesus Christ.

In a lot of the commentaries and sermons I read this week, there is a lot of discussion about how Jesus spoke with authority, rather than like the scribes. I believe the difference is that the scribes rattled of the promises of God, and then spoke of the importance of tradition and keeping the law. Jesus on the other hand, spoke to people about the presence of God in their lives, how it could make a difference, and how people could grow closer to God. The best preachers I have ever heard, didn’t just rattle off scripture, they helped their listeners see and feel God’s presence in their lives.

Which brings us to the second most important part of this story – the unclean spirit. When you compare the story of Jesus in Capernaum in Mark, with the story of Jesus in Capernaum in Luke, you see in Luke this wonderful preaching about the lame walking, the blind receiving their sight, the deaf hearing, the poor having Good News preached to them, the kingdom of heaven becoming real in the lives of people.  In our world today, the Jesus of Luke’s gospel might speak of those who are handicapped being helped to become a part of society, of those who are lost in this world – seeing a new path for their lives, of those who refuse to hear truth in their lives, suddenly hearing, of those who suffer poverty being shown compassion through ministries and missions of love, and of people finding God in their lives and their communities as they work together to bring God’s kingdom into their midst.

As I said, this brings us to the second part of our story, because, when this kind of change is proclaimed, there are bound to be some people who object. Hey wait a second Jesus, we can’t do that, it would destroy us! We should be about saving ourselves, not saving the world! You ask to much of us Jesus. Much like our town official, when the focus is on us, we are fearful of the cost of changing our lives, but when our focus is on changing the world, that fear is silenced and God’s kingdom can become present among us. And that’s when our religious faith is no longer a set of traditions, or rules, or laws, but when it becomes life changing for us and world changing for others, and that’s the good news of Jesus Christ!