June 2, 2019    Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ               

         For the last 20 some weeks, I have led a bible study on the book of Revelation. Now, some may remember the Left Behind Series, which takes the book of Revelation and makes it a parable about morality. But the bible study that I led, studied the book of Revelation from the Historical Critical Analysis that is the tradition of the Congregational Church.

In that analysis, the book of Revelation, proclaims hope to the members of the early church, who are oppressed by the economic system of Rome. That’s what all the stuff about 666 being marked on their arms or foreheads, and being allowed to buy or sell if they had the mark, is all about. In the 18^th Chapter of Revelation, we come to the high point of the book, the collapse of the Roman Empire, first the Kings of the earth who entered into exploitive covenants with Rome grieve the end of the empire, then the merchants who can no longer sell their goods, then the sea captains who are out of work.  From the Historical Critical Analysis point of view, faith in Jesus and being a Christian saves one from the fall of the Empire, and it’s economic system.

But even more than that, it saves our lives spiritually, from a life of constant fear and anxiety, living in a world, of constant competition, and the need to buy and satiate every physical desire. It helps us to see past the materialism of the world that ends in death, to a spirituality that leads to life.

Our story from the Acts of the Apostles this morning has some of these same themes of economic exploitation and salvation. The slave woman is exploited financially for her ability to read fortunes. When Paul gets rid of the demon that makes her able to do this, the business people in the community are outraged. The local authorities and even the crowd become complicit in sentencing them to flogging and the stocks. All of this to maintain the economic system of exploitation.

In the prison, Paul and Silas are surrounded by others who have been exploited and jailed by this system. And in the midst of prison, it is said that rather than despair, they were praying and singing the praises of God. At this, it says that an earthquake occurs, but when I read this text, I wonder if it wasn’t an earthshattering event, for the prisoners or the jailor to hear about this God who came to us in Jesus Christ, who suddenly come to realize their part in this economic system, and suddenly find themselves spiritually freed of it.

The jailor himself, fearing that he will be executed for allowing the prisoners to escape, decides to take his life, but Paul is there to stop him, and to encourage him to commit his life to Jesus Christ. And the story of course goes that this is what he did, he and his entire household, and they were saved.

When I was in seminary, one of the books we had to read was called God the Economist. In it, the author describes a world in which people are no longer ruled by the fear of scarcity, but the peace of abundance. In that kind of world, people are no longer in competition with one another, but work together as partners. In that kind of world, people are no longer driven by the need to acquire things or experiences, but focus their lives on their relationships with one another. In that kind of world, people no longer accumulate debts, but live responsibly as caretakers of the gifts and blessings God gives to them. In that kind of world, we no longer live as slaves or prisoners, but are freed to live our lives as God intended for us to live.

Now I know that this all seems very plain and practical, but that is what comes from a change in what we believe in, and if we believe in Jesus Christ, and accept him as our LORD and Savior, then we also will be freed from the power of mammon that enslaves us, and we will be saved from the economic powers that seek to rule over us. And that is the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen.    

May 26, 2019   “Rise, Take Up Your Pallet, and Walk”             

In our gospel reading this morning, Jesus heals a lame man by the pool of Bethzatha. The pool is identified as being near the Sheep Gate, which is the poorest of entrances, where the sheep are watered. Actually, the name Bethzatha, has a double meaning, it can be interpreted as a place of shame – for the crippled who gather there, and a place of grace – for those healed by it’s waters. The local legend is that from time to time, an angel stirs up the water in the pool, and when that occurs, if someone with an illness enters the water, they will be healed. The man in our story is either crippled or paralyzed. He has been brought to the pool each day for 38 years, and perhaps he has seen many a miracle, but when the angel stirs up the water, there is no one to help him, and others rush in to be healed.

Now there are three interesting parts of this story, which actually continues on till verse 16.

The first is that the man never enters the pool. Jesus asks him if he wants to be made well, the man answers with his story of not being able to get in the pool. At this response, Jesus doesn’t engage in conversation, but simply says, “Rise, take up your pallet and walk.” At this word from Jesus, the man does so, and is healed.

Perhaps the simplest example of this might be found in the healing of an alcoholic, or an overeater, or a drug addict. There are programs a plenty to help people with these problems, some include 5, 10, or 12 steps. But perhaps the most direct route is not to drink, overeat, or take drugs -today, and then the next day, and then the next. It may sound harsh, but Jesus doesn’t allow us to make excuses, or to indulge in feeling sorry for ourselves. Jesus knows what we know, either we do what we need to do or not, and that’s why he tells the man to “rise, take up your pallet, and walk.”

The same thing goes for us. We all know our own lives, our shortcomings, the things we need to do, and the things we need to cease from doing. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are not our own Lord’s, choosing what is best for us. We have a new Lord, who commands us, and we obey.

The second is that the Pharisees make a big fuss about Jesus healing on the Sabbath. It’s not right, Jesus is not following their law, he must be a heretic or a false prophet.

Now we have all heard this nonsense before. Your not catholic, so your not a true believer. You not protestant, so you are going to hell. Heck, there are some churches in our own community that re-baptize people, because they believe your baptism in another church wasn’t good enough. It’s arrogant, and presumes the power of God for themselves. Now I’m sure I’ll get some flak for saying this, but churches that behave like this aren’t interested in helping to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, they are interested in helping themselves.

And the problem is this. How many people are turned away from the church, because they are sinners. How many people are turned away because of their race, nationality, sexuality, or politics. How many people are turned away because they haven’t gone through the right rituals in worship, or followed the right religious laws in their lives. We must always be on guard, as religious people, about how we might stand in the way of their coming to Jesus. Or, how our belief in the sacredness of our own rituals, keeps us from coming to Jesus.

Oh, I know, we all say we don’t turn people away, after all we need warm bodies to fill the pews and contributors to meet the budget. But how many people do we turn away with our attitude about whether they can help us or not, or with our attitudes about who are sinners and who are righteous.  

Jesus understands this hypocrisy, and gets himself in trouble with the religious leaders, by saying and acting as if salvation is for all people. And we, as Jesus disciples, need to offer this grace and salvation to all, without conditions, and without question.   

Third, Jesus links the healing of this man to the forgiveness of sins. In the 14^th verse of this chapter, Jesus meets the man again and tells him, “go and sin no more”.

Now I’m going to go back to the alcoholics, overeaters, and drug abusers again. Most psychologists, will tell you that people do these things to escape depression or abuse. I will tell you, many escape into this because terrible things have been done to them, and they are unable to forgive. Everyone here knows what it is to hold a grudge. Everyone here knows that we act differently towards those who have harmed us. Everyone here knows the weight that we carry when we are unable to forgive one another. And that inability to forgive doesn’t just result in drug addiction, it results in broken marriages, families, and relationships of all kind. The inability to forgive results in subtle divisions that permeate our entire lives.  

The gospel of John is very focused on the power of forgiveness that has been shown to us in Jesus Christ. This forgiveness is the path to our being born anew. It is the path to those who are crippled to become whole. It is the path to the world’s salvation. I know, people have done terrible things to you, I know that the world has taught you to hold grudges, but it is not for their sake that you are called to forgive them, it is for your sake, so that your lives will no longer be crippled.  

In the Revelation to John this morning, we hear the story of a new heaven and a new earth, a place where the presence of God dwells with us. I believe this is what will happen, when we finally learn to forgive one another, for then we will no longer be crippled by the inability to forgive, and we will live together in peace, and in love. And that is the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

May 19, 2019     Love that Heals a Broken World                  

         A few weeks ago on Good Friday, I preached a sermon on the question, “Was it Necessary for Jesus to die?” In that sermon, I spoke about the jewish ritual for the cleansing of the sins of the people. How they brought two goats to the temple, and one of the goats was slain, it’s blood sprinkled on the altar, and on the people. In this way, God and the people took responsibility for their sins. The priest then laid his hands on the second goat, and prayed that this second goat would take the sins of the people away with it, and so the second goat, the scapegoat, was driven out into the wilderness. In the gospel of John, this theme of the scapegoat and the goat that was slain, now termed the lamb of God slain for our sins, is a large part of the John’s passion narrative.

         I then went on to explain, that scapegoating is still very much alive today. Throughout history, people have always scapegoated the new, the different, the stranger among them. In America, the Indian, the Italian, the Irish, the Chinese, the African American, the LBGT person, have all at one time or another been blamed for the problems of the nation, or if not the nation, our communities and our lives. And similarly, the Jewish people of Jesus day did the same thing. They scapegoated the Persians, Ethiopians, Syrophenecians, Greeks, Romans and etc. They were to blame for the presence of sin and suffering for the Jewish people. Now in the bible, some of these nationalities are mentioned as Jesus interacts with them, but on the whole the Jewish people had just one word for them, Gentiles.  And Jesus, because he preached to these Gentiles, and healed these foreigners, was to blame for corrupting the Jewish religion. Which brings us to our reading in Acts this morning.

         In the book of Acts, the early church, including Peter are still stuck in this Jewish mindset, so they spend most of their time, trying to convert Jews into Christians. But in this story, God speaks to Peter in a vision on the roof of the building in which he is staying. God sends a vision of unclean animals, animals that the Jewish Law forbids Jews to eat, and tells Peter to eat of these animals. Three times, Peter refuses before the vision vanishes, and then there is a knock on the door downstairs, calling Peter to come and preach the gospel to a group of  Gentiles. So Peter goes, and preaches the gospel to the Gentiles, and to his amazement, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon them. And at this point, Peter gets it, that the gospel of Jesus Christ and salvation are not just for the Jews, but for the Gentiles as well.

         Now as I mentioned before, the scapegoating of foreigners, strangers, and sinners, continues on today. But it is through our faith in Jesus Christ, that we are called to recognize the way in which the world scapegoats people, and we are called as followers of Jesus Christ to preach to, minister to, and welcome into our lives those who are scapegoated by the world. And if I may boast in the United Church of Christ, over my lifetime, our church has indeed done this, preaching and ministering to African Americans, immigrants from foreign lands, and even those broken people and sinners among us in our own nation. Standing up for the rights of Jews, Muslims, the handicapped, and others in the face of a world that would blame them for the fear and prejudice that are the source of sin, suffering, and death in human life.

         In many a Christian church, this struggle also continues, between the newcomer and the longtime member, the older member and the newly confirmed, between those we choose to invite and those we decide should not be invited, between those with a family history in the church, and those with no history, those who we see regularly and those we see rarely.  And we are called to find a way to include all of our members, and even those who aren’t members in the mission, ministry, work, and celebration of the church, so that we might be the “one body” in Christ, that Jesus calls us to be. That is the constant struggle of the church in every generation.  

         And that is why, God’s love for us, in Jesus suffering and death upon the cross, is the love that leads to the healing of a broken world. And that is the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

May 12, 2019   Hearing the Voice of the Good Shepherd         

         Today is Mother’s day, and while I planned to speak on hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd today, I seem to have spent more time thinking about Mother’s Day, than Good Shepherd Sunday. So here goes,…

         My mother had five children, not a lot compared to others, but she was equal to the task. Some say that when you have two or even three children, you can have twelve. Anyway, she was quite busy taking care of us kids for about 13 years before she went back to working as a teacher, which is the degree she got in college.

         We had a traditional home, in the sense that my father went to work 40-50 hours a week, and mom did most of the raising of the kids. As a teacher, my mother, was always finding ways to engage us in learning. Aside from reading to us, she made play dough, and had plenty of songs and games for us to learn. As we grew, she had a list of chores for us each Saturday morning, many of which she had to follow along and complete if we didn’t get them done right, and she taught us lots of things, like sewing, crocheting, knitting, and embroidery.I had 4 sisters, so group activities were mostly directed towards my sisters.

My mother also took us to swim classes at the YMCA, piano and violin lessons, cheerleaders, choral groups at school, and girl scouts and cub scouts/webelos. Dad helped, but mostly it was mom doing the driving. The one thing she did for me specifically, was Khoury league baseball each spring and summer. She would drop me off and pick me up from practice, while running my sisters around, but when the games began, she would more often than not, bring her lawn chair and watch her son play. I think it was the one time during the week she ever just sat and rested. The rest of the time, I suppose her life was one long list of doctor’s appointments, school activities, church activities, cooking, cleaning, chauffeuring, and etc. And by the time I was five, if that wasn’t enough, she added substitute teaching to the list.

Did I mention church? My mother had to get 5 children ready for church each Sunday, get us off to Sunday school, and sit with us during worship. As a minister’s wife, she was always worried about our behavior, one Sunday, as I went flying down the center aisle with my arms wide, roaring like a jet plane, she almost lost it, by that I mean she raced forward, grabbed me by the arm, and sat me in the pew.  But I can say, my mother never beat me, though there were plenty of times when I probably deserved it. My mother had a mean scoul when we were misbehaving, she could yell at us if she was upset, and wasn’t afraid to tell us if our were being potty. One time, many years after it happened, my mother apologized to me for yelling at me when I mowed some flowers she had just planted under a tree – I thought they were weeds. I said, “Are you kidding me? You feel bad about that? Don’t worry about it.” Mom’s feel guilty about a lot of stuff, they worry, everything little thing with their kids is life and death. I’d like to tell the mothers out there that they worry to much, but they probably wouldn’t believe me.  

 At church she made sure we got to youth choir, church plays, and youth group, while she attended the couples group and the women’s fellowship as the minister’s wife, and in later years on the church mission board – missions were important to her. As a teacher, she worked on the Sunday school committee, and was a teacher for vacation bible school.

By the time I turned 16, with my sister’s all gone to college, my mother went back for her master’s degree in teaching, and also taught school. But this did not stop her from planting a garden. A garden which by the way, was 1/16 th of an acre. She got up every morning and went out before 7 am to put in an hour or two of weeding and cultivating her crop. The garden was where we got our fresh veggies. And my mother spent the last 20 years of her professional life, teaching behavior disorder and developmentally disabled students, which was her master’s degree.

Now the point of all this reminiscing, is not to make my mom out to be a superhero, nor is it to make other mom’s feel guilty. I look at mom’s today, and I see them having the same 6 am to 10 pm days that my mom had, running kids everywhere, teaching them, bringing them to church, and participating in family social functions, community activities, school activities as well. I bet if you were to write down all the things your mom did in her life for you and for her family, you would probably be amazed not only at all she has done, but that her head didn’t explode while she was doing it!

No the real point that I am making is this, my mother chose to be a servant of her family, and in our Christian tradition, we believe that it is the servant who creates life. Now the natural reaction of the world to the word servant, is to think doormat or slave, someone forced to do these labors for the benefit of another. But that’s not what mom’s are all about, they do these things not because they are forced to, but because they love their children and families. They lay down their lives for us, so that we might live, grow, and have as good or better than they had. They teach us how to love one another through devotion and hard work. Their deeds of kindness are their bright clothing, washed in their travails of loving us, that makes them shine before our eyes. Their presence brings peace to our lives, like a good shepherd watching over us, and their voice calls us to love our children and families, and even others, as we love ourselves. Oh, and for those of you who don’t have kids, you can have this same Spirit of life in yourself, if you love others as God has loved us in Jesus Christ.

Now all this stuff about mother’s, doesn’t mean that father’s don’t lay down their lives as well, but this is mother’s day, father’s will get their day in a few more weeks. But this spirit of servanthood, this spirit of love that gives life, is the Spirit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for us, so that we might live, and calls us, in the voice of the Good Shepherd to do so as well. For in following that voice, miracles happen, the miracles that make up our lives. Amen.