July 21, 2019        The Better Part                                               

Our gospel lesson, about the story of Martha and Mary, seems pretty simple. Martha, invites Jesus to come to her home to preach the gospel. I suppose that she probably worked for hours in the kitchen to prepare a nice meal, and when Jesus and the guests arrive, she welcomes them, and prepares for service. As Jesus speaks about the kingdom of heaven, she is pouring wine, getting food, clearing dishes, all the stuff that women are supposed to do, when they invite a guest speaker and host a party in their home.

But there is one thing that rankles Martha. It is her sister Mary. Instead of helper her with all the work, as her sister should, Mary sits at Jesus feet, listening to him preach. So at a break in the proceedings, I imagine that she pulls Jesus aside and says, “Hey Jesus, tell Mary to get off her duff and help me out here.” And that’s where the story stops being simple.

If it were simple, Jesus might motion Mary over to him, and then say, “Gee Mary, you really could help your sister Martha out in the kitchen.” But that’s not what he says, instead we get this, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and busy with so many things, only one thing is necessary, and your sister Mary has chosen what is best, and it shall not be taken from her.”

Now I’ve heard sermons that see this as Jesus striking a blow for women’s liberation, but in the first century, I don’t think that was his point. Wouldn’t you, if you were hosting a party, expect your family members to help out? No, something more is going on here, but what?

One of the traditional understandings of this text is that Martha represents the Jewish religion, which has become all about doing the works of the law. Mary on the other hand, represents Christianity, who has found in Jesus Christ, God’s Word. Martha’s coming to Jesus and demanding that he tell Mary to help her in her work, is like the followers of Judaism demanding that Christians do the works of the law as well. In other words, the Jewish religion of that time, had reduced religion to busy work, that had missed the reason for all their busy work.

One of the sermons I read this week said it this way. A group of chaplains were asked by a member of their advisory board, about the moral character of college students these days. One of them responded, that while they were ambitious about their careers, they also found time to tutor students, and work in a homeless shelter, and a soup kitchen, and they gathered to discuss and demonstrate against injustice in the world, and etc.

“So what your saying,” the advisory board member said,  “is that they are good people doing good things, but what I was wondering is, do they know why they are doing these good things, do they have a vision of God’s salvation, that gives them the strength to do these things, and continue to do these things for a lifetime. Because after a while, just doing good things, can wear you down, if you don’t have a vision of why you are doing them.”

In our story this morning, it isn’t that Martha isn’t doing good things. She invited Jesus to her house, she is preparing the food and taking care of her guests, all good stuff, all necessary stuff. But what Mary has chosen to do, is to sit at Jesus feet, and hear about the kingdom of heaven, of God’s love for us and what it can mean for our lives. What Mary has chosen is to hear about why we should love our neighbor as ourselves, why we should love God with all our heart and soul and strength and mind, and why we should seek to do all the good works that God calls us to do.  Mary has chosen to listen to the Word of Jesus Christ, because that Word is the foundation of all that we do.

So I think, the story of Martha and Mary, is a reminder to the church about it’s foundation being found in Jesus Word, rather than in the things that we do. Churches can get caught up in doing lots of good things in their service to their members, and in their service to the community, but sometimes they can get lost in all that work, and forget why they are doing that work in the first place.

And the same holds true for us in our lives, we can get so busy, in our work life, in our family lives, in our hobbies and interests, in our successes and our failures. We can get so wrapped up in doing things, that they lose their meaning, and we become discouraged or even lost in the living of our lives. We need to remember the reason for our being, and the source of our strength for living

That’s where Mary comes in, she is reminder to us that Jesus Word to us, the vision of God’s kingdom of earth, and of God’s great love for us, is the foundation of who we are as Christians, and the source of strength for the living of our lives, and for our work together as Christ’s church. It’s the better part! And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

July 14, 2019        Word – Christ – Action                                      

Having preached on the text of the Good Samaritan, every three years for the last 30, I thought that this week, I would see what some other people had to say on the topic. When I googled Good Samaritan, I found a lot of sermons and stories about neighbors helping neighbors, and strangers helping friends. Which were quite inspirational. I also read a number of sermons that talked about being good neighbors and helping out the stranger. These also were quite inspirational. But there was something missing from these stories, that is in Jesus parable of the Good Samaritan, something important for us not to lose.

We have all heard that the Jews hated Samaritans, they claimed to worship the God of the Jews, but on their own mountain, and in their own ways. This led to a variety of skirmishes and violence between them, and to publicly shunning one another. But in the parable of the Good of Samaritan, it is the Samaritan who practices God’s commandment to show mercy, rather than the Priest – who knows the Word of God, and the Levite – who supposedly has dedicated himself to doing the works of God. The simple truth that Jesus is trying to point out, is that God can be in anyone who does God’s will, showing mercy to someone in need.

Now I know that you have heard this kind of sermon before, so I just wanted to consider what that means. In all the stories I read about Good Samaritans this week, it was always the benevolent wealthy person, or the good citizen, or the wonderful Christian person, who was featured as the Good Samaritan in the story. And yes, that is great news that there are people like that among us, but there is no getting around the fact, that the person who does the will of God in the parable, isn’t one of us, it’s someone who is labeled a heretic, unclean, an enemy.

In order for a modern day story to truly fit the story of the Good Samaritan, the injured person would have to be one of us, and the Samaritan would have to be a Muslim, or a Mexican, or an Asian, or any other foreigner. They could be a legal or illegal immigrant, or any other person, which our dominant culture considers unclean, or unworthy. Someone of whom we are to be afraid. The story of the Good Samaritan bears witness, that God can be found in everyone’s heart, no matter who they are, or where they came from.  Now while our worldly leaders repeatedly try to make us fear these people, and try to play us against one another, I think it’s Good News that God can be found, not just in us, but in them as well.

As I thought about this I googled immigrant Good Samaritan stories, and foreigner Good Samaritan stories, and ten best Good Samaritan stories of the year. One of these was the story of a Mexican immigrant here on a green card, who during an orange alert, saw a young girl under a canvas in the bed of a pickup truck, and sought to free her. He was beaten and left for dead, but he created enough of a disturbance, that the police were called and they quickly found the girl. There was a story about a Muslim cab driver in New York, who saw a woman being mugged, got out of his cab, and risked his life to chase off the attacker. There was also a story about a Muslim group, who in the last year, helped rebuild Christian churches that had been burnt to the ground, and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to non-muslim causes, as a witness to the Spirit of God’s compassion for others.

These people are Good Samaritans, not because of their race or religion, but because of their ability to show mercy to those in need, and a willingness to suffer themselves for one another. They are not just people who have heard God’s Word, like our lawyer in the gospel lesson, or the priest, or the Levite in the parable, they are people who act upon God’s Word on behalf of others. For us Christians, that demonstrates the presence of the Spirit of Christ. And that presence gives us hope, that despite our differences, that we can all be one through that Spirit of Christ in our lives. And that is the Good News of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

July 7,2019      Imagine,.. the Kingdom of God                             

This morning, I would like to focus on Jesus sending out of the 70. In our gospel lesson, he sends them out without extra clothing, bags, or money. That’s easy enough, Jesus wants them to rely on God, rather than themselves. He sends them out in pairs, certainly so they can show by example how to treat one another, but also, so they can be witnesses for one another. Jesus tells them to go to one household and stay there for a number of days, rather than go from house to house. The explanation for that is he doesn’t want them to be predators, taking advantage of one household after another, but rather to build community within the one household they visit.

He tells them to announce peace to the household, and if they accept that peace, to stay in that house, but if not, peace will return to them. And if the town does not receive their peace, they are to shake the dust off their sandals, and announce that the Kingdom of God has come near. That’s the part of the passage I meditated on this week.

Obviously the peace they were to announce was not the kind of peace the world offers. The world offers peace at the point of a spear, police officers, or money. The disciples of God are called to offer a peace that comes from the Spirit of God’s love for one another. The kingdom of men, is one that is apathetic to the suffering of others, and Jesus disciples are called to offer a vision of the Kingdom of God in which people genuinely care for one another. So I tried to imagine what that would look like…….. 

Back in 2003, the United Church of Christ ran a stewardship campaign called Imagine. In a series of articles, it sought to help people imagine a different world than the one in which we lived at the time. For instance, In a world where there is prejudice and racism, imagine a world where people of different races and faiths get along together. In a world where family farms are going under because of unstable grain and fertilizer prices, imagine a world where markets are stable, so that family farmers can get through tough years without losing their farm. In a world, where pollution is filling our skies with smog, and our rivers and lakes with debris, imagine a world in which the skies are clear, and our waters clear.

Now these are just three of the articles from over a dozen that were listed in the campaign, but the point of it was, that we as Christians, were called to seek a better Kingdom in which to live, than the Kingdom we currently inhabit. Rather than the Kingdom of men, we are called to imagine the Kingdom of God in our midst. And by doing that, we will be motivated by the Holy Spirit, to give of ourselves and to act in ways that will bring that Kingdom into being.

At our weekly minister’s lectionary meeting, we spent some time talking about how this week’s sermon might help people to envision the Kingdom of God and what it would look like in Somonauk and Sandwich. Are there people who are hungry, imagine how we might feed them, and if someone is already doing that, how can we help? Are there people who are addicted to drugs, imagine how we can help them address that addiction, and if someone is already doing that, how can we help? I chose these first two examples, because we have both a Food Pantry, and an AA ministry in this town. So let’s move on.

Are there poor and aging people in our town, who are unable to keep their homes or keep them in good repair, image how we might help them fix up their homes, or help them stay in their homes. In both LaSalle/Peru and in Smithton, there were groups that fixed up homes, and got single parents into repaired homes. Are there children or families suffering from divorce or loss, imagine how we might help them in such a time of crises. In Smithton, churches worked together with the grade school  to offer a program called Rainbows, for children who were going through separation and loss. Are there children who are going hungry, through no fault of their own, imagine how we might feed these kids. In Jerseyville, churches offered backpack programs, and a summer feeding program.

What are the problems of this community? Where are people broken and hurting in our town? Can we imagine some ways in which we might bring peace to their lives? Remember, Jesus send his followers into the world, to bring peace, to build households of faith, to heal the sick, and to drive out demons. Through faith, the disciples came back praising God, and rejoicing, not only for the power of the Spirit in their lives, but also, as Jesus said, because their names were written in the book of life!

And the Good News is, that your names can be written in the book of life as well. Amen. 

June 30, 2019        Freedom in Christ                                             

This coming Thursday, we will celebrate the fourth of July. Many of us will do this by having family and friends over, or going to the lake, or having a barbecue. We will celebrate our freedom to be who we want to be and to do what we want to do.

Some on that day, will remember our independence day. They will remember how the thirteen colonies declared their independence from England, and great quotes about “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” They will remember how the people banded together and became “one nation, under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.”

One of the things I remember from my high school history class, was reading a critique of American Democracy, written by Alexis De Toqueville. Having seen the struggles and failures of democracy in Europe, De Toqueville found in America, a hunger for freedom and liberty, that inspired men and women, to live responsibly in their lives together, and to seek justice and equality for all. Having lived without freedom, under British rule, they seemed to understand that unless there was freedom and justice for all, there would be freedom and justice for no one. At the end of his critique, De Toqueville warned of the danger of losing that hunger for freedom that could lead to the collapse of democracy in our nation.

Some 200 years later, there are some who argue, that that nation of people who had a hunger for freedom that sought justice for all, has devolved into a nation of people all seeking their own personal freedom at the expense of one another. Some call for a renewed respect for established authority and the law. While others call for a renewed spirit of responsibility and love for one another.

And that is where we come to our Epistle lesson today. As I mentioned earlier, the church at Galatia had two factions. One group heard Paul preach about their freedom from the law, and took that to mean that they were free to do whatever they chose, to live however they wanted, without regard for it’s effects on others, or even themselves. That was the part about worshipping idols, indulging in witchcraft, drunkenness, and selfishness leading to immoral ways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds.

The other group, were the moral majority, who advocated a return to law and order, justice and punishment for those who did not follow the law of Moses. This was the part of the crowd that was jealous, envious, hateful, and argumentative. Always looking for a fight, always looking to condemn one another.

The problem for Paul was that neither self-indulgence nor strict adherence to the law, resulted in freedom. The only thing that resulted in freedom, was the Spirit of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ. Perhaps the line I focused on the most from our reading was this. “My friends, you were chosen to be free. So don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do anything you want. Use it as an opportunity to serve each other with love.”

In this statement, Paul rejects both the seeking of personal freedom through self-indulgence, and slavery to the law as a means of freedom. In regard to the latter, our motivation for our actions should not be the law, or any law, but should be LOVE! Another ways of saying this, is that we should not be motivated to do what is in the best interest of others, not out of fear of punishment by the law, but we should do what is in the best interest of others, out of love. A love that guarantees the rights and freedoms of all, therefore each one of us.

This week, I read a quote by Reinhold Neibuhr that put it this way. “Basically love means… being responsible, to our family, to our civilization, and … to the universe of humankind.” Since he starts with the phrase “our family”, let’s put it this way. Shouldn’t the motivations of our actions towards our family be that of love, rather than fear of punishment. And shouldn’t the motivation of our family members towards us be from love, rather than fear of punishment? Neibuhr’s idea, is that this motivation of love, should extend beyond our family, to our community, and to the world as a whole.

Now, one of the things I love about this church, and it’s people, is that you have a strong spirit of this love. I have observed your love for others in this community in your acts of service to one another. You suffer yourselves in love for one another, so that all may benefit, so that all may be free to live their lives, and have the opportunity to become the best they can be. You have a sense of justice and equality for all, that calls you to expect the best from yourselves, and lovingly encourage others to be the best that they can be.

And this last week, I spent 5 days at General Synod, discussing and voting on resolutions, that were grounded in this kind of love. A love for others that sought to set them free from their oppression by the powers that be in this day an age. A love that sought their freedom, so that we might also be free! A love that, as the theme of General Synod stated, a love that shines in the darkness of the world.

This is no accident. This kind of love comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. This kind of love comes only from a deep sense of God’s love for us, and a belief that this love is both our salvation, and the world’s salvation.

And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ! 

June 16,2019                 Wisdom                                                  

As I mentioned in our announcements this morning, this week I will be going to the General Synod of the United Church of Christ in Milwaukee. This is the first time that I have attended a General Synod, so I am looking forward to the worship services, the concerts, the presentations and of course the debates over the resolutions of the national church.

Now the resolutions of the United Church of Christ often cause a great stir among it’s membership, and this year I suppose some of them may do the same. Some of the resolutions that are to be debated this year include:  a resolution to abolish private prisons, a resolution to denounce religious bigotry, a resolution to denounce racism and white supremacy, a resolution to condemn separating children from their parents, a resolution to lift up the concerns of the mentally disabled, a resolution to denounce violence, a resolution to support the survivors of rape and sexual assault, and a resolution to recognize opiod addiction as a health epidemic, and a resolution to support climate justice and a green new deal.

As you might have noticed, many of these resolutions came from events in the past couple of years, and these resolutions are meant to present a Christian perspective on these events, and to speak with one voice to our government, our national corporations, and to any other powers that be, on the subjects of these resolutions. Now in our churches, we might not all agree on these resolutions, and indeed, at a General Synod, not all the delegates agree either, but we make and vote on these resolutions, because as followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to speak a Word about who we believe Jesus calls us to be, and we are called to speak a Word that stands out from the worldly voices that create and encourage sin, suffering and death in the world, for the sake of wealth and power.

Which brings us to our gospel lesson this morning. In our gospel lesson Jesus calls the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, and tells his disciples that this Spirit of Truth will guide them, and declare to them the things that are to come. In other words, the Holy Spirit helps Jesus followers to face and how to react to the trials and troubles that they will face. And the most important part of the Holy Spirit, and the way in which we know it is the Holy Spirit, is that it will remind us of how Jesus lived and acted in his life and ministry on earth.

And so that is the attempt that is made, every few years when we gather at General Synod, to view the events of the world and our nation, to listen for the Holy Spirit to speak to us and guide us, and to speak that Word to the World. I can’t say it always works, or that it makes everyone happy, but I can say, that as you read the resolutions, they are faithfully grounded in scripture, and seek to glorify the ministry of Jesus Christ.

One final note: A couple of years ago, I led a bible study of proverbs. If any of you have tried to read the book of proverbs, it seems like one long, long, long, book of short sayings, that at times seem unrelated to one another. But in the end, as we neared the end of the study, we began to realize that wisdom comes to us, not through knowledge, but through behavior.

Now there are all kinds of knowledge that we can gain in the world, some we call good and not good. We can learn knowledge from doing what is right, and we can learn knowledge from doing what is wrong. For example: we can learn knowledge from living a healthy life, or knowledge that comes from living an unhealthy life, knowledge that can be gained from being faithful to others, or unfaithful to others, knowledge that comes from faith, hope and love, or knowledge that comes from fear, despair, and hate. And etc. Wisdom, according to the book of Proverbs is knowledge that comes from living a life that is devoted to God’s will and ways.

The reason for this final note, is that the Holy Spirit acts in much the same way. It reveals God’s wisdom, guidance, and truth to those who are followers of, and live in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. And so the good news is, that we have been given access to the wisdom and truth of God, through our faith in Jesus Christ. Amen.  

June 9th, 2019            Come, Holy Spirit                            

Today is Pentecost Sunday, when the Christian Church celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus Christ. Many churches celebrate Pentecost by confirming their youth into membership in the church. An idealized way of looking at this, is that when the confirmands claim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they are filled with the Holy Spirit to go forth into the world and face life’s challenges as Christians.

On this Sunday, we at Union Congregational Church are celebrating those who became members 50 or more years ago. Some of them became members through Confirmation, some of them became members because they were facing some trial in their life and had turned to Jesus Christ as their savior, some of them had been invited to church by someone and had found a home in the church.

When I was confirmed, I remember sitting in the pew, wondering what would happen when the pastor laid his hand on my head, and announced a blessing upon me. Would I suddenly be filled with some powerful spirit, would I roll around the aisle speaking in tongues. Just kidding. What I did experience was a sense of God’s love for me, a sense that God claimed me as one of God’s own, and a sense that from that moment on I was called to live life as a Christian.  

Not everyone becomes a member through confirmation. Through the years, I have heard many stories from people who had a friend or mentor invite them to church, and how they found a home with a people who made them feel welcome, cared for and loved. I have heard stories from people who were facing some crisis in life, who had come to the church and heard a message that gave them peace and strength for the living of their lives. I have heard stories from people who were church shopping and found a place that truly spoke to them about who God is, and gave them opportunities to live a Christian life through a variety of mission and ministry.

What unites all of these stories, is a sense of God’s love for us, of God claiming us, of God giving us peace and strength and meaning in our lives, a sense of our inclusion in the family of God, of direction for our lives, and a passion for living  That is where we come to our readings from scripture on this Pentecost Sunday, because that sense of all these things, is called the presence of the Holy Spirit.

In another part of John’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples, “my peace I give to you, I do not give (peace) as the world gives. Do not be troubled and do not be afraid.” This peace does not come from a worldly spirit, but from the Holy Spirit.

         For instance, when people believe that this world is all there is, they believe that the truth of life can be found in climbing the highest mountain, becoming the greatest success, or accumulating the greatest amount of money. Indeed, we live in the midst of a world full of people who believe that knowledge, power, wealth, and self-indulgence is the only truth and purpose of existence. Unfortunately, with time, our minds forget, our strength fails, our wealth is spent, and we reach the limit of our indulgence, and that worldly belief and spirit that so drove us, leads us to anxiety and despair.

         But then, as I mentioned before, many people find a different Spirit in which they find life, the Holy Spirit that is ours through faith in God’s love for us in Jesus Christ. In our gospel lesson this morning, Jesus names the Holy Spirit in a number of different ways.

         The Holy Spirit is our Guide, in that it directs us to choose and live by those values which have eternal significance for our lives. It encourages us to value our relationships with one another as more important than material things. It encourages us to practice honesty and faithfulness in our relationships with others. It inspires us to seek justice and the common good of all in the living of our lives. It helps us to see others not as our opponents or enemies, but as brothers and sisters, and as children of God deserving of a share in the blessings of creation. It leads us to live a life that gives thanks and praise to God for our blessings, and to seek God in the midst of our tests, trials, and setbacks.  

The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, in that it sets us free from the worldly powers and desires that we have allowed to rule over our lives. It helps us to see that this world is not all there is, so we do not need to despair of losing our minds, our bodies, our strength or our wealth. It helps us to understand that our trials and troubles in the world are not some punishment for being failures, but challenges to us to grow, and to ask God for guidance in our lives. Finally, this Spirit helps us to understand that our sufferings in life, unite us with the sufferings of Jesus Christ, so that in his death and resurrection, lies our hope for death and resurrection to eternal life as well.

The Holy Spirit is our Advocate, in that it seeks for us those eternal values of justice, faithfulness, compassion, and mercy to become the values of our relationships, communities, nations, and even the whole world. In establishing these values in the human community, the Holy Spirit acts on our behalf to protect us from the self-centered values of the world, and from the self-centered pursuits of those who live only for this world.   

         Finally, our Scriptures this morning, call the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Life, because quite simply, when we believe in the truth of the resurrection to eternal life that is ours in Jesus Christ, it is then that we truly begin living. It is then that we value our human relationships with one another, and all around us as children of God. It is then that we heal our divisions and the wounds that are caused by our self-centered pursuits. It is then that we seek lasting relationships, friendships, and goals that will be valued and treasured our whole life long. It is then that we begin to live for eternity, and begin to live in the light of our relationship with our creator and our savior Jesus Christ. And that is the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen.