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!  

January 21, 2018               Fishers of Men                                    

This morning, I’d like to start with the story of Jonah. We all learned in Sunday School the story of how Jonah was called by the LORD to go to the city of Nineveh. And how Jonah decided instead to catch a boat going the other way. We all know how God made a storm to come up over the sea, and the sailors threw Jonah overboard, and he was swallowed by a great fish. And we know how Jonah was coughed up on shore and was called again to go to Nineveh, and when he did, he walked through the city saying, "40 days and Nineveh shall be no more", and the people repented. And that’s pretty much the story of Nineveh we get in Sunday School, except for that last part about Jonah sulking that Nineveh was not destroyed.

What they don’t tell you in Sunday School, is that Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria, the greatest military power on earth in those days. And as part of their military policy, they didn’t just conquer people, they laid waste to the places they attacked, slaughtering even women and children. Indeed, in their conquering of Israel, their army slaughtered nearly 60,000 people. The Assyrian military, then gathered up it’s plunder and brought it back to Nineveh, where the people indulged in all kinds of pleasures, without a thought even for their own poor starving people.

I guess by now, you should be getting a picture of why Jonah tried to run away. Going to Nineveh for Jonah, would be like some foreign Muslim preacher coming to New York City today, and calling people to repent – he would be lucky to get through the city alive. Yes, Nineveh ranks right up there with Sodom, Gomorrah, Babylon, and Rome in the just plain filled with evil department, which is why Jonah pouted when God did not destroy them. But the bottom line is, they repented and God saved them.

I spent a good deal of time this weekend thinking about Nineveh as I watched the news about the government shut-down and the women’s marches this weekend. Our leaders don’t really seem to care about how much damage they do to the people of this country, as long as they get their own way, and pay off their donors(and that's both parties). And I think the women’s marches reveal that we have a great many problems with racism, sexism, and poverty that need to be named and addressed. I believe in these events, God is calling us to repent of that nationalism, prejudice and injustice that tears at the fabric of our nation. I believe there is a parallel here between Assyria and America, between the women’s march and Jonah’s call to repentence.  

You know, some people say that we no longer live in a Christian nation, and to that I say Bolognie – ham and swiss, liver and onions!  I believe that those children of the sixties and seventies who went to church with their parents know full well the God revealed in Jesus Christ. They may not attend church now, but they know, it’s part of their spiritual make-up. They see the world the way it is, and they know something is wrong, they hear the call to repentence and are ready to do so. I believe that’s what happened at Nineveh, the population knew something was not right, and so they turned, and God saved them! So where does that leave us?.....

This year is Year B in our lectionary, which means we should read a lot from the gospel of Mark. Mark’s gospel was written to the citizens of the Roman empire. Citizens who had begun to realize that there was something not quite right with Rome. Citizens who had been promised opportunity, justice, and equality, but had been denied these things. And so we have Mark’s gospel of Jesus Christ, which calls the Roman citizens to “follow me”. To them, Jesus is some foreign prophet, who knows more about God than the people of Rome, and they respond to that message, it takes a bit, but eventually Christianity overcomes the Roman Empire! I think that says something about the power of God, In history God overcomes Pharoah, Babylon, Assyria, Rome, that’s quite a record. So what does God offer us today!

Back in the “aughts”, about 2005, I read a book by my NT professor Steven Patterson, who wrote about the Son of God. One of the earlier chapters spoke about the first disciples, and what they saw in him. They saw someone who knew the God of the prophets, who could envision, communicate, and realize for them what it meant to live in God’s love, to live in faithfulness to one another. They saw someone who could overcome their human divisions, teach them to care for each other, and change their lives. When they heard Jesus call, they realized the world was not as it should be, and they dropped their nets, and followed him. 

Despite the harsh rule of Rome, they could live in peace and treat one another justly. Professor Patterson says, this was an Exodus from Egypt, without having to leave Egypt. It was freedom from Rome, while Rome was still in power, and for us today, it means finding God’s kingdom in our lives, no matter how our leaders mess up, and no matter what our problems are. It means proclaiming the kingdom of God and being "fishers of men", .. and women,... and all people.

“Follow me”, Jesus says, and in doing so, he invites us to be saved from the powers of sin and death, to find life in abundance in a world of scarcity, and to find life in this world and life everlasting.  And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ! 

January 14, 2018                       Come and See                                                                 

A number of years ago, I purchased a DVD from Adam Hamilton, entitled, “When Christians Get it Wrong”. The DVD contained a series of 8 minute sermons, on topics where Christianity has been corrupted by political opinions. Some of those topics include the use of religion to deny science, the use of religion in politics, the use of religion to denounce sinners and others, and etc. 

At the beginning of the DVD Adam Hamilton cites studies in which people under the age of 30 are increasingly turning away from the Christian Faith. In discussion groups with youth, these studies find that there is one word that dominates the discussion - Hypocrisy. It seems that 70 percent of youth use this word to describe Christianity, and hence they leave the church and seek God on their own, or even turn to other religions as a guide to finding God.

Now I realize that a good portion of this comes from the portrayal of religious people in politics, news media, and even in the portrayal of Christians on television and movies. But the tipping point for many youth who leave the church, is when they find these attitudes in their own churches. The Good News is, that these young seekers of truth want to know God. The not so good news is, they are seeking God on their own, apart from a community of faith, which can lead them to be easily misled, or worse, lead them to lose their faith. And that’s where we find our gospel lesson this morning.  

In the first chapter of John, following the prologue, we find the story of Jesus calling his first disciples. John the Baptist witnesses to Jesus saying, Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Immediately, his disciples leave John and follow Jesus. When they ask Jesus where he is staying, he tells them to come and see. And when they do, when they get to know him, they become so excited that they go out and invite others to come and see as well.

In our reading this morning, we hear the story of the calling of Nathaniel. Now Nathaniel is a skeptic, he has seen the corruption of the Jewish religion by the politics of the priest, and so he is untrusting of anyone who preaches religion. Nathaniel is one of those young people of his day, who hungers and thirsts for God, but does not know where to find God – that is until he meets Jesus!

In the reading, Jesus first acknowledges Nathaniel’s skepticism by saying he is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit, and secondly, he recognizes Nathaniel’s desire to find God, by saying he saw him under the fig tree. You see, in Judaism, the fig tree is an image of salvation, as the prophet Micah says, in that day, all will come to worship the Lord, and they will beat their swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks, and all will sit under their own fig tree, and none shall be afraid, and the shall make war no more.

By saying he saw Nathaniel sitting under the fig tree, he is telling him that that day is about to come, and that Jesus message is about that day. That is why we get the immediate response to Jesus by Nathaniel that he is the King of Israel and the Son of God! According to Nathaniel, here is a teacher - who has it right!

Now in our world today, there are a lot of people out there who are looking for God on their own. A lot of people who have left their churches because of the hypocrisy they have experienced in them. They are looking for a church that will offer them this vision of the world’s salvation. One in which we can all live together as brothers and sisters in peace. One in which we meet the needs of those who suffer and are in want. One in which there is justice for not just us, but for the others among us. It is this gospel, which is the true message, and the straight path to reaching God, and the Nathaniels of this world will be drawn to it! 

And so, for those who are discouraged about inviting others to come to church, I encourage you to continue to invite them to come and see! And I encourage us all to continue to make Union Congregational the kind of place where people will see God's love in our affection for each other and the ministries of love that we provide. For then, we will find new family members for our church and new disciples of Jesus Christ. And that's the good news of Jesus Christ.

January 7, 2018         The Baptism of Jesus                                       

Once upon a time, there was a man who had a dream. A dream that he received a letter from the white house, inviting him for a visit, telling him to be dressed and outside his home on his birthday. On his birthday, a limosine pulled up, and he was wisked to the airport, and then to a helicopter pad, and soon he was standing on the White house lawn. He was then invited inside, and found himself in the oval office, and there to his surprise, there was a picture of himself and his family on the president’s desk.  The president came in, welcomed the man, and they sat and talked about their families and the country for a bit, mostly about what the president could do for families like his all over the country. About noon, a cart was wheeled in with some lunch, and the man got up to serve himself, but the president said, “no, no, I invited you, let me serve you lunch”, and so he did. And then the dream ended.

This week, when we celebrate the baptism of Jesus, someone actually spoke to me on the phone about baptizing their grandchildren! Yeah, stuff happens like that, and my suspicion is that God is directing this stuff that happens.  So I thought to myself, since I haven’t done a baptism yet, let’s talk about baptism in my sermon this Sunday. Part of the liturgy in the UCC Book of Worship, says that three things are going on during baptism. God claims us, we claim God and the Congregation claims us. That’s the short version. Here’s the longer version.

God claims us – You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. These are words from Mark that we hear at the baptism of Jesus. These are also the words that I use in baptism. Baptism is the moment when before a congregation of witnesses, God claims us as God’s own children. Imagine the most powerful person in all of the world, inviting you, welcoming you, caring about you, serving you. That is what is being expressed in baptism. The Creator and Ruler of heaven and earth is claiming you as their own, their acceptance and delight in you!

     We claim God –  this means that there is a fundamental and intentional change in our lives on our part. Remember years ago, when the “What would Jesus do?” movement was popular. That movement came straight out of baptism. We are called to be new people, to make the decisions of our lives based on God’s love for us, and expressed in God’s love for all. Now this is not easy stuff! Remember, after the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus at his baptism, the Holy Spirit drove him into the wilderness to face temptation. The president of Eden Seminary, when I was a student, Gene Wehrli told us, it’s when we make a commitment to Christ, that we are tempted by the world. For it is then that we see the ways of men and of the ways of God, and we are called to make a choice. Baptism is not the end of our journey, it isn’t an inclusion into some club, it is the beginning of our faith journey in life, and from that point on, with each act of faith, each decision made trusting in God, we live and grow in our faith, and in discovering God’s blessings in our lives.

The Congregation claims us – I love this part! I like to tell people that when we do a baptism, we are reminded of our own baptism. That we are called to claim this new person as God has claimed us! This is the presence of the Holy Spirit in Baptism, and why I believe baptisms should all be conducted before the full congregation on Sunday mornings. I know that there are sheep and goats in every congregation, but beware, sometimes the goats love you more than you know. I’ve seen congregation members care for each other in illness, the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, the ending of a marriage, problems with children, and on and on. When you are baptized, you enter into a very special family of people who seek to live in God’s love with you and with each other. My own mother, after my father died, has a church family that cherishes her, and dotes on her. I don’t think young people quite get this, and I wish there was a way to share how wonderful this is – especially, since I have seen how wonderfully the people of Union Congregational care for each other! 

And so I hope that you will reflect upon what happens in Baptism, that you will experience God's love in God's claiming of you, that you will intentionally work at claiming God for your life, and that you will appreciate the loving community God has given to you, and seek to be a part of it. Because when you do, then you will grow in your Christian faith, and in experience of God's presence in your life. And that's the good news of Jesus Christ.