March 18, 2018            Written on our Hearts                               

You may have noticed this morning, that our prayer of confession came from Psalm 51. Psalm 51 is probably the best known prayer of confession in the bible. It is the prayer of confession that David prayed before God, after the he had Uriah killed so that he could take Bathsheba as one of his wives. The prophet Nathan let David know, that in his pride and arrogance, he had strayed from God, and done what was evil in God’s sight.

Psalm 51 shows us a David who is truly repentant. A person who understands that his actions have separated himself from God, and that only by acknowledging that separation, and turning back to total reliance on God, for the living of his life, and for his behavior towards others, can he be forgiven. And that is why Psalm 51 is such a powerful prayer of confession for those who pray this prayer regularly, because all of us have some guilt about how we have acted in our lives, how we have treated others, how we have gone astray. All of us, in our lives, whether we know it or not, are seeking forgiveness.

This past week, at our DeKalb Clergy Meeting, our Prairie Association Minister Kathy Lawes, asked me about my being from the more confessional side of the UCC. And I talked to her about the german pietistic tradition of recognizing our sins, so that we might turn from them and live – as in the story of Moses and the serpents. I also noted this week’s Psalm 51, as an example of our need to confess our separation from God, so that we can turn and live anew. This confessional theology, is not an attempt to riddle us with guilt, but is in fact an attempt to free us from the stranglehold that guilt has on our lives, so that we can be the people God calls us to be.

Perhaps the most important part of this confessional theology, is that in order to accept forgiveness, we must believe in a God who has the authority to forgive us. And that is where our reading from Hebrews this morning comes in. It speaks of our high priest, and who became our high priest not through an election, or through money or power. Our high priest came into power through obedience, through humility, through suffering, and even death upon a cross – for us! Our high priest lived his life, showing forth the glory of God’s love for each and every one of us, and that is what give Jesus the authority to forgive our sins. For in Jesus we have the example of one who met sin in the world, and time and time again, in obedience to the God who loves each one of us, turned from it. Only through faith in this one who was worthy, who lived in a sinful world and was without sin, can we accept forgiveness for our sins, find peace in our lives, and live anew.

Now some skeptics may argue that this whole forgiveness thing is a scam. They will point to priests and pastors and politicians, and laugh at those who are willing to give a “mulligan” to these people for past deeds. But those are political arguments, in which we find men forgiving other men for politics or power, without repentance, and acceptance of Jesus Christ. What I am talking about is the genuine spiritual experience of  accepting God’s love for us in Jesus Christ, being freed of the guilt and fear of past actions, and turning to live a new life. And that is where we meet our reading from the book of Jeremiah this morning.

 Jeremiah is writing to an Israelite people who had forgotten their God, trusted in themselves, and for it, were being deported to Babylon. Jeremiah tells them, that even now, after all they have done to break the covenant, their God still loves them, and is still willing to make promises to them. One day, God’s law will be written on their hearts – they will act in humility and obedience to God.  One day, all people will know God, and they will act in love towards one another. One day, God will remember their sin no more – they will accept God’s forgiveness and not allow the sins of the past to rule their lives.

    In every church, including this one, I meet people in whom God’s promise has already been fulfilled. You know them as faithful, humble, God fearing, compassionate, caring people, who are willing to suffer themselves for the work of the church, for those who are struggling, and even for those who are new to our community. They are amazing people who have made God’s love for us known in our lives when we most needed it. God’s promise is that one day all of us will be like this, and what a wonderful day that will be! And I encourage all of you to seek this day, by accepting God’s forgiveness of your sins, and becoming disciples of Jesus Christ! 

March 11, 2018                        Lifted Up                                                

Way back in the 80’s, there was a pop song called “Man in the Mirror”. It talked about the problems in the world, hunger, sickness, poverty, and a growing feeling that people had that nothing could be done about it. But the song came to the realization that  a great deal of the suffering in the world, came from our all individually pursuing our own self interest, and that if we wanted to make a difference in the world, then we all had to take a look in the mirror, and choose to change our ways, to live in ways that would overcome this suffering, through our thoughtfulness for others.

I thought of this song, because of our Old testament lesson this morning. The Israelites find themselves in the wilderness, and they are grumbling against God. Now when most people hear the story of the Israelites being slaves in Egypt, they think of the poverty of slaves in movies like Roots, eating gruel and knowing only hardship. But in the book of Exodus, we often hear the slaves in the wilderness, crying about how they wanted to go back to Egypt, to sit beside their cooking pots, where they plenty to eat. How they would gladly give up the terrible freedom God had won for them, for a good pot of beans.

Anyway, many of you know what grumbling can do to a community, it can destroy morale, make people act solely for themselves, create disagreements, and become even violent. Moses is often caught saying that the Israelites were out to overthrow him. So what does God do about this? God sends serpents among the people, who bite the people, and spread poison among them. And God commands Moses to create a bronze serpent, and lift it up before the Israelites, so that those who look upon it may recognize their sin, and turn and live.

So what does this have to do with the song, “Man in the Mirror”. Well, the Jewish interpretation of this scripture is that the serpents came because of the grumbling of the Israelites, and the poison spread by that grumbling against Moses and God. And so by having Moses raise up the bronze serpent on the pole, God was confronting them and calling them to repent of their grumbling, and those that did, lived. Like the “Man in the Mirror” song, they had to look in the mirror, and see that they were the cause of their suffering.  

In our gospel lesson this morning, Jesus reminds Nicodemus of this story of the serpents and the bronze snake that Moses lifted up in the wilderness for their salvation. Now Nicodemus is a leader of the Jews, and in the 3^rd chapter of John, Jesus confronts him about turning Judaism into a religion concerned only about the flesh, about the keeping of moral law and punishing or excluding those who go astray. By using the image of the serpents in the wilderness, Jesus is attempting to tell Nicodemus, that the moralistic religion of the Jews, is what has poisoned the Jewish faith, and made if fruitless in the lives of the Jewish people.

And so, Jesus tells Nicodemus that in the same way, the Son of Man will be lifted up on the cross. And in seeing Jesus upon the cross and recognizing him as the Son of God, we will see the destructive power of sin in our lives. We will see how living  for the flesh, rather than the spirit, creates our own suffering and death. Only in recognizing Jesus humility, obedience to God, and love for us, will we be able to turn and live as disciples of Christ, to overcome sin, suffering, and death in our lives.  

March 4, 2018         We Preach Christ Crucified                             

This morning, our gospel lesson from John tells us about Jesus coming to the temple and becoming enraged at what he sees, grabs a whip of cords and drives the sellers and the money changers out of the temple. Jesus is angry at these people who have turned the Jewish religion into some kind of for profit business, and used the name of God to do so.

And so it is appropriate this morning, that this gospel reading is paired with the reading of the ten commandments in the old testament, so that we might look at some examples of how they had been corrupted by the Jewish leaders and even how we have corrupted them today.   

The first example of this is the 3^rd commandment. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Many people understand this to mean we shouldn’t use God’s name as an expletive. God this and Jesus that. But the real intention of this law is that one should not use God’s name to justify themselves or their pursuits. Business people who say they are good Christians in order to sell a product. Politicians who claim Christian values to get elected. And Christian groups that support behaviors that are decidedly not that of Christ. Yet the Jewish leaders had little problem with people using God’s name to come to the temple to sell their products.

Another example is the 4^th commandment. Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. God gave this commandment because in Egypt the Israelites were forced to work 24/7. The intention was that in taking a day to honor God, they would be freed from this grind. In our world today, this isn’t just about our work hours, we face a 24/7 grind of living for ourselves, we work for our living, then we work for ourselves on weeknights and weekdays. Even taking a day for ourselves has become work. And that’s why we are to take a day to honor God, to love our neighbors, to realize our lives won’t fall apart if we think of someone besides ourselves. But the Jewish leaders boiled this down to not doing any work on the Sabbath, even work that might help a neighbor.

A third example is the 10^th commandment, Thou shalt not covet. A few months ago, I wrote an article contrasting a table with roast beef and a table with salad greens. I spoke about the constant need people have to have the best in life. Part of this involves comparing ourselves to our neighbors, and not wanting to miss out on a better life. This kind of competition drives us to bigger houses, better clothes, better vacations, and etc. until we are like the guy in that commercial, mowing the lawn and moaning, “I’m in debt up to my eyeballs.” That’s where coveting gets us. Unfortunately, the Jewish leaders boiled this commandment down to stealing and adultery. 

And so, even before Jesus gets to the temple, he is already upset that the leaders of the jewish religion have reduced the law to a set of moralisms that they use for their own purposes to divide and rule over the Jewish people. And then he comes to the temple, and sees them breaking the commandments against taking the lord’s name in vain, honoring the Sabbath, and not coveting, and he loses it!

This morning in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, Paul says, “But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles” This morning I have focused on the stumbling block to the Jews part of this. They have reduced their religion to a moralism that no longer serves God or benefits neighbor. The second part of this is that Jesus is folly to Gentiles, because the gentiles love winners, and see no reason for suffering one another in love.

Yet this past week, at our Wednesday morning devotion. Our speaker talked to us about suffering one another in love. He spoke about hearing the voices of those we disagree with, not to formulate an argument, but to actually listen so that we might understand their fears and frustrations. To listen in a way that makes them human to us, brothers and sisters, however we disagree. The Gentile way of thinking in modern times is that might makes right, that the winners write the rules, and the history. Yet this winner’s attitude pits us against one another, and divides, and conquers us. The value of suffering one another in love, is that it unites us, includes us, values us, and creates a community of faith, fellowship, friendship and love. The path of suffering one another in love is folly to the Gentiles, but it is the Wisdom of god for all of us.

And so we come to the last part of this sermon, We preach Christ Crucified. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ stands as a measure against both corrupt religion, and corrupt politics. For those who come to believe that Jesus was the Son of God, crucified by both of these forces, there is freedom for us, so that we many never be ruled by them anymore. And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ!  

February 25, 2018                      Reckoned as Righteousness

This has been a very disappointing week. It all began with the school shooting in Parkland Florida, where another 17 school students lost their lives to someone with an assault weapon. Another Columbine, another New Town, another Las Vegas, they just seem to come one after another.

And even more disappointing is that our leaders can’t seem to agree on anything that would change this situation. On Monday, a group of students and parents from Parkland, Columbine, and New Town, gathered and were listened to. They had wonderful ideas – recognizing that guns and people kill people – so both gun and people legislation has to be part of the solution. There were program ideas offered to help law enforcement and schools recognize and intervene to keep guns away from those emotionally or mentally disturbed. Many of these laws have already been written, but defeated by the special interests groups who are more invested in profits than our children’s lives.

And on top of that, we saw teens attacked for being used by media organizations, listened to but encouraged to embrace one particular political agenda, and once again national organizations defending the rights of Americans to own assault weapons, even if your 18 and mentally ill. Yes, it was a very disappointing week.

But you know what, if there’s a silver lining in this week, it was these kids, these families, these people who have committed their lives to protecting school children. They know the deck is stacked against them. They know their politicians take money from gun manufactures and gun organizations. They know that their leaders will find a way to tie up any legislation that might come their way. But they believe that their words and actions will make a difference. And they are gonna keep fighting no matter what until a change occurs. They have faith, faith that a change can happen, faith that in this valley of death, there can be life.

So what does this have to do with our scriptures this morning? Well, in our scripture lessons we have a theme. A theme of disappointment, promise, and faith. Abraham is a hundred years old, he and Sarah have no children, and no earthly hope of having any. Yet God makes a promise, that he will have an heir, and become the father of a multitude of nations. And Abraham believes. The apostle Paul compares Abraham’s faith, to our faith that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, and that there is new life to be found in that faith. And finally, Peter, having just confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, is rebuked when he objects to Jesus telling him, that he must die in order to bring about God’s plan of salvation for the world. Peter, I imagine was disappointed to hear Jesus tell him this, because he could not envision that one day, the risen Jesus would indeed overcome the Roman Empire.

Now I do not know of the faith of the people at Parkland, Columbine, or New Town – but they do have it. They believe in this land, where we are having one mass shooting after another, that enough people will be moved to do what is necessary for these shootings to end. It may not happen this time, but they will keep fighting this battle, until life overcomes death itself. And that is God’s promise to Abraham, and to all of us, that through faith there is life. 

February 18, 2018               Complaint Free                                    

Are you a complainer? Do you find yourself complaining about those around you, about how unfair life is to you, or even about yourself? Have you ever paid attention to how often you complain? Has it become a constant ritual for your life? When people have pointed out to your that you are a complainer, do you make excuses for your complaining, like – It’s because I am a perfectionist, or complaining is cathartic, if I didn’t complain then I’d get ulcers, or complaining is good – it’s just me being honest with you. Yes, honest, not constructive. Do you know a complainer? Nothing is ever their fault, it’s always you, or someone else, who is the reason for their troubles in life. Does it seem to you like they are really perfectionists, like their complaining really makes them healthier or happier? Do you feel better about them being so truthful with you. Probably not!

You see, the problem with complaining, is that it doesn’t solve any problems. That’s the definition of complaining – and by stopping our complaining, AND coming up with constructive ways to overcome the problems we complain about, we can solve the problems we have, and more importantly, find peace rather than frustration in our lives. And that includes the lives of those around you.  

So, why am I talking about complaining? Well, one of my colleagues read a book about changing our lives by stopping our complaining. The book was called “A Complaint Free World”, written by Will Bowen. In the book, Bowen challenges himself and the members of his congregation to go 21 days without complaining, criticizing, or gossiping. And to aid his church members in this pursuit, he took a bunch of mail rubber bands, - you know those thick ones and dyed them purple so they could be worn on the wrist. And each time you catch yourself complaining, you have to switch the band to the other wrist and restart your day at 0.

The theory is simple, when we change our words, we can change our thoughts, and when we can change our thoughts, we can change our lives! And that gives us hope for a better life, and a better world. Which is where we meet our story about Noah this morning!

You see, when we get to the story of Noah, God has been complaining about human beings for quite some time. The bible itself says, that human beings got to the point where they were continually doing evil in God’s sight, and so God decided to wipe them from the face of the earth with a great flood. But it seems that after the flood, God looked down on the destruction, and had a change of heart. God decided that never again would God do such a thing, and as a reminder, God set God’s war bow in the clouds, and made a promise not just to Noah but to all creation to never do this again. From now on, God would be a problem solver, not a destroyer. God would no longer act out of frustration towards humanity, but would act to offer them hope.

Now I hope you can see the parallel between my discussion of the book “A Complaint Free world”, and what God does after he destroyed the earth with a flood.  Both involve recognizing the difference between destructive acts, and acts that give hope. Both involve an intentional repentence of being destroyers, and becoming people who give life to one another. In fact, I think that’s what Jesus calls us to do when he starts his ministry, preaching “the kingdom of heaven is at hand, repent, and believe in the good news.” He could have just as easily said, there’s hope for this world, it can be a better place, if you would just turn from your destructive ways, and believe in God’s love for your lives.”

Now don’t misunderstand me. Complaining is not the only self-destructive thing human beings do. But it is a very practical, down to earth, Lenten discipline that could be life changing, for those who choose to give it up. On Ash Wednesday, I encouraged those who joined us, to all seek a Lenten discipline, whether almsgiving, prayer, or taking better care of our bodies, as a way to become better disciples of Jesus Christ, and to realize a better life for ourselves and those around us. Each of these would count as the kingdom of heaven being realized in our lives. And that’s the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

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.