localpastor

12/21/2025 ~ Fourth Sunday of Advent ~ Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25 ~ The Sunday in Advent on Which We Commemorate Joy ~ EKC VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv08qQ2_aNg
HARPSWELL TV VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXhkQ5wHcxw

God with Us

“The virgin shall be with child, shall give birth, / and the child shall be named Emmanuel— a name that means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of God had directed and they went ahead with the marriage. They had no marital relations until she had given birth to a child, Who was named Jesus.” — Matthew 1:23-25.

A couple of weeks ago I started my comments by addressing my time from ordination to my time working as a pastor. A couple of weeks before that I offered a story which was the brief version of what happened when I heard a call to ordained ministry.

For me those stories raised a question not just for people who hear a call to ordained ministry but for each local church and the church as a whole. From where do pastors come? Where does ordained ministry start and become nurtured? (Slight pause.)

Ordained ministry starts in the pews. It starts with you. After all, we Congregationalists make the claim that while I may be a “Pastor” you, the people, are the ministers. Indeed, I have watched you over the last three years as you minister to one another. I’ve seen your ministry in action. It’s real.

Further, Congregationalism is known to be a bottom/up, grass roots way of operating. Nothing illustrates that more clearly than the reality that a call to ordained ministry starts in the pews.

Generally, there are three participants when it comes to a call to ordained ministry. While the individual called to ordained ministry is pivotal, the first participant is not the individual. The prime movement comes from the local church— you. It’s the duty of the local church, your duty, to identify those in your midst with gifts for ordained ministry.

When someone is identified, the local church needs to work with that individual, to act as mentors in this process. Any individual identified as a candidate for ordained ministry needs to be nurtured and assisted by the local church as training is pursued.

That nurturing and assistance is needed because this is a time of testing, a time of trial and a time of discernment. This is a time which both explores and questions whether or not a person has gifts for ordained ministry.

Indeed, an often ignored fact is the washout rate in Mainline Seminaries is larger than the notoriously high washout rate in Law School. Why? Everything you ever thought was true is questioned in seminary. So the process of ordination needs to be collegial, as the local church and often a local Association works with an individual toward ordination.

The last segment involved in ordination is the “calling body.” A calling body is a church where the gifts and talents of the perspective ordinand is called.

Once called by a church, the local church who has supported the ordinand usually in conjunction with a local Association ordains the candidate for the church to which the candidate is called. So please note: a candidate is ordained for the whole church but ordained on the local level— again bottom/up, not top/down. (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the Gospel we have come to know as Matthew. “The virgin shall be with child, shall give birth, / and the child shall be named Emmanuel— a name that means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of God had directed and they went ahead with the marriage. They had no marital relations until she had given birth to a child, Who was named Jesus.” (Slight pause.)

There are two things the Bible is not about. The Bible is neither a rule book nor is it a history book, a repository of facts.

Equally, there are two things the Bible is about. The Bible is about the relationship of God with humanity and the loving relationships to which God calls people, the loving relationships to which we are called to maintain with one another.

Within this passage we find exactly that idea. However, most of the time we don’t pay any attention to that. Rather we pay attention to this (quote): “The virgin shall be with child, shall give birth,…” And we go, “Oh, yeah— the virgin!” But the virgin birth is a nearly meaningless historical oddity which comes out of the context of that era.

It gets included in part because Alexander the Great and Caesar Augustus were both said to be born of a virgin. If it was not mentioned, the reality of Jesus in terms of the literature of that era, would have been seen as abnormal and then summarily dismissed.

So, what is important here? The very next words (quote): “…‘the child shall be named Emmanuel’— a name that means, ‘God is with us.’”

We also tend to miss the fact that Jesus is right away, in the next words, given a second name and a title. (Quote:) “…this is how the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, came about.”

Now, the name Jesus is the anglicized name of the Latin version of the Greek name which originates in Hebrew. Yep— that’s four steps. The Hebrew name is Yoshuah— Joshua in English. In Hebrew the name Yoshuah means God is our salvation or God saves. And then the passage states Jesus is the Messiah, which means an anointed one of God.

So this passage is about a message— a message concerning God Who is with us, the anointed one of God, here to offer salvation. Further, in Biblical times salvation was not a reference to an afterlife. Salvation meant freedom.

Hence, this passage illuminates a basic understanding of Christianity. God Who is with us, wants to be in relationship with humanity. God Who is with us, calls us to be in loving relationship with others. God Who is with us, assures us of our freedom. (Slight pause.)

That brings us back to the process of a call to ordained ministry. When I thought I heard the call to ministry I entered a process.

For over a year I met with a discernment committee, listened to what was said, their recommendations. They then recommended me to the Council at First Parish where I was a member who approved and I was dispatched off to Bangor Seminary. (Slight pause.)

So where does the work of pastoral ministry start? It starts in the pews. It starts with you and you and you and you and you. (Slight pause.)

A fallacy goes around that says pastoral ministry is easy for some— extraverts perhaps. That’s not true. Pastoral ministry is hard for anyone.

But pastoral ministry is a calling and it’s a calling that starts with you. Why do I think that’s true? God saves. God is with us. God is present to us. God is present to you and you and you and you.

The very presence of God among us empowers ministry. The very presence of God among us is the real message of Christmas— Emmanuel— God is with us. Amen.

12/21/2025
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE— It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Congregational Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “You’ve heard me say this before. Biblical prophecy is not about predicting the future. Biblical prophecy is about speaking the truth of the Word of God. So here is a word of Biblical prophecy: God calls us— each of us— to ministry. Further, God does call some to ordained ministry. And it is up to the people of a church to recognize that God is working among us and do the work of discerning who might have the gifts for ordained ministry.”

BENEDICTION: Let us be present to one another as we go from this place. Let us share our gifts, our hopes, our memories, our pain and our joy. Go in peace for God is with us. Go in joy for God knows every fiber of our being. Go in hope for God reveals to us, daily, that we are a part of God’s new creation. Go in love, for we rest assured, by Christ, Jesus, that God is steadfast. Amen.

12/07/2025 ~ Second Sunday of Advent ~ Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12 ~ The Sunday in Advent on Which We Commemorate Peace ~ Communion Sunday ~ HARPSWELL TV VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvwhTY56pqE.
EKC VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv48snhS3GI

Hearts and Minds

“Change your hearts and minds, for the dominion of heaven has come near. The dominion of heaven is about to break in on you.” — Matthew 3:2.

I think most of you know I was ordained by and have what’s called my “standing” as a pastor with the United Church of Christ. Over the years I have often been a member of a Committee in Associations known as the Church and Ministry Committee.

This is a brief version of that committee work. Committee members keep in touch with pastors in the local churches, guide people seeking to be ordained through the process, offer support to both pastors and local churches should any time of crisis arise.

If misconduct on the part of a pastor become an issue— and that is a crisis— the committee becomes involved. And yes, I’ve dealt with that in my time.

Here’s a happier thought— when guiding people to and through ordination, a joy of this work is reading an “ordination paper” of a candidate. A recent paper had sub-title. (Quote:) “All I Think I Know About God in Twenty Pages.” The paper quotes the late theologian and mystic, Thomas Merton.

(Quote:) “My God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself and the fact that I think that I am following Your will does not mean I am actually doing so.”

“But I believe the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all I am doing. I hope I will never do anything apart from that desire.”

“And I know if I do this You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust You always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

I think these words of Merton understand a relationship with God say we need to be in relationship with God. What’s the hard part of that? We need to rely on God, not ourselves. (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Matthew: “Change your hearts and minds, for the dominion of heaven has come near. The dominion of heaven is about to break in on you.” (Slight pause.)

A classic New Yorker cartoon occasionally gets repeated. Captions differ over time but invariably the picture has a disheveled person, a latter day Baptizer, holding up a sign on a street corner— “REPENT!” For me the real punch line is, while society assumes repent means being sorry for wrong-doing, the Biblical meaning of repent is an admonition that there is a need to give our hearts to God— the Biblical meaning of ‘repent’— a need to give our hearts to God.

I think we moderns— world-wide, not just Americans— have a parallel mis-understanding. We are convinced we know everything, we are in control of everything and we are right about everything. None of that is true.

However, this knowing, controlling and being right is not just a Twenty-first Century disease. The people to whom John spoke had the same disease.

So I think our First Century cousins in this story had the same blinders we have. They thought they knew everything, were in control and were right. Let me unpack that just a bit.

We hear (quote:) “Pharisees and Sadducees” and we think “those are the bad people.” But in John’s world they would have been the good people, upstanding citizens, the best of the best.

Hence, John’s question (quote:) “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” probably puzzled the Pharisees and Sadducees as they were the upstanding ones and it may puzzle us also. After all, they and we, us church folks, aren’t we the good upstanding ones? On the other hand, did you notice that in this passage no response is recorded from that crew? They had no answer. (Slight pause.)

This is clear: the Baptizer doubts their sincerity and thinks it’s likely they have come to the wilderness just to be Baptized. These folks think if they say the right things, think the right things, participate in the right ritual— this Baptism— their relationship with God will be secure.

But John calls them out. Saying the right things, thinking the right things, participating in the right ritual does not constitute a relationship with God.

And John is clear: a relationship with God only happens when they and by extension we are willing to (quote:) “Change your hearts and minds.” A relationship with God only happens when they and when we are willing to give our hearts to God. So a relationship with God is not about what we think, know or any ritual.

Why? Remember that quote from Merton? Let me offer it again. “My God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself and the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean I am actually doing so.”

“But I believe the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all I am doing. I hope I will never do anything apart from that desire.”

“And I know if I do this You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.” (Slight pause.)

In short, we need to rely on God. And what is even more amazing is God does not, in any way, wish to control us— wow. (Slight pause.)

Today, the Second Sunday of Advent, we commemorate peace. As I said in my News and Notes missive, the peace of God is not about the absence of conflict. The peace of God is about the presence of God.

Once we understand God that seeks to be in relationship with us, seeks to be present to and with us, our hearts and minds can and will be open to change. Why? How? Only then, when we understand we are not in charge and the presence of God, the peace of God is a reality, will we have the freedom to turn our hearts and our minds over to God. Amen.

12/07/2025
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “I think I have said this fairly often. Do not pay attention to what Scripture says. Ask what does Scripture mean? This an often retold story. It’s said in New Testament times a Roman Centurion went to several Rabbis and said to each of them if they could teach him everything about Scripture while standing on one foot he would convert to Judaism. He then went to the well know teacher Rabbi Hillel who responded ‘Love God, love neighbor. The rest is commentary.’ I think that’s exactly the place John is— love God, love neighbor. Hence, it’s relationship that matters.”

BENEDICTION: Let us be present to one another as we go from this place. Let us share our gifts, our hopes, our memories, our pain and our joy. Go in peace for God is with us. Go in joy for God knows every fiber of our being. Go in hope for God reveals to us, daily, that we are a part of God’s new creation. Go in love, for we rest assured, by Christ, Jesus, that God is steadfast. And may the peace of God which surpasses understanding be with us this day and forevermore. Amen.

11/16/2025 ~ Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 28 ~ Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 12; Malachi 4:1-2a; Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19 ~ Note: used Luke 21:1-4.
EKC VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvR4SmJRmUU
HARPSWELL TV VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25QCXvsF99E

Gifts for the Temple

“Jesus said, ‘All of them have contributed out of their abundance, out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty, out of her want, has put in what she could not afford, every penny she had to live on.’” — Luke 21:4-5.

I cannot count the number of times my wife, Bonnie, has said to someone, “When I got married I didn’t know I was marrying a pastor.” And that is true. I started on the journey to seminary and ordination just after our third anniversary.

On the other hand, when I got married to Bonnie I did not know she was marrying a pastor. It was a surprise to both of us. So how did that happen?

This is the short version. When I joined First Parish in Brunswick a Bangor Seminary poster was hanging on the wall near the pastor’s office with postcards you could rip off and send to the seminary to get information. I do not know what possessed me but I did that— ripped off a card and sent it to the seminary.

Two weeks later a catalogue from Bangor arrived in the mail. I threw it on the coffee table. The next day Bonnie had to be out for a couple hours. I was alone, perhaps a little bored so I picked it up. I turned to the section with course descriptions— boring course descriptions. I sat there reading the course descriptions. Then I started to cry.

I suddenly remembered I’d asked an Episcopal Priest friend what a call to ministry felt like. This was the response: “When I heard the call it felt terrible. I cried for hours.”

And there I was, reading boring course descriptions in a seminary catalogue and I was crying. I said to myself, “Uh, oh!” And that… is how the journey to seminary and ordained ministry began. (Slight pause.)

These words are in Luke. “Jesus said ‘All of them have contributed out of their abundance, out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty, out of her want, has put in what she could not afford, every penny she had to live on.’” (Slight pause.)

When the seminary journey started reality should have told us you’re both too old— over the age of 40— seminary— a bad, financially unstable idea. Being a pastor— a bad, financially unstable career. (Slight pause.)

Have things worked out? Well, I’ve been in a pulpit more than thirty years now. But let me offer this anecdote as an example of real world truths. Remember when COVID happened and people got money, a pay out from the Federal Government?

I was already retired but when that check arrived we paid off the end of my student loans from seminary with it. That payout was exactly what we still owed. (Slight pause.)

So what has kept us going on this journey over time? We trusted God and trusted our neighbors, the people at First Parish who first supported us and the churches I’ve served who walked with us on the journey. It was a journey of faith and trust. (Long pause.)

Jesus sees an impoverished woman, a widow, putting coins in a collection box. Those descriptions— a woman, a widow, impoverished— make her unacceptable, an outcast in that era. But she put coins in a treasury box.

Where does that money go when it gets to the Temple treasury? The Hebrew Scriptures are clear. Money given to the Temple should go to orphans, widows, the outcast. But is that where those coins are really headed?

We don’t know. The text does not tell us. And the widow does not know either. She just dropped coins in a box. So the point being made by Jesus is not about the generosity of this impoverished widow nor is it about money.

I hope this is obvious— the woman trusts God. She trusts her neighbors who are stewards of the Temple treasury that they will give to the widows, to orphans, to the outcast. And she also trusts her neighbors with whom she interacts day by day by day, trusts they will have compassion when she needs help.

So the tale of this widow is not about money. This is about a faith journey called trust— trusting God and trusting neighbors. And make no mistake about it— trusting God and trusting neighbors is not a destination. It’s a journey… of faith. (Slight pause.)

Among the myriad of events next week is the stewardship breakfast and then the Kellogg Church will embark on a journey. The journey is not about money. Anyone who claims this journey is about money is not paying attention to the witness of Scripture.

The journey is about faith and trust. Do you trust God? Do you trust your neighbors, the people sitting next to you in these pews? This journey is about trusting God and trusting neighbors.

Do me a favor— look around this Meetinghouse. Look at each other. These are your friends and neighbors, the people in whom you need to place your trust on this faith journey. I’ll pause for a couple of moments to let that happen. Go ahead— look around. (Long pause.)

In Congregationalism members have voice and vote. But the Congregational tradition also operates as a representative democracy. People are chosen to fill different roles— Moderators, Deacons, etc., etc. Trust is placed in people to fulfill those roles.

So the question is do you trust the people you have assigned to help on this faith journey? Again, the journey has not been, is not and will not be about money or even about what rules to follow. This journey is about trust and faith. (Slight pause.)

A long time ago, in what feels like a galaxy far, far away I sat alone in my living room with tears running down my face. Why? I think it was the realization that I needed to trust God. And on that journey it would be imperative that I trust my neighbors.

The tears? I think they happened because I knew the journey was scary. I knew the journey was hard. (Slight pause.)

Back when Bonnie and I wound up in Bangor we took a risk. But we listened for the call of God.

When we left Maine— and we left much to our consternation and moved to a place where we knew no one except the members of the Search Committee at the church to which we felt called— when we left Maine we took a risk. Over time we have taken multiple risks on this journey of listening for and responding to the call of God.

A church which is not willing to take risks— multiple risks— in responding to the call of God is not a church. It’s just a social club. (Slight pause.)

So what is next week about? Some may think next week is about stewardship or financial plans— no and no.

Next week is about trusting God. Next week is about trusting your neighbors who are sitting next to you in these pews. Next week is about listening for the call of God for this church. Next week is about faithfulness. Next week is about being church.

If no one has ever said this to you before let me be the first. Listening for and to the call of God is not an easy task. It can be scary. There may be times tears will run down your face. But I believe listening for and to the call of God is the calling of this church. I believe this church is called to faithfulness. What say you? Amen.

11/16/2025
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “At this time of year the lectionary readings are often what you heard today or similar ones. And you have probably heard this or similar readings applied to stewardship. I am practical. Stewardship matters. But what is stewardship really about? It’s about the faithful practice of listening to the call of God. Hence, stewardship is not about money. Stewardship is about faithful listening as you try to discern the place to which God calls this church.”

BENEDICTION: A kind and just God sends us out into the world as bearers of truth, a truth which surpasses our understanding, that the love of God knows no bounds or boundaries. Indeed, God watches over those who respond in love. So, let us love God so much that we love nothing else too much. Let us be so in awe of God that we are in awe of noone else and nothing else. Amen.

11/09/2025 ~ Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 27 ~ Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Haggai 1:15b-2:9; Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21 or Psalm 98; Job 19:23-27a; Psalm 17:1-9; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17; Luke 20:27-38
EKC YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NymSNwZNIg8
HARPSWELL PUBLIC ACCESS TV YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJQsHKfOSfU

The Redeemer

“For I know that my Redeemer lives— / my Vindicator Who, at the last, at the end, / will stand upon the earth;…” — Job 19:25.

I am a voracious reader. You’re probably suspected that. Most of my reading is non-fiction— history, biography— or professional areas— theology, Scripture.

But I occasionally delve into, even re-read fiction, especially science fiction. And so I recently re-devoured the British classic— The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

For those unfamiliar with the books in this series, it’s a combination of science fiction and dry British humor. Think Star Wars meets Monty Python and you’ve got it.

Here’s an example of its comedic style. The Hitchhiker’s books are called a trilogy— three books. Except there are five books in The Hitchhiker’s trilogy— that’s British humor— strange, dry, eccentric.

At the start of the story Arthur Dent, the protagonist, finds his house surrounded by bulldozers. They are there to destroy Arthur’s house and build a highway right through where the house was. The foreman says the demolition plans have been available at city hall for months. Arthur says ‘no one told me’ and lays down in front of the bulldozers.

But Arthur’s best friend, Ford Perfect, snatches him away and takes him to a local pub. Despite looking human, unbeknownst to Arthur, Ford Perfect is from another planet and knows the Earth is about to be destroyed. Determined to avoid being caught up in this, Perfect insists he must hitchhike on a starship and wants to take with Arthur him.

Why is the Earth being destroyed? Like the bulldozers at Arthur’s house, the Earth is being destroyed to build a superhighway for starships. The documents about it are on file at a record hall in another galaxy but earthlings don’t know it.

Hence, not far into the novel the Earth is destroyed, gone. But Arthur and Ford Perfect escape by hitching a ride on a starship. As I indicated, British humor— dry, eccentric— and it takes strange, interesting turns. (Slight pause.)

I have mentioned this about my family background here before. When I was about five, my father had what back then was called a nervous breakdown. Today we would have describe it as the onset of the mental illness identified as passive dependency or passive aggression.

While I won’t get deep into the psychology of this, one way to look at it is to say I lost my father figure. So for me the Earth, as I knew it, was destroyed. And like the hitchhiker Arthur Dent I survived. (Long pause.)

This is what we find in the work known as Job: “For I know that my Redeemer lives— / my Vindicator Who, at the last, at the end, / will stand upon the earth;…” (Slight pause.)

Christians often refer to Jesus as the Redeemer. I would be the last one to disagree with that. Equally, because I read a lot about theology and Scripture, I know to exclusively limit the idea of redeemer to Christianity, while a fairly common practice, defies the evidence in Scripture. As we just heard, in Job God the Creator is called ‘redeemer.’

In fact, in Handel’s Messiah the work, I Know That My Redeemer Liveth, strings together both this passage from Job and words from I Corinthians 15. This music tells us God as Redeemer is not exclusively Christian. The testaments are connected, a continuum. The God of the Hebrew Scriptures and Jesus— they are connected.

That brings us to the story we heard from Luke. At the resurrection who will be the husband of this woman who has married seven? While the answer of Jesus is couched in the language of resurrection, Jesus is not making a point about resurrection.

What is the point Jesus makes? (Quote:) “God is not of the dead but of the living. All of them are alive to God.”

God lives. That is the belief of Jews. That is the belief of Christians. God lives.

The idea that God lives, moves and works among us not confined to one segment of the text. That concept is scattered throughout Scripture. (Slight pause.)

The Call to Worship today paraphrased words from Psalm 98. Quote: “God has made salvation known, has shown vindication, divine justice, to the nations / Yahweh, God Who forever remembers us with steadfast love, truth and faithfulness.”

A God Who does these things is a living God. God is then and God is now and God is in the future. God lives. (Slight pause.)

That, in turn, does bring us to the belief called Resurrection. If God lives, if God is in ancient times, if God is now, if God is in the future, if Jesus and God are connected— then Jesus— Who we call the Second Person of the Trinity— lives. (Slight pause.)

I say this each Easter Sunday morning. Resurrection is not about resuscitation nor is it about reanimation. Resurrection addresses a basic Jewish belief and a basic Christian belief: God lives. (Slight pause.)

That brings us back to both my background and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In The Hitchhiker’s Guide the Earth is destroyed. But survive Arthur Dent did.

My world was destroyed when I was young because a parental figure in my life ceased to be present to me. But survive I did. Paradoxically, that opened my eyes to a theological truth: God lives.

I realized that truth because, while my world was shattered, my world was not destroyed. For reasons I cannot, myself, explain, I held firm onto the reality, the truth we call the living God. (Slight pause.)

Diana Butler Bass is an Episcopal member of the laity but she’s also church historian and theologian. In Credo, A Litany of Grace she reminds us the Latin word Credo does not mean “I believe.” Credo means ‘I give my whole heart.’

She also says this (quote:) “I believe God creates the world and all therein— good, even very good, no matter how far from that goodness human beings wander; I believe Love casts out fear and that living with compassion is the path to joy; I believe Gratitude threads all of the connections in the web of life.”

“I believe Wisdom dwells among us, embodying both divine insight and human intellect; I believe Hope banishes cynicism, always drawing us toward a creative future;…”

“I believe Awe opens us to an awakened life that reaches out to the world to restore and save; I believe Justice flows all around us, like a healing river; I believe All Shall Be Well.” — the words of Diana Butler Bass. (Slight pause.)

Do terrible things happen, things we abhor, do they happen? Yes, they do. Our world can feel like it has been destroyed, shattered. But God lives.

And my point is not just that God lives. God walks with us at all times and in all ways. God is with us, always. Or as Diana Butler Bass says, “All shall be well.”

You see, when the words “I know that my Redeemer lives” are said what we need to understand and to hear that is this simple: God lives. God is with us. God walks with us. Amen.

11/09/2025
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “The well known pastor and theologian Brian McLaren said ‘If you summarize all the work of Diana Butler Bass into a single thought this would be it: “Nostalgia is a really, really bad idea.”’ Brian McLaren on Diana Butler Bass. Why is nostalgia a bad idea? It’s about yesterday. But God lives is about right here and right now and about what will be. It’s not about yesterday. Fondly remembering is fine. But do not let fondly remembering— what we call nostalgia— interfere with this basic theological concept: God lives.”

BENEDICTION: We can find the presence of God in unexpected places. God’s light leads us to places we thought not possible just moments ago. God’s love abounds and will live with us throughout eternity. The grace of God is deeper than our imagination. The strength of Christ is stronger than our needs. The communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness. May the one triune God sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.

11/02/2025 ~ Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 26 ~ Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ (If All Saints not observed on this day) ~ Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4; Psalm 119:137-144; Isaiah 1:10-18; Psalm 32:1-7; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12; Luke 19:1-10~ 11/01/2025 ~ All Saints Day ~ (Sometimes observed on first Sunday in November) ~ Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18; Psalm 149; Ephesians 1:11-23; Luke 6:20-31 ~ YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xWAydQ_pYs
VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N67oPtdjic0&t=67s

Solemn Festivals Filled with Injustice

“Do not bring your useless offerings. / It is futile; / their incense is an abomination to me / and fills me with loathing. / New moon and Sabbath / and convocations, assemblies— / I cannot endure another solemn festival / filled with iniquity, injustice.” — Isaiah 1:13.

You’ve probably heard me say I’m a baseball fan. The season is now over. Thank you Dodgers and Blue Jays— great series. No— I did not stay up for the 18 inning game. Yes— I stayed up for last night’s game— 11 innings. I think the game has fascinated me because I’ve always been intrigued by the question, “How does this work, the nuts and bolts which makes things happen?”

In fact, I also think that’s one reason I became a theater professional. A basic question in theater is “How do I make what I am trying to communicate work, the nuts and bolts?”

I think Baseball is fairly easy to follow, once you know how it works— the nuts and bolts. I hope this story illustrates that.

Bonnie and I were watching a Series game. Early in the game, the count on a batter from the away team went to no balls and two strikes. As one, the hometown crowd leaped to their feet and started to cheer in expectation of a third strike.

Bonnie realized nothing particularly special had happened and asked, “Why are they cheering?” I said, “They’re cheering because they want the next pitch to be the third strike. But it’s possible many of these people may not be knowledgeable baseball fans.” World Series crowds are often not that knowledgeable.

“Real fans know with two strikes and no balls the next pitch may be a strike but Nine times out of ten it will be a ball. It’s what’s called a waste pitch.”

That happened and the next pitch was a ball, high, above the strike zone. I continued my commentary. I’m not sure Bonnie was pleased by my pontificating. “The waste pitch is not a wasted pitch,” said I. It’s purpose is to try to change where the batter is looking.”

I then said, “The first two pitches were strikes but low in the strike zone. The ‘waste pitch,’ too high to be a strike. The next one will be too low to be a strike.”

“By changing where the batter is looking, the pitcher is trying to get the batter to misjudge how low that next pitch will be. If the change in level is just enough to fool the batter, the batter will swing and miss— strike three, your out.”

The next pitch was low just out of the strike zone, swing and miss— strike three. (Slight pause.) Like I said, what interests me is “How does this work?” (Slight pause.)

This is what we hear in the Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah: “Do not bring your useless offerings. / It is futile; / their incense is an abomination to me / and fills me with loathing. / New moon and Sabbath / and convocations, assemblies— / I cannot endure another solemn festival / filled with iniquity, injustice.” (Slight pause.)

These two words are in this passage: burnt offerings. In modern vernacular a burnt offering is a meaningless gift. In this passage a burnt offering is called useless.

That ‘useless’ label applies unless the one worshiping lives a life of goodness and justice. Hence, worship is an idle exercise unless it brings about a change in the heart of the one offering worship.

What is less than clear is the exact attitude of the prophet toward worship. It’s one thing to say worship finds its ultimate meaning in the changed lives of those who worship. It’s another to say worship, instead of offering a life-changing experience, is an impediment.

And one can read this text to mean worship, itself, is an impediment. But the prophet says the people of God are called to worship in ways which brings about reoriented hearts, lives committed to justice, compassion. So if this can be read both ways, is this a denial of worship or an affirmation of worship?

The short answer: because worship can lead people to live lives of faith inspired action these words are an affirmation of worship. But to be clear, I think these words are an affirmation of worship only if people know what they are doing in worship, know the nuts and bolts of worship, know what worship is about. (Slight pause.)

As strange as it may sound, that brings us back to baseball. On a two strike count sometimes a crowd might leap to their feet and cheer in expectation of that third strike.

But that’s not how baseball works most of the time since on a two strike count a ‘waste pitch’ is usually delivered by the pitcher. It’s simply how the game works, the nuts and bolts.

So here’s my take on why a crowd cheers for a third strike at that point. The crowd cheers for a third strike because it’s culturally normal.

Cheering at that point is what the culture wants, expects and demands. Any deviation from what the culture wants, expects and demands might bring scorn, ridicule, so everybody joins in.

The prophet’s position is burnt offerings— meaningless gifts— are culturally normal, what’s expected by the culture. Hence, the passage does not ask ‘what does the culture, want?’ The passage asks ‘What does God want?’ And what does God want? The answer is in this passage.

God wants us to remove our evil doings, banish injustice, learn to do good, search for and seek justice. God wants us to rescue and help the oppressed, defend and protect the orphaned, the widowed. (Slight pause.)

How does this God centered cultural norm work? What are the nuts and bolts which makes a God centered worship happen? (Slight pause.)

At the risk of repeating myself from last week, God centered worship invites us and empowers us to action— positive action. So God expects us to work toward freedom, toward peace. God expects us to be filled with joy in that work.

God expects us to work toward equity, to embrace, embody love. God expects us to be examples of hope in this world which is so often broken. God expects us to understand hope is real, tangible and present. (Slight pause.)

What makes up the nuts and bolts of living within the grace of God and walking in ways of God? The nuts and bolts of life with God are the actions known as freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope.

Freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope are not burnt offerings, meaningless gifts. These are actions which take us on a path filled with justice, communal justice.

And the justice God would have is not our cultural norm nor does it represent any cultural norm in the modern world. Indeed, the justice of God is described with these words that you just heard: freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope. These are not common cultural norms. But these are normal in a God centered culture. And God centered worship helps us understand that. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
11/02/2025

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “I said baseball is fairly easy to follow once you know the nuts and bolts of the game. I also said the justice of God is described by freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope. Freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope (and I know I’m sounding like I’m repeating myself)— these are the nuts and bolts of how the game the game known as our lives is supposed to be played. When we are empowered to take those actions, especially through God centered worship, our lives become centered on God and are centered on God.”

BENEDICTION: O God, You have bound us together in a common life, in community. Help us, in the midst of our striving for justice and truth, to confront one another in love, and to work together with mutual patience, acceptance and respect. Send us out, sure in Your grace and Your peace which surpasses understanding, to live faithfully. And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.

10/26/2025 ~ Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 25 ~ Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Joel 2:23-32; Psalm 65; Sirach 35:12-17 or Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22; Psalm 84:1-7; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14 ~ YOUTUBE VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j00HBwVekKY
VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701?video=1131371113

Apocalypse— Not Now

“Then, afterward, / I will pour out my spirit / on all flesh, on all humankind; / your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, / your elders, all of them, / shall have prophetic dreams, / and your young people shall see visions. / In those days / I will pour out my spirit / even on those who are enslaved;…” — Joel 2:28-29.

I got a letter a couple of weeks ago. While it had a local address, right away I realized even if it was somehow local that was not its true origin. It looked too computer generated for that. My bet is some of you got that same letter.

Inside, the words tried to disarm the reader by offering (quote:) “a comforting Bible message.” It said no one needs to worry about the approaching Armageddon, a gathering of armies for the battle marking the end of time. Right— don’t worry— at the end of time is here. That’s comforting— not.

In fact, I am aware at least twice so far this year and in quite threatening tones a date has been named for Armageddon, an end of time. But it did not happen. The only way I can describe that kind of prediction is to say it’s incredibly egocentric.

Why egocentric? Among all the people who have ever lived, anyone who insists the end of time will happen right now is saying they have somehow been chosen to have the privilege of seeing the end of the world. Boy are you special. (Sight pause.)

This kind of rhetoric is clearly theological since it’s often attached to concerns about evil, even about the possibility of an anti-Christ among us. One would think it should be clear to anyone of sound mind that an Armageddon, an approaching apocalypse, the end of time, is not just around the corner.

The Jews living in Roman Palestine, in the First Century of the Common Era, may have thought an apocalypse, an end of time, was just around the corner. Why? The army of a foreign invader, Rome, was living in the homeland of the Jews.

That army crucified about 10,000 Jews every year. 10,000 murdered each year— people must have felt this was a sign of the apocalypse, an end of time. (Slight pause.)

People living in Europe in the 14th Century of the Common Era might have thought an end of time was just around the corner. As many as 200 million people died in what we call the Black Plague or Black Death. It took three centuries for population levels to recover.

In my own lifetime I’ve known people who witnessed the stock market crash in 1929 followed by the Great Depression. That economic disaster devastated the economy both here and worldwide. How bad was it?

I’ve stated this before. In March of 1933 when FDR took office the unemployment rate was 25%. Many might have thought the end of time was at hand. (Slight pause.)

The picture the world presents to us today can be disorienting. We can feel displaced. But is the end of time really at hand? (Slight pause.)

These are words from the Prophet Joel: “Then, afterward, / I will pour out my spirit / on all flesh, on all humankind; / your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, / your elders, all of them, / shall have prophetic dreams, / and your young people shall see visions. / In those days / I will pour out my spirit / even on those who are enslaved;…” (Slight pause.)

It does not matter what the prediction is or who makes it. Prognosticators, prophets, pastors, pundits, pontiffs, priests, prelates, politicians or just plain people— all can be prone to making predictions about the end of time. But the truth is an apocalypse is not going to happen any time soon.

We may not like what is happening right now, feel displaced. But the end of time— nope— not even close.

Perhaps the end of an era is close at hand. And that can be disorienting. But eras, by definition, happen in a limited time frame.

To paraphrase and rephrase Voltaire’s Candide, today is not the best of all possible worlds. I get that. But it has never been the best of all possible worlds.

Indeed, was the Roman occupation or the plague of the 14th Century or the Great Depression the best of all possible worlds? No. But neither was it the end of time. So, what are these words from Joel, words repeated by Peter after the Pentecost event, about? [1] (Slight pause.)

The obvious question: if it is not the end of time why do people feel they need to speak in those terms, even Joel and Peter? We should realize apocalyptic language uses wonderful, powerful metaphors to describe what a deep experience of God feels like.

So these words were not and are not insisting on an apocalypse, an ending, but rather proclaiming joy because they rejoice in and hope for a beginning. This is about the possibility of a beginning of the realm of God— a beginning of the realm of God— right here, right now.

As I said earlier, an apocalyptic argument is a theological argument. But an apocalyptic argument, apocalyptic language is not about the end of time. Neither is it an argument about who wins or loses, about who gets to heaven and who does not, although some would have it that way.

Apocalyptic language is meant to reflect hope. To think apocalyptic language says the end of the world is at hand, is not a theological position. To claim apocalyptic language says the end of time is near lacks an understanding of its intent. (Slight pause.)

In a couple of minutes we will be invited to sing the hymn Christians Rise and Act Your Creed. What is our creed? The creed of Christians is not about specific beliefs. The creed of Christians is certainly not about an apocalypse, an end of time.

The creed of Christians is about action— positive action. Hence, the creed of Christians is about freedom, peace, justice, joy, equity, love. Thereby, the creed of Christians is very much about hope.

So here’s a predication for you. From now until forever we will find hope in the fact that God loves us. Amen.

10/26/2025
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Question: what is theology? I’ve said this here before: the Hebrews did not have a theology. The Hebrews did theology. That is what theology is about: a true theology is about the action we call loving God and loving neighbor.”

BENEDICTION: God stands by us to grant us support and strength. All who trust in God are strengthened and blessed. So, let us go on our way, proclaiming the Good News: when we question and when we are open, when we struggle to know God’s will and walk in God’s way, God will be our refuge. And may the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us, the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore. Amen.

[1] Peter’s words from Acts 2 were noted when this passage from Joel was introduced.

10/19/2025 ~ Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 24 ~ Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Jeremiah 31:27-34; Psalm 119:97-104; Genesis 32:22-31; Psalm 121; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5; Luke 18:1-8 ~ YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0qI49oPtnM ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701?video=1129537798

Covenant of the Heart

“…this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my Law within them, in their minds and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God; they shall be my people.” — Jeremiah 31:33.

Fiddler on the Roof is the famous Broadway musical set in the Tsarist Russia of 1905. It’s based on the short stories of Sholem Aleichem, pen name of the writer Salomon Rabinovich. All the stories by this author were written in Yiddish and Sholem Aleichem means “peace be with you” in Yiddish.

Fiddler concentrates on the story of Tevye, the dairy farmer, and his family. The narrative tells us about this family and their attempts to maintain their traditions while the world encroaches on their lives and on their world.

The three eldest daughters are strong-willed young women. Their choice of husbands moves them away from the traditions to which the people in this small town are accustomed.

Further, in the turbulent times at the start of the Twentieth Century, the Tsarist government evicts these Jews from their town. But this government, itself, will soon be overthrown by the Communist Revolution.

Despite or perhaps because of the forces of change, the story keeps coming back to the people in the town, the personal, the individual, these people battered by change, changing times, forces beyond their control. But they do seek to find an anchor in the intimate relationships they have built over time.

This concept is well illustrated when Tevye explains to Golde, his wife, that one daughter wants to get married to someone she loves rather than go into the arranged marriage they envisioned for her, the normal custom in the village. In a song, Tevye and his wife reflect on what true love might mean.

Tevye asks Golde: “Do you love me?” Golde responds: “Do I what?” In a heartfelt, gruff way Teyve asks again: “Do you love me?”

Goldie thinks all the changes have overwhelmed her husband. “Do I love you? / With our daughters getting married / And this trouble in the town / You’re upset, you’re worn out / Go inside, go lie down! / Maybe it’s indigestion.”

Tevye will not be deterred: “Golde, I’m asking you a question… Do you love me?”

Golde then becomes reflective and practical: “Do I love you? / For twenty-five years I’ve washed your clothes / Cooked your meals, cleaned your house / Given you children, milked the cow / After twenty-five years, why talk about love now?”

Turning to some unseen audience (it is God to whom she speaks?), she adds this: “For twenty-five years I’ve lived with him / Fought him, starved with him / Twenty-five years my bed is his / If that’s not love, what is?” (Slight pause.)

The song concludes— together they admit they love one another. “It doesn’t change a thing / But even so / After twenty-five years / It’s nice to know.” Hence, they end the duet voicing a singular thought. The relationship they developed over time took time to develop and they worked at it. This clearly is love by any definition. (Slight pause.)

We live in our own tumultuous times today. Or at least it can feel a little nuts. It can feel like a lot of people are acting just a little… off… sometimes more than a little. Author Malcolm Gladwell writes books that explore change in society. He tells this story about giving a talk in a wealthy, suburban community. He pointed out to this audience that in the 1950s the tax rate for the wealthy people ran just over 90%. [1]

The audience refuses to believe him. Some in the crowd started to hiss. [2] And, since he was speaking at a dinner function, someone even tossed a roll in his direction. This reaction was one of anger, perhaps fear or maybe the other way around— fear then anger. But why be fearful or angry?

Gladwell did not make up these facts. So when someone throws a dinner roll at you for merely stating a fact, it proves we live in tumultuous times. And perhaps it does feel like it’s nuts when people refuse to pay attention to facts or are willfully ignorant of facts.

When presented with facts that do not match someone’s preconceived position, the result can be fear and anger. Of course, that’s what happened in Tsarist Russia— a toxic combination of a preconceived position, willful ignorance, fear and anger.

People were fearful about and of the Jewish minority. As a minority, Jews were also often isolated in small villages, ghettos. Given that, the willful ignorance of the majority morphed into fear, fear into anger, anger into violence.

The pogroms of the Tsar and later from Central Committee of the Soviet Union, took center stage. In short, ignorance, fear and anger translated not just into isolated violence but systemic violence. All this was a result of failing to know the facts but, perhaps more tragically, willfully ignoring the facts. (Slight pause.)

This is what we hear in the work known as Jeremiah: “…this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my Law within them, in their minds and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God; they shall be my people.” (Slight pause.)

What is love? Is love infatuation? Is love an attraction? Is love simply an emotional high? Or does love, as Tevye and Golde suggest, have its real basis in deeply knowing someone. Does love have its real basis in growth? (Slight pause.)

Please notice, the promise of God is to write the knowledge of God on both the hearts and on the minds of people. Hence, the claim here is we are so deeply known by God that the fact of this intimacy produces forgiveness. Therefore, perhaps the thing to which we need to be open is for us to grow in our own intimacy with God, in our own knowledge of God.

This is clear: when growth is abandoned or simply ignored, fear is embraced. Covenant love is the opposite of that. Covenant love, as proclaimed by and in Scripture, is commitment to understanding, a commitment to respect, a commitment to… growth.

True love is not merely an infatuation nor is it only an attraction nor is it simply an emotional high. Love is something which develops, which grows.

Why? How? Love comes from knowledge, cumulative knowledge, of others, knowledge which is intentionally pursued. When a commitment to covenant love, a commitment to growth is made, a deep, enduring love is empowered to develop. When commitment to covenant love is made, growth happens. (Slight pause.)

I want to suggest the love God writes on our minds and on our hearts is already there, already present. Too often we employ willful ignorance to ignore it instead of embracing it. And there is only one way to embrace it. To love deeply and to love over time we must learn love by engaging it over time.

One more point: this reading starts with an assumption— that we will always be loved by God. Indeed, that is one reason God insist we are forgiven— because we are loved.

So the challenge for us is simple: God has made a commitment to us and invites us to be committed also. Therefore, will we become committed to loving God? Will we become committed to covenant love which is embodied by and enwrapped by constant growth, growth which will lead us to love each other? Amen.

10/19/2025
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This is a précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “One thought for Meditation in the bulletin today is from H. Richard Neibuhr. (Quote:): ‘Christianity is permanent revolution.’ He then uses the Greek word for permanent revolution— metanoia. ‘Metanoia does not come to an end in this world, this life or this time.’ I need to add that for me, ‘permanent revolution’ does not mean chaos nor a tumultuous time. Metanoia means being open to constant growth.”

BENEDICTION: God has made us partners in covenant. Let us truly be God’s people. Let us be guided by prayer, by study, by justice, by growth, by love. Let us continually praise the God of the universe who loves us. May our trust grow as we are empowered to do God’s work in this, God’s dominion. And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God that we are in awe of no one and nothing else. Amen.

[1] https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/income-taxes-on-the-rich-1950s-not-high/

[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uskJWrOQ97I

10/05/2025 ~ Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 22 ~ Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Lamentations 1:1-6; Lamentations 3:19-26 or Psalm 137; Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4; Psalm 37:1-9; 2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke 17:5-10 ~ YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701?video=1125576483
VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701?video=1125576483

Having Faith

“Jesus gave this answer: ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and plant yourself in the sea,’ and it would obey you.’” — Luke 17:6.

You may have noticed I was not in the pulpit last week. So what did this pastor and spouse do on a scheduled Sunday away?

Bonnie and I indulged in a little nostalgia as we visited the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunk. It was nostalgic because the last time we visited it was on our abbreviated four day honeymoon (the pastor mumbles a number) years ago.

It was nostalgic for me, personally, on one other count. I do have a memory of riding on a New York City trolley when I was very young.

Speaking of nostalgia, the museum had what it called a 2000 World Series Subway car. It was labeled that way because the Mets and the Yankees played in the series that year.

It was the first Subway series since the New York Yankees played the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956. But, native New Yorker that I am, I recognized it as a car from the number 7 train, the Flushing line, before I even saw the World Series banner displayed in front of it.

Right now the museum is celebrating Pumpkin Patch days with special things for children to do. So a trolley ride includes a stop at a pumpkin patch— really just pumpkins sitting in a field where the children can retrieve their own pumpkin.

That ensured a multitude of youngsters were there. And so we sat in the second row on the trolley ride we took, an open air trolley with just seats, no doors or windows. In the first row along with parents were four children, probably age five or younger, staring down the track and watching every move the trolley operator made.

Each youngster was dressed in a super-hero costume, capes and all, from Captain America to Spider-Man. Perhaps it was the nostalgia bubbling up in me but I was suddenly projected into my childhood.

I remembered as a kid, despite being from the city, my brother and I would dress up as cowboys trying to be like Gene Autry or Hopalong Cassidy. As I reflected on that I realized we were just trying to emulate the super-heros of our time. Indeed, the youngsters last week and my brother and myself years ago, they are and we were merely reflecting the fantasies created and broadcast by the cultures in the era in which we live. (Slight pause.)

I’ve said this before, we often have a hard time recognizing the influence the presiding culture has on our lives, on our thinking, even on our faith. So in order to not be swept up in whatever fad is current in the culture, we ourselves need to be prepared, educated enough to separate reality from fantasy, fact from fiction, real information from mere spin, certainty from contrivance.

But it’s also true that no one has the time, patience, energy or God-like omni-presence to fully accomplish that. Society can be exhausting. (Slight pause.)

These words are from the section of Scripture known as Luke/Acts: “Jesus gave this answer: ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and plant yourself in the sea,’ and it would obey you.’” (Slight pause.)

Question: is faith about having answers or asking questions? Clearly, one of the bywords in popular culture, one of the tribal beliefs in the folk ways of American life, is that someone with a deep faith never questions. But is that accurate, or is it merely a rallying cry of the parochial tribalism rampant in our culture, a position without substance, without a credible basis in Scripture or Christian tradition or Christian history?

Certainly our culture is fond of predictable messages and easy answers, fond of slogans like “Be who you are!” “Don’t forget where you came from!” or “Stay the course!” These are not necessarily examples of bad advice. They can be even comfortable places to rest when we are weary.

But these messages can readily become a dominant way of thinking, especially when they are heard incessantly, insisted on and because of that perpetuated. That’s when platitudes deteriorate into exercises of questionable judgement.

But these catch phrases are just slogans, not solid, grounding principles. Hence, when abused, this kind of populist, cultural sloganeering serves not to inform choices but to limit choices.

Indeed, I think when it comes to the ways of popular culture, we need to be quite wary about and watchful of its often intimidating force. When we ignore reality because of being intimidated by the culture I call that position willful ignorance.

Let’s look at the words of Jesus. Contrary to what the slogan of the popular culture suggests, that faith is an unmovable rock, the plea for faith in this passage conveys the recognition that faith is a dynamic process. Hence, one can become mature in faith by understanding that faith is a process.

In today’s reading the disciples have bought into the popular culture of their time. They thereby give guidance for our time. In asking for an increase in faith, they seem to indicate faith is something you can quantify: if only you get more faith, they will be all right. Everything will be all right.

Jesus shatters their cultural illusions about faith and, perhaps, ours. The point is not that they need more faith; rather, they need to understand faith enables God to work in the life of a person in ways which can defy ordinary human experience. Faith does not increase; faith learns, faith matures, and it is hence empowered to become discerning.

This passage about the mustard seed is, therefore, not about doing miraculous works or spectacular tricks like throwing a mulberry tree into the sea because one has increased faith. On the contrary, the assurance of Jesus is that with even a little faith the disciples can live by the teachings Jesus offers on discipleship. [1] (Slight pause.)

Faith, you see, is a journey, a process which includes being unsure, taking risks. Theologian Søren Kierkegaard said this (quote:), “Without risk, faith is an impossibility.”— “Without risk, faith is an impossibility.”

It’s understandable that popular culture carries in it some definitive positions and directions like take no risks. But sloganeering is not life sustaining; it is merely popular.

I maintain faith which is life sustaining, which can uproot trees, is harder to understand than that for which popular culture allows. I think that’s because our popular culture is not open to a God who might defy our expectations.

Further, faith does make all things possible when it is tempered by and intertwined with the inclusive nature of unconditional love. Faith intertwined with the inclusive nature of unconditional love can steer us in wonderful directions.

That’s because faith without the anchor known as love has lost its moral compass. And love is not only dynamic and alive but needs to be at the center of all moral judgments. Unless love shows us the way, the moral compass is broken— our moral compass is broken. (Slight pause.)

To come back to the youngsters at the trolley museum and to the days of my youth, super heros are fine when you’re young and simple explanations suffice. But super heros— and it does not matter if they wear capes or 10 gallon hats— super heros don’t exist. They are cartoons, fantasies.

Or as Bonnie puts it, adult-ing is hard and tiring but we need to do it. Since adults need to work constantly on the process I call mature faith, the process of mature faith needs to be intertwined with and happens only when unconditional love is practiced. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
10/05/20254

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “We opened this service with the hymn Great Is Your Faithfulness. Here’s the paradox the hymn presents: it does not speak of our faithfulness. It speaks of the faithfulness of God. So, here’s a one sentence précis of the hymn: God trusts us and entrusts to us the care of the world. Isn’t that amazing? Only after that initial, unwavering trust is offered to us, does God invite us, not demand but invite us, to offer our trust back to God. Trusting us while demanding nothing in return is a definition of unconditional love.”

BENEDICTION: We are called by God to serve faithfully, trusting in God’s grace. May the gifts of God be rekindled within and among us. May our trust grow as we are empowered to do God’s work in this, God’s dominion. And may the peace of Christ which surpasses our understanding keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge and companionship of God’s Spirit this day and forevermore. Amen.

[1] This analysis is found in The New Interpreter’s Bible, the Electronic Edition.