localpastor

07/12/2026 ~ Proper 10 ~ Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time; Seventh Sunday after Pentecost; Genesis 25:19-34; Psalm 119:105-112; Isaiah 55:10-13; Psalm 65:(1-8), 9-13; Romans 8:1-11; Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

The Trees Clap Their Hands

“For you shall go out in joy, / and be led back in peace; / the mountains and the hills before you / shall burst into song, / and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” — Isaiah 55:12

As you may know, this is my first time in the pulpit of the Cousins Island Chapel. Thank you for the invitation. Given that, I want to start my comments with an obvious premise. Other than my title and name, the Reverend Joe Connolly— some people call me the irreverent Joe— other than my title and name it’s unlikely you know much about my background. (Slight pause.)

For starters, I am a native of New York City. Please don’t hold that against me. I was on vacation in Maine with my best friend from the city when I met his cousin, Bonnie Scott, who at the time was a photographer on the Brunswick Times Record.

You could say Bonnie and I hit it off since a year later I moved to Maine. She did not want to move to New York. I’m sure all of you approve of her sentiment.

I joined her church, First Parish, United Church of Christ, in Brunswick. They promptly kicked me out and sent me to Bangor Theological Seminary. I served churches in Waldo County. Next I was called to a church in very rural upstate New York. We were there 23 years before retiring back to Brunswick. Since then I’ve covered two sabbaticals and done two interims.

My work history before I arrived in Maine was very different. Indeed, two of the major items on my resumé exist only in New York City. I worked in back office operations on Wall Street and I wrote for professional theater.

I wrote plays, wrote and directed club acts and supplied lyrics for other people’s music. I’m a member of the Dramatist Guild and A.S.C.A.P. I had some moderate success. For those who remember Kaye Ballard, I had material in the Off-Broadway show which starred Kaye.

One of my theater friends was the late playwright Robert Marasco. I should add if you GOOGLE Bob’s name you’ll get a bunch of theater stuff. If you GOOGLE my name you’ll get a bunch of church stuff.

I did not meet Bob through theater work. I met Bob because he was a teacher in the prep school where my father also taught. Awhile after we became friends he had a hit play on Broadway, a murder mystery-thriller which was set in a prep school. Since my father and Bob were both teachers at a prep school, that sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

In the course of this murder mystery-thriller one of the characters, a teacher, is surrounded by the mayhem caused by the murder. Needless to say, this character cannot control that chaos. Just that lack of control provides a contrast since a prep school most assuredly presents an academic, quiet, controlled kind of atmosphere.

So in the context of all this chaos that teacher begins to question his own faith. This is line Bob wrote for that character (quote:) “In the entire history of religion, we humans have made an assumption that God is light. God is good.”

“But let’s suppose just for a minute darkness is God, that somehow evil controls.” (Pause.) As shocking as that sounds this was a thriller, a murder mystery with people immersed in chaos. As such, this play explored some very negative aspects of life.

To be clear, I knew Bob to be a person of deep faith who did not think evil triumphs. But Bob was also a very good writer so that very existential question gets asked.

I think what Bob was up to in creating this dialogue is not the idea that darkness is God nor that God is evil. I think Bob was suggesting that there are many, many people who actually start at that place when thinking about God, recognized there are people who start with a premise that darkness is God, that God is evil. (Pause.)

This is what we hear in the Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah: “For you shall go out in joy, / and be led back in peace; / the mountains and the hills before you / shall burst into song, / and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Pause.)

Clearly when these words say the mountains and hills sing, the trees clap their hands, that’s a metaphor. Clearly when we say God is light that’s a metaphor.

Clearly a metaphor comparing God to light insists God is good in every sense of the word. Clearly, saying God is light insists that God wants nothing for us except what is good. Clearly a metaphor that says the mountains and hills sing and the trees clap their hands insists all creation responds joyously to the presence of the goodness of God.

That brings up an obvious issue. Do bad things happen to good people? Yes. But does that mean when bad things happen God wants them to happen? I think not.

Still, all you have to do is look in the newspapers or listen to broadcast media and you will find people being quoted as saying all kinds of horrific things from hurricanes to forest fires to terrorists attacks are the will of God. Are they the will of God? Or are these people merely assessing their own fears about chaos, fears about things they cannot control and projecting their existential fears, inflicting those emotional responses about what cannot be controlled on God?

In fact, I think when we feel surrounded by mayhem, chaos, when we feel we cannot control what’s happening, fear is a fairly normal response. And when we feel consumed by fear I think a knee jerk reaction many people have is to look for a scapegoat. So God becomes a scapegoat. People blame God.

In one sense, blaming God is all right. Why? God is strong. God can take it. In another sense, blaming God is all wrong.

You see, it’s absolutely clear to anyone who takes the time to look that the God of Scripture is a God of love, a God of trust, a God of peace, a God of wisdom, a God who wishes nothing but good for humanity. In short, the darkness is not God. God is neither evil nor wishes evil on anyone. (Slight pause.)

This passage from Isaiah, with its joyous metaphors reminded me that God is good and that God wants nothing but good for all humanity. But this one phrase, in particular, caught my ear (quote): “all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

I get a wonderful sense of the goodness of God with the picture, the metaphor of the trees clapping their hands. I get a sense that a basic message of Scripture is if we rely on God, if we trust God, if we place hope in God, God will be there for us in all times and in all places.

So, is God good? My vote is “yes.” What’s your vote? Amen.

07/12/2026
Cousins Island Chapel, Cousins Island, Yarmouth, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This, then, is a précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “Let me throw a $64 word at you— hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is the method you use to interpret texts. So you can have a hermeneutical method, a way to understand everything from Shakespear to Shaw to Stephen King to Scripture. In short, how do I understand what this says and means. When it comes to Scripture I say if because of how you approached reading it you do not understand that it’s about the goodness of God and how much God loves humanity you did not understand what you just read.”

BENEDICTION
Let us recognize that the transforming power of the love God offers is forever among us. 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.

05/31/2026 ~ Trinity Sunday ~ First Sunday after Pentecost ~ Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Psalm 8; 2 Corinthians 13:11-13; Matthew 28:16-20
EKC VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTNktMibjB4
HARPSWELL TV VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbjiTpa6ldI

Trinitarian Monotheism

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, / baptizing them in the name / of Abba, God, / and of the Only Begotten / and of the Holy Spirit.” — Matthew 28:19.

A mentor once told me having a sermon title is a good idea because it helps you focus. Today the title is Trinitarian Monotheism. So I need to explain what that means to me, to me at least. And it being Trinity Sunday I’ll focus on Trinitarianism.

And yes, this sermon has three parts, each with a subtitle— a trinity of sections. Part I: Systematic Theology— boring! Hence, part II: Yeah, but What About My Feelings? Part III— a word you’ve heard me often use: Covenant. (Slight pause.)

First, the term systematic theology is both boring and is an oxymoron as it presents an internal tension, a contradiction, within Christian thinking. A contradiction? Yes. Christianity is an Eastern religion which has been crammed in to a Western philosophy. And that’s a really hard cram.

Eastern thinking assesses the whole and is not particularly concerned with individual parts. Western thinking examines individual parts to try to assess the whole. Neither approach gives a full or complete picture. Further, even the word ‘systematic’ reflects only Western thinking since it’s about particulars. Eastern thinking deflects particulars. (Slight pause.)

I recently saw an ad for a “T” shirt with the slogan, “Follow Jesus,” a common sentiment in our society. But I think that’s a very secular theology.

Don’t get me wrong. I recommend following Jesus. But does that mean the Creator and the Spirit are not worth following? After all, following only Jesus seems like a denial of Abba God, to Whom Jesus prayed and the Holy Spirit Who Jesus told the disciples to expect.

So if there is any identifiable system in Christian thought it’s the Trinity. But Trinity is meant to illustrate only one thing. It’s meant to describe, explain the nomenclature of God. Nomenclature is a $64 word for describing and naming things.

Now, monotheism is a nomenclature. It describes God as One. And that’s God as described by Islam and Judaism. But the classic Christian formula describes God as three Persons yet One— Trinitarian Monotheism.

This Christian description of God as Trinity has source material for that language, that claim. The source material is called the Bible.

Today’s reading from Matthew is one example. Here’s another. The Hebrew word used a number of times to describe God in Genesis is plural. And there’s just no way around it; the word is there and it’s plural. This happens in Genesis 1:26 when God— plural— creates a human, in Genesis 3:22, after the humans eat the forbidden fruit and Genesis 11:7, the Tower of Babel episode. In each of these places the word used for God is plural.

But that actually illustrates a main problem with systematic theology. It simply describes God. It’s like saying Joe Connolly sports a beard and is about five foot seven. That might describe me. It says nothing about who I am. (Slight pause.)

See? Systematic theology— boring. This leads us to Yeah, but What About My Feelings— my feelings? So, what does this have to do with feelings?

Feelings, our feelings, are very important and actually relate to that three Persons concept. God described as Three and One is about God in relationship to God’s own self. And that, by definition, is both personal and emotional about God and it’s also personal and emotional about us.

About us? Yes. You see, if each of us does not have a sense of self, know something about self, does not relate to self, that needs to be worked on. Why? It’s knowledge of self, relationship with self, which empowers us to be in relationship with others.

In short, God is not some figure in far off place, sitting on a mountain contemplating humanity. God feels with us, walks with us, relates to us. God is a God of relationship. (Slight pause.)

So, how is relationship learned, practiced? How often have I said love God and love neighbor? Loving God and neighbor is about relationships. And a relationship with God empowers relationships with others.

I need to emphasize this loving God and loving neighbor stuff is not just lip service, something you say it because it’s the right thing to say. Loving God and neighbor is about emotion and about commitment. Relationships are not possible, commitment is not possible unless the emotions are involved.

Now let’s be real about that: knowing, relating to one’s own self, is hard; loving God and neighbor is hard. The depth of this love, the depth of these emotions, tax every fiber of our being, use our whole soul. (Long pause.)

That brings up part III— Covenant. And this covenant piece is personal because covenant is about me and about you and you and you and you, etc., etc. It’s about all of us. I hope you’re aware that for these four years the covenant we shared was and is about the time we shared, about how we shared, about how much we shared. That sharing is a result of covenant.

And covenant fully practiced embraces two commitments. First, there is a commitment to forgiveness, sometimes called unconditional love. Second, there’s a commitment to growth, sometimes called learning. (Slight pause.)

There’s one other important aspect of a theology of covenant. Secular society talks about justice a lot. But church talks a lot about justice too. Well, there’s a difference.

Very few in secular society address justice and mercy. We in the church know there is no justice without mercy, the mercy God offers to each of us and the mercy we offer to each other.

Also and as I am sure you know, covenant is the basis of Congregationalism. Indeed, that means there is no such thing as an individual who is effective on their own.

The effectiveness of an individual solely on their own is an American myth— myth meaning falsehood. Any individual needs the support of many people. That’s true of any church and in this case I mean this community of faith known as the Kellogg Church.

This church, this community of faith, has amazing, incredible, talented people. And I was supported by amazing, incredible, talented people in this community of faith. If I was effective— and I am not saying I was— it’s not because of me; it’s because of the people of this community of faith. (Slight pause.)

That concept of covenant effectiveness will be true when the Rev. Dr. Bob Ganung is standing in this pulpit in a couple weeks. No one is an island. No one is effective without many hands joined in collaboration. It does take a village. (Pause.)

Covenant, this commitment to unconditional love and growth— never ends. Our proximity will, however, end. But our covenant shall never end if we continue to love unconditionally, continue to grow, continue to understand justice and mercy as intertwined. (Slight pause.)

If I have done anything over these last 4 years I have done my best to offer my love and commitment. As is true with any covenant, I did not always succeed. But as is true with any covenant commitment, I constantly tried to do better. I tried to grow.

And I hope in my own small way what I have just said describes love— covenant love— commitment linked with growth intertwined with love and justice. So what else is there to say at this time of parting except— amen.

05/31/2026
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: “A great Congregational tradition is called freedom of the pulpit. That freedom stems from the fact that this is the pulpit of the people, your pulpit. All I or any pastor should try to do is share something about their own journey and how that might relate to the Gospel. And sharing the Gospel in the fulness of its love is not something anyone can do in one Sunday or a month of Sundays. Sharing the Gospel cannot be done quickly. I know that because in total I have not yet completely shared the fulness of love found the Gospel and I have been at it for well over 30 years. The fulness of love in the Gospel is so great it cannot be shared just in snippets from the pulpit. And that is what really makes this your pulpit. It is you who have a great opportunity to share the fulness of the love in the Gospel every day not from a pulpit but by your actions beyond these doors.”

BENEDICTION: Hear now this blessing, commonly known as the Irish Blessing: May the road rise up to meet us. May the wind be always at our back. May we have a full moon on a dark night. May the sun shine warm upon our faces. May the rain fall soft upon our fields. And until we meet again may the hand of God hold us, the wing of God offer us shelter and the peace of God be with us, always. Amen.

05/24/2026 ~ Day of Pentecost ~ * Acts 2:1-21 or Numbers 11:24-30; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 or Acts 2:1-21; John 20:19-23 or John 7:37-39 ~ Heritage Sunday Celebrated at the 1759 Meeting House ~ HARPSWELL TV VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha4kceAmrso

Future… Perfect?

“In the days to come— it is our God who speaks— I will pour out my Spirit upon all humankind. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy and your young people will see visions and your elders will dream dreams.” — Acts 2:17

You heard me say this earlier. The first time the Declaration of Independence was publically read in Harpswell, it happened on the steps of this Meeting House. And as I am sure you know we are approaching the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration.

Fifty years after the adoption of the Declaration, July 4, 1826, two hundred years ago, a pair of former Presidents who had a hand in writing the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, died. Yes, they died on the same day, fifty years to the day after that document was adopted.

Several weeks later at an official ceremony for the nation, the most famous orator of that post-revolutionary era, Daniel Webster, offered a eulogy honoring these stalwarts of the American Revolution. Webster’s words go on for pages and pages. Therefore, I have taken a very large liberty. I will offer an extremely edited, very small snippet of that address. So please thank me as I will not go on and on. (Pause.)

Neither of these fellow-citizens could have died without leaving an immense void in American society. They have for so long blended with the history of the country, in our thoughts and recollections, that the death of either would have touched the chords of public sympathy.

We have felt, because of this link connecting us with former times, that we had lost something of the presence of the Revolution, the act of independence, and were driven on to mix with the future. Like the mariner who the winds carry, we should feel the stream of time, itself, hath borne us onward. (Slight pause.)

At the end of the remarks Webster said these two have joined the American Constellation; the heavens beam with new light. Beneath this illumination let us walk the course of life forward and at its close devoutly commend our country to the Divine. (Pause.)

These words are in Acts: “In the days to come— it is our God who speaks— I will pour out my Spirit upon all humankind. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy and your young people will see visions and your elders will dream dreams.” (Slight pause.)

This weekend is the national observance known as Memorial Day. Lest we forget, this commemoration was first known as Decoration Day, a time to “decorate” with flowers the graves of those who died in the Civil War, Confederate and Union dead.

Just as Webster honored the memory of Jefferson and Adams, Decoration Day, Memorial Day, is meant to honor not just those who have given their all in service to the nation but it is also a way to honor the past— the past on which our future is built. (Slight pause.)

I think we always need to remember the past. But we especially need to remember the reality of the past, even when that reality is so abhorrent some might want to obliterate or even try to change the details, change the reality. In the Civil War, for instance, it is well documented that 620,000 died.

That total is more than those who died in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II and the Korean War, combined. And this 620,000 dead was Americans killing Americans. It’s also well documented these 620,000 deaths happened because some people claimed that simply for the sake of economic gain they had a right to enslave other people. (Slight pause.)

It is well documented that the prime author of the Declaration of Independence, a document about freedom and equality, was Jefferson. And it’s well documented the writer of those words which enshrine freedom and equality as an American principle, enslaved other humans. It’s well documented that Jefferson begat offspring with one of those he had enslaved and the children of that union were also enslaved.

I bring these facts up because honoring the past is important. However, grappling with the reality of the past is also important. Of course, grappling with the reality of the present is important too. But grappling with the reality of the future is of upmost importance. (Slight pause.)

What does that mean— grapple with the reality of the future? Well, what is the past? What is the present? What is the future? (Slight pause.)

George Carlin said, “There is no present. There is only the immediate future or the recent past.” That’s a fairly accurate take on our experience. After all, what I said just a minute ago is gone. It cannot be rectified, reset or redone. It’s over.

So the past is irrevokable, the present at best fleeting. That leaves the future which we have not yet experienced. I’m aware that many people find the future frightening. From a Biblical perspective, thinking the future is frightening has always amazed and baffled me.

To explore that, let’s look at the episode recorded in Acts. This is clear: in the Pentecost sermon Peter honors, remembers the past, by quoting the prophet Joel.

This is equally clear: the text tells us people from everywhere hear these words so the whole world is meant to listen. Next, this passage says the Word of God, the reality of the presence of God, has entered a new era. These words also tell us we need to be the ones who spread this Word, this reality, to the whole world.

In short, this is an instruction which honors the past but it is not about what’s happening right now, either. It’s about what needs to be done. Peter proclaims what we are called to do, what needs to be done in the future. Hence, what Peter shares is a message of hope.

Hope is not about the past, what has happened, or the present, what’s happening now. Hope is about the future. Hope is about what we are called to do, what we shall do, what we will do.

And what is it we are we called to do? We are called to be instruments of God’s justice, God’s peace, God’s wisdom, God’s joy, God’s love. (Slight pause.)

It’s clear the writers and the signers of the Declaration of Independence did not know what would happen. When the Civil War erupted it’s unlikely anyone knew what would happen or even that the result might be freedom for the enslaved.

When the Revolution and the Civil War happened, hope was a cherished ideal but the future was unknown. To quote the Preamble of the Constitution, the necessary ingredient in embodying and empowering hope was We the People. (Slight pause.)

We the people is also the necessary ingredient in empowering the work of the church. We the people is the necessary ingredient because unless the whole community works together, not a lot can be accomplished. We the people is the necessary ingredient because unless the community of faith known as church seeks a willingness to be instruments of God’s justice, God’s peace, God’s wisdom, God’s joy, God’s love, the future will be bleak.

So let us strive to fulfill the call of God for our generation. Let us strive toward not a perfect time. Let us strive toward a goal of the possibility of a future in which we work toward the perfect. I believe working toward the perfect is a goal to which God calls us. I believe we need to strive to work toward a hope filled future time of perfection and I believe a future time of perfection is the goal of God.

So let us not be deterred if we feel God’s justice, God’s peace, God’s wisdom, God’s joy, God’s love is in short supply now, in our time. Just look at the reality of human history, the reality of our history. God’s justice, God’s peace, God’s wisdom, God’s joy, God’s love was often in short supply.

Therefore, moving forward we need to face the reality of the future, the reality toward which hope points. And who is God calling to embark on this journey toward the future? God calls you and you and you and me.

We are not on this journey alone. On this journey we need to travel together. So let us together be empowered by hope, the hope God has for us, as we strive and work toward the reality of participating, working toward God’s justice, God’s peace, God’s wisdom, God’s joy, God’s love. Amen.

05/24/2026 — Pentecost Sunday
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
Heritage Sunday at “The Old Meeting House”

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This, then, is a précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “We need to remember the witness of the New Testament says the disciples rebelled against the powerful. How so? The word “Lord” applied to Jesus was also a word the Roman culture applied to Caesar. Hence, using that word applied to Jesus was and is an act of rebellion against power. And let us also remember, the future of God’s vision relies on the our mutual support. Indeed, when the Declaration of Independence was signed Benjamin Franklin infamously defined mutual support. He said we must all hang together or we shall all hang separately— that sounds to me like mutual support was, is and will be necessary.”

BENEDICTION: Let us go from this time of worship as we continue to worship with work and witness outside these doors. 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.

05/17/2026 ~ Seventh Sunday of Easter (If Ascension not observed here) ~ * Acts 1:6-14; Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35; 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11; John 17:1-11 ~ ECK VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHVLIl6vynU&pp=0gcJCQQLAYcqIYzv
HARPSWELL TV VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2_etCend9Y

Not for You to Know

“Jesus replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that have been set by the authority of God.’” — Acts 1:7-8.

My sister lives in Orange, California. I don’t hold that against her. Like me, in her youth she was a Roman Catholic. Somehow she is now a member at a Methodist Church. I don’t hold that against her.

Since she’s familiar with Catholicism and Methodism where Bishops assign pastors and knows my time at the Kellogg Church is approaching completion, she was curious about how getting a new pastor works in congregational Churches. As I explained the process to her, she asked a ton of questions. I didn’t hold that against her.

Hence and therefore, compared to what I said to her what I’m about to say is much, much, much shorter, less complicated and very, very, very incomplete. I hope you will not hold that against me. (Slight pause.)

Throughout history members of Congregational churches have had sole responsibility for calling their pastor. As you know, this church recently completed that process. But you may not know until the mid to late 1700s a call was literally for an entire lifetime. Hence, when a pastor left a church it was not for another church.

These days pastors move around. And there are two sides to that— the perspective of the church looking for a pastor and the perspective of a pastor looking for a church. So when pastors get together conversation sometimes turns to a retelling of adventures during the search process. This story is about one of those conversations I had with a colleague.

That pastor found a church, a church found him and they both thought they had a perfect match— until the interview. The church was at Los Alamos— yes, Los Alamos, where the atom bomb was developed. And yes, atomic research is still done there by scientists who live there.

This seemed like a match because my colleague had an undergraduate and graduate degree in science and worked as a scientist before entering ordained ministry. What could go wrong with that fit, right?

In his words (quote): “I blew the interview.” What happened? One of the questions he fielded was: “Is Jesus the sole path to salvation?” (Slight pause.) He had just completed a Doctor of Ministry degree which concentrated in this area and gave what was— again his words (quote): “a very scholarly, nuanced, subtle answer which delved into the early history of the church.”

It turned out the people on the Search Committee were not interested in scholarship, nuance, subtlety or history. The answer they wanted was “Jesus is the sole path.” They would not cotton to any other answer.

I suggested to my colleague he should have challenged the premise of the question. He looked a puzzled.

I said, “You should have tried something like, ‘Jesus is the sole path to salvation only insofar as that does not deny Jesus is sent by God not just for some but for all humanity for all time, for the whole of the human race forever.’”

Immediately he began to roar with laughter. “Oh,” he said, “that may not have made a difference. But I should have said that!”

“You see,” I said, “the problem is that’s not a question about Jesus. It’s a secular question about power”— the one they asked.

“It’s a question about power because it assumes the ones asking the question have a level of knowledge about salvation only God could possess. Hence, anyone who asks that kind of question is assuming they know what God knows. That’s a tad ego-centric, don’t you think?”

My colleague smiled. “My bet is I’ve got to take you along on my next interview as a coach.” (Slight pause.)

This is what we hear in Luke / Acts in the section we call Acts: “Jesus replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that have been set by the authority of God.’” (Pause.)

The question the disciples ask the resurrected Jesus sounds like a self-centered search interview question. (Quote): “Is this the time when You will restore sovereignty to Israel.”

You see, Jesus is right in front of them. So that’s not a question about what message God might have for humanity because of the resurrection is about. Instead it’s a question about the secular power of Israel and a question about the power the disciples might wield, their own power.

Jesus knows it’s the wrong question and says (quote:) “It is not for you to know….” Then Jesus re-frames the question by placing God at the center of what’s happening.

Jesus says the details of unfolding Realm of God are not up to humanity. The details are up to God. Letting God be God is a hard pill for some folks to swallow.

I do need to note Jesus says (quote): “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” Isn’t that about power, our power?

No. It’s not about our power. It’s about the presence of the Holy Spirit. Hence, it is about our empowerment— notice the difference— power and empowerment?

Of what does that empowerment consist? Jesus is clear (quote): “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Witnessing can be powerful. But witnessing is not about power. Witnessing is about saying what we know, what we’ve experienced, what we feel. Witnessing is about sharing. Witnessing is not about holding power over anyone. (Slight pause.)

And what is it we know, experience, feel? The very context of the story tells us: by the goodness of God, Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, raised from death.

The resurrection is a sign to us, that for us the covenant of God is real. It is a sign that the joy, peace, hope, freedom, justice and love of God is available to all humanity, not just to some, especially not just the self-selected.

Last, this passage is blatant about our call to be witnesses. This passage is clear that there is an expectation we will give witness, witness to the joy, peace, hope, freedom, justice and love God offers. How so?

The title “apostle” is a title we need to own for ourselves. It derives from the Greek verb “to send.” So an apostle denotes someone who is “sent out” with something to share.

Therefore, the word apostle is not about commanding, insisting, trapping, tricking or even about who is more important that anyone else, about who has power. The word apostle is about sharing. Hence, it is we who are called to be apostles by our own witnessing. (Slight pause.)

So what are marks of apostles today, those filled with the Spirit right now? Surely an apostle today is someone who helps the community experience the love of God, know the Word of God, discern the will of God.

Those who help the community experience love, know and discern the will of God can be and are successors of the earliest believers. And to strive to be a successor of the apostles is not something grandiose or self-centered.

Anyone who shares the love of God— and there are multiple ways to share the love of God— anyone who shares the love of God— that’s someone who is an apostle. I think someone who shares the love of God are folks like you and me, folks who strive to practice faith everyday by mirroring the joy, peace, hope, freedom, justice and love of God. (Pause.)

I hope you won’t hold it against me when I say the joy, peace, hope, freedom, justice and love of God is our calling. And that kind of sharing is the real and true sign of Christian leadership. Amen.

05/17/2026
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This, then, is a précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “I want to once again draw your attention to the Thought for Mediation today from Alfred North Whitehead. ‘Not ignorance, but ignorance of ignorance, is the death of knowledge.’ I want to suggest to you on the Christian journey knowing what we don’t know may be the most important part. So yes, sometimes it seems like we are just feeling our way because we do know what we don’t know. Well, I certainly hope we know what we do not know or are at least aware of how much we don’t know.”

BENEDICTION: God promises to empower our witness. The Holy Spirit is present to us. Jesus, the Christ, lives among us. Let us go from this worship to continue our worship with work and witness. And may the peace of Christ, which surpasses our understanding keep our hearts, minds and spirits centered on God, this day and forevermore. Amen.

[1] This Thought for Meditation was in the bulletin for the service.

05/03/2026 ~ Fifth Sunday of Easter ~ * Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16; 1 Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14.
EKC VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8hHnbs5Dk
HARPSWELL TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma6C0GzLeyg

Learning and Growth

“Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, the milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that God is good.” — 1 Peter 2:2-3.

I want to offer some general comments about how learning happens in infants and in children. You and I know there are exceptions. (Slight pause.) For a newborn stimuli is usually experienced as moments of learning. A baby learns something about the world with each hug, each touch of a hand, each human contact.

Learning happens when music is heard— Beethoven’s Fifth to Taylor Swift— when squeals of joy, shouts of anger, whispers of consolation are heard— when the sharp smell of an onion or the sweetness of chocolate is in the air— when the static image of a painting or harried movement on a TV screen is seen. Learning abounds in multiple ways.

As time goes by a child identifies and structures the data. One step at a time, a each youngster develops their own methods, their own ways of learning.

Here’s an example. When I was in Grade School no one knew what dyslexia even was. That proves I’m old. But I was dyslexic so I did not do well. By the time I was in High School I had developed my own work around systems. (Slight pause.)

To assist children as they learn adults can offer help, be observers and mentors, as we witness a child’s development. It can be amazing to us how much children assimilate what’s out there and how prodigious the difference is between what a one year old and a fourteen year old absorbs from the environment.

At one point my mother accused me of (quote:) “Not taking time to smell the roses.” Then she realized I was smelling the roses so fast it made her head spin.

By the time we are forty-five— some of us here are older than that, right?— by the time we are forty-five do we stop experiencing the stimuli which surrounds us? No. Have we learned all there is to learn? No— at least I hope not. I certainly have not. Mature folks may be set in how we process the world but we should always find new ways to learn in our quest for understanding. (Slight pause.)

An Episcopal priest friend openly admits she did not become a Christian until after she was ordained for ten years. She says her understanding of Christianity up until that point was merely cultural.

I describe much of what we see in American culture as cultural Christianity. But it’s clearly not Christianity. For centuries the West assumed Christianity was a bedrock of our culture and was learned from the culture. That assumption was never accurate. It was totally false.

An understanding of the Christian faith does not spring forth naturally from any human culture. Given that, I need to stress becoming and being a Christian is learned. It takes time and work to learn what I think is a vital set of assertions and practices.

These are the narratives, music, theology, traditions, the history of the faith. So having someone who is one of the aforementioned observers and mentors, someone who has internalized the competencies, nuances and attendant narratives— music, theology, traditions, history of the faith— having someone like that is invaluable.

This is a reality. Cultural Christianity— what we learn about Christianity from only the culture— is shallow because it lacks requisite knowledge. It’s also naïve to say the forming of Christians has ever been easy, automatic, flawless. After all, it’s said Jesus spent three years with the disciples and they still had a hard time understanding.

This is also a reality. Learning Christianity means discovering a way of life that often defies the culture. An example: the culture says family life is important. For the culture that’s often defined as blood relations and (quote:) “the nuclear family.”

The Christian claim is we are family to one another, made family in Christ, no exceptions. Unlike the secular culture, this Christian family is one from which no one, no individual is excluded or marginalized. Each person is valued. (Slight pause.)

So, what might it be like to learn Christianity as if we were children, as if we knew nothing and needed to take our first steps? I think seeing Christianity as a way of life is the first step on this journey of learning and growth and it is a journey that never ends.

On this journey there is some basic information to be acquired— the history of Israel, Biblical literacy, the history of the church, the ancient creeds. It’s wise to know about the great schism between the Eastern and Western Church in the Eleventh Century, be familiar with how Protestant Revolution of the Sixteenth Century influenced modern thought. All this might help us understand Christianity as a way of life.

In short, unless we Christians have some knowledge of the history, traditions, theology and work of the church universal, how can we, the local church, provide a space in which others might grow? That comes back to can Christians grow without mentors?

Mentors know the bedrock learnings of Christian formation is not found cultural Christianity. So it is helpful to have mentors as a part of the learning process.

For us, in offering the church as a space to learn what is incumbent is that the church provides to the community around us a space to grow and a vision for that growth. I think unless we have prepared ourselves with tools for growth, we, the church, will not be able to offer any vision for growth.

And I think learning and understanding basics can empower us to offer a Christian vision for the aforementioned growth. When First Peter tells us (quote) “Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation….” it’s presenting us with a challenge, a challenge to learn how to be continually faithful, to continually grow.

Any parent knows you must learn to crawl before you learn to walk and one metaphor we have for God is God as parent. As a parent, God would have us grow in all ways and continue to grow until we cannot just walk but run.

So, let us strive to be faithful, strive to be informed by the history and traditions of our faith, be open to acquiring tools for growth, open to growth. We , thereby, can be ready to present a vision for physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual growth both inside these doors and beyond these doors to the world around us. And in terms of our Congregational tradition we also need to understand we are, each of us, called to be mentors. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
05/03/2026

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: “Two things: some might say to me, ‘Gee, that list of what you call basic tools, church history, Biblical literacy, all that learning stuff seems really, really daunting.’ No. That’s easy. Being a Christian who has no tools— that’s hard— very, very hard. Next, one Thought for Meditation was from the author Maya Angelou. She also famously said she’s surprised when someone tells her they’re a Christian. Her reaction is, ‘Doesn’t that take a lifetime to accomplish?’”

BENEDICTION: Jesus assures us we will be empowered to do great works. We are, in fact, representatives of Christ, as we share the gifts God has granted us. And may the love of God the creator which is real, the Peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding and the companionship of the Holy Spirit which is ever present, keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge of God and in the care of God this day and forever more. Amen.

04/26/2026 ~ Fourth Sunday of Easter ~ * Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10 ~ EKC VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTxrk17aQN8
HARPSWELL TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNZOalTvCN4

The Work of the Church

“They [that is: those who were and those who had become disciples of the Messiah] devoted themselves to the instruction of the apostles, to communal life, to the breaking of bread and prayers.” — Acts 2:42.

There are in the neighborhood of eight billion people on this planet. Roughly a third identify as Christians. About 1.4 Billion of those folks identify as Roman Catholic.

However world-wide, there are more than 45,000 other denominations, many of whom believe they have the clearest read when it comes to the Bible. But let’s take a step back from that diversity and consider only the group we generally call American Mainline Protestant. There certainly is diversity among those historically related groups. But what are the differences? Is it core beliefs?

No. The core beliefs can be stated by paraphrasing Paul’s words. Trust God; Christ lived; Christ died; Christ was raised. That’s the basics, so what are these separations, this diversity, especially in Mainline churches, about? (Slight pause.)

I think the differences can be labeled as sociological separations, not core beliefs. These differences are in some ways tribal attachments.

There are two specific aspects of this tribalism I want to examine, one of which is theologically abhorrent. Like people worship with like people. Or, as the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said the worship hour is still the most segregated hour in America.

King knew this observation was not just about race. It is about a myriad of things from education to income to occupations and more.

A second tribal tendency is about how churches organize, the methods by which churches govern themselves. The Mainline churches use three basic, different systems of government labeled as episcopal, congregational and presbyterian.

Here’s a simple explanation of that. Episcopal systems of government, hierarchal in nature, have bishops. Generally bishops listen to the people but have the final say. Thereby they can tell people what to believe, how to process, proceed, organize.

In congregational systems the people, themselves, accept the responsibility of deciding what to believe, how to process, proceed, organize. Do note: this does not preclude honoring, respecting and cooperating with other churches.

Presbyterian systems are kind of a mix of those two. They elect members to area and then national assemblies. Those then dictate decisions about what to believe, how to process, proceed, organize. A disclaimer: that was a painfully brief description so what I just said deserves a large gain of salt.

Adherents to each system offer theological and biblical reasons for the superiority of their method. It’s probably no surprise I think Congregationalists have it right. Why? I think the congregational system faithfully attempts to follow the great rediscovery of the Protestant Revolution, a basic premise of the early church: justification by faith.

If we are justified by faith, it places a serious responsibility on each of us to be accountable for our behavior, our beliefs. But further— and there are some, perhaps many, do not like to hear this. Those early Protestants insisted personal responsibility does not rest on or end with the individual. No one is an island.

We are accountable to one another, in covenant with each other and God. Each person in a Congregational church needs to be ready to act on behalf of and in unison with the whole. Congregationalism is about individual and mutual responsibility.

I think this is clear: God calls each of us separately and all of us communally to be accountable as we love God and love neighbor together. Hence, if we hand over either our individual or our mutual responsibility to a prelate or some distant assembly, thereby accepting dictums, we abdicate the accountability of the personal and the local communal commitment. (Pause.)

These words are in Luke/Acts in the section known as Acts: “They [that is: those who were and those who had become disciples of the Messiah] devoted themselves to the instruction of the apostles, to communal life, to the breaking of bread and prayers.” (Pause.)

You heard me say this earlier. Luke and Acts are one work, not two. Generally, the Gospel tells us about the work of Jesus. Acts offers a blueprint for the continued work of Jesus, as that work is and needs to be carried out by the church, by us. (Pause.) So, what is the work of the church? (Slight pause.)

Does the work of the church have anything to do with how we govern ourselves, anything to do with the tribes to which we belong, with the kind of programs we offer, the type of music we play, the rituals to which we adhere? No.

The basic work of the church is, I think, illustrated in these few sentences in Acts. We are called on, as individuals and as a people, as a community to grow in our intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual lives.

How? We need to claim ownership of the message authored by the life of Jesus which says trust God, love God, love neighbor. How? The Acts says we are to experience one another through communal acts of fellowship, breaking the bread and prayers. This is first step in and toward personal and communal growth.

But there is more. Fellowship, breaking the bread and prayers— these are meant to empower and facilitate the actions of the church in its outreach to the world, as we go into the world beyond this gathering.

Please notice— fellowship, bread breaking and prayers are not products or goals or programs, not end results. They are experiences we have with each other.

So the basic work of the church is not about an end product nor about how we operate. The first work of the church, the prime work of the church is about the action of our presence to and with one another. (Pause.)

Here’s a very modern illustration. Is the real work the Disney Corporation the selling of Mickey or movies or theme parks? No. They are in the business of trying to help people feel happy.

Is the work of the church programs, buildings, organization or preservation? No. The work of the church is trying to help people grow. It’s about the growth of our intellectual, emotional, physical, spiritual lives through communal action.

When a church does this work the people of the church experience personal growth, evolution, development, change. When a church does this work the people of the community in which that church lives experiences growth, evolution, development, change because of the presence of that church. (Slight pause.)

I think the basics are simple: rely on God through the acts of loving God and neighbor. If all Christians just did that there would be no need for 45,000 denominations, no need for tribes, for associating only with other like people. If all Christians practiced the basics, intellectual, emotional, physical, spiritual growth, evolution, development and change would abound. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
04/26/2026

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: “I think you know I’m a graduate of Bangor Theological Seminary. Among the professors were a Roman Catholic nun, a gay Presbyterian, one of the first women ordained in the United Church of Christ, a lay person who was a member of the Disciples of Christ, a Southern Baptist, an Episcopal priest, a cleric who had dual standing with both the Presbyterians and the United Church of Christ. They all understood they were working together in the vineyard of God, as one in Christ. They all understood there are no real differences. There are just the basics and that thrust God, love God, love neighbor is not about tribalism. It’s about intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual growth.”

BENEDICTION: The time for this service of worship is ended but our service in the name of God continues outside these doors. Therefore, 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.

04/19/2026 ~ Third Sunday of Easter ~ * Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19; 1 Peter 1:17-23; Luke 24:13-35 ~ EKC VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ff_VI4hDg4
HARPSWELL TV VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRRf_zXSerQ

A Long and Winding Road

“They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while Jesus was talking to us on the road, explaining the Scriptures to us?’” — Luke 24:32

When I was a freshman at a parochial High School a World History course was taught by a member of the religious order known as the Christian Brothers. To address the reality of the Roman Empire this teacher placed some of the origins of New Testament into the context of the specific and concurrent era known as The Pax Romana.

He said it’s amazing the Christian Scriptures were even written, since the literacy rate at that time was less than 10%. So these works were likely composed by literate people, probably members of some upper class group. That this was an influential group is one reason the New Testament spread. And it does say something about the context of its origins and the context of the era.

He emphasized we did not know how names of Apostles that were assigned to each Gospel. We did not know how they were assigned. But these attributions were probably made up.

Luke and Acts, he said, were not separate writings but two volumes of the same work, written by the same author or authors at the same time. At some point the Gospel we know as John somehow got stuck between the two.

Being curious, I went home, pulled the Bible off a shelf where I’m sure it had rested untouched for quite some time. I read those two works— Luke and Acts— as if they are one, which they are.

I’ve often said two things about this. First, that event started my life long interest in and study of Scripture. It was also a conversion experience since the church I saw in front of me was not the church I found in Scripture. Hence, it seemed reasonable for me to work for change and I think that is one of a myriad of reasons I stand in this pulpit. (Pause.)

A disclaimer— today a lot of what I will say about Scripture you have heard me say before, perhaps in bits and pieces, but I’ve said it. To start I want to address the chronological composition of the New Testament, what was written when. (Slight pause.)

All the (true) letters of Paul are written before any Gospel since Paul died before any of them were composed. The earliest letter, First Thessalonians, was written about 25 years after the Resurrection. Fourteen letters are attributed to Paul but the Apostle actually wrote only seven of them.

As to the Gospels, despite its position in our Bibles, the second of four, Mark was the first written, and written about the year 70 of the Common Era, 40 years after the Resurrection. Matthew was the next. Most scholars say it comes together around the year 85.

Luke/Acts followed. A consensus says that happened about the year 90 of the Common Era. The year 100 perhaps a little later, John is compiled. That’s at least 70 years after the Resurrection, 45 years after Paul writes.

Paul’s attributed letters and the other works are likely to have been written as the later Gospels are being composed. But some are written as late as the year 120 of the Common Era. Further, the New Testament was largely written in geographical areas far away from where the events described in the Gospels take place. (Slight pause.)

The earliest fragments we have of the New Testament— and it’s just fragments— date to the Second Century. The earliest mostly full copy— the Codex Sinaiticus— dates to the Fourth Century.

There is no question this journey, this development of the New Testament, is a long and winding road. I hope all this reminds us that when we ignore the context of Scripture, the time, the sequence in which it is written and those who wrote it, we may be ignoring the understandings of those who composed it or first heard it or first read it.

When those aspects are willfully ignored what happens is people often try to exclusively place today’s understandings on these readings. That can lead to missing significant meanings which are there, present in the writing. (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work called Luke/Acts in the section called Luke: “They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while Jesus was talking to us on the road, explaining the Scriptures to us?’” (Slight pause.)

Please note: since the New Testament did not yet exist, Jesus is explaining the Hebrew Scriptures. So how did the Hebrew Scriptures develop? Here’s a very, very, very short version: The Pentateuch, the Torah, the first five books, are a merging and editing of four older works, woven together in about the Fifth Century Before the Common Era.

Experts can tell some of those words date to a little after the Tenth Century Before the Common Era. The Prophets and the Writings also come together over time, some recorded as early as the Eight Century Before the Common Era, some much later.

The Dead Sea Scrolls date from between the Third and First Centuries Before the Common Era and contain a portion of what we find in the Hebrew Scriptures. But they also contain other documents.

The scrolls predate any physical record of the New Testament but that is not unusual since in the time of Jesus the New Testament didn’t exist. This is clear: this journey, the development of the Hebrew Scriptures is a long and winding road. (Slight pause.)

Well, I hope that was not too much of a long and winding road. It was a very, very, very short version of that road and, as my story indicates, I’ve been exploring this road for better than sixty years. I have not yet finished that exploration. (Slight pause.)

Here’s an obvious statement. In the year 2026 of the Common Era it can be hard to understand something written between 2,000 and 3,000 years ago.

But one thing we do need to understand is this story in Luke, indeed, much of Scripture, is not meant to record history, report facts. So when we read Scripture it’s usually unwise to ask, ‘What are the facts the writing reveals?’ We need to ask, ‘What is the meaning being revealed and what are the feelings being revealed?’

Indeed, the word theology means the science of the study of God. So we need to remember the purpose of Scripture is to explore Who God is. So the Bible, especially the story we heard today is not trying to convey facts. Jesus is not even trying to convince these travelers the Resurrection happened. Jesus is trying reveal the meanings in Scripture, reveal Who God is. So what or rather Who does Jesus explain? (Slight pause.)

You’ve probably heard this old saw: the God of the Old Testament is a vengeful, angry God; the God of the New Testament is a loving God. That is false, false, false, false and false.

Why is it false? Who is this God Jesus discerns in the Hebrew Scriptures? This is a God of covenant, a God of steadfast love. Or as Jesus puts it, the two most important commandments in the Hebrew Scriptures are love God and love neighbor. Jesus is explaining a God Who loves and invites us to love. (Pause.)

What we call The Last Supper was a Passover meal. It is a joyful meal, a celebration of community and of liberation from an oppressor, tyranny, a tyrant. With the breaking of bread, the Road to Emmaus episode provides a bookend to what happened the week before. And if we fail to understand railing against an oppressive state, tyranny, a tyrant, is present in this story we’ve missed that this is a constant theme and some of the context we find in Luke.

And yes, this relationship to Passover provides continuity to and about the God of Israel. This is the One about Whom Jesus speaks to the travelers, God Who celebrates community, liberation, God who knows about freedom— and freedom from an oppressor, freedom from tyranny, freedom from a tyrant, the God of covenant, of steadfast love. This is the God Jesus proclaims.

And when do the travelers truly understand what Jesus has explained? When Jesus breaks the bread which recalls the Passover. So perhaps for us the resurrection is or should be an affirmation of everything cherished by God, God who celebrates community, liberation, covenant, and steadfast love. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
04/19/2026

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This, then, is a précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “Two things: most people forget when both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament were coming together those writing it, compiling it, did not think it was Scripture. They were simply trying to address their own individual experience of God. Next, given my sermon title— A Long and Winding Road— for those disappointed I did not quote Lennon and McCartney please remember the last words of that lyric say (quote:) ‘lead me to your door.’ That’s what Scripture tries to do— lead us to the door, the threshold of the revelation God offers. Then we need to both explore what’s behind the door and be proactive about the covenant promise which instructs us to love God and love neighbor.”

BENEDICTION: Let us serve the world in the name of Christ. Let the love of Christ find expression in us. 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.

[1] If you listen to/see the video you will hear the pastor left out the word “true” but it is made evident in a later sentence.

03/15/2026 ~ Fourth Sunday in Lent ~ 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41 ~ EKC VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sglSJnUlnM
HARPSWELL TV VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0a07jWED18

Outcast?

“As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. The disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” — John 9:1-2.

I think that to ask what’s your favorite musical or song or play or movie is to ask a useless question. At the very least ask for a list broad enough to not be confining— ten or twenty of favorite musicals or movies or songs or plays.

While theater is my home, it is my medium, I like movies, especially movie musicals— no surprise there. Certainly among my top twenty is The Wizard of Oz. It might even be on the list of top twenty for everyone here this morning. It is loved. Why is that?

I think there are two basic reasons that movie is loved. I shall address the first reason at length.

Despite its overall sense of fantasy, surrealism, a picture of an unreal world, I think the imaginary found in this Land of Oz that we see in the movie also presents us with a picture of reality, the real world. (Slight pause.)

The real world that we live in and Oz have similarities. They have similarities? Yes and I have personal proof of this, something that happened to me when I was involved in professional theater.

Back in the mid-70s I worked for the Actors’ Fund of America. Word got around theatrical circles that I had a keen sense for estimating the value of memorabilia, putting a price on odd pieces of theater history— determining what old posters, pictures and the like would be worth, especially when connected with a specific famous person. This felt like Oz in part because that reputation was based on just one incident. [1]

The Fund had been given a letter signed by the famous American composer George Gershwin. A decision was made to sell it, get the money. My opinion was this document should go for somewhere between $800 and $1,000, and that’s in 1970s dollars.

However, the board of the Fund had oversight and thought that estimate was inflated, a tad high. It was decided that $250 was appropriate. Well, the document wound up being sold to a dealer in the business of rare autographed documents.

I was present for the transaction with a board member. Since it was being sold to a dealer I asked, “How much do you think you’ll get for this?” (Slight pause.)

The buyer grinned. “Oh, I think somewhere between a one thousand and twelve hundred.” (Slight pause.) The world of professional theater is a small, tight-knit community. My reputation was made and it spread rapidly.

Shortly thereafter, the curator of the Songwriters Hall of Fame asked me to drop by for a cup of coffee. Over some java I was shown a series of documents and asked my opinion about the monetary value of each document in the collection and how much the whole collection might fetch.

There is no doubt about it. I was now in the land of Oz. Why? In the Oz story the straw man needed a brain. So the Wizard goes to a desk, pulls out a scroll and says the straw man is as smart as anyone who has a wall filled with sheepskins. He holds up what looks like a diploma. “This is a credential,” he says, “the only thing you are missing.”

The fact that I had accurately determined the price of the Gershwin letter was my credential. No further certification was needed. It really felt like I was in the land of Oz.

I need to be clear, I’m all for certification. I really do want my physician to have an M.D. I might even want to see that sheepskin hanging on the wall.

But there are times the real world just hands you certification. If, for instance, you fall into a readily identifiable category, easily labeled, you are in that way acceptable. If you are in an acceptable group, your ticket is punched.

If you do not fall into a readily identifiable category or are not easily labeled, in some way you’re unacceptable, your ticket is automatically rejected, denied. The world can be and is sometimes surprisingly surrealistic, just like Oz. (Slight pause.)

I think the second aspect as to why The Wizard of Oz is beloved is it’s a movie about a journey. Many things need to be overcome on the journey— you know— lions and tigers and bears.

And there’s no question about the reality called life. Life is a journey and in the real world lions and tigers and bears abound. The journey in the movie is a metaphor about life’s journey and it’s loved because we realize that. In what may be the pivotal scene which sets up the rest of the movie, Judy Garland sings about that quest.

(Quote): “Somewhere over the rainbow / Way up high / There’s a land that I heard of / Once in a lullaby.” (Slight pause.) If life is a journey, and it is, I believe that adventure does not preclude dreams, nor does it mean dreams can fail to be made real.

Life can be hard sometimes but it does not mean hope is unwarranted nor does it mean hope is shortsighted. I, for one, insist possibilities do abound, even if lions and tigers and bears surround us. (Slight pause.)

I, perhaps personally, deeply identify with the story of Oz because, as many of you know, I grew up on the mean streets of Brooklyn, an inner-city kid. Hope was in short supply. There, in that place, dreams were often destined to be at best difficult to realize, possibilities decidedly limited.

Still, and maybe because of that, I am guilty of a specific crime. I am a dreamer who believes in hope and possibilities. But yet, I know this to be also true: in the real world sometimes dreams are shattered, hope is in short supply, possibilities are limited. (Pause.)

This is what we hear in John: “As Jesus walked along, he saw a man born blind from birth. The disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (Pause.)

Did you notice in the story of the man born blind Jesus is not there for most of it? Did you notice also no one asks the man born blind who it is who has sinned?

Rather, others are invited to bear false witness, to make claims, statements not about themselves, not about their own frailty, but about someone else. They effectively accuse the man born blind of sinning— with no support for the accusation.

Perhaps this illustrates a group dynamic of behavior— sinister— behavior that is sinister— and perhaps all too realistic. If a scapegoat can be found in the midst of a group even though the collective is made up of individuals, somehow and for unjustified reasons, that affords the group an unwarranted sense of arrogance. (Slight pause.) Labels, categories— these are convenient receptacles for prejudice and fear. (Slight pause.)

And of course, once the man has received sight, lions and tigers and bears just abound. The world is a place where struggle happens. Even his own parents effectively say, “This is not our problem, not our fight.” (Slight pause.)

So, in the real world is it wrong to dream? Is hope a mirage? Are possibilities something over which narrowness will always hold sway?

Perhaps we need to ask, “What are the promises of God?” Is God, as the 23rd Psalm suggests, a Shepherd? Is God, as the 23rd Psalm suggests, to be trusted? Is God, as the 23rd Psalm suggests, a God of dreams fulfilled?

Is God, as the 23rd Psalm suggests, a God of hope unbounded? Is God, as the 23rd Psalm suggests, a God who knows that possibilities are real and justified. [2] (Slight pause.)

The story of a man born blind, I think, makes this clear: God does not set up labels, categories. God does not fuel fear. God does not cast out the outcast. God is a God of dreams, possibilities, hope. (Slight pause.)

I want to reiterate my personal testimony. I am a dreamer. I hope. I believe in possibilities. But perhaps most important, as well as I can, I try to trust God.

After all, if God is unfamiliar with dreams, if God is not conversant with hope, if God denies possibilities, then fear wins. If God is unfamiliar with dreams, if God is not conversant with hope, if God denies possibilities, then the promise of the resurrection comes to naught.

And I know that cannot be true, since I count fear as merely a state of self delusion. And I, for one, rest assured in the hope called resurrection. Why? How? The Lord is my Shepherd. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
03/06/2026

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This, then, is a précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “Most people don’t know this: Somewhere Over the Rainbow has an introductory verse which was not in the Oz film. These are the words: “When all the world is a hopeless jumble / And the raindrops tumble all around / Heaven opens a magic lane / When all the clouds darken up the skyway / There’s a rainbow highway to be found / Leading from your windowpane / To a place behind the sun / Just a step beyond the rain. Somewhere over the rainbow…” [3] The first words of the verse say, “When all the world is a hopeless jumble…” And yes, there are times it feels that way— the world is a hopeless jumble. But we need to trust God and realize seeing rainbows is not wishful thinking. They can be seen. They are real.”

BENEDICTION: God of the covenant, show us the light of the resurrection. Remain with us and give us hope that, we may rejoice in the gift of Your Holy Spirit Who gives us life. Accept our prayers in the warm embrace of Your compassion. This is what we pray in the Name of Jesus, the Christ. Amen.

[1] In the 70s I worked at the Actors Fund of America. It is now known as the Entertainment Community Fund.

[2] Note: Psalm 23 was one of the assigned lectionary readings for the day and the Congregation recited the King James version of it as one of the two Scripture readings.

[3] For those who do not know the introduction of Somewhere Over the Rainbow these URLs have several verison of the whole song.

TONY BENNETT:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqXAmFS8bNs

MANDY PATINKIN:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrcGdIzweu4

ELLA FITZGERALD:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc2rTt74Qys&list=RDhc2rTt74Qys&start_radio=1

JUDY GARLAND IN A RARE RADIO RECORDING:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1lbHgdUI_s&list=RDD1lbHgdUI_s&start_radio=1