localpastor

12/31/2023 ~ First Sunday after Christmas Day ~ Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Psalm 148; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:22-40 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/899585016

Alleluia!

“Alleluia! Praise God! Praise Yahweh from the heavens; praise God in the heights! Praise God, all you angels; praise God, all you hosts!” — Psalm 148:1-2

It has been said if you know two languages, you’re bi-lingual. If you know three languages you’re tri-lingual. If you know one language, you’re an American.

When Bonnie and I were, pardon the expression, “courting,” she came to New York City to visit me several times. Once, when we got on the Subway, she realized as she looked down a row of passengers that every person was reading a newspaper and each paper was in a different language, none of them English. The Big Apple— you get all kinds of languages.

Given my history, making a living as a writer, at times meager, at times lush, I take a particular interest in words and their meaning. And English is well known for importing words from other languages, sometimes importing them whole, just as they are found in the original.

But the words we import tend to lose subtlety, texture, the nuance they had in their native setting once rendered into English. We, for instance, take the word ‘debonaire’ from the French. In its language of origin it can mean suave, urbane, affable, genial, carefree, jaunty, confident, charming or even well-dressed. But it can mean all those things at once, at the same time, simultaneously in the same sentence.

However in English we might demand more precision than that. ‘Which of those meanings does the speaker or the writer really mean?’ In English our inclination is to demand exact meaning.

Those who speak French would be comfortable with the idea that this one word might mean all of those things simultaneously. It’s speakers of English who get a little edgy with that concept.

But English does use words which originate in other languages, so here are a few words with those other origins noted. From German we get delicatessen, hamburger, frankfurter, pilsener, pretzel, pumpernickel, sauerkraut, schnapps, spritzer, kaput, kindergarten, neanderthal, poltergeist and autobahn. From the Scandinavian languages we get words such as sky and troll and geyser.

From Flemish we get skipper, keel and dam— something which holds back water, not the other kind. A number of words come into our language from Greek. These include phobia, Christ, phenomena, hypotheses, pentagon and anything ending in ‘ology’— o-l-o-g-y.

It’s pretty safe to say anything ending in ‘ology’ means the science of the study of whatever it is with which the word started. Theology is the science of the study of God. Biology is the science of the study of life forms.

Many of our root words also come from Latin. With a fair amount of direct lineage we get such words as advertisement, edifice, album, bellicose, disciple, insulate, judge, rural, sinister and dexterous— those last two being left and right in Latin. And there are words and phrases from the Latin which we don’t even bother to alter or translate at all, like ‘habeas corpus’ and ‘semper fidelis.’ (Slight pause.)

That brings me to Hebrew. I’m sure many of us have used the word ‘hallelujah,’ without ever asking where it came from or what it meant. I know I did once. (After all, it sounds so good, especially when you just shout it! Hallelujah! Right? Sounds good.)

We have imported hallelujah into the English pretty much as is. Again, as is the case with translating a lot of words from a foreign language, it’s not really possible to render an exacting meaning in English from Hebrew.

But we can get a sense of it and by dissecting the underlying Hebrew and this is in an effort to get a fuller understanding of what the word is trying to convey. For starters, you’ve probably all seen hallelujah spelled with the ‘h’ on the front of it or with an ‘a.’ That’s ‘h-a-l-l-e-l-u-j-a-h’ and ‘a-l-l-e-l-u-j-a-h.’ But these are just two different ways to transliterate the word. There’s really no difference.

Now, the word Hallelujah, itself, is not a noun. It does not name anything. It’s a verb. The ‘h-a-l-l-e-l’ part of the word means ‘to praise,’ an action.

Some sources suggest that the ‘e-l’ in that part of the word also refers to God, since the word ‘el’ (e-l) is one of the words for God in Hebrew. It would also make sense for the word which means God to be a part of a word for praise.

But for the Israelites and I hope for us, today, this is not about just any God. We actually know the name of God. God as it is addressed in the word ‘hallelujah’ and it is the God of Israel, whose name we know from the third chapter of Exodus.

The name of God offered there is Yahweh. But, of course, this name, this word, Yahweh, is a verb. In its verb form the name Yahweh loosely means ‘to be’ or ‘I am.’

That’s where the ‘j-a-h’ the jah part of the word ‘hallelujah’ comes in to play. ‘J-a-h’ is a shortened form of Yahweh. Hence, hallelujah means not just ‘praise be to God.’ It also means ‘praise be to Yahweh, God.’ And, since the h-a-l-l-e-l, the ‘hallel,’ is a verb form and ‘jah’ is a verb form, that’s two action words strung together.

Now, I want to come back to the idea that the word Yahweh is a form of ‘I am’ or ‘to be.’ How Twenty-first Century is that? God is a state of being. God is a presence. That sounds like something a contemporary resident guru would say.

But this is not new word. It is at least three millennia, three thousand years old. And it describes God as a state of being. Therefore, it also and effectively describes God as The One Who relates to us and the One to Whom we can relate.

It therefore and also, describes God as God separate from us. It describes God as not us. And the least time I looked, you and I— we— we are not God. (Slight pause.)

All this still leaves us with the question, ‘why?’ Why do we praise God? Well, if God is Who those of us in the Jewish and Christian traditions say God is, the One Who is the author of life, the appropriate question is not ‘why do we praise God? The appropriate question is ‘how could we fail to praise God?’

If that’s true for our tradition, perhaps the real question which should be asked is ‘in what ways do we respond to God because of God’s steadfast love for us. In what ways do we respond to God especially in this season, as we remember the birth of Jesus.’

I think the answer is we should respond to God with our whole being. Indeed, though being long in years, Simeon and Anna are clearly overwhelmed by the reality of God and responded to the reality of God in the Gospel story we heard today. And their whole being is what is responding. (Slight pause.)

Perhaps the real power— and words do have power— the real power in the word ‘hallelujah’ is it’s actually hard to say the word without using what feels like our whole being, our whole body. That being said, will you do me a favor?

I mean no pressure here, but if you are willing to stand please because I would like to try an experiment with this word. Please stand if you are willing.

(Slight pause.) Now all together, let’s say the word Hallelujah three times. But each time try to get a little louder and see if you suddenly start feeling this word with your whole being.

(All.) Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Thank you! Did that feel like something was happening there, right? Please be seated. So, it is hard to say that word without kind of putting your whole being into it, right?

(The pastor only.) Well, I guess there’s only one more thing to say. It should be obvious. Hallelujah. Praise be to God Who sent Jesus to be the Messiah, to live and dwell among us. Hallelujah and amen!

12/31/2023
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 an précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “I’m reminded that White Christmas (if you listen to the verse) was written because Irving Berlin found himself stuck in Los Angeles where it didn’t snow. I’d like to come back to that French word I mentioned earlier, debonaire. In the French translation of the Jerusalem Bible where it says “Blessed are the poor in spirit” the French translation translates that phrase as “Blessed are the debonaire.” And, indeed, this has nothing to do with Fred Astaire or Cary grant or being suave and sophisticated. It does have to do with a person who goes through life with gracefulness, full of grace, fully aware that the grace God offers us wondrous things. A person therefore who is debonaire is willing to offer God praise no matter what the circumstances— poor in Spirit— another connection for you.”

BENEDICTION ( Isaiah 60:19-20a)
The sun shall no longer be / your light by day, / nor for brightness shall the moon / give you light by night; / for Yahweh, God, will be your everlasting light, / and your glory. Amen.

12/24/2023 ~ 12/25/2023 ~ Nativity of the Christ – Proper I ~ Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14, (15-20) ~ Proper II ~ Isaiah 62:6-12; Psalm 97; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2:(1-7), 8-20 ~ Proper III ~ Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-4, (5-12); John 1:1-14 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/898397366

Life Changes

“Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart.” — Luke 2:19.

There was banging on the door. “I’ll get it!” shouted Miriam. She had to get it. No one else in the crowded dinning room was paying attention. An innkeeper, she had been named Miriam after the sister of Moses, who was a great prophet in her own right.

Her husband had been dead for five years. Her children moved out of town to larger more important ones— Nazareth, Caesarea, Jerusalem. This town was commonly called the City of David, even though it was small and not much of a city. With her children gone she decided to turn her house, into an inn, though it was now much in need of repair.

When the occupying army— the Roman soldiers— needed a place to stay in the village, they chose this ramshackle hovel thinking it would not draw too much attention to their presence. They were wrong about that. And Miriam knew the ways of the world. She overcharged the Romans. That usually paid the upkeep for the entire year.

Then, because of this Roman census thing, people were flocking to Bethlehem in droves. Financially, it would be a very good year. The inn might finally get the fixing it needed.

The banging on the door persisted until Miriam opened it. Introductions were made. A man, his name was Joseph, and a very pregnant woman, her name was Mary, stood there. They were in town for the census.

Miriam thought she detected some fear in Mary’s eyes. Joseph had kind eyes and spoke softly. “We have been on the road for five days. We need someplace to stay.” Then he stated the obvious. “My wife is with child. The baby might be born anytime now.”

Miriam thought quickly. There was no room for them in the inn. It was packed. And if the woman’s time came she would need to be alone, not with a crowd.

“I have no room inside. Follow me. I think I can put you up in the barn.”

She brushed past them not seeing if they agreed or disagreed but follow they did. What choice did they have? They had tried everywhere else in town.

There were some animals in the barn— a cow, a couple of chickens, several sheep. But many stalls were empty. There was plenty of hay, more than enough to put together a makeshift place to sleep— or to bear a child— in an empty stall.

“Look— make a place to lay down. I’ll be back,” Miriam said and scurried off.

“I can’t thank you enough,” the man called after the innkeeper as she disappeared.

Miriam guessed the child would be born shortly. She sprinted to the house, found a towel, a bucket, ran to the well, tied a rope on the handle and tossed it down the shaft.

She heard it splash, guided the rope back and forth until the heft said there was enough water to make retrieving the bucket practical. She tugged the load to the surface and headed back to the barn.

As she approached she was surprised to hear the cry of an infant. In her short time away Mary had given birth.

Joseph must have acted with resourcefulness and haste. Clean hay was neatly spread out in one of the stalls. There was Mary, a crying baby cradled in her arms. Joseph sat next to her, his arm gently wrapped around her shoulder.

Miriam approached. In her straightforward, matter of fact way she said, “O.K. Let’s do what we have to do.”

She dipped a towel into the bucket and began washing the child who was in Mary’s arms. Joseph looked on.

Miriam looked at him. “You do realize your whole life has now changed.”

Joseph nodded. His eyes now showed the same kind of fear Miriam had detected in the eyes of Mary.

The crying of the baby got still louder as the infant was washed. Sensing that fear in Joseph Miriam said, “Don’t worry. From the amount of noise this baby is making I think we have a very healthy child here.”

“I understand that,” said Joseph nodding in affirmation. “But I am worried about the world this child has just entered. Our journey here took five days but that was not the arduous part. The roads are infested with brigands, thieves— that’s dangerous.”

“Our leaders seem incompetent,” Joseph continued. “That’s dangerous. The Roman Army of occupation— they are dangerous. The child does not frighten me. The world we live in? That frightens me.”

Miriam simply nodded. “We may be a small town but we have a wise Rabbi here. He once said to me life is a journey through changes. As life changes it is often dangerous, often frightening. But tomorrow will be different. You will be different. And life will present you with other different, frightening, dangerous challenges.”

“Me? My husband died five years ago. My children left— changes,” said Miriam. “I could not maintain this house without doing something. So I started the inn. Life changed; I changed. Life changes. It’s a given. You need to change with it.”

“You now have this child. As I said, your life will change completely. Indeed, that same Rabbi who told me about life changing also said we need to live life understanding the promise God makes. The promise God makes is to love us, to covenant with us, be with us, to walk with us, to walk at our side.”

Reaching out to Mary, Miriam said, “Give me the child.”

She held the baby up. The baby stopped crying. She looked deeply into the infant’s eyes. Then she handed the child to Joseph. “What do you see?”

“I see love.”

Miriam took the child and handed the child to Mary. “What do you see?”

“I see love.”

“That same Rabbi told me the covenant starts with love. When you look in the eyes of a baby you see nothing but love. This child shall see many changes in a lifetime. But God will love, covenant, be with and walk with this child through every change.”

Miriam then took the child from Mary again, cradled the child in her arms and again looked into the eyes of the infant. “The Rabbi told me God loves us so much a Messiah will be sent at some point. Now that… that will be a real change— the Messiah— loving, present, covenanting, walking with us.”

Miriam, this one named for a great prophet, said, “Who knows? This child… this child… might be the Messiah.” (Slight pause.) Amen.

12/24/2023 — Christmas Eve
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “We live in a very secular world. Hence, I try to avoid wishing people a ‘Merry Christmas.’ That’s a secular term. At Easter we Christians say Christ is risen. So if somebody says‘Merry Christmas,’ to me I say ‘Christ is with us.’ That is the real Christian sentiment of Christmas, the sentiment expressed in the Feast of the Incarnation— Christ is with us.”

BENEDICTION: “The sun shall no longer be / your light by day, / nor for brightness shall the moon / give you light by night; / for Yahweh, God, / will be your everlasting light, / and your glory.” — Isaiah 60:19-20a.

December 24, 2023 ~ Fourth Sunday of Advent ~ 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/898416158

Proclaiming the Reality of God

“And Mary said, / ‘My soul proclaims / Your greatness, O God, / and my spirit rejoices in You, my Savior, / for You have looked with favor / on Your lowly servant.’” — Luke 1:46-48.

I said this in my comments just a couple weeks ago. I was a member of All Angels Episcopal Church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. When I left New York for Maine the membership numbered nearly 500 souls, a pretty good size.

Compared with the population of Manhattan, that’s minuscule. But it was not a small church. Now, a church that size or larger needs to find a way to encourage people to be engaged with one another or people can get lost just because of the size.

One way to prevent getting lost is for members of the laity to form small groups who met once a week outside the Sunday service. Even though in Manhattan everyone lives in apartments, these groups are called house churches, not apartment churches— I’m not sure why.

They met to pray, study Scripture, have discussions and for camaraderie. Let me put that a different way. These groups meet to explore their faith, get to know one another and to have fun.

Small groups are, in fact, the secret of being an effective large church. All these small groups then gather as one at the Sunday service.

But by its nature, a Sunday Service is a difficult place to have fully developed prayer, Scripture study, discussion and camaraderie. Indeed, even in a smaller church, often a Sunday service is a place where not everyone really knows everyone. And clearly prayer, Scripture study, discussion and camaraderie more readily happens in a smaller, intimate context where each member gets to know the others.

Here’s the paradox: this practice— what large churches do to be effective— somewhat copies small churches, who by definition and because of their size, present a much better chance for people to know other people. But I maintain even in small churches these smaller groups for the study of Scripture, discussions and camaraderie are necessary since these things cannot be fully explored in the context of a Sunday worship.

Now, when those small groups started at All Angels back in New York City, a friend invited me to a group. I was hesitant as I had a limited amount of time in my week. Thinking I didn’t know what a house church was like he said, “You should try it just to see what it’s like.”

“I know what it’s like,” said I. “When I was growing up my family was a house church.” I continued, “My mother had been in a convent but dropped out before taking her final vows, met my father and they got married. My father taught at a Jesuit school.”

“Every Friday after dinner the family gathered at the dinning room table. We prayed, read Scripture and had discussion. As my brother, my sister and I got older the discussions dealt with topics which ranged from the writings of Augustine to the writings of Aquinas to the existentialist Jesuit theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.”

“So do not tell me I am unfamiliar with house church. I know it better than most.” That probably sounded a little defensive. (Slight pause.)

These words are in Luke: “And Mary said, / ‘My soul proclaims / Your greatness, O God, / and my spirit rejoices in You, my Savior, / for You have looked with favor / on Your lowly servant.’” (Slight pause.)

This morning we celebrate the Fourth Sunday in Advent. This evening we will celebrate Christmas Eve. The Second Chapter of Luke, the one with a stable, angels and shepherds— some might dismissively identify it as the Charlie Brown Christmas reading— the Second Chapter of Luke is always the Christmas Eve reading. But that story is a mere 13% of the full Nativity story as Luke tells it.

The readings we heard from the First Chapter of Luke today are as pivotal to the story as the stable, the shepherds and the angels. The story Luke tells starts at the Fifth Verse of the First Chapter. (Quote:) “In the days of the ruler Herod, there was a priest named Zechariah…” This is about the birth of John the Baptizer.

Further, the story does not end until the Fortieth Verse of the Second Chapter with the circumcision of Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem. Why is that important? This happens not in Nazareth or Bethlehem but at the Temple in Jerusalem, thus fulfilling ritual requirements set out in the Torah.

The point I’m making is simple. The story about birth of the Messiah is not just a story about the shepherds, angels, a stable, a manger. I would also maintain the story of the birth of the Messiah cannot be well understood unless we know and unless read (to quote the late Paul Harvey) the rest of the story.

So, that leaves the obvious question: what is the story of the birth of Jesus in Luke about? I think it is absolutely clear the proclamation in Luke is about the real presence of God, the reality of God, the in-breaking of God into our world.

What Mary says reiterates and reenforces what Luke says throughout the Nativity story. First, the birth of the Messiah is proclaimed to those who are poor, powerless. Second, we are called on by the story as Luke tells it to do what Mary is doing— proclaim God is real, God is present, God walks with us.

Indeed, in the context of the story what is Mary doing? Mary is deepening her relationship with Elizabeth and discussing what God means in her life. In a real sense it is a story about having fun. It is a story about house church. (Slight pause.)

That brings me back to the aforementioned small groups and worship. Worship is significant, necessary, important. It is a wonderful way to support our faith. We are called by God to worship. But there are other needs.

And that is where small groups come into play. As I said earlier— prayer, Scripture study, discussion, camaraderie, in short having fun— all these can more readily happen in a smaller, intimate context that each individual group provides once members get to know one another.

As a small church by our nature we do have small groups who gather for all kinds of reasons. To name a few these range from the Choir to the Women’s Fellowship to the boards and committees.

And yes, in these groups we do learn from each other. But the trap into which many small churches fall is these committees become only about work, about what needs to be done, what needs to get done.

So I want to suggest we need to concentrate on being intentional about prayer, Scripture study, discussion, camaraderie in our small groups. To put that a different way, the danger in small churches is they sometimes forget to have fun.

I think this kind of activity might help us as we strive to do our work, the work to which God really call us, the work on which we really need to concentrate. What work is that?

The work to which we are called is to proclaim God is real, God is present, God walks with us, proclaim as Mary did. Our work is to reflect on the goodness of God, make that proclamation, as Mary did.

I think one way we can effectively and deeply learn to reflect on the work to which God calls us and to reflect on goodness of God is by being intention with each other as we engage in these kinds of practices that house church might illustrate. Put another way, having fun is a necessary aspect of church. That’s a secret; don’t tell anyone— O.K.? Amen.

12/24/2023 — Note: the Fourth Sunday of Advent.
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: “A reminder: we do not celebrate the birthday of Christ. That would simply be remembering something that happened a long time ago. We celebrate the amazing reality of the incarnation, God entering our world, this in-breaking of God into the world. The Christian belief is because of this in-breaking nothing has been the same since. In short, what happened two thousand years ago is not as important as why it matters. It matters because of what is happening now. Christ is with us.”

BENEDICTION: Let us go in hope and in joy and in peace, for we find love in the One who has made covenant with us. And, indeed, God reigns. And may the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore. Amen.

NOTE: This was “MUSIC SUNDAY”— i.e.: there was no sermon but there was a lot of music. Below is the order for this service of worship followed by a series of quotes about music. the URL for the video is just below.

VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE:
https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/896546859

ELIJAH KELLOGG CHURCH WORSHIP
12/17/2023
Third Sunday of Advent
The Sunday in Advent on Which We Commemorate Love
Music Sunday

THOUGHTS FOR MEDITATION — “All music is folk music. I ain’t never heard no horse sing a song.” — Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong

“Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. But a song makes you feel a thought.” — Harold Arlen, composer of Over the Rainbow

“Music… can name the un-namable and communicate the unknowable.” — Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), composer, conductor.

“Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise.” — Martin Luther

Welcome and Announcements

Passing of the Peace…

• Call to Worship —

CANTICLE
O God of Love, show us Your way,
Let love be now our guide, we pray.
Let joy and hope and peace abide,
O God of love be at our side.

ONE: Through the prophets, God promised a Messiah. We are in awe of the birth of Jesus, the incarnation, the Word of God made flesh, God’s message of the in-breaking of the fulness of the will of God into our world. Jesus came to us as a weak and vulnerable baby, the one called Emmanuel. The name Emmanuel means “God is with us.” And surely, the love of God visits us in the presence of Jesus, the Messiah.

ALL: The first Advent candle reminded us to have hope for a better world. The second reminded us that God’s dreams for peace can become real in our world. The third candle reminds us when we show forth the love of God to each person we meet the possibilities of hope and peace become tangible, real.

Prayer of Invocation

• HYMN — Sing All Creation INSERT

A Time for All Ages —

Lord’s Prayer (debts and debtors)
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

OFFERTORY INVITATION

*OFFERING RESPONSE (DOXOLOGY)
Old One-hundredth

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION

Prayers of the People – PETITIONS AND SILENCES

• HYMN — Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart INSERT

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE

A READING FROM THE SCROLL OF THE TWELVE — Micah 5:2-5a [ILV]

[2] “As for you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,”
says Yahweh, God,
“small as you are among
the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for Me
one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days.”

ANTHEM — We Are Waiting
Words by Sally K. Albrecht and Charles Wesley
Music by Jay Althouse

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE
The assigned lectionary readings for Advent are both wonderful and challenging. This is a section of one of those assigned readings from the Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah.

A READING FROM THE SCROLL OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH —
Isaiah 61: 8-9

[8] For, I, Yahweh, God— I love justice;
I hate robbery and wrongdoing;
I will faithfully compensate,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you.
[9] Your descendants shall be renowned
among the nations,
and you offspring among the people;
all who see you shall acknowledge
that you are a people whom Yahweh has blessed.

• HYMN — O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee INSERT

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE

A READING FROM THE GOSPEL — Luke 1:39-45, (46-55) [ILV]

[39] Within a few days after the Angel Gabriel visited, Mary set out and hurried, went with haste, into the hill country to a town of Judah.  [40] There she entered the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth and was greeted by Elizabeth.  [41] As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary return the greeting the child she was carrying leaped in her womb.  And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  [42] With a loud voice she exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  [43] And why has this happened to me?  Why am I so favored that the mother of the Messiah should come to me?  [44] For the moment I heard the sound of your greeting reach my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy.  [45] And blessed is she who believed what our God said to her, what was spoken to her would be fulfilled, would be accomplished.”

• HYMN — All the Beautiful March of Days INSERT

ANTHEM — Angus Dei Words and Music By Michael Smith
With How Great Thou Art, Adapted by Stewart K. Hine
Choral Setting by Joel Raney

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE

A READING FROM THE GOSPEL — Luke 1:46-55

[46] Then Mary said,
“My soul proclaims Your greatness, O God,
[47] and my spirit rejoices in You, my Savior.
[48] For You have looked with favor
upon the lowliness of this servant.
And from this day forward,
from now on,
all generations
will call me blessed;
[49] for the Almighty One
has done great things for me,
and holy is Your name.
[50] Your mercy reaches from age to age
for those who are in awe of You
from generation to generation.
[51] You have shown strength with Your arm;
You have scattered the proud
in the thoughts of their hearts,
in their conceit.
[52] You have brought down
the powerful,
deposed the mighty
from their thrones,
and raised the lowly to high places;
[53] You have filled the hungry
with good things,
while You have sent
the rich away empty.
[54] You have helped,
have come to the aid
of Your servant, Israel,
mindful of Your mercy—
[55] Your mercy— which is the promise
You made to our ancestors,
to Sarah and to Abraham—
and to their descendants forever.”

• HYMN — Out of God’s Great Love Begotten INSERT

SPECIAL MUSIC — SPECIAL MUSIC — An Die Musik (To Music)
By Franz Schubert
Duet – Kate Gray, violin – Elizabeth Cromwell, piano

Note: if the lyric to this music was sung today, these would be the words:

        Beloved art, in how many a bleak hour,
        when I am enmeshed in life’s tumultuous round, 
    have you kindled my heart to the warmth of love, 
        and borne me away to a better world!

Often a sigh, escaping from your harp,
    a sweet, celestial chord
has revealed to me a heaven of happier times. 
        Beloved art, for this I thank you! 

• HYMN — When in Our Music God Is Glorified INSERT, v. 1, 2, 3

A READING FROM THE TALMUD AND A BENEDICTION

The Torah is the first five books of the Bible. This is a reading from the Jewish commentary on the Torah, known as the Talmud.

After all creation was formed, God called the angels together and asked them what they thought of it. One of them said, “Something is lacking: the sound of praise to the Creator.” So God created music. And music was heard in the whisper of the wind, in the chirp of the birds, in the tympani of the thunder. But that was not enough, so God gave humanity the gift of song. And down through the ages this gift has blessed, comforted and inspired many souls. This gift is a part of the covenant; we have the blessings and wonder which the gift from God bestows on and in us and God is pleased when a joyful noise is heard.

Let us go forth with hope. Let us be led in peace. Let us find places of love. Let us know the joy of God’s presence. And, indeed, as the Psalmist states: all the mountains and hills shall break into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands because God reigns! Amen.

CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE —
When in Our Music God Is Glorified INSERT, v. 4

Postlude

OTHER QUOTES ABOUT MUSIC

“Music… will help dissolve your perplexities and purify your character and sensibilities, and in time of care and sorrow, will keep a fountain of joy alive in you.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace… to make music in the heart.” — Howard Thurman, American author, civil rights leader, and theologian (1899-1981)

“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” — Victor Hugo

“Every once in a while we have feelings so deep and so special that we have no words for them. Music names them for us, only in notes instead of in words. It’s all in the way music moves— we must never forget that music is movement, always going somewhere, shifting and changing, and flowing, from one note to another; and that movement can tell us more about the way we feel than a million words can.” — Leonard Bernstein, Young People’s Concerts— January 18th, 1958.

“Music is the most physically inspiring of all the arts” — Frank Zappa

“Music is God’s gift to man, the only art of Heaven given to earth, — the only art of earth we take to Heaven.” — Walter Savage Landor (1775 – 1864)

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” — Henry David Thoreau

“Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

“Music is only love looking for words.” — Lawrence Durrell

“Music is the sole art which evokes nostalgia for the future.” — Ned Rorem

“Musicians don’t retire; they stop when there’s no more music in them.” — Louis Armstrong

“Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.” — Ornette Coleman

“To study music, we must learn the rules. To create music, we must forget them.” — Nadia Boulanger, teacher of music composition

“Good music is very close to primitive language.” — Denis Diderot, philosopher (1713-1784)

“Music, of all the arts, stands in a special region, unlit by any star but its own, and utterly without meaning… except its own.” — Leonard Bernstein

“So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it and give it expressive meaning.” — Aaron Copland

“It is as impossible to translate poetry as it is to translate music.” — Voltaire, writer (1694-1778)

“We hide ourselves in our music to reveal ourselves.” — Rock Musician Jim Morrison.

“…talking about music is like dancing about architecture.” — Frank Zappa.

“There is something about music that keeps its distance even at the moment that it engulfs us. It is at the same time outside and away from us and inside and part of us. In one sense it dwarfs us, and in another we master it. We are led on and on, and yet in some strange way we never lose control.” — Aaron Copland, composer.

“A song without music is a lot like H2 without the O.” — Ira Gershwin.

“The first condition for making music is not to make a noise.” — José Bergamín (1895–1983), Spanish writer.

“Utopians, puritans and totalitarians have always sought to regulate music, if not forbid it outright.” — Richard Taruskin, NY TIMES, 12/9/2001.

“Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, / To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.” — William Congreve, dramatist (1670-1729)

“Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., US Supreme Court Justice (1841-1935)

“Music is an important way for us to express praise and worship to God. It was instituted by God before the creation of the earth and is referred to some 839 times in the Bible. The Psalms, for instance, continually exhort us to ‘praise the Lord in song.’ Ask the Lord to give you a new song (noël) with which to honor God”. — from Christ in the Carols by Christopher and Melodie Lane

“The Church knew what the psalmist knew: music praises God. Music is well or better able to praise him than the building of the church and all its decoration; it is the Church’s greatest ornament.” — Igor Stravinsky, composer.

“Life is notes right underneath our fingers. All you’ve got to do is take the time to play the right notes.” — Ray Charles, musician

“When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace… to make music in the heart.” — Howard Thurman, American author, civil rights leader, and theologian (1899-1981)

“Prayer does not use up artificial energy, doesn’t burn up any fossil fuel, doesn’t pollute. Neither does song, neither does love, neither does the dance.” — Margaret Mead, in Jane Howard’s book, Margaret Mead (1984)

“Could there be anything more blessed than to imitate on earth the ring-dance of the angels and at dawn to raise our voices in prayer and by hymns and songs to glorify the rising Creator?” — St. Basil, Bishop of Caesarea (4th Century of the Common Era)

“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“A book is a story for the mind. A song is a story for the soul.” — Eric Pio, poet

“Those who wish to sing always find a song.” — Swedish proverb

“Old songs are more than tunes. They are little houses in which our hearts once lived.” — Ben Hecht, playwright

“No one imagines that symphony is supposed to improve as it goes along, or that the whole object of playing is to reach the finale. The point of music is discovered in every moment of playing and listening to it. It is the same, I feel, with the greater part of our lives, and if we are unduly absorbed in improving them we may forget altogether to live them.” — Alan Watts (1915-1973)

“Every man’s work, whether it be literature, or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself.” — Samuel Butler (1612-1680)

“Music is capable of going directly to the source of the mystery. It doesn’t have to explain it. It can simply celebrate it” — Marsha Norman

“There is nothing more notable in Socrates than that he found time, when he was an old man, to learn music and dancing, and thought it time well spent.” — Michel de Montaigne

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself.” — Abraham Maslow

“Music comes first from my heart, and then goes upstairs to my head where I check it out.” — Roberta Flack

“Nothing recalls the past like music.” — Madame de Stael, Corinne (1807)

“If you do not love what you do and do what you love, you have chosen mayhem over music.” — Wayne Dyer

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” — Harper Lee

“This World is not Conclusion. / A Sequel stands beyond— / Invisible, as Music— / But positive, as Sound.” — Emily Dickinson (1862)

December 10, 2023 ~ Second Sunday of Advent ~ Isaiah 40:1-11; Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8

VIDEO OF THE FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/894185355

It should be noted this is a very visual presentation.


Seeing the video will be helpful.

An Instant Christmas Pageant

So, as promised— a very strange Christmas pageant— first I need to welcome my assistant. You’ll see what he is doing in a minute. But today is a very special day in this church and for our Christian Education Program. This morning we are asking everyone to help the children and the Christian Education folks stage a Christmas pageant. Indeed, anyone who in this worship space who wants to join in this exercise— no pressure is meant here; join in only if you want to join in— anyone in this worship space who wants to join in this exercise is going to have a chance to be a part of the program. This program, this pageant, is called An Instant Christmas Pageant.

Now, to make this all work we are going to need to assign parts and you are going need to know which part you will play and what you will be asked to do.

These are among the parts in this pageant. We have the people of the city— the city being Bethlehem. Another part is Joseph. But don’t worry. We will not ask just one person to play Joseph. All the men together will be asked to play the part of Joseph. As to who will play the part of Mary— this will sound familiar— all the women together will be asked to play the part of Mary.

Of course, we will also need a child, shepherds, angels. But no one needs to worry about what you will say or about memorizing lines or parts. When it is anyone’s turn to participate Eli will hold up a sign. The sign will tell you whose turn it is and what to say and what you’ll need to say. When your turn comes all you have to do is stand if you want to, stay seated if you do not want to stand, and do what the sign says. So this will be easy.

Let’s get just a little more detail about who will play each part. And some of you will notice you’re playing multiple roles.

The part of the people of the city called for in the script will be played by the Choir. Yeah Choir! You will get to make city sounds— or at least sounds you might hear in Bethlehem in the First Century Before the Common Era— sounds like people yelling or donkeys making snorts. I think they’re going to be good at that. I heard rehearsal. Between you and me some folks in the choir have rehearsed and their most fun came from making donkey sounds so if we don’t get any yelling you know what’s happened.

Now, when the part of Joseph is called for in the script we ask the men to stand, raise their right hands, and say, “O Holy Night.” So, let’s try that just so we can hear and see what it feels like. Eli— you’ll hold up that sign— all right— all the men— stand if you want to— there we go! All right!

When the part of Mary is called for in the script we ask the women to stand, raise their right hands, pretend to hold a baby, and say, “Ahhh.” See? That works. So I won’t ask any more rehearsal because that takes care of mostly everybody.

When the part of a child is called for in the script we will ask the children and all the CE Board and all the people who participate in Bible Study cause you’re all a part of CE to stand, place their hands over their hearts and say, “Love.”

When the part of an angel is called for in the script we will ask the people on the right side of the congregation— that’s stage left but your right O.K.— to stand up and wave your hands like angel wings and say, “Peace.”

When the part of Shepherds is called for in the script we will ask the people on the left side of the congregation to stand and shake their staffs in the air. And, oh yes— you folks on the left will need some staffs. After all, you’re shepherds. (Sticks are handed out.)

So clearly and by definition, some of you will get to play multiple parts!

Also and by the way, there are a couple hymns we’ll sing as we go through this. You can stand for the hymns if you want to but if you’ve done too much standing you can stay seated for them. So now we’re going to start the pageant. Are you ready?

This is from the Gospel we call Luke in the Second Chapter: In those days the Emperor Augustus published a decree ordering a census of the Roman world. This was the first registration and took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. And so Joseph… (pause)

SIGN # 1 – MEN – “O Holy Night.”

And so Joseph went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city… (pause)

SIGN # 2 – CHOIR – YELL, DONKEY

…went to the city of David called Bethlehem, being a descendant of the house, the family, the lineage of David.

HYMN— Once in Royal David’s City INSERT

…and so Joseph went to be registered with Mary… (pause)

SIGN # 3 – WOMEN – “Ahhh.”

…Joseph went to be registered with Mary to whom he was espoused and who was expecting a child… (pause).

SIGN # 4 – CE & CHILDREN – “Love.”

While they were there, the time came for her to deliver. And she gave birth to her firstborn, whom she wrapped in bands of cloth and laid in a manger, a feeding trough for cattle, because there was no place for them in the inn.

HYMN— Away in a Manger INSERT

Now, in that region, there were shepherds… (pause)

SIGN # 5 – LEFT – SHAKE STAFFS

[I know— you got the fun part— right?]

…there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. Then an angel… (pause)

SIGN # 6 – RIGHT – WINGS – “Peace.”

…then an angel of God, a messenger of God, suddenly stood before them and the glory of God shone around them— and the shepherds…

SIGN # 7 – LEFT – SHAKE STAFFS

…the shepherds were terrified. This messenger from God said, “Do not be afraid; for see— I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people. To you, this day is born in the city… (pause)

SIGN # 8 – CHOIR – YELL, DONKEY

To you, this day is born in the city of David a Savior, Who is the Messiah, the Christ. This will be a sign for you: You will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel… (pause)

SIGN # 9 – RIGHT – WINGS – “Peace.”

…suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God in the highest heaven, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those with whom God is pleased, with those who keep the covenant!”

HYMN— Angel’s from the Realms of Glory INSERT

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds… (pause)

SIGN # 10 – LEFT – SHAKE STAFFS

…the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”

So they went with haste and found Mary… (pause)

SIGN # 11 – WOMEN – “Ahhh.”

…and Joseph… (pause),

SIGN # 12 – MEN – “O Holy Night.”

…and the child… (pause)

SIGN # 13 – CE & CHILDREN – “Love.”

…they found the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what they were told about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, but Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.

HYMN— Go Tell It on the Mountain INSERT

Closing Prayer
Let us pray. Dear God in heaven, You richly blessed us with the most precious gift of Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah. Thank you that today, in this place, we have all relived this most blessed event. We ask that each of us carry in our hearts a piece of the story of the Nativity of the Christ and that we share its meaning with others through the coming year. Amen.

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: “My guess is that was a very different kind of pageant and I hope you all had some fun. As this is Christian Education Sunday, I want to call your attention to the last hymn in the pageant— Go Tell It on the Mountain. ‘Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.’ The work of Christian Education is to spread the word that the birth of the Messiah is a sign onto us that God’s covenant of love with humanity is real and we are messengers of that covenant of love.”

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 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. Go in peace for God is with us. And may the peace of God which surpasses understanding be with us this day and forevermore. Amen.

December 3, 2023 ~ Beginning of Year ‘B’ ~ First Sunday of Advent ~ The Sunday on Which We Commemorate Hope ~ Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/892540702

The Call of God

“God is faithful; by God you were called into the fellowship of the Child of God, Jesus, Who is the Christ, into intimacy with Jesus, the Christ, Who is our Savior.” — 1 Corinthians 1:9.

My best friend Paul Lee Johnson who happens to also be Bonnie’s cousin, is a very competent historian. His latest publication is a work of care, deep commitment and love. Its title is With Gladness and Singleness of Heart.

This book is a history of All Angels’ Episcopal Church in New York City. Paul has been a member there for fifty years. I, myself, was a member there for ten years.

Paul’s book arrived in the mail a couple weeks ago and dredged up a multitude of memories for me. For some of my time at that church the Rev. Carol Anderson was the Rector— Rector being Episcopal talk for the Congregational title Settled Pastor. Carol was also among the first women officially ordained in the Episcopal Church.

Perhaps more important for me personally, Carol was the first ordained person who ever confronted me, directly told me that I needed to be ordained. When she did that I had known her for only about two months. How did she know after only two months?

One of the consequences of that is I think of Carol as one of my mentors. Mind you, it took another fifteen years after her urging for the idea of going to seminary and being ordained to sink into my thick skull. By that time I was here in Maine, Brunswick to be precise. I then made the obvious choice by heading into the wilderness of the North— Bangor to be precise— and went to Bangor Theological Seminary.

When I say Paul’s book is a work of care, deep commitment and love what I am trying to say is church in general but that church in particular is family for him. In fact and despite it being more than thirty-five years since I left New York City, that church is still family for me also.

So here’s a pastor’s confession: All Angels’ in New York, First Parish Church in Brunswick, each of the five churches yoked together in the cooperative parish I served in Waldo County— Frankfort, Monroe, Freedom, Brooks, Jackson— the church I served in Upstate, New York, the North Yarmouth Church where I did sabbatical coverage, the South Freeport Church where I spent a significant length of time as they looked for a new pastor and this church all feel like family to me.

And yes, the reality of the work of being a pastor is we leave our heart in these places. And yes, the reality of the work of being a pastor is it does hurt to leave, since some of your heart remains in these places.

Now, you could say one of the realities of the work of a pastor means you know you will move on and there is no looking back. But in truth, that is also the reality of being a member of the laity.

After all, I was a member of the laity at All Angels’ in New York City. I was a member of the laity at First Parish in Brunswick. And I moved on. Unquestionably a piece of my heart is still in each of those places. Those of you who have been associated with other churches before landing here might feel the same way. (Slight pause.)

This is where we come back to the words of the Apostle Paul. Throughout the whole Canon of Paul’s writings, the Apostle to the Gentiles insists the peace of God, the shalom of God, the presence of God, makes for the proper ordering of the world and for human relations within it.

(Quote): “God is faithful; by God you were called into the fellowship of the Child of God, Jesus….” (Slight pause.) It is, you see, by God and by the faithfulness of God that we are called into fellowship, into intimacy. (Slight pause.)

So, what would these words sound like translated into today’s more modern terms, today’s definitions? Try this: ‘We are called here to support one another’ or, in very modern terms, ‘we are called here to be a support group for one another.’ (Slight pause.)

I am convinced the Apostle Paul always sees all believers as belonging to one another, as belonging to family— the family of God. In short, the church becomes our family and is our home, our support.

Now if we are family, if we are called to be that intimate, tell me what happens to individual autonomy, to our personal independence, to our feelings? Does not the mutual reliance demanded by being real family diminish individual freedom somewhat, even diminish individual feelings some? Why? How?

Because of the need to respect each other and respect the feelings of each other. In short, it seems to me there is a surrendering of self that being deeply involved with others is a segment of. It seems to me this is a part of being family— surrendering to each other. (Slight pause.)

I think too often today we mistake individual autonomy for personal independence. And I think the Apostle understood that. Autonomy is not a path to independence nor is it a path toward freedom.

I maintain mutual reliance is the real path to independence. That’s mutual reliance as in: we are a family. That’s mutual reliance as in: we need to be family.

The way I see it is what makes us truly free is mutual reliance. I also say it is mutual reliance which helps us face reality since it allows us to see and even sometimes experience the perspective of others, allows us to walk a certain extent in someone else’s shoes, allows us therefore to be real family.

And being family— above all else— is the definition of church. Being family— above all else— is the call of God on our lives. My position is only when we rely on one another as true family does true freedom become possible. (Slight pause.)

So, what is the call of God? We are called to support one another, in Christ. We are called to lift one another up, in Christ. We are called to love one another, in Christ. (Slight pause.)

Now today, as you are aware, is the First Sunday in Advent, the Sunday on which we are invited to think about hope. So, consider this: freedom cannot be defined. It can only be felt. Hope cannot be defined. Hope can only be felt.

And just as our reliance on one another can foster freedom, our reliance on one another can foster hope. This leads me to a central idea about progress, our progress as individuals and our progress as a community of faith, as a church.

When we have mountains to climb, we cannot overcome them, we cannot even try to climb them, unless we are free to do so. And when we have mountains to climb, we cannot even try to climb them unless we have hope.

And when we have mountains to climb, we cannot overcome them, we cannot even try to climb them, unless we have one another to rely on for mutual support, unless we have the family of God. Mutual support empowers freedom— our freedom to do, to wish, to accomplish what needs to be accomplished, needs to be done in the context of the community of faith, in the church. (Slight pause.)

Paul starts the verse I quoted earlier by saying (quote): “God is faithful;…” Here’s the amazing part and the point about which Paul insists: “God is faithful;…” Put another way, in faithfulness God calls us to be family and God trusts us to be family.

And when we place our trust in God, that illuminates hope. When we place our trust in the family of God, that illuminates hope. Amen.

12/03/2023
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: “On my first day in my first class session at Seminary, a survey course in the New Testament, these were first words of the professor. ‘The New Testament is about confrontation. The New Testament is about confronting one another when it comes to the reality of God, the Christ, the Spirit. But we need to know how to confront one another in love; without love nothing works’— the first words I heard in a Seminary classroom. Well, my take on that is we cannot confront one another in love or know how to confront one another in love unless we are truly family. Like I said, the Rev. Carol Anderson confronted me about the idea of me being ordained. And she confronted me in love.”

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

November 26, 2023 ~ Proper 29 ~ Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ The Feast of the Reign of Christ ~ The Last Sunday Before Advent ~ Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Psalm 100; Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Psalm 95:1-7a; Ephesians 1:15-23; Matthew 25:31-46 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/890312089

Relationship

“I pray that the glorious God of our Savior Jesus, the Christ, will give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation to bring you to a rich knowledge of the Creator.” — Ephesians 1:17.

Bonnie and I have a niece who teaches Math at the Middle School level. Teaching Math at the Middle School level is, I think, the hardest job in the world. And she is good at it.

We here on the jagged Northeast edge of America should describe the place she lives as the other side of the country— or at least the other side in a diagonal direction. She lives in Dallas, Texas.

We have visited her there. On one of those visits we got to go to one place we both wanted to see and even needed to see. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza which commentates the events that happened 60 years ago last Wednesday, the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President. This location was the lair, the place Lee Harvey Oswald sat on that fateful day waiting for the Presidential motorcade.

If you were alive when JFK was assassinated, the event probably felt like you were punched. If you were alive when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, less than five years later, that probably also felt like a punch. If you were alive when the Robert Kennedy was assassinated, just two months after King, it may have also have felt like a punch.

If you were alive when the Challenger exploded, the event probably, again, felt like a punch. And then 9-11, 2001 happened. I know— it felt like a haymaker. Going further back in history, if you were alive when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor— as we know fewer and fewer of the greatest generation are still with us— that probably felt like it was way beyond a haymaker.

But I think personal events are different in the sense that they can feel more visceral— visceral being the only word I can think to describe it. To address events like this in the context of just my family, when my Mom died in 1983 at the age of 58, it was personal and visceral.

When Bonnie’s Dad died in 1986, it was personal, visceral. When Bonnie’s Mom died in 1994, it was personal, visceral. When my Dad died in 1998, it was personal, visceral.

My point here is given the recitation of the events which happened to the nation something seems obvious. We all felt what happened. So in some way it feels like we are all connected.

Even so, there are times we fail to notice these connections. I am not sure why. In fact, while personal touchstones in life are intense for each individual, events which do impact a large number of people can and do feel personal, perhaps because as I just said we are in some way all connected.

To address just one of the aforementioned national crises, when 9-11 did happen my reaction was, “I worked in the Trade Center once. I know those towers. I’ve been in them. I’ve walked those streets.” So for me, that made it very personal. (Slight pause.)

That having been said, I want to note something just because I have listed all those touchstones in history which do really touch multitudes. The real way we mortals determine the passage of time has nothing to do with clocks, watches or with the 24 hour cycle of the day.

It has nothing to do with the seven day weekly cycle or the monthly cycle or even with the passage of years. It has nothing to do with dates or calendars.

The way we tell time is by, with, in and through events. Where was I? What was I doing? Who was I with?

As I suggested, some public events are milestones. Other events— the death or the birth of a loved one— are more personal, more private. Either way, public event or private event, these happenings are milestones. And either way, a public event or a private event, the impact of what happened rests on the reality of our relationships with each other. (Slight pause.)

When my mother died I had to make many, many calls to many, many people. I announced her death over the phone time and time again and never flinched. But when I called one very close friend I suddenly could not get the words out. Finally, since I knew he would understand what had happened, I uttered the Latin phrase which Scripture says were the last words of Jesus on the cross— consummatum est— it is finished. (Slight pause.)

This is what we hear in Ephesians: “I pray that the glorious God of our Savior Jesus, the Christ, will give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation to bring you to a rich knowledge of the Creator.” (Slight pause.)

Scholars think that Paul did not write Ephesians. But the writer of Ephesians does combine into this writing phrases from Colossians. Paul did write Colossians.

That writing has its own emphasis on the knowledge of the saving power of God. And this is clear: that knowledge, that reality, is illustrated by, with, in and through the Christ. This reality is illuminated by the song of thanksgiving we found in this passage.

The doxology, this thanksgiving, found in these few lines joins author and audience in the praise of their common benefactor, God. This is a thanksgiving which tries to assure Christians concerning their relationship with God through and in the Christ. (Slight pause.)

Here is something which we ask today but would never come up as a serious question in antiquity: what time is it, right now? They did not count time like we count time now. There were Sun dials for local time, but they were not about an exact measurement of time in any way we would understand.

The people who lived in these ancient times knew measuring time by a sun dial had no basis in the reality of a passage of time. There certainly were no clocks for to determine an exact time and the prime function of the calendars they did have— the prime function of the calendars was agriculture— tracking the ebb and the flow of seasons.

In antiquity people kept track of time by events— public events and personal events. After all, the Second Verse of Luke 2, in an effort to place the Incarnation in a context, says this (quote:) “This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria”— a public event which points to a personal, private one. (Slight pause.)

I want to suggest the writer of Ephesians presents us with two challenges in this passage. The first is to understand God strives to be in relationship with us. The second is that this relationship to and with God can be seen not just now, not just in our place, not just in our time but for all time, throughout time, forever, for all eternity.

And this happens by, with, in and through Christ Who is (quote:) “in heaven at the right hand of God, far above every ruler, every sovereign, every authority, every power, every dominion, and above every name that can be named— not only in this age but also in the age to come.” (Slight pause.)

The second challenge is to examine ourselves, to ask what events in our lives might trigger a memory of our relationship with God. And that is a key question: what events in our lives describe, illustrate a relationship with God? (Slight pause.)

I assume you have all heard the terms “six degrees of separation.” Well, when it comes to our relationship with God, I can say each of us individually and all of us together— private and public— are separated from God by only one degree— there is us and there is God— one degree of separation for all time, throughout time, forever, for all eternity.

Indeed, for all time, throughout time, forever, for all eternity, God is with us. God walks at our side. And being present to someone— that’s what true about relationship is about, is it not? Amen.

11/26/2023
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: “In my comments this morning I said this: ‘…for all time, throughout time, forever, for all eternity, God is with us.’ That pose a question: if God is at our side, should we pick up the pace or slow down? Here’s what I say: in our relationship with God (if it’s deep enough), our dialogue with God will determine the pace. And God will let us know when we should pick up speed and God will let us know when we need to slow down.”

BENEDICTION: Go forth in faith. Go forth trusting that God will provide. Go forth and reach out to everyone you meet in the name of Christ. And may the peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of the Holy Spirit this day and forevermore. Amen.

November 19, 2023 ~ Proper 28 (33) ~ Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Judges 4:1-7; Psalm 123; Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18; Psalm 90:1-8, (9-11), 12; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/886966195

Claim the Heritage

“…we belong to the day. So, let us be sober. Let us put on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of the hope of salvation.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:8.

For many the word ‘history’ means world changing events— the American Revolution, Presidential elections, World Wars, things that can change lives, especially when they do personally effect us. But for the most part we live daily, work-a-day lives, far from history book events, from the power structures which guide nations.

I think it’s good to consider history writ large for perspective. It can help us make sense of our own times, where we’ve been, where we’re going. This can empower us to move forward as a people, a nation.

But as individuals we also need to consider our personal, individual story in the context of our own family, our ancestors. Just as history in the large sense can be helpful for a nation, the history of one’s own family can be significant for individuals, help us place our own lives in an understandable context. This a piece of my family history, at least what I know it. (Slight pause.)

My Grandmother, my Mother’s Mother, Margaret, was born on a pig farm in Brooklyn, New York, in 1884, one year after the Brooklyn Bridge was completed. I know— a pig farm in Brooklyn— a surprise to some.

Despite still having farms, population in Brooklyn had grown by better than 90% from the previous decade and was now 550,000. Brooklyn was, in fact, still an independent city, not yet a part of New York City, and the third largest city in America, larger than Chicago.

When my Grandmother was a young child both her parents died. At the age of eight she was sent to live with relatives in San Francisco, placed on a ship, alone, without a chaperone. The Panama Canal was not finished until 1914, so she went to the west coast by going around the horn of South America.

When she was twenty, in 1904, she had saved enough money on her own to travel East and took the transcontinental railroad back to Brooklyn, thereby avoiding the great San Francisco earth quake of 1906. She then met and married her husband and went into business with him hauling merchandise all over New York City.

Cars and trucks were not yet commonplace, so at first a hauling business meant owning wagons and teams of horses, which they both worked. They had two children, both girls.

Her husband died when she was pregnant with her second child, my mother, and she became the sole support of this young family. Then the Great Depression hit. The hauling business died. So next she made a living by cleaning the houses of people who were still wealthy despite the Depression.

There is one more piece of family lore to convey. It’s said she was tough as nails and at the boarding house where she lived with her daughters, she had, bare handed, disarmed a thug wielding a gun. (Slight pause.)

The story as it got passed on to me clearly said Margaret was tough, independent and resourceful. What lessons was I supposed to learn, to discover in this history. What am I to use, make my own?’ (Pause.)

These words are from the work known as First Letter to the church in Thessalonika: “…we belong to the day. So, let us be sober. Let us put on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of the hope of salvation.” (Pause.)

How often have any of us had one of these two thoughts: ‘Oh no, I’ve turned into my mother’ or ‘Oh no, I’ve turned into my father?’ (Slight pause.) This is a given: part of who we become, who we are, is an amalgam of those who have gone before us. Some of the traits we see we embrace; some we reject.

But we cannot embrace or reject, indeed, we cannot understand our family of origin unless we study both our ancestors and the times in which they lived— what happened to them. We need to place them in their own context to be able to understand these stories for us.

An example: both my parents smoked, a bad habit at best. But they came of age in the nineteen forties and fifties. Have you watched the moves of that era? Smoking was not only socially acceptable— nearly everyone smoked.

Unless I know about their era, it would be hard to put that habit in context. But we also need to know something about the broader picture. In the case of Margaret, knowing the history of Brooklyn, the Panama Canal, the Great Depression is helpful. It certainly helps me understand her legacy and know how I tie into it. (Slight pause.)

So, what is our own personal history of faith? How do we put it together, make sense of it? How do we claim our Christian heritage for us? (Slight pause.)

Paul urges the Thessalonians to be sober and put on the breastplate of faith and love, the helmet of the hope of salvation. This is, I think, a very personal statement, a statement of the personal history of the Apostle to the Gentiles shared with others. Ithink in these accounts, these words Paul takes into account the history of Israel with God, commonly called ‘salvation history.’

The people to whom Paul is writing get that. They know the faith history, the salvation history of Israel. I think knowing our faith history, the history of Christianity, is an important part of understanding ourselves and our faith.

Let me offer just one piece of that history and I have mentioned this here before. The true letters of Paul were written before the Gospels are recorded, written more than twenty years after the resurrection of Jesus. The Gospels were recorded between forty and seventy years after the events they relate.

Unless you know these are written by and to people a long time after Jesus was around, it becomes hard to understand what Paul or the writers of the Gospels are trying to say, hard to place these writings in any context— broad or personal. You might as well not bother reading them, if you don’t know from where and from when they come.

Certainly, if you don’t understand these simple facts about the history of Scripture and Christianity, then you am free to have all kinds of fantasies about it, such as someone was standing beside Jesus writing down everything as it happened. Unquestionably, some people today see do Scripture in that light. (Slight pause.)

I maintain understanding one’s own self and one’s own faith is hard work. Any mental health worker will tell you the real work in assisting people is done by the individual seeking guidance, not the therapist. The person seeking guidance is the one who works on their own history.

Working on our own faith is the same exercise. Each of us has to do the work. No one else can do it for us.

But, unless I do the work, unless I appropriate the reality of the Christian legacy for myself, I will not be able to understand faith or place it in any kind of appropriate context. I need to make it my own. Given what I know about Paul and the history of Christianity, this is part of the point in the words from Thessalonians we heard today.

These words are an invitation to us to do the hard, necessary work needed to actually take a personal faith journey within the Christian tradition. An unfortunate truth is too often want people easy answers, answers without doing the necessary work.

Paul lets us know we need to be (quote) “sober”— sober as in serious. If we are to be people of the day— and Paul does say (quote:) “you are all children of light and children of the day”— if we are to be people of the day we need to illuminate our lives by doing the necessary work.

When looked at in that way, seeing faith and love as a breastplate does not sound warlike. These words just say ‘this is the work— do it.’

It that hard? Yes. But I think I can guarantee this: if we do the work, it will be hardest work we have ever loved. Amen.

11/19/2023
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 an précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “My grandmother, Margaret, died when I was in my late teens. She had cancer and she knew it. She could feel the tumor. Never one to trust doctors, she died without seeing one. As I indicated, she was tough but also had a tender, gentle way when interacting with me and presented many facets to those around her. So, I learned a multitude of lessons and internalized some. Perhaps that is the reason we need to be on our own, individual Christian pilgrimage. We need to learn, to internalize and apply the lessons of God’s peace, love, hope and joy. Why? These are the core messages of Scripture.”

BENEDICTION: A kind and just God sends us out into the world as bearers of truth which surpasses our understanding. 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 in awe of no one else and nothing else because we are so in awe of God. Amen.

November 12, 2023 ~ Proper 27 ~ Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25; Psalm 78:1-7; Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16 or Amos 5:18-24; Wisdom of Solomon 6:17-20 or Psalm 70; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13 ~ The Sunday After Veterans Day ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/884796946

Other gods

“…as for me and my household, we will serve Yahweh, we will worship Yahweh Who is our God.” — Joshua 24:15b.

If I prove anything by telling you the following story it’s that I can be really, really boring. But it gets worse. I have friends who can also be really, really boring.

Here’s the first step on this journey to boring. One evening last week I sent an article to a friend by email about the inadequacies of Scripture translations. “Interesting article,” responded my friend.” Then we went back and forth about this by email. Like I said— I am boring. I have boring friends.

Next he wrote, “I always felt Christianity lost touch with its roots, its beliefs because so often we don’t realize translations can be so inadequate. So what we really need to do is focus on the teachings of Jesus.”

“That’s easy to do,” he said. “Much of what Jesus taught was political and proposed a revolution against Rome. But the leaders in Israel at that time supported the Roman power structure.”

“The scholar Reza Aslan says the revolutionary teachings of Christ can be seen as both new and subversive but peaceful. They needed to be peaceful because Israel was not powerful enough to confront Rome even while Roman culture undermined Judaism.”

I responded— more boring— I responded. “The observation that the teachings of Jesus being new is inaccurate. All of what Jesus taught can be found in the Hebrew Scriptures.”

“Many people ask: ‘Who is Jesus?’ And Jesus is quoted as asking, ‘Who do you say that I am.’ But that brings us back to issues of translations. A literal translation of those words is, ‘Who do you say me to be?’”

“I maintain Jesus here takes the traditional Jewish position: God is One. But at the same time Jesus asks if God is One, how do I, Jesus, fit in? This leads us to some basic questions. ‘How do we, how can we describe God?’”

“If Jesus is a part of the description of God, a Trinitarian description, God Who is One and three, then becomes valid. But if Jesus is just about teaching, not a part of the description, what comes into play is a unitarian description of God. However, God the Creator, God Redeemer and God Spirit are all evident, all referenced in the Hebrew Scripture.”

I continued, “It takes over three centuries for Christians to formulate a Trinitarian description of their own. And this description tries to say how Jesus fits in with this Jewish God Who is One and also tries to fit that description in with what is found in the Hebrew Scriptures.”

I signed off the correspondence with this: “If you say ‘God does not exist’ that becomes your God because from a philosophical perspective God is an a priori concept. In 1781 the philosopher Immanuel Kant addressed that idea in The Critique of Pure Reason.” Then I said. “All this is really too much thinking for one night.”

“Yeah,” said my friend, “that definitely makes my head hurt!” (Slight pause.) I know. A discussion about the definition of God is proof that I am really, really boring and I have really boring friends.

I am so boring… now all you Johnny Carson fans out there know what happens here. When I say “I am so boring…” you say, “How boring are you?” (Pause.) I am so boring… my hobby is watching paint dry. Let’s try that one more time. I am so boring… I sometimes wonder why Bonnie married me. (Slight pause.)

We find these words recorded in Joshua: “…as for me and my household, we will serve Yahweh, we will worship Yahweh Who is our God.” (Slight pause.)

I have said this here before: theologian Walter Brueggemann says the God of Scripture is written with remarkable, intentional, artistic illusiveness— very complex ideas, a very complex God. And if it does not make our heads hurt to just think about a description of God, we’re doing it wrong. We cannot domesticate God, reduce God to a manageable package, reduce God to meaninglessness platitudes.

And yes, many people do try to make the concept of God simple, friendly, accessible, put God in a box, domesticate God. This is not really n option offered by Scripture. Equally, to reduce the reality of Jesus to mere teachings, cast Jesus as simply a revolutionary, as my friend tried to do, is doing it wrong. (Slight pause.)

So, does God exist? I hope this is obvious. For me the answer is ‘yes.’ Therefore, the words uttered by Joshua: “as for me and my household, we will serve Yahweh,” resonate with me. (Slight pause.)

Now, there is something said in this passage which is often overlooked. Joshua tells the people to (quote:), “…throw away the foreign gods among you and turn your hearts toward Yahweh….”

Monotheism as it was understood in this era was not how we see monotheism today. The Israelites would have admitted there were other gods who were real and people would carry around little statues which represented other gods.

Therefore, when Joshua tells them to throw away the foreign gods, what is being addressed are these little statues. But throwing them away is not just a physical gesture. It is an emotional gesture. Joshua invites the people to turn their hearts towards God, be emotionally attached to God, emotionally embrace God. (Slight pause.)

Question: what little statues, foreign gods, what gods might we have, might we be invited to throw away? I think many of us, myself included, probably have a stash of foreign gods, other gods.

I will not be foolish enough to try to name my set or your set of gods. And they are probably not little statues we carry around, either. But we really have them— little gods— for instance cars, sports, politics… the list could be endless.

So, instead of delineating these little gods, I want to ask a question. Since I’ve made a statement, the statement that God does exist, “to where does this God of Scripture call us?’

I think God calls us to mission. This mission is to work toward the reality of the Dominion of God, the realm of God— here, now. But how do we work toward that reality? (Slight pause.)

I believe we work toward the reality of the Dominion through the mission of helping others. And each local church in the Congregational tradition finds its own mission.

Here, in this church, your Missions Committee, your Deacons, other boards and committees, are deeply involved in mission. Further and as Carol reminded us last week, your stewardship support empowers the work of mission in this place.

All that says two things. First, yes— thinking about how we describe God should make our heads hurt. If it does not, we’re doing it wrong.

But second, working toward the Dominion of God means working on mission. And the mission of this church is to help people.

Helping people is an outward sign that we, this church, seek the justice, peace, freedom, equity of the Dominion toward which we are working. And here, in this place, things like the Holiday Fair and suppers both support mission and bring people together. That mission— helping people, bringing people together, points to the reality of God.

You see, there is one description of God on which we can rely. God calls us to help others. And working on mission, helping people, will not make our head hurt. Indeed, working on mission helps us turn our hearts toward God. Amen.

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: “This is an old, often told story. Someone walking on a beach saw another person lean down, pick up a starfish and fling it back into the ocean. And they did it again and again, starfish after starfish. The person who was walking along went up to the one tossing the starfish into the ocean and said, ‘This beach is miles long— they weren’t in Maine— this beach is miles long and there are thousands and thousands of these starfish. How is this of any help?’ The rescuer of starfish reached down, picked up another starfish, tossed it into the water and then said, ‘It helped that one.’ This is what the mission of the local church is about. We can’t do everything but dealing with one starfish at a time, helping one person at a time, is what we can do. And yes, mission connects our hearts with God.”

BENEDICTION: The knowledge that God loves us frees us for joyous living. So, let us trust in the love God offers. Let us also be fervent in prayer as we make choices daily, and seek to do God’s will and walk in God’s way as we travel on our Christian journey. And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding and the abiding truth of Christ keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge, love and companionship of the Holy Spirit this day and forever more. Amen.

11/05/2023 ~ Proper 26 ~ Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost ~ Joshua 3:7-17; Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37; Micah 3:5-12; Psalm 43; 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13; Matthew 23:1-12 ~ 11/01/2023 ~ All Saints Day ~ Sometimes observed on first Sunday in November ~ Revelation 7:9-17; Psalm 34:1-10, 22; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12 ~ Communion Sunday ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/882585966

The Crowds and the Disciples

“Jesus saw the crowds and went up the mountain. After Jesus sat down there, the disciples gathered around and Jesus began to teach them…” — Matthew 5:1-2.

One of the thoughts for meditation today in part says (quote:) “…early communion services did not center on the passion, but rather on the victory through which a new age had dawned. It was much later— centuries later— that the focus of Christian worship shifted toward the death of Jesus.” (Slight pause.)

I have said before. In early Christian art there is nothing resembling a cross until the middle of the third century, no sign of a cross with a body on it, a crucifix, until the middle of the fourth century. Further, that first crucifix displays Christ dressed in regal attire, a sovereign, wearing a royal crown instead of a crown of thorns, Christ resurrected, levitating off that cross, free from the bonds of death.

This cross, this art, is a statement about liberation, about the love of God. It will be another century before the kind of crucifix with which we are familiar today, a battered body with a crown of thorns, becomes common.

So it takes five to six hundred years for Christ suffering on a cross to appear in Christian art. For a long, long time the church did not see— be ready for a $64 term here— the church did not see substitutionary atonement as a way to understand what God did for humanity in the reality of the Christ.

Here’s a simple, less imposing way of saying “substitutionary atonement”— Christ died for our sins. Now I need to be clear about this on several counts.

First, the idea of substitutionary atonement did not push to the front of church thinking until about the year 1,000 of the Common Era. Can the concept of substitutionary atonement be found in Scripture? Yes it can. But so can a justification for slavery.

But remember this. Given the post resurrection stories in Scripture, for people who have seen the risen Christ and for a long, long time after that it seems the resurrection of Christ rather than the death of Christ was central to and for the Christian faith. The resurrection was at the center of Christian faith.

In fact, Eastern Church thinking focuses on the resurrection as a mystery which is central to the faith. The resurrection invites us to a leap of faith— faith… in… God.

That raises the obvious question. Clearly a shift in how we Westerners think about Christ happened. Why?

There are a multitude of reasons but contrary to populist belief, history is not about specific episodes. Full histories, real histories pursue multiple paths, not specific episodes, single stories.

But and however, prime among the aforementioned multitude of reasons for the transition to substitutionary atonement in the West is what theologians define as the overwhelming influence of the culture on faith. This is a given: the culture of medieval times was often both harsh and transactional.

Saying Christ died for our sins is about a harsh transaction. So how the culture thought about the resurrection became altered. It became a transaction, not a mystery.

The East did not succumb to this choice. But we in the West decided the culture, a harsh and transactional culture, should be more prime for our understanding of the Christian faith than the clearly non-transactional free gift of the love of God defined in and by the mystery of the resurrected Christ.

So, does substitutionary atonement have any role? Yes. But I question its primacy, because it seems to stem less from Scripture than from the culture. And a primacy of culture which proclaims a transactional way of life cannot be allowed to supercede the primacy of Scripture which proclaims the free gift of God’s love. Simply put, did Christ die for our sins… or was Christ raised for our sins? (Long pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Matthew: “Jesus saw the crowds and went up the mountain. After Jesus sat down there, the disciples gathered around and Jesus began to teach them…” (Slight pause.)

I think on many levels the culture can be a factor which becomes too important, a factor which diverts our attention away from what is truly and deeply important. Indeed, the culture inappropriately effects even how we translate Scripture.

David Hart, a translator of the New Testament, has written that many passages need to have more accurate translations. One verse often translated, “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit:…” is more accurately translated as: “Blessed are those who live into perfection….”

Here’s another obvious mis-reading but we can’t blame the translation. Perhaps the culture is at fault. Scripture does not say the Sermon on the Mount was preached to a crowd. That is an a cultural image, not found in Scripture. Scripture clearly says Jesus left the crowds, went up the Mountain and spoke to the disciples, not the crowd. So let’s look at what Jesus said up on that mountain.

Given the word images Jesus painted about what the Dominion of God looks like, to what have these disciples been called to do because of the teaching Jesus offers? The sermon contains teaching about what the Dominion of God needs to look like right now, here, today. These are among the points made by Jesus: ‘Blessed are those who are gentle, who hunger and thirst for justice, who show mercy, who work for peace.’

We need to recognize two things. First, these images, these lessons are not reflected our world today. And second, ‘to whom are these lessons being taught?’

Jesus educates a small cadre as to what the Dominion of God needs to look like. Is Jesus writing off the crowds? No. But some are called to spread the word.

So, then we need to ask, ‘who are we?’ – ‘who am I?’ Am I simply a follower but a member of the crowd? Or am I a disciple of Christ? (Slight pause.)

I want to suggest if we buy into a cultural vision of Christianity, we are not disciples. But if we adhere to what is found in Scripture then we are and need to be what we Protestants call the Priesthood of All Believers. We need to be disciples of Christ.

We need to listen to help everyone willing to listen to the message of Jesus to understand the Dominion. And those willing to listen need to know that buying into cultural Christianity is not a place to which God calls humanity.

Further, living into perfection is something to which the Beatitudes calls us. Those words do not describe a static, cultural, way of life. The words call us to live into perfection, call us to understand perfection is not a singular, unchanging state.

And if we live into the teaching of Christ, we grow and change as we constantly listen for the call of God. I suggested this last week. We can be the church. We can be re-formed by the reality of the living Word, God’s gift to us through the resurrected Christ. (Slight pause.)

So we are called to live out our lives as Christ would have us live, loving one another, serving one another, sharing with one another, with gladness and with generous hearts. Now I might be wrong, but I do not hear too much about loving, serving, sharing or gladness and generous hearts in the transactional culture we know today.

Perhaps what we need to do is simply leave the cultural Christianity, transactional Christianity behind. Perhaps what we need to do is to try the way of life recommended by the Christ in the words of the Beatitudes. Amen.

11/05/2023
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: “A requirement when we examine Scripture is that we concentrate on not our culture nor on the culture over the course of many centuries which has effected how we read and hear Scripture. It requires us to read and to listen to the message of Christ and then ask, ‘what would the Dominion of God need to look like here, now, today?’ Then we need to strive to emulate the ethic of Christ, as we work toward a sense of the perfection God might seek.”

BENEDICTION: Go from here in the Spirit of Christ. Dare to question that which holds us captive. Count it a privilege that God calls upon us to be in covenant and to work in the vineyard. And may the peace of Christ which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in the love, knowledge and companionship of God the Creator, Christ the redeemer and the Holy Spirit the sanctifier this day and forever more. Amen.