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01/01/2023 ~ First Sunday after Christmas Day ~ Isaiah 63:7-9; Psalm 148; Hebrews 2:10-18; Matthew 2:13-23. ~ A.K.A. (01/01/2023) The Holy Name of Jesus, A.K.A. Mary, Mother of God ~ Numbers 6:22-27; Psalm 8; Galatians 4:4-7 or Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 2:15-21 ~ A.K.A. (01/01/2023) New Year’s Day ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-13; Psalm 8; Revelation 21:1-6a; Matthew 25:31-46 ~ COMMUNION SUNDAY ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/786349262

Christmas Every Day

“I will recount the gracious deeds, the steadfast love of God, the praiseworthy acts of the Sovereign, because of all that God has done for us, and the great favor to the house of Israel which God has shown to them in mercy, according to an abundance of steadfast love.” — Isaiah 63:7.

There is no question about this: different families have different seasonal traditions at this time of year. Even different individuals in specific families have different ways of offering these expressions of bonding at Christmastide.

Outward signs of the emotional involvements in these rituals can be deceiving. Many would assume, for instance, my late uncle was not one for delving deeply into emotions, that he was cold, distant. His practice, having purposefully missed the family gathering on Christmas Eve was to, on Christmas morning, whip out his money clip, peel off of a bill with a significantly high number on it and grumble, “Merry Christmas.”

I’m happy to get that kind of gift. But this is not about the receiver. This is about the giver. Some might think the behavior my uncle displayed was detached.

However, if you knew my uncle, you knew A) he had a love affair with money and, hence, his giving was very heartfelt but B), perhaps more problematic, he was as tight with a buck as anyone you’d ever met. It was said he could squeeze a penny so tight it made Lincoln cry. So for him giving a gift of money was an emotionally, difficult experience. So the gift was also a sign of sincerity. (Slight pause.)

There are three life lessons there. First: never assume anything about another person’s emotional state based simply on outward signs or reactions. Second: emotions are real, no matter how misdirected, poorly used, ill advised or dysfunctional.

Last, emotional expressions, most of the time, do not contain a lot of logic. But that lack in logic does not negate the reality of emotional experiences.

Indeed, some might feel embarrassed about giving the wrong or a less than adequate gift. This issue can send some givers into fits of fretting while others let any sentiment about that simply roll off their back. But most of the time the expressions we offer one another through the elaborate giving of gifts or simply cooking a meal for others are often very personal and often very filled with emotion.

Here’s a reality: especially at this time of year when it comes to gift giving, some are more reserved and some tend toward exuberant emotional outbursts. But whether it’s about gifts or simply about what we do with and in the rituals we practice, this is a truth: we all have familial traditions during Christmastide we hold sacrosanct.

Here’s an interesting quandary around traditions, rites, rituals held sacred in families at Christmas. New family units, two people getting together to form a deep relationship, an emotional union, that happens constantly. So this question might arise: ‘how can two separate, different family Christmas histories get melded into a new tradition?’

You see, it’s likely two people engaged in building a new relationship had very different traditions when it came to seasonal rituals in their families of origin. It’s equally likely they will then explore ways to make themselves into a new family unit.

When Bonnie and I got together, the tradition in her family was to do stockings on Christmas morning (the stockings in question being her father’s old army socks) and to open presents after breakfast. My family, on the other hand, was never into stockings. And our tradition was to open presents right after we attended the Christmas Eve service.

The solution here was easy. Bonnie liked the sound of finding out what she was getting for Christmas twelve hours before she used to find out. So she just went with it.

Traditions also change as families mature. I have friends with children whose tradition was to visit their Moms and Dads, the grandparents. Two years ago the last of those grandparents passed away. The familial tradition has now changed. (Slight pause.)

Traditions grow; traditions change. Our emotional life does get wrapped up in traditions. But treasured traditions do change over time. (Slight pause.)

For a moment I want to come back to the issue of emotional involvement around gift giving and receiving. It is often said that it is better to give than to receive.

But we do need to be wary that giving is not bred out of any sense of seeking superiority, dominance. We also need to be wary that giving is not something bred out of wanting to have another person indebted to us.

Indeed, gift giving means just that: giving. Giving, in order to be true giving, needs to be an unconditional act (dare I say an act of unconditional love) or it’s not a gift. It’s more like a trade. So yes, one’s emotions may well be all over the map at this time of year. But when gift giving is approached with an appropriate spirit, real giving means a surrendering of self. (Pause.)

These words are from the Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah: “I will recount the gracious deeds, the steadfast love of God, the praiseworthy acts of the Sovereign, because of all that God has done for us, and the great favor to the house of Israel which God has shown to them in mercy, according to an abundance of steadfast love.” (Pause.)

The words from Isaiah are clear. God is steadfast, always present and always giving, surrendering self. (Slight pause.)

I think we often feel our own lives are like a roller coaster, in turmoil. Indeed, look at the story from Matthew’s Gospel today. The family moves from Israel to Egypt to escape violence, then back to Judea but, hearing about an unfriendly Monarch still on the throne, they go to Nazareth in Galilee. (Slight pause.) Believe me, they weren’t able to simply pick up the phone and call a moving van. Turmoil was the order of the day.

There is a twofold point here. Even when things are tumultuous, God is with us. And perhaps the emotionally healthy response to God’s act of unconditional love, unconditional giving, is faithfulness. (Slight pause.)

To come back to that gift giving motif, what would it be like for us to have Christmas every day? What would it be like to give our emotions, our full emotional life unconditionally, daily? (Slight pause.)

I think the message Isaiah has for us is no matter what happens, that is how God relates to human life. God offers us unconditional love, daily. In short, God says no matter who you are or where you are on you life’s journey, no matter who you are or where you are on your faith journey you are loved, unconditionally.

You see, we Christians believe that Christmas does happen every day. Why? We believe God is with us always, through times of trial and times of tribulation, through times of joy and times of jubilation.

How? We believe God sent Jesus to be the Messiah. Jesus was raised from death, lives with us and among us, to more deeply inform us about the fulness of God’s love, to more deeply inform us about unconditional love.

Indeed, we celebrate the feast of Christmas in commemoration of the fact that, in this act of unconditional love, the reality of the incarnation which we call Christmas, in this act God sent the Messiah. (Slight pause.) So, how can we form our own traditions, the traditions we develop, to be an expression of our own emotions about God’s love?

Perhaps we can express our own emotions about God’s love when we remember that for Christians Christmas does happen every day. After all, this is what we believe: God offers unconditional love each and every day. Hence, the gift of Christmas happens each and every day. So perhaps our response needs to be to strive to share the love of God with everyone we encounter each and every day. Amen.

01/01/2023
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: “Walter Brueggemann is well known and respected Biblical scholar. He published this poem on December 8 of 2022, just three weeks ago.

What Child Is This by the Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggemann

“‘What child is this who laid to rest on Mary’s lap is sleeping?”
We ask in awe and wonder.
But wait!
We know who this child is:
We know: this is the child who will grow in authority to cast out demons,
while we are beset by the demonic force of racism and nationalism.
We know: this is the child who will grow in capacity to feed the hungry multitudes,
while we casually permit children all around the world to die in starvation.
We know: this is the child who will grow in power to heal the sick,
while we are overrun with drug ads
and quibble about deductions and co-payments.
We know: this is the child who will gain his life (and ours) by losing it.
This child, born to occupy center space in our lives, our energy, and our imagination,
is the one who will dwell among us, full of grace and truth.
We know his name; we receive him as gift; we answer to his call to obedience.
This child, in his authority, capacity, and power, is the way of God among us.
His governance shall have no end.

Walter Brueggemann — that, my friends is what Christmas is about, this unconditional love of God.

BENEDICTION: Let us treat all God’s children as our next of kin. Let us praise God for the people all around us. Let us praise God for the fulness of time. And may the peace of Christ which surpasses our understanding keep our hearts and minds in the companionship of the Holy Spirit and the love of God this day and evermore. Amen.

READINGS:12/24/2022 ~ 12/25/2022 ~ 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/784605050

The Word

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” — John 1:1.

Both historically and in our current time three sets of readings are assigned in the lectionary for Christmas. That’s because there are three appropriate, separate and related but in some ways different services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

In ancient times— ancient meaning as recently as 50 years ago— in ancient times at many churches the first of those services would have been on Christmas Eve at midnight. That tradition has largely ended.

The second service with a similar but different set of readings would have been offered at a dawn service on Christmas day. Then there would be a high service, filled with pomp— in high church traditions that meant things like incense— a high service, filled with pomp which would usually held sometime around mid-day on Christmas day. (This is the high service in case you’re interested.)

The services at midnight and dawn would have both had different portions of the Nativity reading from Luke. At the mid-day service we get the Gospel we heard today, the reading from John.

Just this last week the New York Times ran a long article about how in many churches all this is changing, from having the Christmas Eve services earlier to there being no service on Christmas Day even if it’s a Sunday. As has often been true in church things change in response to cultural change and this change is an American cultural trend.

In terms of the readings for Christmas Eve and dawn, the nativity story as Luke has it— the decree from Caesar, the inn, the stable, etc., etc., etc.— these depictions are meant, to a certain extent, to be realistic. But are they realistic or do they just feel that way?

After all, you have angels, shepherds, an unwed mother along with what appears to be an amazingly compliant father who has not yet actually wed the virgin. Further, the birth of the Messiah is announced to the poor and the outcast. Again, is that realistic?

In fact, that the poor and the outcast are favored by God is a major theme of Luke which continues throughout the entire work. And in the New Testament world, a world with so much poverty and so many outcasts, a world in which privilege begets privilege, how realistic is it that the poor and the outcast would really be favored? So, once you look at the Luke version carefully, you realize it contains some serious theological ideas within what is only the trappings of realism.

John on the other hand does not offer or even bother with the trappings of realism. The first section of John, often called “The Prologue,” consists of four parts. And if you followed the reading in the bulletin you could see that much of this reading is poetry. [1]

The first part this passage says the eternal Word is the Light, clearly a section meant to be mystical. Next, John the Baptizer is introduced as a witnesses to this Word, this Light— that’s the only place this narrative comes even close to conveying realism.

In the third part we hear the proclamation that “The Light,” that is “The Word” has come into the world. Then the section ends with the concept that this (quote) “Word” became flesh and dwells among us.

And yes, the writer or writers— scholars think there may have been multiple writersof John — stresses the eternal existence of the Word with God, an existence outside the bounds of time, the bounds of space, the bounds of history. Further, the clearly mystical opening words of the Gospel (quote:) “At the beginning…,” are meant to recall Genesis 1:1.

I need to note in a good translation of the opening words of Genesis passage says: “At the beginning of God’s creating of the heavens and the earth….” This effectively states what John is stating, that God lives outside the boundaries of the creation, both before and beyond our understanding of all time and space.

Hence, what is often not understood by many is that Genesis and therefore John never points to the time of the creation but to a time before the creation of the world. Hence, these words point to a time and a place totally beyond our comprehension.

However, John goes one step further and insists that this eternal Word does not stay outside of time and history but enters into our time-bound world. And even though the Word enters into our time bound world, this Word continues to live beyond the time of life on earth of any individual. Therefore, the Word lives before, though and beyond all existence and lives in our lives now.

In short, this way of looking at the Nativity is blatantly mythical, philosophical, mystical and other-worldly. Nearly all trappings of realism are forgotten. (Slight pause.)

It is also clear the term “Word” is used to mean Jesus, Jesus Who is the Christ, the Messiah. But by insisting on the pre-existence of the Christ, John now offers a new perspective about God which might have shocked those who first heard or read this Gospel.

John’s vision suggests that God, through Jesus, reveals aspects of God’s own self which have never before been revealed. This gospel claims that God and the Spirit of God dwells with us, walks with us.

John thus says the signs of the presence of God Luke so gracefully and gently weaves into the nativity story are blatantly and boldly present in the person of Jesus. Indeed, all the “I am” statements of Jesus are found only in the Gospel of John.

The important parts of the “I am” statements are not the objects of the statements such as the way, the truth, the life. The important part of the “I am” statements are the words “I am.” In Hebrew the name of God is Yahweh which is a form of the verb “to be”— I am.

So yes, this language is mystical and despite the mystical language employed throughout the work, John is, at the same time, the one evangelist who is blunt. The effect of what John says is this: God is One and God is Trinity; take it or leave it.

And can Trinity be explained? No. Not really. Trinity is not just mystical. Trinity is a mystery.

Therefore, John is also saying, “skip the birth; the story of the birth is only a metaphor.” Indeed, with this Gospel John invites us to concentrate on what is beyond our comprehension— the fact that God so loves the world and is present beyond eternity, has been present beyond eternity forever and is, amazingly, is present to us right here, right now.

And God is present to do what? To love us. Can the love of God be readily explained? The love of God can no more readily be explained than Trinity can be explained. The love of God is a mystery.

Hence and in short, here’s the blunt two part message the Gospel of John offers: God loves us. And God does not demand anything in response to that love. God simply loves. Amen.

12/25/2022 — Christmas Day
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: “We live in a very secular world. Hence, when possible I try to avoid wishing people a ‘Merry Christmas.’ You see, that is a secular term. You see, at Eastertide when possible I try to avoid wishing people ‘Happy Easter’ and instead I say ‘Christ is Risen.’ And so, at Christmastide, if somebody says ‘Merry Christmas,’ I say ‘Christ is with us.’ Of course, is the real Christian sentiment expressed in and by the Feast of the Incarnation— indeed, 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.

[1]
. This is the reading from the Gospel of John as it appeared in the bulletin.

A READING FROM A READING FROM THE GOSPELS — John 1:1-14

[1] In the beginning
was the Word;
the Word was with God,
in the presence of God
and the Word was God.
[2] Indeed, the Word
was present to God.
[3] All things came into being
through the Word,
and apart from the Word
not one thing came into being.
The Word was life and
[4] and that life was the light
of all humanity.
[5] The light shines
in the deepest night,
and the night has never been able
to overtake it, to conquer it.
[6] Then came one named John [7] sent as an envoy, a witness to testify about the Light, so that through this testimony all might believe. [8] Indeed, John was not the Light, but did come only to testify about the light.
[9] For the true light,
the Word, which enlightens everyone,
was coming into the world.
[10] The Word was in the world,
and the world came into being
through the Word;
yet the world did not know,
did not recognize this one.
[11] Though the Word
came into its own realm,
the Word’s own people did not recognize
or accept the Word.
[12] Yet anyone who accepted the Word,
who believed in that name,
were empowered to become children of God,
[13] children not born, of natural descent
or urge of the flesh or of human will,
but born of God.
[14] And the Word became flesh
and stayed a little while among us;
we have seen the Word’s glory,
the glory as of a parent’s only child,
full of grace and truth.

READINGS:12/24/2022 ~ 12/25/2022 ~ 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/784577962

God Whispers

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

The journey from Nazareth had been long and hard— eight days. The two of them and a pack animal had traveled over the hills and winding roads of Roman Palestine. Mostly they walked.

Mary was pregnant so occasionally— when fatigue or simply when surges of pain happened— walking was out of the question. But they could not stop. They needed to get to the City of David to register, to be in compliance.

And so at those times when Mary needed to ride, her husband found a good sized bolder on the side of the road, helped her up and nudged mule— for reasons beyond him this was an incredibly patient beast— nudged it next to the stone. Using a rock as a platform Mary would then carefully climb on the animal’s back.

As they traveled, there seemed to be noise along the road— a lot of it. They had not expected much company on the journey. They were wrong. Roman soldiers, both marching and riding in chariots, were also navigating these treacherous paths.

If the soldiers did not actually have the right of way, they took it. They were, after all, an occupying army.

And so commanders barked orders, chariots creaked, hooves pounded, soldiers cursed, horses snorted, pack animals brayed constantly. These all made noise, a lot of it.

Then there were the people, hundreds of them, people with families, people in wagons, people riding, people walking, people making noise who, like Mary and Joseph, were headed to Bethlehem.

The decree from the Roman Emperor declared everyone had to return to the place, the town, from which they claimed lineage. Joseph was a descendant of the house, the lineage of David. David was, of course, the great ruler of Israel, the one from whose linage the prophets predicted the Messiah would be born.

Joseph had a suspicion as to why so many people were going to Bethlehem. They wanted to claim they were of David’s lineage so they were making the trip. Claim was the key word.

People wanted to claim a relationship with David. But were all these people really of David’s lineage? It seemed unlikely.

However, once that relationship to David was registered with the Roman government, who would question it? Having that credential made the claim real even if it was not.

So yes, the road was crowded. And when Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem they discovered the town was packed. There was no place for them to stay.

And by chance and by necessity they wound up in a stable, a barn. And that was noisy. There were all kinds of animal noises… and smells, animal smells; it was… uncomfortable. Joseph gathered hay in a pile to make a place for Mary to lie down.

Just when she had settled into the improvised mattress the time arrived. Now it was she who made noise. And it was loud. She was loud. But the labor was short.

It was then the turn of the infant to make noise. This was Mary’s firstborn. She had not realized how loud a child could be. The noise hurt her ears. But it was her child. So she loved the noise.

Nearly right away there was even more noise— shepherds, boys— all very young— excited as only young boys can be, burst into the barn. She did not understand what they were talking about.

They said things about the glory of God and angels and good news. They went on and on and on. They shouted, pointed to the sky and pointed at the child. It did not make any sense. And then they ran away as quickly as they had come. (Slight pause.)

So finally, it was just Mary and her husband and the child alone in the barn. Joseph offered a knowing smile and sat next to Mary and the infant. At least her husband was not noisy, she thought. He was, most of the time, taciturn.

Just as quickly as Joseph sat, he suddenly stood. “We are both hungry. I should go talk to the innkeeper. I probably can get some food.”

Mary smiled, nodded ascent and he was gone. Mary sighed and held the child next to her breast. The child stopped crying. In a short time she could feel the steady tempo of slumber, the warmth of breath against her skin.

She suddenly realized noise had been a constant companion for her for days. But now there was no noise. It was strangely quiet.

The quiet surrounded her, enfolded her, embraced her. She felt warmed by it, comforted by it, blessed by it.

The silence gave her time to think. She reflected on the events of the last months, the tumult, the excitement. Of course, there was that… vision. Then there was the trip to see Elizabeth, the betrothal to Joseph, the pregnancy, the hard journey to Bethlehem.

As was her habit, she tried to understand the place to which God might be calling her. Perhaps because of that vision of a messenger from God she experienced, she had recently spoken with her Rabbi and asked what the voice of God might sound like.

“The voice of God has nothing to do with noise,” said the Rabbi. “We humans seem to like like noise. Noise is what humans make, not God.”

“The prophet Elijah,” he continued, “stood on a mountain before God. God was not in the earthquake, the wind, the fire. God… was in the sheer silence.” (Slight pause.)

Mary lifted the cover under which she and the child rested and looked down. The child opened its eyes and looked at her. (Slight pause.)

Mary heard the voice of God. The voice of God was not loud. The voice of God spoke softly, gently, quietly… in a whisper.

Mary heard the voice of God whisper in the eyes of a child. One word was spoken softly, gently, quietly… in a whisper— love— love. (Slight pause.)

Mary pondered this in her heart, wondered what it meant that the voice of God could be heard in eyes of a child. She wondered what it meant— that the voice of God said, whispered only one word: love. Amen.

12/24/2022 ~ Christmas Eve
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: “When possible I try to avoid wishing people a ‘Merry Christmas.’ That is a secular term. You see, at Eastertide when possible I try to avoid wishing people ‘Happy Easter’ and instead I say ‘Christ is Risen.’ And so, at Christmastide, if somebody says ‘Merry Christmas,’ I say ‘Christ is with us.’ That is the real Christian sentiment expressed in and by 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.

12/18/2022 ~ Fourth Sunday of Advent ~ The Sunday on Which We Commemorate Joy ~ Which Isaiah 7:10-16; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25 ~ https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/782600090

Called to Be Saints

“To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God and Jesus, the Christ.” — Romans 1:7

I need to start my comments today with two caveats. First, at Bible study on Mondays we usually examine the passage on which I will preach the following Sunday. But since Music Sunday should have been today and the choir would preach, instead we looked at the complete Nativity stories in Matthew and Luke.

Rumor to the contrary, the Nativity stories in those Gospels are each two chapters long. Since we looked at those passages before I return to the Romans reading I’m going to do some compare and contrast work about the Nativity stories.

So, do me a favor— no, do yourself a favor— sometime in the next week sit down and read the first two chapters of Matthew and Luke. I assume you have read them but rereading them, especially at this time of year, may be helpful in understanding the Nativity.

My second caveat: if the themes you hear me address today sound similar to what I said last week— guilty as charged. To a certain extent that’s because of the Bible study session but that’s also where the lectionary leads us, or at least where it leads me, in Advent and Christmas. (Slight pause.)

Today’s reading from Matthew had but a small portion of the Nativity story in that Gospel. It’s likely you noticed how drastically different it is from what I loosely refer to as the Charlie Brown version, the one we find in Luke.

In Matthew there is no census, no trip to Bethlehem, no shepherds. In Luke an angel speaks first to Mary, then to shepherds. In Matthew only Joseph gets angelic visits.

Clearly the infant the reading mentions has two different names— ‘Emmanuel’ and ‘Jesus.’ These names are not a naming of the child but illustrate deeper meanings. The name Emmanuel is explained in the text— “God is with us.”

The name ‘Jesus’ is the Greek version of the name Yeshuah. Yeshuah means God with us or God saves or God offers healing or deliverer.

Hence, these meanings— God with us, God saves, God offers healing, deliverer— tells us the story is not simply about the birth of a child. This is about the birth of the Christ, the one Whom God has entrusted with the office of Messiah.

To be clear, the story from Luke, though very different, when given an equally careful reading, would offer similar insights. My point is there are many meanings here not readily evident to us perhaps because our cultural views about these stories tend to obscure them. Therefore, we often ignore some vital details, details actually told in a very straightforward way.

Now, had we read a few verses further on in Matthew, we would have encountered the Magi or as our society calls them, the three kings. It’s evident they are nobility or well educated members of a ruling class who look for this one who will be the ruler of Israel.

As we know, in the story of the Magi a star or some sign in the sky plays a central role. But in our cultural iconography the star is placed with the angels and shepherds. Another fact we tend to confuse in our culture is it’s likely by the time the Magi arrive Jesus is at least a toddler, not a baby.

But in our culture year after year churches have pageants which imply the Magi come and offer gifts to an infant. However, Matthew 2:16 says (quote): “Herod was infuriated when tricked by the Magi and gave orders to kill all children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or younger.”

If Herod kills the children two or under because the child might be a pretender to the throne, it is unlikely Jesus is still an infant. Again, these facts are plainly set out. But the account does not fit into our culturally accepted version of the story, so we just ignore it even though it’s right there in front of us.

It is unquestionably evident the writer is using this story to ask questions about the relationship of God with humanity. Given these facts and analysis, are we in any way prodded to ask these questions?

‘Why are we so subsumed by the cultural reading which is common today but might be more than a little off center, since the accurate information presented is so evident? Another obvious question is: ‘On what should we be concentrating?’ (Pause.)

Well, takes me back to the Romans reading. And these words are in Romans: “To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God and Jesus, the Christ.” (Pause.)

I really have nothing against how Christmas is celebrated. I am not a Grinch. I am happy to have sheep and angels and shepherds and Magi cavort in church pageants and be present in symbolic representations such as a crèche. These are all enjoyable.

But what I am trying to help us focus just a little— trying to help us focus just a little on the meanings present in these stories, rather than on our cultural trappings. Further, these significant, even emotionally serious meanings, are not particularly hidden. They are simply meanings our cultural iconography too readily overwhelms, misses and/or dismisses.

The same is true of the words I’ve just mentioned from the Letter to the Church in Rome. Our culture overwhelms, misses or dismisses what these words mean.

The letter is addressed to those who are (quote): “called to be saints.” Who are these saints? Are saints, as our culture suggests, only very holy people? (Slight pause.)

‘Saint’ is a term commonly used by Paul. The Apostle to the gentiles often indicates the people of the church are called to be saints. So, here’s the Christian definition: a saint is someone set apart, called to do the work of God. (Slight pause.)

I would suggest even a cursory reading of Scripture tells us we are all called, set apart, to do the work of God. All this is to say much of what we commonly do in our cultural context is not bad or wrong. It simply says as Christians we constantly need to look beyond and go beyond what our culture says.

As Christians we need to be aware of the true and serious meanings in Scripture and the how that applies to what we say and what we do. We need to be careful to not simply accept the meanings imposed or approved by our culture. And so from a Christian perspective, we do need to understand we are all set apart to do the work of God.

Indeed, one of the messages offered by the stories of the incarnation is we are called by this in-breaking of God into our lives to be participants in the work of the Dominion of God. We are called to feed those who have no food, called to clothe those who have only tatters to wear, called to shelter those who are without sanctuary, called to visit the imprisoned, called to visit and to see to the needs of those who are sick or are infirm, called to stand in solidarity with the marginalized and the outcast.

In short, let us see beyond practices which we might enjoy and are very enjoyable but are merely cultural trappings. Let us be saints by participating in the work set aside by God for us. And let us understand when we participate in that work, God’s work, we are not just called to be saints. And we are saints when we are doing God’s work. The work of the saints— that is the real work of Christmas. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
12/18/2022

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: “Coming back to cultural practices, December the 23rd would have been the last day of feast known as Saturnalia, were we living in ancient Rome. The Romans marked this solstice celebration of the god Saturn who the Romans thought was destined to establish a time of perfect peace and harmony by decorating their homes with holly, ropes of garland, wreaths of evergreen and exchanged presents. So, what is it we really need to both celebrate and recognize despite our strikingly similar rituals? We need to celebrate and recognize the work of the Dominion of God, the work of the saints— saints— that would be us.”

BENEDICTION: Go in joy. Be led forth in the peace which surpasses understanding. Embrace the love God offers. The covenant promises offered by the God of hope shall endure, for God is eternal, steadfast, faithful and loving. Amen.

12/11/2022 ~ Third Sunday of Advent ~ Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:5-10 or Luke 1:46b-55; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11 ~ The Sunday in Advent on Which We Commemorate Love ~
VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/780765920

The Messiah

“John was in prison and heard about the works the Messiah was performing. At that point the Baptizer sent word through a disciple to ask the Rabbi, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ In reply Jesus said, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and what you see:….’” — Matthew 11:2-4.

A couple years ago at a Big Box Store I was confronted with a sign of the season: a volunteer ringing a bell. This particular volunteer clearly also thought, besides ringing a bell, a part of this gig was to sing seasonal ditties a capella.

This person did have the vocal ability to pull that off, which both surprised and impressed me. What did not impress me was the ditty chosen— Baby It’s Cold Outside by Frank Loesser. This is not, I think, a particularly appropriate choice for someone trying to raise money for those in need, no matter how entertaining the rendition might be.

Why is it less than appropriate? Loesser wrote Baby It’s Cold Outside to be sung only at private parties because he, the person who wrote it, thought it to be quite risqué, vulgar. And if you listen carefully to the lyric, it is more than a tad risqué, vulgar.

In fact, the song came to public attention only after Loesser sold the rights to MGM, the studio inserted it in a film and it became a hit. All this raises for me what are, a song writer, an occasional a writer of hymns and a theologian, serious questions.

What is so called seasonal music, really? What is the season about, really? What should we be addressing, what are we addressing and what do we address in the seasons known as Advent and Christmas, really? (Slight pause.)

Eleven years ago the composer Tom Rasely and I wrote a Christmas Carol. The title of the work is One Angel Sings. For reference, a copy is in the bulletin. I won’t ask you to sing it. The lyric, in part, reads, “One angel sings, both silent and plain.”

In terms of logic, that lyric poses another question: what does it mean when someone sings, but yet is silent? Is that not a paradox?

Since I wrote the lyric I have an explanation. The truth is you can look at the famous passage from Luke 2, the one with shepherds and angels and never find any angel who sings. The text does say one angel speaks.

The text does say a multitude of angels praise God. But the text specifically says in offering praise to God the angels speak that praise rather than sing that praise.

To be fair, is it possible the angels sing? Why yes it is. But the text doesn’t specifically say angels sing.

It does say there is a choir of angels but by definition a choir can simply be a group which does not sing. Hence, in terms of what the text says, singing angels are a figment of the imagination of artists throughout the centuries.

I put it that way because that’s likely the place from where images of angels singing emerge. So as a theologian and since Scripture does not mention angels singing, I came up with this solution (quote:): “One angel sings, both silent and plain.” (Slight pause.)

All that re-opens what is for me those same key questions: what is the season about? What should we be addressing, what are we addressing and what do we, as church— as church— in the seasons known as Advent and Christmas? Indeed, is the season about singing angels or are these seasons about something else? (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Matthew: “John was in prison and heard about the works the Messiah was performing. At that point the Baptizer sent word through a disciple to ask the Rabbi, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ In reply Jesus said, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and what you see:….’” (Slight pause.)

John is in prison— Merry Christmas. That sounds like a real Christmas tale, warm and fuzzy, a good image for the season, does it not? (Slight pause.) Here’s a peculiar but effective precept for reading Scripture: ignore the details. The details of a story in Scripture are often interesting, can be very helpful as we try to understand it and can illustrate many important points.

On the other hand, Scripture can be said to be about one thing and one thing only and it’s not the details of the stories. Scripture is about theology.

Further, the theology we find in Scripture is fairly straightforward. When we do pay attention to the theology in the text rather than the details, it can be illuminating. How? The theology we find in all of Scripture can be described in two short sentences.

Here they are: God loves us. God loves all humanity and wants to be in covenant with humanity. These simple and central themes can be found throughout Scripture. But one key to finding, to discovering these themes is you sometimes need to ignore the details.

When I say “ignore the details” please do not mis-understand me. Details enrich and enhance what we read. But if we concentrate only on the details— singing angels or jailbird John— and ignore the theological basis of Scripture, that God loves us and wants to be in covenant with humanity, we’ve missed the central message of the Bible.

Of course, we Christians believe there is one additional New Testament theme and it is found in the reading from Matthew we heard today. God loves humanity so much that what was promised by God, this office known as the Messiah, would be eventually fulfilled and that reality embodied by Jesus.

Jesus is the Messiah. The Greek word for Messiah is Christ. And because Jesus holds the office of the Christ, the very presence of Jesus reenforces the idea that God loves us and wants to be in covenant with us.

Please note: if you ignore the details of this reading— from the imprisonment of John to the praise of John offered by Jesus— this statement, that Jesus is the Christ sent because God loves and wants to be in covenant with humanity, contains the totality of the theology we hear, the totality of what this reading means. (Slight pause.)

Well, the day I heard the volunteer bell ringer who was singing at that Big Box Store I bumped into an acquaintance as I exited. We chatted for a couple of minutes.

Unfortunately, that extra time standing outside the store enabled me to hear yet two more so called seasonal selections offered by that person ringing a bell. One was Frosty the Snowman. The second was Here Comes Santa Claus. (Slight pause.)

And yes, that leads me back to the questions: what is so called seasonal music, really? And what is the season about, really?

I think Scripture is clear on that count. In our lives— daily— we need to be addressing, as does this lectionary reading, that God loves humanity and wants to be in covenant with humanity. In our lives— daily— need to be addressing, as does this lectionary reading, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, a reality which reenforces the fact that God loves us and wants to be in covenant with humanity. (Slight pause.)

I think Frosty the Snowman and Here Comes Santa Claus are fun songs but they do not speak to me about Advent or Christmas. They speak to me about our culture, nothing more, nothing less. And frankly I think most of the time our culture is not up to grappling with the covenant love found in Scripture.

So last and to reiterate something I said last week, what we commemorate in Advent— hope, peace, love and joy— are about the future, our future. We Christians always need to prepare for what will be, look toward the future.

So Christmas is not about the past. Our claim as Christians is that Christ lives, Christmas— this celebration of the birth of the Messiah— is more about the place to which God calls us now and as we move into the future than it is about what happened 2,000 years ago.

Also as Christians we are invited to know that what we celebrate in Advent and Christmastide— hope, peace, love, joy and the birth of the Messiah— are signposts meant to direct us toward both how we live our life with God now, and how we are to live our life with God in the days to come.

And how are we called to live our lives with each other? We are called to live our lives with care, with respect, with understanding and with love. Amen.

12/11/2022
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: “Let me put my hymn writer/theologian hat back on. The chorus of One Angel Sings says the angels praise God with the words, ‘Glory to God, the Peace of God reigns’ and ‘Glory to God Whose presence is here.’ When the word ‘peace’ crops up in the New Testament it is not addressing peace as in the absence of conflict. What peace addresses in the New Testament is the reality of the real presence of God. Or as Luke has the angels put it, ‘Glory to God and on earth, peace…’ I would say the message, both in that hymn and when angels are pictured as saying it, are similar: the real presence of God is with us in the Christ. And that is what Advent and Christmas proclaim.”

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 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.

12/04/2022 ~ Second Sunday of Advent ~ The Sunday on Which We Commemorate Peace ~ Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/778191043

Joy and Peace and Believing


and Wilderness

“May the God of hope fill you with such joy and peace in believing, in your faith, that you may abound with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” — Romans 15:13

My late cousin, Roseanna Genevieve McCool, was technically a member of my grandfather’s generation, despite being closer to my father’s age, just nine years older. But in my family structure, perhaps because she was in that previous generation, she acted as more of a matriarch or grandmother figure than a cousin.

Rose— she was commonly called Rose, the daughter of Irish immigrants who themselves had traveled to these shores— was born in 1911. She grew up on South Third Street in Brooklyn, New York, near the waterfront on the East River.

Williamsburg, as this area of Brooklyn is called, both then and now, is well known as a Jewish enclave. But Rose lived at the Northern end of that area, an Irish enclave. The next neighborhood to the north, Greenpoint, was a German neighborhood— Brooklyn— both then and now a melting pot.

Before I was born, Rose and the rest of the clan had moved further East to the area known as Bushwick but still in Brooklyn. Now, the Catholic church to which Rose belonged in those early years, also on South Third Street, was the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. The parish still exists.

I have distinct, fond memories of Rose telling me about her childhood. Among those memories were the ones of life at that church. Her mother, to make extra money, took in laundry and also did the laundry for the priests at the church. That is to say Rose had deep personal ties at the church, one reason for all those memories.

By the time I came on the scene things at that church were not in good shape as far as Rose was concerned. Over the years she had been back, seen it and knew about the changes.

Inside the church building the worship space had been changed around. How dare they? They had taken out some of the stained glass windows. How dare they? They were using unfamiliar music. How dare they? The church hall and grammar school were being used in ways which were different than when she was a child. How dare they?

Besides, from her perspective both the church and the neighborhood had drastically changed, been overrun by immigrants… twice! That first wave was simply terrible. (Soto voce.) They were Italians. Then in the 1960s Hispanics moved in.

Being upset by Italians and then Hispanics as they became majorities in the neighborhood might sound like and even be a racist sentiment. But I think there is an additional perhaps more visceral explanation for the reaction Rose had. The key question for her was, ‘why can it not be like it was when I was a child?’ (Slight pause.)

These words are from the work known as Romans: “May the God of hope fill you with such joy and peace in believing, in your faith, that you may abound with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Slight pause.)

Perhaps what got me thinking about Rose and her feelings about changes at her childhood church was a statistic I came across. As I said, Rose was born in 1911 to English speaking immigrant parents. And as I am sure you know, the late 19th and early 20th Century was a time of intense immigration in America.

Now, in that era the prayers of Catholic Mass were recited in Latin. But whole sections of the service were conducted in the vernacular of those who attended. From the perspective of Rose the vernacular was English.

But the statistic I found from the United States Census Bureau said in 1906 there were 4,711 Catholic Parishes in America with 6.3 million people where the vernacular was not English. The language spoken at those churches depended on the parish. Take your choice: the language was Polish or Lithuanian or German or Italian, etc., etc., etc.

By 1916 that number had grown to 6,076 parishes or 57% of all Catholic churches in America. So at more than half of the Catholic parishes at that time a language other than English was the dominant tongue. [1] (Slight pause.)

All these immigrants had left their native land, left their roots. It’s likely they felt as if they were in a desert, in the wilderness. So they sought to find some assurance in familiar things— like a church where their native language was spoken. (Slight pause.)

Well, the vernacular in the 1970s at that church in Williamsburg was Spanish and only Spanish. But today that section of Brooklyn is becoming gentrified, going upscale.

So in this changing neighborhood, things have changed things yet again. The Masses are no longer just in Spanish. The Masses are now in both English and Spanish. (Slight pause.)

There are many reasons for people to feel disconnected. Certainly one is being disconnected from a heritage. But disconnect is most often imposed on us from the outside, imposed by change going on around us or migration, immigration or, as was true for Jews in Roman Palestine because of the presence of an occupying army— a daily reminder of the threat of change.

Indeed, we can readily picture the Baptizer in the wilderness eating Locust and grasshoppers as being disconnected. It is, perhaps, not as easy for us to understand that Paul is in the wilderness also. But that’s because we tend to view the era in which Paul lived as a time when somehow, magically, the entire Mediterranean Basin was converted to Christianity.

In fact, most historians believe by the year 100 of the Common Era, some thirty-five years after Paul died, there are still less than 10,000 Christians in the world. Historians also say in the year 315, when Christianity becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire, less than 10% of the population of the Roman Empire is Christian.

It is also believed the churches to whom Paul wrote were gatherings of 50 souls or less. Think about that: in writing the Letter to the Church in rome Paul was writing to maybe 50 people. So Paul faces reality: this small group will not get much bigger in the near term.

Still, despite the truth of small size and slow growth, the Apostle writes about… hope and joy and peace and believing the presence of the Holy Spirit. Paul is not self delusional. But Paul also knows something about the wilderness. (Slight pause.)

The words from this passage are not the final words of the letter we find in our Bibles today. There’s another whole chapter. But these are the final words of the letter found in the oldest manuscripts we know about. So it’s likely the passage we heard today was at one point meant to be the final words, meant to sum up, to recap this letter.

And Romans is said to be Paul’s masterpiece. So I think the letter and the passage can instruct us today on who we are and where we should be going.

Hence, if we are not self delusional perhaps we should ask if we are in the wilderness, in the desert, right now? I want to suggest if we are in the wilderness it is not because of changes to church buildings or the taking out of stained glass windows or use of unfamiliar music or even a changing population. These are things about which people might be nostalgic or even argue about but they are all quite temporary.

You see, the promise of the Dominion says we will live in a world where the hungry are fed always, the homeless find shelter always, the sick have access to care always. And the Dominion of God being near is a real world promise toward which we are invited by God to work. Paul understood that, because when read what Paul wrote carefully, Paul always looks forward not backward.

The Dominion of God, you see, is a promise. It is forward looking, filled with anticipation. Put differently, the Dominion of God is not about nostalgia.

And as a congregation I do think we are trying to head toward the Dominion. After all, look at the mission work of this church. It reflects working in the vineyard.

So I think we do know about joy and peace and believing in the wilderness— and joy and peace and believing in the wilderness does have everything to do with this Season of Advent. But it has nothing to do with things temporary or nostalgia.

It has to do with the work of the Dominion of God— the Dominion of God, where joy and peace and hope and love are both eternal and in the process of being fulfilled. And forward is the place toward which we are called as we do the work of the Dominion. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
12/04/2022

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: “At the Bible Study on Monday— and by the way you are all invited to Bible Study— at the Bible Study I shared this quote from theologian Richard Rhor. The folks in attendance found it relevant so I’ll use it. (Quote:) ‘For centuries, Christianity has presented itself as an “organized religion”— a change-averse institution… that protects and promotes a timeless system of beliefs that were handed down fully formed in the past. Yet Christianity’s actual history is a story of change and adaptation. We Christians have repeatedly adapted our message, methods, and mission to the contours of our time. What might happen if we understand the core Christian ethos as creative, constructive, and forward-leaning— as an ‘organizing religion’ that challenges all institutions (including its own) to learn, grow, and mature toward a deepening, enduring vision of reconciliation with God, self, neighbor, enemy, and creation?’— a quote from Richard Rhor. As I said, Christianity looks forward.”

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

[1] Page 297, American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us; by Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell; Simon and Schuster; New York 2010.

11/27/2022 ~ First Sunday of Advent ~ First Sunday of Lectionary Year “A” ~ The Sunday on Which We Commemorate Hope ~ The Sunday After the Secular Holiday Known as Thanksgiving ~ Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/776706977

The End Game?

“…you know what time it is, the time in which we are living. It is now the moment, the time, the hour for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer, closer to us now than when we became believers, than when we first accepted faith.” — Romans 13:11.

I have said this here before. The first time I went to college, I dropped out. Or as my brother once said to me, “You may be smart but you’re not bright.”

When I dropped out I was still in my late teens, living with my parents. My mother, a practical woman, said I needed to find a job.

I asked where she thought I might look. Her first job was in a department store. Right then she was working on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. So she suggested I get on the Subway with her and get off at the stop where Bloomingdale’s was located.

This was sound advice. Department stores tended to have a large turn over rate among employees and, thereby, were open to hiring people. So I went to Bloomingdale’s.

Indeed, they interviewed me right on the spot. And after that interview session I was feeling very self-confident about how I had presented myself, positive they would hire me. O.K.: I was feeling more than a bit cocky. So I did not go anyplace else to apply for work that day. I just got back on the Subway and went home.

That evening my mother asked how it went. I said it seemed to go well. She asked where I had applied for work after I left Bloomingdale’s. I said I just came home.

She expressed some anger with me in no uncertain terms. She said I could expect to visit the personnel department at Macy’s the next day. And, said she, I would continue to visit personnel departments day after day, even if it was one store at a time, until I ran out of department stores to which I might apply. (Slight pause.)

Later, as the family was having dinner, the phone rang. Back then phones had wires and were attached to walls. I was the closest to it, so I jumped up and answered.

The call was from the personal department at Bloomingdale’s. They said they had a job for me and asked me to report for orientation in the morning. (Slight pause.)

The phone was near the dinning room table, so what was said was totally obvious to everyone. Still, with some glee, I reported the entire exchange blow by blow to the whole family.

I might add in the telling this story I did not exhibit any pretense that I had an ounce of humility. Well, if my mother had been angry with me before, she was really angry now. But what could she say? After all, I got a job in just one try. (Slight pause.)

These words are in the work known as Romans: “…you know what time it is, the time in which we are living. It is now the moment, the time, the hour for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer, closer to us now than when we became believers, than when we first accepted faith.” (Pause.)

In the passage we hear the word “time” and we think it’s chronological time. But in Greek this is a reference to spiritual opportunity— God’s time. Indeed, Hebraic spirituality sees time as an extended divine-human adventure. God calls; we respond.

Now, we moderns, assuming this is about counted time, might construe the passage to mean the end times are at hand. But given that this is about spirituality and, hence, God’s time that these words and the reading from Matthew are about The Apocalypse. That is just not supportable.

Rather, this is an exhortation about hope. But if this is about hope that leaves us with a prime question. ‘What is hope?’ (Slight pause.)

Now, the story I told about getting my first job might be taken by some to be a story about unbridled hope or at least a story about the unbridled hope of youth. After all, why else would I have felt so good about that interview? But seeing it in that way is as upside down as seeing this passage as being about The Apocalypse.

The story of my job hunt is about unbridled egocentricity— or at least a lack of maturity— exhibited by someone still in their teen years… and that someone was me.

In fact, taking this passage from Romans or any passage which refers to the end times to mean the Apocalypse is imminent, is simply egocentric. The implication of insisting the writings of Scripture confirm the end time is around the corner is to believe we are, today, more important than everyone who has ever lived before us since they must not have been important enough to see the end of time. A stand which insists the end times are here illustrates a level of egocentricity which loses track of reality.

So, about reality— the one thing people often forget about hope is that hope never loses its grasp on reality. Indeed, many hear the term ‘hope’ and confuse it with wishing.

Wishing for something instead of working for something has nothing to do with hope. Hope both challenges reality and faces reality head on.

What’s my proof? Here in America there were people filled with hope who have worked and worked for human rights over time unceasingly. The American abolitionist movement took years and years but culminated in the freedom of American slaves.

And yes, women received the right to vote. But that happened fifty-five years after the slaves were freed so those involved with that movement kept working and working and then worked some more. The late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement led by Dr. King worked to enact the Civil Rights Act in 1964. You can tell by that date that was only 100 years after the Civil War was being waged.

This list of visions people had and have filled with the reality of hope goes on today. You can probably name most of them. I think the leadership and the people involved on the ground understand reality, understand the work of human rights goes on. They understand hope.

They also understand once human rights are gained one’s guard must constantly be in place to protect them. The work of hope does not cease. (Slight pause.)

There’s another issue to tackle here. I am quite sure some would read the list of sins in this passage: reveling, licentiousness, quarreling, jealousy and decide this is a list of “thou shalt nots.”

Once again, hope understands human frailty. We are frail; we are not perfect. Further, it’s likely people pay way too much attention to the reveling and licentiousness named in the passage. If you want to put a face on imperfection start first with quarreling and jealously which can lead to the other items listed and often spring from an absence of humility.

Hope, you see, embraces, encompasses, recognizes humility. Humility— something a certain egocentric teenager did not exhibit. (Slight pause.)

Well, lets talk about what it might mean that, in the light of hope (quote): “…salvation is nearer, closer to us now than when we became believers…” (Slight pause.) We have entered the season of Advent proclaiming hope. Why? (Slight pause.)

It’s said Jesus is the light of the world. But is that simply a ‘feel good’ phrase? Banish the night; come to the light; good conquers might; everything’s all right. Or is there more to it than that? (Slight pause.)

Let me suggest that in this season of Advent, we should recognize that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. But in so doing we also need to place ourselves in Roman Palestine some two thousand years ago and realize that, before the reality of the Christ no one alive could foresee the way God would break into the world and change the way we understood and understand God and the relationship God has with humanity.

We need to realize that with the coming of the Messiah, the Christ, God fulfilled the promises God had made about covenant, about hope for the world in a way humans had never before imagined. And that, my friends, is the kind of hope Paul addresses here. This is about the kind of hope which says God imagines freedom, life, goodness in ways we humans never thought possible before, never thought that would happen, and, indeed, in ways that truly face reality.

And yes, God imagines us in the joy of covenant, in the kind of peace which surpasses understanding, in relationship that defines love, in surprising ways in ways which defy our imagining. God envisions a fulness of hope and we, thereby, can see and work toward the vision God has for humanity— hope… is… real. Amen.

11/27/2022
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: “Biblical Scholar Walter Brueggemann said this: ‘What a stunning vocation for the church— to stand free and hope-filled in a world gone fearful— and to think, imagine, dream, vision a future that God will yet enact.’ I want to suggest to you that a prime vocation of the church, the work of this particular church in this time of transition, is hope. Hope, you see, means facing the reality of the future and doing the work involved therein.”

BLESSING: Let us know and understand that our hope is in God. May we carry the peace of God where ever we go. Wherever we go let us share hope, which is God’s, with all those we meet. For God reigns and the joy of God’s love is a present reality. Amen.

November 20, 2022 ~ Reign of Christ – Proper 29 ~ Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Jeremiah 23:1-6; Luke 1:68-79 (No Psalm Connected with this Luke Reading); Jeremiah 23:1-6; Psalm 46; Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/773433734

The Unseen God?

“Christ is the image of the unseen God, / the firstborn of all creation;…” — Colossians 1:15.

(The pastor loudly whispers the first sentence in the microphone.) It’s nearly here— just 35 days away— Christmas— 35 days and counting. Christmas is, of course, not just a day despite what secular society says. Christmas is a season.

And you know exactly how long that season lasts. “On the twelfth day of Christmas…”— 12 days, right?

So, does Christmas mean— as the secular world would have it— that the day is about gifts, presents? Or is there more to Christmas? (Slight pause.)

When I was a pastor in Waldo County I knew the president of the Maine Christmas Tree Association. He said the Christmas tree we all want today, as an adult, a perfect tree, is one we probably try to find every year. That perfect tree is, however, the image our imagination conjures up of the tree we had when we were five or six.

Getting the right tree not about the tree. It’s about our emotional life. The same may be true of Christmas presents.

When I was a child I had a set of Lionel Trains, model trains. Or perhaps I should say the family had a set of Lionel trains. In theory my brother— a year younger than myself— my brother and I shared that set of Lionel Trains.

But the basic set was purchased when I was two and my brother was one. The train set was certainly not, at that point, for me or for my brother. It was for my father.

Every Christmas after that my brother and I would each get one train car to add to the collection. At Christmas my father would, dutifully, assemble the growing layout.

When I say assemble, my father, an English teacher, was no Mr. Handyman. Even so, he had constructed a train board made of wood which sat on rollers and folded in half so it was easy to shift around and easy to store.

At the end of the season— for us that was the day after the twelfth day, the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6th, the start of the season known as Epiphany— at that point all the Christmas decorations and the train set would come down. We lived in a small apartment in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. There was no space to leave a train set up the whole year round.

So the board was stored and the trains put back in their distinctive orange Lionel boxes until next year. As children we die think of that additional train car was our “big” present each year.

Today Lionel trains would be a big gift as whole sets sell for hundreds of dollars, some sell for thousands. And the trains can be controlled with a smart phone. Maybe they still are for adults.

And yes, this adult craves a set. But I have no room for it. And maybe I crave it because of the image of the trains my imagination conjures up. It’s about my emotions.

All that is to say gifts are good. Practical gifts, less than practical gifts— all good. But this gift stuff— is that in any way connected to these words (quote:) “Christ is the image of the unseen God, / the firstborn of all creation;…”

Indeed, what is it we strive to celebrate with Christmas? What does it mean that the Christ is the firstborn of all creation?

What does it mean that the Christ is the image of the unseen God? Hold it. God is unseen… but Christ, Who was seen, is the image of God Who we cannot see?

And does the word ‘unseen’ mean unfelt also? And/or does unseen mean we may have some knowledge of the presence of God but our sensory perceptions lack a way for us to be in touch with the reality of that presence? Too many questions!

Further, all that sounds like a series of contradictions. What is the writer of Colossians trying to do? Open cans crammed to overflowing with worms? Why would the writer of Colossians say these things? (Pause.)

There’s another question I think is pertinent. What is the constant message we hear in the preaching of the Christ? The message Jesus peaches is simple. God… is… near. God is with us. God walks with us.

And that preaching of Jesus sends us right back to Colossians. Colossians asks, effectively, ‘Who is this Jesus? Who is the Christ?’ Can any of these questions be answered by this reading or be answered at all? (Pause.)

When the passage was introduced you heard it said the a large chunk of it is poetry. Many translations do not bother to break the words into verses. The translation in today’s bulletin does break the verses out. But no matter how a translation treats the passage, there is no questions about it: this is poetry.

So maybe we have to start by asking what is poem? Here’s a definition: a poem is a writing that may use speech, song, is often metaphorical, sometimes rhythmical, and may but does not have to exhibit more formal elements like meter, rhyme, stanzas.

Next, I need to note if we ask what does a passage mean and that passage is a poem, when any poem is translated from another language those poetic attributes which can identify a poem often disappear. But what about meaning? Can that be identified?

In nearly every poem I’ve ever read there is a multitude of meanings. That’s because poems are meant to address not facts or data but meant to address our emotional life, meant to engage our emotional life. So yes, poems are about meanings. Hence, they are not really about facts or data or rules. (Slight pause.)

I think too often we look at these books (the pastor holds up a Bible)— the Bible— please note, the Bible is not just one book, it’s a collection of books writtin over the course of nearly one thousand years— I think too often we look at these books treat them like a history or a newspaper, as if the words therein contained, are meant to just report facts. But these books are about the people of God as they try to say something about their emotional life, grapple with their emotional life, as they experience God.

These books are not about data, facts, rules, as the secular world would suggest. These books are about emotions. As we read these books today, we need to understand that they are meant to engage our emotional life, lead us to grapple with our emotions. (Slight pause.)

Guess what? Church, this community of faith here gathered, is not about data, facts, not about rules. Church, this church, this community of faith here gathered is meant to address and to engage our emotional life. (Slight pause.)

I think the reality of Jesus, the Christ, does not address our sensory perceptions, does not address analytical meaning. The reality of Christ is not about factual data.

Indeed, in preaching Jesus speaks about God Who is— God Who is always near, God Who is with us, God Who walks with us. The preaching of Jesus addresses our emotional life. (Slight pause.)

So, what is it we strive to celebrate with Christmas? What does it mean that the Christ is the firstborn of all creation, the image of the unseen God?

This is the message of Christmas: God is with us, no matter what the circumstances. Christmas is about our emotional life with God. (Slight pause.)

Yes, I have very, very fond memories of those Lionel trains. But that is a fantasy about childhood rekindled in my brain. That is not about the real world, now today.

And Christmas is about the real world now, today because Christmas is about emotional truths. What follows is a list of some but not all of the emotional truths represented by the reality of the Messiah, truths which can be seen in the life and in the preaching of Jesus— the list: unity, forgiveness, caring for our world, diversity, freedom, equity, love.

So, Christmas— this season toward which we are headed as we will work through Advent— is about each of us reaching into our own emotional life to express love, grace, forgivingness, acceptance. These emotional touch points simply pay attention to and respond to the fact that, as Jesus told us, God is with us, God walks with us.

God who is present to us is not an unseen God. And God who walks with us is the greatest Christmas gift ever. Amen.

11/20/2022
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: “When we think about Christmas it’s good to remember this: God is not Santa Clause. The gifts of God are greater, much greater, than anything we might want or anything we might find under a tree, even Lionel trains. These gifts include but are not limited to unity, forgiveness, caring for our world, diversity, freedom, equity, love. But we won’t have or see any of these under aby tree. God relies on us to work with them and for them. And so let me leave you with this thought: church is more about poetry than it is about mathematics.”

BENEDICTION: Let us walk in the light God provides. Let us thank God for reaching out to us in love. Let us be daily recreated in the image of God who wants us to live with justice as our guide and freedom as our goal. And may the peace of Christ which surpasses our understanding keep our hearts and minds in the companionship of the Holy Spirit and the love of God this day and evermore. Amen.

November 13, 2022 ~ Proper 28 ~ Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost ~ Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 12 (No Psalm Connected with the Isaiah Reading); Malachi 4:1-2a; Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19~ VIDEO OF THE FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/771607447

Trusting God

“Surely God is my salvation, my deliverer; / I will trust, and will not be afraid, / for Yahweh, God, is my strength and my refuge; / God, Most High, has become my salvation, / my deliverance.” — Isaiah 12:2.

A couple weeks ago I started my comments with an apology since I talked about my theater background and that may bore some. Well sorry, I’m doing it again.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I was sufficiently notorious to be invited to join— you do have to be invited— I was invited to join the A.S.C.A.P. Musical Comedy Workshop, a master class for writers of musicals. It was run by Charles Strouse, the composer of Annie. The late composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim who wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and both music and lyrics for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A Little Night Music, Into the Woods— the list goes on and on— Stephen would drop in to offer encouragement and advice.

Sondheim, who died at the age of 91 last November, was not only a great person of the theater, a genius, but was kind, generous, and perhaps one of the greatest teachers I ever met. I hope that offers some personal context as to what I will say and even why.

And so I want to address the writing in one of Sondheim’s early, obscure works— Evening Primrose. The libretto was by James Goldman— no slouch either since he wrote A Lion in Winter, a film for which Katherine Hepburn won an Oscar in 1968. Evening Primrose was written for televison and was broadcast only once, in 1966.

Confined to the 50 minute time slot of sixties anthology televison, the tale being told had a very Twilight Zone twist. It explored the possibility that mannequins in department stores are real people hiding from the real world. These mannequins become animated, come to life, walk around, eat, talk, have parties, talk live in the store.

The tale told in the script follows Charles, a poet fed up with the real world and its real challenges. He has stumbled across this alternate reality of mannequins and decides to retreat into it. There he meets and is smitten with a beautiful young girl, Ella.

She has lived in the store, lost in this separate existence, not because she chose it. Now 19, when she was separated from her mother at age six because she fell asleep in the women’s hat department, she was abandoned, never again contacted by her negligent family.

For Charles there seems to be security in this strange life. Everything one needs is in the store— food, clothes, protection from the weather. But Ella longs to leave this place of night and shadows. She wants to return to the real world, breathe fresh air, feel the breeze, the rain, see the sun. But she is also afraid of it.

Ella seeks guidance from Charles. And Charles is tempted to return to the real world with her but also realizes she has not seen the sun for years.

Perhaps that is the real reason Charles has fallen in love with Ella. She is innocent about that real world. He feels he knows the real world all too well and is horrified by it.

Ella believes she can leave the store with Charles since he does know the real world. He will protect her, guide her. She wants to dare, to take a chance. She has dreamed about it.

Ella starts to sing: “Let me see the world with clouds, / Take me to the world. / Out where I can push through crowds, / Take me to the world. / A world that smiles / With streets instead of aisles / Where I can walk for miles with you.”

“Take me to the world that’s real / Show me how it’s done / Teach me how to laugh, to feel / Move me to the sun. / Just hold my hand whenever we arrive. / Take me to the world where I can be alive.”

Charles, not so sure, addresses the dangers, the reality and sings, “The world is better here. / I know I’ve seen them both. / A poet doesn’t count for much out there. / We’d be cold and hungry in the winter— / A shabby room with cracked plaster— / You couldn’t get a job. / We’d end up hating each other. / We’d have fights. You’d cry.”

“I have seen the world / And it’s mean and ugly / Here— we could laugh together. / I love you Ella. / We’d be happy here. / Stay with me.” (Pause.)

The store opens the next morning. Two new handsome bride and groom mannequins have appeared. Those watching the TV show know these look exactly like Ella and Charles, except they are dressed for a wedding. Their faces are frozen in place. A decision has been made. They will stay in the world of mannequins. (Slight pause.)

These words are from the Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah: “Surely God is my salvation, my deliverer; / I will trust, and will not be afraid, / for Yahweh, God, is my strength and my refuge; / God, Most High, has become my salvation, / my deliverance.” (Slight pause.)

I believe these words from Isaiah are about having full trust in God. Hence, these words are about the real world in which we live and these words claim that we are called in the context of that real world to trust God.

God knows the world is real and it is not always friendly. Indeed, when this text was recorded the Assyrians were about to conquer the Hebrews. So yes, the world is often dangerous, precarious, unsafe, frightening place.

I know about that. I grew up on the mean streets of Brooklyn, New York, served in Vietnam. I have seen more violence, foolishness, incompetence, sadness, hardship in my life than I ever wanted to see. And yes, I often do want to feel more protected and be more protected than that for which the real world allows.

But perhaps because I know the real world, I also know its challenges. This is among the things I do know: I know I must not be challenged by the real world. Instead I must live in it, with it, through it and I must challenge the real world. (Slight pause.)

If a world filled with threats, with menace is to challenged, if that world is, therefore, real, it needs to be changed— the real world needs to be changed. And so I must not acquiesce to the dangerous, precarious, unsafe, frightening reality in that world. But how is that to be done? (Slight pause.)

I must affirm that God is real, is present, is with us. I must trust God. I must stand fast, affirm that God constantly teaches us about joy, love, peace, hope.

And I must know joy and love and peace and hope are real. I believe joy, love, peace, hope are much more real than the reality of any terrors found in the so called real world perhaps because I have seen and I live in that real world. (Slight pause.)

I suppose the question for today is this: can we, this church— even in a time of transition— challenge the world and challenge ourselves to trust God Who is present and teaches us about joy, love, peace, hope and can we move toward change? (Pause.)

My friends, unless we challenge ourselves, hope is just another four letter word. Unless we trust in God each and every day in the real world, unless we grapple with reality, then we might just as well all be mannequins— in a constant state of surrender— complacent, compliant. (Slight pause.)

The Gospel reading was the widow who gives to the treasury at the Temple. Was she so foolish that she did not know the real world? No— she knew the real world. And she also knew God calls us to trust in the reality of God. (Slight pause.)

The challenge of the work of this church, the challenge of our work, the challenge of real change is before us. It is vital work. And it is what we need to do in the real world.

What exactly is that work? It is the work of faith, of joy, of hope, of peace, of trust, of love. It is the challenging work of trusting in God enough to change.

So let us move forward with this in mind: we are surrounded by the reality of God who deeply loves us and deeply loves the world. God has commissioned us to work in and be a part of this world. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
11/13/2022

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: “The late theologian Henri Nouwen said this: ‘Praying demands that you take to the road again and again, leaving your house and looking forward to a new land for yourself and others. This is why praying demands poverty. Poverty is the readiness to live a life in which you have nothing to lose, so that you always begin afresh.’— Henri Nouwen. Perhaps the ‘poverty of spirit’ Jesus addresses in the Sermon on the Mount has to do with readiness to live a life in which you have nothing to lose, so that you always begin afresh with a willingness to change and a willingness to challenge life.”

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 so in awe of God that we are in awe of one else and nothing else. Amen.

November 6, 2022 ~ Proper 27 ~ Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost ~ Haggai 1:15b-2:9; Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21 or Psalm 98; Job 19:23-27a; Psalm 17:1-9; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17; Luke 20:27-38 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/768661541

Being Christian

“Jesus said to them, said to the Sadducees, ‘The children of this age marry each other but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age to come and in the resurrection from the dead do not take husbands or wives. Indeed, they can no longer die— like angels they are children of God, since they are children of the resurrection.’” — Luke 20:34-36.

In an article the late theologian Marcus Borg once asked a pertinent question. “What does it mean to be Christian?” Please note, Borg did not say “What does it mean to be a Christian?” but rather, “What does it mean to be Christian?”

Borg then asked the next obvious question. “What makes a person Christian?”

Borg wrote the article with these questions not to provide criteria for deciding who is and who is not a Christian. It was not about separating sheep from goats, about deciding who is or is not voted off the island. Rather, the article asked ‘what lies at the heart of being Christian?’

Being Christian, said Borg, is not about believing a set of statements which might be construed as right. However, the notion that Christianity is about believing a set of dogmas is a widespread phenomena. And the roots of this started a long time ago.

Borg said seeing Christianity simply, even only as a set of beliefs took some of its shape with the advent of the Reformation of the 1500s and gained momentum toward solidifying this concept with the dawn of the Enlightenment in the 1600s. Of course, seeing Christianity as only a set of beliefs continues today in many quarters.

Indeed, Protestants often distinguished themselves from, for instance, Catholics by using comparisons between lists of what they believe and what Catholics believe. The opposite is also true— Catholics separate themselves from Protestants in the same way. Needless to say, Protestants often divide into multiple denominations and churches by distinguishing themselves from others using comparisons between lists of beliefs.

Because we ignore the origins of this, not only do we tend to miss that they stirred to life in the 1500s and 1600s, but we do not realize that by drawing lines of beliefs into distinct units back then, people were merely mirroring what happened in the world, in the culture of that era. Insisting on differences largely happened because there was a change in understanding the ways in which we humans know things.

You see, the Reformation leads to the Enlightenment— no Reformation no Enlightenment, case closed. Once the Enlightenment dawns, it calls into question many conventional ideas people had since serious study begins as to why things really happen.

Therefore, people start to realize realities— realities like the earth is, perhaps, not at the center of the universe. Creation, perhaps, did not take six days to complete. [1]

So, having listed some of the ideas the Enlightenment questioned— a concept of an earth centered universe, etc.— all that baggage— the real question becomes were these ideas ever actually involved in a real understanding of Christianity? Or were these ideas merely pre-Enlightenment cultural constructs not particularly associated with a sense of the reality of God? (Slight pause.)

These words are found in Luke/Acts in the section commonly called Luke. “Jesus said to them, said to the Sadducees, ‘The children of this age marry each other but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age to come and in the resurrection from the dead do not take husbands or wives. Indeed, they can no longer die— like angels they are children of God, since they are children of the resurrection.’” (Slight pause.)

In that same article Borg noted the Nicene Creed begins with the Latin word credo. Credo is commonly translated as “I believe.” But the Latin root of credo does not mean I believe. It means “I give my heart to.”

So this ancient creed does not mean “I believe the following affirmations are literally true.” Rather, it means “I give my heart to God” the creator of all that is.

Borg did note the language of “belief” has been part of Christianity from the first century onward, by far predating the Reformation and the Enlightenment. But, especially when culturally imposed precepts are taken into account in the era before the Reformation, religious belief did not refer primarily to believing things.

Again using the history of language to help us understand what changed, Borg notes the word believe was taken from a word in a more ancient form of English called Middle English. That word is “belove.” Hence, the meaning of believe was to ‘belove.’

To belove meant to love God so much that one committed one’s self to a relationship filled with attentiveness and faithfulness. Commitment to God and fidelity to God are the ancient and the original meanings of faith and believing. (Slight pause.)

I think when we carefully read the conversation Jesus has with the Sadducees we realize the response we hear does not address rules about brothers and a widow. Nor does it contain a distinct delineation or a definition about resurrection. Why?

It is clear the Sadducees were trying to trick Jesus into making a proclamation on the topic. Jesus realizes it and responds with an overarching concept: God lives.

And a God who lives is a God Who both beloves and to Whom we should give our heart. A living God, this God who loves, is a God with Whom we need to be in an attentive, faithful and loving relationship.

In short, once you start digging into history it becomes clear Christianity is not about a set of rules or dogmas or strictures. Christianity is about your heart, about having a relationship with a living God Who loves and Who calls us to be in a relationship with one another, calls us to belove one another. (Pause.)

All that having been said I want to change gears, big time. Trust me— I shall come back to God Who loves. This is the time of the year most churches enter into what might be called the stewardship season. The Kellogg Church is no exception.

So I met with the Board of Finance last week. A letter about stewardship, the making of a financial commitment to the church for next year, will be sent out this coming week.

Now my bet is you’re saying, what kind of gear change, what kind of segue is that? Well, let me unpack it by first addressing the practical, the reality of our lives.

We all make decisions about our finances. Often finances are formed by down to earth judgments like “how much money do I have in my budget to do XYZ.”

When it comes to stewardship, sound financial decisions are in order. Never give more than you are able. That makes no sense.

Next, whatever you give, please give not because you feel there is some rule about it. Please give because you love God and you love the people of God here gathered, the people called by God to be in this community of faith, this congregation. I think giving because you love God and the people of God is the only way giving to a church makes sense.

So give because you think that we— we as a church— in loving God and neighbor strive to do the work of God. In fact, I have looked at the budget figures for the current year and the proposed figures for next year. I can thereby affirm this based on my own experience: a lot of churches would be proud to devote as much of their budget to mission as the people of this church. (Slight pause.)

All that brings me back to loving God and loving the people of God. Just like belief, stewardship is not about rules. Stewardship is not even about money.

Stewardship is about our love of God and our love for the people of God, people called to be a part of this congregation. And so may we, the people of God here gathered, strive to continue to love God and together do the work of mission to which we are called by God. Amen.

11/06/2022
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: “It is said the Hebrews did not have a theology. The Hebrews did theology. Is Christianity about dogma, rules, about having a theology? No. Christianity is about loving God and loving neighbor. Christianity is about doing the work of God, about doing theology. Christianity is about doing theology with your heart.”

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

[1] http://www.patheos.com/blogs/marcusborg/2013/11/what-is-a-christian/