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September 11, 2022 ~ Proper 19 Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; Psalm 14; Exodus 32:7-14; Psalm 51:1-10; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/749247552

Prodigal In the Key of ‘F’

“‘But my child,’ said the father, ‘you are with me always, and all that is mine, everything I have, is yours.’” — Luke 15:31.

What I am about to recite is something I did not write. Part of me says, “Gee, I wish I had written this.” However, since what I am about to say may live in infamy here, part of me is quite satisfied to attribute these words elsewhere.

This is The Prodigal Son (In the Key of F). It was written by Todd and Jedd Hafer and it’s from their book: Mischief From the Back Pew: and You Thought You Were Safe in Church. It is, I think, great fun.

The Prodigal Son (In the Key of F)— Feeling footloose, frisky, fancy-free, a frivolous, feather-brained fellow, Fred by name, forced a fond, fawning father to fork over a fair share of the family farthings. Then this flighty flibbertigibbet offered a felicitous farewell, not at all forced, and fled far afield to foreign fields.

He ferociously frittered away a fabulous fortune, famously feasting among faithless, fair-weather friends until, fleeced by those fun-loving fellows of folly, he found himself flinging feed in a festering, filthy farmyard. Flummoxed, famished, forlorn, filled with foreboding and finally facing famine, the frazzled fugitive found his faculties and returned to his father’s farm. (Slight pause.)

“Father, Father!” he forlornly fumbled, “I have flunked, flubbed, failed and frivolously forfeited family favor. Phooey on me! Let me be as one of your flunkies, for even a fruitless flunkie would fare far, far better than I fared. Fair enough?” (Slight pause.)

“Filial fidelity is fine,” the father philosophized, “but, folks, the fugitive is now found! Let fanfares flare! Let flags unfurl and flutter! Fetch the fatling, play that funky music and let’s have some fabulous fun!” (Slight pause.)

As fortune would have it, unfortunately, older brother Frank was unforgiving and fumed furiously. “Forsooth! Father, flee from this folly! Frankly, it’s unfair. That fool forfeited his fortune!”

“Frank, Frank, Frank, Frank, Frank, Frank, Frank,” the father confronted. “Do not fear and do not fester. I am your fan.”

“Your coffers are fairly filled to overflowing, with forty million farthings. But your phantom brother, Fred, is finally and fortuitously back in the fold. For many fortnights, I’ve fantasized about this fabulous and festive feast. So focus on the fun for Fred, not on the funds. So, to be forthright, Frankie, flake off.” (Slight pause.)

And so, a fathead, foolish fugitive found fulfillment. Furthermore, the father’s fond forgiveness formed a foundation for both the former fugitive’s future welfare and the fixations of the sibling fretter. Hence, do not forget: a faithful father loves forever. Well now— that is finally finished! [1] And if you think that was easy you’re wrong. (Slight pause.)

These words are from the work commonly called Luke: “‘But my child,’ said the father, ‘you are with me always, and all that is mine, everything I have, is yours.’” (Slight pause.)

Walt Kelly, the late cartoonist, is best known for the classic comic strip, Pogo. In one of the most famous lines ever in a comic strip, the character Pogo the Possum, gazing at garbage all over the ground in what should have been a pristine woodland ruefully says: “We have met the enemy and they is us.” (Slight pause.)

This reading from Luke is commonly referred to as the “Parables of the Lost.” At best that is ill named. These are the parables of the “Faithful Shepherd,” the “Diligent Housekeeper” and the “Loving Parent.” The purpose in renaming the stories is that might be heard in a very different way from the moniker with which they are so often labeled: the “Parables of the Lost.”

You see, we get so used to hearing the traditional names of these parables I think we often fail to listen to what the stories really say. We concentrate on what we think they say. That is exactly why I recited that updated parable in the key of ‘F,’ to help us listen in a different way.

Indeed, when we read Luke 15 carefully, nothing could be much clearer than these are not the ‘Parables of the Lost.’ To say they are the ‘Parables of the Lost’ is to miss the point. And one of the things I think we miss in the in the story of so called ‘Prodigal Son,’ one of the points being made therein, is the parable can be seen to be about the making poor choices.

I think it’s also evident that this story feels as if it was drawn from the life experience of family dynamics, a life experience with which most folks can identify. In real life dynamics often contain people who make poor choices. And relatives cannot often change those choices. So, those choices are simply lived with.

In this case the son who is footloose, frisky, fancy-free, frivolous and feather-brained clearly makes some very poor choices. Then the same son starts making good choices. In a reversal, the son who has made some good choices at the start suddenly becomes unforgiving, fumes furiously and makes some very poor choices.

Even though his coffers are fairly filled to overflowing, something his father has given him, he blames his father because this petulant son has not used what was his all along. Perhaps his real problem is he never claimed it for himself— also a very poor choice. (Slight pause.)

Well, what’s the lesson here? Many times, when these two siblings look in a mirror, they have met the enemy. They are their own worst enemy because they make poor choices. (Slight pause.)

So, do people make poor choices? Yes, people make poor choices all the time. And what can we do with that?

We can react in the way the loving parent reacted. We can offer acceptance. We can offer forgiveness. But there is a final attribute here, I think one not often noticed. I believe it to be the most important attribute the father exhibits.

The Prodigal Son (In the Key of F) says this (quote): “the faithful father loves forever.” And what makes that love so steadfast is (quote): “For many fortnights, I’ve fantasized about this fabulous, festive feast.” In short, the father never gives up hope— never gives up hope.

Hope, you see, has two important qualities. Hope, real hope, is not some pie-in-the-sky good-will-happen in a sweet by-and-by dream world. Hope deals with reality. Equally, hope, real hope, is not and does not mean imposing an agenda on others.

All of which is to say perseverance is the prime attribute of hope. Hope comes alive when perseverance is involved. Perseverance, persistence— that’s working with someone as they work on something or even as they do not work on something. It means working with someone until they understand how to, for themselves, make good choices. That is the real definition of hope. (Slight pause.)

I, personally, know this truth: there are times we feel despair. Surely, as the father waited for the son, those times must have presented themselves. And surely, persistence is not an easy road. And surely those times when one’s patience is tested are the very times we need to rely on God. (Slight pause.)

There is a hymn I know— Let Us Hope When Hope Seems Hopeless. Once verse reads: “Like a child outgrowing childhood / setting childhood things away / we will learn to live in freedom / in the light of God’s new day. / Now we see as in a mirror. / Then we shall see face to face / understand how love’s compassion / blossoms through amazing Grace.” (Slight pause.)

Again, hope— real hope— is found in perseverance, in patience and perhaps, just perhaps, waiting on God’s time and on God’s grace. Further, and I need to be a realist about this, persistent hope is certainly not the only response we can have in the world in which we live, a world filled with brokenness. But hope, real hope, persistent hope is a very, very, very wise response. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church
09/11/2022

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: “Earlier I spoke about hearing Scripture in different ways, new ways. We need to listen to and to read Scripture not just in new ways to help us hear and read it afresh. We need to listen and to read Scripture with First Century eyes and ears, not Twenty-first Century eyes and ears. There is no better way to confuse what’s in Scripture than to listen to and read it with Twenty-first Century eyes and ears.”

BENEDICTION: O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our striving for justice and truth, to confront one another in love, and to work together with mutual patience, acceptance and respect. Send us out, sure in Your grace and Your peace with surpasses understanding, to live faithfully. And so may Yahweh, God, bless and keep us. May the face of Yahweh, God, shine upon us and be gracious to us. May the continence of Yahweh, God, be present to us and give us peace. Amen.

[1] Excerpt from Todd & Jedd Hafer’s Mischief From the Back Pew: and you thought you were safe in church, ©2003, Bethany House Publishers

09/04/2022 ~ Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary ~ Proper 18 ~ Jeremiah 18:1-11; Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18; Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 1; Philemon 1:1-21; Luke 14:25-33 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/747364353

It’s Personal

“…you see, my friend, let me have this benefit from you in Christ! I want to make you useful to me in Christ! Refresh this heart of mine in Christ!” — Philemon 1:20

Yesterday Bonnie and I celebrated 34 years of marriage. Some of you know this fact about us but some don’t. Bonnie and I were fairly old when we got hitched.

We met when I was thirty-nine and Bonnie was thirty-eight. We got married a year later so we both would really appreciate it if you did not add 34 to those ages and thereby do the math to figure out how old we are right now.

The piece which surprises some folks is, despite the fact that by most standards we got married late, it was the first marriage for both of us. Or as I often say, since we got married at an older age than most we skewed the statistics. It makes us demographically unacceptable.

We did have one advantage working for us when we met. I was the best friend of Bonnie’s cousin, Paul. Or as Bonnie likes to put it, because of that family connection I was pre-screened.

Another fact: I knew Bonnie’s cousin for fifteen years before I met Bonnie. So when Bonnie and I did meet I kept asking Paul where he had been hiding her all that time. He’d been hiding her in Maine.

Having held out from marriage for as long as we did, I think it was harder for both of us to surrender being single than it would have been had we tied the knot in our twenties. After all, we had both built very independent lives for ourselves.

Still, I believe we got married because we saw in each other someone who was willing to unconditionally accept the other. I am, frankly, still baffled it happened and I am very glad it happened.

Let me put the idea of unconditional acceptance another way. We were both willing to put ourselves on the line for that other person. We were both willing to take a chance on that other person. Did we take a risk with our union? Yes— we did.

Now, the reality is we all put ourselves on the line, take a chance on other people, take a risk, nearly every day. We do it in big ways. We do it in small ways.

An example: my dad was a parochial High School teacher. Once a close personal friend, another teacher at the same school, needed cash. So my Dad co-signed a bank loan, a personal loan.

Shortly thereafter, the friend was fired from the teaching position. My Dad was left holding the bag on the loan. Sometimes relationships are not easy. (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Philemon: “…you see, my friend, let me have this benefit from you in Christ! I want to make you useful to me in Christ! Refresh this heart of mine in Christ!” (Slight pause.)

Paul, indeed, wrote this letter on behalf of Onesimus, a runaway slave who had wronged Philemon, who owned Onesimus. It is, therefore, a very personal letter.

But it is also profoundly theological. It says something about what Paul believes God has done and is doing for each of us and all of us in Christ, Jesus. Because Onesimus is a brother in Christ to Paul and to Philemon Paul now insists this one who is enslaved by Philemon should be received and treated with unconditional acceptance, equal before God, a brother in Christ.

But perhaps more important than the specifics of the request Paul makes to Philemon— and to be clear, the letter never tells us whether or not Onesimus remains enslaved— perhaps more important than the specifics of the request is that Paul puts himself, his own being, on the line. Paul, in writing— you notice it says I’ve written this line myself— takes a chance on Onesimus. Why? I think it’s because Paul sees this person as a child of God. (Slight pause.)

What makes theology live, what makes theology come alive is not just that it’s about God. What makes theology live, what makes theology come alive is relationships.

What makes church live, what makes church come alive is not the quality of the services or the charisma of the preacher. What makes church live, what makes a church come alive is relationships— deep, involved, risk taking relationships. And yes, the fancy theological description of church says it’s is about loving God and loving neighbor, about our relationship with God and about our relationships with each other.

But let’s be more down to earth than that. If we are risk averse about relationships it means we are not honoring that unconditional acceptance we often call ‘love.’ So yes, love is about unconditional acceptance. But, therefore, love is also about taking a risk when it comes to being involved in relationship with another person.

Indeed, what Christian love is really about is putting ourselves on the line for another person. When we put ourselves on the line for another person— that is the base reality of unconditional acceptance.

That other person for whom we are placing ourselves on the line might be a member of the family, might be a friend, might be an acquaintance. It might even someone we do not know. (Slight pause.)

As you are aware, the people of this church will be and are seeking a new settled pastor. What does that mean?

Does it mean you are looking for someone to simply fill a job? No. The position of pastor at a church, any church, is not a job. Seeking a pastor is not about finding someone to fill a slot.

Seeking a pastor means you are seeking someone to be in relationship with you, someone who is willing to be in relationship with you. Seeking a new pastor with whom you will be in relationship also means as a church you will be taking a risk, putting yourselves on the line.

Like any real relationship, the first order of business when that settled pastor arrives will be a commitment to grow with one another, to learn from one another, to respect one another and the obvious— to live with one another. That list leads to this question: in the course of this process how can this church, any church, get to a place where it commits to growth, to learning, to respect? (Slight pause.)

The first step in this process might be the most difficult one since the first step is not and should never be the question, ‘who do we want as pastor?’ The first question to ask in this process is a question about self identification. ‘Who are we as a church?’

Among the things to be explored in order to get to a semblance of an answer to that question are these: ‘as a church where have we been?’ ‘As a church who are we now?’ ‘As a church where might we be going?’

Within those questions there is another reality to be considered. This church exists in the context of a greater community, Harpswell. It would therefore be wise to go out into the community and ask the very same questions of the greater community, ask people who are not involved in this church the same questions about Harpswell— ‘where have we been.’ ‘Who are we now. ‘Where might we be going?’

I want to suggest all that is at one and the same time both easier and harder than it sounds. It’s harder than it sounds because it means putting in a significant amount of work just in preparation for this journey, this process. It’s easier than it sounds because it all comes back to one word: relationships. (Slight pause.)

Let me return to that story about my Father. Although some might think that this story is simply about the burden he accepted, it is not. The story is about taking personal responsibility. Yes, he accepted a risk. He accepted the risk of taking personal responsibility for someone else. (Slight pause.)

I think a lesson we can learn from the apostle Paul is one about personal responsibility. And the personal responsibility of taking risks is key to relationships. Indeed, all this is not cut and dry and all this is and will be personal, very, very personal.

Further, when it comes to a church seeking a pastor is not just about individual actions. It’s about communal actions. Therefore when it comes to a church, a communal situation, a community of faith, the relationships involved are still and always about taking risks, communal risks.

I need to draw a parallel between one type of community and another. A Rotary club, for instance, is a group, a community. But church is a community of faith. Hence, the scope of the various relationship into which a church enters is more broad, more varied.

Why? The church is a community of faith where there is a commitment to growth, to learning, to respect.

So is this, will this process be hard? Yes. But it will be much easier if we remember a basic lesson Paul teaches here. Relationships matter. So there needs to be a commitment to grow with one another, to learn from one another, to respect one another and to live with one another. It is personal. Amen.

09/04/2022
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: “Covenant is a word we Congregationalist like to throw around. The essence of the word covenant is a relationship in which binding promises are made. As Congregationalists we need to acknowledge and understand that just in terms of the simple definition committing to covenant is a daunting task.”

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

08/28/2022 ~ Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Proper 17 ~ Jeremiah 2:4-13; Psalm 81:1, 10-16; Sirach 10:12-18 or Proverbs 25:6-7; Psalm 112; Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16; Luke 14:1, 7-14 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/744244171

Orthodox

“One Sabbath, when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal, the guests were watching closely.” — Luke 14:1

I don’t know how many of you are aware of this but my wife, Bonnie, is fairly good at the game of golf. You see, she learned when she was a teen and played a lot in her twenties and early thirties.

I have, in fact, seen her break 100. She will sometimes even break 90. For those unfamiliar with the game, the lower the score the better. Breaking 100 is good; breaking 90 is better.

However, that she is good at golf means she made a mistake when she married me. I was not a golfer. So, when we got married that meant there was one way we were not able to share time together— golfing. As a consequence, her game got neglected— my fault.

She did still want to play, so once we moved to Norwich 25 years ago she made golfing more of a project. And I was a part of that project. Which is to say, about 25 years ago, I took up the game.

To be clear, even now, all these years later, I am an awful golfer and that despite Bonnie’s sound tutelage and encouragement. But why would I want to better her? Can you imagine that headline in the newspaper? “Pastor Beats Wife.” That wouldn’t look good, would it.

I also need to be clear about our current golf situation. First, because of all that was involved in moving back to Maine and then because of that little hiccup called the pandemic neither of us has touched a club for a long, long time. We are both out of practice.

So, if anyone here wants to volunteer to take us out on the Mere Creek Course, introduce us to the Mere Creek, just so we can become familiarized with it, please let us know. We’ll even pay your greens fees.

Now, as poorly as I play the game and believe me it’s not good I really, really like it. And I like to play it right. What does playing it right mean? There is a lot to the game of golf besides just hitting the ball. One of the prime aspects, something Bonnie taught me, is called golf etiquette, the manners one maintains on the course.

Among these customs are: the player with the lowest score on the previous hole in a round tees off on the next hole first. On the fairway or on the green, the player closest to the hole shoots last. Finally, on the green, one does not step onto an imaginary line between the ball of another player and the hole.

You see, when someone walks on a green with spikes— spikes, standard footwear when golfing— small holes are left in the grass, the turf. So, the surface on the grass is made a little more rough when walked on it and it becomes a little more difficult to hit a straight putt.

Of course, if you’re playing at five in the afternoon, it’s likely dozens of people have walked on that line already. Still, one is not supposed walk in the line of another player, despite that in reality it’s probably been trampled on a number of times. It’s the etiquette one observes. (Slight pause.)

These words are from the Gospel known as Luke: “One Sabbath, when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal, the guests were watching closely.” (Slight pause.)

Eating is essential for life. But this story is not just about food. This is clearly a dinner with social significance.

For the people we find in this passage it was a dinner to which a certain class, a certain group were invited. So, there is a sharing of values, a settled, agreed upon etiquette, rules, just in having a meal. Etiquette— like a set of rules on the golf course— sometimes it means something, sometimes no so much.

At this meal the status and rank of individuals are legitimatized both by their inclusion in the guest list and by their location on the seating chart. Those who first heard or read the words of this narrative would have understood the meal as a symbol for the in-breaking of God, the anticipated rule of God. And for them, when it came to the reality of God, what they believed about the rules in relation to God, the rules were paramount. The rules, the etiquette was decisive. (Slight pause.)

Now you may have noticed I give my sermons titles. I called this one Orthodox. But what does the word orthodox mean? According to the dictionary, it means adhering to the accepted or traditional, established faith, especially in religion.

And yes, therefore some might take orthodox to simply mean following the established rules, a little like not stepping on the line of a ball on the green. But does orthodox really mean simply and only following the rules?

After all, Jesus does a number of things here that don’t follow the established rules of the game. With everyone watching, Jesus heals on the Sabbath. That’s against the rules.

Then, with everyone watching, Jesus tells the parable about who sits where at the table. Since the rules of this era state that the status and rank of individuals are legitimatized by their inclusion in the guest list and by their location on the seating chart, this kind of social occasion is the power lunch of the era.

But Jesus says the table and therefore the Dominion of God, the Realm of God, is not about those kinds of rules since all these rules really and only address who has power. Jesus, in fact, suggests the etiquette, the rules they follow, are wrong since they are about power.

Jesus then proposes a different group be invited to the next “power lunch”— those who are poor, those who have physical infirmities, those who cannot see. This list includes not only those beyond the categories of family, friends and well off neighbors, the ones usually invited to the table. Those on this list are, by Jewish law, by the rules, the unclean, the unworthy.

The rules make them unclean and being unclean they are, thereby, not worthy of sitting at this table. Hence, what Jesus proposes is a social system without reciprocity, without payback. (Slight pause.)

So, what are the rules? What does it mean to be orthodox? I think in the eyes of Jesus to be orthodox means loving God and loving neighbor. Those are the rules, the only rules. That is the etiquette which needs to be followed. Is it possible what Jesus says makes those who heard it uncomfortable? Yes.

That having been said, as we gather as a church let us remember not just those who are here. Let us remember all those who might feel excluded in our midst.

Please notice, I did not say let us remember all those whom we might exclude. I am not saying we might exclude anyone.

I am saying let us remember all those who might, for whatever reason, feel excluded. What I am saying is their feeling is not their problem. Their feeling is our problem. And perhaps, just perhaps, that makes us feel uncomfortable. (Slight pause.)

This is the bottom line: we need to remember we are brothers and sisters in Christ of everyone, no exceptions. Hence we need to follow the etiquette of love Jesus espouses. And the etiquette of love Jesus espouses suggests the only rule which counts is the discipline, the rule called love.

And within that love, within that etiquette Jesus describes, we need to not just welcome the outcast. We need to stand with the outcast, in solidarity with the outcast— tall order. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
08/28/2022

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: “Organized religion of many flavors often stresses ritual and rules at the expense of justice and at the expense of deep, unconditional love. But Jesus took as radical a stand as anyone ever did. Jesus insisted the essence of the ancestral religion known as Judaism be observed with a deeply held sense of justice, a deeply held morality. Because of that Jesus denounced the fusion of paying attention to only rites or rules while being indifference to justice and love as an abomination. Jesus also suggested that rites and rules, unlike justice and love, were dispensable.”

BENEDICTION: Let God’s love be our first awareness each day. Let God’s love flow through our every activity. Let us rejoice that God frees us to be witnesses for God. Let us understand every day as a new adventure in faith because the creator draws us into community. And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.

08/21/2022 ~ Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost ~ Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Proper 16 ~ Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; Isaiah 58:9b-14; Psalm 103:1-8; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/742717072

Calling

“Then Yahweh put out a hand, / touched my mouth and said to me, ‘Look, I am putting My Words in your mouth.’” — Jeremiah 1:9

I think those of us who are ordained types perhaps too often talk about our calling in the ordained ministry. I have only one defense for that proclivity.

In the course of, the process of, both education and ordination a very specific demand is made on ordained types. We are invited to state what that call, our call, is, what it feels like, how we first might have recognized its presence and even if we are comfortable with it. Please note: I don’t know an ordained pastor who is fully comfortable with their call.

However, it seems to me that society, generally at least— and way too often this is also true of pastors— people want to sanctify a call to ministry, make it special, make a call to ministry some kind of holy. I beg to differ.

I think we can be called to many things in our life. I will, for instance, tell you I am called not just to the ordained ministry but I am clearly called to be baseball fan! That may not be particularly holy but it is a part of me, a part of who I am. To turn that thought around, I think a call, any real call on a life, and not just a call to ministry, is holy— any real call on a life, and not just a call to ministry, is holy.

Let me explore that for a bit. The late Rev. Michael Himes was both a Jesuit priest and Professor at Boston College. Himes laid out some thoughts concerning a call in a lecture.

But this lecture was not given to those seeking ordination. Himes gave this talk to incoming first year students at Boston College— all first year students— no exceptions. The title of the lecture is: “On Discernment: Three Key Questions.”

The first question is about one’s call in life, one’s vocation: ‘is this call a source of joy?’ The second question: ‘is this something that taps into your talents and gifts, engages all your abilities and uses them in the fullest way possible?’ The last question: ‘is this role a genuine service to the people around you and society at large?’

Then Himes restates those questions in a more vernacular way. Do you get a kick out of it? Are you any good at it? Does anyone want you to do it?’

Coming back to the question about a source of joy— Himes says there is a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness changes from moment to moment and is affected by external factors— everything from sleep to illness to chance.

Joy is deeper and more central. This Jesuit defines joy as feeling a sense of the rightness in the way in which one lives one’s life.

The second question: ‘are you good at it?’— is not something an individual can or should decide about themselves. Himes insists other people have to tell us, help us discern whether or not we are good at what we are trying to do.

Last, ‘does anybody need you to do it?’ Put another way, I may be good at herding sheep. But if I live in Boston, the community in Boston does not really need someone herding sheep on the Fenway, case closed. (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Jeremiah: “Then Yahweh put out a hand, / touched my mouth and said to me, ‘Look, I am putting My Words in your mouth.’” (Slight pause.)

This passage has been referred to as “The call of Jeremiah.” There are a lot of what we refer to as “call stories” in Scripture. But I think there is something we moderns tend to overlook in all the call stories.

When people listen for and then hear God, there is an implicit admission about the reality of God. After all, how can someone experience a call from God if God is not real?

In this passage there is also something seen in many call stories— a reluctance on the part of the one being called. (Quote:) “I do not know how to speak for I am too young.”

For me these two somewhat opposite ideas— acknowledging the reality of God and a reluctance to listen to God— intertwine in exactly the way Michael Himes suggests they might with the second question: ‘are you good at it?’ Others have to help us discern whether or not we are good at what we are trying to do.

To be clear, if we hear a call it is likely God is inviting us to do specific work. And yes, God is the one insisting the call is valid. But God always acts through the people around us. They tell us we are good at something, act as messengers from God.

There’s also this to consider (quote:) “Do not fear anyone, for I am with you to protect you…” God walks with us on the journey.

Last, God says (quote:) “Say whatever I command you.” You see, a call on our lives is not our call, our possession. We do not own it. No single person owns it.

A call from God means one works collectively among the people of God, listening to the people of God. And the invitation God offers to us is that we participate in the work of God with others. There are no lone rangers in God’s realm.

There is one more thing to note. Jeremiah is presented in the context of the events, the experiences of a specific time and place.

Thus, both the history of the community and the biography of the prophet are joined. Therefore and as Himes states, the call is addressed in a community and by a community who needs your talents.

And so a call is not about what you think the community needs. It’s about what the community really needs. And how is that discerned? By the whole community, not by one individual. So the whole community needs to be listening for what God says. (Slight pause.)

As you heard it said earlier, after a vote next week it is expected a Pulpit Committee will be in place— talk about a call. And we need to realize while this committee will do the heavy lifting in the task, the whole community needs to be listening. The whole community will need to support, to help, to assist, cooperate with and not hinder the Pulpit Committee. (Slight pause.)

That list of how to proceed with, how to work with the Pulpit Committee brings me back to Himes. This professor says many of us live our lives as if we were a star and have the leading role in a movie. Therefore, many people see themselves as being a star while everyone else around them only plays a supporting role— Joe Connolly— the Movie!

That does not work. We need to see others as people, real people, not as tools, not as actors in our movie. We should see others as if we were in their shoes.

Himes then says this: “There is only one vocation that embraces all our other vocations: we need to be human. We are, thereby, called to be as intelligent, as responsible, as free, as courageous, as imaginative and as loving as we can possibly be within the context of what we do.” (Slight pause.)

So, if our one and true calling is to be truly human, what does that entail? (Slight pause.) Let me speak for myself. First, I am flawed. (Check with Bonnie if you don’t believe me!) And yes, I think we need to realize and admit we are all flawed. Noone is perfect. After all, church would be superfluous for the perfect.

Second, to be truly human we need to rely not on ourselves but on the reality of God. Third, we need to rely on the grace of God. Fourth, we need to rely on the love of God.

This is obvious: that list is all about God. Further and as you can probably imagine, that lost might be endless, go on and on and on. It might go on and on and on. Therefore, we should not think of a call, our work, as a goal, as an end.

Why? A true call, a real call is a process. It is the process of relationship with God and with one another.

Now, there’s a highfalutin theological word, a theological term, which describes this process of relationship with God and with one another. The word is love. Love is a process.

Most often in church we hear the theological description of the process called love said this way: love God; love neighbor. Loving God and loving neighbor is our one, real, true and only call. And love is a process, a continuing process, not a goal.

And so, let us continue to be in and to maintain the process of loving God and loving neighbor. Let us never let barriers separate us, for we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Amen.

08/21/2022
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: “There are two quotes Professor Himes used in the course of that lecture. The first from St. Augustine— (Quote:) ‘Dissatisfaction— restlessness— is not a bad thing… indeed it’s the best thing about us.’ The next quote is from The 20th Century poet Marianne Moore. (Quote:) ‘Satisfaction is a lowly thing. How pure a thing is joy.’ Then the Rev. Himes chimes in: ‘Contentment is an obstacle. Joy always pushes us forward. It’s a impulsion, a pressure to move forward, to do more, to expend oneself more deeply, more richly, to open one’s talents even more widely than one had before.’”

BENEDICTION: May God bless us and keep us. May the face of God shine upon us and be gracious to us. May God look upon us with kindness and give us peace. May the God of joy fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit, that we may abound in hope. And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.

07/31/2022 ~ Eighth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 13 ~ Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Hosea 11:1-11; Psalm 107:1-9, 43; Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23; Psalm 49:1-12; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/735469590

Life or Death?

Jesus is recorded as speaking these words in the work known as Luke: “…God said to the farmer, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you.’” — Luke 12:20.

As I have said here before, for the most part pastors in Main Line churches have both a Bachelor’s Degree and a 90 credit Master of Divinity Degree. For what it is worth, my Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and since I did make my living for a time as a writer that degree seems to make sense.

However, I sometimes say the first school from which I graduated was the school of hard knocks. Getting into the prestigious school of hard knocks was easy.

How easy? The first time I went to college I dropped out after one semester. Dropping out of school qualifies anyone to enter the school of hard knocks.

As I have also said and as happened to many of us in that era, I promptly got drafted and sent to Vietnam. When I got back to these shores I decided to follow my heart and take a crack at writing for professional theater.

Like many theater folks I did all kinds of work in theater from being a business manager for a children’s theater to working for the theatrical charity the Actors’ Fund of America, to being a stage manager off-off Broadway. On the writing end of things the list is long so I’ll just mention a few. I wrote material for and directed numerous club acts.

I wrote a number of plays and musicals most of which did not get produced and also wrote something in the neighborhood of three hundred songs with different composers. But I did get some serious professional credits as I contributed material to an off-Broadway Musical which starred Kaye Ballard, for those of you who might remember Kaye. And two of my plays were performed in very prestigious venues.

A comedy— New Face of the Year— was presented at the Manhattan Theater Club. Another, a musical version of Much Ado About Nothing— which with great and good perversity was called, All’s Well That Ends Well— was done at The Lambs Club, the oldest theatrical social club in the United States.

In the course of my work I was invited— you need to audition and then be invited— I was invited to be a member of the ASCAP Musical Comedy Workshop. The workshop is essentially a master class for composers, lyricists and librettists which at that point in time the workshop was run by Charles Strouse, the composer of Annie.

Of course, and as is true of a lot of theater professionals, I also did all kinds of other jobs outside of theater to keep food on the table. These are some of the highlights from that list. I was a tour guide at South Street Seaport Museum. I worked in computer operations when computers were the size of this room. I worked as a store manager.

I also worked in back office operations on Wall Street. I am sure all this experience was worth at least a graduate degree from the aforementioned school of hard knocks. Now, that last job I mentioned— back office operations on Wall Street— I want to connect that with the fact that I served in Vietnam.

To be clear, I don’t want to overstate what I saw in Southeast Asia. As these things go, I was in relatively safe places. On the other hand, no place is really safe. I got blown out of bed a couple of times by incoming.

My point is, when you daily live with the tangible possibility of death for fourteen months it does change your outlook on life. So, what happened on Wall Street that I might connect with Army life? (Slight pause.)

One job I had in a brokerage was to dispatch messengers who delivered stock and bond certificates against a deadline to other brokerages. Certificates had to be delivered by certain times in the course of the day or they would be rejected.

Once a vice-president type came into my office with a stack of certificates and demanded they be delivered right away. But this was way after any deadline had past.

I time stamped the delivery sheet and said, “I’ll get them out as soon as I can. The deadlines are past and all the messengers are out making on time deliveries.”

He shouted at the top of his lungs, “I will have your job! I will have you fired!”

I smiled and said, “Good luck with that.” His face got very red. He turned and, clearly on a mission, quickly scurried out of the office. The next voice I heard was that of the senior vice-president in charge of my area.

“O.K. What happened?” I calmly explained I had received a stack of certificates for delivery way past any deadline, time stamped the delivery sheet and would attempt delivery A.S.A.P. My guy smiled, shook his head, turned around and left. (Slight pause.)

You see, when you’ve served for fourteen months in a war zone a threat which says, ‘you’re fired’ has very little meaning. You’re reaction is, “I know what a real threat is. So, go ahead. Fire me. Big deal.” And that, my friends, is a lesson from the school of hard knocks well learned and put into action. (Slight pause.)

Jesus is recorded as speaking these words in the work known as Luke: “…God said to the farmer, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you.’” (Slight pause.)

Some might suggest “You’re fired” is not just a catch phrase but a way of life, an ever constant threat common in our culture today. Equally, there are those who, because of that very same culture in which we live, might take these words of Jesus as a threat that effectively says, ‘I threaten you with death. Therefore, be good, be generous.’

But is that the case? Are these words a threat? (Slight pause.) I think seeing this text as a threat is very Twenty-first Century outlook. If we do see it that way, that’s our culture informing us, not the text.

In fact, I don’t think death or any kind of threat is a part of the equation. What is a part of the equation is obvious questions are being asked: ‘What is meaningful in life?’ and ‘Do possessions give life meaning?’ (Slight pause.)

I think freedom from greed is the real focus of this reading. And greed is a difficult issue in our culture. Indeed, many would insist to be free from greed is to deny the freedom to possess things. And yes, possessions are important to us. After all, we do live in a material world— to quote another cultural catch phrase.

And yes, we do live in a culture that thrives on the profit motive. We do live in a culture that puts a high premium on expansion, growth. And this is a reality we need to acknowledge: for some materialism is a religion; profit is a religion; acquisition is a religion.

And yes, there are things we need. And because of that need it is not always easy to separate greed from profit. But separating need from greed has to be done. Let me reiterate that: separating need from greed has to be done. (Slight pause.)

This brings me back to how each of us thinks about life. Yes, my time in the service, overseas, changed me. So when I got back to these shores I decided to follow my heart, to take a crack at being a writer for professional theater. And I did a lot of that.

What I sometimes have said is what my time in the service really did was empower the idea that I had to follow my heart. But I am not sure saying that I followed my heart is quite accurate, either. I think I can better describe my state of mind by mentioning the two questions I raised for myself when I returned.

These were the two questions I asked myself. ‘Why am I here?’ ‘Why did I survive?’ (Slight pause.)

That brings me back to the words of Jesus we heard at the end of the reading (quote:) “…this is the way it works for those who store up treasures, riches, for themselves but are not rich in God.” For me this is clear: God is not vengeful. God is a God of love. God does not regale us with threats.

I think the message contained in these words is clear. Life is not about how well you live. Life is about how to live well. Life is not about how well you live. Life is about how to live well.

So, the choices we make can be and sometimes are about life and death. But what really brings us life and what really brings us to life is listening for the call of God and listening to our neighbors and loving our neighbors. Listening for the call of God and listening to our neighbors and loving our neighbors— that’s not about well living. That is about living well.

I also believe this to be true: when we listen to the call of God and when we listen to our neighbor, help our neighbor, our own outlook on life will not be overwhelmed by threats or by materialism or by possessions or by acquisitions. Our own outlook on life will be one which embraces the freedom to live by the discipline called love.

So this passage is not about any kind of threat, although I’m sure some read it that way. This passage is about the freedom to live— freedom to live well. Freedom to live well is a freedom to live with and to live into and live in the grace God offers each of us. That grace, God’s grace, includes an invitation from God to live and to love to the fullness of our ability.

Why should this passage be read as an invitation to live and to love? Because God is not a vengeful God. God is a God of love. And the love of God is obviously not a threat. That God loves us is a promise— a promise from God to us. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
07/31/2022

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: “What I shared today was, obviously, a part of my personal story. But each of us has a unique personal story. Therefore, I think each of us needs to ask how does my own, unique, wonderful, personal story help you understand how you relate to the world, how you relate to the people around you and to then ask yourself how do I relate to God because of that story? And perhaps one way to live well would be for each of us to share our, individual, personal story with one another.”

BENEDICTION: Let us never fear to seek the truth God reveals. Let us live as a resurrection people. Let us understand every day as a new adventure in faith as the Creator draws us into community. So, go now, go in safety— for you cannot go where God is not. Go now— go in love— for love alone endures. Go now— go with purpose and God will honor your dedication. And last, go in peace— for it is a gift from God to those whose hearts and minds are in Christ, Jesus. Amen.

07/24/2022 ~ Seventh Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 12 ~ Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Hosea 1:2-10; Psalm 85; Genesis 18:20-32; Psalm 138; Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19); Luke 11:1-13 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/733289271

Tribes

“Do not let anyone who worships angels and enjoys self-abasement disqualify you, judge you. These people go into great detail, dwell on their visions and their worldly minds keep puffing up their already inflated egos, their human way of thinking.” — Colossians 2:18.

They are popular, ubiquitous, common. Not a day goes by without one cropping up on a broadcast or cable channel or streaming on the internet. They are reality shows.

From a business perspective reality shows constantly get produced because they are inexpensive. It does not cost a lot to manufacture one.

Even shows that give away a million dollar prize, shows that send people overseas— Survivor, The Amazing Race— cost less to produce than scripted shows. Just for starters, no actors or people in many specialized crafts, usually a part of a scripted show, need to be paid.

But it is inaccurate to say reality shows do not have writers just because they are not scripted. The observant among you probably realize the scripts are written after the show is recorded, and the writing mostly happens in the process of compiling and editing the video.

Now, reality shows are not a new phenomena. They date not just from the infancy of television. Reality shows date even from the infancy of radio.

The Major Bowes Amateur Hour went on the air in 1934. Just like some shows today, unknown performers were contestants. The show had comedians, singers, instrumentalists, and despite the being on the radio, even dancers and jugglers.

Here’s a little know fact: Frank Sinatra was on the Amateur Hour as a member of a quartet known as The Hoboken Four. They were popular so Bowes had them back a lot. But, since they never actually won a weekly broadcast, when they did return Bowes changed the name under which they performed to hide the fact that the group had returned. And, not unlike one of the reality shows for unknown performers, American Idol, Bowes sent acts out on tour and, thereby, made more money.

Ted Mack took over from Bowes for this Armature Hour stuff in 1945 and brought it to televison in 1948 when television was in its infancy. I hope this is obvious: there is no difference between the Amateur Hour and programs like American Idol or America’s Got Talent— talent shows, yes, but reality shows also. Part of why people get enthralled is because they wonder who will win. It pits one group or person against another.

The well known reality show Candid Camera actually started on radio as Candid Microphone. It went over to the more visual medium of television in 1948 and that’s when it really became popular.

Candid Camera claimed what all reality shows claim. They said the goal was to try to catch people in the act of being real.

Of course, the phrase ‘people being real’ has a deeper implication. All people are flawed; noone is perfect, right? And, frankly, the last time I looked being flawed, not being perfect, is part of the human condition. We all share it. Anyone who thinks they’re perfect, please leave.

The current reality show Survivor displays serious and deep human imperfection since it is known for the cutthroat practice of the contestants voting one another off the island. The show’s motto is, after all, “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast.” Outwit, outplay, outlast— the very motto sounds as if it’s about people intentionally being imperfect.

And have you noticed when Jeff Probst, the host of Survivor, dismisses a contestant he never says: “You have been voted off the island,” even though that’s what’s happening. Probst says, “The tribe has spoken.”

I find that phrase fascinating because it brings to light yet another human reality, another human frailty. We humans tend to form tribes. We tend to be tribal.

We form relational customs, habits, ritual behaviors to be shared only with other tribe members, other people in our social group. Further, we tend to ignore, even banish those who fail to conform or meet certain standards or criterium.

Interestingly, these standards are often hidden in a group, unspoken. Hence, the tribe speaks, even when not a word is uttered, everybody hears. (Slight pause.)

This is found in Colossians: “Do not let anyone who worships angels and enjoys self-abasement disqualify you, judge you. These people go into great detail, dwell on their visions and their worldly minds keep puffing up their already inflated egos, their human way of thinking.” (Slight pause.)

In my comments last week I effectively said Paul wrote Colossians and I want to be clear about this. There is a huge academic fight over weather or not Paul was the author. Right now my opinion is yes Paul wrote it. Who knows? Some academic article I read next week might change my mind.

But I am brining that up because I want to repeat something I said last week. Paul was a Jew. Hence, one question we should constantly keep in front of us is this: who is the God of Israel? (Slight pause.)

This is something we moderns don’t get. In ancient times everybody believed in a god or the gods. Many peoples, many nations, had gods but for only themselves or gods who took care of only specific tasks like harvests. Even Jewish people would have admitted other gods existed.

But Jews did not understand the God of Israel as being either a god of just one people or a god of specific tasks. For the Jews, the realm of God and the role of God was all encompassing. So what set the God of Israel apart is the Jewish people did not understand Yahweh, God, to only be the God of Israel.

But even if others did not believe the God of Israel was universal God, as the Jewish people thought, that did not matter to them. What counted is they believed God was a God of all people, God of the whole world, the whole universe.

Therefore God was inclusive. And indeed, this concept, that Yahweh, God, was the God of all people, God of the whole world, was a unique idea in ancient times.

Further, that Yahweh, God, was the God of the whole world had consequences. The obvious consequence was loving one’s neighbor became not just a duty. Loving one’s neighbor, as hard as that was and as hard as that is, became a way of life.

Thereby, love of neighbor was neither a demand nor a law. And neither was it something to be imposed on others.

Love of neighbor was and is a way to welcome others. Love of neighbor was a given because God was the God of all people. In short, God was not the God of just your tribe or the God of your people, people who conformed to your particular customs, habits or ritual behaviors.

And that brings us back to what Paul says in this passage. In verse 9 Paul states a concept about the Christ in this way (quote): “…in Christ the whole fullness of divinity dwells in bodily form…” (Slight pause.)

Paul has recognized God is fully present to all people in Christ and because of Christ. Hence (to truncate Paul’s words slightly), do not let anyone… disqualify you, judge you. (Slight pause.)

It seems to me we Christians often get into what I would label as a hostile pattern. Too often we make Jesus into the exclusive Child of God instead of the inclusive Child of God.

On the other hand, we need to face this reality. Being tribal is a very human tendency.

We do seem to have a proclivity to form into tribes. We do seem to have an inclination toward not seeing humanity as one family, one tribe. In fact, even within a given tribe we seem to have an inclination to divide into groups. (Slight pause.)

I want to suggest that God sees us as one family, one tribe. And our relationship with God, any relationship with God, is not and should not be seen as a pursuit or as a game to be won. That’s not religion. That’s not faith. That’s competition.

Religion, faith is not about how we outwit, outplay, outlast. Our relationship with God is and should be seen, should be practiced as a way of life. However, if we do see our relationship with God as a pursuit, as a game and not as a way of life— and I think we humans do that way too often— then it does become something to be won.

When our relationship with God becomes a game that is when we define it as a possession, our possession, and then we defended it as our possession. When religion, when faith is a possession, it becomes not just something to be defended. In fact too readily it becomes something to be imposed, something to be inflicted on others.

Additionally, if a relationship with God is something to be won— if a relationship with God is a game— it would require tribes. So we need to remind ourselves daily that no one— no one— gets voted off God’s island— not by us and not by anyone else.

Why? The call of God is simple: love your neighbor. And your neighbor is not a rival contestant to be outwitted, outplayed or outlasted. Your neighbor is simply to be loved. Amen.

07/24/2022
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Congregational Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “The late Dr. Paul Farmer was an American anthropologist, physician and Harvard professor. Unfortunately he died at age 62. This is something he said: ‘The idea that some lives matter less than other lives is the root of all that is wrong with the world.’ Who is your neighbor? Everyone. There are no tribes. Why? God is the God of everyone.”

BENEDICTION: This is the blessing used by natives of the islands in the South Pacific: O Jesus, please be the canoe that holds me up in the sea of life. Please be the rudder that keeps me on straight paths. Be the outrigger that supports me in times of stress. Let Your Spirit be the sail that carries me though each day. Keep me safe, so that I can paddle on steadily in the voyage called life. God of all, bless us so we may have calm seas, a warm sun and clear nights filled with stars. Amen.

07/17/2022 ~ Sixth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 11 ~ Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Amos 8:1-12; Psalm 52; Genesis 18:1-10a; Psalm 15 ; Colossians 1:15-28; Luke 10:38-42 VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/731072570

Good News

“It was only recently that you heard of this hope when it was announced in the message of truth, in the word of truth, in the Gospel, in the Good News that has come to you, which has reached you and is bearing fruit, growing, spreading over the whole world.” — Colossians 1:5-6.

I am sure some of us at some point in time have been saddled with a nick-name, perhaps one we did not really want. I recently came across a picture of myself in which I was about ten years old. It reminded me that very early in life I was a towhead.

In fact, my hair was so white— not blond but white— I was often referred to as “Whitey.” The only thing I am not sure about is if the nick-name was a reference to Hall of Fame Yankee pitcher “Whitey” Ford, who was prominent then, or was a reference to my hair. But I suspect it was my hair since I rooted for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Los Angeles Dodgers do not count. Only the Brooklyn Dodgers count. I’m old enough to have been to games at Ebbets Field; I’m sorry.

Of course, except for my beard, given my lack of hair today I don’t think whitey fits as a moniker any longer; perhaps baldy would work. On the other hand, I do have pictures of myself just after I was discharged from the Army and yes, my hairline was not great then either. Back then baldy might have also been the right nick-name.

I managed to pick up a different nick-name in my early 20s. It happened when I was working in the computer department of a major corporation. My boss and I had been trying to fix a problem for a couple of weeks when I finally figured out the solution.

Excited by this good news, I went dashing into his office. He was on the phone. I kept gesticulating and pointing to a sheaf of papers in my hand. He tried to ignore me. He turned to the wall. Rudely, I came to his side.

At that point he looked up and said, “Keep your shirt on Schwartz-ie.” Immediately I started to laugh. I laughed so hard had to walk out of the office. When he got off the phone, he waved me back in asked: “O.K. What was so important you had to interrupt me and why were you laughing so hard?”

First— and this was the good news I wanted to share— I explained I had solved the problem on which we had been working. Then, because I knew he had a sense of humor as warped as mine, I said I had a question before I explained why I was laughing. Had he just pulled the name Schwartz-ie out of thin air? He said, “Yes.”

“Well,” I said, “I laughed that hard because while my name is Connolly you could not have possibly known my Mother’s maiden name is Schwartz. And despite the fact that maiden name is Schwartz, she is more Irish than my Dad because his Mom is a Scott.”

Well, you know what happened then. Given his aforementioned warped sense of humor, he nick-named me Schwartz-ie and used it every chance he could. So I got that second nick-name and had it for years just because I was trying to share good news.

Good news— there is no doubt about this: we like to give good news; we like to spread good news, share good news. We also like to get good news; we are anxious to hear good news. (Slight pause.)

These words are in Colossians: “It was only recently that you heard of this hope when it was announced in the message of truth, in the word of truth, in the Gospel, in the Good News that has come to you, which has reached you and is bearing fruit, growing, spreading over the whole world.” (Slight pause.)

When this reading was introduced, it was said the blessing we hear is a run on sentence. The sentence goes on and on and on, even beyond where today’s reading ends.

I think this is simply Paul being effusive. But that does raise a deeper question. What is this “Good News” about which Paul is so effusive? There is a second question hiding in plain sight. Could it be that this Good News about which Paul is effusive is more complex than we commonly think? (Slight pause.)

I need to start by stating the obvious. Why? We who live in the early 21st Century, nearly 2,000 years after the New Testament was compiled, sometimes do not get or simply forget this simple concept. Paul was a Jew.

So, when Paul says there is (quote): “Good News” the Apostle to the Gentiles is not just or only referring to Jesus, isolating Jesus. When Paul says this is “Good News,” there is a connection being made. The connection is that this Good News is also a reference to Yahweh, God, the God of the Jewish people.

Indeed, that is part of why the proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah is “Good News.” Jesus is the Messiah sent by God, this God of Israel. Or as we Christians proclaim, Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity.

Now, that— the Trinity— three Persons, One God, is where this becomes a complex concept. So for a moment let’s think about it in a specific way. The Jewish faith is a monotheistic faith. Judaism says there is one God. The Moslem faith is a monotheistic faith. Islam says there is one God.

Christianity a monotheistic faith also. Christianity says there is One God. And yes, this sounds very technical but Christianity is different than the Jewish faith and the Islamic faith in this way: Christianity says there are three persons, One God.

The Christian proclamation, thereby, insists we are Trinitarian monotheists or monotheistic Trinitarians. The Trinity is central to the Christian proclamation.

And therefore, the Good News proclaimed by Paul, the Good News proclaimed the early Christians, the Good News proclaimed the Gospels, the Good News proclaimed by the Church says this: the reality of Jesus affirms the covenant made by this God who we claim as One God. And God, through the current reality of the presence of Jesus, God stands with us now and God stands with us throughout eternity.

And Jesus, this Second Person of the Trinity, is a reality and affirms the reality of this sign that God is with us. And that, my friends is the Good News about which we Christians can be excited. Perhaps can be even as excited as Paul— make a run on sentence occasionally.

That Jesus, this Second Person of the Trinity, is a sign to us that God is with us should strengthen our faith. It should increase an understanding that God loves us deeply and God wants us to love one another— yet something else about which be can be excited. Perhaps we can even be excited enough to, like Paul, share the Good News.

Why? This Good News proclaims, tells us the presence and the reality of Jesus means God is with us always. And yes, that God is with us always we are called to love all God’s people.

And I think this is Paul’s take on the Good News. Why do I think that? Why else would this Jewish man, Paul, who lived two millennia ago, be this excited? This was and this is Good News. Amen.

07/17/2022
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 a précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “Earlier I suggest we might even be excited enough by the Good News to, ourselves, share the Good News. I know— even if I did not say it I implied it— that is the frightening e-word— evangelism. But the real work of evangelism is simply to be friendly and invite other people into our midst and and welcome other people. The point is to share this community of faith. Guess what? Being friendly— that’s what evangelism really is and I’ll bet we can all be friendly.”

BENEDICTION: May the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ be among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us as we scatter into the world. And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.

07/10/2022 ~ Eighth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Proper 10; Amos 7:7-17; Psalm 82; Deuteronomy 30:9-14; Psalm 25:1-10; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37 VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/728867633

What the Bible Tells Me

“Just then an expert on the Law, a lawyer, stood up to put Jesus to a test and said ‘Teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?’ Jesus answered, ‘What is written in the Law? How do you read it?’” — Luke 10:25-26.

I have mentioned this before. I served a church in rural, upstate New York, the town of Norwich, for 23 years. I was the longest serving pastor the church had ever seen in its 200 plus year history.

The previous record holder was there 19 years, from 1860 to 1879. That pastor was one Samuel Scoville. Sam was the son-in-law of Henry Ward Beecher. As you probably know, Henry Ward Beecher was the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Harriet, of course, wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin and received her vision for that work during a service at First Parish Church in Brunswick. As I have also said here, First Parish sent me to Seminary. I like the symmetry, the balance of that juxtaposition— Brunswick, Norwich, Sam, Harriet, Henry— makes sense.

Before that Upstate New York Church I served not one church but five churches and I served them all at one time. How did I do that? I was the Assistant Pastor at a five church cooperative in Waldo County. I know— five yoked churches— it sounds very Methodist.

Those churches worked together to hire a Senior and an Associate pastor but each was different, had different people, different ideas about how to be church. Each, therefore, needed to be seen by the pastors in its own specific way. I mention all this because I think I learned a lot serving five churches, probably more than I would have learned serving just one church.

Now, there is one more thing I want to mention: I loved being in Seminary. It was a great experience. Indeed, I say Seminary is necessary and important. The Master of Divinity degree is 90 credits, three years, the same as a law degree. What some do not realize is the skill set of a pastor and a lawyer is similar. In more ways than I am about to mention but I always say we both interpret ancient and obscure documents.

But neither a pastor nor a lawyer learns everything they need to know in school. As you work in and at either of those professions if you do not learning something new nearly every day, you’re doing it wrong. A lot is learned by just doing the job.

But I also need to note this important fact: a pastor does need to know something about the law, the laws of the town, city, county, state, federal law. Let me mention the obvious example: do people come to a pastor and ask that pastor to officiate at a wedding ceremony? Yes.

Well, a pastor needs to know something about the marriage laws in the State and the procedures in the county or town or city. Why? If you officiate at a marriage you act as an agent of the State and you are regulated by the State. Further (and I often tell this to a couple at whose wedding I will officiate) the couple needs to realize once married, they enter the wild, wacky, wonderful world of American contract law.

But a pastor has other interactions with the law. So yes, I have visited people in jail, had professional interactions with police officers, judges, lawyers. And yes, I have referred people to lawyers when they need that help. The professions do overlap. (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Luke: “Just then an expert on the Law, a lawyer, stood up to put Jesus to a test and said ‘Teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?’ Jesus answered, ‘What is written in the Law? How do you read it?’” (Slight pause.)

When leading Bible Study I say the first question we need to ask is ‘what did the words we are looking at mean to those who first read and/or heard them?’ To be clear, it’s a question which cannot be fully answered. But unless the question is asked and answered as well as we can it is nearly a lock that what a passage might mean to us now, today, will be beyond our reach.

In this passage the one who questions Jesus is an expert on the Law. And our Twenty-first Century ears immediately hear the law as being about judges, courts, lawyers, etc., etc. We think of the law as a set of rules.

But that kind of law— rules— is not what the word Law means here. Indeed, if you were following the reading in the bulletin you might have noticed the word ‘Law’ is capitalized. In this case, that capitalization indicates the word Law refers to the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch.

And in New Testament times the Law— capital ‘L’— these first five books of Scripture— were not thought of as a set of rules. The Law— capital ‘L’— meant these are lessons. These are instructions. But these are… not… rules.

So, when we hear this person who asks the question of Jesus is an expert on the Law, capital ‘L,’ we need to realize that the real area of expertise being indicated is not about laws within the legal system. The real area of expertise this person has is the Pentateuch.

Indeed, if we listen to this passage with Twenty-first Century ears we readily construe the word Law into something which means a set of rules. But this expert— and I am sure you noticed this— on the Law gives the right answer because this is not about a set of rules.

The answer the expert on the Law gives is love God and love neighbor. Please notice— love God and love neighbor— this does not sound anything like a set of rules. It does not sound like a list which says ‘don’t do this,’ ‘don’t do that.’

Loving God and loving neighbor is not about a prohibition, rules, strictures, something we should not do. Loving God and loving neighbor— is what we should do.

All of which brings me back to the question posed Jesus: “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”

You see, Scripture needs to be viewed through a specific lens. And how we read Scripture, the entirety of it, needs to be based on loving God and loving neighbor.

Therefore, when we read a passage in Scripture and we come away with a meaning that fails to reflect loving God and loving neighbor, there is only one conclusion to draw. We did not look at that passage of Scripture in an accurate way.

So yes, Scripture is about the law— the law of love, about loving God and loving neighbor. And that is the whole message of the Bible.

That is, indeed, what the Bible tells me— love God; love neighbor. I could be wrong but I suspect Jesus agrees. Amen.

07/10/2022
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 a précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: [The pastor holds up a Bible]— “The Bible— I think too often we look at Scripture like it’s a magic lamp. Rub it and we might get a conclusion we like. That is, in fact, why we need to study Scripture and why we need to explore what the contexts were when it was written. And hopefully try and figure out what it might mean today. I effectively said that earlier. If the idea that we should love God and love neighbor does not jump off at us every page we’re just doing it wrong.”

BENEDICTION: Through God’s grace, by being attentive to God’s will, our deeds and our words will change our world for we will discover ways to proclaim release from the bondage of narrowness. Let us seek the God of Joy. Let us go in peace to love and serve God. Amen.

07/03/2022 ~ Fourth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 9 ~ Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ 2 Kings 5:1-14; Psalm 30; Isaiah 66:10-14; Psalm 66:1-9; Galatians 6:(1-6), 7-16; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 ~ Heritage Sunday – a Service of Worship Celebrated at the Old Meeting House ~ Communion Celebrated ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/727099322.

Freedom and Responsibility

“…Jesus appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead in pairs to every town and place the Rabbi intended to visit….” — Luke 10:1

I do not remember the exact date the letter arrived. I do know it was the first week of November, 1967. I was 19.

Those of a certain age will be familiar with the opening words in the letter and what they meant. (Slight pause.) “Greetings from the President of the United States.” (Slight pause.)

For those a little younger, this letter meant I was being drafted into the Armed Forces of these United States. This was my draft notice.

The letter had one other piece of news. The date set for my induction was December the 5th, my mother’s 44th birthday— Happy Birthday, Mom. (Slight pause.)

At the time I was working at a large corporation. I gave two weeks notice. To my surprise that afternoon my boss told me the company was acting on my behalf to get my draft notice postponed. They wanted to buy time for me to train someone to do my job.

They had not asked my permission to intervene. They just did it— a life lesson for me in real world power. I went along because I did not want to be inducted on my Mom’s birthday.

Within days I got a second draft notice for January 20th, 1968— being drafted the only time I ever won the lottery. Well, on January 20th, 1968 I was off to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, for Basic Training, then on to Fort Lee, Virginia, for Advanced Training.

I can’t forget the next significant date in this sequence. 54 years ago tomorrow— July 4th, 1968— I arrived in Vietnam— Happy Independence Day. (Long pause.)

In the initial draft of the Declaration of Independence the inhabitants of the 13 colonies are referred to as (quote) “subjects.” But then, amazingly, Jefferson wiped the word “subjects” out of the text and changed the word from “subjects” to “citizens.”

As “citizens”— no longer subjects— we became and are a people whose allegiance is to one another, not to some king. [1] I believe from that point forward as a nation we have been bound to one another in mutual covenant— citizens not subjects.

When it comes to being drafted in that tumultuous time, as a citizen, as someone designated by chance, tradition, law, age to serve, I felt I had a responsibility to others. I felt I needed to be responsible to all the other citizens in America.

Put another way, real freedom— real freedom— is found in the collective. Therefore and paradoxically, real freedom for an individual depends on the responsibility assumed by each individual to the collective, to each other. (Pause.)

These words are from Luke: “…Jesus appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead in pairs to every town and place the Rabbi intended to visit….” (Slight pause.)

Luke here addresses how the Good News spreads. When it comes to spreading the Good News we need to heed not the details but the principles in this passage. In this case I think the first principle laid out is mutual responsibility.

The disciples are sent out in pairs. By definition this creates mutual responsibility. So perhaps next we need to ask what is it which binds them in this mutual covenant?

This is the message Jesus asks them to proclaim: “the reign of God has drawn near.” What does that mean— the reign of God drawing near? I think it’s an understanding of the reality that God is present with us, walks with us, empowers us— now.

And because of the mutuality with, support of and from, the reliance on other disciples, they get it! They see working together is a key to the reality that God is present with us, walks with us, empowers us— now. They see God at work in one another.

So next we need to ask how are the disciples led to an understanding of this mutuality? Jesus invites them to take nothing for their journey— not a walking stick, a knapsack, sandals. Here’s a way to put that in modern language: simplify your lives.

In this simplification they realize how much they need to rely on each other. And since they go out two by two, they come to a better understanding of reliance.

Indeed, given this mutual reliance, this seems clear to me: no one individual has the key or is in charge or has any formula. No one individual can alone fix everything. Put another way, no one is God except God.

And so they go out two by two, embrace the humility found in communal responsibility. In this acceptance living community is formed. (Slight pause.)

I need to say one very important thing about this Gospel we know as Luke. That the reign of God has drawn near is one of the overall themes of the Gospel. I want to suggest this reign of God has something to do with the freedom granted by God.

I also want to suggest this freedom has something to do with the humility found in accepting communal responsibility to and with one another. And that brings us back to this two by two concept. Jesus is focused on the centrality of community in proclaiming the realm of God. (Very long pause.)

Many feel the opening words of the Declaration of Independence about equality, life, liberty, the pursuit are the most important words in the document. And these days we tend to take those words personally, as if they were about each individual, about ach one of us individually.

However, I believe for the signers of the document who lived through those tumultuous times some words towards the end of the Declaration are at least equally important. (Quote): “…for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” (Slight pause.)

“…we mutually pledge…” The signers of the Declaration accepted, indeed, embraced communal responsibility. (Slight pause.)

No individual on their own is up to the task of forming community. Being a lone ranger works only in the movies. We need to rely on one another, be in covenant with one another to see the full reality of freedom and its gifts.

As people who seek the freedom promised by the reign of God we must work toward and in community. And for Christians community does not mean just those you know. For Christians community means everyone, all people who on earth do dwell.

So, perhaps the way we need to think about freedom on this Independence Day is that it is really “Interdependence Day,” a day on which we rely on one another with mutual respect and mutual responsibility. Living in community is sacred. Amen.

07/03/2022
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 a précis of what the pastor said before the blessing:
“Before he won the Nobel Peace Prize I once had the privilege and honor of meeting Archbishop Desmond Tutu. This quote is from Desmond’s vast wealth of theological sensibility. ‘…my fellow clerics, of all faiths, must stand up for the principles of universal dignity and fellowship. Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice.’ I do believe that quote says something about Christian community.”

BENEDICTION: Let us place our trust in God. Let us go from this place to share this Good News: by God we are blessed; in Jesus, the Christ, the beloved of God, we are made whole. Let us depart in confidence and joy that the Spirit of God is with us and let us carry this reality in our hearts: God is faithful. Amen.

[1] The Washington Post; Jefferson Changed ‘Subjects’ to ‘Citizens’ in Declaration of Independence; By Marc Kaufman; 07/03/2010 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/02/AR2010070205525.html?nav=rss_email/components

06/26/2022 ~ Third Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 8 ~ Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14; Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20; 1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21; Psalm 16; Galatians 5:1, 13-25; Luke 9:51-62 ~ Service of Shalom for Denise Perry.

The Bonds of Polity

“…you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; but be careful or this freedom will provide an opportunity for self-indulgence. Rather, serve one another through works of love since the whole law is summed up in a single command: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” — Galatians 5:13.

The weekly email sent out a week ago had some biographical information about me. I cannot, however, assume everyone saw it or read it. Therefore, I hope I will not bore too many people and I ask your indulgence as I in part restate and perhaps embellish some of that story.

I am a native of New York City. How much of a native? My motto was “If the Subway doesn’t go there it’s too far.” When I moved to Maine I needed to learn how to drive. After all, why would someone want to own a car in New York City?

In fact, my résumé before I went to Seminary had two major items on it. I worked as a writer in theater and theatricality related projects and I worked on Wall Street in back office operations. Those two things exist mostly, nearly only in New York City.

So how did I meet and then marry Bonnie Scott who, at that point, was a long time resident of Brunswick and a staff photographer on the Times Record? My best friend from New York City, Paul Johnson, is her cousin. I was visiting Maine with him.

Bonnie and I hit it off in part because we are both fond of puns. Hit it off is probably an understatement since a year later I moved to Maine and we got married.

Bonnie has always said one reason she felt I might be O.K. is I was her cousin’s best friend. I was, in fact, the Godfather of Paul’s daughter. I had been pre-screened.

But we still did need to get to know each other in a myriad of ways. We needed to allow relationship to grow, to become deeper, to mature.

That leads to this question: ‘how are relationships built?’ I think this is obvious: relationships are built by getting to know someone. And it is clear Bonnie and I had a head start because that family connection. (Slight pause.)

These words are found in the work known as Galatians: “…you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; but be careful or this freedom will provide an opportunity for self-indulgence. Rather, serve one another through works of love since the whole law is summed up in a single command: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Slight pause.)

Any psychologist will tell you an important step in becoming mature is individuation, something which starts the day we are born,. Individuation is the process whereby a person becomes a distinct, whole individual, differentiated from others.

However, the next step in becoming a distinct, whole individual, is integration with those around us. Indeed, anthropologists say we are social animals. We need one another and need to rely on one another— socialization— the next step. (Slight pause.)

Now I would rate your recently retired pastor, the Rev. Mr. Carson, as an expert in Congregational Polity, Congregational governance, how Congregational Churches govern themselves. And when John and I met a couple weeks ago he showed me this book. (The pastor holds up a copy of The Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism.)

But I must also know something about Congregational Polity, Congregational governance. Why? This book is in my library also.

That brings up an interesting question: how is Congregational Polity just like the growth we experience in life and in relationships? (Slight pause.)

In a lecture one of my Polity teachers said (quote:) “The polity of local church autonomy”— local church autonomy— that’s individuation— “local church autonomy was defined in 1648 by the Cambridge Platform. This document says the local church has all the resources it needs to be a faithful witness to the Gospel of Jesus, the Christ.”

However (again a quote:) “Autonomy does not imply disconnection or total independence. Just like a well self-differentiated individual is healthy enough to know when they need help and how to get it, that is true of the church.” This knowing when one needs help and how to get it— that’s socialization. (Slight pause.)

As we all know, this local church will be seeking a new settled pastor. And local Congregational Church autonomy is important to us. We claim freedom as a right.

However, we need to be in covenant with, respect other churches and even rely on other churches. In that sense a broad understanding of covenant with others should be vital to us.

In fact, cooperation is embodied in Congregational heritage. In the 1600s our ancestors understood we needed to be in communion with other churches. Pastors were ordained not by one church but by a group of churches together. (Slight pause)

You’ve heard this phrase before: freedom is not free. Freedom comes with attendant responsibilities to others. Real freedom is impossible without family— family we know well right here in this worship space, family we know perhaps less well but are still family, family beyond these walls.

To reference the personal terms used earlier, the definition of health in a church is not simply individuation. It is individuation coupled with socialization. Self is vital. But so is interaction beyond self— building relationships— it’s a part of maturity.

This is also important: as we build relationships they will effect us. Relationships demand change. Change— I am sure you’ve heard that word before.

And you know this: the only constant is change. And because change is both real and a gift from God, one of the gifts God offers within change is that change becomes active and vibrant when we love each other.

Change is a part of the growth we experience through the love of God and the love of neighbor. If we love our neighbors, by definition, that will change who we are.

So let’s come back to the earlier question, ‘how are relationships built?’ The answer I offered earlier was, ‘by getting to know someone.’

In Galatians I think Paul’s answer was essentially the same and it sounded like this (quote:) “…serve one another through works of love since the whole law is summed up in a single command: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Amen.

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: “I have two things to mention. In the First Inaugural Address Abraham Lincoln, still displaying a sense of hope about the Union, used this phrase to conjure up the ties among the states (quote:) ‘The mystic chords of memory…’ The word used is not c-o-r-d, ropes, bindings, but c-h-o-r-d, harmony, notes sung simultaneously. Harmony— a unity of sound but each note maintains its own place. I don’t know about you but I say harmony must exist in Congregational polity. Second, theologian Karl Barth said this (quote:) ‘A community which lives and is active only for itself and is inactive towards those around it, would not be a source of joy, but of despair.’”

BENEDICTION: This service of worship is over but our service in the name of God continues outside these doors, outside these walls. And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe God that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.