localpastor

08/24/2025 ~ Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 16 ~ Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; Isaiah 58:9b-14; Psalm 103:1-8; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10-17 ~ YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozV4N9dxTjs ~ VIDEO OF THE FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/1113263936

Qualifications

“…Yahweh said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am too young.” Go to wherever and to whomever I send you. Say whatever I command you. Do not fear anyone, for I am with you to protect you,….’” — Jeremiah 1:7-8

I probably need to start my comments with an apology because I’m going to talk about theater and, of course, I have this background in professional theater. But Bonnie and I have season tickets to the Maine State Music Theater. We attend on the first Sunday night of the run. So two weeks ago today we experienced the last show scheduled for this season, West Side Story.

I have seen at least, and maybe more, three professional productions of this classic theater work. And I think the folks at Maine State did a very good job.

All of the people behind the original production are thought of as giants in this art form but they are now all deceased. I want name just three of them. The music is by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and the direction and choreography is by Jerome Robbins.

Something struck me as this Maine State version unfolded I had not thought about a lot before. The score could be called “through composed.” That means in the course of the play the music both tells the story and moves it forward.

As the play unfolds we hear musical references about what has already happened but the music does not really repeat itself. Hence, each piece of music seems to build on whatever we’ve already heard.

But what also struck me is how much of the musical is driven by dance. It’s an intragil part of the score.

In the opening number of West Side, the Prologue, this dance/music connection is evident. The choreography of Robbins is underlined by the music of Bernstein but there are no lyrics. With no words the music and dance alone sets up the play, offers a subtle foreshadowing, prepares the audience for the tragic story which follows. (Slight pause,)

Now, several years later Sondheim wrote the music and the lyrics for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. In an out of town tryout this show was at first a total dud. People were walking out before the end of the first act.

Why? The first song people heard was Love Is in the Air. Jerome Robbins was called in to consult and asked the writers a key question: what is this show about?

Answer: it’s not about love in the air. This is farce, a comedy. The writers then realized the audience needed to be told what this story was about.

So Love Is in the Air was ditched and Sondheim wrote: “Something familiar / Something peculiar/ Something for everyone— a comedy tonight! // Something appealing / Something appalling / Something for everyone— a comedy tonight!”

That song was not at all subtle. It told the audience to be ready to laugh, be ready for a comedic story. Overnight the show suddenly worked. At times we do need to know what to expect, whether it’s subtle or blunt, in order to understand what something is about. (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Jeremiah: “…Yahweh said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am too young.” Go to wherever and to whomever I send you. Say whatever I command you. Do not fear anyone, for I am with you to protect you,….’” (Slight pause.)

The first chapter of this work is often labeled as the “Call of Jeremiah.” That means, specifically, the summons of God to Jeremiah. But is that what this is about, simply a call to the prophet, or is there more going on?

I think it may help us if we try to look at the big picture. I say that because of the admonition of Yahweh, God, to Jeremiah (quote): “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’”

The writing is clear. Jeremiah’s complaint is about not being able to do the will of God because of inadequacy, not being qualified. But Scripture is riddled with people who feel inadequate, unqualified or just unable to do the will of God. These range from Moses who claims to be insufficiently glib to speak with the Pharaoh to the plea of Jesus who asks God to let the cup pass.

One might loosely call these reasons for not wanting to acquiesce to the call of God a lack sufficient qualifications or a lack of will or even trepidation. But we need to remember two things: God does not call the qualified. God qualifies the called. And of most importance, God walks with us. (Quote:) “I am with you to protect you.” (Slight pause.)

In many ways this passage is, for me, personal. I know something about giving God reasons for not wanting to do the thing to which I was called. Over time a number of people suggested to me— no they did not suggest; they directly told me— people told me I should go to seminary.

After I reached a certain age— my early 30s— I insisted the reason for not going to seminary is I was by far too old to do that. Graduate studies— that’s for younger folks.

But I did enter seminary and it was at the age of 44. Yep— no doubt about it— I was too old. And now I’ve been in the pulpit for better than 30 years. How did that happen? (Slight pause.)

Not going to seminary earlier may have been a poor choice or a good one. But this is clear to me: answering a call is about the choices we make. I first made a choice to not go to seminary and then I did. I’m sure we all have days on which we feel like we’ve made poor choices and we feel we’ve made good choices.

But I think the choices we make are less important than the relationships to which we hold fast. And it’s relationship— singular, one on one, and relationships, plural, with many people— which have seen me through my time in ministry.

So this is my take: if we go about the work of building relationships with one another, God walks with us. So I maintain the message offered in this passage is if we strive to be about relationships and continue to build relationships, God walks with us no matter what choices we make. (Slight pause.)

There are many writings which open by telling you what they are about. Some, like West Side Story, do it with subtle foreshadowing. Some, like a Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, are just blunt, no foreshadowing.

When it comes to Scripture the first words of the Gospel of Mark, for instance, are not subtle. (Quote:) “Here begins the Gospel of Jesus, the Christ, Child of God.” That bluntly tells you what this work is going to be about.

I think the opening chapter of Jeremiah is not just about the call of Jeremiah. It is subtlety engaged in foreshadowing. It tells us what the rest of this scroll is about— walking with God. And the life and ministry of this prophet illustrates the journey. But you’ll have to read the rest of the scroll to understand that.

In fact, the basic message in the entire scroll of Jeremiah says God wants us to be in relationship with God and God wants us to be in relationships with each other. And that is the real the call God has for all of us— relationships matter. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
08/24/2025

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: “To follow up on my comments today, I am convinced of this. God calls each of us as individuals and all of us collectively to a community of faith. Once we choose a community of faith— note: this is our choice— then God leaves it up to each of us individually and all of us collectively to ask what is the task, the work of each of us individually and all of us collectively— what work will we be called in the context of that community of faith. So, to what in the context of this community of faith are you being called by God? And what action are you prepared to take to strengthen relationships as you answer that call?”

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.

08/17/2025 ~ Tenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 15 ~ Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19; Jeremiah 23:23-29; Psalm 82; Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56

YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUdANpaJVvE

VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/1111346121

NOTE: VIMEO may require an account to look at the video. Setting up an account is free.

The Cloud of Witnesses

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside everything that impedes us and the sin, all that destroys, which so easily entangles us. Let us run with perseverance the race that is laid out before us.” — Hebrews 12:1.

I have on occasion I have told you about my background as a writer in theater. Today I’d like to say something about how I got there, some steps on that journey.

The journey started fairly early, probably when I was somewhere between the ages of eight and ten. I came down with the measles— not uncommon back then.

Needing to be in bed for a time, I asked for a pencil and notebook. I was determined to outline a novel. I did not get far since I found writing in bed quite uncomfortable.

My desire to write was already there, perhaps some talent, if not the skill. And yes, writing is a talent but, if you have that talent, it’s also a skill which can be and needs to be honed.

Now, I’ve always said the difference between someone who just writes and a professional writer is how the first draft gets done. A professional writes several drafts in their head. Thereby a professional is working on a third draft before they begin to record things in a place someone else can read the words— a piece of paper, a computer.

So, how did I learn about writing in my head first? In my Junior year in High School once a week when I arrived at Mr. Marsh’s English class, five topics would be on the board. The assignment: in no more than 20 minutes write an essay about one of those topics.

But do it in this way: fill up only one side of a loose leaf sheet. Go over to the other side of that sheet— points off. Fall short of the last line on that sheet— points off. That think before you write method necessary to avoid falling short or going long on that last line of the loose leaf sheet, taught me about organizing— writing first drafts in my head.

To jump to some professional steps on the journey, a milestone for me was when I was invited— and you have to be invited, you have to be have known therefore in the community of theater— I was invited to become a member of the ASCAP Musical Comedy Workshop. ASCAP is the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. This was a master class in writing musicals supervised by the late Charles Strouse, the composer of Annie among many others.

But before the ASCAP workshop I had also attended the BMI— Broadcast Music Incorporated— workshop because one composer with whom I worked was a member there. This master class was run by Lehman Engel, a well known conductor of Broadway shows. And when I say ‘well known conductor’ he was the original conductor of Funny Girl. He taught Barbra Streisand the score.

At that venue I learned necessary, intertwined, skills. First, know as much as possible about where you’re trying go before you start. Second in order to effectively do that, you have a familiarity with the literature of musical theater.

Therefore, you need to know about the great composers and lyricists— Kern, Sondheim, Gershwin— both Ira and George, Rodgers and Hart and Hammerstein, Kander and Ebb etc., etc., etc.— and what they had done. So you also needed to know about the shows the greats wrote which broke new ground— Show Boat, Porgy and Bess, Pal Joey, Oklahoma, Cabaret, Sunday in the Park with George.

Last, you need to know what’s current. Speaking of ground breaking and current, can you say Hamilton? So you need to know what has gone before you, where things are now and once you’re immersed in all that perhaps you can figure out where you might go.

At the BMI workshop Mr. Engel often said this (quote:) “If you don’t know what was here before you arrived, it’s hard to know what really works and what is doomed to close on opening night.” (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Hebrews: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside everything that impedes us and the sin, all that destroys, which so easily entangles us. Let us run with perseverance the race that is laid out before us.” (Slight pause.)

There is a specific claim made in Judaism and Christianity. These faiths, these traditions are based in history. Yes, there are many individual stories in Scripture. But the overriding story is the history of the interaction of God with humanity and humanity with God.

Please note: the writer of Hebrews is not reciting the story of Sarah and Abraham because there will be a quiz. This writer is not concerned with who did it but how they did it. This passage addresses where we, humanity, have been, where we might be now, and is thereby, laying out a path forward.

The process of relationship is what that long and complex history is about. Indeed, you probably noticed, based on how the notation of this reading is presented in the bulletin, some verses were skipped over.

But in the verses we did hear, the words “by faith” are repeated over and over. So, guess what was in the verses we skipped over? There was more information about the history of the relationship of God with humanity and humanity with God.

That history ranged from Moses to Gideon to Sampson to David to Samuel. And guess what words were used to describe that history? Yep— “By faith.”

So, this writer is not actually concerned with the particulars of the stories, who did what when. This is about the process depicted by the story, the process called faith.

That leaves us with a question: at the end of this history where does faith lead us? The writer of Hebrews supplies the answer. It leads us to Jesus— Jesus, who, by faith, trusts God. (Slight pause.)

So what is the lesson we are to learn about faith? (Slight pause.) I want to suggest the lesson is simple and straightforward: God never gives up on us. God never gives up on calling us to follow. But in order to know that, it might be helpful to grapple with what has come before us, helpful to know the literature and its lessons.

Indeed, this “cloud of witnesses” about whom we hear is not simply a group of spectators who turn out to see who might win this metaphoric race to which the author refers. This particular group of observers are not merely bystanders.

Rather, they have received and understood the history of God with humanity and humanity with God. Therefore, the witnesses are not lined up on the roadway to encourage those who follow. They are present and real to offer their example. And we are the one’s who are called to learn from their example and to follow. (Slight pause.)

Let me come back to what I learned in those master classes. Yes, it’s important to know where you’ve been and where you’re at before you can figure out where you’re going.

But this is about the process, not the details, not the facts. In Hebrews the process is called faith. And we heard about the faith which preceded us over and over and over again in the reading: (quote:) “by faith,” “by faith,” “by faith.” (Slight pause.)

Well, I think there really is a cloud of witnesses who have gone before us and set out a path to follow. So let me say something very personal about that. I’ve spent better than thirty years in the pulpit. And even though I’ve been a the Kellogg Church a relatively short time, as I look at the faces in this congregation what I see is your faith and your faithfulness.

But my mind’s eye, my mind’s eye also sees the faces of those with whom I’ve walked as a pastor over the years. I see the faces of those whose faith throughout this race called life have supported, just as you do here, various communities of faith. The people I see in my mind’s eye are a real cloud of witnesses for me and I shall never forget their faithfulness. (Slight pause.)

You know, we Americans tend to make a mistake about church. We tend to think of church as a building, a place to which you go. It’s not. Church is a family to which we belong. And that family includes this great cloud of witnesses throughout the ages.

Hence, it is up to us to keep the work of those who have gone before us active and vital. It is up to us to be examples, to be a cloud of witnesses, for those who will follow us.

Put another way, we should not simply be a group of spectators who turn out to see who might win the metaphoric race. After all, we need to remember faith is not a spectator sport. And faith is not even a feeling. Faith is an action.

Faith supports, encourages, loves and nurtures. So let us be about the process called faith on this day and every day as we, this community of faith, this cloud of witnesses, runs the race. Amen.

08/17/2025
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine.

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “At the start of my comments today I addressed some of my steps on my journey toward being a writer. I think it is well to remember life is not a goal. Life is a journey. Faith is not a goal. Faith is a journey.”

BENEDICTION: The loving kindness of God, the steadfast love of God, is always present to us. Therefore, may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.

08/10/2025 ~ Ninth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 14 ~ Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Isaiah 1:1, 10-20; Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23; Genesis 15:1-6; Psalm 33:12-22; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40 ~ YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDr5Hzyv9-8 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1109706864

Worry

“But Abram said, ‘O my Sovereign, my God, what will you give me, what good are these blessings to me, so long as Sarai and I will die in disgrace?’” — Genesis 15:2.

I am something of a throwback. You see, while I was still a student at Bangor Theological Seminary I was called to be an Associate Pasror at a five church cooperative in Waldo County. So while still in school I was already a working pastor.

To be clear, what happened was what we Congregationalists label as a “called” pastor, meaning this was not simply a student position. And being “called” while still in seminary made me a throwback because, whereas this kind of thing happened regularly in the mid to late 1800s, it’s rare these days. So here’s a story about that time in my life. (Slight pause.)

Did you ever feel like you needed to be two places at the same time? I had a scheduled visit with a couple in one of those churches. But— still a student— I also knew I had to complete a paper due the next day. And so I needed to be in two places at once— writing a paper while at the same time fulfilling this commitment.

What happened is still a vivid memory for me. The folks I was visiting greeted me graciously, invited me to sit and have tea and cookies— why yes, thank you.

As we sat, chatted and nibbled, the paper which was due was prickling the back of my mind, sometimes the front of my mind, worrying me. As we sat, chatted and nibbled I noticed the husband in this couple was quite taciturn— let out only an occasional grunt.

The woman, on the other hand, needed no prompting. She told story after story, talked about everything from the weather to the local High School sports teams.

And throughout all this chitchat, I was still being by far too self centered. I kept thinking, ‘I am sitting here listening to this small talk when I really need to be back in Bangor doing what I need to — get that paper done!’ (Slight pause.)

Well, at one point she excused herself. A silence encircled the room as the husband and I sat staring at each other. I sipped some tea and smiled not knowing what to say. Finally he broke the silence.

“She has cancer, you know.” (Long pause.)

“No,” said I. “I did not know that.”

“She never brings it up. It does not seem to worry her. She has hope. And you just found this out— she does… like… to chat.” (Long pause.)

We find these words in the Hebrew Scripture in the Torah in the work commonly called Genesis: “But Abram said, ‘O my Sovereign, my God, what will you give me, what good are these blessings to me, so long as Sarai and I will die in disgrace?’”

We get worried about all kinds of things. I was worried about that paper. Because of that, it felt I was wasting my time listening to small talk. Was I? I think not.

But in that moment, that’s not what I was thinking. And yes, I probably needed to be sitting there with them rather than worrying about what I had to do. (Pause.)

In some ways this story was about how we interact with each other so let’s look at a different aspect of how interacting with each other happens. Suppose you’re introduced to someone for the first time. Often, not too far into that conversation one or the other of you will say, “Well, what do you do for a living or if retired, “what did you do for a living?”

Question: does saying what you do or did really say anything about who you are? No. It only says something about what you do or did. Too often we confuse the two— what we do or what we’ve done as opposed to who we are.

That leads me to a question: Who is God? Notice, the question is not what does God do? The question is Who is God?

I think often we relegate God to a function. We offer a job description as if that was making a claim about who God is. We even have the audacity to ask God, ‘What have You done for me lately?’

That is, effectively, the question Abram asks God (quote:) “…what will you give me, what good are these blessings to me, so long as Sarai and I will die in disgrace?” And yes, that question does come from how the culture of ancient times functioned.

Ancient cultures thought of the gods— that’s gods plural as ancient cultures thought there were and believed in multiple gods— they thought of the gods as fulfilling specific functions. And the ancients thought to die childless was a disgrace and usually attributed that producing of children function to some god. We know that concept leaked into the Hebrew culture.

Indeed, if a question about supplying an heir is not about a function, not about asking God, ‘what have You done for me lately?’ I don’t know what is. So the very question a) comes from the culture and b) says very little about Who God is.

Please notice, I am at least suggesting the appropriate question here is Who is God? And one of the things I think we fail to realize about the story Scripture relates— all Scripture, not just this story— all Scripture comes down to a very simple concept we find in any story. So let’s ask the question which needs to be posed: in this story who is this particular character we call God? (Slight pause.)

God, you see, is the main character in Scripture. And there is a second main character— Israel. Further, I would argue those two— God and Israel— are not just the main characters in Scripture. They are the only two characters in Scripture.

All of which is to say— to use very traditional language— God is a Person. Or as the language of Trinitarianism states, God is three Persons but One God. I think one reason we forget about the concept of the personhood of God is because too often instead of asking about our relationship with God we ask this question of God: “What have you done for me lately?”

We thereby turn God into a function rather than someone Who lives, someone to Whom we need to relate, someone with Whom we need to be in relationship, someone with Whom we need to be emotionally involved. And that leaves yet another question: what is the overall story we find in Scripture really about? (Slight pause.)

To me this is clear: the stories in Scripture are not about results, results like producing an offspring, a child. The stories in Scripture, this story in particular, is about hope. And God is a God of hope. God the person is about hope. So who is God? God is a character Who expresses hope.

After all, what is it God is really promising? God is not promising a baby. (Quote:) “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you can! As many stars as are in the sky so shall your descendants be.” That is a promise framed in poetry and because it is framed in poetry that is a promise about hope. (Slight pause.)

When it comes to the story of God I think it’s up to us— as the new Israel we are one of the two characters in Scripture— it’s up to us to tell the story about the other character in Scripture— God. It’s up to us to say who God is and to say how we relate to God. And the story told of God in Scripture says God is a God of hope, about hope, about hopefulness. That’s who God is.

Why would I say that? The story of God is a story about someone who loves us. And since God loves us there is no better reason than that for us to hope. Why? Love is, I think, the ultimate expression of hope. Amen.

08/10/2025
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “Several weeks ago I quoted Anglican theologian Nicholas Thomas Wright. This quote is also from Wright and I take the topic to be hope. (Quote:) ‘Western Christians tend to think of going to heaven or going to hell as the framework of the Bible. But the Bible is not a story about us going somewhere. It is a story about the Creator God coming to live with us.’— Nicholas Thomas Wright. I think God coming to live with us defines hope. Perhaps what is up to us to do is to be disciples of God, disciples who spread the word of hope.”

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 hope Whose wisdom is endless. Let us go in peace to love and serve God. Amen.

08/03/2025 ~ 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 ~ NOTE: the Lectionary Readings Were Not Used. The Scripture Below Was Used

YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJvaHHZcY1U

VIDEO OF SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1107738993

NOTE: THE PORTION WHICH IS THE COMMUNION HAS BEEN DELETED

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE

This reading has two segments: the first tells about the crossing of The Sea of Reeds. This journey has commonly been connected to The Red Sea but that event is much more likely to have been the crossing of a marshland, a sea of reeds. To be clear, the Exodus, this journey, is considered by be the primal, saving story in the Hebrew Scriptures, a tale of liberation, freedom and hence a clear disclosure about the nature of God. Therefore, to see this story as merely a miracle is to fall short of understanding its implications. The second segment of the reading is found at the end of the 15th chapter of Exodus. Most of the 15th chapter is comprised of what is commonly called The Song of Moses. At the end of the that chapter we hear what is commonly called The Song of Miriam— Miriam bring the sister of Moses and Aaron. We know The Song of Miriam is a much older text than The Song of Moses. So it’s likely these words are the initial description of the primal event in the history of Israel and is recorded as being intoned by a woman. Hear now this Word as it is found in that portion of the Torah known as Exodus.

A READING FROM THE TANAKH IN THE SECTION KNOWN AS THE TORAH — Exodus 14:19-24, 15:19-21 [ILV]

[19] The angel of God, who was going before the Israelites, moved and went behind them; the pillar of cloud left the front of their number and took its place behind them, between the Israelites and the Egyptians. [20] All through the night the cloud provided light to one side and darkness to the other side, so there was no contact between them.

[21] Then Moses stretched out a hand over the sea. And Yahweh, God, swept back the sea by a strong east wind throughout the night and so turned the sea into dry land. When the waters were thus divided, [22] the Israelites marched into its midst on dry land, with water on their right and on their left.

[23] The Egyptians followed in pursuit and went into the midst of sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. [24] At the morning watch, at dawn, Yahweh, God, looked down upon the Egyptian forces from the fiery cloud, and threw the army into confusion and panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they could hardly turn. The Egyptians turned to flee from the Israelites, saying, “Their God fights for them against us.”

[15:19] Once the horses, chariots and chariot drivers came into the seabed, Yahweh let the water collapse upon them. But the Israelites had walked through the seabed on dry ground.

[20] Then Aaron’s sister, the prophet Miriam, picked up a tambourine and all the women followed dancing, also carrying tambourines, [21] while Miriam sang to them:

“Sing to Yahweh,
Who has triumphed gloriously;
Who has fling horse and rider
into the sea.”

MIRIAM AND AARON OR


PROPHET SHARING

NARRATOR
So what we’re going to do this morning is a play and the title of the play is Miriam and Aaron or Prophet Sharing. The play uses the Exodus event to illustrate how things that happen can illuminate the relationship of humanity with God. The events depicted take place the evening after the people of Israel have crossed the Sea of Reeds. We do need your cooperation and your imagination, so please imagine with me as the curtain rises we see a rock strewn plateau which overlooks the encampment of the Israelites in a valley below. It is night. In the distance we can see there are many campfires burning. There is an occasional flash of lightning and the sound of thunder is heard. And we can also hear people in the distance and they are singing. Now you, this Congregation, have a part in this play. You are the people of Israel. And you are the people we hear singing. That hymn is in the bulletin and you just heard the choir sing it except they did it as a round. You won’t have to do it that way. You can just sing it in a straightforward way using, for those of you who read music, the second ending. O.K. You’re the people of Israel.

CHORUS
I WILL SING UNTO THE LORD,
FOR HE HAS TRIUMPHED GLORIOUSLY;
THE HORSE AND RIDER
THROWN INTO THE SEA!

LORD MY GOD
MY STRENGTH AND SONG
IS NOW MY VICTORY

THE LORD IS GOD AND
I WILL PRAISE HIM,
MY FATHER’S GOD
AND I WILL EXALT HIM.

NARRATOR
As the singing ends Miriam comes on stage and she is laughing, giggling. Aaron also is with her.

MIRIAM
Oh Aaron, Aaron. Isn’t it wonderful? Isn’t it amazing? Who would have believed this? Who could have predicted this? Our bondage is over!

AARON
Marion, you— you could have predicted this.

MIRIAM
Me?

AARON
You do not give yourself enough credit, Miriam. I’ve seen you predict things and they come true as sure as the sun rises.

MIRIAM
Speculate? Yes. Predict? I think not. And this? This is too… too… incredible, beyond anyone’s ability to predict.

AARON
No, no, not at all— it was not only possible. It was predictable. And these things all came about because you had a hand in them! You are the one who is most likely to have seen these times coming. How could you fail to see them coming?

MIRIAM
But I had no hand in vanquishing the Pharaoh. It was not I who set our people free. It was not I who led the escape from the land of our oppression.

AARON
Oppression is never overcome in a single day or by a single individual. It takes years, decades, many people, thousands of people, doing small things, working, building toward freedom. Then when the timing is right… no, no, no… when Yahweh’s timing is right, it just happens! And you don’t seem to understand that you’ve had a great hand in this night, Miriam. You will be remembered by many for what you have done.

MIRIAM
But what is it that I did?

AARON
Still you don’t know?

MIRIAM
I am at a loss.

AARON
(He now becomes a reluctant teacher.) O.K. Very well. I’ll explain. Our brother, Moses, and I went to Pharaoh and said “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.’” Who was it who sent Moses to do this thing, to say these things to Pharaoh, and who told him that these things would come to pass?

MIRIAM
(Hesitantly.) I did not do that. It was the God of our ancestors, the God of Abraham and Sarah, of Isaac and Rebekah and Jacob and Rachel Who sent Moses.

AARON
(With a small chuckle.) Yes, very good. O.K. Now, why did Moses believe Yahweh?

MIRIAM
As incredible as this sounds, Yahweh spoke to Moses from a burning bush! After all, who would not believe a command given from the midst of a burning bush which fails to consume? And who would fail to believe when right in front of them a rod is turned into a serpent or a hand is made leprous and then made well again in the blink of an eye?

AARON
Why yes, anyone who has an experience of God believes. But I want you to think about this with a broader perspective. This is not about how Moses believed God but why Moses believed God is faithful. (Slight pause.) Tell me, who was it who taught Moses about the God of our ancestors?

MIRIAM
Well, Mother and… (She begins to realize what she is about to say and her voice trails off in wonderment.) …I, we both took turns… No! Why, we never dreamt telling Moses about Yahweh would result in this!

AARON
Of course, you didn’t. You didn’t dream of a night like this, a night of freedom, a night when God’s salvation becomes real and tangible, bound as we were in slavery. Who would have believed the reality or this night? But without your part in teaching Moses about the God of our ancestors he never would have stopped to hear Yahweh speak! As soon as he saw the bush, he would have run away. He would have been just another shepherd having delusions from too much desert sun! But now we have our freedom. Because Moses believed and listened to Yahweh! And you did it! You taught Moses. You were part of a hope that would not die, a legacy that we pass from generation to generation. And Yahweh, God, saw our affliction, heard our cries and delivered us out of the hands of our oppressors and shall bring us to a land flowing with milk and honey all because Moses knew to trust God! And where did Moses learn that lesson? From you!

MIRIAM
Aaron, you are always the politician!

AARON
Am I?

MIRIAM
You go on and on. You enjoy hearing yourself speak.

AARON
(He chuckles.) You cut me to the quick. But you’re right. I do enjoy hearing myself speak. But it is you to whom Moses first listened.

MIRIAM
No. Moses listened to Yahweh.

AARON
You are too modest.

MIRIAM
I am too honest.

AARON
And you’re not a politician? Will you tell this politician what it is you told Moses when he was a boy and lived in the palace of the Pharaoh?

MIRIAM
Why?

AARON
Curiosity.

MIRIAM
Killed the cat.

AARON
We do not kill cats either in Egypt where they worship cats nor outside of Egypt where we use them to catch rodents. But really, I am interested in hearing what you said, how you told the story of our people to Moses. Maybe if I hear you tell it to me I can then say it to my children, convey the same meanings and the feelings you imparted to Moses.

MIRIAM
What is it I told Moses? (Pause.) Over the years it was so much. Of course, it started with the stories of Abram. But I don’t think I was very concerned with the facts of the stories. Mother was. I can never remember details. I am much more concerned with what things mean than with the facts.

AARON
So tell me, what did you say to Moses about the story of Abram?

MIRIAM
Well, I told him of Abram’s obedience when God said leave the land of Haran and promised to make Abram a great nation, that the offspring of Abram would be as numerous as the stars. And Abram packed up the family, crossed miles of desert to Shechem, to Egypt, always in obedience, never questioning. And the covenants! God’s promises! I said God was personal, real, familial! And I also said God keeps God’s promises. Is our freedom now not proof of this? And yes, it has taken time. But God’s timing seems to apply. Often we have to wait and often we do not understand what it is God has promised but God always follows through on what God promises.
AARON
Tell me more about God and Abram.

MIRIAM
Well, God changed the name of this ancestor from Abram to Abraham, changed the name of Sarai to Sarah. This naming was an outward sign of the covenant. And then God gave them a son in their old age. Such a joy to have a son! And this (she sweeps her hand toward the congregation), all this, this nation, these people, will be God’s congregation from that seed!

AARON
So what have we learned from Abraham?

MIRIAM
God loves us. God will provide.

AARON
And what of Isaac.

MIRIAM
The child named laughter.

AARON
The child God would have Abraham destroy.

MIRIAM
But God did not have Abraham destroy Isaac.

AARON
No.

MIRIAM
No! God provided for the sacrifice when all seemed lost. Trust! That is what we must learn about God! Trust!

AARON
That’s hard sometimes.

MIRIAM
Is it ever easy?

AARON
Well… no.

MIRIAM
Trust is, indeed, also one of the things we learn from Isaac. Trust and God will provide.

AARON
Trust? Yes, but the stories about Isaac make life seem so easy. It’s easy to trust when life is easy.

MIRIAM
Is that so? Life was easy? May you be blessed with two son’s like Esau and Jacob and we’ll see how easy life is for you!

AARON
I see your point. So… you said that from the story of Isaac and Rebekah the people should learn something of trusting God, but what is it you told Moses of Jacob? (Playing the devil’s advocate.) What is it you could have told Moses about Jacob— Jacob, the conniver— Jacob the schemer. How could you have said anything good about him?

MIRIAM
Jacob, the one who wrestled with God?

AARON
Yes, Jacob the one who wrestled with God.

MIRIAM
That is the simple story.

AARON
Simple?

MIRIAM
Yes. If you wrestle with God, grapple with God, then you may be the weakest clay that God, the potter, has but God will mold you into the finest pot, fit for use at any table, at Yahweh’s table! And if you wrestle with God your name shall be called Israel, for you have striven with God.

AARON
You amaze me.

MIRIAM
How?

AARON
You have spun out the history of our salvation, our freedom, in these few minutes. It’s no wonder Moses listened to you. You have summed up the meaning of our relationship with Yahweh.

MIRIAM
You are mistaken. It is not possible to really say in mere words what our relationship with Yahweh means.

AARON
Even as you say it, I know you are right. I have experienced Yahweh, God, and yet I can not express what it feels like— not fully, not adequately. Maybe that’s why I asked to hear you talk about it. There is no way to express the inexpressible, is there?

MIRIAM
Only in metaphor, Aaron.

AARON
Ah! The only way that we can describe the unspeakable is to speak, not with our mouths, but with our hearts, with our emotions, to say things with song and dance and stories, to speak of the deepest truths and to be free to express our feelings about God with our imagination.

MIRIAM
Well said, my brother. And we must continue to tell and retell each other the stories. We must remember Yahweh with these stories, for there is no other way to describe the experience of Yahweh.

AARON
It will be as you say, Miriam. We shall, we will retell the stories of our ancestors and we will retell the story of this night forever.

MIRIAM
There is one thing I would like to know from you, one thing that I would like you to explain.

AARON
As if I could. (Pause.) Well, what is it?

MIRIAM
We have now escaped the land of Egypt, the land of our oppression but what does that mean?

AARON
I, for one, don’t care what it means.

MIRIAM
Why not?

AARON
We can only know meaning partially and only then in the past. I have no wish to know what it means. The only thing that I want to know is what’s gong to happen next?

MIRIAM
That (pause) I can answer!

AARON
See, I knew you were a prophet!

MIRIAM
(She shouts.) Whatever will happen will happen in Yahweh’s timing!

NARRATOR
At that point Miriam runs offstage. Aaron stands there for a moment stunned and realizes what she has said.

AARON
Why yes! How could it be otherwise! Whatever will happen will happen in Yahweh’s timing.

NARRATOR
As Aaron leaves there is again a bolt of lightening and a roll of thunder. The curtain comes down, the people of Israel are heard singing in the distance. (The Narrator motions to the congregation to sing.)

CHORUS
I WILL SING UNTO THE LORD,
FOR HE HAS TRIUMPHED GLORIOUSLY;
THE HORSE AND RIDER
THROWN INTO THE SEA!

LORD MY GOD
MY STRENGTH AND SONG
IS NOW MY VICTORY

THE LORD IS GOD AND
I WILL PRAISE HIM,
MY FATHER’S GOD
AND I WILL EXALT HIM.

NARRATOR
The end!

THE END

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “I am sure you noticed the opening hymn was the Spiritual Go Down Moses. The enslaved community from which many spirituals come understood that the salvation history found in Scripture started with the stories in the Torah. They also understood the Biblical meaning of the word salvation was not some pie in the sky by and by idea. The Biblical meaning of the word salvation is God’s gift of freedom. We hit some of the high points of the salvation history in the Torah today, so it would be wise of us to understand salvation starts with God’s freedom.”

BENEDICTION: We have observed this day to honor God, Who promises to be with us. And we have been claimed as Christ’s own. Therefore the Spirit is present to us. And because of the reality of the Trinity we are taught to value every person. So may the reality of God and the peace of Christ, which surpasses our understanding, keep our hearts and minds in the love, knowledge and companionship of the Holy Spirit this day and forevermore. Amen.

07/27/2025 ~ 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 COMPLETE SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1105531702
YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/@ekcbroadcast2982/streams

The Climax of the Covenant

“In Christ also you have been given the Covenant through a transformation performed not by human hands but with a spiritual circumcision, by the complete stripping away of your body of flesh. This is what ‘circumcision’ in Christ means.” — Colossians 2:11.

Have you ever been someplace and it feels very familiar but you know you’ve never been there before? It’s like you already know the place but you don’t know how?

In a way what I’m trying to describe is a place which immediately feels like… you belong. Another way to put it is it’s a place that right away feels like… home. (Slight pause.)

The first time I stepped inside the chapel at Bangor Theological Seminary… it felt like I belonged. It felt like home. (Slight pause.) To be clear, any home demands a lot of work. I had to put in a lot of work at Bangor. But it did feel like home. (Slight pause.)

The first time I went to the island off Stonington that came into Bonnie’s family in 1898 was a couple years before I met her. However, strangely and despite my recent allergy issues which you may have read about in the weekly News and Notes email, the first time I stepped on the island it felt like I belonged there. It felt like home. (Slight pause.) And yes, there’s work involved with that place too. (Slight pause.)

My bet is this is true for at least some of you. The first time you walked into this place… it felt like you belonged. It felt like home. And yes, there’s a lot of work involved.

Now just for a moment, I’d like to offer some history about the island that’s in Bonnie’s family. It became a Summer place for family and extended family in 1927. Every day since then when someone is on the island a log has been kept, like a ship’s log. It’s a written account of the people who were there and the activities in which they engaged.

Hence, Bonnie can go to the log from 1927 and see entries about her father at the age of 13. She can see the first time she, as a youngster, wrote in the log. Bonnie and I met on the island and we can see the entry on the day we met. Keeping that log is a cherished family tradition. Remembering things in words helps make the island feel like home.

Remembering with words helps keep memories alive, helps in learning about what has been but also helps understanding things right now and even where things might go. Remembering with words helps make sure what’s important is not forgotten. Remembering, learning, never forgetting what’s important— all these are central to the process of bonding into family, of becoming family. (Slight pause.)

We hear this in Colossians: “In Christ also you have been given the Covenant through a transformation performed not by human hands but with a spiritual circumcision, by the complete stripping away of your body of flesh. This is what ‘circumcision’ in Christ means.” (Slight pause.)

British Theologian Nicholas Thomas Wright describes Jesus as (quote:) “the Climax of the Covenant.” What does that mean? (Slight pause.)

In order to unpack a term like “Climax of the Covenant” I need to state something I’ve said before. When reading Scripture we need to place ourselves in the context of the First Century of the Common Era and ask ‘what did the words mean to those who first read or first heard them?’

And so let’s state the obvious: Jesus is Jewish. The writer of Colossians— probably not Paul, by the way— it is clear the writer of Colossians sees Jesus in the light of the God of Israel, sees Jesus in continuity with Hebrew heritage and within the traditions of Hebrew heritage.

This writer hence seems to be making a connection between Jesus and the God of Israel. And so I see the words in this passage as a rethinking by early Christians about the God of Israel. In so doing they strive to wrestle with the reality of Jesus and wrestle with an understanding, their understanding, of who Jesus is and who God is.

The place on which they land is to make the claim that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. These early Christians— by calling Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah— then offer a definition of what being the Christ that might mean.

They proclaim Jesus as an extension of the Covenant made by God with Israel, with the people of Israel. By calling Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, they make a connection to the traditions of the God of Israel. Indeed, this wrestling, this grappling with the person of Jesus, this trying to connect Jesus with the God of Israel, should be seen by us as a tradition with which we need to grapple with which we need to understand.

I think if we claim to be Christians, as individuals and as a community, it is imperative we not merely or simply accept what modern books and preachers tell us about Jesus without examination or without question. Just as these early Christians wrestled with the identity of Jesus, I think it is imperative that we, ourselves, each one of us, wrestles with the very concept of who Jesus is, wrestles with the connection of Jesus and God, wrestles with what Hebrew tradition and Christian tradition say. (Slight pause.)

That brings me back to traditions. What is the purpose of traditions? Earlier I said traditions are about remembering, learning, never forgetting. Traditions are, thereby, central to the process of bonding into family, central to the process of becoming family, central to finding out… what home really is.

So, why do we need to grapple? Why not just accept? Why not just say, “this feels like home and be done with it?” (Slight pause.) The first verse in the reading today said (quote:) “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus,….” The Greek verb here translated as “received” refers to the reception of tradition.

In the Greek this receiving of tradition is not about a static or passive understanding of acceptance of tradition, not understood as the collection of historical particulars and constraints. That is not the implication of that word in the Greek.

Rather, the language indicates receiving this tradition allows for those receiving it to be built up in Christ, allows for continued growth in Christ, continued development in Christ. And the way for each of us and all of us to embrace that growth and development is by wrestling with and striving to understand how God and Christ are central to our own individual history with God and our collective history with God.

In short, if we are Christians, our tradition says we need to wrestle with the reality of who Jesus is, as did the early Christians. Put another way our tradition is not static.

Our tradition says we need to wrestle with the idea that Jesus is a part of the Covenant made by God with the people of Israel. Our tradition says we need wrestle with the connection between Jesus and God.

And yes, I think examining our traditions is a means of making sure we never forget what’s important. And yes, traditions are about remembering. And yes, traditions are about learning and never forgetting what’s important. And yes, perhaps the most important thing to realize here is that Christian traditions are about growth, our growth. And yes, these traditions are about our growth as individuals and as a community.

And yes, I think by wrestling with our traditions we, as Christians, will accomplish what is central to the process— holding, keeping and growing traditions. Of course, if and when we do that well, then we will bond into family, enter into the process of constantly becoming family. And so as Christians— this church— we are members of a family. Now that’s a novel idea— as church we are members of a family. How about that? Amen.

07/27/2025
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I need to note that the name, the word Israel has a specific meaning. The word Israel means the one who wrestled with God. Wrestling with God and wrestling with our understanding of God and who God is may be our oldest and even our most cherished tradition. And just like a house or a family or a church, wrestling with our understanding of God takes a lot of work. It isn’t just a given.”

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 a straight path. 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 steady 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.

06/29/2025 ~ Proper 8 ~ Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Third Sunday after Pentecost ~ 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 ~ Heritage Sunday ~ Service of Worship Held in the 1759 Meeting House. VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1098165908

What Was It Like?

“For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” — Galatians 5:1.

I’d like to start my comments today with an experiment, a test of our ability to imagine something together. I going to ask that you imagine yourself in a specific time and place, New York City in the year 1894. Back then the city was just Manhattan. The Bronx, Staten Island, Queens and Brooklyn did not merge with Manhattan, until 1898.

So to start this, please close your eyes, place yourself in Manhattan, right at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue in 1894. I’ll be quiet for a couple seconds so you can imagine that. (Slight pause.) What’s that like? What do you see, feel? (Slight pause.)

If you were successful you can now say, “Gee! What that preacher said today really stinks!” You see, if you were successful you could smell, pardon the expression, residue of horse!

This was before cars. There were some 150,000 horses in the city. Each one produced about 30 pounds of residue. That’s a total of 3 million pounds a day and does not include 40,000 gallons per day from that other system of elimination.

So now let us try to imagine a different time and location. Earlier you heard the Declaration of Independence was first proclaimed publicly in Harpswell on the steps of this Meeting House, steps on which you walked on this morning. I’ll ask you to place yourself here, at this Meeting House, for that event in 1776.

Now as a reminder, remember Maine did not exist. We were a part of Massachusetts. A copy of the Declaration probably arrived by horseback, delivered by the Post Office which was created by the Continental Congress in 1775. (Slight pause.)

Can you hear those words? What did it feel like to hear those words, words about everyone created equal, equal to kings, endowed by a Creator with unalienable rights? (Slight pause.)

Well, later in that year of rebellion against a king, Thomas Paine published a pamphlet. I’ll bet you know the opening words. “These are the times that try men’s souls.”

In the third paragraph of that work we find this. (Quote:) “My secret opinion has ever been… that God Almighty will not give up a people… or leave them unsupportedly to perish.” (Slight pause.)

This work was published in Philadelphia on December 16th 1776 and read to Washington’s troops on December 24th, just before they crossed the Delaware. So do em a favor— place yourself there, with those troops. What did that sound like, feel like? (Long pause.)

This is what we hear in Galatians: “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Slight pause.)

If you come to a Kellogg Church Bible study— after a hiatus it will restart on Monday July, 28th and all are welcome— at that Bible Study we try to be aware we need to place ourselves among the people who first heard or read this letter. And we have no illusions about doing that. It’s hard to do, place ourselves in that time and place.

But we do need to try to understand these words the way they did. Only then can we begin to try to unpack and unwrap what it might mean to us and for us here, today.

And for us today, freedom has connotations it did not have for Paul. A thesaurus these days would identify freedom with autonomy— as in freedom to do as I please. But that would not have been Paul’s understanding. So we should not apply that modern outlook. Instead, we need to be intensely inquisitive, discerning as we delve into the text.

Indeed, freedom in Christ must not be confused with a license that fails to understand responsibility and involves obligations. I would suggest the freedom embodied in this writing is a concept of freedom different than the kind of freedom many insist on today— the aforementioned “do as I please” kind of freedom, the “my way or the highway” kind of self-centered sentiment we seem to hear so often today.

Hence, I think an appropriate question to ask of this text— something else we do in Bible study is ask questions of the text— it seems the appropriate question to ask of this text is simple. How is the freedom these words embody to be lived out?

I think Paul’s message on that count is clearly stated. We need to be reliant on the Spirit of God. Why?

When we rely on God these fruits of the Spirit become tangible and Paul lists them: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Put differently, if you hang out in churches you might find many people that take the love of God and the love of neighbor, the things that get talked about in church, you might find people who take that seriously. We may not be perfect, us folks in church, but we take that seriously.

Equally, once we pay attention to the freedom with which the Spirit might endow us, we need to take the next step. We need to honor, respect and love all our neighbors. In short, seeking the common good really means something. (Slight pause.)

In a direct way that brings us back to the events of 1776 and how the patriots of that era thought about freedom. I mentioned earlier the words about the equality with which we are endowed by a Creator, those unalienable rights— life, liberty, happiness.

In fact, with our Twenty-first Century mind set we tend to emphasize the autonomy this list implies. But I suspect the founders who wrote those words and even the folks here in Harpswell who first heard them might have had a different take.

That different take is illustrated among words we find at the end of our Declaration. (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”— mutually pledge Lives, Fortunes, Sacred Honor.

In short, the members of the Continental Congress gathered in assembly and by extension the citizens of the states, the people here in Harpswell, relied on one another for mutual support. They sought the common good.

That sounds to me at least similar to the message Paul was trying to transmit. Loving your neighbor means seeking the common good, supporting your neighbor.

This brings us to once again the reality of both this Meeting House whose steps you crossed this morning and the newer structure dating from 1843 across the road. Since its founding this Congregational Church has meant being community and supporting community.

Indeed, the word congregation means an assembly of people. And the initial and first and real reason for this group of people to assemble was and it still is mutual support, community support, the common good.

I think that fact once again sends us to Paul’s words, since I think they comment on how mutual support, the common good, happens. (Quote:) “For freedom Christ has set us free.” So we need to (quote:) “Stand firm… do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Amen.

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “As I said this earlier a basis of a Congregational church, the Kellogg Church, is community, mutual support, the common good, in this case the Kellogg Church and Harpswell. And indeed, in an email to the members just this week I said the pastor is not the church. Who is the church? To paraphrase our other founding document, we the people are the church. Let us as a community seek the common good. And yes, in order for us to be effective as we strive to enhance the common good there is one requirement. It’s the discipline we call love.”

BENEDICTION: 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.

06/22/2025 ~ Second Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 7 ~ Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a; Psalm 42 and 43; Isaiah 65:1-9; Psalm 22:19-28; Galatians 3:23-29; Luke 8:26-39 ~ YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yqtgrT0LGE ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1096288542

To Whom Do We Belong?

“Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the constraint of the law until faith would be revealed.” — Galatians 3:23.

I have often thought this and sometimes say it out loud. I am thankful for the opportunity I had to attend seminary and earn a 90 credit Master of Divinity Degree. As a comparison, the American Bar Association recommends a Doctor of Law degree of 83 credits. So why is the law degree is a doctorate and a divinity degree a master’s? Academia is strange.

I do treasure my time at seminary but I maintain the degree only certifies, provides box checking, a completion of prescribe steps. It does not qualify someone. There is a difference.

Qualification is up to the local church. The process of qualification starts when a local church raises up a member of that church and believes that member has the gifts to be a pastor. So it’s the people of a local church who tell someone in their midst they are qualified.

Put differently, it’s not up to an individual to say, “I think I should be a pastor.” It’s up to the congregation to say to the individual, “we think you should be a pastor.”

First Parish in Brunswick spent a year exploring this idea with me and only then decided I might be fit and dispatched me off to seminary. Six years ago when I returned to Maine, First Parish was at it again. They had raised up three members for ministry.

Those folks are all now ordained, all serving churches. And this is the way it should work in Congregational churches: from pew to pulpit.

On the other hand, certification, a fulness of training, is really, really important. And training correctly often takes three or more years of intensive work.

I want to mention one more thing about my certification process, the piece of academic information, certification, I did not have when I entered seminary. It was in the area of sociology and how it interacts with church life. Getting certified, doing the steps, helped me with that.

When it comes to sociology— and I’ve said this here this before— like people worship with like people. That statement is both a reality which needs to be addressed and dealt with by every local church and is also theologically abhorrent.

That leads to this question: what is the current ministry and work of this church and how does that intertwine with the sociology here in Harpswell? (Slight pause.)

You know this. On average the State of Maine has the oldest population of any state. The Harpswell community has the oldest population in the State. That means over the last 20, 30 and 40 years the community this church serves has changed.

Based on that there are some hard questions which need to be assessed. Over the last 20 or 30 or 40 years did this church react to that statistic about this community, change how you do what you do, internally and externally? Or internally and externally is this church still largely doing or at least trying to do what you did 20 or 30 or 40 years ago?

Is it possible that this external change impeded your mission? Is it possible the change was not noticed since things kept rolling along in an adequate way? If that external change has not brought internal change in how the work is done inside these walls, why not? Put a different way, is the work of this church simply to do what you always did? (Slight pause.)

We find this in Galatians: “Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the constraint of the law until faith would be revealed.” (Slight pause.)

It seems to me too often churches fail to turn to Scripture for guidance— especially guidance which might be disruptive. Instead churches tend to rely on whatever feels comfortable. Indeed, if you hang around any church long enough you will eventually hear the Eleventh Commandment: we’ve never done it that way before. (Slight pause.)

Now, in the Third Chapter of Galatians Paul presents a disruptive idea. Following the law, the way things have always been done, and having faith like Jesus are opposite and not compatible. Today’s passage is the climax of that discussion.

Boiled down to essentials this says the law, rules, need to be thought of as both temporal and insufficient. Further, with the advent and presence of Christ, allegiances to the past are futile, useless. In short, when we place rules above our relationships with Christ and one another we fail to rely on the Spirit of God. (Slight pause.)

Congregationalism stands on this principle. We are, each of us, free— free to make choices about a relationship with God.

That insistence on freedom presents a twofold problem in our modern society. The first is the aforementioned sociological gathering of the modern church where like people do gather with like people. This is not just abhorrent but also it threatens freedom.

You see, if we exist only within our culture and don’t move outside of it, we are effectively trapped in and trapped by our culture. Thereby our freedom is, by definition, limited. Considering how our culture operates— like people and all that stuff, not looking outside the box— that lack of freedom is a given. But what are we to do to deal with this? Where does that leave us? (Slight pause.)

In the Galatians reading we heard this (quote:) “…so that we might be justified by the faith of Jesus.” That verse has traditionally been translated “justified by faith in Jesus” not “justified by the faith of Jesus.” It seems like a small difference but it is not.

In every other place in the New Testament where this construction of grammar exists the preposition is translated as of, not in. So this should not be faith in Christ but the faith of Christ.

In fact, for many years study Bibles have had a footnote. The footnote said this phrase should probably be translated not as in but as the faith of Christ. And what did this footnote we find in study Bibles say? If you remove the academic double talk it said, “We’ve never done it that way before.” Like I said, academia— strange.

So what is the difference? It’s wonderful to have faith in Christ, believe Christ is the Messiah. But the Greek clearly says we need to have the faith of Christ, trust God just like Jesus trusted God. Indeed, if we are really justified by faith— that great precept of Protestantism— we need to trust God just as Jesus did. (Slight pause.)

Thomas Merton, the late American Trappist monk, wrote this prayer. “Dear God, / I have no idea where I am going. / I do not see the road ahead of me. / I cannot know for certain where it will end / nor do I really know myself, / and the fact that I think I am following Your will / does not mean that I am actually doing so. / But I believe that the desire to please You / does in fact please You.”

“I hope I have that desire in all I am doing. / I hope I will never do anything apart from that desire. / And I know if I do this, You will lead me by the right road, / though I may know nothing about it. / Therefore, I will trust You always though / I may seem to be lost…. / (But) I will not fear, for You are ever with me, / and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.” [1] — Thomas Merton. (Long pause.)

A constant question with which we struggle is reflected in my sermon title— To Whom Do We Belong? Do we belong to the culture, trust in laws, rules, the strictures of old, all that stuff Paul was so adamantly condemning? Or do we belong to and follow Christ?

And do we, as Merton suggests, never fear even though we might have no idea where we are going? Perhaps what we need to do trust God that we can and will provide ministry at this time, in this place called Harpswell, as those who came before us did.

Perhaps what we need to do is trust God just as Jesus trusted God. We need to have the faith of Christ. Why? Again as Merton said, because God walks with us. And we do know that God walks with us… don’t we? Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
06/22/2025

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “As I said a couple weeks ago, I went off to seminary at the ripe old age of 44. Did I know how it would turn out? No. But as well as I think I was able to, I tried to trust God on my seminary journey. And believe me there were times I was overwhelmed with horrendous amounts of fear about what might happen. What I am suggesting is that today and moving forward we need to trust God and rely on each other as we, as a community of faith together, trust God.”

BENEDICTION: God keeps faith forever. Go from this place filled with new life, ready to bear the good news of God’s promises. And should you find yourself feeling worried or discouraged, lacking trust, remember the wondrous love of God, the healing power of Christ Jesus, and the bold courage of the Holy Spirit. These go with you today and always. Amen!

[1] Very slightly edited for this context.

https://reflections.yale.edu/article/seize-day-vocation-calling-work/merton-prayer