localpastor

11/16/2025 ~ Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 28 ~ Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 12; Malachi 4:1-2a; Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19 ~ Note: used Luke 21:1-4.
EKC VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvR4SmJRmUU
HARPSWELL TV VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25QCXvsF99E

Gifts for the Temple

“Jesus said, ‘All of them have contributed out of their abundance, out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty, out of her want, has put in what she could not afford, every penny she had to live on.’” — Luke 21:4-5.

I cannot count the number of times my wife, Bonnie, has said to someone, “When I got married I didn’t know I was marrying a pastor.” And that is true. I started on the journey to seminary and ordination just after our third anniversary.

On the other hand, when I got married to Bonnie I did not know she was marrying a pastor. It was a surprise to both of us. So how did that happen?

This is the short version. When I joined First Parish in Brunswick a Bangor Seminary poster was hanging on the wall near the pastor’s office with postcards you could rip off and send to the seminary to get information. I do not know what possessed me but I did that— ripped off a card and sent it to the seminary.

Two weeks later a catalogue from Bangor arrived in the mail. I threw it on the coffee table. The next day Bonnie had to be out for a couple hours. I was alone, perhaps a little bored so I picked it up. I turned to the section with course descriptions— boring course descriptions. I sat there reading the course descriptions. Then I started to cry.

I suddenly remembered I’d asked an Episcopal Priest friend what a call to ministry felt like. This was the response: “When I heard the call it felt terrible. I cried for hours.”

And there I was, reading boring course descriptions in a seminary catalogue and I was crying. I said to myself, “Uh, oh!” And that… is how the journey to seminary and ordained ministry began. (Slight pause.)

These words are in Luke. “Jesus said ‘All of them have contributed out of their abundance, out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty, out of her want, has put in what she could not afford, every penny she had to live on.’” (Slight pause.)

When the seminary journey started reality should have told us you’re both too old— over the age of 40— seminary— a bad, financially unstable idea. Being a pastor— a bad, financially unstable career. (Slight pause.)

Have things worked out? Well, I’ve been in a pulpit more than thirty years now. But let me offer this anecdote as an example of real world truths. Remember when COVID happened and people got money, a pay out from the Federal Government?

I was already retired but when that check arrived we paid off the end of my student loans from seminary with it. That payout was exactly what we still owed. (Slight pause.)

So what has kept us going on this journey over time? We trusted God and trusted our neighbors, the people at First Parish who first supported us and the churches I’ve served who walked with us on the journey. It was a journey of faith and trust. (Long pause.)

Jesus sees an impoverished woman, a widow, putting coins in a collection box. Those descriptions— a woman, a widow, impoverished— make her unacceptable, an outcast in that era. But she put coins in a treasury box.

Where does that money go when it gets to the Temple treasury? The Hebrew Scriptures are clear. Money given to the Temple should go to orphans, widows, the outcast. But is that where those coins are really headed?

We don’t know. The text does not tell us. And the widow does not know either. She just dropped coins in a box. So the point being made by Jesus is not about the generosity of this impoverished widow nor is it about money.

I hope this is obvious— the woman trusts God. She trusts her neighbors who are stewards of the Temple treasury that they will give to the widows, to orphans, to the outcast. And she also trusts her neighbors with whom she interacts day by day by day, trusts they will have compassion when she needs help.

So the tale of this widow is not about money. This is about a faith journey called trust— trusting God and trusting neighbors. And make no mistake about it— trusting God and trusting neighbors is not a destination. It’s a journey… of faith. (Slight pause.)

Among the myriad of events next week is the stewardship breakfast and then the Kellogg Church will embark on a journey. The journey is not about money. Anyone who claims this journey is about money is not paying attention to the witness of Scripture.

The journey is about faith and trust. Do you trust God? Do you trust your neighbors, the people sitting next to you in these pews? This journey is about trusting God and trusting neighbors.

Do me a favor— look around this Meetinghouse. Look at each other. These are your friends and neighbors, the people in whom you need to place your trust on this faith journey. I’ll pause for a couple of moments to let that happen. Go ahead— look around. (Long pause.)

In Congregationalism members have voice and vote. But the Congregational tradition also operates as a representative democracy. People are chosen to fill different roles— Moderators, Deacons, etc., etc. Trust is placed in people to fulfill those roles.

So the question is do you trust the people you have assigned to help on this faith journey? Again, the journey has not been, is not and will not be about money or even about what rules to follow. This journey is about trust and faith. (Slight pause.)

A long time ago, in what feels like a galaxy far, far away I sat alone in my living room with tears running down my face. Why? I think it was the realization that I needed to trust God. And on that journey it would be imperative that I trust my neighbors.

The tears? I think they happened because I knew the journey was scary. I knew the journey was hard. (Slight pause.)

Back when Bonnie and I wound up in Bangor we took a risk. But we listened for the call of God.

When we left Maine— and we left much to our consternation and moved to a place where we knew no one except the members of the Search Committee at the church to which we felt called— when we left Maine we took a risk. Over time we have taken multiple risks on this journey of listening for and responding to the call of God.

A church which is not willing to take risks— multiple risks— in responding to the call of God is not a church. It’s just a social club. (Slight pause.)

So what is next week about? Some may think next week is about stewardship or financial plans— no and no.

Next week is about trusting God. Next week is about trusting your neighbors who are sitting next to you in these pews. Next week is about listening for the call of God for this church. Next week is about faithfulness. Next week is about being church.

If no one has ever said this to you before let me be the first. Listening for and to the call of God is not an easy task. It can be scary. There may be times tears will run down your face. But I believe listening for and to the call of God is the calling of this church. I believe this church is called to faithfulness. What say you? Amen.

11/16/2025
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: “At this time of year the lectionary readings are often what you heard today or similar ones. And you have probably heard this or similar readings applied to stewardship. I am practical. Stewardship matters. But what is stewardship really about? It’s about the faithful practice of listening to the call of God. Hence, stewardship is not about money. Stewardship is about faithful listening as you try to discern the place to which God calls this church.”

BENEDICTION: A kind and just God sends us out into the world as bearers of truth, a truth which surpasses our understanding, that the love of God knows no bounds or boundaries. Indeed, God watches over those who respond in love. So, let us love God so much that we love nothing else too much. Let us be so in awe of God that we are in awe of noone else and nothing else. Amen.

11/09/2025 ~ Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 27 ~ Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Haggai 1:15b-2:9; Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21 or Psalm 98; Job 19:23-27a; Psalm 17:1-9; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17; Luke 20:27-38
EKC YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NymSNwZNIg8
HARPSWELL PUBLIC ACCESS TV YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJQsHKfOSfU

The Redeemer

“For I know that my Redeemer lives— / my Vindicator Who, at the last, at the end, / will stand upon the earth;…” — Job 19:25.

I am a voracious reader. You’re probably suspected that. Most of my reading is non-fiction— history, biography— or professional areas— theology, Scripture.

But I occasionally delve into, even re-read fiction, especially science fiction. And so I recently re-devoured the British classic— The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

For those unfamiliar with the books in this series, it’s a combination of science fiction and dry British humor. Think Star Wars meets Monty Python and you’ve got it.

Here’s an example of its comedic style. The Hitchhiker’s books are called a trilogy— three books. Except there are five books in The Hitchhiker’s trilogy— that’s British humor— strange, dry, eccentric.

At the start of the story Arthur Dent, the protagonist, finds his house surrounded by bulldozers. They are there to destroy Arthur’s house and build a highway right through where the house was. The foreman says the demolition plans have been available at city hall for months. Arthur says ‘no one told me’ and lays down in front of the bulldozers.

But Arthur’s best friend, Ford Perfect, snatches him away and takes him to a local pub. Despite looking human, unbeknownst to Arthur, Ford Perfect is from another planet and knows the Earth is about to be destroyed. Determined to avoid being caught up in this, Perfect insists he must hitchhike on a starship and wants to take with Arthur him.

Why is the Earth being destroyed? Like the bulldozers at Arthur’s house, the Earth is being destroyed to build a superhighway for starships. The documents about it are on file at a record hall in another galaxy but earthlings don’t know it.

Hence, not far into the novel the Earth is destroyed, gone. But Arthur and Ford Perfect escape by hitching a ride on a starship. As I indicated, British humor— dry, eccentric— and it takes strange, interesting turns. (Slight pause.)

I have mentioned this about my family background here before. When I was about five, my father had what back then was called a nervous breakdown. Today we would have describe it as the onset of the mental illness identified as passive dependency or passive aggression.

While I won’t get deep into the psychology of this, one way to look at it is to say I lost my father figure. So for me the Earth, as I knew it, was destroyed. And like the hitchhiker Arthur Dent I survived. (Long pause.)

This is what we find in the work known as Job: “For I know that my Redeemer lives— / my Vindicator Who, at the last, at the end, / will stand upon the earth;…” (Slight pause.)

Christians often refer to Jesus as the Redeemer. I would be the last one to disagree with that. Equally, because I read a lot about theology and Scripture, I know to exclusively limit the idea of redeemer to Christianity, while a fairly common practice, defies the evidence in Scripture. As we just heard, in Job God the Creator is called ‘redeemer.’

In fact, in Handel’s Messiah the work, I Know That My Redeemer Liveth, strings together both this passage from Job and words from I Corinthians 15. This music tells us God as Redeemer is not exclusively Christian. The testaments are connected, a continuum. The God of the Hebrew Scriptures and Jesus— they are connected.

That brings us to the story we heard from Luke. At the resurrection who will be the husband of this woman who has married seven? While the answer of Jesus is couched in the language of resurrection, Jesus is not making a point about resurrection.

What is the point Jesus makes? (Quote:) “God is not of the dead but of the living. All of them are alive to God.”

God lives. That is the belief of Jews. That is the belief of Christians. God lives.

The idea that God lives, moves and works among us not confined to one segment of the text. That concept is scattered throughout Scripture. (Slight pause.)

The Call to Worship today paraphrased words from Psalm 98. Quote: “God has made salvation known, has shown vindication, divine justice, to the nations / Yahweh, God Who forever remembers us with steadfast love, truth and faithfulness.”

A God Who does these things is a living God. God is then and God is now and God is in the future. God lives. (Slight pause.)

That, in turn, does bring us to the belief called Resurrection. If God lives, if God is in ancient times, if God is now, if God is in the future, if Jesus and God are connected— then Jesus— Who we call the Second Person of the Trinity— lives. (Slight pause.)

I say this each Easter Sunday morning. Resurrection is not about resuscitation nor is it about reanimation. Resurrection addresses a basic Jewish belief and a basic Christian belief: God lives. (Slight pause.)

That brings us back to both my background and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In The Hitchhiker’s Guide the Earth is destroyed. But survive Arthur Dent did.

My world was destroyed when I was young because a parental figure in my life ceased to be present to me. But survive I did. Paradoxically, that opened my eyes to a theological truth: God lives.

I realized that truth because, while my world was shattered, my world was not destroyed. For reasons I cannot, myself, explain, I held firm onto the reality, the truth we call the living God. (Slight pause.)

Diana Butler Bass is an Episcopal member of the laity but she’s also church historian and theologian. In Credo, A Litany of Grace she reminds us the Latin word Credo does not mean “I believe.” Credo means ‘I give my whole heart.’

She also says this (quote:) “I believe God creates the world and all therein— good, even very good, no matter how far from that goodness human beings wander; I believe Love casts out fear and that living with compassion is the path to joy; I believe Gratitude threads all of the connections in the web of life.”

“I believe Wisdom dwells among us, embodying both divine insight and human intellect; I believe Hope banishes cynicism, always drawing us toward a creative future;…”

“I believe Awe opens us to an awakened life that reaches out to the world to restore and save; I believe Justice flows all around us, like a healing river; I believe All Shall Be Well.” — the words of Diana Butler Bass. (Slight pause.)

Do terrible things happen, things we abhor, do they happen? Yes, they do. Our world can feel like it has been destroyed, shattered. But God lives.

And my point is not just that God lives. God walks with us at all times and in all ways. God is with us, always. Or as Diana Butler Bass says, “All shall be well.”

You see, when the words “I know that my Redeemer lives” are said what we need to understand and to hear that is this simple: God lives. God is with us. God walks with us. Amen.

11/09/2025
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: “The well known pastor and theologian Brian McLaren said ‘If you summarize all the work of Diana Butler Bass into a single thought this would be it: “Nostalgia is a really, really bad idea.”’ Brian McLaren on Diana Butler Bass. Why is nostalgia a bad idea? It’s about yesterday. But God lives is about right here and right now and about what will be. It’s not about yesterday. Fondly remembering is fine. But do not let fondly remembering— what we call nostalgia— interfere with this basic theological concept: God lives.”

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

11/02/2025 ~ Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 26 ~ Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ (If All Saints not observed on this day) ~ Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4; Psalm 119:137-144; Isaiah 1:10-18; Psalm 32:1-7; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12; Luke 19:1-10~ 11/01/2025 ~ All Saints Day ~ (Sometimes observed on first Sunday in November) ~ Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18; Psalm 149; Ephesians 1:11-23; Luke 6:20-31 ~ YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xWAydQ_pYs
VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N67oPtdjic0&t=67s

Solemn Festivals Filled with Injustice

“Do not bring your useless offerings. / It is futile; / their incense is an abomination to me / and fills me with loathing. / New moon and Sabbath / and convocations, assemblies— / I cannot endure another solemn festival / filled with iniquity, injustice.” — Isaiah 1:13.

You’ve probably heard me say I’m a baseball fan. The season is now over. Thank you Dodgers and Blue Jays— great series. No— I did not stay up for the 18 inning game. Yes— I stayed up for last night’s game— 11 innings. I think the game has fascinated me because I’ve always been intrigued by the question, “How does this work, the nuts and bolts which makes things happen?”

In fact, I also think that’s one reason I became a theater professional. A basic question in theater is “How do I make what I am trying to communicate work, the nuts and bolts?”

I think Baseball is fairly easy to follow, once you know how it works— the nuts and bolts. I hope this story illustrates that.

Bonnie and I were watching a Series game. Early in the game, the count on a batter from the away team went to no balls and two strikes. As one, the hometown crowd leaped to their feet and started to cheer in expectation of a third strike.

Bonnie realized nothing particularly special had happened and asked, “Why are they cheering?” I said, “They’re cheering because they want the next pitch to be the third strike. But it’s possible many of these people may not be knowledgeable baseball fans.” World Series crowds are often not that knowledgeable.

“Real fans know with two strikes and no balls the next pitch may be a strike but Nine times out of ten it will be a ball. It’s what’s called a waste pitch.”

That happened and the next pitch was a ball, high, above the strike zone. I continued my commentary. I’m not sure Bonnie was pleased by my pontificating. “The waste pitch is not a wasted pitch,” said I. It’s purpose is to try to change where the batter is looking.”

I then said, “The first two pitches were strikes but low in the strike zone. The ‘waste pitch,’ too high to be a strike. The next one will be too low to be a strike.”

“By changing where the batter is looking, the pitcher is trying to get the batter to misjudge how low that next pitch will be. If the change in level is just enough to fool the batter, the batter will swing and miss— strike three, your out.”

The next pitch was low just out of the strike zone, swing and miss— strike three. (Slight pause.) Like I said, what interests me is “How does this work?” (Slight pause.)

This is what we hear in the Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah: “Do not bring your useless offerings. / It is futile; / their incense is an abomination to me / and fills me with loathing. / New moon and Sabbath / and convocations, assemblies— / I cannot endure another solemn festival / filled with iniquity, injustice.” (Slight pause.)

These two words are in this passage: burnt offerings. In modern vernacular a burnt offering is a meaningless gift. In this passage a burnt offering is called useless.

That ‘useless’ label applies unless the one worshiping lives a life of goodness and justice. Hence, worship is an idle exercise unless it brings about a change in the heart of the one offering worship.

What is less than clear is the exact attitude of the prophet toward worship. It’s one thing to say worship finds its ultimate meaning in the changed lives of those who worship. It’s another to say worship, instead of offering a life-changing experience, is an impediment.

And one can read this text to mean worship, itself, is an impediment. But the prophet says the people of God are called to worship in ways which brings about reoriented hearts, lives committed to justice, compassion. So if this can be read both ways, is this a denial of worship or an affirmation of worship?

The short answer: because worship can lead people to live lives of faith inspired action these words are an affirmation of worship. But to be clear, I think these words are an affirmation of worship only if people know what they are doing in worship, know the nuts and bolts of worship, know what worship is about. (Slight pause.)

As strange as it may sound, that brings us back to baseball. On a two strike count sometimes a crowd might leap to their feet and cheer in expectation of that third strike.

But that’s not how baseball works most of the time since on a two strike count a ‘waste pitch’ is usually delivered by the pitcher. It’s simply how the game works, the nuts and bolts.

So here’s my take on why a crowd cheers for a third strike at that point. The crowd cheers for a third strike because it’s culturally normal.

Cheering at that point is what the culture wants, expects and demands. Any deviation from what the culture wants, expects and demands might bring scorn, ridicule, so everybody joins in.

The prophet’s position is burnt offerings— meaningless gifts— are culturally normal, what’s expected by the culture. Hence, the passage does not ask ‘what does the culture, want?’ The passage asks ‘What does God want?’ And what does God want? The answer is in this passage.

God wants us to remove our evil doings, banish injustice, learn to do good, search for and seek justice. God wants us to rescue and help the oppressed, defend and protect the orphaned, the widowed. (Slight pause.)

How does this God centered cultural norm work? What are the nuts and bolts which makes a God centered worship happen? (Slight pause.)

At the risk of repeating myself from last week, God centered worship invites us and empowers us to action— positive action. So God expects us to work toward freedom, toward peace. God expects us to be filled with joy in that work.

God expects us to work toward equity, to embrace, embody love. God expects us to be examples of hope in this world which is so often broken. God expects us to understand hope is real, tangible and present. (Slight pause.)

What makes up the nuts and bolts of living within the grace of God and walking in ways of God? The nuts and bolts of life with God are the actions known as freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope.

Freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope are not burnt offerings, meaningless gifts. These are actions which take us on a path filled with justice, communal justice.

And the justice God would have is not our cultural norm nor does it represent any cultural norm in the modern world. Indeed, the justice of God is described with these words that you just heard: freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope. These are not common cultural norms. But these are normal in a God centered culture. And God centered worship helps us understand that. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
11/02/2025

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 said baseball is fairly easy to follow once you know the nuts and bolts of the game. I also said the justice of God is described by freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope. Freedom, peace, joy, equity, love and hope (and I know I’m sounding like I’m repeating myself)— these are the nuts and bolts of how the game the game known as our lives is supposed to be played. When we are empowered to take those actions, especially through God centered worship, our lives become centered on God and are centered on God.”

BENEDICTION: O God, You have bound us together in a common life, in community. 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.

10/26/2025 ~ Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 25 ~ Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Joel 2:23-32; Psalm 65; Sirach 35:12-17 or Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22; Psalm 84:1-7; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14 ~ YOUTUBE VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j00HBwVekKY
VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701?video=1131371113

Apocalypse— Not Now

“Then, afterward, / I will pour out my spirit / on all flesh, on all humankind; / your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, / your elders, all of them, / shall have prophetic dreams, / and your young people shall see visions. / In those days / I will pour out my spirit / even on those who are enslaved;…” — Joel 2:28-29.

I got a letter a couple of weeks ago. While it had a local address, right away I realized even if it was somehow local that was not its true origin. It looked too computer generated for that. My bet is some of you got that same letter.

Inside, the words tried to disarm the reader by offering (quote:) “a comforting Bible message.” It said no one needs to worry about the approaching Armageddon, a gathering of armies for the battle marking the end of time. Right— don’t worry— at the end of time is here. That’s comforting— not.

In fact, I am aware at least twice so far this year and in quite threatening tones a date has been named for Armageddon, an end of time. But it did not happen. The only way I can describe that kind of prediction is to say it’s incredibly egocentric.

Why egocentric? Among all the people who have ever lived, anyone who insists the end of time will happen right now is saying they have somehow been chosen to have the privilege of seeing the end of the world. Boy are you special. (Sight pause.)

This kind of rhetoric is clearly theological since it’s often attached to concerns about evil, even about the possibility of an anti-Christ among us. One would think it should be clear to anyone of sound mind that an Armageddon, an approaching apocalypse, the end of time, is not just around the corner.

The Jews living in Roman Palestine, in the First Century of the Common Era, may have thought an apocalypse, an end of time, was just around the corner. Why? The army of a foreign invader, Rome, was living in the homeland of the Jews.

That army crucified about 10,000 Jews every year. 10,000 murdered each year— people must have felt this was a sign of the apocalypse, an end of time. (Slight pause.)

People living in Europe in the 14th Century of the Common Era might have thought an end of time was just around the corner. As many as 200 million people died in what we call the Black Plague or Black Death. It took three centuries for population levels to recover.

In my own lifetime I’ve known people who witnessed the stock market crash in 1929 followed by the Great Depression. That economic disaster devastated the economy both here and worldwide. How bad was it?

I’ve stated this before. In March of 1933 when FDR took office the unemployment rate was 25%. Many might have thought the end of time was at hand. (Slight pause.)

The picture the world presents to us today can be disorienting. We can feel displaced. But is the end of time really at hand? (Slight pause.)

These are words from the Prophet Joel: “Then, afterward, / I will pour out my spirit / on all flesh, on all humankind; / your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, / your elders, all of them, / shall have prophetic dreams, / and your young people shall see visions. / In those days / I will pour out my spirit / even on those who are enslaved;…” (Slight pause.)

It does not matter what the prediction is or who makes it. Prognosticators, prophets, pastors, pundits, pontiffs, priests, prelates, politicians or just plain people— all can be prone to making predictions about the end of time. But the truth is an apocalypse is not going to happen any time soon.

We may not like what is happening right now, feel displaced. But the end of time— nope— not even close.

Perhaps the end of an era is close at hand. And that can be disorienting. But eras, by definition, happen in a limited time frame.

To paraphrase and rephrase Voltaire’s Candide, today is not the best of all possible worlds. I get that. But it has never been the best of all possible worlds.

Indeed, was the Roman occupation or the plague of the 14th Century or the Great Depression the best of all possible worlds? No. But neither was it the end of time. So, what are these words from Joel, words repeated by Peter after the Pentecost event, about? [1] (Slight pause.)

The obvious question: if it is not the end of time why do people feel they need to speak in those terms, even Joel and Peter? We should realize apocalyptic language uses wonderful, powerful metaphors to describe what a deep experience of God feels like.

So these words were not and are not insisting on an apocalypse, an ending, but rather proclaiming joy because they rejoice in and hope for a beginning. This is about the possibility of a beginning of the realm of God— a beginning of the realm of God— right here, right now.

As I said earlier, an apocalyptic argument is a theological argument. But an apocalyptic argument, apocalyptic language is not about the end of time. Neither is it an argument about who wins or loses, about who gets to heaven and who does not, although some would have it that way.

Apocalyptic language is meant to reflect hope. To think apocalyptic language says the end of the world is at hand, is not a theological position. To claim apocalyptic language says the end of time is near lacks an understanding of its intent. (Slight pause.)

In a couple of minutes we will be invited to sing the hymn Christians Rise and Act Your Creed. What is our creed? The creed of Christians is not about specific beliefs. The creed of Christians is certainly not about an apocalypse, an end of time.

The creed of Christians is about action— positive action. Hence, the creed of Christians is about freedom, peace, justice, joy, equity, love. Thereby, the creed of Christians is very much about hope.

So here’s a predication for you. From now until forever we will find hope in the fact that God loves us. Amen.

10/26/2025
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: “Question: what is theology? I’ve said this here before: the Hebrews did not have a theology. The Hebrews did theology. That is what theology is about: a true theology is about the action we call loving God and loving neighbor.”

BENEDICTION: God stands by us to grant us support and strength. All who trust in God are strengthened and blessed. So, let us go on our way, proclaiming the Good News: when we question and when we are open, when we struggle to know God’s will and walk in God’s way, God will be our refuge. And may the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us, the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore. Amen.

[1] Peter’s words from Acts 2 were noted when this passage from Joel was introduced.

10/19/2025 ~ Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 24 ~ Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Jeremiah 31:27-34; Psalm 119:97-104; Genesis 32:22-31; Psalm 121; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5; Luke 18:1-8 ~ YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0qI49oPtnM ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701?video=1129537798

Covenant of the Heart

“…this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my Law within them, in their minds and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God; they shall be my people.” — Jeremiah 31:33.

Fiddler on the Roof is the famous Broadway musical set in the Tsarist Russia of 1905. It’s based on the short stories of Sholem Aleichem, pen name of the writer Salomon Rabinovich. All the stories by this author were written in Yiddish and Sholem Aleichem means “peace be with you” in Yiddish.

Fiddler concentrates on the story of Tevye, the dairy farmer, and his family. The narrative tells us about this family and their attempts to maintain their traditions while the world encroaches on their lives and on their world.

The three eldest daughters are strong-willed young women. Their choice of husbands moves them away from the traditions to which the people in this small town are accustomed.

Further, in the turbulent times at the start of the Twentieth Century, the Tsarist government evicts these Jews from their town. But this government, itself, will soon be overthrown by the Communist Revolution.

Despite or perhaps because of the forces of change, the story keeps coming back to the people in the town, the personal, the individual, these people battered by change, changing times, forces beyond their control. But they do seek to find an anchor in the intimate relationships they have built over time.

This concept is well illustrated when Tevye explains to Golde, his wife, that one daughter wants to get married to someone she loves rather than go into the arranged marriage they envisioned for her, the normal custom in the village. In a song, Tevye and his wife reflect on what true love might mean.

Tevye asks Golde: “Do you love me?” Golde responds: “Do I what?” In a heartfelt, gruff way Teyve asks again: “Do you love me?”

Goldie thinks all the changes have overwhelmed her husband. “Do I love you? / With our daughters getting married / And this trouble in the town / You’re upset, you’re worn out / Go inside, go lie down! / Maybe it’s indigestion.”

Tevye will not be deterred: “Golde, I’m asking you a question… Do you love me?”

Golde then becomes reflective and practical: “Do I love you? / For twenty-five years I’ve washed your clothes / Cooked your meals, cleaned your house / Given you children, milked the cow / After twenty-five years, why talk about love now?”

Turning to some unseen audience (it is God to whom she speaks?), she adds this: “For twenty-five years I’ve lived with him / Fought him, starved with him / Twenty-five years my bed is his / If that’s not love, what is?” (Slight pause.)

The song concludes— together they admit they love one another. “It doesn’t change a thing / But even so / After twenty-five years / It’s nice to know.” Hence, they end the duet voicing a singular thought. The relationship they developed over time took time to develop and they worked at it. This clearly is love by any definition. (Slight pause.)

We live in our own tumultuous times today. Or at least it can feel a little nuts. It can feel like a lot of people are acting just a little… off… sometimes more than a little. Author Malcolm Gladwell writes books that explore change in society. He tells this story about giving a talk in a wealthy, suburban community. He pointed out to this audience that in the 1950s the tax rate for the wealthy people ran just over 90%. [1]

The audience refuses to believe him. Some in the crowd started to hiss. [2] And, since he was speaking at a dinner function, someone even tossed a roll in his direction. This reaction was one of anger, perhaps fear or maybe the other way around— fear then anger. But why be fearful or angry?

Gladwell did not make up these facts. So when someone throws a dinner roll at you for merely stating a fact, it proves we live in tumultuous times. And perhaps it does feel like it’s nuts when people refuse to pay attention to facts or are willfully ignorant of facts.

When presented with facts that do not match someone’s preconceived position, the result can be fear and anger. Of course, that’s what happened in Tsarist Russia— a toxic combination of a preconceived position, willful ignorance, fear and anger.

People were fearful about and of the Jewish minority. As a minority, Jews were also often isolated in small villages, ghettos. Given that, the willful ignorance of the majority morphed into fear, fear into anger, anger into violence.

The pogroms of the Tsar and later from Central Committee of the Soviet Union, took center stage. In short, ignorance, fear and anger translated not just into isolated violence but systemic violence. All this was a result of failing to know the facts but, perhaps more tragically, willfully ignoring the facts. (Slight pause.)

This is what we hear in the work known as Jeremiah: “…this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my Law within them, in their minds and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God; they shall be my people.” (Slight pause.)

What is love? Is love infatuation? Is love an attraction? Is love simply an emotional high? Or does love, as Tevye and Golde suggest, have its real basis in deeply knowing someone. Does love have its real basis in growth? (Slight pause.)

Please notice, the promise of God is to write the knowledge of God on both the hearts and on the minds of people. Hence, the claim here is we are so deeply known by God that the fact of this intimacy produces forgiveness. Therefore, perhaps the thing to which we need to be open is for us to grow in our own intimacy with God, in our own knowledge of God.

This is clear: when growth is abandoned or simply ignored, fear is embraced. Covenant love is the opposite of that. Covenant love, as proclaimed by and in Scripture, is commitment to understanding, a commitment to respect, a commitment to… growth.

True love is not merely an infatuation nor is it only an attraction nor is it simply an emotional high. Love is something which develops, which grows.

Why? How? Love comes from knowledge, cumulative knowledge, of others, knowledge which is intentionally pursued. When a commitment to covenant love, a commitment to growth is made, a deep, enduring love is empowered to develop. When commitment to covenant love is made, growth happens. (Slight pause.)

I want to suggest the love God writes on our minds and on our hearts is already there, already present. Too often we employ willful ignorance to ignore it instead of embracing it. And there is only one way to embrace it. To love deeply and to love over time we must learn love by engaging it over time.

One more point: this reading starts with an assumption— that we will always be loved by God. Indeed, that is one reason God insist we are forgiven— because we are loved.

So the challenge for us is simple: God has made a commitment to us and invites us to be committed also. Therefore, will we become committed to loving God? Will we become committed to covenant love which is embodied by and enwrapped by constant growth, growth which will lead us to love each other? Amen.

10/19/2025
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This is a précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “One thought for Meditation in the bulletin today is from H. Richard Neibuhr. (Quote:): ‘Christianity is permanent revolution.’ He then uses the Greek word for permanent revolution— metanoia. ‘Metanoia does not come to an end in this world, this life or this time.’ I need to add that for me, ‘permanent revolution’ does not mean chaos nor a tumultuous time. Metanoia means being open to constant growth.”

BENEDICTION: God has made us partners in covenant. Let us truly be God’s people. Let us be guided by prayer, by study, by justice, by growth, by love. Let us continually praise the God of the universe who loves us. May our trust grow as we are empowered to do God’s work in this, God’s dominion. 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 and nothing else. Amen.

[1] https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/income-taxes-on-the-rich-1950s-not-high/

[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uskJWrOQ97I

10/05/2025 ~ Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 22 ~ Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Lamentations 1:1-6; Lamentations 3:19-26 or Psalm 137; Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4; Psalm 37:1-9; 2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke 17:5-10 ~ YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701?video=1125576483
VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701?video=1125576483

Having Faith

“Jesus gave this answer: ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and plant yourself in the sea,’ and it would obey you.’” — Luke 17:6.

You may have noticed I was not in the pulpit last week. So what did this pastor and spouse do on a scheduled Sunday away?

Bonnie and I indulged in a little nostalgia as we visited the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunk. It was nostalgic because the last time we visited it was on our abbreviated four day honeymoon (the pastor mumbles a number) years ago.

It was nostalgic for me, personally, on one other count. I do have a memory of riding on a New York City trolley when I was very young.

Speaking of nostalgia, the museum had what it called a 2000 World Series Subway car. It was labeled that way because the Mets and the Yankees played in the series that year.

It was the first Subway series since the New York Yankees played the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956. But, native New Yorker that I am, I recognized it as a car from the number 7 train, the Flushing line, before I even saw the World Series banner displayed in front of it.

Right now the museum is celebrating Pumpkin Patch days with special things for children to do. So a trolley ride includes a stop at a pumpkin patch— really just pumpkins sitting in a field where the children can retrieve their own pumpkin.

That ensured a multitude of youngsters were there. And so we sat in the second row on the trolley ride we took, an open air trolley with just seats, no doors or windows. In the first row along with parents were four children, probably age five or younger, staring down the track and watching every move the trolley operator made.

Each youngster was dressed in a super-hero costume, capes and all, from Captain America to Spider-Man. Perhaps it was the nostalgia bubbling up in me but I was suddenly projected into my childhood.

I remembered as a kid, despite being from the city, my brother and I would dress up as cowboys trying to be like Gene Autry or Hopalong Cassidy. As I reflected on that I realized we were just trying to emulate the super-heros of our time. Indeed, the youngsters last week and my brother and myself years ago, they are and we were merely reflecting the fantasies created and broadcast by the cultures in the era in which we live. (Slight pause.)

I’ve said this before, we often have a hard time recognizing the influence the presiding culture has on our lives, on our thinking, even on our faith. So in order to not be swept up in whatever fad is current in the culture, we ourselves need to be prepared, educated enough to separate reality from fantasy, fact from fiction, real information from mere spin, certainty from contrivance.

But it’s also true that no one has the time, patience, energy or God-like omni-presence to fully accomplish that. Society can be exhausting. (Slight pause.)

These words are from the section of Scripture known as Luke/Acts: “Jesus gave this answer: ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and plant yourself in the sea,’ and it would obey you.’” (Slight pause.)

Question: is faith about having answers or asking questions? Clearly, one of the bywords in popular culture, one of the tribal beliefs in the folk ways of American life, is that someone with a deep faith never questions. But is that accurate, or is it merely a rallying cry of the parochial tribalism rampant in our culture, a position without substance, without a credible basis in Scripture or Christian tradition or Christian history?

Certainly our culture is fond of predictable messages and easy answers, fond of slogans like “Be who you are!” “Don’t forget where you came from!” or “Stay the course!” These are not necessarily examples of bad advice. They can be even comfortable places to rest when we are weary.

But these messages can readily become a dominant way of thinking, especially when they are heard incessantly, insisted on and because of that perpetuated. That’s when platitudes deteriorate into exercises of questionable judgement.

But these catch phrases are just slogans, not solid, grounding principles. Hence, when abused, this kind of populist, cultural sloganeering serves not to inform choices but to limit choices.

Indeed, I think when it comes to the ways of popular culture, we need to be quite wary about and watchful of its often intimidating force. When we ignore reality because of being intimidated by the culture I call that position willful ignorance.

Let’s look at the words of Jesus. Contrary to what the slogan of the popular culture suggests, that faith is an unmovable rock, the plea for faith in this passage conveys the recognition that faith is a dynamic process. Hence, one can become mature in faith by understanding that faith is a process.

In today’s reading the disciples have bought into the popular culture of their time. They thereby give guidance for our time. In asking for an increase in faith, they seem to indicate faith is something you can quantify: if only you get more faith, they will be all right. Everything will be all right.

Jesus shatters their cultural illusions about faith and, perhaps, ours. The point is not that they need more faith; rather, they need to understand faith enables God to work in the life of a person in ways which can defy ordinary human experience. Faith does not increase; faith learns, faith matures, and it is hence empowered to become discerning.

This passage about the mustard seed is, therefore, not about doing miraculous works or spectacular tricks like throwing a mulberry tree into the sea because one has increased faith. On the contrary, the assurance of Jesus is that with even a little faith the disciples can live by the teachings Jesus offers on discipleship. [1] (Slight pause.)

Faith, you see, is a journey, a process which includes being unsure, taking risks. Theologian Søren Kierkegaard said this (quote:), “Without risk, faith is an impossibility.”— “Without risk, faith is an impossibility.”

It’s understandable that popular culture carries in it some definitive positions and directions like take no risks. But sloganeering is not life sustaining; it is merely popular.

I maintain faith which is life sustaining, which can uproot trees, is harder to understand than that for which popular culture allows. I think that’s because our popular culture is not open to a God who might defy our expectations.

Further, faith does make all things possible when it is tempered by and intertwined with the inclusive nature of unconditional love. Faith intertwined with the inclusive nature of unconditional love can steer us in wonderful directions.

That’s because faith without the anchor known as love has lost its moral compass. And love is not only dynamic and alive but needs to be at the center of all moral judgments. Unless love shows us the way, the moral compass is broken— our moral compass is broken. (Slight pause.)

To come back to the youngsters at the trolley museum and to the days of my youth, super heros are fine when you’re young and simple explanations suffice. But super heros— and it does not matter if they wear capes or 10 gallon hats— super heros don’t exist. They are cartoons, fantasies.

Or as Bonnie puts it, adult-ing is hard and tiring but we need to do it. Since adults need to work constantly on the process I call mature faith, the process of mature faith needs to be intertwined with and happens only when unconditional love is practiced. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
10/05/20254

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: “We opened this service with the hymn Great Is Your Faithfulness. Here’s the paradox the hymn presents: it does not speak of our faithfulness. It speaks of the faithfulness of God. So, here’s a one sentence précis of the hymn: God trusts us and entrusts to us the care of the world. Isn’t that amazing? Only after that initial, unwavering trust is offered to us, does God invite us, not demand but invite us, to offer our trust back to God. Trusting us while demanding nothing in return is a definition of unconditional love.”

BENEDICTION: We are called by God to serve faithfully, trusting in God’s grace. May the gifts of God be rekindled within and among us. May our trust grow as we are empowered to do God’s work in this, God’s dominion. And may the peace of Christ which surpasses our understanding keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge and companionship of God’s Spirit this day and forevermore. Amen.

[1] This analysis is found in The New Interpreter’s Bible, the Electronic Edition.

09/21/2025 ~ Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 20 ~ Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Jeremiah 8:18-9:1; Psalm 79:1-9; Amos 8:4-7; Psalm 113; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701?video=1121554745
YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1qWxksIOX8

Balm

“Is there no balm in Gilead? / Is there no physician there? / Why, then, has the health of my poor people / not been attended to, restored?” — Jeremiah 8:22

Karen Armstrong is British, a former nun and scholar of comparative religion who first rose to prominence with a New York Times best seller A History of God. In Armstrong’s research about religion she places an emphasis on the Golden Rule: ‘Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.’

In 2008 with her guidance, $100,000 in funding was set up by a non-profit to help develop and spread a document known as the Charter for Compassion. It’s an expression of the universal truth found in the Golden Rule and an effort to identify shared moral priorities and foster global understanding among traditions.
The signers of the Charter are quite diverse. Among them are the Dalai Lama, the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Deepak Chopra and Paul Simon (to name a few). You yourself can find the Charter on line and add your name as a signer if you wish.

In the first of several paragraphs the charter says (quote:) “The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and put another there and to honor the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.” [1] (Slight pause.)

Now, some would say this document is not Biblical since its contents do not directly quote the Bible. And that is true. But it’s also accurate to say the document affirms Biblical principles. Think about that. (Slight pause.)

These words are from the Scroll of the Prophet Jeremiah: “Is there no balm in Gilead? / Is there no physician there? / Why, then, has the health of my poor people / not been attended to, restored?” (Slight pause.)

Intercessory prayer is a difficult task for many people. Sometimes we simply do not know what to ask for. We feel helpless in presenting to God our needs or presenting for a troubled friend or family member whose need baffles us.

At other times we become fearful of asking for too much, lest our very prayers begin to make sharp demands on us to supply for the needs of those for whom we pray— like food for the hungry and companionship for the lonely. Put another way, if you, yourself, aren’t trying to do something why are you just praying about it? (Slight pause.)

In this text from Jeremiah, the prophet mourns because the people have brought about their own isolation from Yahweh while Yahweh, in fact, longs to save the people. The lament of the prophet is clear (quote:) “Hark! Hear the cry of my people / who are in distress; / hear that cry far and wide / from a distant land: / ‘Is Yahweh not in Zion?”

This is an intercessory prayer. And what does prayer do? What is prayer about? Prayer is a dialogue, a conversation with God which names the issue and seeks the will of God. The prophet names the issue, the situation— and then pleads for mercy.

But it is also clear that Yahweh, God, is in anguish. So, it is not just Jeremiah’s joy that is gone but the joy of Yahweh as well.

Why? The people provoke Yahweh with (quote): “their graven images, / with their carved images / with their foreign gods.” In its own way this is also a lament, a lament of God’s.

Indeed, when we understand this prayer of the prophet as a true dialogue with God this prayer can become transformative, perhaps life changing for us if you understand it that way. There is also dialogue in the way God responds since there is a naming of the issue, the situation that the people are not listening to the Voice of God.

After all, if one does not listen to the Voice of God, how can there be any hope for dialogue? (Slight pause.) But the eternal question remains: what does the Voice of God say? To where is the Voice of God calling us? (Slight pause.)

I am quite sure there are some who would construe this passage to mean God is a vengeful God. Some might even say a vengeful, angry God is good and dwell on the thought that God might be merciless.

I’m not sure why. That seems to insist the reactions of God are merely human reactions— reactions of violence. This simply turns God into another human.

To talk of God as violent also seems an attempt to domesticate God, transform God, to make God petty and petulant. That kind of response suggests God lacks compassion. (Slight pause.)

So, if this is really a dialogue between the prophet and God, where does it come down? If this is really a dialogue between the prophet and God what is the sentiment being expressed in this prayer? (Slight pause.)

The words of this passage clearly ask a specific question: “Is there no balm in Gilead?” Now, you probably noticed we used the well known hymn There Is a Balm in Gilead. That lyric turns the question around. The hymn states the presence of a balm in the positive.

In short, the hymn insists the physician— God— is there for us. The compassion of God, a compassion which is an overriding theme in Scripture, a theme central to Scripture and central to our relationship with God is expressed in the hymn.

And the hymn says that compassion is not just there, it is real. In fact, later, in the Ninth Chapter of Jeremiah, words are recorded in the Voice of God which make the commitment of God to a relationship of covenant clear. (Slight pause.)

I do need you to notice the hymn There Is a Balm in Gilead comes out of the African American tradition of hymns, comes out of a severely oppressed community. It dates back to at least 1854, probably further. So why has this hymn turned the lament around?

There are plenty of hymns out of this oppressed community which express lament. I suspect this particular hymn comes from a place of understanding that not only is praying— and please realize hymns are a form of prayer— I suspect this comes out of a prayer being the fact that a prayer is the aforementioned two way street. That two way street is the reality of a covenant of relationship.

And what is a relationship of covenant? A relationship of covenant is a commitment— it’s a commitment to mutual growth. Mutual growth is impossible without dialogue. If one side refuses to dialogue with God, refuses to grow, refuses to learn, the covenant is abandoned. God is abandoned.

All that is to say, compassion is a central aspect of covenant— compassion is a central aspect of covenant. Compassion needs to be a central aspect of our relationships with one another. Compassion is the central aspect of the relationship God has with us. And what is compassion? Compassion is the balm in Gilead. Amen.

09/21/2025
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: “Yahweh in the reading is provoked by ‘their graven images, / with their carved images / with their foreign gods.’ I think this is clear: you, me, we all have foreign gods of some kind lurking somewhere in our subconscious. For some, that foreign god is tribalism. Tribalism says anyone not like us or even not like me, needs to be a target. That is not the compassion which we claim God seeks, is it?”

BENEDICTION: We are commissioned by God to carry God’s peace into the world. Our words and our deeds will be used by God, for we become messengers of God’s Word in our action. Let us recognize that God’s transforming power is forever among us. And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God that we are in awe of no one and nothing else. Amen.

[1] http://charterforcompassion.org

09/07/2025 ~ Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost~ Proper 18 ~ Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Jeremiah 18:1-11; Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18; Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 1; Philemon 1:1-21; Luke 14:25-33 ~ YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSor7DkTdqA
VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/1117495587

A Prisoner for Christ Jesus?

“Grace and peace from Abba, God, and our Savior, Jesus, the Christ.” — Philemon 1:3.

You have heard me say this before. I’m a baseball fan. But I don’t root for any team since my team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, died in 1957. And no, the West Coast version of the Dodgers does not count. (Slight pause.)

Now, back in the mid-50s, my family had a television and the games I saw broadcast from Ebbets Field by Red Barber and Vince Scully were in black and white. Hence, a sensory perception forever seared into my brain is from the first time I went to Ebbets Field to see Robinson, Reese, Furillo, Hodges and Campanella play in person.

I remember holding my Father’s hand as we came up a ramp and out of the shadows into the bright sunlight of the second deck. I was taken aback by the brilliant green of the grass, the clay tones of the infield, the dazzling white and blue of the home team uniforms, the colorful advertising on the outfield walls.

After seeing the reality of all those colors when I looked at a game on a black-and-white television it was disappointing. The experience changed how I thought about what I saw on the screen, even changed how I saw the world. To use a word a youngster would not have used, this changed the paradigm of my understanding. (Slight pause.)

In the essay Defining the Church for Our Time, the Rev. Dr. Peter Schmiechen discusses structures and practices that describe church. The list ranges from worship to sacraments to music to creeds to marriage to fellowship to stewardship to governance.

Then the Rev. Dr. Schmiechen states that we may love all of these practices, all of these structures, but these structures and practices are not the foundation of the church. The true foundation of church is the new life of Christ and the Spirit— the new life of Christ and the Spirit. (Slight pause.)

This is what we hear in the work known as Philemon: “Grace and peace from Abba, God, and our Savior, Jesus, the Christ.” (Slight pause.)

I have often said this. We need to understand New Testament times in order to comprehend what’s being said in the writings of that era. So let’s look at that.

We know Paul was imprisoned several times. But what offense warranted incarceration? There are several levels here but one key is the Jewish understanding of God.

For the Jews God is One. But this is a polytheistic world. The normal understanding of the culture, a paradigm of the time, said there are many gods.

Hence, to say there is one God was a radical proclamation. However, the Romans— polytheistic but devout— saw Judaism as an ancient religion. Therefore, for them the idea of One God was old but it was quaint. So they allowed for it and did not force the Jews to worship their Roman gods.

Another thing we don’t understand today is in New Testament times most people, other than the Jews, thought of Caesar as a divine being, one god among many gods.

Given that, here’s a probable reason Paul is in shackles: treason. After all, Paul proclaims the kin-ship— that’s k-i-n-s-h-i-p— kin-ship, the relationship of God and Jesus and proclaims Jesus lives. Thus, Paul proclaims someone of this era other than Caesar is divine. That’s a treasonous message if there ever was one. (Slight pause.)

I think all these facts should bring us to ask what are the foundations of a church, our church? The reality of God who walks among us is what Paul claims. Given that, the next thing to unpack here is what Paul says about slavery within this ancient context.

In our civilization today, slavery— the owning of another human being— is clearly immoral. But it was not immoral in New Testament times.

However, every commentary today says while Paul is being diplomatic the Apostle addresses the incompatibility of slavery and Christianity. Paul does not directly request that Philemon, a slave holder, set Onesimus, a slave, free. But Paul suggests the ties that bind people together in Christ transforms and changes assumed cultural patterns, current paradigms.

The whole premise of this letter is that Christians live in profound connection to Christ so one’s behavior must reflect that connection. Belonging to God through Christ changes paradigms.

This new paradigm is a totally different way of thinking for this time and place where slavery is a given. The love God shows through Christ says the dignity and the integrity of each person counts, no exceptions. (Slight pause.)

So, what is the foundation of the church? It’s not its structures and practices which too often tend to be simply current paradigms. The first Congregationalists, for instance, did not sing hymns. We do. The foundation of the church is that we are one in Christ.

Schmiechen says in the church we find the new life of Christ and the Spirit. Paul puts it this way (quote): “Grace and peace from Abba, God, and our Savior, Jesus, the Christ.”

In short, we need to strip away the cultural baggage of the Roman Empire in the New Testament writings. Then we need to strip away the cultural baggage of Twenty-first Century society, something which may be even harder to do. At that point we can see our true paradigm: in Christ, through Christ, we are loved by God. (Slight pause.)

When I saw the reality of the colors at Ebbets Field I could never see baseball the same way again. It was a paradigm shift.

We need a paradigm shift in our time. Our relationship with God must not be based on cultural baggage, the cultural baggage of Rome, the baggage of our times or even the cultural baggage of the church. Our paradigm needs to be that our relationship with God is based on the love God offers to each of us and all of us as that love is illuminated for us in Christ. Amen.

09/07/2025
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 a précis of what was said: “Just like New Testament times, perhaps our biggest impediment to a relationship with God is the cultural baggage our times imposes on us. Our culture says, for instance, the poor cause their own poverty but the economic system in which we live carries absolutely no culpability in creating poverty. Really? Wow! Then there must be a whole lot of people who really want to live in poverty. They must be lining up to volunteer to live that way. I don’t think so. The idea that the poor cause their own poverty is, my friends, a definition of cultural blindness.”

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 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.