10/27/2019 ~ Proper 25 ~ Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost ~ 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 ~ Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine.

A Spirit of Humility

“But the other individual, the tax collector, stood far off, kept at a distance and would not even look to heaven. With real humility, all the tax collector said was: ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” — Luke 18:13.

As I think most of you know in the official sense I recently retired. Given that I started serving churches at the ripe old age of 46 and officially retired at a much more ripe age— 71— I spent 25 years in the pulpit. 25 years— that still surprises me.

And yes, I am still here, in this pulpit this week. And yes, I am likely to keep preaching, at least some, as the opportunity presents itself. After all, old preachers never die. They just ramble on, and on, and on, and on… My wife, Bonnie, says I finally found a profession for which I am paid to talk.

In those 25 years I spent two years as the Associate Pastor at the Waldo County Cooperative, five churches in Waldo County. I was then 23 years Pastor and Teacher at United Church of Christ, First Congregational in Norwich, New York. I do not know who was more surprised by that length of time— me or the members of that church.

Now, First Parish Church in Brunswick had sent me to Seminary. And it is well known that Harriet Beecher Stowe reportedly had her vision to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin while sitting in a pew in that church.

Believe it or not Harriet Beecher Stowe steers my story back to the Norwich Church. I was the longest serving pastor that church had ever seen. The pastor whose record I broke— a pastorate of a mere 19 years— was the son-in-law of Henry Ward Beecher. Henry Ward Beecher was, of course, the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Therefore and somehow, that all feels like things really came full circle.

Well, in 23 years I saw a lot of change. I officiated at the weddings of children for whom I had administer the sacrament of Baptism and with whom I had worked through the process of Confirmation. That was heart warming.

I did memorial services, celebrations of life, for people to whom I had become close. That was sometimes… no… that was always heart rendering.

Over time a goodly number of people joined the church. Whenever someone joined I always said several things.

First, said I, you are not joining me, the pastor. You are joining the church. Next, a church is not a building. This building is a meeting house. The church is the people who sit in the pews. You are joining the people who worship at this meeting house.

I also said the Norwich church had been around for 200 years. So you need to conceptualize the church this way. The church is like a train. You are at the train station waiting for that train.

Except after 200 years the train, this church, has built up a head of steam. It is not going to stop for you in the station. If you want to get on, join the church, you need to stick out your hand and grab on to it as it barrels through. (Slight pause.)

This story is presented to us in Luke/Acts in the section known as Luke: “But the other individual, the tax collector, stood far off, kept at a distance and would not even look to heaven. With real humility, all the tax collector said was: ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” (Slight pause.)

Let me offer two more stories. In our tradition when a pastor leaves a church, a Search Committee finds a suitable candidate to be the pastor. That pastor leads a service and preaches. Then the congregation gets to vote to call that pastor, yes or no.

When I candidated at the Norwich Church, my first service there, I did what you have seen me do at the end of the service here. I had something extra to say.

“Congregationalists,” said I, “have a great tradition called freedom of the pulpit. That freedom stems from the fact that a pastor needs to understand the pulpit is the pulpit of the people, your pulpit.”

“All a pastor should try to do is share something about their own journey and how that might relate to the Gospel. But sharing the Gospel in the fulness of its love is not something which can be done in one Sunday, a month of Sundays, a year of Sundays.”

“Further, Pastors come and Pastors go. You are the church. If you call me as your pastor I shall be the 33rd pastor. God willing there will be 33 more.”

Next story: when I was in seminary one of my mentors said this: “I don’t know any pastor who fails to have a good sized ego. After all, it takes quite a bit of ego to presume you can preach, presume you can share the message of the Gospel. But, said my mentor, without a healthy ego you would never be able to share the word.” (Slight pause.)

Those of us in the Protestant tradition claim we are a priesthood of all believers. The idea behind those words is we all are empowered to share the Gospel. Some of us are called to share the Gospel with words.

Some share the Gospel by consoling someone in a time of need, by writing a card to someone, by offering encouragement, by contributing to a church fair, by visiting a friend. There are multiple ways of sharing the Gospel. And indeed, the Gospel in the fulness of its love cannot be shared by a single action, or a dozen actions or a hundred dozen. (Slight pause.)

It is unlikely Saint Francis said these words but they are often attributed to this monk. “Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.” (Slight pause.)

Having stated a healthy ego is necessary to share the Gospel— to share it in any form— I need to state the obvious. To preach the Gospel humility is a necessity. (Slight pause.)

One of the key words in this reading is righteousness. In the case of this reading these words are said (quote:) “Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves, believed in their own self righteousness,…”

The Bible the Pilgrims carried with them to these shores was not the King James. It was the Geneva Bible. In that Bible righteousness is translated as right-wise. We must strive to be in right relationship with God, be right-wise with God. (Slight pause.)

We Congregationalists stand on the shoulders of giants— the Pilgrims for instance. In Norwich we stood of the shoulders of the folks who founded a church 200 years ago. I stood on the shoulders of the 32 pastors before me. We, here today, stand on the shoulders of those who joined with Elijah Kellogg to found this church.

Yes, we need to preach the Gospel. And yes, we use words when necessary. And yes, we need to be humble enough to know we don’t, ourselves, solely carry that burden.

As we preach we need to be humble enough to utter the same words the tax collector uttered. (Quote:) “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Humility— it’s a necessary aspect of preaching the Gospel and even a necessary aspect of hearing the Gospel. Amen.

10/27/2019
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Let me offer this quote from Madeleine L’Engle: ‘We do not draw people to Christ by discrediting what they believe, telling them how wrong they are, how right we are but by showing them a light that is so lovely they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.’— Like I said, humility— a necessary aspect of sharing the Gospel.”

BENEDICTION: Hear now this blessing, commonly known as the Irish Blessing: May the road rise up to meet us. May the wind be always at our back. May we have a full moon on a dark night. May the sun shine warm upon our faces. May the rain fall soft upon our fields. And until we meet again, may the hand of God hold us and the wing of God offer us shelter, and the peace of God be with us, always. Amen.

October 20, 2019 ~ Proper 24 ~ Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost ~ 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 at Elijah Kellogg Church.

An Old Concept: Forgiveness

“No longer shall they need to teach one another or remind one another to listen to Yahweh or to know Yahweh. All of them— high and low alike— from the least of them to the greatest shall all listen to me, says Yahweh; for I will forgive their misdeeds, their iniquity, and remember their transgressions no more.” — Jeremiah 31:34.

There are numerous points which can be made about this reading. I’ll try to limit my comments to a few. But first, I need to reiterate what was said when this passage was introduced. It is questionable to give these words a preemptive Christian reading, to interpret Jeremiah as offering a prophecy concerning the New Testament.

This is, rather, a call to renewal for the time in which it was written, for the people to whom it was written. That presents an obvious question. Why does attaching the concept of foretelling about the New Testament and Jesus fail to be an accurate assessment?

The answer has two parts. I mentioned this first one when I was last here. Prophecy in Scripture simply does not address the future.

True Biblical prophecy, by definition, speaks not about predicting but about God’s everlasting truths— principles like equity, justice, freedom, love. These are principles God holds dear both at the time the prophecy was proclaimed and right now.

If that’s the case, why is it said in the Gospels Jesus fulfills prophecy? Indeed, why might anyone interpret Biblical Prophecy as a foretelling, prediction? (Slight pause.)

I think this story might help explain why some might label the content of Scripture as a foretelling of the future. My story involves my father and two people who were celebrities in their time. If you were born after— say about 1965— you might not know these names and may have to Google them. So I’ll offer a word of explanation.

The first name is Jack Benny, comedian. Benny started in Vaudeville, moved to radio in the 1930s and then to television in the ’50s and ’60s.

His shows, radio and television, were a blend of sketch comedy and variety. Among the troupe of players who participated in both the variety and the sketch comedy was a singer/actor, an Irish tenor, who went by the name of Dennis Day.

Now both my Father and Dennis Day were proud graduates of Manhattan College in the Bronx. Whenever Day appeared on the screen of our old black and white television in the ’50s, my Dad would point at the TV and proudly say, “He’s a Manhattan graduate.”

As a kid I remember thinking, “Why does he say that every time he sees Dennis Day? What does it mean?” All these years later I think I can tell you what my father was trying to say. (Slight pause.)

“Dennis Day is a member of my tribe. I am a member of his tribe. He’s famous, on TV, and we have a real connection. We belong to the same tribe.” (Slight pause.)

You see, tribal connections need not make any logical sense. Tribal connections— this wanting to be connected with others— tribal connections with those who we think are in the same tribe we are, produce visceral, emotional responses.

So when some see these words as foretelling the future, what is often happening is a visceral, emotional, tribal, satisfying connection. Jeremiah must be pointing to Jesus since the new covenant must be the New Testament. But tribalism— even that kind of tribalism— is not what prophecy is about.

Therefore to reiterate the obvious question: why does the New Testament say Jesus fulfills prophecy from the Hebrew Scripture? As I said there are two reasons. The first reason is we take the events of the New Testament too literally in part due to tribalism.

But if Jesus does fulfill a prophecy it is not about a tribalism of separateness— a tribalism which says ‘this is my tribe so only people like me can be a part of it’— New Testament against Old Testament tribalism, for instance. The tribe of Jesus is a tribe of inclusiveness. The Old and the New are one. God says all people are a part of my tribe. [1]

All that points to the second reason a foretelling of the future— a prophecy about Old verses New or a prophecy about Jesus— is not the issue being considered in Jeremiah. Indeed, the foretelling to be found in Jeremiah is the kind of prophecy I’ve already addressed— eternal truth embraced by God. So what is the eternal truth found here?

In an effort to explain the foretelling of eternal truth, I will use the words of lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.”

In the beginning— the beginning: the Hebrew Scriptures came first and can be summed up this way: they exist to express a theology. It is the theology of covenant love.

The next point: in the New Testament the earliest writings are not the Gospels. The true letters of Paul are the earliest writings. And what is it Paul writes about? Paul writes scarcely a word about the life of Jesus. Paul writes about theology.

This next step will surprise some people. The Gospels are not stories about the life of Jesus. Rather, the Gospels do exactly what Paul did but in a different way. The Gospels, contrary to populist belief, are theological discussions which use a story about someone Whose name is Jesus as a means of conveying theology.

How so? An example: in the Gospels this Jesus is assigned two names. Jesus is a Greek word. In Hebrew the name of Jesus is Yehoshu’a. Yehoshu’a means “God saves.” The other name given to Jesus is Emmanuel. Emmanuel means God is with us.

To be clear, Jesus was real. Jesus lived and was resurrected. But even the names of Jesus recorded in the Gospels tell us these writings are not about story. These writings are about theology.

In fact, we should not read the Gospel stories and ask, ‘what does this story say?’ Rather, we need to ask, ‘what does this mean; what is the theological point being made here?’

And the question ‘what is the theological point being made’ brings us back to Jeremiah’s words. (Quote:) “…I will forgive their misdeeds, their iniquity, and remember their transgressions no more.”

Earlier I said a prophet speaks about God’s everlasting truths— the principles of love, equity, justice, freedom— truths which God holds dear right now. So if there is any prophecy here, it is not a reference to a new covenant as in the New Testament.

Prophecy is not a true prophecy unless it can speak to us right here, right now. And this prophecy is about an eternal truth God holds dear— covenant love. And covenant love is always and must always be enwrapped with and by forgiveness.

(Quote:) “I will forgive….” So the prophecy Jesus fulfills is a prophecy of forgiveness— an eternal truth of God.

For us perhaps what we especially need to hear in this prophecy is forgiving one another is an imperative. Why forgive? (Quote:) “I will be their God; they shall be my people.”

Who is this God? This God is a God Who speaks to us right here, right now and for Whom forgiveness is an imperative. This is a God of peace, freedom, joy, liberty, hope, equity, opportunity, love, a forgiving God of eternal covenant. Amen.

10/20/2019
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: “Catholic theologian Richard Rhor says this: ‘Unfortunately, for much of Christianity, faith largely became believing statements to be true or false— intellectual assent— instead of giving people concrete practices so they could themselves know how to open up (which is having faith), hold on (which is having hope) and allow an in-filling from another source (which is the love God offers).’”

BENEDICTION: God has made us partners in covenant. Let us truly be people of God. Let us be guided by prayer, by study, by love, by justice. Let us continually praise the God of the universe who loves us. May our trust grow as we are empowered to do the work of God in this world which is the dominion of God. Amen.

[1] It should be noted that at the Children’s Time the pastor had a bunch of Baseball hats from different teams and asked people to identify the team. The point was God does not root for one team— that would be tribalism. God is for every team. God is for everyone.

09/29/2019 ~ Proper 20 ~ Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ 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 ~ Elijah Kellogg Church.

The Law, the Prophets

“‘Please, I beg you,’ the man who had been rich said. ‘If someone would only come to them from the dead, they would repent.’ ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets,’ Abraham and Sarah replied, ‘neither will they be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead.’” — Luke 16:30-31.

Here’s a little secret about most pastors. We all have certain preachers we admire. Sometimes we are fortunate enough to know that preacher personally.

Here’s a second little secret. Most pastors are professional plagiarists. We appropriate— all right— we steal… one another’s sermon illustrations.

I once heard a sermon given by a pastor who is a good friend, a good preacher and someone I admire. In that sermon my friend made a very old sermon illustration sound new and exciting.

Perhaps what makes a sermon illustration effective, even an appropriated, stolen sermon illustration, is the ability of a pastor make old illustrations sound new and exciting. How old was this illustration? My bet is most of you have heard that illustration my friend used at least once if not numerous times.

So what was this illustration? It was about different kinds of thinking. Some people think inside the box. Some people think outside the box.

After the service I approached my friend and did a little leg pulling. “You fully explained one of my life long issues. Some people think inside the box, others outside the box. I say, box? There’s a box? Why was I not told!” (Slight pause.)

To reiterate something I said last week, we are all human. To the extent that we are human we all really do need boxes.

Despite my protestation, I need boxes. Bonnie will tell you I need boxes, or I at least need to pay attention to them.

But it does not matter if you are an inside or an outside the box person. Either way we all are still looking at lines which make boxes. We look at them from the inside or we look at them the outside. But the boxes, the lines are a reality.

So the issue boxes might present is simple to define. Real lines, real boxes are a good thing. We all need them. But the lines and the boxes we imagine, non-existent lines and boxes— not so much.

You see our tendency is to imagine and thereby to create non-existent lines, non-existent boxes. We then allow non-existent boxes, lines, these boxes and lines we create, to distract us so much that we ignore the real boxes. When that happens— when we ignore real boxes in favor of imaginary ones— we start to ignore reality. (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Luke: “‘Please, I beg you,’ the man who had been rich said. ‘If someone would only come to them from the dead, they would repent.’ ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets,’ Abraham and Sarah replied, ‘neither will they be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead.’” (Slight pause.)

I maintain imagined, imaginary boxes confine us, confuse us, trap us, rule us. Let me turn to Scripture to illustrate.

Here’s a non-existent, imaginary box we’ve created: many claim the God of the Hebrew Scriptures, the God of the Hebrews, is a God of anger, a God of wrath. But, on the other hand, Jesus and the content of the New Testament represents love. Many claim the God we find in the Hebrew Scriptures is, therefore, somehow different than the God we find in the New Testament.

Why do I say this separation is a non-existent, imaginary box we’ve created? Here’s something many people ignore: Jesus refers to “Moses and the Prophets,” the Hebrew Scriptures.

In most translations the phrase used here is “The Law and the Prophets.” But what does that mean really?— “The Law and the Prophets.” And why would Jesus emphasize the Law and the Prophets? (Slight pause.)

For Jewish people in the First Century of the Common Era— and please remember Jesus is a Jew—“Law” did not mean what it means to us. When we hear the word “Law” we think it’s a set of rules. It was not thought of as a set of rules by First Century Jews.

Indeed, those who lived in that era thought of the Pentateuch, the first five books in the Hebrew Scriptures, thought of what is often referred to as the “Law,” not as a set of rules but as instructions, as teachings, as an opportunity to learn. Again: these were not rules.

Further, for First Century Jews, the “Prophets” predicted nothing, foretold nothing. To say prophecy is a foretelling of the future is a very secular definition.

Here is the Biblical definition of prophecy. Prophecy is to speak the Word of God, to speak the truth of God. Prophecy is not about events. It’s about eternal truth. What real prophets do and what prophecy does is speak the Word of God, the truth of God.

Hence, for First Century Jews the writings of the prophets were an elaboration of the instructions, a commentary on the instructions, an interpretation of the instructions. These were and are, thereby and also an opportunity to learn. (Slight pause.)

Well, within the context of said instruction, within that context, the Bible gives an amazing amount of attention to material possessions. In parables and oracles and stories it warns about the delusions, the created boxes and the created lines of material possessions. Scripture directly addresses the way we humans make idols of our possessions, repeatedly directs our attention to the poor and the destitute and the need to help.

Indeed, in this story it’s clear the rich person knows about Moses, about the Law, about the prophets. Further, the story never says rich person mistreated Lazarus.

So, the issue is not about someone being mean or abusive or even arrogant. To again reiterate what I said last week— in one sense this story is about mindlessness. The rich person simply never notices Lazarus.

On top of that, the rich person clearly never even noticed Moses and the Prophets. They were just there— a part of the environment— unnoticed.

So, as to what this story is about, it is clearly not about any reward in the afterlife and should not be read that way. This story should be seen as an instruction for us. Why? It is a story about what is happening here, now, about what we might need to do here, now.

You see, the rich person does not recognize what’s happening here, now. So perhaps, the key question for us is simple. What is happening here, now? And to be clear, this question primarily applies to what we do not notice, the boxes which are there but we do not see, boxes which are right in front of us but go unnoticed. (Slight pause.)

That brings me back to thinking inside the box and outside the box. How we think about boxes is not the issue we need to tackle. The issue we need to tackle is the non-existent lines and non-existent boxes, imaginary boxes that confine us, confuse us, trap us, rule us— boxes we create. We need to overcome those.

And, yes, Scripture is really clear about what the Prophets said it is about. Scripture is about the Word and the will of God. First, love God. Second, love everybody.

So, since we humans continue to commit acts of violence, acts of injustice, a prime question for us becomes ‘what part of love everybody do we not understand?’ What part of God’s justice— not our justice, God’s justice— do we fail to understand?

Of this I am actually quite sure. Perhaps most the prevalent injustice I know about happens simply because we do not notice the boxes God creates. These are the real boxes, the real lines, concerned with the real needs of people. But we pay attention to the boxes we create. Need I say more? Amen.

09/29/2019 ~ 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: “Earlier I said Jesus is a Jew. Please remember the only Bible Jesus knew was what we call the Hebrew Scriptures. And the New Testament constantly quotes the Hebrew Scriptures. My point is there is a continuity, an arc to Scripture. That continuity, that arc, can be summed up in one word: covenant. And, in the words of British theologian Nicholas Thomas Wright, entirety of Scripture points toward Jesus and the fulfillment of covenant which continues with us.”

BENEDICTION: There is a cost and there is a joy in discipleship. There is a cost and there is a joy in truly being church, in deeply loving one another. May the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore. Amen.

09/22/2019 ~ Proper 20 ~ Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ 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 ~ Note: 23rd and 43rd Psalm used ~ Elijah Kellogg Church.

Useless Foreign gods

“And Yahweh replies: / ‘Why do they provoked me to anger / with their graven images, / with their carved images / with their useless foreign gods?’” — Jeremiah 8:19b.

The last time I led a service of worship here I mentioned this about my background to someone at coffee hour. With a name like Joseph Francis Connolly, Jr. it is hard to hide the fact that I came to maturity in the Roman Catholic tradition.

Therefore it is nearly redundant to say when I was young I was an altar boy. And no, in those days there were no altar girls. And in those days the Mass was in Latin.

These are the opening words of the Mass in Latin, taken from Psalm 43. The officiant said: “Et introibo ad altare Dei.” The server responded: “Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam.” “I will go to the altar of God. God, the exceeding joy of my youth.” My heritage aside, I probably took those words to heart.

Well, in those days a priest was required to say one mass every day. Further, in order for a Mass to be valid at least one member of the laity needed to be present. This necessitated the presence of a server at many of those mandatory celebrations.

I participated at my share of mandatory masses. I called these 20 minute Masses, in part because of the speed at which a priest recited the words. This was a challenge for the server because of the rapidity of the responses thereby required.

I was young but still I was not pleased to serve at these sprints since it seemed to me the celebrant was reciting words unthinkingly, by rote. I guess I did take these words to heart: “I will go to the altar of God. God, the exceeding joy of my youth.” (Slight pause.)

This is found in the Scroll of the Prophet Jeremiah: “And Yahweh replies: / ‘Why do they provoked me to anger / with their graven images, / with their carved images / with their useless foreign gods?’” (Slight pause.)

Foreign gods, sacred cows in our society and other societies are fairly easy to identify. Why? We hold graven images dear. We humans maintain graven images in everything from politics, left or right, to the Bible to sports. How many Red Sox or Patriots or Bruins or Celtic fans are here today? And yes, for some these are religions.

Well, let me address a Biblical sacred cow. Nine years ago I wrote a Christmas anthem with composer Tom Rasely, One Angel Sings. One phrase says (quote:) “One angel sings both silent yet clear.” Why is this singing angel clear and silent? (Slight pause.)

You can hunt all over Luke 2 and you will not find an angel singing. (Quote:) “…suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,…”— praising God and saying.

Singing is implied but not mentioned. We can presume it happens. And we humans have probably presumed that and read singing into the text since the day after Luke finished writing. However, singing not in the text.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to change anyone’s mind about singing angels at the Nativity. Please let the angels sing. I like it. You like it.

But by saying there is no singing involved at the Nativity how many sacred cows did I just trample on? Said trampling, however, brings up an interesting question. The question is not ‘do we have sacred cows, false gods, graven images?’

Yes we do. We always will. We are human. I think the pivotal question here is “What creates false gods, foreign gods, graven images, sacred cows?” (Slight pause.)

I am well convinced what creates false gods, foreign gods, graven images, sacred cows brings us back to the story I told about serving at 20 minute Masses. False gods are about mental disengagement, often unintentional, but something I think which may be the prime culprit in creating these gods.

Let me offer a random piece of data to support that. One of the most-watched shows on Netflix is Friends, a sitcom old enough to vote. Why? It’s comfortable mental disengagement— a comfort zone.

I want to suggest disengagement is simply comfortable. So perhaps instead of specific false gods such as the aforementioned— politics, sports and even the Bible— the real issue is ‘what creates false gods?’ Is it comfortable disengagement?

That circles us back to Scripture yet again. Earlier we recited the 23rd Psalm, the King James Version— familiar, comfortable. Then we had a hymn treatment of the 23rd Psalm— familiar, comfortable.

I love the King James. You love it. But I also know it is not a particularly good translation. Further, I would suggest in our culture that translation comes very close to having become a graven image because it is often used in a very, very secular ways.

Now, translating from any language to another is hard. It’s especially hard for Hebrew, where any given word usually has more than one singular meaning. So I invite you to listen to this treatment of the 23rd Psalm.

It tries to discover a fullness of meanings in the underlying Hebrew words and perhaps invites us to hear the work in new ways. It also might move us just a little out of a comfort zone. (Slight pause.)

“Yahweh, God! / O God, Whose name means to be! / You are my shepherd! / So, I do not need a thing. / In green, lush, grassy meadows / God lets me lie / and has prepared a bed for me / and has invited me / to be peaceful and to be at rest; / You, Yahweh, find me quiet, / tranquil pools of water / from which to drink, / places at which / I may refresh my being, / restore my inner self.”

“You are true to Your word, / and true to who You are / because You let me catch my breath, / set me in the right direction, / guide me in the paths of saving justice, /
guide me with great compassion— and I know this, / since You are the only One who really befits the name of God.”

“Even were I to walk / on a path through a deep ravine / with walls that surrounded me / like the night— / a place that was like / a parched valley, / where there is no water— and there, / in that place, were I to walk / in the midst / of that canyon without light, / even in those times I would still / not be afraid / nor would I fear danger / because I know that You, O God, / walk at my side, / and I would know / that You, O God, are with me, / and I know that You, O God, will comfort me / and will guide me.”

“And I realize Your trusty, / old shepherd’s crook / is at Your side, / ready to be used when needed. / This helps me feel safe and secure. / And, yes, You prepare a table, / a feast for me; / and You do it / right in front of all those / who despise me, my adversaries / my enemies.”

“You revive me / by generously anointing me, / by massaging my head with / a wonderful, scented oil. / And my cup— my cup is filled / to the brim, filled to overflowing / filled with every good blessing / I could imagine.”

“And these are all / Your blessings, O God, / All meant for me. / Your beauty and Your love / and Your goodness and Your faithful, steadfast kindness / chase after me, pursue me / trying to find me where I am hiding / every day of my life. / And because of that / I shall return to my true home, / the house of Yahweh, / for days without end / forever and forever, / for all time to come. / And I will make my home / the house of Yahweh / and I be with You, / O God, who loves me— / Forever and for all eternity.” [1] (Slight pause.)

Comfort zones are wonderful. We are human. We all need them. But I also think they can create false gods of various flavors. So, is there a balm in Gilead which can help us with our false gods? (Slight pause.)

It has been said Christianity is not simply a religion, not merely a faith. Christianity is a way of life.

And the place to which Christianity really invites us is total engagement of our intellect, our emotions, our whole physical being. Christianity invites us to total engagement and commitment with and to God and with and to one another— as in love God, love neighbor.

And yes, we are not perfect. We are merely human. We cannot reach total engagement and commitment as did the Christ.

That does not mean we should give up. Quite the contrary, we need to constantly work at total engagement and commitment.

So I want to say yes— yes there is a balm in Gilead. That balm consists of total engagement and total commitment to loving God and neighbor as best as we can.

And yes we are human. However, being human does not mean we should surrender to or be seduced by whatever false god with which comfortable disengagement might present us. Our humanness means we should strive to hand our lives over to God— constantly go to the altar of God— God, our exceeding joy. Amen.

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “This quote is from Steven Charleston, Native American elder and retired Episcopal Bishop of Alaska. ‘I know some people imagine the spiritual life to be very ethereal, assume it is all about communing with the holy, meditating, and having wonderful visions. In fact, it is not quite like that. Living mindfully in a spiritual way is paying attention to the details. It requires self-discipline, study, physical work, and a willingness to do the hard jobs others seek to avoid. It means engaging with strangers on issues that are unpopular. It requires self-sacrifice, generosity, volunteering, staying late. Spirituality is not an escape, but an enlistment.’”

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 actions. 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] Note: this treatment of the Psalm combines some standard translations of the work with a more modern translation by Eugene Peterson and a scholarly translation by Mitchell Dahood, S. J.

08/18/2019 ~ Tenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Proper 15 ~ 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.

A 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.

Let me start my comments by thanking the members of this church for inviting me back. Inviting me back?

Well, on July 12th, 1992 I preached at First Parish Church in Brunswick. At that point I was a member at First Parish and in my first year at Bangor Seminary.

Now, as it happens in July of 1992 the Elijah Kellogg Church was in a transition between pastors and the interim had not yet arrived. For reasons of which I am unaware, someone from this church heard me at First Parish.

Having heard me and being in need of pulpit supply I was invited to offer a sermon on August 16th, 1992. [1] And I did. So, this is my second time in this pulpit. You have invited me back. Thank you.

Why do I remember all that in such detail? As I think you may know, after a 23 year absence, Bonnie and I have returned home to Maine.

I can recite that history with detail because after a 23 year pastorate in rural Upstate New York, we had to pack up the parsonage. 23 years of packing was not easy.

Bonnie and I are pack rats. We seem to save everything. Can you say 1995 Tax Returns? Guess what else I had saved? I saved correspondence between myself and the Kellogg Church which set up that pulpit supply.

Packing was not easy for another reason. I came across a multitude of things. Each item dredged up memories— memories of relatives, friends, parishioners— a veritable cloud of witnesses. I also uncovered memories of life before seminary, memories of my life and my work as a writer in New York City.

Now, as the biography in your newsletter said, I am a member of the Dramatist Guild, of ASCAP and had material performed Off-off Broadway and Off -Broadway. One of the things I came across was the first scene of a musical which was never performed. It was never performed because I wrote only one song and the first scene.

It was to be a musical based on the stories of the great Russian playwright and story teller Anton Chekhov. In that scene Chekhov elaborates on what those writings do. They address life— real life. What follows is some of the lyric of that one song.

“Life is everyday folks in everyday places. / Life is a tug on the sleeve and loving embraces. / Life is a walk in the park and sewing on patches. / Life is the pairing of socks and making of matches.”

“Life is unbearably boring sometimes, but soaring— / And week after week completely unique.”

“Life is a worrisome day with one more disaster. / Life is finding a way to make it go faster. / Life is a merry-some tune in four quarter time. / Life is the call of the loon, the sound of a rhyme.”

“Life is your grandfather’s beard, his strut and his amble. / Life is a great Russian play, good luck when you gamble. / Life is your father and mother, riding a bike. / Life is risking a kiss to see what it’s like.”

“Life is a trip to the store or even the zoo— / Not very much more than being with you.”

“Life is an excellent place to see how you’re living. / Life is a good way to learn about taking and giving. / Life is a whole lot of pain and everyday things. / Life is a change everyday; let’s see what it brings!”

“Life is a little guffaw, a bless when you sneeze. / Life is a mother-in-law you’re aiming to please. / Life is the seeing of friends, a swim in a lake. / Life is trying out things; you make a mistake.”

“Life is the flowers in Spring, in autumn the hay. / Life is the courage to think and mean what you say. / Life is the look of a friend when saying ‘good-bye.’ / Life is the need for an end and wanting to cry.” (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.)

I have often said in order to understand Scripture we need to forget we live in the 21st Century. We need to read Scripture with 1st Century eyes to discover meaning.

And so 1st Century eyes tell us this letter is written to the Hebrews, Jewish people. And who were the early followers of Jesus? It was not the gentiles, not us. The early followers were Hebrews, Jewish people.

Hence, when these words refer to (quote:) “great a cloud of witnesses” to whom are they referring? This refers to Hebrews, Jewish people— not gentiles, not us. They are this “great a cloud of witnesses.”

That provokes two simple questions. First, two sections of the Bible are commonly labeled as Old Testament and New Testament.

What does the word testament really mean? Testament is from the Latin word testimonium— to witness.

Next, to what is this cloud of witnesses who are Hebrews, Jews, giving testimony? If we read this passage with 21st Century eyes you might say they witness to (quote) “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,” Jesus.

But I would suggest if we read with 1st Century eyes, with the eyes of the first followers of Jesus— Hebrews, Jewish people— we come to a different understanding of the passage. That understanding is laid out by the words “Let us run with perseverance the race that is laid out before us.” (Slight pause.)

It has been said the Hebrew people, unlike gentiles, did not have a theology, an articulated verbiage about belief. Rather, the Hebrew people did theology.

Hence, what they understood is in the work, in the message, in the legacy of Jesus, in all this, they saw continuity with the God of the covenant, the God of the Hebrew people. They saw continuity with the God of the covenant through the life of Jesus.

Why? Jesus insisted over and over again the God of Hebrew people, Yahweh, the God of covenant, calls us to love God and love neighbor. And love is a verb. Love is about action. Love is not about articulating a theology. Love is about doing theology. (Slight pause.)

This brings us back to wondering about what life is. Yes, life is filled with everyday stuff. And everyday stuff is wonderful, awful, engaging, scattered.

But what needs to be a central focus for us as we live through the experience of everyday stuff? Active doing— the active doing of loving God and loving neighbor.

Hence, I want to suggest the message we might take from seeing these words with 1st Century eyes is we need to do theology, not merely speak, express theology in each and every one of the everyday things we encounter. And when we take the action commonly called love, when love is our prime action, then we are and we become a continuation of that first cloud of witnesses, the Hebrews.

And therefore when read with 21st Century eyes, the claim this passage makes— that Jesus is the perfecter of our faith— this passage says Jesus got it right. Jesus loved God, loved neighbor. And because of the life Jesus lived, Jesus did have a special relationship with God. We Christians articulate that relationship as the Second Person of the Trinity, the Christ, the Messiah.

That leads us back to love. If we treat love as a verb, if we live our lives filled with love, seeking the hope, the peace, the wisdom God offers, we can be empowered to be in relationship with God. And what is a loving relationship about? It’s about doing. Amen.

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Love is an active verb. I think in our world we too often see active hate. Why? Hate is also a verb and in our world today it is clear some people actively practice hate. But that is exactly the same kind of world in which Jesus lived. Hence., I encourage you to see love as a very active verb. Of course, what the action known as love looks like in everyday, real life is justice and equity for everyone. Indeed, let us strive to make justice and equity for everyone an everyday thing.”

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.

[1] I communicated with Marvin Starr Edgerton.

READINGS: 06/16/2019 ~ Trinity Sunday ~ First Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15 ~ Father’s Day on the Secular Calendar.

Trinitarian Monotheism

“Everything that Abba, God has belongs to me. That is why I say the Spirit will take what is mine and reveal it to you.” — John 16:15.

When I was in Seminary I asked a mentor if having a sermon title was required. “No. But it’s a good idea,” was the response. That mentor offered two rules about titles.

First, a title should be broad enough to allow multiple interpretations of it. Second, a title will help you focus on what you might want to say. To use a highfalutin term, it’s a thesis statement.

Now you can see in the bulletin my title today is Trinitarian Monotheism. My task is to try to explain what that means. But here’s my caveat about the title, itself. Speaking of Trinitarian, today’s sermon has three parts, each with its own subtitle. Part I Systematic Theology— Systematic Theology— now that’s boring! Hence, part II is Yeah, but What Does that Have to Do with My Feelings? The title for part III is Covenant.

In addressing these topics, but especially when it comes to systematic theology, I hope to explain the main tension within Christian thinking. What is that main tension? Christianity is an Eastern religion crammed into Western philosophy.

Eastern thinking strives assess the whole and is not too concerned with the individual parts. Western thinking examines each individual part in an effort to assess the whole. Obviously neither gives a complete picture. So, part I: Systematic Theology— and even that very word ‘systematic’ reflects Western thinking. (Slight pause.)

A couple of weeks ago I saw someone walking downtown with a “T” shirt which said, “Follow Jesus,” a common kind of statement in our society. But that statement is a proclamation of a very secular theology from my position.

Yes, it’s good to follow Jesus. I recommend it. But does that say or mean God the Creator and God the Holy Spirit are not worth following? In short, is that a denial of the reality of the God of Trinity and a denial of Abba God, God to Whom Jesus prayed? (Slight pause.)

In systematic Christian thought the label we use for God is Trinity. But that is meant to do only one thing: describe God, explain the nomenclature of God. Nomenclature: that’s a $64 word which means describing, naming things.

Monotheism— God as One— describes God as proclaimed, as named, by Islam and Judaism. But the classic Christian formula proclaims, names God as three Persons yet One. Or, as I said, Trinitarian Monotheism.

Now, earlier we recited the Nicene Creed. In case you did not notice, the Creed has holes in it you can drive a truck through. Why do I say that? It is impossible to describe God. The very idea of God is beyond description. And the people who wrote the Creed knew that.

After all, can you tell me what these words really mean, really? (Quote:) “Light from Light, / true God from true God, / begotten, not made,…” I can’t tell you what they mean. And the people who wrote the Creed also could not.

But they did have source material for their language. The source material is the Bible. For instance, this was in the reading from Genesis we heard last week. Yahweh, God says (quote:) “Come, let us go down and baffle their language…”

Let us go down— plural. God, as described there, is not singular. And using the plural for naming God happens more than once in the Hebrew Scriptures. What were the writers of the Hebrew Scriptures saying?

Well the explanation found in the Nicene Creed says three Persons, one God. And in its own strange way it is systemized theology since it is a description of God.

However that is the problem with systematic theology. It simply describes God. It’s a little like saying Joe Connolly sports a beard and is about five foot seven or eight. That might describe me. It says nothing about who I am. (Slight pause.)

Well, systematic theology was boring, was it not? But this obviously leads us to Yeah, but What Does that Have to Do with My Feelings? So, what does that have to do with feelings?

Nothing and everything— you see, it’s the three Persons thing. God, by definition, can be and is relational to God’s own self— singular yet three— three persons relating. That very statement says something personal and emotional about God.

I would be as bold as to suggest if each one of us does not have a sense of self, if a person does not at least in part know something about self, if an individual does not relate to self, that needs to be worked on. Why? It is knowledge of self, relationship with self, which empowers us to be in relationship with others.

So what does that relationship stuff come down to, really? How many hundreds of times have you heard me say this: love God, love neighbor. And loving God and neighbor is about relationships— a relationship with God and a relationship with others.

This loving God and neighbor stuff I constantly stress is not meant to be mere lip service. It is about emotion and it is about commitment. Further, knowing one’s own self, relating to one’s own self is not easy; loving God and neighbor is not easy. The depth of this love is supposed to tax every fiber of our being, our whole soul. (Long pause.)

That brings me to part III— Covenant. This is personal, so let me get a little closer to you. [The pastor moves from the pulpit and into the center isle.] In this case, for today at least, covenant is about me and about you and about 23 years. The covenant was and is about the time we shared and about how we shared and about how much we shared for these 23 years.

So, let me say something about the theology of covenant. Covenant embraces two commitments— a commitment to forgiveness, sometimes called unconditional love— and a commitment to growth, sometimes called learning.

I need to say one more thing concerning the theology of covenant. Secular society talks about justice a lot. We in the church also speak a lot about justice. But there is a difference.

Very few in secular society address justice and mercy. We in the church who practice covenant as it relates to God, know there is no justice without mercy, the mercy God offers to each of us.

As to our covenant, I said this a couple weeks ago. There is no such thing as an individual who is successful on their own. That is an American myth— myth in this case meaning falsehood. Any individual needs the support of many people, in this case I mean this community.

This church, this community of faith, had and has amazing, incredible, talented people. And I was supported by amazing, incredible, talented people in this community of faith. If I have had some success, it is not because of me; it is because of the people of this community of faith. (Slight pause.)

This afternoon there shall be an Order for Times of Passage, a Farewell Service. In the course of that service I will be called on to recite these words and I shall recite these words: “I thank the United Church of Christ, First Congregational of Norwich, its members and friends for the love, kindness, and support shown me these last 23 years. I ask forgiveness for the mistakes I have made. I am grateful for the ways my leadership has been accepted. As I leave, I carry with me all that I have learned here.” (Slight pause.)

And so, we have been in covenant. In one sense covenant— this unconditional love, this commitment to growth— never ends. Our proximity will, in fact, end. But our covenant shall never end if we continue to love unconditionally, if we continue to grow, continue to understand justice and mercy are intertwined. (Slight pause.)

If I have done anything over the last 23 years I have done my best to offer my love. Just like with any true covenant commitment I did not always succeed. But just like with any true covenant commitment I constantly tried to do better, tried to grow.

And I hope in my own small way what I have just said describes love— covenant love. So what else is there to say at this time of parting except amen.

06/16/2019
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York

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 first preached in that pulpit on June 2, 1996. At the end of the service I did then what I have done ever since. I said something. What I said on that occasion is Congregationalists have a great tradition called freedom of the pulpit. That freedom stems from the fact that a pastor needs to understand that pulpit is the pulpit of the people, your pulpit. All I or any pastor should try to do is share something about their own journey and how that might relate to the Gospel. And sharing the Gospel in the fulness of its love is not something I or anyone else can do in one Sunday, not something I or anyone else can do in a month of Sundays. Sharing the Gospel cannot be done quickly. Now, that is what I said back then, 23 years ago. Guess what? After 23 years of Sundays I have not yet completely shared the fulness of love found the Gospel. The fulness of love found in the Gospel is so great it cannot be shared in snippets from the pulpit. And that is what really makes that pulpit your pulpit. It is you who share the fulness of the love found in the Gospel every day. And over the course of 23 years I am aware you have tried to do that every day not just on Sundays. And, therefore, I thank you all for your love and your prayers and your care and your support.”

BENEDICTION: Go now, go in safety— for you cannot go where God is not. Go now, go in love— for love alone endures. Go now, go in peace— for it is a gift of God to those whose hearts and minds are in Christ Jesus. Go now, go with purpose— for the Spirit of God empowers us for today and all the eternities called tomorrow. 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.

READINGS: 05/26/2019 ~ Sixth Sunday of Easter ~ *Acts 16:9-15; Psalm 67; Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5; John 14:23-29 or John 5:1-9 ~ *During Eastertide a reading from Acts is often substituted for the lesson from the Hebrew Bible ~ Memorial Day Weekend on the Secular Calendar.

Sociological Realities

“One of the women was named Lydia. She was devout, a worshiper of God. She carefully listened to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and was a dealer in purple cloth.” — Acts 16:14a.

Today I want to give you some background information about my life. You may or may not have heard some of this before. There will be personal detail but I will also try to offer a perspective from the 30,000 foot level, say what was going on in the world.

However, what I will say is not about me or my life or my times. What I am about to say concerns the Bible. I will try to bring some reality to the way we read Scripture.

Therefore I need to address this reality [the pastor holds up a Bible]: the Bible is not a book. It is a collection of books gathered, compiled by people who lived in a multitude of cultures across ten centuries, a millennia. By definition it is complex.

And it is absolutely clear in our culture and because of our culture, some people are blissfully unaware or willfully ignorant of those origins and that complexity. There are those who insist the Bible was assembled in a singular culture and with no earthly influences. And our culture is just flat out wrong on that. Now let me say something about my life. (Slight pause.)

I was born during the first administration of President Harry Truman, his first administration— 1947 to be exact. I hope this is obvious: in 1947 the world was very different than it is today.

I know— some want to return to those thrilling days of yesteryear— as in ‘make America…’ well, you know. Here’s what I think: it’s always inappropriate to reduce life to a slogan or a cartoon.

Indeed I, personally, do not see the ’40s, ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, etc. as any kind of golden era. If it was great back then, that certainly was not my experience.

Why? I have said this before. I am a ghetto kid. When I was about five as I looked out the window of my family home I saw someone being mugged. I got my Mom who dashed to the street, brought the victim inside and called the police.

I mail letters only inside the Post Office. Why? It is a reaction to my childhood. Where I lived a gas filled bottle with a lit cloth wick— a Molotove Cocktail— was often tossed into corner mailboxes.

From a 30,000 foot perspective, when I was born WWII had recently ended. By 1952 we were enmeshed in Korea. Then we found ourselves mired in this other Asian country— Vietnam. By 1968 I was myself there, in that place, wearing Army green.

From the forties forward there was a plethora of violence connected with civil rights. People were murdered, lynched. A President, a Presidential candidate, the leader of the Civil Rights movement were assassinated.

Attempted assassinations happened to three other Presidents. Another candidate was severely wounded while campaigning. So, did you know the crime rate today is lower than it’s been since the mid 1960s? The crime rate today is lower than it’s been since the mid 1960s— did you know that? Or is the buzz of the culture drowning that out? Those thrilling days of yesteryear… were not thrilling.

Here’s a reality: no matter what anyone says, earlier times were in no way the best of times. To insist otherwise is to live in a cartoon fantasy. (Slight pause.)

Now that I’ve stressed the downside, let me tell you the other side of the same coin— some of my incredible, positive experiences. One of my Dad’s best friends another teacher at the Jesuit High School where they both taught, Don Kennedy, was also the basketball coach. In 1948 the school’s team won the National Schoolboy Championship.

Kennedy was soon recruited to coach at St. Peter’s College. His teams made five appearances in the National Invitation Tournament, the NIT. Don also owned a Catholic Summer camp in East Hampton, Long Island which catered to very wealthy families.

In the Summers my parents worked there but were not paid. Instead their children went to camp for free. I got to see how what we very euphemistically call “the other half” lives. Note: “the other half” is a euphemism since we’re talking about less than 2%.

Through the camp my parents became friendly with the chief engineer at the U.N. So when I was 11, I had a personalized tour of the U.N., toured areas in which the public was not allowed, such the floor of the General Assembly hall.

Another contact was Leon Leonidoff, 42 years the producer of stage shows at Radio City Music Hall. I got to go backstage, had a personal tour. I will never forget looking up at the big movie screen from behind. I could hear audience reactions and see actors who appeared to be 30 feet tall as I watched the screen from the wrong side.

Later, I worked for the Actor’s Fund of America. Academy Award winning actress Beatrice Straight, who was wealthy before she was famous, was on the board.

At a dinner meeting in her townhouse I mentioned I was having a hard time getting a staged reading for a play I had written. She said, “I’ll arrange it.”

The next day I got a call from the Executive Director of a prestigious non-profit theater who asked what I needed. All that is the other side of my life.

And what was life like from the 30,000 foot level? We put a human on the moon. We developed computers to get us there. You probably have a computer which is descended from that computer we used to put people on the moon in your pocket right now— a cell phone. And, like it or not, our culture dominates the worlds of art, science, commerce. (Slight pause.)

This is what we hear in Luke/Acts in the section called Acts: “One of the women was named Lydia. She was devout, a worshiper of God. She carefully listened to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and was a dealer in purple cloth.” (Slight pause.)

Perhaps I’ve had a strange life. But our lives, our world is not simple. The world is not a cartoon. Life is not a cartoon, though some might try to convince us of that.

Life cannot be pigeonholed and is hard to define or explain and happens on many levels. And so, to reduce life to easily repeatable slogans, to reduce life to cartoons, is to diminish the reality of life, its hardships, its joys. (Slight pause.)

Our tendency, the tendency of our culture is to reduce the stories and the people in Scripture to slogans, cartoons. After all, did you not know the followers of Jesus, the followers of the Way, were poor, uneducated and lived rural areas? That… is what our culture wants us to believe, that the followers of the way were poor, uneducated and largely lived in rural areas.

But no, they were not poor, not uneducated and largely did not live in rural areas. You see, in New Testament times 90% of the population lived in what we would call slavery. An even smaller percentage could read and write. Illiteracy was rampant.

But the New Testament was written and circulated by literate, well educated people. The story we heard says Paul goes to Philippi, a big city, to share the Word. Then Paul goes to Rome which had about 1.5 million people in that era. Paul goes there to share the Word.

And yet Paul wrote these letters to specific cities? None of those churches in those cities to which Paul was writing was larger than about 75 people. This is a very small number of people.

And who is this Lydia? She sells purple cloth. That means she is wealthy. Purple cloth is worn only by people of wealth and stature. This is a lucrative business.

Further, in this society which is patriarchal, no spouse is mentioned. She is the head of the household— that is radical. And she can get away with it. Why? Probably because she has wealth and stature.

What does all this say about the followers of the Way? It says our cartoon version of Scripture is at best inaccurate. (Slight pause.)

So, why have I brought this up in my penultimate sermon? It is my penultimate sermon you see because next week we have Music Sunday, the week after that we have Inter-generational Sunday and then I get to preach one more time.

This is my penultimate sermon. Why do I bring this up? I love Scripture. I respect Scripture. But our society has little time or even use for the realities of life we find in Scripture. It much prefers to treat Scripture as a series of slogans, cartoons.

In that way our society undermines both the reality of Scripture and tries to undermine the reality of our lives. Our lives are not simple. Our world is not simple. Life is not a cartoon, though some might try to convince us of that.

Life cannot be pigeonholed. Life is hard to define, hard to explain and happens on many levels. So to reduce life to easily repeatable slogans, to reduce life to cartoons, is to diminish the reality of life and its hardships and its joys. (Slight pause.)

We need to take Scripture seriously. Taken seriously Scripture has two parts— stories and theology. Its stories describe how complex life really is. Scripture is, however, not about the stories. To believe that would really be to reduce Scripture to a cartoon.

The stories in Scripture are merely a vehicle to convey theology. Let me say that again. The stories in Scripture are a vehicle to convey theology.

Therefore, Scripture is about theology and only about theology. That leads to these questions: since this is a story of Paul’s mission, what is that mission? And what theology found therein? (Slight pause.)

Paul’s mission is not— repeat, not— to make converts. Paul’s mission is to share the Word. Please note: Lydia listens. Lydia converts herself through listening. Paul does nothing but share. We, you and I, convert no one. People convert themselves. Just as Paul did, we should simply share the Word.

And yes, Paul simply shared the Word in an environment that was hostile to the Word. Far be it from me to draw a similar parallel.

And what is this Word of God? That’s the theology. And I can guarantee what that theology says. God loves us. God invites us to love one another and to share as we live through life’s joys, through life’s hardships.

You see, there is noting slogan-like or cartoon-ish about the love of God. So, my next to last message here is this: please love Scripture; please respect Scripture; please take Scripture seriously. How can you do that? Please share God’s love. Amen.

05/26/2019
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York

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: “Two things: I often say take Scripture seriously, not literally. And earlier I said Scripture addresses life, real life. This quote from the U.C.C. pastor Lillian Daniel addresses life, real life. (Quote:) ‘Any fool can find God on a mountaintop. The real challenge is finding God in the company of others as annoying as I am.’ Which is also to say loving neighbor is hard. Do not pretend it is easy. Do not pretend living out God’s love is easy.”

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 throughout the infinity of what is commonly called tomorrow. Amen.

READINGS: 05/19/2019 ~ Fifth Sunday of Easter ~ *Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 148; Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:31-35 ~ *During Eastertide a reading from Acts is often substituted for the lesson from the Hebrew Bible.

God Clean

“And the voice spoke again, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’” — Acts 11:9.

Over the course of the last twenty-three years, my time here at the United Church of Christ in Norwich, you have heard me say what I am about to offer dozens of times. Of course, some in attendance may be here only a short time or may be here the first time and might not have heard me say this at all, so I do need to offer a brief version of this story yet again.

Bonnie and I met when I was thirty-nine and she was thirty-eight. We hit it off right away. We knew we were meant for one another when we started to trade terrible puns and jokes.

Bonnie, of course, lived in Brunswick, Maine and I lived in New York City. This was clear from the get go: if we were to do anything as foolish as to get married Bonnie would not moving to New York City. I can’t imagine why she was of that opinion.

In any case a year later, when I was forty and Bonnie was thirty-nine we got married. It was the first marriage for both of us. One of the things I say about getting married for the first at that advanced age is it made us demographically unacceptable.

For instance, most of our friends had been married with children for quite some time. In a sense it was evident we were abnormal and there were times we actually felt that way, felt we did not fit in.

In short, society was not quite in tune with where we were at. Outcast is certainly too strong a word to apply to our situation. But the point is we clearly defied some cultural norms and, on occasion, felt left out, different. Which is also to say society makes many groups feel left out, different, simply for not being in some specific, pre-determined, easily definable, identifiable group or category. (Slight pause.)

One of my mentors in seminary said one job a pastor clearly has is to be the local theologian. However, there are times in the Connolly household when one Bonnie Scott Connolly acts as my local theologian.

That happened recently when women who are members of this church graciously gave a tea party in her honor. Bonnie wrote out what she wanted to say, how she wanted to thank people.

And then she revised it slightly for a ‘thank you’ in the Newsletter. Many of you may have seen this. There was one section which was deeply theological. It was both spoken at the party and written in the Newsletter. I want to repeat it.

(Quote:) “I love my church and I love my church family. The Norwich U.C.C. is an Open and Affirming Church. This is often seen only as referring to sexual orientation but I personally see it as much more.”

“There are many things society doesn’t really affirm or accept that I feel my church family is open and affirming to— such as accepting women who might not be mothers or grandmothers; women who are terrible cooks; women who are a different weight every year or who tell terrible jokes. I guess what I am really saying is thank you for accepting me with all my foibles.” (Slight pause.)

You see, there are some things society expects of people and not everyone conforms to those expectations. Bonnie hit on a number of those. And yes, outcast is too strong a term. So perhaps left out or different is more accurate. And yes, this church welcomed us, despite our foibles and eccentricities. (Slight pause.)

This is from Luke/Acts in the section known as Acts: “And the voice spoke again, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’” (Slight pause.)

There was an interesting online post by New York Times columnist David Leonhardt this week. He quoted a Washing Post article. Based on the Post article, he posed a question— see if you can name this group of Americans:

It is one of the largest and fastest-growing demographic groups in the United States. It suffers from substantial discrimination.

About 40 percent of Americans say they wouldn’t vote for someone from this group to be president. By comparison, 7 percent say they will not vote for an African-American candidate, 8 percent say that about a female candidate, 18 percent say that about a Mormon candidate and 24 percent say that about a gay candidate.

Eight state constitutions even prohibit this group from holding public office. Surveys have shown Americans don’t want anyone from this group marrying their children or teaching their children.

Not one of the 2020 presidential candidate comes from this group or at least admits to coming from this group. What group is being described? (Slight pause.) Atheists. [1] (Slight pause.)

You sometimes hear arguments that religious people in the United States suffer from discrimination and that’s true in some sense. Specific religions do suffer discrimination.

And yes, in some parts of secular America, there is a skepticism about religion which can veer into disrespect. But disrespect is disrespect no matter where or what its origins. (Slight pause.)

Over the course of the last twenty-three years, my time here at the United Church of Christ in Norwich, you have heard me say what I am about to offer dozens of times. But to reiterate, Luke and Acts were written by the same author at the same time.

There is no good reason to give the section of the Christian Scriptures know as Luke any more credence than the section known as Acts. In fact, there is a very good reason Acts should be given at least equal standing with Luke.

Why? Acts relates something about the movement of the Spirit of God, the reality of the Risen Christ, theology in the early church among the followers of the Way, the followers of Jesus, the followers of the Christ. Acts is about how the Spirit of God pushes the early church out of any comfort zones it might have had, the preconceived notions it might have had concerning understandings about God.

In this reading from the 11th Chapter of Acts Peter gives a synopsis of the story offered in Chapter 10. For me this is the clear point of the story: in Christ we are a new creation. In Christ old things have passed away. In Christ our old things have passed away. (Slight pause.)

Let me put that into language which might sound a little more contemporary. The way God was understood by early Christians is totally changed by the reality of the resurrection of the Christ. The way God is understood by us is or should be totally changed by the reality of the resurrection of the Christ.

Indeed, the Christ was not raised only for Jews. And remember the followers of Christ initially are only Jews. The Christ was not raised only for gentiles. Christ was raised for everyone, the entire human race, no exceptions.

With the resurrection of the Christ this became clear: no one— no one— is outcast, excluded. With the resurrection of the Christ we are made whole and the human race is made one. The resurrection of the Christ gives clarity to the idea that God loves everyone, no exceptions. (Slight pause.)

To come back to what my favorite local theologian one Bonnie Scott Connolly said, the Norwich Church is an Open and Affirming Church. This is often seen only as referring to sexual orientation which in and of itself is a wonderful thing. But there is so much more.

In fact, here is how all encompassing the newness of God’s creation in Christ really is: it would not matter to God that atheists do not accept God. God accepts atheists. Atheists— a group Americans apparently do not accept— are accepted by God. (Slight pause.)

Now, there is one thing which is unacceptable in the eyes of God. What is unacceptable in the eyes of God? Breaking covenant. And one of the few times we might break covenant is to assume or even to say God thinks any group is unworthy, unacceptable, unclean, outcast. (Slight pause.)

The resurrection of Christ— the resurrection of the Christ— makes the message God has for the human race easy to understand. God embraces each of us and all of us with unconditional love. We are, each of us, all of us, children of God.

God loves us. God invites us to love one another. Let us pray we up to the task. Amen.

United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
05/19/2019

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Let me offer this quote from theologian Walter Brueggemann (quote:) ‘The prophetic tasks of the church are to tell the truth in a society that lives in illusion, grieve in a society that practices denial, and express hope in a society that lives in despair.’ This is the social truth Brueggemann is addressing: God loves everyone. What part of everyone do we not understand?”

BENEDICTION: Hear now this blessing: God is with us, always. When we love one another, God is pleased. And may the steadfast love of God and the peace of Christ, which surpasses understanding, keep our minds and hearts in the companionship and will of the Holy Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.

[1]

READINGS: 05/12/2019 ~ Fourth Sunday of Easter ~ *Acts 9:36-43; Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30 ~ *During Eastertide a reading from Acts is often substituted for the lesson from the Hebrew Bible ~ Mother’s Day on the Secular Calendar ~ The Sacrament of Baptism.

High Christology

“I give them eternal life, and they will never be lost. No one will ever snatch them from my hand. Abba, God, who gave them to me is greater than anyone and no one can steal them from the hand of Abba, God, for Abba and I are one.” — John 10:29-30

I’d like to start by asking a question and inviting you to think about your answer. Mind you, I am not inviting you to think about a correct answer or think about a text book answer or think about someone else’s answer. I am inviting you to think about your answer.

The question: why are there four Gospels, four very different, diverse ways of telling the story of Jesus in the Christian Scriptures? We shall come back to this question eventually.

But let’s leave that question aside for a time. As you know, we experienced the Sacrament of Baptism today. We Baptized children so we had some questions for the parents.

And we also had questions for the Congregation. This was asked: “Do you who witness and celebrate this sacrament, promise your love, support and care to the ones about to be baptized, as they live and grow in Christ?”

I invite you to think about your answer to that question. Mind you, I am not inviting you to think about a correct answer or think about a text book answer or think about someone else’s answer. I am inviting you to think about your answer. (Slight pause.)

One of my mentors in seminary said to me we are Congregationalist and the Congregation, the local church, is the most important unit in our structure. This pastor, being a seminary mentor said, therefore, the most important function for those called to ordained ministry is to be a local pastor.

I took that piece of advice to heart. And, if you have ever dialed up my sermon blog on the internet, you will notice the name of the blog is <localpastor>— that’s all small case letters with no break— <localpastor>.

Among several key understandings which emerged from the Reformation about Scripture, a central idea about what it means to be a Christian is that we are, all of us, priests. Each of us is a priest.

We are a priesthood of believers. As a priesthood of believers, together we are called to ministry of some form. Indeed, I want to suggest if we are all a priesthood of believers then we are all also called to be local pastors of some form. (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work know as the Gospel According to the School of John: “I give them eternal life, and they will never be lost. No one will ever snatch them from my hand. Abba, God, who gave them to me is greater than anyone and no one can steal them from the hand of Abba, God, for Abba and I are one.” (Slight pause.)

[The pastor holds up a 30 page document.] This is a publication of the Word Council of Churches titled Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry. [1] The World Council is both broad and inclusive among its many expressions of the membership. The goal of the organization is to seek Christian unity.

In pursuit of this it brings together denominations in more than 110 countries and includes churches in the Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed traditions. There are now 350 member church groups.

For the member churches this is a unique space in which they can reflect, speak, act, challenge and support, share and debate with each other, worship and work together. These churches are called to the goal of a visible unity in one faith.

They strive to promote a common witness in work. They engage in service by tending to human needs, breaking down barriers between people, seeking justice, peace, upholding the integrity of creation, fostering renewal in worship, mission and service.

As the title Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry implies this document lays out places where these churches agree and even disagree in those three areas. I ask the parents of children who are Baptized to read the Baptism section.

Given the approaching time of transition, last week I realized it might be a good idea for our Deacons to read it also. So I gave them a copy.

In fact, given the approaching time of transition it might be a good idea for every member of this congregation to read it. Why? You see, we are all a priesthood of believers. And indeed, if you want to rad this document we can print it for you or e-mail a copy to you.

But what I really want you to notice is, because the World Council is who they are, this document lays out all the places in these three areas— Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry— lays out all the places where that multitude of churches I mentioned both agree and disagree. Agree and disagree— that’s what I really want you to notice— agree and disagree. (Slight pause.)

Now I invite you to imagine something. Imagine yourself not here in this church but in any church in the world. Question: is it probable any two people sitting next to one another in any church anywhere believe exactly the same thing about God? Probably not.

And now put yourself back here in this Congregation. Is it probable you believe exactly what any other person here believes about God? Probably not.

That brings me back to my question about the four Gospels. Why are there four Gospels, four very different, diverse ways of telling the story of Jesus in the Christian Scriptures? (Slight pause.)

Among the incontrovertible facts we know about these four works are that Mark was written first, Matthew next, Luke next and John last. As I have said dozens of times before, the true letters of Paul were completed before any of he Gospels were recorded. Hence, the Gospels are not the earliest writings in the Christian Scriptures.

As to Mark, Matthew and Luke— these are the so called Synoptic Gospels. Synoptic means one eye and they’ve been given that collective name since each of these Gospels records the story of Jesus in roughly the same way.

And we can even see where Luke takes some material from Matthew and Mark and Matthew takes some material from Mark because they’re written in that sequence and they probably read each other’s work. John, on the other hand, approaches things in a totally different way and there is very little if any material taken from the others.

But given that sequence, one which follows the development of the Gospels, another reality presents itself. In Mark the Jesus is portrayed as being more human than divine and by the time you get to John Jesus is portrayed as more divine than human.

But did Jesus change or did the way the early Christians understand Jesus change? Or, indeed, did the experience that the early Christians had of Jesus change?

This is clear. In Mark Jesus claims to be the Messiah. In John Jesus claims to be the Messiah and says Abba and I— God and I— are one.

Are those statements different? Maybe, maybe not. But this should also be clear to all of us. To claim all of the Gospels— even the Synoptics— the claim that are totally in sync with each other, that they totally agree with each other is a long, long stretch.

Why? The Gospels are not— are not— in any way trying to convey a factual story or even facts about Jesus. The Gospels are trying to convey theology. The Gospels are trying to convey ideas about how God might be understood.

And all that brings me to a very basic question: what do you believe? (Slight pause.) Not a text book answer, not anyone else’ answer— what do you believe? If the Gospels are not trying to convey the story of Jesus but trying to convey theology, what are the Gospels saying about God? And, if the Gospels are not trying to convey the story of Jesus but trying to convey theology, how should we respond? (Slight pause.)

You remember that promise made in the Baptism ceremony? It was a promise to offer our love, our support, our care.

For me, those promises say two things. First, we are all a priesthood of believers. We are all local pastors.

Second, what Christian theology really says, what the story of Jesus really says, what the Gospels really say is God— God who covenants with us— God promises to love, care and support us. And God, who covenants with us, invites us to love, care and support one another.

You see, we may not believe all the same things but we are all members of the priesthood of believers. That is especially true because as a priesthood of believers we are called to show our love, our support and our care to others. Amen.

05/12/2019
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I have used this quote before. It is from the Catholic theologian Richard Rhor. (Quote:) “Christianity is a lifestyle— a way of being in the world that is simple, non-violent, shared and loving. However, we made it into an established religion (and all that goes with that) and avoided the lifestyle itself. Making Christianity into a religions one could then be warlike, greedy, racist, selfish and vain and still believe that is one’s ‘personal Savior.’ The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on earth is too great.’”

BENEDICTION: Let us go out from this place in the sure knowledge that God is at the center of our lives. Let us go out from this place in the sure knowledge that God’s love abounds. Let us go out from this place and strive to have our deeds bear witness to God’s love. And may the steadfast love of God and the peace of Christ, which surpasses understanding, keep our minds and hearts in the companionship and will of the Holy Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.

[1] This document can be found here:
https://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/commissions/faith-and-order/i-unity-the-church-and-its-mission/baptism-eucharist-and-ministry-faith-and-order-paper-no-111-the-lima-text

05/05/2019 ~ Third Sunday of Easter ~ *Acts 9:1-6, (7-20); Psalm 30; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19 ~ *During Eastertide a reading from Acts is often substituted for the lesson from the Hebrew Bible ~ Communion Sunday.

Fear and the Call of God

“But Ananias protested, ‘I have heard from many sources about Saul and how much harm this Rabbi has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. Saul now is here and has authorization from the chief priests to arrest everybody who calls on Your name.’” — Acts 9:13-14.

If you have not heard about this, Bonnie and I have had a hectic week— even two weeks. First, I’ll list the church related hectic. I had an interment and two celebrations of life, commonly called funerals. This was Newsletter week— always hectic— a breakfast meeting earlier in the week and, of course, there was the usual— services had to be planned and sermons written.

And this week Bonnie had the New York Conference Women’s Retreat at Watson Homestead. I’ve heard very good reports about that from all those who went. I suppose it will not surprise you to hear she has become the official photographer of the Conference Women’s retreat. In fact next year when we intend to be living in the great State of Maine, the group is insisting they want her back.

Speaking of the great State of Maine, as we head toward retirement— or is it as we hurtle toward retirement— that is the other thing that made these two weeks hectic. We went to Maine… twice. The first trip, when we were house hunting, was planned. But currently there is not a lot of inventory so nothing came of that trip.

But on Monday morning last at about 8:00 a.m., a house was put on <realtor.com> which looked like it might be right for us. By 10:00 a.m. I was on the phone with our realtor. The entry said bids on the house were closing on Friday. Bids on a house closing in five days— that ought to give you an idea about how hot the housing market is where we are trying to go.

Early Tuesday morning the realtor did a FACETIME with us from the property. While that gave us a feel for what it was like, it was decided we really needed to see the place. And so Tuesday at about 12:30 we were off to Maine, our second trip in two weeks. As I said, the first one was planed; this one… not so much.

We got to Brunswick Tuesday evening at about 8:15 p.m— meaning we made really good time on the highway— had dinner and settled into a room at the Fairfield Inn. We were at a hotel because there had not been enough time to contact friends and ask to stay with them as we had done on previous trips.

Wednesday morning at 8:25 a.m. we met the realtor and saw the place in the flesh. We got on the road back to Norwich by 9:15 a.m. It was good we saw the house in person. As we drove south we talked about it and realized the house was not right for us.

As effective as pictures on the web are once we were there, in the house, we knew for us something was not quite right with that property. I am not even sure I can tell you what that something was.

We again made good time on the return trip. That drive is often at least eight hours, usually closer to nine. We made it back by 4:45, a mere seven hours and forty-five minutes on the road.

I was glad we made it back since there was yet another church reason for being here Wednesday evening. At 6:30 the Interfaith Council presented a Chenango County Day of Prayer in front of the courthouse steps right outside this building. Having returned, I was able to participate.

In any case, let me offer this advice. Please do not try to go to Maine twice in two weeks. And please do not try to go to Maine and back in about 28 hours. It ain’t easy. It’s somewhere southwest of hectic.

That story brings me to a statement of fact. No— Bonnie and I do not have a place to call our own in Maine even though we started seriously looking in February.

This week I will probably begin to explore rental properties— the cat is always a problem when it comes to rental properties— I will start to explore rental properties since we are running out of time. And yes, this is not just hectic. This is becoming a little more like scary.

At least in general, we know where we want to be. We have not yet found out exactly where or exactly how we will get that done. (Slight pause.)

This is what we find in the work known as Luke/Acts in the section commonly labeled as Acts: “But Ananias protested, ‘I have heard from many sources about Saul and how much harm this Rabbi has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. Saul now is here and has authorization from the chief priests to arrest everybody who calls on Your name.’” (Slight pause.)

Clearly, the first part of this story we heard from Acts is about Saul. Now I have said this before but I’ll mention it again. Despite popular legends and despite what is depicted in a myriad of bad Renaissance paintings which picture this conversion episode, Saul is not knocked off a horse of any kind. That is not in the text.

Saul simply falls to the ground. And, given what is written, I think we can safely state Saul is overwhelmed, even fearful.

That having been said, it is not the story of Saul which recently caught my attention. I suddenly noticed the story of Ananias had parallels to what happened to Saul. Yes, Saul is overwhelmed, frightened. But so is the faithful servant Ananias.

Indeed, let me translate what Ananias says into Twenty-first Century English for you. “Yo! God! You want me to do what?” Ananias is afraid and rightfully so.

We have been given all the information about Ananias we need to help us understand why this disciple is frightened. First, the Christ does not just appear to Saul. Christ also appears to Ananias. I think we tend to overlook that fact.

Second, even if only by reputation Ananias clearly knows who Saul is. Therefore, Ananias has every reason to be frightened. Think about it: Christ, who Ananias knows has been murdered by the State, appears.

Next, Ananias is told by Christ to go and heal someone who is arresting followers of Jesus. To be clear, what arresting means in this context is the people are being handed over by the temple authorities to the state, the Roman authorities, for punishment. That’s the way that worked. Ananias had every reason to be scared. (Slight pause.)

Let me invite you to consider something. If we are serious about life, when we stop and think about life, at times life is hectic. I take it back. Life is always hectic.

And yes, at times life is a little more than scary. We really don’t know what will happen tomorrow. But should that stop us from acting? (Slight pause.)

Let me invite you to consider something else. Is each of us, are all of us called by God? (Slight pause.) In her Christian Education article in the Newsletter this month Linda Oehme states the disciples were transformed from fearful people who met secretly behind closed doors into preachers and teachers.

Now, you might insist the disciples were empowered by the Holy Spirit— you know— Pentecost and all that stuff? But what makes you think we are not empowered by the Holy Spirit? Are we a post Pentecost people or are we not? (Slight pause.)

Let me come back to a personal note. One of the times we were recently in Maine a friend said it amazed him that I— and therefore we since it includes Bonnie— it amazed him that I said was headed to seminary and going into ordained ministry.

And then it happened. We followed through, made it happen. No, said I, we did not make it happen, at least not with that amount of exactness and certainty. We simply tried to be open to the call of God.

Please notice, I did not say I was sure that with any precision this was a call from God. I said I was open to the call of God. Hence, was this journey frightening? Why yes it was.

Was this journey which brought us here twenty-three ago frightening? Why yes it was.

And will our move to Maine be frightening? Why yes it will. But should that stop us from acting? (Slight pause.)

I think being open to the call of God is the key. I think that is what we see in Ananias— an openness.

And so, even if Bonnie and I wind up renting for a time when we move to Maine, we shall move because I already know I need to be open to the call of God. How can I be so sure I am being open to the call God?

Well, sure I’m not. But I do already know this. I will be peaching, filling a pulpit four times in Harpswell, Maine starting in August for a pastor who on sabbatical. And I really do not want to travel back and forth from here to Maine just to preach on those Sundays.

So really all I am trying to do (I think) is to be open. Open to what? Trying to be open to the will of God and then to act.

Where will those actions take me? I do not know. And yes, that is frightening. But neither did Ananias know. And yes, that was frightening. But acting is, I think, the key.

And, from what I hear that’s what this church, this congregation will strive to do once I am ensconced in Maine— just like Ananias you will strive to be open to the call of God and act. Amen.

United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
05/045/2019

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: “Pastor Brian McLaren had said this (quote:) ‘The church is not about meeting your needs; the church is about joining the people of God to meet the needs of the world.’ Let me put that another way. The church is about action. I believe when we act we are better attuned to hearing the call of God then when we pretend we’re a rock and do nothing.”

BENEDICTION: Let us go where God leads us, for surely God leads us to embrace our neighbor with love. Let us follow where Christ has gone, and see the great commandment of loving God and loving neighbor as a watchword. And may the steadfast love of God and the peace of Christ, which surpasses understanding, keep our minds and hearts in the knowledge, companionship and will of the Holy Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.