localpastor

12/22/2024 ~ Fourth Sunday of Advent ~ Micah 5:2-5a; Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 80:1-7; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45, (46-55) ~ EXPERIMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk2hmDs-1iU

VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1042277522

Proclaiming Greatness

“Then Mary said, / ‘My soul proclaims Your greatness, O God, / and my spirit rejoices in You, my Savior.’” — Luke 1:46-47.

In 1983 I had a friend who went for a three day battery of psychological and skills testing at the nationally known Northeast Career Center in Princeton, New Jersey. My friend had been working as a writer, a copywriter in the advertising business.

The testing center suggested that given the skill set they found, my friend should be a lawyer. So he went Princeton University Law School, wound up as the editor of the law review and went to work at a big corporate law firm on Wall Street.

At that time I was also making my living as a writer so this result caught my attention— a writer changes careers, becomes a lawyer. Writing is often a hand to mouth existence, so the law does seem to be more stable and maybe even a more lucrative profession.

And so, I went for the same three days of testing, hoping I would get a similar recommendation— attend law school. The test results had good news and bad news.

The bad news: not only should I be a writer; they told me I was off their charts on that skill set. How is that bad news? Simple— very few people actually make a living just writing. Can you say John Grisham, Stephen King?

The reality is even many famous writers do other things to keep food on the table— teach at universities, conduct seminars and when you’re very famous for a considerable fee give talks at corporate meetings.

But there was good news in my results. Most people test as doing one thing and one thing only really well and nothing else particularly well. I, on the other hand, tested as doing one thing very well but nearly everything else at least adequately well. (I shouldn’t be an airline pilot, though.)

Doing an array of things adequately well was good news since, if writing is the only thing someone does well, they will be a starving artist. The testing center told me if you do many things with a reasonable degree of competence, it’s unlikely you will ever starve. They actually said that. (Slight pause.)
In fact, the real goal of this testing center— and as I mentioned it does have a national reputation— is not so much to detect skills as to put you in touch with yourself, help you self-analyze who you are. If you learn how to do that— and part of the three day process consists of learning how to do that— over and over again— and they encourage that— if you do that then it can become routine for you.

Understanding who you are, assess where you’re at, digging deep into the soul with consistency is an invaluable asset. And, in order to constantly, consistently assess where you’re at, self examination is a skill which needs to be practiced and practiced.

I think self examination needs to be and to become regular, constant. It was, after all, Socrates who said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” (Slight pause.)

This is found in Luke: “Then Mary said, / ‘My soul proclaims Your greatness, O God, / and my spirit rejoices in You, my Savior.’” (Slight pause.)

A couple weeks ago I was chatting with someone who was retired— not unusual for this neck of the woods. After a time she came to realize her identity was tied up with what she had done in her work life. Therefore, her identity was about what she did rather than who she was.

Once she let go of what she did, it freed her to be who she was. But this movement, this change took a couple of years. Frankly, many people find their identity in their work. But is that who we are? (Slight pause.)

The Westminster Shorter Catechism of the Anglican tradition says the purpose of humanity, each of us, is to glorify God. The Baltimore Catechism in the Roman tradition says the purpose of humanity, each of us, is to know God, to love God, to serve God.

I want to suggest these are intertwined, inseparable. Glorifying, knowing, loving, serving God is about who we are, not about what we do. But I also want to suggest glorifying, knowing, loving, serving God are not even a possibility unless we first know about ourselves.

But that raises questions: how do we know about ourselves? How can we know ourselves?

First and to be clear, I think we can know ourselves only in part. What that testing taught me is invaluable because I found out we can never know ourselves fully.

There are always new avenues to explore, other ways to look at ourselves. But because we can never know ourselves fully, one of the best ways to find out about our own self is to listen to what others say about us.

Indeed, I believe when we allow others to examine, to explain, to affirm who we are— affirm who we are— that can be an essential way of getting to better know ourselves. Other people can help us in this process. (Slight pause.)

When this reading from Luke was introduced it was said Luke has a number of stories in the first two chapters. All of the stories, not just the Nativity of the Christ, are important in the context of the birth narratives. And so we need to pay attention to everything in the first two chapters and not separate out the Nativity because these two chapter are one piece, a whole.

Given that connectivity, when Mary proclaims the greatness of God she has already been affirmed twice. She has been affirmed by Gabriel and was told (quote:) “Blessed are you among women.” She is then affirmed by Elizabeth who also says (quote:) “Blessed are you among women.”

And so, having been affirmed Mary proclaims. Mary proclaims by and through glorifying God. Mary proclaims about knowing God, loving God, serving God because Mary knows who she is. Mary knows who she is in part because she has been affirmed.

Mary knows because of that affirmation what her true identity is. She is a child of God. And this may be the key.

I think we cannot glorify, know, love, serve God in the most effective way we are able, without knowing and affirming who we are, who each of us is individually. And who are we? We are children of God. (Slight pause.)

That presents an obvious question: who am I? The testing helped but it didn’t really tell me who I am. I examined that. So, who am I? Like Mary, I am a child of God. And as a child of God I am, thereby, empowered to glorify, know, love and serve God.

There is a second, equally obvious question which needs to be posed. Who are we, as a church? You see, Mary received affirmation from others. And the community of faith, this group who we commonly call the church, we need to be a place where affirmation happens.

I maintain unless we affirm one another we cannot fully, to the best of the ability of each individual and to the best of the abilities as a whole, function effectively as a community, function effectively as a church. And who do we need to be? What do we need to be as a church? We need to be empowered to glorify, know, love and serve God.

Hence, as we move forward it would be wise of us to ask a simple question. Who are we? Who are we as individuals. Who are we as a church? Indeed, this process of self-examination, this process of just asking questions about who we are might help us envision the future.

So to reiterate, these are key questions. Do we, as individuals, strive to glorify, know, love, and serve God? Do we, as a church, as a community of faith, strive to glorify, know, love and serve God? Amen.

12/22/2024
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. The Time for All Ages at the service today had ended with a mirror being held up first to the children and then to the Congregation. At this point the pastor took that same mirror and held it up again to the Congregation before reciting the ENDPIECE. This is a précis of what was said: “New Testament scholar Nicholas Thomas Wright says the Realm of God as it is found in the Gospels is not about getting to heaven. The Realm of God as it is found in the Gospels is about the transformation of life here, now. I say if we as a church, truly glorify God, know God, love God, serve God then we will, as a church, be working toward the transformation of life here, now. What does transformation look like? Mary said what it looks like. It looks like the equity which happens when the proud are scattered, the powerful brought down, the mighty disposed, the lowly raised to high places, the hungry filled with good things. And who will accomplish this? Is it we who are called to accomplish this?”

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

VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1040104289

ELIJAH KELLOGG CHURCH WORSHIP

12/15/2024

Third Sunday of Advent

The Sunday in Advent on Which We Commemorate Love

Music Sunday, the Sunday on Which We Celebrate the Ministry of Music Offered by Our Talented Musicians

THOUGHTS FOR MEDITATION — “Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. But a song makes you feel a thought.” — Harold Arlen, composer of Somewhere Over the Rainbow

“Music… can name the un-namable and communicate the unknowable.” — Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), composer, conductor.

“Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise.” — Martin Luther

Welcome and Announcements

Passing of the Peace…

• Call to Worship —

CANTICLE
O God of Love, show us Your way,
Let love be now our guide, we pray.
Let joy and hope and peace abide,
O God of love be at our side.

ONE: Through the prophets, God promised a Messiah. We are in awe of the birth of Jesus, the incarnation, the Word of God made flesh, God’s message of the in-breaking of the fullness of the will of God into our world. Jesus came to us as a weak and vulnerable baby, the one called Emmanuel. The name Emmanuel means “God is with us.” And surely, the love of God visits us in the presence of Jesus, the Messiah.

ALL: The first Advent candle reminded us to have hope for a better world. The second reminded us that God’s dreams for peace can become real in our world. The third candle reminds us when we show forth the love of God to each person we meet the possibilities of hope and peace become tangible, real.

Prayer of Invocation

• HYMN — Sing All Creation INSERT

A Time for All Ages —

Lord’s Prayer (debts and debtors)
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

OFFERTORY INVITATION

*OFFERING RESPONSE (DOXOLOGY)
Old One-hundredth

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION

Prayers of the People —

SILENCE

• HYMN — My Heart Sings Out with Joyful Praise INSERT

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE

A READING FROM THE TANAKH IN THE SECTION KNOWN AS THE WRITINGS IN THE WORK KNOWN AS THE PSALMS — PSALM 96:1-4 [ILV]

[1] O sing to Yahweh, God, a new song;
sing to Yahweh, God, all the earth.
[2] Sing to Yahweh, God, bless God’s name;
Proclaim the salvation of God from day to day.
[3] Declare the glory of God among the nations,
the marvels of the works of God every people.
[4] For Yahweh, God, is great and worthy of praise;
Yahweh, God, is to be revered above all gods.

ANTHEM — O Sing Unto the Lord
Text from Psalm 96:1-4
Music by James C. Ward and Heather Sorenson

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE

A READING FROM THE TANAKH IN THE SECTION KNOWN AS THE PROPHETS— Ezekiel 34:20-22a, 25, 31 [ILV]

[20] Therefore, thus says the Sovereign, Yahweh to you: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep [21] for you shove aside the weak with flank and shoulder; you butt all the weak animals with your horns until they are scattered far and wide, scattered in every direction.  [22] I will save my flock and they shall be ravaged no longer.

[25] I will make a covenant of peace with my sheep and banish wild animals from the land, so my people can live in the wild, in open pastures, and sleep safely, securely, in the forests.

[31] You, my people, are my sheep, the flock that I tend, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, says the Sovereign Yahweh.

• ANTHEM — Shepherd Me, O God
  Words and Music by Marty Haugen
  Arranged by Mark Haynes
  Kate Gray, Violin

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE

A READING FROM THE TANAKH IN THE SECTION KNOWN AS THE PROPHETS— Isaiah 11:1-2

[1] A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse;
From the root of Jessie a branch will blossom.
[2] The spirit of Yahweh will rest on you—
a spirit of wisdom and understanding,
a spirit of counsel and strength,
a spirit of knowledge
and the reverence for Yahweh.

SPECIAL MUSIC — In Dulci Jubilo/While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night
Elizabeth Cromwell, Piano – Kate Gray, Violin

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE

A READING FROM THE GOSPEL — Luke 1:39-45 [ILV]

[39] Within a few days after the Angel Gabriel visited, Mary set out and hurried, went with haste, into the hill country to a town of Judah.  [40] There she entered the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth and was greeted by Elizabeth.  [41] As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary return the greeting the child she was carrying leaped in her womb.  And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  [42] With a loud voice she exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  [43] And why has this happened to me?  Why am I so favored that the mother of the Messiah should come to me?  [44] For the moment I heard the sound of your greeting reach my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy.  [45] And blessed is she who believed what our God said to her, what was spoken to her would be fulfilled, would be accomplished.”

• SPECIAL MUSIC — Angels Assembled in Ordered Row
  Music by George Frederic Handel
  Arranged by Walter Ehret
  Betsey Nehf, soprano – Hub Goodrich, baritone

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE

A READING FROM THE GOSPELS — Luke 2:8-14 (ILV)

[8] Now, there were shepherds in that region, living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  [9] An angel of God suddenly stood before them and the glory of God shone around them— and they were terrified.
[10] But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for you have nothing to fear; I have come to bring you good news, news of great joy for all people: [11] to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah.  [12] This will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”  [13] And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
[14] “Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and on earth peace
among those with
whom God is pleased,
with those who keep the covenant!”

ANTHEM — One Angel Sings
Music by Tom Rasely, Lyrics by Joseph Connolly
Kate Gray, Violin

One Angel sings both silent and plain:
“A child is born— Emmanuel now!”
And suddenly shouts from heaven are heard
as the many heav’ly hosts cry out the refrain:
“Glory to God, the peace of God reigns.
Glory to God the Alpha, Omega.
Glory to God Whose presence is here.
The peace of God reigns,”
The angels proclaim!

One angel sings and freedom abounds.
A child is born, God with us now.
The peace of God Whose presence resounds,
and we respond to God with songs of praise.
“Glory to God, the peace of God reigns.
Glory to God, the Alpha, Omega.
Glory to God Whose presence is here.
The peace of God reigns,”
The angels proclaim!

One angel sings both silent and clear,
that God lives among us now in the world.
And suddenly shouts from Heaven are heard,
as the many heav’ly hosts cry out the refrain:
Glory to God, the peace of God reigns,
Glory to God, Alpha, Omega
Glory to God, Whose presence is here.
The peace of God reigns,”
The angels proclaim!
The angels proclaim!

• HYMN — When in Our Music God Is Glorified INSERT, v. 1, 2, 3

A READING FROM THE TALMUD AND A BENEDICTION

• HYMN — When in Our Music God Is Glorified INSERT, v. 4

Postlude — In Dulci Jubilo/While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night
Elizabeth Cromwell, Piano – Kate Gray, Violin

INTER-GENERATION SUNDAY “INSTANT CHRISTMAS PAGEANT”

There is no sermon but the video is fun to watch!

12/01/2024 ~ First Sunday of Advent ~ Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25:1-10; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13; Luke 21:25-36 ~ The Sunday on Which the Christian Virtue of Hope Is Celebrated ~ First Sunday in Year ‘C’ of the Three Year Lectionary Cycle ~ EXPERIMENTAL YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suljR1XwmgI
VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1036460858

Justice and Integrity

“In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous branch, a branch who maintains a right relationship with Me, to be raised up from the line of David who shall bring justice and integrity to the land.” — Jeremiah 33:15.

Rumor to the contrary, prophets do not predict the future but speak the word of God. And my guess is most of us have had an experience not of prophecy but premonition. I’ve had my share.

Here’s one: in August of 1964 I was about to become a Senior in High School. On August 4th I watched as President Johnson addressed the nation. A Navy destroyer, the President said, had been attacked by North Vietnamese PT boats. He then asked Congress for permission to use the military in Southeast Asia without declaring war.

They passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. As I watched the President I had a premonition that something which happened half way round the world would affect me.

Sure enough, at age 19 I got drafted and at 20 I shipped out to Saigon. Now, when I was 19, 20 and 21 a lot happened while I was distracted, otherwise engaged.

Aside from Vietnam, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. Johnson decided to not run for President and there were riots at a national political convention. A revolution exploded and failed in Czechoslovakia. Much of what was happening made it seem like there was very little hope left in the world.

The other side of that coin: Americans landed on the moon, the Beatles released the White Album. The Who released Tommy. The underdog Jets won the Super Bowl and the previously hapless Mets won the World Series. But that side of the coin is more about fun than hope. We often confuse the two— fun and hope. (Slight pause.)

These words are in the Scroll of the Prophet Jeremiah: “In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous branch, a branch who maintains a right relationship with Me, to be raised up from the line of David who shall bring justice and integrity to the land.” (Slight pause.)

Most people describe my sense of humor as verbal. But I do visual, physical humor too. On my first day of High School— I was 13— my mother walked me to the front door. With a tear she gave me a tight hug and wished me well. I think she even said the world is dangerous— be careful. I could not resist.

I walked out the door, did a pratfall down the short stoop and landed on my butt. Mom screamed. I looked up at her and said, “See? You do have to be careful. The world is really a dangerous place!” I don’t think she ever forgave me for that one.

Despite making a statement in a humorous way I was, of course, right. The world is a dangerous place. How dangerous?

Ask Jeremiah. This Prophet knows about both danger and hope. The people are under siege from the armies of Babylon. It does seem like a hopeless situation. Despite that, Jeremiah addresses hope.

And yes, the world both then and now is dangerous. And this is also often true: precisely because the world is dangerous we sometimes fail to hope. (Slight pause.)

I have a friend who is the Executive Director of a non-profit. This agency strives to address issues which become inflamed because of poverty. A question folks constantly ask him is ‘can anyone escape poverty or is the situation hopeless?’

My friend says the goal of the organization he leads is to seek justice for all people and if there is no hope then all is lost. But he also says to seek justice for all, the agency employs a ‘Two E’ approach— education and engagement.

He insists education is necessary but not enough. Engagement is the real key to education. People need to engage with one another to really educate and get tangible results.

And yes, engagement is a two way street. So, the practice of engagement needs what Jeremiah calls (quote:) “justice and integrity”— justice and integrity. Applying integrity means interacting with others no matter what the person you’re trying to help does; no matter how the person you’re trying to help behaves.

Further, when integrity is a guideline we must understand God’s justice is not a result, something you point to and say ‘oh, it’s done! We now have justice!’ Rather, justice is a practice, a continuing, constant practice, no matter what the circumstances are.

Hence, justice can never stand alone but must mingle with integrity. And integrity is practiced and accomplished by living into the reality of the community of God.

In the Christian community integrity is about equality for all people. And that is our real hope for the future: equity for all people— equity. (Slight pause.)

That brings me back to my pratfall and the observation of a 13 year old. Yes, the world is a dangerous place.

It’s clear a lot of people today from prelates to pundits to politicians try to instill fear, want us to be afraid. But should we fear the world, hide our heads in the sand because the world is a dangerous place or even just do nothing because we are afraid?

What we need to do is heed Jeremiah’s words of hope. We need to accept the challenge to boldly confront this dangerous world. Jeremiah’s words are an invitation from God to us to consistently, constantly, therefore with integrity, confront a dangerous world. Put differently, these words are an invitation to practice justice, God’s justice.

You see, the practice of justice never happens in isolation. Justice happens in community. Why? God’s justice is not about my justice, not about your justice. God’s justice is about our justice, communal justice, justice which includes all people.

If you exclude someone, anyone, exile them, you’re saying that individual is not a child of God. That individual is not human. (Slight pause.)

So why is this reading from Jeremiah assigned on the Sunday of Advent when we celebrate hope? (Slight pause.) The season leads us to the birth of the Messiah. The birth of the Messiah is about the hope embodied by taking action in the world, just as Jesus did.

The birth of the Messiah is about the hope of God which insists the Dominion of God will be seen when we act with one another to confront the reality of tribalism so prevalent these days. Too often this tribalism says only I am right, so no one else counts. Tribalism tries to counter God’s justice in an effort to make today’s world dangerous.

The hope to which God calls us insists justice and integrity— constant vigilance— need to go hand in hand. And it’s integrity which insists on constant action, constantly working toward the justice of God. Given that, we are faced with yet another question.

Are we willing to work with integrity toward God’s justice in this world, God’s world, and thereby allow our very actions to be filled with hope, no matter what happens? And yes, I know. Being hopeful no matter what happens— that is hard. (Slight pause.)

But I think this is also obvious: hope does not happen in the past or the present tense. Hope is about what happens in the future.

Perhaps that’s why hope and community are always entangled. Community needs to not be about the past nor the present. Community always needs to be about the future. So can we, do we have hope for the future, a future this congregation will build together? Your call. Amen.

12/01/2024

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: “Well known Baptist theologian the Rev. Dr. Tony Campolo died last week at the age of 89. This is one of his many observations. (Quote:) ‘Jesus never says to the poor, come find the church. But Jesus did say to those of us in the church, go into the world and find the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the imprisoned.’”— Tony Campolo

BENEDICTION: Let us go in joy and in love and in peace, for our hope is in the one who has made covenant with us. God reigns. Let us go in God’s peace. And may the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore. Amen.

11/24/2024 ~ The Feast of the Reign of Christ – Proper 29 ~ The Last Sunday in Year ‘B’ of the Three Year Lectionary Cycle ~ Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-Seventh Sunday after Pentecost ~ 2 Samuel 23:1-7; Psalm 132:1-12, (13-18); Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14; Psalm 93; Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37

VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1033152375

Christ and Trinity

“Yahweh has established the world; / it stands firm; / it shall never be moved; / Indeed, Your throne, / Your reign is established from of old, / from ages past; / from everlasting to everlasting / from eternity You exist.” — Psalm 93:1a-2.

How can this possibly be true? Seminary was 33 years ago. Back then a student in the last semester could circulate a profile, a pastor’s résumé. In the U.C.C., the United Church of Christ, my denomination, these are 20 to 30 page long documents.

So my profile went to numerous unsuspecting Search Committees, Pulpit Committees in that last semester. It got a lot of interest even though I was just about to graduate. Perhaps that was because I was already serving as an Assistant Pastor at a five church cooperative in Waldo County. I was a called pastor despite the fact that I was still in Seminary.

Committees from Iowa, Michigan, South Dakota, Maine, Connecticut and New York contacted me. I did phone interviews— a bunch— no ZOOM back then.

Now the pastor’s profile at that time had what was called a “forced choice” survey, a list of 43 choices which described what the pastor thought their own gifts were. The pastor had to check 8 and only 8 boxes from a list of 43. To choose just 8 out of 43 is very, very hard.

Some choices were obvious: effective preacher, organized, a helpful counselor. Some were less obvious at least as a prime choice— works well on a team, helps organize community action. But pretty much all the choices were binary, yes or no.

These days the U.C.C. profile system is very different. It now lists “Faithful and Effective Marks of Ministry”— 48 of them. And none of them are binary, yes or no. They are textured. And you can check all 48.

Of course, all the categories cannot possibly apply to any one individual. No one is that complete. In theory, this exercise is designed to show where a person is competent and where there might be a growing edge.

Now, each choice has 4 levels. So this is just mathematics: if each of 48 marks of ministry has 4 levels, that’s 192 possibilities to be considered.

Here’s an example of one Mark of Ministry. (Quote:) “Prays actively and nurtures spiritual practices.” That might have dozens of levels but there are still just four levels from which to choose.

Now, there is one Mark of Ministry which to our 21st Century American ears sounds very binary, yes or no. It says (quote:), “Acknowledges Jesus, the Christ, as the Sole Head of the Church.”

But is the idea that Jesus is the head of the church binary, a yes or no question, really? Perhaps it’s just our American ears that hear it that way. Possibly the concept that the Christ is Head of the Church a more subtle, texture, complex idea with multiple levels? Consider that. (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Psalm 93. “Yahweh has established the world; / it stands firm; / it shall never be moved; / Indeed, Your throne, / Your reign is established from of old, / from ages past; / from everlasting to everlasting / from eternity You exist.” (Slight pause.)

In the Gospel reading, Pilate, prefect of Rome in Judaea, tries to get Jesus to proclaim some kind of temporal, finite authority. Jesus avoids addressing temporal, finite authority. Instead Jesus speaks of witnessing to truth, eternal truth.

One truth to which Jesus did attest is the reality of the Christ. I think this is actually a subtle, textured, complex claim but our 21st Century American ears have a difficult time grappling with how subtle, textured, complex it is.

To explain, Christ is Greek for Messiah, which means anointed to do the work and will of God. And as was said earlier, today is a feast of the church. It’s called the Reign of Christ. However, the very word ‘reign’ implies some kind of temporal authority. Should it?

What is it we Christians really claim about the Messiahship of Jesus? Is it about temporal, finite authority? I doubt it. We claim that in Jesus God is revealed.

So, using the word reign for the feast I think is simply sloppy, convenient shorthand, not subtle, not textured, not complex— just shorthand. But we do not live in a society which particularly appreciates subtle, textured, complex, do we?

This is where I think Psalm 93 can be helpful. The Psalm leads us to a question. Who is the God Jesus proclaims?

Jesus not only proclaims the God of the Hebrews, but Jesus refers to God by an intimate name, Abba, Daddy. Please ask yourself, in naming God ‘Daddy’ what Jesus might be saying about God, the God of the Hebrews Who is One and as Psalm 93 says, the One Who from eternity exists? (Slight pause.)

Jesus, you see, always insists temporal, finite authority is not a part of the picture. And Jesus also says I am the Messiah, anointed to do the work and the will of, God, Who from eternity exists.

This still leaves two obvious questions. ‘Who is Jesus, this Messiah?’ and if Jesus is the Messiah and Yahweh is One, Who from eternity exists, what can be said about the Messiah? How does Jesus, the Messiah, fit into this theological concept of the Hebrews that God is One and that God is eternal? (Slight pause.)

It takes the church centuries of thinking about this to respond. The place the church winds up was given a grand name— Trinity— three persons, One God.

Given that, I need to mention two things about this idea we call Trinity. First, Trinity insists we have a connection with God and that connection is Jesus.

Trinity also insists there is a relationship, a connection between God and the Messiah. So this Trinity language Christians use to explain the connection of God and Jesus was and is not meant to be gender based, as in Father-son. It is meant to be relational as in Abba – Daddy.

But using this human familial language is not about Father-son nor even about Daddy-child. This is a theological statement. The language is meant to illuminate the closeness God has with humanity and the sense of closeness humanity should have with God.

Now, that word Trinity might sound like a high faluting subtle, textured, complex idea. But Trinity is really just about one thing. It’s a way of saying this relationship matters because God loves us.

And yes, love, especially the love God offers, is a subtle, textured, complex thing. Relationship, any relationship, is a subtle, textured, complex thing.

All that brings me back to this Mark of Ministry in a Pastor’s profile which says Jesus, the Christ, is the Head of the Church. Does Jesus love us as God loves us? If the answer is ‘yes’ seeing Jesus as the sole head of the church should be a part of a pastor’s belief because Jesus connects us.

However, I need to point out acknowledging Jesus as the Sole Head of the Church is not just for pastors. This should be a trait found in churches, in a congregation.

So for me the point of Psalm 93, the point of the Messiahship of Jesus and why we might connect the two might is not as subtle, textured, complex as it might seem. In a real way the tie is rather simple.

This Psalm says God loves us. And Jesus, the One connected intimately to God, loves us. Therefore, when we, the church, show the love of Jesus, the Christ, to all people— we, the church, all of us together, then show this mark of ministry.

To be blunt: showing love to all people is not easy. Why? Showing love to all people is subtle, textured, complex and is or should be the real mark of ministry for the whole congregation. Amen.

11/24/2024
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “As was said earlier this is the Feast of the Reign of Christ which then leads to Advent, then Christmas, Christmas which is, of course, the Feast of the Incarnation, the Feast of the Birth of the Messiah. A parishioner once told me when she grew in faith only then did she start to understand Christmas is not about magic babies or angels or stables. Christmas is about the connection of Yahweh, God with the Messiah, the Christ and thereby with us. So what is Christmas really about? It’s about the connection of humanity with Yahweh, God and the Messiah, the Christ.”

BENEDICTION: Let us receive the gifts of God’s grace and peace. Let us rejoice in the freedom to love as Jesus loved. Let the Spirit of God speak through us today. Go forth and reach out to everyone you meet in the name of Christ. And may the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ rule among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us this day and forevermore. Amen.

11/10/2024 ~ Proper 27 ~ Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17; Psalm 127; 1 Kings 17:8-16; Psalm 146; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44

VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1029803460

Fear

Jesus said: “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.” — Mark 12:43b.

I need to start today in an unusual way. Along with the ushers, I am going to pass some containers around. The containers have small stones in them. I ask that everyone take a stone and hold on to it. In fact, take as many of these small stones as you want to take but hold on to them. (The pastor leaves the pulpit and, with the help of the ushers, passes out containers which have stones in them to the congregation.)

On the 28th of August 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke some memorable words. While the prophetic tenor of the words addressed a very specific time in American history, the words are vividly remembered not just for that time in history, but also because their universal message is not at all trapped by time. These are among the words Dr. King spoke.

“I… have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” [1] (Slight pause.)

For those who remember that day I suspect when we hear these words— a recording is available if you don’t remember it— when we hear these words we need to remember the menace, the peril of the era in which they were uttered. Indeed, earlier in the speech, Dr. King addressed that larger context, the jeopardy in which people often lived.

He said (quote): “I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.”

Dr. King was not safe in this struggle. He had intimate knowledge that working for justice meant spending time in jail, enduring personal death threats, threats to his family. His name appeared on secret lists of subversives kept by our government. In short, for many people of all races, and for Dr. King personally, it was a fearful time.

That November things got even worse with the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Anyone who remembers 1963 can attest to the reality that it was a fearful time. Just five years later Kennedy’s brother Robert and King, himself, were assassinated.

Yet, as the words of hope from Dr. King indicate, fear was not central at that event on that day. Nor was fear central in the movement which did so much to forward the dreams of so many. Nor, I am quite sure, did Dr. King allow fear to be central in his life.

A pragmatist, he recognized the reality and the close proximity of fear. But, unquestionably, if he had allowed fear to be central, all he was doing would have ceased. He and the movement would have become immobilized.

There is no question about this: we all have fears. They are real and they can even be tangible. But that does not mean they should be allowed to dominate.

You see, as Dr. King must have realized, there is only one thing that can stand between us and our dreams: fear. When we surrender to fear, we become helpless.

When we allow fear to play a superior role in life, it simply removes the prospect that any kind of vision, foresight, insight is possible. Allowing fear to dominate means any kind of wisdom or rational thinking ceases to be pivotal.

Dreams and fear do not co-exist well. Indeed, fear… is the place dreams go to die. Let me be both realistic and clear: we all have fears. But can we name them?

Naming our fears is important, because when we name them a process can be initiated by which it becomes possible to relegate those fears to a state of insignificance. And, of course, when fear is dispatched, dreams are empowered to live. (Slight pause.)

Let me suggest something. Please look at those stones which were given out; stare at them. Take a moment and name them by giving them the name or the names of whatever fear or fears you have. Name the stones with that fear, those fears, your fears. (Long pause.)

Now, we will go around again and please put those stones, now named with your fears, into a container. We will then place the containers on the welcoming table of God, the Communion table, a place where fear is transformed into trust of God.

Please let this act signify that you want to relinquish any fear you have. Let this act signify that you want to surrender any fear you have to God. (There is a pause as the stones are gathered and placed on the Communion table.)

Mark’s Gospel indicates Jesus said this: “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.” (Pause.)

I think the woman who contributed to the treasury placed her trust in God. Indeed, she knew her world, the world around her, was filled with fear.

Much of that fear was somehow directed at her, a woman, a widow, an outcast, someone who had no status in that society. Society, needing a place for its fear, fear which abounded in that era, placed its fear on that widow. Therefore and paradoxically, society feared her.

But she… but she trusted God. Knowing that she could place her trust in God, she was able to name her fears. And, having named her fears, she could name her dreams.

I think it’s likely she realized God had a dream for her. It’s likely she realized God has a dream for all people as she contributed to the treasury. And it’s likely she found a way to know the dream God had for her was central to her life. (Slight pause.)

I think this is obvious: Dr. King recognized the dreams God has for us are central, recognized God has a dream for all people. And we, as a church, make that claim. We, as a church, recognize God has a dream for all people. (Pause.)

So, having surrendered your fears, placed them on those stones, what are the dreams you have for yourself? (Slight pause.) Having relinquished your fears, what are the dreams you have for others? (Slight pause.) Having banished your fears, what are the dreams you have for this church? (Pause.)

At this time of year many churches do a stewardship campaign and often use this reading to talk about that. Stewardship, rumor to the contrary, is not about money. Stewardship is about our dreams.

Again, let me ask, what are the dreams we have for this church— this church, meaning us, together? How can we, together, help fulfill those dreams?

This I know: our fears may be real but, if we really trust God, we never let our fears get control, never act out of fear. Indeed, let us dream the dreams for ourselves and for this church and for others, the kind of dreams God would have for us.

And so, by the grace of God and through the love of God, let us relegate fear to its proper place: at the margins of a life lived in faith. Let us live out the dream God has for us. Amen.

11/11/2024
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This, then, is a précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “The African-American poet Langston Hughes wrote these words: ‘What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun? / Or fester like a sore— / And then run? / Does it stink like rotten meat? – Or crust and sugar over— / like a syrupy sweet? / Maybe it just sags / like a heavy load. / Or does it explode? Dreams deferred deny hope, but worse, they deny God.’— the words of Langston Hughes.”

BENEDICTION: Go now, go in safety, for you cannot go where God is not. Go in love, for love alone endures. Go with purpose and God will honor your dedication. And go in peace for it is a gift of God and the Spirit of God to those whose hearts and minds are in Christ, Jesus. Amen.

[1] These are King’s words. The speech is found on multiple reputable web resources.

11/03/2024 ~ Proper 26 ~ Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost ~ If All Saints not observed ~ Ruth 1:1-18; Psalm 146; Deuteronomy 6:1-9; Psalm 119:1-8; Hebrews 9:11-14; Mark 12:28-34 ~ Communion Sunday.

VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1026595148

The First Commandment

“Hear, O Israel: Yahweh, our God, Yahweh alone, is one. You are to love Yahweh, our God / with all your heart, / and with all your soul, / and with all your strength.” — Deuteronomy 6:4-5.

In a recent writing Baptist Pastor Allyson Dylan Robinson suggests we, as a society, are addicted to certainty. Certainty is like a drug, she says. It can comfort us, buoy our spirits as it blocks out questions, doubt. Like any addiction, it does that only for a limited time.

Certainty will wear off; questions will reassert themselves eventually. When questions reappear that is exactly when we start searching for a new fix because the very questions, themselves, make us nervous. Again, like any addiction, certainty dehumanizes us as we become driven by that fix.

Questions, you see, arise naturally in the human mind, a function of the God given gift of reason. So in order to grab for the certainty to which we are addicted, we must renounce God’s gift of reason. When renounce the gift of reason, the fix certainty gives us demands we migrate to a place called ‘willful ignorance.’

This is clear: certainty, willful ignorance, presents a theological problem. By definition God can never be fully known. Certainty is, hence, the ultimate heresy since it presumes the revelation God has given us is exactly identical with a whole knowledge God. — these the words of Allyson Dylan Robinson. (Slight pause.)

It seems to me society is not just riddled with and addicted to certainty. It is often downright crippled, immobilized by certainty. You can see the effects of certainty in our sports, in our politics, in our religion.

In all these areas the addiction of certainty insists only one side, one way of seeing things can be right. Since this ultimate heresy is a reality, you need to wonder if people even know certainty about God is a heresy since certainty means being willfully ignorant about this God Who cannot be fully known. (Slight pause.)

Perhaps there is one very human attribute which leads to an insistence on certainty. It’s that we humans have more than a slight tendency toward egocentricity. Each of us— myself included— each of us likes to think we are at the center of the world. And if we are at the center of the world we are right. And we are certain of that.

When an individual displays egocentricity that one person can be placated or ignored. But when a social group, a collective, a whole society displays egocentricity that is hard to ignore.

Egocentricity on the part of a group presents many problems, dangers, challenges. Indeed, certainty within a group gives voice and action to social ills like racism, sexism, classism, imperialism, even fantasies— fantasies like the apocalyptic age is upon us.

Let me unpack that just a little. Racism makes the sometimes tacit but clearly egocentric and ethnocentric claim that one race or one group is superior.

Sexism says one gender is superior. Classism and imperialism make similar claims: one group is superior for various reasons so the rules of that group must abide.

Then there is fantasy, a fantasy like the apocalyptic age is upon us. This may be the most egocentric, self-centered claim of all. Why?

The real claim being made is the people of this time, this age, are so privileged, so special, that God will see fit to allow them to witness the apocalypse. Given all who have come before and were not witnesses is to say they were and are less than those alive now. That is both the height of egocentricity and the epitome certainty. (Slight pause.)

All that brings me back to the words from Deuteronomy: “Hear, O Israel: Yahweh, our God, Yahweh alone, is one. You are to love Yahweh, our God / with all your heart, / and with all your soul, / and with all your strength.”

In Hebrew this is identified as the Shema— Shema a word which means to hear. And in the Gospel reading Jesus, asked to name the greatest commandment, repeats the Shema. If that’s the text Jesus chooses, there should no question about this: the Shema, this text and no other, is central to all Scripture.

Now, when the reading from Deuteronomy was introduced you heard about 613 commandments in the Hebrew Scriptures, the culturally popular if mislabeled 10 commandments and the two commandments cited by Jesus. [1] Let me be clear about this: anyone who is says they are certain that the 10 commandments are central to Scripture is Biblically illiterate. Biblically literate people understand the Shema is central.

As to the Shema, I need you to note there are three components in this first commandment. Let’s take a look at them in reverse order. The last component is love God. Theologically, love cannot exist without God, since God is the source of all love. That love is a result of the two previous statements of the Shema.

What are they? The middle component says God is one. In ancient times many people believed there were multiple gods, each with their own duties. Hebrew theology counters that idea. God is one— the God of all things, a God of the universe.

The first component offers instruction on how one is empowered to love God. This is where we find the word Shema— ‘hear.’

You see, in order to truly be in love with anyone you need hear and to hear you need to listen. If you do not listen you will not hear.

So we need to listen to God. In short, the commandment tells us we need to listen to God before we can understand God loves us. And it tells us how we can be empowered to love God— this commandment tells us how we can be empowered to love God. (Slight pause.)

I want to suggest listening to God is the hardest part of the Shema to follow, the hardest thing we will ever do. Why?

Listening demands humility. Humility understands that relationship, that love, depends on hearing a voice other than our own.

Listening to God requires we employ the discipline of self-surrender, requires us to renounce certainty, abandon egocentricity. Listening requires modesty.

Last, a prime issue being addressed by the first commandment is not the listening done to God by each individual. These words are not addressed to an individual. The first commandment does not say, “Hey you— Joe! You and only you need to listen.”

This is addressed to the community. (Quote:) “Hear, O Israel.” So it is, first and foremost, no specific individual but the whole community who needs to listen. We all need to listen together. We are all in this together.

It is we, the community, not just individuals, who need to listen to God, listen for God speaking in our lives. You see, listening to God as a community gives us an opportunity to banish the addictive certainty which afflicts so many communities. If certainty can be banished it follows that its cousins racism, sexism, classism, imperialism and fantasy can be banished. (Slight pause.)

Jesus clearly tells us to love God and love neighbor. I believe the path to loving God and neighbor starts with being humble enough to listen to God. Hear, O Harpswell. Hear, O Elijah Kellogg Church. Amen.

11/03/2024
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 the whole community, the collective, but therefore each of us needs to listen to God. You might say, ‘Fine, but suppose we all hear different things?’ I would say, ‘That’s the way it supposed to be. And then we need to listen to one another.’ You see, the two commandments are placed together. And they are love God and love neighbor.”

BENEDICTION: Go now, go in safety, for you cannot go where God is not. Go in love, for love alone endures. Go with purpose and God will honor your dedication. And go in peace for it is a gift of God and the Spirit of God to those whose hearts and minds are in Christ, Jesus. Amen.

[1] This was the introduction to the Scripture reading.

When people talk about the Ten Commandments as if they were, pardon the pun, set in stone, one reaction to that should be which set of the three sets found in the Hebrew Scriptures, all somewhat different we talking about? Indeed, some Christian traditions actually count eleven commandments. Of course, in the strict sense there are really 613 commandments in the Hebrew Scriptures. On the other hand, many who adhere to both the Christian tradition and the Jewish tradition would claim there are but two: love God and love neighbor. Most scholars say there is but one commandment and it is the starting point of all Scripture. That one commandment is the one called great commandment— the Shema. We find that commandment in this passage from the Torah in the work known as Deuteronomy.

10/27/2024 ~ Proper 25 ~ Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost ~ Job 42:1-6, 10-17; Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22); Jeremiah 31:7-9; Psalm 126; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 10:46-52

VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1024418971

Faith and Belief

“Jesus replied, ‘Go. Your faith has saved you.’ And immediately Bartimaeus received the gift of sight and began to follow Jesus along the road.” — Mark 10:52.

I’ve covered this territory here before. I grew up in the Roman Catholic tradition and my late father taught at a Jesuit High School. Therefore, in some very formative years— throughout my teens, into my twenties— Jesuits— those radicals— were my friends.

Here’s an example. It happened when I was twenty-one. I had just returned from 14 months in Vietnam. A Jesuit friend invited me to dinner at his rectory to meet someone who was staying there for a couple days.

Now, it’s probable many of you have heard of two peace activist priests who also happen to be brothers, Daniel and Philip Berrigan, Dan the Jesuit, Phil the Josephite. If don’t know about them, use “Google” and you’ll find out they were notorious.

My friend had gathered about 10 other people to meet the special guest: Dan Berrigan. I assume, since I had just returned from Vietnam, my Jesuit friend wanted me to meet Berrigan, perhaps thinking I needed to be exposed to a peace activist.

However, my reality both before and after my time in Vietnam is I realized the foolishness which put us in that mess. Therefore, however and paradoxically, I had made the decision I would enter the Army if drafted because that was my duty as a citizen.

I was, in fact, fully on board with the peace movement because of the foolishness which placed us in Vietnam. Maybe my Jesuit friend did not realize that about me.

Despite my agreement with the sentiments of the peace movement, I was young, very young. Back then I was much more interested in following the Mets, the Jets, the Yankees, the Giants, the Knicks, the Rangers and going out with friends to a local tavern. These pursuits were way more important to me than joining any peace demonstrations.

Now that I am just slightly older, I understand peace is a goal of the Dominion of God. And clearly society considered those in the peace movement, then and perhaps often now not particularly worthy of respect. They are often thought of as outcasts. Certainly the Berrigans were thought of as outcasts. (Slight pause.)

Another Jesuit friend was Vincent J. O’Keefe. I called him Uncle Vinny; that’s how close we were. He taught with my father. Later Vinny was the President of Fordham University and guided it as women first became students at what had been an all male institution.

And yes, that happened in the 60s, converting to co-ed— the 60s! What I don’t want to admit is that’s 60 years ago! And I remember it. Ouch! And today is still only slightly more than 100 years since women gained the right to vote. Before that women were considered at best second class citizens, considered outcasts— outcasts— in their own nation. Double ouch!

One more story about Vinny. At one point he was in Rome, second in command of the Jesuit order, the only American to have ever held that post.

Now, the Superior General of the Jesuits, the chief big-wig is, like the Pope, a lifetime appointment. When Vinny’s boss, Pedro Arrupe, a Spanish Jesuit, was disabled by a stroke Vinny ran the order. But Arrupe was not dead, just incapacitated.

Eventually John Paul II stepped in because the Pontiff was not comfortable with an American running the Jesuits and made an unprecedented move by appointing someone else to run the order until Arrupe died. Vinny was sent back to America.

It’s well known John Paul had issues with Americans. In short, the Pope thought of Americans as outcasts. I happen to know all this because I was still in touch with Vinny when all that happened.

My life is very different today. But I still read Jesuit authors. One Jesuit whose writings I follow is James Martin, S.J.

In a recent article Martin wrote this ‘God meets you where you are…. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect before we can approach God or before God approaches us. Your spiritual house doesn’t have to be perfectly in order for God to enter.’

‘…God meets you in ways… you can understand, appreciate. The more scholarly or introverted… may meet God… through reading a book. …a more social person may meet God in a group setting. If you love nature you may meet God by the seashore.’— the thoughts of James Martin, S.J. [1]

And, I know— given the history of the Reformation and Jesuit involvement in the Counter-Reformation, it was downright audacious of me to quote and talk about Jesuits on Reformation Sunday. (Slight pause.)

These are the words in the work known as Mark: “Jesus replied, ‘Go. Your faith has saved you.’ And immediately Bartimaeus received the gift of sight and began to follow Jesus along the road.” (Slight pause.)

This is clear throughout the Gospels, all the Gospels. But it is especially clear in Mark. Jesus is sent to and has a ministry with the outcast.

Bartimaeus is outcast. If someone was blind in this era, being an outcast was a given. If someone needed to beg to sustain themselves, being an outcast was a given.

And Bartimaeus is only one of many outcasts in Mark. The Gospel is riddled with the outcast received by or empowered by Jesus.

The Syrophoenician woman, the blind person at Bethsaida, the little children and finally Bartimaeus are among all those considered outcast in this era and among all those in this Gospel considered outcast— all people perceived by society as powerless, as outcasts. And all these take a prominent place in the economy of God’s order. (Slight pause.)

Over time you may have noticed that my sermons have titles. Let me mention today’s title: Faith and Belief. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned a title of a sermon in this pulpit.

What is the difference between faith and belief? I think the word belief implies a list, a set of premises to which one asserts, as in asking the question ‘what do you believe?’

Faith, on the other hand, does not ask for a list. Faith implies a relationship. In that faith implies relationship, faith does not just imply trust. Faith insists on trust.

Having faith means trusting someone. Indeed, when it comes to faith, there is a name we give to that someone we trust: God. Having faith means trusting God, trusting God is real, trusting God is present to us, trusting God is there for us.

When Jesus tells Bartimaeus, “Go. Your faith has saved you” what is really being said is Bartimaeus, an outcast, has exhibited trust. As an outcast Bartimaeus is not an acceptable member of society. Yet Bartimaeus, the outcast, trusts God.

I think Bartimaeus knows trust is about relationship, not about a list of premises, rules. It’s not about what you have. Bartimaeus, the outcast, knows when one trusts God, one is in a true relationship with God. (Slight pause.)

Well, the next time someone asks what you believe as a Christian— and that question does get asked— the next time someone asks what you believe as a Christian please confuse them with your answer. Tell them you trust God; that’s what you believe.

Society, you see, dictates all kinds of people are outcasts. Just 100 years ago it was women. And yes, with sexism, class-ism, racism and a whole bunch of other isms society insists that a plethora of people need to be among the outcast.

When it comes to those I personally knew, the Berrigans were outcasts. My Uncle Vinny was an outcast, each of them in different ways. But they trusted God. I know that because of what they said to me.

So if you do tell someone what you believe is that you trust God, you should probably be very, very careful when offering that answer. After all, if you give that answer you’ve labeled yourself as an outcast since trust in God is the answer outcasts tend to give. Amen.

10/27/2024
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: “On occasion, even in the Congregational tradition, we use an affirmation of faith, a creed, we recite a creed. The classic one is The Nicene Creed. When a congregation recites it, the creed sounds like a list of beliefs. It is not. In the original language of that Creed, Latin, the word we translate as ‘I believe’ is Credo. An accurate translation of the word Credo is not ‘I believe.’ An accurate translation of the word is ‘I give my heart to…’— Credo as in cardiac. The Christian faith is about giving your heart to God. The Christian faith is not about a list of doctrine or dogma.”

BENEDICTION: Go out in the strength and love God provides. Praise the deeds of God by the way you live, by the way you 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] These words are slightly edited.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/10/21/god-meets-you-where-you-are-and-why-that-can-sound-threatening/

10/20/2024 ~ Proper 24 ~ Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time~ Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost ~ Job 38:1-7, (34-41); Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c; Isaiah 53:4-12; Psalm 91:9-16; Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 10:35-45 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1022244857
EXPERIENTIAL YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@ekcbroadcast2982/streams

Service

“Anyone among you who wishes to aspire to greatness must serve the rest; whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all. The Promised One has come not to be served but to serve—….” — Mark 10:43a-45. [1]

I’m going offer two stories about my family. I have mentioned some of this narrative before but not framed it exactly this way. I do, however, need to offer a piece of background information. I am the first of three children. My brother is 14 months younger, my sister 4 years younger.

When I was 35, shortly before my mother died— and she knew she was dying— we had a conversation which I think was cathartic for her. She felt she had to say this to someone. In that chat my mother described her three children in this way.

She labeled me, her firstborn, as her experiment. The lone child of a single mother, she had not seen another child being raised, so I was her experiment. She said my brother, the second child, was her baby; my sister, the third born— her enjoyment.

I am not saying these descriptions were good or healthy. I think she was trying to explain how she related to us as individuals and these words illustrated how much she loved each of us differently, separately, deeply. (Slight pause.)

Next, when I was five or so my father had what they called in the early 1950s a nervous breakdown. Today we would have been identified it as the onset of a mental illness known as Passive Dependency or Passive Aggression. As can be the case with mental illness, he remained functional in society but was clearly hurting.

One consequence was, as the oldest male in the family in this very different era, the 50s, family members looked to me or at least invested me with and groomed me for a leadership role. I could tell tales throughout my teen years about what that looked like but suffice it to say that my mother chose to have that conversation with me really illustrates my place in this family structure.

However, my particular place in that family structure is not the point. I am offering these stories to illustrate two aspects of family dynamics, not the dynamics in just my family but in any family.

One aspect of these dynamics could be labeled as relationship— that story about my mother. A second aspect of these dynamics could be labeled as structure, the story about my father and leadership. Relationship and structure are present in all families. In fact, relationship and structure are present in any organization, in any church.

That opens this question. “Which will be the driving force in any family, in any institution, in any church— relationship or structure?” (Slight pause.)

This is what we hear in the work known as Mark. “Anyone among you who wishes to aspire to greatness must serve the rest; whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all. The Promised One has come not to be served but to serve—….” (Slight pause.)

There are three scenes in this reading. First, there is the request of James and John for prominence. Then there is the anger expressed by other disciples at this audacious request. Last we have what Jesus says. (Quote:) “Anyone among you who wishes to aspire to greatness must serve the rest;….”

Please note, Jesus does not rebuke the brothers. We might want to— not Jesus. Jesus confronts them with reality.

And then there is the anger on the part of the other disciples. This likely reflects jealousy rather than indignation— jealousy about the proposed structure.

Again, Jesus resists administering a rebuke. Jesus instead uses the pagan authorities as models of how to not exercise leadership. So Jesus does it again: confronts with reality.

You see, the criteria for leadership is not the effectiveness of structure, who gets the job done the quickest, who has the better program, at which place you sit. Rather, in the Dominion of God we are called to be faithful. We are called to service.

The text even indicates this kind of faithfulness is a style of leadership, a style which runs counter to the prevailing wisdom of that day and the prevailing wisdom of today since effectiveness, speed, programs are highly valued. This idea may not make much sense to those who treasure effectiveness, speed, programs.

We also need to realize what effectiveness, speed, programs all consider: the bottom line is paramount. But as Christians we need to realize effectiveness, speed, programs go no further than a bottom line kind of thinking.

In the Dominion of God what is vital, central is the needs of people and how service can be rendered to meet those needs. In short, priority is given to interactions with others— relationships. (Slight pause.)

I want to go back to the discussion about my family. Clearly there was structure. But the problem with that structure was not even the fact that when I was young the family turned to me.

The problem with that structure is my family was not looking for structure or even looking for a leader. The problem of any structure which does not rely on relationship is it’s a structure which is simply in search of a fix, trying to find someone to fix things, a structure in search of a hero.

Let me substitute a theological word for hero. To be searching for a hero, searching for someone to fix things, is to be looking for… a savior. Jesus does not have a hero complex. In fact what makes Jesus Savior is a willingness to be a servant.

We call Jesus Savior because of the willingness displayed by the Christ to concentrate on relationships, explore relationships, be in relationships, a willingness to say we need to support one another. The reason we call Jesus Savior is because of the willingness displayed by the Christ to not be served but to serve. (Slight pause.)

One more observation. Did James and John or even all the disciples completely miss the point of the preaching of Jesus or the actions of Jesus? Did they completely miss the point when Jesus blessed the children who seemed a nuisance, miss the point Jesus made when Jesus spoke with the rich man about clinging to possessions?

My answer is ‘no,’ they did not miss the point. Rather, they willfully ignored the point. Why? You see, they were human. And yes, we are human.

We are imperfect and in our imperfection we believe structure and the rules related with structure will be or at least can be a perfect solution. The very thought of structure, rules gives us great comfort. Why? We assume structure and rules will be a solution for everything.

And we, therefore, do seek the comfort of structure and rules rather than what is often a haphazardness found in relationship. But relationship is what Jesus relies on.

Relationship is what Jesus teaches and acts out, a relationship with God and others. And you know what that is— that relationship with God and others? Yes— it’s that word you’ve already heard me use a lot: covenant. Covenant is about relationship. Amen.

10/20/2024
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “As you may be aware this church does have a committee working on revised by-laws. Despite what I said earlier, that’s not bad. We are human. Some structure is a human necessity. But there is an overriding human necessity. We are called to be one body in Christ, acting both individually and in groups, inspired by the Holy Spirit, infused with mutual trust. So that covenant stuff— love God love neighbor. It also means trust God, trust neighbor. After all, can there be love without trust?”

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.

[1] This was the Gospel reading and the translation used.

Mark 10:35-45 [ILV] ~ INTRODUCTION: The Gospel makes a point like this quite often, so the sentiment addressed by this passage was probably a truth found in the communities of the early church: any kind of power structure was not welcome. Hear now this reading from the Gospel we have come to know as Mark’s.

[35] The Children of Zebedee, James and John, approached Jesus. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to grant our request.”

[36] “What is it?” Jesus asked.

[37] They replied, “Grant to us that we sit next to you, one at your right and one at your left, when you come into your glory.”

[38] But Jesus told them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I will drink or be baptized in the same baptism with which I am baptized?”

[39] “We can,” they replied.

Jesus said in response, “The cup I drink you will drink; and the baptism with which I am baptized, you will share; [40] but as for sitting at my right or at my left, that is not mine to grant; it is for those for whom it has been reserved.”

[41] The other ten, on hearing about this, began to be indignant with James and John.

[42] So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that among the Gentiles, those whom exercise authority, those who are domineering and arrogant, those who are perceived to be ‘great ones,’ they know how to make their own importance felt. [43] But it cannot be like that with you. Anyone among you who wishes to aspire to greatness must serve the rest; [44] whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all. [45] The Promised One has come not to be served but to serve— to give one life in ransom for the many.”

10/13/2024 ~ The Weekend of What Has Been Called Columbus Day and Is Now in Many Places Called Indigenous Peoples’ Day ~ Canadian Thanksgiving Day ~ Proper 23 ~ Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost ~ Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Psalm 22:1-15; Amos 5:6-7, 10-15; Psalm 90:12-17; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1019927638

It’s Not the Particulars!

“You know the commandments: ‘No killing; no committing adultery; no stealing; no bearing false witness; no defrauding; Honor your father and mother.’” — Mark 10:19.

When we had announcements last week I made two statements about Congregational Associations. I thanked Carrie for being the representative in Skowhegan at the NACCC Association which spans the State and has 37 member churches.

I also said Sunday afternoon I would be attending the United Church of Christ Cumberland Association meeting. The U.C.C., a larger denomination, has six Associations in Maine. Cumberland alone has 33 churches.

Congregational Associations date back to the mid 1600s. The long standing Congregational understanding of the covenant commitment to and with other churches in an association is to respect and honor the other churches and even collaborate with them at times.

Now, when I was a pastor in New York, the local association was geographically large, not as large as Maine but still a dauntingly size. The Association had only 27 churches but spanned an area the size of State of Connecticut.

Back then I held a number Association offices, including Moderator. In those various offices I traveled all over that expanse of territory.

When traveling a distance alone in a car some people listen music, some to a book. I listen to academic lectures, often lectures on history. I know— history: boring!!! Well, boring for most people. Not for me.

Why history? This is a given: to be a good theologian you need to be a good historian. Christianity is steeped in and based in history.

Our Christian claim is Jesus was real, lived in history, at a specific time and place, that God has been present from before the creation throughout all time, is present in the world here, now, today. Our claim is the church of Christ has survived throughout history. So I think knowing history can help us understand where we are now. (Slight pause.)

As I traveled all over that Association I once I listened to lecture which said that, despite the title of the famous book by Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, the Roman Empire neither declined nor did it fall.

Things did change but during the time described as a decline and a fall by Gibbon, the Roman Empire remained intact and functional. In fact, in that era Rome was led by two very competent emperors— Diocletian and Constantine.

They were seen as competent because they foresaw, anticipated, identified change in the Empire as that change approached. They dealt with those changes, made structural adjustments in how Rome was governed as the changes happened. They identified what’s happening as it was happening is important. Why?

Instead of simply repeating what is already being done time and time and time again, competent leadership looks at a larger picture. Seeing the larger picture means you ask what’s coming in order to anticipate what might change. Seeing the larger picture means exercising foresight.

And so the Roman Empire did not really decline as much as it simply changed, constantly changed. Of course, everything changes constantly. Constant change— that’s a basic lesson we all can and should all learn from history. (Slight pause.)

These words are in Mark. “You know the commandments: ‘No killing; no committing adultery; no stealing; no bearing false witness; no defrauding; Honor your father and mother.’” (Slight pause.)

There are at least three episodes in this reading. Commentaries suggest the writer of Mark meant them to all be seen as one and that insight, seeing the passage as a whole, could be a key to understanding the thrust of this reading.

So to start we need to grapple with this idea: what is said to the rich person is not meant as a call to abandon the world, become a wandering mendicant, a beggar. You might say the disciples left all they had to follow Jesus. But their future is described as ample.

So the concept presented is we, the church of our era, cannot flee the arena known as the world. That’s been true forever. We need to grapple with the idea that this is the time and this is the place in history during which we are all called to live and to serve.

Since both the rich person and the disciples keep the commandments we need to also grapple with the idea that keeping the commandments is not enough. Why? The commandments are just details, particulars. We need to look at the larger picture.

Hence, these questions need to be addressed: what does the world really look like… now? And how do we, how should we respond to the real world… now? (Slight pause.)

There are at least two answers here. First, yes the world looks like it is broken. If you think that’s not true, please listen to the news. What are we going to do about that?

Second, things change constantly. The world changes constantly. If you think that’s not true, please listen to the news. What are we going to do about that?

Well, this is what history suggests to me: the details do not matter as much as seeing the larger, the entire picture— envisioning, foreseeing. That is an imperative.

Put in a more colloquial way, do we pay too much attention to the tree— each individual tree— and miss the fact that a forest is right in front of us? That forest, that collection of trees, the systems in the world around us, are waiting to be identified and inviting us to grapple with them.

Let me put that trees/forest concept another way. In my Seminary Church History survey course the professor was painfully aware we were covering 2,000 years of history. That’s some history, isn’t it? So the students needed to keep up with the reading. Fall behind, it’s hard to catch up.

Hence, each week we had a 10 question short answer quiz, four possible answers for each question. The professor was generous. The tests were only 5% of the grade.

Further, each week one of the answers on one of the questions was always “Sir John Free-be.” Check that box, the one with the answer “Sir John Free-be” and get at least 10% on each quiz without doing the reading.

This same teacher also said the importance of facts is to give context. But it is much more important to know and understand the broad sweep of history, the big picture.

Knowing Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 is not as important as knowing what the voyages of that were are about, why they were initiated. The voyages illustrate the start of a new economic system. That system, new in that era, we now call capitalism.

The individual fact— the tree— that’s Columbus. The broad sweep— the forest— that’s economic systems. Which is more important— knowing about Columbus or knowing and recognizing that shift in economic systems, a shift which changed the world?

So what is a larger picture in Christianity? Our Christian forest is not about specific rules. Our Christian forest is about how we live our lives. The trees— living within the rules— that’s good. But living out from the rules is our calling.

Put another way, Scripture constantly asks this: where is our heart? And perhaps that exactly explains the interaction Jesus is having with the rich person. Jesus is asking where is your heart? (Slight pause.)

Have you ever considered this? Love is not a rule. Why? A rule is static, immoveable, immobile. It’s a noun. Love is an action, a motion, a verb. (Slight pause.)

Here’s another question about anticipation and identification. What is the purpose of this Church? That’s a question with which this church has been grappling and will grapple, a question with which any church should never stop grappling.

But in order to faithfully grapple with this question foresight, anticipation is a necessity. Foresight, anticipation is a necessity. Foresight, anticipation have nothing to do with the programs we have, who the pastor is, even who the leadership is. Each of us, each individual, needs to faithfully grapple with the question ‘what is the purpose of this church?’ (Slight pause.)

So, what does history teach? Immoveable does not work. Action, motion does work. Change is not easy. But change is inevitable. Success is not a goal. Being faithful is a goal. (Slight pause.)

Let me make one suggestion as to what being faithful might entail. Faithfulness means living out from the rules, living out from the reality of now into the reality of what can be. That means seeing the big picture.

What is the big picture? The big picture is seeing, identifying the way of life to which God calls us.

And that, my friends, suggests yet another step, a really, really big step. We— all of us together— need to trust God to guide us. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
10/13/2024

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 is a quote from a Jesuit, Greg Boyle. ‘We are not invited to an allegiance to a system of beliefs— do this and don’t do that— but to a way of living, a way of loving, a vision where we take seriously what Jesus took seriously— inclusion, non-violence, unconditional loving kindness, compassionate acceptance.’ — Greg Boyle, S.J. Or as I indicated in my comments, the commandments are merely the particulars. Our call is not to live within the commandments but to live out from the commandments.”

BENEDICTION: The Word of God guides us and assures us of God’s saving grace, God’s healing love, God’s eternal promises. 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.