localpastor

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.

10/06/2024 ~ Proper 22 ~ Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost ~ Job 1:1, 2:1-10; Psalm 26; Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 8; Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1017932946

From the Earth

“…Yahweh, God, said, ‘It is not good for this creature of the earth, this one I have made out of the ad-am-ah, made out of the earth, to be alone; I will make a fitting companion, a partner for it.’” — Genesis 2:18.

As I have perhaps too often said here, I was a professional writer involved with theater related projects. Even outside the pulpit I will occasionally let people know I’m a writer. Sometimes someone tell me their impression of writers is they are… loners— isolated introverts. That impression is not far fetched.

Even I, a writer, think most writers are loners. As a practice they go off to their towers (very few of them are ivory these days) and they scribble, scribble, scribble— or these days type, type, type on a computer— pages and pages and pages.

Then a writer emerges, finalized copy in hand, ready to share it with the world. Unless a writer works with a good editor— a scarce commodity these days— unless a good editor, the writer only rarely allows for the change of a single letter or word or comma or paragraph, thank you.

As a writer for theater I need to say there’s something which sets theater writers apart. Theater is a collaborative art.

It takes many, many people of great talent— actors, directors, producers, musicians, composers, set, sound and lighting designers, sometimes even other writers, multiple writers— to present a stage play or musical. And all of these collaborators will bring change to what was originally written.

The demand that the theater makes is to embrace change within the process of creation. Theater is an art which incorporates change because of the process of creation.

While a theater writer may initially find some tower in which to write, upon emerging theater writers know change, collaboration, working with others, is a part of the process. No theater writer nor anyone who works in theater can be a loner since the art does not allow for that. As for me, personally, theater taught me how to collaborate. (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Genesis. “…Yahweh, God, said, ‘It is not good for this creature of the earth, this one I have made out of the ad-am-ah, made out of the earth, to be alone; I will make a fitting companion, a partner for it.’” (Slight pause.)

You probably know this reading is the second of two segments concerned with creation, two understandings of creation in Genesis. The initial one is in the first chapter of Genesis.

Please note, I did not call these creation stories. Why? Neither of these two chapters in Genesis are descriptions of creation, concerned with how creation came about or humanity came to be.

In short, the Bible is not a science textbook. So if these first two chapters in Genesis are not a story about how creation happened and this passage is not about how humanity came to be, what is it about? (Slight pause.)

A bunch of things jump out here, so let’s start with the obvious. I hope the translation [1] we heard today made it clear the word ‘a-dam’ [2] is not a name.

Our clue to this is in the fact that ad-am-ah is the earth, the dust of the ground. A-dam is, therefore, an earth creature, made out of the dust of the ground, from the ground. In Hebrew this is a play on words, a pun— earth and earth creature.

Equally, Eve— ish in Hebrew— is not a name but a word which means giver of life. It is also clear that Yahweh, God, has made these earth creatures. And it should be evident God loves what God has made. How do I know that?

In words which came before the section of Scripture we heard today God acted as a bellows, breathes life into the a-dam. This “breath of life” is God’s own living breath, a divine act of love.

This “breath of life” is the only distinction between the creation of humans and the creation of the animals. God does not breathe breath into the animals. Instead they are simply created out of the ad-am-ah, out of the earth.

So the a-dam, this earth creature, is a combination of the substance of the earth and the breath of God. It seems clear this passage constitutes a profound theological statement about our human identity, about who we are.

Now, having breathed life into the a-dam, what happens? Together, with this a-dam, this earth person, Yahweh, God, sets to a task, begins a collaboration. Yahweh and the a-dam commence on the work on naming things. Indeed, these words describe both a developing relationship and a sense of collaboration as it happens.

The motive of God is stated quite clearly. God seeks a companion for the a-dam, the earth creature. Then yet another level of collaboration happens.

God does not take this next step in isolation from the earth creature. God creates ish— this name which means giver of life— God creates ish out of the earth creature, out of the a-dam.

Thereby, the collaboration deepens and becomes richer as it becomes inclusive of yet another earth creature made out of the a-dam, who was made out of the ground and out of the breath of God. Hence, the very nature of this event, this act, instructs humanity about what we should be doing, what we need to be doing. Just as the God of covenant— covenant something which insists on collaboration— just as the God of covenant collaborates with us, we need to collaborate with God and with one another, rely on one another, support one another. (Slight pause.)

Let me again state the obvious. This story is not concerned with how earth creatures, human beings came about. This is a story about relationships— a relationship with God and a relationship with other earth creatures, other humans.

And yes, you may get tired of hearing me use the word ‘covenant.’ But this is a story about covenant because it is a story about relationship with God and relationship with other humans. (Slight pause.)

I made this next point last week. Something we need to realize is covenants are not contracts. Contracts do not change. They are static.

Covenants by their nature renew, animate, revive, regenerate, create, re-create, alter, live, breathe. And yes, covenants demand change because covenants are not static. I probably don’t even need to say this but I shall: covenants are about collaboration.

The art called covenant makes a demand on us to embrace change, incorporate change, include change. Covenant is about the process of creating with God and the process of creating with others. The process called covenant demands change.

Why does covenant demand change? Because covenant is about growing in love, in peace, in wisdom, in knowledge, in understanding— growth— a process.

That, my friends, is what the real story of creation is about— a story about an invitation to relationships. We are invited by God to grow— to grow in love, in peace, in wisdom, in knowledge, in understanding. Amen.

10/06/2024
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: “One Thought for Meditation today was from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. That is a work of science fiction comedy— yes, science fiction comedy. As a theater person let me define comedy for you. Comedy seeks to uncover deep truth. We laugh because comedy helps us see deep truth. In Hebrew a-dam and ad-am-ah reads as a comedic word play and points to a deep truth. And so let me offer another quote from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s not particularly funny but it’s true. ‘There is a moment in every dawn when light floats and there is the possibility of magic. Creation holds its breath.’”

BENEDICTION: The work and the will of God is placed before us. We are called to be faithful and seek to do God’s will and work. In so doing, 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]
This is the translation used and the introduction the reading which preceded the reading of Genesis 2:18-23 [Inclusive Language Version]

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE

Because we do not read the passages from Scripture in their original languages this places us at a severe disadvantage when it come to understanding what many words mean. In the passage I am about to read what we take to be simply names are actually words with meanings hidden from us because of this. The translation used today attempts to address what the passage means since it is translated in a way which helps us hear some of the meanings behind the words which we often take as names. Needless to say, the meaning behind the words indicate something richer is happening here than mere naming.

A READING FROM THE TANAKH IN THE SECTION KNOWN AS THE TORAH — Genesis 2:18-23 [ILV]

[18] …Yahweh, God, said, “It is not good for this creature of the earth, this one I have made out of the adamah, made out of the earth, to be alone; I will make a fitting companion, a partner for it.” [19] So also out of the ground, from the soil, out of the adamah, Yahweh, God, formed all the animals, every wild beast of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the earth creature, the adam, so these could be named. Whatever the earth creature, the adam, called every living one, that became its name. [20] The earth creature gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field, all the wild animals.

But none of them proved to be a fitting companion, a partner for the adam, the earth creature. [21] So Yahweh, God, caused a deep sleep to fall on the earth creature. While it slept God divided the earth creature in two and then closed up the flesh from its side. [22] Yahweh then fashioned the two halves into male and female and presented them to one another.
[23] The earth creature realized what had happened and said,
“This time this is the one!
Bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh;
Now this one will be called ish” —
ish a word which means source of life
“and I shall be called adam”—
adam— a word which means from the ground
“for out of me was this one taken.”

Here ends this reading from Scripture.

[2] Adam is pronounced a-dam. Adamah is pronounced a-dam-ah.

09/29/2024 ~ Proper 21 ~ Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22; Psalm 124; Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29; Psalm 19:7-14; James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-50 ~ VIDEO LIVE STREAM ON

VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1015379205

Leadership Part II

“…Moses answered, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? If only all the people of God were prophets! If Yahweh would bestow the Spirit on them all!’” — Numbers 11:29.

I think I’ve said this privately to some people here but not from the pulpit. If I have said it from the pulpit I apologize but it is worth repeating. (Slight pause.)

When I engage in pre-marital counseling— I’ve done that a number of times— I ask a very basic question. ‘When does the marriage happen?’

I’m happy to report no couple has ever given me an answer like: “Didn’t we tell you? The marriage will be Saturday, October the 5th at 2:00 o’clock.”

The real answer is both not simple and very obvious. Marriage happens when the covenant commitment is made among— note, that’s among, meaning three parties— marriage happens when the covenant commitment is made among two people who are getting married and God. That is a three way covenant.

A covenant commitment might happen some time before the ceremony or might not happen for months, years. But it’s unlikely to happen as the ceremony is unfolding.

Do note: pastors in America act as agents of the state at the ceremony, at weddings. In terms of the law I often tell people they are about to enter the wild, wacky, wonderful, strange world of American contract law. So from a legal perspective marriage, the ceremony, is about a contract.

But from a faith standpoint marriage is about covenant. To be clear, covenant is not a contract. It never was.

Yes, rituals of passage are important markers. So to say the marriage happens when the commitment to covenant becomes realized does not diminish the ceremony.

So what’s the ceremony really about other than a contract? Here’s my take: the ceremony is about gathering family and friends and inviting their blessing and the blessing of God.

Therefore, to ask when the marriage happens and say it’s about covenant commitment among the two people and God is to uncover a very complex concept. Why? Well, let’s ask what is covenant and, therefore, a covenant commitment really about? (Slight pause.)

Yes, covenant is a commitment. It is a commitment to growth— growth in learning, in engagement, in spirit, in wisdom, in love. A Christian marriage it is a commitment before God, with God, through God, in companionship with God and with another person. Striving to grow should be a given.

But that raises many questions. What happens when one person in a covenant in some way— mentally, physically— is not able to grow? What happens when one person in a covenant in some way simply refuses to grow?

You’ll be relieved to know I’m not going to tackle those questions since my comments might last a couple hours. The aspect of covenant I want to consider is not about we humans but I want to ask the question ‘Where is God in a covenant?’ (Slight pause.)

These words are found in the work known as Numbers: “…Moses answered, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? If only all the people of God were prophets! If Yahweh would bestow the Spirit on them all!’” (Slight pause.)

The Israelites think of Moses as their leader. Why not? Moses is charismatic, gifted, filled with the Spirit, speaks with God, speaks for God to the community, intercedes with God on behalf of the people. Leadership is embedded the story of Moses and especially in this story.

But what happens? There are complaints. Then at the end of today’s reading the complainers say people other than those assigned to prophesy are being prophetic.

Now, over time and through the leadership of Moses this community has had a formation experience in both the Exodus and the Sinai events. But now this community has entered a different phase— a wilderness phase, a wilderness… experience.

And so when, where and perhaps even why does this conflict, this complaining happen? It happens in the wilderness. Could it be the charisma of Moses has lost some of its gleam? Yes, time does that. But perhaps the people are also puzzled, confused, lost. It is wilderness.

Questions are raised: where are we going? What was done wrong? Who got us here? Whose fault is this? Who is in charge? And who allowed these upstarts to prophesy? Let’s… find… someone… to… blame.

Moses is a convenient target. Even Moses complains. But Moses complains to God— God— the only one to whom anyone should complain.

Let’s come back to the question, ‘Where is God in the covenant?’— I want to suggest in complaining to God Moses has it right. Moses complains but then Moses also listened to God. What has Moses heard? (Slight pause.)

Moses has heard from God that God is present, there, real— that God seeks to be present, there, real to everyone and for everyone. And this God who is there for everyone seeks covenant. (Slight pause.) What does this say to us?

I think it says we need to be like Moses. We need to listen to and for God. We need to be confident God is there for all of us, present to all of us, with all of us.

Please note: I am not and have not addressed results. Indeed, the Israelites are still in the wilderness. The land of promise is not yet in sight. But being confident God is there— present to us, with us, is not the same as having an expectation about results. It’s simply being in the moment, living in the moment with God.

And living in the moment is what Moses did and to place to where Moses strives to lead the people. That is, in fact, what leadership in a community of faith really means. Leadership is not about figuring out what program or planning is needed and what any expectations attendant to planing and programing will be.

Leadership in a community of faith is about asking a key question: to where is God calling the entire community of faith? Let me be clear. I am not bad-mouthing programs or planning. I am saying if leadership fails to ask to where is God calling the community of faith, programs and planning will… not… matter.

Why won’t they matter? Programs, planning may turn out to be very successful in human terms. But we need to ask ‘does that human success fulfill being in covenant with God?’ To often we confuse human success with the where God might be leading us— often two different things. (Slight pause.)

This is a quote from Óscar Romero, Catholic Archbishop in El Salvador, who was assassinated while celebrating Mass. “A church that does not provoke any crisis, preach a Gospel that unsettles, proclaims a Word that fails to get under anyone’s skin, a Word that fails to touch the real brokenness of the society in which it is being proclaimed, what kind of Gospel is that church preaching?” (Slight pause.)

I think Romero had it right. God always calls the community of faith to be provocative, unsettling in our society and among the congregation God has gathered.

Equally, I think this reading tells us something very important. Leaders, no matter how charismatic, can only take a community so far. Ideally, in a church, a congregation, the whole community of faith needs to be involved, needs to have a voice. (Slight pause.)

That brings up two points. First, it is the work of every person in the community of faith to listen for and listen to God. Equally, it is the work of every person in the community of faith to understand the covenant God offers means God is there for us, present to us, with us. (Slight pause.)

So, for what are we listening? Before programs and planning are considered every person in the community of faith should be listening for the covenant of God Who calls us to be committed to covenant growth— growth in learning, growth in engagement, growth in the spirit, growth in wisdom, growth in love.

As Archbishop Romero suggested, our work is to preach the Gospel. From what I hear the Gospel provokes, unsettles, gets under the skin, identifies the brokenness in society. Why can we say society has been broken? Why can we describe society that way? Tell me, has human society ever been a place where everyone feels loved, wanted, protected, encouraged to grow? (Slight pause.)

The call of the Gospel is clear. Everyone should feel loved, wanted, protected, encouraged to grow. That happens when the whole community is committed to covenant— committed to growth in learning, in engagement, in the spirit, in wisdom, in love. When that does happen then the whole community becomes committed to leading within the walls of this Meeting House and beyond the walls of this Meeting House. Amen.

09/29/2024
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: “Now I know this is going to ask you to shuffle some paper back and forth because you have to come back to the hymn but please do me a favor, turn to the Call to Worship in the bulletin and find the sentence which reads, ‘Let the Glory of God abide in this place. It’s the last sentence in the Call to Worship. You will notice the word Glory is capitalized. That is not a typographical error. The word glory appears many times in the Hebrew Scriptures. The underlying Hebrew word is Kabod. Kabod indicates the real presence of God is being addressed and that’s why Glory is capitalized there. Kabod— the real presence of God is with us. So indeed, as a congregation, as a community of faith, let us commit to covenant growth and recognize the reality of the real presence of God.”

BENEDICTION: We are called to care in a world which can be uncaring, commissioned as lovers among some who may offer back indifference. Know this: God is with us in all our days. So, let us go forth knowing that the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need and the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than all our togetherness. May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.

09/22/2024 ~ Proper 20 ~ Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proverbs 31:10-31; Psalm 1; Wisdom of Solomon 1:16-2:1, 12-22 or
Jeremiah 11:18-20; Psalm 54; James 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1012786086

Leadership Part I

“Jesus sat down, called the Twelve together, and said, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and at the service of all.’” — Mark 9:35.

Many of you have heard me say I was a member of an Episcopal Church in New York City. Back then another parishioner suggested to the Rector— Rector is Episcopal speak for Pastor— a parishioner suggested the church should start a soup kitchen program on Sunday afternoons. She did not blink and said, “Go for it! Get it done!”

The first week several parishioners gathered and fed a grand total of four. The second week there were 25 guests, the third about seventy-five.

Within a couple of months some 200 were fed weekly. That effort continued for years. Among those who helped, I became known as… the bread guy.

Why? I got to the church early on a Sunday, grabbed a dolly and went around the corner to the world famous Zabar’s Deli. They donated day old bread to the cause, usually ten or more boxes of it, large boxes. That’s what you need to help feed 200.

What we heard from those who came to eat was quite blunt. There was better food at other soup kitchens. But this church had nice people.

That positive assessment I think was based on one thing. We tried to make sure at least one parishioner sat at every table.

Why? We thought it would be helpful for a member of the church community to be there, be welcoming, perhaps just be present to the guests.

Some who attended were elderly, living alone, lonely. This ministry gave those folks a chance to get out, have some human contact, socialize.

Some who came were destitute, homeless, living on the streets, lonely. They needed to eat in a place that felt safe.

I think being friendly helped people feel welcomed, safe, secure. Perhaps some of them even felt like this made them a part of a bigger family, a part of a community.

They might have never seen the other people who were there and might never see them again. But that did not preclude there being a sense of community in that place. (Slight pause.)

Community— an interesting term— what is community? Is community, for instance, made up of anyone who worships in this Meeting House on a given Sunday? After all, no matter what church we talk about, the same folks do not gather every week. Every week the makeup of the congregation changes. Each person does not attend each week. So the members of the worshiping community changes every week.

This is also a truth: each person in our midst brings their own talents, prayers, concerns, joys, hopes and sense of the Spirit Who is both working in them and in the community. Hence through the Spirit, the congregation becomes a new and different creation, a new and different community, a new and different entity by and through the presence of any one individual in this space each and every week. (Slight pause.)

I hope through the grace of God that we, as individuals and collectively, strive to affirm God works in each of us. I also hope through the grace of God we strive together to move the community of faith toward to a better understanding of the Spirit at work in this place, strive to listen for the places to which God calls us within the context of this community. (Slight pause.)

Now, if by definition the community of this church changes Sunday to Sunday, I think we need to understand it also changes day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute. Question: what does it mean to lead, to be a leader in that shifting context? If the community is that fluid, what does it mean to offer leadership in a constantly changing, thereby seemingly less than cohesive, less than focused community? (Slight pause.)

These words are recorded in Mark: “Jesus sat down, called the Twelve together, and said, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and at the service of all.’” (Slight pause.)

There is a lot going on in this reading. I want to take us first to the section where Jesus speaks about death and resurrection. The words clearly state Jesus addresses the disciples about this. But later Jesus addresses only the Twelve.

Broadly at least, the word disciples can be taken to mean a group larger than only the Twelve. Scholars say the disciples, this larger group, could have numbered anywhere from fifty to several hundred.

But Jesus gathers this smaller group, the Twelve together, in one sense an inner circle, and talks to them. I think it’s appropriate to call this group the core leadership.

Now, the distinctions I just outlined— disciple and one of the Twelve, an Apostle— reflect the real make up of any community. Communities are always in a constant state of change. In fact, when the Gospels are carefully examined even the Apostles, this inner circle, is fluid.

Sometimes all are present; sometimes one or two. It seems as if they come and go. And of course, when Jesus is at that greatest hour of need… none of the twelve are to be found. This brings us back to that question: if community is fluid what does it mean to offer leadership in a less than cohesive community? (Slight pause.)

One of my mentors in ministry advocated quiet leadership. Here are several descriptions. First, it’s not what you say that makes for real leadership. It’s what you do.

When you treat other people with respect and kindness that displays real leadership. Real leadership is not about self-aggrandizement.

Also, real leadership is about sharing. Leadership is especially about empowering others to realize who they are and what they can do by allowing for and encouraging their leadership. The goal of the true leader is to make yourself unnecessary.

All that also explains one of the essential problems with leadership. Real leaders do not need people who are simply or only willing to work.

Real leaders do not need followers. Real leaders rely on those who are willing to lead others. (Slight pause.)

In the story I told earlier I was known as the bread guy. That was a minor leadership role on my part but it was leadership. Why? I did something which needed to be done. Yes, it’s not what I said but what I did that counted.

However, the important piece is I filled a slot that needed filling. How did I know that it needed to be filled, needed to be done? I was able to see the overall picture, the total leadership picture. I did not see just what I did. I was also aware of everything that needed to be done. That’s how I found out and knew about what slot needed to be filled. (Slight pause.)

A reminder: the Rector at that church told a parishioner: “Go for it! Get it done!” Someone once said to me when I told that story, “Well, why did she not do more? Why did she not start the soup kitchen, organize it? That’s what a real leader would have done.”

“No,” I said. “That’s not what a real leader would have done. Her job as a leader was to recognize a ministry was needed, recognize someone was willing to do, empower that person and get out of the way. (Slight pause.)

So, what is leadership? Leadership is something we all need to do. We are, after all, Congregationalists. The very name says we are all leaders.

And yes, I do think structure is a human necessity. That’s why there are the disciples but also why there are the Twelve— structure. But unless we are all leaders communicating and collaborating together, unless leadership is communal with each of us seeing the big picture, the community becomes diminished because the overall picture and any goals which that overall picture might entail become too scattered. And take my word for this: being too scattered is a disease that can kill a congregation.

So as we consider what leadership means— seeing the overall picture but doing what is necessary— we should also remember Jesus explained leadership this way: “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and at the service of all.” At the service of all— that means each of us needs to see both the big picture and be focused— not an easy task. Amen.

09/22/2024
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. This is a précis of what was said: “So, if today’s sermon title was Leadership Part I you may assume there will be a Part II. Next, I want to call your attention to the list of Thoughts on Leadership found in the bulletin. [1] Please read them when you have time. Some are from theological sources but most are not. Let me point to one in the Thoughts for Meditation from Peter Drucker, who is known as the founder of modern management. ‘Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.’ Too often we in the church simply manage, season to season, Sunday to Sunday, year to year. We become satisfied by just doing things right rather than doing the right things. That’s not leadership. For those who complain the church has lost its ability to be a positive influence in society we need to look no further than that.”

BENEDICTION: Let us go forth in the Spirit of Christ. Let us seek the will of God. Let us put aside ambition and conceit for the greater good. Let us serve in joyous obedience. 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.

[1] . THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” — Peter Drucker (1909-2005)

“A leader’s role is to raise people’s aspirations for what they can become and to release their energies so they will try to get there.” — David Gergen (b. 1942)

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” — John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)

“In Aristotelian terms, the good leader must have ethos, pathos and logos. The ethos is moral character, the source of an ability to persuade. Pathos is an ability to touch feelings, to move people emotionally. Logos is an ability to give solid reasons for an action, to move people intellectually.” — Mortimer J. Adler (1902 – 2001)

“A leader is a dealer in hope.” — Napoleon Bonaparte (1869 – 1821)

“A prime function of the leader is to keep hope alive.” — John W. Gardner (1912 – 2002)

“The true leader is always led.” — Carl Jung (1875 – 1961)

“Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” — Thomas J. (Tom) Peters (b. 1942)

“A good leader needs to stand behind those who follow as often standing in front of them.” — Marilyn vos Savant (b. 1946)

“Outstanding leaders boost the self-esteem of others. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” — Sam Walton (1918 – 1992)

“Transformational leaders are known in two primary ways: they bring out the best in their followers and the worst in their enemies.” — Dr. Mardy Grothe (b. 1942)

“I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?” — Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881)

“The final test of a leader is to leave behind in others the conviction and the will to carry on.” — Walter Lippmann (1889 – 1974)

“A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 – 1969)

“The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.” — John Buchan (1875 – 1940)

“Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves.” — Stephen R. Covey (1932 – 2012)

“Jesus models a new kind of authority, a servant-leadership that ministers to the members rather than waits to be served by them. Jesus did what, in that culture, slaves did: wash the feet of the community.” — Joan Chittister, The Liturgical Year (b. 1936)

“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant.” — Max DuPree (1924 – 2017)

“True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not to enrich the leader.” — John C. Maxwell (b. 1947)

“Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.” — Norman Schwarzkopf (1934 – 2012)

“Not even a great leader can get very far without great people to lead.” — Ashleigh Brilliant (1933)

“Mimicking the successful strategies of others is enticing to some leaders because it eliminates the need to think.” — Henry T. Blackaby (1935 – 2024) & Richard Blackaby (b. 1961), Spiritual Leadership.

“…whenever a people reduces all its problems to a conspiracy by someone else, it absolves itself and its leaders of any responsibility for its predicament— and any need for self-examination.” — Thomas Freidman (b. 1953), NY Times 02/10/2002

“There is no valid leadership acknowledged in the Bible, whether it be of people or of institutions, that does not fulfill itself in servanthood.” — E. V. Matthew, YMCA leader in Bangalore, India

“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” — Mother Teresa (1910 – 1997)

09/15/2024 ~ Proper 19 ~ Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proverbs 1:20-33; Psalm 19; Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 116:1-9 or Wisdom of Solomon 7:26 – 8:1; James 3:1-12; Mark 8:27-38
VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1010300431

The Tongue of a Teacher

“Yahweh, GOD, has given me / a skilled and well trained tongue, / the tongue of a teacher, / that I may know how to sustain / the weary with a word. / God awakens me morning by morning— / awakens, opens my ear / to listen as a student, / to listen as those who are taught.” — Isaiah 50:4.

As I have said and as many of you know I was at one point a theater professional, a writer of plays and lyrics. But that was not my exclusive activity.

Among other things, I collaborated with actors and singers who were developing club acts. I wrote special material for them— songs, parodies, patter. I acted as a combination director, wardrobe and lighting design consultant. (And yes, I even served as a therapist, when warranted.)

Once I went with a client to the see the act of another singer. My client and I did not do this to meet the entertainer but to meet the person playing the piano for this act. She wanted me to hear him, speak with him before she hired him.

This pianist, a distinguished looking older gentleman, at one point was well enough known as a jazz musician to record several albums. But this was the 1970s. The popularity of sophisticated jazz was at an acute low point. Disco was at its apogee. (I know— you’ve tried to forget Disco.)

My client wanted to meet with this pianist because she was worried he might be so good as to either take the spotlight off her or be difficult to work with. Just hearing him play told us he was a true accompanist, totally capable of serving the needs of any singer with whom he was working.

As we chatted we realized he was a gentle soul, easy going, easy to like, easy to get along with. Still, my client asked the obvious question: “Look,” she said, “you’ve recorded a couple albums. Why are you still playing for singers in clubs?”

He smiled and nodded. “Music is my life,” he said. “I’m good at Jazz but it’s out of favor.” Prophetically he said, “Jazz will be back.”

Sounding very much like a preacher he then said, “As for me, I am called to work with people, called to play music. I try to put those two callings, people and music, together. But people come first.”

He then said: “Jesus spoke about the vineyard. I guess I’m just called to work in the vineyard, day by day, one day at a time.” Using the words of the old spiritual he smiled again and said, “I just try to keep my eyes on the prize.” (Slight pause.)

This is what we hear in the Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah: “Yahweh, GOD, has given me / a skilled and well trained tongue, / the tongue of a teacher, / that I may know how to sustain / the weary with a word. / God awakens me morning by morning— / awakens, opens my ear / to listen as a student, / to listen as those who are taught.” (Slight pause.)

Today’s passage from Isaiah is one of the well known Servant Songs. Christians take some of the verses in the passage as a prophecy about the crucifixion— rightly so.

But Biblical scholars also tell us the passage should not be considered as just a prophecy. We need to look at the context, the history of this writing.

You see, these words were probably written during the Babylonian Exile, five centuries before Christ. Hence for those who first heard this, the coming of the Messiah was not a consideration. The message was understood as more immediate.

So we need to ask what did it mean for those to whom this was written, who suffered the Exile? This much is clear: because of the Exile the passage is still a Servant Song. Therefore, with the Exile as a context, what can we learn? (Slight pause.)

The Servant acknowledges a particular ministry given by God. The ear of the servant must be receptive to a message from God, the tongue skillful in speaking that message.

In this particular ministry— hearing, speaking— there is a specific goal. The servant is called to sustain the weary, those who in exile have had their life shaped, crushed by the power of an empire, those who daily live life close to despair.

The word used here— “sustain”— does not mean this should be a time to offer a lesson about consolation. It means the servant is called to speak to a reality that says this to the weary: there is an alternative reality.

This alternative reality, a reality God would have the people see, is one which creates space, creates freedom, creates energy. This kind of speech, the message which can sustain the weary reads this way: the empire, whose oppressiveness rests on an ideology with a goal of debilitation… does not govern. Yahweh alone governs.

The message offered by the prophet to those who are weary is a bold theological assertion that reshapes the world. It says there are new possibilities outside the assumed realities of empire, an empire which dominates. It, thereby, is a word of consolation because it is a call to take actions to empower change. (Slight pause.)

The prophet is not naïve. These words understand the challenge, the pressure, the temptation for simply acquiescing. But these words are also an insistence that the future then and the future now depends on being honest, objective, meticulous about our relationship with God and our relationship with each other. (Slight pause.)

Let’s turn to the Messiah. Jesus is a teacher Who teaches the disciples about God. Jesus teaches hard things. Indeed, the Gospel reading today states (quote): “Then Jesus began to teach them that the Promised One must undergo great suffering…”

What Jesus teaches is honest, objective, meticulous. Why? Could it be that the future, our future, depends on honesty, objectivity, meticulousness? (Slight pause.)

I do not question that the Servant Songs are a Messianic prophecy. But given these two different contexts, it also presents an ongoing, connective message for us today, a message which, in a myriad of ways is beyond a prophecy simply about suffering, a message which does make a significant connection for us with Jesus Who is the Messiah.

If we Christians accept the fact that Jesus is the Messiah, clearly one of the callings for the church, a calling to each of us and the whole community, is to be honest, objective, meticulous about the reality of God, the truth of God. This truth calls on us, the church, to create space, create freedom, create energy for all people.

This truth calls on us, the church, to sustain the weary, to proclaim, as both the Prophet and Jesus did, that God governs, that the debilitating oppressiveness of ideology does not reign. This truth calls on us, the church, to be agents who reshape the world.

This truth calls on us, the church, to voice new possibilities outside of assumed realities, calls on us, the church, to simply keep working in the vineyard faithfully, one day at a time, no matter what the current circumstances might appear to be. In the words of the old Spiritual, these words call on us to keep our eyes on the prize. (Slight pause.)

Too often society sees issues of justice as nothing but a game where the object is not really to seek justice but to destroy perceived enemies. But games of that ilk are, by definition, not honest, not objective not meticulous. In short, the church must counter a world often awash in lies and falsehoods with the truth called love. (Slight pause.)

The Servant Songs are not just or simply or only a prophecy. The Servant Songs are a call— a call to us as church to action— a call to be honest, objective, meticulous. This is a call to preach the reality of justice as God would have us see justice— the kind of justice where all people are seen as both equal and seen as one.

Indeed, the Servant Songs are a call to us, a call to the church to simply work in the vineyard, day by day, one day at a time, a call to keep our eyes on the prize. Amen.

09/15/2024
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 an précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “Something I have found out over my life is the work of the vineyard is always there. To paraphrase that Servant Song in the fiftieth chapter of Isaiah, sometimes we cannot hide our face from insults and spitting even while we do that work. But we also need to remember Yahweh, GOD, is always there and present with us.”

BENEDICTION: We are called to love even when conventional wisdom says we should not. God is our helper. Christ is our teacher. The Holy spirit is our guide. Let us go forth knowing that the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need and the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness. May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.

09/08/2024 ~ Proper 18 ~ Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23; Psalm 125; Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalm 146; James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17; Mark 7:24-37 ~ Rally Day ~ Blessing of the Stuffed Animals [1]

VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1009165620

Doing Things Well

“Those who saw these things were amazed, astounded beyond measure, and said, ‘Jesus has done everything well and even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.’” — Mark 7:37.

I’ve said what follows about my church background a number of times. I was raised in the Roman Catholic tradition and confess to having had some Jesuit training. I sometimes say scratch a Jesuit and you’ll find a Protestant.

Perhaps as a consequence of Jesuit influence, in my mid-twenties I found a home in the Episcopal Church, high church enough to satisfy my liturgical heritage but, at the same time, very different. How different? My pastor was a woman.

Then I moved to Maine, married Bonnie, saw the light and joined First Parish in Brunswick— a Congregational Church. Why? Not only was it the place where things were happening. The people were involved and excited about being church.

But this is a story about my time with the Episcopal Church. (Slight pause.) There is an ecclesial office non-ordained members of the laity can hold in the Episcopal Church— Licensed Lay Reader and Chalice Bearer.

That name describes what this is— you read Scripture and assist with the Episcopalian celebration of Communion— helping people take a sip from the chalice. Also note: for Episcopalians Communion happens every Sunday.

I held this office— Licensed Lay Reader and Chalice Bearer at my local church. I also trained people for that ministry and coordinated scheduling the services, two on each Sunday in that church. Due to some odd circumstances one Sunday I wound up covering both services.

After that happened, another Lay Reader approached me and said, “You do all of this church stuff so well. When are you going to go to Seminary?”

I had no idea from where my response came. I just blurted it out. “I’ll go to seminary when I get the call. I haven’t heard the call yet.” (Slight pause.) Little did I know…

Coming back to that “You do this so well” thought… when you get right down to it, most of us don’t do just one thing well. Most of us do many things well.

I believe a key question for nearly any aspect of life is not “what do I do well?” A key question for nearly any aspect of life is: “Am I called?— “Am I called?”

Put differently, “Since God has granted me many talents, what I am doing which is right for me and right for others as I strive to work out my covenant relationship with God and with others?” (Slight pause.)

This is what we hear in Mark: “Those who saw these things were amazed, astounded beyond measure, and said, ‘Jesus has done everything well and even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.’” (Slight pause.)

Jesus does a lot well here, even does an exorcism at a distance without needing to be in the presence of the one being exorcized. But those who saw the miracles being performed— healings— these people do not appear to understand what’s going on, understand why Jesus is there, understand why miracles are happening.

Perhaps we don’t either. In our culture we seem to dwell on the miracles. But all the miracles we find in Scripture, no exceptions, are not about the miraculous event being described. Miracles are about announcing the presence of the Spirit of God.

Equally, today we seem to dwell on what people do well rather than on what their calling might be. I would never say God calls us to do something we fail to do well. But since we each do a multitude of things well, I am saying the more important question is ‘when it comes to what we do well to which of those things does God call us?’ (Slight pause.)

Coming back to the Gospel story, concentrating only on the actions, the miracles of Jesus, as people in the reading do— concentrating only on those things— is to turn what Jesus does into a trick, a parlor game. In fact, I would suggest to concentrate on the miracles of Jesus, is to reduce the proclamation and the teachings of Jesus into something akin to magic.

And what is it which Jesus proclaims and the people in this story do not seem to grasp? The proclamation offered both by what Jesus teaches and by the very presence of Jesus is that the reign of God has drawn near.

And if the miracles have any point that is the point. They are an announcement that the reign of God has drawn near. The miracles are meant to focus our attention on the idea and the fact that the reign of God has dawned, the presence of God is with us. If there is any miracle to wonder about, it’s the miracle of the reality of the presence of God. (Slight pause.)

There is one part of the story which, to my mind, should make it evident the realm of God has drawn near. I say it should make it evident because we often miss the fact that there are passages of great irony in Scripture. This is one of those ironic places, one of those ironic moments.

You see, those who hear and speak clearly do not recognize the realm is near. But the one who could not speak plainly because of not being able to hear, is now the one who both hears and speaks. And for this one the presence of God’s dynamic reign is real. Why? This person recognizes the presence of God is embodied in and by Jesus. (Slight pause.)

All that points to something quite essential. If the reign of God is present and real, are we aware of it now, today?

Do we realize this presence of God is a basic message and a basic premise of the New Testament writings? If the reign of God is real and present, are we using the gifts and talents God grants us, those things we do well, to further the reign of God?

I want to suggest that the first step in using the gifts and talents God grants us and using them well is to be aware of and acknowledge the reign of God is present among us. And that first step, that acknowledgment, that awareness, is probably the hardest thing we will do as Christians. But it is the place to which we are truly called. Amen.

09/08/2024
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Congregational Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I think if we acknowledge that the reign of God is present and real, we become empowered as a people, as a church to make things happen. We do have multiple gifts in this community of faith. Today we concentrated on our gifts and talents with Christian Education, the education of both of children and adults. To my mind this is as vital as any aspect of what we do as a church today. Here’s a question for everyone and anyone: are you called to be involved with education in this community of faith?”

BENEDICTION: Surely God will empower our ministry; surely God will supply for our needs when we are about God’s work; may this God, the God who formed the universe, bless us with the courage, the knowledge, the wisdom and the fortitude to serve the Gospel of Christ, empowered by the Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.

[1] What follows is the text of the Blessing of the Stuffed Animals.

• BLESSING OF THE STUFFED ANIMALS WITH A HYMN — All Things Bright and Beautiful

KEN: God, You have done so many things! The earth is full of Your creations!
ALL: It is You Who grants to us tender emotions and loving kindness.

HYMN — All Things Bright and Beautiful, Refrain and v. 1

Refrain:
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
Our dear God made them all.

Each little flow’r that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
God made their glowing colors,
God made their tiny wings.

KEN: All these things which God has created share in our human existence and have a part in our human lives.
MANY: The animals of God’s creation, both real and stuffed, are placed in our care.

READING — Teddy Bears by J. L. Allen

KEN: This poem is Teddy Bears by J. L. Allen.

Teddy Bears are perfect pets.
They never shed and never sweat.
They don’t talk back and hardly eat.
Won’t jump in bed with dirty feet.

They never argue, never fight.
Whatever’s said, you’re always right.
So if you need some love to share,
Get yourself a Teddy Bear!

HYMN — All Things Bright and Beautiful, Refrain and v. 2

Refrain:
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
Our dear God made them all.

The moose I got from Grandma,
The monkey lithe and tall,
The furry face of Smoky Bear,
They are my friends, after all.

READING — From Winnie-The-Pooh, by A.A. Milne.

KEN: This is from Winnie-The-Pooh, by A. A. Milne.

“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
Piglet whispered, ‘Pooh?’
Said Pooh, ‘Yes, Piglet?’
‘Oh, Nothing’ said Piglet, taking Pooh’s hand. ‘I just wanted to be sure of you.’

PASTOR: It is God of Whom we can be sure.
MANY: It is God who gives life and breath to us and often uses the service of animals both live and stuffed to give us comfort. We ask, O God, that you bless these, our friends.

HYMN — All Things Bright and Beautiful, Refrain, v. 3 and Refrain.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
Our dear God made them all.

The teddy on the sofa,
The kitty in the bin,
The doggie’s paws, so nice and soft,
They sometimes feel like kin.

Refrain:
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
Our dear God made them all.

KEN: The world created by God surrounds us.
ALL: Sometimes the world is a scary place, but we are not alone. God is with us and surrounds us with love!
KEN: May God, the Creator of all that is, God the Redeemer of all Creation, and God the life giving Spirit, bless you all, and bless these our friends now and forever. And the people said:
MANY: Amen!

HYMN — All Things Bright and Beautiful, Refrain

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
Our dear God made them all.