localpastor

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.

09/01/2024 ~ Proper 17 ~ Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Song of Solomon 2:8-13; Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9; Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9; Psalm 15; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1006188672

Be Doers

“Be doers, act on this Word, and not merely hearers. Because if all you do is listen, you are deceiving yourself.” — James 1:22.

One large firm at which I worked when I was involved with Wall Street back office operations had a pretty standard policy. Job openings in other areas of the company got posted.

But the tricky part of applying for a job inside the company at which you work is, if you apply for that job you’ve just insulted your current boss since what you’re saying to your supervisor is— “Hey! You! You’re great. But I don’t want to work with you any more.”

So, the secret of applying for another position within a company is simple. Keep on the good side of your boss. Be their friend, even their confidant.

Why? At some point your boss may well be asked by management if they have someone who might be right for another job. And you want your boss to say: “Well, I really, really hate to lose an employee of such an outstanding caliber. But I can see this move would be the right because it’s good for the company.” (Slight pause.)

I once changed jobs in an internal move. How was I able to do that? My boss approved. After I had moved, I asked him this question: “If you had to design a job for me, what would it be?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” he said. “I’d put a clipboard in your hands and let you walk around and just observe. I guarantee in a couple of weeks you’d come back and suggest all kinds of possible changes. Of course,” he said with a little nervous laugh, “the company doesn’t give me the budget to assign anyone that task. But you’d be the one.”

“So, you see me as a consultant?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “That’s what it is— a consultant.” (Slight pause.)

Probably through no fault of my own, that’s what I’ve often found myself doing as an ordained pastor— acting as a consultant. In the denomination of my ordination, the United Church of Christ, I’ve been on and been the Chair of what’s called the Church and Ministry Committee. That committee oversees and mentors people seeking ordination, guides newly ordained pastors and also works with, consults with churches on a myriad of topics.

I’ve also been the Moderator of a local Church Association. Doing that work I’ve been asked to consult with churches a number of times. I was often asked to offer some advice about by-laws and other internal operations.

Of course, I had a reputation as a by-law geek back in New York. By-law geek— that’s a pretty narrow group. Is it a good thing? Maybe, maybe not.

I was on a committee that reworked the New York Conference By-laws… twice. I was on a committee that reworked the By-laws of the local Association… twice.

I used to say all that work helped me figured our a good retirement job— church consultant. Oh, wait— I’m an Interim. That’s what I’m doing. (Slight pause.)

These words are from the work known as James: “Be doers, act on this Word, and not merely hearers. Because if all you do is listen, you are deceiving yourself.” (Slight pause.)

When I was a student at Bangor Seminary, a consultant was hired to help the school through a visioning process. So a committee was formed to do this work. And yep— I got invited to participate on the committee doing that work.

Our sessions started with a weekend retreat on the Maine Coast— now there’s a hard job. At that retreat we had multiple meetings with that consultant. This person was very clear about one basic item, one basic idea. He could not do the work for us.

He could advise. He could cajole, coax, suggest possible paths. But we had to be both willing to be coaxed and then choose the paths ourselves. Then there was one more choice to be made. We could seriously consider the advice we heard from this consultant or blithely ignore it.

He then stated the obvious. After he left, he would no longer be there as we moved through the results of the process.

So we also had to think about how to move forward. We had to do the initial work and then do the continuing work. We had to constantly keep working the process. If we were successful constant change— which is what is really necessary in any organization— constant change would be empowered. (Slight pause.)

It is, I think, helpful to see the writer of James as struggling with the integrity of the Christian life. What gives Christian life wholeness? What identifies Christian life? How can belief and action be held together in unity?

Put differently, how can belief and action possibly be separated? In short, how can people live out what they believe? (Slight pause.)

What was true in ancient times is still true today. Back then and today we seem to place a monetary value on everything. We seem to want assurance that our faith is worth something. The problem with a “what’s it worth” attitude is it turns faith into a commodity.

When we turn faith into a commodity, like what happens with any other commodity or acquisition, we resort to calculating. We ask if the rewards are worth the effort. We also tend to separate beliefs and actions and ask if the rewards are about our belief or about our actions. (Slight pause.)

The writer of James is clear: the reward— the blessing, if you would— is not a goal. And the reward is in not just in listening and in not just in action. If there is a reward that reward is in listening and then acting based on listening.

Still, all this cannot even be thought of in terms of being a reward. That is an inappropriate way of envisioning it. Rather, Christianity is both a way of approaching life and Christianity is a way of life.

As an example of this way of life the author uses the kind of action found in the Hebrew Scriptures. (Quote): “…coming to the aid of orphans and widows….” As was stated when this reading was introduced these are code words for “the poor and the outcast.” (Slight pause.)

In our times we hear a lot about cost/benefit, especially when it comes to helping others. Scripture is clear: calculating cost/benefit has no place in the community of faith. Relationship is central.

When relationships are central it sets up an obvious sequence. When we carefully listen, we need to do, need to take action. When we take action we are empowered to love.

When we love, we are then empowered to seek better understandings. When we understand better, we grow in love. Love becomes stronger, deeper, more intimate, more mature. And when that happens we listen still more deeply. (Slight pause.)

I need to be clear: all this is hard work with many parts. It comes naturally to none of us. But doing is vital if we are to integrate faith and understanding with love and with community. Or, as the writer of James puts it (quote): “Be doers, act on this Word, and not merely hearers.” Amen.

09/01/2024
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 a précis of what was said: “There’s a modern heresy that says ‘life is compartmentalized’— faith is over here and action is over here— it’s a unit. There is another modern heresy which seems to be going around— how society is formed has absolutely no influence on our lives. We cause our own outcomes, outcomes like poverty. Do you know anyone who wants tio be poor? Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino said this on that topic: ‘…the poor person does not exist as an inescapable fact of destiny. Poor persons are a by-product of the system in which we live and for which we are responsible… Hence, the poverty of the poor is not a call to generous relief action but a demand that we go and build a different social order.’— Gustavo Gutiérrez Merino, Notre Dame University.”

BENEDICTION: God’s Word lights our path. The risen Christ dwells among us. The Holy Spirit, guides, protects and sustains us. Let us go forth from this service of worship and offer service to the world in the name of Christ, for the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need, the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness. May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.

08/25/2024 ~ Proper 16 ~ Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ 1 Kings 8:(1,6,10-11), 22-30, 41-43; Psalm 84; Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18; Psalm 34:15-22; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-69 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/1003279816

Faithfulness

“…as for me and my household, we will worship Yahweh.” — Joshua 24:15b.

I’ve probably said here this too many times. I’m a Vietnam veteran, who drafted into the Army in 1967. (No, I am not going to nor will I tell any war stories connected with that.)

My younger brother, Jim, who is a lot smarter than I, managed to get deferred then by first staying in college, which I had not. Upon his graduation, having heard and not been enthralled nor impressed by my war stories, the ones with which I did not bore you, applied for ‘conscientious objector’ status.

To do this he got letters from many people including members of the clergy. Jim had graduated with honors from Fordham University, a Jesuit institution, and my Father taught at a Jesuit High School. So he was friendly with a goodly number of prelates.

His timing was impeccable. In 1972 (as opposed to when I got drafted) even Walter Cronkite, the most trusted man in America, had declared the adventure in Southeast Asia was a fiasco. So it was not hard for him to get supporting letters.

Additionally, our Draft Board consisted of just local community members. Jim was the first one to ever apply for conscientious objector status. No one in the entire history of teh Draft Board which dated back to WW II had ever applied.

These local citizens, did not know what to do with the application. Presented with supportive letters from impressive people they granted the status with the proviso that Jim do two years of community service work. He did that. (Slight pause.)

This story leaves a question. I, myself, am a fairly peaceable fellow. After all, I’m so peaceable I eventually became a member of the ordained clergy. I could have done what my brother did. Why did I not? (Slight pause.)

Even at the tender age at which I was drafted, I believed governance is not a one way street. I agreed with the ideal John Fitzgerald Kennedy expressed: “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”

I believed and still believe each of us has to take personal responsibility when it comes to providing for all. Citizenship is not about me, what’s in it for me or what’s good only for me. I believe each of us needs to care about each other, be committed to the ideal that governance which works, is effective, is a greater good for all.

I may disagree with some policies of those in office. But I also believe being committed to the larger community is a duty. Therefore, I did not join the Army. But when drafted I served because I felt a sense of responsibility toward all our citizens. After all, I, myself, had and have the privilege of citizenship. (Slight pause.)

I want to be clear: this does not question my brother’s decision nor anyone else’s decision. Indeed, my brother has done an amazing amount of good work for the citizens of this country, has proven he cares about this ideal I’ve described. In part because of his experience in community work, he became an environmental educator and served as a senior official in the Adirondack Park Agency in New York State.

My position is each of us needs to make a choice to accept responsibility which is or has the potential to be beneficial not just to us as individuals but for others and make that choice in our own way. It’s likely that means we will all make different choices. But the goal is to contribute to the whole.

My brother found ways to be individually responsible which benefitted others in ways I did not and never dreamed of discovering. (Slight pause.) Like I said: he’s not only younger than I am. He’s smarter. (Slight pause.)

These words are in the work known as Joshua: “…as for me and my household, we will worship Yahweh.” (Slight pause.)

It was suggested when this passage was introduced that the words recorded here mark an important watershed in the life of Israel. The people are about to embark on a new life— no longer nomads, but settled.

It is a point of transition from one crucial, formative era into another. So, the people are ceremonially summoned by Joshua listen to their covenant history with God before they embark on the journey.

This will not be a journey on which they travel a great distance. But the journey will be one in which, during which they grapple with their emotions— with their emotional life, with the emotions of their relationship with God.

You see, this passage cannot be taken as simply an invitation to be faithful by performing mindless actions. This is an invitation to make a fundamental decision concerning their allegiance and identity. So, the pivotal question becomes: how does that happen. How do the people of God traverse this emotional abyss called commitment.

Joshua’s words are what we, today, might call personal testimony. This commitment to be faithful is and needs to be a recognition and acceptance of personal responsibility. But another transition happens: personal responsibility becomes the key to communal cohesion and faithfulness.

Communal action starts with each individual making a choice. Without a personal commitment, responsibility, there is no communal cohesion, commitment, faithfulness, responsibility. In short, everything starts with you and me.

Taking on personal responsibility for the good of the whole is the essence of true faithfulness. Because God calls us to be responsible to each other, for each other, that makes us, forms us into community, empowers us to be community as the people of God.

No, this is not easy. It is hard. It’s hard because it requires us to engage our emotional life, our intellectual life, our time, our talents constantly. (Slight pause.)

While it is true that communal actions start with each individual making a choice, making a decision, is not easy. And I will be the first to tell you that sometimes these individual choices can feel pretty lonely. Look at what happens in the Gospel story. (Quote:) “…many of the disciples broke away and no longer remained in the company of Jesus.”

Indeed, there were folks who vilified my brother and others who made valid personal choices. There were folks who vilified me for my choice. But it turned out that many of those choices were valid for the whole community.

My point is not which choice was made or even its validity. My point is the necessity of making a choice by and through which we engage our emotional life as we strive to understand who we are as individuals and we strive to understand who we are as a community. (Slight pause.)

Taking personal responsibility for our relationship with God is a watershed. It’s a watershed we face each and every day. And, if we pay attention to the covenant with God, recalled by Joshua, the covenant which proclaims love of God and neighbor as central, then we will come to realize own personal choices can and do make a difference. (Slight pause.)

Seems like an easy formula, does it not? Make a commitment— choose. But, to the best of my knowledge, nothing involving our emotional life is easy. And surely emotional commitment is not easy.

But emotional commitment is, I think, the place to which God calls us. You see, the last time I looked another term for emotional commitment is ‘love.’ (Slight pause.) So, are we, you and I as individuals, ready to make a commitment, ready to be committed to loving God and loving neighbor? Amen.

08/25/2024
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: “I think church is the classic example of a situation where the whole can be greater than the sum of all its parts. But, of course, that only happens when each one of us is willing to make an emotional commitment to life with God. That’s called faithfulness.”

BENEDICTION: Let us trust God to provide all we really need. God knows us, loves us and blesses us in Jesus, the Christ. Let us love one another as Christ has loved us. And may 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.

08/18/2024 ~ Proper 15 ~ Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14; Psalm 111; Proverbs 9:1-6; Psalm 34:9-14; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58~ VIDEO OF THE FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/1000886884

Living Bread

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” — John 6:51.

I was nineteen when my grandfather whose picture you just saw, [1] my grandfather, my father’s father, died in 1967. He finally succumbed to a series of strokes which left him weaker and weaker over the course of several years.

For reasons of which I am now unsure— perhaps they are mired in the murky fog of childhood memories— my grandfather and I had a special bond. While I can’t quite put a finger on how to describe that bond, I can safely state we had the same sense of humor— sometimes silly and physical— sometimes dry, verbal, intellectual.

An early interaction I do remember happened when I was, perhaps, five. One evening when we were visiting his home, I had a quiet tantrum. I curled up in an easy chair and, pretending to be asleep, refused to come to the dinner table when called.

Always a small, short, thin man, Grandpop was a little taller than five feet and probably weighed all of 110 pounds soaking wet. But he was strong.

He had been a sanitation worker when that meant lifting up iron trash cans into garbage trucks. Since I had curled up on a chair in a juvenile snit and everyone had waited way too long for my presence at the dinner table, Grandpop came to me, gently lifted me out of the chair, cradled me tenderly in his arms, carried me into the dinning room and sat me where I belonged. (Slight pause.)

By the time I was in my teens I outweighed him and towered over him by a considerable amount. At that point he was living with my family. That is when the strokes began to happen.

Typically, he would be sitting in his recliner, reading, invariably smoking an ever-present cigar, and start to have convulsions, begin to shake head to foot. Sometimes the episode would stop within moments. Sometimes it would linger.

Either way, we would rush to his side and try to comfort him. Sometimes he recovered right away. Sometimes he needed bed rest for a couple days.

I remember one such episode when I was a senior in High School. After the convulsions subsided, since I was now the strong one, I lifted him up out of his chair, cradled him gently in my arms, carried him to his bedroom and laid him tenderly on his bed and sat by his side. (Slight pause.) You see, we did have a special bond. (Slight pause.)

Amazingly, this condition landed him in the hospital only twice. The second time, when I was nineteen, is when he died.

At that point in my life I had dropped out of college— probably a mistake— was still living with my parents— probably a mistake— and was working a night shift job— probably a mistake. Since I was on the night shift, I was headed home at about eight in the morning when I had an overwhelming sense Grandpop had died.

When I walked into my family’s house my cousin was there. That was not unusual. We were a close knit family, she lived in the neighborhood, was there often and was something of a matriarch in the family structure. With a tear in her eye she said, “Grandpa died.”

In a very matter of fact way, I said, “I know.” I’m sure she had no idea of what my response meant since I was stating knowledge I could not possibly have know in that era before cell phones. She never questioned it. (Slight pause.)

I went to the living room, sat in his chair, breathed in the smell of stale cigar smoke and missed him immediately. Perhaps I wanted to find a way to be somehow present with him.

I was old enough to understand things change, old enough to understand people die. But still, what can I say? My grandfather and I had a special bond; as I sat there his presence was all around me. (Pause.)

These words are from the Gospel known as John: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (Pause.)

Competent pastors will or at least should consult several commentaries. The very first thing I read about today’s passage from John said it is one of the (quote): “most controversial and hotly debated in the Fourth Gospel.” (Unquote.) Why?

The (quote) “sacramental theology” (unquote) adhered to by some slams up against the (quote) “anti-sacramental reading” (unquote) of others. Those who do not favor a sacramental interpretation say there are no words of sacramental institution in John’s version of the last supper. Hence John, taken as a whole, is not interested in it.

Those who favor a sacramental interpretation say these are words of institution. Indeed, the assigned lectionary readings we hear for several weeks in a row are from John. And they could all be interpreted as referencing the sacrament of Communion.

And yes, these words offer support to those who say transubstantiation, that bread and wine becomes the body and blood of Christ, is an accurate description of the mystery of Communion. But it also supports those who say it’s a commemorative meal. I think this passage even offer support between the extremes. But… but is it possible this passage transcends those positions about the sacraments and points to yet another place? (Slight pause.)

Let’s consider the idea that the ground covered in the sixth Chapter of John is not about defining a sacrament but about feeding people, the 5,000 Jesus feed near this reading. Where might that lead us, that it’s about feeding people? (Slight pause.) I’ve said this here before. John is the only Gospel in which Jesus makes “I am” statements— nine of them.

Here they are: I am the bread, the living bread, the gate for the sheep, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth, the life, the true vine, the light of the world.” That one is said twice.

Our tendency is to emphasize the comparisons— comparisons to bread, a gate, a vine, etc., etc. Each of these, however, are in their own way, different. So, what is similar here? The phrase “I am”— and to where might that point?

You know this. The name of God in Hebrew is Yahweh. Among a multiplicity of meanings Yahweh means “I am.” It also means “state of being.” It also means “presence.” (Slight pause.)

This is my take: Yahweh, God, the great “I am,” calls humanity to do one thing and one thing only: be in the relationship called covenant. God insists the relationship, the covenant we have with God is real, because God is present to us. The covenant promise says God is present and that relationship with God will be… everlasting.

For me the covenant of God contains this promise: there will be and there is a special bond between God and each of us. There will be and there is a special bond among God and all of us, among God and all humanity. (Slight pause.) [2]

With whom have you had a special bond, a special relationship in your life? With whom do you have a special bond, a special relationship? Whose presence do you feel, despite being separated by space, by time— even by death? (Slight pause.)

If there is a basic message the Bible has for us, it’s that we can never be separated from the love of God. If there is a basic message the Bible has for us, it’s that the presence of God is real. If there is a basic message the Bible has for us, it’s that the very being of God surrounds us and a tangible, special bond exists.

If there is a basic message the Bible has for us it’s that God is with us right here, right now— presence. Presence— here’s what that mean: it means God holds us tenderly in God’s own arms. Amen.

08/18/2024
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: (The pastor holds up an 8 x 10 picture of his grandfather and two children.) “I said this earlier— a picture of my grandfather. Was there a special bond between us? I think so. Is there a special bond between us and God? I think so.”

BENEDICTION: God’s Word lights our path. The risen Christ dwells among us. The Holy Spirit, guides, protects and sustains us. Let us go forth from this service of worship and offer service to the world in the name of Christ, for the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need, the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness. May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen.

[1] During A Time For All Ages the pastor displayed a picture of his large grandfather who sat in between the pastor and his brother. The picture was taken when the pastor was approximately four years old and the pastor’s brother was a year younger.

[2] This analysis is, in part, based on what is found on this passage and on this passage and on the whole 6th Chapter of John in The New Interpreter’s Bible: the Electronic Edition. Needless to say, the Electronic Edition of The New Interpreter’s Bible has the same information as the printed edition.

08/11/2024 ~ Proper 14 ~ Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost ~ 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33; Psalm 130; 1 Kings 19:4-8; Psalm 34:1-8; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; John 6:35, 41-51 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/997784126

Membership

“Get rid of all bitterness and wrath and rage and anger and wrangling and slander, malice of every kind. In place of these be kind to one another, tenderhearted, compassionate, mutually forgiving— forgiving one another— as God, in Christ, has forgiven you.” — Ephesians 4:31-32.

In my comments today I’d like to take a trip down memory lane— or is it those thrilling days of yesteryear? I need to be clear: some of us will be too young to remember the names I will reference on this journey. If you are too young rest assured you can GOOGLE and even see things on YOUTUBE about these people I’m going to mention. (Slight pause.)

Who here remembers the comedian Jack Benny? He started on the radio on 1932 and moved to TV in 1949. I will say more about Mr. Benny and that program but I need to first talk about my late father. Dad was a graduate of Manhattan College, in New York City.

Now, a fellow by the name of Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty was a Senior at Manhattan College the year my father was a Freshman. I am relatively sure even if you remember Jack Benny you don’t know the name McNulty. But you may know the stage name he used.

Starting in 1939 McNulty performed on both Jack Benny’s radio program and then on the television show. He was better known by the stage name Dennis Day. Yeah— I’m sure many of you remember him.

Now, my parents always watched the Benny program and it seemed to me the presence of McNulty, this Mr. Day, on the program made it special for my father. You see, every time Dennis Day came on the screen, my father invariable said (and I’m quoting here), “Dennis Day— he’s a Manhattan graduate, you know.” (Slight pause.)

Even though or perhaps because I was a child, I often wondered why my Father said that. The questions which came to my mind ran along these lines— Manhattan College graduate— did that make Dennis Day a special kind of human being, place him above any kind of reproach, put this fellow in a special category, some level of sainthood of which I was as of yet blissfully unaware?

Only when I got older did I realize the place to which my father was pointing. He was saying Dennis Day is a member of my club, my tribe. I am a member of Dennis Day’s club, tribe. That’s what was special for my Dad. They were members of the same club, the same tribe. (Slight pause.)

This is what we hear in the work known as Ephesians: “Get rid of all bitterness and wrath and rage and anger and wrangling and slander, malice of every kind. In place of these be kind to one another, tenderhearted, compassionate, mutually forgiving— forgiving one another— as God, in Christ, has forgiven you.” (Slight pause.)

You may or may not know this. Different churches, different denominations have different ways of counting membership. But most put some kind of limit or structure on how one is counted as a member or becomes a member.

Some churches say the Sacrament of Baptism is the only requirement for membership. However, there are churches which say this Sacrament needs to be administered only in and by that church or that denomination to be counted. Baptized in another church or denomination? That just won’t do. It’s inadequate.

Other churches say if you are a communicant, if you receive the Sacrament of the Table, the Eucharist, you are a member. Still other churches say you need to be Confirmed, go through the process of Confirmation to be counted as a member.

But churches cannot even agree on what Confirmation is. In Roman Catholicism Confirmation is a sacrament. In the Protestant tradition it’s not a sacrament. It’s a rite of the church.

Some churches insist you have to take membership classes before you can join. Some churches say you merely have to meet with the pastor and/or the deacons. Many churches do say you also need to experience some kind of ritual, some ceremony at a service of worship in which a person formally joins a church.

Given all of those ways to be counted as a member of a church— and I did not even cover them all; there are more— given all those ways to be counted as a member of a church I always have a little private laugh when I hear that a polling company like Gallup makes a definitive claim that they have counted overall church membership. Given what I know, any company trying to count church membership is a questionable endeavor at best.

How can they possibly know what they are talking about? The churches have so many rules and categories for counting members that the churches, themselves, sometimes don’t know who is a member and who isn’t. (Slight pause.)

So, how should church membership be counted? (Slight pause.) I want to suggest asking how church membership is the wrong question. And I want to suggest that the author of Ephesians got it right.

You see, my Dad was right about membership in the sense that he and Dennis Day were in the same club, both Manhattan College graduates. But church membership is not or at least should not be any kind of club, with a determining accomplishment or requirement. Church membership is not and should not be like a club.

Churches are not and should not be a place for special human beings or a place put someone above reproach or special category, at some level of sainthood. Churches is for real people. Churches is for flawed people. Churches are for all people.

Church is also a place, as the writer of Ephesians suggests, where we can (quote): “Get rid of all bitterness and wrath and rage and anger and wrangling and slander, malice of every kind.” Church is also a place where we need to (quote): “…be kind to one another, tenderhearted, compassionate, mutually forgiving— forgiving one another— as God, in Christ, has forgiven you.” (Slight pause.)

What makes us all members of the club called church is this club is the club of God. God accepts us as members. God accepts us when no one else will.

So when we, ourselves, do not know it or even want to admit it, we are all members of church— not a church but church. We are all members of God’s club.

Indeed, it is this acceptance on the part of God which empowers us to (quote): “…be kind to one another, tenderhearted, compassionate, mutually forgiving— forgiving one another— as God, in Christ, has forgiven you.” Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
08/11/2024

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: “Last week I quoted the lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II who said a song is what happens when the emotion expressed becomes too intense for mere words. I also quoted a lyric for an anthem I wrote based on Psalm 55. That was an intense emotional response on my part. In fact, I wrote a lyric, also an intense emotional response, based on the last verse we heard from Ephesians. (Quote:) ‘Walk in love and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave of self, offered of self, for us, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice to God.’ Perhaps what we too often miss is the love, the intense emotional response, God has for us. And guess what? That intense emotional response God has for us is on every page of Scripture. We may miss it. But it’s there.”

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

08/04/2024 ~ Proper 13 ~ Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost ~ 2 Samuel 11:26 – 12:13a; Psalm 51:1-12; Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15; Psalm 78:23-29; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35 ~ Note: Used Psalm 55 which is not in the Lections ~ Communion Sunday ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/997728401

Hymns, Songs, Psalms

These words are from Psalm 55 in the translation found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church: “Hear my prayer, O God; do not hide yourself from my petition.” — Psalm 55:1.

In my News and Notes entry a week and a half ago— I should note if you are not signed up for the News and Notes email which goes out every Thursday please, please ask Stephanie to put you on that list. In that News and Notes I addressed the fact that Thomas Jefferson was in France when the Constitution was written.

The musical Hamilton opens the Second Act by having Thomas Jefferson, who has just returned from France, sing a song called What’d I Miss? After all, Jefferson was not involved in the writing the Constitution. (Slight pause.)

When I was away— I was away the second two Sundays in July— when I was away on July 14th our amazing Deacons put together a wonderful service featuring hymns and Psalms. So picking up on what the Deacons did, I’d like to address the Psalms today. (Slight Pause.)

I hope you’ve heard me say this before. The collection of 150 Psalms is, essentially, the hymnal of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. But Psalms are not just hymns. Psalms are also songs. As songs, as Psalms, these works are both an avenue of worship and an integral part of worship.

But I want to be clear about the nature of worship. The leaders of a service pastors, readers, musicians, deacons, are not in any way similar to actors in a play.

Indeed, I am painfully aware many think a service of worship is simply a play, entertainment. But the congregation is in no way an audience at a play. Further, if there is an audience for a service of worship that audience is God. The only audience is God.

But let’s say a service of worship is in some way akin to a play. If so, who are the actors in this worship? You, the congregation, are the actors.

The leadership at a service— pastors, readers, musicians, deacons— can be compared to prompters. The job of the prompter is to lead the congregation, the actors. It is you, the congregation, the actors, who perform the act of worship. Indeed, without you, without the congregation, worship does not happen.

The work of the congregation, the actors, is to praise God and to interact with God. The script the congregation uses are prayers, songs, hymns, even silence. (Slight pause.)

Any competent translation of the Psalter divides the Psalms into five sections or books. A careful reading of all the Psalms can and should lead us to the thought that these songs are an exploration of our entire relationship with God and also an exploration of the breadth of our own emotions, the breadth of our own existence.

Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann takes an approach which is both more analytical than simply addressing the five books of the Psalter but is sensitive to our emotional life. He says the Psalms can be split into three categories: Psalms of Orientation, Psalms of Disorientation and Psalms of New Orientation.

Psalms of Orientation speak about the creation and the goodness of God. Psalms of Disorientation address our laments, our struggles and the truth that God walks with us, always. Psalms of New Orientation Praise God as the One in Whom we place our trust, the One Who gives us new life and rebirth, this God of covenant. (Slight pause.)

These are the words we hear in the Psalm commonly referred to as Psalm 55: “Hear my prayer, O God; do not hide yourself from my petition.” (Slight pause.)

My mother died of cancer in 1983. As these things go that death came at a fairly young age. She was 58. That process— as I am sure you know death is often a process— that process from the time of the diagnosis until her death, lasted nine months.

As the disease was taking her, one Sunday I got to the church where I was a member, All Angels Episcopal Church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and plopped down in a pew. I was feeling mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. I was probably dealing with a broad set of emotions since I knew what the outcome of her illness would be.

Now, all Episcopal Churches have Books of Common Prayer in their pew racks. I grabbed one and in a random way I opened it.

The page which presented itself to me was in the Psalter. I was looking at Psalm 55. I started to read. Quite suddenly, a lyric presented itself to me. I wrote the lyric down and gave it to my dear friend and collaborator Paul Lee Johnson who wrote music for it. This is that lyric. (Slight pause.)

“Hear my prayer, O God / Listen and answer me: / My heart is fearful and trembling, / And so I call out to Thee, / So I call out to Thee. // If I had wings, I would fly away / Seeking shelter and rest; / My heart in anguish is trembling / From the terrors of death.”

“Hear my prayer, O God / Listen and answer me: / My heart is fearful and trembling, / And so I call out to Thee, / So I call out to Thee. // And when I call out you hear my voice, / Whether day or night, / And lo, my God does deliver me, / And takes up my fight.”

“Hear our prayer, O God / Hear and deliver us. / Cast all your burden upon our God / For God alone can we trust. / God alone can we trust.” (Slight pause.)

Psalms can and do include all our fragile times, all our joys and all of our sorrows. Do we despair? Yes. That sentiment is found in the Psalms. Do we joyfully praise God? Yes. That sentiment is found in the Psalms. Do we hope? Yes. That sentiment is found in the Psalms. Do we trust God? Yes. That sentiment is found in the Psalms. (Slight pause.)

Scripture, as a whole, makes this significant point: God loves us and wants to covenant with us. So, life lived in covenant with God, does not ignore reality. Life lived in covenant grapples with reality.

Psalms are hymns, songs which grapple with all the aspects of reality. Sometimes we sing with tears. Sometimes we sing with pain. Sometimes we sing with laughter. Sometimes we sing of freedom and of justice and of peace. Sometimes we sing of love.

But when we sing we always sing with deep, deep emotion. And yes, we can and we do find real fulfillment in the covenant, in a relationship with God and in a relationship with the people of God. And so, we sing. Amen.

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: “God is not a concept or a philosophy. The living God engages us and all our emotions. The famous lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II said the only reason for song in a play, the only reason to sing, is to give voice to those times when the emotion being expressed becomes too intense for mere words, mere dialogue. And so yes, we do sing. We need to sing.”

BENEDICTION: May the face of God shine upon us; may the peace of Christ be a reality among us; may the fire of the Spirit burn within us as we scatter into the world, God’s world, beyond the doors of this meeting house. And may we love God so much that we love nothing else too much. May we we so in awe of God that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.

[1] Walter Brueggemann. The Message of the Psalms. Augsburg Press: Minneapolis, MN. 1984.

[2] For anyone who listens to/sees the video of this service our pianist plays the music for the lyric which was recited.

Also, a 41 year old .MP3 recording of this piece went out to the email list of the church. The email explained that the lyrics of the old recording were slightly different than what was recited in the sermon. Why? The pastor has changed over time and the lyric was updated. It was noted we all do need to change over time.