localpastor

07/28/2024 ~ Proper 12 ~ Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Tenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ 2 Samuel 11:1-15 ~ Psalm 14; 2 Kings 4:42-44; Psalm 145:10-18; Ephesians 3:14-21; John 6:1-21 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/992092422

Define Miracles

“…Jesus said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’” — John 6:20

His name was Murry. He was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan just before the start of World War I. This next point is well documented. Because of the make up of the population on the Lower East Side of Manhattan at that time he was Jewish.

Just as he was graduating from college with a degree in chemistry, this country entered World War II and Murry found himself in the Army. The Army thought a degree in chemistry was a valuable asset to be effectively used Stateside. So he was never destined to go overseas.

Instead Murry was assigned to a weapons arsenal at Fort McClellan in Alabama. You see, when the right chemicals get put together it makes things go boom!

In one sense Alabama did him in. He fell in love with a Methodist Southern Belle. After WW II that chemistry degree is what landed him in Norwich, New York at least forty years before I landed at the Congregational Church located there.

Why were Murry and his wife at the Congregational Church and not at the Methodist Church? Their children liked the youth group at the Congregational Church.

And why did Murry land in Norwich? He worked for Norwich-Eaton Pharmaceuticals and chemistry made that place run.

You may never have heard of Norwich-Eaton Pharmaceuticals but you’ve heard of what they invented: Pepto-Bismol. Procter & Gamble bought them out and eventually moved that whole operation to other places, that area being way to rural for Procter and Gamble to think of it in good terms. But by the time that happened Murry had retired.

And so, I landed at the Church in Norwich when Murry, in retirement, had concocted a little outreach program. He organized and put together a Thanksgiving basket project. Church members put together and gave out about 100 of them.

Murry kept all the details of how this operation came together in his head. And so, in my second year there I sat down with him and suggested the church needed to strengthen, modernize, be a little more involved and maybe even expand the program some.

Certainly one need was to take all Murry knew about the operation out of Murry’s head and move the logistics into the church office. Once there it could be computerized. Much to my surprise, Murry was all in with this. (Slight pause.)

Two years later Murry was out on the golf course and did not feel well. He told his playing partners to keep going and he would just ride the cart for the remaining holes. He then drove himself to the hospital where he was told he had a heart attack and needed surgery ASAP. A veteran, after the surgery he landed at the local Veterans’ Home for rehab.

That Thanksgiving the basket project went well despite the fact that Murry was not involved as he was still at the Vets’ Home. In fact, the church had $700 left over from the money which had been allocated for the project.

I visited Murry at the Vets’ Home and let him know that. With a gleam in his eye he said, “You know the Methodist Church runs a Christmas Basket project, right?” I nodded in the affirmative.

“We set aside that money to feed people, right?” Again, I nodded in the affirmative. “So, why not give that money to the Methodists to feed people.” Again, I nodded in the affirmative.

“It doesn’t matter which church is doing it, right?” I nodded in the affirmative and smiled. And so we gave $700 to the Methodists. Murry died several months later. (Pause.)

I told that story at Murry’s memorial service. At that service I also explained, as he had told me dozens and dozens of times, the name Murry was Yiddish but had been Anglicized. What did Murry really mean? It meant Moses.

Moses— the one who saw the burning bush and heard God say that the prophet stood on holy ground. Murry understood, I said, we are all called to do the work of God and we all stand on holy ground when we do the work of God. God is present to us. God walks with us. (Slight pause.)

“…Jesus said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’” (Slight pause.)

For reasons beyond me we do not seem to understand as a society what miracles are about. But that’s not new. Many of the people who populate Scripture often did not seem to understand what miracles are about. (Slight pause.)

I am convinced that by putting together the two readings we heard today the folks who compiled the Revised Common Lectionary are trying to let us know that “oohing and ahhing” over the specific miracles of Jesus as if they were unique in the Bible is a stretch. There are miracles all over Scripture.

Also, by assigning the long reading from John with both the feeding of the crowd and Jesus walking to the disciples on water, I think those who compiled the lectionary are trying to tell us something very directly. Do not “ooh and ahh” over miracles at all. Pay attention to what miracles mean, not the details of the phenomena. Pay attention to the message, not the magic. (Slight pause.)

That brings me back to Murry. Murry saw a need, a need to feed people. So Murry started a little project. Yes, the project fed people. But it built fellowship in the church as people volunteered to work with Murry and it did the work of God, which meant feeding the people of God. Maybe that was a miracle.

The project grew over the years. At one point that church coordinated a town wide effort which supplied 450 baskets in a town of less than 7,00. But the point was to do the work of God, work which meant feeding the people of God. And yes, maybe that was a miracle.

And when Murry could no longer, himself, work at the project, his eyes were still on the work which needed to be done. And that was to do the work of God which meant feeding the people of God. And maybe that very understanding was a miracle.

But what Murry really understood is that we all stand on holy ground all the time. What Murry really understood is God walks with us all the time. What Murry really understood is doing the work of God is or should be an imperative in our lives. (Slight pause.)

That brings me back to those folks who compiled the lectionary. When they assigned the reading from John why did they string those stories together?

At the end of the passage Jesus says, “…do not be afraid.” This phrase which can be translated as “do not be afraid” appears over 300 times in Scripture. That phrase is always said by God or a messenger from God. And it always means God is in some way present.

When Jesus says, “It is I;…” this is meant to be a reflection of what God says to Moses from the burning bush. I am Who I am.

Indeed, when God speaks from the burning bush and proclaims “I Am” God also tells Moses, “You are walking on holy ground.” And yes, Jesus is saying in that all you have seen and are seeing you walk on holy ground. God is here with you. (Slight pause.)

In one sense, the real message of miracles is that we, you and I, can do them when we pay attention to the work of God. And in paying attention to the work of God we need to understand the presence of God is there, walking with us at our side.

So what is the real miracle? God is here. God walks with us. Are we paying attention? 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: “I need to say this congregation pays attention to outreach. So, do miracles happen? Are they real? The answer is yes, when we are aware of the presence of God. The way I see it that says you, this congregation, is aware of the presence of God since you pay attention to outreach, mission. Some might call that a miracle unfolding in front of us. Yes, but I also call it being faithful.”

BENEDICTION: We are people of the Spirit. We are children of God bearing witness to God’s love, truth, justice, equity and peace each day. And may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, and the presence of the Spirit of Christ which is real and available, keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge, love and companionship of the Holy Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.

07/072024 ~ Proper 9 ~ Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Seventh Sunday after Pentecost ~ 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10; Psalm 48; Ezekiel 2:1-5; Psalm 123; 2 Corinthians 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-13 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/980839203

In Pairs

“Then Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs,…” — Mark 6:7a.

Well here we are— people assembled for worship in the Meeting House completed in 1759. As many of you know, the first time the American Declaration of Independence was read in public in the town of Harpswell in 1776 it was read from the steps over which you trod to enter this Meeting House, to be in this gathering today.

I also need to note neither this building nor the 1843 building across the road should be called churches. Each of these buildings is a Meeting House, a place people gather to meet, especially for worship.

Church, the word, does not mean a building. Church means the people. Anyone who has gathered for this worship is now a part of this church, the people gathered, even if you are not, as we call it, joined the church, even if you are not member. Have you gathered for worship? You are church. (Slight pause.)

The people of this Congregation, this gathering, first called a minister, the Rev. Mr. Richard Pateshall, a Harvard graduate, in 1751 or 1753. The date depends on which source you consult. The bottom line: the Congregation predates this building.

For anyone who does not know, the current name of the Congregation refers to the Rev. Mr. Elijah Kellogg. He was a Bowdoin and Andover Newton Seminary graduate associated with this church and with this town starting in 1843.

A preacher of considerable renown, some of Kellogg’s notoriety was from the fact that he also wrote what we would today call young adult literature. Those books gained very wide popularity in the 1800s. (Slight pause.)

Occasionally people will ask me about the heritage of the Congregationalism. When that happens the question usually sounds like this: “You folks are a church but there are all kinds of churches. What’s the history? Where do you come from?”

I tell them: “This is the quick and dirty way to think about us. You’ve heard of Thanksgiving? Plymouth Rock? The Pilgrims? Think Pilgrims— you’ve got us.”

That’s quick and dirty because there at least two hours worth of nuances into which any competent academic could delve. Don’t worry; two hours of Congregational Church history is not on the agenda today. (Slight pause.)

Having mentioned both the Declaration of Independence and the origins of Congregationalism, let me address who Congregationalists are in another way. We are a democracy. Like any good democracy, we govern ourselves. Our structure is bottom up. Our structure is like a classic New England Town meeting. We are all entitled to participate.

To compare how Congregationalism works with a modern organizational chart, a pastor is not in charge, not a CEO, the kind of top-down autocracy found in some church structures. In the Congregational tradition a pastor is the chief theological officer.

Who’s in charge? We, the people of the congregation, we the people of the church, are in charge. We, the people of the church, decide who we want to be as a church gathered in this community.

To follow up on that chart idea, to whom and in what ways should people be responsible? We are all responsible to love, respect, cherish, hope for, uphold, embrace each other on our life journey and on our faith journey. (Slight pause.)

These words are found in the work known as Mark. “Then Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs,…” (Slight pause.)

That discussion about organization and Congregationalists sends us to the story from today’s Gospel. Perhaps the most important aspect is the humanness of it.

The story tells us there’s a human need for mutual support. It tells us we need to believe in one another, trust one another, hope for one another, support one another.

Don’t misunderstand me; some organization beyond mutual support is necessary. Being organized, following structures, rules, procedures, can be important.

But when we make structures, rules and procedures our only and exclusive criteria, we are not just missing the point. When that happens, we, the church here gathered, are abdicating our responsibility to ourselves to be engaged with one another.

Let me point out what I did not just say. I did not say by failing to engage in interpersonal relationship we fail each other.

I said by failing to engage in interpersonal relationship we are abdicating a responsibility to our own self. We are abdicating a responsibility to ourselves to be engaged with one another.

Further, in this responsibility to one another, there is a chronic way people fail at interpersonal relationships. It’s called tribalism. We see a distinct example of tribalism in today’s reading. Some people in one tribe can’t see Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ.
They fail to engage Jesus so they fail to engage in the reality of the Christ.

Further, the stories we heard in those two sections of the reading are inexorably intertwined. Why? Jesus sends the disciples out in pairs. Two by two they go, so they get to and need to rely on each other.

When they rely on each other what happens? They cast out demons, anoint the sick and heal. This is what really happened: having sound interpersonal relationships demands something from each disciple so they can give to each other. (Slight pause.)

The same is true for us. Having sound interpersonal relationship demands something of each of us. When that happens we can then give to each other. (Slight pause.)

All that bring us back to structure, rules. Structure and rules are what people most often use to defeat interpersonal relationships.

When structure and rules become primary we say things like, “We have to do things only this way because that’s what the rules say.” Rules never ask how can we accomplish goals of responsibility to each other, goals of respect, cherishing, hoping, embracing each other on our life journey, on our faith journey. (Pause.)

As you heard, the Declaration of Independence was read in public for the people of Harpswell for the first time in 1776 from the steps of this structure. Unlike the Constitution, the Declaration is not about structure.

The Declaration of Independence is about responsibility, the responsibility of people to people. And so, I want to repeat something I said in my comments in this Meeting House from this pulpit last year.

Despite the way our modern reading has it, the opening words of the Declaration about equality, life, liberty, the pursuit are not the most important words. I believe those who signed the document thought the words toward the end of the Declaration were of at least equal importance.

(Quote): “…for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” (Slight pause.)

“…we mutually pledge… our Lives… our Fortunes… sacred Honor” The signers of the Declaration accepted, indeed, embraced communal responsibility, responsibility to each other. (Slight pause.) Amen.

07/07/2024
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: “Having mentioned the Declaration of Independence, I need to note the other founding document of this nation is the Constitution. While it’s largely about structure, the first words of the document are not. (Quote:) ‘We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union…’ Please notice the challenge this presents to all of us. First, it starts with us, we the people. Second, we always and constantly need to strive toward the never ending process of being more perfect. And perhaps what being a community really demands is that we do need to work with one another and to work at it continually.”

BENEDICTION: Redeeming Sustainer, visit Your people; pour out Your courage upon us, that we may hurry to make welcome all people not only in our concern for others, but by serving them generously and faithfully in Your name. 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.

06/30/2024 ~ Proper 8 ~ Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Sixth Sunday after Pentecost ~ 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27; Psalm 130; Wisdom of Solomon 1:13-15, 2:23-24 or
Lamentations 3:22-33; Psalm 30; 2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/974163243

The Faithfulness of God

“Your favor, O Yahweh, is not exhausted, / nor has the compassion of God failed.” — Lamentations 3:22.

I have said this here probably way too often: I grew up Roman Catholic, shifted to the Episcopal tradition and perhaps due the influence of a certain Congregationalist who for reasons I still do not comprehend was willing to marry me, I shifted yet again.

I have also said this way too often: my Mother went into but left the convent, met and married my Father who taught at a Jesuit School. The consequence? I’m a church geek. I have always involved with the church and the people of the church community.

This is a story from my late teens which delves into that, but you need some background. Generally Catholic youngsters in the Second Grade experience a “First Communion,” the first time they receive the Sacrament. The church says this is when a child has reached the age of reason, can have some understanding about the Sacrament.

Given the complexities of Roman dogma— transubstantiation and all that— these children need to get some instruction. Parochial school children get instruction, lots of it.

But Catholic students in public schools need to go to classes just for them. And so in my late teens I was recruited to teach public school Second Graders about religion. To be clear, these classes don’t help second graders understand complex dogma. A somewhat more basic instruction is accomplished by having the youngsters memorize questions and answers found in The Baltimore Catechism.

We Protestants should not laugh or hold our nose at children memorizing questions and answers in a Catechism. Martin Luther, himself, wrote Luther’s Small Catechism meant for the training of young children.

All that comes back to my involvement. In my late teens I was teaching Second Grade students, involved in the church, involved in the community (Slight pause.)

This is something else I’ve mentioned too often. I’m a street kid from Brooklyn, New York, which is not like Brooklin, Maine. That city environment was less than bucolic. In my neighborhood, for instance, sometimes someone would pour gasoline in a mail box and flip in a lit cigarette— boom, fire.

Another example: a local newspaper stand was open from 10 to 4 only. A police car was often parked in front. A newsstand open from 10 to 4 with a police car there? In street parlance, it was a wire room. It took bets on horse races. The police were on the take.

I could go on but you get the picture— my neighborhood. And yet… despite those things which rubbed my nose in the reality of the world, I taught children about church. I was… a church geek, interested in God and interested in community. (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work known as Lamentations: “Your favor, O Yahweh, is not exhausted, / nor has the compassion of God failed.”

If you’re paying any attention to the news, one can readily argue we live in difficult times. As I suggested last week, we humans often live in difficult times.

In our times a myriad of social issues tell us about the broken-ness of the world, the broken-ness of society. If that broken-ness is not self-evident, you’ve not been looking. Hence, we live within the conflict of that broken-ness.

The writer of this passage lives in conflicted times. The words I quoted praise the compassion of God. Later verses talk about burdens, yokes, insults. Why? These words are likely to have been recorded during the Babylonian Exile, the captivity of the Jews.

Given the sense of conflicted-ness in my early life and what Lamentations says, it leads me to the thought that life, itself, is more complex and even more conflicted than we want to admit. Perhaps our life with God is more complex and conflicted than we want to admit.

Equally, there’s a simple, straightforward premise we claim about God. It’s not just that God is with us— Emmanuel. It’s that God is with us through conflict and through struggle, no matter what the circumstance.

God with us does not mean we will avoid the myriad of issues surrounding us. And I don’t need to name them for you since each of you could easily compile a list of both personal issues and issues in society as a whole. I think what this reading tells us is, because life is conflicted, we must engage, learn about, strive to deal with these issues.

And yes, engaging the personal issues and the issues of our world probably means things may not always go the way we had planned, wanted, hoped. But Scripture still insists God will be with us and is with us even as we experience the conflicted-ness of life.

And so what gives the writer of this passage hope is the fidelity and mercy of Yahweh, God. The writer clearly says the steadfast love of Yahweh never ceases; the mercy of God never comes to an end; these are new every morning.

In its poetics the poem encircles and frames the reality of conflict with the merciful fidelity of God while proclaiming a God of hope. My take? Hope describes a reality of God, God who walks with us, encircles us with divine mercy. (Pause.)

Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann said the images of Pharaoh and Pilate are a metaphor for empire and every empire, without exception, wants to reduce what is possible to what is merely available. Pharaoh and Pilate are stand-ins for the reality of empire. They embody, represent brute force, raw, absolute, worldly power. (Slight pause.)

Here is something I don’t think I’ve said often enough from the pulpit. We live in an age of empire. Jesus lived in an age of empire but was not a part of that empire. So Jesus lived with this conflict: living in empire while not a part of empire. And the empire killed Jesus.

Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in the Fourth and Fifth Century, lived in an age of empire. By then the church was a part of empire.

However, Augustine was not enamored of empire and lived with that conflict. So perhaps the question for us is what does it mean to live, as did Jesus, as did Augustine, both under different circumstances but both in an age of empire— what does it mean for us to live with and in the reality of this conflict? (Short pause.)

Empire is represented in many different personae throughout Scripture. These agents of empire work against the possibilities which God insists are present for us. And so this is what I take from today’s passage: life, especially life in an age of empire, is lived within conflict. That’s a given. We need to grapple with it.

Why? God wants to enfold humanity in steadfast love. Empire, a large part of the reality of the conflicts of life, has a difficult time with steadfast love.

Why does empire not want to allow for love? Because hope is an aspect of love and hope does not need to silence the rumblings of crisis, of conflict, of empire, to still be hope.

So our hope is not, or at least should not be, in and with empire since a hope placed in empire, a hope which declares empire is a cure-all, is a foolish hope. Our hope is in God, with God, God who is faithful. Amen.

06/30/2024
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Let me offer something else Walter Brueggemann said. (Quote:) ‘Sabbath is not about worship…. It is about withdrawal from the anxiety system of Pharaoh and Pilate. Sabbath is a refusal to let one’s life be defined by production and consumption and the endless pursuit of private well-being’ (unquote). Sabbath is, therefore, not self centered. It is community centered. Looking out for only self, not for neighbor, is an activity of empire. Involvement in and with the community, involvement with neighbor, is an expression of hope.”

BENEDICTION: Let us place our trust in God. Let us go from this place to share this Good News: by God we are blessed; in Jesus, the Christ, the beloved of God, we are made whole. Let us depart in confidence and joy that the Spirit of God is with us and let us carry Christ in our hearts for God is faithful. Amen.

06/23/2024 ~ Proper 7 ~ Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Fifth Sunday after Pentecost; 1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49; Psalm 9:9-20 or 1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 18:10-16; Psalm 133; Job 38:1-11; Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13; Mark 4:35-41 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/967859292?share=copy

The Present Tense

“For God says, [and here Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah] / ‘At an acceptable time I heard you, / and on a day of salvation I helped you’ (unquote). / See, now is the acceptable time! See, now is the day of salvation!” — 2 Corinthians 6:2.

Someone recently said they thought I knew a lot about history, especially church history. But I am in no way an expert. On the other hand, I need to admit I am a bit of history geek and probably know more about history, in particular church history, than the average bear. So let me offer some history about the National Council of Churches.

In the first decade of the Twentieth Century many American churches in the Christian tradition realized the irony of proclaiming the gospel of Christ and its message of love in a culture where there was blatant injustice. For instance, churches knew Americans of color lived in hostile environments, were ostracized from employment lines, feared for their lives, and were often forced into segregation and incarceration.

Additionally, many lower-class Caucasian Americans— immigrants and working poor— worked on hardscrabble farms or dangerous factories for inadequate wages. Child labor was common.

Some church leaders had, themselves, been active in the abolishment of slavery and realized the churches would have to work together to address the challenging social conditions in the United States that was happening in 1900. And so the Federal Council of Churches, predecessor of the National Council of Churches, was formed in 1908. Today this organization represents a range of denominations from Greek and Russian Orthodox to Presbyterians to American Baptists to United Methodists to Episcopalians.

At its founding in 1908 the Council adopted a Social Creed. (Note: for those watching the video at this point due to a power outage the lights went out. The Sound system and the video system kept running on battery backup. The video continues but it is a little dark.) Some of this 1908 language will sound archaic but the proclamation did contain these statements.

Churches must stand for equal rights and justice for men in all stations of life; the right of workers to protect against hardships often resulting from swift industrial change.

Churches must stand for the principle of conciliation and arbitration in industry; protection from dangerous machinery, occupational disease or injuries; abolition of child labor; regulation of the conditions of toil for women; gradual, reasonable reduction of the hours of labor to the lowest practical point; a degree of leisure for all, a condition of the highest human life; release from work one day in seven.

Churches must stand for a living wage in every industry and the highest average wage each industry can afford; the most equitable division of the products of industry that can be devised; a suitable provision for the old age of workers and for those incapacitated by injury; an abatement of poverty.

The statement ends this way. To the toilers of America and those who by organized effort seek to lift the crushing burdens of the poor, to reduce the hardships and uphold the dignity of labor, this council sends the greeting of human brotherhood, the pledge of sympathy and of help in a cause which belongs to all who follow Christ.

Again, that was written in 1908, contains some archaic language and yes, some strides forward have been made. But clearly, many of the issues addressed in this 116 year old document still seems relevant to a frighteningly large extent— American Church history— fascinating. [1] (Slight pause.)

This is what we hear in 2 Corinthians: “For God says, [and here Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah] / ‘At an acceptable time I heard you, / and on a day of salvation I helped you’ (unquote). / See, now is the acceptable time! See, now is the day of salvation!”

In this reading Paul says some amazing things. The especially Apostle says God listens and hears. What? God listens… to us? Remarkable.

O.K. Put that aside. What is the time, the situation to which God refers? I need to say two things here. First, Paul quotes Second Isaiah, a passage probably written in the 6th Century Before the Common Era when the Israelites were in captivity in Babylon.

And, of course, the Apostle writes this message in the middle of the First Century of the Common Era, hundreds of years later, during the reign of the Roman Empire. When Isaiah proclaims this message from God to the Israelites it is meant to be an immediate call, a message to the Israelites for their time and in their time.

And despite the centuries which have passed since Isaiah, Paul quotes the Prophet who is addressing the time, the situation in the 6th Century B.C.E. And this Apostle’s message in the First Century of the Common Era is also in the present tense. What does that say to us?

Given both these perspectives, I think we are meant to hear these words written centuries apart and centuries ago in the present tense today. “Now is the acceptable time.”

What are we to make of that? (Slight pause.) My take: I think we are called to and need to participate in the Dominion of God, right here, right now. (Slight pause.)

Why? I think these words say something very basic about us, those here gathered in this place, at this time as the people of God. We need to be aware of where we are now. We need to be aware of where we need to grow as we move forward in our relationship with God in our time.

Given what this passage says, I think the imperative of now is a message we are meant to hear. I suspect that’s the point the Prophet and the Apostle are making, especially in times which might be perceived as difficult. And if I do know something about history I know this: both the Prophet and the Apostle lived in difficult times.

When the Prophet wrote the Israelites were trapped in Babylon, trapped in captivity. The Sixth Century Before the Common Era was era was a difficult time.

The Apostle to the Gentiles writes at the height of the Roman Empire, an era during which nine people out of ten people were trapped in what we today would call slavery. The First Century of the Common era was a difficult time.

And yes, I don’t doubt this for a minute: many think today is also a difficult time. Perhaps that’s part of the point— this time, now, our time which is seen by many as difficult— this time is the acceptable time. Now is the time for us to take a stand for God’s justice, God’s equity, God’s peace, God’s hope, God’s freedom, God’s love.

Now is the acceptable time for us to strive to live by standards beyond reproach. So, I think a basic question which needs to be asked is one of self examination. Where have we been less than ethical by breaking God’s covenant? After all, when we break covenant with anyone— anyone— that fails to be ethical.

I am also convinced knowing the history of these words is helpful. Why? This message, handed down to us from Isaiah and then through the Apostle is clear. And if we know its history, this history of these words, I think it becomes more clear.

Now is the time to be reconciled with God. Now is the acceptable time for us to examine our own standards. That is what Isaiah and Paul said in their time. That is what the Federal Council of Churches said in 1908. That’s just history.

So now is the acceptable time for us to participate in the Dominion of God, the Realm of God. Now is the acceptable time to embrace God’s love in this, our time, our world, which so often feels broken. This is the acceptable time to embrace God’s love for this, our world, this world so in need of God’s love. Amen.

06/23/2024
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Earlier I mentioned ethics. What most folks don’t realize is what is an ethic is. It’s merely a piece of history frozen in time which changes over time. The ethics of today are of our time. After all, it was once considered ethical to own, to enslave another human. But to recognize that ethics change is also to recognize what does not change is the love of God. What we must strive to do is to match our ethics, the ethics of our time, match them to the place where God and the love God offers feels tangible. I think most of us label that place of love with these words. Love God and love neighbor.”

BENEDICTION: May the peace of God, the presence of God be with us this day and forever more. 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] The information given here is from the website of the National Council of Churches and has been slightly edited for this sermon.

History

06/16/2024 ~ Proper 6 ~ Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Fourth Sunday after Pentecost ~ 1 Samuel 15:34 – 16:13; Psalm 20; Ezekiel 17:22-24; Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17; Mark 4:26-34 ~ Father’s Day on the Secular Calendar ~ VIDEO OF THE FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/964820469

No Comparisons

“With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it, as much as they could understand; indeed, Jesus did not speak to them except in parables,….” — Mark 4:33.

I suspect everyone here has heard of Stephen Spielberg, one of the great story tellers of our time. And that’s a paradox: he tells stories but he’s not a writer. He directs movies. Among Stephen Spielberg’s movies are Jaws, Close Encounters of a Third Kind, ET, Lincoln, multiple versions of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park and, of course, Schindler’s List.

I find this interesting: those last two, Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List, were released in the same year. How could two stories be more different?

Why would I say a movie director, not a movie writer tells stories? Because that informs us about the medium we call cinema and how it works. Movies are a director’s medium, not a writer’s medium.

To explain, these are examples of mediums for writers— novels, plays, short stories to name just three. And the most important thing any writer who tells stories does in spinning out a tale is figure out how to tell a specific story no matter the form.

Put differently, in a writer’s medium the writer needs to ask ‘what scenes will be revealed in what sequence to convey the story?’ What scene must absolutely be revealed next, right after the one currently in focus, to make the whole story— not just this one scene but the whole story— work? That is the pivotal aspect of story telling.

Let me put that concept this way. It’s not what you say; it’s how you see it, how you sequence it. So the way you say it, the dialogue, the words, are less important than how you see it. Words, as important as they are, alone and on their own, do not carry a story. Words paint scenes. Scenes carry a story.

That’s why movies are a director’s medium, not a writer’s medium. The director has the final say in what we see next, in which sequence the scenes will be presented.

In fact, Spielberg has said all stories, any story, actually never starts and never ends. The story was moving and active before the point at which the story teller starts, before the first scene. And the story will continue after THE END flashes up on the screen. Stories never start and never end. We just see the segment being presented. (Slight pause.)

These words are found in the work known as Mark: “With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it, as much as they could understand; indeed, Jesus did not speak to them except in parables,….” (Slight pause.)

Now that I’ve said all that about story telling I hope this is obvious. The medium in which a story is told is an important aspect of how a story is conveyed. A movie is different than a play, different than a short story, different than a novel. All mediums tell stories but in different ways.

In the New Testament we get four Gospels. The Gospels are their own exclusive medium, like nothing else, like no other kind of literature. What do we get in the medium called Gospel? What is presented?

It’s often said the Gospels contain the “good news.” But what is the good news in the story the Gospels tell? Many would argue the Gospels tell the story of the life and crucifixion, the life and death of the Christ. I respectfully disagree. I would even suggest that interpretation misses the point of the story.

Precisely because of how the scenes of the Gospels unfold, the scene we are shown last is the scene which has the good news, contains the point of the story. It therefore is simple and easy to identify. It sits right in front of us. At the end of the story Christ is risen. God is with us.

We also need to realize the four Gospels each tell that story in different ways. Each one presents the story by selecting different scenes. Each Gospel has similarities but each Gospel has a different way of unfolding the scenes to express the good news.

We also need to realize the Gospels are, both individually and collectively, complex, unquestionably complex. They say many things in a multitude of ways. There are many scenes, many stories found therein. But I again insist the Gospels transmit a singular message when it comes to the point of the story. Christ is risen. God is with us.

All that is to say the Gospels are complex stories with a simple message. So now let’s turn to the parables, stories which are also complex.

As you heard when this Gospel reading was introduced, if you read a parable and glean only one meaning from it, you mis-read it. Parables are meant to spark the imagination, provoke more than one meaning. Therefore, you have within the complex story form called Gospels, a smaller complex story form called parables.

Now, it’s sometimes said parables are meant to be metaphors. So, what is a metaphor? A metaphor is a way of saying what something is by saying what it is like. Therefore, you use something which, by definition, it is not exactly alike to describe it.

So a parable is not an exact description. Further, the words from this reading say (quote:) “Jesus did not speak to them except in parables,….” Put differently, even Jesus lacked the language to exactly describe the Dominion of God.

Of course, that begs the question, what is the Dominion of God like? Tell me, what does your imagination tell you about what the Dominion of God is like? (Slight pause.)

Earlier I said the good news, the basic Gospel message, says and means Christ is risen. God is with us. It’s that simple.

If my premise is right, that the metaphors known as parables are meant to draw us in, to spark our imagination, then perhaps understanding the parables might be simpler than we realize. This is what I think: the parables say the Dominion of God— note: not heaven but the Dominion of God, the reality of God— the parables say the Dominion of God is available right here, right now. You see, if Christ is risen, then it is a given that God is with us; God walks with us, right here, right now.

Further, I want to suggest the specific parables we heard today say the Dominion of God is a place where things grow. Therefore, in the Dominion of God which is right here, right now, we need to help the world grow around us.

We need to help the world around us grow in justice— God’s justice. We need to help the world around us grow in equity— God’s equity. We need to help the world around us grow in peace— God’s peace. We need to help the world around us grow in hope— God’s hope.

We need to help the world around us grow in freedom— God’s freedom. We need to help the world around us grow in love— God’s love. (Slight pause.)

What is the Dominion of God like? The Dominion of God is like nothing we fully know. But the Dominion of God can be more real for us when we acknowledge the presence of Christ is with us always. The Dominion of God can be more real for us when we strive to seek God’s will. (Slight pause.)

So yes, story telling is a complicated, complex business. The Gospels and the parables within them tell a complicated, complex story. But the complicated, complex stories found in Scripture are not the Dominion of God.

Rather, the stories point toward the Dominion of God. And so where is this dominion of God? The story the Gospels convey say God is present with us. When we acknowledge God is with us we can then be empowered to strive to work on helping the world grow in God’s love, on letting the love of God be active, right here, right now.

In short, the Dominion of God is right here, right now… if we are simply aware of the presence of God and act in ways which say that. And perhaps that is the real message of all the parables. God walks with us. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
06/16/2024

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Here’s a paradox. The scenes which make a good story never tell us what its message is. Good story telling simply invites you to explore the message. For instance, is The Wizard of Oz about killing witches and tornados in Kansas? Or is it about home being in your heart? The Gospels and the parables within the Gospels invite us to explore the idea that possibilities abound when we become aware God is present with us. Hence, one message is it becomes incumbent on us to work with God and do the work of God which might enhance a fulness of the Reign of God.”

BENEDICTION: Let God’s love be our first awareness each day. Let God’s love flow through our every activity. Let us rejoice that God frees us to be witnesses for God. Let us understand every day as a new adventure in faith because the Creator draws us into community. 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.

06/02/2024 ~ Proper 4 ~ Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Second Sunday after Pentecost ~ 1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20); Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18; Deuteronomy 5:12-15; Psalm 81:1-10; 2 Corinthians 4:5-12; Mark 2:23-3:6 ~ Communion Sunday ~ VIDEO OF THE FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/954371538

Observing the Sabbath

“But the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh, your God. You shall not do any work…” — Deuteronomy 5:14.

One of my Seminary professors, the late Rev. Mr. Clifton Davis, grew up in Massachusetts in the 1940s and 50s. He got an Associate’s Degree from Paul Smith’s College in upstate New York when all they offered was an Associate’s Degree. He then went off to the University of Colorado in Denver and picked up a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management.

Only at that point did Cliff hear a call to ministry and wound up at Bangor Theological Seminary more than thirty years before I wound up there. And of course, for most Mainline denominations a seminary education consists of 90 credit Master of Divinity degree from state accredited school.

Once ordained, he served churches in New Hampshire. But Cliff, a bookish kind of fellow, felt his real calling within ministry was to be a seminary librarian. And so he returned to Bangor having acquired the academic credential necessary to fill that slot at the graduate level— yet another degree— a Master’s Degree in Library Science.

Cliff had an interesting hobby for a member of the clergy. He brewed beer in the basement of his house. I know about this because I not only worked for Cliff at the library, I used my computer to pint labels for the pints he produced.

One thing about Cliff’s story should be obvious. Having become a seminary professor, a librarian, there was something Cliff no longer did: serve a local church.

People sometimes asked Cliff why he no longer served a local church. With a twinkle in his eye he would say, “Why would I serve a local church? After all, it’s against my religion to work on the Sabbath.” (Slight pause.)

These are words from the Torah in the work commonly called Deuteronomy: “But the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh, your God. You shall not do any work…” (Slight pause.)

I have said this here before: the first five books of the Bible are called the Torah. In English that word is often rendered as the Law. At best that rendering gives a poor understanding of what the word Torah means. The word Torah means “the Teachings.”

Indeed, as was noted when the passage from Deuteronomy was introduced and contrary to populist belief, the words of the Decalogue are not commands with the same sense one might assign in English. There is, after all, no command tense in Hebrew.

It also needs to be said when the commandments are referenced in Scripture, especially the Christian Scripture, the New Testament, most of the time the Ten are not being addressed. What is most often being referenced are the mitzvah. There are 613 mitzvah, 613 teachings in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Further, when examined with care, it should be evident the specific words we heard today are teachings about how relationships are acted out, about how relationship with God, with one another, with the environment in which we live, with self. Here’s another way to put it: these words are about covenant— covenant with God, covenant with one another, covenant with the environment in which we live, covenant even with self.

And yes, these specific words concern observing Sabbath. However, in a real sense a Sabbath is not about a specific day. A Sabbath is about our relationship with God, with one another, with the environment in which we live, with self.

Let me put that yet another way yet again. These words are about being empowered to do the ministry to which God calls us because we honor our relationship with God, with one another, with the environment in which we live, with self. (Slight pause.)

That leaves three questions open: what is the covenant about, really? What is ministry about, really? And how are these reflected in keeping Sabbath? (Slight pause.)

I can assure you of this: covenant is about growth. In order to be in covenant, in order to maintain covenant growth— dare I say this?— change, even constant change, is necessary.

In order to be in relationship with God, with one another, with the environment in which we live, with self, we need to grow. We need to change. In order to do ministry we need to be in relationship with God, with one another, with the environment in which we live, with self… and that all means grappling with change.

I hope something is, therefore, evident. A hallmark of the ministry to which we are all called by God is full engagement in growth. You’ve heard me say this already— growth in relationship with God, with one another, with the environment in which we live, with self.

So, how is covenant growth nurtured by Sabbath? These are the words Mark uses describe the position of Jesus concerning Sabbath: “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.”

Hence, I hope this is also evident. Growth needs to start with self. Therefore, each of us needs to first take care of self in order to empower growth.

And taking care of self is what Sabbath is really about— about people fully realizing themselves— who they are, who they have been, who they might become, how they might grow. This can be and is done by taking time— Sabbath being the label used here to address time— time taken to understand relationship with God and with self.

Paradoxically and hence, Sabbath is work. It is work on self so one can nurture growth in self and thereby in the context of community growth for and with others nurture that growth.

You see, once someone understands their relationship with God, one becomes more aware of self— self meaning who they are, who they have been, who they might become, their place in their own environment— only then can they begin to reach out to others in covenant love. And that work of reaching out is called ministry.

There is a danger here which is always lurking in the shadows. It’s that one will become quite satisfied with self or become tired or give up and hence, stop growing, and thereby stop engaging in ministry. So let me direct your attention back to that word— covenant— covenant— that word which is so central to Congregationalism— covenant means growth— covenant means growth. (Slight pause.)

And this brings us to a key point. If covenant, if ministry is about growth— growth of the individual which nurtures growth of community, then by definition ministry happens because of who you are, because of who we are as a community of faith, as an individual. Please note: ministry happens because of who you are and who we are, not because of what you do or what we do. What you do and what we do is only a result of who you are and who we are, a result of being engaged in covenant growth.

That, of course, has implications for who we are, the community of faith together. I believe that we are a people— both individuals and a community— called by God to growth, to change. So what do you think? Are we called to growth and to change? There is no doubt about this: we are called to ministry. So do you think growth and change is a requirement of that? Amen.

06/02/2024
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: “The fixation of our society on the Ten Commandments borders on and probably is anti-Christian. There is no question about that. Interestingly, our society borders on and probably is in about the same place as society in Roman Palestine in New Testament times— engaged in Empire, the Roman empire. When asked about the mitzvah, the commandments, Jesus said they no longer applied. Empire and fear no longer applied. Rather, we need to love God and love neighbor, said Jesus. And on loving God and loving neighbor hangs on all teachings and the prophets. And how are these teachings acted out? They are acted out in growth and relationships.”

BENEDICTION: Hear now this blessing: the work and the will of God is placed before us. Further, 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.

05/26/2024 ~ Trinity Sunday ~ The First Sunday after Pentecost ~ Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 29; Romans 8:12-17; John 3:1-17 ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/952299369

Subtext: in Praise of Actors

“They (that is the Seraphs) cried out to one another and said: / ‘Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh, God, the omnipotent; / the whole earth is full with the glory of God.’” — Isaiah 6:3.

I have, perhaps too often for some, mentioned my involvement with professional theater. But if memory serves I have not mentioned this particular involvement from the pulpit.

While still in my very early twenties I attended acting classes at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, a well known training ground for professional actors. In no particular order, among those who attended the Academy over the course of many years are Lauren Bacall, Anne Hathaway, Anne Bancroft, Danny DeVito , Robert Redford.

But since I was and am a writer, not an actor, why did I take classes at the American Academy? I wanted to know what actors know about doing their job. My premise was, if I knew how actors went about their work I, therefore, would know how to better work with, communicate with, and write for actors.

So, how do actors work? I suppose this next statement is flattering to we who are writers. Actors learn they first have to work with the text, work with what is written.

But there’s something beyond the text. And this next statement is not particularly flattering to writers. No matter how good the writing is, the text still just sits on the page. Anyone’s words from Shakespeare to Shaw to Connolly— sit on a page. The truth is words are somewhat dry, dead.

An actor breathes life into the words, makes words leap off the page, fully vibrant, finds the emotions which lie therein, enables the text to resonate with the audience. So the next and obvious question is, ‘how do actors do that?’

Actors work with what theater people call subtext. Subtext is content not announced explicitly by the words, the characters, the author. In short, what the actors need to do is to discover, communicate and help an audience understand is the meanings implicit in the text.

Now, I personally think it’s nearly impossible to plumb the depth of human emotions with mere words. Therefore, an actor’s job is to convey what is not explicit, what is not spelled out, to convey what’s hidden there in the words.

Here is simply a truth. There are many levels to an emotion and a word is simply that: a word; it does not tell anyone about the levels of emotion in its possession. In fact, you can use all kinds of words to try to express emotion— joy or anger or hope, for example. But think of how many levels of emotion can be found in each of those words. The writer can only imply the levels of emotional life in each word.

The actor helps an audience grasp the various levels, the heights and depths of the emotions, trapped in the words. In attempting to convey those emotions an actor tries to communicate through tone, attitude, tempo, posture, facial expression— tries to convey something about the underlying thoughts, the motives that the actor has found, the desirers of character.

We need to realize subtext is not exactly hidden but it also must be discovered. Emotion exists inside the words. An actor tries to transmit the meanings discovered therein. (Slight pause.)

This is recorded in the Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah: “They (that is the Seraphs) cried out to one another and said: / ‘Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh, God, the omnipotent; / the whole earth is full with the glory of God.’” (Slight pause.)

Here is another piece of my personal story you’ve heard, perhaps too often for some. I grew up in the Roman Catholic tradition. I, thereby, know these words from Isaiah— holy, holy, holy— are quoted in the prayer known as the Sanctus in the Roman Mass. But what’s the subtext here? What’s underneath, hidden in the words?

That’s a question we need to ask every passage in Scripture: what’s the subtext? As I have said here before, only rarely should we ask what the text says. We should ask ‘what does the text mean?’ Therefore, the corollary question is ‘What’s the subtext telling us?’

I think when it comes to Scripture just like an actor works with subtext to discover emotional content, we need to do the same kind of work with subtext in Scripture. Why? We need to try to uncover the depth of the emotional content in the text.

So, what is the subtext here in these words from Isaiah? Let’s start where actors start: with the words, with the text, with what is written.

What does the word “holy” mean? Holy means worthy of respect, devotion, inspiring awe, reverence. That makes sense. After all, this is about God.

That brings us to the next word to be considered, perhaps the pivotal word in this passage: glory. The underlying Hebrew word is kabod. As is true with many Hebrew words, kabod has multiple meanings. And often meaning depends on the context.

In this context kabod— glory— means the overwhelming presence of God and within that reality of presence, the extent of the goodness of God, the depth of the love of God. In short, kabod informs us about the profound emotional presence of God.

Well, how about what the seraph, an angel, does in touching the mouth of the Prophet with an ember? This is an action of purification, an eradication of guilt, corruption. But taken literally an ember on the lips sounds painful, does it not? How can that be taken in a literal way?

It can’t. And that’s rather the point. What’s the subtext? The subtext comes back to the word kabod which informs us about the reality of the emotional presence of God.

It is not the ember which purifies. No mere action purifies. It is God— the reality of the emotional presence of God— it is God Who purifies. (Slight pause.)

Please let the emotional content of that statement sink in for a minute. The subtext says God purifies. Yes, a writer might tell the story and say an ember touched to lips brings purification. But that’s just an illustration, a way to tell the story.

What’s really happening? The reality of the story, the subtext of the story says God alone, God Who is holy, purifies. (Slight pause.)

That leads us back to the Sanctus, holy, this use of the words from Isaiah in the Roman Mass as the Sacrament of Communion is celebrated. Why use Isaiah there, at the sacred ritual of Communion?

The church connects the words of Isaiah to Communion because of what the subtext says. God purifies all things, so around the table we are all purified and we are all welcome. (Slight pause.)

You see, unless we grapple with the subtext we do not and will not know that these words are about emotions. This is about emotional attachment, the emotional attachment of God to humanity and, thereby, our emotional attachment to God.

I need to add one more item. The passage offered this morning ends with the words “Here am I; send me!” Why? That is the emotional result of the subtext. God loves us so much that we respond to this God who loves. (Slight pause.)

I believe life, especially emotional life, lives in and through the subtext. Mere words cannot fully describe our emotions. Actions, reactions, interactions happen but the subtext is where our emotional life is lived out. (Slight pause.)

Well, here’s something else you have heard me say, perhaps too often for some. God loves us and wants to covenant with us. God invites us to love one another.

That, my friends, is the subtext of all Scripture, the subtext of life. God loves us and wants to covenant with us. God invites us to love one another. Amen.

05/26/2024
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: “This is something else I’ve said here before. Oscar Hammerstein II who wrote the lyrics, the words to the music of Richard Rodgers for The Sound of Music, Oklahoma, South Pacific and Carousel said music is what happens when the emotional content is too great to be contained by mere words. The God of our faith— creator, redeemer, sanctifier— is a loving God, is a God Who engages our emotions, a God Who engages our emotional life. And emotions cannot be defined with mere words.”

BENEDICTION: We are people of the Spirit. We are children of God bearing witness to God’s love, truth, justice, equity and peace each day. And may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, and the presence of the Spirit of Christ which is real and available, keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge, love and companionship of the Holy Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.

05/19/2024 ~ Day of Pentecost ~ *Acts 2:1-21 or Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; Romans 8:22-27 or Acts 2:1-21; John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 ~ VIDEO OF THE FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/948792053

What Does This Mean?

“Many were amazed and perplexed, and asked one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others mockingly said, ‘They have consumed too much new wine.’” — Acts 2:12-13.

The Pew Research Center in Washington D.C. explores a range of topics from religion to politics and everything in between. And that’s just the range of topics the Pew Center covers.

The Center tries to provide information about social issues in relation to how they interact with public opinion and demographic trends. Their operating thesis says identify trends and then you can see and assess the current shape of the world around us.

To paraphrase Sargent Friday, the Center is about just the facts ma’am, not opinion. As you may know, the facts say that all organized religion— churches right, left and in between is in decline— all organized religion is in decline. Also, the number of Americans who don’t identify with any organized religion is growing. This is seen in all regions and demographic groups in this country. [1]

Church historian Diana Butler Bass has pointed out this current shift is a social movement. It is not about faith. Equally in the 1950s, she says, the opposite social movement happened. People flocked to church.

We don’t usually refer to what happened in the ’50s as a social movement. But it was. Therefore, the basics of the social movement which happened back then was similar to the movement we see today but back then it went in the opposite direction.

In fact, there is one thing which can be said with great certainty about the numbers added to the institutions called churches during 1950s. In all of American history— all of American history— that phenomena was a total anomaly, completely abnormal.

The numbers who flocked to American churches in the ’50s had never been seen before. At the time of the American Revolution, for instance, the percentage of church membership— that’s not attendance; that’s membership— in the population was 17%. Over the years that percentage slowly rose but never was there anything like what like happened in the 1950s, not even close.

Given that, to think of those ’50s numbers as normal would be to ignore the facts. Therefore, when we see the decline in numbers today it can be safely stated this is only a return to what was and now is… normal.

Here’s another, perhaps more theological way to think about this social phenomena: institutions do not make belief. Indeed, the purpose of the institution known as the church is to help you and those around you reflect what you believe both as individuals and as a community. Individual people and people gathered in community make belief.

One more important point: the aforementioned research does not question the faith of those inside or outside the churches. What’s being recorded is the location of people of faith, both inside and outside the walls of the institution. (Slight pause.)

These words are from Luke/Acts in the section commonly called Acts: “Many were amazed and perplexed, and asked one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others mockingly said, ‘They have consumed too much new wine.’” (Slight pause.)

Another fairly well known statistic is the average percentage of people who attend church in America on a regular basis runs in the mid-thirty percent range. On the other hand, in Europe church attendance runs less than ten percent of the population.

Given that lack of attendance across the pond, something amazing is happening in England. The number of women becoming nuns in the Catholic Church is at a 25-year high. The number of women become nuns are also mostly under the age of 30. To paraphrase Acts, ‘What does this mean?’

One reason may be the effort in England made by the Church to demystify what nuns do. Christopher Jamison, the English Catholic Church’s vocations director says this: “Increasingly, young people find Christian faith filling a meaning gap,… because it leads them to the heart of human life today:… working for the impoverished; this helps them lead a balanced life with a conviction that there is more to life.” [2] (Slight pause.)

In a recent article Rev. Erik Parker, a Lutheran cleric, cautions we are wrong about a church in decline. He insists the decline we see is simply the end of the state church. The state church is not what people who are serious about faith want. The state church drives people away.

Christendom can no longer be the church of the empire it was and has often been since Roman times. It’s not the church that’s dying, Parker says. It’s the church of empire that’s dying.

The state supports the status quo, a staid, static way of doing things. That’s not church, he insists, certainly not the church of faith. We need to remember the church did O.K. in its first 300 years before it became entangled with Rome and its descendants. [3] — Rev. Eric Parker. (Slight pause.)

So, what is going on in Acts 2 which was way before the church became a part of the state? Or as this writing poses the question: “What does it mean?” (Slight pause.)

“What does it mean?” may be the most important question asked in all Scripture, a basic question. Scripture never asks ‘what does this say’ or ‘what are the details of a story?’ Scripture always asks us to ponder the question, ‘What does this mean?’

Hence, what happens in the reading we heard— and plenty happens from tongues of fire to speaking in tongues to prophecy— for all that happens the question is never: ‘what happened?’ ‘What does this mean?’ is the question. (Slight pause.)

As I said earlier, Pentecost— the feast we celebrate today— is arguably the second most important feast on the Christian calendar, the first being Easter, and is sometimes referred to as the birthday of the church. [4] I am just enough of a defender of institutional life to say the institution is important. That leads me to ask, ‘what is the institution?’ (Slight pause.)

When you and you and you and come together as a community, belief happens, sometimes even when we’re unaware it’s happening. So as to the reading, the meaning of what happens has to do with people and belief, a belief in the presence and the reality of God. And it happens collectively, among many people.

Given that, there’s another meaning here which is both subtle and obvious. As I said, the institution helps you, you and you make belief happen. In these words what we hear is a description of the collective, the institution coalescing. (Slight pause.)

In 2018 Pope Francis presided over a ceremony to proclaim the sainthood of Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero, who was assassinated for being a defender of the impoverished. In doing that, the first Pope from the Global South was making an effort to place the poor at the center of this papacy.

With this act Francis sought both to recognize those who are impoverished and to position the church closer to the masses. It was an action which said the church needs to be an institution who helps others, especially the impoverished. [5] (Slight pause.)

And no— you and I are not the Pope. We are Congregationalists. Grand gestures are not our thing. But, to repeat what I said earlier, the purpose of the institution known as the church is not to make belief. Belief is personal.

However, this is also true: I can, together with you and you and you and you and you, seek belief and we can believe together. That sounds like a theological definition of Congregationalism to me.

All that leaves us with a question: can we Congregationalists be forthright about the mission of the church? I think so. And if we do, I’ve got good news.

The church of the state may well perish. But the church of faith, the church of belief, will not go away or be in decline. I’ve got better news. If we believe together, if we have faith together, the Spirit will be alive among us for we can and we will show the fruits of the Spirit here, in this place, at this time. Amen.

05/19/2024, Pentecost Sunday
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: “I suggested Pentecost is important because it’s about the reality of Spirit of God being with and showering many gifts on each of us. But it is also about the Spirit of God being with and showering many gifts on all of us together. The Spirit Who Lives with each of us and all of us together makes this place a place of community. And so we will have our annual Roll Call meeting which celebrates and is about community. We, thereby, strive to affirm the reality of the Spirit in this community among us.”

BENEDICTION: Let us acknowledge our many gifts. Let us seek to use them for the common good. Let us commit ourselves as people of action. God, the creator, is at work in our midst. The Holy Spirit is present to us. Jesus, the Christ, lives among us. Let us go from this worship to continue our worship with work and witness. And may the peace of Christ, which surpasses our understanding keep our hearts, minds and spirits centered on God, this day and forevermore. Amen.

[1] http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/

[2] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-32777639

[3] http://millennialpastor.net/author/revcowboy/

[4] This was stated at the start of the service.

[5]
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/24/world/europe/popes-focus-on-poor-revives-scorned-theology.html?emc=edit_tnt_20150523&nlid=11820119&tntemail0=y

05/12/2024 ~ Seventh Sunday of Easter and Last Sunday in the Season of Easter— if Ascension not observed ~ *Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; Psalm 1; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19 ~ Mother’s Day on the Secular Calendar ~ NOTE: 05/09/2024 ~ Ascension of the Christ ~ *Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47 or Psalm 93; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53 ~ Mother’s Day on the Secular Calendar ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/946642319

Cultural Myths; Cultural Falsehoods

“Also in their company were some of the women who followed Jesus, Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as some of the brothers and sisters of Jesus. With one mind, together, they devoted themselves to constant prayer.” — Acts 1:14.

O.K.: a confession, I know I said something like this last week and what I will say today might sound like I’m repeating myself. Of course, I am sure there are those who say I repeat myself each and every week. It’s possible I’m guilty on the first count, not the second and I am sure later someone will tell me I should have taken the Fifth.

One more thing: in what I will say some will accuse me of relying on the obscure history of the 1950s and 60s. I will have to plead guilty to that.

Why? As most of you know, I grew up in New York City so my youth was spent there in the 50s and 60s. So this comes with another warning: some of the names I’ll rattle off may be meaningless to many but they were celebrities, some minor some well known, in the 50s and 60s.

In that era an important local radio station in New York City was WOR. It began broadcasting in 1922. It’s so old, it has three call letters not four. In the 50s and 60s the station did something people think was invented in the 90s, what we today call talk radio.

The morning talk program on WOR from 1925 to 2000, was Rambling with Gambling. Three generations, a father, son and grandson John B. Gambling, then John A., then John R. hosted that program.

For the rest of the day WOR filled the airwaves with people who talked. Breakfast with Dorothy and Dick followed Gambling. Dorothy Kilgallen, a well known reporter who specialized in covering notorious crime cases, was also a panelist on the TV show What’s My Line? Her husband, Dick Kollmar, was a Broadway producer.

Supposedly over breakfast at their Upper East side home they chatted about a high society event or a theater or movie opening they attended the previous night or chewed the fat with celebrity friends. You now get this on television— Live with Kelly and Mark, Morning Joe, Good Morning America, The View, etc., etc.— people talk about what’s happening— about events, openings, do interviews with celebrity guests or news-makers.

Back to that radio station— another celerity in the WOR lineup was Arlene Francis, also a panelist on What’s My Line. I once heard her interview an author whose name I do not remember unfortunately.

This person’s parents were in the foreign service and tried to place their son at a local school in whatever the country they were stationed so he could be exposed to the culture of that country. He said when the lessons turned to the history of the place he currently resided, it became evident the same singular message got transmitted in every last classroom in every last country.

The message? In whatever country he sat, that country considered itself the center of the world, the center of the universe, the most important country on the planet.

Even at a very young age it did not take him long to figure out this was a cultural myth, perhaps even a cultural truth, but factually false. After all, each one of these countries could not possibly be the most important country on the planet. Could they? (Slight pause.)

These words are from Luke/Acts in the section commonly called Acts: “Also in their company were some of the women who followed Jesus, Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as some of the brothers and sisters of Jesus. With one mind, together, they devoted themselves to constant prayer.” (Slight pause.)

That each of those countries believed it was the center of the universe is an illustration of ‘confirmation bias.’ Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, recall information in a way that confirms one’s own preexisting beliefs.

People display confirmation bias when they gather or remember information selectively or interpret it in a biased way. Here’s the real issue: when confirmation bias sets in, people simply pay no attention to fact, often in an irrational way.

When no attention is paid to fact in an irrational way, bias has taken charge. Thinking the country in which you happen to live is the greatest in the world, the center of the universe, is an example of that.

But how does confirmation bias influence our understandings of the passage from Acts? This is a given: we all have opinions about Scripture. I plead guilty on that count.

It’s also true sometimes those opinions fall prey to confirmation bias, especially cultural bias. It would be foolish of me to not plead guilty on that count also.

However, one of the things I try to do— I’m not always successful but I try— one of the things I try to do is leave any irrational confirmation bias I might bring to the study of Scripture aside. Indeed, I try to do that in the hope my journey into a passage is as free from confirmation bias, cultural bias, as I can possibly make it.

As to our confirmation bias, our cultural bias in how we look at Scripture— tell me how often have you seen a picture depicting Jesus as having blue eyes and blond or light brown hair? Really? I don’t think so.

That brings me to this fact. Today’s passage clearly states Jesus had brothers and sisters. Jesus had brothers and sisters? In fact, other passages clearly state James is a brother of Jesus. I suspect a lot of people simply ignore that. Why? Unless I am mistaken there is a cultural bias which says Jesus was an only child.

Therefore, some people refuse to believe the words about the siblings of Jesus are even in the text. Why? Many have that cultural belief, that confirmation bias that Jesus was an only child. So it’s O.K. to ignore those words, right? (Slight pause.)

This next point should be obvious. The writers of Scripture, themselves, were not immune from cultural bias. Sometimes it’s easy to pick out that cultural bias. For instance, there is a readily identifiable cultural bias in some of the letters attributed to the Apostle Paul.

But the letters not by Paul, only attributed to Paul were written after Paul was dead by disciples of Paul. Much more so than Paul’s writings ever did, those later works written by others clearly enshrine the patriarchal system of Rome as the only appropriate social culture.

However, the true writings of Paul actually name specific women among the leadership of the early church. Women in church leadership just would not have happened in the Roman patriarchal system. But Paul— Paul— approved of women in leadership.

In short, identifiable cultural bias can be found in the texts, themselves. Then we, ourselves, also bring our bias to the texts and impose it. So, given those factors what should our overall take-away from Scripture be? Put another way, can we identify what is said about God and banish any of our own bias and banish the bias of the writers? (Slight pause.)

This has always been what I say in attempting to banish my bias and my answer to the reality of that bias. God loves us. God wants to be in covenant with us.

Put another way, the bias of God is that God love us and wants to covenant with us. God also invites us to walk in ways of faith, strive to share peace, joy, freedom, equity, hope, trust, love with all people. That’s all people, not just the ones in our country, which I hear some see as the center of the universe.

To reiterate, this is the bias of God in Scripture: love all people. And this is what God wants for us: to walk in ways of faith, sharing peace, joy, freedom, equity, hope, trust, love with all people. Amen.

05/12/2024
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: “I need to note today’s reading contained these words: ‘With one mind, together, they,’ that is the disciples, ‘devoted themselves to constant prayer.’ I once had the honor of being with a small group in the presence of Archbishop Desmond Tutu before he won the Nobel Peace Prize. He was asked how much he prayed in a day. He said two to three hours a day unless the authorities imposing apartheid were cracking down on him. Then that prayer time needed to be increased. Praying constantly is an imperative since it is both counter cultural and counters the culture. And here is something else that counters the culture.” (Here the pastor holds up a sign used in the Time for All Ages which lights up with the word ‘LOVE’.)

BENEDICTION: The work and the will of God is placed before us. Further, 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.

05/05/2024 ~ Sixth Sunday of Easter ~ *Acts 10:44-48; Psalm 98; 1 John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17 ~ Communion Sunday ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/943824620

Whence the Spirit?

“Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’” — Acts 10:46b-47.

What I am about to say may sound I’m repeating something I’ve said already. But this is my very personal take on things. I have lived long enough that I know life is unpredictable. As we live through our time on this blue green orb, life demands we take risks. But very few of us like to take risks. We like control, to be in charge.

As to my own life, it could be argued I’ve taken a lot of risks. But in part that’s a result of my experience in my family of origin. Some of you might not have heard me address the details of my childhood I am about to offer. This is a short version.

When I was about five my father had what was in that era called a nervous breakdown. Today we would have diagnosed it as the onset of a mental illness labeled as passive dependency, sometimes called passive aggression. So when I was young my father figure left the scene.

From a Freudian perspective one of the functions a father figure provides children is an enhanced sense of order and the safety we feel order brings. But sone can get along well without a father figure. I did.

In my case at least and as a result, I developed a degree of comfort with the idea that life might lean more toward the chaotic than the ordered. So I identified absolute safety as, at best, unrealistic and became inclined toward taking risks.

That life is filled with chaos and risk got reinforced for me when I was drafted and sent to Vietnam, where chaos and risk are a given. For 20 years after that army stint on an off I worked in professional theater mostly as a writer— theater where risks are a given.

What is that risk? How do you earn enough to put food on the table while you try to communicate through art? To paraphrase the words of the late artist Al Hirshfield, the products which artists sell no one really needs to buy.

Let’s move the clock ahead a number of years. I meet Bonnie. She lives in Maine. I live in New York City.

I move to Maine to marry Bonnie. I don’t even know how to drive but I move to Maine where the only subways are sandwich shops. Yep— that’s a risk.

Move the clock ahead a little more. At age 44 I hear a call to Seminary. At age 44 Seminary is a risk. I invite Bonnie to take that risk with me.

Praise God, she does. And yes— I, for one, count that as a expression of a true love— a willingness to take a risk with a risk taker. Thank you Bonnie.

Then we took another risk together and go to a place where I was called to be a pastor, a very rural town in upstate New York. We had visited there only once for several days, met with the search committee and looked around town.

We were there for over 23 years. Then we embarked on yet another risk— retirement and moving back to Maine. All kinds of things could have gone wrong but we bought a house and things have gone well. It seems like, since I am standing in this pulpit, the only problem is I have failed at retirement. (Slight pause.)

This is what we find in Luke/Acts in the section of that work known as Acts. “Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’” (Slight pause.)

In conversations with other pastors a very specific concern is often brought up. People in congregations seem to be expressing fear of all kinds.

These range from a fear about what’s happening in politics, income, jobs. I probably don’t need to give you a list of the fears. I’m sure you have heard them or have them. And yes— there is a fear about the church— about congregational vitality.

In the course of these conversations I suggest two things. First, whatever you see happening in society outside the walls of a church will be seen inside the walls of a church. The church is not immune to what’s happening in the culture. And right now much of what we see in the culture expresses fear.

Second, I think fear, I tell these pastors, is not the root cause. Fear is a reaction, a symptom, a result, not a cause. I think people become afraid about a broad range of things for one reason and one reason only.

People become afraid when they feel they are not in control. When you are not in control, taking risk is a given and a necessity. But as I just suggested risk taking, not being in control, is something with which we humans have a hard time. (Slight pause.)

Here’s an interesting piece of data. I recently saw polling that says people on the political left and people on the political right both think they are on the losing side in our society. Yes, both sides think they are losing— amazing.

What this data really shows is not that one or the other side is actually losing or even thinks it is losing. It shows people are afraid of losing. I am convinced the possibility of losing turns into fear because we think it means we are not in control. (Slight pause.)

In a recent book, Courageous Faith, the Rev. Dr. Emily Heath states the two human reactions to risk commonly noted are called flight or fight. She points out there is a third response on which behavioral researchers agree: freeze.

So, flight or fight or freeze are three responses to risk. Heath then describes what she calls a Christian response. Christians, she says, need to respond to the world and the reality we see in the world with action— moral action. And moral action is the place to which God invites us.

I’m not sure why the Rev. Dr. Heath fails to use another word to reenforce the alliteration of the ‘flight,’ ‘fight’ and ‘freeze’ trio— so I shall. I call the Christian response forward. That completes the alliteration with this quartet of words— flight, fight, freeze, forward.

In moving forward we need to strive to listen to God, work toward the world God sees. We need to work with the arc of moral justice envisioned by God, cooperate with God, cooperate with the Spirit of God, God Who we, as Christians, believe is present among us.

Put another way yes, we Christians do assess whatever risk is out there. But we need to seek and to find the places to which God calls us despite the risk. And I would suggest God calls us to places where risk is real, risk is tangible. (Slight pause.)

So, what’s happening in this reading from Acts? God is in charge. If you do as I suggested, read Chapter 10, you can see that message repeated throughout the chapter. You can even see the surprise of the people involved.

In the verses quoted today you can detect both uncertainly and surprise at the work of the Spirit when Peter asks, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people…?” (Slight pause.)

As to a theological issue here, not only do we humans want to be in control. We humans like to put God in a box, domesticate God, control God. That raises what I think of as a significant question: are we really in control with anything? No. (Slight pause.)

I say we need to be willing to cooperate with God as we go forward, forward toward the freedom God seeks for us, forward toward what God wants for us. If God is who we say God is— a God who seeks peace, loves justice, treasures equity, putting God in a box will not empower us to see the world the way God sees the world. (Slight pause.)

So yes— I guess I, for one, am a risk taker. Why? In the depth of my soul I want to move forward, cooperate with the will of God, be empowered by God to seek freedom, love justice, treasure equity.

We humans need to stop trying to put God in a box. If we just learn to let God out of the box (and we like to keep God in), then we might get to a place where the justice, freedom, equity, peace, joy, hope and love God wants us to have will be a reality. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
05/05/2024

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: “I think as a community of faith, as a church, we need to let God be God and be aware we are human and finite. Hence, we do need to participate in the work of God here, now since it seems to me the world could use the justice, freedom, equity, peace, joy, hope and love of God which we, the church, claim to be about. Given what God seeks for us, I think being church means taking risks. So, let me ask this: what risks have you, yourself, taken as an individual and what risks does this church take as a community of faith?”

BENEDICTION: May the Holy Spirit inspire our words, and God’s love in Christ empower our deeds, as, in Christ, we are no longer servants, but friends, learning to love as we have been loved. And may the peace of God which surpasses our understanding keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge of God, the love of Jesus, the Christ, and the companionship of the Holy Spirit, this day and forevermore. Amen.