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Leaning into Hope

11/30/2022

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Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:36-44
 
In the hustle and bustle of holiday cheer --finishing off the remains of the turkey and the last morsels of pumpkin pie--  in the blitz of black Friday sales, yesterday’s Small Business Saturday offerings, tomorrow’s  Cyber Monday goodies, and--  hopefully there’s enough left over for Giving Tuesday requests that has jammed our mailboxes – as we are pulled to and fro, from store to store and house to house, in the midst of it all -- the first week of Advent arrives today unannounced.  All of a sudden, the church linens have changed to purple or blue, and the candle of Hope shines, we take the first step to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day.  Friends, where did the time go? Advent has slipped in our schedule unnoticed, unprepared for, demanding our attention. It calls us away from the glitz and glamour that has come to define these final weeks leading to Christmas.

To make matters more confusing, our readings today seem to have nothing to do with the spirit of joviality conveyed through all the decorations and holiday images cramming the airwaves and cyberspace.  Today Jesus forewarns his disciples to stay awake and alert, because no one knows the hour and day of the arrival of the Son of Man.  In the Greek the arrival of the son of man, the second coming of Jesus, is called parousia, which was translated into the Latin by the early church as “Adventus” from which we get our word of the day, Advent.  Yet for us, Advent means those weeks taking us to the birth of Jesus, right?

The real Advent in the New Testament Scriptures points to the second coming of Christ.  So, for us, this season of Advent calls us to live in a tension of anticipation of the birth of Jesus with the anticipation of the second coming of Christ; aka Judgment Day. The moment when Jesus comes again, amidst many signs and wonders, to separate the sheep from the goats, the righteous from the unrighteous, and realize the words of the Lord’s prayer that declares “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. The second coming of Jesus has become the stepchild of Advent: Who here has ever seen images of Judgement Day portrayed in the scenes from in shop windows or in commercials hawking goodies for us to buy or eat?  Who has heard a Christmas carol hailing the second coming of Christ?  Yet today’s scriptures are adamant that we are called in this season of Advent to be awake and alert to Jesus’ eventual return.

This waiting for Jesus to return abounds in the New Testament. Jesus declares (Matthew 16:27 )“For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.”

 Paul exhorts us in our reading from Romans today that night is over, dawn is about to break.  Elsewhere Paul teaches ( 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17): “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God” and (Hebrews 9:28):  “So Christ… will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

Luke reports at Jesus’ ascension how the angels remind the disciples:
 (Acts 1:10-11): “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Peter reminds the churches: (2 Peter 3:10): “ the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” 
 
Doesn’t sound very Christmasy, does it?!

The first generation of Christians believed Jesus would return in their lifetime.  However, when the Parousia, the second coming was delayed, spiritual fervor fell by the wayside, people dismayed of hope, old sinful habits crept back as believers began to doubt the word of God.  Jesus forewarns of this in today’s reading: stay awake and alert, because no one knows the time and day of his return.  Jesus declares that he doesn’t even know!  

Every generation since Jesus’ ascension into heaven has believed they lived in the end times and thus Jesus’ return to earth was imminent.  Gallons of ink have been spilled creating endless theories about the delay, interpreting scripture to fit various guesses to pinpoint when it will all take place.  The accuracy rate of all these guesses is one big fat zero.  As Jesus said it, no one knows the time or the day.  The psalmist reminds us (90:4): “A thousand years in your sight, are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.”  But the one point that is true is that indeed we are living in the end times, we have been living in the end times since Jesus returned to heaven, and we will live in the end times until Jesus returns to earth.  And truthfully, that’s all we honestly know. 

So, what on earth does all this talk about the end times, the second return of Christ, staying awake and alert have to do with us, here on first Sunday of Advent, 2022, as we reflect on the hope candle? 

I am reminded that Hebrew has two words for hope, the first is yachal, which means to wait, hope, expect.  It is first used in Gen. 8:12 in the story of Noah.  Remember the whole sorry tale on how wicked humankind had become, so God despaired of the whole lot, expect for Noah who was righteous and walked with God?  So, God tells Noah to build an Ark, then take two of all creatures on it, and then sends the waters to flood the earth.   After the flood had wiped out the earth, and the ark settled on Mt. Ararat, Noah tested to see if it were safe to leave the ark.  First, he sends out a raven, which promptly returns.  Then he waits sends out a dove, which returns in seven days with an olive branch.  Noah waits and sends out the dove again which doesn’t return.  The word for waiting here is also hope.  Noah hopes, after living through the wickedness of humankind.  Noah hopes, as the floods cover the earth.  Noah hopes as the waters slowly recede. Noah hopes until finally the dove doesn’t return and the time has come to leave the ark.

Hope implies waiting.  Hope implies a profound trust in the word of God to be fulfilled in God’s time.  Hope implies belief in an outcome that has yet to come to pass.  Hope is the focus point of the word of the prophet Micah, who declares:  “But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me (Micah 7:7).”  Just replace “wait” for hope and we get the message of the Hebrew text. Because of Jesus’ birth, his life on earth, his death on the cross and resurrection, we are confident of his eventual return. That’s hope. Hope implies waiting, but not a passive waiting where we twiddle our thumbs, or we become impatient, lax, and begin to sit around gorging ourselves, and drinking, carousing and getting drunk, indulging our baser instincts, filled with jealousy or dissension.

Hope calls us to Christ-like action: that we walk with God like Noah, that we fill our days with good deeds. Hope says keep our hands busy serving each other and standing up for matters of peace and justice.  Hope says use our minds filled with promises of God contained in Scripture.  Hope says speak to upbuild one another. Hope says encourage the best. Hope says live to our spiritual finest. Hope says speak the truth with love.  Hope says test the waters, send out the dove. Like Noah we live in a sea of wickedness.  God has placed us in the ark which is the church.  And in these end times, for however long it takes, we wait, we hope, we endure. We act with prophetic courage for the age to come. That’s the hope that Advent calls us to have.

The advent practice of leaning into hope means that we don’t get overwhelmed by the sorrows and evil of the world, but we actively pursue overcoming evil with good. Leaning into hope means we don’t get distracted by the superficial gaiety of the season which commercializes and distorts the unconditional love, witness and bravery of the Christmas story.  Hope claims for us Mary’s yes, Hope claims for us Joseph’s faith, Hope claims for us the shepherds’ devotion, Hope claims for us John’s brave witness to the truth. Hope claims for us the generosity and wisdom of the magi.  Hope claims for us the brilliance of the Bethlehem star.  Hope was born on Christmas day and hope will return to us and bring us a new heaven and new earth.  And in this in-between time, these last days, we get busy and we hope.

So, as we juggle messages of pain of another mass shooting, another hate crime, one more earthquake, another nation’s cruelty, the incessant cries of the poor and oppressed -- with that pounding, compelling messages to buy, buy, buy; gorge, bake, decorate, drink to oblivion – let us stop! Let us breathe. Let us fix our eyes on this candle of hope. Let us lean into the brilliance of its flame, and there find the strength to wait. Let hope awake us, and prod us to be alert. Let us find the hope of a better world that compels us to act with love now, to clothe ourselves in Christ now, and to walk righteously with God now, with the confident assurance in the promise that Jesus is with us, now to the end of the age.  Amen.
 
 
 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcSu69jIfhA
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Generosity in Lean Times

11/22/2022

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2 Corinthians 9, Mark 12:41-44 
 
As we pause to give thanks for God’s blessings on this Harvest Sunday, we remember all for whom the harvest this year is leaner than before.  Heather, a social worker, and her husband, a veteran, lost their jobs and home, their small business folded, multiple relatives died and health crises pushed them into medical debt. “It just went from a drip to a flood very quickly. And we just lost it all," Thomas recalled.

Clara, and her husband lost their jobs at the start of the pandemic — she couldn't clean homes anymore due to her clients' COVID fears, and work stopped at her husband's construction sites.  They barely get by with food stamps and food pantries. 8-year-old Zoey from Louisiana, reported that her family often eat rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and she sees her parents go without food in order to feed their children.

Heather, Clara and Zoey are just three of the 33 million faces of the hungry and food insecure in our country today.  On this day we celebrate Harvest and Thanksgiving, on a day we give thanks for blessings, even blessings in lean times, we recall those among us who scramble to eat.  Some of us know what it is like to receive handouts. Some of us are economizing, cutting back, uncertain what is coming around the corner. Last week we talked about how we are living in lean times, difficult times, times when we need 1.17 cents to buy something that cost a dollar a year ago.

In these lean times, cutting back for some might also include cutting back in what we give to church to charity.  It’s human and natural.  We cut back everywhere even to those in need.  As people of faith however, the scriptures teach us differently.  Radical generosity is at the heart of the Christian’s life.  We are called to give out of trust. We are called to give God from our first overs, not our leftovers.  The prophet Habakkuk (3:17-19) declares the stance we are called to take in our lean times: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD,  I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

This attitude of gratitude, this declaration of acting in trust, in grounded in the biblical concept of the first fruits.  The concept of first fruits derives from an understanding that since God created all that is, everything belongs to God (Psalms 24:1). One of the first lessons God taught the people of Israel, is found in the book of Exodus 23:16 -- while they were still roaming in the wilderness -- is that the hallmark of a faithful people is in how they give back the best offering from our first offerings; including not only from the crops of the field, but from the sheep and cattle, even the first-born son was dedicated to God.  In all circumstances, we are called to return to the Lord our first and our best.

This is an act of radical trust and obedience. We can well imagine that the people are taught to give their best when they were probably experiencing lean times. Typically, agrarian people lived off the the harvest from the prior year, which was nearly exhausted by the time of the new harvest. Giving the first fruits is an act of trust because the farmer doesn’t know how the rest of the harvest will turn out.  Will there be enough cattle and sheep?  Will there be more children?

In addition to the first fruits, Jewish law went further and mandated that the corners of fields, wild areas, left-overs after harvesting and unowned crops  could not be used as the First Fruits offering. They were intended to be left as charity for the poor.  Remember the story of Ruth?  When she and Naomi returned to Bethlehem Ruth had to glean from the fields in order to eat. These teachings remind us that the first thing we do with what we have is set aside the best for God and a portion for the care of the poor. In this way we cultivate gratitude and a radical generosity, the foundation of faith in God in Christ.

        The first example of offering the first fruits is actually in Genesis 4, the story of the offerings of the brothers Cain and Abel.  Abel was a shepherd, and his offering to the Lord was “the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock” (Genesis 4:4, NLT). Cain was a farmer, and his offering was “some of his crops” (Genesis 4:4, NLT).  Abel’s offering, we are told, was more acceptable to God.  Abel offered to God the best portion of the first lambs, again not knowing if more would come. Cain’s offering was from some of his crops, his leftovers, not the first fruits, not the best.  We know how things turned out for Cain. His lack of generosity transforms in jealousy, resentment and rage, as he ultimately kills his brother Abel. The more we hoard what God has given us to share, the more we risk selfishness, the easier it becomes to turn our backs to others.

According to the Bible Jesus is God’s first fruit (1 Corinth. 15:20) Jesus is the best that God has to offer us.  Jesus is our life, our salvation, our Lord and our Savior. Through Jesus God shows us how we are to live.  Jesus reveals a radically generous, giving God whose life we emulate most clearly when we in turn give, as Paul instructs us in 2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” The act of giving to God and to our neighbor in need should be a joyous act.  Giving should make us happy, satisfied, fulfilled as people of God. We give, in good times and bad, because we have a God who does not leave or forsake us. Thus, we are assured by Jesus’ very brother, James (1:17-27) who declares that “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, …In fulfillment of his own purpose… so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.”  Thus, in our acts of faithful giving, we too become God’s first fruits to all creation.  We embody the best of God’s love for the world, in our testimony of radical giving, radical trust, a radical faith in a “God whose Giving knows no ending.”

So, the question that Harvest Sunday, that Thanksgiving poses to us is this:  are we witnesses of radical generosity?  Do we give of our “first overs,” our first fruits, trusting in the care o God?  Or do we give of our leftovers?  How do we look in Jesus’s eyes, who saw the Pharisees giving enormous amounts, but declared the widow’s mite was greater, because she sacrificed more?  Do we take the best for ourselves and leave the crumbs to God and others?  Imagine what a world we would have if we all practiced giving our first fruits, the best portion? We would experience a world like the prophet Isaiah describes: (58:11): ‘If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry, and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. ‘We would not have anymore Heathers, Claras, or Zoeys, or any of God’s children dying of hunger or in dire need.

We are called to generosity of our time, talent and treasure in lean times. We are created to be a first fruit people. Such a witness is the hallmark of a mature, grounded God-centered, Spirit-filled life. Like the widow’s mite, may we give in trust, not content to just share of our leftovers, but of our first fruits. Let us act in faith, be thankful in all things, for that is God ‘s will for us in Christ Jesus our Lord. For Jesus commands us: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. (Luke 6:38).”  Let us give like Jesus, the first fruit of all creation.

May we practice generosity in lean times and may there be a blessed thanksgiving to all!
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keOkDBIwVog
https://www.licares.org/who-we-are/impact/
https://www.npr.org/2022/10/02/1125571699/hunger-poverty-us-dc-food-pantry
https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/real-stories-of-hunger/lamonts-story
Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Hunger
https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/what-does-it-mean-that-believers-are-the-firstfruits-of-god.html
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Lean Times: Lean on Jesus

11/16/2022

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Nehemiah 2:1-5: 11-17; Luke 21:5-19
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Inspired by Andy Cook
https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/sermon-perfect-vision-imperfect-times-nehemiah-2
 
It is Mid-November and in Chicago last week we gazed at lampposts decorated with brilliantly-lit snowflakes despite the abnormally mild weather in the Windy City. Friends, it has begun. Beautiful holiday ads are  flooding the air waves: Who here has seen: decked out trees? Smiling families wearing matching pajamas exchanging gifts?  Happy coworkers guzzling holiday Starbucks or adding holiday brand coffee mate to their brew? Air fresheners that promise those precious smells that bring us back to grandma’s kitchen.  Black Friday ads already priming the pump for November 25.  In the midst of the vamping up to the High Holy Days of Commerce, millions of Americans find themselves facing great struggles in the face of record high inflation that has reached a 40year high. A majority of Americans report being squeezed financially and having to curtail spending. Fears of a national recession around the corner are dampening our moods. Dramatic stock market losses have taken huge bites out of once-healthy retirement accounts.  It all adds up to a disturbing twist of life: These are “Lean Times.”
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The economic choices are complex; but the faith challenge is simple. If we face “lean times,” we’d better have a good foundation, a strategy, a plan, on which we can “lean.”  By leaning on our relationship with Jesus, we won’t just survive lean times. We can spiritually thrive in tough times. Take for example, Nehemiah, the Jewish lay leader who is the author of our first reading, was determined to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple after it had been destroyed by and under the control of foreign conquerors for 70 years. Nehemiah, a Jew but also a trusted government official in the Persian court, who in turn trusted in God to lead the people of Israel to rebuild from the ruins of war and exile. Ironically, in our gospel lesson, Jesus initially warns his disciples of destruction and despair to come to Jerusalem by Rome. Jesus foretells how that rebuilt Temple and Jerusalem from Nehemiah’s day would be destroyed yet again. Hard times, lean times, were coming, not just in the disciples’ lifetime, but in our lifetime as well.  It’s time to lean on God. Jesus promised in the midst of the oppression and pain, by endurance and faith, our souls will be secured, saved, survive.

If we want a way forward in tough times, we need a vision, a plan, a purpose. A Vision that sustains us. A vision that encourages us. A vision that gives us hope. A vision we can lean on.  Nehemiah was propelled forth by a vision of restored walls. Jesus gives a vision as he outlines the signs of the times: spiritual endurance through tough times.  Staying faithful to the gospel. Confess our trust in the Lord.
So, acquiring a vision in hard times is critically important. We are called to lean on God, on Jesus, on the scriptures, to receive a new vision, a new pathway forward.  If we want to be a vital congregation, we must lean on the Lord in difficult times, from which will come a vision that sustains us and moves us forward.

With a vision, anything is possible. Remember Walt Disney? He was a great visionary, making ground-breaking movies, taking animation to never-imagined levels of use, and … of course … creating Disneyland in California, and the massive Disney World, just outside Orlando.

When Disney World first opened, Mrs. Walt Disney was asked to speak at the Grand Opening, since Walt had died. She was introduced by a man who said, "Mrs. Disney, I just wish Walt could have seen this."
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Mrs. Disney stood up and said, "He did.” Walt Disney had already enjoyed Disney World, though he wasn’t even alive when the gates opened for the first time. He had the vision.

In our first reading today, the people of Israel faced the leanest of the lean times, living amidst the rubble of a destroyed city, leveled for seven decades.  In the midst of this devastation, Nehemiah was given a vision by God of a rebuilt Jerusalem, a new Tempe to worship in. One by one, each gate was up and finished. Block by block, each stone was back in place on the wall. Nehemiah stayed the course. And that got the job done.

Lean times. Tough times. That’s the time to stay the course. Jesus tells his disciples that there would be wars, persecution, arrests, they would be hated and betrayed because of Jesus.  Jesus told them about these lean times not to instill fear or despair.  Jesus gave them these warnings to strengthen faith, for the disciples to lean on Jesus when times got tough. For them to cling to the gospel vision that Jesus imparted to them. To be faithful while being persecuted, while in midst of the pain.  What’s that saying by Robert Schuller? Tough times never last, but tough people do?

When Nehemiah challenged the people to rebuild the walls, the people replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” And the Bible says, so they began this good work.” (2:18). Out of their lean times they leaned on God and received the vision of a rebuilt community. And they rebuilt it -stone by stone. 

God finds us in our lean times and equips us with vision of a new heavens and new earth. In evil times, God called Noah to build an ark. In the midst of the evil of slavery, God called Moses to lead the people of Israel to the promised land. David was hardened by battle and struggle by the time he got to the throne room of Jerusalem. Perhaps Jesus was trained for years in Joseph’s carpentry shop to patiently and carefully create masterpieces out of slabs of wood, just as he would create spiritual masterpieces from people, people like us, with struggles, conflicts, people in the midst of lean times, tough times, oppressive times, people seeking a new path forward, a new vision for life, a renewal of spirit.

We face Thanksgiving and the food pantries and soup kitchens are busier than ever.  Our wallets are being squeezed tighter, but we are still called to give and be generous in lean times as in times of plenty.  Soon we will enter the season of Advent, the beginning of the Christian year, this November 27.  We begin, knowing we are in lean times, tough times.  Leaning times. Time to lean on Jesus and each other.  That’s how a vision develops. That’s how we forge a purpose together.  We come together to worship. We come together to serve our community. We come together to pray for each other. In each food basket created, each prayer uttered, each hand extended, like Nehemiah’s stone upon stone, God leads us forward into a new vision, that emerges out of our times of chaos, our times of difficulty these lean times. 

Let’s take advantage of these lean times and lean on Jesus. Lean on each other.  From now until December 19, we going to talk about lean times, and leaning hard and fast on God’s word, and discover, as we serve, as we pray, God is building masterpiece in us and through us. A community of faith that can withstand all the hard times we experience and that we know are coming.  Leaning on Jesus, leaning on each other, in these lean times, we will make a way, we will find a vision, we shall endure, we shall possess our souls in the fulness of life.  Amen.
 
 
https://news.gallup.com/poll/400565/inflation-causing-hardship-majority.aspx

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Becoming a Saint

11/16/2022

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Inspired by: 
https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/what-makes-a-saint-kenneth-sauer-sermon-on-saint-181758?page=4&wc=800
 Kenneth Sauer on Jan 3, 2014

One day a mom was walking through a beautiful church building with her 4-year-old daughter.  As they walked, the young girl looked around.  She stopped and was curious about the stained-glass windows that looked so beautiful with their bright colors. As she looked at the windows, she asked, "Who are all the people in the windows, mommy?" 

  "They are Saints," said the mother.  "What are Saints mommy?" the kid asked. The mother was stuck. How was she going to explain who saints were to a four-year-old girl?  As the girl was still looking up at the windows and the mother was still wondering how she would explain who saints are, the young girl suddenly shouted out, "I know who saints are, mommy. They are the people that the light shines through."

When you think of the word, “Saint,” who do you think of? Quite often we think of saints as those famous people of faith such as Saint Francis or Mother Teresa, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Oscar Romero, Dorothy Day, or Martin Luther King Jr. The Saints with a capital S. Who are your BIG go to Saints when the going gets tough?

In the Bible, a saint is simply a follower of Jesus Christ. They become saints by being born again by the Holy Spirit.  They were called, they were holy, and they were extremely dedicated, but they were still real people, far from perfect.  They were fishermen, farmers, tent makers, doctors, teachers, carpenters, former prostitutes, tax collectors, extortionists, outcastes, robbers, even Pharisees and the wealthy.

All the words in both Greek and Hebrew that are used in the Bible translated into the word "saint" all have the same definition.  According to the Bible a saint is someone who is sacred, holy, pure, blameless, dedicated. The word "holy" means "set apart."......"set apart to serve God.” Day in and day out.  We are all set apart to serve God, in each of our unique ways.  With whatever gifts we have been given, with whatever resources available to us.  In church and at our job sites. In our homes and out in the world. 

A saint most likely will fall into sin, lose their temper, hurt another by word or deed, but a saint asks God for forgiveness, accepts that forgiveness and asks God for the strength to grow in love. A saint might not get it right, but she perseveres.  
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A saint is anyone who responds to the love of God. That means we are saints. We are all saints. There are 69 times when saints are referred to in the Bible. Interestingly, not a single person is ever called a saint. That’s because in the bible the word saint never occurs in the singular – it’s always plural.

That means the only saints are those who gather with other saints. We cannot be a saint on our own. We need others to help us on the way to be saints, and other Christians need us for them to be saints.

Remember Jesus’ words today in the beatitudes. "Happy are you who are poor, because God's kingdom is yours.   Happy are you who hunger now...Happy are you who weep now...But how terrible for you who are rich, because you already received your comfort.  How terrible for you who have plenty now, because you will be hungry."  Jesus isn’t pointing out individual persons, he’s talking to us together.  The “you” here is plural. Saints learn in the nitty gritty day in and day out of life the kingdom values guide us to be present to the needs of the world and to give generously, and act prophetically, even when it is difficult, inconvenient or hard. Saints learn to sacrifice from a place of compassion and love that grows inside us as we follow Jesus and obey his words.

I think most of us have known such people. If we had not, I doubt we would be here this morning. Most of us were given our first glimpse of Jesus through one of His saints.  Maybe it was a mother or father. Maybe it was a neighbor, schoolteacher or friend. Maybe it was a pastor or a member of the church fellowship we were raised in or a Sunday School teacher.  Whoever it was, there was something about them……something that separated them from the rest of the crowd……something special about them that intrigued us and caused us to want to have that something special as well.  They were the people who would go the extra mile for us or anyone...…they were the people that we knew we could count on no matter what……they were the people who made us feel loved……who gave us just a glimpse of the Divine.

Who are your saints?  Who made you feel love?  Who inspires us to be your best? Through whom did you see the light of God shine?  I will always remember a poor unnamed neighbor who pulled me into her house and gave me a hot drink on a cold wintery day.  I will also always remember meeting Mother Theresa as a teenager, and was so moved by her testimony that I asked her, with childlike innocence, how do you become holy?  I bet she didn’t expect that question from an adolescent. Even at 17 I was feeling the movement of the holy spirit.  I will also always remember the beginning of her answer, which she took her time to answer – begin with prayer. 

The funny thing is, the older I get, the further I feel away from “saintedness.”  I think that’s pretty common – as we mature we realize through our failures and successes – that being set apart and following Jesus’ footsteps is only possible through the grace. Cracks appear in us, and that’s where God’s light shines through. It reminds me of the Japanese art of Kintsugi. Kintsugi is he process of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold — built on the idea that in embracing flaws and imperfections, you can create an even stronger, more beautiful piece of art.  That us – saints of God, with all our flaws and imperfections.

Think of all the ordinary people around us, obedient to the ordinary call of their lives. They are the first Bible that we really, really read. I read the bible last week in the hospital, I took in the image of Amanda Kelly-Pitt holding her precious sick son Noah.  Seeing Amanda cradling a sick baby, I saw a saint there. All the aunts and grandparents who cooked for us. Smiled at us. Encouraged us. Those goofy college friends sharing scripture with me while I quoted Marx back at them - they were the Bible I was first exposed to right before I had my born-again experience in college.  And because of this, they have also passed this fullness of life to me.   And I pray I have passed some of that light onto others.

Who are the saints that have touched your life with the incredible love of Christ? Maybe they are still alive. Maybe they are members of this very congregation. Maybe they have passed on, and you will light a votive candle in their memory this morning. Like them, we are to let Christ’s light shine, like the light shining through the figures in the stained-glass windows.

Through the grace of God, we are all ‘becoming saints’--people dedicated to God, dedicated to each other.  May the light of Christ may shine through the cracks and imperfections in us. May that light of our words and our actions in turn inspire others to become the saints of God. Amen.
 

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Reformed and Always Reforming

11/16/2022

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        Imagine coming to church one Sunday morning, and hearing this sermon tidbit:
       
“Don't you hear the voices of your wailing dead parents and others who say, 'Have mercy upon me, because we are in severe punishment and pain. From this you could redeem us with small alms and yet you do not want to do so.'
 
        That sales pitch --thinly disguised as a sermon-- was preached by the Dominican monk John Tetzel back in 1517.  Tetzel was the 16th century equivalent of a Paula Michelle White-Cain/Kenneth Copeland/Creflo Dollar.  Pope Leo X commissioned Tetzel to sell indulgences to raise money to finish the building of St. Peter’s Basilica.  A consummate salesman, Tetzel, composed that famous Renaissance jingle:  "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs." This catchy tune persuaded listeners to pay for indulgences so that the souls of loved ones would be freed to go to heaven.   

        Indulgences were a part of the theology of forgiveness and restitution common to the church of that age. Indulgences granted remission of the temporal punishment due to sin.  By the eve of the Protestant Reformation, it was believed that the living could purchase an indulgence, on behalf of a deceased relative, and by doing so -- shorten their stay in purgatory – a painful place the Catholic Church taught that souls went to, to work off the dross from their souls before being admitted to heaven.

        The rest of the story is well known.  the monk, Martin Luther, was deeply disturbed by the aggressive marketing tactics of Tetzel and the whole idea of Papal authority in granting indulgences in general.  So, on October 31, 1517 -- Luther posted on the door of Wittenberg castle his 95 theses; and called for a debate on indulgences – among other issues.   This act became the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation.

        Like the church on the eve of the Reformation, Jesus presents us with the unflattering example of the scribes and Pharisees. Do as they say, but don’t do as they do. They love the place of honor at banquets and in the synagogues -- to be greeted with respect in the marketplace – they like to be called rabbi.  They made their phylacteries – boxes with scripture verses on them, tied to their foreheads or arms -- big and the fringes long – to show off. They claimed the authority of Moses’ seat -- the right to interpret the law.  But they didn’t act like Moses.  They didn’t dedicate their lives to freeing God’s people from slavery and oppression. They didn’t sacrifice, endure insults or spend their entire lives making God’s promises real for the people. They instead treated the law as their own play toy, and interpreted it to their own advantage, laying burdens on their shoulders of others, without a thought to lift a finger to help them.

        This same spirit of corruption infiltrated the church. Over the centuries it became more detached from the needs of the people. The church used its authority to burden the people, not to free them.  And despite all the Protestant Reformation got right, there were still disturbing blind spots that shouldn’t be overlooked. Luther condemned the Knights Revolt and Peasants War of 1525. He sided with the nobility, who in turn protected Luther from the wrath of Rome.   John Calvin, who inspired another wing of the reformation that we Presbyterians lay heritage to, had Michael Sevetus, another reformer, put to death.  Protestant nobility in many areas of Europe took advantage of the turmoil and enriched themselves by claiming the lands of monasteries and local churches, and in many cases made conditions for the poor even more dire.  Innocent people, good people, were put to death regardless of which side of the theological fence they belonged.   

        How is it that reforms and revolutions all around the world and down through the ages bring in as many problems or often turn out worse than the regime that was replaced?   How do we reconcile stories of bloodshed with the mandates of loving our neighbor.

 It is a paradox and dilemma.  Good, faithful people falling terribly short – convincing themselves that they are right – to devastating consequences.  How do we guard ourselves from this downfall?  How do we stay right with the Lord? Jesus tells us what we must do in today’s gospel: we must learn humility. Jesus declares: “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Humility is the key to keeping ourselves reformed. Humility is so important for us to grasp we are repeating our gospel lesson from last week. 

        Ted Turner, the American media mogul, once said: if only he had humility, he would be perfect!  St. Theresa of Avila, the great reformer of the Catholic Church, observed: “There is more value in a little study of humility and in a single act of it than in all the knowledge in the world."  And Augustine said that humility is the foundation of all the other virtues.

        Humility seems to be the missing ingredient in our modern-day scribes and Pharisees, in the church structure of the late Middle Ages, and even in some degree in our beloved reformers. Humility shouldn’t be confused with low self-esteem. People with humility don't think less of themselves, they just think of themselves less. People who are humble are not invested in being right and getting their way, especially if it means putting someone else down.  Humble people are open to differing points of view and are committed to including everyone in the discussion and making a place for all at the table. Humility opens the door to charge, because it helps us see where we have made mistakes. Humility opens us to new ideas, to different ways of doing things.

        It takes a strong ego to be humble.  Humility literally means to be of the earth, humilis, and since we were made of the dust of the earth, being humble is being grounded, earthy, you-see-yourself-as you are- warts and all.  Humility enables us to treat all people equally and to connect to all people regardless of their status or place in life.  Humility opens us up to potential, because we don’t know it all; we need help to grow and change. 

        As Presbyterians, we hold fast to the belief that the church is semper reformada, always reforming.  This is because we are a community in motion, spanning hundreds of years.  There are times we have been proud and accomplished as the Pharisees, other times, brought low. We have blind spots.  We make mistakes.  We sin. We just don’t get it half the time. But we always have the potential to change.  We can embrace what we don’t know.  We can always take a risk.  We can always learn.  Grace, with humility, can make it all possible. Humility opens us to new horizons that the Holy Spirit wants to lead us to.
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God is calling us to grow, to re-form. To be a vital congregation. Humility is the foundation upon which we move forward.  Humility will keep us reformed, and always reforming. Humility keeps us on our toes; gives us the guts to say we got something wrong, we have to try a new way.  As we celebrate the Reformation, let’s discover the new reformation the Holy Spirit is brewing in our midst. May we stay humble – ready to change, ready to let go, willing to say this doesn’t work anymore, ready to embrace God’s petition clamoring for us to love justice, practice mercy, and walk humbly with God and each other. amen
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   http://www.quotelady.com/subjects/humility.html
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Humble

11/16/2022

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Joel 2:23-29; Luke 18:9-14
 
A grocery store checkout clerk once wrote to an advice-columnist to complain that she had seen people buy "luxury" food items--like birthday cakes and bags of shrimp--with their food stamps. The writer went on to say that she thought all those people on welfare who treated themselves to such non-necessities were "lazy and wasteful." A few weeks later the columnist's column was devoted entirely to people who had responded to the grocery clerk.

 One woman wrote: I didn’t buy a cake, but I did buy a big bag of shrimp with food stamps. So what? My husband was a low wage worker at a plant for 15 years when it was shut down. The shrimp casserole I made was for our anniversary dinner and it lasted three days. Another woman wrote: I’m the woman who bought the $17 cake and paid for it with food stamps. I thought the checkout woman in the store would burn a hole through me with her eyes. What she didn’t know is the cake was for my little girl’s birthday. It will be her last. She has bone cancer and will probably be gone in six to eight months. Whether these responses were true or not, have we ever rushed to judgment about another person all the while thinking that we’ve cornered the market on righteous living? 

        In our gospel lesson today, Jesus compares the praying styles of two men; a Pharisee and the tax collector. On the one hand there was the Pharisee who was a truly righteous man according to the law.  But he was self-absorbed and arrogant.  On the other hand we had the tax collector, who was an obvious sinner.  But he was humble, and asked for mercy.     

        Now many people will hear this story and say to themselves, “Thank God I’m not like that Pharisee.”  But it’s people like that Pharisee who pay the bills at church and hold the community together.  Most Pharisees were not villains.  Most Pharisees were probably decent, generous and committed persons.  The Pharisee not only kept the law, but he did more than was required.  For example, the Pharisees kept the required yearly fasts.  But on top of that they also fasted not once, but twice a week.  This was a tremendous spiritual accomplishment. 

        Another example. The Pharisee also thanked God that he was able to give a tithe of his income.  How many people do you know who tithe, and are thankful that they can?  Tithing is a real act of dedication and faith, a physical reminder that everything we have belongs to God.  The Pharisee went beyond what was required of him. He gave ten percent, not just of his grain and the other required items the Bible required, but of he gave 10 percent of everything he had.  This was someone who went up beyond the call of duty. We could use more people like that in the world. 

But the Pharisee did have a problem.  He was too satisfied and sure of himself.   For all his accomplishments he was not humble.

        Have you ever heard the story of the man who came to the gates of heaven and was greeted by St. Peter?  Peter asked the man to give a brief history of his life with an emphasis on the good deeds he had done.  Peter told the man, “You will need 1,000 points to get in.”

        “That will be easy,” the man thought.  “I’ve been involved in church since I was a child.”  Then he began to list his activities.  He was an officer in his youth group, and then he served as a deacon, then an elder.  He had served on endless committees, even when he didn’t feel like it.  He pledged ten percent of his income and paid it on time.  He attended Bible studies, served as an usher, and volunteered in a homeless shelter. 
        “Very impressive,” Peter said.  An angel standing with them smiled and nodded as he tallied the points and then whispered in Peter’s ear.  St. Peter told the man, “This is quite striking.  We seldom see men of your very good works.  You will be pleased to know that you have 327 points!  Is there anything else you can think of?” 

        The poor man broke into a cold sweat and began to reach deep for every single act of kindness he could think of, every good cause he supported.  He listed them as the angel scratched furiously on his angelic clip board and nodded his head in admiration.  Peter looked at the clip board and said, “This is quite exceptional!  You now have a total of 402 points.  Can you think of anything else?”

        The distressed man tried to remember every good deed, like the times he drove a church member to the doctor, and when he shoveled the snow off his neighbor’s steps.  He finally arrived at a grand total of 431 points and cried out… “I’m sunk!  There is no hope for me!  What more could I have done?  O Lord, all I can do is beg for your mercy!” 
        “THAT,” said Peter, “Is worth a thousand points!” *

        The story of the Pharisee and the tax collector is not about who is good and who is bad.  The Pharisee truly was a good man, by any human standards.  He might have scored close to 500 points on the entrance exam to heaven.  And the tax collector was bad, at least by the moral standards of the time.  He had made a living by cheating people out of their money.  Note that he doesn’t show any evidence that he went home and changed his ways.  So this story is not about a bad person who becomes good, or a seemingly good person who turns out to be bad.  It’s about grace and mercy, and how we approach God.  It’s about, in the end, we must all be humble before God.

Even though the Pharisee was good, he didn’t understand his need for grace. In doing this he separated himself from others.  He contrasted himself to thieves, rogues, adulterers and the tax-collector, and believed he came out looking so much the better.  And when he prayed, it wasn’t really a prayer at all.  It was more like patting himself on the back- kind of speech, than a prayer that was open to God’s presence and mercy.   So, for all the good he did he failed to know God’s mercy – which only a humble heart can comprehend. 

        the tax collector, though probably bad, understood his need for mercy.  There was no way he could count himself better than others.  Only through God’s mercy could he be made right with God.  As Jesus said, “for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” 

        Being humble does not come when we compare ourselves to others for better or worse.  It comes by knowing how God how sees us.  The Pharisee compared himself and thought he came out on top.  In God’s eyes, he missed the point.  There’s nothing wrong with feeling proud of our accomplishments, as long as it doesn’t lead us to feel arrogant or self-sufficient, as though we don’t need other people or God.   On the other hand, No one’s sins are too great to be forgiven.  One can have too low a self esteem that has nothing to do with being humble.  Whether rich or poor, knowing and acting on our need for God is the first step toward being humble.

        God wants to give us good things whether we are a Pharisee or a tax collector.  If we open our hearts and stand humble before God, God will bless us.  But God is always eager to forgive and bless us with mercy and grace. 

        So when we pray, may we not peek at others shopping chart --  because  -- ultimately  our “relationship to God has nothing to do with how terrible or better other people are.”*   Our relationship to God  has everything to do with honesty and humility.  And when we realize our own need for mercy, rather than judging others, we will have compassion on them, because we know that we are all God’s creatures, in need of God’s grace.  And God hears every prayer that is spoken with a humble heart.
May that be so with us. Amen.
 http://www.lectionarysermons.com/Oct2598.html.  
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Practicing Commitment

11/16/2022

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​Jeremiah 31:27-34, Luke 18:1-8

 
       The late Steve Jobs, one of the founders of the Apple Computers Company, described his efforts to promote his new product: “So we went to Atari and said, ’Hey, we’ve got the amazing things, it’s even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us?  Or we’ll give it to you.  We just want to do it.  Pay our salary, we’ll come work for you.’  And they said, “no.”  So, when we went to Hewlett-Packard and they said, “Hey, we don’t need you.   You haven’t got through college yet.”  Just as certain was Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp, who, in 1977, said: “There is no reason for an individual to have a computer in their home.”

        The New York Times may be flagship paper of the nation, but it’s not always on top of things as evidenced by this 1939 pronouncement: “The problem with television is that the people must sit and keep their eyes glued to a screen…the average American family hasn’t time for it.”  80 plus years later, the average adult watches three hours of the boob tube a day.

        The great thinkers of the world, the inventors, innovators, the revolutionaries, the mystics, the dreamers have always met with rejection, failure and resistance. All these things that we know take for granted, that form the fabric of our modern life – the telephone, the car, electricity, oil, movies, television, computers - even the fact that we are gathered and worshipping according to our conscience, all these concepts were met with resistance and skepticism when first brought forth.  It can’t be done.  It’s inconceivable.  Yet here we are, benefiting from the dreams, courage perseverance, and creativity of those who have gone before us.

        Faced with such odds, these men and women didn’t give up.  They believed in what they were going and were not deterred by rejection.  They devoted their energies to supporting what they believed was right and true. They were committed.

        Commitment and perseverance are keys to success.  Not just secular success, but to our spiritual development.  As we have discussed all this past month, in our Fall in to Faith series, we can have mercy, faith and gratitude, but without commitment our efforts are haphazard, erratic, we end up with mixed results.  We have a choice:  faced with delay, failure, or resistance, do we cave in, or do we redouble our efforts, dig in and stay committed?  Do we persevere? It makes the difference between a stagnant church and one that strives. A stuck congregation or a vital congregation. It is the difference between a life led by the rule of playing it safe versus a life driven by vision and purpose.


        Commitment is problematic these days.   People can’t commit the way they used to.  In bygone days, a Church like Freeport/Merrick would be packed to overflowing on Sunday.  Sunday was sacred: no soccer games, extracurricular activities or shopping malls to compete with the holy hour.  That’s all gone.  Do we lament this, judge people for making other choices than showing up for worship, figure out who’s the last guy out to turn off the lights --  or -- do we turn to the visionaries who ask us, who said we had to worship at 10 or 11 on Sundays?  Where is that written in stone?  Who said we had to follow this order of worship, use only certain kinds of music?  Who said the pews had to be set this way, facing the chancel?  Who said the preacher, choir and organist had to be set apart from the people? Will lightning strike if we did things differently? What about social media? What about home groups? Groups that meet in coffee hours, diners, parks or bars?   We are faced with this question:  are we committed to externals and form – or are we committed to Jesus Christ, who went where the people were?  Is our commitment to our comfort, our habits, or to an evolving 21st century Church so we can authentically minister to God’s people?

        Our texts today illustrate commitment and perseverance in the face of change and obstacles.  The prophet Jeremiah acknowledges that God made a covenant with the people of Israel, a covenant in tablet if we recall, revealed after they left the land of Egypt.  Nine centuries later, Jeremiah speaks of a new covenant, a covenant not written on stone, but written on the people’s hearts.  God was making a change. The old ways weren’t working.   Did God meet resistance? Nay-sayers?  People who clung to their old habits?  Of course!  But that did not stop God.  God stayed committed to his people – to us –and Jesus came.  Did Jesus meet with resistance? With people who subverted his message, who sought to destroy him rather than follow him?  Yes. But that didn’t stop Jesus.  Jesus stayed the course. He went to the cross practically alone, yet committed to the gospel.

         Today, Jesus tells us a story about perseverance and commitment – to not lose heart when the going is tough.    Jesus talks about a widow and an unjust judge, a judge who had no scruples and cared only for himself.  Widows were the most vulnerable people in Jesus’ day.  They were often treated as property. They were left with no means of support unless they had a male, adult child. If her husband left an estate, she would be at the mercy of the person who took care of the estate often inviting abuse. Widows were the poorest of the poor. Widows were often sold as slaves for debts.   The widow simply put, had no rights.

Remarkably, Jesus tells a story that would be unheard of – fantastic even – for his day.  A widow who dared to claim a voice? Who dared to take a stance?  This widow had no male intermediary to state her case to the judge.  She stated her own case. For as many times as she was put off, she pushed back.  She refused to be put down.  She didn’t stop.  She was relentless.  She refused to be kicked to the curb.  She fought and fought and fought for what she believed in, until finally she wore out this unscrupulous judge.  He ruled in her favor just to get rid of her.  Who ever heard of such a thing?

Jesus tells us this remarkable story to get us to stop and think:  if this lowly widow – not a Steve Jobs, or like television inventors A.A. Campbell-Swinton and Boris Rosing – could remain committed to her cause and win, despite all that was stacked against her – how much will we, children of the Most High God, be heard?  Are we as persistent and committed as her?  Are we committed to justice and willing to fight for it?  Are we committed, like Jesus was, to awakening in people the spiritual laws God has place in their –our – very hearts? In an age when commitment doesn’t hold the value it once did, when it’s easier to give up, hold in, it’s time we reclaim the habits of devotion, to undergo hardship, to hold fast – because sharing God’s love and justice is worth our time. It’s worth our talents. It’s worth giving it all.

Luke’s widow, who faced more obstacles than we can ever know, is a model of the spiritual habit of commitment and perseverance.  To take our faith, take our gratitude, take our mercy and express it in this world of ours. So, what if people laugh.  So, what if people ridicule.  So, what if people argue. So, what if people take advantage.  Because what matters is to stand for something good, and true, and eternal – like that widow did -- like Jeremiah did – like Jesus did.  It only works if we chose to commit. Because what we commit to is bigger than ourselves.  It is beyond our individual, even our collective efforts to bring about.  Our commitment is needed – and it makes the difference between a mediocre life – and a life of purpose.

        That’s the essence of commitment. We make a commitment; and our commitment makes us -- the church, this congregation, become the living vision of God. It is right there, written on our hearts.  God’s law of love. Isn’t that worth fighting for?  Is that worth staying the course? Isn’t it worth our time, our efforts, our sacrifice?

So, let’s persevere in committing ourselves to this unknown future that lies before us, to the causes of the kingdom, knowing that we have a God who delights in our dreams, whose law is written on our hearts, and who is eager to answer the prayers of his beloved children to become a vital congregation, manifesting the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our midst, for the healing of the world. Amen.
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Say Thank You

10/12/2022

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Luke 17:11-19  
 
What do you say now?  What do you say? 
I wish I had a dollar for every time I had to prompt my child with this question.  They were just given a birthday gift from a friend. Uncle Greg sent a Christmas card with money.  Someone in church paid them a compliment. What do you say?  Thank you of course.  It seems like it should come automatically, but it doesn’t all the time.   We want our kids to have good manners, to be polite, to be ready without prompting with the pleases and thank yous. Before my kids could play with their gifts, they had to write the thank you notes.  Saying thank you is one of the fundamental acts of kindness, respect, revealing a grateful heart which is important to cultivate in this often too-hardened and thoughtless world.

People should thank other people, verbally or written, when they do kind things for them. It is said that on average, Americans say thank you 5 times a day, and don’t really mean it 3 of the times.  It’s more of a rote comment instead of something spontaneous from the heart.  It seems to me that five times is miniscule compared to all that we encounter in one day. We have food in our house and can take a warm shower.  Someone holds the door for us. A server brings us our food or cup of coffee.  Someone calls to see how we’re doing.  We get a compliment, or an encouraging world.  We walk out into the new morning, alive, ready to face the day that lies ahead.  There’s a lot to say thank you for. 

​Looking back, the things I regret the most in my life are the times I forgot to express my gratitude, didn’t send a note, didn’t convey my thanks or appreciation for something I received, or a kindness extended. I didn’t display an awareness of someone’s gift. Saying thank you is a fundamental piece of a healthy lifestyle.  It’s at the heart of a mature spirituality.  It’s a habit that needs reclaiming in our post Covid world where basic human compassion has gone wanting in a lot of our social communications.

In our gospel lesson today, we learn a lot about the importance of thank you. As Jesus and the disciples are about to enter a village, ten lepers cry out, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”  Among these lepers is in fact a Samaritan, a second-class citizen in the eyes of the Jews.  Leprosy was such a dreaded skin disease, that lepers were banished and considered unclean.   It took a disease like leprosy to bring Jews and Samaritans together.   So, these lepers stood at a distance, and maybe were shouting “Unclean! Unclean! As the law demanded as Jesus approached, as they cried out to him.

Notice Jesus doesn’t say “You are healed.” Notice also, that he doesn’t say, “If you show yourself to the priest, you will be healed.” He doesn’t promise them anything, he just tells them to show themselves to the priests.

But the promise was inherent in what he said. In Leviticus 13-14, someone who had been healed or who had recovered from a skin disease was required to present him or herself to the priest in order to be pronounced clean.

So, to be full reinstated to community life, a cured leper had to be formally examined by the priest, announced officially cured and then and only then readmitted to society.   Jesus was acting to not only heal but restore them to community. So, while they were on their way, they were healed. Can you imagine the joy that all of them felt at that moment? They, who were outcast, who had no hope, who had no future to look forward to, now had received their lives back! They could now go home to friends and family. They could kiss their wives again. They could play with their children. They were cleansed!

The Samaritan leper in our gospel story, however, pulls a big thank you.   He alone, one out of 10 afflicted, refuses to follow through on Jesus’ simple command to “go and show yourselves to the priests.”  When he realized he was cured, he turned back to Jesus.    He postponed the official moment when he could be declared clean and socially acceptable.  In his mind, there is more important business to take care of.   So he goes to Jesus, the true source of community and wholeness. While praising God in a loud voice and throws himself on the ground at the feet of Jesus and thanks him. 

Only one of the ten came back, all the while giving thanks and praise to God.  Statistically, this account is probably true. When you serve others, only about 10% will thank you. Serving others can be a thankless task.

Now, the other side of this coin is true too. Though only 10% will thank us, do we make sure that we are the 10% that thanks others?  When someone does something good for us, or nice to us, we need to thank them! Give them a card. Send them a plate of cookies. Just call them on the phone and tell them how much we appreciate them.  Though only 10% of people thank you when you serve them, let us be in that 10% that loudly thanks others for what they have done for us, and be quick to thank God for blessings received. (For our salvation. For forgiveness of our sins. For healing in body and/or soul. For life in Christ and fellowship with one another. For the gifts of the Spirit. There you have it; five off the bat.)
Our genuine Thank yous become an act of worship. Meister Eckhart said, “If the only prayer you said was ‘thank you’, that would be enough.” If we begin there, with a simple “thank you” to God, the rest will follow. What do you want to say thank you for now?  Can you tick off five things just off the top of your head?  Let’s hear it! (pause)

As we continue our deliberate practice to fall into faith, seeking to be vital people making up a vital congregation, we discussed so far practicing mercy, practicing faith, praying, showing up and being a part of this community of faith, let us add to our arsenal the simple but potent thank you. May we give the example of thanks for all to see. Every day, let our lives be a thank you note we write to God, for all he has done for us. Let us be the one in 10 who is grateful to God and to others.  When someone opens the door for you? Say thank you!  When someone pays you a compliment, say thank you.  As you sit down to your next meal, say thank you!   When you open your eyes in the morning, say thank you for a new day.  When you retire at night, say thank you for a day well lived.  May the kind deeds we do for others be notes of gratitude we place at the feet of Jesus.  What do we say?  We say – THANK YOU! Amen. 
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Practicing Faith

10/5/2022

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2 Timothy 1:1-7; Luke 17:1-10

 
       
Give us more faith!  the disciples beg Jesus, in our gospel lesson today. Give us more faith is the cry of our hearts as well.  If only we had more faith, a deeper faith, we think our problems would be solved.  We would figure out how to attract youth and young families.  The worship would inspire us and we would discover joy.  The sermon would speak to us. The void would be filled.  We would be renewed. We would finally experience community.  Our neighbors would join us, and the pews would fill.  If only we had more faith.

Faith means lots of things to different people.   To some, faith are the beliefs that form basic beliefs of our religion.  The apostle’s creed. The Confessing Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior.  Or faith is what we practice: attending worship on Sunday, reading the bible, devotional practice. Faith is doing things that show our commitment to Christ; like feeding the hungry, tending to the foreigner, visiting the imprisoned, clothing the naked, those essential acts of mercy that we discussed last week. Faith is belief and confidence and trust in something unseen, something that hasn’t happened yet.  

Faith is this and yet more.  In the New Testament faith is most often linked to having a dynamic relationship with Jesus and placing our trust in him.  Faith is following the footsteps of Jesus, listening to him, asking him questions, seeking guidance from him, being forgiven by him, being filled with his Holy Spirit to act in the world. Real living faith in God expresses itself in how we treat one another. This faith is the soil that roots, that feeds and grows each of us It is faith that heals, revitalizes, grows a church. Faith connects us.  Faith is the binding agent. Faith creates relationships filled with love, forgiveness, and joy.  When we love someone, we want to spend our time with them.  We love face to face, heart to heart, hand to hand. That’s the living faith we seek.

Listen to what Paul says to Timothy, his protégée in the lesson we heard this morning:
I want very much to see you so I can be filled with joy. 5 I remember your true faith. That faith first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I know you now have that same faith.  

Paul describes how true faith thrives in connection to others; in this case, with Timothy and his grandmother Lois, his mother Eunice. Faith that is practiced in intimate family settings; passed on person to person. Paul further declares he experiences joy in his relationship with Timothy and how he cannot wait to see him.  This is the kind of joy God wants us to have – joy comes from being rooted in a relationship with Jesus and each other.  Jesus cultivates joy in us as we practice faith – as we live in relationship with Christ, reinforced by relationship with each other. Love and joy go hand in hand, go heart to heart, face to face.

        To practice our faith, we simply need to be together. That’s why its important for us to be together to worship and fellowship in person post COVID.  It is easy to get in a slump and not come to worship. It’s easy to let other things take priority in our lives.  The way to restore the energy of faith that Jesus wants to give us is this: show up anyway.  I learned this lesson by going to the gym.  I hate going to the gym. My muscles rebel. My mind finds excuses. But you know what? I show up anyway. Forcing myself to move, pushing myself beyond my comfort zone, encouraging a fellow gym rat, leaves me transformed after an hour. Day after day. Week after week. Month after month. Change happens. Woody Allen said that 90% of success is showing up. We don’t want to go Sunday morning? We feel all negative or depressed or stressed? Fine. Let’s show up anyway. Let’s get involved. Let’s get transformed and transform the church in the process.

            The issue is as I see it is this: if we wait for things to be just right or perfect before we make a commitment, well we’re going to be waiting a long time. Remember Ghandi’s saying: be the change you want to see in the world. Let’s be the change we want to see in church! Do we want change?  Do we want a vital congregation?  Do we want vibrant worship? Do we want a satisfying community life?  To achieve this, we must each show up for God and each other.  We have to be willing to live in the mess, the discomfort, the dissatisfaction in order to move forward to the more rewarding, fulfilling life we envision together. There’s no magic potion, no transporter that can take us from our current predicament and instantly place us where we want to be.  It’s just not the way it works. If we want to get to the promised land, we must practice faith: we each got to show up no matter what, roll up our sleeves, take each other’s hand, and take it step by step, through the muck and the mire.  We are not alone in this: Jesus is there with us, leading the way.  Jesus will see us through. That’s his promise: “Lo, I am with you always until the end of the age.”

Each of us, called by God, has a role to play. Whatever desire for change that God has put in our hearts – well guess what? That’s the exact gift that God is giving us to pass on.    Who knows what God has planned to use you to touch someone else that morning?  Do you see a need?  Is there a group that interests you?  Make it happen! We’re here to give as much as we get. In fact, we get what we seek by first giving!  Paul describes it to Timothy in this way:

            This is why I remind you to keep using the gift God gave you when I laid my hands on[a] you. Now let it grow, as a small flame grows into a fire. 

       The flame we feel may be small but coming together in our living faith with each other and in Jesus we fan that flame into a fire.   That’s what practicing faith is all about.  IF you have faith in someone, if you believe in someone, we want to bring out the best in them.  That’s the same with our church family. The more connected we are to each other, the more committed we are to each other, through Jesus our Lord, the more we become the living vision that God wants to create through us. 

        How does Jesus say to practice faith?  By being following him. Jesus didn’t go to the easy places. Jesus didn’t go where it was comfortable.  Jesus didn’t play it safe.  Jesus went to the broken places.  Jesus walked into the storms. Jesus hung out on the outside, upside down, dying, oppressed places. Jesus is here, with us, with our fears, with our sadness for all that is past, in here with the not yet of our life together. How do we fan that flame into a fire?  We come anyway to church, even if the numbers are sparse.  We come anyway, even when we feel uninspired.   It cannot change unless we do it together.  All hands-on deck.  Everyone matters and everyone makes a difference.

        On this World Communion Sunday, when we celebrate the diversity of the family of Christ in different denominations, different languages cultures and nations, we are reminded to celebrate the diversity and uniqueness of every believer. Everyone sitting here is a wonder, a miracle, a testimony to the love and mercy of God. Everyone, sitting in the sanctuary today and watching from home.  Everyone, those who have misplaced their faith, and those who found it. Together we are the church and come to eat at a common table.  We are the church, imperfect, in need of healing, seeking to get better and make a mark in the world.
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       How will we practice faith?  We lift up the powerful name of Jesus.  We uplift each other. Bottom line, we commit to being together pure and simple, in thick or thin.  We share our faith journeys. We do what it takes to deepen relationship with each other, here and now, day after day, week after week, month after month. As the mustard seeds are planted. As the seedlings are watered and fed. And watch, as God’s grows those mustard seeds, which are us, into the finest and greatest of all living trees, creating a home for all. O Lord, give us more faith!

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"Practicing Mercy"

9/28/2022

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Picture

Luke 16:19-31; Amos 6:1-7
 
Happy Autumn!  As we begin a new season, we are beginning a program called Fall into Faith. Through worship, the scriptures, and the sermon we will explore the practices of the healthy, evolving church. Or to use a term we have been using all summer, a vital congregation. A healthy, evolving church, a vital congregation, is a church that builds bridges between people and with God. It creates neighbors and disciples between insiders and outsiders. Our readings for the past several weeks have touched upon precisely this: how to overcome divides between sinners and saints. Between those on the inside, those left in the cold. And especially between the haves and have nots.

In our brave new post-covid world, we have experienced this divide acutely. People are divided politically. Economically, who hasn’t felt the pinch at the pump?  Who hasn’t seen prices of groceries, and other necessities rise? Who hasn’t grown insecure?  Long Island Cares reports a 43% increase in visitors seeking help at its food pantries this past year.  The Freeport Food Pantry, which our church actively supports, also reports similar upticks in use.  Yesterday, at the Presbytery meeting, the Springs East Hampton Food Pantry shared a heartbreaking story about a family where both parents lost their jobs during COVID.  The father came to the pantry seeking food on a bicycle; the family car had been repossessed. He came seeking food to feed their five children.  The irony of these wrenching scenarios is that at the same time people have been choosing between rent and food, gas or groceries, 2.5 million millionaires were created in the US alone. It was the highest rate of millionaires added to the world economy last year in the last century. The old adage is true: the richest have gotten richer, the poor, poorer. It is something to remember as our scriptures today introduce us to the world of the rich.  Those with resources are called to practice mercy.

The prophet Amos gives us a vivid picture of the life of a rich person centuries before Jesus lived.  They slept on ivory beds, instead of the floor on a straw mat, like most Israelites did. They had couches to lounge on – instead of the ground.  They regularly consumed lamb and calves’ meat, a delicacy —while most of the hoi polio rarely if ever ate meat.  Instead of working from dawn to dusk, they sat around singing idle tunes, drank wine, anointed themselves with finest oils so that they smelled oh so fresh – while holding their noses at the stench of the rest of humanity. 

There was one critical flaw that Amos noted about the ancient rich- they were not grieved, angry, or upset that the nation of Israel was coming to ruin – or was being seized, forced into poverty, disinherited from the land.  They lacked mercy for the destitute poor.  They had the power to change things, but just didn’t care. As a result, God allowed them to experience the consequences of their distain for the less fortunate.
​
Six centuries later, Jesus tells us the story of another wealthy person. A rich man dressed in the most exquisite designer clothes, who feasted, not just ate, feasted - sumptuously every day.  While the Rich Man is feeding his face, a poor man named Lazarus, sits at his gate. Lazarus—was destitute - sick – reduced to begging.  His sores were his clothing.  He who was so hungry, he ached to have the luck of the dogs; since it was custom for the family animals to eat the crumbs that fell during the meal.
The only compassion shown to Lazarus came from the dogs -- who licked his sores and provided some contact, some form of consolation.  We can assume from Jesus’ tale that this rich man never acknowledged Lazarus, although he is a fixture at the wealthy man’s gate.  The Rich man had to see him as he came and went from his house.  But he did nothing. 

Just like the wealthy of Amos’ day – this first century Rich man did not grieve Lazarus’ condition -- this outsider did not rouse him to have mercy or compassion on him.  And so, Jesus says, the rich man upon his death went into eternal exile – Hades -- where he was tormented, in agony and in flames. It is important to realize that the Rich Man went to hell not because he was rich, but because he did not practice mercy on Lazarus. The rich man sees Father Abraham with Lazarus, for the first time he truly sees Lazarus, and begs to Abraham: “Have mercy on me.” The shoe is on the other foot. The merciless man now wants mercy.

Now, not all rich people are blind and indifferent. Many rich people do give back. They are the fortunate and just.   However, a great many of us blessed with wealth, good income, access to abundant social resources, and are sorely tempted to spiritual blindness and indifference of spirit.  The devil would have us dehumanize the poor, ignore them, look down on those who are less fortunate. If we are to be a vital congregation, we need to practice mercy as Jesus did; with abundance and abandon.

At a basic level, mercy means to be spared or rescued from judgment, harm, danger, or trouble.   Mercy means even more than this.  Mercy cares for the needs of those in distress. God expects His people to be merciful to others because God has been merciful to them. Mercy is to be practiced: toward neighbors (1 Kgs 8:31-32 ; Prov. 3:29 ) and in being generous toward the poor and needy (Zech 7:9-10; Ps 37:21; Prov. 14:21; 23; 19:17; 28:8). The church has traditionally recognized seven corporal acts of mercy: to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to give shelter to travelers, to visit the sick, to visit the imprisoned, and to bury the dead.

Mercy is a main characteristic of Jesus.  The word is often used of Jesus and by Jesus, in his ministry, teachings and healings.  Jesus shows mercy:  for the multitudes ( Matt 9:36 ; 14:14; 15:32), for the blind (Matt 20:34 ), for a leper (Mark 1:41), (Matt 9:27  ); for a possessed child (Mk 9:20-27 ), for a widow's plight (Luke 7:13 ),  a woman with a possessed daughter (Matt 15:22 ), the father of an epileptic boy (Matt 17:15 ),  with ten lepers (Luke 17:13 ), a penitent sinner (Luke 8:13 ).  Jesus has mercy on those in need. Jesus teaches that mercy is a mark of true discipleship (Matt 5:7 ). Learn, Jesus says, what it means that I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

     Without mercy, we are often like the photographer on an overseas project.  He was commissioned to photograph someone that characterized the wretched condition of humanity; a real-life picture that would demonstrate humankind’s need for mercy. It took a while but after searching the photographer captured his picture.  It was a hungry beggar, lying on the curbside, with his hand stretched toward a storefront displaying bread.  The editor agreed that it perfectly depicted humanity's need for mercy.  After congratulating the photographer, the editor asked: "And what assistance did you give the beggar after the photograph?" The photographer confessed he did nothing.  The editor then responded: "You got the picture, but you didn't get the message."

The Rich Man, the 8th century wealthy, our unbalanced economic system, never gets the picture, let alone the message.  We get the picture.  Do we get the message?

        The message is simple.  The message is mercy. Mercy that refuses to look away.  Mercy that sees hunger and gives food.  Mercy that sees sores and gives medicine.  Mercy that sees rags and gives decent clothing.  Mercy that sees prejudice or bullying and speaks out for those oppressed.  Mercy that sees poverty and works to restore support, resources and dignity. Mercy that sees the migrant and give shelter. Mercy that sees a mistake, an offense, and forgives. Mercy that sees; sees insiders and outsiders and sees neighbors.  

        Ultimately, the Bible teaches us that we all are in need of mercy, which God is quick to give to us.  The author Herman Melville wrote: “Heaven have mercy on us all – Presbyterians and Pagans alike, for we are all dreadfully cracked about the head and sadly need mending.”  As Jesus teaches, “Show mercy, just as your Father shows mercy” (Luke 6:36).

So our first Fall into Faith lesson is this: for us to love mercy and practice it. To become the church of God’s heart – a church that stands as a beacon of mercy; so that forgotten people, people sitting at the gates, the lost searching for a way out of the chasm, out of their place of torment, can all be led from the gate to a place at God’s table. Amen.


https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/21/business/millionaires-global-wealth-report-intl-hnk/index.html
https://patch.com/new-york/hauppauge/food-insecurity-rising-long-island-food-bank-says https://www.liherald.com/stories/our-shelves-keep-going-bare,141240
 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-08/top-1-earners-hold-more-wealth-than-the-u-s-middle-class?leadSource=uverify%20wall
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/01/how-much-money-you-need-to-be-part-of-the-1-percent-worldwide.html
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2013/09/11/nets-blast-dangerous-growth-income-gap-between-rich-and-poor-forget-
http://www.jokebuddha.com/Change#ixzz2g86MWHoi
http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/09/the-top-1-percent-of-the-world/#ixzz2g8A71ceN

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