Friday, August 3, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
Unafraid to Be Free
Seven or eight years ago, a friend introduced me to the the poetry of James Kavanaugh. Ever since then, I have been hooked. He is one of those writers that we are lucky to find, who speaks to us at a depth that only a few do. I feel that I found a soul mate. Part of me doesn't want to share him with you, because I feel that he "belongs to me." Yet, another part of me wants to "show him off" like you do a newly found friend. So, every now and then, I'll post one of his poems, with the hope that you may find him a welcome addition to your life.
Unafraid to Be Free
Finally unafraid to be free,
Ready to surrender all the illusions of
recognition and external securities,
Living off of the sky and earth like soaring
eagles and braying burros,
Trusting in a Power even beyond Dow Jones
and hoarded retirement.
Finally ready to live like the noble animal that I am-
Without masters or servants, with dignity dependent on no one,
Content to know that I am God's child, and
only good has been prepared for me.
When I am not afraid to release all that my life
and culture taught me to prize.
To abandon all fears once and for all, to discard the
anxieties of a lifetime like a suit that no longer fits,
To be afraid of no one, beholden to no one,
dependent on no one
Save the few who know and love me as I am,
and the God who alone gives meaning and joy
to the madness of my life.
Unafraid to Be Free
Finally unafraid to be free,
Ready to surrender all the illusions of
recognition and external securities,
Living off of the sky and earth like soaring
eagles and braying burros,
Trusting in a Power even beyond Dow Jones
and hoarded retirement.
Finally ready to live like the noble animal that I am-
Without masters or servants, with dignity dependent on no one,
Content to know that I am God's child, and
only good has been prepared for me.
When I am not afraid to release all that my life
and culture taught me to prize.
To abandon all fears once and for all, to discard the
anxieties of a lifetime like a suit that no longer fits,
To be afraid of no one, beholden to no one,
dependent on no one
Save the few who know and love me as I am,
and the God who alone gives meaning and joy
to the madness of my life.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Living in the In-between Times
For today's post I share the sermon that I preached this past Sunday.
First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Georgetown, Ky
February 19, 2012
Transfiguration Sunday (Year B)
2 Kings 1:2-12; Mark 2:2-9
“Living in the In-between Times”
Help us to listen for your voice God,
because our minds so easily wander to things
that we are more concerned about than we are with you.
O Timeless God, for whom we so often do not have time,
catch us off guard with a word from you,
so that we will look hard enough at ourselves
that we will be renewed by your presence.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
It was time for Elisha to assume the role of prophet that Elijah had filled admirably during the ninth-century B.C. It’s almost comical to listen to their exchange.
Elijah said, “I’ve got to go to Bethel; you stay here.” And Elisha said, “No. I’m going with you.” So, Elisha went with Elijah.
Then, Elijah said, “I’ve got to go to Jericho; you stay here.” And Elisha said, “No. I’m going with you.” So, Elisha went with Elijah.
Then, Elijah said, “I’ve go to go to Jordan; you stay here.” Guess what? Elisha said, “No. I’m going with you.” So, Elisha went with Elijah.
Then Elijah said, “Elisha, you’re going to have to let go of me. I’m getting ready to be taken from you in a whirlwind.” Imagine the anxiety that Elisha must have felt over that. Elijah wasn’t just going to Bethel or Jericho or Jordan; he was going to be taken from Elisha permanently.
Elisha was accustomed to leaning on Elijah and letting Elijah take the lead. Now, Elijah was about to leave him. And Elijah said, “Now that I’m leaving you, what do you want?” Elisha said that he wanted a double share of Elijah’s spirit. He wanted to be empowered more than Elijah was so he could serve as a prophet. And Elijah said it would be granted.
Change was hard for Elisha. When Elijah departed, Elisha grasped his own clothes and tore them in two.
Life would be different without Elijah. He was a renowned prophet. How could Elisha fill Elijah’s shoes? Elisha wanted to hang on to the way things were.
There was a similar exchange between Simon Peter and Jesus. The story is known as the transfiguration of Jesus. In the gospel of Mark, the story comes at the mid-point between Jesus’ baptism and crucifixion.
We’re told that Simon Peter, James, and John accompanied Jesus to a high mountain. While they were there, Jesus’ clothes became dazzling white, and like it was at Jesus’ baptism, God said, “Jesus, you’re my beloved child.” It was one of those spiritual highs that come to us every now and then. No wonder that Simon Peter wanted to remain on the mountain. Who wouldn’t want to? They had been following Jesus around, and they had to deal with those crowds who were coming to Jesus asking to be healed and fed. It was getting old, traveling all over the countryside. Simon Peter wanted to stay on the mountain.
Simon Peter wanted to hang on to that moment, just like Elisha wanted to cling to Elijah. Elisha and Simon Peter were at an in-between time. Elisha didn’t know what was going to happen next, now that he was the prophet who was replacing Elijah. For SImon Peter, it was between the time of Jesus’ ministry and the increasing opposition that Jesus was facing that would ultimately lead to his death. Uncertainty and fear were in the air.
Life is full of in-between times. Many of us know the feeling of experiencing the death of our parents when they are in their 80’s or so, and it begins to dawn on us that now we’re next in line. As much as we know that at some time our parents will die, until it happens, it’s impossible to know what that will feel like. And when it does happen, we wonder what the last two or three decades of our lives will look like. How will our lives unfold? What will I accomplish in the last stages of my life? Many of us know that feeling. It’s an in-between time.
There are in-between times for teenagers. There is that year or so before you get your driver’s license, and you think that that day will never arrive. There’s also that year or so before your parents allow you to date.
Seniors in high school live in an in-between time. You may be uncertain about your future plans. You wonder, “Where am I going to school when I graduate? Am I going to take some time off before going on to college? Am I going to college at all?” It’s tough to live in this state of unknown, this in-between time.
There’s also that time just before a person graduates from college. That’s a real in-between time. There are inevitable questions. Where am I going to work? Will I be able to find a job at all? Also, there are the feelings that you’re finally going to be on your own. Parents will continue to play an important role in your life, but now you really are entering adulthood, and it’s a strange feeling.
Some crises in our lives bring us to an in-between time. A crisis can lead us to lose our spiritual center, and we wonder if it will return. Exhaustion can also bring it on. Reaching middle age and asking if this is all that there is, can also be a time of looking for a deeper spiritual walk. It’s an in-between time that is like the people of Israel had when in the wilderness. They had been rescued from bondage in Egypt, but they hadn’t yet entered the Promised Land. It was a time of great uncertainty.
I believe that our country is living at an in-between time. We’re asking, what is going to happen to the economy? What is going to happen in the midst of so many foreclosures? What is going to happen with unemployment?
What are some of the responses during the in-between times, whether it be a person, a family, a group, a nation, or a church? In-between times are a time of not knowing, and many times, we don’t do well with not knowing. When we don’t know, some of us ratchet up our anxiety by imagining the worst case scenario. You know how that is. I’m going to fail that test, and my GPA will drop so low that I won’t get accepted into the college that I want to attend. We might think that our nation is going to suffer an economic depression that rivals the Great Depression of the late 1920’s through the mid-1930’s.
Because of the anxiety and fear that in-between times bring, it’s hard to let go of the old. Even if the old is no longer working, there’s a sense of security that comes from knowing what the old is like. When the people of Israel were in the wilderness between that time of being in slavery in Egypt and not yet arriving in the Promised Land, do you remember what they did when they hit on hard times? They wanted to go back to Egypt! Can you imagine that?!
In the in-between times, it’s hard to prevent ourselves from trying to return to the old. Think of the relationship between children and parents when the child has entered adulthood. Some adult children have great difficulty letting go of their parents. Some parents have great difficulty letting go of their children. Their children are adults, and they still hold on to them as if they’re in middle school. It’s hard to let go.
During the in-between times, many churches want to turn back the clock. Some of you remember when it was the in thing to be at church on Sunday mornings. How many of you remember when all stores and restaurants were closed on Sunday, so most people went to church? You recall that there were no activities for children and young people that competed with church.
As difficult as it is to accept that things will never return to the days when the church was at the center of the culture, it’s simply the reality of our day and time. For several decades now, churches have been living at an in-between time, wondering what is going to unfold. What can the church do to compete with the culture during this in-between time? But I still believe with all my heart that we in the church have something to offer that people need.
People are pulled in a hundred different directions. They’re worn out. And they wonder why they feel empty at the core of their lives. It’s because they don’t have a spiritual center. The truth is that even with many of us who do attend church, we feel this same emptiness, because we have bought into the hectic pace of the culture. We in the church know that there is an alternative way to live.
The culture says that you must join the rat race if you’re going to make it in this world. The church says get out of the race and start living a different way.
The culture says that we must go 24/7. The culture says that we are to live on Orange Alert all the time. This causes the anxiety and tension to rise within us. The church says that we are to honor the sabbath as a day of worship because we are limited creatures, and by setting aside a time of worship, we remember who the limitless Creator is.
Because of the message of Jesus, we in the church know that there is a different way to live than buying in to the consumerism that our culture says will bring happiness. We know that possessions aren’t what satisfy our deepest longing.
The culture says that you’ve always got to have more because you never know when you might run out. The church says live one day at a time and don’t be consumed with what tomorrow might bring.
The culture says that the way to live is to look out for yourself and those you love the most. The culture says that what is most important is individual happiness. The message of the church is that we’re all in this together, and as long as any of God’s children suffer, we all suffer. Therefore, there shouldn’t be haves and have-nots. The church says that everyone is our neighbor.
The culture says that you prove your worth by how much you produce—this is the definition of success. The church says we are somebody because we are a child of God.
The culture is at an in-between time, wondering if there is an alternative way to live. We in the church can say that we can move beyond the in-between time and live with true freedom. Obviously, none of us live this way all the time. We too often mirror the culture rather than living the alternative way. But at our best, we know what it means to be liberated.
The in-between times can be a tough place to live, but they can also offer us an opportunity. They can be a time of incubating as we’re on the verge of something new emerging.
It can be a time when we learn the virtue of patience. As much as we want things to move along, we can’t force it. Besides, when we do try to force things, we end up making a mess of things. There’s no need to panic. We serve one who is far greater than we are. In the words of the old hymn, “God’s got the whole world in his hands.” In the words of the anthem that Joyful Noise just sang, God says to us, “Trust me.
If you’ll wait, you’ll make it through the anxiety of waiting. And you’ll make it to the other side.”
The prophet Isaiah promised that
those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
Wait on the Lord. Let God do things on God’s timetable.
Jesus and the disciples were in that in-between time of Jesus’ ministry thus far and what was lying ahead, which we of course know was Jesus’ death and resurrection. If we wait in this in-between time, God will eventually give us an experience, maybe not as powerful as what Jesus and the disciples experienced on the mountain, but in God’s time, we will receive reassurance. When that happens, like Simon Peter, we will want to linger there. Simon Peter wanted to stay on the mountain, but Jesus made it clear that this experience was preparing them for what was ahead.
We don’t know what lies on the other side of the in-between time, but we do know that we serve the same God that Elijah and Elisha and Simon Peter and Jesus did. This God is always waiting in the wings to bring new life. It will happen. Linger in the in-between time. Don’t force things to happen. Wait, and in God’s time, God will bring resurrection.
First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Georgetown, Ky
February 19, 2012
Transfiguration Sunday (Year B)
2 Kings 1:2-12; Mark 2:2-9
“Living in the In-between Times”
Help us to listen for your voice God,
because our minds so easily wander to things
that we are more concerned about than we are with you.
O Timeless God, for whom we so often do not have time,
catch us off guard with a word from you,
so that we will look hard enough at ourselves
that we will be renewed by your presence.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
It was time for Elisha to assume the role of prophet that Elijah had filled admirably during the ninth-century B.C. It’s almost comical to listen to their exchange.
Elijah said, “I’ve got to go to Bethel; you stay here.” And Elisha said, “No. I’m going with you.” So, Elisha went with Elijah.
Then, Elijah said, “I’ve got to go to Jericho; you stay here.” And Elisha said, “No. I’m going with you.” So, Elisha went with Elijah.
Then, Elijah said, “I’ve go to go to Jordan; you stay here.” Guess what? Elisha said, “No. I’m going with you.” So, Elisha went with Elijah.
Then Elijah said, “Elisha, you’re going to have to let go of me. I’m getting ready to be taken from you in a whirlwind.” Imagine the anxiety that Elisha must have felt over that. Elijah wasn’t just going to Bethel or Jericho or Jordan; he was going to be taken from Elisha permanently.
Elisha was accustomed to leaning on Elijah and letting Elijah take the lead. Now, Elijah was about to leave him. And Elijah said, “Now that I’m leaving you, what do you want?” Elisha said that he wanted a double share of Elijah’s spirit. He wanted to be empowered more than Elijah was so he could serve as a prophet. And Elijah said it would be granted.
Change was hard for Elisha. When Elijah departed, Elisha grasped his own clothes and tore them in two.
Life would be different without Elijah. He was a renowned prophet. How could Elisha fill Elijah’s shoes? Elisha wanted to hang on to the way things were.
There was a similar exchange between Simon Peter and Jesus. The story is known as the transfiguration of Jesus. In the gospel of Mark, the story comes at the mid-point between Jesus’ baptism and crucifixion.
We’re told that Simon Peter, James, and John accompanied Jesus to a high mountain. While they were there, Jesus’ clothes became dazzling white, and like it was at Jesus’ baptism, God said, “Jesus, you’re my beloved child.” It was one of those spiritual highs that come to us every now and then. No wonder that Simon Peter wanted to remain on the mountain. Who wouldn’t want to? They had been following Jesus around, and they had to deal with those crowds who were coming to Jesus asking to be healed and fed. It was getting old, traveling all over the countryside. Simon Peter wanted to stay on the mountain.
Simon Peter wanted to hang on to that moment, just like Elisha wanted to cling to Elijah. Elisha and Simon Peter were at an in-between time. Elisha didn’t know what was going to happen next, now that he was the prophet who was replacing Elijah. For SImon Peter, it was between the time of Jesus’ ministry and the increasing opposition that Jesus was facing that would ultimately lead to his death. Uncertainty and fear were in the air.
Life is full of in-between times. Many of us know the feeling of experiencing the death of our parents when they are in their 80’s or so, and it begins to dawn on us that now we’re next in line. As much as we know that at some time our parents will die, until it happens, it’s impossible to know what that will feel like. And when it does happen, we wonder what the last two or three decades of our lives will look like. How will our lives unfold? What will I accomplish in the last stages of my life? Many of us know that feeling. It’s an in-between time.
There are in-between times for teenagers. There is that year or so before you get your driver’s license, and you think that that day will never arrive. There’s also that year or so before your parents allow you to date.
Seniors in high school live in an in-between time. You may be uncertain about your future plans. You wonder, “Where am I going to school when I graduate? Am I going to take some time off before going on to college? Am I going to college at all?” It’s tough to live in this state of unknown, this in-between time.
There’s also that time just before a person graduates from college. That’s a real in-between time. There are inevitable questions. Where am I going to work? Will I be able to find a job at all? Also, there are the feelings that you’re finally going to be on your own. Parents will continue to play an important role in your life, but now you really are entering adulthood, and it’s a strange feeling.
Some crises in our lives bring us to an in-between time. A crisis can lead us to lose our spiritual center, and we wonder if it will return. Exhaustion can also bring it on. Reaching middle age and asking if this is all that there is, can also be a time of looking for a deeper spiritual walk. It’s an in-between time that is like the people of Israel had when in the wilderness. They had been rescued from bondage in Egypt, but they hadn’t yet entered the Promised Land. It was a time of great uncertainty.
I believe that our country is living at an in-between time. We’re asking, what is going to happen to the economy? What is going to happen in the midst of so many foreclosures? What is going to happen with unemployment?
What are some of the responses during the in-between times, whether it be a person, a family, a group, a nation, or a church? In-between times are a time of not knowing, and many times, we don’t do well with not knowing. When we don’t know, some of us ratchet up our anxiety by imagining the worst case scenario. You know how that is. I’m going to fail that test, and my GPA will drop so low that I won’t get accepted into the college that I want to attend. We might think that our nation is going to suffer an economic depression that rivals the Great Depression of the late 1920’s through the mid-1930’s.
Because of the anxiety and fear that in-between times bring, it’s hard to let go of the old. Even if the old is no longer working, there’s a sense of security that comes from knowing what the old is like. When the people of Israel were in the wilderness between that time of being in slavery in Egypt and not yet arriving in the Promised Land, do you remember what they did when they hit on hard times? They wanted to go back to Egypt! Can you imagine that?!
In the in-between times, it’s hard to prevent ourselves from trying to return to the old. Think of the relationship between children and parents when the child has entered adulthood. Some adult children have great difficulty letting go of their parents. Some parents have great difficulty letting go of their children. Their children are adults, and they still hold on to them as if they’re in middle school. It’s hard to let go.
During the in-between times, many churches want to turn back the clock. Some of you remember when it was the in thing to be at church on Sunday mornings. How many of you remember when all stores and restaurants were closed on Sunday, so most people went to church? You recall that there were no activities for children and young people that competed with church.
As difficult as it is to accept that things will never return to the days when the church was at the center of the culture, it’s simply the reality of our day and time. For several decades now, churches have been living at an in-between time, wondering what is going to unfold. What can the church do to compete with the culture during this in-between time? But I still believe with all my heart that we in the church have something to offer that people need.
People are pulled in a hundred different directions. They’re worn out. And they wonder why they feel empty at the core of their lives. It’s because they don’t have a spiritual center. The truth is that even with many of us who do attend church, we feel this same emptiness, because we have bought into the hectic pace of the culture. We in the church know that there is an alternative way to live.
The culture says that you must join the rat race if you’re going to make it in this world. The church says get out of the race and start living a different way.
The culture says that we must go 24/7. The culture says that we are to live on Orange Alert all the time. This causes the anxiety and tension to rise within us. The church says that we are to honor the sabbath as a day of worship because we are limited creatures, and by setting aside a time of worship, we remember who the limitless Creator is.
Because of the message of Jesus, we in the church know that there is a different way to live than buying in to the consumerism that our culture says will bring happiness. We know that possessions aren’t what satisfy our deepest longing.
The culture says that you’ve always got to have more because you never know when you might run out. The church says live one day at a time and don’t be consumed with what tomorrow might bring.
The culture says that the way to live is to look out for yourself and those you love the most. The culture says that what is most important is individual happiness. The message of the church is that we’re all in this together, and as long as any of God’s children suffer, we all suffer. Therefore, there shouldn’t be haves and have-nots. The church says that everyone is our neighbor.
The culture says that you prove your worth by how much you produce—this is the definition of success. The church says we are somebody because we are a child of God.
The culture is at an in-between time, wondering if there is an alternative way to live. We in the church can say that we can move beyond the in-between time and live with true freedom. Obviously, none of us live this way all the time. We too often mirror the culture rather than living the alternative way. But at our best, we know what it means to be liberated.
The in-between times can be a tough place to live, but they can also offer us an opportunity. They can be a time of incubating as we’re on the verge of something new emerging.
It can be a time when we learn the virtue of patience. As much as we want things to move along, we can’t force it. Besides, when we do try to force things, we end up making a mess of things. There’s no need to panic. We serve one who is far greater than we are. In the words of the old hymn, “God’s got the whole world in his hands.” In the words of the anthem that Joyful Noise just sang, God says to us, “Trust me.
If you’ll wait, you’ll make it through the anxiety of waiting. And you’ll make it to the other side.”
The prophet Isaiah promised that
those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
Wait on the Lord. Let God do things on God’s timetable.
Jesus and the disciples were in that in-between time of Jesus’ ministry thus far and what was lying ahead, which we of course know was Jesus’ death and resurrection. If we wait in this in-between time, God will eventually give us an experience, maybe not as powerful as what Jesus and the disciples experienced on the mountain, but in God’s time, we will receive reassurance. When that happens, like Simon Peter, we will want to linger there. Simon Peter wanted to stay on the mountain, but Jesus made it clear that this experience was preparing them for what was ahead.
We don’t know what lies on the other side of the in-between time, but we do know that we serve the same God that Elijah and Elisha and Simon Peter and Jesus did. This God is always waiting in the wings to bring new life. It will happen. Linger in the in-between time. Don’t force things to happen. Wait, and in God’s time, God will bring resurrection.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
I Do Choose
Mark 1:40-45
40 A leper came to Jesus begging him, and kneeling he said to Jesus, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” 41Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” 42Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, 44saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 45But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.
First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Georgetown, Ky
Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany (Year B)
February 12, 2012
Mark 1:40-45
“I Do Choose”
Would you pray with me?
Once again God open our minds and hearts
that we might hear your word for us,
and hearing believe,
and believing be moved to deeds of compassion.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
I suppose it’s human nature to categorize. It makes life easier to understand. Female and male; conservative and liberal; U.K. fan and U of L fan. When categorizing becomes a problem is when we use it to create barriers. Some seem to think that you’ve got to have them, so you’ll know who’s in and who’s out, who’s right with God and who’s not. We’ve got to know who is different. We’ve got to be able to identify ourselves over against those who aren’t like us. If we don’t, then we can’t have a club of insiders.
It’s always been this way. In Jesus’ day, lepers were considered unclean, so they were the outsiders. This teaching came directly from Leviticus 13 and 14 in the Bible. Because they were unclean, lepers couldn’t pray in the temple, go to the synagogue, or eat a meal with relatives or anyone. Their illness separated them from everyone else. If you touched a leper, you would be put in the same category as they were.
In verse 41 of our reading, Mark tells us that Jesus was “moved with pity” when the man asked Jesus to heal him. The New International Version translates it as “filled with compassion.” The New Jerusalem Bible translates it as “feeling sorry for him.” None of these captures the essence of the Greek language that the gospel of Mark uses. Mark is referring to Jesus being moved from the gut. Jesus wasn’t simply having sentimental pity. He had an intense emotion because of this man’s condition. It was compassion multiplied times 1,000. It was the kind of intense feeling that propelled Jesus into action on behalf of this man.
What did Jesus do? In the story today, we hear that he touched this man. This was no quick little poke with one of his fingers. The word that Mark uses here means that Jesus caressed the man, indicating Jesus’ loving tenderness. By extending his hand, Jesus was crossing that barrier that religion had established between the man and those who were considered clean. Jesus was gathering followers who were the sick and the outcast. The truth is that we all fit into that category. It’s an old cliche, but no less true—the church is not a sanctuary for saints but a hospital for sinners.
Jesus followed the teachings of the Bible, but he realized that the Bible wasn’t supposed to be a rule book that was always to be followed to the letter. Jesus saw the Bible as pointing to the compassionate God who was concerned with the needs of people. Jesus didn’t take the Bible literally, but he did take it seriously. Anything in the Bible that wasn’t consistent with love of God and love of neighbor was a violation of God’s purpose for the world. People were above the letter of the law—that’s what Jesus taught and lived.
I invite you to look at our words of preparation that are printed in our bulletin. William Placher says that Jesus challenged some of his contemporaries’ most basic assumptions about God and how to live one’s life, and he continues to challenge many of the most pervasive assumptions of our culture. He particularly welcomed the outcasts and oppressed of his society into his company. He calls on those who would follow him to take risks. William Placher continues by saying that many imagine the Bible as a book that comforts those who want to preserve the status quo. But the Jesus it presents shook up his society and would shake up ours.
What do you think? Is William Placher right? Would Jesus speak out against the barriers that we have created to separate insiders from outsiders? If so, what are some of those barriers?
I believe that racism is still alive and well. But for the most part, it’s a pretty safe topic to talk about in church. It wasn’t safe topic until the 1970‘s, and in some instances until the 1980’s. In 1982, I saw a sign in Louisiana advertising a meeting of the Ku Klux Klan. But racism still exists thirty years since I saw that sign. It’s more subtle today, so in some ways it is more insidious. It can be heard in the what some people say.
I recently overheard someone talking about a U.K. men’s basketball player who is African American. This person said, “I hear that he’s a good student, but he sure doesn’t look like it.” What does that mean? You and I know what that means.
The “N” word isn’t used as much as it once was, but if we listen to the jokes that some people tell, there’s an undercurrent of racism. In some instances we may justify it by saying, “Oh he or oh she is just a product of their time.” That’s not a valid excuse. We should all know better.
But again, it’s pretty safe in the church to mention racism. And I’m happy to say that much progress has been made. But what are the pressing issues of our day? I could play it safe and only mention race. There are differences of opinion, but I wouldn’t be true to our calling as followers of Jesus if I didn’t mention the way that Mexican immigrants are talked about and treated. Again, I know that there are differences of opinion about influx of Mexicans in our country. It’s a tough issue. But at the very least we need to think about it and talk about it. What are our attitudes? How would Jesus treat immigrants? Are they the lepers of our day? Is William Placher correct? Would Jesus upset many of the political and religious establishment in our day?
You and I know another category of people who feel barriers. Just as it is with immigrants, there are differences of opinion, but again, I wouldn’t be true to our calling as followers of Jesus if I didn’t mention the way gays are talked about and treated in our nation and in churches. People disagree about gays in the military and about marriage versus civil unions. But as it is with immigrants, at the very least we need to think about it and talk about it. They are sons and daughters and sisters and brothers. They have the same emotions as all people. They have the same wants and needs. They vote and love our nation as much as anyone else. For this reason, they aren’t they; they are we.
Are there others who might be classified as the lepers of our day? Who would you include in this? I add to it the poor. There has been a lot of talk about the top 1% economically in our country, and how they control the vast majority of the wealth in our country. But I have a friend who recently read an article that points out that if we make $34,000 or more a year, we’re in the top 1% economically in the world. If we make that much or more, by the world’s standards, we’re wealthy.
One of the things that’s troubling is the way that politicians of all political stripes use all of these issues that I have mentioned in order to gain votes. They check the direction the wind is blowing, meaning they try to find out what the majority of voters feel, and they craft their words accordingly. They even justify their stances in the name of Christianity, again trying to gain votes.
One presidential candidate has said that he isn’t concerned with the poor. They are being taken care of. They have a safety net. It’s the middle class that he’s concerned with. (What he said would be echoed by many of the candidates, if not all of them. He just happens to be the one who thought of it first.) Why did he say this? The economy has hit the middle class hard. I hope that the candidates are concerned with the middle class. But I think he said it for a couple reasons.
First, the middle class is the largest group of voters, because they are in the middle. Those in the middle are always the largest group. Second he said it, because there are some people in our country who have the idea that the poor are lazy, and if they wanted to, they could get a job and quit living off of the system. The truth is that the vast majority of the poor in our country are working poor. They clean hotels. They care for other people’s children. Some are cashiers. Some do construction work. They struggle to get by. They sometimes have to decide between going to the doctor or buying food for their children.
There’s not much risk for a politician talking about the poor as this one politician did, because the poor don’t have political clout. Money means power. Plus, they don’t have many people going to bat for them. And the thing that should trouble us in the church is that politicians say that their stances are based on their Christian principles.
Stephen Colbert uses some strong language that counters kind of talk. It may be tough for us to hear. It is for me. Stephen Colbert says that if this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don’t want to do it. Ouch.
Does today’s story of Jesus reaching out to the leper tell us anything about how the poor should be treated, and does the story tell us anything about any of these issues that I have mentioned? How would Jesus treat anyone who is excluded? For the Christian, this question gets to the heart of the matter—how would Jesus treat anyone who is excluded? If we take that question seriously, and as followers of Jesus we should, then it ought to push us to examine our hearts.
I’ve already mentioned how Jesus was moved with the kind of compassion that comes from the gut when he saw this leper. But there’s another possibility that may best capture what Mark was trying to convey. The Greek word that Mark uses can also mean that Jesus was angry. It can be rendered this way: “When Jesus saw the leper, he was ‘snorting with indignation.’” Why would Jesus have been angry? Jesus was angry at a social and religious system that excluded people simply because they had been labeled as different.
Jesus was also angry at the religious leaders who should have known that religion was to serve people not the other way around. Our reading says that after Jesus healed the man, he told him to go see the priests who would have declared that the leper was unclean.
The story could be translated as Jesus telling the man to go back to the priests to show them what had happened to him. So the man had already been seen by the religious leaders before he was healed, and they had told him that he was unclean.
And Mark says that Jesus told the man to go see the priests as “testimony to them.” But this doesn’t simply mean that the man was to go show them this remarkable thing that had happened to him. It meant to go as a witness against them. Mark uses this Greek word several times in his gospel, and it means to offer a testimony before hostile audiences. Jesus was angry at the way this man was treated, and he wanted the religious leaders to know this.
What makes you angry? Think about something that has happened recently that has made you angry. What was it? In the big picture, did it deserve the emotional energy that you gave it? I know that when I think about some of the things that have angered me, they are petty when looked at from the perspective of what angered Jesus.
Does it anger us, like it did Jesus, that some people are excluded based on the arbitrary standards that are used? During this Month of Compassion, does it anger us that people are hungry in a world where there is so much, and in a world where we have so much? Does our anger lead us to reach out?
It’s interesting how Mark begins this story. The man came to Jesus, and he said, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Jesus responded with three of the most powerful words in the English language—“I do choose.”
Will we say that? I do choose to do what I can to break down the barriers that exist between people, because I realize that with Jesus there are no outsiders...all are insiders. Most relevant to us this month, will we say, “I do choose to do what I can to make a difference for someone who has been the victim of a disaster”? During this Month of Compassion, will we choose to reach into our pockets and wallets and purses and give so that others may live?
Scott K. Cox
(Some of the biblical interpretation for this sermon comes from Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 1, Advent through Transfiguration, pp. 356-361, comments by Ofelia Ortega; P.C. Enniss; Gary W. Charles; Mike Graves.)
40 A leper came to Jesus begging him, and kneeling he said to Jesus, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” 41Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” 42Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, 44saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 45But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.
First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Georgetown, Ky
Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany (Year B)
February 12, 2012
Mark 1:40-45
“I Do Choose”
Would you pray with me?
Once again God open our minds and hearts
that we might hear your word for us,
and hearing believe,
and believing be moved to deeds of compassion.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
I suppose it’s human nature to categorize. It makes life easier to understand. Female and male; conservative and liberal; U.K. fan and U of L fan. When categorizing becomes a problem is when we use it to create barriers. Some seem to think that you’ve got to have them, so you’ll know who’s in and who’s out, who’s right with God and who’s not. We’ve got to know who is different. We’ve got to be able to identify ourselves over against those who aren’t like us. If we don’t, then we can’t have a club of insiders.
It’s always been this way. In Jesus’ day, lepers were considered unclean, so they were the outsiders. This teaching came directly from Leviticus 13 and 14 in the Bible. Because they were unclean, lepers couldn’t pray in the temple, go to the synagogue, or eat a meal with relatives or anyone. Their illness separated them from everyone else. If you touched a leper, you would be put in the same category as they were.
In verse 41 of our reading, Mark tells us that Jesus was “moved with pity” when the man asked Jesus to heal him. The New International Version translates it as “filled with compassion.” The New Jerusalem Bible translates it as “feeling sorry for him.” None of these captures the essence of the Greek language that the gospel of Mark uses. Mark is referring to Jesus being moved from the gut. Jesus wasn’t simply having sentimental pity. He had an intense emotion because of this man’s condition. It was compassion multiplied times 1,000. It was the kind of intense feeling that propelled Jesus into action on behalf of this man.
What did Jesus do? In the story today, we hear that he touched this man. This was no quick little poke with one of his fingers. The word that Mark uses here means that Jesus caressed the man, indicating Jesus’ loving tenderness. By extending his hand, Jesus was crossing that barrier that religion had established between the man and those who were considered clean. Jesus was gathering followers who were the sick and the outcast. The truth is that we all fit into that category. It’s an old cliche, but no less true—the church is not a sanctuary for saints but a hospital for sinners.
Jesus followed the teachings of the Bible, but he realized that the Bible wasn’t supposed to be a rule book that was always to be followed to the letter. Jesus saw the Bible as pointing to the compassionate God who was concerned with the needs of people. Jesus didn’t take the Bible literally, but he did take it seriously. Anything in the Bible that wasn’t consistent with love of God and love of neighbor was a violation of God’s purpose for the world. People were above the letter of the law—that’s what Jesus taught and lived.
I invite you to look at our words of preparation that are printed in our bulletin. William Placher says that Jesus challenged some of his contemporaries’ most basic assumptions about God and how to live one’s life, and he continues to challenge many of the most pervasive assumptions of our culture. He particularly welcomed the outcasts and oppressed of his society into his company. He calls on those who would follow him to take risks. William Placher continues by saying that many imagine the Bible as a book that comforts those who want to preserve the status quo. But the Jesus it presents shook up his society and would shake up ours.
What do you think? Is William Placher right? Would Jesus speak out against the barriers that we have created to separate insiders from outsiders? If so, what are some of those barriers?
I believe that racism is still alive and well. But for the most part, it’s a pretty safe topic to talk about in church. It wasn’t safe topic until the 1970‘s, and in some instances until the 1980’s. In 1982, I saw a sign in Louisiana advertising a meeting of the Ku Klux Klan. But racism still exists thirty years since I saw that sign. It’s more subtle today, so in some ways it is more insidious. It can be heard in the what some people say.
I recently overheard someone talking about a U.K. men’s basketball player who is African American. This person said, “I hear that he’s a good student, but he sure doesn’t look like it.” What does that mean? You and I know what that means.
The “N” word isn’t used as much as it once was, but if we listen to the jokes that some people tell, there’s an undercurrent of racism. In some instances we may justify it by saying, “Oh he or oh she is just a product of their time.” That’s not a valid excuse. We should all know better.
But again, it’s pretty safe in the church to mention racism. And I’m happy to say that much progress has been made. But what are the pressing issues of our day? I could play it safe and only mention race. There are differences of opinion, but I wouldn’t be true to our calling as followers of Jesus if I didn’t mention the way that Mexican immigrants are talked about and treated. Again, I know that there are differences of opinion about influx of Mexicans in our country. It’s a tough issue. But at the very least we need to think about it and talk about it. What are our attitudes? How would Jesus treat immigrants? Are they the lepers of our day? Is William Placher correct? Would Jesus upset many of the political and religious establishment in our day?
You and I know another category of people who feel barriers. Just as it is with immigrants, there are differences of opinion, but again, I wouldn’t be true to our calling as followers of Jesus if I didn’t mention the way gays are talked about and treated in our nation and in churches. People disagree about gays in the military and about marriage versus civil unions. But as it is with immigrants, at the very least we need to think about it and talk about it. They are sons and daughters and sisters and brothers. They have the same emotions as all people. They have the same wants and needs. They vote and love our nation as much as anyone else. For this reason, they aren’t they; they are we.
Are there others who might be classified as the lepers of our day? Who would you include in this? I add to it the poor. There has been a lot of talk about the top 1% economically in our country, and how they control the vast majority of the wealth in our country. But I have a friend who recently read an article that points out that if we make $34,000 or more a year, we’re in the top 1% economically in the world. If we make that much or more, by the world’s standards, we’re wealthy.
One of the things that’s troubling is the way that politicians of all political stripes use all of these issues that I have mentioned in order to gain votes. They check the direction the wind is blowing, meaning they try to find out what the majority of voters feel, and they craft their words accordingly. They even justify their stances in the name of Christianity, again trying to gain votes.
One presidential candidate has said that he isn’t concerned with the poor. They are being taken care of. They have a safety net. It’s the middle class that he’s concerned with. (What he said would be echoed by many of the candidates, if not all of them. He just happens to be the one who thought of it first.) Why did he say this? The economy has hit the middle class hard. I hope that the candidates are concerned with the middle class. But I think he said it for a couple reasons.
First, the middle class is the largest group of voters, because they are in the middle. Those in the middle are always the largest group. Second he said it, because there are some people in our country who have the idea that the poor are lazy, and if they wanted to, they could get a job and quit living off of the system. The truth is that the vast majority of the poor in our country are working poor. They clean hotels. They care for other people’s children. Some are cashiers. Some do construction work. They struggle to get by. They sometimes have to decide between going to the doctor or buying food for their children.
There’s not much risk for a politician talking about the poor as this one politician did, because the poor don’t have political clout. Money means power. Plus, they don’t have many people going to bat for them. And the thing that should trouble us in the church is that politicians say that their stances are based on their Christian principles.
Stephen Colbert uses some strong language that counters kind of talk. It may be tough for us to hear. It is for me. Stephen Colbert says that if this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don’t want to do it. Ouch.
Does today’s story of Jesus reaching out to the leper tell us anything about how the poor should be treated, and does the story tell us anything about any of these issues that I have mentioned? How would Jesus treat anyone who is excluded? For the Christian, this question gets to the heart of the matter—how would Jesus treat anyone who is excluded? If we take that question seriously, and as followers of Jesus we should, then it ought to push us to examine our hearts.
I’ve already mentioned how Jesus was moved with the kind of compassion that comes from the gut when he saw this leper. But there’s another possibility that may best capture what Mark was trying to convey. The Greek word that Mark uses can also mean that Jesus was angry. It can be rendered this way: “When Jesus saw the leper, he was ‘snorting with indignation.’” Why would Jesus have been angry? Jesus was angry at a social and religious system that excluded people simply because they had been labeled as different.
Jesus was also angry at the religious leaders who should have known that religion was to serve people not the other way around. Our reading says that after Jesus healed the man, he told him to go see the priests who would have declared that the leper was unclean.
The story could be translated as Jesus telling the man to go back to the priests to show them what had happened to him. So the man had already been seen by the religious leaders before he was healed, and they had told him that he was unclean.
And Mark says that Jesus told the man to go see the priests as “testimony to them.” But this doesn’t simply mean that the man was to go show them this remarkable thing that had happened to him. It meant to go as a witness against them. Mark uses this Greek word several times in his gospel, and it means to offer a testimony before hostile audiences. Jesus was angry at the way this man was treated, and he wanted the religious leaders to know this.
What makes you angry? Think about something that has happened recently that has made you angry. What was it? In the big picture, did it deserve the emotional energy that you gave it? I know that when I think about some of the things that have angered me, they are petty when looked at from the perspective of what angered Jesus.
Does it anger us, like it did Jesus, that some people are excluded based on the arbitrary standards that are used? During this Month of Compassion, does it anger us that people are hungry in a world where there is so much, and in a world where we have so much? Does our anger lead us to reach out?
It’s interesting how Mark begins this story. The man came to Jesus, and he said, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Jesus responded with three of the most powerful words in the English language—“I do choose.”
Will we say that? I do choose to do what I can to break down the barriers that exist between people, because I realize that with Jesus there are no outsiders...all are insiders. Most relevant to us this month, will we say, “I do choose to do what I can to make a difference for someone who has been the victim of a disaster”? During this Month of Compassion, will we choose to reach into our pockets and wallets and purses and give so that others may live?
Scott K. Cox
(Some of the biblical interpretation for this sermon comes from Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 1, Advent through Transfiguration, pp. 356-361, comments by Ofelia Ortega; P.C. Enniss; Gary W. Charles; Mike Graves.)
Friday, February 10, 2012
Words to Live By
We want life to have meaning, we want fulfillment, healing and even ecstasy, but
the human paradox is that we find these things by starting where we are, not
where we wish we were.
~Kathleen Norris
the human paradox is that we find these things by starting where we are, not
where we wish we were.
~Kathleen Norris
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Their Proper Place
Writer Anne Lamott realized that she was worrying about things that really don’t matter when she was knocked back on heels by a friend’s words. Anne was fretting over whether a dress she was trying on made her look too big in the hips. Her friend, dying of cancer, said in a kind, gentle way, “Annie, you really don’t have that kind of time” (Found in Theology Today, January 2000, p.610).
What time is it in our lives? I’m not talking about time that can be defined by looking at our watches or at a clock. That’s usually what we mean when we ask, “What time is it?” Sometimes that’s what time is—a measurable, definitive hour, minute, second. The Greek word for this kind of time is “chronos.” That’s found in some places in New Testament. But the New Testament has another word that is also translated as time in English. This word is “kairos.”
Kairos refers to a decisive or crucial point in time. This is the word Jesus uses in the gospel of Mark, where we read: “Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time (the kairos) is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’ ”
Jesus was not saying, “It’s 7 a.m. so it’s time for breakfast;” he wasn’t saying it’s 12 noon so it’s time for lunch;” he wasn’t saying that it’s 9 p.m. Wednesday, so it’s time to turn on Modern Family. Instead, Jesus was saying, “This is a crucial moment. God is present among you now, so now is the time to respond to God’s love.”
Jesus’ words can make us come alive to the powerful truth that each moment of each day of each month of each year is “kairos” time. Why is this so? Is it because the end may come at any moment, so we better get our lives in order now, because if the end comes and we’re not ready, then both figuratively and literally, we’ll have hell to pay? Is this what Jesus is saying?
No, it’s “kairos” time because God is present in each moment of each day of each month of each year. Each moment is pregnant with possibility. This doesn’t mean that each moment will be filled with fireworks. It doesn’t mean the moments have to be in bold technicolor in order for it to be filled with God’s presence. Rather, each moment—bold technicolor moments and mundane moments—is filled with God’s presence. God is among us and within us all the time, no matter what we feel or how ordinary or extraordinary the day may be.
Today is filled with kairos time. That’s why Jesus’ words, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near...” come to us all the time. That’s why these words that I came across are true:
“Enjoy.
Pay attention.
No hurry to get on to something more important.
Whatever we are doing is important.
Time is a gift.”
This is the way to live. It involves openness to life. It involves living with our arms extended, ready to receive experiences and people, rather than living with our arms folded across our chests, closed to life and people. It is to see life as a dance, as a celebration, and the world as a laboratory for living to the fullest.
It is to live with things in our life in their proper place.
What time is it in our lives? I’m not talking about time that can be defined by looking at our watches or at a clock. That’s usually what we mean when we ask, “What time is it?” Sometimes that’s what time is—a measurable, definitive hour, minute, second. The Greek word for this kind of time is “chronos.” That’s found in some places in New Testament. But the New Testament has another word that is also translated as time in English. This word is “kairos.”
Kairos refers to a decisive or crucial point in time. This is the word Jesus uses in the gospel of Mark, where we read: “Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time (the kairos) is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’ ”
Jesus was not saying, “It’s 7 a.m. so it’s time for breakfast;” he wasn’t saying it’s 12 noon so it’s time for lunch;” he wasn’t saying that it’s 9 p.m. Wednesday, so it’s time to turn on Modern Family. Instead, Jesus was saying, “This is a crucial moment. God is present among you now, so now is the time to respond to God’s love.”
Jesus’ words can make us come alive to the powerful truth that each moment of each day of each month of each year is “kairos” time. Why is this so? Is it because the end may come at any moment, so we better get our lives in order now, because if the end comes and we’re not ready, then both figuratively and literally, we’ll have hell to pay? Is this what Jesus is saying?
No, it’s “kairos” time because God is present in each moment of each day of each month of each year. Each moment is pregnant with possibility. This doesn’t mean that each moment will be filled with fireworks. It doesn’t mean the moments have to be in bold technicolor in order for it to be filled with God’s presence. Rather, each moment—bold technicolor moments and mundane moments—is filled with God’s presence. God is among us and within us all the time, no matter what we feel or how ordinary or extraordinary the day may be.
Today is filled with kairos time. That’s why Jesus’ words, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near...” come to us all the time. That’s why these words that I came across are true:
“Enjoy.
Pay attention.
No hurry to get on to something more important.
Whatever we are doing is important.
Time is a gift.”
This is the way to live. It involves openness to life. It involves living with our arms extended, ready to receive experiences and people, rather than living with our arms folded across our chests, closed to life and people. It is to see life as a dance, as a celebration, and the world as a laboratory for living to the fullest.
It is to live with things in our life in their proper place.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
It's amazing, even mind-boggling when we think about it. No two people who have ever lived on this planet have ever been exactly alike. At least that's what we are told. I suppose it could be that thousands of years ago, there was someone who looked and believed just like you do or I do, but even at that, the fact that they lived thousands of years ago, in another place, by definition makes them different from us. So let's stick with my opening sentence—it's amazing, even mind-boggling when we think about it. What a testimony to the creativity and ingenuity of God! It leads us to agree with the Psamlist: " O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" (Psalm 8:1).
Yet with this magnificent diversity, wouldn't you agree that people can basically be divided into two categories? One group believes that the world is good, and we have been created to enjoy it. The world is not in oppostion to us. We don't have to live possessed by fear and paranoia. Life may be difficult, but life is still good. We have been put on this planet to enjoy life. God wants us to be happy.
The other group believes that the world is a place to be feared. We have reason to be paranoid. The world is opposed to us. Life is difficult, and so ultimately, it is impossible to have lasting peace and happiness. Those who live this way probably agree with the philosophy that I read in a little book by Dan Goodman, titled Meditations for Miserable People (Who Want to Stay that Way). The philosophy includes such things as these:
When God shuts a door, God opens a window—then spits out of it onto my life (p.1).
Life will change day by day, and it will always change for the worse (p.26).
Every person has a rainy corner in their life, and my rain has spread to the whole damn room (p.29).
By writing my fears down on paper, I will see that not only am I afraid of everything but that I also have really bad penmanship (p.34).
The truth is that we probably live in both categories. Sometimes we belive life is good, and God wants us to enjoy it. Other times, we think life is out to get us. We live more out of fear than trust—an understandable way to live, given the news that grabs the headlines. But generally speaking, we live day-to-day, more in one category than another.
In the first creation account, which is found in Genesis 1, after the first day of creating, we read that God saw that it was good; after the fourth day, again we read that God saw that it was good; after the fifth day, once again God saw that it was good. Then on the sixth day, after creating woman and man, God saw everthing that God created, and we are told that God saw that it was very good.
All that God created—the seas and land, the plants and trees, the sun and moon, and this material world, we are told is very good. If this is true, they are to be enjoyed. So in the words of my Jewish sisters and brothers, I offer the toast, "L'Chaim!"..."To Life!"
Yet with this magnificent diversity, wouldn't you agree that people can basically be divided into two categories? One group believes that the world is good, and we have been created to enjoy it. The world is not in oppostion to us. We don't have to live possessed by fear and paranoia. Life may be difficult, but life is still good. We have been put on this planet to enjoy life. God wants us to be happy.
The other group believes that the world is a place to be feared. We have reason to be paranoid. The world is opposed to us. Life is difficult, and so ultimately, it is impossible to have lasting peace and happiness. Those who live this way probably agree with the philosophy that I read in a little book by Dan Goodman, titled Meditations for Miserable People (Who Want to Stay that Way). The philosophy includes such things as these:
When God shuts a door, God opens a window—then spits out of it onto my life (p.1).
Life will change day by day, and it will always change for the worse (p.26).
Every person has a rainy corner in their life, and my rain has spread to the whole damn room (p.29).
By writing my fears down on paper, I will see that not only am I afraid of everything but that I also have really bad penmanship (p.34).
The truth is that we probably live in both categories. Sometimes we belive life is good, and God wants us to enjoy it. Other times, we think life is out to get us. We live more out of fear than trust—an understandable way to live, given the news that grabs the headlines. But generally speaking, we live day-to-day, more in one category than another.
In the first creation account, which is found in Genesis 1, after the first day of creating, we read that God saw that it was good; after the fourth day, again we read that God saw that it was good; after the fifth day, once again God saw that it was good. Then on the sixth day, after creating woman and man, God saw everthing that God created, and we are told that God saw that it was very good.
All that God created—the seas and land, the plants and trees, the sun and moon, and this material world, we are told is very good. If this is true, they are to be enjoyed. So in the words of my Jewish sisters and brothers, I offer the toast, "L'Chaim!"..."To Life!"
Monday, November 14, 2011
Home is where they said
Leave now so we might miss you someday.
~From the poem “Home” by Richard Newman
My parents died last year, within one month and two days of each other, Dad dying on May 8 and Mom on June 10. Perhaps my dad drove heaven so crazy yelling for Evelyn to come fix him a sandwich that the Lord called her home. She waited on him hand and foot for almost all of what would have been sixty-six years of marriage had my dad lived two more days. I was lucky to have them for fifty years.
Sadly, my wife’s parents died in their sixties. I asked Donna when did she stop thinking of them every day. She said, “It finally came after a few years, but I still think of them often. It still hurts.” Yes, it does.
Donna said something that I had never heard anyone express about their parents. She grieves her mother’s death, among many other reasons, because her mother knew things about her that no one else does, particularly those early years of Donna’s childhood of which Donna has no recollection.
I wish I had asked my parents more about their memories of those early years of my life, and even their thoughts when the doctor said to my mother, “You're pregnant.” I suspect her thought was “You have got to be kidding me.” My dad probably didn’t merely think it, he said it aloud, replacing the word “kidding” with one of the four letter variety. After all, my brother was seven years old at the time. I was conceived in November 1959. There were probably times during my mother’s pregnancy that she wishes that she hadn’t snuggled up against my father to warm up a bit on that chilly autumn night. Hearing, “You're pregnant” wasn’t on her Christmas wish list.
Last year was the first year that I didn’t spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with them. It was painful. Of course, it was great to be with my wife and three of our girls. But there was a void that was left unfilled. It hasn’t happened yet, but I’m sure that there will come a day when I won’t think of them every day. But I will always miss you Mom and Dad. Those two empty chairs at the dinner table will never be easy to look at.
Leave now so we might miss you someday.
~From the poem “Home” by Richard Newman
My parents died last year, within one month and two days of each other, Dad dying on May 8 and Mom on June 10. Perhaps my dad drove heaven so crazy yelling for Evelyn to come fix him a sandwich that the Lord called her home. She waited on him hand and foot for almost all of what would have been sixty-six years of marriage had my dad lived two more days. I was lucky to have them for fifty years.
Sadly, my wife’s parents died in their sixties. I asked Donna when did she stop thinking of them every day. She said, “It finally came after a few years, but I still think of them often. It still hurts.” Yes, it does.
Donna said something that I had never heard anyone express about their parents. She grieves her mother’s death, among many other reasons, because her mother knew things about her that no one else does, particularly those early years of Donna’s childhood of which Donna has no recollection.
I wish I had asked my parents more about their memories of those early years of my life, and even their thoughts when the doctor said to my mother, “You're pregnant.” I suspect her thought was “You have got to be kidding me.” My dad probably didn’t merely think it, he said it aloud, replacing the word “kidding” with one of the four letter variety. After all, my brother was seven years old at the time. I was conceived in November 1959. There were probably times during my mother’s pregnancy that she wishes that she hadn’t snuggled up against my father to warm up a bit on that chilly autumn night. Hearing, “You're pregnant” wasn’t on her Christmas wish list.
Last year was the first year that I didn’t spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with them. It was painful. Of course, it was great to be with my wife and three of our girls. But there was a void that was left unfilled. It hasn’t happened yet, but I’m sure that there will come a day when I won’t think of them every day. But I will always miss you Mom and Dad. Those two empty chairs at the dinner table will never be easy to look at.
Monday, October 24, 2011
I recently listened to a sermon by Paul Simpson Duke, from which today's post comes. Along with his wife, Stacey, Paul is Co-Pastor of First Baptist Church, Ann Arbor, MI (American Baptist). I first heard Paul preach when I was in seminary in Louisville, and Paul was the minster at Highland Baptist Church, in Lousiville. It was always a privilege to hear him. You can listen to sermons by Paul and Stacey at their church's website. I express appreciation to Paul for his moving words.
Sometimes in life, we feel lost, no sense of clarity, much ambiguity, too little comfort for now. To keep living, to keep moving, and loving, and waiting in that long uncertain season of your life is what it means to be a child of God. Do you want to know what your life is going to be like next year, next week?—see a psychic. But faith is open-ended. And the blessing is in the step by step of trust along an uncertain way.
Thomas Merton once offered this prayer:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
Or to put it in the words of the old gospel hymn:
Many things about tomorrow,
I don’t seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow,
And I know who holds my hand.
~Paul Simpson Duke
Co-Pastor
First Baptist Church (American Baptist)
Ann Arbor, MI
Sometimes in life, we feel lost, no sense of clarity, much ambiguity, too little comfort for now. To keep living, to keep moving, and loving, and waiting in that long uncertain season of your life is what it means to be a child of God. Do you want to know what your life is going to be like next year, next week?—see a psychic. But faith is open-ended. And the blessing is in the step by step of trust along an uncertain way.
Thomas Merton once offered this prayer:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
Or to put it in the words of the old gospel hymn:
Many things about tomorrow,
I don’t seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow,
And I know who holds my hand.
~Paul Simpson Duke
Co-Pastor
First Baptist Church (American Baptist)
Ann Arbor, MI
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Civility
I’m a political junkie. Because of that, I have watched portions of some of the Republican presidential debates. If there were also Democratic debates, I’m certain that my observations would be similar. Some of you would rather watch paint dry than listen to these debates. One thing that has struck me is the lack of civility. I’m not just thinking of the lack of civility of candidates toward each other. That’s a given. I’m not one of those who thinks that politicians are less civil with each other than they used to be. History shows us that this is the way it has always been. I’m talking about the lack of civility of some of those in the audiences where the candidates have been debating.
At one of the debates, Stephen Hill, a soldier serving in Iraq, asked a question that our country has been wrestling with for some time, and will continue to. As you may know, until September 20, the military’s policy was “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Under the law, commanders were not allowed to ask about someone's sexual orientation, and gays and lesbians were expected to keep their orientation under wraps. Gays and lesbians who were open about their sexual orientation—or who were outed—faced punishment and expulsion. On September 20, Congress repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Now, gay and lesbian soldiers can be open about their sexuality and continue to serve our country.
Stephen Hill prefaced his question by saying that he was a gay soldier serving in Iraq and that prior to September 20, he had to lie about who he was in order to serve in the army. He asked the candidates, if they were elected president what would they do to ensure that the old policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would not be reinstated. But before he could get to his question, there were some who booed him. Why? It seems clear that they did so, because he is gay and can now be open about this, without fear of being kicked out of the military. Not one candidate confronted those who booed, and not one candidate thanked Stephen Hill for his service to our country.
There are differences of opinion in our country about Congress repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” That’s a vast understatement. Not surprisingly, there are differences of opinion about this in the congregation I serve, and there is nothing wrong with having these differences of opinion. Regardless of how we feel about the decision Congress made, surely, we can not support the booing.
I wonder how many in the audience who booed were serving or have served in the military? Here is a man who may be in harms way, all for his country, and he is booed? It seems to me that he is courageous, and they are cowards.
But I also have to wonder what would happen if one of the people who booed were to have lunch with Stephen Hill. Undoubtedly, they would begin to feel how much he loves our country. They would find that he loves our country as much as they do. They might find out that he has parents and siblings who love him and whom he loves. They might find out that he is a really likeable guy, and that they have much more in common than they would have thought. And Stephen Hill might begin to feel the same way about them.
There was moment in another debate that comes to mind. Moderator Brian Williams was directing a question to Rick Perry, governor of Texas. He began by saying, “Gov. Perry, Texas leads the nation in the number of executions...” Before Brian Williams could get to his question, several people in the audience cheered.
Regardless of how we feel about capital punishment, and there are difference of opinion about this in the congregation I serve, surely, we can not feel that it’s appropriate to cheer in this situation. Captital punishment and everything surrounding it, such as a brutal crime that someone has committed, ought to make us pause and be somber, not cheer.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
At one of the debates, Stephen Hill, a soldier serving in Iraq, asked a question that our country has been wrestling with for some time, and will continue to. As you may know, until September 20, the military’s policy was “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Under the law, commanders were not allowed to ask about someone's sexual orientation, and gays and lesbians were expected to keep their orientation under wraps. Gays and lesbians who were open about their sexual orientation—or who were outed—faced punishment and expulsion. On September 20, Congress repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Now, gay and lesbian soldiers can be open about their sexuality and continue to serve our country.
Stephen Hill prefaced his question by saying that he was a gay soldier serving in Iraq and that prior to September 20, he had to lie about who he was in order to serve in the army. He asked the candidates, if they were elected president what would they do to ensure that the old policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would not be reinstated. But before he could get to his question, there were some who booed him. Why? It seems clear that they did so, because he is gay and can now be open about this, without fear of being kicked out of the military. Not one candidate confronted those who booed, and not one candidate thanked Stephen Hill for his service to our country.
There are differences of opinion in our country about Congress repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” That’s a vast understatement. Not surprisingly, there are differences of opinion about this in the congregation I serve, and there is nothing wrong with having these differences of opinion. Regardless of how we feel about the decision Congress made, surely, we can not support the booing.
I wonder how many in the audience who booed were serving or have served in the military? Here is a man who may be in harms way, all for his country, and he is booed? It seems to me that he is courageous, and they are cowards.
But I also have to wonder what would happen if one of the people who booed were to have lunch with Stephen Hill. Undoubtedly, they would begin to feel how much he loves our country. They would find that he loves our country as much as they do. They might find out that he has parents and siblings who love him and whom he loves. They might find out that he is a really likeable guy, and that they have much more in common than they would have thought. And Stephen Hill might begin to feel the same way about them.
There was moment in another debate that comes to mind. Moderator Brian Williams was directing a question to Rick Perry, governor of Texas. He began by saying, “Gov. Perry, Texas leads the nation in the number of executions...” Before Brian Williams could get to his question, several people in the audience cheered.
Regardless of how we feel about capital punishment, and there are difference of opinion about this in the congregation I serve, surely, we can not feel that it’s appropriate to cheer in this situation. Captital punishment and everything surrounding it, such as a brutal crime that someone has committed, ought to make us pause and be somber, not cheer.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
I
The words that I have chosen as my blog title are borrowed from Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, Anna Quindlen. This is the title she chose for her weekly contributions to the New York Times. I have no delusions of grandeur—I can only hope to come within a country mile of her insights. I was lucky to find a compilation of some of her thoughts in a book by the same title as her column. I commend the book to you.
Some see me above all as a preacher. “Preacher” or “minister” was an identity that I once did not readily embrace, even though it was my chosen profession. I wanted to be seen simply as “one of them.” With age, and a bit more maturity, I have come to see that my vocation is a big part of who I am. Many can say that about their vocations. As with me, when they walk in a room, they are first seen as doctor, lawyer, or teacher.
I now gladly embrace the label “preacher.” It is a privilege to stand before a community of faith every Sunday and take a shot at bringing something that might touch at least a few.
I have had the good fortune to pastor four churches in my twenty-nine years of ministry. I can even say that the one in which I experienced a lot more pain than joy was a blessing in disguise. In retrospect, I can say that I learned more about myself than I would have otherwise. Make no mistake about it, I would have gladly exchanged a little less growth for a little less pain, but life doesn’t give us this choice.
Yes, I am a preacher, yet I still claim to be “one of them.” Lenny Bruce once said, “I’m not a comedian. I’m Lenny Bruce.” First and foremost, I’m a human, not a preacher. Like everyone else, I experience hurt and joy. I have the same needs and wants as any other person. I want to love and be loved; I want to be happy; I want to make a difference in the lives of at least a few people; I overestimate the limits of my humanity; I can sulk, and I can also have great equanimity. I, like you, am a mixture of all kinds of things, much of which I am unaware.
I conclude this first post by introducing you to some important people in my life. First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Georgetown, KY has been good to me since the first day of my sixteen years of ministry among and with them. Like all congregations and ministers who are together for a tenure as long as mine, we have been through ups and downs and smooth times. Regardless, it has been and is a privilege to be part of their lives. I am especially grateful for their unending support through some personal, rocky times. They have treated me as family members ought to treat each other.
The most important people in my life are five beautiful women. Donna, my wife, has brought me more happiness than one person deserves. If you have met her, you know that it is no exaggeration to say that she possesses an inner and outer beauty that in large measure comes from being at peace with herself.
The other four women are my daughters and Donna’s daughters. I brought Emily and Lydia to our blended family. I am lucky beyond measure to call them “mine.” Donna brought Natalie and Olivia with her. I would gladly have picked these two wonderful, young women, if I had been looking to adopt.
I’ll throw one man in for good measure. My son-in-law Brandon became part of the family two and a half years ago. Even though we root for different teams, we have found a connection in our common love for the best sport God ever created—baseball. I have yet to convert him to the right political party, but with age, I’m sure that he will see the error of his ways.
Thanks for reading my first post. I hope you will stop by every now and then and add your comments to my reflections, so we can “think out loud,” together.
Some see me above all as a preacher. “Preacher” or “minister” was an identity that I once did not readily embrace, even though it was my chosen profession. I wanted to be seen simply as “one of them.” With age, and a bit more maturity, I have come to see that my vocation is a big part of who I am. Many can say that about their vocations. As with me, when they walk in a room, they are first seen as doctor, lawyer, or teacher.
I now gladly embrace the label “preacher.” It is a privilege to stand before a community of faith every Sunday and take a shot at bringing something that might touch at least a few.
I have had the good fortune to pastor four churches in my twenty-nine years of ministry. I can even say that the one in which I experienced a lot more pain than joy was a blessing in disguise. In retrospect, I can say that I learned more about myself than I would have otherwise. Make no mistake about it, I would have gladly exchanged a little less growth for a little less pain, but life doesn’t give us this choice.
Yes, I am a preacher, yet I still claim to be “one of them.” Lenny Bruce once said, “I’m not a comedian. I’m Lenny Bruce.” First and foremost, I’m a human, not a preacher. Like everyone else, I experience hurt and joy. I have the same needs and wants as any other person. I want to love and be loved; I want to be happy; I want to make a difference in the lives of at least a few people; I overestimate the limits of my humanity; I can sulk, and I can also have great equanimity. I, like you, am a mixture of all kinds of things, much of which I am unaware.
I conclude this first post by introducing you to some important people in my life. First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Georgetown, KY has been good to me since the first day of my sixteen years of ministry among and with them. Like all congregations and ministers who are together for a tenure as long as mine, we have been through ups and downs and smooth times. Regardless, it has been and is a privilege to be part of their lives. I am especially grateful for their unending support through some personal, rocky times. They have treated me as family members ought to treat each other.
The most important people in my life are five beautiful women. Donna, my wife, has brought me more happiness than one person deserves. If you have met her, you know that it is no exaggeration to say that she possesses an inner and outer beauty that in large measure comes from being at peace with herself.
The other four women are my daughters and Donna’s daughters. I brought Emily and Lydia to our blended family. I am lucky beyond measure to call them “mine.” Donna brought Natalie and Olivia with her. I would gladly have picked these two wonderful, young women, if I had been looking to adopt.
I’ll throw one man in for good measure. My son-in-law Brandon became part of the family two and a half years ago. Even though we root for different teams, we have found a connection in our common love for the best sport God ever created—baseball. I have yet to convert him to the right political party, but with age, I’m sure that he will see the error of his ways.
Thanks for reading my first post. I hope you will stop by every now and then and add your comments to my reflections, so we can “think out loud,” together.
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