Seeing God Through Dirty Windows

Scripture: Exodus 20:1-20 & Matthew 5:17-19

Preached 02/22/2015

 

Have you ever worn a rain coat on a sunny day?  Well, that’s what I did just a few days after Rob and I got married.  The hallway window was useless, as I learned the hard way.  Rob and I had moved into this hundred plus year old apartment building.  It was, as old buildings are, both beautiful and incredibly frustrating.  We had lovely archways, fantastic hard wood floors, and way more living space than we needed for two people.  But we also had a tiny kitchen, doors that only sometimes closed, and that useless hallway window.  The layout of the place was a little strange.  This hallway was kind of like a very tiny room, maybe five feet or six feet long.  You entered it through the dining room, and you could either turn left, and then there was a dresser and the door to the bedroom, or you turned right, into the only bathroom.  So in the mornings, when I was getting up and getting ready, my first instinct was to check out that hallway window to see what they day was going to be like, and dress accordingly.

It was a bad instinct.  Besides being rattly, and painted shut so I couldn’t just stick my hand outside and feel the temperature for myself, this window was chronically dirty.  Somehow, this apartment just accumulated dirt, and sand even, which being in central Illinois, with no beach anywhere close, made no sense.  None, whatsoever.   But this window was no exception to the miraculous appearance of dirt.  It had this gray film on it, and no matter how much I scrubbed and what cleaning products I tried, would not come off.  So every time I looked out that chronically dirty window, it was a gray, dreary day, no matter how lovely and sunny it was in reality.

Besides leaving me ill prepared to face the reality of the day, it was the most frustrating and depressing window I’ve ever encountered.  And rather than bother with the useless, frustrating, and depressing nature of that window, I quickly decided to just keep the blinds closed, and ignore its existence all together.

If we’re honest, that’s what we’re sometimes tempted to do with scripture like the ten commandments, isn’t it?  That Old Testament, filled with silly laws and outdated customs.  It’s just dreary.  It’s a downer.  And we know the general idea anyway.  We’ve heard the 10 commandments enough times that we have a pretty good idea what’s in there, some of you probably even have them memorized, so it’s not like we really need to look at them any more.  We can just close those blinds and move on.

Except that since I picked that scripture to be read today, on top of having  you pray through it, you probably know already that I don’t really think it’s a good idea to forget it exists.  Why not?  Well, for one thing, and the way I sometimes answer Ellery’s “why” questions when she has me stumped, because Jesus.  If you recall the second scripture reading, Jesus himself extolls the importance of what we often call the “laws” we find in Hebrew scripture.  He says these laws, better translated as instructions, are what he has come to fulfill.  My suggestion is that we trust Jesus here- these instructions are important. 

That small change in language is important by the way.  Because the word “law” tends to have a negative connotation.  Yes, laws can be good and help keep us safe, but they can also be frustrating- like the 25mph speed limits in school zones that persist when children aren’t there and you’re running late for something.  Laws can be oppressive- remember that for years we had laws prohibiting women from voting, or inter-racial marriage.  And laws can be just plain useless- like the town in Connecticut that prohibits a man from kissing a woman in public on a Sunday.

But instructions are different.  Instructions invite you to participate.  They ask you to help create something.  They have a clear purpose, a clear end.  And that really reflects the nature of these “commandments” much better.  They’re an invitation for you to join in creating something.  And what is that thing?  There’s a hint in front of the communion table.  A window.  A window through which we can clearly see what God wants for us, and all our brothers and sisters, as we relate to God and one another.  And God has given us instructions for a really good window.  But there is a problem.

Our window has gotten dirty.  Throughout our years of life a whole lot of stuff has accumulated on the glass which is intended to give us a clear view.  And our windows need a good, thorough, cleaning.  And, thanks be to God, these wonderful instructions even help us get the window clean!  For those of you thinking that you don’t do windows, now would be a good time to run.  Because we’re going to spend all of Lent cleaning this one.  Each week until Easter, we’re going to focus on one or more commandments, in a 10 commandment countdown type deal.  And each week as we count down we’re going to clean a little more dirt from this window, and hopefully our own- metaphorically for your own, unless you actually want to or feel moved to clean your windows at home.  We’ll attempt to clean off coveting, honesty and integrity, the way we treat others, separating work and worth, and what God it is we actually worship.

God wants us to have a clean window.  Jesus wants us to have a clean window, and through the power of the Holy Spirit this Lent, we hope to make that happen.  Remember though, that this window cleaning isn’t just about us feeling good about ourselves- this isn’t supposed to be a brag-fest at Easter about whose windows sparkle brightest.

This window the commandments instruct us to form helps us, not just to see God and one another more clearly in the light of God.  Remember where we started in this sermon, with that dirty hallway window in my old apartment.  I wanted to look out of that window for a reason, and it definitely wasn’t the view of the driveway and some shabby car ports.  It was so I could get ready for the day- so I could see if I needed to grab an umbrella or sunglasses or rain or snow boots, to figure out if it was worth it to straighten my hair- all those little things that helped me step out into the world prepared for what was out there waiting for me. 

And a clean window, like the 10 commandments seek to give us, can help us step out into the world from this sanctuary prepared for what’s really there. Because if we look out a dirty window, all we’re ever prepared to meet is gloom.  We see the world, one another, and God as dull, dreary, and gray, and we want to just stay inside ourselves and avoid it all.  We get tempted to ignore one another and God.  Or, if we are forced into an encounter we have our “protective gear” so to speak- not umbrellas and rain coats, but all those tricks we use to keep our distance, both physically and metaphorically. 

But God, the world, other people, they really aren’t so bad.  They’re not gray and dreary, even though God’s the only one who’s perfect.  They’re colorful, they’re wonderful, and God made us to be in relationship with one another and God. And that’s a good thing.   We can’t let a dirty window trick us out of the good which God intends for us. 

So join me this Lent in doing windows.  Join me as we work on our own 10 commandment instructed windows, the eyes with which we see and relate to God and to the world.  And hopefully, we’ll be able to get that dirt cleaned off, and by the time we get to Easter, we’ll be ready to clearly see one another in the brilliance God created us, and the resurrected Christ in his full, shining glory.  Amen.

 

 

Right to be angry?

Scripture: Jonah 3-4, selected verses

 

Preached 01/25/2015

 

Imagine this with me.  Some of you might not have to work so hard at imagining.  You’re driving your car, riding your bike, or walking and there is this car that’s annoying you.  Maybe they’re driving a little too fast or a little too slow.  Maybe they kind of cut you off or got a bit too close, or splashed you with a puddle.  Or, and I’ll admit these are the ones that drive me nuts- they didn’t stop all the way at a stop sign or forgot to use their turn signal.  And then there are the bumper stickers, for the wrong political party, for that candidate you just can’t stand, for the Cubs even. 

There you are, gentle, mild-mannered you who has never yelled at another driver inside the safety of your own vehicle and who always waves at the person who cut you off with all five fingers, and for some reason this particular car is just driving you crazy.  And then it happens.  You hear the siren chirp, see the red and blue lights flash and after the split second of panic in which you think you are going to get pulled over ends, you see the police car pull over the car that so annoyed you, and let’s be honest your heart just about leaps out of your chest with joy, because they are going down and justice will be served.  Take that mediocre driver!  And go Cards!

But wait- what’s that you see happening?  You have to stay with me and just imagine that somehow you get to watch this whole thing unfold, okay?  Just go with it.  You’re stopped at a light or something.  So the police officer gets out of the car, and they’re smiling.  You see them talk to the driver of that car you don’t like, and wait, what, they’re not writing a ticket!  You see them say a few words to the driver, and then they give the driver a friendly wave, and then get back in their car and watch that driver pull away. And you are mad.  How could they not have gotten a ticket?  How could the officer have been okay with them liking the Cubs?  Why was justice not served?

Now you know the roller coaster of emotions that Jonah has been on.  Jonah, the reluctant prophet as he’s often called, has been on quite the adventure.  If you remember from the reading a few minutes ago, we pick up in the middle of Jonah’s story.  We started with Jonah hearing God telling him to go to Nineveh again, for the second time.  The first time God told Jonah this Jonah promptly got up and boarded a boat going in the opposite direction only for that ship to come into a huge storm, then to be thrown overboard at his request to stop the storm, his life saved by that big fish we remember swallowing him, and spit out again.  This is where we pick up, with Jonah fresh from the fish’s mouth- well, probably wet, sticky and smelly from the fish’s mouth actually- but out of the fish’s mouth and finally ready to listen to God. 

Jonah clearly had no desire to go to Nineveh, going through all that to avoid it.  Ninevites were not exactly the violent enemy of Jonah’s people, but they were looked down upon.  Nineveh was a trading port, and had the kind of reputation that goes with sailors on leave- a rough, crude, sinful bunch.  They were definitely disliked, despised even.  It’s not surprising Jonah didn’t want to go there- imagine the worst of Las Vegas and Detroit mixed together, then make them all Cubs fans from the wrong political party and you’ve got the right idea the feeling he’d have about rubbing elbows with the likes of them.

And yet, given a second chance by God to proclaim a message to them, Jonah finally goes to proclaim God’s message for Nineveh.  Remember that feeling you imagined yourself having when the police car started pulling over that car you really didn’t like?  This is how Jonah likely felt when God gave him the message of destruction to proclaim.  Do you remember his big prophetic message?  Most prophets have chapters and chapters to say, but Jonah has just one sentence.  “40 days more and Nineveh will be overthrown.” That’s right- those people he doesn’t like are going to get it.  God’s going to smite them, and there’s going to be fire and brimstone and all kinds of destruction because clearly they deserve it. 

But then of course, in that cop giving the driver a friendly wave and no ticket moment, the destruction doesn’t happen.  God sees the Ninevites change their ways, even though they were given no reason to hope for any good out of doing it.  God sees them mourn in sack cloth and ashes.  And, as we heard, God changes God’s mind about the destruction, and doesn’t do it.  This would be the moment you realized the other driver wasn’t getting a ticket.

Jonah is disappointed.  Jonah is angry.  And Jonah is pouting.  I suppose this would be as if you got a chance to talk to the police officer and talk to her about the annoying car not getting the ticket.  So Jonah is pouting to God about having to come to Nineveh in the first place, saying he’s so upset that God might as well just kill him now.  And, in what would be a pretty quality parenting move, God ignores Jonah’s whining and gets right to the heart of what’s going on with him.  “Is it right for you to be angry?” God asks.

Jonah is angry about God’s mercy here.  That God changed God’s mind to be more merciful, more loving than God had previously planned- just so you know, this is the only way we ever have God changing God’s mind- to be more merciful and more loving.  And Jonah is mad about this mercy because it offends his sense of justice.  They Ninevites had been wicked and they deserve to be punished.

Let’s be honest here- this kind of thing offends our sense of justice too.  The annoying driver deserves to get a ticket.  Not the kindness of a police officer- their punishment.  And there are so many other examples we could point to in real life- people who we think don’t deserve God’s love and mercy.  But here’s the thing about that.  No one actually deserves God’s unending love and mercy.  And yet, as Jonah reminds us, God gives them out freely, recklessly, expansively.  God breaks right past our ideas of right and wrong and us and them and just showers the earth with mercy and love.

Even to those people we don’t like, our own modern day Ninevites.  Yeah, Cubs fans and the other political party are easy ones to point at.  But there are a lot more.  Maybe for you the people you like to label “other” or “them” are the Ferguson protestors.  But God loves them, and God is merciful to them for their failings.  Or maybe it’s the Ferguson police.  But God loves them and is merciful to them in their failings.  Maybe it’s a friend, family member, or neighbor who has wronged you.  God loves them, and is merciful to them in their failings.  Maybe it’s the Westboro Baptist Church, because we know they are wrong about their hate filled theology.  But God is still able to love them and be merciful to them.  Or maybe it’s North Korea or Iran, the Pro-Choicers or the Anti-Abortionists, the liberals or the conservatives, the rich or the poor- God loves them, and is merciful to them in their failings.

Because remember what happened when God came to earth as a human being?  We humans got afraid and tortured and killed God.  And yet, God loved us and was merciful to us.  Instead of destruction, God gave us life.  And this is what God does.  And yes, it may offend our sense of justice but God’s justice is so much bigger and so much better than anything we come up with, and it’s all about God’s love and God’s mercy. 

Now, if this is sitting a little uncomfortably with you, let me make a guess.  You are not a perfect driver.  You are not a perfect person.  You have at times gone over the speed limit, jay walked, let someone down, neglected an obligation, or just been annoying because you were having a rough day and felt like it.  You have messed up.  You have been wrong.  And you know what?  God has been merciful to you.  Just like she was with Jonah, who ran away and did a half-hearted job with his prophetic duties, then pouted about it all.  God has been merciful with you over and over and over, and responded with more mercy than you deserve.

So friends, the question is the same for you as it is for Jonah- is it right for you to be angry?  At that driver, that sports team, that politician, that country, “those” people whoever “they” happen to be, when bad things don’t happen to them, and good things do instead?  Well, Jonah and God never directly answer the question in scripture, and I’m not going to put words in either of their mouths. 

But I do have a suggestion.  If you’re going to attempt to imitate someone from this scripture reading this morning, don’t imitate Jonah with his pouting, his anger, and his insistence on his own definition of justice.  I’d go with imitating God here- when that driver really gets to you, that politician has your blood boiling, or “those” people are driving you absolutely nuts, don’t respond with judgment.  Instead, show mercy.  Show love.  Forgive any faults you think you might see because you know you have received mercy upon mercy, love upon love, and forgiveness upon forgiveness.  So go and do likewise, and see what kind of transformation takes place in your life.  Amen.

 

The question that made them laugh

Scripture: Mark 1:4-11

Preached 01/11/2015

 

It was the question that made them laugh[i].  A group of Bible translators were trying to communicate the depth of God’s love to an African tribal community.  The verbs in this particular language all ended an I, a, or u, each letter slightly changing the meaning of the verb itself.  But, the translators noticed that they only ever heard the word for love-dv in their language- ending with an I or a, never with u.  They were curious, and went to some of the most influential leaders in the community to figure out why.   They asked them some questions.

“Could you dvi your wife?”  “Yes,” they answered, “that would mean that the wife had been loved, but the love was gone.”

 “Could you dva your wife?”  “Yes,” they responded, “that kind of love depends on the wife’s actions. She would be loved as long as she remained faithful and took good care of her husband.”

 “Could you dvu your wife?”  Everyone in the room laughed.  “Of course not!” they replied. “If you said that, you would have to keep loving your wife no matter what she did, even if she never got you water or never made you meals. Even if she committed adultery, you would have to just keep on loving her. No, we would never say dvu. It just doesn’t exist.”

The missionary sat quietly for a while, thinking about John 3:16- “For God so loved the world…”, and then he asked, “Could God dvu people?”  That was the question that made them cry.  There was complete silence for three or four minutes; then tears started to trickle down the weathered faces of the elderly men of the tribe. Finally they responded, “Do you know what this would mean? This would mean that God kept loving us over and over, even if we didn’t do anything to deserve it, even if we rejected it. God would be compelled to love us, no matter what.”

That one little vowel changed everything.  It took the meaning of love from “I love you because of how I feel about what you do,” to “I love you because of who I am, not because of anything you do.”

“And just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”  What had Jesus done to deserve God’s love, and God’s pleasure with him at that point?  Well, from the story we have in the rest of Mark,  nothing.  If you noticed, we started our scripture reading at the third verse of the whole book of Mark.  And those first three verses we skipped?  A preface.  No birth narrative, no childhood stories, nothing at all to indicate Jesus has been at all at work on God’s mission in the world.  If we’re going to go with the most likely scenario, Jesus has probably been at work on carpentry, with his earthly father Joseph.

And yet we have these words- beloved, well-pleased.  These words aren’t an ending point, the result of something Jesus has done.  Instead, they are a starting point, the place where his work on God’s mission begins.  These are the words that start everything- all his teaching, his preaching, his healing, his feeding, his miracles, his following, even his death and resurrection start here.  With God’s unearned, dvu, love.

Lest you think this is all about us feeling happy for Jesus, let me remind you that in your baptisms, you joined with Jesus in his.  You, too, received a declaration that you are God’s beloved child, and with you, God is well pleased.  Not because of who you are, not because of anything you have done to deserve it.  God simply loves you, no matter what, because that’s who God is and that’s what God does.  And I wonder- have you embraced God’s dvu love for you?

I know.  There are any number of reasons to reject this claim to unconditional, undeserved love.  Maybe you’ve done something you’re ashamed of, and think there is no way you could be loved because of it.  Maybe there’s some issue with your physical body you despise, and think everyone else, God included must as well.  Or maybe it’s something you didn’t do that you’ve regretted ever since, and you’re sure marks you as a bad person, definitely not one to be loved.

But none of that is true.  None of those are reasons that God wouldn’t love you.  Such a thing doesn’t exist.  There are no- I’m going to repeat that- absolutely no reasons that God will not love you.  You don’t have to earn it, you don’t have to deserve it or work for it or maintain it.  You just get it, you just have it, and you can’t get rid of it even if you want to, because God loves you no matter what.  Let that sink in for a moment.

God loves you.  Not, dvi, in the past, not dva, because you have done things for God, but God dvu’s you.  Loves you, unconditionally, because that is who God is and what God does.  Maybe it makes you laugh.  Maybe it makes you cry.  But it should blow your mind and overwhelm your spirit.  Being loved in this way gives us a new freedom- to love ourselves in this way, and to love others this way too.

As Presbyterians, we believe in the priesthood of all believers- and part of accepting that is accepting that we are all called by God for different forms of ministry. Some, like those we are about to ordain and install, are called to a particular form of ministry as ruling elders.  Others, who are ordained in their baptisms, are called to other forms of ministry. No fancy title, but no less important.  So you, the gathered ministers of Christ, know this. 

For Jesus, the revelation of God’s love was the beginning of his entire ministry- the healing, teaching, feeding, miracles and more.  And he only had a few short years to minister, yet we still talk about what he did two thousand years later.  What will embracing God’s love begin for you?  Freed from worry and judgment, enabled now to love others in the same way, what will you do?   You are God’s beloved, and with you God is well pleased.  God dvu’s you.  Go and minister.  May they still be talking about what you did two thousand years later too.  Amen.

 

           

 

 

 

---

[i] Source: "THE QUESTION THAT MADE THEM LAUGH" by Cathy Drobnick, published by New Tribes Mission on usa.ntm.org, January 3, 2013

Mundane Miracles

Scripture: Luke 2:22-40

Preached 12/28/2014

Take a deep breath.  Pat yourself on the back.  You made it.  The presents have been unwrapped; cookies eaten, and relatives and friends have gone home. However it happened, the celebration ended.  And now you’re sitting here in a church pew, as your life as you usually live it begins again.  Vacations too are ending, and the excitement of Christmas that built for weeks and even months has died down.  We’re slowing down again, like the little wind up toys in many stockings.  It’s time to get back to what we do every day, back to work or school, appointments and errands; back to normal.

This is just what Mary and Joseph are doing when our scripture reading begins. That night of miracles, the birth of God in the form of a little baby, the shepherds’ arrival and the angels’ songs, that’s all over.  Mary and Joseph are well into the mundane reality of life with a new baby.  Feeding the baby. Changing the baby.  Playing with the baby.  Hoping the baby sleeps.  And repeating that, over and over and over.  This little baby is indeed God incarnate, but he still come with all the mundane realities of infant care.  And now, Mary and Joseph are about to do more of the mundane stuff of life.  Mundane, but brave with a new baby, they are about to set out to- you ready for this exciting thing here- run an errand.

Luke takes pains to make clear that there is nothing special going on here.  The trip to the temple wasn’t a special celebratory one, it was just one to carry out the required cultural rituals that take place for mother and son eight days after birth.  Remembering of course that Jesus and his  parents were Jewish, they were just doing what any Jewish family would be doing on day eight.  And then on this trip that is supposed to be unremarkable, we meet Simeon and Anna.

They, too, are set up as normal, every day people.  They not rich.  They are not powerful.  People would encounter them every day and not have a second thought about them.  So here’s our set up- we have a family running an errand, and two older people who hang out at the temple a lot.  It’s not exactly thrilling, is it? It doesn’t exactly leave us expecting much.  It would be as if we were to open a Christmas card from a friend, expecting exciting news and highlights of their year, only to find an account of their recent trip to the grocery store.  This state of mind- this let down, this kind of lull, may well be the state we find ourselves in at this time of year.  The big excitement has passed,  and the mundane has returned.  Like with the Luke story, we aren’t prepared to expect much from the mundane reality of every day life.

However, there’s a character in our scripture passage we haven’t addressed yet, and this character steps in and shakes up everything, showing us the miraculous in the mundane.  Suddenly and unexpectedly, this story is changed from errand running to a story of God’s glory being revealed—and even Mary and Joseph are surprised.  The character who shakes everything up, in case you didn’t catch it in the reading, is the Holy Spirit.  Don’t feel bad if you missed it.  The Holy Spirit often escapes our recognition, both in scripture and in our lives.  In fact, throwback to seminary here, in my Christian Doctrine class, the section on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit was the section that got cut when the professor realized he had days in the schedule that were not possible to have class. 

There is something very subtle about the nature of the Holy Spirit- it slips past us, around our grasps, perhaps as intrinsic to its very nature as ephemeral. So this tricky character, this Holy Spirit enters and rests upon Simeon.  And the Spirit reveals to him the chance to see the messiah, and guides him to the temple.  Though we have no direct reference of the Holy Spirit in the verses that refer to Anna, we do have the description of her as a prophet, meaning literally, one who is gifted by the Holy Spirit to proclaim God’s word.  It might be a little subtle to our ears, but the Holy Spirit’s role is deeply woven throughout this scripture passage, just as the Holy Spirit is woven deeply in our lives.

However, just like you may have missed the Spirit’s role in this scripture passage, we can miss the Spirit’s role in our lives.  And if we let the Spirit slip past our notice entirely, we miss out on a lot.  We miss out on God’s active presence in our midst, and we limit God to only having acted in the past or only active in the very largest of miracles.  We miss what I see as one of the most amazing parts of God-- God is actively present with us here and everywhere; now and always.

As we sit here in church, our situation is not that different from the one scripturally described.  Yes, we are in a special place, in the middle of performing the rituals of a worship service, much like what Mary and Joseph were doing.  Though we are in a sacred place, we cannot deny the coexistence of the mundane.  Every single person here has, at least once during worship, mentally checked out and thought about something they need to do after they leave.  Admit it.  I do it too.  But you’re in worship.  You came here.  And I wonder- why?  Why did you leave your warm homes, take off comfortable pajamas, and make the journey to this place?  Did you hear the Spirit whispering in your ear, nudging you to come and worship the messiah?

And what did you, or do you, expect to find in this place?  Do you expect the ritual of worship to be mundane, something you trudge though, or did you come with expectations that the Holy Spirit would break through, whether in song or prayer, or sermon- hey a preacher can dream here- and give you a glimpse of the miraculous, right in the middle of your every day life?  Friends, our expectations matter here, because with eyes closed tight to the miraculous we may well miss it in front of our faces.

True, we may not have ecstatic prophecies take place before us, or angels sing miracles in our midsts.  But we still have every reason to expect the Divine, the miraculous, and the absolutely incredible. We can experience amazing gifts of God at any moment. As Christians, we believe in the Holy Spirit and its power to shake things up, so we may be wise to expect miracles at any mundane moment.  Or, at least to keep our eyes open, and when caught unaware as we often are, to accept and wonder at the miracles in our midst even if we didn’t expect them. 

A young man, in his early twenties decided to attend church with his new girlfriend. He hadn’t attended a church service in over a decade, and didn’t have much spiritual or religious connection in his life, and was really going just to spend some time with her.  Following the service he attended, there was a congregational meeting.  The girlfriend immediately began to regret her decision to ask him to attend this particular service.  The meeting was long, and quickly turned into a series of escalating arguments.  When it finally ended, she was apologetic.  This thing that was supposed to be a good experience for them to share turned into, in her eyes, the worst of the mundane.  No way was he ever going to return to church with her, right?

But he saw through different eyes.  He was thrilled.  This was what his spirituality had been missing—opportunities for discussion and disagreement, valuing of different voices, diversity in thought embraced.  The young man began regularly attending church, eventually joined, and is in a lay leadership position in his own church today.  What had seemed so mundane to the girlfriend had been an occasion for the Holy Spirit to connect to the young man, and for the girlfriend to reconnect to the miracle of a familiar happening.

Now that Christmas Eve and day are over, we can get back to our normal lives.  However, it is in our normal life experiences that the miraculous is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. It’s not just angels, prophets, miraculous births that show us the inbreaking of God.  God can and does use what we think of as mundane to surprise is with the miracles that surround us. As you go about your routines this week, be on the lookout for the Holy Spirit’s presence your midst.  The mundane may not be so mundane, and the miraculous may not be so far away.

                             

             

Praise Like Kittens

Scripture: Psalm 148

Preached 08/31/2014- Blessing of the Animals Sunday

What happens when kittens come to class?  That’s what one seminary professor wanted to find out.  Or, maybe she really just wanted an excuse to bring her two newly adopted kittens to work with her.  Whatever the reason, one day, seminary students were surprised to enter their usual classroom and find two adorable little balls of fur roaming around. So, to answer the question, what happened?

Pretty much exactly what could be expected. The kittens wandered about, up and down the aisles.  They jumped on tables, they rubbed against legs, they lounged in the sun and they chased after toys.  And classroom full of graduate students, future pastors of America and several other countries, 20-60 something year old adults, basically turned into little children. They cooed, they watched, they petted and played with the kittens. They also paid no attention to the professor, who had fired up a PowerPoint and moved to the front of the room.  She actually had to shout to get their attention.

“When God created animals, did God create kittens?” she called out.  A chorus of assents came forth- yes, sure, of course- God made kittens.  “So kittens are God’s creations, God’s creatures, and God calls them good and is pleased with them?”  Again, this was a softball question, the kind you jump on so you don’t have to answer the hard ones later, and again her question was met with a chorus of different versions of yes.  Then, she started reading the psalm that Grant just read for us. Remember, the psalm that called for everything and everyone in heaven and on earth to praise God? “Praise the Lord, animals, cattle, creeping things, and flying birds.”

“Are kittens included here?” the professor asked. The students started to realize that this series of questions was actually going somewhere a little harder.  The chorus of “yes’s” was a little slower this time.  “So these kittens,” the professor continued, “are supposed to praise God.  How do kittens praise God?”  Silence descended on the room, broken only by occasional purring and mewing by the two kittens.  The students pondered the question.  How do kittens praise God? 

It’s a tricky one, huh?  Much of what we associate with praising God is exclusively human activity, right?  We humans praise God in worship, like this morning.  We praise God through our prayers, our songs, and our responses to scripture.  We praise God through the money we put in the offering plates.  We praise God through taking care of God’s creation, through sharing fellowship, through thoughts and words and deeds.  We praise God through specific, conscious actions that are pretty far outside the reach of a kitten, or a dog or a rabbit or a cow for that matter. 

We don’t expect animals to come to the sanctuary each week.  They aren’t going to sing a hymn.  They can’t put money in the plate, they can’t form words of prayer, and it’s pretty doubtful that they even have the cognitive capacity to conceptualize the existence of a higher being, of God.  So how do kittens praise God? . . . And the silence descends here too!

As the silence grew longer in the seminary classroom, the students thought.  They avoided the gaze of the professor.  And finally, one bold student came up with an answer.  “They praise God by being themselves.  God created them.  God loves who they are, and God delights in them embracing that and fully being who God created them to be.  So, in giving God reason to delight in them, just by being the kittens they are, they praise God.”

It was a good answer.  The kind of answer I wish I could have come up with but can’t take credit for- this wasn’t even my seminary, let alone my class or my answer.  Kittens praise God by being who they were created to be.  By lounging in the sun.  By purring, by nuzzling, by playing.  By being fascinated by laser pointers, and digging into the carpet with their claws.  They praise God by embracing and living out their kitten-ness to the fullest sense.

Puts a different spin on praise, huh?  Not just for kittens, but for us too.  Everything I mentioned before- coming to the sanctuary, singing songs, praying prayers, returning money to God, all that stuff is still praise, and still good.  But what if kittens can teach us something?  What if they teach us that what we think of as worship isn’t all of it?  What if we, too, can worship God like kittens do?   
By simply being ourselves- the creatures God created us to be. 

I know this is a hard one for Presbyterians, but for us too, there are ways to praise God outside this sanctuary, and outside the weekly worship experience.  Our entire lives can praise God, if we let them reflect our created purpose.  We can play.  We can enjoy.  We can lounge and frolic and relish life, and just not think about any of our self-imposed “supposed to’s” for a while.  But to be fair, we don’t get off quite as easy as kittens do.  Lounging in the sun and playing around can be part of how we praise God in our everyday lives, but there is in fact more.  Because if we go back to Genesis, to our creation stories, we find that unlike other creatures we are given a purpose that is bigger than simply multiplying and filling the earth. 

We humans were given special abilities.  And we were given a special responsibility too.  We are to be the caretakers for the rest of creation.  So- those of you who garden, congratulations, you’re already praising God in your every day life.  Those of you who care for pets, you’re already doing this too.  Those of you who have helped out the people in need in Ferguson or anywhere else, you’re already praising God in your life outside the sanctuary.  Through recycling, through biking instead of driving, through feeding the birds or the ducks, through teaching our children about the wonders of nature or simply getting out there and reveling in it yourself, you are praising God.  Through your donations to the humane society, Feed My People and Isaiah 58, the bracelets you’ve made for Crisis Aid, you’ve praised God.

And I know each and every one of you has so many more examples you could give of ways you praise God outside this place- through sheer enjoyment, through being that care taker, that beloved care-taker that God created you to be.  You already know what to do, and you already know how to do it because it is your very essence.  The challenge here may be simply to revel in who you have been created to be.  Not to act, to think, to pray, to give out of a sense of guilt or compulsion, but out of joy at those things being part of who God created you to be.  To play, to rest, to enjoy fully, knowing that this too, praises God.

So when you leave this place, look at some kittens.  Some birds, some squirrels, dogs, or rabbits.  Watch them enjoy and revel in who they are.  And then do your best to do the same.  Be the creature you were created to be, and revel in it.  Find joy in it.  Find God in it.  Amen.

Get out of the boat!

Scripture: Matthew 14:22-23

Preached 08/10/2014

 

David was a pretty typical 9 year old.  He was spunky, adventurous, and maybe a little too brave and self-confident for his own good.  All of these wonderful yet slightly dangerous characteristics were amplified when he was around his uncle Joe, who was also adventurous and a little too brave for his own good.  And of course, there were Uncle Joe’s kids, full of energy, bravery, and self-confidence of their own.  When you got all of them together, it usually ended up looking something like those old cartoon scenes with the Tasmanian Devil- clouds of swirling and messy chaos ensued.  So, in the hopes of minimizing the impact of this chaos on their house, David’s parents had sent him out into the woods with his uncle and cousins.

While out hiking together, they came to some steep terrain, and found a sort of cave.  David was the first to rush inside.  He saw a hole in the top of the cave up above, and climbed up, figuring that it led directly to the ridge they were all headed to for a meal.  He was almost all the way to the top, about ten feet up and just about ready to stick his head out the top of the hole and see if he really was in the picnic ridge, when his foot slipped, and he began to fall.

You see the parallel already, don’t you?  David and Peter have a whole lot in common.  Peter, not a nine year old, but certainly filled with a sense of adventure, with bravery, and perhaps a little too much confidence for his own good has also embarked on a risk filled adventure.  Peter is one of the first disciples that Jesus calls. He and his brother were invited by Jesus to join him on an adventure, and they unhesitatingly dropped everything to follow Jesus.  And since that time, you could say that Tasmanian devil style clouds of chaos have ensued.  Jesus has cured the sick and raised the dead.  He has taught radically new and different interpretations of the Torah.  He has made enemies, been kicked out of towns, and had invited his disciples to join him fully in this created chaos. 

However, when our scripture reading picks up this morning, Jesus is less like Uncle Joe, creating clouds of chaos, than he is like David’s parents, hoping for a little peace and quiet.  It’s pretty understandable that Jesus would need a rest.  He just gotten done teaching and feeding 5,000 people, which has to be incredibly tiring.  He doesn’t have the energy for the questions and chaos of the disciples, so he sends them out in the boat while he takes some quiet time to pray.   While it is a time of rest and rejuvenation for him, it is not so for the disciples.

As seems to happen a lot of the time when they are together, chaos ensues.  A strong storm comes up, and batters their boat with wind and waves.  They must have had a busy night keeping themselves and their boat safely afloat.  And then, in the early hours of the morning, with the storm still going on, the cloud of chaos grows.  Let’s take a quick break from the story here for a little perspective.  We, as modern readers may misunderstand the emotions of this situation a little bit.  We tend to confuse this story with the one where Jesus stills the storm.  In that one, the disciples are cowering afraid in the boat, thinking they’re about to die.  This is not that story. 

We actually don’t have anything in our text to indicate the disciples were afraid of this particular storm.  Many of them were experienced fishermen before Jesus called them, meaning that they were well used to dealing with these sudden and unexpected storms, that are actually quite common in that area.  But, if we stick to the actual text, we find that the disciples aren’t afraid until we get to the middle of this story- the part where they see a figure moving towards their boat on the water.  I absolutely love this part- a group of grown men freaking out together because they think they see a ghost.  It’s very human and very relatable. Honestly, which one of us can honestly say we’ve never been freaked out by a good ghost story, or strange sounds in our homes in the middle of the night or something we’ve seen out of the corner of our eye.  If we were the disciples, regardless of our actual belief in ghosts, we probably would have been doing the exact same thing. 

And Jesus certainly doesn’t fault the disciples for their fear.  He simply tells them he’s himself and not a ghost, and to take heart and not be afraid.  And Peter, perhaps more than all the others, really does take heart, and is emboldened enough to want this adventure he’s on to go to the next level.  Did you catch the order things happen here?  Peter asks Jesus to ask him to come out of the boat.  He’s just like the adventurous but slightly unsure child, asking their friend to dare them to do something they want to do anyway, but need a little extra push.  And Jesus responds as any good adventurous friend would respond, and tells Peter to come out of the boat and onto the water.

Somehow, over the years, Peter’s journey on the water has become an example of lack of faith, but I strongly disagree.  Peter does amazingly well here.  He’s the one who asks for the invitation to do more.  He’s the one who climbs out of the boat on his own power.  And he actually walks on water.  And he almost makes it all the way to Jesus.  If you remember, when he started to go under, scared by the wind and waves, Jesus doesn’t even have to move.  He just has to reach out his hand to catch him to pull him up.  Rather than being an example of faithlessness, Peter is a miracle of faith-full-ness.

Yes, Jesus does say he has little faith.  Or, if we’re being more true to the original Greek, Jesus calls him Little-Faith, kind of as a nick-name, the kind of teasing friends and family tend to do with each other.  But since when is a little faith a bad thing?  For Peter, a little faith is enough to drop everything and follow Jesus.  It is enough to participate in Jesus’ ministry of feeding, healing, and teaching.  It is enough to want to get out of the safety of the boat, to step into the chaotic waters, and to walk on them almost all the way to Jesus.  Little-Faith certainly goes a long way.

For David, a little faith in his own ability and an openness to adventure got him almost all the way out the top of the cave.  And yes, if you were wondering, his uncle was there to catch him when his little bit of climbing ability wasn’t enough.  And rather than scolding David for climbing up the hole, Uncle Joe simple gave him a hug and told him to make sure someone was there to catch him before he went on his next climb.  Uncle Joe didn’t want to discourage his curiosity, his sense of adventure, his bravery, or his self-confidence.  All these things that led to the slightly dangerous cave adventure were also wonderful.  And Jesus didn’t want to discourage Peter.  He had some faith, bravery, sense of adventure, self-confidence, and most importantly, confidence in Jesus.  Those things, especially the faith in Jesus, can and do lead to some risky situations.  Stepping into the unknown, stepping out of the boat, off of the floor, out of our seat in the pew, and into chaos and adventure- these things come with risk.  But they also come with the possibility of great rewards- our own version of the miraculous water walk.

In this congregation, we have plenty of opportunities to step out of the boat coming up.  Just this week, on Tuesday we have an opportunity to join in fellowship and bracelet making for Crisis Aid.  On Friday, we can join Living Waters for a movie night, either to help out or just to attend.  And on Saturday, we have our first community meal, again with the opportunity to come help serve, or simply come for a meal with each other and our neighbors.  All of these, of course have risk.  You could be like me, and not be the crafty type.  You could know that making bracelets does not come naturally for you, and be afraid of failure, and not come to the bracelet making time because of that.  Or you could step out of the boat, knowing that there will be a supportive group of people there to help you whenever your bracelet starts to head south.

With the movie, you could have to give up your usual Friday night plans.  If you decide, you could be working rather than relaxing.  Or you could be relaxing, but in a different way than usual.  And you may be afraid of what a new worshipping community- Living Waters- means for our congregation.  But you can step out of the boat and go anyway- serving, relaxing, enjoying new company, and remembering that there is certainly more than enough Jesus to go around.

For the meal, you could be afraid that this time and monetary investment on the congregation’s behalf won’t have any measurable return.  You could be nervous about meeting new people and having to strike up new conversations.  It could be like that first day of school when you’re worried about where you’re going to sit in the lunch room and who you’re going to sit with.  But you could step out of the boat and go anyway.  First, we know that as a congregation we are good at this food and fellowship thing.  And if we get one neighbor to attend, eat, and enjoy some conversation, we have certainly succeeded in meeting a need in our neighborhood.  And I promise, you won’t be alone as you eat and converse and perhaps feel a little nervous, but not only will there be supportive others from Calvary, you do in fact have the Holy Spirit upholding you as you participate in the sacred mission of feeding and eating with those around you that Jesus himself modeled.

So here’s my charge for all of us- get out of the boat.  Get out of the comfort, the safety, and the familiarity of what you’ve always done, and try something new- there is no shortage of opportunities this week.  Take your adventure in faith to the next level.  Be bold, be spunky, adventurous, and maybe even a little too brave for your own good.  Remember- Jesus will be there to catch you should you slip, and even a Little-Faith can accomplish miracles.  Amen.

Making the Journey

Scripture: Genesis 24, Selected Verses

 

Preached 07/13/2014

She spent the first two days hiding out in the nurse’s station, but you can only feign headaches for so long. The first bits of the light began to filter through the trees on that third morning, and she wondered how she had even ended up there in the first place.  She blamed her parents.  It was their idea.  They filled out the form, attached the check, and sent the envelope in.  And now she was the one stuck at this camp.  For some reason unknown to her, her parents had checked the box for the cycling camp.  And she wasn’t a cycler.  And this camp used the 20 mile rides as warm-ups and trainings for the longer rides the group was supposed to complete together by the end of camp. 

Since she had basically missed the first two days of camp, she didn’t really know any of the other girls in her cabin, and she was shy.  As she lay there silently fuming about her parents’ decision, the counselor’s alarm went off, and the group of girls made the journey to the bathrooms to get ready for the day.  Kayla, we’ll call her, took her time getting ready, in hopes that the group would just assume she wasn’t coming, and would leave without her.  But as she made her leisurely way back to the cabins, she realized that her hopes were not coming to fruition.  The group was indeed ready without her, but they were standing there, waiting for her, and she was stuck having to face them.  They had one simple question for her- will you come with us today? Please?

Kayla didn’t know what to do.  Part of her wanted to run and hide.  And another part of her wanted to jump on a bike and see what happened.  So she stood there, silently for a moment, as she contemplated her answer.  It was a big moment for Kayla.  It was the moment when she decided if she was open to the exertion, the challenge, the adventure, and all the unknown this bike journey offered her.

I wonder if Abraham’s servant felt much the same way.  Our reading picks up after Abraham asks the servant to set out and find a wife for Isaac, but I’ll fill you all in a little more than the introduction to the scripture reading does.  The servant doesn’t actually get a name in our text, but his traditional name is Eleazor, so I’m going to call him that.  Abraham is talking to Eleazor, who is not just any servant, but the servant in charge of Abraham’s house, and all the other servants.  And Abraham asks Eleazor to swear an oath to him that he- Eleazor- will go back to Abraham’s ancestral homeland, and there convince a woman to come back with him to be Isaac’s wife.  It’s no easy task Abraham asks Eleazor to swear he will complete.

And much like Kayla contemplating her long bike trip, Eleazor is naturally a little hesitant.  First, it’s important to know that not only is Eleazor Abraham’s most trusted servant, he is also the oldest servant.  And this is no easy journey Abraham is asking him to make.  It’s not 100% clear exactly where Abraham is at this point in the story, but the journey back to Nahor could easily be hundreds of miles.  This would be a desert journey, with the hot and cold of the desert weather, the lack of water, the lack of shade, and the lack of shelter and safety that went along with it.  Eleazor would be walking and on camels, and anyone who has ever ridden a camel knows that even that isn’t very easy.

And then there’s the actual getting a wife for Isaac part of the oath Abraham asks Eleazor to swear.  He’s supposed to go into this land, and convince some woman he doesn’t know, and who doesn’t know him, to come back with him across this same journey and marry some man she’s never met.  Eleazor is hesitant, and understandably so.  But, whether out of love of Abraham, trust in God, a sense of obligation or a sense of adventure, he swears the oath and sets out on the journey.

As we have already heard him relate in our scripture reading, his journey was successful.  He makes it back to Nahor, prays to God for help in knowing which woman is the right one, and right away his prayers are answered in Rebekah.  Again, as we heard she is made known to him through her act of extravagant kindness and generosity- offering water for his camels.  It might not sound like much, but a thirsty camel can drink up to 30 gallons of water, and remember, there were 10 camels with Eleazor.  It was no easy task to draw each bucket, and the hundreds of gallons of water drawn for this stranger and his camels had to have been exhausting.  But Rebekah draws for them anyway.  Then Eleazor gives Rebekah a nose ring and bracelets and prays aloud thanking God for making his journey successful.  Rebekah had to think he was kind of nuts at this point, as she runs away, back to her mother’s house.  Her brother Laban, hearing the story and seeing the jewelry, then heads out to meet this strange man his sister is talking about.

And so our scripture reading picks up and Eleazor tells the story and Laban listens and then the real invitation to a journey to the unknown is given.  Rebekah, who has only just met this man, is asked whether she wants to leave everything she has behind and travel with him, to be the wife of a man she has never met.  The scripture gives us no clues about her feeling.  She may have been excited, or she may have been terrified.  She may have been ready to leave her homeland at the first opportunity, or she may have wanted to cling there to her family for as long as possible.  The pause before her answer must have been a very pregnant one, as she decided whether or not she would risk the exertion, the danger, the excitement, and the possibility that this journey offered her.You know what happened next.  Rebekah responds to the invitation to go with this man with a simple two word answer.  “I will.”

Like Eleazor and Rebekah, Kayla decided to go on the journey her fellow campers and counselors invited her on as well.  It wasn’t easy.  In fact it was really, really hard.  Her legs ached, she had to walk her bike up some hills, and at one point she ran out of water and thought she was going to pass out.  But the journey was also wonderful.  She saw beautiful things.  She had great conversations when the group stopped to rest and talk.  And when she made it to the destination at the end of the day she was both exhilarated and exhausted.  But, she was glad she had gone, and she joined with the group every day after that, upping her miles, her adventure, and her personal growth.

We don’t hear much about Rebekah’s actual journey.  We just know she made it to Negeb, the destination, and that her adventure didn’t stop there.  She meets Isaac, marries him, and as we’re told, is loved by him.  It’s really just the start of another big adventure, another journey into the unknown, for Rebekah and for Isaac.

There is a purpose to all these stories of journeys into the unknown.  Because we, too, have been asked to take a journey into the unknown.  God has been asking us all this from the very beginning of our lives, but we can feel it acutely here this morning.  Jim shared with us about the New Beginnings report and decision to move in a new direction as a congregation.  Our leaders have discerned that God is asking us to leave the comfort and familiarity of our homeland- in this case, our regular seat in our regular pew- and to go somewhere and do something new.

We don’t necessarily have as far to go as Eleazor, Rebekah, or even Kayla, as what our leaders have discerned from your input and from the Spirit’s whispers and nudges is that we are called to begin our journey into the unknown right here, in this neighborhood.  All those people- biblical or not- found and gained incredible blessings on their journey.  Eleazor’s prayers were answered, and he was thrilled by the kindness and strength of an unknown and faithful woman.  Rebekah gained an adventure, and a loving husband.  And even Kayla was able to experience a newfound strength, as well as friendship and beauty, on her journey. 

So as God asks us to go on a journey of our own, it’s important to remember it’s not just about the hard stuff- the effort, the risk, and the unknown.  It’s about the possibility.  And the journey into this place around us, seeking to fill some of the needs we encounter, is full of possibility.  It’s full of the possibility of new relationships, of encountering people of incredible strength with powerful stories and great faith.  It’s full of the possibility of spiritual growth, of answered prayers.  It’s full of the possibility of beauty that we’ve never experienced.  And most importantly, it’s ripe with the possibility that we as a community will live into Christ’s calling to love and serve our neighbor, to join with him on the Way, the adventure as we seek to journey together towards God’s intentions being born again all around us.  Amen.