The first thing I want to talk with you about this morning is ‘the theology of church’. I promise not to wear you down to a point of theological lethargy.
We, at First Congregational, as a gathered, worshipping people, live in the Body of Christ. We are what we call, in theological terms, an “ecclesia”. Ecclesia is simply a fancy theological term for “church”. The journey of our ecclesia in the Congregational tradition didn’t arrive here at 405 Quail Street without some history behind it.
I know, it’s not Thanksgiving, but I have to make reference to the Puritans and the Pilgrims in this sermon in order to get where I’m going. It is to the Puritans and Pilgrims that our Congregational polity reaches back. Okay – another one of those theological terms; polity. Polity is another fancy way to say “a particular system or form of governance.” Polity, in the Congregational tradition, is that part of history that I most want to highlight.
If you’ll allow me a moment more on this - The Massachusetts Bay Colonists demanded independence in matters of internal polity. (I’m here to tell you I am very much aware that this congregation is completely infected with that same spirit of ‘demanding independence’ which began in 1620 with the arrival of the Mayflower at Plymouth.) “The Puritans [strongly] believed in the independence of each church congregation, and were opposed to any type of church hierarchy. Each congregation, they believed, should have the power to choose and dismiss their own ministers. Their “meeting houses” were starkly plain, with no pictures, statues, or stained glass windows (Ooops! Oh well, I’m glad we have stained glass). The Puritans did not celebrate Christmas (Ooops! Well, we’re not giving up our Christmas tradition), and they enjoyed 'strong water' and beer. (Now that sounds more like it!) (www.wikipedia.com)
The value of independence in polity (church governance) is one thing that has carried on through the centuries in Congregational Church ecclesiasticism. There is theological foundation to this value. It is a value that our forebears insisted on so that we may seek to follow more intimately the Way of Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit, free from the imposition of doctrine, dogma or process – freedom from a pope, bishop or other ecclesiastical authority or power to demand anything upon us. This value gives us opportunity for equality; equal voice, equal vote as members of the local church body and equal right to do church as we see best for the life of our congregation. However, with that freedom comes great responsibility in making sure our freedom does not become instead a power that excludes. What I mean is - the leadership in our church must ensure every participating member has the opportunity to exercise their rights.
Today’s parable reminded me of this value of Congregational independence from a hierarchy in the church. Jesus was very sharp in his use of images from the world of his day. He saw the harsh inequity that affected people. This parable reveals inequality of the world in order to affirm the equality of God’s Holy Realm. Our human expectation is that everyone should receive their just desserts. But Jesus’ parable indicates something different in the Kingdom of Heaven. The love of God does not discriminate in the finality of life. Jesus was not asking his disciples – or us – to hear and understand this parable in terms of this world. He was asking for the listener to look at the structure of this earthly life, because this life is what we understand, and project it onto the realm of heaven. He was asking that we know the Kingdom of Heaven is nothing like this life.
The core of this parable lies in verse 15 where the landowner (who would be God in heaven) says to the people who are grumbling that those who worked many hours less would be paid the same wage as they for working many hours. “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?”
In our congregational, free-church tradition, our worship time is a reflection and preparation for that which is the realm of God in heaven. In this room, after I say, “Let us worship God!”, we step away from the structures of this world and feebly attempt to model what we hope to find in God’s Heavenly Realm.
For instance, Stanton Montigue has been a part of this community of faith for some 60 years. (And many others here today have been members for decades.) God bless you! Stanton told me about some of his work over those years; the joys and the challenges. It was clearly hard, hard work for Stanton to do what he did for the church over his lifetime. There are many others in this congregation who have come only recently – maybe even just this morning – who are seeking and want to journey with us. Would any of us begin to presume that Stanton will have a bigger room in that mansion in the sky than the one who walked through the door of the church this morning? God might respond, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?”
This is the theological basis for our independent, congregational spirit. Pastor John Robinson, whose famous quote, “There is yet more truth and light to be shed from God’s Holy Word”, (we just sang a hymn with that quote) – Robinson thought the Church of England was becoming too much like the Roman Catholic Church. (Some would say the United Church of Christ has become in some areas of governance too much like a hierarchy. Although that can only happen in attitude and perception since our by-laws do not allow for such a thing. Our conference ministers have no hierarchical control over our way of being or doing church.) The hierarchy of old insisted that those seeking to be admitted to membership must agree with certain dogma and administer themselves in a way prescribed by the hierarchy. Unfortunately, the Congregationalists ended up imposing on themselves some of what they sought to escape. Again, over time, the value of each member’s independence to be guided by the Holy Spirit and each congregation to structure itself as it sees fit stood firm – and I expect will stand firm in this church.
Granted, independence does not mean cloistering ourselves off from the rest of our brothers and sisters in Christ. It means we are free to be led by the Holy Spirit to “do church” as our membership deems best for the life of our congregation. First Congregational may decide to worship one way – and we like our way – while Clinton Heights Congregational may decide to worship another way. Because we think our way is the best way, should we try to impose our way on Clinton Heights? I think not!
Now I’m going to talk about something ‘deadly’ – pun intended - deadly, but relevant. You know, you can’t think about heaven – as with this parable – without thinking about death; death and heaven come as a package deal. Conversation about death, ironically, is kind of like conversation about sex: everyone gets squeamish when we talk about it. A strange thing, I think. Strange because everybody dies and everybody has a libido. I’ll lay off the sex talk today, but I have to say a word about death.
My role with hospice is to visit people who are preparing for the end of life. Maybe we would prefer not, but there is great equality in the dying experience. I visit people who are very wealthy. They have big homes, nice cars, expensive jewelry and so on. And, I visit people who live in very small apartments, live on social security or other public assistance and can barely afford to feed themselves. In the final hour, none of those material things matter and it doesn’t matter what either person did to attain what they have or don’t have. What matters is that God’s heavenly grace and love is like a vineyard where the last will be first and the first will be last.
Do you want someone beside Jesus to pontificate to you what you must believe, do, say or be in order to get into heaven? In order to stop that possibility, we must hold onto our value of Congregational tradition.
I’ll close by telling you - and some of you have already learned this about me - that I tend to be a very direct kind of person. I value directness as a person, and I value it in my faith community as well. I think we can be direct and talk about things we wouldn’t otherwise talk about when we face our fears and find the courage to say what we need to say. Being direct also means being able to listen without feeling threatened by the other. And, we can’t run away or leave in angst when we don’t get our way.
In a free-church, independent, Congregational tradition, this kind of speaking and listening is absolutely imperative to the health of the community. This kind of directness, I believe, allows for equality in the here and now while we wait in love, faith, joy and unity for the life to come.
Amen.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Forgiveness: How much does it cost?
German theologian, Geiko Muller-Fahrenholtz, wrote a book titled “The Art of Forgiveness.” I highly recommend it for a deeper understanding of the meaning and impact of forgiveness.
In the opening pages of the book, Fahrenholtz tells a story by Simon Wiesenthal, who was “director of the Vienna-based Documentation Centre for Jews persecuted by the Nazi regime.”
“[The story] is set in the concentration camp of Lemberg, where Wiesenthal himself spent some years. One day the narrator is called to the bed of a 21-year-old member of the SS who is about to die and wishes to confess his murderous acts not to a priest, but to a Jew. Wiesenthal makes it quite clear that the confession of this young German is sincere. …the narrator listens to the confession but leaves the room without speaking a word of absolution. The narrator then talks to his comrades in the camp about this incident --- Should he have forgiven?” What would it have cost him to give the soldier forgiveness? (Introduction, p. ix and x)
This is one of those stories that will shake you at the core. This story gnawed at me as I read the rest of the book. It’s impossible to imagine what the Jew was feeling; perhaps, as Fahrenholtz suggests, outrage, disgust, emptiness - or maybe he was feeling compassion, humility, power even. Obviously, the German was feeling – GUILT – maybe concern for his mortal soul!
Guilt is the driving force in any situation where a wrong has been committed. I’m talking about the “feeling” of guilt, but I’m also talking about the acknowledgement of guilt by all parties involved; the acknowledgement that there was a wrong committed, there was a perpetrator and there was a victim. The guilt of the perpetrator may eventually push to resolution or healing through an act of forgiveness.
Granted, I am very aware that the historical, patriarchal status of the institutional church has used and abused guilt to its advantage – sometimes, often-times in a spiritually abusive kind of way. For this, the institutional church should ask for forgiveness for misuse of power and authority.
I have come to forgive the institutional church for the spiritual abuse I have endured even when the institution as a whole continues to perpetrate spiritual violence against gays and lesbians. As an openly gay man, I have been a victim of the church’s exclusionary dogma. I choose to no longer be a victim. The forgiving grace of God comes through churches like this one because you choose to be different at the risk of exclusion yourselves. This is where justice is done. This is living the way of Jesus.
Consider this – When an act which harms a person or people is in process, who has the power? Obviously, the person, or people committing the violation has the power in the moment of violation. Maybe the victim has some control to stop the violation at a certain juncture, but the perpetrator has already claimed enough power to perpetrate a harmful act.
Now this - Following the violation, after enough distance in time, who then has the power? It should be the victim who has the power. The victim has the power to remain isolated in the pain and hurt of the wound. Unfortunately, this yields power back to the perpetrator. Or the victim can claim the power they have and choose to heal through a model of forgiveness. Fahrenholtz says, “[Forgiveness is] much more than a word or a gesture, forgiveness is a genuine process of encounter, of healing, of [the]releasing of new options for the future.” (p. 5)
Indeed, forgiveness is a process and an encounter. It is a DIFFICULT process when it is taken seriously. This is surely why Peter went to Jesus and asked him for advice on forgiveness. Peter just happened to have a suggestion – which he thought was very generous. “Jesus,” he asked, “Shall I forgive even seven times if I am wronged?” Jesus blew that out of the air and said, “No. Not seven times – but seventy times seven times!”
There is a lot of theological hypothesizing about Jesus and his ministry, but it is absolutely clear in all of the Gospels and into the Epistles that we, as disciples of Christ, are REQUIRED to figure out a way to get beyond our stubborn, heels dug in, vengeful, blood pressure up, fightin’ mad, resentment laden personas and live up to our obligation to seek forgiveness and to forgive as God in Christ has forgiven us.
Every single one of us in this room has at some point in our life done something that we needed forgiveness for, or we have had something done to us that we need to offer forgiveness for. Somehow the cost of forgiveness has become very cheap in our society. No doubt it’s because “I’m sorry” rolls off our tongue without a thought. We then assume forgiveness is granted.
For instance - We’re in a hurry, so we walk in front of someone, we say “pardon me” and keep on going. We’re speeding up Alt. Route 7, see a line of cars waiting to get onto the Northway, quickly cut in front of someone to break in line – waving back for a little “I’m sorry” --- all done with the assumption we’ll be forgiven. When forgiveness is at a discount price, it’s not nearly as much a prized possession.
If people assume forgiveness, an inappropriate act comes much easier. What I’m saying here is forgiveness should be very costly. It should cost about two thousand pounds of sincere regret to begin with. It should cost, oh at least three thousand pounds of willingness to face the person who was wronged and verbalization of some humble words of apology. When we cheapen forgiveness, we are vulnerable to supplement it with revenge. The logical person knows however, that revenge does nothing but create more hurt, pain and violation for all parties involved.
As people who embrace a loving, forgiving God in our spiritual life, is it acceptable to deny the path to forgiveness within our own lives – within our own relationships? It would be unethical in our spiritual practice to do so.
Did you know there is a day designated every year as “Global Forgiveness Day”? Of course it’s probably not a good idea to save up all of our issues around forgiveness for that one day each year! Forgiveness day is highlighted so we don’t forget about the need to give AND receive forgiveness. The Christian Embassy of Christ’s Ambassadors, the organization that started the Global Forgiveness Day back in 1997, lists ten stepping stones to forgiveness.
1. Be open to the possibility of changing your beliefs about forgiveness.
Recognize that forgiveness is an act of strength, not weakness.
2. Be willing to let go of being a victim.
Choose to believe that holding on to grievances and unforgiving thoughts is choosing to suffer. There’s no value in self-pity.
3. Remind yourself that your anger and judgments can’t change the past or punish someone else, but they can hurt you.
The events of the past cannot hurt you now, but your thoughts about the past can cause you immense distress and pain. Recognize that any emotional pain you feel this moment is caused only by your own thoughts.
4. See the value in giving up, not some, but all of your judgments.
It is no coincidence that the happiest people, are those who choose not to judge and know the value of forgiveness.
5. Recognize that holding on to anger will not bring you what you truly want.
Ask yourself this question, “Does holding on to my justified anger really bring me peace of mind?” Anger and peace; judgment and happiness do not occur at the same time.
6. See that there is no value in punishing yourself.
Once you truly recognize that your angry, unhappy thoughts about the past are poisoning your life, you will embrace forgiveness and know the meaning of love.
7. Believe that forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past!
Accept your past, forgive your past, and embrace the present and future with hope! There is no law forcing you to remain a victim of the past.
8. Choose to be happy rather than right.
When we stop trying to control others and focus instead on our own thoughts, we give ourselves the gift of freedom and peace.
9. Believe that you have the power to choose the thoughts you put into your mind.
Perhaps the greatest gift we have been given is the power to choose loving thoughts rather than angry ones. Your mind is not a dumpster that will remain unaffected by the trash you put into it. Treat it like a garden and it will blossom.
10. Be willing to make peace of mind your only goal and believe that forgiveness is the key to happiness. Regardless of the chaos around us, we can know peace if that is our single goal. Choose not to let outside circumstances or people decide whether you will be happy. Anger, judgments and unforgiving thoughts make us suffer, and releasing them brings us joy. (http://www.globalforgivenessday.org/)
Forgiveness - Asking for it and giving it - Neither should be easy - But both are essential to our life of faith.
We are about to join our voices in saying the Lord’s Prayer. We say this prayer together as a community every Sunday, and every Sunday part of that prayer asks that God forgive us. We also say in that prayer that we forgive others. Surely all of us offer this prayer with sincerity of heart. Otherwise our worship is in vain.
I want to close with something that Mother Teresa said (taken from CECA pamphlet):
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people will cheat you. Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give the world the best you have anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
Amen.
In the opening pages of the book, Fahrenholtz tells a story by Simon Wiesenthal, who was “director of the Vienna-based Documentation Centre for Jews persecuted by the Nazi regime.”
“[The story] is set in the concentration camp of Lemberg, where Wiesenthal himself spent some years. One day the narrator is called to the bed of a 21-year-old member of the SS who is about to die and wishes to confess his murderous acts not to a priest, but to a Jew. Wiesenthal makes it quite clear that the confession of this young German is sincere. …the narrator listens to the confession but leaves the room without speaking a word of absolution. The narrator then talks to his comrades in the camp about this incident --- Should he have forgiven?” What would it have cost him to give the soldier forgiveness? (Introduction, p. ix and x)
This is one of those stories that will shake you at the core. This story gnawed at me as I read the rest of the book. It’s impossible to imagine what the Jew was feeling; perhaps, as Fahrenholtz suggests, outrage, disgust, emptiness - or maybe he was feeling compassion, humility, power even. Obviously, the German was feeling – GUILT – maybe concern for his mortal soul!
Guilt is the driving force in any situation where a wrong has been committed. I’m talking about the “feeling” of guilt, but I’m also talking about the acknowledgement of guilt by all parties involved; the acknowledgement that there was a wrong committed, there was a perpetrator and there was a victim. The guilt of the perpetrator may eventually push to resolution or healing through an act of forgiveness.
Granted, I am very aware that the historical, patriarchal status of the institutional church has used and abused guilt to its advantage – sometimes, often-times in a spiritually abusive kind of way. For this, the institutional church should ask for forgiveness for misuse of power and authority.
I have come to forgive the institutional church for the spiritual abuse I have endured even when the institution as a whole continues to perpetrate spiritual violence against gays and lesbians. As an openly gay man, I have been a victim of the church’s exclusionary dogma. I choose to no longer be a victim. The forgiving grace of God comes through churches like this one because you choose to be different at the risk of exclusion yourselves. This is where justice is done. This is living the way of Jesus.
Consider this – When an act which harms a person or people is in process, who has the power? Obviously, the person, or people committing the violation has the power in the moment of violation. Maybe the victim has some control to stop the violation at a certain juncture, but the perpetrator has already claimed enough power to perpetrate a harmful act.
Now this - Following the violation, after enough distance in time, who then has the power? It should be the victim who has the power. The victim has the power to remain isolated in the pain and hurt of the wound. Unfortunately, this yields power back to the perpetrator. Or the victim can claim the power they have and choose to heal through a model of forgiveness. Fahrenholtz says, “[Forgiveness is] much more than a word or a gesture, forgiveness is a genuine process of encounter, of healing, of [the]releasing of new options for the future.” (p. 5)
Indeed, forgiveness is a process and an encounter. It is a DIFFICULT process when it is taken seriously. This is surely why Peter went to Jesus and asked him for advice on forgiveness. Peter just happened to have a suggestion – which he thought was very generous. “Jesus,” he asked, “Shall I forgive even seven times if I am wronged?” Jesus blew that out of the air and said, “No. Not seven times – but seventy times seven times!”
There is a lot of theological hypothesizing about Jesus and his ministry, but it is absolutely clear in all of the Gospels and into the Epistles that we, as disciples of Christ, are REQUIRED to figure out a way to get beyond our stubborn, heels dug in, vengeful, blood pressure up, fightin’ mad, resentment laden personas and live up to our obligation to seek forgiveness and to forgive as God in Christ has forgiven us.
Every single one of us in this room has at some point in our life done something that we needed forgiveness for, or we have had something done to us that we need to offer forgiveness for. Somehow the cost of forgiveness has become very cheap in our society. No doubt it’s because “I’m sorry” rolls off our tongue without a thought. We then assume forgiveness is granted.
For instance - We’re in a hurry, so we walk in front of someone, we say “pardon me” and keep on going. We’re speeding up Alt. Route 7, see a line of cars waiting to get onto the Northway, quickly cut in front of someone to break in line – waving back for a little “I’m sorry” --- all done with the assumption we’ll be forgiven. When forgiveness is at a discount price, it’s not nearly as much a prized possession.
If people assume forgiveness, an inappropriate act comes much easier. What I’m saying here is forgiveness should be very costly. It should cost about two thousand pounds of sincere regret to begin with. It should cost, oh at least three thousand pounds of willingness to face the person who was wronged and verbalization of some humble words of apology. When we cheapen forgiveness, we are vulnerable to supplement it with revenge. The logical person knows however, that revenge does nothing but create more hurt, pain and violation for all parties involved.
As people who embrace a loving, forgiving God in our spiritual life, is it acceptable to deny the path to forgiveness within our own lives – within our own relationships? It would be unethical in our spiritual practice to do so.
Did you know there is a day designated every year as “Global Forgiveness Day”? Of course it’s probably not a good idea to save up all of our issues around forgiveness for that one day each year! Forgiveness day is highlighted so we don’t forget about the need to give AND receive forgiveness. The Christian Embassy of Christ’s Ambassadors, the organization that started the Global Forgiveness Day back in 1997, lists ten stepping stones to forgiveness.
1. Be open to the possibility of changing your beliefs about forgiveness.
Recognize that forgiveness is an act of strength, not weakness.
2. Be willing to let go of being a victim.
Choose to believe that holding on to grievances and unforgiving thoughts is choosing to suffer. There’s no value in self-pity.
3. Remind yourself that your anger and judgments can’t change the past or punish someone else, but they can hurt you.
The events of the past cannot hurt you now, but your thoughts about the past can cause you immense distress and pain. Recognize that any emotional pain you feel this moment is caused only by your own thoughts.
4. See the value in giving up, not some, but all of your judgments.
It is no coincidence that the happiest people, are those who choose not to judge and know the value of forgiveness.
5. Recognize that holding on to anger will not bring you what you truly want.
Ask yourself this question, “Does holding on to my justified anger really bring me peace of mind?” Anger and peace; judgment and happiness do not occur at the same time.
6. See that there is no value in punishing yourself.
Once you truly recognize that your angry, unhappy thoughts about the past are poisoning your life, you will embrace forgiveness and know the meaning of love.
7. Believe that forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past!
Accept your past, forgive your past, and embrace the present and future with hope! There is no law forcing you to remain a victim of the past.
8. Choose to be happy rather than right.
When we stop trying to control others and focus instead on our own thoughts, we give ourselves the gift of freedom and peace.
9. Believe that you have the power to choose the thoughts you put into your mind.
Perhaps the greatest gift we have been given is the power to choose loving thoughts rather than angry ones. Your mind is not a dumpster that will remain unaffected by the trash you put into it. Treat it like a garden and it will blossom.
10. Be willing to make peace of mind your only goal and believe that forgiveness is the key to happiness. Regardless of the chaos around us, we can know peace if that is our single goal. Choose not to let outside circumstances or people decide whether you will be happy. Anger, judgments and unforgiving thoughts make us suffer, and releasing them brings us joy. (http://www.globalforgivenessday.org/)
Forgiveness - Asking for it and giving it - Neither should be easy - But both are essential to our life of faith.
We are about to join our voices in saying the Lord’s Prayer. We say this prayer together as a community every Sunday, and every Sunday part of that prayer asks that God forgive us. We also say in that prayer that we forgive others. Surely all of us offer this prayer with sincerity of heart. Otherwise our worship is in vain.
I want to close with something that Mother Teresa said (taken from CECA pamphlet):
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people will cheat you. Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give the world the best you have anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
Amen.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
The Law of Love
There’s power in the word “love”. Because we all have the ability to give and receive love, some use it, some abuse it and some refuse it. Love is much more than a word to be tossed around at will. If God is love, and we are created in the image of God, then love is the core of our being. That core transcends any language we have to describe love. But we must at least try to find language to describe something so powerful.
Love could be described as a “feeling”, for sure. Love is also expressive, and in the human expression of love, we have complete autonomy in who, when, where and how we show and share our love. We can be as giving or as greedy as we like with the sharing of love.
Love in our private or familial life is different than love in our spiritual or faith community life, however. Private or personal love is the sense of a strong affection, devotion, bond, commitment, support and sacrifice. Generally speaking, this personal love is what draws us into a bonding relationship with another person. We share our lives with people we feel drawn to, people we fall in love with or are attached to through familial connections created by birth or by choice. Entering into this bond of love with all its risks and challenges is to use love as the gift it is. This is to share the greatest part of who we are with another; it is a gift from God that flows through us unto another.
I am not naïve however. I’ve lived life long enough and provided counseling to enough people that I understand the abuses that can happen in the name of love. Simply said, it is not love when one’s sense of self is diminished as a result of some form of abuse from another. Abusers typically feel unloved, and as a result begin to rob people around them of their sense of self; usually the people closest to them.
Certainly we have an obligation as a community of faith to be available to help people who find themselves in abusive relationships. This “being available to help” is only one example of living out love in the community of Christ. As followers of the way of Jesus, we cannot cocoon ourselves in our own private love. We have been commanded by the Lord of Love to step out of the darkness of self-concern and into the light of community-concern. This light that we then stand in is the light of Christ.
This kind of love offered as a community of faith is given to people we may not even know. This kind of love is our living out the love of God as commanded by Christ.
Do you remember who it was that asked Jesus the question, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” It was a lawyer. It was someone who knew very well the laws that were written down and to be followed by the whole community, someone who was sitting on the edge of his seat waiting for Jesus to speak an answer that violated “the written law”. Of course you know how Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40) Humbly resting his case, the lawyer had no more questions. Jesus’ answer gave the lawyer nothing to argue with.
Jesus was not making a suggestion that we love God and neighbor. He was saying this is the law God has written upon our hearts. He was saying all laws outside of that, everything in the written law, secular and religious, must stand up to the primacy of the law of love.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he reminded them of the Lord’s law of love. He approached the matter from a debtor’s perspective. “Owe no one anything, EXCEPT to love one another.” In other words, love is a debt that will never be paid off.” It’s unfortunate in our society the understanding of debt usually relates to credit cards, car loans, mortgages and the like. I long for the day when people worry about paying their debt of love as much as they worry about paying their high interest, over extended credit card and loan payments.
I think we all are very vulnerable to breaking the law of love in a materialistic society. I can guarantee you that you will not find happiness of spirit or guidance on the law of love at Crossgates Mall. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy going to Crossgates every once in a while, but my credit card purchasing power has never helped me live out the law of love. It’s very easy as a consumer to be consumed by the drive and desires of the material world. What do you think?
Do you think the law of love is best expressed and fulfilled in a shopping mall or in a community of faith where we search for answers to the questions of life and death? Consider - If you had a crisis in your life, do you think your mortgage company would give one iota of concern? Sure, maybe they’d cut you some slack, but in the end, they’d be looking at the secular laws regarding repossession, forget about the law of love!
I’ve spent the last five years as a chaplain with Community Hospice. Needless to say, most people aren’t in any hurry to see me coming for a visit. (Unfortunately, I’m often viewed as either the Grim Reaper or the Angel of Death.) However, most people who come into the hospice program are glad that I do come to visit. I do my best to ground my visits with hospice patients in Jesus’ command to love – I do my best to follow the law of love. It’s not an easy job talking with people about end of life spiritual issues, but it’s a very rewarding job. I’m quite certain my faith has strengthened and I have grown in my understanding of the human condition in my hospice work.
I want to publicly say that I promise you I will do my very best to live in faith with you, guide you, support you and sustain this community of faith through the law of love as long as I’m your pastor. I do want to be clear however, that love does not always mean riding on cloud nine of happiness and cheer. Living the law of love means to speak the truth in love, act with compassion in love and seek justice for the oppressed in love. This can only be done when there is passion for the Spirit of God and thankfulness to God about what we’re doing in our community of faith. Quite honestly, sometimes living the law of love is a difficult job, but somebody’s got to do it!
I will be preaching on forgiveness another time, but I feel compelled to say today that it is impossible to live out the law of love without an attitude of forgiveness. It’s through forgiveness that our community of faith will stay united in the law of love, even when we have problems.
A quick story – There was a minister preaching on forgiving enemies. After the sermon, he asked how many in the congregation were ready to forgive their enemies. About half held up their hands. Not satisfied, the minister went on preaching for another twenty minutes and then repeated his question. About three-quarters of the congregation raised their hands. Still unsatisfied, he lectured for fifteen more minutes and repeated his question. All raised their hands except one elderly gentleman in the rear.
"Mr. Jones, are you not willing to forgive your enemies?" "I don't have any." "Mr. Jones, that is very unusual. How old are you?" "One hundred and one". "Mr. Jones, please come down in front and tell the congregation how someone can live to be one hundred and one and not have an enemy in the world." The old man teetered down the aisle, slowly turned to face the congregation, smiled and said, "I outlived every one of them!"
Now, let me cut to the chase. It’s much better to have confidence that we are doing our very best to abide by the law of love than to reach the end of life with uncertainty. I’m very hopeful that all of us here today are living in a place of confidence regarding the law of love.
I’ll end by juxtaposing from Paul and the Gospel of Matthew, “…you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. Salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers: the night is far gone, the day is near.” “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Love could be described as a “feeling”, for sure. Love is also expressive, and in the human expression of love, we have complete autonomy in who, when, where and how we show and share our love. We can be as giving or as greedy as we like with the sharing of love.
Love in our private or familial life is different than love in our spiritual or faith community life, however. Private or personal love is the sense of a strong affection, devotion, bond, commitment, support and sacrifice. Generally speaking, this personal love is what draws us into a bonding relationship with another person. We share our lives with people we feel drawn to, people we fall in love with or are attached to through familial connections created by birth or by choice. Entering into this bond of love with all its risks and challenges is to use love as the gift it is. This is to share the greatest part of who we are with another; it is a gift from God that flows through us unto another.
I am not naïve however. I’ve lived life long enough and provided counseling to enough people that I understand the abuses that can happen in the name of love. Simply said, it is not love when one’s sense of self is diminished as a result of some form of abuse from another. Abusers typically feel unloved, and as a result begin to rob people around them of their sense of self; usually the people closest to them.
Certainly we have an obligation as a community of faith to be available to help people who find themselves in abusive relationships. This “being available to help” is only one example of living out love in the community of Christ. As followers of the way of Jesus, we cannot cocoon ourselves in our own private love. We have been commanded by the Lord of Love to step out of the darkness of self-concern and into the light of community-concern. This light that we then stand in is the light of Christ.
This kind of love offered as a community of faith is given to people we may not even know. This kind of love is our living out the love of God as commanded by Christ.
Do you remember who it was that asked Jesus the question, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” It was a lawyer. It was someone who knew very well the laws that were written down and to be followed by the whole community, someone who was sitting on the edge of his seat waiting for Jesus to speak an answer that violated “the written law”. Of course you know how Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40) Humbly resting his case, the lawyer had no more questions. Jesus’ answer gave the lawyer nothing to argue with.
Jesus was not making a suggestion that we love God and neighbor. He was saying this is the law God has written upon our hearts. He was saying all laws outside of that, everything in the written law, secular and religious, must stand up to the primacy of the law of love.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he reminded them of the Lord’s law of love. He approached the matter from a debtor’s perspective. “Owe no one anything, EXCEPT to love one another.” In other words, love is a debt that will never be paid off.” It’s unfortunate in our society the understanding of debt usually relates to credit cards, car loans, mortgages and the like. I long for the day when people worry about paying their debt of love as much as they worry about paying their high interest, over extended credit card and loan payments.
I think we all are very vulnerable to breaking the law of love in a materialistic society. I can guarantee you that you will not find happiness of spirit or guidance on the law of love at Crossgates Mall. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy going to Crossgates every once in a while, but my credit card purchasing power has never helped me live out the law of love. It’s very easy as a consumer to be consumed by the drive and desires of the material world. What do you think?
Do you think the law of love is best expressed and fulfilled in a shopping mall or in a community of faith where we search for answers to the questions of life and death? Consider - If you had a crisis in your life, do you think your mortgage company would give one iota of concern? Sure, maybe they’d cut you some slack, but in the end, they’d be looking at the secular laws regarding repossession, forget about the law of love!
I’ve spent the last five years as a chaplain with Community Hospice. Needless to say, most people aren’t in any hurry to see me coming for a visit. (Unfortunately, I’m often viewed as either the Grim Reaper or the Angel of Death.) However, most people who come into the hospice program are glad that I do come to visit. I do my best to ground my visits with hospice patients in Jesus’ command to love – I do my best to follow the law of love. It’s not an easy job talking with people about end of life spiritual issues, but it’s a very rewarding job. I’m quite certain my faith has strengthened and I have grown in my understanding of the human condition in my hospice work.
I want to publicly say that I promise you I will do my very best to live in faith with you, guide you, support you and sustain this community of faith through the law of love as long as I’m your pastor. I do want to be clear however, that love does not always mean riding on cloud nine of happiness and cheer. Living the law of love means to speak the truth in love, act with compassion in love and seek justice for the oppressed in love. This can only be done when there is passion for the Spirit of God and thankfulness to God about what we’re doing in our community of faith. Quite honestly, sometimes living the law of love is a difficult job, but somebody’s got to do it!
I will be preaching on forgiveness another time, but I feel compelled to say today that it is impossible to live out the law of love without an attitude of forgiveness. It’s through forgiveness that our community of faith will stay united in the law of love, even when we have problems.
A quick story – There was a minister preaching on forgiving enemies. After the sermon, he asked how many in the congregation were ready to forgive their enemies. About half held up their hands. Not satisfied, the minister went on preaching for another twenty minutes and then repeated his question. About three-quarters of the congregation raised their hands. Still unsatisfied, he lectured for fifteen more minutes and repeated his question. All raised their hands except one elderly gentleman in the rear.
"Mr. Jones, are you not willing to forgive your enemies?" "I don't have any." "Mr. Jones, that is very unusual. How old are you?" "One hundred and one". "Mr. Jones, please come down in front and tell the congregation how someone can live to be one hundred and one and not have an enemy in the world." The old man teetered down the aisle, slowly turned to face the congregation, smiled and said, "I outlived every one of them!"
Now, let me cut to the chase. It’s much better to have confidence that we are doing our very best to abide by the law of love than to reach the end of life with uncertainty. I’m very hopeful that all of us here today are living in a place of confidence regarding the law of love.
I’ll end by juxtaposing from Paul and the Gospel of Matthew, “…you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. Salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers: the night is far gone, the day is near.” “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Barefoot on Holy Ground
Rev. Holly Huzar - an interfaith minster, serving as chaplain intern at First Congregational Church in Albany, delivered the following message to the congregation on Sunday, August 31, 2008
Good morning! My name is Holly Huzar, and I’m an Interfaith Minister. This morning I’d like to say a bit about Interfaith, and also how it connects with this week’s scripture readings.
People often ask, “What’s an Interfaith minister?” Interfaith ministers are folks who choose to study from a wide range of spiritual teachers, from Jesus to the Dalei Lama. They tend to work in places serving people from all kinds of faiths, like hospitals, jails and hospices. Interfaith Ministers suddenly become popular when people from two different religions need to get married.
Interfaith isn’t a religion with a structure - it’s more of a philosophy – an approach that honors all the different paths people take to connect with their spirituality. It’s celebrating the highest good in each faith path. It’s looking at all the different religions and beliefs, as different colored threads that weave together a wish for a greater good.
At the core, almost every faith path has a common base; their version of the “golden rule.” In today’s reading, Paul says: Let love be genuine, associate with one another, look beyond that which separates you from other people. Love the sacred spirit that resides in everyone, even your enemies. Jesus advised us to treat others as we’d like to be treated. And all religions say the same.
In Islam, it’s written, “Wish for others what you wish for yourself.” In Judaism, it’s “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.” The Sikhs say, “I am a stranger to no one and no one is a stranger to me.” And my favorite version of the Golden Rule is from one Native American tradition, “We are as much alive as we keep the earth alive.”
So it’s not a Christian thing; all these religions have the same basic jewel at the core. And truthfully, the Golden Rule isn’t even a religious thing. Some of the kindest people I know are Humanists, folks who believe it’s really up to humans, not a God, to take care of each other and the world.
One of the gifts I received from Interfaith studies was the philosophy of “Non-Duality.” Basically, this means that you and others are not really separate from each other, since we all have the same spirit at our core. And best of all, you and what you call God are not a “duo” – not two separate beings, but really the same.
That can be kind of mind-blowing, especially if you grew up with the image of God as an old man in the sky (looking a lot like Charlton Heston in the 10 Commandments movie). That seems what the old testament scriptures are all about. God is a powerful and vengeful guy. In fact, even the word “God” for me keeps bringing up that picture, so it helps me to use the word “Spirit” instead, when I think about an eternal loving life force.
So for your consideration: perhaps today’s reading about Moses and the burning bush is really about non-duality. It’s about a human being who hears that he is not separate from Spirit. This is a story about Moses waking up. Whether or not Moses is actually seeing a bush burn is not the point. He’s experiencing the burning away of his old notions, and he’s feeling the heat and light of a greater spirit.
That command Moses hears: “Take off your shoes and be barefoot on holy ground” What’s that about? Maybe it’s not so much, “Hey, take off those dirty shoes and show some reverence.”
Perhaps the message here is: Feel the sacred earth and the life that runs through it. Let there be no separation between you and the spirit of God, which runs through the earth. Let there be no separation between you and all things. Take off those shoes and feel Spirit in your whole being.
It’s a great command for all of us. What separates us from Spirit? What are your shoes – the things keep you from feeling the joy and connection of Spirit all the time? Is it daily stress? Is it busy-ness? Is it judgment of other people?
When we lower the barriers that separate us from the divine, when we take off those shoes, when we make time to be compassionate to ourselves and to the Christ light which lies in each person - then we experience Spirit all the time. We take off our shoes – that which separates us from the Divine.
Moses asks the mysterious voice in the burning bush, “What shall we call you? What’s your name?” People like to have names for everything, don’t they? The answer Moses gets sounds odd: “I am who am.” Modern bible translators must have felt that wasn’t grammatical, because they changed it to this: “I am who I am.” Go with the first version; it packs the stronger message: “I am who am.” “I am what is.” “I am all who are.” “I am you.” “I’m it.” And if you want to be really modern, Spirit is saying: “I’m all that!” And so it is.
I’d like to close with a beautiful reading from Gloria Karpinski who wrote a great book called Barefoot on Holy Ground:
“Take off your shoes, the place you stand is holy ground,” said God to Moses. It is now being said to you and me.
Let go of the past, let go of limitations and pretensions. Stand barefoot wherever you are and you will see that every space and every moment is sacred. You can no more separate the sacred from where you are sitting than you could separate the instrument from the music, or the moon from moonlight.
To walk in reverence and humility is to walk barefoot on holy ground. Your feet represent your understanding, your foundation and your groundedness.
There is no more sacred ground than where you are standing today, and there is no more significant face in evolution than the one you are looking into – whether it’s the one in the mirror, the one across the breakfast or conference table, or the one you pass in the street.
I now invite you to take off your shoes and walk with me barefoot on holy ground.”
Good morning! My name is Holly Huzar, and I’m an Interfaith Minister. This morning I’d like to say a bit about Interfaith, and also how it connects with this week’s scripture readings.
People often ask, “What’s an Interfaith minister?” Interfaith ministers are folks who choose to study from a wide range of spiritual teachers, from Jesus to the Dalei Lama. They tend to work in places serving people from all kinds of faiths, like hospitals, jails and hospices. Interfaith Ministers suddenly become popular when people from two different religions need to get married.
Interfaith isn’t a religion with a structure - it’s more of a philosophy – an approach that honors all the different paths people take to connect with their spirituality. It’s celebrating the highest good in each faith path. It’s looking at all the different religions and beliefs, as different colored threads that weave together a wish for a greater good.
At the core, almost every faith path has a common base; their version of the “golden rule.” In today’s reading, Paul says: Let love be genuine, associate with one another, look beyond that which separates you from other people. Love the sacred spirit that resides in everyone, even your enemies. Jesus advised us to treat others as we’d like to be treated. And all religions say the same.
In Islam, it’s written, “Wish for others what you wish for yourself.” In Judaism, it’s “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.” The Sikhs say, “I am a stranger to no one and no one is a stranger to me.” And my favorite version of the Golden Rule is from one Native American tradition, “We are as much alive as we keep the earth alive.”
So it’s not a Christian thing; all these religions have the same basic jewel at the core. And truthfully, the Golden Rule isn’t even a religious thing. Some of the kindest people I know are Humanists, folks who believe it’s really up to humans, not a God, to take care of each other and the world.
One of the gifts I received from Interfaith studies was the philosophy of “Non-Duality.” Basically, this means that you and others are not really separate from each other, since we all have the same spirit at our core. And best of all, you and what you call God are not a “duo” – not two separate beings, but really the same.
That can be kind of mind-blowing, especially if you grew up with the image of God as an old man in the sky (looking a lot like Charlton Heston in the 10 Commandments movie). That seems what the old testament scriptures are all about. God is a powerful and vengeful guy. In fact, even the word “God” for me keeps bringing up that picture, so it helps me to use the word “Spirit” instead, when I think about an eternal loving life force.
So for your consideration: perhaps today’s reading about Moses and the burning bush is really about non-duality. It’s about a human being who hears that he is not separate from Spirit. This is a story about Moses waking up. Whether or not Moses is actually seeing a bush burn is not the point. He’s experiencing the burning away of his old notions, and he’s feeling the heat and light of a greater spirit.
That command Moses hears: “Take off your shoes and be barefoot on holy ground” What’s that about? Maybe it’s not so much, “Hey, take off those dirty shoes and show some reverence.”
Perhaps the message here is: Feel the sacred earth and the life that runs through it. Let there be no separation between you and the spirit of God, which runs through the earth. Let there be no separation between you and all things. Take off those shoes and feel Spirit in your whole being.
It’s a great command for all of us. What separates us from Spirit? What are your shoes – the things keep you from feeling the joy and connection of Spirit all the time? Is it daily stress? Is it busy-ness? Is it judgment of other people?
When we lower the barriers that separate us from the divine, when we take off those shoes, when we make time to be compassionate to ourselves and to the Christ light which lies in each person - then we experience Spirit all the time. We take off our shoes – that which separates us from the Divine.
Moses asks the mysterious voice in the burning bush, “What shall we call you? What’s your name?” People like to have names for everything, don’t they? The answer Moses gets sounds odd: “I am who am.” Modern bible translators must have felt that wasn’t grammatical, because they changed it to this: “I am who I am.” Go with the first version; it packs the stronger message: “I am who am.” “I am what is.” “I am all who are.” “I am you.” “I’m it.” And if you want to be really modern, Spirit is saying: “I’m all that!” And so it is.
I’d like to close with a beautiful reading from Gloria Karpinski who wrote a great book called Barefoot on Holy Ground:
“Take off your shoes, the place you stand is holy ground,” said God to Moses. It is now being said to you and me.
Let go of the past, let go of limitations and pretensions. Stand barefoot wherever you are and you will see that every space and every moment is sacred. You can no more separate the sacred from where you are sitting than you could separate the instrument from the music, or the moon from moonlight.
To walk in reverence and humility is to walk barefoot on holy ground. Your feet represent your understanding, your foundation and your groundedness.
There is no more sacred ground than where you are standing today, and there is no more significant face in evolution than the one you are looking into – whether it’s the one in the mirror, the one across the breakfast or conference table, or the one you pass in the street.
I now invite you to take off your shoes and walk with me barefoot on holy ground.”
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Hammer, putty knife, cement fill, and a little muscle behind the hammer
…these are the things it takes to remove a swastika from one’s sidewalk.
I’m embarrassed it took me three days to do it. How many other people did it offend? Well, maybe the three days was a good enough time to build up more feelings of offense, giving me more striking power with the hammer.
Perry and I were standing outside Saturday morning when our tenants and neighbors came bouncing out of their apartment. They are a very happy go lucky young man and woman. We all exchanged pleasantries, as we always do. He opened the car door for her. She thanked him and sat down in the car. Just as he was about to swing the car door closed, I saw him look down and his mouth fall open as he said, “Oh my God.” I called over, “What is it.” “A swastika” he said.
Perry and I walked over. There it was, carved into the sidewalk. It looked like it had been there for a long time. I’ve lived in this apartment for nearly four years, I thought! Why hadn’t I noticed it before? Maybe if it said, “God hates fags” I would have noticed it. I say that, because this man who DID notice it happens to be Jewish.
Should I call the City of Albany and insist someone come over and remove the thing? Or, do I just go get my sledge hammer and beat the hell out of the sidewalk?
I wrote an email to Mayor Jennings today. It bounced back saying his email box was too full. I’m glad it did. It felt pretty good to go out and beat on a swastika, watching it disappear piece by piece. I stuck a little cement filler in the hole I made. Unfortunately, my neighbor, Perry and I will always be reminded of what was once under the filler.
I can’t help but wonder who and why someone would scratch such an awful symbol into the sidewalk. Do they walk by it with some kind of twisted pride? Or, do they walk by it with shame and embarrassment? I hope the later.
I’m thinking I may go out and paint a little rainbow over the cement when it dries. I like that symbol. I’m pretty sure God does too.
I’m embarrassed it took me three days to do it. How many other people did it offend? Well, maybe the three days was a good enough time to build up more feelings of offense, giving me more striking power with the hammer.
Perry and I were standing outside Saturday morning when our tenants and neighbors came bouncing out of their apartment. They are a very happy go lucky young man and woman. We all exchanged pleasantries, as we always do. He opened the car door for her. She thanked him and sat down in the car. Just as he was about to swing the car door closed, I saw him look down and his mouth fall open as he said, “Oh my God.” I called over, “What is it.” “A swastika” he said.
Perry and I walked over. There it was, carved into the sidewalk. It looked like it had been there for a long time. I’ve lived in this apartment for nearly four years, I thought! Why hadn’t I noticed it before? Maybe if it said, “God hates fags” I would have noticed it. I say that, because this man who DID notice it happens to be Jewish.
Should I call the City of Albany and insist someone come over and remove the thing? Or, do I just go get my sledge hammer and beat the hell out of the sidewalk?
I wrote an email to Mayor Jennings today. It bounced back saying his email box was too full. I’m glad it did. It felt pretty good to go out and beat on a swastika, watching it disappear piece by piece. I stuck a little cement filler in the hole I made. Unfortunately, my neighbor, Perry and I will always be reminded of what was once under the filler.
I can’t help but wonder who and why someone would scratch such an awful symbol into the sidewalk. Do they walk by it with some kind of twisted pride? Or, do they walk by it with shame and embarrassment? I hope the later.
I’m thinking I may go out and paint a little rainbow over the cement when it dries. I like that symbol. I’m pretty sure God does too.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
God of Mercy
Text: Matthew 15:21-28 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, 'Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.' But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, 'Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.' He answered, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' But she came and knelt before him, saying, 'Lord, help me.' He answered, 'It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.' She said, 'Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.' Then Jesus answered her, 'Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.' And her daughter was healed instantly.
_________________________________________________________
First of all – I have to acknowledge how much I don’t like this passage about Jesus’ ministry. As others have said, if this were the only thing I knew or heard about Jesus, without some kind of explanation, I wouldn’t want to hear much else about Jesus. He called a woman a “dog” for goodness sake! The Jesus we know and love is, indeed, a loving, merciful and compassionate Jesus. This is one of those passages we have to wrestle with and look at in its context. When we do, I think we can get beyond our sense of insult.
A few weeks ago, I preached about a compassionate God. I think today’s passage from Matthew reveals a merciful God. So, what’s the difference between “compassion” and “mercy”?
To repeat a little - Compassion involves empathy, of course; the feeling of someone else’s pain and suffering and then doing something to help alleviate that pain and suffering. Mercy is the same, but mercy involves power – power over another person or people. Someone in a position of power may or may not show mercy toward another. We might think about mercy in regard to a judge showing mercy toward someone. (I’ve been in court many times asking for mercy over traffic violations. Fortunately, I’ve been clean for two years! )
Since we’re church folk – we have to think about God’s mercy. God certainly has power over us. Some theologies have taken God’s power and judgment to the extreme of almost eliminating God’s mercy in favor of a very angry judge who doles out the worst punishment imaginable. How terrible it must be to live in a state of religious fear; in some cases, religious abuse. Yes, I think it is religious abuse to preach a vengeful God rather than a God of peace and love. I don’t understand why anyone would want to worship an angry and vengeful God. That’s not the kind of God who was present in Jesus.
Today’s story about the Canaanite woman and her sick daughter illuminates the extraordinary mercy of a powerful and loving God.
I think for us to look at this passage in its correct context, we have to hold in tension Jesus as human and Jesus as divine.
Some concentrate wholly on Jesus’ divinity. If we think of Jesus as only divine, we eliminate his understanding of what it is to be and live a human life.
I had someone call me the other day to report on the progress of a situation she and I were working on. “We have had divine intervention!” she said. Of course I didn’t really accept that we had divine intervention. No doubt God was in the mix of this situation we were working on, but the result was due to human effort.
On another occasion, I had someone who was having a difficult time in life say to me “I am waiting on a miracle!” I responded by quoting Barbara Brown Taylor, “Stop waiting for a miracle and instead participate in one.”
On the other hand, some focus completely on Jesus’ humanity.
Some just think of Jesus as this wonderful human being. Well, yes. He was a wonderful human being. But, without some sense that he embodied God’s greatest essence, why would we come to worship him? Part of the challenge in this regard is our tendency to focus heavily on the material self. Why is it that we will go see a physician when something is wrong with our body, yet we’re so willing to ignore anything that may be wrong with our spirit? Consider: the body is temporal while the spirit is eternal. (Hmm, makes one think about the importance of keeping the spirit healthy.)
Today’s passage is heavily weighted toward the human side of Jesus.
I read several commentaries to see what others have thought about this passage. Some tried to make sense of it by saying, ‘well, we simply have to ignore the part about Jesus calling the woman a dog and realize that Jesus did eventually respond mercifully.’ Or, ‘Well, it reveals that some are in God’s favor and some are not.’ ‘It takes great faith to be in God’s favor,’ they would say. (That would be a very Calvinist response.) I don’t agree with either of those analyses.
I think this passage reveals the internal tension between Jesus humanity and his divinity. Jesus, in his humanity, was exposed to all things human just like anyone else:
In his religion – He was Jewish. Jewish people worshipped the God of Abraham and Sara. There was a divide and an exclusionary theology – not a lot different than today.
In his culture – Jews had their way of life. Canaanites had their way of life. And the two shall not blend. There was a divide and an exclusionary lifestyle – not a lot different than today.
In his personal life, he was influenced by friends/relatives – Have you ever heard that song, “Children will listen?” Careful what you say, children will listen, it says. Growing up, Jesus was like anyone else, exposed to table talk and idle commentary from friends and relatives. He too had the prejudices and judgments of others handed to him throughout the years.
Look at our own culture and our own lives. Who do we have power over? What peoples have been on the margins as “outsiders”, both in society and in the church?
Here’s the shortlist from my quick recollection of history:
African Americans
Women
Children
Elderly
Disabled
Poor
Japanese Americans
Arab Americans
Muslims
Immigrants
Gays and Lesbians
These societal divisions creep into our churches and blur our call to be in the world, but not of the world. This is where we have to realize we are human to. We have to look within ourselves and realize our own humanity, our own drifting away from a loving, accepting of all, merciful and compassionate God.
I really admire the Canaanite woman. When Jesus, in his full humanity, ignored her – she didn’t give up. She went back and asked again. She was persistent, until her point was made. Jesus must have been jolted when she responded in great humility and wit, “Even the dogs, eat the scraps that fall from the table.” God must have sent a lightning bolt through Jesus’ human side to say: “I am in you and I am a merciful God.” Of course Jesus responds as we would expect and he offers healing for the woman’s daughter.
As my ministry develops here, you’ll find that I’m not an office pastor. I’m more of a community pastor. Certainly I have to be in the office a certain amount of time for administrative purposes. But, I believe my presence in the community, where God’s people are, is where the best pastoral care and sharing the Good News can take place.
You wouldn’t believe (or maybe you would) some of the stories I hear from people who have been hurt by “the church”. As a result, these people go and find God elsewhere; outside the church. They are hurt, because the church somehow leaned too far toward its human side in power and judgment when it should lean more toward its spiritual side of humility and mercy.
Here is where I think we at First Congregational are different, and we need to ensure a loud and wide message of (if I may borrow from the UCC) “No matter who you are or where you’re at on life’s journey, you’re welcome here.”
Amen.
_________________________________________________________
First of all – I have to acknowledge how much I don’t like this passage about Jesus’ ministry. As others have said, if this were the only thing I knew or heard about Jesus, without some kind of explanation, I wouldn’t want to hear much else about Jesus. He called a woman a “dog” for goodness sake! The Jesus we know and love is, indeed, a loving, merciful and compassionate Jesus. This is one of those passages we have to wrestle with and look at in its context. When we do, I think we can get beyond our sense of insult.
A few weeks ago, I preached about a compassionate God. I think today’s passage from Matthew reveals a merciful God. So, what’s the difference between “compassion” and “mercy”?
To repeat a little - Compassion involves empathy, of course; the feeling of someone else’s pain and suffering and then doing something to help alleviate that pain and suffering. Mercy is the same, but mercy involves power – power over another person or people. Someone in a position of power may or may not show mercy toward another. We might think about mercy in regard to a judge showing mercy toward someone. (I’ve been in court many times asking for mercy over traffic violations. Fortunately, I’ve been clean for two years! )
Since we’re church folk – we have to think about God’s mercy. God certainly has power over us. Some theologies have taken God’s power and judgment to the extreme of almost eliminating God’s mercy in favor of a very angry judge who doles out the worst punishment imaginable. How terrible it must be to live in a state of religious fear; in some cases, religious abuse. Yes, I think it is religious abuse to preach a vengeful God rather than a God of peace and love. I don’t understand why anyone would want to worship an angry and vengeful God. That’s not the kind of God who was present in Jesus.
Today’s story about the Canaanite woman and her sick daughter illuminates the extraordinary mercy of a powerful and loving God.
I think for us to look at this passage in its correct context, we have to hold in tension Jesus as human and Jesus as divine.
Some concentrate wholly on Jesus’ divinity. If we think of Jesus as only divine, we eliminate his understanding of what it is to be and live a human life.
I had someone call me the other day to report on the progress of a situation she and I were working on. “We have had divine intervention!” she said. Of course I didn’t really accept that we had divine intervention. No doubt God was in the mix of this situation we were working on, but the result was due to human effort.
On another occasion, I had someone who was having a difficult time in life say to me “I am waiting on a miracle!” I responded by quoting Barbara Brown Taylor, “Stop waiting for a miracle and instead participate in one.”
On the other hand, some focus completely on Jesus’ humanity.
Some just think of Jesus as this wonderful human being. Well, yes. He was a wonderful human being. But, without some sense that he embodied God’s greatest essence, why would we come to worship him? Part of the challenge in this regard is our tendency to focus heavily on the material self. Why is it that we will go see a physician when something is wrong with our body, yet we’re so willing to ignore anything that may be wrong with our spirit? Consider: the body is temporal while the spirit is eternal. (Hmm, makes one think about the importance of keeping the spirit healthy.)
Today’s passage is heavily weighted toward the human side of Jesus.
I read several commentaries to see what others have thought about this passage. Some tried to make sense of it by saying, ‘well, we simply have to ignore the part about Jesus calling the woman a dog and realize that Jesus did eventually respond mercifully.’ Or, ‘Well, it reveals that some are in God’s favor and some are not.’ ‘It takes great faith to be in God’s favor,’ they would say. (That would be a very Calvinist response.) I don’t agree with either of those analyses.
I think this passage reveals the internal tension between Jesus humanity and his divinity. Jesus, in his humanity, was exposed to all things human just like anyone else:
In his religion – He was Jewish. Jewish people worshipped the God of Abraham and Sara. There was a divide and an exclusionary theology – not a lot different than today.
In his culture – Jews had their way of life. Canaanites had their way of life. And the two shall not blend. There was a divide and an exclusionary lifestyle – not a lot different than today.
In his personal life, he was influenced by friends/relatives – Have you ever heard that song, “Children will listen?” Careful what you say, children will listen, it says. Growing up, Jesus was like anyone else, exposed to table talk and idle commentary from friends and relatives. He too had the prejudices and judgments of others handed to him throughout the years.
Look at our own culture and our own lives. Who do we have power over? What peoples have been on the margins as “outsiders”, both in society and in the church?
Here’s the shortlist from my quick recollection of history:
African Americans
Women
Children
Elderly
Disabled
Poor
Japanese Americans
Arab Americans
Muslims
Immigrants
Gays and Lesbians
These societal divisions creep into our churches and blur our call to be in the world, but not of the world. This is where we have to realize we are human to. We have to look within ourselves and realize our own humanity, our own drifting away from a loving, accepting of all, merciful and compassionate God.
I really admire the Canaanite woman. When Jesus, in his full humanity, ignored her – she didn’t give up. She went back and asked again. She was persistent, until her point was made. Jesus must have been jolted when she responded in great humility and wit, “Even the dogs, eat the scraps that fall from the table.” God must have sent a lightning bolt through Jesus’ human side to say: “I am in you and I am a merciful God.” Of course Jesus responds as we would expect and he offers healing for the woman’s daughter.
As my ministry develops here, you’ll find that I’m not an office pastor. I’m more of a community pastor. Certainly I have to be in the office a certain amount of time for administrative purposes. But, I believe my presence in the community, where God’s people are, is where the best pastoral care and sharing the Good News can take place.
You wouldn’t believe (or maybe you would) some of the stories I hear from people who have been hurt by “the church”. As a result, these people go and find God elsewhere; outside the church. They are hurt, because the church somehow leaned too far toward its human side in power and judgment when it should lean more toward its spiritual side of humility and mercy.
Here is where I think we at First Congregational are different, and we need to ensure a loud and wide message of (if I may borrow from the UCC) “No matter who you are or where you’re at on life’s journey, you’re welcome here.”
Amen.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Who Wants a Hummer NOW?
I remember reading a commentary about five years ago as I prepared for a Sunday sermon. Some commentaries just stick in my head, while others tend to not make it into the memory bank for some reason.
There was a picture of a big Hummer on the cover of the magazine that carried the commentary. The commentator suggested that Jesus would have done whatever necessary to travel to his people, including driving a Hummer. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought it to be an advertisement for Hummer.
I looked up the EPA standards for the Hummer. It gets 13 MPG in the city and 18 on the highway. The pollution rating is a 6 on a scale of 0 to 10. The seating capacity for the Hummer is up to 7 people. These big awkward vehicles tend to “jump out” at me when I’m driving around town. Usually, I see only the driver in the vehicle.
I don’t have a lot of room to criticize. Perry and I still own a Ford Explorer that is rated at 18 MPG city and 22 highway. We did however recently trade our other Explorer for a Chrysler Sebring which gets 21 MPG city and 28 highway. And, since I do most of the driving, I use the Sebring. He drives only about 6 miles per day in the Explorer for work.
A few minutes ago, I stepped outside and saw a CDTA bus going by the house. It was one of the new fuel efficient buses the City of Albany recently put on the road. The sign on the side of the bus said, “Save Gas. Ride CDTA.” Hmm. Not a bad option. It may take a little extra time to get where you want to go, but probably worth it in the long run.
I don’t know for sure, but if I had to take a guess, Jesus probably would ride the bus if he lived in a city. I suppose a bicycle is a good possibility too. And he’d probably still hoof it or ride a donkey if he lived in the country. In any case, I have no doubt he’d be pretty appalled at our national addiction to oversized vehicles, our childish and demanding attitudes over high gas prices and our warring reactions to a dwindling oil supply.
Lord, help us to be better stewards of all we have. May we live simply so that others may simply live. Amen.
There was a picture of a big Hummer on the cover of the magazine that carried the commentary. The commentator suggested that Jesus would have done whatever necessary to travel to his people, including driving a Hummer. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought it to be an advertisement for Hummer.
I looked up the EPA standards for the Hummer. It gets 13 MPG in the city and 18 on the highway. The pollution rating is a 6 on a scale of 0 to 10. The seating capacity for the Hummer is up to 7 people. These big awkward vehicles tend to “jump out” at me when I’m driving around town. Usually, I see only the driver in the vehicle.
I don’t have a lot of room to criticize. Perry and I still own a Ford Explorer that is rated at 18 MPG city and 22 highway. We did however recently trade our other Explorer for a Chrysler Sebring which gets 21 MPG city and 28 highway. And, since I do most of the driving, I use the Sebring. He drives only about 6 miles per day in the Explorer for work.
A few minutes ago, I stepped outside and saw a CDTA bus going by the house. It was one of the new fuel efficient buses the City of Albany recently put on the road. The sign on the side of the bus said, “Save Gas. Ride CDTA.” Hmm. Not a bad option. It may take a little extra time to get where you want to go, but probably worth it in the long run.
CDTA Fares
Single Ride $1 - U.S. coins and $1-dollar bills are accepted
Suburban Shuttle System $1
Senior/Disabled Half Fare All the time
Day Card, providing one day of unlimited use $3
3 Day Pass, providing three days of unlimited use $8
Swiper $36 (5-day) $44 (7-day)
Half Fare Swiper $18 (5-day) $22 (7-day)
Ten Ride Ticket (Replaces Tokens) $9.50
STAR service $2
Suburban Shuttle System $1
Senior/Disabled Half Fare All the time
Day Card, providing one day of unlimited use $3
3 Day Pass, providing three days of unlimited use $8
Swiper $36 (5-day) $44 (7-day)
Half Fare Swiper $18 (5-day) $22 (7-day)
Ten Ride Ticket (Replaces Tokens) $9.50
STAR service $2
I don’t know for sure, but if I had to take a guess, Jesus probably would ride the bus if he lived in a city. I suppose a bicycle is a good possibility too. And he’d probably still hoof it or ride a donkey if he lived in the country. In any case, I have no doubt he’d be pretty appalled at our national addiction to oversized vehicles, our childish and demanding attitudes over high gas prices and our warring reactions to a dwindling oil supply.
Lord, help us to be better stewards of all we have. May we live simply so that others may simply live. Amen.
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