Vulnerable, Humble, Forgiving

Vulnerable, Humble, Forgiving 

Epistle: Colossians 1:11-20   

Gospel: Luke 1:68-79  

This is the final Sunday of the church year. Next Sunday is the beginning of Advent, and kicks off the year of Matthew. So today we hear some closing remarks from Luke.  

The lectionary gives us a pair of final words from Luke. The first reading does not have words coming from the mouth of Jesus. I would have expected a portion of the Sermon on the Plain, the one great speech of Jesus in Luke, while most of Luke is devoted to smaller, more specific settings. 

The other famous speech in Luke comes from his mother Mary, when she arrives to see Elizabeth. The hymn the Magnificat - “My soul magnifies the Lord, my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” are the words attributed to Mary as she enters the house of Elizabeth. 

The public ministry of Jesus followed closely on the heels of, and initially was modeled on, the public ministry of John the Baptist. It is Luke who tells us that John and Jesus are cousins. It is Luke, who has Mary run to Elizabeth to reflect on her pregnancy and what it might mean, only to find that Elizabeth is also pregnant. 

When Mary arrives, if she was hoping to consult with Zechariah the priest and husband of Elizabeth, she found he had been silenced early in the unexpected, late-life pregnancy of his wife. He was left to ponder in silence all that was going on. It is really hard for a clergy person to loose their voice. Though it changes the prayer time if prayer does not need to produce a sermon on schedule. His voice returned when family and friends took the miracle baby at 8-days old, to be circumcised. It is the speech of Zechariah that comprise these words from Luke today. 

Mr. Z praises God for raising up a savior, to deliver God’s people from their enemies and out of the hand of those who hate us. But he recognizes that his son John, is not the savior. “You, child, will be called the prophet of the most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.” 

Only two weeks ago we reflected on the temptation to be envious of sinners who are offered instant forgiveness of sins - while as good people we try to be good all of the time. We thought it might be unfair to us, if people like Zacchaeus were blessed instantly. Upon further review, as they say on televised football, we see in the wider scope of reality, we are all sinners and every day we depend on forgiveness for our salvation. 

The second reading from Luke is taken from the scene of the crucifixion. The stripped and beaten, Jesus is hanging from the cross, with a criminal on either side of him. And wouldn’t you know, Jesus promises one of the criminals that he too is saved on the spot. 

This crucifixion setting is a scene of extreme vulnerability and apparent defeat. It does not look at all like a victory parade after winning the World Series, or even winning the Presidential election. 

So what does this picture tell us about the God of Creation? The Temple of Jerusalem celebrated a holy God, who was worshipped by following countless laws and rites of purification. In the Temple, God was seen as powerful and moody, for lack of a better word. (It often appears that we choose an image for God that matches our own disposition.) 

In the letter to the Colossians we hear Christ defined as the very image of an invisible God. This vulnerable Christ, focused on forgiveness of sins, is a very distinct and different side of God Almighty. Jesus is the living proof that the powers of religion and politics are tempted to flatter themselves, and miss the truth about God and what pleases God. 

So on the last Sunday of the year we name and celebrate the wonder of salvation offered through forgiveness of sins. We claim allegiance to Jesus the Christ, who is the very image of God invested in the Creation, and we align ourselves with works of generosity and compassion, because that is the way we know Jesus behaved. 

Time and again we see Jesus pouring out compassion and forgiveness on the poor and the repentant. We begin to recognize the pattern. If we can stop reaching for positions of respectability, and instead keep our own weaknesses in mind, we can move in line to Jesus. If we would follow the ways of Christ, caring for the hurting and the lost, we will know what it is to be loved by God. 

The scene of the crucifixion looks to all of the world like a terrible defeat. Jesus was betrayed and abandoned. The love Jesus invested in his disciples, was insufficient for them, to meet the challenge of the organized worlds of religion and political authority turning against him. How does Jesus respond in his hour of agony? “Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” 

We have walked all year with Luke. We saw how Jesus was always eating with a different crowd, not judging them, but being with them and available to them. This congregation is good at putting a meal together, whether a Thanksgiving Dinner for the church family, such as we have today, or a quick fundraiser like the Spaghetti Dinner last Wednesday, or a funeral luncheon, planned and prepared over night.  

Today we celebrate Jesus as the King of Love. Today we recognize, every time we have been disappointed, is a measure of our vulnerability. Every time we have failed, gives us the opportunity to call upon the Lord. We have been called to be Vulnerable, Humble, and Forgiving, just like Jesus. I bless you in the name of Jesus the Christ, the Sovereign of love, and the ruler in glory, this day and forever, world without end. Amen. 

O, To Be Less Distracted in Good Times and Bad

O, To Be Less Distracted in

Good Times and Bad 

Old Testament: Isaiah 65:17-25 

Gospel: Luke 21:5-19 

The end of the world is coming! Jesus has predicted it, and I believe it! We are also warned, there will be tough times before it arrives. 

It does seem like we go through cycles, where things are relatively calm and we are generally comfortable, and then we pass through a cycle of anxiety. When the general population is anxious, we have an increasing number of preachers proclaiming the end is near, often even predicting a given date. 

I believe that one day, one of these characters is going to be right, and likely very surprised. I also believe, there is wisdom in living as if the end were near. Not that we should stop being prepared to live a long and useful life, but we should express our care for those we love on a regular basis. We should live as if our days are numbered, and go ahead and do those things that are important. 

This is part of the reason that I will be taking a tour of the Holy Land in January. The opportunity presented itself - to take a tour lead by a Mennonite pastor I respect. He has connections to several peace organizations on both the Palestinian and Israeli side of the current divide. I will be able to see the historic and revered places of the scriptures, and get real insight into the conflict of the present. 

I am a creature of habit, and a child of the culture. Through education and reading, I do my best to try to keep some wider perspective. The little bit of traveling I have done, helps me to see a bigger picture. I expect that my January trip will add a lot to my worldview. 

The scriptures also add to my worldview. Knowing the world will come to an end at some point, helps to move me to actually do things now, while I can, and while I am interested. Martha and I both went back to school in 1996, earning our bachelor degrees, and setting the stage for this entirely different life we live now 20 years later. Great things are possible, when we make a decision, set a course, and then begin. 

The scholars tell us that the book we know as Isaiah, is most likely a composition in three parts, with three different people in the title role, played out over several generations. First Isaiah called for repentance, as the warriors from Babylon drew a bead on Jerusalem. Second Isaiah, promised that God is faithful through the generations, during the 70 years of Exile. 

Third Isaiah, who we are reading today, offers words of encouragement for the returning Jews. They are in a mess. The city and social structure are in tatters. There is widespread poverty. The surrounding tribes are taking great joy in raiding the fledgling community and tearing down whatever small progress is being made. The prophet offers a view of the future, that is beyond what the people can even imagine from where they are. 

My experience is just like that. 8 years ago the economy was a disaster. The newspapers were filled with the headlines documenting wave upon wave of mortgage defaults and repossessions. Home values were a fraction of what the mortgages were written for. The predictions of the future were awful. Gasoline prices hovered around $4 per gallon. There was no way to see things turning around. 

When times are good, we need a voice to call us to repent of our sins and remember that God is good. When times are bad, we need a voice to lift us up, and give us hope for better days to come. We need to remember that God is faithful through not only economic cycles, but through generations. 

Herod the Great was a man with a huge ego and was quite the builder. He built magnificent palaces for himself around the countryside. As a way of coopting the cooperation of the Temple authorities, he rebuilt the Temple of Jerusalem on a grand scale, over a period of decades. The Temple they rebuilt after the Exile was a low budget affair. It was constructed for function and not prestige and glamour. It was Herod’s Temple that the disciples were praising to Jesus. 

Jesus did not take the bait. He does not condemn the marriage of convenience between the Temple and the local authorities. But Jesus does not celebrate the Temple either. Instead, he predicts that one day it will all be a pile of rubble, again. 

Tradition tells us to consider that Jesus was actually talking about a different Temple that would be destroyed. This passage is only one Chapter in Luke’s gospel away from his arrest, this passage is read as if it were a prediction of the passion and death of Jesus. 

This is at the heart of the complexity of being a Christian. We claim to be followers of one who was martyred because his focus on goodness and God exceeded the imagination of both the religious and local authorities. We claim to be devoted to accepting the values that focus on the eternal nature of our relationship with that faithful God, and be less enamored and distracted by the here and now. Less distracted in good times and in bad. 

As I watch with sharper interest the news items about violence in the area of the Holy Land, knowing that I will be there soon, I get increasingly concerned about, what little of a positive nature I can contribute to their unrest, as a pilgrim on a journey. 

As we make our peace with the presidential election of 2016, we might also feel like there is little constructive we can offer in the big scheme of things. So let me speak to that. 

The President is one person, and the complex relationships we call the federal government, comprises thousands of people. The power and control exerted by one person is limited, even if you are the President-elect. 

We are political and spiritual actors living in a finite time and space. We have our own sphere of influence. We listen to the word from scriptures, and know that: no matter how glorious the Temple of the present may seem, everything that is made by humans will eventually turn to dust; and our spirits - that are made out of the divine stuff of eternity - and our relationship with the God of Creation - who is without bounds of time or space - that relationship will be all that matters. 

So we live each day with all of the integrity we can manage. We continue to influence those within our sphere of influence to care for the poor, protect the alien, show compassion to our neighbors near and far. The days of sloganeering are behind us, and our common future lies ahead. 

You and I will make decisions about how to be our best selves. We will make choices today, about the life we intend to live tomorrow. We will turn to our God in prayer and in study, and seek the way forward. 

It is easy to become distraught when things do not go as we planned. It is easier still, to believe that a slim political victory is a mandate to restructure the entire social order in a dramatic new way. Let us pray for our selves and our families, that we may enjoy health. Let us pray that the voice of God calling us to love our neighbor and love our enemy, is heard and respected through the land. Let us thank God for the blessing of being alive in times of change, when the future is being made, and we have the power to influence that change. Amen. 

Children of the Resurrection

Children of the Resurrection 

Epistle: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17  

Gospel: Luke 20:27-38 

This sermon has been a challenge to write during this emotional week. Like so many of your friends and neighbors, I am a lifelong Cub fan who had a delirious week - as my beloved Cubs came back from a 3 to 1 deficit, in extra innings, in the seventh game of the World Series, to win the world championship.

I believe that the family nature of the celebration of this championship in Chicago, in part took place, because of the multi generation feel - this entire Love of the Cubs has. While so many Championships are marked by violence and drunkenness, I feel like many of the celebrators, felt as though they were celebrating with their parents and grandparents, whether in body or in spirit. When we spend time with those we love, it often brings out the best us. 

In the year of 2016, the Cubs quest for championship, provided me with a layer of insulation - protecting me from the emotions of the dirtiest and nastiest political campaign I've ever seen in my lifetime. I hope never to see another one like it. That reality came crashing into my consciousness as the parade and celebration came to a close on Friday afternoon.

Among the distinctions of the United Church of Christ, is our long term commitment to welcoming all people to the table. The Rev. John Thomas, former president and general minister of United Church of Christ, has explained that we are not by nature radical - we simply arrive earlier than others - to seeing the barriers that keep people from sharing the Christ.

I came to the United Church of Christ after being raised in the Catholic Church, and having experienced frustration at the church's commitment to doctrine in clear preference to pastoral care of souls. In the United Church of Christ, I found away to embrace the God of love that I knew from the Gospels of Jesus Christ, and discovered the challenge of naming boundaries that kept people at a distance, for the purpose of defeating those boundaries with welcome. 

Through the UCC I continue to receive new information about the ongoing confrontation in the Dakotas over the crude oil pipeline being built through sacred Native American grounds. I could not help but reflect that if you and I were people of color or Native Americans, the Great Lakes Basin Railroad and the Rock Island Clean Line power line would already be tearing through the local cornfields, protected by armed police in combat gear. The colonialism and white privilege are alive and visible in the world today.

We profess a belief in Jesus the Christ, who was publicly executed, buried, and rose again in three days. The resurrected Christ, has left us aware of his spirit in the world. Wherever the material world and the spiritual world are apparent or visible at once, Christ is there. We are children of the Resurrection. We are the body of Christ, a gift to the world, and dedicated to making the material and spiritual worlds apparent wherever we are.

Last week was an emotional week, especially for those of us who's love of the Cubs span generations. Our hearts have been touched by the Saints of God in this moment of joy. For me and for my family, I believe this was a taste of what comes at the time this world passes and the New World begins. The next several weeks the Scriptures will give us a variety of reflections on what it means to be in the continual presence of God in the eternal portion of our lives.

The election next week promises to be very challenging. We have elected officials, who have long been respected, promising not to carry out their duties unless the population votes for their preferred candidate. Such declarations have encouraged the less mature voices in the Community, to threaten open violence in the population.

From the United States of America we have watched many governments in the world struggle when they reach times of governmental renewal. It was hard for us to understand or believe that a transfer of power would be so difficult. In this moment, it is certainly clear, that civilization requires the will of the people to respect each other. When we lose respect for the sanctity of life, when we cease to treat our neighbors as family and friends, all of the marks of civilization are in danger.

I had sat at lunch with a man about a year ago, and we had an unlikely conversation about the level of animosity in our political process. This fellow is likely 20 years older than I am. He explained that he is well known as a very conservative Republican. He has a best friend, and they and their wives, have had great experiences traveling to different places in the world as a foursome. His best friend, is a very liberal Democrat.

When his friend ran for a seat in the State House of Representatives, he took a leave of absence from his work, In order to run his campaign. His close political friends believed he had lost his mind. In saying the words he could not help but smile.

During the pause, I said I could remember a time when it was considered normal for a conservative and a liberal have a beer together and emerge with the new understanding of each others point of view. He said, “I can go you one better. I believe that a conservative and liberal can sit together, and get up and leave with an idea that never had occurred to either of them before.”

On Friday morning in Chicago's public park, the organization of the Chicago Cubs patted themselves on the back, and received the adulation of literally millions of fans. It is well-known and well documented that the success of the baseball team is due in large part to the planning and manipulations of the baseball operation teams led by Theo Epstein. Young Theo had accomplished the same miraculous turnaround for the Boston Red Sox only a few years ago. Now he is done it twice.

The most telling statement that Theo made to the crowd on Friday, was that they intentionally selected players who they believed would be able to work together. He stated this fact, “We will all do more for others, than we would be able to accomplish just for ourselves.”

You and I are called to have a mature faith in the God of creation. That maturity provides us with a view of God, that does not treat God as a genie in a bottle granting wishes. As mature Christians, we accept our faith has marked us as children of the Resurrection. We are committed to a relationship with the God of creation that will endure for all time.

I am committed to live my life in a way where I can hear the hearts of my brothers and sisters, even when we disagree. I hope to be blessed with a new understanding, and a new idea that had never occurred to me, and could not have happened, unless I had opened my heart to them.

I'm committed to live my life in a way that makes my community better. It is not all about me, but it includes me. It is not only about my immediate family, but it includes my immediate family. It is not only about this little church, but it includes the health of this little church.

God is good, All the time. All the time, God is good. God is good, for all time. For all time, God is good. May each of us see the Christ in each other, and to be the Christ for each other, in this difficult and emotional week ahead. Amen. 

Are You Happy Now?

Are You Happy Now?  

Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 

Luke 16:19-31  

There is a little something maddening about the easy way Jesus dispenses God’s love and forgiveness. While those who are dedicated to being faithful struggle against temptation day and night, using all of our resources to keep a civil tongue, care for the less fortunate, simply be good when it is so tempting to be selfish; we run into case after case where life-long sinners appeal to Jesus, and he gives them instant salvation. This is not always easy for us to handle. 

A part of me relishes the way Jesus tells us love and forgiveness is accessible to everyone. It is such a glorious bit of good news to share. It is wonderful to align myself with this vision of the Creator and the presumed judge of humanity, acting as gatekeeper to eternal life. 

Just last week we talked about the Pharisee and the Tax collector praying in the Temple. The Pharisee was all kinds of good, and it would seem, justifiably proud of being dedicated and intentional about the good that he is doing. But the Tax Collector is a public sinner. He does not change his behavior but only ask for mercy, and Jesus says the tax collector understands prayer - and by extension - understands the love of God, better than the good guy. 

But a part of me wants to know, “If it is all so easy, why do I feel like I have to do so much more? I could be retired, playing my guitar and playing with my grandchildren. Why write a sermon every week? Why do I prepare these Fun Faith Formation Experiences for other people’s kids?” 

In today’s scripture, Jesus is in Jericho. Jericho the last significant town on the River Jordan before it flows into the Dead Sea. This is where Joshua crossed into the Promised Land after the Hebrew people wandered in the dessert after their release from slavery in Egypt. This town is below sea level, and at the foot of the mountain where Jerusalem sits above. Jesus is on his way to meet the Temple authorities and draw his public ministry to a close, and he is anxious for his disciples to understand God. 

It would seem that God is all about saving sinners. The psalm says, “Happy are they whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” Why are the sinners happy and the good people anxious? 

The roots of this problem do not lie with God and God’s generosity. God is good all the time, all the time, God is good. That is not the problem. 

The problem is not that those folks we label as sinners get all of the breaks. When we take the time to count our blessings, we learn the limitations of our ability to do math. Our blessings are so many, and they are compounded, multiplied and expanded in so many ways, expanded in every direction, and within every relationship. We are blessed beyond measure. 

So the problem does not appear that God has neglected us good folks, saving salvation and blessings for those who do not deserve God’s love. God is not stingy. God does not withhold God’s love or blessing. 

Zacchaeus was not able to see over the crowd. He was short of stature. The crowd was not going to let him in front, they judged him as a big sinner and unworthy to see the famous preacher. Mr. Z may be rich, but that does not mean that the good people of the community had to treat him nicely. So he had to climb a tree. 

This is a favorite story to tell kids. Kids are also not tall. Kids are all too willing to climb a tree. Kids would love to be praised and congratulated for climbing a tree to see Jesus. In many children’s stories and songs Zacchaeus is made out to be a hero. 

The good people following Jesus are out of sorts when Jesus treats Mr.Z as a friend. “There goes your famous preacher again, off to hang out with sinners. He has a weakness for being with people who are unworthy.” 

“This” might be the key to understanding that we are looking for. Does God love and bless us? Sure. Jesus Loves Me This I Know. So if God loves sinners, and God loves me, is it possible that God sees me as a sinner? 

I believe that the key to enjoying the peace that comes from having our sins forgiven - is to see ourselves as sinners - before a God who is perfection itself. In the terms of human justice, we prosecute and penalize those whose behavior marks them as a danger to the community. We begin to think of sin on the scale of Not Too Bad to Very, Very Bad. These are the ways of the world. 

Against the scale of perfection, there is none of us who are without sin. When judged by the Almighty, the one who knows the desires of our heart, each of us shows up marked by sin and short of the ability to show compassion and care for all people in all situations. 

This is the way of the Kingdom of God. 

When we let Jesus call us sinners, we can let Jesus call us saved. When accept our true selves as redeemed, we can be full of joy. We can face the anxiety in a world of insults and mud-slinging, and recognize that we too have been less than God created us for, and we have had our sins covered. The blessings in our lives, are intended to keep us close to our happiness, and draw others to share in this simple joy. This is how humility wins the day. 

We do not need to be jealous of sinners finding sudden forgiveness, since we live with it daily. We do not need to be anxious about lost souls that the love of God is seeking, because we are awash in God’s blessings. The wisdom to know ourselves as we really are, as sinners saved by the love of God, is the only thing we are lacking. 

So friends, realize today that the love of God is your key to deep peace and great joy. It is all yours to claim, every day. We can claim it and proclaim it. We are offered the opportunity to preach, some of us in the pulpit each week, some out of the pulpit every day, living lives that give glory to God. The opportunity to present our offering at the altar is a measure of the pleasure we have in living and working in the river of God’s blessing. 

Amen. 

Feels good to realize how happy we are. Are you happy now? 

Can Good Works Count Against Us? 

Epistle: 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18   

Gospel: Luke 18:9-14 

When I looked up reassessment on the internet, I was quickly drawn to the process of determining property values for the purpose of calculating the real estate tax. If you want to protest your property tax, it needs to be based on a reevaluation, or reassessment, of the value of the property. You believe that the new assessment will show the current value of the real estate to be lower than the value used in computing your taxes. What is it worth today? 

So I went to a new doctor this week. I find it interesting that there are some medical specialties that are only served by one practice in the entire area around Ottawa. If you are uncomfortable with that office, it is necessary to go out of town. 

One of the things that happens when you start with a doctor who has never seen you - and does not know your story and history, they look at you with fresh eyes. They ask questions you have not been asked before. They make a fresh evaluation based on how you are now, not simply, what has changed recently. 

The sense of being known in some detail by a stranger can be both a little intimidating, and comforting at the same time. If there was any perception that your previous doctor was not being attentive to your questions and complaints, you know that at least initially, a full reassessment is taking place. 

The less comfortable side is that you are what you are, and it is hard to pretend otherwise. I might like to think, “My weight is a little higher than normal.” In truth, my “new normal” weight is higher than what I consider healthy, and it has been that way for several years now. 

The scriptures this morning are familiar. We have heard both of these readings many times. The passage from Timothy often shows up in funerals, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” It seems a word of consolation for those who have demonstrated their faithfulness. 

Good church people like us, often measure faithfulness by the reliability of our partners in the ministry of the church. Can we count on them: on their presence in worship, on their pitching in when we hit the Ham Dinner, can we count on their contribution so we can pay the pastor and negotiate a salary with the new pastor? Are they faithful to the church?  

Now, we realize that faithfulness includes a lot of other stuff, but in the real practical life of the church, we know the marks of faithfulness. In those simple practical ways, we all carry the marks of a good Pharisee. 

When I served on the Prairie Association committee for Authorized Ministers, one of the other members of the committee was a young, newly ordained pastor, who had been raised in the  Presbyterian Church. The Presbyterians are very careful in saying what they mean, and meaning what they say. 

As Presbyterians consider making changes to their rules, they take a good deal of time, often years of study and debate, to consider all of the possible implications. In doing so they create a good written record of the ideas that are being evaluated, and those ideas that are maintained, and those ideas that are discarded. 

When my friend transferred from the Presbyterians to the United Church of Christ, he brought with him - a sensitivity to the written word and the written rules. When he came to the meetings of the committee on ministry - he was very careful to read the text of the Manual on Ministry for the United Church of Christ. He came to call himself our "resident Pharisee". 

He was not making fun of the Pharisees. He was claiming for himself the careful attention to detail, and careful attention to the rules that enable us to be faithful and consistent. While in today's Scripture Jesus finds fault with the Pharisee, he does not find fault with all Pharisees, or find fault with all of us who want to play by the rules. 

The tax collector in the story is an obvious sinner. He makes his living by taking money from the local people handing it over to the occupying army of the Roman empire. We have the opportunity to hear his prayer. His prayer is very simple, “Lord have mercy on me a sinner."

It is very easy for us to settle for the definition of faithfulness that looks like all of the good things the Pharisee pats himself on the back for. It's very easy to see ourselves in that light. This scripture acts as our new doctor, making a fresh assessment of our actual condition at the moment. We are what we are.

When Jesus says that the tax collector goes home justified before the Lord rather than the Pharisee he - is calling all of us Pharisees - to have a change of heart. Our behavior may not be so bad at all. But we need to be aware of our sins, and our need for God's forgiveness. We need to replace our pride in following the rules, with a humble acceptance of the grace God gives. 

If we look back at the words of Paul to Timothy, one of the young men he mentored into being a pastor, he is very clear where are his power comes from. He says, “the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, the Lord will rescue me from every evil attack.” The humility to recognize the hand of the Lord - even in the good things that we do - maybe especially in the good things that we do, is the key to being righteous in our prayer. 

Jesus has been showing the disciples the signs of faithfulness throughout this whole stretch of the gospel. He has found faithfulness in places that the disciples would never consider looking. He is calling them to change their hearts, approach the Lord God in prayer with honest humility. Not demeaning the good that we do, but crediting to God, the power to do good. Giving glory to God, for the way God’s love fills the world. 

So you are not off the hook. When God gives you disposable income, we should be moving towards that biblical tithe - not for the sake of patting ourselves on the back, but giving thanks to God. We should use spiritual practices - perhaps including fasting - not just to cut a dashing figure, but to help us keep God in the very center of our awareness. 

Most of all, we have to learn from the failures of the duh-ciples, that the marks of faithfulness might well exist in those we believe are sinners, and misinformed. God knows what is in the heart of every creature. We did not receive a commandment to judge those around us. We were commanded to love our neighbors. 

There is good news and bad news here. The good news is that we are loved and made welcome by our generous and loving God for who we are. The bad news is that a poor attitude, an inappropriate amount of self-pride, gets between us and God. The letter to Timothy demonstrates that we are called to run the good race, but to keep it clear - that the glory belongs to God alone. Amen. 

Jesus Said "Follow Me!"

Jesus Said "Follow Me!" 

This past Sunday, 10/16/23, was Laity Sunday. My only contribution to worship was to sing in the choir and play my guitar for a couple of hymns. It is a very visual way to reenforce the truth, we are all ministers and are all engaged in leading and supporting each other. 

As a result, I do not have a sermon this week. Instead, I offer this excerpt from the Daily Meditations from Father Richard Rohr and the Center for Action and Communication. This message rings true in my heart. I will likely return to this quote in the future. 

"Jesus clearly taught the twelve disciples about surrender, the necessity of suffering, humility, servant leadership, and nonviolence. They resisted him every time, and so he finally had to make the journey himself and tell them, “Follow me!” But Christians have preferred to hear something Jesus never said: “Worship me.” Worship of Jesus is rather harmless and risk-free; following Jesus changes everything." - Fr. Richard Rohr 10/18/16 

It is not so much about believing the exact right thing. It is not so much about convincing others to believe the right thing. It is about how we treat others. It is about being generous and compassionate. 

The Marks of Faithfulness

The Marks of Faithfulness  

Old Testament: Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7    

Gospel: Luke 17:11-19  

In Luke’s gospel, 10 men, at least we presume they are men, come upon Jesus of Nazareth and his band of disciples as they walked from Galilee towards Samaria on their way to Jerusalem. No doubt the disciples thought Jesus was being reckless, because good Jews avoided Samaria, detouring through the Jordan River Valley. 

But Jesus and friends encounter 10 lepers, sadly keeping their distance, because there was no cure for this disease that marked their skin, so they were required to live away from others, away from their families, and away from their communities. They called out to Jesus, asking for mercy. What did they expect, maybe a handout? A loaf of bread and a jug of wine?  

Jesus showed them mercy. He told them to go to the priest and show themselves to be clean. Once a person was ostracized from the community for a communicable disease, only the priest could restore them to their families and civilization. 9 of the 10, discovering they had been cleansed of the marks on their skin, raced off to the priest. Only one returned to give thanks and praise to God. 

In this portion of Luke’s gospel, Jesus is pressing hard on his followers to demonstrate their faithfulness. Jesus finds a variety of images of faithfulness to be lifted up, but none of those identified as faithful - are “good Jews” or disciples of Christ. In this case, the one who was faithful is both a leper, and a hated Samaritan. And those Samaritans are known to have a wrong understanding of God. 

Here Jesus explains that the faithful, when faced with a radical change in their circumstances, first thank and praise God. At the core of the life of a faithful person is the basic understanding that God is present in good times and bad, and God is always to be praised. Times of change should make us more prayerful, and more aware of God and God’s love. 

Before I went back to school at night to earn a Bachelor’s degree that permitted me to go to seminary, I was a Senior Reactor Operator at the LaSalle County Nuclear Power Station. I worked a rotating shift schedule as an operator, and also had assignments in the Training Department, Scheduling and Planning, and Administration. While some folks felt like it was important to hold on to their place in the organization, I willing accepted a variety of assignments. 

I was one of the initial 60 individuals licensed to operate the new nuclear plant on the Illinois River, south of Marseilles. It took a long time to get to the point of operating the plant. We were the first plant to go on line after the event at Three Mile Island, and TMI followed the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in Russia. 

After these celebrated and well known incidents, the kind of training that nuclear plant operators were exposed to - changed dramatically. Originally there were seventeen General Procedures, all of which we were expected to memorize, and we were expected to demonstrate most of those procedures single-handed on a life size simulator, even though we would never be allowed to operate in that manner. 

After these events, our procedures were split between the General Plant Procedures, for normal unit startup and shutdown and other integrated plant events, and the Emergency Procedures. The Emergency Procedures were detailed, multi-page logic charts, where movement between the steps of the chart were driven by plant conditions, IF you have this condition THEN take this action. 

The training and testing of operators on the simulator demanded powerful new computers be brought in, so that complex and multiple failures could be programmed. Some of the problems, if they were diagnosed correctly and quickly, could be resolved without incident. Some problems, escalated despite the best efforts of the Control Room Staff, simulating real life scenarios, or progressive scenarios - designed to require use of the most dramatic and challenging steps included in the Emergency Procedures. 

In doing this training, we saw a lot of commercial airline pilot safety videos. While our equipment problems are totally different than what a pilot would encounter, the human performance issues that resulted in aircraft disasters could easily be replicated by real people in the power plant. The airlines had such detailed documentation from the flight recorders and cockpit recordings, that their successes and failures were available to scrutiny and assessment. 

All of this came to me in a rush, as Martha and I watched the movie “Sully” last week. Sully is the movie about the pilot who landed the commercial airliner on the Hudson River after both of the jet engines completely failed during takeoff, without loss of a single life. 

During the event, and then replayed in both simulator trials, and in the replaying of the cockpit recording, the routine of assessing and reassessing was in evidence. Where are we, what do we have control over, is there any way to get more resources, review our procedure, did we miss anything, and finally the pilot says to the co-pilot before they commit to landing in the water, “Do you have any other ideas?” 

Recently we have bumped into some of the many scriptural references to the time of the Babylonian Exile. The prophet Jeremiah brings up the situation again today. He writes to the senior leaders in Babylon with a word from the Lord God delivered through God’s prophet. “Unpack you bags and plan to stay a while. Get married and have children. Have your children marry. Do not decrease in population.” 

This is not life as usual. The priests are not in the Temple, praying over the sacrifices the people have delivered asking for forgiveness. This is a severely off-normal situation. The Temple is destroyed and the Chosen People are held as slaves far away from home. And the prophet says, be strong, be faithful, God is coming for you, but it will not be soon. In fact, it will take several generations. 

My faith has good days and bad days. At times it feels like a struggle to be faithful more than an hour of so at a time. I raised my kids in the church. They are good people, and great neighbors. Will my faith survive through them and through the lifetime of my grandchildren? I don’t know. I don’t have any control over all of that. 

Where am I? Where am I headed? What do I have control over? Can I get any more resources? 

This is a different time in the life of the faithful. The number of people in any church on any Sunday is a fraction of what it used to be. Churches are closing regularly in the United States, and it is far worse in the greater part of Europe. Will God be faithful to the people of God, when even more people have lost their awareness of the presence of God in their lives? Is the fall off of people participating in the wider church a judgment against our lack of faithfulness? 

Clearly, God can be trusted to be faithful. We can trust God, better than we can trust ourselves. Better than we can trust our local congregation. Better than we can trust our ability to guide our children to be faithful and share that faith with our grandchildren. 

God is faithful through the generations. That message was first evidenced in the story of Moses, called by God to deliver the Chosen People out of Egypt. That Moses story is from the time before written language. It is essentially pre-historic, that is, before things were written down. 

In the circumstances of the Exile, the Jews are confronted with a real life challenge to both their culture and their faith. The prophet gets a message from God, and transmits by way of letter to the leaders of the people now slaves in Babylon. 

In Babylon, the slaves were not treated especially badly. They were not assigned mindless, back-breaking labor. Instead, they were treasured for the gifts of their skill, knowledge and advanced culture. They were employed as skilled workers, and apparently had some ability to move about, congregate, and talk with each other. In fact, when the day comes when they are given permission to return, many will choose to stay in their comfortable life among the Babylonians, rather than take the arduous journey - only to face the task of rebuilding their homes and nation from desolation. 

This morning, we are highlighting God’s faithfulness. God does not lose concentration walking from room to room. God does not forget the faithful, even when they are far away: away from home, away from the faithful community, away from prayer and liturgical participation. God is good all the time, all the time God is good. 

We are tempted to evaluate God’s performance against how we feel and what is important to us. Stockbrokers watch the daily and quarterly performance of individual stocks and market sectors, and make their evaluations. 

Political candidates, agonize over the tiny bits of change that are evidenced in the ever swirling political polls. Day by day and week by week, political campaigns refocus and restructure their use of - time and money and message - in response to the measured perceptions. 

God is faithful through the generations. Our Jewish ancestors in the faith gave power and expression to the timelessness of God, rooted in their very experience.

Jeremiah’s story represents the experience of the faithful community, through the course of generations, in an encounter with the divine. In our generation we are charged to continue to protect the collection of scriptures and continue the tradition of teaching our children: both our faith in God, and the values that God inspires in our living. 

Today we are reminded - that the marks of being faithful - are having God in the center of our lives, and responding to the challenges in life - by thanking God and praising God. We look about at each other, to see if we bear the marks of faithfulness. Could Jesus single us out as a useful example of keeping the love of God in the center of our lives? Might the culture want to push us away, because we are carrying the marks of faithfulness in our lives? We are reminded in times of change - that God is near us and with us. 

So my friends, it is true. A Christian is no longer the epitome of the ideal American. We are in fact counter-cultural. We believe in God and God’s love for all of creation. We are against pollution and for the earth. We care about the poor and the hungry. We want what is best for all people. We honor everyone who loves God, no matter what language they speak, or what tradition feeds their faith. We are marked on our hearts and spirits with mercy and compassion. It is not the way of the world, but it is the way of the Kingdom of God. Amen.