Sermon Notes
5 February 2012 ~ Garden Street UMC, Bellingham, WA
Rev. Cheryl A. Fear
Scripture: Isaiah 40:12-31
context, today’s surely qualifies. The Israelites had come through bondage in
Egypt, made it through the wilderness--barely--and established themselves in the
land of God’s promise. The first Temple had been built and although the Bible
tells us Israel had known good rulers and bad, it had managed to remain a country.
And although all of its neighbors proclaimed that there were many gods, Israel
alone proclaimed, “The Lord our God is One.”
Israel proclaimed God’s action in their history, and insisted that because of
the Covenant on Mount Sinai, and the Covenant with David, God would always
come to their rescue--no matter what.
And then, the unthinkable happened. The Babylonians overran Israel,
conquered the land, sacked the Temple, and took Israel’s learned, skilled, educated
and wealthy and exiled them to Babylon--modern day Iraq. The Israelites were in
shock. Jeremiah had tried for years to tell them such a thing was possible, but they
had refused to believe it. And to this day, we refer to one who is pessimistic and
the bearer of bad news, as a Jeremiah. “Don’t be such a Jeremiah,” people will
say.
Today’s scripture is referred to as deutero-Isaiah, which is to say that the
Book of Isaiah can be divided into 3 sections, and this comes out of the middle or
in-between section. The prophet is addressing those in exile.
I had never realized until I studied the Hebrew Bible how devastating the
Exilic Period was for Israel. The people to whom Isaiah speaks are suffering deep
mental, emotional, and spiritual anguish. In their minds, one of two possibilities
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was presented to them: either the god of Babylon, Marduk, had defeated the
Yaweh, in which case, Yaweh, was not omnipotent, or Yaweh had abandoned them
and gone back on his promises made on Mt. Sinai and at Shechem. Either
possibility was devastating, and they grieved mightily. Their world literally fell
apart. They were sent into exile to a foreign land where the people worshipped
many gods, ate food that was forbidden, did not observe the festivals or holy days
of Yaweh, and there would be no sacrifices--the Temple had been pillaged and
defiled.
To what we can liken this to? There is a famous photograph of a Frenchman
crying as he stands alongside a street in Paris watching the Nazis parade down the
streets of his beloved city. His face reveals pain, shock, sadness, and disbelief. In
our own time, we too have seen the faces of fellow citizens as they looked up at the
World Trade Center towers falling thunderously to the ground.
People die, people face death, and when all the constructs we have made to
help us make sense of the world disintegrate, we legitimately go into shock.
Frederick Niedner teaches theology at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, IN says,
“In The Denial of Death, Ernest Becker observes that the sanest individuals among
us, the people most fully in touch with the reality of our mortal nature and flimsy
constructs of meaning and purpose, are those whom fear and depression have
reduced to states of catatonic paralysis. The rest of us who go blithely about our
routines, oblivious to the fleeting quality of our arc through space and time, inhabit
a fictional world, the insane realm of denial. Typically, those who help the rest of
us make sense of our lives have themselves sojourned in the abyss.”
Hummm. If Niedner is right, the prophet who addressed the people in exile,
had himself been in the abyss of depression. There is evidence in other parts of
Isaiah to suggest this. After all, it is Isaiah who is transported into the valley of dry
bones--how we are not told--but it is a frightening place to be sure.
2
A place where there is no life, other than Isaiah, a place of darkness, a
wilderness. This must have been what it was like for the Israelites to whom Isaiah
speaks. Individually, and communally, they are enduring a dark night of the soul.
It is much more challenging than the escape from Egypt wherein they wandered in
the desert for 40 years where they went hungry, and thirsty, faced serpents and
choked to death on quail. Why? Because a pillar of fire guided them by night and
a pillar of smoke by day that was God’s sign of presence. And they were
triumphant. Not so in today’s scripture. These are people who have lost their hope
that was rooted in a God that they trusted.
The great Martin Luther had a friend, a Bishop Krause, who took his own
life after having been reprimanded by the Pope. The reprimand broke him and
“Krause’s confidants revealed that after awhile Bishop Krause believed that even
Christ himself heaped only judgment and criticism upon him. When Luther
preached about this he said, ‘This is the tragedy of our human condition, that we
fall so far we can no longer see or hear the true God, and we imagine the
condemning God is the only God. And then, the God we imagine becomes the God
we get.”1 [Emphasis mine.]
But Luther, like Isaiah, does not leave us in despair. “The one true God, and
therefore for Christians who believe in the Trinity, Jesus Christ, breaks into even
the most utter despair. In the one who cries out, “My God, my God, why have you
abandoned me?” God joins those whom darkness has swallowed. In so doing,
Christ unhelled hell, Luther preached, declaring that Christ’s descent to hell means
there is no place that any one of us could ever end up, no depth to which we might
ever sink, but that even there he is Lord for us.”
Isaiah reminds the people exiled in Babylonia that God’s way is always
partially hidden, and that when we feel most alone, most afraid, God is with us.
3
1 Neidner, Frederick. Christian Century, January 25, 2012, p. 12.
When we are sure we cannot go on one more second, God strengthens us. In those
times, we do not soar as eagles. We do grow faint, and we do grow weary. And if
we do not, and we befriend those who do, we too will enter into their abyss. And
how are we to defend against weariness, faintness, fear, and depression? By what
means do we defend ourselves?
Our armament looks pretty wispy. We accompany those who suffer, just as
God accompanies us. And we say to them, “You are not alone. WE will get you
through this.”
And if we have within us the stories of God, the promises of God, the
reminders of who God is, such as those found in Isaiah today, we will be reminded
that God is close at hand, an ever present source of strength. As Niedner says,
“Those closest to me who have survived lengthy times of depression, anxiety, and
insomnia say that along with the faithfulness of friends who provided gentle,
nonjudgmental support, several precious metaphors created sanctuaries and places
of respite during the slow process of rising from the pit. One person found great
comfort in the image of God’s care for the beaten-down, badly weathered souls
like hers as a kind of dragnet that God hauls through the uncharted depths where
no light seems to reach.”2
Whether it is in the words spoken by a man like Isaiah who has recently
emerged himself from the bottomless ocean of despair, or Martin Luther who
reminds us there is no place we can go where Christ has not already gone, or sitting
with a friend who says nothing, “Eventually, by some strength that lies outside
ourselves, we will ALL be hauled ashore.”
In this sanctuary today, we have brought with us our own wilderness state of
mind. That place where we are alone, convinced that no one is there with us: bills
that go unpaid and won’t be paid for sometime to come, a job that is shaky, or a
4
2 Ibid.
marriage that is stretched to the point of breaking, where we are estranged from a
parent, a brother, a child, or a friend.
I used to be believe that if I had problems, I had brought them on myself.
That somehow I had failed to be moral, competent, and worthy. I truly believed
that my sadness was a moral failing. That those who were moral, competent and
worthy were happy, energetic, and can-do folks--or at least they should be because
they had everything going for them.
I shared with the Advent Study group this little story. It was a Friday night.
I had just finished a long week at a job I felt I couldn’t do right no matter what, but
one I needed because...I was divorced and needed a job that paid well and had
health insurance. I was vulnerable--economically--and I knew it. I was divorced.
I felt the stigma. A neighbor had just reported to me that my son had been seen
walking on the roof over our patio, something she deemed extremely odd. I
couldn’t parent ‘right’. That night I was taking my daughter to a sleepover at a
friend’s house. As I drove away from their beautiful home, and drove through the
subdivision, many folks had left their drapes open, and I could see into their
homes. In my mind’s eye all the homes looked so pretty and orderly. The people
looked so happy. And then I remembered something. I used to live in a house that
was pretty and orderly. And to those who looked at us from the outside in, we, too,
appeared to be happy--but in reality we were spiritually and emotionally estranged.
And somehow that insight lightened my spirit. It was liberating to realize that
none of us lives carefree in the land of milk and honey--even if we do appear to be
moral, competent and worthy. I have always viewed this realization as a gift from
God. My spirit felt lifted, my thoughts brighter. I could relate to Niedner who
says, “In such a place, one can thrive on the simple things God provides. That
daily ration is manna, Hebrew for “What is it?” What it is, of course, is enough.
Enough strength, enough hope, enough sense of direction. Barely enough, but
enough.”3
Isaiah could not cure what ailed the Israelites as they pondered their lot in
Babylon. But Isaiah, no less than Martin Luther, no less than you and I, can count
on God’s grace, so that God’s word, God’s presence, and our presence with one
another, is like manna in the wilderness. Ephemeral, wispy, hard to describe, yet
nonetheless, real. And it is enough. It is enough to get us through one day into the
next, one day at a time, counting on the God who does not grow weary of being
present with us--ever. Amen.
3 Ibid. p. 13.
Sermon
29 January 2012 ~Garden Street UMC, Bellingham, WA
Rev. Cheryl A. Fear
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
come in on the middle of a conversation or a business letter that is being dictated
for he says, “Now, concerning food sacrificed to idols...”
We don’t hear much about ‘food sacrificed to idols...’ nowadays. The issue
just doesn’t come up much. But in Corinth, in the first century, it had become an
issue which split folks into factions, caused hurt feelings, and threatened to
undermine the very gospel and good news of Jesus as the Christ.
Corinth was a huge city with a culturally diverse citizenry. It is estimated it
may have had 3/4 of a million people. There were many temples scattered
throughout the city each devoted to one or another Greek or Roman deity. And
then, just as today, folks of different religions lived close to one another, were
neighbors, friends, business associates. Temples, like churches, were the sites of
religious feasts, but also celebrations like weddings and other life passages. It was
part of community to accept invitations to these events. So...what is a believer in
Christ to do?
Well, for some, the answer was obvious. To eat meat, not just food, meat
which was expensive and a treat, to eat meat that had been sacrificed in homage to
a deity other than the One God, was an apostasy. It should not be done--no matter
if you offend your friend, your business partner, your brother-in-law. No.
And for others, the answer is equally as obvious. Since there is no god but
the One True God, meat offered up to a non-existent God, is as good as any other.
Of course, I can come to your son’s wedding. Where do I go? Can I bring a gift?
Yes. I’ll be there.
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Each, as Paul observes, has knowledge---but is it knowledge tempered with
love? For knowledge infused with love becomes wisdom. And here, Paul makes
this statement, “Knowledge puffs up, love builds up.”
I remember sitting in St. Anglais Church in Paris. I was traveling with a
choir from Azuza Pacific University, and we were ‘guests’ who had been invited to
sing. Some of the young students began to talk rather loudly during the service
denigrating the chants of the priest, and the incense that was used, criticizing a
tradition that pre-dated their own by 1500 years. It was true that Luther had
declared that we do not need a priest to act as an intermediary between us and God.
But the tone of the ‘enlightened’ students revealed their lack of wisdom. They had
not yet learned that the knowledge they possessed should be tempered with love
for the other, who is a Christian too, practicing their tradition. So they giggled, and
whispered.
And this was the situation in Corinth. When communities gathered, those
who refused to eat meat sacrificed as offerings to pagan gods, were critical of those
who did. And those who did, made fun of those who didn’t. Finally, they took
their case to a higher court--Paul. And what we have is Paul’s response--which by
the way begins in Chapter 8, and continues into Chapters 9 & 10. Of course, Paul
didn’t divide his letters into chapters, those are artificial divisions created later on.
In Chapter 9 Paul deals with those who invoke the principle of Christian freedom.
He points out that there are many things he is free to do but which he abstains from
doing for the sake of the Church. He is well aware of Christian freedom, but
equally aware of Christian responsibility.
Then, in Chapter 10 he deals with those who declare that their Christian
knowledge and privileged position make them quite safe from any infection. He
cites the example of the Israelites who had all the privileges of God’s Chosen
People and yet, fell into sin. He advises them against being too fastidious. If you
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go to a butcher in the market to buy meat, buy meat, and do not become overcurious
about its source. If you go to someone’s home and they make a big point
to tell you that you are being served meat that has been previously dedicated to a
pagan deity--take notice. Their “in-your-face” attitude should alert you. You are
being challenged to see how committed you are as a Christian. Best to decline.
I think the closest we come to facing something similar in our contemporary
culture involves the serving of alcohol. When I was in seminary there were 6 of us
who got together every Thursday night for an end-of-the-week meal. We all
chipped in, and put together truly wonderful buffets. One of our friends was a
recovering alcoholic. She said it out loud and up front the first time we gathered.
We asked her if having wine at the meal made her uncomfortable. She said, “No. I
came prepared with a diet Coke.” And that was that.
However, there were other occasions and are other occasions when it simply
isn’t the loving thing to do. Others have a harder time, and are not so strong as our
friend. We had sodas, and mineral water.
I have told you that my Grandmother was Southern Baptist. She did not
drink alcohol--ever. And in the day and age when her grand kids were getting
married, wedding receptions usually consisted of cake, nuts, and mints served in a
church fellowship hall with coffee, tea and punch being the beverages served. But
there came a time when her youngest son’s boy was getting married. They were
up-scale folks and the family had a huge reception that involved a champagne
toast. I watched my grandmother to see what she would do. She was a lady--truly.
Very gentile. As the best man made the toast, and others lifted their glasses, my
grandmother raised her goblet to her lips, and there it stayed. I loved her for it.
She was the matriarch of the family, and she would do nothing to blemish his
special time in the limelight.
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It would be so quite a testimony to the Christian faith if the first thing people
thought of when they hear the word “Christian” is love or loving. Unfortunately,
they don’t. A recent survey found that non-church people think of Christians as
self-righteous and judgmental. Teacher and theologian Frances Schaeffer once
said, “If we do not show love to one another, the world has a right to question
whether Christianity is true. Therefore, we must strive to remain humble at all
times and manifest love to all that we come in contact with.”
Paul, although he was steeped in the Torah, and knew the laws and rules
well, also understood, that it was love of God as practiced in our love for Christ
Jesus, that would see us through the many ethical issues we would face, and there
would be no black and white answers.
He does make two important points.
1. Recognize that love is more important than freedom (8:1-6)
2. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edified. (8:12)
The true aim of Christianity is not knowledge per se, but knowledge that promotes
understanding in our hearts so that we can love. I have found that knowledge can
cause us to make judgments--and judgments harden our hearts. But knowledge
that fosters understanding, understanding softens our hearts. Understanding is the
soil of love.
Last week I talked a little bit about our part as a church in hosting both the men’s
and women’s severe weather shelters. What I didn’t share with you is the
tremendously deep level of understanding the volunteers possess of the guests who
come in from the cold. They understand, as much as they possibly can, and
because they do, they welcome people in with respect and kindness. There is
agenda. There is no attempt “to enlighten”. It is simply to see the Christ that is
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present in them. On Thursday, a man named “Harold” was laid to rest at Faith
Lutheran Church. He was a figure on the streets of downtown Bellingham. He
had been homeless for quite some time. But he was well known and when he was
spoken of it was with kindness. He was found in Bellingham Bay a week and a
half ago. There were almost 160 people at his service. People who understood.
People whose knowledge of Harold did not cause them to become puffed up.
People whose love for him bid him a dignified, respectful good-bye.
Those who judge might have felt otherwise. But those who love knew it was
a right and proper thing to do.
The Christian life isn’t about how much we know, or how strong we are, or
how much Christian liberty we possess, but how much you love. We are our
brother’s keeper. Amen.
18 December 2011 ~ Garden Street UMC, Bellingham, WA
Rev. Cheryl A. Fear
Today we lit the fourth candle of Advent-the candle of love. Three weeks of
preparation for Christ’s birth have completely passed, and now we stand on the
threshold of the fourth and final week. Several of you have spent at least part of
Advent participating in The Uncluttered Heart, an Advent Study by Beth
Richardson. Many of you have commented how much you enjoy the book which
provides daily readings of quotes, scripture, reflection, and prayer. If you sign up
for the daily emails you also receive a beautiful picture to go along with the daily
readings. Some of these have been stunning in their beauty, others are less
aesthetically beautiful but profound in the their plainess. For instance, Saturday’s
email featured a rather weathered mailbox alongside a country road with a
handpainted sign in green letters nailed to it that read “Jesus here” with an arrow
pointing to right. Author Beth Richardson said she almost missed the sign as she
drove down the country on her way to some where else. She wondered aloud how
often we missed Jesus as we speed through our days.
As we approach the last week of Advent and draw closer to the day of Jesus’
birth, I am constantly refreshed by how God can multiply the joy experienced
during one moment spent in Advent devotions, or scripture reading, or singing
Christmas Carols and make it last for the whole day. And when we take the time to
read and reflect and pray daily, the insights God provides for us gently smooth out
our rough places, so that like a rock in brook we are made lovely. This is God
working in us.
But none of us will ever have the kind of encounter portrayed in today’s
scripture. It is unique in all of human history. I am speaking, of course, about
Mary’s encounter with the Angel Gabriel. The beautiful story of the Annunciation
is found only in the Gospel of Luke. It is Luke, and Luke alone, who tells the story
1
of Jesus’ birth from the perspective of Mary, and thus provides the only feminine
voice we hear about Jesus’ beginnings. The only other story of Jesus’ birth is told
in the Gospel of Matthew and that focusses on Joseph, Mary’s husband-to-be.
Matthew tells us how Joseph reacts when it is revealed that his fiance is ‘found to
be with child’. It is Matthew who tells us of Joseph’s encounter with Gabriel, and
how Joseph is guided by his dreams for the well-being of Mary, and later on, for
the well-being of their infant son. It does seem fitting that one Gospel tells us
Mary’s perspective and the other Joseph’s. Today, it’s Luke’s Gospel we hear, and
it is beautifully told, as are of Luke’s stories.
As a woman who has given birth to two children, I am fascinated by Mary.
From the beginning we know she is special and set-apart from others, because an
angel appears to her and says, “Greetings highly favored one. The Lord is with
you.” And Mary stands still--doesn’t run or cower. She is perplexed and wonders
what does this kind of greeting mean. Indeed! But things only get more
complicated--not less so--when angel tells her she will conceive a child, a son, and
she will name him Jesus. Now Mary speaks up. “How can this be?” Indeed!
Mary has done nothing that would result in conceiving a child. So how is such a
thing possible. And Gabriel’s answer is enigmatic, mysterious, and for us who live
in the age of biological sciences, totally puzzling, and let’s face it--not at all
helpful. For he says, “The Holy Spirit will come over you and the power of the
Most High will overshadow you. Because of this, your child will be holy.”
One of the members of our Advent Study group wondered “How would that
feel? What would it be like to have the Most High overshadow you? Indeed! And
Mary says an unequivocal ‘yes’ to what the Angel says. Granted he didn’t ask, but
neither did Mary protest. She simply says, “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be
unto me as you have said.”
2
Now, that is a phrase I have treasured up in my heart and pondered often. I
find Mary’s reaction totally remarkable. To bear a child is an awesome and
wonderful thing.
I remember when I first found out I was pregnant with my first child. My
husband & I had been married for 3 years. I was just finishing my undergraduate
course work, and I recall walking around campus feeling like I had this precious
secret. I really did want to tell complete strangers our happy news, but I didn’t. I
just smiled and kept walking. I was seven months along when we celebrated
Christmas in 1969. By then my secret was no secret. I looked like I had tried to
conceal a basketball under my blouse. And I remember thinking about Mary a lot
that Christmas.
Mary who said ‘yes’ to God and to life. Henry Langknect, teaches at Trinity
Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio says this, “Mary was was visited by Gabriel
and called by God to find a place, to make a home for Jesus. Her body was to be
that place. Her womb was to be the home of God. Part of the mystery of the
incarnation is that somehow the creator of every place and every home in the
universe (emphasis mine) asked for and was granted a particular home in the
womb of Mary of Nazareth.
Mary sings, “My soul magnifies the Lord!” And it does. But God is
magnified by more than just her soul. Her life magnifies the Lord through its
witness. For as she opens her body in order to provide a home for Emmanuel, she
magnifies and multiplies the work of the God whose mission is to lift up the lowly,
to fill the hungry with good things, to make a home for the homeless.”
This idea of Mary providing a home for God was totally new to me. I don’t
know why I had never seen it before. And we, like countless others down through
the centuries, are blessed because one young girl said ‘yes’ to God. And God took
her yes and multiplied it and magnified it. And what’s more. God continues to do
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the same thing today, in this place at this very minute. Our ‘yes’ to God ripples out
and touches others.
Langknect says, “Our richest contentment as pilgrim people is not achieved
by going home again and finding rest among our families....rather, the magnificent
richness of life in Christ will always be found when we magnify and multiply the
life and mission of God by providing place, home and rest for others.
Every day Christians are invited to live into Mary’s paradox of being the
small place where the maker of all places can dwell. As members of the church of
Jesus Christ, we have opened our lives up so that we can be the dwelling place for
Jesus.”
That means there are no small acts of kindness. And there are no small acts
of pettiness or meaness. Each time we choose to act in a way that is possessive,
proprietary or elitist, we temporarily evict Christ from our hearts. And we know it
when we do it. I was in the parking lot at Fred Meyer’s yesterday. The car ahead
of me had their blinker on and they were waiting for a car to back-up and leave,
thus opening up a spot. They had been waiting patiently. The car backed up and
left. The car ahead of me started to pull forward when a huge white pick-up truck
entered from the opposite direction and zipped into the parking space. That wasn’t
very nice I thought to myself. The little gray car continued to try to find a space. I
had to stop for a pedestrian. I saw a young man get out of the truck. I rolled down
my window and said, “I saw what you did. That wasn’t very nice.” His reply?
“Tis the season!” And he walked on.
“Jesus lives in us as surely as we live in him. Mary’s “let it be unto me” is
our invitation to magnify the Lord by participating in God’s mission. Every time
we think of the other person by not taking their parking space, or provide shelter,
or pour a drink, open a door, extend an invitation, ask someone to tell his or her
story, Mary’s song becomes our song.” Amen.
Sermon
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
27 November 2011 ~ Garden Street UMC ~ Bellingham, WA
Rev. Cheryl A. Fear
Greetings to you on this First Sunday of Advent. The Sunday on which we light the Candle of Hope, and we express our joy that the Messiah moved into the neighborhood and became one of us.
And during the Season of Advent we prepare again for his arrival. Advent (from the Latin word adventus meaning "coming") is a season of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year. During Advent we recall the history of God's people and reflect on how the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament were fulfilled, and how this informs our understanding of the present. Today we can reflect on God’s action in human history and so begin to understand what it means to us now and the future of our world.
The Rev. Dr. Richard Leggett was professor of liturgy at Vancouver School of Theology. He told us he had learned to love the liturgical calendar, and although he was bound by culture to observe the chronological calendar put in place by the Romans, but it was the church’s calendar he loved. So here we are, on the church’s equivalent of New Year’s Day. “Happy New Year” friends in Christ.
As you know, Duane and I have only lived in our home a little over 4 months. The other night I was sitting in the living room looking at the present arrangement of furniture, and began to move the furniture---mentally---to make room for a Christmas tree. We both agreed that the best place to put the tree was in an alcove by the entry way coat closet. But where to put the cabinet that is there now--the one that was hand painted by a dear friend? We don’t have a lot of options. But it did strike me that all us must rearrange the furniture in our living rooms or family rooms to make room for the Christmas tree. We have to rearrange the way we live to accommodate this symbol of life in the midst of winter and life eternal.
This Season of Advent provides opportunities for us to set aside or perhaps even clear away spiritual obstacles that threaten to detour us on the way to the manger to adore the newborn Christ child.
I couldn’t help but be reminded that the message of the Church, the message of Christ, is particularly dissonant with the culture we now live in. There is a church in Cashmere that has one of those signs with theologically pithy statements on it that change every week. The first one I saw read, “If God is your co-pilot, switch seats.” This week’s sign read “Gratitude causes happiness. Not the other way round.” I liked that. Thanksgiving began as a day of gratitude--gratitude for God’s action in the lives of the pilgrim people. They were thankful for the native people who had shown them how to grow food in a land far different than any they had known before. They were thankful for their safe arrival, for being far away from oppressive government rule. The Pilgrim people directed their gratitude to God. They saw that God had brought them through many trials. It was God’s action in their lives that they lifted up.
Today, we have moved from being thankful for God’s action in our lives to being thankful for the abundance in our lives. Thanksgiving has morphed over time to be synonymous with food and consumption. In recent years we have transitioned easily from the consumption of food to the consumption of material goods, and hence we now have Black Friday which follows immediately after Thanksgiving. Stores open their doors earlier and earlier each year fearful that our lust for consumption will weaken over night and we will forego the heady pleasure of purchasing a waffle iron for $2.00. This year a thread of violence ran through the reports on shoppers swarming into stores. One woman resorted to using pepper spray to disable nearby shoppers. Really? Pepper spray!
It’s almost enough to push one to the brink of Calvinism which proposes that humans are totally and utterly depraved. And then God intervened and reminded me of the unselfish love that permeates life. That unselfish love which is really God’s spirit extended to all which is God’s grace through Jesus.
Today’s Scripture is from 1 Corinthians--a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the church folk of Corinth. A letter is a way to extend our presence when we cannot be with people we love and care about and to whom we want to communicate important information. The letter to the Corinthians extends Paul’s presence to us today, and because Paul was telling the Corinthians valuable information about God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the transformational power of grace, Paul is also telling us the same things.
He is reminding the Corinthians, and you and me, that we have been enriched in Christ, in speech and knowledge of every kind--just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthen among us--so that we are not lacking in any spiritual gift as we wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I need to be reminded. For many of us bear heavy burdens, and if we do not have our own, we called to help shoulder the burdens of others.
Today we lit the candle of Hope, but truly what is the well spring of hope? What lies beneath Julian of Norwich’s unshakable faith that “All will be well. You shall see. All will be well.” I asked friends around the dining room that question. All of the answers were thoughtful. One friend said, “Don’t you think the answer lies in community? We cannot go it alone.” That is certainly an essential component of hope. The woman who peppered sprayed fellow shoppers had no sense of belonging to a community--to people with whom she felt an emotional bond and was connected to. She did believe she had to go it alone, and that it was just smart to disable the competition. She did not see herself as being part of a community in which we share a social contract that obliges us to look out for one another. The Covenant created between God and humanity in the Ten Commandments forms the basis of that social contract and urges into community with God and with one another. Jesus enlarged our sense of community it so that we are to embrace the weak, the troubled, the poor, the ill, and the disenfranchised. To see other shoppers in a store as competitors instead of members of a temporary community sets in motion dynamics that break the bonds of community. BEING in a community certainly helps nurture hope.
Another friend offered that our hope comes from trusting God. Believing that God’s ultimate desire is to bless us even though we are victimized by life’s unfairness can give us hope. I have found that this can be very challenging, although no less true. Our faith in a loving God is often challenged when bad things happen to good people.
On this First Sunday of Advent we are reminded today, perhaps more than in years past, that we truly need to cling to the grace we all share in through our Lord Jesus Christ. And we will be able to cling to that grace as we continue to live into and participate in the community to which Jesus calls us. We fed over 120 people here last Tuesday. That is participating in community. It is like priming the pump on the well spring of hope. It is a glimmer of what is possible here at Garden Street UMC. Today we will offer the community a gift, the gift of music--Handel’s Messiah. Music can soothe, encourage, inspire, and calm. Music IS the sound of hope.
Jesus, Christ and Lord of my life, is the ultimate source of hope. He is God’s ultimate expression of love who rushes out to embrace us as we find our way back home. He smiles and calls us by name, and never fails to walk by our side. It is he to whom we journey. It is good to begin today. Amen.
Sermon
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11~13 November 2011
Garden Street UMC, Bellingham, WA 98225
Rev. Cheryl A. Fear
I stayed home with Duane last Wednesday to take care of him after he had cataract surgery. Aside from preparing meals, making sure he really did rest and making sure he got his eye drops on time and in the right order, I also had time to catch up on some paperwork. Among other things I re-read the article I had written for this month’s Messenger. Just in case you didn’t commit it to memory I want to share with you part of what I wrote.
“ As I was reading The Upper Room Disciplines Book of Daily Devotions, I was reminded that so often in our culture when we list our blessings we think of what we have, and the relationships in our lives. The writer for October 16th, Steven P. West, encouraged us to: Focus less on what we have, including relationships and opportunities, and focus more on what God has brought us through and the joy it brings.
What a wonderful invitation to explore more deeply God’s presence and action in our lives, and a challenge, too! Looking back over the past year or so when and how did you see God’s presence? In a culture that promotes a kind of spiritual prosperity where we associate God’s presence, action, and blessing with all kinds of well-being, we leave ourselves open to discouragement and feeling abandoned by God when we go through times of suffering. God is with us IN our times of doubt, loneliness, fear, and pain.”
In today’s scripture Paul urges the people in Thessalonica not to be concerned about when Jesus will return. Here is how Eugene Peterson translated today’s scripture lesson. I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this [the return of Jesus] is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. he won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other---”We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!”---suddenly everything will fall apart. It’s going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.
But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love and the hope of salvation.
God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this, just keep on doing it.
Paul doesn’t give a specific time table to Jesus’ return, but that hasn’t stopped people down through the centuries from trying to predict, and as we noted predictions continue to this very time. But Paul does make a few points that are worth remembering. We are to be on alert and prepared for the unexpected hour of Christ’s return. And Paul is explicit about how we are to be prepared--we are to live one day at a time constantly being people whose lives are based on faith, hope and love. In other words, we are to go about doing what followers of Christ do--live lives of courage, honesty, and care. No other special measures need be taken in order to prepare adequately for the hour. We are not to be pre-occupied with watching for the signs lest in our hyper-sense of alertness we see a sign where none exists. We are, rather, to count on the God who sees us through each trial to do no less when the final hour draws nigh.
I don’t know about you, but wearing the breastplate of love and faith, and the helmet of hope are often risky choices.
The other day I was thinking about where Jesus might be found in this world today. Next week our church will host a worship service praying for peace in the Middle East. I traveled to Israel in 2008. We began our pilgrimage by traveling in northern Israel first then headed south to Jericho. In the second week we turned west and traveled through rocky barren mountainous hills to Jerusalem. I saw the wall that separates Israel from the Palestinian West Bank Territories for the first time. Our bus went through our first check point without incident. I wondered would Jesus be carrying an UZI machine gun guarding the entrance to Jerusalem? While in Jerusalem we were introduced to a former Israeli soldier who now teaches at St. George’s College. Ari was his name and he heads an organization called Kids 4 Peace. They work with kids under the age of 12 who are Jewish, Muslim and Christian. And the sole activity of the organization is to create interfaith soccer teams and play soccer. A modest goal. But in the process of getting children to soccer practice and to games the parents have to come together to work out carpooling, snacks, uniforms and fundraising. They talk with one another. Get acquainted, go to one another’s neighborhoods. They form relationships. They become people of the Light. They begin to know one another and care about one another. They begin to have hope that there may indeed be a way to live side-by-side. Now--notice the program ends when the kids are 12. And whether the relationships they formed in their early childhoods will last remains to be seen. But Ari believes that there is a big difference between the kids who walk the checkpoints with their UZI’s. Those who never got to know Palestinians as people through programs like his are more likely to use violence as a means of enforcing security. Those who do know the Palestinians as members of families and neighborhoods see violence as a last resort. Paul knew that living in hope, faith and love could be risky. Ari knows it too. He risks being friends with Palestinians and Christians in order to do his work, and he believes the risk is worth taking.
All this week the news reports have been cited stories of various problems with the tent cities that have sprung up all around this country. There have assaults between OWS protestors, drug overdoses, and in some areas violent clashes between protestors and the police. The protestors continue to be criticized for not having a definite plan. But I can’t help but wonder where would we most likely encounter Jesus--amongst those whose offices look down on the protestors-those who continue to receive millions in bonuses subsidized by the taxpayers of this country or is Jesus down there in the rain and the cold--standing with the placard that says “Feed the needy not the greedy.” I don’t know that the situation is even an either/or one. I do know that I find myself in agreement with the editors of The Christian Century, magazine whose motto simply says--Thinking Critically. Living Faithfully. In the November 1, 2011 edition they said this: “Whatever its explicit message, Occupy Wall street has made a powerful statement with its very mode of existence. Newcomers don’t face an ideological litmus test; their protest signs aren’t edited. People of diverse backgrounds share food; nurses share their skills; everyone has an equal voice. In other words, the group is making a democratic witness by its behavior, even it its message isn’t always unified. This approach might be foreign to political operatives and political reporters, but Christians should find it quite familiar.”
The early church was egalitarian--not unified--but very, very open. This too is a step into the Light. This openness was part of the means by which Christians were led into a life that was more abundant than life they had known before. Openness to others demands that we live in hope that others will also live into the Light and faith that they will do so. We will love them as they take the steps from darkness of fear and the craven acts of cowardice it causes people make.
Living in faith, love and hope are risky endeavors. Opening our doors in the winter time requires a prudent kind of trust in others. And if you haven’t signed up for the training offered to volunteers for the shelters by the Interfaith Coalition now is the time to do so. As the church that sits on the corner of Garden Street and Magnolia we declare we are a reconciling congregation. We welcome and love all people regardless of sexual orientation. In order for love to remain vital and alive it must be said aloud and practiced. Our church is struggling with finding its voice on this matter. Garden Street has found its voice. I am so happy to be pastor to a congregation that has held conversations on this issue and come to the conclusion that our doors are truly open to all. We can be helpful to other congregations who want to have the conversation but don’t know how. It takes courage, faith, love and hope to speak out.
Listen to this letter I received this week from the Council of Bishops. Listen to how it begins. I think the Bishops have read Paul’s letters. Listen to the tone of this letter, and then please pray about it.
[READ LETTER FROM BISHOPS]
The best way to be prepared for Christ’s return remains the same today for us in North America as it was for those in Thessalonica. We are to pay attention to the world around us and where we see those in need we are to help. And we are to be prepared for Christ’s return. Working for peace, justice and doing acts of mercy IS how we prepare ourselves. Surely God will find no fault in us if we are about living in such a way that takes faith, love and hope. If we live like that, then no matter when Jesus comes we are ready. Whether he comes before we die a natural death or centuries afterwards--for as Paul says, if we live lives of faith, love and hope--we live in Christ. Amen.
All Saints Sunday
Oct. 30, 2011
Our grief is as unique as those for whom we grieve. It is also intimate. Grief reveals the spiritual interior landscape of our souls stripping away all that is not deeply rooted or sturdy revealing what it is we hold most dear.
Today is All Saints Day. A day when we remember the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us in faith. In the midst of loss and sadness it is hard not to lose heart and succumb to discouragement. The point of today’s scripture is clear: It is to keep us from growing weary. It is to lift us up out of the depressing muck of discouragement. In addition, “The author of Hebrews is genuinely concerned that his/her readers might lapse into unbelief. “[1]
The author’s concern is well founded. Grief hits us at the foundation of all fears--death. 20th century Christianity concentrated on “the glory set before him [Jesus], and forgot that Jesus, no less than you and I, went forward on faith. To claim that Jesus knew ahead time his suffering would lead to exaltation makes a parody of all he endured on the cross. “In faith he forged his way ahead, , committing himself fully to the God of promise. Even though looking back we know that humiliation gave way to exaltation, our text insists that Jesus had no clue of this as he looked ahead. His joy still lay in the future, and the future lay beyond the cross, not before it.”[2]
This is particularly pertinent to what we do here today. Some of us lit our candles and remembered dear one who have died with love, fondness, nostalgia. Some of us may still be in the pain of grief and wonder if that pain will ever go away. Jesus’ determination to lean into God’s promise without a guarantee that all would be well serves as a reminder to us all. And while Jesus’ example is singular and stands out from all the rest, we too are surrounded by a gallery of witnesses, who, like us, committed themselves to the future of God’s promise and leaned into it in hope. Those whom we remember today provide an example of expectant faith even as Jesus provides an example of faith realized. This scripture provides singular focus on Jesus as the one who “leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection.”
So how do we keep on keepin’ on? What are the means of spiritual discipline we can draw on that help revitalize our souls and refresh us when we are spiritually weary so that we too bring our faith to perfection?
The Bible is full of faithful people who leaned into God’s promises, but who themselves, did not live to see the fulfillment of those promises. Calling to mind their example is helpful. The deeds of our predecessors are well worth rehearsing , even though we tend to idealize them. In retrospect, their flaws tend to fade, and they should not be forgotten.
Who did you light a candle for today? Whose faces do you see in the cloud of witnesses? What were the lessons they taught you back when you knew them? And just as importantly, what lessons do they still teach you--even unto today?
My mother’s Aunt Charlcie is now 101 years old. When she was 97 she wrote a little booklet about the family, because she wanted to mark the trail of faith for those she knew were following behind. How I love her for it. That little missal outlines the heartbreaks her mother, my great grandmother, endured, and lived through in such a way that she remained forgiving, loving, and compassionate--slow to anger and ready to embrace.
So even though I never knew Great Grandma Paul, she is among the cloud of witnesses. Last year I presided at the funerals for my father’s only sister, my Aunt Avis and her husband, my Uncle Raymond. They died within 3 weeks of one another having been married for 63 years--partners in life, love, farming and parenting. Partners in serving the little American Baptist Church that was their church home all their lives. Now they, too, are in the gallery of the faithful.
I ran across pictures of my paternal grandparents last week. Alma Llewellyn Lawhorn was my grandmother. She never gave up hope, or gave up praying, that I would find a life of faith in Christ Jesus. She’s there, too. And when I think of her it is with sadness that I didn’t know her better, and that she and I didn’t get to know one another as women who shared blood and women who shared faith. I wish I had known her better. This woman who raised 5 children to maturity and gave birth to three others who did not live to see their first birthdays. I wish I had known her in that way that only mothers can know one another. Maybe it would have helped me to chip away at the hardness in my heart I felt towards her regarding some of her transgressions against my father.
All Saints Day is a means for us to spread out before God the contents of hearts as we think about those who have gone on before us. It is meant as a step in the journey of life and faith as we remember the saints of the ancient church, the saints of the olden church, and those saints who are our immediate predecessors. As we come before God, and as we light the candles of remembrance, we may find ourselves admiring them more for the path they walked with courage and dignity and struggle. We may find ourselves realizing that they left behind a light by which to guide us.
Someday, you and I will be among the cloud of witnesses. Someday, others will light candles in our memories. And someday, that too shall pass. In the face of that knowledge we, like Macbeth, may be tempted to say:
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
But as followers of Christ Jesus while we have our time upon the stage we know we are moving towards eternity and that we are to run with persistence knowing that many others have been on the stage before us and most likely will occupy the stage of Life after us. And that while we are here upon the stage we are to tell our tale with robust voices confidently--not necessarily perfectly--but living as though what has been promised is ours.
And when we fail to do that we will simply have to employ forgiveness-- the source of second chances, AND the courage to try again and the source of peace. Forgiveness and the willingness to suspend our anger over having been made to suffer at all. Forgiveness is that point where everything Jesus taught and lived is concentrated and all the force he has in our lives is brought into focus. We all struggle with the unfairness of suffering especially when it pertains to the protracted death of a loved one. When we are confronted with both--that is when we must draw upon whatever spiritual resources we have taken in, and drink from our own spiritual wells.
Today’s scripture provides a taste of relief in the desert of loneliness and abandonment we feel when some one we cherished is gone from our midst. Amen.
[1] Craddock, Hayes, Holladay, Tucker. Preaching Through the Christian Year, Trinity Press International, Harrisburg, PA., 1992, p. 203.
[2] Ibid.
Sermon
Matthew 22:34-46 The Great Commandment & Wesley’s Means of Grace
Garden Street UMC, Bellingham, WA
October 23, 2011
Rev. Cheryl A. Fear
Good Morning. First let me begin by saying thank you to everyone who participated in Laity Sunday. It was my first time as a pastor to experience and receive the gift of worship given by lay members. And I treasured every moment of it. Dick Schroeder and Shirley Forslof were the organizers who planned the services and they did a terrific job. Special recognition is due also to our two lay preachers for the day, Marci Wilson and Karl Mueller. Powerful, moving and memorable. Thank you both.
Today, we continue to deepen our acquaintance with John Wesley, founder of Methodism. As you may remember we began October by talking about the history of Wesley--whose heart was strangely warmed by the Holy Spirit in the forge of failure. We then moved on to Holiness of Heart--that process of transformation within us as the Holy Spirit draws us ever closer to God while simultaneously moving us ever farther away from those things that tempt us. Last week, our Lay Speakers continued our up front and personal experience of sanctification--that is made visible to the world as the Spirit transforms the way we live or Holiness of Life.
Today, we conclude our close encounters with Wesley as we explore Wesley’s Means of Grace and how these Means of Grace are a road map to living out the Great Commandment.
Please pray with me: Lord, may the meditations of my heart and the words of my mouth be acceptable to you O God, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.
For almost half a century now I have been an advocate for the KISS system. Keep It Simple Sweetie. Whenever I find myself becoming overwhelmed with the details, I find it helpful and relaxing to go back to the basics. Jesus was also a fan of the KISS system. He didn’t come into the world teaching systematic theology, constructive theology or process theology. His heart went out to us, all of us --regardless of age-- children on the inside, jockeying for status, power, wealth, and love. All of us afraid, and all of us forgetting that all would be well if we could just remember the basics.
So, in today’s Scripture, Jesus says this:
“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 and first 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.”
And Jesus, of course, was right. He must have figured from his observations of humankind that trying to remember all ten of the commandments were way too hard, so he gave a Cliff Notes edition or Life for Dummies. Just remember two things, Jesus says, and you’ll be fine. Truly. You will be fine.
- Love God.
- Love your neighbor as yourself
On these two simple sentences hang all the law and everything every prophet has tried to teach you. It’s true, you know. The Ten Commandments do divide rather neatly into two categories.
Exodus 20
The Ten Commandments
And God spoke all these words:
1 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
2 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.
3 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
4 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
5 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
The first four commandments are clearly commandments demonstrating our love for God. The fifth is a bridge. It is God’s gift to us. The gift of rest, not only for us, but for all of creation--even livestock get a rest. And it is our gift to God to graciously receive the Sabbath and honor it.
The remainder of the commandments fall into the category of demonstrating our regard for and love of one another.
5 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
6 “You shall not murder.
7 “You shall not commit adultery.
8 “You shall not steal.
9 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Love God. Love one another. Pretty straightforward. But the world is an imperfect place, and we often stumble in trying to walk the way that Jesus taught us. But we bear the image of God within us. And just as God does not give up on us, neither do we give trying to conform our wills, hearts, and actions to God’s will. It is part of the Christian story that 18 centuries later, in a land far away from Israel, a young preacher found his way back to the bosom of God after failing miserably as a man and a missionary. And that young man, John Wesley, formed a a vibrant branch of the Christian faith--the Methodists. And we are heirs to his wisdom.
Wesley taught that the means of grace are the ways in which God works invisibly in God’s disciples, quickening, strengthening, and confirming faith. We are to us them to open our hearts and lives so that God may work in us. The means of grace can be divided into two broad categories, just like Ten Commandments. Those two categories are: Works of Piety and Good Works. Both categories have individual and communal components.
So the Individual Practices of Works of Piety:
Prayer
Fasting
Searching the Scriptures
Healthy Living
Works of Piety done in a group or community are:
Holy Communion
Baptism
Holy Conferencing
Good Works
Visiting the Sick
Visiting the Imprisoned
Feeding & Clothing those in need
Earning, Saving, & Giving all one can
Service focused toward communal/societal needs--
the Seeking of Justice;
It is worth remembering that that those acts of piety form the foundation and provide the motivation for the good works. We live in a culture that insists on empirical evidence, that which can be seen, in order to determine the truth of something. But for us, as Christians, and particularly as United Methodist Christians, that we remember and practice those means of grace that strengthen our love for and our relationship with God. In other words, Prayer, Fasting, Searching the Scriptures, Healthy Living, and Holy Communion. For just as the Ten Commandments list the ways in which exhibit and practice our love for God first, so does our faith teach us that spiritual formation, acts of piety, are the foundation and the ground out of which we do Good Works. To do good works only is to get the cart before the horse. It is to mistake that WE are the source of the Good.
Let’s begin with the first means of grace: Prayer. And again let’s go back to the basics. Nothing is more basic than breathing. And the ancient desert mothers and fathers incorporated breath as part of their prayer life. On October 11th Disciplines contained this little breath prayer: Lord, fill my presence with your presence. Each time we breathe we say the prayer--silently. As you breathe in say to yourself: “Lord, fill my presence with your presence.” It is amazing how restful and calming this can be as you repeat this several times. God takes something so simple, breath, and 7 words, and restores our connection to God, our peace, sense of well-being, and relaxation.
Chances are, your blood pressure has gone down a bit, and a bit of stress has left your soul and your body.
Keeping things simple is a gift. Simplicity, like cleanliness, is next to godliness. Our prayers need not be complicated nor long.
Last Tuesday, Jean Gischer and I went to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church to observe their weekly Alms Giving. Before the doors open all the participants form a circle and say this lovely and loving prayer: “Gracious God. May we see Christ in those we serve. May those we serve see Christ in us.” That small prayer carried me through the week. May we see Christ in those we serve. May those we serve see Christ in us.
So simple. So basic. So meaningful. Last week, Karl & Marci helped us to see the Christ in them. Look around you. Do you see Christ? Think deeply about this, please. It is in our prayer life, in the reading of Scripture, we open ourselves up to God. As it is in the opening up of ourselves that Christ is revealed. These means of grace are integral to the whole process of sanctification whereby we become more pliable in God’s hands, more vulnerable to life and love, just as Jesus did.
I must warn you. This opening up will not be restricted to your heart alone. Oh no...this opening up involves your mind, and....wait for it....your hand that may be clasped tightly around your wallet. Just so you know. Once you feel that strange warming of your heart you are in partnership with the Holy Spirit--whose love knows no bounds and whose courage and generosity are boundless. You may try fasting in the midst of the holidays. You may fast from overspending, criticism or fear. You may feast on generosity, courage, and grow robust in your desire for justice and peace. No part of your life will be untouched. Nothing. They way you use your time, your energy, your money, the way you think, what you read, what you watch on tv, what music you listen to and what you hear when you listen to music will change; even the way you do your job will change, and the way you talk to your spouse, significant other, your children---the way to you treat your pet. How you eat, and what you buy--and why you buy it--will change. And I pray to God...the way you drive your car will change...don’t just hate when a car with a Christian fish cuts in front of you or passes you doing 80 on the freeway? All of that will change and more when as you surrender your life and enter willingly into the means of grace.
Breathe. Pray. KISS Keep it simple sweet-ones. Love God. Remember the Sabbath. Love one another. Look around you. Each of you carries memories of wounds inflicted on you or that you inflicted on others. Look around you. Each of you carries burdens that are heavy. Look around you. Each of you has extended a helping hand. Look around you. Each of you has fallen AND each of you has gotten up. Look around you. See the Christ in each other. Amen.
Sermon
Matthew 22:34-46 The Great Commandment & Wesley’s Means of Grace
Garden Street UMC, Bellingham, WA
October 23, 2011
Rev. Cheryl A. Fear
Good Morning. First let me begin by saying thank you to everyone who participated in Laity Sunday. It was my first time as a pastor to experience and receive the gift of worship given by lay members. And I treasured every moment of it. Dick Schroeder and Shirley Forslof were the organizers who planned the services and they did a terrific job. Special recognition is due also to our two lay preachers for the day, Marci Wilson and Karl Mueller. Powerful, moving and memorable. Thank you both.
Today, we continue to deepen our acquaintance with John Wesley, founder of Methodism. As you may remember we began October by talking about the history of Wesley--whose heart was strangely warmed by the Holy Spirit in the forge of failure. We then moved on to Holiness of Heart--that process of transformation within us as the Holy Spirit draws us ever closer to God while simultaneously moving us ever farther away from those things that tempt us. Last week, our Lay Speakers continued our up front and personal experience of sanctification--that is made visible to the world as the Spirit transforms the way we live or Holiness of Life.
Today, we conclude our close encounters with Wesley as we explore Wesley’s Means of Grace and how these Means of Grace are a road map to living out the Great Commandment.
Please pray with me: Lord, may the meditations of my heart and the words of my mouth be acceptable to you O God, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.
For almost half a century now I have been an advocate for the KISS system. Keep It Simple Sweetie. Whenever I find myself becoming overwhelmed with the details, I find it helpful and relaxing to go back to the basics. Jesus was also a fan of the KISS system. He didn’t come into the world teaching systematic theology, constructive theology or process theology. His heart went out to us, all of us --regardless of age-- children on the inside, jockeying for status, power, wealth, and love. All of us afraid, and all of us forgetting that all would be well if we could just remember the basics.
So, in today’s Scripture, Jesus says this:
“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 and first 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.”
And Jesus, of course, was right. He must have figured from his observations of humankind that trying to remember all ten of the commandments were way too hard, so he gave a Cliff Notes edition or Life for Dummies. Just remember two things, Jesus says, and you’ll be fine. Truly. You will be fine.
- Love God.
- Love your neighbor as yourself
On these two simple sentences hang all the law and everything every prophet has tried to teach you. It’s true, you know. The Ten Commandments do divide rather neatly into two categories.
Exodus 20
The Ten Commandments
And God spoke all these words:
1 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
2 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.
3 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
4 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
5 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
The first four commandments are clearly commandments demonstrating our love for God. The fifth is a bridge. It is God’s gift to us. The gift of rest, not only for us, but for all of creation--even livestock get a rest. And it is our gift to God to graciously receive the Sabbath and honor it.
The remainder of the commandments fall into the category of demonstrating our regard for and love of one another.
5 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
6 “You shall not murder.
7 “You shall not commit adultery.
8 “You shall not steal.
9 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Love God. Love one another. Pretty straightforward. But the world is an imperfect place, and we often stumble in trying to walk the way that Jesus taught us. But we bear the image of God within us. And just as God does not give up on us, neither do we give trying to conform our wills, hearts, and actions to God’s will. It is part of the Christian story that 18 centuries later, in a land far away from Israel, a young preacher found his way back to the bosom of God after failing miserably as a man and a missionary. And that young man, John Wesley, formed a a vibrant branch of the Christian faith--the Methodists. And we are heirs to his wisdom.
Wesley taught that the means of grace are the ways in which God works invisibly in God’s disciples, quickening, strengthening, and confirming faith. We are to us them to open our hearts and lives so that God may work in us. The means of grace can be divided into two broad categories, just like Ten Commandments. Those two categories are: Works of Piety and Good Works. Both categories have individual and communal components.
So the Individual Practices of Works of Piety:
Prayer
Fasting
Searching the Scriptures
Healthy Living
Works of Piety done in a group or community are:
Holy Communion
Baptism
Holy Conferencing
Good Works
Visiting the Sick
Visiting the Imprisoned
Feeding & Clothing those in need
Earning, Saving, & Giving all one can
Service focused toward communal/societal needs--
the Seeking of Justice;
It is worth remembering that that those acts of piety form the foundation and provide the motivation for the good works. We live in a culture that insists on empirical evidence, that which can be seen, in order to determine the truth of something. But for us, as Christians, and particularly as United Methodist Christians, that we remember and practice those means of grace that strengthen our love for and our relationship with God. In other words, Prayer, Fasting, Searching the Scriptures, Healthy Living, and Holy Communion. For just as the Ten Commandments list the ways in which exhibit and practice our love for God first, so does our faith teach us that spiritual formation, acts of piety, are the foundation and the ground out of which we do Good Works. To do good works only is to get the cart before the horse. It is to mistake that WE are the source of the Good.
Let’s begin with the first means of grace: Prayer. And again let’s go back to the basics. Nothing is more basic than breathing. And the ancient desert mothers and fathers incorporated breath as part of their prayer life. On October 11th Disciplines contained this little breath prayer: Lord, fill my presence with your presence. Each time we breathe we say the prayer--silently. As you breathe in say to yourself: “Lord, fill my presence with your presence.” It is amazing how restful and calming this can be as you repeat this several times. God takes something so simple, breath, and 7 words, and restores our connection to God, our peace, sense of well-being, and relaxation.
Chances are, your blood pressure has gone down a bit, and a bit of stress has left your soul and your body.
Keeping things simple is a gift. Simplicity, like cleanliness, is next to godliness. Our prayers need not be complicated nor long.
Last Tuesday, Jean Gischer and I went to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church to observe their weekly Alms Giving. Before the doors open all the participants form a circle and say this lovely and loving prayer: “Gracious God. May we see Christ in those we serve. May those we serve see Christ in us.” That small prayer carried me through the week. May we see Christ in those we serve. May those we serve see Christ in us.
So simple. So basic. So meaningful. Last week, Karl & Marci helped us to see the Christ in them. Look around you. Do you see Christ? Think deeply about this, please. It is in our prayer life, in the reading of Scripture, we open ourselves up to God. As it is in the opening up of ourselves that Christ is revealed. These means of grace are integral to the whole process of sanctification whereby we become more pliable in God’s hands, more vulnerable to life and love, just as Jesus did.
I must warn you. This opening up will not be restricted to your heart alone. Oh no...this opening up involves your mind, and....wait for it....your hand that may be clasped tightly around your wallet. Just so you know. Once you feel that strange warming of your heart you are in partnership with the Holy Spirit--whose love knows no bounds and whose courage and generosity are boundless. You may try fasting in the midst of the holidays. You may fast from overspending, criticism or fear. You may feast on generosity, courage, and grow robust in your desire for justice and peace. No part of your life will be untouched. Nothing. They way you use your time, your energy, your money, the way you think, what you read, what you watch on tv, what music you listen to and what you hear when you listen to music will change; even the way you do your job will change, and the way you talk to your spouse, significant other, your children---the way to you treat your pet. How you eat, and what you buy--and why you buy it--will change. And I pray to God...the way you drive your car will change...don’t just hate when a car with a Christian fish cuts in front of you or passes you doing 80 on the freeway? All of that will change and more when as you surrender your life and enter willingly into the means of grace.
Breathe. Pray. KISS Keep it simple sweet-ones. Love God. Remember the Sabbath. Love one another. Look around you. Each of you carries memories of wounds inflicted on you or that you inflicted on others. Look around you. Each of you carries burdens that are heavy. Look around you. Each of you has extended a helping hand. Look around you. Each of you has fallen AND each of you has gotten up. Look around you. See the Christ in each other. Amen.
Sermon
9 October 2011 ~ Garden Street UMC, Bellingham, WA
Rev. Cheryl A. Fear
Rooted & Grounded in Love
Reclaiming Our Wesleyan Heritage-Holiness of Heart
Philippians 4:1-9
“I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever ceases to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power.”
John Wesley wrote those words toward the end of his life. It is a sentiment with which we need to seriously grapple. Do we have the power of religion or merely the form? And just what is that power? Wesley made the answer abundantly clear--it is the power of the love--radical, transforming love. Wesley wrote in this Notes on the New Testament commenting on 1John 4:18-19: “We love him, because he first loved us. This is the sum all religion the genuine model of Christianity. None can say more, why should anyone say less, or less intelligently?”
This was the introduction to Rev. Joanne Carlson Brown’s sermon presented to her colleagues at the Gathering of the Orders on Sept. 26th, 2011. Her remarks stirred us, and I for one, believe what she said was so important that I want to share it with you.
We need to examine what this power of love is for Wesley and the implications that it has for us as Methodists. I did not grow up going to church, and when I did go, it was because my best friend Carol Watt went to the Methodist Church in Swan Creek, Illinois. So, over the years as I sat in the pew, I would have been hard pressed to speak articulately about what it means to be Methodist and why we are unique among the various Christian denominations with which I could been allied. I am guessing that many of you may find yourself in the same position.
When I was at Vancouver School of Theology in Vancouver, British Columbia, I found that there no other United Methodist students with me at that particular seminary. So, it fell to me to study independently and to dig deeper into our theology, liturgies, history and polity. And like Rev. Brown, I fell deeply in love with Wesley’s theological outlook. And while I did attend another denomination for twelve years, I found over time that I do not belong anywhere else. I am a Wesleyan--through and through.
Some denominations do not believe that Methodists actually have a theology. Rev. Brown says, “When I tell some of my colleagues at Seattle U that I am teaching United Methodist Doctrine, they respond that that is an oxymoron!” She goes on to say this, “We have a unique contribution to make to the understanding of Christian and practice and we need to reclaim this so that we can reclaim the power of which Wesley spoke and not exist in form only as we make apologies for our lack of theology.”
“Wesley did not like to argue theology. The only principle he argued against--and this he did vociferously--was predestination--which he thought was an abominable view of God. He was basically an orthodox theologian, with some unique Wesleyan twists and understandings and emphases. To be orthodox was not enough for Wesley. he wrote in his sermon “The Way to the Kingdom”:
“Neither does religion consist in orthodoxy or right opinions; which although they are not properly things, are not in the heart, but the understanding. A person may be orthodox at every point, they may not only espouse right opinions, but zealously defend them against all opposers; they may think justly concerning the Incarnation of our Lord, concerning the ever Blessed Trinity, and every other doctrine contained in the oracles of God. They may assent all the three creeds...They may be almost as orthodox as the devil...and may all the while be as great a stranger as he is to the religion of the heart.”
Ah, there it is. The religion of the heart - the heart strangely warmed. But it is that emphasis on love--a transforming love, a witness of the spirit--that has real and strong theological roots. Wesley is concerned with what is in the heart---and will let slide a bit---what is in the head--but only a bit. “On Living Without God” he wrote:
I believe the merciful God regards the lives and tempers of people more than their ideas. I believe God respects the goodness of the heart, rather than the clearness of the head; and that if the heart of a person be (filled by the grace of God, and the power of his Spirit) with the humble, gentle, patient love of God and people, God will not cast them into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, because their ideas are not clear, or because their conceptions are confused. Without holiness, I own, no one shall see the Lord; but I dare not add, or with clear ideas.”
If we are filled with the love of God--that radical, transforming love--that trumps or takes precedence over a clear-headed, systematic theology. As Wesleyans we think theologically in order that we migh LIVE theologically, putting into practice our claims about the world now that the Word has become flesh and move in with us. In our Incarnational faith, the point is embodiment; it is performance as much as intellectual assent. Theological affirmations are meant to be practiced. We think theologically in order to have something faithful to say about Jesus and in order to have a faithful way of living for Jesus that is clear, convincing, and effective. That, my friends, is the heart and essence of evangelism - a message worth preaching and giving one’s life. Wesley wrote this in his sermon entitled “Earnest Appeal”:
This is the religion we long to see established in the world, a religion of love and joy and peace, having its seat in the heart, in the inmost soul, but every showing itself by its fruits, continually springing forth, not only in all innocence...but likewise in every kind of beneficence, in spreading virtue and happiness all around it.”
You and I have a chance to make a difference in people’s lives and in the world--to bring the message of salvation to a world and people who desperately need to hear it. Wesley’s view of salvation was this: (From Further Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion) “By salvation I mean, not barely deliverance from hell or going to heaven (which is the vulgar notion), but a present deliverance from sin, a restoration of the soul to its primitive health, its original purity; a recovery of the divine nature; the renewal of our souls after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness, in justice, mercy and truth.”
THIS is what makes us different theologically and practically from other Protestant denominations. The test of the validity of a theology, for Wesley, in the light of Jesus, is the test of love.
In his treatise, “The Character of a Methodist” Wesley addresses this: The distinguishing marks of a Methodist are not their opinions of any sort...What then is the mark? Who is a Methodist? A Methodist is one who has the love of God shed abroad in their heart by the Holy Spirit.
It’s not that other denominations don’t have or emphasize love--but it is the heart of Wesleyan theology and this love transforms us completely, restores us to the image of God, and gives assurance in our heart that we are beloved children of God--no matter what. And as transformed people, we are called to go out and transform the world. Long before the United Methodist Church adopted as our motto “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world”, the 19th century Methodists were saying their job was to reform the nation by spreading scriptural holiness. It is that holiness that we have let slip, that belief in radical transformation that can lead us to do and be what God calls us to do and be. It is that holiness we need to reclaim from petty notions of drinking and smoking, from narrow definitions of the correct sexual identity, into radical ones.
Again, from his “Earnest Appeal” treatise, Wesley writes of what he believes is the better religion: And this we conceive to be no ther than love: the love God and all humanity; the loving God with all our heart and soul and strength, as having first loved us, as the fountain of all the good we have received and of all we ever hope to enjoy; and the loving every soul which God hath made... as our own soul.”
Christian life is supposed to be a journey whose goal is for love of God and neighbor to fill our hearts and govern our lives. If this love rules in our hearts, if it fills our very being, then we cannot hate another, because of their progressive or conservatives views. In all our pluralism we are united by this notion of transforming love. And if this is genuine, then our very lives will reflect that. Wesley talks often in his sermons about receiving the love God, and then reflecting that love toward all creatures. We are to mirror what it means to love God, and that means reflecting God’s love to others, becoming a mirror for them to see God. If you want to be effective evangelists, you need to become a mirror of God’s love.
God is love--and more. God is active, resourceful, transforming, cooperative. God’s love is active in us. We are called to live Kingdom values, not worldly values. For Wesley, the heart of the Gospel was the Sermon on the Mount. Not just the first 13 verses, but all of Chapters 5, 6, & 7. What God calls us to do is pretty well spelled out there. And while the sermon on the Mount is clear, what it asks us to do is never easy. It also means that when people come into contact with us, they should experience us differently than they do others. They should genuinely experience the love that emanates from us as core part of who we are and not as something we just put on. How different the world would be if people knew just by our words and actions that we are followers of Christ. Are we always successful? You know the answer to that. You and I often find ourselves in need of grace and forgiveness--which is given freely following genuine repentance.
Wesley wanted the People Called Methodists, you and I, to understand salvation as a lifelong journey involving both inward and outward change. When we are grasped by, and surrender to the radical love of God, the only authentic response is to love in return--love God and God’s children.
I have shared with you that the years in which I was divorced and the mother of two teen-age children were a time I have called Spiritual Boot Camp. When I returned to church after an 18 year absence, I cried for about the first year and half--so great was my sense of failure and guilt--so great was my deep relief and gratitude for God’s unfailing love and tender mercies.
One night I lay awake waiting for my 17 year old daughter to come home. It was past the time we had both agreed for her to come home. I was worried. I could feel my hair turning gray. I mean that. I swear I could feel myself aging. I would vacillate between worry and anger. “How could she cause me this kind of deep concern?” “She was being disrespectful.” “I deserve better than this.” “What if she has been in an accident?” What if.... And so it went. But it occurred to me that I too had done things that had given God cause for anguish and concern. I, too, had been thoughtless and disrespectful, and yet God had welcomed me back into relationship, as the Father had welcomed the prodigal son. It helped soften my heart. It helped me to give my daughter the love she needed along with healthy boundaries.
I didn’t know it then, but that was what Wesley meant by practical theology. It was belief put into practice. Having been forgiven I could do no less than forgive. Having been loved through my years of wandering and mistakes, I could do no less.
Doctrine ought to be performed as a sign of our faith in a Lord who invited and commanded “to follow me”. Jesus’ challenge wasn’t simply the intellectual “Do you agree?”, but the more engaging and challenging “Will you join up?”
Wesley was once asked how the People Called Methodists would stay alive when Wesley had passed on. He gave the following answer: “The Methodists must take heed to their doctrine, their experience, their practice, and their discipline. If they only attend to their doctrines, they will make the people Anti-nomians; if they attend only to their experiential part they will be (religious) enthusiasts; if they attend to the practical part of religion only, they will become Pharisees; if they do not attend to their discipline, they will be like persons who bestow much pains in cultivating a garden, and put no fence around it to save it from the wild boars of the forest.”
Too often throughout the history of the Methodist movement and church, we have emphasized one of these to the detriment of the others. Doctrine - I hope you see we actually have one. Experience - especially the experience of the love of God. Practice - loving as Jesus loved and living as Jesus lived. Discipline - knowing how to order our lives so we can do and be what God calls us to do and be, because, as Wesley knew, that isn’t easy -- all these things need to be held dear by us and lived by us.
Our logo as a church is the Cross and Flame. We have a wonderful legacy left to us by John Wesley. We are the keepers of the flame. We can and will have the power of religion if we reclaim the gifts of the transformational grace and love of God made so explicity by Wesley. We are not only beloved children of God, we are daughters and sons of John Wesley. Let us go out and live as we are called and empowered to live by the Spirit. Because best of all, God is with us. Amen.
11 September 2011 Sermon
Tenth Anniversary of 9 11
Garden Street UMC, Bellingham, WA
Rev. Cheryl A. Fear
When our children were little we used to all go hiking up in the Cascades. We would drive up to the trail head, park the car and begin walking to a lake or to a promised vista. While we were on the trail and amidst the trees, it was impossible to tell where we were. We were down on the ground and our perspective was limited to what we could see around us.
But...the first time I flew on a commuter airline out of Bellingham Airport called San Juan Airlines, my perspective, my view was huge. And while I couldn’t see the individual trails we hiked, I could see the relationship of Mt. Baker to the surrounding mountains, and the Nooksack River Valley as it winds to the bay.
We live on the ground amidst the immediacy of what surrounds us, but there is more. There is a lot more, and it falls to the scholars and theologians to help us gain perspective by collecting information and then putting it together in such a way that it forms a new map that helps us find our way down here on the ground, and also provides meaning to what we are seeing or have seen.
That was my experience this week as I watched several programs dealing with the 10th Anniversary of 9 11. PBS’s Frontline entitled Where Was God on 9-11? and written by Helen Whitney puts the viewer down on the ground and explores the way 9 11 impacted several individuals views of God, our relationship to God, the shadow side of faith, and the nature of evil. She asks: Is religion itself to blame, or is it our last refuge? What faith can be salvaged from Ground Zero?
( http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/faith/#ixzz1XcZJnx4u)
She does a compassionate and brilliant job of looking at these questions from several different points of view. These questions are probing and at the end we can see how varied our individual responses have been. Whitney does this brilliantly. She explores the impact of that event and sheds clarity on how it has effected all of us as she profiles several individuals. Watching Where Was God on 9 11? was like taking a hike in the mountains and pausing to take time to see individual trees in detail. But I found I needed more. I was searching for a way to gain a broader perspective. Then I happened upon an interview with Prof. Diana Eck from Harvard on the PBS Frontline web site.
Reading the interview with Diana Eck was for me the equivalent of getting on a plane and glimpsing an aerial view of us as a people after 9 11. She says, “The other dimension is what it means for us in a civic and political and societal sense to take religion seriously, whether we happen to be religious or care anything about religion for ourselves.” Diana Eck is a professor of comparative religion and Indian studies at Harvard University and the director of The Pluralism Project. She made some very helpful observations about us as a country in the days immediately following 9-11. The first thing she noted was that it unleashed a huge amount of xenophobia--fear of the stranger, the other. She cited incidents of violence directed at Muslim people that took place all around the country, including one in Seattle. And it was disheartening to realize the anger and violence directed at people for no other reason than they looked like the people who committed 9-11. But the most interesting thing to me is that there was what I sometimes call the "backlash to the backlash." That is, these incidents of hate speech and hate acts and hate crimes all precipitated a kind of civic outcry and an outpouring of goodwill, although the outcry was perhaps not always reported as extensively as the first instance of violence. Now that outcry, to me, is a measurably more positive response than the initial negative response. And the manifestation of goodwill, even if it's just holding hands around the mosque and saying a prayer in solidarity, is very, very important.
Last winter I gathered with about 20 folks each week in Leavenworth to attend a Great Courses class on Islam. We would watch a lecture by Prof. John Esposito, then share some refreshments and talk about what we had seen and heard. Now keep in mind that Leavenworth is not a very big place, and yet each week we had three Muslim gentlemen come to the class to share their experiences of Islam and being a Muslim in our community. One man was from Lebanon, another from Afghanistan, and another from Iran. When we talked about 9-11, the man from Lebanon, Aman, said that at the time he had owned a restaurant in Wenatchee. Feelings were running high and he said several of his regular customers made a point to let him know that he was their friend, and that if he felt threatened or unsafe they would stand with him. The two other men nodded in agreement. All of these men and their families had made friends and those friends stood by them. Eck says, “ This is really one of the messages of Sept. 11. And this is why I say that there is a way in which we are stronger, the fabric of pluralism is stronger.” She goes on to say, “The outreach to other religious communities has been extraordinary during this period of time. If you look at the number of civic forums, of educational programs by churches, by schools, by civic groups, by rotary clubs, there's all of this outreach that says, "Now is the time we need to get to know each other." And the outreach has been mutual. During the same period of time in which we were sending bombers to Afghanistan and were experiencing a wave of Islamophobia in this country -- a time when American Muslims, I have to say, were feeling pretty vulnerable -- mosques all over the U.S. were having open houses, inviting neighbors to come and learn more about Islam.”
Pluralism is a reality, and that means we live in a complex diverse society in which people of many faiths are our neighbors literally. We are becoming much more aware of other faith traditions, and part of that awareness must also include grown up talk about all the aspects of religion. Here is what Harvard theologian Harvey Cox says, “ We as religious thinkers must stop simply making nice about this age of ecumenism, interfaith dialogue and fuzzy feelings among priests, imams and rabbis. We need to take a step toward candor. In response to a secularized intelligentsia, at least in the West, we have tried too hard to put a positive face on religion, when the truth is we know that all religions have their demonic underside. ... Telling just the children's version will no longer do."
To which Diana Eck replies, “ No religious tradition speaks with one voice. Every religious tradition has extremists, has people who use that tradition in chauvinistic and violent ways, for political and economic and personal ends. There's a whole range of religious chauvinism and violence and ugliness that we cannot hide. So the first important thing to recognize is that people in every religious tradition are battling for the soul of their own religion.”
And we know this is true. When the Lutheran pastor who sat on the platform at an ecumenical service after 9-11 with a rabbi and imam, he was censured by his denomination’s synod, and later defrocked because his participation in the service gave the signal that all faiths were valid, and the Missouri Synod said no. That simply isn’t so. The Missouri Synod does not speak for me. “We argue amongst ourselves, and our most serious dialogues are often within our own traditions, with the people who are taking them in directions that we find totally at odds with the highest ideals of our own faith.” But honest interfaith dialogue must include those areas where we differ and foster a deeper understanding that holds those differences respectfully while managing to maintain our own beliefs.
Returning to Diana Eck. She says, “There's a phrase we've heard over and over during the past year, and that's the idea of a "loss of innocence" on Sept. 11. I wonder if one definition of "innocence," in the context of our conversation here, might be the fact that America has been spared, historically, from the religious wars and conflicts that have plagued other parts of the world -- that America has in fact been a haven from those kinds of conflicts. Is that one way to look at "loss of innocence" in the context of Sept. 11? That like it or not, and ready or not, Americans are now thrust as a society into the world history of religious conflict. That our religious isolationism is over. That we are now living in an unprecedented era of globally politicized religion. We are struggling to come to grips with the reality of globalization and its meaning for our lives. We do live in a world in which our currencies are linked, our economies are linked, our political lives are linked around the world. We share the same weather and climate and the same deterioration thereof. So there is a way in which we now realize more powerfully than ever before that our borders don't mean what they used to mean. And that is part of the reality of globalization.
And our interdependence, humanly speaking, is really a concomitant of globalization. But the United States has somehow thought we could have globalization without interdependence. And we can't. I remember a chapter in a book by a Buddhist writer whom I like, called New Jersey Doesn't Exist, about how we develop working names for lots of things in our world that do not finally have the solidity of entities once you get far enough above the ground to look at them from on high. And it's true that we don't have borders that are what we imagined them to be. There's a way in which borders have become much more permeable, and that's part of the interdependence. And yes, there's a religious dimension to all of this. Our religious communities are not simply "here" or "there." The "Islamic world" is not somewhere else -- America is now part of the Islamic world. Just as Christianity is part of the landscape of Lahore and Jakarta, so Islam is part of the landscape of Chicago and New York, Ames, Iowa and Bellingham.
The other thing I would say about loss of innocence is that there are many Christians, and here I speak as a Christian, who have a very naïve sense of God -- you know, God is good, and God is in the perfect white church on the green, if anywhere, and God's presence is cultivated in nature and flowers and sweetness and life -- and who are not as accustomed to understanding God's presence in disaster, as buildings fall and as horrible things happen. They think of the absence of God. But I think of the presence.” I have to admit that I am one of those who seeks and sees God in all the ‘nice things of life’ she mentions.
Eck’s is a ‘theology of accompaniment’ where God is present at all times whether we feel it or not. It is a theology that does not expect intervention nor demand it as affirmation of God’s presence and action in the world. Christianity was born in this awareness. God is present in the midst of innocent suffering, all suffering, and in death. Jesus was crucified on the cross. Our tradition emerged from this belief that God is present at all times. And years before I attended seminary I had grown into a theology of accompaniment. I have felt God’s presence when I was most bereft. When I stood by my daughter’s bedside as she struggled for her life after a terrible accident. When I was alone in my home agonizing over a choice my son made that changed his life and ours forever.
One of the most terrifying images embedded in my mind from that day ten years ago is that of a couple holding hands as they hurled through space after jumping from one of the towers. With the fire at their backs and space at their feet they reached out to one another. And then jumped into –nothing—the abyss as C.S. Lewis called it. I want to believe that in those last seconds they discovered the ultimate presence of God—in the touch of one hand holding another and plunging into whatever lies beyond.
The terror of 9 11 plunged us as a society into the reality that other societies have experienced for years. One of its messages is that we ARE connected with the rest of the world, and that there are consequences for our actions in countries all around the world. There were voices, important voices in the Muslim community that denounced what happened that day in the name of Islam, but they were drowned out by media reports that dwelled on the extremist voice of Islam.
It was encouraging to read Diana Eck’s interview. We are a diverse society and that if we reach out to other faith community’s and learn about our neighbor so that they have a name and a face and we know them, then we strengthen our community and the pluralism of the United States. Because of 9 11 we too know what it feels like to be attacked. Surely this must help us identify with people of Lebanon when rocket bombs from Israel exploded in their cities. And surely we can identify with Israel as well. 9 11 taught us that we are all connected and that as citizens we ignore what is happening to others around the world at our own peril.
Now is not the time to wring our hands and worry. Now is the time, as my colleague in Pt. Townsend says, to roll up our sleeves and DO something, however small, to move us further along the arc of the universe that bends toward justice. Whether we sit at our kitchen table with friends and write letters for Amnesty International, join in next week’s peace rally on the 21st, or support groups like Rotary International’s Peace and Conflict Resolution scholarships. No act is insignificant. Then perhaps we can say the prayer of Shema with confidence, “Hear O Israel. The Lord your God is One.” God is one. We are one and each action we take that acknowledges this fundamental truth brings us closer to the God in whose image we are made. Amen.
Sermon
4 September 2011 ~ Garden Street UMC, Bellingham, WA
Romans 13:8-14
Rev. Cheryl A. Fear
Throughout the past month we have been listening to Paul’s letter to the Romans. It is helpful to think about who Paul was directing this letter to, and what his overall purpose was to begin with. It is helpful to think of Paul as the equivalent of early Christianity’s man-in-the-field. Remember, Paul had come back to Jerusalem after studying in Damascus for seven years, when he got there, he and Peter and James and some of the other original disciples did not see things the same way. At one point, Paul became the target of an angry mob in Temple Square, and it had not been for an alert centurion, he may have been beaten badly or worse. At that point, Peter and the others decided it would be best if Paul left Jerusalem. He was given a “foreign” assignment and sent into Gentile territory by way of Caesarea Maritamia, a manmade seaport on Mediterranean. He traveled into what is now modern day Turkey or Gallacia as it was known then. He went to Thessalonica and Corinth and Ephesus and eventually ended up in Rome. Paul was one whose mind had been changed, and his outlook on humanity’s relationship with God and with one another was also changed because of his encounter with the risen Christ. He had not been taught personally by Jesus nor had he traveled from town to town with Jesus. He had not witnessed the feeding of the five thousand, or the healings, or heard the teachings. He had not been present as far as we know at the crucifixion of Jesus.
Since Paul could read and write, we can surmise that he was part of the privileged class to whom classical education was given. His use of various forms of Greek rhetoric in his writings seem to indicate that he was classically educated, and the fact that he was a Roman citizen, AND Jewish are puzzling. He says he was a Pharisee, a group of Jews who were actually considered to be rather progressive and reformers of Judaism. Exactly WHO Paul was before he encountered Christ on the road to Damascus is not really known, but the Paul who thought logically and rationally about the nature of salvation and what Jesus’ death on the cross meant to humanity, that Paul we know more about.
To his core Paul remained one who knew deep down inside the severity of his sins. He had persecuted the early believers of Jesus as the Christ. He had stood outside the gates of Jerusalem and angrily supported the stoning of Stephen. Paul knew who he was, and throughout his life ever after meeting the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he would know that he was not truly worthy or deserving of the grace given to him through Jesus. This honesty, humility and gratitude would make it possible for Paul to bear great hardships and for him eventually to face death at the hands of the Roman government--as Jesus had done before him. It is this certain knowledge of that he truly does not deserve the love of God, that it comes to him only by way of the risen Christ and God’s grace, that makes Paul tireless. It is his honesty in facing who he was when he encountered Jesus that also gives Paul the perseverance and patience to deal with the human mess he encounters everywhere he goes.
HE is one who has been healed of his anger, his self-righteous, violent nature. He is one who holds fast to the notion that no matter what he does, he will never be able to repay--but it is a debt of love. Father Brendan Byrne puts it this way, “Debts should be paid to those to whom they are due, and Christians are not exempt from this fundamental human responsibility. In one area, however they will never be able completely to discharge the debt they have contracted. Love (agape) is an inexhaustible debt because it is one created directly by the infinite love which believers have themselves received from God in Christ. The costly love (8:32) which grasped them as “enemies” (5:10), has created a corresponding (inexhaustible) “debt” of love owed to fellow human beings, deserving or undeserving as the case may be. To all--even the most difficult and unlovable--believers owe a debt of love flowing from the love with which God loved....” (Sacra Pagina Romans Commentary, p. 394.)
Every person who has been relieved to know that they are truly loved, and been flooded with relief and ecstasy, knows the fundamental power that this overwhelming kind of gratitude exerts. Whether we are talking about St. Augustine (who was no saint before he encountered Christ), John Newton, the self-proclaimed wretch who wrote Amazing Grace, or John Wesley, whose heart was strangely warmed, anyone who has experienced this life giving love--knows they can never repay it, but they want to do what they can, anytime they can, anywhere they can to share some of that love.
Paul, St. Augustine, John Newton, and John Wesley were all convicted of their departure from God, their sinfulness, by being the recipients of God’s infinite love through Christ. In a very real sense, Paul himself, is life those individuals he spoke of in last week’s scripture when he said in Romans 12:20 “No, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” As Father Byrne also says, “Had Paul ended his quotation at this point, (if he is thirsty, give him drink) he would have saved interpreters much labor. Instead he goes on to cite Proverbs 25:22a, which purports to explain the meaning of “pouring burning coals upon (one’s adversary’s) head”. Pouring coals on an adversary’s head has long been associated with punishment. This is contrary to the entire thrust of the overall passage. It could be as W. Klassen infers that burning coals are associated with conversion. That makes sense all the way around. It was love that converted Paul from a persecutor of believers in Jesus as the Christ to one of Christ’s most ardent and effective evangelists. It was love that converted Augustine, and Newton, and Wesley. This unearned, undeserved love is truly the only force that can soften hardened hearts.
And as was pointed out last week, since God’s love for us is genuine, ours can be no less for God or one another. “No domain of Christian life stands apart from this core requirement--that our love be genuine, and it enfolds all obligations from the sublime to the most mundane.” (Brendan Byrne, p. 393.) Love invites one to place oneself precisely in the position of the neighbor--the other--and allows one’s actions to flow from the question, “What would I desire if I were in this situation?” rather than, “What ought I do or refrain from doing in order to follow the rules?
Every once in a while country music gets it right and several years ago a song came out entitled “I Won’t Take Less Than Your Love”. The last stanza goes like this:
How much do I owe you, said the man to his Lord,
for giving me this day, and every day that's gone before,
shall I build a temple, shall I make a sacrifice,
tell me Lord and I will pay the price.
And the Lord said,
I won't take less than your love, sweet love
no I won't take less than your love,
all the treasures of the world, could never be enough,
and I won't take less than your.......
I won't take less than love, sweet love,
no I won't take less than your love,
all the treasures of the world, could never be enough,
and I won't take less than your love,
no I won't take less than your love.
We are made in God’s image. And we as earthly parents of children know that we truly want the love of our children. They can do all the “right things” out of conformance to the rules, but if they do not return the love we have for them it is heartbreaking. That is the best way for me to understand how crucial our love is for God to God, and how crucial it is for us to love one another--genuinely.
To love in this way is to truly ‘put on Christ’ and put on the renewed humanity for the new age that began with Christ’s resurrection, and that begins for Christians at baptism.
The Lanyard
The other day I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room,
moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.
No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one into the past more suddenly—
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid long thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.
I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.
She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light
and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.
Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift—not the worn truth
that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hand,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.
- Billy Collins