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—Liza Neal

Luke 24:13-48
Now on that same day [the first day of the week] two of Jesus’ followers were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept form recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days? He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning with us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” They told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.
Then he said to them, “These are the words that I spoke to you while was still with you- that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

April 26, 2009
“Walking with God”
Village Church

The walk to Emmaus is a spiritual journey. Cleopas and his friend leave the place where everything has happened. They have to get away to think. It is not easy, walking seven miles through the desert. Then right after they eat, they walk seven miles back to Jerusalem. 14 miles in just one day, without the benefit of cars or fast food joints along the way.
They need this time though, and they do not walk alone. They walk with each other, a friend, together trying to discern the meaning of what has happened in their life, trying to discern what steps to take next. Still they are not able to console one another. They are not able to answer each other’s questions. Jesus joins them to guide and comfort them, to inspire and challenge them. Yet they do not recognize him.
Jesus walks up to them, and they do not recognize him. They have heard Mary Magdalene and the other women’s story. They know the tomb is open, but they do not know what to think about this. They are wrapped up in their own experience. They are completely absorbed by what is happening to their own selves and are missing not just the women’s truth but also the fact that Jesus is walking with them!
Jerusalem is not a small city. It is the capital. Not only were there, as now, people from all over the world living there but also it was Passover. At Passover Jews from all over the country and the world would flood into Jerusalem. The city was jam-packed. If you were in Greenwich Village in New York during Christmas time, and someone was mugged in the Upper West Side, it would not be surprising if you did not know about it. And the truth is, a crucifixion was not big news. As hideous and horrendous as crucifixions were, they were not an unusual occurrence. People were not held in prisons; they were crucified. Like Jesus birth, Jesus death went unnoticed by the world, even the most immediate community. But for Jesus’ followers, this was the defining moment of their lives. Nothing would ever be the same again.
For the first eleven centuries after the crucifixion, it was never depicted. There were no crosses hanging around people’s necks or in churches. 1000 years later, it was still too painful. They believed Jesus had been resurrected. They believed salvation was here. But the death itself was still too painful to put up a reminder to gaze upon.
For us, it is different. The cross has become a symbol of salvation, of forgiveness, and redemption. Sometimes during Lent and Holy Week, people say that Christianity is gruesome even morbid. Ironically though for most of us, all of that is symbolic. We have lost the connection to our own lives and our own world. We have lost the connection to our own grief. We do not experience grief when we see the cross or hear the story of Jesus death.
But we do experience grief in our own lives. We lose the ones we love. Those who care for us hurt us. We experience a world of cruelty and violence. We know there is injustice happening, not only far away but even right here in our very own midst. We know there are people who are starving while people in power act out of greed and self-interest.
We walk a long journey in our lives. It is not easy. There is hardship and suffering, grief and confusion, loss and weariness. We get tired and thirsty. We get exhausted and overwhelmed. Just when we think we are doing okay, great changes happen and we grieve. Yet it is in the times of transition, the times when our usual day to day falls apart around that we are taken somewhere new. This is the time when opportunity for understanding comes.
In these times, God walks with us. We do not know it though. God is unrecognizable to us. We are wrapped up in our own worlds, not really paying attention. Just as Cleopas and his friends’ eyes were kept from recognizing Jesus, we are blinded by the world around us. We are blinded by our low expectations. We are blinded by our fear. We are blinded by our lack of imagination and faith in new possibilities. We are blinded by our culture’s focus on the mundane and trivial.
Roman Emperors knew if they put on a good show, if they kept the people entertained with bread and circuses, that they could do whatever they wanted. Not unlike the Roman citizens, most of the time we are caught up in bread and circuses. We miss what is truly important. We do not raise our eyes from our worries and our distracting entertainments.
We think our own experience is all there is to life, the only truth, the only way to understand the world and our place in it. We may hear others peoples’ stories of faith, but we do not know what to think. Like the disciples, we do not believe the women. We are enmeshed in our own realities and our own emotions. It is vital that we listen to others’ experiences, especially those who we suspect, who we normally would not take the time to listen to- women, people of color, Muslims, the poor, criminals, the people on the street with signs asking for our help, the crazy people talking non-stop to no one, people living in other countries, immigrants, strangers, and those who are strange to us. We have an opportunity unprecedented in all of history to communicate instantaneously to anyone, anywhere. But if we do not listen to one another, if we cannot listen to each other’s experience with an open mind an open heart, then all the opportunities for communication in the world mean nothing.
We must listen, not only because they might be true but also because they might be God trying desperately to get through to us. Just as Jesus interprets the disciples own scriptures to help them understand them in a new way, God will use whatever we think we know to give us a new understanding, yet only if we are willing and open to hearing a different way of hearing and seeing.
The disciples recognize Jesus not in the giving of wisdom, but in the everyday intimacy of eating. God is not far away, in the extraordinary, but rather in the ordinary moments of our lives. I know that for me, just when I feel that I have found truth, it vanishes from me- a reality that can make sermon writing very difficult. God may vanish from our sight but that does not mean that God is gone. We will again sense the presence of God with us. Jesus will stand amongst us again.
We have seen God, maybe only once somewhere along the road, but we have seen God and we are the only witnesses. There is a world, a town, of desperate depressed lonely people searching for meaning in their lives. We are Yankees and like to keep things close to the bone. We don’t talk much and we don’t tell people what to believe, just like we do not want them telling us what to believe. But this is not about what you believe; it is about the experience of hope. It is about having something larger than yourself to ground you in times of crisis. It is about an assurance that others do not have and are desperate for.
Whether we recognize it or not, we are even now walking with God. Pay attention, listen to the people we meet, especially to the ones that you would rather ignore. Look at the truths we have been given for new understanding, search not only in the extraordinary but also in the ordinary every day. When God disappears trust that God is still hear and we will again see that Divine Presence among us. You are the only witnesses to your own spiritual journey, and the time has come to speak.
Let us pray.

Acts 4:32-37
Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the Apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means a “son of encouragement). He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

“As My Father Sent Me, I Send You”
Village Church
April 19, 2009

Everyone gives Thomas a hard time. Doubting Thomas, we call him. But you have to admit. It was a pretty reasonable thing to do! They were telling him that someone who had died horribly and definitively several days ago had come back to life. What a ridiculous story. It is understandable that Thomas might think it was a hallucination or wishful thinking.
Not to mention, at first the other disciples also doubted. When Mary came rushing into the house where they were gathered grieving and hiding, she proclaimed in joy and amazement, “I have seen the Lord!” They did not believe her. The Gospel writer does not comment on this however. Since a woman’s word was not valued enough to be even a witness in a court of law, no one considers it particularly remarkable that the disciples do not believe her. Jesus, however, does not make these distinctions. He treats everyone equally regardless of gender, race, class, sexual orientation, or anything else that might separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
So when the disciples doubt Mary it is just the same for Jesus as when Thomas doubts the disciples. Jesus does not judge the way people do. He knows our hearts as well as our actions. He knows our true motivations and intentions. He knows our wounds and our struggles. He knows, and he does not judge. Instead, he helps us to grow. He helps us to move past our limitations, fears, and mistakes. Jesus blesses those who have come to believe without seeing, but this does not mean that he damns Thomas or the disciples.
In fact, when they doubt, Jesus comes to them in the flesh. He appears among them. He eats, prays, and talks with them. He knows what each of them- what each of us- needs. With Mary, he calls her name and it is enough. She knows it is her teacher and Lord. With the disciples, he shows them his wounds. He has risen just as Mary said but he shows proof of whom he is. He is resurrected and changed; yet he carries the scars of what has been done to him. The past is not erased but transformed. With Thomas, he not only shows him his wounds, but also allows him to touch him. “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side.”
Our past, our present, is not erased either. Our struggles, traumas, and wounds are carried within us. Those difficulties cause us to doubt. And there is nothing wrong with this. We have been given a mind with the ability to consider, analyze, ponder, and question. God expects us to use it. God expects us to use our mind. However, that analyzing, questioning part of our mind is only the left side of our brain. The right side of our brain gives us an entirely different way of viewing the world. When we think with our right brain we know the oneness of the universe. We understand that we are all connected, and we are at peace. We have this understanding within us, and Jesus tries to help us connect the two sides of who we are.
Doubt itself can be a barrier to faith, and it can be a bridge to faith. It is all in what we do with it. Will we allow doubt to cause us to abandon our faith journey? Or will we allow doubt to spur us on, to ask more questions, to dig deeper, to seek out truth? Jesus said, “Seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given unto you.”
Jesus wants us to ask questions that he might lead us forward in our faith journey. Jesus wants us to ask the questions, to cry out in disbelief, to grieve that he might call out our name, show us his wounds, and allow us to reach out and touch him. God understands that our experience can cause us to behave in ways that hurt us or mislead us. Like Jesus, we will carry the scars always, and yet we can be healed and changed by God’s love.
Like Jesus, in the midst of our doubtful scarred humanity, we have been sent. Jesus tells us, “As my Father sent me, I send you.” He tells the disciples this as they are cowering in the room in fear of the priests of their faith and the soldiers of the Roman Empire. Days after they have gone from despair to hope, he tells them, I send you. He does not know where it will lead, whether it will lead to crucifixion. Yet now, they have hope of resurrection, not only for Jesus but also for each one of them.
This hope causes them to live differently. They have been given an assurance, which causes them to act in this life as opposed to waiting for the life to come. It is not in another life when healing will happen. It is not in another life when justice will be done. It is not in another life when we will live in community with those who are radically different from us. It is now. It is what we have been sent to do.
Earlier in the Gospel of John, Jesus says “they will know my disciples by their love.” This love is not the love we think of now, romance, chocolate, and hallmark cards. This love is not some warm fuzzy feeling. This love is about concrete action. It is about what we do. It is about hard work and discomfort. It is about how we treat one another. It is not about whether we are nice. It is about whether we are there when it counts, whether we take care of each other, whether we give of ourselves. The community who followed Jesus sold all they had and shared it in common. There was no needy among them.
Roman writers writing about the early Christian community in their midst, although they think of them as atheists and cannibals, say that people are attracted to it because of the way they treat one another. People, particularly the wounded, the poor, the oppressed are attracted to it because of the love, the material sharing, and the healing that happens in the community.
This passage in Acts makes us uncomfortable. Like many of Jesus words, when we think about living them out in our lives, we start to squirm a bit. We do not share things in common. We have not sold our land or houses to give to the poor, and what’s more, we do not plan to. We would rather be nice. All that requires of us is not saying what we really think to someone’s face. We can manage that. Perhaps we’ll even make the occasional donation to missions, or take our extra clothes down to the Salvation Army. Is this what following Jesus means? Is our community known for its love?
The passage in Acts mentions both the individual and the community, because following Jesus is about both the individual and the community. We must figure out how to follow Jesus. We must seek the answers to these questions. We will have times when we doubt God. We will have times when we doubt our selves. Nevertheless we are disciples of Jesus. We have been sent. We may not live like the community in Acts, but we must still figure out how we are going to live. Our lives as individuals and as a community are meant to reflect a love demonstrated by actions that bring about justice, a sharing across boundaries, a prioritizing of people and God over material goods, and healing that surprise and changes not only us but also the world.
We must ask ourselves, as people of faith on individual faith journeys, how will we live? Will our doubts lead us to faith, and our faith to action? Who will we be, and who will Village Church be together? How will we, how will Village Church be recorded in the book of the Acts of the Apostles of the twenty-first century? Let us pray.

April 12, 2009
Village Church
“The Beginning of Our Story”

Christ is risen! Say it with me, Christ is risen! This time with enthusiasm, Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed. Today is a day of joy, a day of wonder, a day of miracles, the turning of the wheel of the year, the celebration of spring, the promise of new life, and the triumph over death. Nothing will ever be the same again. The world has changed. The world has begun anew, with new different unimaginable possibilities.
Yet the Gospel of Mark tells us that the disciples ran from this truth in terror and fear. Confronted with the resurrection, they did not know what to think or believe. They ran in confusion, still afraid of the Romans, afraid of death, afraid of life. When Mary Magdalene came to them and cried out in ecstasy— “I have seen the Lord!”- they did not believe her. Excitable woman, what crazy story are you spreading? Why are you disturbing us as we hide and grieve? Our teacher has died. Have you no respect? Leave us alone.
A poet once said, “imagine being more afraid of freedom than slavery.” Nelson Mandela quoting Marianne Williams said= afraid of our light, something about God. The disciples were used to hardship. This of course was more extreme because their leaders whom they had changed their entire lives for had died and now the state was after them. Still, they knew how to respond to this.
The resurrection was a whole other ball game. Jesus was transformed. He was not resuscitated, or brought back to life, like an electric shock brings back someone after they go into cardiac arrest. When the stone is rolled away, Jesus is unrecognizable. He has changed. The Apostle Paul tells us that he has a spiritual body. Yet it is a body that can be touched and held on to. As always though, Jesus has a mission. “Do not hold on to me,” he tells Mary. We’ve got things to do.
Not immediately, but slowly, the disciples are transformed as well. They change from bumbling, frightened followers into leaders and healers ready to travel the world, to take on an empire, to give their lives in order to call people into a new more intimate relationship with God, and a love that transcends barriers and demands action.
The resurrection is the end of the Gospel story, but it is just the beginning of the story for the disciples. The seeds that were planted as Jesus was alive take flower and blossom after his death. In Jesus transformation, the disciples themselves are resurrected into new beings with new life.
We too may come to this morning with some confusion in our hearts. What does it mean today in this postmodern world with our economic crisis and our global warming? What is our purpose? What are we called to do? We have faced deaths in our life. The deaths of those whom we love, the death of dreams and ideals, the death of faith in the strength of our economy, the death of certainty over our future, over the future of the church. There are others I know that each one of us has felt and even know feel keenly in the depths of our soul.
And yet, today, Christ has risen. Today God promises us, demonstrates to us in the flesh, that whatever deaths we may experience, this is not the end. Resurrection is coming. It will not look the way we imagine it will. It will be unrecognizable to us, and at first we may be afraid. But slowly, slowly and surely, we too will be transformed. Our souls, our lives, our church, our country, our world, each in their time, will be resurrected. Today is the resurrection and it is the beginning of our story. Let us pray.

Exodus 20:1-11
And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not hold one guiltless who takes God’s name in vain.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is within them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
“You shall not kill.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

John 2:13-22
The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the moneychangers at their business. And making a whip out of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; you shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciple remembered that it was written, “Zeal for they house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign have you to show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will your raise it up in three days?” But he spoke of the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

“Law, Humanity, and Love”
Village Congregational Church
March 15, 2009

This is the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments, spoken by God God’s self. But why? What are the commandments for? Does God just enjoy telling us what to do? I don’t think so. The Israelites had been slaves for 400 years, and now they were wandering in the desert wilderness trying to figure out what to do next. They could not remember a time when they had laws or ethics that were not given to them by their masters. Do you think it is easy to go from slavery to freedom in one fell swoop without turning on your neighbor?
So God gives them so basic rules. First, God introduces who God is. I am the I am, your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. God is a liberator, a God of freedom from slavery and oppression. God is a God who’s very name means both to be and to become. God is a God of continual creation.
Then God lets them no other that this is the central universal force of the universe. All other gods are just grasping at metaphors and comforts. All the other things, which we focus in our lives as more important, will fade away. God alone is eternal, and we should have respect for that. Not taking God’s name in vain is not about swearing. It is about having respect for that which is holy, for all that is holy.
We worship many things besides that which is holy. In the time of Moses, it was graven images. In our time, it is wealth and power, sex and mobility. What is it for you? God says that the iniquity of the fathers is visited upon the third and fourth generation. I do not see this as a curse. I see this as an explanation of a truth that we know. What we do has an affect on those around us. What we do has an affect on our children. Our actions will either bring iniquity or love to the generation after us, and the generation after that. Our actions do not exist in a vacuum. We are in a web of relationship with one another, with God, and with time.
Time itself moves in the rhythm of holiness. The earth comes into flower, showers its brilliance, and then rests before bursting into life again. The Sabbath day is not about keeping rules about what you can and cannot do. It is not about whether or not Saturday or Sunday is the holy day, or whether one can buy food, or watch television. It is about setting aside time every single week to rest and heal. To turn your own face towards that which is holy, and to dwell in whatever it is that makes you whole.
God moves from our relationship with God’s self to our relationship with our self to our relationship with one another. God sets down some very basic guides for how we might get along- to care for our parents, to be true to one another, to be honest about other’s actions. And it is not only our actions we must pay attention but also that which we dwell upon in our mind. We cannot control the arising of thoughts, but we can control what we choose to dwell upon.
There are actually hundreds of other commandments, but these then are the only one that God speaks. The reason for this is that right after God speaks these words, the people ask Moses to tell God to please be silent. When God speaks, the words echo and the mountains shake, smoke and thunder rise, and they find it all just too frightening. They do not want direct experience with God. They would prefer to hear it through an emissary. I find this ironic for a number of reasons. Firstly because pretty much since then society after society has killed most of the emissaries that God has sent. Secondly because we say that we hunger to hear the voice of God. We hang the sign that says God is still speaking on our church in the insistence that we believe it, whether or not we actually hear it. I wonder though, if we hear the actual voice of God. Would we cower like the Israelites? Would we beg for an emissary to speak to God in our place?
Jesus is just such an emissary. Like God he brings words of love and redemption. Like God, he gets frustrated with the people. Why is Jesus so mad in this story? We hear it and say, “well, of course, he was mad because they were selling things in the temple.” But that was standard practice. They were selling animals so that people could sacrifice them for their sins, so that they could get right with God and their community. What’s wrong with that?
Jesus says, “You shall not make my house a house of trade.” The people had lost sight of what this was all for. They were focused on the business of the temple. They had lost sight of the holiness. They had lost sight of their relationship with God and one another. They misunderstood. They did not see the spirit that drove the laws that had been given. A fair portion of the laws that come after the ten commandments deal with money, the sin that is charging interest on a loan, the requirement to give all goods and lands and slaves back every fifty years, the requirement to care for those who have nothing, those who are immigrants, or widows, or orphans, those who are lost. It is not just that the moneychangers are in the temple but that they are corrupt and the people have learned to accept it.
John spoke of the Jews because his community was being cast out of the temple. At the time the Gospel of John was written, the temple had been destroyed. The Jewish people were trying to reorganize their community and avoid further persecution. As such they cast out those who formerly had considered themselves sects within Judaism. Thus John spoke of those who did not believe in Jesus as “the Jews” while in truth, those who followed Jesus both at the time and after his death were also Jews.
It is not the Jews who have lost their way, but particular people within their society. The larger group has accepted that corruption as a matter of course. It is not unlike our own society today, where we have accepted the corruption of our political leaders and our world without impunity.
For any human being, regardless of who they are or where they come from, Jesus will not accept corruption. Jesus demands change, whatever the cost. Jesus believes in tough love. Hence the whip of cords and the driving from the temple. There is a time and place for forgiveness, and Jesus offers that as well. There is redemptive love for anyone and everyone who are willing to go on that journey. However, it is a costly one, not easily traveled or found. There is comfort and healing and eternity, but there is also the whip of cords.
Let us pray.

Mark 8:31-38

And Jesus began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeking his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.”
And he called to him the multitude of his disciples, and said to them, “If any one would come after me, let that person deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whosoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a person, to gain the whole world and forfeit one’s life? For what can a person give in return for her life? For whosoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of that person will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of the Father with the hold angels.

Romans 4:13-25

The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants- not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”- in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, “So shall your descendants be.” He did not waken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “reckoned to him as righteousness.” But the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dad Jesus our Lord, who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

“Torn From Our Very Flesh”
Village Church
March 8, 2009

The lectionary this morning leaves out the details of the circumcision. I imagine those who were putting it together were a bit squeamish. Perhaps they thought it was too painful to listen to, the cutting of a person’s most vulnerable flesh. Perhaps they thought it was impolite to discuss such things in church. The Bible is not polite however. It is full of blood and violence, sex and the desperate fight for life in a difficult environment. It never leaves out the truth of life. It never edits out the unpleasant parts. It is honest, and so we should be as well.
There is a cost to belonging to God. I thought you should hear that, and so I left it in the story. Who are we to edit out the truth? There is a cost of the covenant. God promises Abraham to bless him, to always be in relationship with him, to give him a child and not only that but generations upon generations that will survive and flourish, that will spread all over the world and bless every nation.
Abraham makes a commitment for everyone in his house, including the slaves, and not only that but also every one of his descendants. I do not imagine that the adults and young men in Abraham’s household were very happy about the covenant that he had made. Certainly after Abraham this surgery was to be done to infants, but for Abraham and his household, it was done when they were adults without modern eases like anesthesia.
On top of that, Abraham is ninety-nine years old at the time. That’s pretty old to commit to having children and leaving the land where you have lived, to set out across the desert for parts unknown. For God, age does not matter. God may call when you are young like Samuel, just a child in the temple when he heard God’s voice. God may call when you are middle-aged like Moses, in the midst of living life with a wife, job, and children. God may call when you are in your old age like Abraham. No matter how old you are, God has plans for you.
Abraham and Sarah both laugh when God calls. Granted first they fall on their face in the presence of God’s power and mighty. But once they hear God out, they laugh.
I appreciate this. After all, God is pretty absurd. It lets us know. It is okay to laugh at God. We will be surprised by the twists and turns life takes, by what God promises and what God requires. Yet in the midst of that, there is joy. There is happiness amidst any circumstances, even in the midst of what seems like dying there is new life.
Still there is cost torn from our very flesh. Jesus spoke of a cost as well. He gave his own life, and told us that we must give ours as well. What does it mean to give up our lives for Jesus? We will no longer live as the world expects us to live. We will no longer have the concerns the world expects us to have. We will be more concerned with justice and righteousness, than with the day-to-day matters of survival and consumption. We will be more concerned with the ethics of our actions, with the purity of our souls, with the holiness of our world than with our power within it. We will trust that this life is not the end, that whatever we may give up, whatever we may suffer, God’s promises to us will come true.
To take up your cross does not mean to suffer for sufferings sake. In Jesus time, having a cross meant persecution by the state. It meant you had been noticed and punished by the oppressive power of the government. How does that translate for us? It means being willing to go against others when you know that they are not right in their choices and actions. It means being willing to make different choices than even those who love you might want you to make. It means living your principles every day not only personally but in your family and your community even if that means challenging your government. It means standing up to the powerful for the sake of the powerless.
As Jesus life draws to a close, he becomes more and more apocalyptic. He is fearful of what is coming. He wants to believe that all things have a greater meaning than what might be evident in the moment on the surface. Still he is afraid. Yet despite that fear, he is willing to bear the cost of following his principles.
Paul tells us it is not the rules that matter, but our faith. In other words, faith is not just a set of doctrines or beliefs. It is not just a creed or a series of rituals. Faith is a way of life. It is trust in the face of absurdity and fear. It does not mean that we always believe, or that we always our happy. It means that we keep going, that we keep striving to live, as God would have us live whatever the circumstances.
Paul tells us that Jesus was raised for our justification. But what does it mean to be justified. I do not believe in substitutiary atonement. I do not believe that Jesus is a sacrifice to an angry god to keep us from the fires of hell. Justification is much more than a pass from punishment to come. Justification matters in the here and now. Justification means that whatever our failures may be, Jesus calls us to a greater life. Whatever our mistakes and failures may be, Jesus gives us the strength and ability to try again. Even in the frailty and struggle of our old age, even amidst a harsh and oppressive power structure, even amidst death, Jesus tells us to take up our cross just as he has for there is a new life to come. That new life begins for you right now in this moment.
Let us pray.

Genesis 9:8-17

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I make with you, for all future generations: I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will look upon it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.”

I Peter 3:18-22

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to “God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.

“Relentless Salvation”
Village Church
March 1, 2009

The United Church of Christ is a covenanted church. This means that although we have our own rules, beliefs, and practices, we are connected to other UCC churches through a promise we have made to be in relationship with one another. We have agreed that although we may be different, we belong to each other. As members of the Church, we are covenanted to one another. It is not race or nationality or even similarity of belief that binds, but rather it is an agreement to be in relationship, a promise to be here together whatever may come. A covenant is a promise. It is the binding of a relationship. It is a contract that two parties enter into and bind with their hearts, their actions, and their choices.
In the story of Noah, God enters into a universal covenant with all flesh. “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.” This is very different from the covenant that God establishes with Abraham later on. Although God promises that all the peoples of the world will be blessed through Abraham, it is with his people alone that God establishes a covenant. They will be God’s people, and God will be their God. With Noah, though, God connects not only to all people but also to all living creatures in creation. God promises never again to destroy the world with a flood.
Interestingly almost all peoples throughout the world have a story about the world being covered by water. It makes one thing that either the flood really happened at some point in history, or that the fear of it is somehow embedded in our DNA as human beings. Janet emailed me pictures of a man in the Netherlands who has built an ark to the exact specifications given in the Bible. It is quite amazing. It is gigantic in size, and apparently they are putting in a theater and a petting zoo among other things. This is the brilliance of the Biblical writers. They do not just write a story about a man building an ark to put representatives of all the animals on the earth along with his three sons, his wife, and their wives to make sure that life survives after the end comes. No, they include the exact specific measurements of that ark dictated by God to Noah. They are precise and give us details that give it weight and meaning.
Unfortunately in our literally minded, scientific society, this distracts us. We get all caught up in what wood did Noah use, would it have really held all the animals, where did it land, was it two animals each or seven. We get all caught up in these details and we miss the whole point. The point is God’s relationship with humanity. The point is God’s relationship to all creation. The point is God’s desire for wholeness and salvation, no matter how many times it gets screwed up.
How bad would it have to be to get God to send the flood in the first place? I look at the world today and I think- was it worse than this? This is not the first or the last time that God gets frustrated with humanity. At one point God starts talking with Abraham about destroying things in order to start over, and Abraham negotiates just how many good people he has to find to get God to change his mind. Abraham starts with ten people, but finally gets God to agree that if he can find just one person that is good, then God will agree to save the world.
This is where Jesus comes in. Abraham’s story goes in a whole other direction, but our story comes to us through a descendant of Abraham, through Jesus. Jesus tells us that no one is good but our Father in Heaven. This does not mean that no one is worthy, or valuable. Rather, that no one is perfect. We all have our fears and insecurities. We all make mistakes. We all do things that are wrong. We have all at some point lied or been cruel or looked the other way. Yet this does not meant that all is lost. A point for point examination of moral law condemns us, but God has mercy. God understands our frail humanity, the terrors that drive us, and the potential that exists within us. God is on our side. God sends us salvation, again and again.
In Jesus, God sends us an advocate like Abraham. He argues our side against any who would condemn us, even our own self-condemnation. He argues the side of those we condemn. The first letter of Peter tells us that Jesus even argues the side of all those who have been condemned before- all those who were lost in the flood, all those who have been lost since then. Jesus carries them through the waters of destruction into the resurrection of the Spirit, like Noah carries his family and the animals. Yet Jesus carries all families and all animals, not because they believe, not because they are good, but rather because he believes, because he is good. The Celts say that in Jesus body all of creation is renewed.
The body of Jesus means many things. It means that we are renewed through the teachings and example we receive from the life that he lived. It means that we are renewed by the mystery of his incarnation, his death, and resurrection. It means that we are renewed in the rituals that we now perform that invoke the Spirit of God into a form that we can touch, experience, and know. We eat the bread of communion. We feel the cold water of Baptism. We hear the silence of prayers. We sing the songs of worship. We reach out to one another with our hands, with our hospitality. We build justice with our service. In all of this, we find the body of Christ. We find our salvation.
This Sunday begins the season of Lent. This is a time of contemplation. We consider our lives as we consider the last days of the life of Jesus. We consider who we are, what we have done and not done, whom we have become and whom we want to become. We consider our relationship to humanity, our relationship to creation, and our relationship to God.
In the beginning God created us in the Divine image. We have the ability to be conscious, to be conscious of our lives and conscious of our death. On the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, we remind ourselves of this saying from Genesis “from dust you came and to dust you shall return.” We can be conscious of how our actions affect others and affect the earth. This consciousness comes with a responsibility to care for those things, to care for one another, to care for the earth. This is what it means to be made in the image of God.
In the past when we have failed there have been consequences. Yet there has also been the opportunity for salvation. Consider your life. Where is your salvation coming from today? God is relentless. Life will teach you lessons again and again until you learn them. The cycle of destruction and renewal will continue, and still at the same time, salvation is possible. This Lent, Jesus’ story calls to us to grasp it. Consider your own salvation in fear and trembling. Look to Jesus. Be released from your prison.
Let us pray.

Genesis 17:1-16

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” Then Abram fell on his face, and God said, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but you name shall be Abraham; for I have made the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you, and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised; every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house, or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he that is born in your house and he that is bought with your money, shall be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from the people; he has broken my covenant.”
And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her; I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.

2 Kings 2:1-12

Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.
Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be silent.”
Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two men went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at a distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the tow of them crossed on dry ground.
When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen! But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

Mark 9:2-9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

“The Disappearance of the Light”
Village Church
February 22, 2009

Usually on Transfiguration Sunday, we talk about the appearance of the light. The dazzling white of Jesus clothes and the visitation of Moses and Elijah and try to puzzle out what it all means. But what about the disappearance of the light? What about afterwards when everyone is gone and he is just a man alone?
Six days earlier Jesus told the disciples that some of them would not die before the Kingdom of God comes. Some say this is metaphorical. Some say that Jesus was talking to disciples down through time. Some say Jesus thought this was true and got it wrong. Regardless, this is what Peter, James, and John have been pondering just before they hiked up the mountain and saw the heavens split open.
Naturally they are terrified. They must have thought, this is it. This is the moment. The Kingdom has come. The world is about to end. Peter wants to build them dwellings partially to honor them, yes, but also to ground them to this earth, to make them more a part of this world and less utterly terrifying. Then on top of seeing the most holy prophets of their religion, they hear the voice of God in a cloud. “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him.”
Ironically though, Jesus says nothing at this moment. The light disappears. Moses and Elijah vanish. The cloud dissipates. The Voice is silent, and the disciples walk down the mountain in total confusion. I am sure they began to wonder not just what it means but if it ever happened in the first place. Was it really Moses and Elijah they saw? Did they really hear a disembodied voice? Was it God? What was the Light that shone from Jesus? Was it just sunshine, or something more? They are still alive. Should not they have died? The world has not ended. Should not the world have ended? Have they gone crazy?
To add insult to injury, Jesus finally speaks and tells them to say nothing until after the Son of man rises from the dead. Well, what in the world was that supposed to mean? They had no idea, and they were afraid to ask Jesus. “So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.” They didn’t understand what God was saying to them, and the light was gone.
The prophet Elijah does not die in the usual sense. Yet leaving this earth for good, whether in death or in a fiery chariot, is still leaving. Elijah knows that his time has come and he does not want his friend and companion Elisha to see it. He does not want him to have to go through it. He knows that it will be terrifying, that it will be painful no matter how glorious it is.
Elisha knows that Elijah’s time has come, but he refuses to leave him. “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” It is a touching sentiment. He does not really know what he is in for though. Elijah tries to get rid of him to protect him. Prophet after prophet- there were lots in those days- tries to warn him, but Elisha will not leave. He loves Elijah. In addition, he wants to inherit his spiritual power. He does not really understand what this will mean. He does not understand the cost of taking up Elijah’s mantle, just as the disciples do not understand the cost of taking up Jesus’ mantle. They think that it will be easier because they see the power that they have, power given them directly from God. They see their intimate connection to God, the assurance, and the miracles. Yet they have always had them there. They have never had to be that one person in charge, alone.
Will you drink from the cup I drink from? Jesus asks Peter. Peter assures him that he will but he does not know what he is saying. He does not understand that it means he will die. Jesus has pity on him, both for his confusion and for his death. Yet this pity does not cause him to take that death away. You see these two stories are really about death.
When the chariots of heaven lift Elijah up, Elisha tears his clothes in grief. It does not matter that Elijah is being taken into heaven without having to go through a physical death. He is gone, never to return. Elisha is alone. He is without the one that he has loved and followed. He is devastated, and now he is supposed to carry on. The mantle lies next to him, and he knows he is supposed to take it up because he saw what happened to Elijah. Elijah gave him no guarantees about this. If you see I am being taken from you, then the power of God’s spirit will be granted you; if not, it will not. It is not up to Elijah to bestow. It is for God to offer and Elisha to either accept or deny.
What do we do when our light has left us? We have all experienced it. Those moments of total despair, loss so crushing that we think we cannot possibly go on. We can remember having experienced light and love and happiness, but it seems a distant dream. Was it ever real in the first place? Certainly it will never happen again. How could it when our grief, our sorrow is so complete?
Still Elisha in the midst of his grief reaches for the mantle of Elijah. “He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.” He is still confused and hurting. He cries out angrily feeling abandoned, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” Just as Jesus cries out, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”
Yet God is there. God is there, in the midst of the light and in the midst of the darkness. Just as God is here, in the midst of our light and in the midst of our darkness. God is here in the midst of the miracles and in the midst of the terror and grief and confusion. God is here. We can trust in that.
This does not make it easy. It does not mean we will understand. God is not always clear. God does not often explain God’s self. God asks impossible things of us, even death. But we too will cross over.
If we take up the mantle that Jesus has left us in his rising, we too will cross over. We will not be spared our sorrows, but we will survive them. And even more than that, we will be transformed even as we transform others.
Let us pray.

Mark 1:29-39

And immediately he left the synagogue, and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him of her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her; and she served them.
That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered together about the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him pursued him, and they found him and said to him, “Every one is searching for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for this is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

“What he came out to do”
Village Church
February 8, 2009

When I came out, my mother said to me, “why do you have to tell people?” I did not have to. I could have just kept it to myself. But then there would exist between us a wall, a barrier behind which I stood, and you would never actually know me. It is not just that I would not be able to share large parts of my life but I would be inauthentic. You would only know the false image that I projected. This is not just a choice that I made once with my mother, but one I make again and again each time I meet someone knew. It is a choice I made when you first met me. Will I hide who I am, or will I reveal myself to you?
  We all go through this process, no matter who we are or what our sexual orientation is. We choose whether or not we will reveal who we are to our family, to our work colleagues, to our schoolmates. We choose whether or not we will be who we are, or project an image of who we are that we can hide behind. It is not an easy choice. The world can be cruel. Perhaps revealing ourselves puts us at risk for oppression and violence. Certainly it puts us at risk for being hurt. I wager that anyone who has managed to live through his or her adolescence can conjure up a time in school or with family when you felt as if you revealed yourself and were then shut down, hurt and humiliated. The world teaches us to hide for our own sake, to learn what it is that others want and project that rather than our true souls.
  Mary told her son Jesus the same thing. Could you just not tell people that you are the messiah? Could you just stop telling people that the kingdom of God is at hand? Could you just stop telling people that you can heal them and cast out demons? They think Jesus is crazy. They think he is possessed. It is fine if you want to heal your immediate friends, but could you please just stop being so open all the time. Jesus gets so frustrated with her and the rest of his family for trying to get him to hide that he finally says, “Who are my mother and brothers and sisters? Those who do the will of God are my mother and brothers and sisters.”
This is what Jesus came out to do: to heal, to spread the word, to reveal the love of God for all people, to demonstrate salvation. He reveals this in his actions even more than his words. If you notice when you read the gospels, especially the Gospel of Mark, Jesus’ words are few and far between. He reveals himself in his actions. He heals his friend’s mother-in-law. Immediately she gets up and begins to serve. Each of us is called to meaningful work, to service. This may or may not be what we are paid for, but we are called to serve.
  Jesus brings balance mental, physical, and spiritual to all those who come to him. We can only have balance though if we are authentically ourselves. If we are hiding, afraid to reveal ourselves, then we do not dwell in honesty and truth, but rather in fear.
  The demons always know who Jesus is. They have no false illusions about good and evil. Jesus sees them for what they truly are, and in order to cast them out, he names them. In this process he reveals himself. Jesus does not let them speak. He knows that their cries of who he is only increase the confusion and fear of the crowds that see Jesus heal. The crowds are afraid of the power he demonstrates. Jesus does not want people to be afraid of his power. He wants them to see that he demonstrates the power of God that comes to heal rather than to punish, that comes in love rather than hate, that is available to everyone not just the elect.
  Still they are afraid of his power. And why not? These people are at the bottom of the world. They are poor. Each day is a struggle. The Roman Empire rules their land and keeps them down. Their Scriptures talk of a power that sets free, but they have never really experienced that. When they imagine a Messiah, they imagine him taking over in the same way the Romans have- but being on their side instead of the side of the Romans.
  It would be so easy to give in to what the people want, to use the power that Jesus has spiritually and mentally to gain power politically. But that is not what he came here to do. That is not who he is. That is not what it means to be the messiah. Jesus has to get away in order to remind himself of who he truly is, to remember what his mission is. It is not easy to be true to our selves. It is hard work not giving into the culture at large.
  Our culture has messages for us as well. It tells us we must work constantly, that we have to have certain material things to be successful, that we must be better than everyone else, that we must separate ourselves from those who are different, that we must buy more, eat more, watch more, want more. Within the larger culture, the smaller cultures of our community and our family have messages as well, particular to each one of us, telling us who we should be and how we should live.
   Not all of these messages are bad, but how do we figure it out? How do we discern what it is we truly want and who we should be when there is so much coming in at us at the same time? We have to listen to the voice within us. Each one of us has the voice of truth deep within our souls. It is not a loud voice though. It is a still, small voice. It is an insistent one. It will never go away, the voice of who you really are, the voice of light, the voice of God. But it is hard to hear in the clang of voices in our head.
   We have to carve out times in the midst of our busy lives. We have to find some silence, some retreat that we can clear out all distractions. When Jesus went away, not even his disciples knew where he was. That is pretty extreme, which just shows you how difficult it was for him that he needed to get so far away from everyone to be able to hear. Maybe it will be easier for you. Maybe you do not have to go where no one can find you. It depends on whether or not those around you will respect the space you need. Either way though, each of us must find that space.
   The world is exhausting. It takes from us. It tries to make us forget who we are, that we are God’s children, that we are valued, loved by God far more than we can even imagine. It tries to make us forget that each one of us has been called and given a mission that is very different than the life the world would have us live.
  Sometimes when we get exhausted, worn out and afraid, we are convinced that there is not enough time or space for us to find rest and focus. Yet we still have the need, and it overrides everything else. We break down, or we quietly withdraw our inner selves. We hide in plain sight. We deceive others about who we are, and we deceive ourselves that this way we will be able to renew ourselves.
  We will not be restored through hiding. We will not be restored by continuing our lives in the way that the world dictates, driving ourselves further and further down the same road, a road that leads to the destruction of our world and our selves. We must take time. We must stop. We must think. We must go into retreat, find God and listen deep within. Once we have heard that Voice, once we have been renewed as on the wings of eagles, once we are clear of what it is we are meant to do and how we are mean to live, then we must travel as Jesus did.
  Perhaps not to the next towns, but rather travel in our minds, our spirits, and our choices. Go out beyond the limits of our usual day-to-day interactions, make different choices, reach out further in our communities to those who have need, reach out deeper to in our relationships with one another, reach out further in the world with our actions, our resources, and our love. We must come out- to do what we are called to do, to be who we are created to be.
Let us pray.

Mark 1:14-20

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the good news.”
And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fisherman. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them; and the left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.

Acts 15:1-2, 7-11
But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. And after there had been much debate, Peter rose and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God who knows the heart bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us; and he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their hearts by faith. Now therefore why do you make trial of God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

“Visions of Today and Tomorrow”
Village Church
January 19, 2009

Forty-six years ago Rev. Dr.. Martin Luther King spoke these words: “So I say to you, my friends, that even though we must face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed- we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
  I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day, even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
  On the night that Barak Obama won the election, I heard a number of people on television declare that the dream had arrived. Racism was now over because Barak Obama had been elected. There was much elation and congratulations. A milestone had been reached. Something had happened in this country which many people thought would never happen: a black man had been elected president. Tuesday he gets sworn in and will begin to lead our country, God help him.
  This is an amazing moment in history. Certainly we have grown in this country. We have moved beyond where we were the day that Martin Luther King spoke the words to millions of suffering people. And we should celebrate that.
  However, we have not arrived. The dream has not been realized. We only have to look at the campaign to see that Barak Obama was judged by the content of his character, yes, but he was also judged by the color of his skin. He was held to different standards because of the color of his skin. He was called a Muslim because of the color of his skin and the sound of his name. After his election, a student of mine who is a young African-American male said, “I just wish white people would stop smiling at me.” Barak Obama becoming President does not mean racism is over. We have moved, but we are called to move even further.
  This call to move further is not just the dream of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for a truly equal society, or the call of Barak Obama for all of us to work together, it is the call of Jesus that demands that we love everyone, that we include everyone at the table, and that we lift up all who are oppressed no matter who they are, where they are from, or what they have done in their lives. The good news is that God loves and saves everyone, and we are called to build this world into a world that reflects that.
  Jesus comes from the worst town, the Harlem of Israel. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Yet he is the Messiah, the Anointed One. He calls all types of people- men, women, fisherman, prostitutes, tax collectors, political prisoners, traitors to the state, sick people, outsiders, people with different racial backgrounds, with different religions, with different levels of wealth and opportunity. He does not seem to have any standards. He just keeps calling people. Let me make you fishers of people.
  Then just a few short years after his death, there they are trying to keep people out based on whether or not they were circumcised. Of course, this is not just about a surgical procedure. It is about what their ancestry is, what religion they are born into, what rules and moral obligations they are willing to submit to in order to belong. Peter has to remind them, that is not the way of Jesus. Jesus did not exclude anyone. “Why do you make trial of God?” Peter asks them. “We believe we will be saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
  We do like trials though, don’t we? Even now today, we want to create a test. We do not want everyone to benefit from either God’s saving love or the American dream. Somewhere deep down in our hearts we believe that there cannot possibly be enough for everyone. There cannot possibly be enough resources in the great country that all people can live well, happily, freely. There cannot possibly be enough love and salvation in God that all living beings might receive it. We are afraid, and we want to make sure that we win, that we are included. So we exclude others. Our religious leaders insist that certain people are going to hell. Our political leaders separate people by giving some people rights and keeping them from others. We foster fear and hate, in the hopes of keeping love and wealth for ourselves.
  But this is a lie. We cannot keep love through fear, division, and hate. We cannot keep wealth through hoarding our resources. There is enough if we would share it with one another, with everyone.
  We have a vision that transcends best-selling religious leaders and politicians. We have a vision echoed in the hope of the election of Obama, but much greater than that. We have a vision echoed in the dream of Martin Luther King Jr, but much greater even than that. We have a vision of radical welcome, total inclusion, transcendent justice, redemptive forgiveness, all-embracing love that is given out of pure grace, that we are called to give to everyone- to Barak Obama, to George Bush, to Osama Bin Laden, to the Mormons who funded proposition 8, to the homosexuals in Massachusetts who can get married, and the homosexuals in California who cannot, to the Mexicans crossing our borders, to the Muslims building bombs, and the Muslims building peace, and even to ourselves. We are called not only to love them, but also to treat them with love. This means a world that is very different from the world we have now. This means a life that is very different from the one we have now. A life in which all receive love, forgiveness, justice, freedom, and resources, equally.
This is not easy, and there is very little if any support for it. But it is what Jesus called us to when he said, “Follow me.” God has made choice among us. What will we choose?
Let us pray.

Luke 1:39-56

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me: For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.
  And Mary said, “ My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for God has regard the low estate of this handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for God who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is God’s name. And God’s mercy is on those who fear God from generation to generation. The Lord has shown strength, God has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, God has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; God has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich God has sent empty away. God has helped the servant Israel, in remembrance of mercy, as God spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever.”

“The Trials and Tribulations of the Blessed”
December 14, 2008
Village Church

Elizabeth and Mary are very important people in the story of Jesus. Elizabeth is the mother of John the Baptist. Not only this but she is also prophet and disciple, She serves as Mary’s support and role model during her pregnancy—and most likely throughout the lives of their children. Mary stays with her for three months during their pregnancy. Although we do not hear much of her after this, Elizabeth is the first person to recognize Jesus without an angel telling her.
  When Mary enters the room, Elizabeth feels the baby in her womb leap for joy. She is connected enough to her own child inside of her that she understand what this means. She knows immediately that Mary is pregnant. On top of that, she knows that Mary is carrying the Messiah, the Anointed One. She declares Mary to be ‘the mother of my Lord.’ She sees the truth of the present and the potential of the future as a prophet does, and she declares her faith as a disciple. She is blessed.
  This does not make her life easy though. Elizabeth has had to endure ridicule all her life because she has had no children. Now, she is finally pregnant but she is quite old. Mary is most likely a third her age. At her advanced age, pregnancy is going to be even more dangerous for her. Not to mention running around after a child who is so headstrong and independent that he will end up living out in the wilderness eating locust and honey. Life has not been easy for her, and if she lives long enough, she will see her son imprisoned and finally killed, his head paraded on a platter like an animal.
  Elizabeth tells Mary, “Blessed are thou among women.” For generation after generation after generation, Hebrew women have prayed to be chosen to be the mother of the Messiah—and Mary has been chosen. She is the mother of Jesus and will be known throughout history. Not only that but she too is also prophet and disciple. Mary is called by God to be mother and teacher to one who will change the world. She defines who God is, for us and for her son. She tells us that God scatters the proud and the wealthy, and lifts up the poor and the humble.
  Sometimes these words wash over us as if they mean nothing because we have heard them so many times. We just accept it as a matter of course. Of course God is on the side of the poor and destitute. But this does not go without saying. In fact theologians of Mary’s time and many theologians since Mary’s time have had a rather different view. They have thought that God was on the side of the rich and powerful, that if someone was wealthy that was a sign they had God’s favor. Or they have thought that God did not take sides, but just stood on the sidelines watching the struggle progress.
  This is not Mary’s theology. And it is not Jesus’ theology. God does not sit on the sidelines. God is actively involved in history. Even more than that, God is on the side of those who are humble in heart, those who are poor in spirit, and poor in wealth and position. God is on the side of those whom the world has abandoned and ignored. They are the ones who receive God’s blessing.
   Mary’s blessing does not make her life easy. The poor girl is pregnant before she’s gotten married. Sure, an angel has told her that it is okay because she is carrying the Messiah. But everyone else just thinks she’s a scandal. She has fled to her cousin’s house to hide out while she figures out how to tell her fiancé and pray that he will not divorce her. She is going to give birth in a cave without any family or midwives around. She is going to struggle all her life with her son’s calling and the fact that the people in Nazareth think he’s at best a troublemaker and at worst crazy. Finally she will see him murdered by the state in the most horrible death of their time. It’s enough to make you hope to avoid God’s blessing.
  Yet Mary and Elizabeth relish in it. They celebrate it. They trust that whatever the circumstances of the moment are, God’s blessing is what will endure. The suffering, the hardship, the ridicule, and sorrow, even the economic struggles and going without, all of that will pass away, as all things pass away in this temporal changing world. What will stay, the only thing that stays, is the love of God and the blessing that will redeem even the most difficult life. Our lives begin in God and our lives end in God. Whatever sorrows and hardships we find ourselves in, God’s blessing will carry us through them and will give us a joy which will not end, in this life or the next, a joy which transforms each moment of our existence and of our identity. Let us pray.

Mark 1: 1-8

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare the way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me, I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

“The Elements of the Sacred”
Village Church
December 7, 2008

There are certain elements, a recipe if you will, which go into making a spiritual experience. For John the Baptist, it was fairly extreme. His world had become so cluttered that in order to find his sacred center, he had to strip everything else away. John was born in the midst of the political and religious center of the society, a child of a priest, who went into the Holy of Holies and saw angels. He grew up in Jerusalem, no doubt with the expectation and training that he would follow in his father’s footsteps. But somehow he could not find God the way his father did. The temple complex and the structure of traditional religion left him empty.
  So he went out into the wilderness. He sought out a simple life. He sought out clarity. He sought out purpose. He left his family, their expectations and hopes, behind. He left his career, whatever it was or could have been, behind. He left his safety behind. He stripped off his fine cloths and put on garments made from that which was locally available to him, camel and leather. He fasted from all the fine rich foods, even all the most basic foods, eating only what he could find naturally out in the desert wilderness.
  Finally, when his life was pared down from all distractions, when there was nothing standing in between himself and his experience, he found God. It became clear that he had a purpose. God was coming, and John was to be God’s messenger. Not only that but also John who had to do so much to gain a spiritual experience was to help others experience the Spirit more easily through the waters of baptism. He was to help others prepare themselves. He was to help them be cleansed, to help them open their hearts, so that the Spirit could embrace them without having to go to the extremes that John did.
  I audited a class at Hampshire this semester in which we read and wrote about spiritual experience. In our final projects we wrote our own spiritual experiences and read them aloud to the class. The professor never defined what a spiritual experience was) and it became clear that many of the students did not know. They wrote about sex or drugs or an epiphany they had. But having an insight is not necessarily a spiritual experience.
  What makes up a spiritual experience? Can you think of a time in your life when you had a spiritual experience? What made it different than ordinary experience? To be a spiritual experience, the element of the Spirit has to be there. And I am not necessarily talking here about God in the organized religious sense. I am talking about the sacred, meaning which goes to the heart of everything, clarity which clears away the usual reality and gives a whole new perspective. I am talking about the extraordinary, the divine, the experiences that redefine everything, which broaden and deepen, and connect to that which is larger.
  John the Baptist had to strip away everything that was familiar in order to experience the sacred. In some ways, I think that is the easier way. It sounds hard core living that way. But if our lives are spent in total simplicity than we have nothing to distract us from the sacred which is all around us. For some this is the only way they can find God. For others they meet someone like John who helps translate for them, who can take the elements of the sacred and bring them together in a ritual that transforms. This is the purpose of ritual—to connect us to the sacred so that we too can experience the divine in the here and now.
  Every ritual has certain elements. There is first of all, the physical element. John uses water. Water is both an object and a metaphor. We can touch it and taste it and be immersed it. It cleanses and refreshes. It makes up 70% of our very being. Without it we will die. Second, there is the experience, the thing that we do. In baptism we are sprinkled or dunked. We are reborn. We die and rise again. We are guided by others hands and wisdom. We hear the words spoken through time, “I baptize you.” Third, there is the element of humanity. We are human creatures, and the sacred is inside of us. We touch it in one another. In every moment, we either pour out that beauty on one another, and ourselves or we dry up denigrating the possibilities of who we are and what we can become. Finally, there is the final element, the element of mystery, the element of the spirit. Even John is fuzzy on this. “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me, I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
  Later on in the service we will enact the ritual of communion. We will take in the physical element, the bread and the cup. We will eat and drink with one another, in common humanity, reaching out through time. Will we experience the Spirit? This is what John promises.
  It is not always easy though to have a spiritual experience. Sometimes ritual just seems rote and boring. Sometimes human beings seem less like vessels of the sacred and more like petty, annoying, hurtful creatures. Sometimes the Spirit seems like nothing but an elusive idea.
  I will tell you though the one place that I have found that this is never true, and that is at birth. I do not mean our birth. I mean any birth. This week two of my students had a baby. Her name is Isabelle. She has this tiny pea head with giant eyes that cover half her face. Life has changed for her parents forever. Life has changed for all of us forever. There is a new being in the world, and she has made it into existence just as we have. Who knows what she will do? Who knows what may happen? Anything is possible. What is clear, though, is that humanity and the sacred have joined together in this amazing event, the beginning of new life. The birth of a baby is the most common experience and yet the most extraordinary. Anything is possible.
  Soon all of us will be celebrating a birth, the birth of the baby Jesus. There will be water. After all, the breaking of the water is the beginning of every birth. There will be human beings. You and I will be there, reaching back through time, trying to bring that moment into this moment. Will we experience the Spirit?
  Let us pray that we will.

I Corinthians 1:2b-9
To those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched by him, in speech and knowledge of every kind- just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you- so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by God you were called into the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ our Lord.