Bathyscope - Looking Beneath the Surface

The Nature of Forgiveness

2010-06-14T10:21:00.002-04:00

Luke 7:36

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.” Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “Speak.” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

The Nature of Forgiveness

A young man went to a minister and said, “I have a confession to make."

"What is it? the minster asked"

"Well, I know that we are supposed to be humble, but twice a day I look at myself in the mirror and tell myself how incredibly handsome I am."

The minister took a good look at the rather plain boy with a big nose and ears to match. She said, "I have good news. That isn't a sin . . . your mirror is broken."

People come to the church all the time about sin. They want help in forgiving other’s sins, getting forgiven from God, figuring out their own sins. We are, in fact, in charge of sin. The culture may enact legislation and fix public morality, but when it comes to sinning, we get to say what that is. Different churches have different ideas about sin, but the Judea-Christian heritage is all about sin. When Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom, he might have thought Peter would use them to open the doors of heaven, but in fact, the church has often kept eternal life under moral lock and key.

Us Calvinists structure our traditional theology around five major points, the first of which is the total depravity of human beings. Original sin, mortal sins, venal sins, sins of omission . . . The only title of a sermon you probably remember is Jonathan Edward's 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.' Churches spend much more energy labeling and chasing sinners than saving them. Even in the liberal prophetic traditions of Protestantism, social ills are gleefully pointed out with less enthusiasm for actual fixes.

We have to be sinners. The Christian church is in a bit of a bind, since it has made Jesus the sacrificial lamb for our sins, if our sins aren’t all that we have made them out to be, Jesus isn’t quite as necessary. If the only reason Jesus is around is to forgive our sins, sinning had better be pretty important.

Today, some of what I say may be a bit heretical, but I am only trying to get at a basic position of Jesus. I’m going to discuss how sin is a decision of the church, how Jesus questions that system of judgment, and how humility is the heart of forgiveness.

Sin is a decision of the church.

Of course, we try to base our deliberations on the Bible, but the Bible needs interpreting. And we have interpreted things differently over the years. For example, the church was a champion of the anti-slavery movement, but the Bible doesn’t seem to have much problem with slavery. Paul even sends a runaway slave back to his master. Another example: there could be no clearer provisions in scripture than those outlining how to keep the Sabbath holy, but most of those are winked at now by almost every denomination. Those are really sins anymore. We say. There are churches that have their whole identity wrapped up in the identification and demonizing of gay and lesbian people as sinful. And even though there is no hint of abortion in the Bible, it is the sin of the day for many churches. Churches choose their sins.

Which brings us to the story of Jesus in the gospel lesson. Jesus is being adored by someone who has been labeled a sinner by a church leader. We never get to know exactly what her sin is, but the fact that this sinner is loving Jesus is bothering the good church elder.

Jesus saves his most damning remarks for those who judge others, especially the scribes and Pharisees. “Woe to you,” Jesus says a few chapters after our reading, “because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.”

And always remember good friends, that when we read about the scribes and Pharisees, that is a story about us.

For Jesus, forgiveness questions the law as much as the offense.

For example, when you see someone steal your favorite shirt out of the backseat of the car, do you arrest him? Perhaps forgive him? No, says Jesus. You give him your coat as well. What is at stake here? Nothing more basic than the nature of ownership. God owns everything. Who are you to suggest that someone who steals from you needs forgiveness? Of course this approach is impractical. Jesus never claimed to be practical. He claimed to be of God. And does God care whose shirt it is? This is just an example of the many times Jesus raises the question of the nature of forgiveness in a setting of bad laws and worse judgments.

We understand unjust laws in our political system. Most people understand that there is unevenness in the criminal justice system. There are thousands of examples of the strangeness of our state and national laws. Like the church decides who the sinners are, the state decides who the criminals are. Drug laws of the poor have heavier penalties than designer drugs. In Saudi Arabia it’s against the law for a woman to drive a car. In Arizona, you can get arrested for looking like an illegal alien and not having papers on you.

We have tried punishment and blame for so long. Isn’t it time for something else?
Jesus called the whole thing into question. Jesus knew that the whole system had problems and blaming any individual was often cruel and self serving. For this insight, he was tortured and killed.

Who can judge when we all are to blame?

Even if we are right about what sin is, we are on thin ice when we apply those ideas to anyone but ourselves.   It is possible that some of our ideas of sin are off, but the big problem is the fact that we use these frail ideas against people when we judge them.   When we think people need forgiving, we have already judged them.

How can we even know what sin is, when we have logs in our own eyes? We have finite views, self interested positions, conflicts of interest. We have been stockbrokers making money off the distress we cause. No one is in a position to judge who the sinners are or even what sin is. As Paul says in Romans, only Jesus is in a position to judge and he is interceding for us. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Let the one without sin cast the first stone. Let the person who does not have any investment in the current economic system cast the stone against those whose poverty forces them to steal bread.

We are sinners when we make and maintain a world that creates sinners.

Humility is the heart of forgiveness.

The true nature of forgiveness is not condescension or forgetfulness or even rehabilitation, it is humility.

Humility is quick to love and slow to judge. Humility may not even see the need for forgiveness. “How have I caused this?” Is always a legitimate first question to ask of any behavior problem. “How can I help this?” “How can I love this?” “How would God’s love change this?” There are many many questions to ask before we might get to “How can I punish this?” or “How can I protect myself from this?”

But let’s get back to Jesus.

So do we need Jesus? Oh yes. Jesus saves us all right. Jesus saves us from our sins as much through his model of absolute humility as through any moral calculus. Jesus, although perfect, did not let it go to his head, did not count equality with God a thing to get all puffed up about. As he is being killed he wanted God to know that it was ignorance that caused his murderers to torture him and his friends to abandon him. “Forgive them for they have no idea what they are doing.” Now that is a perspective worth living for.

Let our own actions be just, let our hearts be filled with mercy, let us walk humbly with our God.

(c) William H. Levering 2009

Pentecost 2010 - Understanding Babble

2010-05-23T08:18:00.002-04:00

Understanding Babble

Recently, Daniel Carlson was in my office for a meeting and at exactly 3 o'clock he suddenly looked up and asked, "Is something about to explode?" Now ministers rarely take each other at face value, so I was wondering what he might mean by this, when he pointed to my desk. "Over there," he said, "something is beeping." I thought he was kidding. So I go over to my desk to show him that there is nothing there. After I get to my desk I hear the faintest of noises. Like an alarm coming from a world on a baseball. I find a electronic pocket watch that is on my desk and hold it directly to my ear. There is the tiniest of alarms going off. It had apparently been going off every day at 3 pm, set months ago for some event that I must have missed, since I couldn't hear the darn thing. I had heard that there were frequencies that you lost touch with as you got older, but here it was. Daniel could hear things plainly that I couldn't. My own alarm, no less.

Our lives are full of babble, of misunderstanding.

Each of us lives in slightly different perceptual world. Because of our physiologies, we hear different things. Before sense data even gets to our frontal lobes, our experiences are filtered and often categorized by our sensory processing. We look at ink blots and actually see different things. A few people in the world can listen to hard rock music and understand the lyrics.

It is no wonder we understand things differently. In the human family we use different languages and words to describe different experiences. It is to be expected that I couldn't understand someone speaking Mongolian, but most of the misunderstandings in the world are with the people closest to us. Husbands and wives who have lived together for decades will still completely miss some meaning or message. Parents and children will see each other as people from other planets even though they have shared life for years.

It's a wonder civilization exists at all. The simplest of orders is mixed up. If people understood each other, I could always get my eggs the way I want them at a breakfast place, when in fact, my not-so-picky egg preference only makes it to my table correct about a third of the time.

We mishear, misstate, misunderstand, misrepresent, misconstrue, misuse, misinform, and misspell. It is no wonder we miss each other's meaning. The writers of Genesis told the story of Babel to understand the basic fact that we just can’t get each other most of the time.

Men complain about not being able to understand women. And women complain about . . . being able to understand men all too well.

The church has a problem being understood. The Bible is not completely transparent; it can be confusing. We have rituals and customs that may not communicate what we want. Elders process down to the first pew, strange flags fly in the sanctuary, we say unfamiliar words.

One of the basic battles fought by our denomination was over how to be understood. This church was founded by people who spoke Dutch. When they came to worship, therefore, they spoke Dutch. At some point, they had to decide if they were just talking to themselves, or whether God needed them to have other people understand.

The Miracle of Pentecost is that people understood.

In the face of all the potential ways that we can misunderstand each other, it is a miracle if it ever happens, especially if it is about something very important. When we take away the hubbub and the flash, when the wind and the fire are taken out of the story, the miracle is even more clear. Strangers understood each other about something important. A miracle.

When the stakes are higher, when the issue is filled with emotion, the odds go down that the message will get through, unless God is involved.

This is not to say that at Pentecost everyone got it. In every age, some will not be ready to hear God's tune and so will think it nonsense.

But our new hope is that the power that changes our lives can be shared with others. Our faith is not such a personal thing that it is all bottled up inside us. We risk talking to each other about important things with the new hope that someone else will 'get it.' When we were young, we stayed up to all hours talking about what was important. We can either get lazy or jaded and forget the spirit that brings new life.

Today we have brought in hope for our future in the form of a twelve new disciples who now share the Spirit with us. We will all speak. We will all listen. And with God’s Spirit, we will sometimes hear something like the rush of a mighty wind and understand each other.

Just like the first Pentecost, when we understand, we wonder how it will work out: "What does this mean?"

I'm not exactly sure what Pentecost means for our futures. On the interpersonal level, it may mean the reinvigoration of our efforts to understand and be understood. Apparently it IS possible for men to understand women and for parents to understand teenagers. It just may take more listening than we have been accustomed to. Babble is understood when we gather in the Spirit.

On the level of our faith, it may require us to trust folks who hear alarms very dim to us. Remember, other people can literally hear things we can’t. We need to listen to voices of hope in people who sound very different. Different languages, different music, different expressions. Babble becomes holy when we gather in the Spirit.

As a congregation, this means we pay attention to our role in the spreading of the Spirit. The disciples were gathered together in one place when the Spirit fell. Being understood seems to require us to be connected with each other, constantly checking the status of the people around us. Maybe Facebook and twitter have something. The business of understanding and working with the Spirit is a rejection of the self-centered and self-satisfied life.

This community centered life is tough for a big church. It’s easy and comfortable to be a spectator here. It would be easy for us minister types to simply put on a good show on Sunday morning and leave it at that. But there is more to be understood here. There is more Spirit on the wind. Bagabagabaga? Bagabagabaga!

May 9, 2010 - Giving Peace

2010-05-06T09:01:00.000-04:00

Preacher’s Preview
May 5, 2010
“Giving Peace”

1. What conditions get you anxious and excited?
2. What calms you down from those feelings?
3. Are emotions contagious?
4. When has someone else’s bad feeling infected you?
5. When has someone else’s peace affected you?
6. What do you do to calm down an overwrought child?
7. If you wanted to calm down a whole crowd, how would you do it?
8. How can you ‘give peace?’
9. How do you think of the Holy Spirit?
10. Have you ever had a distinct experience of the Spirit?

Read Passage

1. When do you remember hearing this passage? Why there?
2. Is the Holy Spirit related to Jesus ‘leaving peace?’

John 14: 25-27

25”(Jesus said) I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

Note:
The word ‘advocate,’ has been variously translated as counselor, comforter, and advocate.
Verse 26: The “Advocate” does not bring teaching independent of the revelation found in Jesus’ words and actions. The Holy Spirit will not add any new revelation of his own, since that given by Jesus is complete.
Verse 26: “remind”: 12:16 says: “His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.”
Verse 27: “peace”: More than the conventional meaning of shalom is intended. To give “peace” is a royal and a divine prerogative (see Numbers 6:26; Psalm 147:14; Isaiah 26:12; 45:7) which Jesus bequeaths as God’s Messiah, the Prince of Peace (see Isaiah 9:6 and Ezekiel 37:26). Worldly peace comes through coercion. [BlkJn] Isaiah 9:6 says: “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”.

Commentary on Gospel by Mary Hinkle Shore
In the last evening he spends with the disciples before his death, Jesus tries to show them two elements of reality that are difficult to hold together: he is going away, yet he will not leave them orphaned.
Throughout the farewell discourse, Jesus makes it clear that followers love him by serving others. (One could say that Jesus' love language here is "acts of service."1) Although we might distinguish between loving Jesus and keeping his word, and imagine that we can do one but not the other, Jesus does not recognize that distinction. The clause in John 14:23b is a condition of fact: "Those who love me will keep my word..."2 Love for Jesus simply is love in action.

Whether the disciples know it, to live that kind of love, they will need the constant presence of God in their midst. Jesus offers that presence with three different promises. First, he says of himself and the Father about those who love him: "We will come and make our home with them." From the first chapter of this gospel we know that prior to anyone's love for Jesus, "The Word became flesh and lived among us" (John 1:14). No one would be able to love Jesus if the Father had not first loved the world enough to send his Son into it. The cohabitation that Jesus speaks of is not a reward for good behavior. It is simply a statement of where God likes to spend time. It hearkens back to the first chapter of the gospel and forward to the reality envisioned in Revelation: "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them" (Revelation 21:3).

The Son also announces the advent of the Spirit among the believers. During the time between his leave-taking and life in the new Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit "will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you" (John 14:25). I once heard a New Testament scholar speak of material written fifty years after Jesus' death as a relevant source for the life of the historical Jesus by saying, "My mother has been dead for thirty years. I think I understand her better now than I did when she was alive." The Holy Spirit accompanies the church as it remembers. The Spirit guides the disciples and the church as we think back over what we have experienced of Jesus, and as we seek to let our love for him show up in the ways we relate to others. The Spirit helps disciples to understand Jesus and his word and to love Jesus by keeping his word on behalf of the world.

Parish Based Social Services

2010-05-04T13:50:00.000-04:00

A Manifesto for Parish Based Social Service
by Rev. Dr. Bill Levering

Once upon a time when Protestants were in control of the culture and everyone was in church, local congregations would gather to do good works together. They began cooperative non profit ventures that fed the hungry, housed the homeless, and counseled the troubled.

Things changed in the river cities in America.
• In an era of shrinking mainstream attendance, churches began competing more for members, often at the expense of a cooperative spirit.
• Urban churches declined to the extent that their existence demanded more of their attention, fewer church resources were available to support causes.
• The spun off non-profits began to develop a contributor and volunteer base completely separate from local spiritual communities. Few offered holistic services, but catered to niches where money was available from grants or donations.
Although the separation of social services from churches may have seemed like a good idea at the time, it created a certain ghetto of poverty services separated from spiritual communities. It was easier to think of the poor as 'them' when they were served 'over there.' The needs, conditions and stories of the poor got further and further away from the consciousness of church folks. As a nation, when we decided to shrink services to the poor, this meant that not only were vital services lost, but that there was no locus of advocacy.

The United States Nonprofit Sector found that, excluding foundations and religious congregations, there were 837,027 nonprofits in the United States in 2003, and that they had combined assets of $1.76 trillion. On the other hand, American Church Lists, who makes its business by knowing how and where churches are, says that there are about 380,000 active churches in America. While there will always be a need for human services delivered out of the context of faith communities, it appears the balance has been tipped so that now communities of faith often give up their active role entirely.

Contemporary spiritual people are looking for a faith that expresses itself in action, not another United Way at worship. If we do not provide opportunities for service that are connected to our congregations, our faith seems to be without concrete expression. We also need to remain attached to concrete situations that are different from our own and need to risk dirtying our hands with the real business of human need.

Because isolated non-profits are often at the mercy of governmental grants, their work has often been compromised by governmental requirements and they may chose to provide services where grants are to found rather than where need is to be found. We can do better.

Parish based social services use the local church or synagogue as the locus of oversight, funding and provision of services. We bring non-profits back into our buildings and our parishes. This can begin with the provision of the spiritual services that slipped away most seriously. Community chaplains can reach out to local institutions and begin the relationship of need to nurture. Without jeopardizing the mission of any agency, we can form cooperative ventures in which congregations provide staff that are still very connected to the local congregation or can use church buildings for offices and provision of services.

For example, instead of giving $20,000 to a local agency to fund a half-time social worker, we hire a social worker/chaplain and give them to the agency three days a week. The chaplain attends worship here and connects our congregation to the community of need in a much closer fashion. The chaplain would work with volunteers and help us learn from different folks as well as providing services. Another day or two a week the chaplain would work with some other agency, transcending turf battles and connecting the not-for-profit sectors as well.

Of course there are problems if this idea is carried to extremes. It is not intended to supplant the fundamental role of government in insuring the basic needs of its people. "Faith based initiatives" should go out of their way not to involve governmental subsidies so that there is not an unintended shift or reduction in services. We shouldn't use this as a tool of blatant evangelism, either. Participation in our brand of religion cannot be a prerequisite for receiving whatever we have to offer.

Financially stable urban churches are well suited to begin this re-attachment of human services to spiritual communities. They have the resources, contacts, and experience to understand and develop effective interventions. They have the political presence to understand how to get things done in the complex world of urban governments and funding. That being said, a congregation in any setting can begin to use this concept to be more engaged in the needs of the community.

Parish based social service is a new approach and will garner resistance, especially from those involved with institutions now receiving support from churches. This is why it is best developed in new proposals, leaving current funding programs alone. We need to reassure folks, however, that losing a bit of control may be balanced by closer relationships and expanded services.

The Missioner Process

First Reformed Church began to enact some of the concepts of parish based social services in its Missioner program in 2008. In brief, the following process was followed to involve the congregation in mission work.

1. Informal conversations with civic leaders and not-for-profit directors took a pulse of the needs of the community and the work already being done.
2. Mission leadership in the congregation developed a few short proposals for a position, funded by the church, serving in a mission setting. After the mission target was established, a role for the missioner in the congregations needs was nailed down so that they had a particular helping job on Sundays.

3. The congregation decides from among the proposals, in our case through the consistory.

4. The supervising mission site actually hires the individual with input and consultation with the congregation. It is vital that the mission site have full jurisdiction over their workers, but the person hired needs to be happy about serving in a congregational setting whatever his or her faith is.

5. The missioner is trained and supported in the congregational setting, enabling them to write newsletter articles and draft appropriate folks to help in their mission niche. This support takes place in weekly scheduled meetings with all the missioners and a pastor.

The Missioner Experience

First Reformed Church, Schenectady has had a very positive experience measured by:

• Congregational excitement, involvement, and empowerment in mission issues increasing.

• Funding continued for these positions from other sources at the end of the two year cycle. In each case below, the original vision became so vital to the community or the not-for-profit that other resources continued its funding. This ensures a checkpoint for the assessment of the community need.

• Public presence has increased. While we don’t blow our own horn, newspaper stories about our missioners increased our exposure as a caring institution and brought in worshippers.

Habitat for Humanity
In the summer of 2008, Randy Sparrow was hired to work in a very hands on way with the ‘stuff’ of housing. He worked with habitat for Humanity managing the ReStore. This new position was able to take this Habitat chapter to a whole new level of activity and generated income doubling our investment in his position.

The City Mission
In the spring of 2008, Art Hudak was hired by the City Mission of Schenectady in collaboration with First Reformed of Schenectady to promote and manage an Ambassador program involving a broad range of people in providing a welcoming experience to downtown Schenectady. Art also work directly at the City Mission and had a strong street presence.

The Damien Center
In the spring of 2008, Dan Butterworth was hired by the Schenectady Inner City Ministries in collaboration with FRCS to be the executive director of the Damien Center, a place providing care and support to those affected and infected with HIV/AIDS. Dan expanded the program and managed the move to a building donated for the ministry in 2009.

Stepping Stones Ministry
In the spring of 2010, Art Hudak was hired (half time) to work with a board of representative churches and communities to create a spiritual ministry for people in recovery groups. This worshipping community would be designed to use the language and forms of the many twelve step programs in our area.

April 25, 2010 - Rabbi Matt Cutler

2010-04-22T15:22:00.002-04:00

Preacher’s Preview
April 21, 2010
Bill Levering

1. What is the worst crime that has happened to you?
2. When you were a kid and someone punched you, what did you do?
3. What are our natural impulses when it comes to punishing crime?
4. When are our impulses wrong?
5. When is forgiveness impossible?
6. Do people get what they deserve? Should they?
7. What should happen if I steal your car and wreck it?
8. What would the world be like if we forgave everyone?
9. Why is blasphemy bad?

Leviticus 24:9-22 (NIV)

10 Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. 11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.) 12 They put him in custody until the will of the LORD should be made clear to them.

13 Then the LORD said to Moses: 14 "Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him. 15 Say to the Israelites: 'If anyone curses his God, he will be held responsible; 16 anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.

17 " 'If anyone takes the life of a human being, he must be put to death. 18 Anyone who takes the life of someone's animal must make restitution — life for life. 19 If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he has injured the other, so he is to be injured. 21 Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a man must be put to death. 22 You are to have the same law for the alien and the native-born. I am the LORD your God.' "

Matthew 5:38-50 (NIV)

38"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'[a] 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

John 8:1-7 (NIV)
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

Easter 2010 - Enjoying Mystery

2010-04-07T13:14:00.002-04:00

Enjoying Mystery

Millions of people every year enjoy a good mystery novel. It is an American genre, formed by Edgar Allen Poe and developed in hundreds of pulp paperbacks. It was adopted by the British who added a touch of class, and eventually the stories became a touchstone of western culture: The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Maltese Falcon, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The Big Sleep, Ten Little Indians, The Thirty-Nine Steps, The Name of the Rose, The Nine Tailors, Murder on the Orient Express.

In America we were probably raised on mysteries. We paged through blue Hardy Boys books, that still sell over a million copies a year. The Tower Treasure
The House on the Cliff, Secret of the Old Mill. We followed Nancy Drew. But most of all, since 1969, we watched that peak of the American mystery culture: Scooby Doo, the Great Dane of Mystery, Incorporated.

All these appealed to the American need for courage and curiosity and, ultimately, explanation. We learned to love the open ended question of whodunnit, or sometimes, we knew it right from the start and had to find out how. How did they pull it off?! The suspense of the unanswered question was a joy more important than the solution (which was often a disappointing unmasking or disingenuous trick.)

Mysteries engage us. They demanded our thinking apparatus, our "little gray cells", as Poirot would say.

Today we consider the greatest mystery ever. Obviously the divine mystery of the resurrection is fabulously more important than a novel, but the ways we engage a mystery may help.

Problems we have with religious mysteries.

We need some help in this because religious mysteries are not always very engaging. Our first reactions to religious mysteries aren't very helpful.

First we want to explain them. We want the answer to who what when and how before the first chapter is finished. We reach for logical or psychological explanations for this mystery using science and metaphor and anthropology. It's mostly what you want from me in a sermon: an explanation. But like the first Easter, there often isn’t an explanation. The women were perplexed, John was amazed and who am I to understand better than they did? Explaining truly mysterious things strains the fabric of words and logic or they wouldn't be mysteries to begin with. In other words, if I could explain it in 15 minutes, it wouldn't be much of a mystery now would it?

The second approach to religious mysery is to avoid it altogether. Some of us can't stand mystery novels or shows or mysteries at all. "They have too much tension or unresolved issues and I have enough of those in my life already, thank you very much. Why would I want more confusion??" or "I am afraid that a mystery will completely conflict with my logical view of the world so why should I consider it?"

At a deeper level our response to a mystery is fear. We fear the unknown, the unexplained, the dark at the top of the stairs. When we don't know what is coming, we can feel powerless and vulnerable. Through most of a Scooby Doo mystery, Scooby Doo is cowering in terror and he is a big tough dog. Imagine how we must fear the deep mysteries of our lives.

With these responses to mystery, it's not surprising that we don't tend to dwell on them, even at Easter. I'd like to help change that.
-----

When you take a literature class, the teacher of course wants to impart some information, but usually also wants to impart a value, an appreciation, an enjoyment. In that same fashion, I'd like to get you to like mystery more today. I'm not going to explain the resurrection, make it more understandable or even applicable in the slightest bit.

What I would like to do is to help us all enjoy mystery more, and specifically, the mystery of the resurrection. I call it "The Case of the Risen Lord." The mystery is deep and thick. We have a missing body, contradicting witnesses, confusing verbal clues, and disappearing evidence. It's a real mystery!

In the Presbyterian tradition that I come from, we have formal creeds just like the Reformed Church does. You all have the Heidelberg Catechism which begins "What is thy only comfort in life and death?" The Westminster Catechism is a set of questions and answers like the Heidelberg. Ministers forget most of the questions and answers, but we tend to remember the first one. The Westminster's first one is "What is the chief end of man?" The answer is "Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever."

Not explain, not even serve, but to enjoy!

To enjoy this mystery, we must do three things: suspend judgment, see intent, and savor impact. If you keep track of these things, they all start with the letter S.

Suspend Judgment

There comes a point in any good mystery when we get the idea that things aren't really the way we thought they were. There is some very basic understanding of ours that is flawed. After reading mystery after mystery, we may begin to understand that a certain humility is in order. There are things at play that we do not now know. People turn out to be related. There is a hidden passage in the library. The guy who runs the agency actually works for the Russians. Sherlock Holmes usually gets around to telling Watson that "whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." As we follow the intrepid detectives, we learn to suspend our judgment about the probability of things. Who would have guessed that there was a monkey involved? Who would have predicted that they ALL did it? If only I had remembered that remark about the cave from the first chapter!

We live in a world that is governed by the ordinary rules we have developed to deal with ordinary situations. Generally speaking, things fall down . . . except in space, but who has been to space? Our judgments are based on experience and that experience and often limited. To really enjoy a good mystery, we need to relish the fact that there are things we don't know or forget. We do know that there will be red herrings and false leads. A rush to judgment is dangerous in any mystery and in the greatest mystery we need the greatest patience.

See Intent

Usually mystery novels are about crime. A great crime has been perpetrated and it must be solved. A letter has been purloined, or a man has been murdered, or jewels stolen. But real mysteries of our life are often mysteries of grace. A child is born, a habit is broken, a love appears. Enjoying a real life mystery requires an additional dimension: Why?

In mystery novels why is often a minor point subsumed by who and how. But in life, why is a much more important factor. How do you explain falling in love? We may love our children imperfectly; we may not feed them exactly the right breakfast cereal, but the why of our mystery of love is that we really want what is best for them and that is most important. In the resurrection, however the hows and whens sort out, the why is the most important factor. For God so loved the world, that he sent his only Son.

Savor Impact

In school, whenever we had meatloaf, we called it mystery meat. My little secret was: I liked it. I didn't know what was in it, but I really liked the meatloaf at Hufford Junior High. The proof of some puddings is in the eating and the eating of mystery is in the effect. What does a mystery do for you? Sharpen your wits? Increase your attention to detail? Savor the flavors of mystery.

When you look up on a clear night and consider the mystery of the thousands of stars in the sky, do you need it explained to have it create a sense of wonder and humility? The mystery of the creation of the universe can be enjoyed for what it does to us.

The mystery of the resurrection can have an impact on you. You can change how you think people are. It can make us a bit more humble to think that we don't have all the answers of life and death.

Suspend judgment, see intent and savor impact of the mystery.

-------------

Finally, remember that "The Case of the Risen Lord" is incomplete. We have not finished the book, the dramatic revelation has yet to be made. We are still on page 146 of a 200 page novel. What shall we do? Stop reading? Be angry that we're not at the end? What are we reading it for anyway? We are in the midst of the greatest mystery, but we are not at the end. Can you stand it?

What we have here is a wonderful, impenetrable mystery. A puzzler, a cipher, a wonderment.

Let us proclaim the mystery of the faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

Pallm Sunday 2010 - Curb Your Enthusiasm!

2010-03-24T15:25:00.000-04:00

Enthusiasm

1. Do you wear a cross? Why?

2. Would you wear a hat with a cross on it?

3. Would you carry a sign saying, “Jesus is Lord!” at a parade?

4. How do you feel about applause in church?

5. What is the most excited you have ever been about religion or God?

6. How does your excitement about matters of faith compare to other enthusiasms, say sports?

7. How do you get a stone to shout?

Planning

1. How much planning is there for a good party?

2. How many hours do you suppose go into getting ready for a worship service?

3. Would you rather your religious experiences be planned or spontaneous? Why?

4. What kind of religious experience is best unplanned?

5. Can we plan too much? Do we?

Luke 19:29-40

²⁹When (Jesus) had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, ³⁰saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” ³²So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. ³³As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” ³⁴They said, “The Lord needs it.” ³⁵Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. ³⁶As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. ³⁷As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, ³⁸saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” ³⁹Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” ⁴⁰He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

text notes:

The word mathetes means "learner, pupil, disciple". The same Greek work is used both for the two disciples who collect the colt for Jesus, and the "multitude of the disciples"

March 21, 2010 - Our Prayer

2010-03-21T08:48:00.002-04:00

Our Prayer

Last week we talked about private prayer and what goes on in our heads in prayer. Today we are going to talk about prayers that we share, that is, the talking to God we do together. For some people who aren't normally reflective, public prayers may be the only kind of prayer in their lives.

What goes on then, when we pray together? Whether you are listening to me pray for us or whether we are praying together, there are often some similar things going on. Some good, some distracting.

We analyze.

Most people are independent cusses. When the prayers aren't coming from our own spirits, we tend to hold them at arm's length a bit. Prayers that originate outside of us could be based on things we don't agree with or use language we frankly don't understand. It's not really that we are judging each other, although I won't rule out that possibility, It's more that there are ways of talking and thinking that are different than the interior discourse we have with ourselves, and so seems at least strange.

The human mind is normally associative. When I say the word 'dog,' it is nearly impossible for you not to bring to mind a complex puddle of pictures or names or experiences that is uniquely yours.

So let me ease our fears about this. There is no prayer I utter or lead that I expect mindless, unreflective participation with. Even public prayers that have migrated into our personal devotional life have a rich association that will be different for each of us. So don't worry if your experience of public prayers still seem unusually focused on yourself.

That being said, one of the main purposes of us praying together is to gain a broader perspective. God has chosen to relate to us not only as individuals, but mostly as a people. The very prayers we speak and the bible we read is brought to us by the agency of the church. God is revealed in the forms of creation, and for the consciousness of human beings, that means the forms of culture and language and experience.

Although it is a common idea that people can be spiritual without being religious, it is rarely possible to understand and integrate complex holy experiences without a language or a symbolic context provided by a religious community. Even though there are plenty of numbers of things in the world, it is difficult to imagine someone understanding mathematics without schools. In short, while God is everywhere, we need each other to be able to understand or even articulate what this might mean.

If we were spiritual geniuses, we could go out on the golf course on Sunday morning and not need any help in coping with our sojourns in the rough or our shots out of bounds. We would make a point of calling around before we went out so that we would know about the conditions of the people around us for prayer. We would bring a bible with us to help us in the creation of deeper prayers. We would gather our foursome on the eighteenth green and share prayers of thanksgiving and intercession for the people who took care of the course. Gosh. It would be easier to come to church.

Our common prayers are our primal attempt to develop our corporate relationship with God. It is important enough that the prayer books of our denominations are some of our most cherished religious touchstones. It is important enough that the disciples asked Jesus how they should do it and he taught them.

Prayer brings us to a common perspective and an emotional connection that can keep the community in balance and help us to keep our role in the scheme of things straight. This common perspective usually involves our corporate need for humility in the face of our failures as a people, our thanksgiving for the blessings shared, and our desires for wholeness.

The emotional connection sensitizes us to the joys and pains around us and generates a sense of mutual care and the urgency for forgiveness.

Corporate prayer can save us from ourselves and reinforce that we are all in this together. We can hang together in prayer or be stuck with our own hang ups.

There was once a shy young woman who had never really got into religion. Her parents didn't go. Her aunt tried to encourage her. The woman was married by a justice of the peace and had a baby. The experience of having a child exhausted her and exhilarated her to such an extent that she was able to recognize that something was missing in her life. Even though she had a great baby and a fabulous husband, she was still feeling. . . alone. She started coming to church but found the words strange and had no reference or understanding for most of them. She was shy and didn't want to let on that parts of church were simply crazy to her. The words about the life we share in God eventually meant something to her when someone brought over a plate of cookies. The prayers about love made sense when someone called her up when she was having a bad day. One Sunday she said the Lord’s prayer in church and all of a sudden she heard something completely different. She heard not a devotional prayer she could say at bedtime, like ‘Now I lay me down to sleep,” but a prayer that was all about the people around her. She wasn’t alone anymore. She heard our prayer.

Our father, in heaven

Our common creator and nurturer, above all ambiguity and compromise. You who made all of us in your image and called us good.

Hallowed is your name

Holy is your very identity. May we together respect every representation of you.

Your kingdom come.

May your plan for all people, your kingdom, arrive. We long for a day in which all people are secure and have justice. We work for laws and governments that embody your caring for your people and your justice.

Your will be done on earth as in heaven.

May your complete vision for all creation be fulfilled through us. Beyond just a kingdom, may your will for all of earth: its creatures and its plants, its substance and its nature, be acted out in our lives as it is in your mind.

Give us today our daily bread

Not only meet our individual needs, but give to all of us the daily sustenance that relieves our anxieties about the future.

Forgive us our sins

As a church, as a nation, as a family, in all our groupings, we have conspired to be selfish. Forgive us for the shortsighted wars we have waged against other groups. Forgive our judgments against others, our fear mongering. Forgive us for punishing individuals for the sins of our culture.

As we forgive those who sin against us

Our prejudices and our fears cause us to respond with thoughtless defensiveness. Nations and forces have wounded us as a people. Help us to embody graciousness and help a new day arrive.

Save us from the time of trial

We know that we are frail as a group as well as individuals. Corporations and cities often do the easiest thing rather than the best thing. We wish we never had to face the challenges that will come, but ask that you would save us when they do.

And deliver us from evil.

Save us from the evil one. Rescue us from the Evil that is aloneness, that hides in secret lonely places. Deliver us from the evil one that is selfishness. Save me from myself.

For the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours now and forever.

It is not all about me.

March 14, 2010 - The Phenomenology of Prayer

2010-03-14T12:02:00.000-04:00

The Phenomenology of Prayer

A CBS news poll reported that about 59% of Americans pray regularly. There may be some situational factors, however. A study by Brandies University in 2008 found that 90% of people who visit hospitals pray. In general, though, from the many polls taken on the issue in the last decades, it appears that about half the people around us pray every day.

The pollster Gallup says that men, white people, young people and those making over 50K a year don't pray quite as much as women, non-whites, the older, and the poor. Prayer is more practiced by those not in power.

People pray far more than they go to church. With all this praying going on, you would think we would talk about it more. But we don't. Prayer is such a personal thing, that most people and many preachers feel that it's sacred ground. And it is. But we still can grow and learn by talking about it.

This morning I'd like to talk about personal prayer, and next week, we'll think about public prayers.

Folks have discussed what to pray for and perhaps even how to pray. Preachers have reviewed the prayers of the Bible and Jesus' prayers. What I would like to do though, is talk about the most basic experience we have of prayer. Phenomenology is a fancy word for experience.

Personal prayer happens inside our heads. Whether it has mostly emotional or discursive content, it still goes on in our skulls. We may at some point whisper or sing a little prayer, but for the most part, personal prayer is an invisible, unmeasurable experience that happens in our minds. Since we don't talk about it much, we might imagine that the same sorts of things are going on in the heads of people around us when they pray. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Many people use words 'spoken' in their heads to relate to God.

Words to ask for help (Gallup: 42%)

Familiar word prayers (Gallup: 19%)
lord’s prayer, now I lay me down to sleep,
23rd psalm as prayer

Word talk like with a friend ("what a friend . . .") (84%)
   share feelings: gratitude, mad, sad, glad, fear

Words questions like a teacher
How should I deal with my son?

But words can be a problem sometimes

Words are culturally based

Mark Twain (end of “The War Prayer”) “For our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, fill the hearts of the enemy with helpless fear and grief. Break their spirits, blast their hopes, and blight their lives. All this we ask in the spirit of Love, of Him Who is the source of Love. Amen.”

Questions often frame answers –
“Should I buy a expensive jacket or a really expensive jacket?”
Which two days of the week should I beat my wife?
How can I get away with what I really want to do?

Words lead us to expect word answers from God.

Words are insufficient: sometimes "there are no words"
times of crisis, overwhelming trauma

Other people have less defined mental actions –
'sighs too deep for words'

bring to mind images
       faces – family,
        enemy – praying is reorienting our feelings of fear
holy or natural places – chapel at fowler
relax control - giving up in middle of the night
an awareness of presence
   Rudolph Otto’s – numinous experience
   Martin Buber’s I Thou – the (w)holy other
   attitude of consciousness – a constant suspicion that we are not the center of things, that a benevolent     presence has a desire that is in play. This is praying too.

Pray without ceasing now possible

March 8, 2010 - Hungering for God

2010-03-07T12:18:00.000-05:00

Nehemiah 9:1-3

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. Then those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors. They stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth part of the day, and for another fourth they made confession and worshipped the Lord their God.

Acts 13:1-3

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler,^* and Saul. ²While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ ³Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Hungering for God – Dr. Bill Levering

I know a man I met when I was pastor at another church. He is a big man with a big heart. A man who loves food, loves to eat.

This man I know is constantly trying to lose weight. And it's a real battle. When he was growing up, there wasn't always enough food, so he learned to eat fast. When he was growing up, food was how affection was expressed and shared. When he was in high school, he played football and bigger was better. All throughout his life he saw thousands and thousands of commercials begging him to eat salty, fatty, sweet foods. For just pennies more, he could get a bigger burger, more fries, and a bigger Coke. It didn't make sense not to.

He thinks about food: his last meal, his next meal. He wants cookies and salty crunchy things all the time.

He has a rubber band around a part of his stomach so he can't eat as much. He feels physically full almost right away when he eats. But he is still hungry, surrounded by food. While he lost some weight at first, it's not going away any more. He is the reaching Tantalus, unable to be satisfied. He is Sisyphus, rolling the rock of daily dieting. He is Prometheus bound to his own body, his organs regenerating while he is tortured.

He feels guilty and deprived all at once. He has self-pity and determination, all at once. He wants control and satisfaction, all at once. He wants to resist his cake and eat it too. And so his spirit is split. He serves two masters, obeys two voices.

He is all of us.

This is a problem of the modern age, but not unique to the modern age. Imagine how folks thought about food when they had to hunt and gather every morsel. Imagine generations wondering. How much was in the pot? How much would they get?

What is new for us is the messages of self indulgence we hear constantly. Jaron Lanier in a recent Harpers article called The Serfdom of Crowds, suggests that the driving force of most new ventures in America will be advertising. The internet already is completely shaped by advertising. Advertising shapes our future information. Even now it brings us television, it comes in the mail, we read it in the newspapers. It is the false God telling us we can have whatever we want: "Take, eat!"

We have never needed the idea of fasting more than we do today. However, it will be harder now than it ever has been.

The chorus of self-indulgence is loud and shrill. "You deserve a break today!" "Have it your way!" "Tastes great - less filling." Richard Foster, author of the famous Celebration of Discipline, writes in the very first paragraph of the book, "The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem."

The idea of waiting a few hours to eat is outrageous when our culture sells immediate action: ("Do it now!") and immediate gratification. Food can't be fast enough now, being measured in seconds rather than minutes at most fast food restaurants. Cooking is now heating, and eating is now a crude shoveling without grace or community.

It is curious that fasting hasn't become more popular when there is good research that says fasting will lower blood pressure, relieve diabetes and sleep apnea, and make you live significantly longer. It is simply out of sight. Which celebrities fast? What legislation encourages it? What public service announcement touts it? It is a cultural heresy to deny an urge.

Here is the bottom line: some of the things we want, we shouldn't get. So fasting is a practice and practice. It is a practice that itself can make us healthier and it is practice for the other desires that can destroy our spirits: the need for approval, the desperate reaching for power or control, the thirsting for booze, the lust for fame, the fearful grabbing of security. Saying 'no' to ourselves about anything is increasingly difficult, whether is it turning off the TV, pushing back, or making time for God.

I'll bet some of you who give up things for lent get mixed reactions from people. "Why are you doing that??" It's downright un-American not to consume as much as you can. Our continuous rise in consuming was only halted for a moment because of the monumental greed of folks in the investment community.

To remind us of the realities of limited resources and to steel us for the fact that the world does not revolve around our whims, we limit our intake, we budget, we pace ourselves, we hold back, we fast, hungering for God. Foster writes, "Fasting can bring breakthroughs in the spiritual realm that will never happen in any other way. It is a means of God's grace and blessing that should not be neglected any longer."

In scripture, fasting is used when important moments are faced, and when big problems are encountered, and in the regular observances of the day of atonement, Yom Kippur. In the Old Testament passage, the people are reestablishing their homeland and temple. In the New Testament, Jesus runs into a tough healing case and tells the disciples that it requires extraordinary measures: fasting as well as prayer.

In practice, fasting is going without food, usually during daylight hours. Using common sense and God's desire for our wholeness, this is obviously not for people with frail health or eating disorders. It is however, a spiritual tool most of us should consider. Jesus gave guidelines on not getting dramatic about our fasts, presuming that we were doing it.

Fasting is good for our humility and our self-discipline. It increases the focus of intercessory prayer, helps in decision making, and concentration. It gives us a sense of solidarity with the poor, and can be a revelation of our bad habits.

I’m not really here to urge you to fast, that is a personal decision. I am here to call our attention to how difficult and idea this is. We have become self-indulgent as a people. We have developed a way of life that measures all things by comfort and security. Sacrifice is reserved for war or for our personal futures.

We speak about the bounty and expansive wonder of God’s wishes for us and use symbols of feasts and banquets and streets of gold. These are symbols of a deep joy not to be confused with the idea that God wants to satisfy our every whim of pleasure. We don’t jam big hunks of muffins into our mouths at the Lord ’s Table. We take laughably small bits of bread and juice. We meter not God, but own desires. In denying ourselves, we make room for God.

Amen.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok. here's a start from WebMD:

Fasting Diets

Most religions use periods of fasting as a means of demonstrating faith or penitence, and an opportunity for spiritual reflection. Fasting has also historically been a means to express political views and a form of protest.

Though it may not be the most practical -- or safest -- diet, some people use fasting as a way to lose weight or to cleanse the body of toxins, although experts say our bodies are perfectly equipped with organs that already do the job. How fasting is used for weight loss varies by diet. Some fasting diets involve drinking nothing but water or eating only raw foods for a period of one or more days, while others restrict food on alternate days. Certain fasting diets only allow liquids like water, juice, or tea, while others dramatically cut calories but do not eliminate food altogether.

Does Fasting Help You Lose Weight?

When you fast, your body is forced to dip into energy stores to get the fuel it needs to keep going, so you will lose weight. The big question is how long you will keep that weight off. Because food was often scarce for our ancestors, our bodies have been genetically programmed to combat the effects of fasting. When you eat less food, your metabolism slows down to conserve energy. Then, when you go back to your usual diet, your lowered metabolism may cause you to store more energy, meaning that you will probably gain back the weight you lost and possibly even put on more weight when eating the same calories you did before the fast.
As you fast, your body will adjust by reducing your appetite, so you will initially feel less hungry. But once you have stopped fasting, your appetite hormones will kick back into gear and you may actually feel hungrier and be more likely to binge.

Research has shown that fasting on alternate days can help people lose weight, but not for long. In one study, people who followed an alternate-day fasting diet shed weight, even when they ate all they wanted on the non-fasting days. However, they could not maintain the weight loss over time.

Can Fasting Detoxify the Body?

Some fasting diets claim that they can cleanse the body of impurities. However, there is no evidence that fasting detoxifies your body, or that your body even needs to be detoxified. It is naturally designed to remove toxins through the skin (by sweating), liver, colon, and kidneys.

Could Fasting Help You Live Longer?

Studies of fasting in both rodents and humans appear to indicate a connection between calorie restriction and longevity. In one study of overweight men and women, a calorie-restricted diet improved markers of aging, such as insulin level and body temperature.

Fasting might also improve longevity by delaying the onset of age-related diseases including Alzheimer's, heart disease, and diabetes. One study showed that skipping meals once a month, as members of the Mormon religious group do, reduces the risk of clogged arteries (the build-up of plaque that can lead to heart attacks and strokes). However, it is not clear from this research whether fasting alone or the Mormons' generally healthier lifestyle (they also abstain from coffee, alcohol, and smoking) is responsible for the improved heart health.

Researchers do not yet know whether the effects of fasting translate into an actual increase in lifespan, because they have not followed people for long enough periods of time.

A fabulous outline on fasting in the Old Testament by Mark Copeland.

1. What is the longest you have gone without eating? Why did you do it?
2. What happens when you are hungry?
3. Is it good to control your appetites? Why?
4. Wouldn't you like a brownie sundae right now?

(c) William H. Levering 2010

February 28, 2010 - the Humility of Meditation

2010-02-28T08:39:00.002-05:00

The Humility of Meditation

I remember my parents talking about a person who was a bit proud. They said he was 'full of himself.' I thought, 'Well of course he is.'

We are full our ourselves.

scripts from our culture
memories
guilts and shames
desires
plans
anxieties

It's no wonder we have trouble finding God. We are full of ourselves. But God says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts."

Before we begin any spiritual enterprise we admit a basic humilty of how we are full of finite thoughts and feelings. We are not eternal, we are bound by time and place, our self interest and programming cloud our view of anything we do not expect or understand.

So we humbly empty ourselves.

Like a glass. - pouring out

From Zen Flesh, Zen Bones "Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era, received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!” Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

Like a hard drive. - replacing

meditate on my law night and day.
mantra
nature

Debate in Christianity about meditation

danger of emptiness

loneliness, estrangement

danger of replaceing

I love Lucy

But Scripture finds quietness "Be still and know that I am God." The still small voice.

    count breathing
    focus on objects
    singing

Making touchstones for quietness.

HOLY IS THE TIME AND HOLY IS THIS PLACE a prayer by Ann Weems

Spiritual contemplation is all right

for those who have the time,

but most of us have to make a living.

Most of us have to live in the real world

where profanity splashes and blots out

anything holy.

Where, O Holy One, can we find you in this unholy mess?

How, O God, can we find the holy in the ordinary?

Martin Luther once said (recorded in his TISHREDE): "I have twice as much to do today and therefore I need to pray twice as long."

February 21 - Opeining the Spirtual Toolbox

2010-02-21T02:23:00.001-05:00

Opening the Spiritual Toolbox - an Introduction to Lenten Disciplines

Watching the Olympics from our couches is a real challenge. We root for them and marvel at their discipline. Jealous of their commitment?
We study the seven habits of highly effective people. We read Malcolm Gladwell who wrote Outliers about who gets to be successful and why. According to Gladwell, anyone who wants to become an expert in their field needs to invest 10,000 hours of time at it.
Yet we have trouble applying all this to our inner life.

We want things for our lives
     deeper meaning,      lower blood pressure,      joy,       peace

So we change our patterns
     paleolithic diet    (just because it’s a new pattern doesn’t make it a good one)

Spiritual Discipleship is taking the patterns of our life seriously
Discipline a part of early Christianity – disciple 269 times, Christian 3 times
            path of Jesus, “people of the Way”

Beginning means a survey, counting the cost, developing a business plan, scoping out the terrain

Analogy of toolbox
       many tools for spiritual discipline
       sometimes house needs repair
       sometimes needs addition

Coming series a celebration of the tools at our disposal -   Prayer, mediation, fasting

More developed by Richard Foster 30 years ago - printed in bulletin
        We’re doing inward disciplines

All these disciplines have triggers that initiate their action.
   every time you . . . .

Norton Levering's Spiritual Triggers    Catalysts,

Time -     at meals, before bed, islam- call to prayer
Location -     sanctuary, prayer closet,
Posture -     fold hands - close eyes, yoga, kneeling
Sensation -     hunger, pebble in shoe
Person -     Daniel, Dali lama
Decision -     diet, getting up
Object -     cross, coin, Seder, communion

See? It’s easy – not a set of obligations, but a joyful challenge, an offering of a buffet, an invitation to deeper water

You already know this: Worship ultimate spiritual tool that embodies all the triggers.

Good job!

Feb 7, 2010 - Responding to God in Complexity

2010-02-06T00:22:00.002-05:00

Our lives are rarely easy – most people are often overwhelmed
Responsibilities, plans, bills, maintaining relationships, keeping out of trouble, work tensions, bad habits, fears of medical problems, hauntings from the past, specters on the horizon. Like in "Just as I Am" many a conflict, many a doubt, Fightings and fears within, without

This is the way of the world.
               the history of ordinary people – not leaders, not cataclysms
In a People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn (recently died) talks about ordinary history
      Like our history – not fires, or heroic pastors, but ordinary people coming to church for 330 years.

      Like fishermen up all night facing failure
      even success can destroy us
               miraculous catch can overwhlem
               glory days of GE

God doesn't make it easier
      ‘take up your cross and follow me” doesn't please us (simon)
        Annoyance at putting out again
        ‘go away’ when confronted with new paradigm
      catch people – probably harder than catching fish

God makes it mean something bigger
      all the fish you can use. now what
       in the catch they hear the call

Emmylou Harris and Johnny Willis

I hear a call Now will answer
Forsake my all To serve another
Though darkness falls Stay a believer
I hear a call Now will I answer

I see a light Now will I follow
Fill up this life That grows more hollow
Make joy reside Where there lives sorrow
I see a light Now will I follow

fiddler on the roof (perchik)
now i have everything,
not only everything,
i have a little bit more
besides having everything,
i know what everything's for.

when we hear God's call, when we get a bigger, more noble vision, there is
•    no complexity that overwhelms us.
•    no health care morass discourages us
•    no visa bill can dishearten us
•    no tiredness can dispirit us

In our own lives...threat of being overwhelmed by God's holiness is very real and serious. There is a temptation to stay in the shallows, where it is safe, where we can see the bottom but we're called like Peter out to the depths where the big fish of many varieties swim out of sight, where danger lurks but blessings abound.

Our Dutch founders didn’t stay in the shallows. They set out on a great and challenging adventure that made where we are today. We are also called to set out into the complex deep.

We are called to the depths of ourselves, the depths of the world, the depths of others, real lives, real relationships. Jesus new disciples leave their old lives to catch people--a life much more complicated, unpredictable, confusing, overwhelming than the old life of catching fish. Not luring them in, hook line and sinker, but casting our nets of the great news, sharing love and forming real relationships, receiving who God sends us, and I promise you, the blessings in your life will threaten to swamp your boat, you will be overwhelmed with meaning.

Fish or cut bait.

(c) William H. Levering 2009

January 31, 2010 The Rules of Love

2010-02-02T12:01:00.000-05:00

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (NRSV)

13If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
⁴Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant ⁵or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
⁸Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. ⁹For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; ¹⁰but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. ¹¹When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. ¹²For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. ¹³And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

What's your favorite romantic movie?
How do you feel when you're around another couple that are obviously in love?
Who is the first person you remember loving in your life?
Are there different kinds of love?
Who are the people you love most in the world? Why?
What are your personal rules for love?

Intro: The sermon assumes that we are interested in love. People who are interested in more selfishness are free to leave now.

Love we are talking about is agape, a hybrid of feeling and idea that is a pure caring distinct from affection. "Charity" in KJV

The nature of love, the laws of love can be seen in two ways:

Descriptive
Love is defined by these things . . .
   like there are laws of nature, or physics that describe what it is without prescribing action

Prescriptive
      Once we love, we oughta . . . Traffic laws

Still comes down to what we do, surprisingly not the internal condition often addressed in New Testament.

Case Study: learning new hymn
            Religious principles aren't nearly as interesting as their application.
Love is realized in its application. (first section)

we're always talking about love in the church, blah blah, blah...
           all ya need is love
temptation with a bunch of prescriptions is to turn off,
instead: One step at a time. One small item at a time. One person, one experience...

learning new hymn - appropriate since love setting seems to address some issues in the Corinthian Church (tongues)

just for today, just for this moment in worship, I will try to love this song.

It's all case study. just for today, just for this moment is often all we can manage when it comes to love.

Patient
Kind
Humble
Flexible
Good natured
Forgiving

We are hymns. Not so melodic, strange transitions, words that don't always fit. Who will love us?

Gil Bowen, preacher and therapist, "So when all is said and done, love is not rapture and fire. It’s a hand steadier than one's own, squeezing harder than a heartbeat. Wine changes back to water. Endearment is exhibited by what once might have been considered insignificant kindnesses, but which, in the end, become the tenderest of ministrations."

Certainly one way to remember, but you'd always need to keep a mirror handy.

Unless it's for someone else.

January 24, 2010 - Done Deal

2010-01-23T09:35:00.012-05:00

Luke 4:14-21

¹⁴Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. ¹⁶When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, ¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” ²⁰And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Topics: Fulfillment, Completion, Wholeness, Achievement

Starter Questions:

1. Do you worry when you hire a contractor the job won't get done?
2. What promises people made to you weren't kept? How did you feel?
3. How does it feel when yo finish something?
4. Can we be one with God before we die?
5. What part of God's work is finished in Jesus?
6. What major obligations have you fulfilled in life?

About once a week for about 15 minutes, I stand up and try to say something reasonable and moving about important things. Some Sundays I do this better than others, but at the end of the 15 minutes, there is a certain satisfaction from having completed the wrestling, no matter what the outcome.

We all have these experiences to a greater or lesser degree in our lives. We pay off the mortgage, we defeat the big boss at the end of the Nintendo game, we complete the big jigsaw puzzle, we finish giving birth to a child after long months.

All these events of completion and fulfillment began with an intention, a determination, promises to ourselves or others. In this morning's passage from Luke, Jesus proclaims the fulfillment of the promise of God. This is a big deal since God has made such big promises.

The Promises Established

God's Promises
      Rainbow Gen 9:9 won't destroy earth
      Abrahamic Gen 17:2 make a great nation
      Davidic I Chron 17:11 davidic leaders
      Mosaic Ex 34:27 follow the law and you will be my people
      Messianic Isaiah will raise up a leader to bring about a new order

To suggest that the promises of God have been fulfilled just by the hearing of the word proclimed by Jesus, is an overwhelming message. It could have turned out badly. Other leaders have suggested that the mission was accomplished when it wasn't.

Our lives are full of things waiting for completion.

This complex idea of Fulfillment, Completion, and Achievement is in every part of our life:
•    In fact, there is a whole school of psychology, gestalt psychology that says that we perceive and think in clumps that open and close our cognition.
•    Commerce and civil is built on understandings of contracts and fulfillment.
•    Relationships have a way of filling in the holes in our lives. Carl Jung and Jerry Maguire understand "you complete me" is what we say to another in clear moments.
•    In education, we celebrate the finishing of programs of study from kindergarten to college with great pomp and circumstance.
•    Our careers, at their best, are an attempt to achieve something in the world, to have an effect, however small, that gives a sense of fulfillment.
•    We finish races and projects and resolutions with the feeling that this little part of our life is now a package.
•    At then end of our lives, we put our things in order, so that the decks are clear, the lingering leaves, the clutter clears.

Look at the feelings of completion. When something is finished, we don't have to worry about it anymore. The account is settled, the anxiety over. We can move on to something deeper, something fuller. Fulfillment is peace.

Jesus’ Role

It is no coincidence that these completions of our life are some of the most powerful things we can experience.

It is no coincidence that this sense of completion what God is about in Jesus.
At the end of his ministry, Jesus told his disciples "I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." (John 15:11) At his end on the cross, Jesus says, "It is finished."

God in Jesus is determined with the very force of life to bring us into completeness, to fill the God shaped hole in our lives.

“Finish then thy new creation, pure and spotless let us be.”

What we can do

But we are partners in this project of being fulfilled. This is why we work at the wholeness and completion of our own lives. This has implications great and small.

•    We keep our commitments and therefore pick good ones that neither overwhelm us nor put us to sleep.
•    We understand how finishing things can relieve anxiety and open us to new vistas. So we return phone calls, pay bills on time.
•    We trust the fulfillment of God’s promises of security and love and therefore do not worry about the trivia of life. “Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God.”
•    We can be called to the completion of God’s mission of justice that is complete in every moment, begun in every day.

Well the sermon is almost over, almost complete. It has been my attempt to show the fullness of life that God has worked at for us from the beginning of time. I’m not sure it did all that it could do, but I will walk down these steps with a sigh of peace. I wish that sigh for you in all your life.

complete puzzle

(c) William H. Levering 2009

January 10, 2010 Godly Gifts, Human Fears

2010-01-07T21:53:00.009-05:00

Matthew 2:1-12
2:1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

What present would you give God?

What can I give him,

Poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd

I would bring a lamb,

If I were a wise man

I would do my part,

Yet what I can I give Him —

Give my heart.

And then there is that Little Drummer Boy. It's very romantic if not just a bit crazy to imagine the little drummer boy at the manger, giving what he could. But really. Shepherd drummers? Calming an infant? The drummer boy could have given the drum! Mary might have objected at that point, but that little kid held out on God. Little piker.

Wise men brought not what God needed, but what they valued:

Gold - the stuff of life and comfort

Frankincense - the spice of holiness, used to show the presence of God.

Myrrh - the spice of death, the clinging to life.

What if they weren't just gifts (these were wise men after all) what if they were also requests for healing. "Here is what I value, here is what I am afraid of losing. Here is what I am anxious about. Can you help me?"

We picture the wise men as impassive, silent, robotlike figures delivering their gifts without passion, without care.

What if their faces were lined with worry. What if they were real people. Professors who gambled too much, librarians with dark secrets, experts with a checkered past, magicians wondering if they are complete fakes, wizards full of hot air.

Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar

Caspar, the friendly Magi, brought gold.

He was anxious about it. He worried

someone would steal it
would it be enough
someone would steal it
was it too much
what would his wife say

Later Jesus says

Melchior brought the frankincense. He was the religious one. He brought the special stuff used to signify holiness and prayer.

Deep down he was actually feeling guilty:

he wasn't good enough
he hadn't been forgiven
long ago something horrible

Balthazar brought myrrh. It was used for embalming. He was a little morbid and didn't get along with people much. He was afraid of dying.

He was anxious about

getting sick
every cough bothered him
he took his pulse every few hours
he ate honey
dying

Jesus heals our anxiety about life death.

(c) William H. Levering 2009

January 3, 2010 - Logos and Phos

2010-01-02T16:38:00.000-05:00

¹In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
²He was with God in the beginning.
³Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.
⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
⁵The light shines in the darkness,
but the darkness has not understood^[a] it.
⁶There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. ⁸He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
⁹The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.^[b]

Original Word: φῶς
Transliteration: phós
Phonetic Spelling: (foce)
Short Definition: light
phosgene, phosphor, phosphate, phosphorus, phosphorescent, phosphorescence

Original Word: λόγος
Transliteration: logos
Phonetic Spelling: (log'-os)
Short Definition: word

Two Greek word/concepts central to the view of Jesus shaped in early church. Expression became such a central characteristic of the godhead that it became the godhead.

We are what we display(?)

Logos -popular and more examined
Phos - more common association, yet less propagated

I am the light of the world he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life. john 8:12
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world john 9:5
You are the light of the world Matt 5:14

Both Greek words are getting at a similar concept: Outreaching enlightenment.

phos and zoe - life and light cross

Both are words of extension, of outgoingness and characterize God.

alternatives to the outgoing God:

the uncaring God, self-sufficient and complete
the indrawing God, sucking energy and service
the not God, emptiness

Outgoing God reflected in nature:

In 1929 Edwin Hubble, working at the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, California, measured the redshifts of a number of distant galaxies. He also measured their relative distances by measuring the apparent brightness of a class of variable stars called Cepheids in each galaxy. When he plotted redshift against relative distance, he found that the redshift of distant galaxies increased as a linear function of their distance. The only explanation for this observation is that the universe was expanding.

Implications of Logos and Phos, of the outgoing God

God is always reaching out to us.
      good times, bad times

We reflect God when we reach out as well.
     tougher for some (introverts)
     at least reach back to God.

Resources

Cliff Richard — Shine, Jesus, Shine lyrics

Lord the Light of Your Love is shining,
In the midst of the darkness shining,
Jesus light of the world shine upon us,
Set us free by the truth You now bring us,
Shine on me. Shine on me.

Shine Jesus shine
Fill this land with the Father's glory
Blaze, Spirit blaze,
Set our hearts on fire
Flow, river flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth Your word
Lord and let there be light.

As we gaze on Your kindly brightness.
So our faces display Your likeness.
Ever changing from glory to glory,
Mirrored here may our lives tell Your story.
Shine on me. Shine on me.

"Fundamentalism fails to make contact with the present situation, not because it speaks from beyond every situation, but because it speaks from a situation of the past. It elevates something finite and transitory to infinite and eternal validity. In this respect fundamentalism has demonic traits. It destroys the humble honesty of the search fro truth, it splits the conscience of its thoughtful adherents, and it makes them fanatical because they are forced to suppress elements of truth of which they are dimly aware." Paul Tillich (ST, p.1)

(c) William H. Levering 2009

December 24, 2009 Spirits of Christmas

2009-12-24T09:58:00.016-05:00

Luke 2:1-20

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Spirits of Christmas

Ebenezer Scrooge. A timeless character. He is the greedy, joyless, uncaring, isolated Brit we follow in Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol. Over the decades, he has been portrayed by

Ernest Borgnine
James Earl Jones
George C Scott
Venessa Williams
Henry Winkler
Kelsey Grammer
Marcel Marceau
Tori Spelling
Patrick Stewart
Tim Curry
Jack Palance
Mike Judge
Micheal Caine
Bill Murray
Rich Little
Walter Matthau
Albert Finney
Jim Backus
John Carradine

and most recently by Jim Carrey in the 2009 cartoon version currently playing.

The fact that there have been so many versions of this story suggests that it addresses a vital part of our Christmas experience. It is as popular now as it was when first published for the Christmas of 1843. The name of Ebenezer Scrooge is probably better known to most than the traditional names of the Magi. (Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar) Charles Dickens’s blast against greed and inhumanity seems as relevant today as it ever did. But it's more than the theme. It's the vehicle that I find captivating. You remember. Rotten old Ebeneezer Scrooge is visited and transformed by four spirits on Christmas Eve. The first visitor is his long dead collegue Jacob Marley who is a case study in the effects of greed. He warns Scrooge that he will be visited by three other spirits.

1.    In Dicken's story, the spirit of Christmas past reviewed Ebeneezer's early joys and later disappointments.
2.    Christmas present is Falstaff of merriment and extravagance that was an antidote to the stark puritan version of Christmas then common in England.
3.    Christmas to be was a dark fear of the extrapolation of Scrooge's rotten character that looked much like we now portray the grim reaper.

The turning point in the whole drama is when Scrooge understands the grand sweep of events shown him. "Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead," said Scrooge. "But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!" Can we change?

These spirits are still powerful and still hover about our Christmas experience. Let's review the spirits of our Christmas.

We are also visited by the spirit of Christmases past this night.
•    Fond memories of unbridled joy and innocence may judge our present.
•    The spirit of Christmas past was often the spirits of people now gone from us. I know you have thought of them already.
•    We grasp at maintaining traditions as a way of bringing the goodness of the spirit of Christmases past with us.
•    The spirit of Christmas past is with us.

The spirit of Christmas present is complicated for us today.
•    There are so many things that need to be done and so many expectations to satisfy that the spirit of Christmas present may be one of anxiety and obligation.
•    Changes in the world have made us negotiate new ways that may unsettle us.
•    You are gathered in this holy place to find a different spirit in the now. A holiness. A peace that is so often missing in a busy season.
•    The spirit of Christmas present is with us.

The spirit of Christmas yet to be is a challenge we usually avoid. But for Christmas to be more than nostalgia, there are spirits to be faced.
•    How do we want our future Christmases to look?
•    What shall we do for the Tiny Tims who are chronically ill?
•    What shall we do for the refugees who land in Bethlehem?
•    How will your personal life bring a different Christmas next year or ten years from now?

The larger message of the arrival of God is that things can be different. A little child can change everything, even stubborn old men. No matter how old, or set in our ways, or stuck by circumstance, there is a hope born this night that the world has had the seeds of greatness sown. God is with us in the stirring enterprise of peace on earth and goodwill to all people.

Tonight I challenge you to work with a new vision of the spirit of Christmas yet to be. Not a threatening hooded creature that Dickens portrayed, but a beckoning God who invites us to great joy with angels and songs and visions. The spirit of Christmas yet to be is the God of the unwrapped present, the God of the benevolent mystery, the God of Christmas morning, the God of bright challenge and expansive grace.

There is a hope born this night that transcends whatever is ‘stuck’ in your life. This hope comes not by threats and fears, but with a small child’s gaze. “God bless us, every one.”

A Christmas Carol (sub-titled "In Prose. Being A Ghost Story of Christmas") is a novella by English author Charles Dickens about miserly, cold, unfeeling, old and curmudgeonly Ebenezer Scrooge and his holiday conversion and redemption after being visited by four ghosts on Christmas Eve. The book was first published on 19 December 1843 with illustrations by John Leech, and quickly met with commercial success and critical acclaim. The tale has been viewed as an indictment of nineteenth century industrial capitalism and has been credited with returning the holiday to one of merriment and festivity in Britain and America after a period of sobriety and sombreness. A Christmas Carol remains popular, has never been out of print,^[1] and has been adapted to film, opera, and other media. (wiki)

(c) William H. Levering 2009

December 20, 2009 Discerning Our Role

2009-12-20T02:02:00.002-05:00

Luke 1: 46-55
Not all of us can get pregnant.

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Questions:

What different roles do you have in life?
Do your roles change?
How is a set of tasks different from a role?
Do we have roles we are unaware of?
How can our roles in life hurt us? Help us?
What is Mary's role in God's reign?
What is yours?

Sermon - “Discerning Our Roles”

Have you ever tried out for a play or a musical? Have you ever waited anxiously for the posting to see what part you got? Would you be the spearholder or the king? Would the role suit you or would you have to ‘put on’ the character? Of course the most important roles in our life are handed out often without our involvement.

We have clusters of expectations and scripts that are called roles that play a large part in determining who we are. We negotiate our roles within the pressures of expectations and stereotypes, but we undeniably have roles in life. Artists and psychologists agree that in many ways, 'all the world's a stage' and that we take on certain patterns of talk and behavior that give structure to our personalities.

Often situations force these roles on us, however we modify them. When we are born into a family, we have a birth order that weighs upon us. Perhaps we are the oldest, perhaps the baby. Right from the very beginning of our lives, there are situations that call forth from us a particular set of responses that become a role. How we discern and embrace these roles is the question of the morning.

The roles that come from the situations of our lives may or may not be accepted. As Paul wrote, “when I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.” But we all know people who refuse to grow up, who decide not to take on the role of an adult. Later in life a woman may leap at the role of mother, or not. Some people may deny that they are grandparents in the way they act because they just can't see themselves as old enough to be a grandparent.

Our family position is just one of the undeniable role positions in which we are placed. At some point, we live someplace and take up a role in relation to the people around us. Whether we like it or not, we are neighbors to someone. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus tells a parable that broadens our understanding of the role a neighbor takes because he knows we all have the role of the neighbor.

At some point we get jobs and become employees or bosses and have role relationships with clients and co-workers. We take on occupations that have role expectations attached. Physicians are supposed to act a particular way, pastors another. In any profession, when you reach a certain level, fame forces another role. A famous figure once said "If you are given a chance to be a role model, I think you should always take it because you can influence a person's life in a positive light, and that's what I want to do. That's what it's all about." Unfortunately, the person who said this was Tiger Woods.

Others respond to situations in ways that give us hope. Neil Armstrong didn’t set out to be the first person on the moon. He simply embraced what came to him. He said once in an interview, “Yeah, I wasn't chosen to be first. . . .Circumstance put me in that particular role. That wasn't planned by anyone.”

Today we observe the response of Mary who was in a very strange situation. She was about to become a mother in a situation that could have gone quite sour. In Luke's version, Mary's embracing of her role in the divine drama takes place before Joseph enters the scene at all. She had every reason to disbelieve that her role could be anything but social outcast and mother of trouble. Her position of humility, however, made her the perfect vehicle for the demonstration of God's grace. She allowed her role to become holy. She brought God into her situation and transformed the role of unwed mother into the role of handmaiden of God. The world has never been the same.

There are two points I would like to make about all this.

1. God calls us all to particular roles.

2. We need to discern and embrace the role situation we are in.

In church we teach that all have been chosen by God for particular parts of the job of redemption. In First Corinthians, Paul wrote a passage we used in our stewardship campaign this year: "to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines."

But there is a broader context than the roles we have in church. John Calvin understood our whole life to be a vocation called by God. He wrote "It will also be no small alleviation of his cares, labours, troubles, and other burdens, when a person knows that in all these things he has God for his guide. The magistrate will execute his office with greater pleasure, the father of a family will confine himself to his duty with more satisfaction, and all, in their respective spheres of life, will bear and surmount the inconveniences, cares, disappointments, and anxieties which befall them, when they shall be persuaded that every individual has his burden laid upon him by God. Hence also will arise peculiar consolation, since there will be no employment so mean and sordid (provided we follow our vocation) as not to appear truly respectable, and be deemed h'ghly important in the sight of God"

Being the baby of the family can be an excuse for irresponsibility or a springboard to creativity. Being a baker can be a daily drudge or can be a vehicle for God. This means investing a holiness in our situations that often transcends the stereotypes of our roles.

God and Mary conspired together to transform use her role as mother and handmaiden of God for the salvation of the world. What role of yours shall be transformed?

We may have romantic notions of some future world in which we are superheroes, but the future is closer than we think, and is apparent that God chooses to arrive in the vessel of what already is. Each of the roles that you now have can be the vehicle for the coming transformations of God . . . or not. As Glinda, the good witch of the south asked Dorothy, “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?”

The discernment we are called to is how our roles can also be roles in the kingdom of God. In his inaugural address John Kennedy talked about embracing a role. He said "In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility - I welcome it."

My father often told me he didn't mind if I became a ditch digger as long I was a good ditch digger. God tells us something similar: You are a ditch digger for a particular holy reason. You have a role in God’s realm. There are no small parts in the grand scheme of things. We may need to transform the role of being a child to our parents as time goes on. We may need to mold the role of teacher around our particular skills, but the casting list has been posted, we have been cast in a holy and wonderful production. Break a leg.

----------------------------

Unused:

My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all. John Lennon

I'm not a role model... Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids. Charles Barkley

December 13, 2009 Discerning Particular Actions

2009-12-13T08:09:00.003-05:00

"What then should we do?"

Hymns: Lift Up Your Heads, Comfort, Comfort You My People, Christ of the Upward Way
Music: The Voice of God is Calling; HS Girls:What is this Light?
Liturgist: S Midge Reader: Gerorge Trimarco Candles: Bachorick family

John Preaching to the Crowds (stylized)

Luke 3:7-18

John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”
As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

Opening Questions:

When do you know that you've done the right thing?
Should the church be specific in telling people what to do?
Should God be specific in telling people what to do?
Should my wife be specific in telling me what to do?
How would you know if a direct order came from God?
What is the first thing you think of when someone gives you a specific order?
Is it possible for people to work together without a leader?
When have you really really enjoyed being told what to do?

Jesus describes God in various analogies in parables:

· God as Father to prodigal son

· God as king giving banquet

· God as judge dealing with nagging supplicant

· God as landowner collecting rent

· God as employer leaving talents, paying workers similar wages, dealing with unforgiving servant, cautioning to keep watch. Mark 13:33 Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.

Today: God as Boss.

God as boss is problematic because bosses are often not seen in such a positive light as God.

One day a man was having a conversation with God when his whole life flashed before his eyes as a series of footsteps on the sands of time. He saw that there were two pairs of footprints, but during the most difficult periods of his life there were only one set of footprints. He asked God “You said you will be with me throughout this journey, but why have you deserted me during the most critical times of my life??” to which God answered “Son, I did not desert you, I was always with you…you see only one set of footprints because during those difficult times in your life, I was carrying you in my hands”

Another day I was having a similar conversation with my Project Manager when my whole project flashed before my eyes as a series of footsteps on the sands of time. I saw that there were two pairs of footprints, but during the most difficult times in the project there were only one set of footprints. I asked my PM “You said you will be with me throughout the project, but why have you deserted me during the most critical times of the project??” to which the PM answered “Son, I did not desert you, I was always with you…you see only one set of footprints because during those difficult times, I was sitting on your head!!”

· "Land of Oz" metaphor suggests that bad bosses fall into three groups: the boss with no brains; the boss with no courage; and the boss with no heart: the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Man.

· Dilbert suggests that there are 2 kinds too much and too little

o micromanaging worst macromanaging - distant

o macromanaging worst micromanaging - cant keep hands off

Micromanaging in Wikipedia “In contrast to giving general instructions on smaller tasks while supervising larger concerns, the micromanager monitors and assesses every step and avoids delegation of decisions. Micromanagement is often easily recognized by employees, but micromanagers rarely view themselves as such. Micromanagers will also refute such claims by citing their management style as structured or organizational; this is part of the denial process.

The notion of micromanagement can be extended to any social context where one person takes an inappropriate level of control and influence over the members of a group.

1. God as boss

sometimes you give employees (us) broad values to act on: love one another

sometimes you give them (us) very particular directions : don’t marry your father’s widow

john does both - coats and satisfaction

2. Sometimes we can to work it out ourselves

If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings and put compensation as a carrier behind it you almost don't have to manage them. - Jack Welch

3. Sometimes we need micromanaging, specific rules: What then shall we do?

* early in our faith

* when lost

* when exhausted

*coming home asking about what to eat

* when uncertain

*driving: coming to a crossroads

Discernment about when we need which

talking to boss about needs

****

Unused --------------------------

“Now that I look back, I realize that a life predicated on being obedient and taking orders is a very comfortable life indeed. Living in such a way reduces to a minimum one's need to think.” Adolf Eichmann

Is God (or at least John) a micromanager?

December 6, 2009 Discerning Paths

2009-12-06T07:59:00.002-05:00

How can we make God's path to us straight?

Hymns: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, Gather Us In, Prepare the Way
Music: Prepare Ye the Way; Klokken Ringers: O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Liturgist: D. Carlson Reader: Rae Forster Candles: Evans Family

Bible Study Openers

What memories do you have of paths? Are they straight?
How would you straighten a path anyway?
What happens on a bumpy road?
Are people too cagey or politic or polite when they speak normally?
If God were to change us, how would that happen?
Have you changed any habit in your life? How?
Does your life have a direction?
In what way could we change to make it easier for God to get to us?

Luke 3:1-6
3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Sermon

The Appalachian trail is traveled by thousands of hikers every year. Over 9600 people traveled it's entire length which represents about 10% of those who attempted to complete its 2178 mile length. It is one of the best known footpaths in America, yet it requires a great deal of upkeep. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail, as it is known, or the AT, takes massive efforts. This year over $650,000 was spent on trail upkeep including basic repairs to washed out sections, refurbishing shelters and some relocation in Virginia. Over thirty different clubs maintain the path, with thousands of volunteer hours logged each spring to clear trails.

Trails and footpaths and roads of any type really don't just take care of themselves. We all know the joys of a freshly paved stretch of highway. We all curse the same old potholes and patches we live with all the time. Paths connect us to the people and projects that are important to us and as a means to an end, we want them to do their jobs.

Helping God Get to Us

It's a funny idea that God would need us to take care of the divine turnpikes, but it is apparently the case. Some part of the freewill business suggests that at some point in the divine journey to our hearts, we can encourage the enterprise or resist it. Whether God is a commuter or an occasional visitor to us, we can make the path to our lives a smooth sailing or a tortuous route of frustration for both God and us.

There are some easy ways to keep God at bay for awhile. Like trying to keep the owls away from Harry Potter, eventually God will out, but we can decide not to shovel the walks.

Anger is good to keep God's paths rocky. Being angry and generally critical will certainly make it hard for beauty and gracefulness to fight their way in. Thoreau talks about the paths of the mind when we wrote, “As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”

Self pity, greed, and jealousy all can do their part to fortress us against God.

The sixth chapter of Proverbs has a list of things God would not be happy about, that would keep the hound of heaven from your door for a bit. They are described mostly in terms of body parts.

Proud eyes
A lying tongue
Hands that shed innocent blood
A heart that plans wicked plots
Feet that are swift to run into mischief
A deceitful witness that speaks lies
The one who sows discord

But so much for the negative. If we build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to our door, but what should we do to invite God?

John the Baptist and Humility
John the baptist has an answer to that question. Humility. John's life and ministry is about being humble. I mean here is a guy who dresses in cheap, uncomfortable clothes and who eats bugs. His baptism is for the remission of sins and he is always yelling at the posers of the world. We may think of baptism in the Christian sense as a mark and sign of our community, but for Judaism, the mikvah was and is a mark of moral and spiritual purification.

So when John cries “Prepare ye the way of the Lord!” He has something rather specific in mind. This is no philosophical musing about how God might travel, this is the commandment to stop thinking so highly of ourselves that God is having trouble making it up the hill of our egos. .

Humble Suggestions for Humility

At the risk of being like Roman Catholics priests discussing the finer points of marriage, I wish to enter certain disclaimers about my own humility and lack thereof. We are about to enter a dangerous realm where I am going to make some recommendation that I have often not been able to achieve. But the fact that I sometimes speed does not mean I don't know the speed limit.

This morning I have three suggestions that are cerainly not exhaustive of the possibilities to remove the speedbumps for God to get to us. Listen, open, and work. For those of you keeping track of this week's acronym, that would be LOW.

Listen. Interpersonal humility often has to do admitting that another person could be more right about something than we are. In driver's ed in high school I remember an old black and white film called 'Dead Right' in which a driver was stubborn and it ended badly. We all know of people who would rather be right than happy in their relationships and it may be the same for God. Listening to anyone, including God requires us to abandon the project of being constantly right and requires us to listen for new ideas. When we truly listen to another, the walls of our own pride no longer separate. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not to your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Open. Since God may arrive in an unexpected way no matter how much notice we have been given, it appears that we need to keep on open mind and heart about the particular way God gets to us. God may arrive on a donkey, or in a minivan with a bunch of kids in the back. A true humility of spirit lets the world and all its overwhelming holiness in. Sometimes God arrives by the narrow gate, but perhaps also by the four lane highway. We keep the roads open. We plow away the debris.

Work. We don't all have to wear hair shirts and eat bugs, but sharing our resources and engaging in the world, will probably require a little effort. The journey of truth is rarely the path of least resistance. We all love to mock the road crews where there are five people standing around leaning on shovels, but that may be just the situation on the road to our hearts. Rick Warren once wrote “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.” If we are engaged in the work of the kingdom, our own dramas and limited horizons may fall away.

This listening and openness and work that God calls us to is a joy for all. John did not take application forms while standing in the river helping people change their lives. This joyful humility is for you. We celebrate a God child that entered the world listening to everything, open to everything, with much work to do.

Prepare the paths of the Lord, make God's way clear.

Intro:

Thomas Moore called humility “that low, sweet root, from which all heavenly virtues shoot.”

Elements:

Even as the needle, that directs the hour,
Touched with the loadstone, by secret power
Of hidden nature, points unto the Pole;
Even so the wavering powers of my soul,
Touched by the virtue of Thy Spirit, flee
From what is earth and point to Thee.

When I have faith to hold Thee by the hand,
I walk securely, and methinks I stand
More firm than Atlas; but when I forsake
The safe protection of Thine arm, I quake
Like wind-shaked reeds, and have no strength at all,
But like a vine, the prop cut down, I fall.

                                           - Francis Quarles

“Education is the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty.” Mark Twain

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” Thoreau

On (mere!) clarity: Transcendence of mere clarity and order is necessary for dealing with the unforeseen, for progress, for excitement. Life degenerates when enclosed with the shackles of mere conformation. A power of incorporating vague and disorderly elements of experience is essential for the advance into novelty. - A.N. Whitehead (Modes, p. 79)   (too complex to use, but I needed to share it)

By confronting us with irreducible mysteries that stretch our daily vision to include infinity, nature opens an inviting and guiding path toward a spiritual life. Thomas More

“The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.” Norman Vincent Peale quotes

“Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.” Saint Augustine

“Humility is the only true wisdom by which we prepare our minds for all the possible changes of life.” George Arliss

“Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real”   Thomas Merton

“Humility, that low, sweet root, From which all heavenly virtues shoot”   Thomas More

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.” Rick Warren

Down the garden path.
Shining path.
Path ology.
Path of least existence. (me)

November 29, 2009 Discerning God's Signs

2009-11-30T19:35:00.001-05:00

"There will be signs . . ."

We are all interested in signs of the future. They are variously called portents or omens or harbingers. At points in human history, people have tried to find signs of the future in the movements of stars, by reading palms, by gazing into crystal balls, by examining the entrails of animals, by swinging a pendulum, by casting runes, by dealing cards, by examining tea leaves or coffee grounds, by gazing into a fire, by observing the movements of birds, by looking at patterns in dripping wax, by watching a rooster pecking at grain. It takes great willpower to not open and read a fortune cookie.

In a scientific age, we look for signs of the future just as much, but in a different way, most of us check the weather regularly even though the forecast is often a bit off. We look for statistical trends to help us get a handle on the future of all sorts of numbers. We take personality tests to seek some sign of who we are.

Not all signs are helpful, however true they might be. Literature and fairy tales are full of people who got accurate signs of the future, but it did them little good. Macbeth and Oedipus made large mistakes trying to flee from their fate. People desparate desire to control the future can be manipulated. Because of this, In New York State, individual fortune telling is a class B misdemeanor.

Signs can just make us nervous. The movie 2012 that came out this week is a disaster movie that takes an ancient Mayan prophesy about the year 2012 and turns it into a special effects showpiece of destruction. The signs of the ends of time turn out not to be so helpful if there is nothing we can do about it. For many people, considering an approaching cataclysm would only produce anxiety.

Recently, some medical tests have come under scrutiny because false positives may produce more anxiety and expense than the test is worth at all.

The Bible talks about signs of the future a great deal, of course. Joseph foretell the future using Pharaohs dreams. Remember the seven fat cows and the seven skinny cows? The three wise men and the Holy family are warned about the future of Herod's plans in a dream. The book of revelations is a vision about the distant future, but who knows what to do about it? John Calvin wrote commentaries about every other book of the bible, but even he was uncertain about how to interpret those particular signs of the future.

Some signs in the bible are clearly figurative, some more particular. Jesus says here in Luke that the cataclysm will come in the current generation. The early church took this literally and had to do some fancy dancing when the next generation has to figure out how to interpret this.

How do we figure out what to do with all these signs? Which hints of what is to come are from God?

There are a few points to remember about what a good sign of the future does for us from this passage. Godly signs of the future bring Peace, Courage, and show Benevolence: PCB.

P God's signs give peace. Not anxiety.

“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life"

If the world as we know it is ending and another order coming, we might easily get depressed or manic or anxious. This is not what God has in mind. If someone is trying to make you feel anxious, this is clearly not what God has in mind. Some changes will be necessary, but these changes are not about our suffering, they are about our joy. It is a small but critical distinction.

C God's signs give us courage.

"Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

As Isaiah wrote, "Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Courage is important when facing the future because we do not approach the world with rose colored glasses. There will be tough times. Evil does not go gently into oblivion. Transitions take work. The end of lives or relationships or destructive habits takes sweat and tears. Chin up, God literally says. Your victory is near.

B God's signs are about the ultimate triumph of goodness. Benevolence.

Jesus tells many parables of the signs of the kingdom. Signs that God's peace is on its way. These aren't stories to scare us into submission but to invite us to a coming banquet. We put on the wedding garments, we keep our lamps full, we watch for the right time not out of fear, but out of joyous exuberance. We are invited to a party, not driven to an execution.

¹ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
       the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
       the Spirit of counsel and of power,
       the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -

³ and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;

⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
       with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
       He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
       with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

⁵ Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb,
       the leopard will lie down with the goat,
       the calf and the lion and the yearling ^[a] together;
       and a little child will lead them.

⁷ The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

⁸ The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.

⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy
       on all my holy mountain,
       for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
       as the waters cover the sea.

So the next time you open a fortune cookie and wonder if it is a message from God, the next time you tune into the weather channel to get a hold of the future, measure the signs: Do they bring peace, do they give you courage, do they speak of the benevolent triumph of God?

Luke 21:25-36

²⁵“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. ²⁶People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. ²⁸Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
²⁹Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; ³⁰as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. ³¹So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. ³²Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. ³³Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. ³⁴“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, ³⁵like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”