How Do I Love Thee? 1 Timothy 2:1-7

Did you follow the news this week about the demonstrations in Jena, Louisiana? Here’s the story, briefly. There’s an oak tree at a high school in Jena which is the traditional hangout for the white students there. A black student asked the principal if black students were allowed to sit under the so-called White Tree, and of course, the answer was yes. That night nooses were hung in the tree by a group of white students and violence broke out pretty much immediately. There were several clashes between white and black students, culminating in the arrest of six black students for the beating of one white student. One of those students was convicted by an all white jury, but the conviction was overturned by a higher court which ruled he should have been charged as a juvenile, not as an adult.

The problem – no one was arrested for hanging the nooses in the tree, no white students were charged for their parts in other violent clashes, but six black teenagers were charged with attempted murder after what was essentially a schoolyard fight resulting in relatively minor injuries. The problem is it appears that in La Salle Parish there is one kind of justice for whites and one kind of justice for blacks. Personally, I’m finding it hard to believe that the district attorney in Louisiana couldn’t find anything to charge against the boys who hung the nooses, although that’s what he said when he insisted this case wasn’t about race. Anyplace else that action would have been considered a hate crime, just like painting swastikas on a synagogue. It’s impossible that anyone could have missed the significance of nooses under the circumstances. Instead of those boys being punished, the 100-year-old oak tree was cut down. I guess the school board decided “no tree, no problem”?

The news reports say this was the largest civil rights demonstration in decades. Busses full of college students traveled from all over, like they did during the civil rights marches at Selma, Montgomery and Little Rock. Tina Chatham of Georgia Southern University spoke for many of the students when she said: "It was a good chance to be part of something historic since I wasn't around for the civil rights movement. This is kind of the 21st century version of it,"
Wasn’t around for the Civil Rights Movement? Are not Civil Rights an ongoing struggle, a serious concern for anyone who seeks a world ruled by justice and compassion? Did she think it ended with the passage of the Civil Rights Act? Just because some laws were changed, that didn’t mean racism ended or that the struggle toward reconciliation ended. It just means racism became a tad bit less obvious. Long time activists like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, and pretty much anybody who pays attention, know that things are only marginally better today than they were 40 years ago. Those leaders and all who care about justice still cry out to God, as the prophet Jeremiah cried out for the deliverance of the exiles in Babylon.

Jeremiah 8:21—22
21For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt,

I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me.

22Is there no balm in Gilead?

Is there no physician there?

Why then has the health of my poor people 
not been restored?


The Bible tells us that the people of Israel lost everything – their temple, their lands, their freedom – because the leaders did not, would not, care for those who needed their care – the widows, orphans, and aliens – the folks who had no power at all and no money and no one to stand up for them in times of trial. Instead of taking care of their people as the book of the Law directed them to, they focused on increasing their own power and wealth and status. This isn’t new – it’s been reality since the earliest days of humanity – the powerful always find ways to become more powerful, usually by using and abusing those who are less powerful. How do we change that? How do we move our leaders to seek justice with mercy?

Paul tells us, First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made for everyone, 2for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. 3This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

First of all, pray. Prayer is a powerful tool. In meetings of Regional and General Church Boards and committees there are frequent breaks for prayer, usually at times in the meeting where conflict or high feelings are most likely. Prayer can bring us together in times of conflict – at worst it gives us a moment to breathe, at best it helps us refocus and reminds us of our purpose in getting together. The best example of that I ever saw was at our General Assembly this past July when our moderator became our pastor at difficult times in the proceedings and took time from the agenda to lead us in prayer. It was the first Assembly I ever attended in which the halls after each session were peaceable – no one I heard was carrying on in anger because their position didn’t carry the day. Disappointment sometimes, but not anger. It was beautiful – and it was that way because of prayer.

Paul tells us for whom to pray – for everyone, for kings and for all who are in high positions. And he tells us how to pray for those people - in supplication, intercession and thanksgiving. So we pray not “God, punish those folks who don’t agree with me, who aren’t following your direction the way I think they should.” But “God, thank you for our leaders. Thank you for the work they do, and for their willingness to serve. I ask that you open their heats so they may at least hear other possibilities than the course they have set upon. And open mine as well, that I might come to understand their position.” And then, go forward and seek justice. Sit down with those you disagree with in peace and dignity, discussing the differences you have and coming to a place of agreement. Write letters, sign petitions, join demonstrations, speak your heart’s passion, donate money to the cause – do whatever it is you are able to do, whatever you are drawn to do for justice. But first, always, pray.

Prayer does bring change. Prayer first of all changes the one who prays. I’ve told you, I think, that I pray a gratitude list every day. And I give thanks not just for the things I like in my life, but also the things I don’t like. For the people I’m angry with, or who just will not agree with me on things I consider important, because they make me consider how to present my position in a way they will understand. For the cold I caught, because it makes me slow down. And when I pray this way, I find that I become more willing to see another’s position. When I pray this way, I become more willing to speak and act in love. And as I become more willing to listen, to understand, to come to agreement – I understand again just how powerful prayer can be. I understand just how much God loves us, to give us a tool that changes hearts and minds with so little effort.

When I first read this passage I thought of the sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

She wrote this love poem to her husband. But I suddenly heard it as a prayer – as words spoken to God. And as I read the words that way, I realized that when I speak of my love for God, I can more easily hear God’s response. And I heard the response in these words

How do I Love Thee? My child, let me count the ways.
I love you In all the ways I hear your prayer, and in all the ways I respond.
In all the ways I move you to hear and respond to the cries of those around you,
In the words of life taught by my Son,
In the gifts of healing found in those words.
For the words of love and forgiveness found there have always been the balm that heals all wounds.

When I pray for the power to love, the pain in my heart begins to heal, my anger begins to cool. When we cry out in pain, in anger, in frustration, “Is there no physician here? Is there no one to heal the wounded? God responds in love and compassion. God pours out love upon us, encourages us through the words of the Gospels to share that love throughout the world. And as the love spreads, like a healing salve on a wound, anger and hatred are healed.

My brothers and sisters, there is a physician for all the world’s ills, the Christ who was sent by God to teach us love. And in that healing power of love, There IS a balm in Gilead.

Hymn There is a Balm in Gilead

Friday Five - DeCluttering Edition

Sally of RevGalBlogPals poses a great set of questions for me, since I'm getting ready to move!

Making the most of our resources is important, I have been challenged this week by the amount of stuff we accumulate, I'd love to live a simpler lifestyle, it would be good for me, and for the environment I think...

With that in mind I bring you this Friday 5;

1. Are you a hoarder or a minimalist?
I'm a hoarder who wants to be a minimalist. I keep everything - even decades old electric bills! - but I'm constantly looking for ways to clear out the excess stuff in my house and office.

2. Name one important object ( could be an heirloom) that you will never part with.
I have a crucifix that was hung above the front door in every home my parents lived in for as long as I can remember.For me, this is the one thing that really says "This is my home." It is the first thing I hang up whenever I move.

3. What is the oldest item in your closet? Does it still fit???
I've been continously weeding out my closet the last few years. Every season I look at what I have and if I haven't worn it in two years out it goes. The oldest thing I have now is a 50's costume that I bought for a Hot Rod show back in the 1970s. It might fit, I'm not sure. How often does the occasion call for a skirt with a crinoline and an I Like Ike button?

4.Yard sales- love 'em or hate 'em ?
Love Them! And dread them. I try to drive past instead of stopping cause I know I can't stop at just one. :-)

5. Name a recycling habit you really want to get into.
Where I live right now the trash company sorts and recycles everything so I don't have to pay attention to which can I put things in. My new house is in a different area so I've have to re-learn how to sort out my trash again.

And for a bonus- well anything you want to add....
Moving is always my favorite opportunity to get rid of things I don't use, never liked, or got tired of. The big problem used to be "But what if Great Aunt Whatshername comes over and doesn't see the horrendous whatnot she gave me?" That's not a problem anymore with me living on the opposite coast from the rest of my family, but tell me - what do you do with dustcatching gifts from The Husband that merited a "Oh, it's just what I always wanted" Pack them away and eventually lose the box?

Lost and Found Luke 15:1-10

On Sunday evenings I like to watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. It’s a program on which a family in great need is selected to receive a completely new home, built on their existing property, to replace a house that’s pretty much falling down and otherwise unsafe. The people for whom these houses are built are not just in financial need, they are also people who genuinely deserve the help, people who dedicate their lives to helping others, sometimes despite rather serious physical handicaps. They’re often nominated by members of their community because of the good they do for other people while their own homes literally fall apart around. Hundreds of volunteers from the community come together with Ty Pennington and his team of designers and builders to demolish the existing home and then build a completely new home designed for that particular family in just one week, while the family is sent to Disney World or someplace for a vacation. Last Sunday Ty Pennington and his crew built a new home for the family of Jason Thomas.

Jason Thomas is one of the heroes of 9/11, an ex-Marine who spent the days following 9/11 working to save lives. Even though he was no longer on active duty, and even though his job had nothing to do with law enforcement or fire rescue, he immediately left his job and went to the Ground Zero to offer his help. He kept working for days, and long after most people thought there couldn’t possibly be anyone left alive, he just kept digging until two more men were freed from the wreckage. Because of his persistence, his refusal to give up, two New York Port Authority Policemen were rescued. Afterwards, he stayed and kept looking for more survivors, until finally he was told to go home, to let it go. There was no one else left. Those two policemen that he rescued were the last two people who came out alive. Do you remember the celebration when those last two were rescued? On the days following September 11th, Jason Thomas lived up to the motto of the Marine Corps – Semper Fi – Always Faithful. He would not give up.

In many ways, Jason’s story is like the story of the lost sheep, and the woman with the lost coin. Like the shepherd, he left everything behind to search for the lost. Like the woman, he left no corner untouched, searching diligently until he finally found what he was looking for.

The Lost Sheep and the Woman with the Lost Coin – we’ve heard these two stories so many times. We’ve wondered why a shepherd would leave a whole flock to chase one lost sheep. We may have been able to relate a little better to the woman with the lost coin – at least she probably had the other coins safely in her keeping while looking for the lost one. And then there’s the way the shepherd and the woman reacted to finding what was lost. I mean, normally if you lose a sheep, or a sum of money, or anything really important, you don’t throw a party to celebrate. You’re much more likely to keep it to yourself so nobody has to know you lost it in the first place!

When we look at these stories next to the story of Jason Thomas, maybe they make more sense. Most people didn’t just walk off the job and go downtown to dig through the rubble. Most people kept working, kept earning a living for their families, kept themselves safe. Yes – most people sent money or donated supplies or did something to help. And a lot of people from all over the country did go to do whatever they could. But most people didn’t go to the extreme effort he did. And of those who did go down to help with the rescue efforts, most had given up on finding anyone else alive long before Jason did.

If this man, who didn’t even know the people he was looking for, could be so dedicated to finding and saving them, how much more important must we be to God, who knows and loves each one of us. How much more faithful, even than a Marine, our God is, to offer forgiveness to anyone who admits their faults and asks for pardon.

Paul experienced this forgiveness personally, on the road to Damascus, and talks about it in his first letter to Timothy verses 12-17:
12 I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, 13even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost. 16But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. 17To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

What we always have to remember about Paul is that he wasn’t what the world would have seen as “lost.” He wasn’t a tax collector, or a drug addict, or an adulterer, or a thief, or anything like that. He was a righteous man, a faithfully practicing Jew, who believed he was doing right in chasing down and arresting or executing people he believed to be blaspheming against God. Although Jesus taught much that was in accord with what Paul believed, he also taught things that turned Paul’s world upside down! Paul didn’t understand how anything could be more important than obeying God’s laws. He didn’t understand how the Messiah could come as a wandering rabbi from Galilee. He didn’t even understand that God’s kingdom was not a physical place, but a state of being. Talk about finding one who was lost! Paul is the perfect example, way better than a sheep or a coin or even two policemen. For here was a man who didn’t understand that he was lost. Who believed that he was right and would not be open to any other point of view. But Jesus chased him down, pointed out his errors, forgave him, and welcomed him warmly into the family of Christ – even sent him to other believers that he might be healed physically as well as spiritually.

Paul wasn’t made perfect that day. He would continue to get angry and to fight with people who didn’t see things his way. But from then on, he would search his soul, confess his faults, and ask forgiveness. From then on, he would understand that Love is the foundation for God’s kingdom, and he would really try to be loving even to those who opposed him. We know these things, because he put them in writing, and those writings have survived even till today.

I think that if we have a predetermined idea of who the Lost are, we’re missing the big picture. The sheep was part of the flock, and wandered away. The coin was one of 10 that was somehow misplaced. The policemen were human beings who were in clear and present danger. Paul was a righteous man whose understanding of what was acceptable to God was inflexible. All of these were lost. All of these were part of something larger – they weren’t just random units that someone went looking for just to be looking.

Who, then, are the Lost? Who are the sheep and the coin of these parables? Who are these sinners God is seeking so diligently?

There are the obvious Lost – folks who don’t go to church at all – the ones we’re told we’re supposed to evangelize. Non-believers and drug addicts and alcoholics and criminals and homeless folks. People who are angry at God. People who believe they’re doomed to hell, so why bother. People who don’t seem to be part of anything - loners.

But there are a lot of other Lost ones.

The Lost are members of congregations who feel alienated or disconnected somehow. They may still show up, but their hearts aren’t in it anymore. The Lost are the folks who find their church’s theology unbearable, or see more ambition and power seeking behavior than they think ought to be happening in church, and so they wander off. The Lost are the ones who have been driven out of their church, because they have a drug problem or got divorced or came out of the closet, who feel rejected but who desperately want to be part of Christ’s family.

The Lost are Us. Whenever we find ourselves feeling less than, or not a part of, or rejected, or unwanted – we are the Lost. Whenever we find ourselves feeling better than, or needing to be in control, or angry because others question what we are doing - we are the Lost. Whenever we are doing anything that will separate us from God and from each other, we are Lost.

The Good News, my brothers and sisters, is that we don’t have to stay Lost. We can find our way back and join in that celebration, for the path back is easy enough to find.. God has sent Jesus as the Light to guide our way. Through Jesus, through walking the path that Jesus has shown us how to take, God’s amazing grace finds us and bring us back safely from any danger we may encounter. Amen.

Hymn Amazing Grace

I Will Follow Him Luke 14:25-33

Six years ago this week I was preparing my very first sermon for my very first ministerial position as student chaplain at a retirement community. It was National Grandparents Day, and the passage the lectionary gave me to preach was “hate your father and your mother.” NOT the message I wanted to have to preach on my first Sunday in a room full of grandparents and great-grandparents! I survived that encounter, and I learned a lot. Of course, that was sort of inevitable since I was working in a community full of retired ministers and missionaries and pastors wives, including Doug’s parents.

This is a difficult passage. First, let’s look at what it doesn’t say. Jesus says “hate your family”? How can this be when Jesus always said love everyone? This is easier to understand when you realize that he was using a teaching tool commonly used by rabbis of his time – hyperbole. Making a point by exaggerating it. Not hate, precisely. But rather, don’t allow ties to other people prevent you from discipleship. If you are called to travel – as missionaries are, for example – don’t let your family keep you from following that call. Remember, Jesus’ disciples at the time were asked to travel as missionaries, carrying very little, often gone from their families for long periods of time. If they had stayed at home because of family ties, the Good News of God’s Kingdom would not have gotten very far.

And what about giving away all your possessions, really? After all, Jesus was supported throughout his ministry by people who had possessions – homes and wealth and even his tomb. We’ve come to understand that it isn’t wealth by itself that he preached against. It was allowing the accumulation and possession of things to come between you and God.

And then there’s the bit about carrying your cross.

Often preachers using this passage talk about bearing the cross of personal, financial, emotional or physical problems without complaint, with faith that God will carry us through any difficulty. You’ve surely heard people say something like “Yes, I have constant pain from my arthritis, but it’s just the cross I have to bear.”That’s not really what this passage is about either.

More often this passage used to reckon up the cost of discipleship – what we must suffer and endure if we are truly Christian. We use examples of people like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Dietrich Bonhoeffer – both great men, both spoke out and acted against oppression – racism in America and Nazism in Germany. They both walked forward faithfully through difficult and dangerous times, knowing that their very faithfulness could lead to their death. They both gave their lives for those who were oppressed, as Jesus did. That is a piece of the meaning of this passage.

This passage does tell us that Christ must come first in our lives. Following Christ, being a Disciple, means that we are first Christian, then whatever else – child, parent, partner, employee, citizen – whatever. The Cross that we carry is the Cross of being a Christian.

One of the Revgalblogpals asked “So what are you preaching this week – Jeremiah, or Paul or that heavy cross?” And it struck me that there was something wrong with this question. Think about it. Why is it we only seem to talk about the burdens involved in following Christ, and never about the JOY of carrying our cross?

Let me point out that Jesus’ very disciples, the ones who spent all their time, waking and eating and sleeping, in his company, the ones who listened to every word he spoke, weren’t able to follow him to the Cross. When he was arrested they panicked and ran, they hid themselves from the Romans and the Temple guards. And in the case of Simon Peter, denied even knowing Jesus. It wasn’t until later – after the resurrection – after their joyous reunion with Jesus – that they were able to truly follow him – to preach his message, to carry news of the resurrection and the life everywhere in the known world. They faced trouble – Yes. And Yes, they would later face persecution, imprisonment, even death. But they followed him, not as a burden they bore, but as a joyful vocation.

Think about the things you do joyfully – things you do because you can’t not do them.

The image this passage evokes most powerfully for me is the image of the young man who arrived at the doors of Father Flanagan’s Boys Town, with his younger brother across his shoulders, and saying, “He ain’t heavy Father. He’s my brother.” Carrying his brother was hard work, undoubtedly. But it was hard work he did with joy, knowing that at the end of the journey was warmth and safety for both of them. He did it because the most important thing in his life was the love he had for his brother.

Luciano Pavoratti is probably the only opera singer in history who was able to bring opera into the lives of people who typically wouldn’t ever hear it. Most opera singers wouldn’t have been caught dead singing pop music, or appearing in comedy films, and even on Saturday Night Live? He had a gift he joyfully shared with as many people as possible. In an interview he said “this isn’t work – this is what I do because I love it.” He had to work hard – practicing and traveling and taking care of his voice – but he couldn’t stop. To the end of his life he shared his gift with the world, because singing wasn’t his job – singing was who he was.

Teachers – the good ones - don’t become teachers because they’ll get rich doing it. They teach because they love to teach – because it is their vocation. Even when they retire they find ways to keep teaching. You should see Marsha talking about Alternative Christmas with our preschoolers. And Stasi teaching them crafts – these retired teachers continue teaching because it is what they love. They really can’t help themselves. They just kind of fall into teacher mode. Teachers everywhere work really hard, they may be driven crazy by paperwork and administrative stuff and in some places they are in real physical danger when they go to work. But they are teachers, all the time, because that is who they are.

And Ministers – I don’t know any retired ministers. I know a lot of ministers who no longer serve a congregation, or do any ministry for which they get paid, but they never quit being ministers. At Robin Run I watched ministers in their 80s and 90s spend all their time doing some kind of ministry. I know they spent quite a bit of effort helping a certain student chaplain learn what she was doing. A minister’s work isn’t easy. Some of what they do is difficult or emotionally painful or just aggravating, and in the case of missionaries it can be extremely dangerous. These folks serve joyfully to the end of their lives, because they can’t not serve. Being a minister isn’t a job. It is simply who they are.

Some of you know that I watch the occasional football game, and that I kind of like the Indianapolis Colts. When Tony Dungy arrived in Indianapolis to become the head coach of the Colts the very first thing he did, before he even looked for a house, was to look for a church. And this wasn’t something he tried to keep quiet – he brought it up at a news conference! According to an article in Christianity Today, he said that in his college football playing days he was a hotheaded jock, not a mature Christian by any means. But today he is a Christian first. He is very different, as head coach, than the stereotypical cursing, hard driving, abusive head coach. His understanding of how to treat his comes from his understanding of how Jesus would have him behave toward all persons. Apparently, treating football players with respect and love works pretty well. The Colts have a great reputation in Indianapolis and elsewhere – they work hard in the community to do good, they don’t make headlines for drug use or spousal abuse or fighting. And they do win football games.

That’s what Jesus calls us to be in this passage. First, follow him. First, be Christian. Then be whatever else we are. Be Christians in the same way that young man was a brother, Pavarotti was a singer, teachers teach and ministers minister. Be Christian because we can’t not be – because it is who we are. Like Tony Dungy, our Christianity should form the way we do our work, the way we treat other people, the way we act in every aspect of our lives.

Where ever we go in life, we need to go there as Christians, carrying the cross of God’s love, joyfully and with much praise and rejoicing. Where ever we go, we need to follow Jesus along our way. Where ever we go in life, we know we are not going alone, not as simply an individual, but as part of the body of Christ. And even if we’re not certain about the direction, we know there is one who can lead and guide us on our way, who goes before us, who has already shown us the way to go. Join me now in asking him for guidance.
Sing - Lead me, guide me.

Last but not Least James 5:15-20

We’ve reached the end of James’ letter to the church and the end of the Summer Sermon Series. Unlike many other letters written at about the same time in history, James doesn’t use the end of his letter for personal greetings, or a long benediction. Although today’s reading is the last part of the letter, it is certainly far from the least important part. There’s nothing here that can or should be skipped over. The last paragraphs in this letter make some critically important points for living a Christian life.

First, he says Above all do not swear. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. In this James simplifies the words of Jesus reported in the Gospel of Matthew 5:33-37 ‘Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.” But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be “Yes, Yes” or “No, No”; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

Our Quaker brothers and sisters take this statement very seriously indeed, so seriously that for a long time they were unable to hold any public office in England and other European countries because they refused to swear on a Bible. They still don’t – when testifying in court or being sworn in to public office, they affirm they will tell the truth, but will not place their hand on a Bible and swear to it. In part there is the problem of false swearing. If, for example, I believe a certain thing to be true and swear to it, then it turns out that what I believed to be true isn’t, I will have sworn falsely. Think about it – have you ever looked all over for something, maybe even accused someone of moving it, and then, upon finding it in an unexpected place said “What’s it doing in the garage? I could have sworn I left it in the kitchen!” Had we sworn we would have sworn falsely, even though we believed our words to be true. James, however, doesn’t just echo the commandment against swearing falsely, but simply says “do not swear” at all, ever.

James said don’t swear because speech between brothers and sisters should be truthful, and each one should be trusted to be truthful.. Speaking plainly and truthfully with each other is the basis for community. This simplicity and trustworthiness in speech carries over into the language of prayer. James has already addressed this a bit elsewhere in his letter. In the first chapter he says that one who is suffering should not say “I am being tempted by God” And earlier in this chapter he cautions us against seeking revenge against the source of our distress. Rather, we should simply lift our pain up to God who is the source of healing and grace. Likewise, anyone who is happy should sing praises to God, giving all honor to the one from whom all blessings come.

Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord..

In the world James lived in, there was no separation perceived between the health of the body and the health of the soul. Body and soul were inseparable in life and were treated together. Our medical science today separates not just body and soul, but even all the parts of the body. If you go to your general practitioner with an upset stomach, you may end up seeing half a dozen specialists before someone is able to figure out exactly what is the matter. This is not necessarily a good thing – because the whole body is connected. We know that emotional or spiritual upset affects the way our physical body feels. There is a growing trend in the medical community toward holistic medicine – toward treatment of the whole body. In James’ world, this was a given. So medical treatment included treatment of the soul - anointing with fragrant oils, laying hands on the sick person. The oil and the physical contact return the one who has been alienated by illness into the community. The act of visiting and anointing and praying also brings the one who prays back into contact with that alienated one. That simple human touch reaches across pain and loneliness and brings us together.

The seminary I attended was a Disciples ecumenical seminary. My classmates came from many different Christian denominations and traditions. We had different beliefs about theology and practice and prayer. Most of us would respond to “will you pray for me?” with “Yes of course” and then add that person to our prayer list. But Millie treated these requests differently. Millie was a Baptist woman in her 70s who had been called to the ordained ministry somewhat later in life than most. And she was on fire! When the Gospel Choir would sing in chapel, she would get so excited that she’d be jumping up and down praising Jesus as we went back to our seats. The first time I asked Millie for prayer I expected her to say “yes, I’ll pray for you” But what happened was that Millie wrapped her arms around me and began to pray – out loud, right there in the middle of the hallway near the library. She praised God and called upon God to shower me with love, to forgive my sins, to heal my soul even as the surgeon would work to heal my body. I felt so much better when she me go. The touch, the caring, the immediate response, brought me back into the community from which I felt isolated by my illness. And it left Millie jumping up and down, praising Jesus.

Prayer is good for the one praying and the one being prayed for. When we are suffering in any way, it is our responsibility to ask for prayers – not just for our own benefit, but for the benefit of those who do the praying. If we do not ask for prayer, we are alienating ourselves, and rejecting our community. When we pray, especially when we are praying for someone else, we draw closer to God. Prayer is powerful. The act of praying, especially when we are praying with another person, brings blessing upon both the one praying and the one being prayed for. When we pray, as James directs, for the forgiveness of sin in the one who is ill, we are following the example of Jesus, who often told those who sought healing “Go, your sins are forgiven.” The purpose of prayer is the healing of the soul – the removal of fear, an ending of isolation and alienation, the assurance of God’s love and forgiveness.

Can our prayers make it stop raining for three years and six months, then bring the rain back as Elijah did? Probably not. Can our prayers help another heal from the pain of isolation and loneliness that illness brings? Absolutely. Can our prayers bring back one who has strayed, one who has wandered from the truth, one who has isolated herself from the body of Christ? Certainly. It happens all the time. It happened to me.

Throughout the summer we’ve been hearing James instructions on how to live as a Christian. We’ve been given direction on how to Love God and our Neighbor. How to be faithful to the example of Jesus the Christ.
Endure difficulties with faith and to turn our backs on temptation, praying for God’s guidance.
Really listen to the Word and to each other, with our hearts, not just our ears and our minds.
Act in response to what is really being said, not what we think is being said.
Be faithful, for faith will draw us to do good for others.
Welcome everyone equally into the body of Christ
Show love to everyone equally, without prejudice of any kind.
Do not judge one another.
Seek always to find common ground for agreement, avoiding conflict.
Be very careful how we use words, for words create the realities in which we live.
Be humble, and know that we forgiven.
Be patient. Know we can’t force others to change, but we can pray and wait for willingness.
Live as one community, speaking simply and truthfully, praying together, confessing our own sins and forgiving each other, as God forgives us.
And in every circumstance, Pray, for prayer brings us closer to God and to each other.

The words we have heard in this letter are words with which we can change our lives and by changing our lives, through our example, we can change the lives of others. These are truly words to live by – these are wonderful words of life.

A time for grief, a time for joy

It has been a horrific week. Last Saturday morning a long-time member of the congregation died unexpectedly. Sunday morning another - a woman in her 70s who was just baptized last Easter. Monday after spending time with both grieving families I had to take my beloved bunny, the Reverend Samuel T Rabbit, to the vet where he was eased out of this life. Tuesday I could barely function.

What I faced Tuesday morning was what was already going to be an unusually busy week. I had to finish writing a grant for our preschool which was due on Friday and I had to prepare the monthly newsletter so our members could receive the paper version by September 1st. Luckily the web version is easy to do once all the writing is completed. Then there was the usual bulletin preparation and general office stuff. And on top of these, planning a funeral and doing my own grieving while working with the two bereaved families.

I cried out in despair as the psalmist did, first to God, then to friends. I shared my grief, my anger, my concern that I wouldn't be able to do what I had to do. I received consolation and strength, the assurance that God was walking alongside of me. I cried and worked, and cried some more.

Tuesday afternoon I received a phone call from a friend, who had a bunny she wanted to give me. I agreed to see how Mr. Whiskers and I would get along. Tuesday and Wednesday my friends surrounded me in person and virtually, and prayed with me. By Thursday all the work I had to complete was finished and I was able to go to the church to truly celebrate the life of one who has gone home.

I feel good - able to sing praise songs in the morning as I used to do. The grief over two humans and one bunny is still there, but no longer paralyzing. Mr. Whiskers and I are getting along well - he's a glutton for being petted, and has started looking excited when I come out in the morning, and coming over to nuzzle my face. He's not my Sammy, but he's really helped me get through the pain of loss.

Thank God for friends and prayers and bunny rabbits.

MR. WHISKERS

Friday Five: Word Association, Redux

It's a while since I played Friday Five on Revgalsblogpals

This one is patterned off an old Friday Five written by Songbird, our Friday Five Creator Emerita:

Below you will find five words. Tell us the first thing you think of on reading each one. Your response might be simply another word, or it might be a sentence, a poem or a story.

1. vineyard
Growing up we had a grape arbor and some of my favorite times were spent sitting under the vines by myself eating those thick skinned Concord grapes. I especially liked peeling off the purple skin to see the pale green fruit inside. Do you suppose this could have something to do with why I like to be outdoors surrounded by green growing things for prayer and meditation?

2. root
vegetables - potatoes, beets, carrots.

3. rescue
The Utah coal miners - just this morning news came that 3 of the rescuers were killed and others injured trying to reach the trapped men. Someone on the news said what better way to die than in the attempt to save lives. Sounded kind of biblical.

4. perseverance
endurance with a hint of stubborness

5. divided
Christianity - hence the Disciples' motto "Unity is our polar star"

An Unexpected RevGal Meet

We have one or two visitors most weeks, but today's worship was already going to be something special, with many visitors expected. Twenty-some members of one family were coming from all over the world (literally) to see a baby blessed and dedicated to Christ! I made sure we had twenty worship bulletins over and above our usual number of extras.

Half an hour before worship I welcomed two young men dressed all in black and metal, as the regular greeters weren't on duty yet. I was delighted to learn that they had looked us up on the internet and checked our website before coming. They were looking for a church that celebrated diversity. One of them said he was completely new to "the whole church thing."

Just as the prelude began I saw a woman I didn't recognize walk in the back door and straight up the aisle to the 2nd pew. Wow. By the time we stood for the call to worship one side of the church was nearly full and the usual latecomers hadn't yet arrived! We ran out of bulletins, and the deacons quickly made up an extra tray of cups for communion, which are two of my favorite "problems" on a Sunday morning.

When I stood up to greet our visitors during celebration and prayer concern time I introduced the 2 young men, invited the large family to introduce themselves, greeted some "regular visitors," then turned to the woman in the front. Suddenly I realized "I know that face." It was Mother Laura, a RevGal! What was she doing sitting in my 2nd pew when I knew she had an unfinished paper and a trip to England on her plate for today?

It really was a wonderful service. The sermon seemed to go well, the parents were beaming, the baby was beautiful in a long white satin gown, She even seemed to enjoy having her forehead anointed with fragant oil. The young men said they would come back, the family provided a lovely lunch, and Laura and I got to spend a little time in conversation before she headed back to her computer.

There were some little weirdnesses, of course. The pianist played 2 verses of the hymn on the wrong side of the page before she realized her mistake. My microphone kept cutting in and out. But that's just the kind of normal Sunday stuff that helps me remember that I'm not in charge.

The blessings always outweigh the weirdness and today was a perfect example of how that happens. A beautiful baby was blessed and dedicated and will be part of my church family from this day forward, even though she and her parents live in Australia. Two young men may have found a place of worship where they feel welcome. Mother Laura and I got to meet in person, and she hopes to be able to come back again. And she got to spend time in worship to renew her spirit before finishing her paper and getting on the plane.

This has truly been a day of new beginnings and many blessings.

Friday Five: Hasty Edition

Reverend Mother of the Revgalblogpals says:
Whoops! I have been in a family-induced haze these few days, with the July 4 holiday and taking time off while relatives are visiting. So I literally lost track of what day it was!

So rather than make you guys wait even one minute longer for the five, I'll dig up an oldie:

Today, what are you:

1. Wearing
My day off favorites - denim skirt and tee shirt with sandals

2. Reading
A member of the congregation lent me a bagful of mystery novels by Steven Saylor whose stories are set in Rome during last century before Christ.

Also, Being Disciples of Jesus in a Dot.com World by Foot and Thornberg

3. Eating
I'm really trying to eat less as I prepare for vacation so I'll look good in my summer clothes, doncha know. Luckily there are lots of fresh fruits and veggies available to go with the chicken and fish. Now if I could get my congregation to send fruit home with the pastor instead of cakes!

4. Doing
Day off or no, I have to go up to the office for a few minutes as my secretary is on vacation. Somebody has to let the Developmentally Challenged cleaning crew in. After that shopping for a room airconditoner (it's REALLY hot in So Cal and the bedrooms aren't airconditioned!) then settling down on the couch to return to ancient Rome in the pages of one of the books above.

5. Pondering
In large part because I'm preaching on Hearing and Doing the Word (James 1:17-27) this week, I'm seriously pondering why it is so difficult for us (me included) to really listen to anything for more than about 15 minutes. Once upon a time Christians could sit and listen to stories about Jesus, letters from Paul, sermons, etc. for hours on end. Now anything that lasts more than 15 minutes is too long. I even choose scripture readings for worship that will fit on 1/2 a sheet of paper so the reading doesn't last too long! Is it the dot.com-ness of our world where everything comes in bytes? Are we conditioned by the length of time between commercials in TV programs? Which, incidentally, keeps getting shorter. . . Hmm

Before Faith Came

Galatians 3:23-29
On Friday a dear friend of mine graduated from college. As we celebrated at a party Friday evening I looked around at all the people – babies, children, and adults of all ages – I looked at all the stages of life present – and I considered the differences between childhood and adulthood.

When we are young, we are surrounded by rules! Don’t leave the yard without telling someone. Never swim alone. Don’t cross the street by yourself. Clean your room. Don’t eat candles. Put away your toys. Don’t take toys away from others. Don’t hit people.

And we’re surrounded by people who check up on us to make sure we follow the rules – parents, older siblings, babysitters, teachers . . . Who discipline us when misbehave, or don’t follow instructions.

As we get older we have more freedom to make our own decisions. The new college graduate had no one standing over her to make sure her papers and other assignments were completed. She disciplined herself, knowing what had to be done and doing it, taking responsibility for her successes and failures. She didn’t have many failures, mind – she graduated Magna cum laude! – while working full time.

It was much the same way in Paul’s time. Among the Greeks and Romans of Paul’s time, children were put in the care of a tutor, a disciplinarian, who was often brutal in his treatment of the children in his care to ensure that they would learn and obey. In this passage, the law is being likened to this kind of disciplinarian.

"Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith."

When Paul wrote this letter to the Galatian Christians, one of the major issues in the church was the conflict between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians. Many of the Jewish Christians in Galatia were insistent that Gentiles must be obedient to the laws of Moses in order to be accepted as Christians – in order to justify that they were worthy of God’s love and forgiveness. This was, after all, the understanding that Jews had held for over 1,000 years, since Moses brought the tablets of the law down from Mt. Sinai. These Jewish Christians saw themselves as superior to the Gentile Christians because of their obedience to the law. Here Paul speaks to the Gentiles, encouraging them, and assuring them that they were equally worthy, equally justified, continuing his argument that Christians are justified by faith, not by obedience to the laws of Moses.

Paul was not saying the laws were no longer of any worth, but that obedience to the law was not the primary focus for Christians. Christians – whether Jewish or Gentile - showed their worthiness of God’s forgiveness through faith – not so much faith in Christ, as faithfulness to Christ. The disciplinarian is no longer needed, for faith has given the Gentiles the freedom of adulthood.

"As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise."

Today, anyone can wear anything they like. Rich people shop on Rodeo Drive in raggedy clothes, and poor people buy designer knockoffs at Ross. When I look at you, I can’t tell just from your clothing whether you are poor or wealthy, well educated or illiterate, or even where in the world you might come from. In Paul's time, clothes really did make the man. The clothes a person wore were determined by class and social status, and governed by laws. Just because you could afford a toga didn’t mean you could wear one – you had to be a member of the nobility. The color purple was worn only by royalty, although members of the Roman Senate could wear a tiny stripe of purple on their togas. Anyone could tell with just a glance where you stood in society based on what you had on.

For the early Christians, the image of clothing themselves in Christ had a very specific meaning. At their baptism, every new Christian received a new robe as they emerged from the water, identical to every other baptismal robe, a very tangible symbol of the new life they were entering. For those early Christians, the image evoked with the mention of their baptismal clothing was the image of equality. Just as they were all clothed the same in baptism, so as Christians they are equal – Jews and Greeks, equally Christian. Men and women – one in Christ. Slave and free – equal in status, equally loved by God, equally forgiven. As Christians, as members of the body of Christ, they are now to relate to one another in perfect equality. They were to relate to one another in perfect equality in the community that is the Christian ideal – in the way that God intends for all people to live in the world to come.

Now when the individual members of this community of Christians left the place of worship to go back to their places in the world, they were, of course, still Jewish and Greek and male and female and slave and free. They did the same work they always done, they still held whatever status or lack of it in the world that they held before. What changed, what was expected to change, was how they treated each other – as equals in every way. What changed (and what attracted others to this new religion) was how they treated their neighbors – these new Christians reached out to help the sick, the poor, the oppressed – not just other Christians, but anyone in need.

While they continued to wear the clothing required by the laws of the world on the outside, on the inside they were clothed in Christ. They were dedicated to one purpose – to carry the Good News of God’s love and forgiveness to all the world. To spread the teachings of Jesus, and to do that by embodying the commandments to love God and all of God’s children. To share everything they had with each other for the survival of the community.

We are called to that same purpose, that same equality, that same commandment to love, that same community. Consider the church to be like the network on those Verizon wireless commercials on TV. As a member of the body of Christ, you have all that huge crowd of people standing behind you, giving you support, each contributing his or her own special skills. And you are likewise one of those people, freed by Christ to recognize the gifts and graces of all the others. Held up and nurtured by that body of saints who have come before, and who walk along with you.

The path on which our faith takes us, each of us individually, will be different. We are each called to a different ministry, a different path through life, a different way of serving the children of God. Whatever path we follow, whatever decisions we make, let it be the one that Jesus sets before us.

Hymn: I have decided to follow Jesus

Friday Five: Hot Town, Summer in the City...

Revgalblogpals invite us to talk about summer

Hot Town, Summer in the City...or town, or suburb, or hamlet, or burg, or unincorporated zone, or rural area of your choice---pretty much anywhere but the southern hemisphere, it's summer. (Australians and others, consider this an invitation to take a break from winter for a while.)

1. Favorite summer food(s) and beverage(s)

Fresh fruits and veggies! I grew up on a farm and summer meant harvesting our kitchen garden - watermelons and corn and string beans and tomatoes and asparagus - yum!

Perennial favorite summer beverages - water, iced tea and iced coffee. New favorite beverage - iced green tea

2. Song that "says" summer to you. (Need not be about summer explicitly.)

Summertime ( . . . and the living is easy) Somebody want to remind me who the artist was?


3. A childhood summer memory

When I was about 5 I had my first, very own watermelon patch. I checked it every day for a melon and on July 4th found a Miracle! A huge, ice cold watermelon was sitting next to the vine! It was a while before I figured out that Daddy had bought the watermelon and put it in the spring house to get cold, then put it in my watermelon patch as a surprise. :-)

4. An adult summer memory

Worship in the Woods in Indiana. We all went to a member's house who lived on a large property with lots of trees and flowering plants. We set up chairs on the lawn for worship, music was old favorites sung a capella, the pastor and student minister (me) dressed in jeans and Guatemalan stoles to lead the service. Worship was followed by a steak dinner that couldn't be beat!

5. Describe a wonderful summer day you'd like to have in the near future. (weather, location, activities)

I'd really like an early morning (like, Dawn!) walk on the beach. Then a breakfast featuring fresh fruits, a wander through a small town with lots of shops. Lunch somewhere, spend the afternoon in a big chair to read and nap in, dinner somewhere. Hmm - food without me making effort seems to be a large part of this wonderful day. :-)

Optional: Does your place of worship do anything differently in the summer? (Fewer services, casual dress, etc.)

I'm in So California - dress is always casual. :-) Traditionally here nothing changes in the summer. But this year beginning in July we will be starting worship 1/2 hour later, choir will be on break, and Monday Bible Study will take a vacation. Even the church Board will not meet in July. (Yippee!)

Spring Cleaning

There are just a few days left until summer begins so it's time to do Spring Cleaning at the church. Not one of those big church work-days, but the one-person-only sorting and clearing out decades worth of broken crayons, unused education materials, outdated posters and stacks and stacks of songsheets that haven't been used since the 1960s. It's time to sort out the CDs and put them on shelves instead of randomly stacked on the floor. And to trace all the wires and plugs in the choir loft to see which one goes to which electronic device, if indeed they go to anything. You know, the kind of sorting and cleaning that comes with changes in our education and music staff. I can't wait!

That's not the only spring cleaning I need to do, though. I need to do some serious self examination and clear out the things that keep my soul cluttered. I need to look at the kinds of tasks I do and determine if I really need to be doing them. What is really important, and what wouldn't matter to anyone if it wasn't done? I have to examine my calendar and see what the best use of my time really is. Do I leave time for prayer and meditation, for study, for spending time with The Husband? (I already know the answer to that one - No!) Do I spend enough time with individual members of the church when they're NOT in the hospital? (Also No!)

It seems that as each year progresses I find myself bogged down in the details of administration and forget all about the larger picture of what I have been called to do. In June, my anniversary month, I look back over the year and invariably discover that, once again, I have slid back into the same rut. Office hours, paperwork and meetings take up the majority of my time. How does that keep happening?

So . . . it's time to do some Spring Cleaning. May the Spirit blow through my life and clear out the spiritual clutter that keeps me from moving forward.

When we are living

Galatians 2:15-21

I didn’t go to college until later in life. I entered Chapman University as a freshman in 1995 – I was 44 years old. And while I was pretty determined to have a college experience as much like that of my much younger classmates as possible, I had pretty much figured that I was not going to be in a sorority. Who would want a 44 year old married woman? One of the most surprising things that happened to me, therefore, was having a group of young women come to me and ask me to be part of a new sorority that was opening on campus – a Christian (Lutheran based) sorority. I did join that sorority, and through my sisters I learned a lot about other Protestant churches and their beliefs. Some of them came with some pretty serious rules for living. One of my sorority sisters always wore long skirts, because her church taught that God hated women who dressed like men, so she wasn’t ever allowed to wear slacks. Didn’t even own a pair of jeans! There were a whole lot of things she couldn’t do that the rest of us could, and we made adjustments in scheduling and in the activities we planned so she would not be excluded. I spent a lot of time being grateful that, as a Disciple, I didn’t have to deal with rules like that. Because you see, the thing about all those church rules is that we get to a point when the rules are the most important thing, and we forget that what God wants most of all is our love.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul said to other Jewish Christians like himself
“we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.

This teaching was really tough for people like Paul, who had spent their entire lives studying and interpreting and living by the law of Moses. Strict obedience to the laws had been the framework of his whole life – and now that framework was unnecessary. He could no longer say, as the Pharisee praying in the temple said in Luke’s gospel (18:12) “Lord, I give you thanks that I am not like other people, thieves, rogues or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of all my income” and believe that this was enough.

19For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.

Jesus said he came to fulfill the law, and taught his followers that all the laws could be stated in the two greatest commandments “Love your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.” These two laws created a new framework for Paul and other Jewish Christians. All those laws that had bound their lives were – not irrelevant exactly – but no longer the be all and end all of their existence. New Christians would not have to be circumcised before baptism. Gentiles and Jews, men and women, slaves and free persons could all come together for worship and for meals. The laws that had separated the Jews from everyone else were no longer the most important thing in their lives. Now their primary focus was faith in Jesus Christ – in obedience to his teachings, especially the teaching that love for God and the neighbor took precedence over all the other laws they had lived with for so long. The important thing – the most important thing – was living to God – allowing Christ to live within us.

Which brings up a question I was asked recently. Someone came to me and wanted to know “How do I let Christ into my heart?” That’s a tough one, really.

There is series of children’s books by CS Lewis you are probably familiar with, ‘The Chronicles of Narnia.” The first one, “The Witch, the Lion and the Wardrobe,” was recently made into a movie. Near the end of the final book the end of the world comes to Narnia, and all the people and creatures are judged by Aslan the Lion, who is really Jesus. One man, who had done good all his life in the service of an evil god, was embraced by Aslan as one of his own, and the man said “Lord, I am not yours. All my life I have served that other god.” And Aslan said “My child, when you did the good thing, the loving thing, even for though you thought it was for that other, you were doing those things for me.” All his life this man had Jesus in his heart, even though he wasn’t aware of it.

So maybe it’s not so much about getting Jesus into our hearts – he’s already there. It’s about letting him out. When we are being our most noble, when we are living in such a way that God’s love seems to shine through us, we are letting Christ out of our hearts to be a blessing to the world.

A clergy colleague suggested that perhaps instead of asking “What would Jesus do?” we should ask “What is Jesus already doing if we just give him room to live?” Maybe we should ask “What can I do to get myself out of the way and allow Christ room to work?”

And she told this story: There was once an especially tense church meeting in which two men, both good men and respected leaders, found themselves passionately advocating opposing viewpoints. In the heat of the discussion, both men became ungracious toward each other, and Matt, one of the men, stormed out. Everyone was shocked because this behavior was so out of character. Fifteen minutes later, Matt returned with a basin of water in his hands, a towel over his shoulder, and tears in his eyes. He knelt before his opponent, removed his shoes and socks, and began to wash his feet. When he’d finished, he said, “please forgive me. I’ve treated you very poorly. I realized after I left that, if you were so passionate about this issue, there must be a good reason, and I need to at least listen.” 

Once that man let go of his tightfisted effort to make his religious point, he discovered the presence of Jesus Christ already there, ready to change the tone of that meeting, and ready to reconcile two brothers in the faith. The "Christ in him" drove him back into that room.

And truly, the Christ in the other man allowed him to accept the foot washing – to accept the offer of reconciliation.

Paul said “I have been crucified with Christ; 20and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.”

Wouldn’t that be great? To be dead to all the things that separate us from God so that Christ could always live in us? To always be loving, generous, merciful, kind, forgiving and compassionate?

I'd love to be dead to self – to be crucified with Christ - so that Christ could always come out of my heart through my words and actions, but that's just not reality. In reality, I can be judgmental, quick to jump to assumptions about other people, ready to gossip, selfishly concerned with what I want or think I need, or just plain unkind. Sometimes I’m afraid that if I give generously I won’t have enough. Reality is the constant struggle to put self behind me - to be kind and generous and forgiving. Reality is knowing that I'm going to fall short of the ideal, but being willing to keep trying to get out of the way so Christ can work through me.

How do we let Jesus out? Focus on him. Call on him. Read the gospels and try to do what he taught us to do. Look for the blessings in our lives, even the smallest. Whatever we focus on is what will be present in our lives – so if we focus on blessing, if we focus on the good, if we focus on helping and forgiving, then these are the things we see, experience, are enabled to do.

We let Christ out when we are drawn to do even the smallest blessing for another and then do it. When we aren't worried about what others will think or if doing something good for someone else will leave us with less - time, money, whatever. To live for Christ, serving God’s children, who ever and where ever they may be, seeking always to act in love. When we are loving, we are living. And when we are living, we belong to God.



Hymn Pues Si Vivimos (When We Are Living) 536

Friday Five: Books, books, books!

Revgalblogpal Sally writes:
I've just returned from a meeting in Cambridge so I'm posting this late here in the UK (it is 3:45pm).. because I took the opportunity of a free afternoon in Cambridge's wonderful book shops... I only bought a few- and they were on sale- very restrained for me!!!


So with my head full of books I've seen and a long wish list in my mind, I bring you a Friday Five on books!!!


1. Fiction what kind, detective novels, historical stuff, thrillers, romance????

Very favorite - sci fi and fantasy! Dragons, wizards, knights with magical swords and/or futuristic (space travel, humans living on other planets, life here on Terra in the very distant future, etc.) Harry Potter, of course. Anything by Mercedes Lackey, Anne McAffery, Terry Pratchett, Elizabeth Moon. The Narnia Chronicles. I once owned everything every written by Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. It never ceases to amaze me how many clergy and theologians write sci fi and how often the underlying themes are commentary on our society. :-)


I also enjoy getting lost in detective novels, with special favorites taking place on the Navajo Reservation. There are now several authors following where Tony Hillerman led, like Aimee and David Thurlo.

And historical novels, especially Irish and other Celtic histories. When a mystery is included, as in Sister Fidelma, I'm really happy. :-)


2. When you get a really good book do you read it all in one chunk or savour it slowly?

Slowly?? What is that?

I'm a reading addict - I have to do it all at once. This does sometimes get in the way of things I should be doing, but I tell myself that relaxing with a good book is "self care." Besides, so many are social commentary that, theoretically, my relaxing reading can double as "work related"

3. Is there a book you keep returning to and why?

That's hard. I have a whole bookcase filled with my favorite "read over and over again" books.

Why? For the reasons above - I actually got part of a wedding sermon from a Mercedes Lackey novel!


4. Apart from the Bible which non-fiction book has influenced you the most?

"Close to the Bone: Life Threatening Illness and the Search for Meaning" by Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD.

When I was diagnosed with cervical cancer a professor recommended this book and I truly believe that it saved my life, or at least, my sanity. Dr. Shinoda Bolen seemed to know exactly what I was feeling and fearing and dreaming. I was blessed a few years ago with the opportunity to meet and thank her. I recommend this book to everyone who is diagnosed with a life threatening illness, especially cancer.

My #2 choice is pretty much anything written by Parker Palmer.


5. Describe a perfect place to read. ( could be anywhere!!!)

Anywhere is indeed a perfect place to read. :-)

My favorite place is curled up in the corner of the love seat in my living room. The coffee table is placed at the perfect spot for putting my feet on, and the pillows have taken on my body shape.

Success on the Web

I did it! With help from Apple, of course. I got the church website published just this morning. I am really quite excited about it, and so grateful to Songbird of Revgalblogpals who helped me learn how to navigate around bloggish things, especially vocabulary. :-)

Now to see how it goes over with the members.

Website Woes

I have a new MacBook and new software! Yay! This morning I spent hours designing a website on iWeb with a welcome page and other pages for photos and sermons. Then I hit "Publish" and ran into all kinds of problems. I knew it was going too easily! :-)

I think the problem stems from having upgraded from Trial Version of the .Mac software to Full Version - silly computer seems to think I have 2 different user names or something and it's trying to publish using the wrong one. Anyway, I've contacted Apple for help and am waiting as patiently as possible for a response.

Patience is not one of my more obvious virtues. I'm just going to keep telling myself that the website is up and ready to go as soon as the software is properly explained to me. After all, I've been trying to get someone, anyone, to design a website for our church for 4 years and now I have one. I can surely wait a few more days to see it online.

Plus, now I can spend more time working out how to get the newsletter on it. Since the newsletter is composed and laid out on 2 different computers (my secretary does half and I do half) I think scanning will work best. AND my new MacBook came with an HP printer/copier/scanner so I have all the tools I could possibly ask for.

Maybe I'll go buy a digital camera so I have something else to fuss with. Tomorrow is going to be a big day at chuch saying Aloha to our Associate. Just thinking of all the great photos I can publish on the website to share with all our members and friends around the country (world!) is really exciting! :-)

Friday Five - Island Getaway

If I were told to pack a few things for a day away, and I could go anywhere I wanted to go. . .

I'd be whisked to a beach on the Atlantic Ocean, ideally Key West. I'd stay in a small pension-like hotel on the beach (yes, I do have a specific one in mind.)

1) What book(s) will you bring?
I'd escape with sci-fi/fantasy, maybe Mercedes Lackey or Melanie Rawn or Anne McAffrey. Or Terry Prachett for a really good laugh. Anything but "work" books - no theology, nothing that is intended to improve my mind. :-)

2) What music accompanies you?
I'd pack some CDS I have of local artists playing dulcimer and guitar.

3) What essentials of everyday living must you take (as in the health and beauty aids aisle variety)?
Hmm - For one day? I'd have to take shower gel and perfume in my favorite summer scent (verbena and lemon), sunblock lotion, toothpaste and brush, a comb.

4) What technological gadgets if any, will you take with you or do you leave it all behind?
I'd take my cell phone in case of emergencies (turned on silent, of course) and my PDA because I have the alarm in it set to remind me to eat breakfast and lunch.

5) What culinary delights will you partake in while there?
Ooh - Cuban food! Conch fritters, black beans and rice with squid, and for breakfast - huevos con frijoles y bistek con limon (eggs with beans and steak seasoned with lemon - it's yummy!).

As a bonus question, what makes for a perfect day on vacation for you?

Staying with the dream of Key West - If the heavens cooperated, the weather would be greyish, overcast with a hint of drizzle to keep the tourists off the beach. I'd have a Labrador retriever with me to play in the waves and chase sandpipers as we walked the beach. Since I don't actually have a dog right now I'd have to borrow one. :-)

When I got tired of walking the beach I'd walk the town - visit Ernest Hemingway's house to play with the cats, look in shop windows, and sit in a sidewalk cafe half reading and half people. The Husband would be with me as he likes this kind of day also.

In real life, since Key West is over 3,000 miles away . . . I haven't really found a place or activity I absolutely love here on the West Coast. Of course, I don't get out much. Hmm - I'll have to work on that.

Saying Aloha

My friend and mentor and church musician and minister of education and youth is leaving. She's moving to Hawaii with her daughter who has been called to serve a church there. I've known for a few months now, but the day is getting closer and closer. Sunday we will celebrate her ministry with our congregation and 10 days later she'll get on the Big Bird to fly across the Pacific. I'm happy for them, but not so happy for me.

We've known each other for about 11 years now. We were separated for 4 years by half a country while I was in seminary. We stayed in touch through email and saw each other at General Assembly. When I was called to the church where she already served it was such a comfort to know I wouldn't be all alone in a strange place. And now she's going away.

One day last week, as I was busy feeling sorry for myself, I realized that what had actually happened was that she had been sent out as the disciples were sent out. Her daughter was called to Hawaii and she wasn't, but just as Jesus sent his followers out in pairs to preach the good news, heal the sick and cast out demons, these two are going out together to do ministry. I don't know what the ministry will be for the two of them together, but I do know that where those two are, ministry is guaranteed to happen.

Knowing that helps. I'll still miss her. I'll miss our Monday morning phone conferences about everything. But we will still have email and Assemblies and her twice a year trips home to visit her doctor and her grandchildren. And ministry of a new kind will be done in Hawaii in Christ's name. How can I complain about that?

Holy Wisdom

It’s Trinity Sunday - the day when we celebrate God in three persons. The Trinity has been problematic for Christians from the beginning. Scholars and theologians argue over how the Trinity works, exactly. Members of other faiths say that our insistence on the existence of the Trinity means we are really worshipping three Gods, that we’re not really monotheistic as we say we are. And then there’s the task of trying to understand the trinity for you and me. I’ve told the story before of the young woman who asked me to explain the Trinity during her coffee break from work. It simply can’t be done. People have been trying to explain it for nearly 2,000 years. Alexander Campbell, one of the founders of the Disciples, served as a minister in the Baptist church for a while until they invited him to leave because he just wasn’t orthodox enough for them in his understanding of the Trinity. Many of my clergy sisters and brothers won’t preach on the Trinity - some don’t consider themselves Trinitarian at all. And that’s ok - as Disciples we get to agree to disagree on the finer points of theology, we aren’t held to a creed, a statement of belief that we all agree on.

In one of the versions of the Doxology, instead of singing “Father, Son and Holy Ghost” the words are “Creator, Christ and Holy Ghost.” I was told by one of my seminary professors that these words - Creator, Christ and Holy Ghost - weren’t Trinitarian, that use of these words somehow denied the Trinity. It seems to me that he was limiting his understanding of God by limiting the range of the words he would use to describe God. People do that, you know. Try to limit God to something within the range of our very small understanding. Theologians argue over the specific ways we are supposed to understand the Trinity - they put limitations on what is or is not accepted, orthodox belief. They say “Jesus is divine in just this way and no other” or “these are things God can and cannot do” or “The Spirit is limited to this and that kind of action.” Instead of seeing Three in One, they try to make the One into Three as if there were walls between the different aspects within God.

Naturally, We think of the Trinity as a purely Christian concept. Yet, according to Scripture - Old Testament and New - The Trinity - God in three persons - has existed since the very beginning. Genesis tells us that God created - with a Word. God said “Let there be Light” and there was. God spoke the Word and a universe sprang into being - earth, sky, waters, stars, moon, and sun. God said “let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness. . .” To whom was God speaking? Many scholars believe that God was speaking to Godself - Creator, Word and Spirit. “so God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them” and breathed the breath of life into them, filling them with God’s own Spirit. Creator - Word - Spirit - all present together from the beginning. Named in that order in Genesis, just as in our understanding of Trinity we speak of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In our daily lives we turn to each of these three persons in different ways, for different reasons.

We give thanks to God - Creator, Parent, provider of the earth‘s bounty. We say grace at our meals, ask a blessing on whatever we’re doing, maybe stand and just look - at a perfect flower, at a baby - and know that the miracle of life can happen only through a power so great we can’t even guess at what it must be like. On Sundays we come here to worship God. In the Bible we study the works of God, and God’s Word as taught us by Jesus. We speak to God as a child speaks to a parent, asking for blessings, asking for help with daily life. When things go well, we say “Thank God” or we might say “Thank you Jesus!“ But when things go wrong in life, we don’t say “Jesus why did you do this, or Spirit, why did you do this?“ We turn to God in anger or frustration or pain, even as Jesus did on the cross, saying “My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” And God is there, always there,

Spirit - the guide, the feeling - the one who helps us understand and remember the Word that Jesus brought us. The still small voice that speaks to us as we make decisions and choices. The breath of life within each of us, that helps us turn toward God, toward blessing and life. The feeling that rises within us when worship is just right, when the words to a prayer touch our hearts in a particular way, when music lifts us up beyond normal experience, when we are moved to act in a way we normally wouldn’t. The Spirit doesn’t get a lot of attention most of the time. And yet, the Spirit is part of our daily life. There’s a news article from a Christian news source I’d like to share with you about the Spirit. (Read article from Lark)

Mike may go a little beyond “Normal” in his relationship with Holy Spirit. Most of us don’t walk around having a latte with the Holy Spirit. But in each of us, in every human, there exists that breath of life that is God’s Spirit, present from humanity’s very beginning.

The Word - Holy Wisdom
Hear the words from the Book of Proverbs that describe Wisdom, and the part Wisdom played in creation (Read Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31)

Lady Wisdom, the Word, present at the creation, part of God from the beginning and always. Some 2000 years ago a child was born, and into that Child God poured wisdom - filling him with the Word - with full knowledge of God’s ways, God’s desires for his children, God’s forgiveness and unconditional love. John’s Gospel begins with a description of the Word, similar to the words from Proverbs “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” That Word became flesh in Jesus, the Christ. How was the Word made flesh? I don’t know. I don’t much care about the mechanics of it. I just believe it to be true. Not that Jesus, the human being, was present at the creation, but that the Word which was present became imbedded in Jesus that he might teach us, that we might come to know God as he does.


We turn to Jesus, to the Word, for knowledge - for an understanding of God’s will for humanity. We find this Word in Scripture, in the words and actions of Jesus. We use the Word, the teachings we have received, to guide our lives and actions. We turn to Jesus for His understanding of human pain and joy and sorrow, to stand beside us in good times and bad. We know that Jesus lives, eternally, in and with God, The Word of God made flesh.

Today we celebrate the Trinity - we celebrate God’s presence and action in the world and in our lives through Creation, Life Giving Spirit and Wisdom. Let us invite the Spirit to be part of us as we sing of Wisdom’s part in all of this.

Hymn: Holy Wisdom

Mother's Day

On Saturdays I spend a lot of time engaging in an online conversation about Sunday’s sermon. This week my colleagues, mostly women, spoke a great deal about their hesitation to “celebrate” Mother’s day because of the pain some of their members feel around this day - indeed, because of the pain some of the preachers experience around Mother‘s Day. Some said they would speak to Mother’s day only in their prayer, others were going to do their best to just ignore the whole thing. Some said, because they have no experience of being a mother, they felt inadequate to the task.

Because some feel pain - ignore the day? Perhaps that is a good idea. We, as ministers, aren’t supposed to intentionally cause pain to our congregations. And yet, Motherhood is about pain - and Joy, but first and foremost, it’s about pain. I’ve never done it, but I know that bringing a child into the world is a painful experience. Raising a child, allowing that child to go forward and get hurt - fall off a bicycle, experience that first broken heart, make their own decisions, live their own lives - each pain the child experiences brings pain to the mother, even in a healthy, functional family.

Then there are those whose mothers don’t live up to the ideal of Hallmark cards or even the book of Proverbs - mothers who abandon them, either physically or emotionally; who put the new boyfriend ahead of their children, or whose addiction to drugs and alcohol makes them unavailable in every way; mothers who are abusive or inattentive. So many children these days are raised in foster care because their mothers are simply unable, for whatever reason, to live up to the standards the state has set. Children whose mothers cannot care for them often blame themselves for their mothers inabilities. That’s painful!

There are those whose mothers have passed on - whose grief does not allow them to celebrate a day set aside for Mothers. And those who desperately want to be mothers, but whose bodies are not cooperating - and those mothers who have outlived their children: whose children had been kidnapped and murdered, children who died of illness, or in an accident, or in a war, or who are lost in a fog of drugs and alcohol. Mothers Day is one of the saddest days in retirement communities, where some mothers will sit all day long waiting for the visitors who don’t come.

As the day progressed, more and more stories appeared about why it was so difficult to celebrate a day set aside for mothers. And I understand the pain, I understand the hesitation on the part of pastors to avoid occasions of pain for the members of their congregations.

I also remember how the church helped me heal from my own pain around Mother’s Day. For many years I experienced pain on Mother’s Day because my body had not cooperated - I could not be a Mother, so I felt less than the other women around me. My first church-going Mother’s Day after 25 years away from church I dreaded going - I knew they were going to celebrate Mothers and I didn’t want anything to do with it. As I entered the church that Sunday I was offered a carnation, and I tried to turn it down. “I’m not a mother. I don’t deserve one.” I said. And the woman handing them out said ‘We all mother someone in our lives - take one. You deserve it.” I cried tears of gratitude. I had just experienced the radically inclusive nature of the Christian Church.

We see another example of that radical inclusiveness in this reading from the book of Acts 16:9-15 (Read)

Paul and Luke, the author of the book of the Acts of the Apostles, went to Philippi. As always, they first sought out the Jewish community to tell them about the coming of the Messiah. On the Sabbath day they went outside the city gates to the river - And there they found women praying, observing the Sabbath. Why just women? Jewish Men and women couldn’t worship together - not in the temple in Jerusalem or anywhere else - Paul had had arrived at the women’s worship. Among the women there was Lydia. Lydia was the head of her household - a wealthy woman, a merchant who dealt in the most expensive dye in the world, most probably a widow who had worked side by side with her husband and inherited the business. Sitting out in public with women was bad enough - Jewish men and women who were unrelated just didn’t do that. Now in the days before his conversion, Paul would never have stayed there - he wouldn’t have been able to stretch the rules that separated men and women that far. Nor could he have accepted Lydia’s hospitality, and indeed, the passage tells us she had to convince him to do so. But with no male head of household, Paul would have found himself sharing a meal with women, and for an observant Jew, this was problematic. Or it had been, before the radically inclusive message he had personally received from Jesus on the road to Damascus.

What a preacher he must have been! There were no gospels to read from. There were stories about Jesus’ life and preaching, but nothing set down on paper yet. He would have told the stories he had learned from the others, from people who had heard Jesus preaching and teaching. But most especially Paul would have shared with them what happened to him on the road, the event that brought to his knees, and brought him to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the chosen of God, who had come to transform the world. Imagine, Paul sitting on riverbank, and saying “Even me! Jesus accepted even Me! Who persecuted his followers, sent them to prison, even helped stone one of them to death! If he accepts me, if he loves Me, a terrible sinner, one who actively worked against him, then surely nothing you have done in your lives can keep him from loving you. Give him your love, believe his words, enter the water of repentance, and come out prepared to live a new life in his name.”

Notice though, that the passage doesn’t say “Paul convinced her.” Rather, it says “The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said to Paul.” Just as God opened Paul’s eyes, just as God reaches for the heart of each of us, Lydia’s heart was opened, and her life was changed.

And here’s one more thing we should keep in mind about Lydia - and about the widow Dorcas, whose story was told a few weeks ago. It is likely that, not only were they widows, but that they also childless - or at least, son-less. Whether they had outlived their sons and grandsons or had never had any isn’t known. But scholars suggest that, if they had sons, they would not have been in charge of their households. If there was a son, he would have been head of household. Lydia could not have extended this invitation - she wouldn’t have been known as a merchant in her own right. Lydia, while not a mother, became the founder of a church in the city of Philippi - the mother of the Christian community there.

We speak of the church fathers, yet the book of Acts makes it clear to us that there were also mothers of the church, women like Lydia and Dorcas, who were financially able to care for others, independent so they could offer the use of their homes as places of worship, as places where those in need could be cared for. Women who could extend the hospitality of their homes to traveling preachers like Paul and Luke without seeking permission, or worrying about what the neighbors would say. Women who had embraced the message Paul brought to them, who accepted the radical message of God’s love and forgiveness, entered the water of baptism, and emerged changed forever. Indeed, what is there to fear from the neighbors when we know that God accepts us - that these acts of love, compassion and radical hospitality are pleasing to God.
The gospel reading tells us Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, they will obey me. Then my Father will love them, and we will come to them and live in them.” The Spirit of God comes upon us when we love our Savior, and loving, obey the teachings we have received. When we love, and are open to God, the Spirit of God brings us the gifts of love, joy, and peace - the greatest of all the gifts we can receive. Let us give thanks today for the mothers of our church, and for these gifts of the Spirit, so freely given.

Hymn: Of All the Spirits Gifts to Me