where are you from?

Where are you from? 031614   John 3:1-17

Replay my hospitality lecture: my name is Margaret, I don’t think we’ve met….

Polite conversation in our class culture usually starts with some form of    

what’s your name?  where are you from?   What do you do? 

I often get ' I know from your accent that you’re not from here!'

Jesus might have asked this night time visitor….what's your name? Nicodemus

where are you from? from the pharisaic sect of Judaism…

what do you do?  sit on the board of the Sanhedrin

Now Nicodemus could do the same thing with Jesus without asking:

Your name is Jesus, you’ve come from God, we know you’re not from here because you do marvelous things that point us to God.

N often gets a bad rap, but I know him….I am him.  He comes from a pretty clear religious tradition, and has been around Jesus a while, but still doesn’t really understand, he’s still in the dark a bit.  A fellow pilgrim on the journey indeed.

So he comes to Jesus, and starts out with what he’s figured out.  It’s all clear, logical, left brain, legal scholar type stuff.   

And J recognizes a genuine seeker when he meets one, so immediately takes the conversation to a new level….from the sensible left brain into the spiritual, right brain, metaphoric imaginative place.

And he does it, as often is the case in the gospel of John, by a play on words that doesn’t work in English. The word after “born”  Anothen in Greek, can mean both anew and from above.  Nic takes it literally and stays with the ‘again’ meaning…..he’s still on one level and can’t see beyond it.  Sort  of like some of us who get stuck at the ‘are you born again’ question, rather than listening into Jesus’ answer, which leads us deeper into mystery and metaphor—to the more complex spiritual quest that wonders what ‘from above’ might mean.   

Jesus leads this seeker into “a realm of wisdom that is more complex, deep and rich” (Patricia Farris) than anything he’d known.

Nic is invited to be born anew--from above.  This would mean he’d need to throw off his dependence on all the “who he is, where he’s from and what he does” stuff.  And allow God’s spirit (another play on words for another sermon) to make something quite new of him…..not just changing his mind, or changing behaviors (tho both do happen) but something much more profound…it is to be newly birthed from God.  In contemporary spirituality language, to let go of the false self and live into the true self.  Nic’s problem, like some of us, is that he already has a “coherent, integrated sense of self.  He’s a Pharisee, an upright one, a leader of his people, Mr Rectitude” (Neuchterlein).   

 And that needs to be let go to let God blow the winds of new birth into him…to allow life from the other realm, ‘above’ in John, to bring life to and through him.

In spite of our assumptions, this new life isn’t about a one time ‘born again’ experience, though that does happen, but it’s an invitation into God’s love, to live the way of Jesus, to live as ones who are from God.

Many of us are much too familiar with John 3:16 – we have lost a sense of its amazement….God loves so much, that God comes, and becomes attached to the world.  The cosmic force of the universe is attached to us!   So we and God can become at-one in each other.  God didn’t come to die, or send Jesus to die, but to live in us! 

That is how we are born from above..anew…we are from, part of God.  It’s a gift, it’s a grace, it’s a mystery.  But it’s real.

My self introduction might more honestly be:  My name is Margaret; I am from God; I am learning to live the Love way.  And you’ll know that, not by my accent, but by watching me, like N watched Jesus.

Child once asked mother, where am I from?   Mother launched into the dreaded birds and bees speech.  After a pause, the child said, I meant am I from Rochester?   

So where are you from?  What might your honest self introduction be?   How can people tell you’re born anew, from above?

Theva's Wisdom from the Wilderness

                     Wisdom from the Wilderness!

                                   Matthew 4:1-11                                                                                                        

^{Dear Friends,}

      ^{As I look back on my boyhood days growing up in a Christian home, lent didn’t make much impact on my life. The days of lent were 40 dull and drab days. A list of items such as meat and sweets and a few other things were not included in our meals during lent.  That was a lesson for us on self-denial. I have however a different approach towards lent these days. It is always good to spend time on study and prayer and reflection and in lent I encourage us to do more. It is always good to get rid of my own stubbornness, anger, and envy and greed .And in lent I want to pay more attention to this exercise. It is always good to spend my energy in the acts of goodness and service and the acts of peace and justice, kindness and mercy. However in lent I want to plunge into these services more and more. Someone came up with a new abbreviation for lent: “LET US ELIMINATE NEGATIVE THINKING”. I want you to picture Jesus today in a meditative mode in the Judean wilderness. That is the picture you have in front of you in the power point. What happened to Jesus in the wilderness also happened to Prince Siddhartha but the location was different.  He left his father’s palace and all his luxury and went into the jungles of Benares in India for 6 years. After spending some time there in meditation and reflection he returned to the world as the Buddha, the enlightened person. He brought with him answers for all the ills of the world. What happened to Jesus in the wilderness also happened to Moses and Muhammad, Peter and Paul, Luther and Gandhi, Juliana of Norwich, Susanna Wesley, Susan B Anthony and Mother Teresa as well. Psychologist Carl Jung gives a different name for this wilderness experiences. And his term is INDIVIDUATION. Which simply means it is one’s search for the totality of oneself. It is an exploration into one’s own being. How does one become an integrated personality? How does one discover the divine in oneself? How does one become conscious of everything under the sun? Jung here coined another psychological term THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS, to describe these human explorations.}

       ^{Jesus visits the wilderness immediately after the highest, the peak and the summit experience of his baptism. After hearing the most distinct voice “THIS IS MY SON WHOM I LOVE AND WITH WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED”. After the affirmation of his father on his son ship, after seeing with his own naked eye the heavens being opened and the Holy Spirit descending in bodily form like a dove, he receives a  marching order” GO TO THAT LONELY WILDERNESS. The 30 year old Jesus had every right to ponder as to what the future had on his life. Perhaps he wanted to probe into the mind of God. Perhaps he wanted to strategize as to how to deal with a society, which was so stubborn and segregated, a society that separated the good from the bad, male from the female the pious from the sinful the clean from the unclean the priestly from the lay, the mundane from the sacred. Here is a word about this wilderness: it is a stretch of plain and empty land between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. The only sound probably we hear is the howling of the jackals. There is no one to talk to, no water, no food, the temperature freezes in the night and the scotching heat gets unbearable in the day. Being hungry and cold and left alone is almost like finding oneself in the company of devil. Do we need any more descriptions of what the devil does? The first attack by the devil on Jesus was at the point of his physical need. Food is the basic need of life.  Jesus was hungry and his forty-day fasting would have accentuated his hunger pangs. When you look at those rocks and stones in the desert they look exactly like the browned baked wheat bread or Italian or the Monk bread. So the devil asks, come on Jesus! Why don’t you turn this beautiful bread like rocks into real bread? I know you can do it. Why don’t you do it for the sake of the starving people of Judea, Samaria and Galilee? Perhaps Jesus had seen how the authorities of the Roman Empire who were giving away free bread to people in order to promote Caesar’s kingdom. He was not excited about this idea. He knew that the spiritual need of persons is as important as the physical needs. He knew it was not morally right to bribe people with false promises. Our politicians do this all the time. Raising the minimum wage promise, the promise of health care for all people, the promise of possibility of immigration to those from other lands come and work in our farms in inhuman conditions. How about the promise that no child be left behind? We then quickly cut down the number of teachers in the schools and the school nurses as well.ONE DOES NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE LIPS OF GOD. There is a risk we take in any culture if our emphasis is only on THE MUNDANE: Technology alone, knowledge alone, stocks alone, military power alone, wealth alone, inventions alone, prolonging the last quarter of a person’s life alone, space exploration alone. We need to pay equal attention spirituality as well.}

          ^{The second temptation is about politics and power. All the kingdoms of the world and wealth and powers will be yours, if only you bow down and worship me. From the top of the mountain Jesus had a magnificent view of the Roman Empire. He saw countries like Assyria, Babylon, Persia the beautiful Mediterranean sea, the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Greece.  Here was a once in a life time offer to become the most powerful emperor of the world and Jesus turned it down. He said at a later time” what does it profit a person if he or she gain the whole world and lose their essence, their value and their character?}

        ^{And the third one is Jesus is now taken to the pinnacle of the temple, which is the highest point in the Holy City of Jerusalem. If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. Your God will command his angels to protect you; they will not let your body to dash against any rocks. Can you use all your powers to dazzle the crowed? Take the spotlight. Show the world that you are a man of fame and then you can persuade people to accept your teachings. Jesus knew his scripture so well and he quoted again a Deuteronomy passage.” Do not put your God to test”. Jesus was not a person to fall for cheap publicity stunt. It was his faith in a God of absolute truth and holiness which moved the mountains, gave sight to the blind made the lame walk again. IIf Jesus the Son of God had to face temptations how can you and I be exempt from it? Remember the very last prayer of Jesus to us, Matt26: “Watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation”. The Spirit is willing but the body is weak. Temptations in life are inevitable. Life without temptation is inconceivable. Temptations remind us that there are limits to this universe. There are boundaries to life. Temptations remind us the devil does not like us.}

^{Martin Luther said” you cannot prevent a bird flying over your head but you shouldn’t let it build a nest on your head”. In a few moments you will pray in unison the Lord’s Prayer. Think a little bit when you pray that line: lead us not, into temptation, but deliver us from the evil ones.}

Ash Wednesday thoughts

(this meditation had to be 'winged' due to computer problems--thought those who were there might like to see what I should have said!)

The sages have a saying, that each of us should carry a piece of paper in each pocket, one which says, “I am dust, and to dust I shall return”, and the other, “For me the universe was made”.     If we keep those in balance, we will know our place in the universe, and become truly humble….something the world needs more of for sure.

People tend to think of Lent as somber, dull, sad, all about sin…..any or all of the above.  And while it is serious, it’s not heavy…..just the opposite.  It’s about getting rid of what’s heavy in our lives, our minds, or our souls.   Many of us also think that means giving something up.  And most of us have things we need to be unburdened from, addictive behaviours, negative thoughts, critical attitudes.  But it seems to me that the Benedictines have it right….sometimes the way to be rid of a burden is to add something counteractive to it….so we take on a ‘bona opera’(good work), usually a reading or a habit, during this season.  Instead of giving up negative thoughts, take on positive thoughts….instead of giving up critical attitudes, take on intentional affirmations.  Making our souls healthier can be a joy, not a burden!   For God has already loved and forgiven us, and simply waits for us to believe and live it!

Around church you’ll find signs with some suggestions (show list and paper for last one)—I encourage you to choose one, or something more personal to your spirit.    And let me – or someone you trust and love - know what your ‘bona opera’ will be so I can pray for you and encourage you on the journey.

Fear and Awe

Fear and Awe: Transfiguration 030214

Matthew 17:1-9

“Six days later”—later than what?  6 days after Jesus begins to tell the disciples that he’s heading for suffering.  And of course at that point, the ever impetuous Peter says, no no it can’t be so.  But Jesus tells them yes it is so, and they need to be willing to go there with him if they’re really going to be his followers.  So 6 days after that….

“Jesus led them up a high mountain”—mountains again! Remember Theva pointed out that mountains have huge significance in ancient, and even modern spirituality…they are holy places of revelation, where they stand on holy ground….we climb mountains seeking something special ourselves, to watch a sunset or sunrise, to  get away from our busy lives into quiet….. Jesus invites them away from the usual for a brief time, and he led them; they didn’t take it into their heads themselves to go seeking….they listened and were ready to agree to follow him, not knowing what might happen. We’ll come back to this listening and ready stuff later.

And there he was transfigured before them, his face shining, his clothes dazzling white—light, brightness: like the mountain image, this puts more emphasis on the holiness of the moment—light also is an integral part of spiritual insight, ancient and modern, people describe aha moments as a flash, others experience light at near death times. 

Something clearly very out of the ordinary is going on here.

Then they see Moses and Elijah talking with him—now we’re really into an odd state.  Remember Matthew is the most Jewish of the gospels; it’s important that his readers understand Jesus as legitimately in the line of the ‘greats’…..Moses the law giver, Elijah the prophet, together the sum of Jesus’ faith.

I imagine this was just as important a moment for Jesus as it was for the disciples, or for Matthew’s readers….if he has recently come to understand where his ministry is taking him, to experience the affirmation of his ancestors must have been a powerful encouraging vision.

As Jesus ‘morphs’ from an ordinary guy into someone of great glory, whose inner Spirit shines from the inside out, he and we are all reminded of the power of God ‘way beyond the ordinary.

But one of our tendencies in those illogical incomprehensible  is to explain an experience—it was just a dream, or it’s just a metaphor for something else….biblical scholarship often does this.  Another tendency is to box it in and package it in some acceptable way.  Unfortunately both tendencies water down the incredible awesomeness of the experience, because what’s really AWE gets expressed in FEAR, which we know better.  We fear what we can’t explain.   We control what we fear.

That’s what happens to Peter.   He’s trying to hold on to this experience long enough to find an explanation, so he blabs the first thing that comes to mind:

I’ll put up three shrines here, one for each of you

But while he’s still speaking a bright cloud overshadowed them and from the cloud came a voice

More doo doo doo doo language—cloud and voice from nowhere are added to mountain and light……do we get it yet?  This is powerful stuff challenging our Christian tepidity.  I found a quote this week online, from Annie Dillard’s “Teaching a Stone to Talk”

(from Sermons.com)

While Peter is still speaking his marketing babble, this voice shuts him right up.  There are some situations where words just won’t do.  These words from the cloud must have reminded Jesus of his baptism, words again of deep affirmation and love, now adding “listen to him”.  Do we?  What has God or Jesus said to you recently?  How well have we been listening?

Quote from vacation book “On Looking” by Alexandra Horowicz—

The human ear is open all the time; it has no lid to naturally refresh the auditory scene.  Even holding our hands over our ears in the way children do, elbows akimbow and face a-grimace, many sounds get in. But while our ears are always open, we only half attend to sounds they carry, given the racket coming from within our own heads.

We need to learn to shut up and listen.  Perhaps Lent is a good time to do that.

Illogical, incomprehensible, indescribable moments still happen.

The sudden death of a loved one, or the birth of a baby

A difficult diagnosis, an unexplained healing

A September 11 event, a random act of kindness

In them all, the voice says listen.  

Listen to what?  Listen to Jesus.  So what did Jesus say?

Jesus came and touched them saying, Get up, do not be afraid.

When have you been afraid?  God says Listen, Jesus says do not be afraid.

When have you been awestruck?   God says Listen, Jesus says do not be afraid.

When have you found yourself in a situation you just don’t understand? God says Listen, Jesus says do not be afraid.

One day on vacation I was out for a walk, struggling with a difficult personal decision that had me a bit afraid.  I turned the corner into the lane back to our hotel and there in front of me was an awesome rainbow.  God says, listen.   What does the rainbow mean?  God’s promises can be trusted.  Jesus says do not be afraid.

If we just shut up and listen, we will receive those cosmic love letters.

Let’s make Lent a good time to practice that.  Shut up and listen.

God says Listen, Jesus says do not be afraid.

Amen.

on being perfect (Theva)

On Being Perfect!

Matthew 5:38-48

We have been reflecting on Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount for the last several weeks. For today I want to explore the following questions: Why is it called the sermon on the mountain? What is the sermon on the plains? For Matthew his message is predominantly directed at the Jewish readers. For a Jewish person mountain is a location of great religious significance. It was on the mountain called Mount Sinai;Moses received the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. Remember the words of today’s Psalm 119 “LEAD ME IN YOUR PATH OF YOUR COMMANDEMENTS”. “HELP ME FIND DELIGHT IN YOUR COMMANDMENTS”. Abraham took his son Isaac to offer him as a burnt sacrifice to God on a mountain called Morriah. Then we have mount Carmel, mount Olive and the Mount Zion on which Jerusalem was built. In the context of Matthew and the mountain, let me share with you another Psalm” I WILL LIFT UP MY EYES TO THE HILLS FROM WHERE WILL MY HELP COME? MY HELP COMES FROM THE LORD WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH. Psalm121.Here the Psalmist is challenging every Jewish believer to know the ground to which they belonged. Tillich the theologian defined God as the ground of our being. So the Psalm 121 is a reminder for them to know the rock from which they were hewn and the quarry from which they were dug. These are phrases of Prophet Isaiah. I am not really surprised as to why Matthew is locating Jesus’s sermon on a mountain. How about the plains? I am of the opinion that Luke’s favourite people were the commoners, the outcast, the gentiles and the people of the margin. I think it is so convenient for such people to gather and listen to a talk by Jesus on a plain ground rather than climbing up and down the mountains. In the power point pictures for today both locations are captured by the artists. One is the Matthew’s version of the Sermon on a mountain side and the other is the Lukan version on the plains. One more thing: we are also told by some biblical scholars the Lukan version is more of a seminar for the disciples.

        And now I want to share with you a word about the context. We need to look at Galilee two thousand years ago, a land filled with the ostracised and marginalised, the drunkards and the prostitutes. Not so much of the land of milk and honey but of lepers and the lame, the deaf and the blind and they were roaming around the lake all the time. This part of the world was referred to as the Galilee of the nations. It meant that in Galilee there were gentiles from all over the world. This section of Israel was also a battlefield where the Roman Army and the Zealots were at war. In brief it was here the Galileans were witnessing death and destruction on a daily basis. If I remove this sermon out of this context will be something like the annual state of the union address in Washington in which we hear the same old same old stuff year after year. And then to give a caption that our union is stronger than ever. Or perhaps it will sound like a religious lecture in a crystal cathedral which is often far removed from the hustle and bustle of our daily struggles and the global problems of Syria and Ukraine. The context is important and here it is characterized by murder and violence, and defined by suspicion and fear rather than freedom and trust. A context in which violence was the order of the day and Jesus appears in the midst of it and says boldly: Blessed are you when you suffer, blessed are you when you are persecuted, blessed are you when you thirst for justice. Blessed are you if you can be the light of the world. How can I be a light of the world if I cannot burn even a little bit of myself in order to brighten the path to my neighbour? This is not the image of the 21^st century electronic age folks. Jesus is referring here to the wax and the wicks of light, of melting and burning or the oil lamps of his days. Blessed are you if you can be the salt of the earth. How can I be the salt without dissolving myself to enrich the life of my neighbour? It is in this particular context Jesus says boldly: LOVE YOR ENEMIES. Friends! We know that Hinduism directs us to the understanding of God as truth and the meaning of brotherhood and sisterhood are to be found in the teachings of Islam. Buddhism however takes us to the depth of compassion and Judaism is wrapped up in commandments, the laws and the prophets teachings summed up. How about Christianity? It is a religion of love. No wonder wrote Charles Wesley: LOVE DIVINE ALL LOVES EXCELLING.JOY OF HEAVEN TO EARTH COME DOWN.   terrific! I will take six of those. Jesus said in our scripture today “you have heard it was said, love your neighbour and hate your enemies, but I say to you now, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

        The text I chose for you today is the very last verse of the 5^th chapter of Matthew. Be perfect therefore as your heavenly father is perfect. What is perfection? It is at times a scary word, depending on who is using it and when it is being used. People often say they make a perfect couple; it was a perfect wedding. You have done a perfect job. You preached a perfect sermon. What do these expressions mean? Well the dictionaries both the Webster and the Oxford, define perfection as precise, accurate, exact and free from faults and defects. There is another meaning: Perfection is a state of being. And one thing more: perfection is a highest degree of excellence. John Wesley said in religious terms, perfection is the work of sanctifying grace. Let me simplify it. He said perfection is never a finished job. We are on the way to perfection. We have a mandate from Jesus, to love God and to love our fellow beings. And Wesley said it is a life time endeavour. However Jesus said in Matthew 5: BE PERFECT. How can I be perfect for my daily struggle is always whether to be or not to be? The Psalmist says BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. The only way to be on the way to perfection is to learn to be. The most difficult thing for us is to be. To be or not to be is our daily struggle. Be kind to one another. Be of good cheer. One of the books Theologian Paul Tillich wrote long ago is”The courage to be”. Jesus said “if you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruits. Be! Be Still! And Be Perfect.

       Now I would lie to conclude this message probably the way Jesus concluded it with his disciples. After his long spiritual discourse, Jesus asked his disciples: Do you have anything to add? Simon Peter asked” Do we have to write this down? Andrew asked are we supposed to memorize this. James asked: Will we have a test on this? Bartholomew asked: Do we have to turn this in? John asked: Do all disciples have to learn this? Mathew asked: when do we get out of here? Judas asked: what does this have to do with real life? There were also some Pharisees present in the seminar and one of them asked Jesus his lesson plans and inquired of Jesus his terminal objectives in the cognitive domain.

Jesus wept.

message from the mountain (Theva)

A Message from the Mountain!

Matthew 5: 21- 37

Our preacher who preached here last Sunday is a retired United Methodist pastor and so am I. He told us a story of a minister in his first appointment who preached the same sermon for the first three Sundays. I want to begin with a similar story. On his new appointment this preacher preached for 20 minutes on his first Sunday and 30 in his second Sunday and took 40 minutes to complete his sermon on his third Sunday. That was enough for the Staff Parish Relations Committee to summon him for a little chat. To their relief he had a ready explanation. “The Saturday before the first sermon, I had my teeth pulled and my mouth was still terribly sore. But, by the time a week had gone by, I’d gotten used to my new dentures”. Here the minister paused, and blushed deeply. ”And for last Sunday…. Well, I am afraid that I picked up my wife’s set of teeth by mistake!”

          Dear friends! You have been listening to some sermons on the Sermon on the Mount for the last few weeks. This sermon is made up of ethical discourses, moral principles; code of conduct and in brief some very valuable lessons for life. This sermon revolutionized the thinking of many people, including Gandhi and Martin Luther king Jr.  We know that Gandhi never became a Christian and belonged to a church however he lived his life by these words of Jesus. Why? Because Jesus not only preached these words from a mount, but he lived out those words every minute of the day and night. He demonstrated to the world by this sermon that our moral authority is not from Herod or Caesar, or from the high priest or the Sanhedrin, but from God alone. This sermon taught Gandhi the basis of radical faith. This sermon taught him the essence for non-violent living. This sermon gave him the courage for his involvement in the freedom struggle for India. We are dealing today with topics like anger and murder, love, lust and divorce, forgiveness, reconciliation and swearing. I know that Jesus has a message for us today. Perhaps the Sermon on the Mount will inspire us to get closer a bit to Jesus.

       People in Jesus ‘time thought they were chosen people and they had a special blessing from God and could expect special favors as well. With long prayers and fasting, by attending the synagogue on a regular basis and observing the laws flawlessly, they thought they earned the merit of private heaven. With their outward religious practices and almsgiving and of keeping the Sabbath holy, they thought they were entitled for good health and great wealth and smashing success and worldly fame.   Jesus On this mountain, preached, hope to the hopeless, comfort to those in pains and to those in the margin, power. Pastor Margaret reminded us a few weeks ago the words of Prophet Micah: “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness and walk humbly with your God”. Let me say to you today that Jesus echoes the same words of Micah who lived 800 years before his time. If you thirst for justice and find joy in your acts of kindness and reflect humility in your life style, you have already become children of God.  Matthew 5, 6, and 7, is called the Sermon on the Mount and we also have a sermon on the plain in Luke chapter 6. I will speak next Sunday as to why Matthew and Luke are changing these locations.  Jesus was a Jew and his religious text during childhood was the Pentateuch the first five books of the Old Testament. He lived by the guide lines of the Ten Commandments. And now he says that we must be able to rise above and beyond the dos and the don’ts of these guidelines. He is challenging us to learn to live recklessly for God. In the reckless living for God we must learn to turn the other cheek. We must be willing to go for the second mile. We should be ready to lose our life and then gain it back. Who is this Jesus? The more I reflect on his life I see him as a transparent and simple human being. In him there is as an embodiment of divine wisdom. He doesn’t let the praises of people lose his humanness. He doesn’t let the blames and accusations of politicians and religious leaders crush him. Friends! To know Jesus is to know the truth. To follow Jesus today is to live a life of just peace.

        In the story of a woman caught in adultery, she was brought to be stoned to death.  Jesus asked those who accused this woman; let the one who has not committed any sin throw the first stone. There was no one around her at that point. All the men are now vanished. And to the woman who was standing there accused of adultery Jesus uttered with compassion “GO SIN NO MORE”. If you are angry with your brother or sister Jesus said you must make up with them as early as possible. He didn’t know about  anger management seminars those days. Jesus said don’t swear at all for you don’t know how to live up to the promises you have made. You know only how to say with your lips, truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and then quickly turn and twist the real truth to lies to your advantage. Promises and pledges are easy to make but fulfilling them is a stupendous task. All the topics in Matthew 5 deal with relationships, trust and faithfulness. The causes for all our problems whether murder or divorce, adultery or swearing are caused by strife and jealousy envy and dissensions factions and slandering one another. What is the solution? Paul talked about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians.

        Jesus is calling us to put on a new identity. Jesus is asking us to live counter culturally. The media today is bombarding with commercials after commercials, drawing our attention to an unfounded myth that those who die with many toys win. We just gathered a few weeks ago to watch the super bowl as though we were having a memorial day or the President’s day national celebration. In a world people die in thousands due to starvation and 70 million American people are without health care, we just spent 2.5 million dollars for every 20 seconds of commercials during the super bowl.

          Friends! Are we better off today than 25 years ago? In our space age, with modern technology and advanced medicine, we have more violence, more wars, more guns, more hatred, more suspicion, more pain, more unfaithfulness, more insomnia, more boredom, more depression and more psychotherapists. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is challenging us to radicalize our existing culture. Friends! What we are the world is. Bill Coffin in his book: The courage to live, says “there are people and things in this world, and people are to be loved and things are to be used”. When was the last time we looked at someone and said “we love you” and “we care about you”. An Indian sage and a Nobel Prize winner by the name Rabindranath Tagore said “IN LOVE ALL OF LIFE’S CONTRADICTIONS DISSOLVE AND DISAPPEAR. ONLY IN LOVE DUALITY AND UNITY ARE NOT IN CONFLICT”. Jesus said 2000 years ago, I will give you a new commandment. Love one another. And in this new commandment he summarized all the laws {for the Jewish people had 613 of them} and all the prophetic words together. Why am I

 so anxious? Why am I so afraid? Why am I so down hearted? Perhaps I have not yet figured out as to what is really important in my life. My closing story is from a book by Elie Wiesel,”SOULS ON FIRE” When we die and get to heaven and meet our God, God is not going to say to us “Why didn’t you become a messiah?’ or “why didn’t you discover the cure for cancer?” the only thing that God would ask all of us at that precious and sacred moment is;” WHY DIDN”T YOU BECOME YOU?’ Normal anxiety and every day worry are all part of life. We should be able to face them without feeling guilty. Sickness and death are part of life and we should be able to accept them with vulnerability. Jesus said that in this world you will have trouble. But take heart. I have overcome the world. Be of good cheer. 

faith is.....active

Faith is….active 020214                                                                                                                                                             Micah 6:1-8; Psalm 15; Matt 5:1-12

It’s been one of those weeks that should produce a perfect storm, where all elements come together just right to create the perfect sermon. The Micah text—do justice, love mercy, walk humbly- plus a friend’s sharing her awful experience of our justice system, and a judge’s lack of mercy, plus our daily reading from the Rule of Benedict is currently on humility, plus our Heart Listening group watching the documentary “I am” plus the Beatitudes, blessing those who grieve….surely a perfect storm.  

But they were all rattling around in the head and not cooperating at all….indeed an overabundance.  So I’m just going to let them rattle around in your heads and hearts as well by just sharing some thoughts that have come to me.

Imagine first the scene from the Micah text.   The setting is a court room.  God is prosecuting, the nation is the defendant, accused of forgetting God and going their own way instead of God’s way.  In previous chapters the social evils of the day have been listed, and now the prosecution is summing up:

How have I deserved this asks God. Have you forgotten what I have done for you? I brought you out of slavery, I sent you Moses and Aaron and Miriam….don’t you remember all my saving acts?

Imagine the silence after this plea.   The nation knows it’s true.    Then one lone voice cries out into the silence,

What can we do?  We could bring sacrifices better than ever before, finest animals and barrels of oil.  Will that do? asks the defence.    Then Micah the prophet stands up, puts his arm around this pleader, and gently says, you know what God wants, don’t you?  Three simple rules: do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God.

Or as in psalm 15, do what is right, speak the truth, walk blamelessly.

Do justice……blessed are those of my people who hunger and thirst after what’s right, blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake

Love kindness…..blessed are those of my people who are merciful, blessed are those who mourn for they shall receive comfort

Walk humbly….blessed are those of my people who are meek (notice not the weak, but Meek), blessed are the pure in heart

Jesus’ first century beatitudes describe how life is in the community of his followers, and his words are shot through with Micah’s words from 5 centuries before.  They call to us, 20 centuries later, and ask us,  as God’s people – as a congregation, a denomination, even as a nation “under God”, do we

do justice

Love kindness

Walk humbly

In a day when $4m buys a 30 second commercial at the superbowl….when Rochester is in the top twenty of poverty ratings…..when individualism, competition and winning are high values and community, cooperation and sharing are low values….do we

Do justice

Love kindness

Walk humbly?

Just what part of that don’t we understand?   In the documentary I am, GK Chesterton responds to the question, what is wrong with the world? By writing, I am.

It doesn’t have to be big or dramatic or earth-shaking….do justice in your work place…..show mercy and love kindness at school…..walk humbly at the grocery store….

…bless the poor in spirit by lifting them up…..bless the grieving with your comforting presence….work for justice and right instead of leaving it to someone else…welcome as sisters and brothers those who make peace……offer kindness to those who need it.

May it be that when asked what’s RIGHT with the world, God’s people might all learn to say, I am.