The God Who See Us Whole

I will give thanks to God with my whole heart- Psalm 111. Whenever I have seen this phrase, I so often think of it as speaking about the force of our commitment. But I was reading from Jan Richardson’s work on the Painted Prayerbook which is one of the online devotional sites I utilize. Richardson sadly lost her husband a little more than a year ago, and she has been focusing upon how her life is altered and yet how God is rebuilding her. She approaches this week’s lessons with a question that caught my attention. She asks about wholeness in a different sense. The sense where sometimes our hearts don’t feel whole. That there is in some way a sense of incompleteness, and then encountering the lessons as offering a view of God’s wholeness into those un- whole places. So here’s the question-Where might we instead of having whole hearts, have instead, a hole, that keeps us incomplete?

Perhaps we are falling prey for example to what Deuteronomy warns against- believing that some false god is our source of completeness. There are a lot of those to choose from. Food, possessions, activities, work, and more. What might we be hoping will fill that space? Sometimes each of us has that feeling.

The singer Jewel wrote a song called “A Hole in my Heart.” Part of the lyrics say, “There’s a hole in my heart, and I carry it wherever I go.. it travels with me down every road. There’s a longing, lonesome and deep, kind of bitter, kind of sweet. Time stealing swiftly, children having children of their own, and around life’s merry go round goes, and there you are wanting what you cannot hold.”

If this day, you are wrestling with a hole in your heart, perhaps it’s hard to imagine a wholehearted cry of thanksgiving. Yet here you are, and our calling in Christ is to help you find wholeness

But to complicate life, Paul tells us that while we are often trying to fill our own sense of what makes everything right, we must be mindful that individual choices have consequences for the health of the whole community. Maybe the hole we want to fill is the church just “perfect” while someone else is finding that desire to be a stumbling block to community. There you are, wanting what you cannot hold. Yet it is here that we are met by Jesus.

In our gospel today we hear of Jesus’ encounter with the man possessed. I’m not here to talk about what exactly was possessing the man and speculate about what it was. Because, more importantly is what possession looked like. And it is just as true that we all, are possessed by things that keep community and wholeness at bay. Here comes this man into a place called the synagogue. That word’s very meaning is people drawn together. But he’s been unable to be there. Imagine that man, seen by those around him as unable to be whole, told he cannot be whole-not physically, or in community. Imagine believing that you can never be whole.

And in one sense we can’t be whole if we are relying upon our power to achieve the wholeness, to fill the void, or heal a breach.

Yet, each of these passages shows us something of the wholeness in which God created us, and is working out within us. And each shows us that actions speak louder than words. We are drawn to acknowledge the liberation Christ brings us. And that only Christ can bring. That’s the last line in Jewel’s song- There’s a hole in my heart in the shape of you. There’s a hole in us that only God can fill. Maybe that’s the song we can sing to God. Whole heartedly. There’s a hole that only you can fill, God. The good news is that God wants to fill it. And that this is more than just words. It has to be more than words because otherwise we leave here just the same.

Jesus teaching in the temple happens in a way that shows he is something more. But it is when he liberates a man from what has denied him wholeness that we see God’s words come to life. This is what amazes people- a glimpse of God’s power that is more than just words. That the forces of separation cannot possess Jesus. And in our midst he shows that God’s desire, rooted in love is that they not separate and possess us either. This is what God is building in us and through us.

So perhaps the question that the gospel asks this day is: How might it be to open your heart—no matter how broken—to the One who sees you whole?

And then- How might it be to open your heart to someone who also has a hole? And help them see Christ

Our actions and words can perpetuate isolation and despair or center others in Christ who is our salvation. We gather here to believe and to share the glimpses of “what it means to have a whole heart, to live in a way that recognizes that, broken though we may be, God sees us complete and is about the work of helping us live into that completeness, not just for ourselves but for and with one another.”

That’s amazingly good news for all of us! So I close with the poem written by Richardson- Blessing for a Whole Heart

You think
if you could just
imagine it,
that would be a beginning;
that if you could envision
what it would look like,
that would be a step
toward a heart
made whole.

This blessing
is for when
you cannot imagine.
This is for when
it is difficult to dream
of what could lie beyond
the fracture, the rupture, the cleaving through which
has come a life
you do not recognize
as your own.

When all that inhabits you
feels foreign,
your heart made strange
and beating a broken
and unfamiliar cadence,
let there come
a word of solace,
a voice that speaks
into the shattering,

reminding you
that who you are
is here,
every shard
somehow holding
the whole of you
that you cannot see
but is taking shape
even now,
piece joining to piece
in an ancient,
remembered rhythm

that bears you
not toward restoration,
not toward return—
as if you could somehow
become unchanged—
but steadily deeper
into the heart of the one
who has already dreamed you

complete

The Grinch, the Temple and Jesus

Today I read from the Message translation of Luke 21- the whole chapter. And then…

So, today I am thinking about Christmas, after all everyone else is. Especially with Thanksgiving just around the corner. And the Reading holiday Parade and Christmas tree lighting are next weekend, even before Thanksgiving. My neighbors are putting up Christmas lights and there are snarky “don’t hate me decorating” posts on Facebook. No worries, friends. I am thinking about Christmas but more specifically about “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”, a now classic Dr. Seuss tale that has been a TV special and a movie. I was significantly depressed to learn that it was first broadcast in 1966 and that I was alive. Well, you might wonder what The Grinch Who Stole Christmas has to do with Jesus and the Temple of the people of Israel. In the Grinch story, the Grinch is a very unhappy creature who can’t stand the happiness and celebrating of the Whos in Whoville, especially at Christmas. They wake up and open presents and then all come outside and stand around the big Christmas tree and sing and then there is feasting on the Who Roast Beast. It seem this is the center of life. The Grinch finds it all so irritating and can’t stand how this galvanizes people and gives them joy. So, he sets about bringing it to an end. He devises a plan believing that if he takes away all the trappings of the day, there will be nothing to celebrate. Because it’s about the stuff.

In Jesus’ day, the temple was the center of it all- It was huge and stunning. The outer court alone could hold 400,000 people, and at festival times, like for those gathering in Luke, it frequently held crowds nearly that large. It was intended to honor God, but it was not breathtakingly beautiful because the people made it so. It had been Herod, a Roman ruler who wanted to be powerful who spent massive amounts of money making it beautiful.  Taking the Temple intended to testify to God’s unique majesty, and making it beautiful to bring glory to himself. The place intended to reflect where God touched the earth and held it still and safe had become something very different to many. So in all those people and all that beauty, one insignificant woman, faithful but widowed could be impoverished and unnoticed, as she has thrown her whole life away to preserve God’s house. Because others are so bedazzled by the beauty of the building. Its beauty and not holiness, had become the center.

Jesus, who has already been poking sticks at religious leaders, speaks prophetically of it all being leveled. Not one stone on another on the eve of the big festival. Scandalous talk that the beautiful temple was temporary. That even something so concretely placed in people’s minds could be gone. What would life mean? How would life go on?

For those hearing the Gospel of Luke for the first time, this was reality. The temple had in fact been brought down about 30 years before, by the Romans determined to leave no stone standing. Just like the Grinch in his efforts to take away all of Christmas from the Whos in Whoville. In a calculated way to guarantee that everything that shapes their identity will be gone. The Romans didn’t quite succeed. One wall is left, which we now call the Western wall, or the Wailing Wall.

Suzanne Richardson, whose work can be found online at Edge of Enclosure writes that while reflecting upon Jesus prediction of the destruction of the Second Temple, the Grinch comes to mind. Particularly the scene involving the moment the Grinch pauses to hear the moaning of the Whos in Whoville after he has stolen everything related to the village Christmas celebration. "That's a noise," grinned the Grinch, "That I simply must hear!" So he paused. And the Grinch put a hand to his ear. “And he did hear a sound rising over the snow. It started out low. Then it started to grow... But the sound wasn't sad! Why, this sound sounded merry! It couldn't be so! But it WAS merry! VERY! He stared down at Who-ville! The Grinch popped his eyes! Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise! Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, Was singing!

Without any presents at all! He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME! Somehow or other, it came just the same!” There stand the Whos in a circle around where the tree had been. They lift their heads and now instead was a glowing star rising over them-light for the world. They live anew! Transformed. They don’t just endure, they live anew. Because it’s not about the tree or the presents or even the Roast Beast.

Our gospel reading at first sounds more like what the Grinch expects-destruction, chaos, rejection, family-shattering, betrayals. And Richard Swanson suggests, it might seem that what we take from this is that the calm individual is the center of the world, (and) that Christian endurance is the point of Jesus’ message. It’s actually greater than that-its’ not just about endurance but survival.” And by survival, I don’t mean “hunker down.” I mean continued new life. That's the question we all ask when something happens that rips the very fabric of our existence apart, or the roadmap we’ve been using is gone. When divorce comes out of nowhere, when illness changes everything, when addiction tramples and terrorizes, when family strife breaks out. Or when church doesn’t look like it used to. When the universe is shaken to the core, how will we live?

Even in world-destroying catastrophe, Jesus says, God’s faithful people should lift their heads and expect resurrection, redemption, and rescue. Life.

It takes life together looking for God at work. And moving beyond what stymies the Grinch. The Whos find a way to live and share joy that is not at all about stuff. For us, that living doesn’t come from this sanctuary as a beautiful place as it is. These windows, the memorial gifts are not the source for living.

It comes from the God we encounter in the midst of them. God who enters the world, in the flesh, and rises beyond everything we imagine. Coming into a world waiting for life to be what it should be, bringing resurrection and faithful hope. To people just like us.

And this is why I say thank God it’s not about a building. 

But here then are deeper questions that I hope empower our living here.

Do we recognize this place as one where we sense and connect with God? When we are here, is it holy?

Do we sense that we are in the presence of the Divine?  

Do we glimpse Jesus present in our midst?

Do we feel Christ literally taken into us in communion, dwelling in us?

Do we notice that power- that we bear this sacred and holy into a suffering world-

where people don’t see beauty or joy or new life?

Are we raising our heads to look for resurrection?

Or do we just see people and stuff?

All our words in worship are centered around helping us experience resurrection.

We can't explain it but that's the power of God in this place.

Luke goes on to tell of faithful rising day after day to listen to Jesus. Words heard by people who only see the charred remnants of a ruin and disappointment. Trying to lift up their heads and look for the promised resurrection in the midst of what seems like anything but.

That is what our life as Christians often feels like- trying to see and point to God’s life in what seems like anything but.

This is why we are here to be God’s people- together.

To encounter resurrection and to show it to others in the kingdom.

Because we know-in our world, endurance is just not enough, not even close.

When it really matters, and everything feels like its falling away

only resurrection will do.

But to steal the phrase from Dr. Seuss-
“they can’t stop Jesus from coming.
Somehow or other, he comes just the same!”

Thanks be to God. AMEN

It's like Play Doh- got you thinking? Reformation Sunday

Just as we sat down for the sermon, I saw two girls sitting in the back behind the glass doors. Girls from the Doves Nest. I invited them to come in, and offhandedly I said, “Come on in, you don’t have to do a thing.” Which really is kind of the point. Nothing is required of us to experience God’s grace. But that is hard to imagine.

When she was little, our daughter Alex was painting an egg in art class, laboring to get it just right, putting colors exactly where they needed to be to complete the vision she had in mind. But paint can drip unexpectedly and just as she was almost done, it happened. Some-thing dripped in the wrong place. In her mind it was life and death-all was lost. It was failure beyond fixing. Heartbroken, she smashed the egg.

That can be how we think of God. We hear in scripture of God, heartbroken, and imagine unforgiving, punishing. Instead of freeing, forgiving, renewing.

That’s what people were debating about 600 years ago when the church was teaching people they could be lost as far as God was concerned. Failure beyond fixing. Whether people would go to heaven or to hell when they died mattered because disease would wipe out entire towns and people didn’t expect to live long. Whether you could be right with God mattered. People thought they had to earn salvation, buying prayers and doing so many things- trying to keep themselves out of hell.

Along came Martin Luther who said it’s time to reform, or

re-shape our thinking.

Because the Bible does tell us we will all sin and fail, but we are all justified-put in a right relationship-with God. We are as Jesus says, “Freed.” But this doesn’t happen by our laboring to be perfect. It’s possible only by God’s promise fulfilled in the gift of grace for us in the cross of Christ. God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Salvation isn’t made possible by what we do or how well we do it. It is ours because God’s grace reaches out-forgiving, reshaping and restoring.

So instead working on a perfect masterpiece, our relationship is more like playing with Play-Doh.

With Play Doh I can make anything, one shape, then another. I can add more. If I make mistakes, it can simply be restored  back to how it started. PlayDoh is forgiving that way. And lots of things are possible. That’s how God’s love is for us.

That's grace. Today we’re celebrating this history, but what about our lives today?  Well, people still hand me flyers warning me I'm going to hell, and maybe some people are worried about that, but I think we’re even more worried about what shape our church is taking, and keeping our identity.

And then I wonder if we like continual love, forgiveness and reshaping for ourselves, but lose sight of it sometimes as the church.

Life or death might be about other challenging things we’re sure cannot be.

Yet, across history God enters into these very places in our lives of faith. That is our strength to rely upon. Even in changing times that is the constant. That too is like Play Doh. No matter how many ways I try to use it, there is something that stays the same-it’s always Play Doh.

In the church, there may be many ways ministry is expressed, and people added but something stays the same. That constant isn’t our desire for “the way we’ve always done it.” It’s the love and grace and power of the cross through which God claims and redeems us all.

Today our music I hope is one way to see this diversity and strength of faith. Our opening song was Scandinavian, "built on a rock the church will stand” and we’ll end with a classic German song Luther wrote. “A Mighty Fortress is our God.” A song some of us know by heart that brings tears to our eyes. Both songs will talk about the strength of the church but there was a time Germans and Scandinavians worshipped separately.

We’ll also sing two newer songs. One from Tanzania, where the African church is growing rapidly, a song reminding us to listen because God is calling. A word for us today. During communion liturgy we’ll sing music by a Latino artist "Santo Santo Santo Santo es nuestro Dios"- Holy Holy is our God. About God’s liberation today.
Signs of God continually re-forming and re-shaping across time. No matter what language or culture or tradition, the vision is still the same. God’s church in every age strengthened and loved and being reshaped. New life and power always centered in the cross.

Sometimes that truth is scary- we want things fixed. In sin, we end up focusing on our efforts as the key. But the constant truth is our loving God meets us when we end up trapped and frees us again. And again. Today we remember again that freeing constant truth-God’s grace, the gift of faith and strength of the word that starts in our baptism-where that cross is made on our foreheads.

Baptism also is not a single moment fixed in time, but a journey for the rest of our lives. Today we celebrate as Victoria and Eddie enter and as Heather, Sean and Megan continue in this life, our life together as God’s people. Through them and us God will continue to work, bringing new life and reshaping. It’s worth celebrating! Let’s celebrate together that we’re freed, forgiven and renewed by this creative, redeeming and powerful love and continue the journey into God’s vision together.

Mustard Seed Faith

At the end of a really full week- parishioners in crisis, interviewing an organist, afterschool ministry, Bible Club, Table Church, a wedding, blessing of animals and funeral! I am most grateful for David Lose’s postings this week that helped significantly with my sermon! Without which I wonder what I would have said! Here ‘tis:

This past week ( thanks to David Lose) I got a chance to see a video about some folks in Detroit who noticed the city wasn’t able to mow the parks in their area due to financial crisis. And you know we’ve all heard the headlines out of Detroit, about whole areas being basically abandoned because the city cannot take care of them. And as we listen to the lament in Habakkuk today, I am sure as much as we lament things here in Reading, those people in Detroit have some pretty big laments too! But as David writes, "instead of complaining, or shaking their heads, or writing an editorial, or just getting depressed…instead of all those perfectly understandable things, some people just did something about it." Moved by the Spirit, in what I think is faithfulness.

They are called the Detroit Mower Gang started after some city parks were closed and left uncared for. They just started mowing all those weeds and grass. And one guy tells us after mowing under a swing set, and before you can even finish when you turn around, there is a kid or a group of kids swinging. Those kids have been waiting.

Waiting for someone to make it possible for them to play again. The Mower Gang says what they do is not about beautification. It’s about restoring play places. There are a lot of kids in Detroit whose play places are taken away- the Mower Gang is bringing them back. And you know they’ve discovered that when they are doing this together- it doesn’t even feel like work- they are having a good time and it’s transforming. It didn’t start with a big initiative and a lot of social research. It was a guy who looked around and saw something. And an ordinary thing has become huge in many lives.

http://www.mowergang.com/

Just as true for our part of the kingdom. I know a neighborhood woman who doesn’t have enough as it is, but she feeds others, so much so that people know she does this and give her food to share. Someone else picks up the parking lot trash, twice a week and sees it as his ministry. He hasn’t worked up the nerve to sit here yet, but he has a ministry. Another beautifies a small park almost singlehandedly, just playing in the dirt. Still others call and check on those  homebound, or send cards offering a lifeline to the lonely. And a couple folks faithfully pray that prayer list I encourage you to take home- each day. Simple things, Every day faith that might look like just a tiny seed.

This past week we learned a kid’s song on Wednesday night that captures what I want to share with you about everyday faith. Faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains, move mountains. Faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains by the power of God. Today, the disciples just don’t get it --

"they think faith is something they can quantify and they just want more of it. In fairness, earlier Jesus had not only warned them about making others stumble but also instructed them that they must forgive those who wrong them … again and again and other challenges. No wonder they ask for more faith -- they wonder who in the world can live up to Jesus’ expectations.

And maybe it’s like that for some of us: Overwhelmed by the demands  placed on us as “good Christians,” not sure we’re up to the task, and wondering what we signed on for. Maybe feeling like being a disciple is too much for us. But faith doesn’t have to be heroic. Faith, as Jesus describes it, is just doing your job, not because of any sense of reward but simply because it needs doing. Doing what needs to be done right in front of you. This, Jesus says, the disciples can already do. When we feel daunted by discipleship, we need to hear that sometimes faith can be pretty ordinary. Even that faith could uproot and move a mulberry tree – Jesus says it really doesn’t take all that much faith to be faithful."

But God’s power in these things will be more colossal than we may know!

"At the same time, some of us who may feel absolutely nothing like the disciples. It’s not that we’re overwhelmed by the tasks of Christian discipleship, actually we don’t even think about it. Going to church and perhaps generally being a good person is pretty much what it means to be a Christian. Perhaps it never occurs then that the rest of our lives are about living as disciples. Being a good friend, or working at jobs to keep food on the table, or paying your taxes," praying for our leaders and voting, or any of the other ordinary stuff we do every day are also, as Martin Luther tells us, about our Christian faith.

"Even the simplest things done in faith can have a huge impact:

•Imagine, for a moment, if you were to take stock of all the good you did in the past week in your roles as employers and employees, students, parents, citizens, volunteers and more. It would add up very quickly into a mountain.

•Imagine what the previous week would have been like if all those things hadn’t gotten done. If we subtracted them from the planet over the last week the world would be a grimmer today.

•Then imagine what the world would look like next week if you, realizing even our ordinary acts are being used by God to care for God’s world, and we felt empowered to do even more?"

 What if your mustard seed grew?

"Even what seems ordinary matters much to God.  God gives us faith and wants us to exercise it! Faith, isn’t an idea, it’s a muscle. And the more we use that muscle, the stronger it gets. And Jesus tells his disciples -- then and now -- we’ve got all that we need to be faithful, and that being faithful, is about recognizing all the God-given opportunities just to show up and do what needs to be done:

•doing our work

•caring for those in need
•protecting the vulnerable
•reaching out to the lonely
•befriending the friendless
•keeping the world going
•contributing to the common good.

All the ordinary stuff we do all the time, taken together and blessed by God, can be pretty extraordinary.

But faith is not only a muscle, it’s also an adventure. It’s putting one foot in front of the other and walking toward a future we do see yet but trust God is fashioning. It’s heading out the door each day looking for opportunities to be God’s partner and co-worker in the world. It’s imagining that the various challenges put in front of us are actually opportunities that invite us to grow as disciples and witness to God’s presence and goodness in the world.

This is everyday faith, the ordinary, extraordinary faith that we’re invited to practice day in and day out. It’s not heroic, but it is essential."

 Here’s the adventure-

Take a moment and close your bulletin and take a look at the picture. –there we are- all those mustard seeds. Together. Now imagine all of those seeds growing as Jesus says. Moving mountains in the here and now!

What’s to stop that from being so?

AMEN  

 

 For the vimeo of the Mower Gang, visit David's blog at:
 

http://www.davidlose.net/2013/10/what-is-faithfulness/

 

The Message the Angels Bring

I confess a selfish reason for celebrating Michael and all angels which is that it is my husband's "saint's day." And the name Michael literally means, "who is like God" but I urged people not to empower him. Yesterday, with our kids we looked at two of the stained glass windows in our church that depict angels- on each one the angels have orange wings. Not sure why. But any way, the first is an angel appearing to Abraham as he is about to offer Isaac, bringing important news to stop! The second is the angel Gabriel bringing important but joyful news to Mary- you will have a son! One of our kids is a girl named Gabriella who delights in the fact her name is the girl version of Gabriel!


It’s easy to look at today’s readings or others and focus on what we do or do not know about angels- who are these messengers?  What do they look like? We talked about how angels can bring good news, and tell things that are important and they protect us. And then we sang “Angels Watchin’ Over Me.” But of course there is more to all this because we are not so sure what to make of angels. And for many of us, we think about maybe the ones we hang on the Christmas tree where we imagine everything in the world is clean and pure and festive.

If art over time is a guide to popular thought, we like our angels to be pure looking girls, chubby blonde headed babies with miniature wings, or occasionally even sensual women. Smiling, or at least looking like they know a secret. We claim these images, perhaps even unknowingly as a way of escaping or smoothing over the world around us. But that’s not at all what we hear in the Bible. Angels sometimes look like nothing more than a curious visitor, or a fellow traveler. Other times, like a man, with dazzling bright light, like lightning, maybe with wings, as many as 6 wings, and as many as four heads, like animals and eyes all over, with a face like the sun. Kind of hard to hang that on a Christmas tree. Defender angels who look or sound more like something out of Lord of the Rings, or a fantasy movie, engaged in a kind of cosmic showdown that some are convinced the end of times will look like. And a tale of there no longer being any place for Satan in heaven- so he came to earth. How much is literal and how much is imagery? What to do with these creatures mentioned 600 times in the Bible?

Angels bring messages about something important. Most have no names. But when they do, there is usually a reason about big things. The two names we do know are Gabriel and Michael. Gabriel appears when births are being announced that will change the world-

the births of John the Baptist who prepared the way and Jesus, whose name means-  “he saves.” And Michael comes armed with the power of God to conquer evil. Their appearances are about proclaiming what we hear in verse 10 of Revelation- A loud voice proclaiming- NOW have come salvation and power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of the Messiah. And no matter how adorable our popular imagery of angels can be- honestly, that passage is what I really want to know.

We may not know what to make of all of the imagery, but we know what it feels like when evil has knocked on our door, or life is full of chaos. And while we do not know where angels are visible, somehow when they are seen, the reaction is one of recognizing God’s power, and standing in awe. Whether you have ever had such an experience or not, stories of those who have reveal God in our world.

A few years ago I had my closest encounter with angels, but I didn’t actually see anything. I was working at the hospital and paged to visit a patient with end stage liver disease. When I walked into the room there was a man connected to lots of medical equipment, looking exhausted from his struggles, and a frantic wife unable to rest from the swirl of information they’d been given about just how serious things were. She was terrified, and he was resigned. And they were caught in chaos. He was preparing to die, and hoping to escape. She was looking for a miracle- she wanted a cure. But they couldn’t undo the struggle. It had started long ago, in a cloud of addictions, shame and contempt. Being deceived by the devil and all those empty promises. And now they knew. She urgently demanded- you have to pray for him to beat this! For him to be healed, she meant cured. While he kept saying, “no babe, it’s too late for that.” But it was like his lifestyle was standing there, accusing him, day and night, like we hear of in Revelation, with each beep of the machines. Pray for us.

In my mind at that moment, were so many thoughts- anger that evil had destroyed a life. And when I think about how there was no room for the devil and evil in heaven, that they fell to earth,  I could literally imagine seeing it all falling in a blaze of flames, but the smoke seeping into so many lives, overtaking and convincing people to cling to things that would destroy them. Like this guy.

And right about then I would’ve liked to do some cosmic butt-kicking with Michael the archangel. And then high five with the disciples that we’d conquered! But I was left feeling profound sadness, and frankly, helplessness. Because while I believe for God all things are possible. I knew I could not stand there and say “God will fix you.” I knew time seemed short.

And there we were. And I began to pray with them and to this day I do not remember the words. I’ve tried, but all I remember was saying “Almighty God” and closing my eyes as tight as I ever had ‘til I got to “Amen.” But at the end, as I opened my eyes, the woman was positively transformed. She had a glow in her eyes, and stood there in a state of wonder. And she kept saying, “Did you see that?...Did you see?” Followed finally by- “when you were praying, they came! The angels came and were in this room. It’s gonna be OK. It will be alright. We can do this.” She didn’t say he would be cured, but that she knew they could walk this road.

And I was so astounded, I never even asked what exactly she saw. Because what mattered was not the messenger but the message- that you are known to God and chaos has an end. Angels act in Scripture and in God’s world to bring this message. The woman in that hospital room moved from wanting a cure here, to being convinced that she now understood how to walk in the days to come with God. The angels had brought a message.

And just like Jesus told the disciples, it’s not so much about the messenger as the message. That power and salvation and kingdom are now.

So often we can lose sight of God’s power, and salvation and kingdom. And be deceived. Into believing on our own power, or deceived into believing we are alone in our struggles. Or that what swirls around is too great to be conquered. But Martin Luther writes that “we as Christians should have sure knowledge that (God’s angels) are with us, not only one or two, but a large number.” After all, it was a multitude of the heavenly host with the shepherds that dark night. And he says “ … if God did not in this way check the fury of Satan, we could not live for one moment.” But God does.

NOW have come salvation and power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah. This is the message that helps us worship and praise, and discern God’s will. This is what guides, protects, delivers, encourages, and answers.

The message that chaos has an end in Jesus Christ. All around us may swirl accusers, or adversaries. Those who do not cling to life. Times where evil has come, but the time is short. But chaos has an end. And we are not alone.

Angels work mysteriously to surround us, and to remind us to rejoice that there is such a message for us because we are known to God. And we are assured salvation.

And that is the message we like the early disciples are given to carry- to proclaim God’s good news- in preaching and teaching, baptizing and healing, and casting out evil. In the name of the one who sent us. With a powerful love that saves and brings peace because NOW have come the salvation and power, the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. Jesus is that message.

May God surround us with the power of all the heavenly forces guiding us to believe it and proclaim it.  AMEN

The Power to be God's Church

Last week we were on vacation in Finland, which turns out to be an incredibly diverse place. Sitting in the train station I had one of the closest experiences to Pentecost I could imagine, hearing Finnish, Norwegian, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, and French, and probably other languages I didn’t even detect, all swirling at the same time. But what I really needed was someone who could help me in my language. Last Sunday in worship I tried to sing along to hymns in Finnish, but I had no idea what I was saying. I only picked out a few words- Hosanna, Jesus, amen. My friend Elise translated some of the sermon, but it was bits and pieces. And I really got a sense of what it meant to understand in one’s own language when I could not. The only thing I knew for sure was the body of Christ given for you and the blood of Christ shed for you at communion.

After worship, we met the pastor and learned the church’s history. It is called the Old Church. But originally it had no name. When the Tzar of Russia ruled the area, he decided people would be Lutheran and ordered a cathedral be built on the highest point in town. That church now is the National Cathedral. But while it was being built, there still needed to be A church-so this other church was built. But for years on maps it was identified only as "temporary church." Because it was only going to be the church until they built the real one. Like somehow God wouldn’t empower that place and those people.

After the cathedral was built, this wooden framed church remained active. The cathedral became the New Church, this other became the Old Church. Perhaps to the surprise of some. The painting behind its altar depicts Jesus blessing children. It was originally intended for the New Church but the tzar thought it too juvenile. Jesus creating family seemed not weighty enough. So it was placed at the temporary church. It wasn’t OK for the real church, but it was fine here. Like God wouldn’t use that art to show faith.

Despite not being the “real” church, now several hundred years later, both the Old Church, and the New Church are still there, as part of 5 churches in the Helsinki parish. Committed to a mission to make God’s love known and extend God’s family. A statement not so much about which people or which church, but a lot about the power of the Spirit!

And The Lutheran Church of Finland today works hard to produce resources not only in Finnish, but in the languages of the many others who have come to live there in a book called “To be a Christian.” Spanish, French, German, Russian, Chinese and more-languages through which to communicate God in ways others understand. Because this is God’s mission. It’s impressive.

But at the same time, the pastor of the Old Church explained that after worship they now have "Sharing time." It’s new. They gather chairs in a circle and invite people to stay for conversation and to learn each other's names. Because among the 100 or so people who worship on Sunday mornings, they don’t know each other well. They tolerate the children, and the old woman with dementia with food in her hair, and the young professionals, but they don’t connect. It seems that Finns are not big on asking each other first names. And since the city has changed so much, the old ways don’t work so well. The Old Church cannot be the Same Old Church.

When people keep to themselves, it’s hard to form community or talk about what it means to be Christians. The Pastor’s idea was seen as really shaking things up. No one apparently thought he was drunk when he announced it, but I was told that he was not raised Lutheran. It turns out before he was a Lutheran pastor he was … Pentecostal.

These experiences point up the dynamic we find ourselves in at times- we’re not sure what to consider temporary or permanent, old or new. In our wrestling with this, we don’t always really connect with each other. It’s like we speak different languages. We can look right past each other and past now, believing at times we know how God will act. Or that some other time past or future is what really matters.

In the end, those considerations turn out to say a lot about us and not really much about the grace and love of Jesus Christ or the power of the Holy Spirit we celebrate this day.

We live knowing Jesus has risen and will come again. But we live now. And in this time, we are really all temporary churches. But like the disciples we’re promised  the Holy Spirit to help us live out the mission. To be God’s church now.

Because living in the movement of things are constantly changing is not the easiest thing. The Book of Acts calls what happened that Pentecost a miracle. The fact that everyone could understand, each in their own way was a miracle. In all the languages of our lives, we hope to be understood and loved but how we communicate can seem like we’re really all speaking different languages. It’s just as likely that we and those around us imagine being able to connect with God and to be understood, and living in all this change takes nothing short of a miracle.

Into this place God sends the Spirit. And it starts with prayer.

What happened that day 3000 alone came to believe and the church began to spread, started with prayer. Those disciples gathered in the room were not all alike. Or inherently gifted. They came from different perspectives, not always seeing eye to eye, waiting for Jesus, but not quite sure what’s coming next or what to make of it. And really by nature not of one mind. But when they gathered and prayed, God entered.  The promised power of the Spirit came in prayer. And I suspect not as they expected. Coming to and working through all kinds of people, with wind blowing and fire flaming, and amidst them the voice of God stirring it up. The power of God transcended it all as those languages burst forth and people began to understand God’s language- love for all. That is still God’s mission.

We are a part of this chapter of God’s power and mission. Sometimes we talk about figuring out the church’s mission.

I think Pentecost reorients that conversation. God has a mission-go and make disciples of all nations, draw people into relationship. This is God’s mission. The gift of the Holy Spirit is not a mission. God doesn’t give the church a mission. God gives the mission a church. And gives us the power and a place in it. To be what God’s wants here and now. Even when it feels temporary, uncertain, unpredictable, or unfamiliar.

And God gives us a language of love, power and grace. And the connection to it all is prayer. Part of why I shared the stories of Finland is I saw connections to this place. In the history of God in this place, the Spirit blew and people were convinced that there would be a Sunday school. But then, not just a Sunday school chapel, but a real church. And the Spirit has continued to blow, using a rich variety of people and ways to help people grow in Christian faith and unity. Not to make us all be the same, or speak the same, but to draw us together in the Spirit as God’s family in all its diversity. And I continue to be amazed at the work of the Spirit in and through you!  We’re a small group through which God affects many. Young and old, new and long time, and everything in between. God’s Spirit is still moving, bringing power. My prayer is that God continues to stir us to be the Church that dares to call itself the Church of the Holy Spirit-reminded of our mission and the gift of community, proclaiming the Good news of God’s love, power and grace.

And I pray this will be our prayer -together.     

Come Be God With Us

We gather this day on the Sunday when we are supposed to be particularly celebrating and rejoicing in our waiting. And the words we’ve heard in our Old Testament lesson, and the Psalm and Philippians could seem ill timed- there is no unbridled rejoicing this day. We’ve been all too clearly reminded that evil and pain come crashing into our world, taking lives. Evil still takes up residence in people we thought we knew and makes us strangers, not only in Connecticut but in many other places closer to home. As we like lots of other people are asking the question, “what then should we do?” The stark reality of events breaks open a rare moment when we are prepared to walk away from all our obstacles and ask the question. And if ever there is a time when the words “O Come Emmanuel” signify our longing call to God, it is in times such as this when we think about the lonely, and those in misery and cry “Come be God with Us and free us from this. We’re confused, come bring wisdom and help us learn. We’re broken by depression and fear, come restore us and make us strong enough to go on. Come bring some light into our darkness and hope into our doubt”. Boy, I not only want to sing that, I want it to work, don’t you?

And at first I was thinking how ill-suited today’s readings are for such a time, but then on second glance, they are not just unbridled rejoicing without a care, they are rejoicing as those who have been or are in the midst of pain and sorrow and regret. Where people saw they were on the wrong path, or realized the weight of being dominated or menaced by others, or like Paul, were captive. For us as we try to find and hold onto that promise of ultimate rejoicing, the harder question is what about now? How did these people in Scripture find the power to rejoice? How might we? It has to come from beyond us, the power and strength to do so.

The people coming to see John in the wilderness were not wise religious experts in Luke. They were confused everyday people like you and me. Some coming because they were curious, some figuring it couldn’t hurt, some swept up by the crowd or a charismatic person. They were interested in this new message, but not committed. John challenges them and tells them they have it all wrong, that they are focusing upon surface stuff. IF they are serious, there is more to this message and this Messiah. You can’t just be curious. This good news is about committing to a whole new way of living, and having hope because there is a whole new source of power to do so.

Repentance is about refocusing your whole life outlook. This is what we dare to glimpse when life gets serious. But to continue to refocus with staying power, with focus that lasts long after big events are history, takes more. The source of this power can only come from the One of whom John spoke- the One more powerful than all of us. The One who has used that power to save us.

This year we have of course focused upon how we are recalling the birth of Christ into our midst. And talking about hoping real hope for God’s ultimate promise. But I’ve also been trying to lift up “God with Us” in the here and now. God active and a Kingdom present now. Frankly sometimes it is hard to see or hold onto. Yet this day I am trying to remember that God’s story is not just about God coming to say “You’re mine, you’re fine, carry on.” Which is good because we’re not fine. This is why God continues to come to be God with us and to save.  Maybe we can together rejoice that this is true as we help each other live into it. Into believing that God is so powerful we can walk away from the way the world sees things over and over again because God is with us.

But God with us is not God for us ( not save us so we can get back to business as usual) and not God for me (others can fend for themselves). God with us is a whole new outlook and the journey into it takes an “us.” This is why of all the examples John is giving the crowds I like the two coats, something I see in a whole new way today.  Most of the crowds were poor and they may well have only had two pieces of clothing- a tunic they wore underneath and one they wore on the top. Two coats- one on the outside and one functioning like underwear. Be willing to give away one.  Be willing to walk around in your underwear so someone else isn’t naked. And trust that when your one wears out, you’ll be covered-that’s radical giving and radical community.

But there are so many concerns in our world to which we could ask the underlying question-What would you give for life to change? What would you give for people to be made whole? What would you give for an end to violence? What would you give to save lives? That’s the point. There are so many life struggles that could have different futures.

What would it mean to believe that someone had the power to help us make rejoicing possible in the places of our longings? For all of us? That’s the point of the gospel. Christ is the answer to all our questions and the strength for our struggles. God who knows who we can be and still longs to save and to free us.

Once I was putting together a toy with one of our daughters and the instructions were time consuming and challenging, and as we worked on it, I secretly suspected that even when put together, it might not work. My daughter on the other hand, was approaching this from a very different perspective- she was eager and focused because she was working in a sense of expectation and rejoicing- what if it works!! How great would that be?

In all our songs of sorrow, God’s never ending refrain is “I love you, I want to bring hope. I will rejoice over you and renew you. I will save, I will change you. I want to bring you home and give you strength. I can bring peace where it seems impossible.” If it is true, this is great news of expectation and rejoicing. The kind that we should want to trust in, to share and to live into because we’d give anything for it to be real and to work.

 It does not end today’s pain, but does offer much that can shape our conversations about our world’s challenges. There are no straightforward pat answers, but maybe the best way to honor the children, ourselves, our world and our God is to embrace that vision. To meaningfully look for and share the expectation that it can work. To dare to silence the voices of the non committal and self focused and instead to walk together as a community and a nation in a whole new conversation. One that leads us away from demonizing and clashing that bring bitterness and pain. One that dares to work with each other and with God trusting that Jesus came to break open real power and possibility. And that rejoicing, however slowly comes in trusting God’s power and light and life really do work.

So Come Emmanuel- Be God with us. We want to rejoice. Help us be this people with  you.

(This video of the Piano Guys is produced by the Mormon Church)



 

Believing God's Power and Peace are Real

A small group gathered at evening, to share a meal, light the candles, and remember the cross. To experience what they needed here-Jesus came into their midst as they gathered in a room that was not a beautiful sanctuary, but a common room. They brought what they could share – some brought wonderful dishes of food, others brought what they had, some couldn’t bring anything, in fact coming to fellowship with the community was how they would eat that night. They gathered and shared the challenges they faced outside. Some hurried in, others were dragging and exhausted. But by the end of their time together, they began to experience peace. Gathering and telling each other Jesus was with them began to feel real. There was a peace, a peace so real that they began to realize others would want to know this peace. To realize they were the best messengers who could share – come and see, let me tell, believe! And as the small group grew in their love for each other, the power of the Holy Spirit brought them together in one mind. In a way that allowed them to see that while they didn’t share all of the same opinions, they could share in this meal; pray the hopes and joys, doubts and fears of others; and be inspired as they sang-“ Go now in peace, may the love of God surround you, everywhere you go.”  They became strengthened in their belief to do what Jesus commanded- go tell, love others.

I could be describing the earliest disciples- they’d seen the Lord, but were still wrestling with uncertainty, behind closed doors. Telling Thomas “we’ve seen the risen Lord,” yet were still letting it sink in what that meant. I could be describing the early community we hear of in Acts, so filled with the power of Spirit they’ve become of one mind, beginning to live out belief by trusting God and letting their possessions be shared. Yet this story is followed by a story of others in that same group who couldn’t live that out. They wanted to, but standing there with the money, couldn’t let go. So they lied. Even for that astounding community-some were still letting it sink in what “Christ is risen” meant.  

I could also be describing the small group who gathered here Wednesday nights in Lent for Table Church. They came, curious, but unsure. Bringing doubts and challenges after a long day in the world. But together we experienced the peace Jesus brings. Our last week, we turned out the lights and just sat in the glow of the candles and the cross, in the presence of Jesus and each other. There was peace. Can the Table Church folks please stand? These are the people who have a story to share! We have seen it, we can tell about it, and have come to more deeply believe in the peace of Christ. It’s powerful.

Last Sunday was powerful too- an overwhelming experience-beautiful music, full pews, children and baptisms, excitement!! Worship ran way over and no one got up and left. It was as though there was this in-breaking of what it means to be of one heart and mind in Christ by the power of the Spirit. I think last Sunday we could’ve done just about anything together. We experienced the power of the Spirit! And were at peace. 

But that’s not reality, right? It’s an ideal world we manage to glimpse once in a while. Now the last notes of the music have faded, the flowers have drooped, the Easter Peeps are stale and it’s back to the real world.  And it would be naïve to believe that such experiences of peace and power could really happen all the time, right? It would be unrealistic to believe that people would give freely for the sake of the gospel.  It would be unimaginable to think that anything new was really possible in a permanent way.  We know what we might hope for in the ideal world, but here we are in THIS one. I can’t see it and I don’t believe it.

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, but the earliest disciples and we ourselves have a hard time holding onto that-it’s hard to believe all the time. We can say what we believe and that it matters, but in the real world, it’s a struggle. Yet it’s into this world of ours Jesus came promising the Holy Spirit and peace. Power and peace. Yes, we live in the real world, but we’re called to see our world, not with the same old eyes, but through the eyes of God’s power and peace. God knows that when we try to walk in our world, it is anything but peaceful. Jesus comes to bring that peace into being, standing in the midst of all of our doubts and struggles, opening the closed doors and speaking God’s power and peace. Jesus is peace. And Jesus meets us to bring his presence, power and peace into our lives so that we can become believers, and can continue to deepen our belief.  

Some of us grew up in the church with the mindset was that church is just something you do-on Sunday you come to church. It’s frustrating that some don’t come. Where are they THIS week? We begin to have doubts and uncertainties about our future. They came last week, they should be here today. But Jesus doesn’t meet the disciples to say “I have risen- go to church.” He comes to say- “I have risen, become believers.” And I think Jesus makes all the post-resurrection appearances to offer forgiveness for when we and others don’t quite believe and to remind us again and again of the power and peace of God. Because while Jesus is powerful enough to take on the world, we’re not. We need to see, to hear and to share over and over again to continue to become believers. This is true for us all. Each week we have this chance to come to the table, hear forgiveness, receive a peace the world can’t make happen. We need it again and again. We need it, others need it. We need Jesus to meet us here so we can live belief by going out and telling what we’ve seen, help others believe this is real. We need Jesus to keep living this belief even when others don’t. To fully experience God’s peace and power, we need to be here. By experiencing this peace and power, the Spirit opens possibilities we might not have seen, bringing us together as one mind- for the sake of the gospel- to share the good news, draw others here and embody God’s love.  

I think it starts by not just shaking our heads about the “Christmas and Easter” crowd.  

Here’s how I hear I hear the Spirit speaking to us: After Easter worship, some of you said you saw people you hadn’t seen in a long time. People you wished I could talk to and encourage them to return here more faithfully.

But what if seeing the world with new eyes means that the best messenger isn’t me, it’s YOU? You who know them best.
How might the peace of Christ help YOU overcome fear or awkwardness to start that conversation? How might the power of the Holy Spirit inspire YOU to call them? 
I challenge you to unlock that door and see where it leads.
Trust that Jesus is with you, and that the power of the Spirit enables you to share what God reveals here. Come- See what I see-God at work. Hear God’s words.  Experience the power of God’s possibility and the depth of God’s peace.

Let’s let it sink in and live together as those who are continuing to become believers in this power and peace, believing God brings a new reality that’s just that-

It’s real.