http://www.piucc.org/index.htmlPastor Bob's Blogenbob@piucc.orgCopyright 2010 Robert Grove-Markwood2010-12-02T09:40:00-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Wed, 08 Dec 2010 09:43:35 -0500bob@piucc.orgNone2010-12-02T09:40:00-05:00http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/5a40faa14607a871a6c345b6df0e500e-9.html#unique-entry-id-9http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/5a40faa14607a871a6c345b6df0e500e-9.html#unique-entry-id-9Isaiah 11:1-10
A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples;
the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

A Work in Progress -- Sermon Thoughts
The "Stump" of Jesse is what most of us are used to reading in this passage from Isaiah. In the first line, the word "stock" has the same meaning, i.e., the trunk or stump of a tree left standing. "Stock" is also a word that has the meaning of "a line of descent: a tribe, race, or ethnic group," which may make it a more precise communication of Isaiah's intent.
Isaiah's words address the spiritual experience of the people of Judah during their Babylonian exile in the sixth century BCE. Jesse had been the father of King David, whose "house" had been established and blessed by God -- those were the days. What they were feeling now was the loss of that past glory. They grieved that they had become the victims of a "clear-cutting" operation, as they believed God was punishing their drifting away from the covenantal, ethical requirements expected of them as God's people. They felt hopeless, because the lineage and continuation of the reign of the House of David had been cut down, cut off. They lamented that all that was left of their nation, their culture, and their faith was a stump. Their "family tree" was ended. They had no future. They were "stumped."
So many people seem "stumped" today. Feelings of desperation, of alienation and resentment, of hopelessness, of fear have become visibly apparent in expressions of destructive anger, divisive mistrust, and often retributive politics. Many of us are feeling a troubling tension among friends and neighbors struggling, without much success, to find a way to make some kind of "peace" with the obvious differences in our perspectives and priorities about the way we will live together, and how we will manage the affairs of our country and communities. We don't seem to know what to do to fix it, change it, make it right for all. We are "stumped."
In the midst of "politics as usual" in the sixth century BCE, Isaiah proposes that this is not the way life has to be for us -- it is not the way God wants life to be for us. The stump is not dead, as you may think. Be patient, and watch. A shoot will come forth from the stump. The stock of Jesse is not ended. There will be new growth, a new ruler is coming, and you will be restored, to the glorious relationship you knew with God. That is the promised future, a future marked by the peace of God.
And it will look like this: "natural" enemies will not harm one another. All will live in harmony again. The only catch is that you have to trust that it can happen. God will be God. God has blessed, and God will bless again. Do you think it is possible that this could happen in our land, despite our significant disagreements, especially considering the challenges we face in simply talking to one another? Can we make peace with those on "the other side of the aisle"? What will it take for us -- all of us -- to allow the transforming presence of the one who is coming (again and again), to grow in our hearts, and unite us with a peace that none will refuse, and by which all are blessed with healing. Advent asks such questions of us.
Advent also presumes the answer is readily available to us -- that we need to wake up to the truth as it appears again and again. May we be attentive to the Advent, the coming, of the One who has taught us all we need to know about making peace. May there be growth from the stump of our stubbornness, nourished by the roots of our heritage of holiness. Let's pay attention to what the Bible has to tell us about how to make peace. There are serious, successful strategies revealed in these stories.
Let's also pay attention to the ways God is even now working among us to stimulate growth and Shalom -- the wholeness we long for, and that God promises will be our future. There are faithful practitioners of a better way to address the conflicts among us. There are worthy witnesses to lead in creating a "kingdom" in which there are no more predators, and no more prey, a place where all can live in harmony, and all will have enough, and all will know peace. May we take notice of those persons around us who are like fresh shoots from a "dead" stump, signs of new life, new possibilities, and signs of God's power to renew and restore. May we allow the Spirit to stir such growth in us, that we too may reclaim our place on that Family Tree of God's people. "A shoot shall come forth from the stock/stump of Jesse...."
]]>bob@piucc.orgNone2010-11-27T11:02:00-05:00http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/d6e6bd40bb01ddf207ec8b848f363281-8.html#unique-entry-id-8http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/d6e6bd40bb01ddf207ec8b848f363281-8.html#unique-entry-id-8Matthew 24:36-44
[Jesus said:] "But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

Some Sermon Thoughts
It is the morning after Thanksgiving as I write this episode of "A Work in Progress." I pray that your Thanksgiving was something special to be grateful for. Although a day late for Thanksgiving, this selection from yesterday's edition of The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor offers both a reflection about this Pilgrim perspective of gratitude, and a relevant lead-in to the season of Advent, which begins this Sunday:
On Thanksgiving Day of 1884, Walt Whitman published a piece in The Philadelphia Press, writing about himself in the third person. He wrote:
"Scene.— A large family supper party, a night or two ago, with voices and laughter of the young, mellow faces of the old, and a by-and-by pause in the general joviality. 'Now, Mr. Whitman,' spoke up one of the girls, 'what have you to say about Thanksgiving? Won't you give us a sermon in advance, to sober us down?' The sage nodded smilingly, look'd a moment at the blaze of the great wood fire, ran his forefinger right and left through the heavy white mustache that might have otherwise impeded his voice, and began: 'Thanksgiving goes probably far deeper than you folks suppose. I am not sure but it is the source of the highest poetry. [...] We Americans devote an official day to it every year; yet I sometimes fear the real article is almost dead or dying in our self-sufficient, independent Republic. Gratitude, anyhow, has never been made half enough of by the moralists; it is indispensable to a complete character, man's or woman's — the disposition to be appreciative, thankful. That is the main matter, the element, inclination — what geologists call the 'trend.' Of my own life and writings I estimate the giving thanks part, with what it infers, as essentially the best item. I should say the quality of gratitude rounds the whole emotional nature; I should say love and faith would quite lack vitality without it.'"
As Advent begins - our time of anticipation and preparation for the advent (coming) of God in the Incarnation (birth of Jesus) - we are confronted by this reading from the Gospel of Matthew in which Jesus cautions his disciples about trying to second guess God's future. What will it be, and how do I assure my place among the saved, they wonder? That is not the attitude that will benefit you, Jesus tells them. What is most important is the manner in which you live, now.
Barbara Brown Taylor observes: ""Every morning when you wake up, decide to live the life God has given you to live right now. Refuse to live yesterday over and over again. Resist the temptation to save your best self for tomorrow.... Live a caught-up life, not a put-off life, so that wherever you are….you are ready for God…. Ours may be the generation that finally sees him ride in on the clouds, or we may meet him the same way generations before us have – one by one by one, as each of us closes our eyes for the last time. Either way, our lives are in God's hands." It seems to me that this is the foundation of Whitman's "gratitude," and an essential, thankful quality of living in readiness for God's advent.
In the end, my sense is that Advent invites us to perceive with grateful hearts that the promised New Heaven and New Earth, which we long for (perhaps as a child longs for a hoped-for Christmas toy), is already here. This may be the most "unexpected hour" of all for lots of folks who focus so much attention on some "end" they are so sure about. May we live every day thankful that our lives are in God's hands, so that our faith may indeed be "vital" with acts of compassion and mercy -- today, and every day. Today, and every day, there will be blessings for us, and opportunities for us to bless. Thanks be to God!]]>bob@piucc.orgNone2010-11-19T19:09:43-05:00http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/b20f787bf866646a4f2436d7b8d7dc8d-7.html#unique-entry-id-7http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/b20f787bf866646a4f2436d7b8d7dc8d-7.html#unique-entry-id-7Colossians 1:11-20
May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Some Sermon Thoughts
English Royalty is in the news again, and while you may have taken notice of the Prince's engagement, you may not think it is the most important story you heard all week. Americans don't know much about monarchies, or may not care that much. That may be a part of why "Christ the King" (nee "Reign of Christ") Sunday, more "high church" than we are used to, may not be the high point of the church year for us.
Who is this Jesus "the Christ"? That is a question that Reign of Christ Sunday addresses. That is also the question behind this christological hymn in Colossians 1 -- this song about the essential nature of Jesus. It is also a song that reflects a "big picture" -- looking back at all of Jesus' ministry, the early church sees his life was so much more than the sum of its parts: the healing and teaching, his suffering and death, his resurrection, and his coming again. There is something bigger -- like the universe.
The language of the letter to the Colossians is pretty heavy with fancy, learned, lofty, church-y words and phrases about the divinity of Christ. Truth is, for my part, we are more comfortable talking about the Jesus who was just like one of us, only super-good. The Cosmic Christ is a bit confusing for our contemporary cultural consciousness. Jesus, the source and ruler of all creation, King, Sovereign, "image of the invisible God," in whom the "fullness of God was pleased to dwell," tends to get less attention. That's a mistake, says Tony Robinson. "The point is to proclaim the humble, crucified man is the exalted Lord and Savior, in whom all things hang together." The point is to understand what difference that might mean for us, and for all creation.
There's a lot going on this Sunday, and I hope you will be able to join us for worship, and fellowship. It may seem like one of those three-ring circus days in church, but it will all hang together (I hope). A thanksgiving hymn ("Come, Ye Thankful People, Come"), a baptism, children singing, stewardship talk, a Bible reading about the all powerful nature of Christ, a hymn of praise ("Rejoice the Lord is King"), and pizza!
It all hangs together, if we perceive that the two natures we struggle to see (and understand) in Jesus' face, nevertheless reveal one great love, which is the face of God. Jesus is "the ideal teacher, wandering sage, wise person, ... caring man." And he is more. He is Christ. That's what we need to see for ourselves -- or have someone show us -- that we may come to find, through him, our own wholeness. Join us as we humbly try to do just that this week.
Humanity and Divinity. Giving and Receiving. Suffering and Joy. Heaven and Earth. It all connects, and each apparent duality is a part of one glorious wholeness. That's what the letter to the Colossians is trying to say as well, I think. To those persons being persecuted and suffering greatly for their faith, Paul says God is reconciling everything through Christ. It will all make sense, and all creation will be whole again because of this Jesus, the Christ. We will be whole again -- not just us, but all people, all creation.]]>bob@piucc.orgNone2010-11-13T09:12:07-05:00http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/b2889bc0e636aacc08bb8c671bb133c4-6.html#unique-entry-id-6http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/b2889bc0e636aacc08bb8c671bb133c4-6.html#unique-entry-id-6 17-25"Pay close attention now: 
   I'm creating new heavens and a new earth.
All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain 
   are things of the past, to be forgotten.
Look ahead with joy. 
   Anticipate what I'm creating:
I'll create Jerusalem as sheer joy, 
   create my people as pure delight.
I'll take joy in Jerusalem, 
   take delight in my people:
No more sounds of weeping in the city, 
   no cries of anguish;
No more babies dying in the cradle, 
   or old people who don't enjoy a full lifetime;
One-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal— 
   anything less will seem like a cheat.
They'll build houses 
   and move in.
They'll plant fields 
   and eat what they grow.
No more building a house 
   that some outsider takes over,
No more planting fields 
   that some enemy confiscates,
For my people will be as long-lived as trees, 
   my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work.
They won't work and have nothing come of it, 
   they won't have children snatched out from under them.
For they themselves are plantings blessed by God, 
   with their children and grandchildren likewise God-blessed.
Before they call out, I'll answer. 
   Before they've finished speaking, I'll have heard.
Wolf and lamb will graze the same meadow, 
   lion and ox eat straw from the same trough, 
   but snakes—they'll get a diet of dirt!
Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill 
   anywhere on my Holy Mountain," says God.

Some Sermon Thoughts
Susan and I spent Thursday and Friday in Orono this week, to do a little babysitting (more Susan than me -- just try to get 'P' out of her arms), so K & J could focus on a new project they have going on.  So, a couple of days away from home means I am "behinder" than usual.  That's why these sermon thoughts are minimal this morning.
Tomorrow, we are going to hear Isaiah's vision that God is "about to create new heavens and a new earth.  Isaiah confidently proposes that our God is a God of second chances, and that through God, we have a future in which heaven and earth are one.  As I think about how to talk about what this might mean for us, I am drawn to look again at the movie "Field of Dreams".  An Iowa farmer hears a voice that urges him to build a baseball field on his farm.  Ghosts of former baseball players appear -- among them his father, with whom he had unfinished business.  What does it all mean?  Awesome movie!  Here's a sneak peek:
Young John Kinsella (Ray's dad):  "Is this heaven?"
Ray Kinsella:  "It's Iowa."
John:  "I could have sworn it was heaven.  Is there a heaven?"
Ray:  "Oh, yeah.  It's the place where dreams come true.  (Looks around and sees his wife and daughter) Maybe this is heaven."
Would anything have to change in your world for you to say, "Maybe this is heaven"?  How could the world be a new creation -- fulfilling God's dream of what earth and humankind can be (again)?
As 'Doc' Graham says to Ray, "I never got to bat in the major leagues .... That's my wish, Ray Kinsella.  That's my wish.  And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?"
Isaiah's dreams are more expansive -- imagining a world in which there is no more weeping -- a world defined by God's ways of justice and peace.  Isaiah's dreams are of a world which longs to be as "new" as the first morning of creation, that time when heaven and earth were one, with God. 
As I wrote in the recent stewardship letter, I am sure that dreams can come true when people work hard to build their dreams -- with hope, passion, persistence, and most of all with trust that God blesses those dreams that cohere with the dreams God has for us.  So, are you ready for the hard work, not just dreaming of a world where no one weeps from hunger, homelessness, poverty, war, but building it?  With God's help, we can create a new earth about which we could say, "Maybe this is heaven!"

]]>bob@piucc.orgNone2010-11-05T16:11:00-04:00http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/86f88d1149dec4b57c61c658dc014635-5.html#unique-entry-id-5http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/86f88d1149dec4b57c61c658dc014635-5.html#unique-entry-id-5Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.” Jesus said to them, “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”

Some Sermon Thoughts
Last week I let you know about the United Church of Christ asking the members of all UCC congregations to make November 5-7 Friends-Raising Weekend.  My sense is that we will all agree that extending an invitation, and a welcome to others -- to everyone -- to be a part of our church is a good thing.  "No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here."  
The challenge for us is that we also respect people's privacy about matters of faith and the practice of one's faith.  So, if you don't feel "comfortable" extending a direct invitation to someone to visit our church (too pushy?), PLEASE do not feel that you can't come to church this Sunday!  THIS IS NOT SHOW AND TELL ....  So don't stay home.  Come and worship.  You won't be alone here.
This worship service will be like just about every other Sunday -- maybe better!  The Junior Choir is singing (a song they love to sing LOUD).  We will celebrate an infant baptism -- always a highlight for me.  And in the sermon, I will try to say something simple, and concise (i.e., brief) about our church, and the United Church of Christ.  I will point to some of the values we hold dear, and lift up foundational faith perspectives that have shaped the way we seek to live our lives.  
[By the way -- Check out the UCC's new web-based identity ad Uniquely UCC.  The short video says some important things about who we are -- though there is more to say, as we in the Presque Isle UCC are unique in our own ways.]
I would love to see a few invited guests this weekend.  But here is the bigger point to be made.  In the spirit of Facebook, I believe God is really the one who is "friending" all of us, inviting all of us to gather for worship this week.  We have a lot on our plates, many matters of life (and sometimes death) to occupy our hearts and minds, and so much of our time.  But if our primary focus is on trusting God, then I am convinced that the rest of the stuff we worry and wonder about will be resolved, in God's time.   Bible scholar Patrick Wilson says about this story, “We have questions -- God knows we have questions -- but we are invited to trust that in God all our questions come to rest."  What Jesus' response to the Sadducees reveals is (among other things) that faith is not about "final answers," and that God is still speaking. 
Don't Forget the Time Change!
Every year, we literally get an extra hour at this time of year.  We have so over-committed the rest of our time, we should cherish this one special hour, and use it well.
Sleep?  Yeah, that's my first thought, too.  In that vein, why limit that one short hour to sleep?  What about dreaming?  Dream -- dream about what God is calling you (and all of us) to do with the rest of the hours that are ours.  Dream -- even if for only this one hour -- about how God calls us to fullness of life, trusting (as Patrick Wilson comments on the scripture) that "in the grand scheme of living and dying ... whatever else dies, love does not die."  
This seems to me the surest sign of God's faithfulness, and an "answer" sufficient for all our questions, worries, and fears, that they may come to rest, because God is still speaking.

]]>bob@piucc.orgNone2010-10-29T19:43:37-04:00http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/6df78a67faba0bb64017993fb20220fe-4.html#unique-entry-id-4http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/6df78a67faba0bb64017993fb20220fe-4.html#unique-entry-id-4Luke 19:1-10 He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost." 

Some Sermon Thoughts

Zaccheus is literally, and figuratively, "up a tree."  Our church school curriculum explains his predicament this way:  "As the chief tax collector, Zaccheus was a franchise owner who prepaid the allotted Roman tax and then hired collectors to recoup his costs plus a profit.  Because he worked for the Romans at the expense of his own people, he was perceived as morally corrupt and ritually unclean."  His own people looked down on him, and not just because he was so short.

Zaccheus knew he was missing something in his life, and was willing to "go out on a limb" to encounter this Jesus.  Jesus surprises, and shocks, the crowd by seeing Zaccheus's interest, and single-handedly inviting him back into community, into relationship, into life the way it was meant to be lived by God's people.  Jesus doesn't "come down" on Zacccheus for his past wrongs.  Jesus says, "Come down," and initiates relational repair, inviting Zaccheus to become an agent of hospitality, that he might welcome the incarnate presence of God into his life -- and the lives of others?

What I take away from this story is that such an encounter with Jesus has the capacity to unlock an extravagant generosity.  Meeting Jesus makes possible a holy hospitality that is as important for us to offer, as it is to be received -- by those we would welcome into the mutually affirming relationship that can be the church (at its best).
  
Would you be willing to "go out on a limb" (like Zaccheus) to become such a welcoming presence?  Has an encounter with Jesus in the life of our church made a difference for you?  We may not demonstrate such a remarkable, radical shift in attitude and behavior as Zaccheus, but I pray that we may all experience our own emphatic enthusiasm about being a follower of Jesus, and our excitement about his "invitation" for us to welcome him into our lives.

Next weekend, November 5-7, the United Church of Christ has asked the members of all UCC churches to invite friends to join them for National Friend-Raising Weekend.  On Friday morning, November 5, the UCC's new video message, "Uniquely UCC," will be released on the internet to introduce people to the special qualities of the United Church of Christ.  We are all being asked to share the message, to spread it virally, on a Facebook page, or via Twitter, or email, with an invitation to join us on Sunday morning.  More important than sharing this internet "commercial," is that we ask people to join us that Sunday morning.

Many of us are probably loath to be perceived as pushy, or aggressive about matters of faith -- like where (or if) one goes to church.  The "Congregational way" is about the exercise of our individual conscience before God.  We are more about soft-sell, and self-determination.  However, it is possible to invite without arm-twisting.  It is possible to include others in our faith lives without being pushy.  We recommend a good restaurant, so why not a place that may have nourished your heart and mind?  We talk about a good movie we saw, why not a worship service that moved you, or challenged you, or even gave you joy?

This must not be a one-time thing.  I pray that it may be our intention for every Sunday.  Invite, make welcome, and share the journey.  I hope to see you this Sunday, and the next, and the next.  Bring a friend!
]]>bob@piucc.orgNone2010-10-24T07:40:16-04:00http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/4bcfec86f3a5860c84d9b768e5388993-3.html#unique-entry-id-3http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/4bcfec86f3a5860c84d9b768e5388993-3.html#unique-entry-id-3Luke 18:9-14 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.' But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted." 

Some Sermon Thoughts

Why does this story matter?  On the surface, it seems to be just a simple teaching about prayer, which follows another teaching about prayer.  In last week's reading from (Luke 18:1-8) we heard: "Pray always, and do not lose heart."  It was more than just persistence that Jesus encouraged, though we may not always see the deeper message.  This second parable about prayer would appear to be equally simple:  arrogant is bad, humble is good.  We should be like the guy with humility, who recognizes he isn't perfect, and not the guy who seems so full of himself, so self-righteous and judgmental of others.

It seems simple.  Yet, I suspect there is more to the story (there usually is with parables), that neither of these main characters is meant to be seen as completely good or bad.  Both have strengths, and each has limitations.

Take the Pharisee, who so faithfully follows all the religious requirements of Torah, to a "T."  He is a good person, just about everyone would agree.  The only thing is, his prayers (which we would not hear -- though God would) reveal how he fails to recognize his dependence on God.  He thinks he can do it all, all by himself.  And he looks down on anyone who doesn't have the necessary discipline, or moral fortitude to follow all the "right-rules" like he does.  Know anyone like that?  My question is, can he become a really "good person," and change the way he treats others -- even if only in his prayers?  Will he come to see he too needs God's mercy, in addition to disciplined obedience, to be the truly righteous person he claims to be?

Then there is the tax collector, who in the eyes of just about everyone (including his mother, possibly) is the worst kind of cheating low-life, Roman collaborator, traitor.  His prayer (again, that we don't hear, though God does) shows that appearances can be deceiving.  He knows his failures, his sins, and most importantly knows that he needs God's mercy.  He understands that he can't become a "good person" without help -- God's help.  The question here is, will he change?  Will he stop using his power to take advantage of the poor?  Will he stop beating up on himself and become a new person with God's help?  Will others let him become new, and welcome him into the community of God's people?

There are several ways to unpack this parable, and to take a closer at these two personalities.  These comments are only a starting place.  My hope is that we will end up with more than a conviction that we should be humble and not arrogant, as worthy as that goal is.  This Sunday, I ask you to join me in considering how this parable challenges us to think about the way we see each other, think about each other, and especially about the way we treat each other, deciding so easily who is good and who is bad.  

Here, I find myself thinking about the state of political campaigning (on all sides), especially the political ads which increasingly involve more nasty put-downs of the opposition candidate than they do presentations of the merits of the sponsoring candidate.  I may be preaching to the choir if I go this path, as I suspect we are probably in agreement that there is a troubling lack of civility in our culture in these times.  Do we dislike and distrust each other that much?  Are "they" so bad and are we so "good"?  What can we do differently?  How can we change this?  How can we change ourselves?

This is a story about us.  My sense is that we are all part Pharisee, and part tax collector.  We are all sinner-saints.  Recognizing and confessing that is one thing -- a first step.  The more important thing is to intentionally work to live more justly, more mercifully with each other, welcoming both the sinner-saint within ourselves and the sinner-saint in others into the community we are called to be as God's people -- together seeking God's Justice for all!  That's the work that we agree to take on as church, and as disciples of Christ.  Let's do this, knowing it can happen only with God's help!
]]>bob@piucc.orgNone2010-10-15T20:05:22-04:00http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/616425a487de2708b968dfc8e350bd27-2.html#unique-entry-id-2http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/616425a487de2708b968dfc8e350bd27-2.html#unique-entry-id-2Luke 18:1-8 Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'"  And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" 

Some Sermon Thoughts

In the animated film, "Ice Age," the character "Scrat" is a prehistoric saber-toothed squirrel who never gives up chasing an elusive acorn.  Scrat suffers greatly in his unflagging pursuit of this prize, which he possesses intermittently.  Falling from staggering heights, frozen in ice, struck by lightning, nearly crushed by a glacier, he never stops striving for the acorn.  This poor creature is only a cartoon character, but he is the epitome of persistence in the face of failure, hardship, and suffering.  At the end of the movie, we don't know for sure that he will ever finally have the acorn, this apparent focus of his whole life.  But it doesn't matter -- he keeps trying. We may think he doesn't have a prayer of getting that acorn, but he persists.

In this parable, Jesus also encourages persistence -- in prayer -- apparently in pursuit of God's blessing.  Does Jesus promise us that if we simply pray hard enough, and long enough, God will submit, and give us all that we ask for, all that we think we need, all that we obviously want?  Do you think this is what prayer is all about?  Is it all about dogged determination?  Is Scrat a good role model?  What is the "acorn" you covet, and desire?

I am more convinced that the parable is meant to reassure us that if we "pray always," we will be opened up to a relationship with God, which may not always get us what we think we most need in our lives, but will surely get us in touch with The ONE we most need in our lives.

This kind of prayer is not prayer as most of us have learned to think of it -- like the Lord's Prayer, or table grace, or a bedtime prayer.  Barbara Brown Taylor describes prayer as we may experience it:  "Then as now, most people prayed like they brushed their teeth -- once in the morning and once at night, as part of their spiritual hygiene program."  I would expand the analysis.  I wonder if very many of us are anywhere near as disciplined about prayer as we are about dental hygiene (even though we don't floss as often as we should).

For me, the persistence of prayer that Jesus encourages is all about relationship with God, and not about nagging God into submission to our desires.  It's about aligning our hearts with God's heart.  It's about trusting God, and acting on it.  It's about being so logged-in, so connected, so in sync with God that our whole being, our whole life is like a conversation with God -- a conversation that has more deeds than words.  We may sometimes sound like we're nagging, whining, complaining, begging.  But God is ready to hear it all.  The good and the bad, the trivial and the profound.  And the Spirit is persistently encouraging us to persist.

So, take heart, Jesus teaches.  If a crooked judge will give justice to the widow, who has genuine needs, what do you think our just, loving God is going to do for you when the going gets tough?  So pray, ask, cry out, rejoice.  And even though you do not know for certain what the verdict will be in your case, relentlessly pursue the "acorn" of truth and justice, and trust that God's way will ultimately be THE WAY.  This parable reminds us that we can count on God to hear us when we have no where else to go, and we can count on God to come down on the side of justice for us.  And if God will be so generous to us, can we be as generous to others?

We know that from tiny acorns, mighty oaks will grow.  And from the persistent pursuit of God's way of justice (and not just for us), a mighty faith will surely grow.  This Sunday, we'll be thinking about the intersection of three elements of this parable -- prayer, justice, and faith -- and we'll reflect on the amazing persistence of God's Grace, which is at once the goal and the source of our lives.]]>bob@piucc.orgNone2010-10-08T16:25:00-04:00http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/b6bec8696161444f676004338d3c1167-1.html#unique-entry-id-1http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/b6bec8696161444f676004338d3c1167-1.html#unique-entry-id-1Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 

Some Sermon Thoughts

In 597 B.C.E., the Babylonian Empire expanded it holdings in a hostile takeover of all of Judah, with Jerusalem as its most important city. There were massive layoffs locally, and a devastating "brain drain" as the brightest and best from every sector of the culture were taken back to Babylon to be of use to their new "bosses."  As with almost all expanding empires, the primary goal was accumulating and consolidating wealth (nee power).  

These were hard times for the exiles in Babylon.  Uprooted from all that was known, familiar and comfortable, they were now surrounded by strangeness of place, language, customs, and most especially -- the worship that had been at the center of their existence.  Their one God now seemed as distant and lost to them as the Jerusalem Temple and Mount Zion.  They were so sad, and lost.

Jeremiah (in his usual gloom and doom way) has told them that their physical, geographic dislocation was a consequence and symptom of the spiritual distance they had created between them and God back in Jerusalem.  And yet, he also tried to encourage with a word of hope, which may be as hard for us to hear as it was for some of the Israelite exiles.  You can live as faithfully here as anywhere.  Build houses, he says, and live in them.  Plant gardens, and eat from them.  Get married, have children, raise up families.  And pray, he urges, for your enemies, the place you don't want to be in, the situation you did not intend to create for yourselves.  It will help, whether or not you understand how.

So Donald Musser (Feasting on the Word, Yr. C, Vol. 4, p. 150) writes, "although exiles cannot control their exilic circumstances, they have some measure of control over their attitudes and behaviors."   For the Israelites in Babylon this will be important because while everything fell apart so quickly, it will take a long time before they go back home.  Be patient and persistent, Jeremiah writes to them.  Settle in for the long-haul.  Make the best life you can, right where you are, loving God and loving neighbor -- yes, even those neighbors.  God is there too, watching for you to be that "light to the nations" he called us to be so long ago.

I can't help but say what I hope is the obvious, that Jeremiah could be writing to our generation in our time of exile.  Corporate take-overs (hostile or not), economic recession, foreclosures, job losses, bankruptcies, "gutted" retirement funds, failed banks.  Are these some of the signs of exile in our time?

And have you noticed how many survival shows there are on television these days?  Is this a sign, revealing how lost and fearful we feel about all that is going on in our world?  Are we hungry to learn literal survival skills, or to be at least reassured by others that we can survive almost anything?

There are skills that we can learn (and some we may have forgotten we have) that will see us through this time of exile.  But they don't involve making a fire without a match, or finding potable water in the jungle or desert.  We'll reflect on some of those skills, or knowledge base, in worship this Sunday.

Jeremiah is so clear.  God will get us back home, eventually.  There is a future, even if you don't know exactly what it looks like.  You can do this, because God will be with you through it all.  God was with you in your exile, and in the bright, promised future with God.

We're told that consumer confidence is low.  But trust in the marketplace is neither our real problem, or a true solution.  Trust in God, whose ways and whose presence are our only security, our only hope, is the long-term investment that will bless us and all creation.]]>bob@piucc.orgPastor Sermon Blog2010-10-01T17:03:26-04:00http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/789d89f88635b0b3aabe9001417899d6-0.html#unique-entry-id-0http://www.piucc.org/Blog/files/789d89f88635b0b3aabe9001417899d6-0.html#unique-entry-id-0The image of God that we encountered in last week's sermon was that of a parent caught in a sudden rainstorm, sheltering their infant in their arms, whispering promises.  "It's going to be all right. We're going to make it home.  I know the way. I love you!"  The scripture readings reassured us that God will be with us in times of trouble -- always.

This week, we hear songs of lament, grieving voices of the children of Israel.  Their land has been conquered, their temple destroyed, their leaders exiled to Babylon.  Their culture is close to death.  It is a devastating time of dislocation.  After September 11, 2010, we may have begun to have some idea of what their collective sorrow felt like.  Our dislocation may have been on a smaller scale, but we have seen the response to the sorrow and grief of that day.

Psalm 137 reveals a people tormented by their captors, saddened by their distance from all they had known.  It is almost unbearable. Their anger is great, and their desire for revenge is so strong.

Perhaps we can empathize with these emotions, the wish to pay back the perpetrators of pain with more pain than the victim has known. But to revel in the  horrific deaths of children?  I can't go there.  I don't want to feel that kind of rage.

How do you react to this final,  frightening verse of Psalm 137?  "Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against a rock."

Does it simply not belong?  Should we ignore it?  We should definitely not say that this is just the Old Testament God of judgment in action.  This is the old testament people in pain in action.  It is their rage, not God's that we are hearing.

So, perhaps we need to pay closer attention to the brutally honest cries of anguish from those that suffer, not just in Bible stories, but in our own communities, in our world.

This Sunday we'll try to listen more deeply, so that we might hear what the Psalmist has to teach us through these most troubling words.  The Psalmist honestly expresses difficult emotions.  As we listen, may we be as honest with God about the depth of our feelings about many things.  God is open to receive this crying out.  May we be as open to the cries of anger, born in suffering, of all people.  And may God embrace it all, our pain and theirs, their grieving and ours, the anger, the desire for revenge, that every wounded body and heart may be healed. 
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