Sylvania UCC Sermon Cast!

The Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney preaching on Genesis 12:1-4a as part of the Chidester Lecture Series. Audio Only.

Matthew 5:38-48 Calvin breaks his dad’s binoculars. Calvin, as in the comic strip boy with the tiger of “Calvin and Hobbes” fame, not the reformed theologian John Calvin, to be clear. He breaks his dad's binoculars and is sweating about it. He asks his tiger Hobbes, who is the voice of reason in the comic, what he should do. Maybe he can raid his piggy bank and buy a new pair without his dad noticing. He has about $6 and calls the store to see how much the binoculars cost. $600! Oh man! Calvin’s dad is going to kill him! Maybe we can put them back together, Hobbes offers. Calvin gets the box and pours out the binoculars that have been reduced to dust, instructing Hobbes not to sneeze. That’s not an option either. Calvin doesn’t know what to do. He’s at the family dinner table and he’s sweating it out. Calvin thinks, “Look at dad, calming eating his dinner as if nothing was wrong. I know him. His ‘dad radar’ is beeping like crazy. He knows I broke something, he just doesn’t know WHAT. He can’t nail me until he knows for sure. He’ll just wait. I know him. He’s going to just sit there eating and let me stew in my own guilt. He figures sooner or later I’ll crack.” His dad asks, “Calvin, can you pass the…” “AAUGH! I did it! I did it! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!!” and Calvin confesses. Dad rants, “You BROKE the binoculars! Didn’t I tell you to be extra, extra careful with them?? Isn’t that exactly what I said?! WELL?! Those binoculars were brand new! Have you no respect for other people’s property??” Calvin replies with a tear, “I have an idea dad, let’s pretend I already feel terrible about it, and that you don’t need to rub it in anymore. I didn’t mean to break your binoculars, it was an accident. I’m really sorry and felt like I was going to barf all afternoon.” “I’m sorry I yelled at you like I did, I shouldn’t have been so angry,” The dad says. “After all in the big scheme of things, that’s really not so bad.” “Really?” “Sure! In another ten years you’ll probably be wrecking my car.” Calvin was so worried about the retaliation of his dad. He knew his father, he knew he’d go ballistic and he did everything he could do to avoid it. Yet the dad responded, after the initial flare of anger, with surprising grace. The dad responds in a way that isn’t punitive, but restorative. Later, he buys Calvin his own pair of binoculars and the two are reconciled and the relationship healed. That is how God is. We spend so much time sweating things out. We resist confessing because we’ve been told that God is a wrathful and vengeful judge, but that’s not the God we find in Jesus Christ. You’ve heard all that, but I say unto you that God is life-giving and will restore you… so you must do the same. Live just like God. Have the virtues God has. You have heard it said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you, turn the other cheek. If they want your coat, give your cloak. If one of the soldiers of the Roman occupying army forces you to carry their things for a mile, go an extra mile. Restore the relationship. Humanize yourself to them. Risk being vulnerable to them. Jesus knows we have enemies, or if not outright enemies then conflict in our relationships. Even the good ones. Jesus also knows that we’d sooner accept a God we are fed to than a God we are fed by. I’m going to say that again. Jesus knows, as theologian Robert Capon stated, we’d sooner accept a God we are fed to… that we have to sacrifice animals to and grovel and prostrate ourselves before… than a God we are fed by… who restores us, wants us to mend the relationship between God, the ground and source of our existence; our neighbors, the partners of our existence; and our environment, the context of our existence. Reminds me of a pity saying in some church circles, “God loves you just as you are, and too much to leave you as you are.” Love is transformative, changing, and restorative. Many people talk of God as a judge, and God is. Yet not the type of judge we’re used to, not a punitive judge but a restorative judge. Maybe we don’t understand how confession helps restore us to God. Maybe there are relationships that are just too broken to get what Jesus is talking about… I understand those because I have those in my life too. If reconciliation is a spiritual practice, then I need more practice. That could be my bumper sticker. It then leads me to my question of “How do I live this out?” We don’t talk much of sin here, but current events have me thinking that we should start talking more and more about sin. It will be hard. Sin is hard to talk about as it’s been misused. The conservative Christians use it to make us feel guilty about every little moral misstep. Do you pick your nose? Then you’re going to hell! I don’t think so. Yet we here in the liberal tradition talk so much about grace, we leave others wondering why it’s needed in the first place. Sin is simply separation. Separation from us and God, us and ourselves, us and our neighbor, and us and creation. I’m learning how to reconcile and to think differently after I realize I’ve been separated from these areas. I’m learning how to turn the other cheek, to offer more than is required of me, to be vulnerable and let my humanity shine through. To go the extra mile in service of an oppressor. But maybe, maybe our entry to this is the environmental piece in this. My favorite comedian Louis C.K. ponders this. He wonders why some Christians don’t take care of the environment and protect it. He says, “if you believe that God gave you the Earth and God created the Earth for you, why would you not have to look after it? When God came back God would go ‘What did you do? I gave this to you! Are you crazy? The polar bears are brown! What did you – what did you do to the polar bears??? What did you – Who did this? Who spilled this? Who spilled this? Come over here – did you spill this? What is that?’ It’s oil…it’s just some oil…I didn’t mean to spill it…’ ‘Well why did you take it out of the ground???’ ‘Cuz I wanted to go faster…I’m not fast enough…and I was cold…’ ‘What do you mean cold? I gave you everything you needed!’ ‘Well cuz jobs and nmmmm..I wanted’ ‘What is a job?? What is – Explain to me, what is a job?’ ‘Well you go like uh and you work at a place where people call when their game doesn’t work and you help them figure it out.’ ‘What do you do that for?’ “For uh money’ ‘WHAT DO YOU NEED MONEY FOR???’ ‘F-f-food’ ‘Just eat the stuff on the floor! I left food all over the floor! Corn and wheat and stuff, just grab it up and make some bread, what are you doing???’ ‘Yeah but it doesn’t have like bacon around it…and like…I like when it has like…bacon on it and bread’” I love that bit. We have to face our own selves and name our own values and reasons. God does this so we see ourselves more clearly, see our neighbor more clearly, and see God more clearly. A God who wants us to be fully human and fully alive. To thrive! To be restored to God, each other, and ourselves. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? God offers the gift of rain to everyone. Expand your heart. Praying for your enemies is not the same as blessing their use of power. Jesus forgave his executors. Risk vulnerability and not retaliation. Who knows? Maybe there’s a new pair of binoculars in it for you. Or… if you read to the end of the story… a new heaven and a new earth. What a gift we would have if only we have the courage to risk being changed by God’s love. The changing and transforming love best understood by the reformer Martin Luther when he wrote, “Christian living does not mean to be good but to become good; not to be well, but to get well; not being but becoming; not rest but training. We are not yet but we shall be.” By the grace of God. Amen. Works Cited Capon, Robert. Between Noon and Three: Romance, Law, and the Outrage of Grace. C.K, Louis. “If God Came Back” found on youtube here: https://youtu.be/WrahQpIWD08 (warning! Adult language!) Hall, John Douglas, The cross in our context, Jesus and the Suffering World. Page 109.

Sermon “You Have Heard it Said, But I Say” February 12, 2017 Deuteronomy 30:15-20 15See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. 16If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his (God’s) ways, and observing his (God’s) commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. 17But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, 18I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, 20loving the LORD your God, obeying him (God) , and holding fast to him (God), for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Matthew 5:21-37 21“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ 22But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire… 27“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart… 33“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ 34But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God… “Choose life, l'chaim!” “You have heard it said, but I say to you…” There is a Jewish toast that I want to lift up and use today for the sermon. “l'chaim,” or in English, “Choose life.” Many years ago as a teenager I remember that on one occasion when I went to get my hair cut at the local barbershop, the woman that was cutting my hair got shared with me a struggle that she was having in faith. This woman was from a fairly traditional church with fairly conservative teachings. The teaching that was causing her a bit of a faith crisis had to do with baptism. Her church taught that baptism was a prerequisite to having eternal life. Therefore the unbaptized were not welcomed into heaven. Her faith crisis happened when one of her friends had a baby that died shortly after being born. Due to the suddenness of the child’s death, the child had not been baptized their pastor. Now this woman, my barber, was struggling with her fear that this child, due to the lack of being baptized, was not welcomed into heaven, into eternal life. Her faith told her that the only outcome here was death. Now I do not remember exactly what I said to her but what I do remember of that time in the barber’s chair was that I could not imagine that the God we believed in could be so cruel as to bar an infant from baptism for the lack of being baptized. I chose to believe in a God that offers life. A second thought on eternal life was triggered by my attendance at funeral not long ago where another pastor was giving the message. In an effort to offer hope in the midst of death, this pastor on several occasions remarked that the deceased through his death had entered eternal life. Each time it was stated, I was thinking, I am not so sure about that. You see, I believe that his entrance into eternal life did not happen at death but happened much earlier than that. I believe his entrance into eternal life happened the moment he experienced life. Each of these stories speaks to an understanding of eternal life and of faith. Both give voice to what I believe is a bit of a limited view of both God and eternal life. Each is limited in that the emphasis on life with God is placed after one dies. Plus, neither does justice to either the Hebrew or Christian scriptures. I think of Jesus’ words, “You have heard it said, but I say to you” as a way to challenge us to think in new ways. For instance, consistently both the Hebrew and the Christian scriptures are concerned about the here and now. Neither the Hebrew or Christian scriptures places its emphasis on what happens after death. But historically though, there has been a part of the Christian faith that has placed an emphasis on the eternal life (after death), ours included. By so doing, those who chose this emphasis in belief then did not have to seriously address issues of faith in the current life. As a result, as long as Christianity was only about the afterlife, then it had little or nothing to say about the current life. For instance, here in the United States for decades the church read scripture in such a way to justify slavery. (Who among us today would do such a thing today?) “A century and a half ago, Frederick Douglass, as he led the faith-rooted struggle against slavery in America, wrote, ‘Between the Christianity of this land and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference -- so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure and holy is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt and wicked.’”1 Douglass clearly saw that the Christianity of this land, not that of Christ, by placing its focus on the afterlife not only had little to say about the issues of its day but found justification its support of the great evil of slavery. So in this enlightened age, let us not like those in the past error by dwelling only on life after death but let us be challenged by Moses and by Jesus to choose life in the here and now. Let us consider what is meant in the Hebrew scriptures when it says to choose life. What doesit mean to choose life? Or easier yet, what does it not mean? For Moses, choose life did not mean worshipping the crazy idols of the Canaanites, the people who occupied the land where the children of Israel were headed. This is good advice for us too. We all have things that we idolize or covet or prioritize over God's teachings, things such as money, power, fame, big houses, fancy cars, or our cell phones. None of us have these as gods, right? So tell me, how anxious were you the last time you went someplace and realized that your cell phone was not with you? What emotions did you experience? If you experienced any anxiety, then that phone has become more than just a telephone. Moses tells us that these things that cause us to be anxious do not lead to life. In fact they only lead to destruction and death. Idols can be powerful things. If we worship money, for example, we become greedy. If we worship power, we can become corrupt. If we worship another person, we can become co-dependent. As Ralph Waldo Emerson explained, "That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our life and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming." Beware of the idols, for they do not lead to life. So what is life? Moses answers in verse 20: "Loving the Lord your God, obeying God and holding fast to God; for that means life to you." This is all in the present tense. It is what we do now during this life that makes a difference - that gives us life, eternal life.2 In the Christian scriptures, Jesus challenges us to choose life as well. First of all he stresses that the Kingdom of God, the Beloved Community, is present now. And if it is present, if God is present among us, then our lives ought to reflect that reality. If we trust that God is present, then we have the power to choose life and to live life to its fullest. He challenges us to choose life in such a way as to not limit what God has in store us. He suggests that life is threatened when anger and judgment and insult reign. So he says, “You have heard it said, but I say to you…” He suggests that life is threatened when women are objectified, or merely seen as fulfillment of sexual desire or the carrying on the family name. So he says, “You have heard it said, but I say to you…” He suggests that life is threatened when you do not follow through with oaths you make. So he says, “You have heard it said, but I say to you…” In other words, Jesus is saying that interpreting the law is far more complex than you make it out to be. And if your interpretations lead to death -- the silence of voices, the discounting of the personhood of the other, the disrespect and demeaning of entire groups of people, the labeling (which is a nice way to say calling names) thereby putting people in their place -- then you have to think long and hard about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.3 Consistently the teachings of Moses and of Jesus, those about choosing life, are at their root all about how one lives in community with one’s neighbor. I came across this poem recently that speaks truth to how to choose life and to live in community. I you us them those people wouldn’t it be lovely if one could live in a constant state of we? some of the most commonplace words can be some of the biggest dividers they what if there was no they? what if there was only us? if words could be seen as they floated out of our mouths would we feel no shame as they passed beyond our lips? if we were to string our words on a communal clothesline would we feel proud as our thoughts flapped in the breeze?4 To choose life is to enter into eternal life in the here and now. By entering in the here and now we begin to fully experience what it means to live in the presence of God! When we realize that we are in God’s presence, that is living life at its fullest. “l'chaim” --choose life! 1. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/oped-moral-outrage-after-national-prayer-breakfast-n716261 2. The Rev. Susan Sparks, Sermon - L'Chaim, and Don't Mess It Up! February 16, 2014 3. Karoline M. Lewis , Associate Professor of Preaching and the Marbury E. Anderson Chair in Biblical Preaching 4. "clothesline," poem by Marilyn Maciel. Published in Patti Digh, "Life Is a Verb: 37 Days To Wake Up, Be Mindful, And Live Intentionally." (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008), 42

Is 58:3-10, Mt 5:13-20 The Rev. Mary Meadows preaching. It was near the end of the summer between 9th and 10th grade – between junior high and senior high. I had finished with my job teaching swimming at the local YMCA, and I wondered what I would do while waiting for school to begin. My next-door neighbor came to the rescue. “I cook for First Baptist Church at Falls Creek, a big Baptist camp. I could really use a helper. I’ll pay you – I just need you for an hour before each meal so you’ll still have time to do things with the other campers.” A paid job and I could be out of the house for a couple of weeks. Sure, why not?! I didn’t know much about Baptists at that time. I had started out life as Catholic, but my parents left the Catholic church when I was in grade school. They were frustrated with a church that did not seem to respond to the world’s needs. Then we were Unitarian for a while. But by the end of junior high, I didn’t feel I was much of anything. But this was the year when Baptists (and when I say Baptists here I am talking about Southern Baptists – there wasn’t much else in Oklahoma!) were making popular a bumper sticker exclaiming, “I found it!” a reference to finding Jesus Christ as a personal savior. My family was more likely to tout the response bumper sticker that said, “I never lost it.” Nonetheless, with not much worry and only a mild admonition from my parents to, “Have fun – but try not to get saved,” I headed off to the borderland between Oklahoma and Texas for a summer camp. Other than having to get up earlier than most of the other campers to help in the kitchen before breakfast, the camp felt mostly like camp. Well, let me clarify. It wasn’t camp like “camping” - the kind my Girl Scouts did in cabins or tents. No this was “camping” in a huge barrack-like building amid other huge barrack-like buildings owned by other large churches. And there was an awful lot of God talk. Bible studies in the morning where I learned such things as, “If you are lukewarm for God, God is going to spit you out – just like the whale spit out Jonah.” And there were the church services in the evening – a revival type feeling. But there was also lots of singing, with songs like, “Wherever he leads I’ll go” and “It only takes a spark to get the fire burning,” (when Pass It On was a relatively new song). Since I liked to sing, it was enough to carry me through most of the God-talk. That is, until someone found out I wasn’t saved. I don’t know if you have ever been witnessed to, but it is a little intimidating. Everyone suddenly wants to share with you about his or her personal relationship with Jesus Christ and how you can have that relationship to if you only give your life up to him. They can pounce on you at any moment. And it sometimes felt like an inquisition. “Do you believe in Jesus?” “Sure, I believe Jesus was a real person,” I responded (we had been Unitarian after all). “Do you believe what Jesus said?” “Probably.” “Did you know Jesus said you had to be saved?” “Show me where Jesus said it.” Well, that would send them scrambling through their Bible – apparently, they weren’t used to having to prove things, and I was safe until the next person decided to try a hand at witnessing. One memorable counselor tried a sympathetic approach. “I know it’s hard for you to understand this since Catholics are not Christian.” Let’s just call that one a complete fail. But more troubling than being witnessed to was that I just didn’t see that much of a difference in the behavior of those who were “saved” and the usual behavior of teenagers. There was still teasing, catty remarks, and judgments (like rating girls on the way to the pool – yes, boys and girls swam separately). And there didn’t seem to be any focus on changing behavior. Rather, the focus was on confessing your sins and God would forgive you. I had the sense that many assumed that since you could ask forgiveness later, it didn’t matter what you did. And that made no sense to me. Even at 15, I was pretty sure that if there was a God, your faith in that God should probably make a difference in how you lived your life. So, I was even more confused when I overheard a couple of camp leaders talking about my 7th grade Social Studies teacher. One of the leaders acknowledged, “She is such a good person.” But the other answered, “Yes, but too bad she’s not a Christian.” I found these words jarring. First, how would they know whether she was Christian, and second, wouldn’t it be better to be a good person then a person claiming to be Christian but having a faith that didn’t matter? My imponderable questions were left unanswered and I managed to escape the camp unscathed and unsaved. Yet here I am today, preaching! . . . A few things may have happened since then. And to my great joy, today we begin with the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah is speaking to a people in Exile. The City of Jerusalem is in ruins and the temple has been destroyed. The Israelites have been determined to win back God’s favor and we know from Zechariah that for 70 years following the destruction of Jerusalem the Israelites fasted on the 5th and 7th months of each year. But their ritual fast has been to no avail and so they call out to God, “Why do we fast and you do not see!” The Israelites felt abandoned by God and cannot understand how their pious behavior had not returned them to God’s favor. Isaiah, however, understands the limits of the ritual. He understands that true fasting is an attempt to align one’s priorities to the will of God. But the Israelites’s fasting aligned priorities to themselves. “We’re the victims, here. God, why have you abandoned us? Save us God. Do right by us, God!” While the people have mastered the ritual aspects of the law they have completely ignored the ethical demands of it. Isaiah reminds them of God’s true fast: Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Isaiah reminds the Israelites – reminds us, that worshiping God and being in right relationship with God requires that we give ourselves to the work of God in this world. In other words, unlike what I heard and saw at the Baptist Camp oh so many years ago, faith requires behavior that is aligned with God. Some commentators view this passage as an “if” “then” type of proposal. IF you fast in this way – THEN God will see you and answer you. But an “if” “then” proposition suggests God “rewards” our good behavior by turning God’s face to us. But I believe God is present – the issue is more about the ability to see God’s presence. An epiphany of sorts. So, I read this passage as more of a “when” “then” proposition. WHEN we are actively engaged in the social and economic reform that God calls us to – feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked – THEN our “light shall break forth like the dawn and our healing shall spring quickly. We will call and the LORD will answer. We will cry for help and God will say, `Here I am.’” In other words, it is in doing the work of God in this world that we will know and understand God’s presence. Matthew reminds us of this light imagery in the passage in this continuation of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount – you remember, the bumper sticker beatitudes Luke led us through last week. In this week’s passage, Jesus tells the people gathered that when they (and we assume also us), live in the way of those beatitudes, we are the salt of earth and light to the world. Not very glamorous, is it? After all, salt is cheap and readily available to us and enhances most of what we eat. Anyone who has been on a low-sodium diet can attest to the difference a little salt makes. And light – we live in a light-saturated if not light-polluted environment. Light is everywhere. But light and salt share a couple of characteristics. We perceive each primarily through our senses. We know salt through our sense of taste. We experience light through our sense of sight. But while we know salt and light through our senses, neither is the primary object of our perception. We don’t cook a meal of salt or eat salt on its own (although my daughter has been known to try). Instead, we use a very small amount of salt to enhance the flavor of what we are eating. Likewise, while we can see light, our purpose in turning on the light is to better see what is around us. Jesus tells us we are salt of the earth – don’t dilute the flavor we bring to the table with impurities. We are light of the world – don’t hide the light. Indeed, Jesus says the light cannot be hidden. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.” Jesus’s listeners, who lived in the context of Roman domination, would likely have known that Rome saw itself as the “light to the world.” By telling people a city on a hill cannot be hidden, Jesus is effectively saying that it is us, doing God’s work in this world who are the true light, not the rulers of the world who’s actions are contrary to God’s call for justice. So how are we, in this time and place, to live out this call to be salt of the earth – light of the world? Because we are all more aware of the darkness in this world than ever before. The hateful vitriol that has taken over civil and political discourse in this country has only further fed the violence in this world. In just this past week alone, six Muslims were killed and eight wounded in a Mosque in Quebec City last Sunday night – the accused a self-described ultra nationalist white supremacist. On Tuesday, the JCC/YMCA in Toledo received a bomb threat – one of 17 across the nation to JCCs. According to the Jewish Federation, over 60 bomb threats have been received by JCCs across the country since January 1. Meanwhile, children, like four-month old Fatima from Iran, may not live because they are banned from the country that could provide the life-giving surgery they desparately need. But in the midst of this hatred and violence, there is light. Last month, the police in Whitefish, Montana nailed a mezuzah on the door of the police station in a sign of solidarity with the Jewish community facing the threat of a neo-Nazi march. The Reverend John Edgerton, a UCC minister service Old South Church in Boston publically voiced his objections to the repeal of the Affordable Care Act to his senator – and was arrested. Last weekend, Sylvania UCC turned out 30 strong to work with others at Christ Presbyterian to pack meals for those who are hungry in our community. More recently, educators responding to the anxiety and concerns of their students held a One Sylvania: Rally for Refugees last Wednesday where the overwhelming message from faith and community leaders was love and welcome. Our own Pastor Luke shared his passion for the God of Abraham, the God of Jesus, who calls us to love. Pastor Sam banded with other faith leaders seeking unity in the area in response to the violence. One response of this group has come from the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo who invites all to join them at the Center for “a prayer of peace, love and serenity,” as an expression of gratitude for the outpouring of support they have received. Their invitation sends out the prayer, “May fear be replaced with faith and worries be transmuted into peace.” And the Canadian government’s response to the violence at the Mosque? Ontario has agreed to open its borders to provide life-saving surgeries for children like Fatima. The Canadian health minister noted, “I felt, particularly in light of the occurrences in the past week … in Quebec, that Canadians and Ontarians would feel comfortable and confident in expressing our openness.” How will you live out your worship as salt and life in this world? Maybe it is as simple as showing up for the Polar Bash on the 18th to show welcome to our Syrian neighbors. Maybe you participated on the March in Washington and continue to make your voice heard in Washington with phone calls to express opposition to people and laws that will oppress the most vulnerable in this world. Maybe you show up to school every day and shine God’s love through the way you value each of your students. Maybe you operate your business with integrity and respect, valuing each customer. Maybe you see your job, whether as a maintenance engineer, a doctor, a microbiologist, a lawyer, a nurse, a firefighter, a barrista, or security personnel as a way to serve God. And maybe, you who are retired, are finding new ways to engage in the world in a manner that allows you to shine God’s love. Jesus did not say you are becoming salt and light. Jesus said you ARE salt and light. Indeed, there is an implicit command in his words: BE salt of the earth. BE light of the world As Isaiah tells us, “If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.” Be salt. Be light!

Matthew 4:12-23 12Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. 13He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”17From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 18As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 19And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” 20Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. 23Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. First, to understand this text we must unlearn what we think we know about the word repent. When you hear the word repent, what comes to mind? “Repent you sinner!” I am a bad person, who must first repent so that I can be saved! But what if the word, repent, meant to turn, to change directions? What if it had nothing to do with sin or being a bad person? What if Jesus’s use of the word meant to change the current direction that your life has taken you to a new direction, one that is far more fulfilling? What if the use of the word repent meant that you turned from a life that left you aching for something more to one of which Iranaeus spoke about when he said, “The glory of god is a human truly alive.” In English the word repent means to turn from sin, to feel regret or to change one’s mind. But in the original Greek there is no sense of sin. From the original Greek, the word means to change one’s mind, to go a new direction. If we take this definition, “to go a new direction,” and apply it to this story in Matthew, the story starts to take on a very different meaning. The fishermen in the boats to whom Jesus calls out “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand,” were actually hearing, “Come and join me in going a new direction in your life, for God is with you!” Now that is an invitation that many of us would love to hear or need to hear. Secondly, to understand this text we need to know something about what it means to be a fisherman in Jesus’ day. For years, I struggled with this text as have countless other preachers and biblical teachers. We struggle with it because of its brevity. Many have come to the conclusion that there are parts of the story missing. Who would answer this call to follow Jesus without more information? Many have made up what that missing part of the story must have been. I have wondered too, until I read an article by Brian Stoffregen where he was quoting from the book Matthew and the Margins by Warren Carter. In this book Carter informs us what the world thought of fisherman in Jesus’ day. Carter writes that, “While fishermen have some economic resources, their social ranking is very low. In Cicero's ranking of occupations (De Off 1.150-51), owners of cultivated land appear first and fishermen last.” (Cicero was writing about a century before Jesus lived) “Athenaeus indicates that fishermen and fishmongers are on a par with money lenders and are socially despised as greedy thieves (Deipnosophistai, 6.224b-28c).: (Athenaeus lived about 2 centuries or so after Jesus). So for at least 3-4 centuries around the time of Jesus, fishermen were a despised lot, something on par with tax collectors. If this is true, then this story is not so much about the response to Jesus’ call as it was about who he was calling. He was calling fisherman to follow him. He might as well have been calling tax collectors. By calling fisherman, Jesus was saying to those whom society had said were not worthy that he saw something in them that made them special. Special enough for Jesus to want to say to them, “Follow me.” By calling these fishermen, he is putting into action his teaching, “the first shall be last and the last shall be first.” This is a radical statement. If what Cicero and Athenaeus says is true about the role fishermen play in their society’s, it is worthy to note that from the very beginning of Jesus’s ministry that Jesus is upsetting the norm of going to the rich and powerful to ask them to lead his movement. Instead he turns to those who are most despised in their day. This call to the fisherman would have been a huge challenge to the elites in Jesus’ day. Jesus is boldly saying to the rich and powerful, that those whom you have declared as unworthy, that in them God sees something of value, God sees people with gifts. Instead of seeing what others saw, Jesus had eyes to see what had been hidden underneath. He saw not only that they were children of God, but that they had gifts that would serve the kingdom well. It makes me wonder if I was one of those fishermen what I might be thinking. “Is he talking to me?” “What does he see in me that I do not see? This is just the first of countless stories to come where Jesus looked deeper into the person in front of him and invited that person to begin to see themselves with new eyes, with loving and grace filled eyes. Recently Luke and I were talking about what it takes to serve a church as an ordained pastor. In that conversation, he shared a bit of information that he had learned about those who are serving as senior pastors of churches. He had learned that a recent study of those serving as senior pastors had observed that 80% of senior pastors did not feel qualified to serve in that role. That number may surprise you but it does not surprise me. It is true for leaders in many professions. Ann Friedman in the article, “Not Qualified for Your Job? Wait, You Probably Are,” shared this observation, “Two-thirds of incoming students at the notoriously selective Harvard Business School raise their hands when they’re asked: “How many of you in here feel that you are the one mistake that the admissions committee made?”” She goes on to write, “that the name for that fraudulent feeling is ‘impostor syndrome.’ It’s a phenomenon in which people — usually high-achieving professionals — don’t consider themselves qualified for their position and convince themselves that they’ve cheated their way into it. It doesn’t matter how much work they’ve put in or how much experience they’ve acquired.” From my experience, I have learned that this feeling of inadequacy is far more prevalent than most people realize. My experience indicates that what is true of the students at the Harvard Business School is a common thought for many of us. In many of us, there is a tape running in our heads that repeated plays the line that goes something like, “if those around me truly knew of inadequacies… I will let you finish the line since it play slightly different for each one of us. For those among us today who have this tape playing in your heads take heed. Today’s text offers you good news. God, through Jesus is calling you to a life of fulfillment. All you need to do is to turn and live into that good news that you are gifted, that you are worthy. One of my most favorite stories to tell is the story of Isaac, a poor Rabbi from the city of Cracow. “Once upon a time there was a Polish rabbi from Cracow named Isaac. He had a dream. In the dream he was told to travel to Prague. Under the great bridge leading to the royal castle he would find a hidden treasure. The dream was repeated three times, and he decided to go. He found the bridge, but it was guarded by soldiers, so he did not dig. As he loitered in the vicinity, one of the soldiers asked him what he had lost. The rabbi told his dream and the soldier burst into laughter. “Really, poor man,” the soldier said, “have you worn out your shoes coming all this way simply because of a dream?”… “I, too, once had a dream,” said the soldier. “It spoke to me of Cracow, ordered me to go there and look for a treasure in the house of a rabbi named Isaac. The treasure was to be found in a dusty corner behind the stove.”… “But,” said the soldier, “being a reasonable man and not trusting in dreams, I decided not to go.” The rabbi thanked the soldier, returned to Cracow, dug behind his stove, found the treasure, and put an end to his poverty.” In this story of the rabbi and in the story of the calling of the fishermen, we learn that there is a treasure in each one of us that God has eyes to see even when we cannot. Today listen for Jesus’ voice. To you who have been made to feel less than worthy, hear Jesus’ call to turn from that way and to become the person that God has intended you to be. You are worthy. The treasure which you seek is in you. Turn, see it and grasp it.

Part of our Chidester Series, the Rev. Quinn Caldwell preaching on the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3: 1-17, audio only.

Matthew 2:1-12 Introduction to Scripture: Today we are celebrating Epiphany, a day when something new was revealed. As we read this familiar text today, let us look for something to be revealed that we had not seen before. There is a rabbinical story that can help us in this task. “It is the story of the burning bush in the Hebrew Scriptures in which Moses sees a bush on fire, but the bush is not consumed. The rabbis say that the important thing about this story is not that the bush is burning but that Moses notices, because every bush is burning, every bush is on fire with the divine presence, everything in the universe shines because God is at the heart of it. So it is in our epiphany story. It is a story that invites us to open our eyes to the light that is everywhere.” 1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” 7Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. For a number of years now, my bucket list of places to visit is Yosemite National Park. 2017 looks to be that year. My son, Stephen, heard of our plans and gifted me with a book of John Muir’s wilderness essays. Muir was a 19th century naturalist, His activism not only helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley but played a part in it becoming a national park. Among the essays in the book is one titled, “A Near View of the High Sierra.” There was something about the Yosemite Valley and the High Sierra that fed his soul. It just so happened that it was Epiphany day as I was reading about his travels in the High Sierras. Epiphany day is the day we as Christians celebrate the travels of the Magi to Bethlehem to pay homage to the new born king. As I enjoyed Muir’s gift for prose, I wondered if one of the magi had had the same gift for prose as Muir did and had recorded his or her travels, what a gift that would be to those of us who also in a vicarious way long to have the same experience as those magi did almost 2,000 years ago. What story would the Magi have told? How would they have described their journey? How did they explain to skeptics their willingness to invest more than two years of their lives and a significant amount of money to follow a star that supposedly might lead to a new king. To invest this amount of time and capital, there had to be something special about that star that they were following. As I was thinking about Muir’s devotion to the wilderness that gave him a focus for his life, and as I was contemplating what it might have been like for the Magi to devote several years of their lives to follow a star, I came across a poem by William Stafford that I believe gives voice to what it means to devote one’s life to a specific purpose. Stafford’s poem “The Way It Is’ takes a poetic image that William Blake used, that of a golden string, and builds upon it. Blake said this of the golden string, "I give you the end of a golden string, Only wind it into a ball, It will lead in at Heaven's gate Built in Jerusalem's wall." Stafford takers that thought and writes, “There’s a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change. People wonder about what you are pursuing. You have to explain about the thread. But it is hard for others to see. While you hold it you can’t get lost. Tragedies happen; people get hurt or die; and you suffer and get old. Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding. You don’t ever let go of the thread.” For Muir, something in the wilds of the High Sierra’s contained that golden thread. Clearly when one read his writings, one can tell that Muir is never lost for he is always holding on to that thread that binds him to heaven’s gate. For the magi, there was something about that star that became for them the golden thread. I am sure that the Magi had a difficult time trying to make people understand what it was that they were pursuing. Just like we wonder what they were pursuing, surely people then wondered just as well. Why would the Magi give up so much of their life to follow this star? In many ways, many of us here in this room are on a similar journey as that of the Magi. We caught a glimpse of that vision of what could be when the Christ truly enters our world and we became intrigued enough to follow that vision to see where it would take us. As we journeyed, as we followed that star, the vision unfolded before us was one that declared that all people, regardless of nationality, race, gender, sexual identity, etc..etc., that all people are children of God. The golden thread revealed to us that all creation is a gift to be cherished. Sadly as the biblical story suggests, not all people catch this vision, not all people grab hold of that golden thread. In the gospel story, we read of two groups of people that missed out of heaven for lack of eyes to see what was right before them. One group, those with power, this group was embodied by that of King Herod. Herod had no interest in any new King to come. He was all about holding onto the power that he held. Power had become his god. He could not imagine giving up any of his power or riches to consider joining the magi on their quest, even if, as Blake writes, it would lead him to heaven’s gate. The other group was the wise people of that day. The magi inquired of them as to where they might find the Christ, the light of the world. The wise people of that day, the chief priests and scribes, knew scripture and were able to tell the magi where to find the Christ. It is interesting to note that the magi went where the wise ones had told them, but not a single learned person went with them. It makes me wonder why not. What about their wisdom kept them from seeing the Christ in their midst? What about our wisdom keeps us from seeing the Christ that is in our midst? What is it about our understanding of faith that keeps us from grasping hold of that golden thread that will lead us to Heaven’s gate? Just as Muir saw in the wilds of the High Sierras something magical that fed his soul, and just as the Magi caught a glimpse of a star that not only held their gaze but beckoned them to leave the comfort of home and venture into the unknown, as we enter this season of Epiphany, we too are being called to grab hold of that golden thread that will lead us to Heaven’s gate. Granted, that thread may take us places that are out of our comfort zone. That thread may very well challenge us to love those whom others say not to love, or it may challenge us welcome those whom others exclude. That thread may very well pull us to give more of ourselves, our time, and our treasures than we had earlier planned. Despite the challenges that thread will lead us to Heaven’ gate if we are willing to follow it. The question is now before us. Will we be like Herod, and miss out on what could be because we are afraid to give up our power? Or, will we be like the learned ones of that day, full of knowledge but unwilling to step out in faith to truly place our trust in the truth. If we follow in the way of Herod and the learned ones of that day, we may very well miss out on what God is doing in our midst. But if we are willing to let go of those things and to grab hold of that “golden thread” that is before us, Heaven’s gate is waiting. The choice is ours to make. Will we hold on to it or not. ___________________________________________________________ 1From Day1.org, “The Light Within All Life,” by The Rev. Dr. John Philip Newell, January 06, 2013

What are your dreams and hopes? Are they as big as Isaiah’s? … The problem is not that Isaiah’s hopes were too big. The problem is that ours are often too small, way too small.

"A New Season” Isaiah 2:1-5 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. 3Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 5O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord! Today I feel a need to offer a confession. My confession is centered around my use of my smartphone. It all started innocently, when I switched to using my smartphone as my alarm clock when my bedside alarm clock went on the fritz. My morning routine changed as a result. The alarm goes off. I silence it. Since it is now in my hand, I google the UCC daily devotion and spend a minute or two reading it. Feeling good that I began the day on a positive spiritual note, I then hit my news app. and for the next 10-20 minutes or more I spend reading the morning news. I had not thought about this change in my routine until I read an editorial in The Christian Century written by the editor, Peter W. Marty 1. He wrote the following, “Ever since I started using my smartphone as a morning alarm clock, my wake-up habits have shifted. Instead of engaging in prayer to open my day – once a regular feature of my rising…I check the news. When I lean over the edge of the bed to shut off the alarm, I notice my screen displaying news alerts that arrived overnight. Of course I click on them, wondering what I might have heroically saved in the world had I stayed up all night…I’m consumed by the news.” Then he asks the question, “Do we actually consume the news, or does the news consume us? Either way, it’s hardly a noble activity.” He goes on to quote Alain de Botton, a British-based philosopher and author of The News: A User’s Manual. Marty writes that, “de Botton believes that in contemporary culture, news has largely replaced religion as “our central source of guidance and out touchstone of authority.” The news – not scripture, tradition, or inspired ritual – informs how we handle suffering and make moral choices….It makes us more shallow than we may want to admit.” If he is correct, I am challenged by this thought. The last thing that I want to become is more shallow. My fear is that he may very well be correct. The ten or twenty minutes that I spent scanning the news feeds was time not spent in prayer or reading a devotional. And I must admit there is little in the news that is edifying or life altering, whereas time spent in prayer or reading spiritual writings is almost always edifying and life altering. Martin Luther King, one time quoted Theodore Parker, a Unitarian Minister from the early part of the 1800’s. In a sermon calling for the abolition of slavery Parker said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I would like to think that as a moral person I am participating in this arc of the universe. My morning rituals certainly do not appear to be bending me in that direction. So today on this first Sunday of Advent, the first Sunday of a new Christian year, if you are like me, spending precious time of your day responding to all of the chirps and vibrations coming from your smartphones, time that takes you and me away from participating in the bending of the arc of the universe, let us take this time to stop and reflect on who we have become. One thing that I suspect has happened to us as we spend more time being consumed by the news, is that we are less hopeful about the future. The more we read and watch armed conflicts, whether they be in Syria or Afghanistan, or the more we hear of another black youth or police officer killed here in the United States, the less likely we are able to connect with the vision that Isaiah was casting, that of a world where they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Sadly a vision that cannot be imagined is a vision that will never come into being. My fear is that we are a generation that is losing its imagination. For instance, when I was an early teen, the Vietnam was came to an end. Our country went for almost the next 15 years without involvement in war. By the time I was 30 years old, I had lived half of my life in peace time. Compare that time to my oldest son who was born in 1990. He is now 26 with no memory of a time when we have not been at war. His whole generation has not experienced a time of peace. We now have a generation for the first time in memory that cannot imagine what peace can be like for they have no experience of it. What cannot be imagined is not likely to become a reality. Isaiah’s prophetic words call us to reclaim our imagination. The prophet’s words are so graceful, so haunting, so expressive of our deepest yearnings that they have been etched into a wall called the “Isaiah Wall.” This wall stands in the park opposite the United Nations. It serves as a public reminder to the leaders of the nations of this world of the vision of the “Beloved Community,” a community where peace reigns and where there is justice for all people. There are many in this world that have lost the ability to imagine such a world that Isaiah envisions. In a reflection on peace and justice, Mary Hinkle Shore suggests, "even skeptics have to admit that justice, safety, and widespread prosperity have a better chance of resulting in peace than injustice, danger, and disparity of wealth" (New Proclamation Year A 2007-2008). So as we enter this season of Advent, a season that gives us four weeks to prepare to receive God’s gift to us, a gift that changed the world, a gift that lived Isaiah’s vision into being. It is a gift that challenges us to take the vision of a peace and justice filled world and to live it into being. So let us prepare by setting aside those things that distract us from participating in that great arc as it moves toward justice. Let us become like the 100 year old woman who on the occasion of her birthday, when she was being interviewed by a reporter and asked, Do you have children?” She responded, “Not yet!” Or let us be like a little farm girl on her 12th birthday, who got up before dawn and ran out to the barn. She had asked her parents for a pony and was hoping that it would be there. She flung open the barn door, but in the dim light, could see no pony, only mounds of horse manure. Being an optimist she declared, “With all of this manure around, there must be a pony in there somewhere.” Young or old, let us use this time that is given to us to and let us “walk in the light” of which Isaiah speaks. Do not allow the distractions of this world, whether they be the constant news alerts pinging on our phones, or facebook posts, or cute cat videos, cause us to lose our way. Let us keep our eye on that vision that Isaiah cast and for which Jesus lived and died. Let us find ways, whether as individuals or as a community of faith to continue to bend the arc toward justice and toward peace. Let us make that commitment as we enter this season of Advent, a season whose purpose is for us to prepare our lives for Christ to find a home. The arc awaits our bending… 1Peter W. Marty, “Consumed by the News,” The Christian Century, November 23, 2016, p. 3.

My mom is a gift-giver. Each and every Christmas growing up, there would be a pile of presents under the tree. My mom was a blue-collar, hardworking, single mom. We didn’t get much during the rest of the year as we were so busy surviving and working and running to and from our various activities. Yet each Christmas, we felt rich. One Christmas, there weren’t as many presents. Just two or three to my sister and me. And then one present had both of our names on it. My sister and I were puzzled, but my mom never disappointed. We saved that one for last, and when we opened it, we shouted and jumped up and down. It was a SEGA Genesis. An expensive game console at the time. It had to have cost her at least a month’s wages. It was an extravagant gift. Two years ago, I remodeled our master bathroom. With the help of my neighbor Eric, I ripped out everything, down to the studs. We then spent the next 4 months building it back. I learned how to tile and drywall. It was aggravating and wonderful. I grew closer to Eric and learned so much about him and his life. We spoke about the things that troubled us and more about our hopes and our dreams. A week after we had completed our work, a big package arrived in the mail. It was a towel warmer from my mom. I was surprised by this gift. I then ran up and couldn’t find a place to plug it into. And who really needs a towel warmer anyway? The warmth of the towel lasts for half a second and this thing could burn the kids if they played with it. It’s a waste of energy. And it’s just not energy conscious and I’m energy conscious! I have R36 in my attic, we’ve replaced leaky windows with energy efficient windows, I drive a Volt… A towel warmer is a waste of energy. I called my mom and briefly thanked her and then complained about all the ways the gift just wouldn’t work. I wrangled over my words. After I hung up, my sister rightly called me up and yelled at me, “Who are you right now?! Don’t you know that when you receive a gift, you say ‘Thank you!’ and then you shut up!” I felt lower than low. I was one of the nine lepers. Or worse, I would return and complain to Jesus about being healed! There is great wisdom found in the writing of Lewis Smedes in his memoir about gift giving and gratitude. He writes, “I have learned about real gifts is that they always come with a person attached. My gift to someone always comes with an unwritten message: I want to be part of your life; take my gift, take me. And I know that when someone gives me a gift, she too is saying: I want to be in your life. And knowing that she is attached to it makes her gift doubly precious.” My mom gave a gift in celebration of the bathroom remodel. A remodel we spoke so much about, and she made sure to ask after each time we talked. She gave not just a towel warmer, but she attached herself to it. And I didn’t see it. I rejected her and in a way said, “I don’t want you in my life.” How hurtful. I believe we learn most from our failings rather than our successes. I have since tried to be overly gracious and grateful. I practice writing three thank you notes a week to people in my church who have done good work. From preparing a great meal, to showing up and helping with the teens. Their presence is enough. Gratitude is important in the life of faith. Meister Eckhart, the medieval mystic once said, “If all you ever pray is ‘Thank you’ it is enough.” I have come to understand life as a gift. It is a gift I didn’t ask for. One that I find myself in. It is a gift that has an expiration date. It is a gift given to me not just by my parents, but God. I find myself participating in a cosmic love story: the love that flung the stars, made the galaxies, created the processes that would result in stellar evolution, biological evolution, and over the course of 13 billion years; created us. Created you, and me. Created here and now. We, by our very existence are participating in the life of God! The church is a group of learners who learn about God's love and work in themselves, their community, and then seeks to tell the good news to others. That is what we’re about in response to knowing this love story revealed to us through Jesus. So we seek to find unity within diversity. We strive to be honest, peaceful, and compassionate as God is. We are inclusive of all people seeking to serve the whole world. Our goal is to become Christ. Everything in the life of the church, from our worship to our fellowship to our outreach; should serve to shape us to live like Christ. For we are part of our family story. All the joys and concerns. It is a gift. This day is a gift. Every gift given comes with a person attached. And that person is the Triune God, ourselves, and our neighbors, especially the ones we’d rather not acknowledge. When Jesus healed the ten lepers, he was saying “I see you. I love you. I want to be a part of your life.” Everyone was telling these lepers the exact opposite. Get out of our family, you are a disgrace. Get out of our town, lest you infect us. Get out of our life, we don’t want to help you, we don’t love you. Who in our world is being told such a thing or in our day and age? Are there any among us today, or in your personal lives? Yet there is one leper who returns. A Samaritan. Even in the group of lepers, this man would be the outcast of the outcast. Samaritans were not well regarded in Jewish society. They were sort of Jewish, but not really. And that’s worse than being a Gentile to be sort of Jewish—to follow a bastardized version of the faith. Yet it is this one who shows gratitude. The leper who returns recognizes that he is participating in a bigger story, in this case, Jesus' Story--literally, he gets a special place in Luke's Gospel. That's what gratitude is. In contrast, the other lepers just think Jesus is participating in each of their stories--which are paramount to them. They miss the bigger story. Yet my experience in the UCC feels like this group sees the bigger story. The UCC sees those who aren’t seen in our society and works with them toward healing. Many of them have return in gratitude. Those ministries to the poor and homeless, the hungry and the naked. The oppressed minorities, those yearning to breathe free. This past summer, a couple called me up and asked if I could perform their wedding. I found out that they were a young couple, in their early 20s. The woman was not even of drinking age. We agreed that we would be a good fit and so we made plans to meet. Before I hung up, I asked, “How did you get my name?” I was expecting them to say through a wedding website that I am on. Instead they said, “Your church gave us a gift. When our baby died, the nurse brought in a burial gown.” We participate in Gabriel’s Gowns, a project that turns wedding dresses into bereavement gowns for babies who don’t survive. It is a way to take symbols of love; a wedding dress, and wrap families in love in one of the hardest times in their life. The couple said, “On the tag there was a prayer and then the line, 'with love from your friends at Sylvania United Church of Christ.' That’s when we decided that we should get married. Your light showed that if we can get through that dark time, we can get through anything. We had to get married at your church. ” We have made over 500 of these gowns. Yet this couple was the only one to return. A gift of healing, given in love. A gift that comes with a people attached. A gift that says, “I want to be part of your life; take my gift, take me.” Sometimes these gifts will look like a SEGA Genesis or towel warmers, and Gabriel’s Gowns--tangible objects. Sometimes it will look like work: like my neighbor Eric helping me remodel. Sometimes it will look like just showing up, like those who show up at the various church events, but especially to youth and children’s activities or anything that directly serves people. May we give of ourselves in such a way. May we run around saying, “I want to be a part of your life!” starting with the lepers and going to the ends of the earth. May we realize that God is saying the same thing to us! How can we not be overcome with joy? How can we not say, “Thank you?”

SAM: It is of supreme importance -- Luke: that we get our image of Jesus -- BOTH: RIGHT! SAM: There are too many blithering idiots - LUKE: Well meaning people! SAM: Religious nuts! LUKE: Church leaders – denominational and institutional hierarchies! SAM: Conservatives & Literalists! LUKE: Bleeding Heart Liberals and Socialists SAM: Political Elitists LUKE: Wacko revolutionaries! ALL: Who are leading people ASTRAY!! SAM: So listen carefully – JESUS ALL: As we ALL know LUKE: Came from a model family -- SAM: What?! His mother was pregnant when she got married! LUKE: And lived in a secure and loving home. SAM: They were refugees – his parents had an arranged marriage! LUKE: He had a wondrous childhood… SAM: About which we know nothing! LUKE: He was mild and obedient – a holy child! SAM: He ran away when he was 12… was gone for 3 days – and didn’t feel much remorse! LUKE: He spoke with love and compassion to all. SAM: He was rude to his mother more than once – and said “You’re not my father” to his step-father. LUKE: Jesus was the model working man. SAM: Doing what? He was impoverished, never held a job that we know of. Ran around with the wrong crowd and kept company with sinners and criminals! LUKE: He was a model capitalist and encouraged entrepreneurship in others. SAM: He told Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew to give up their jobs and leave their families. LUKE: He kept good company SAM: I think we’ve been around this bend! LUKE: He had a good word for everybody. SAM: If you think “vipers, blind guides and “hypocrites” are compliments! LUKE: His conversation was deep and centered on the finer things in life, SAM: bread and dough, sheep, pig farming, prostitutes for dinner, tax collectors for lunch. LUKE: He never dabbled with controversy. SAM: He just claimed to be the Son of God – and urged people not to support their government or obey their parents or their religious leaders! LUKE: Jesus never upset anyone! SAM: with the simple exception of priests, Pharisees, pigeon sellers, the wealthy, the religious, the Roman government, and anyone who suggested that they might know how to live a pious life! LUKE: He was respected in religious circles SAM: Which must be why they plotted to have him arrested and killed! LUKE: Jesus was a man among men SAM: And women! LUKE: He was a man of God. SAM: He was a man who called himself the Son of Humanity! LUKE: In his majesty we see God at work SAM: In his humility we see God in person! LUKE: That’s why he was worshipped and adored! SAM: That’s why he was tortured and crucified! LUKE: Jesus isn’t here now SAM: He rose on the third day. LUKE: So we have to wait until he comes again. SAM: But he sent his example to guide us. LUKE: He will bring the Kingdom of God with him. SAM: We have to celebrate his love and acceptance! LUKE: We have to save souls and tell people where they are sinning! SAM: We need to look at our own lives and find the path to good and grace. LUKE: We need to be religious leaders! SAM: We need to be faithful followers! LUKE: We need to stand up and be counted! SAM: Humbly! LUKE: Onward – Christian soldiers! SAM: Onward – Peaceful servants! LUKE: We are a mighty army! SAM: We are the Body of Christ! LUKE: It is of supreme importance -- SAM: That we get our image of Jesus – ALL: RIGHT

Russ Miller preaching on Luke 18:1-8. Audio only.

I was at a sermon seminar this past summer where a pastor said “sin” in every other sentence. I told him that I had heard him say “sin” more in a day than I hear in a month at my church. He replied, “That's because I don't believe in cheap grace. I know the absolute truth of the Good News: That I am a sinner and Christ died for my sins.” “Well,” I said. “Hate to break it to you, but grace is worse than cheap; it's free. And the Good News is that gift of God's grace is free to all who turn toward it and believe God's beloved community has come near. It's sin that's cheap. It cheapens our relationship to God, to ourselves, and to others. That's the cheap part.” It is as Pastor Jack Stephenson once said, “The main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing.” Yet the main thing isn't that we humans are awful, sinful, totally depraved, worthless worms. The main thing is God's grace. God's grace is the main thing. That is the power we rely on. The Good News is that God somehow entered the life of Jesus and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace, a grace that existed before the ages began. And what's human sinfulness compared to that? Now I know what “cheap grace” refers to. I know it comes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer who used the term to counter a theology that demands nothing of you that he found in his time and context of Nazi Germany. Indeed, that is no grace at all. It was the lameness and quietism of the church at that time that missed the good news and said nothing. The church did not hold people accountable, and I hear the concern of that pastor who would misinterpret the good news to being “Jesus died for a loser like me.” But that's not the main thing. The main thing is grace, and grace stands in contradiction to everything we know about religion and about relationships. It is the love of God that created everything and everyone. It is that love that we move and have our being. The cosmic story and the story of our lives is about God who loves us so much that we cannot help but be transformed by it and love our neighbors. But here's the rest of the story. It took me four days to have my rebuttal to that other pastor. The first two days was this dude saying and then repeating his statement. Then I took two days to stew on it and figure out why it bothered me so much. I had to find the words. We don't teach you such short words like other churches do. I had to go through all my seminary training and all the sermons I could remember. I had to remember what the main thing was. The main thing or me, that when you boil everything down is that my identity rests in the fact that I am a child of God. That nothing can take that away from me. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Four days. Four days to remember this when I should have the words in a snap. This is called having a low articulated spirituality. We embody our spirituality. You can see it and we can point to it. In all our work together: at Grace Community Center, St Paul's, Polly Fox, Gabriel's Gowns, Habitat, Clean Our Streams, in our literacy work, and in all our work and service... We do. We know we're called but we can't talk about why we're called or what bible verse might call us to a certain line of work. What we don't have is the words to say why we do what we do. We can't really point to a teaching of Jesus or a bible verse. We are uncertain as there are others who speak with more passion and shout their faith. We want our actions to speak and we feel it might be immodest to speak about those actions. But we must, for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and love and of self-discipline. We have the self-discipline. What y'all do is powerful. When I sit and talk with you, you are doing amazing things. And we love. So I pray we speak that love and we find words to speak that love and say NO! You're not a sinner. That's not the good news, the Good News is that God's grace is free to all who turn toward it and believe God's beloved community has come near. We are citizens of that kingdom where we beat our swords into plowshares and we don't learn war any more. Do not be ashamed then of the testimony about our Lord, but join with me in keeping the main thing, the main thing and speaking about and suffering for the gospel and relying on the power of God. You can join me now. I want you to turn to your neighbors. Look them in the eye. Everyone have someone? Say to them, “NEIGHBOR! I am a child of God. And so are you. No matter what.” Does that need an amen?

Heroic testimonies! Audio only. Firefighter Chris Nurse Terry Military Jeff Military Officer Rodney for the U.S. Public Health Service and Psyche Nurse Kristie