August 25, 2013, "Love Remains"

1 Corinthians 13
1 John 3.14

An elderly woman walked into the local country church. The friendly usher greeted her at the door and helped her up the flight of steps. 

"Where would you like to sit?" he asked politely. 

"The front row, please," she answered.

"You really don't want to do that," the usher said. "The pastor is really boring." 

"Do you happen to know who I am?" the woman inquired. 

"No," he said. 

"I'm the pastor's mother," she replied indignantly. 

"Do you know who I am?" the usher asked. 

"No," she said. 

"Good," he answered.

Oh well … so it goes …

Faith, hope and love abide … these are things that last … yet Paul dares to say, the greatest of these is love.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. 

Love is big … 

Simple because love is love … 

Love can’t be small-minded … 

There are no boundaries to love … because God is love … and God is the biggest of all realities … God is reality … God is the universe … God is light and God is love.

Are there boundaries for God?

Are there places where God won’t go?

Places where God can’t go?

God even goes to hell … as the creed says, He descended into hell … into a place of darkness and sorrow … into the realm of death … God even goes there … to work the glories of grace … to set the prisoner free … to bring good news to the lost … all the lost … everyone last human being … to harrow hell, as it’s sometimes said … to invade it, conquer it, and when all the prisoners of hell have seen set free, to seal shut those terrible gates of despair and hatred … and open wide the gates of heaven, so that all may enter in …

Such is the work of God.

Are there boundaries for God?

Of course not.

No boundaries at all …

No boundaries of race or religion or nation … for God so loved the world … 

But we’re creatures of boundaries … humankind loves to draw boundaries … between families and clans and tribes, we draw boundaries …

Between religions, we draw boundaries … my god is bigger and better than your god … I know the truth, and you don’t … I’m going to heaven, and you’re going to hell … and we kill one another, too … all in the name of our gods and religions.

Just a few days ago, a touching picture of the exception … when religions rise above their own worst instincts … in Egypt … a large group of Christians stand, hand-in-hand, offering protection around Muslims kneeling for prayer … and another picture, of Muslims, hand-in-hand, surround a Christian Church to give it protection …

Love abides … but it isn’t always easy …

We love our boundaries ...

Between nations, we draw boundaries … we send soldiers to defend them, we build fences and walls to protect them, and we launch wars to enlarge our boundaries …

Between races, we draw boundaries … some thought it was perfectly fine to enslave some to harvest sugar cane and cotton … and who cares if they die a mean and miserable death, there’s more where they come from.

All around the world, the pain of racism persists … and still in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, freedom is still the goal for which we strive … and brave people still stand tall for human dignity and civil rights.

This week, August 28, 1963 … 

A momentous event in our American story …

Anyone recall?

That’s right … the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream Speech” … if you haven’t read it lately, please do so this week …

A remarkable speech … it tells of the great work achieved by the sweat, blood and tears of so many … and sets before America what remains to be done …

Like any good dream, work remains …

Freedom still to be won … and human rights still to be protected …

Because there are factions in this nation who would strip away the rights of women, and the rights of children and the right to vote … there are folks who would gladly return this nation to the days of Jim Crow … 

There are in this great land of ours economic interests that bow before the Wall Street gods and worship material success … economic forces without restraint, without a soul, without a shred of love … 

Corporations enslaved by shareholders, and shareholders enslaved by profits … 

Much has been done …

More remains …

A little Black Girl surrounded by Federal Troops, but she went to school that day … and white folks spat upon her, and called her terrible names and carried Christian placards talking about Jesus and turning to this little girl and hating her with everything they had. Jesus in one hand, and hatred in the other.

This kind of hatred still lives in our land … a horrible shadow on America’s soul …

There are some who say, “There is no racism any longer in this land” … I wish it were true … just a last month, in North Charleston, South Caroline, 25 family members and friends - African-Americans - gathered to say farewell to a family-member moving away … they waited two hours for a table, and when finally entering the Wild Wing Cafe, were told to leave, because a white patron felt threatened by their presence.

Racism remains in this land … we fought a Civil War because of it, and the war still rages on in the hearts and souls of Americans … and in pulpits across the lands and in newspaper editorials … in our colleges and universities …

As long as there are human beings on the face of God’s good earth, there will be racism of various sorts …

If left unchecked, racism grows all the more …

Only moral reflection and moral honesty can confront the demons that hurt us … the roar of hell that frightens us … the madness of hatred that raises a fist rather then offers a hand …

And sadly, I’m not always sure about the role of the Christian Faith in this task … 

Across parts of this country, where churches are a dime-a-dozen, tall steeples and country chapels, we find the worst cases of racism and bigotry, women abused and denied their rights, children mistreated, while pious preachers talk about love, and turn a blind eye to the hatred surging through the pews of their churches … 

Those who do not know the name of Jesus will have an easier time of it when they stand before the LORD of heaven and earth [Matthew 10.15].

Easier than those who claim the name of Jesus and do nothing to change the world … who sing hymns on Sunday and allow hatred to flourish on Monday … who bow their heads and fervently pray to Jesus, and still live in ignorance and fear.

Not everyone who says, ‘LORD, LORD,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven … Jesus will say to them, I never knew you [Matthew 5.21-23].

It will be far better on the day of judgment to stand before the LORD without a shred of faith, then to stand before the LORD with the pretense of faith … the trappings of religion without the heart of religion … 

On the day of judgment, only one thing will stand in the judgment hall of God, and that’ll be love …

So love for all you’re worth … be of good cheer … be kind and generous … work for justice, wherever you can … because justice is love at work.

Love is the heart and soul of a living faith … 

Love is the heart and soul of a living hope …

Love is the heart and soul of everything God is … and everything we hope to be.

Faith, hope and love abide, but the greatest of these is love … 

Amen and Amen!

Preaching Fallen on Hard Times?

This is not a sermon, though it may become a part of one some day ... but just some thoughts ...


Some say preaching has fallen on hard times, and perhaps it has. I think part of it is the deluge of poorly trained and unsupervised pastors arising in non-denominational groups where "ordained to preach" is pretty much a free-for-all.

Tie that in with the megachurch super-boy with pressed jeans and untucked shirt moving about a stage with risers behind and a plexiglass-enclosed drum set waiting to beat out a rhythm for the next 7-11 song (seven words repeated eleven times).

And then an audience well-trained on bored channel surfing.

I think American Christians need to ask themselves what it is they want to hear  from a pulpit. Nostrums on daily living? Encouragement for prosperity? The latest psychology on marriage and children? The evils of the President and the decline of America? How gays and lesbians are threatening all of our sacred values? That wealth is a given if you're a Christian and truly believe? That home-schools are the answer? That God heals all ills? And Muslims are evil and will burn in hell forever?

Does it always have to be exciting and inspiring and energizing and innovative?

Does it need loud music, or soft, and does it need inviting visual images in some kind of a multi-media extravaganza?

Does it need a simple fill-in-the-blank outline supplied by the pastor so folks can follow along?

I've tried all of that and then some. I've been there, and I've done it. I'm glad I did, but the sun is setting on all of it, and I'm still learning.

I think there is a lot of good peaching being done out there, and I'm willing to say that it's being done by well-trained pastors from good seminaries with plenty of credentialed professors and backed up with decent denominational oversight.

It's not always exciting and not always innovative, and a local church may not have screens and a pulsing band, but the gospel is proclaimed, the interface of faith and culture is examined, and that's what truly counts, and if people listen with mind and heart, they will learn, and they will be invited to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world and learn something about carrying a cross, which has never been too popular anyway.

I grew up with good preachers, and I know plenty today ... who may not do it fancy, but do it basic! And do it with integrity of life and thought.

For those with ears to hear, there is plenty of good preaching to be hand in this land.

August 18, 2013 - "God's Own Time"

Ecclesiastes 3.1-18; Galatians 4.4-6

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

So begins the great novel, A Tale of Two Cities … by Charles Dickens … a story of the years leading up to the French Revolution, culminating in the Reign of Terror, where tens of thousands lost their lives to summary executions and to the guillotine … a story of sorrow and greatness … failure and noble sacrifice … 

The writer of Ecclesiastes says much the same thing … for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven … a time to be born, and a time to die … 

And in between those moments ...

Sorrow and greatness … 

Tragedy and glory … 

We do our worst, and we do our best …

We build a good world, and we tear it apart with war and greed … 

We are mercenary in spirit … and noble in character ...

We love one another, and we are careless with one another … 

We are faithless more often than not, and we are faithful when the chips are down …

Like it or not, we are sinner and saint … we are beast and we are angel … 

And it’s all mixed up together … 

There is time for everything … 

Wise is the woman who knows what time it is … and great is the man who understands himself … 

Wise is the woman who knows when to the praise the LORD and when to fall on her knees in repentance …

Great is the man who sings the glories of God and weeps the tears of a sinner … 

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

      a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A Christian honest and true understands both realities … to be happy in the LORD, and to grieve for the world …

To be happy in the LORD, for great things the LORD has done … and great is the name of the LORD … to worship the LORD with joy and gladness … all glory, laud and honor to the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

And to grieve for the world, and all its creatures … wise and good is the Christian who pays attention to the world and its tears … 

Wise is the Christians who cries for the whales and dolphins and the elephants and the lions … as humankind despoils the water and the air for its own greedy ends … 

A Christian who is “happy” all the time is no Christian at all, but only a clown … 

A preacher who preaches only joy is no preacher at all … but only a charlatan and a trickster …

Yet ...

A gospel full of sorrow is no gospel at all … because there is hope in God, and there is joy in Christ.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is both joy and sorrow … 

Joy in the LORD, for we are redeemed and being made new … and great sorrow, too, as we bear the cross of Christ … and face the realities of sin … 

There is happiness in Jesus the Christ, for we walk in his footsteps and carry his message of hope … and sorrow, too, as we grieve with him for the fate of Jerusalem which missed its opportunities for peace.

There is a time for everything … 

Wise is the woman and good is the man who knows what time it is …

Paul the Apostle understand times … the times of his life … his former life when he thought he knew everything … a time when he looked down on everyone else … a time of cruelty and pride … who’s in and who’s out … who’s right and who’s wrong … who’s been naughty and who’s been nice.

And Paul’s present life, that of an Apostle, late called, so to speak … for he knows Jesus, not in the flesh, as the other Apostles do, but only in the Spirit, on the Damascus Road, when his world came crashing down … and the times of his life were reset.

Paul knows what time it is … it is a time of grace.

In the fullness of time, Paul writes …

When the time was just right … the porridge neither too hot, nor too cold, but just right … 

And who could’ve know such things … but God’s time is God’s time … and when the times are right, God sends his son … not with splendor and glory, but with humility and commonness … born of a women, just like the rest of us … and under the law, as we all are … the laws of religion and and the laws of the state; physical laws of gravity and velocity and time … the laws are good, but they’re not good enough … the man who lives by law will never find the truth of life … the woman who lives only by dos and don’ts will live a narrow and unhappy life.

Laws are good, but not good enough … and Jesus comes to us, born under the law, to redeem us from the law, that we might know the spirit of the law, which is love … 

To learn the great truth of all law … the ultimate meaning of all things … the final purpose … to love one another as Jesus loves us … to love as God loves … to love all creatures, great small … the whale and the elephant, the bird above and worm beneath … and to love the strangest of all creatures, made of earth, wind and fire … flesh and spirit bound together by the hand of God … to love our sisters and our brothers - for those who claim to love God, but cannot, or will not, love another, live but a lie and abide in death.

What time is it?

Time for all kinds of things … things sad and terrible … things bright and good …

For us this morning, to lift our sights on high … to know more of Christ, to study his words and to ponder his life … to walk with him in the Land of Galilee … journey with him to Jerusalem … watch him cleanse the temple … stand before his cross on the day of agony, weep by his tomb, and stand in amazement in the Upper Room when he appears.

Like John the Baptist, as he put it, Christ must grow larger in our lives, and we can grow a little smaller, for no one is quite so silly as a man who thinks he’s the measure of all things … and no one is greater than the one who has made plenty of room for the love of Christ.

Amen and Amen!

August 11, 2013, "Ultimate Things"

Zechariah 1.1-6; Luke 10.38-42

Charley, newly retired, had a new job - a greeter at WalMart.

He did fine, but could never get to work on time - 5, 10, 15 minutes late. He was a good worker, neat and tidy in appearance, sharp-minded and a real credit to the company, demonstrating the very best of company policy - “Older Person Friendly.”

One day the manager called him into the office a chat … “Charley, I have to tell you, I like your work ethic, you do a bang-up  job when you finally get here; but your being late so often is quite bothersome."

"Yes, I know boss, and I am working on it."

"Well good, you are a team player. That's what I like to hear. 

“Yes sir, I understand your concern and I will try harder.”

The manager, slightly puzzled, went on to comment, “I know you're  retired from the Armed Forces. What did they say to you there if you showed up in the morning late so often?"

The old man looked down at the floor, smiled, chuckled and then said with a grin:  "They usually saluted and said, Good morning, Admiral, can I get your coffee, sir?”

Things change for us all the time … time moves on … what we were, we are no longer; what we shall be remains to be seen … and in the flow of time:

Moments …

Opportunities …

When kitchen-duty needs to be set aside and we need to sit at the feet of Jesus.

Martha was irritated by Mary’s behavior … 

Martha, a good person, but she failed to recognize the sacred moment … Martha choose the normal pattern - what she always did, and what she was good at - she could prepare a fine meal, and do it quickly, and everyone was satisfied.

Martha ran a clean ship, a good operation - if you’re hungry, go to Martha’s house - she’ll take care of ya … and Mary, her sister, is right there - the two of ‘em set a fine table - their home is open to friend and stranger alike.

And today, Jesus came a-calling … 

Martha defaulted … she did what she always did … she went to the kitchen to prepare a meal for Jesus and those traveling with him … 5 people, 10 people? 

It was a house full, no doubt, and when Martha went to the kitchen, she expected her sister, Mary, to be right there … “Mary, where are you? I need some help.”

Martha relied on Mary … if help was needed, Mary was there … the two of ‘em worked together; they made their house into a home … Martha knew what she was doing in the kitchen, and Mary was always there, ready and able.

But today was different!

Mary didn’t follow Martha into the kitchen … she stayed near to Jesus, and “sat at the LORD’s feet.”

That of itself was slightly unusual, if not controversial … to sit at the feet of Jesus is to declare her status as a disciple, and for Jesus to allow it was unusual, too ... it was very rare for a rabbi to welcome a female disciple, and rarer still for a woman to boldly go where only men are welcome.

Martha steps outta the kitchen and scolds Jesus for letting Mary get away with it, especially when Martha is working so hard.

“I need help in the kitchen - a lot of hungry mouths to feed, and I need Mary to help me. I can always count on her; I need her in the kitchen with me right now.”

“Martha, Martha,” says Jesus … saying her name twice, to get her attention … “you fuss and fret about many things, but today, here and now, there’s only thing that counts, and Mary has made the right choice; it won’t be taken from her.”

Many a sermon has been preached on the different talents we have - some work in the kitchen, others sit and study … true enough, but that’s not what this story is all about. It’s not about talents and ability.

It’s recognizing the sacred moment … something important comes our way … it demands that we step out of the usual pattern, get outta of the kitchen, put aside what we do best, let it go for a few moments … take advantage of the sacred moment … 

History makes these moments clear, in retrospect … the challenge is to see them when they’re happening; not when they’ve passed us by.

I think of Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation … that was the moment to decide - who’s a citizen of this fair land? - just some, or everyone? … a lot of folks told to Lincoln to let it pass by; “Now’s not the time,” they said … but Lincoln saw the sacred moment.

I think of Republican Senator Everett Dirksen, after whom the Senate Building is named … when it came time for Civil Rights Legislation - he walked across the aisle, much to the consternation of his colleagues, and made common cause, as he said, “for an idea whose time had come” … he saw the sacred moment.

What are the sacred moments that stand before this great nation today?

For me, the sacred moment has to do with doors … doors open, not closed … the Emma Lazarus Poem on the Statue of Liberty:

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

As the hymn says, “Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide …”

For Mary and Martha, the moment came when Jesus paid them a visit … yes, they’re all hungry, but now’s the time to sit at the feet of Jesus.

The sacred moment - a time to learn and a time grow … to look up and not down … to look outward, to see what’s happening … break the pattern, do the unusual … don’t be afraid … be brave, take a chance … 

Drive to work another way and pay attention to a world you haven’t seen …

If you’re in the kitchen, try a new recipe, and if it’s not very good, who cares? … but give it a try anyway.

Stretch your wings … fly as high as you can … dream, and dream big … aim for the stars.

The sacred moment ...

When it’s time to sit at the feet of Jesus. Amen and Amen!

July 14, 2013, "Eyes and Heart Wide Open"

Psalm 111; 1 Thessalonians 5.16-18

His name was Garth.

In 5^th or 6^th grade, living in large two-story grey clapboard house, slightly dilapidated, some peeling paint, with a porch slanted downward at a precarious angle, across the street from Third Presbyterian Church in Altoona, PA - in a tough part of town, with more police and fire calls than any other precinct, just a few blocks off the mainline of the Penn-Central Railroad.

The church had a neighborhood children’s program called Thursday’s Children, because we met Thursday afternoons after school. 

I was always there … and made friends with the children, and the families that lived around the church. 

I had an 18-foot white fiberglass Lincoln Canoe - a beauty it was, and did a fair amount of fishing with it - mostly in Raystown Lake backed up behind Raystown Dam - one of those beautiful mountain reservoirs with dozens of sidearms reaching back into the wooded hillsides - great fishing, and if no fish were caught, that was okay, too, just because it was good to be out on the lake, in that quiet fiberglass canoe, whispering through the water.

It was too big for me to take out by myself, so I usually had a friend to go with me … sometimes Donna … and sometimes my brother who lived in Pittsburgh.

Knowing that I had plans for fishing with a friend later in the week, I asked Garth if he’d like to go with us, and he quickly said Yes! I checked with his folks and all was good. 

I had a fishing rod for him, all the stuff he needed and a can of worms … Garth had never been fishing before.

When I helped him bait the hook with a wriggling worm, he was wide-eyed as could be … I don’t think it’s possible for eyes to be any wider, and with the hook baited, and plopped into the water, with a red and white bobber, it wasn’t long before he caught a fish … he was one amazed young boy … I think his eyes probably took a few days to return to normal size.

I don’t know what happened to Garth, and I have no idea if he’s living or dead, and if he’s living, I have no idea if he’d remember the day he went fishing with me … but I’ve never forgotten him, and his wide eyes - the sheer amazement of life for him that day on Raystown Lake, in the beautiful green mountains of Central Pennsylvania, baiting a hook, watching a bobber suddenly pulled down by a fish, and me telling Garth, “Now, quick, set the hook,” and watching him pull in his first fish.

His eyes were wide … the kind of eyes I want for myself … wide eyes to see the world … and a heart as wide as my eyes.

When eyes and heart are wide open, good things get inside of us … good things that make us good and kind and thankful.

Jesus said, 

The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! [Matthew 6.22-23].

Whenever my children travelled, I always told them, “Use all of your senses wherever you are.”

“Sample it all if you can … burn the images on your mind, and you can carry those images with you the rest of your life … you can always journey back to a beautiful mountain or walk a sun-washed beach, if you carry those memories in your mind.”

Wide eyes and a wide-open heart.

To see the world around us - its colors and shapes and angles; don’t just look at things, but see them … the dog laying on the grass in the shade of a tree on a hot day … the man walking hurriedly by you, on some errand, intent on who knows what kind of business … 

Watch faces and hands … pay attention to the lady pouring your coffee and the people sitting across from you on the bus … study them well, for they are God’s image, right next to you, across the aisle from you … God pouring your coffee … God going home after a hard day’s work.

Listen to the world - bird song and barking dogs and cars honking and people talking at a nearby table - sure, go ahead; eavesdrop a bit - listen to the world - the wind in the trees, the crash of a wave, the boom and crackle of fireworks.

Smell the world - spices and seasonings  - food, fried and boiled, broiled and grilled - baked bread … smell the world - wood smoke and garbage; a morning rain and fresh plowed earth … 

Touch the world, feel its textures … the rough bark of a pine tree, the feel of sand in our hand … cool water washing our face on a hot day, or a hot shower on cold night … the comfort of our pillow, the warmth of a quilt … the hand of one you love so dearly … 

Taste the world - what people eat and what people drink … the crunch of a crisp apple, the smooth taste of a fine wine, a good bourbon on the rocks; ice cream and hot fudge; a steaming-hot baked potato; roasted lamb or fresh fish … sample it all … not all of it will taste good … some of our tastes are acquired tastes … and what’s delicious in one man’s home is not so good for another … 

But use all the senses - God-given senses … see the world, listen to the world, smell the world, touch the world, taste the world.

The Psalmist said, Oh taste and see that the LORD is good [Psalm 34.8].

How interesting that the Psalmist refers to taste as a way to see … taste and see that the LORD is good … I can only think of good bread and fine wine … a roast lamb or an ox - or whatever else pleases the palette and quenches our thirst and smells good to the LORD God Almighty … the Passover Meal and the LORD’s Supper … taste and see, that the LORD is good.

The world is good and full of beauty … clouds above us and children at play … our favorite aunt and a splendid meal … right here in church, hymns to gladden the heart and a gospel to call us to life.

Rejoice says Paul the Apostle … rejoice always … 

And then we can pray:

Pray without ceasing … the kind of prayer that has little to do with asking and a whole of thanking … though this world is filled with hurt and sorrow, this world still has a surplus of good people doing good things, running the good race of faith, hope and love … faithful servants who never give up, who speak kindly, think deeply and live bravely, and bend the arc of history toward what is good and right … 

Pray without ceasing; pray for the big things … like Miss America, who wants world peace … but pray for small things, too  - like good schools for our kids and enough jobs in this nation with decent wages so a man can provide for his family, a woman can care for her children.

And then, says Paul:

Give thanks, in all circumstances … because this is God’s will … and if it’s God’s will, then it’s good for us … God asks of us only what’s good and right … to give thanks opens the heart and mind … 

Paul is no fool … Paul knows how hard life can be … and we do, too ...

Justice fails, crime goes unpunished … women’s rights are denied, and a 17-year old boy is dead, and somehow or other that’s okay … all over the place, things go wrong, and the wrong wins - sin prevails, evil holds the upper hand; insanity wins the day - My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

But in the end of it all, Jesus says, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit … the work is finished!

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name ...

Giving thanks relieves all kinds of stress … makes like easier … eases the hurt and stress we all feel … the disappointment and the anger … giving thanks lifts burdens and lightens our mood, turns our face, even if just for a moment, to God and to God’s love at work in all things for good.

I keep thinking of what Corrine said to me last week Sunday when I asked how she was doing, “I’ve seen better days,” she said, “but I’m grateful for what I have.”

An honest statement of things … “I’ve seen better days” … 

When the days add up for us, and the body isn’t what it used to be … aches and pains keep us company most of the time … our mortality begins to show more often then we like … better days, indeed … behind us now … when the past is whole lot longer than our future … when we find ourselves standing at the head of the line … no one ahead of us any longer … we’re next in line for the end of the line … we’re at the end of the street.

But “I’m thankful for what I have,” Corrine added … 

“I’m thankful for what I have.”

Eyes and heart wide open!

And in all things, to God be the glory.

Amen and Amen!

June 30, 2013 - "Foundation in Christ and Human Rights"

1 Corinthians 3.1-23; 4.14-21; 14.20

I’m glad to be an American … ours is a remarkable nation … founded on a vision, a unique vision - a land of equality, with liberty and justice for all … from sea to shining sea.

The vision remains … and we’re still working at it … we’re not always on target, and sometimes the story becomes garbled and confused … we’re unsure sometimes of what it means to be an American, living in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Sometimes the story has been sad … 

America decided that it was okay to wipe out the Native American population, take their land, break whatever treaties we might have signed, because Native Americans weren’t Christians, and weren’t always interested in our religion … and besides, “they were dirty savages.”

America decided that it was okay to have slaves … and throughout the Americas tons of sugar cane and cotton were grown and harvested on the sweat and tears of tens of thousands of slaves brought here from Africa, and preachers said it was okay, because people of color were the Sons of Ham, from Noah’s story, condemned forever to be slaves, to serve the interests of the white man … and besides, people of color weren’t fully human; they were less in the eyes of god, and in the eyes of the European - African culture and religion were labeled, “savage,” and the Europeans, in spite of centuries of war and bloodshed, claimed to have the upper hand and stood closer to God … and Christianity was too often preached by missionaries, not to liberate, but to quiet the people, make them subservient to their white masters. 

To resolve the questions of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” we had to fight a Civil War … and we’re still struggling with the big questions.

The Paula Deen flap of recent weeks reveals some of the fault lines still present in our nation … she tells us that she’s just a little white girl raised in the South and doing the best she can … but I’m not so sure … I wish she had simply said, “I’m sorry, and I’m going to do better” … but she posed as a victim, and claimed that jealous forces were out to get her … she could have been noble and wise, but instead Paula Deen choose to throw a pity party for herself … she might have become a spokesperson for a better day, but she ran away from the ugly truths of racism and bigotry, and hoped people wouldn’t notice her running away.

This morning, in some church pulpits in California and in other parts of the the nation, preachers will open the Bible and proclaim in loud and holy voices, that the Supreme Court is a great evil, President Obama is the Devil, and this nation is headed to wreck and ruin because of Marriage Equality … 

Preachers will haul out the few verses that seemingly deal with this question … just a few verses, that’s all, just a few verses, and build a whole world of exclusion and bitterness and hatred on those few verses.

Those preachers forget the bloody and shameful ways in which the Bible has been used for centuries to hurt and to harm … 

Last week Sunday, remember - the Bible tells us to stone to death unruly sons, and burn to death adulterers … the Bible tells us that women have no place in the church and ought to be quiet, and shame on women for wanting their rights and their place in the sunshine.

Heard a conservative describe what the Supreme Court did on DOMA and Prop 8 as "the unraveling of the American family" ... I thought to myself, "Unraveling? Not at all, but a blessing, an invitation … and invitation to millions more to enjoy the power and goodness, and the challenge, of being an American family." What we have today is not a loss, but a gain. Not an unravelling, but further knitting … the great tapestry of American Freedom and Hope just got larger … the quilt of our story, had a few more squares added.

When it comes to reading the Bible, we have to be wise … and this Sunday, all across the land, thoughtful preachers will lift up the goodness of God … churches will celebrate new found-freedoms and liberty … well-trained preachers will carefully open the Bible and expound the great message.

The central message of the Bible … the big message … the message that towers over every other story in the Bible … the message that defines how we read those few verses that condemn others … the message that anchors everything else, Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so … little ones to him belong, they are weak, but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me, this I know … for the Bible tells me so.

This is our gift to America!

And Happy Birthday America! Keep on keepin’ on … we’re a great nation, and we’re still learning what our greatness needs to be … we’re still forging the American Dream … 

It’ll never be finished … the work of liberty will always remain our greatest challenge … providing life for all of our citizens, and all who come to our land … we’ll always be a work-in-progress … the work goes on!

Children in poverty … our nation’s inability to provide comprehensive health care, still arguing about women and their rights … millions of people having to choose between paying the rent and going to a doctor … 

Banks too big to fail.

Wall Street greed and the love of money.

Too many wars and too many secrets.

Building big walls on our borders.

American schools … safety for our children … student debt.

Our need for safe and reliable public transportation.

Let all of God’s Children in this great nation lead the way with wisdom and vision, kindness and charity, honesty and hope … because America’s original vision is a godly vision - life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness … justice for all … because all are equal in the sight of God … no one better than anyone else, and we have to help each other, because not everyone is strong … and we all have different gifts, and every gift is needed to make it right and good.

America is still exploring … no longer in a covered wagon crossing the great plains … now, our exploration is of the soul and of the mind … what DOES it mean to be free? … to be America … a land wherein the Lincoln Monument in Washington reminds us that of all the things Lincoln said and did, he saved the Union - all the people, and every state - that we belong to one another, and every human being within our borders, however they got here, to have a chance at the American Dream, and let no power, no government, no financial interests, stand in the way of hope and life.

I’m an American, and I’m glad to be here … I believe in the original vision, and I’m willing to say that God had a hand in it all … Happy Fourth of July to this nation, and to all who are here today, no matter how we got here - Happy Fourth of July.

This day, I’m a Christian, and I celebrate the name of Jesus … I lay claim to the Kingdom of God … the glory and the power of God’s love, here and now … the central message of the Bible, Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

Paul the Apostle tells the Corinthians to grow up … build on no other foundation than the one foundation laid in Jesus Christ our LORD.

This week, as our nation celebrates freedom … let us rejoice with one another, and hold one another up … securing freedom for one another, all the more.

Let us be wise in the ways of Jesus Christ … open wide the doors of freedom, the freedom for which Christ died.

Let welcome and affirmation be our way of life … speak the truth in love … seek justice … build the better way … keep on dreaming.

Help our nation be free … quiet the harsh voices of condemnation and greed … speak out for equality and opportunity … 

Let us be of good cheer … kick up our heels a bit … enjoy the Fourth of July … and bring to life the best we can, in the name of Jesus, who loves us all.

Amen and Amen!