9.15.24 "When Time Runs Out!" Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Proverbs 1.20-33; James 3.1-12

Wisdom cries out in the street … in the squares she raises her voice. 

At the busiest corner she cries out … at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?

How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing …

And fools hate knowledge?

The ancient writer looks around and sees a troubled world … a world where too many people fail to grasp the reality of the day …

Going about their day-to-day tasks … like the proverbial three monkeys: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil … 

The ancient writer knows better … 

A life lived in a silo hardly qualifies as life … 

The ancient writer goes on … when the day of calamity comes, as it surely will, there will be little sympathy … you had your chance to live and grow, but you chose to be small rather than great … you retreated into ignorance rather than taking up the tasks of wisdom.

You closed your eyes to the evil all around you … 

You didn’t hear the cry of those in need and pain … 

You certainly didn’t speak evil, good for you, but you didn’t speak good, either … 

You were silent … when your should have spoken out … 

You turned away … when you should have seen what was happening … 

You closed your ears when you should have paid attention.

The life and words of the Rev. Martin Niemöller come  to mind …

Martin Niemöller was a prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany. 

In the 1920s and early 30s, he sympathized with Nazi ideas and supported right-wing political movements. 

After Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, and saw what was happening, Niemöller became a critic of Hitler.

He spent the last eight years of Nazi rule, from 1937 to 1945, in Nazi prisons and concentration camps. 

Niemöller is best remembered for his postwar statement:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.

As some have said: The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

In the early 1990s, when the Presbyterian Church was in full out battle with itself on the question of homosexuality …

My associate minister and I were chatting about it … her brother was gay, that I knew … we had welcomed to our building PFLAG - Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays … we were doing a lot to support, welcome, educate, and inform … the church had a few gay members, one of whom was a deacon … 

Across the denomination, the battle raged … there were those who said, Whoa, stop a minute, go no further … we need more time, to read the Bible, study, and pray … we need more time.

As my associate and I were chatting, I mentioned this to her … she knew that I was an advocate, but when I said, Perhaps more time is needed for more folks to come on board.

She replied, and I’ll never forget: My brother doesn’t have any more time.

She might as well have hit me over the head with 2 x 4 … 

I realized - I wasn’t paying attention … I was treating this as an idea, a concept, something to be studied, and that more time was needed to bring about healing in the denomination …

I realized - what I thought to be an idea to be studied, was a life and death reality for others … their lives, their faith, their dreams, their safety, their jobs, and families, were on the line … 

The argument for more time may have some value, and we should always remember “haste makes waste.”

But we also need to know - delay can be deadly when life hangs in the balance.

African Americans know the story all too well … throughout the South, during the turmoil of the Civil Rights era, whites frequently said to the African American, Slow down, you’re going to fast … be patient … continue to pray … we need time to change.

When, in fact, there is no intent to change whatsoever … when the powers that be are thoroughly entrenched, and not about to budge, no matter what. 

How much more time is needed for justice?

For truth?

For what every heart knows to be right?

There were those who refused to wait any longer.

Voices were raised, marches organized, people joined together … people spoke out, held hands, and marched … people sang together, We shall overcome …

There is evil in this beautiful world, more than enough to go around … 

And within our very own heart, we can beat a hasty retreat from the struggle … 

I have enough on my plate … I don’t want any more.

I’ve got bills to pay, and a job to do.

My plate is heaped high … I don’t need any more, 

Goodbye, good day … I’ve enough to chew.

What would have happened in Nazi Germany if more folks had awakened to the horrors of Hitler … his book, Mine Kampf, written in 1925, laid it all out … but folks were hungry for assurance and pride … Hitler promised to make Germany great again … Deutchland uber alley …

Some saw the truth, but millions closed their ears, their eyes, and said nothing.

Last Sunday, I said:

Learn to be unhappy … in the best sense of that word … to be discontented, to protest, to challenge  … to know there’s something better to be had … that our present social malformations are not set in concrete, but can be changed … to weep with those who weep says the Apostle Paul.

Across the world, in every age, there are those who keep the wisdom … they pay attention, they bear the burdens of responsibility … which I think Jesus intended - when he said, Take up your cross and follow me.

I love to follow Jesus, but do I have to take up a cross?

Just how responsible do I have to be? for the welfare of the world, my own behavior?

There’s no clear answer to the questions … questions I need to live with … and you do, too …

To look at Christ and hear his words.

To see him on the cross.

To say within ourselves a quiet little prayer:

To you, O LORD, I give myself, I give my life and care.

I give my eyes to see the world.

I give my ears to hear the cry.

I give my mouth to speak the truth.

For time runs out.

The day is soon gone.

Lives that wait.

Must wait no more.

Amen and Amen

9.11.22 "The Three C's! Part 1: Creation: A Good Start"

Genesis 1.1-5; John 1.1-5

A little boy came home from Sunday School one day, and proudly announced, “There’s baseball in the Bible.”

“Baseball in the Bible?” his Mom asked.

“You bet,” said the little boy.

“The Bible says, “In the Big Inning” … 

Well, it was the Big Inning, all right … and here’s the beginning of a new sermon series, “The Three C’s” … Creation, Covenant, and Christ.

Starting at the beginning, at least for me:

I was born and baptized a Presbyterian, at the First Presbyterian Church of Sheboygan, Wisconsin … I grew up in the Dutch Reformed Church … attended public elementary schools, and then a Christian high school in Grand Rapids, Michigan … and then on to Calvin University, where I met the love of my life, a sweet lady from Minnesota … and then on to Western Theological Seminary in Holland, MI …  I was ordained January 27, 1970, in the First Presbyterian Church of Holland, by Grand River Presbytery … Donna and I moved to West Virginia, the West Virginia Mountain Project, where I served two small churches in the midst of coal country, Boone County, the poorest county in West Virginia … and from there to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and back to Michigan, and now, here I am, retired, and, by the grace of God, still working … grateful for most of it, bewildered by some it … some of it painful … all of it valuable … blessed with two marvelous children along the way, a lovely granddaughter on whom we dote … we live now in a Presbyterian retirement community, Monte Vista Grove Homes, here in Pasadena …  

And where did it all begin?

I mean, really begin? The Big Inning?

It’s a question for all of us … how we answer the question makes all the difference in the world.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself …

Behind this series of sermons are some of my deepest commitments to the church of Jesus Christ …

I believe, with all my heart: our purpose is to know something of God, head knowledge, heart knowledge, soul knowledge …  

To think about God is to think about life.

When we raise our theological questions, we’re also raising existential questions: Who are we? Where did we come from? Why are here? Where are we going? What’s important?

The Presbyterian tradition is a tradition of education … we train our ministers well … no guarantees - a seminary education will not automatically produce intelligence, wisdom, or ability … any more than a medical education will automatically produce a good doctor … or law school, a good attorney. 

Yet who of us would visit a doctor or hire an attorney who had no education? Yet, millions of Americans gather in churches led by men, and some women, of little or no training; mostly self-appointed … often given to outlandish ideas and bad theology.

That Americans are susceptible to this ought not to surprise us. Americans are practical in their thinking, and often deeply self-centered. Too many of us prefer not think about God, or life, but want to be told what to think about God and life. 

We’re easily tempted by snake-oil entrepreneurs … easily lured away from the gospel by high-powered religious entertainment … often confusing sentiments of the heart with spirituality … substituting a rousing worship service with devotion to God’s purpose.

We Presbyterians hold our ministers to high standards … we have good seminaries, well-trained professors … we require skill in the biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek … we require knowledge of doctrine and polity … before ordination, the ordination exams … they’re rigorous … all along the way, the Presbytery-of-care monitors the student, helps the student evaluate their sense of calling, supports them with counsel and prayer … helps the student better understand what it means to be a minister.

It all begins in the Beginning … the Big Inning … Creation!

God’s mandate to us: Care for the earth … care. for. the earth!

So, here we are … 2022 … what’s the greatest issue?

What do you think? For you, what’s the greatest issue?

If you ask a conservative Christian, the answer might well be “abortion” - “abortion is the issue, and we have to rid the land of its practice, and those who support it.”

A conservative Christian a few years back would have said, “Winning souls to Christ, that’s the issue … so when people die, they can go to heaven and live with Jesus for ever.”

A conservative politician might say: “It’s taxes … the need to cut taxes … limit the role of government … build a wall … keep America White!”

A liberal politician, these days, would likely talk about climate change, voting rights, a woman’s right to choose … universal health care.

If you ask a liberal Christian minister, it’s most likely to be climate change … care of the earth … things that pose a threat to God’s creation.

The poet Robert Service writes:

The waves have a story to tell me,

As I lie on the lonely beach;

Chanting aloft in the pine-tops,

The wind has a lesson to teach.

The Psalmist writes:

The heavens are telling the glory of God;

and the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork.

Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.

Jesus said: Look at the birds of the air … consider the lilies of the field …

The earth speaks to us … can we not hear?

The fires of summer … drought transforming the West … the Amazon forests … Greenland’s melting glaciers … oceans, filled with our debris … the extinction of species as human beings continue to extract and exploit the generosity of the earth …  

There are those who say “climate change is cyclical” … and it is … the geological record makes that clear … for millions of years, earth’s climate has been in flux, but since the Industrial Revolution, beginning in the 18th century, coal and steam, iron and steel, changed the world … human beings have become a dominant factor in the ebb and flow of the environment … 

I have a granddaughter … what kind of world do I want her to have? She has no choice right now; children never have a choice. But we have choices to make; evidence to consider; scientists and politicians who beg us to pay attention … we have the power to make a difference, to address the challenge of climate change and global warming.

We’re part of the problem, that’s for sure … which means, we’re also part of the solution …

I like that … part of the solution … that’s what it means to say, I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth … 

And in the LORD’s prayer, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.

With our great power over the earth, comes the great task to care for the earth …

For the beauty of the earth, 

for the glory of the skies, 

for the love which from our birth 

over and around us lies. 

Dear friends in Christ, when we have left this mortal vale, when we are no more, our duties done: May it be said of us … They honored the earth, they gave ear to its cry, they strove with all their might to care all God’s creatures, great and small … may it be said of us: they followed Christ!

Amen and Amen!

June 2, 2019 "All Shall be Glad" - El Monte Presbyterian Church

Isaiah 35; John 14.15-24

Good Morning, and God’s peace to you.

It’s good to be here with you again.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to share with you in the gospel of our LORD Jesus Christ, to think a little bit more about the world in which we live, the challenges and the gifts, the sorrows and the joy, the hurt and the opportunity.

It’s a big world out there … and we’re not so big ourselves … but size doesn’t matter when it comes to the church of Jesus Christ … it’s not the building, it’s the heart … it’s not the money, it’s the faith, it’s not the numbers, but the love.

With you this day, I celebrate your life, just as it is.

You have everything you need, right here, right now.

You have the people to do the work of God.

You have the Holy Spirit to guide.

You have good music, music of the soul, music to bless.

You have a building, a kitchen … you have children eager to hear of God’s love.

You have all that’s needed to be faithful to Christ.

To make a difference.

To be the light of the world and the salt of the earth.

I celebrate you this day.

I give thanks to God for the blessings of God’s peace.

The goodness of God’s love.

The hope that we have.

And the love that binds us together into the fellowship of faith, the company of the saints.

And that’s big.

That’s really big.

When this sermon was coming together, I wanted to think with you a little bit about “bigness” … how God takes the measure of someone’s soul, how God measures the work we do, and how we often use the wrong measuring stick to measure what we think is big.

We live in a world where bigness is worshipped.

Human beings are so easily misled … misled by their eyes.

Remember Adam and Eve?

They looked at the forbidden tree and thought, “That looks good.”

The eye can be misled by glitz and glamour, by power and glory measured by human standards … the fast car, the big house, the expensive yacht … from the Tower of Babel to the Towers of Trump … glitz, glamour, power and wealth.

That was one of the temptations put to Jesus … all the power and glory of the world … and then Devil’s tag line, “To get it, all you have to do is bow down and worship me!” 

And to that, Jesus said a resounding, “No!”

How big is big????

In the kingdom of God.

Size matters only for vanity … vanity, vanity, all is vanity, says the writer of Ecclesiastes … we do well to heed those words, lest we be misled and deceived by our eyes.

Remember when Jesus and the disciples were in Jerusalem … the disciples oohed and awed over the Temple; they said to Jesus, Look at these big stones and all these large buildings.

Jesus said to them, “Who cares? Who cares how it looks, how big it is, and how rich it is. It isn’t going to endure; it won’t be here for long; it’s all going to be thrown down and destroyed.”

Vanity … is a problem … for the church of Jesus Christ in America.

American christians want to be big.

And when we’re not big, we’re envious.

We talk about that megachurch down the street … how big are its buildings, how many people are in attendance … envy sets in, envy wrecks us … no wonder The Ten Commandments end with envy:

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

What happens when we envy?

We no longer count our blessings.

We doubt the goodness of God.

We try to copy what others are doing.

We want what they have.

We want a big church, too.

I know … I’ve been there!

I know what envy does to the soul.

A soul impressed with size.

A soul dazzled by success … 

These days, much of the church in America has been led astray by the temptations of wealth and happiness, success and power, big buildings, big crowds … and expensive shoes.

“Expensive shoes?” you say?

Yes, expensive shoes … 

I recently came across an Instagram page called @preachersneakers … featuring celebrity preachers and their expensive sneakers … $2000 … $3000 … and all the accouterments of wealth - expensive clothing, fast cars, private jets, big homes …

Preachers wallowing in their wealth, and they have the gall to tell us:

Wealth proves that we’re right.

Private jets are needed for security reasons.

We’re children of the king and we outta live like kings.

God is big, and we gotta be big, too.

Have you heard that corrupted message???

And, then, they tell us to keep on giving … not to our local church, but to their “ministry” … not to local charities, but to their “mission” work … with silly promises of a “check in the mail,” or “winning the lottery” … or some other divine moment that’ll put money into our pockets.

I remember my first parish, in West Virginia, early 70s … a little tiny town on a muddy creek, beside some rusty railroad tracks, abandoned coal mines all around, poverty neck deep … a little post office in a small general store, where the men gathered to swap tall tales and and tips on coon hunting …

We could watch the postman sorting the mail, slotting it …there were no little doors on the slots - it was open, most everyone could see, and as folks gathered their mail, I saw the religious material … tons of it, flooding this impoverish town with appeals for giving and promises for wealth, health and happiness.

Religious shysters know their business … they know that poor people are vulnerable … they know how to manipulate and use poor people … with wild promises of wealth … these fraudulent preachers, these hucksters of lies, know how to fleece the flock, pick the pocket, take the widow’s two mites.

It’s fraudulent … it has nothing to do with the kingdom of God … nothing to do with Christ …

It was Christ who said to the disciples: travel light … carry no purse, no bag, no sandals … don’t even stop along the way to talk with folks.

As for the religious elite and their expensive clothing, Jesus said: 

They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi.

How big is the kingdom of God?

It is big … bigger than we could ever imagine … world without end, without borders and boundaries … limitless and full of love … overflowing with gladness and goodness … compassion and mercy … decency and dedication …

The kingdom of God: 

a home for the homeless, 

a welcome to the despised, 

a gathering place for the lonely, 

a voice for those have been beaten into silence … 

These days, there’s a movement in the Presbyterian Church called Matthew 25 … to become a Matthew 25 Church … 

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.

Right here, right now … El Monte, a Matthew 25 church … we have all that’s needed to be the church of Jesus Christ. 

Maybe we only have five loaves of bread and a few fish to share … but Jesus says, “It’s enough, more than enough,” because I will make the difference … 

The creator of the heavens and the earth, to whom all peoples belong, from whom comes all life, the creator takes the five loaves and the few small fish we have, and in the hands of the creator, there is enough, more than enough … the multitude is fed … and when the meal is done, and all are glad, there are even leftovers … plenty to go around, and then some.

That’s how big the kingdom of God is.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Hallelujah and Amen!