Esther 9.20-23; James 5.13-20
Music has beat … rhythm … tempo …
Poetry has beat … rhythm … tempo …
We have four seasons … winter, spring, summer, fall …
We have morning, noon, and night …
We have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year …
We go to sleep - and awake - in patterns of time …
Coffee in the morning, leftovers at night … brush our teeth before going to bed.
We rely on repetition …
Time is not a personal privilege,
time is a matter of rhythm, tempo, and beat …
we all honor it.
We follow speed limits (mostly), we have maps - paper maps, and digital maps …
We expect Colorado to be south of Foothill, we expect the 210 to run east and west, and the 605 north and south … nobody gets up in the middle of the night and changes the interstate numbers …
Routine is a time-saver … I nearly always know where my glasses are because I set them in the same place … I usually know where my phone is, my billfold, my caps and hat, and so on, because I usually set them in the same place.
Routine in prayer is helpful … Our Father, who art in heaven … Hail Mary, full of grace … Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open …
Routine is the rhythm of life … the beat goes on …
But life begs for innovation, too … something new … a new cut of clothing, a new style of music, the latest novels, and the latest podcast … an untried recipe … a new Asian-fusion restaurant …
Rhythm and innovation … life moves along … if it’s all routine, the human spirit grows lethargic … if it’s all innovation, we grow bewildered.
A cook learns how to cook by following the recipes …
After awhile, the cook learns how things work … and begins to play with recipes … room for improvisation …
Writers, poets, musicians, scientists and engineers, learn the basics, and then take liberties in the search for something new …
Bach and Beethoven … Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift.
JPL … Ford Motor Company … science and medicine …
The movie industry - managers, accountants, distributers … writers, directors, actors - which side of the camera?
It’s pumpkin time at Trader Joe’s, but not just a pie or so, uh uh … Pumpkin Spice Cold Brew, Pumpkin Streusel Muffins, Pumpkin Spice Pretzels, Pumpkin Loaf and Pumpkin Butter … and Pumpkin just about anything you can imagine.
Theme and variation … tradition and innovation … the tried and the true, the inventive and the daring.
The Church at its best - a combination - of these two energies.
The tagline on our bulletin cover: traditional worship - progressive values …
Traditional worship … the routine of worship … the essential rhythm, the beat …
Postlude, Prelude, the LORD’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, Bible readings, Prayers of Confession, moments of silence …
Progressive values …
What are progressive values?
Sort of like asking, “what’s a nice day?” … it’s a hard question to an swear clearly, but let me give it a try.
I’ll speak personally … this is me … this is me in Christ, as best I can, and I hope, Christ in me!
I welcome everyone to the Lord’s Table … I cross boundaries with Jesus, I take chances, I experiment, I pray, I think …
I know where I must go …
like the voyages of the starship Enterprise … to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man [or woman] has gone before!
I defend those without a voice … I welcome and affirm those excluded by the old norms …
I acknowledge the sins of my land: racism, bigotry, lies … sins that have infected and impacted me when I was a child.
I don’t ban books, I read ‘em …
I support public education, I stand with our teachers … and all forms of education that lift a students mind rather than suppressing it.
I am not afraid of those who think … I am afraid of those who don’t.
I believe in responsible capitalism … I trust our scientists and historians …
I wave the flag …
I believe the insurrectionist of Jan. 6 are traitors to the nation.
I believe in Democracy, the freedom of choice … I believe good government is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people … I pay my taxes … I work for equal opportunity … I celebrate diversity … I try not to be greedy … I try to keep others in my world-view …
I do all of this because of Scripture, and the large traditions of the church … I do this because of Christ.
I have no intention of imposing my faith on the world … that’s wrong …
What I intend is that my faith shapes my life, so I can fulfill the words of Christ: You are the light of the world … let your light shine …
Progressive Values … Traditional Worship …
Think of a fire and a fire place … they need each other to realize their potential …
Some of us are more like the fireplace - steady, tried and true, but in need of fire to fulfill our purpose … some of us more like the fire - full of adventure, daring do, and ready to go, in need a fireplace to guide and to guard our enthusiasms.
Each element needs the other to maximize it’s potential …
We need rules, structure, tempo and rhythm.
We need energy, innovation, guess work, and playfulness.
The church needs theology, doctrine, and dogma.
The church needs flexibility, improvisation, and fun.
There is tension … disagreement … uneasiness …
The prophets of ancient Israel proclaim justice and peace …
the priests hold the line …
Moses points the way ahead … the people wanna turn back.
Jesus crosses boundaries … the traditionalists are appalled …
It all plays out in the Apostle Paul … on the Damascus Road, he’s all rules and regulations - then the light … Paul sees a new day, a new way ahead.
The new doesn’t throw the old away …
Jesus said, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
The old and the new work together … they need each other … the new doesn’t throw the old away … the old doesn’t crucify the new.
Matthew 13.52, Jesus says: … every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.
Our Scripture readings this morning put it together …
Mordecai’s regulations for the people in Persia … after a harrowing moment of time, when it seemed as if all the people were doomed, God turns the tide, Queen Esther rises to the occasion, the people are saved.
Mordecai says: don’t forget this stuff … God’s love … deliverance, salvation, victory … then, Mordecai introduces a new celebration: every year, in this month, on this day, remember your deliverance … rain or shine, life or death, convenient or not. Celebrate! Something new, something old …
James says: put it all to work with prayer … let it live and move and have it’s being … sins forgiven, the sick are healed … joy is gained … the prayer of those who look to God is powerful and effective … something old, something new.
Mordecai and James …
Traditional Worship, Progressive Values …
Theme and variation … the fire and the fireplace.
Hallelujah and Amen!
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