2.5.23 "Salt & Light" - Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Isaiah 58.1-12; Matthew 5.13-20

Jesus says to his disciples, you are the salt of the earth, and the light of the world … 

And then asks: what good is salt, if it loses its saltiness? … what good is light, if its covered up?

Salt is salt … light is light … they have purpose … it’s your purpose, says Jesus … so let it happen, let it be … don’t fumble it, don’t stand in it way, don’t mess it up … 

There was a time in America when the church was a powerhouse … after World War 2, Americans went to work, and they went to church … what we would call “mainline” churches - Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, American Baptists, Episcopalians … 

In the earlier part of the 20th century, megachurches came to be - historic Protestant Churches … tall steeples marked the landscape - 4th Presbyterian Church in Chicago, Riverside Church in New York City, Pasadena Presbyterian Church, and Westminster on Lake Avenue … 

The police showed up on Sunday mornings to direct traffic … such was the appeal, the power, the presence, of historic Protestant Churches throughout America … 

After the war, churches sprouted up throughout the suburbs … I was pastor of one such church in Livonia, MI - founded in 1951 … folks came in droves … multiple services.

A colleague of mine said, “We couldn’t have stopped them had we tried.” 

These were the program churches: musicals, mission trips;  pageants and potlucks … a lot of good was done, a lot of fellowship, enjoyed … but danger signs were present … in a society with turbulent undercurrents.

This church, 1961, welcomed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to it’s pulpit for a Saturday morning visit to Pasadena.

Westminster took a stand in favor of school integration … 

And guess what …

Folks walked away from Westminster in droves - the membership drain continued throughout the 60s and 70s … and continued … for lots of reasons … so, here we are today.

From a recent article: 

… by 2021 the percent of Americans who claim to be “None” … is at 29% … only about 60% of Americans claim now to be Christians and less than 50% are members of a church. 

The article goes on: 

Many are leaving because they are no longer welcome. Because they have called out how their church acted; or because they don’t like their church’s stances on politically- and socially-important topics (like climate, politics, racism); or they despise how the church treats women and silences their voices; or who can get married in the church and who cannot.

So, here we are, 2023 … a magnificent building, a legacy sanctuary, a glorious organ … with hopes and dreams.

We will never again have thousands in membership … 

The Protestant Era in America is done … but the work of the church continues. 

God is God … salt is salt … light is light.

For Westminster, I see a revitalized presence in the community … centered in the power of this building, a gift from God - yes, the Tower still stands, and it’s up to us to flood it with light, and flavor it with salt.

It will require of us - inventiveness, experimentation … the discipline to let go of the past, thinking outside the box, daring to take some chances.

God will help us.

God will help us, when we engage in the central work of the church: worship, mission, and justice.  

When we sing to the glory of God, for all we’re worth - praise God from whom all blessings flow …

When we celebrate our story - a story to tell to the nations, that shall turn their hearts to the right, a story of truth and mercy, a story of peace and light …

When we take a stand for justice, make justice our mission to the world - and what’s justice, we ask? That’s the salty question. What is justice???

To make things right … to make things right for God’s world, God’s creatures, great and small … for people in war-torn lands, for trees and water, for the weary, and the downtrodden.

What’s justice? we ask!

Gun violence calls for some salt and light - America’s paralysis with regard to sensible laws and legislation. 

The NRA proclaims a gospel of private interests and personal rights - to own guns - arm teachers, police patrols in our schools, active-shooter routines, and more guns … more guns … more guns … 

Misunderstanding the Second Amendment … bowing down to “acceptable” violence and death, as if the violent death of children could ever be acceptable. 

When it comes to laws and legislation, nothing works 100%, but that’s no reason to have no laws and legislation. 

A doctor said to a friend of mine: “We can’t make you any better, but we can keep you from getting worse.”

Right now, gun violence is getting worse … the civilized world shakes its head.

I, for one, do not believe that “more guns” is the answer … I believe that common sense and a commitment to the common good can help us create common-sense laws that will at least keep us from getting worse.

What is justice? we ask.

Climate change calls for some salt and light … scientists agree - human industry has impacted the weather … yes, weather is cyclical … but human endeavor has added to the momentum of global warming - glaciers melting, earth exploited, air, and water, polluted.

Some christians proclaim a gospel of innocence … “god will never allow the worst to happen” they say. 

“It’s god’s purpose for humans to dominate the earth. 

So, go ahead and drill baby. Dig that coal and sink those wells … 

Tempting God, it what it is.

The devil said to Jesus … Go ahead, throw yourself off the roof of the Temple; angels will come to your aid and save you.

Jesus replied: Don’t test God with foolish behavior.

What is justice? we ask.

The diversity of humanity calls for salt and light - 

Gender, life, and love … 

Millions of people, their children and loved ones … trans children, trans adults, gays and lesbians … because gender isn’t binary, it’s on a spectrum from A to Z … 

A young man whom I’ve know for years has recently come out, as a woman - This is who I am, he said; I’ve always been a women; it was my body that went in another direction.

There are those who in the name of their god condemn diversity of gender and life … criminalize homosexuality, prosecute doctors and hospitals who work with families and trans-children … 

The Pope recently said, “Homosexuality isn’t a crime,” and I would add: it isn’t a sin either. It’s just life, in all of its complexity and glory.

What is justice? we ask.

Mounting anti-semitism, anti-Asian violence, the persistence of racism … 

American society is still tilted toward white privilege and power  … millions of children are robbed of a fair chance at life … schools underfunded … private schools, charter schools, home-schooling - so much of it empowered by racism, the protection of white privilege, religious bigotry, even as corporate interests smell money in all of this.

What is justice? we ask.

You are the salt of the earth, the light of the world.

I’m grateful … grateful for the moment in which we live … it’s a challenge, for sure … even frightening, some of the time, but in just such a moment, we have the opportunity to forge something new, something fit for the future … a new paradigm of faith, hope, and love … to be the church of Jesus Christ, all over again, anew, forever and a day.

Brave and bold as our forebears … to meet the challenge of the day … engage the world, seek the kingdom of God.

The Spirit is powerful … to lift our hearts and minds to the possibilities of greatness … great with love, great with courage and innovation, great with humility and kindness, great in the ways and wonders of justice.

Yes, the Tower on Lake Avenue still stands.

You are the salt of the earth … You are the light of the world. 

Hallelujah and Amen!

July 24, 2022 "Latitude Is Our Style" Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Psalm 85; Luke 11.1-13

J.P.L

Justice, Passion, Latitude …

These three words capture the heart and soul of the Christian Faith …

Justice is what we do.

Passion defines our commitment.

Latitude is our style.

I’m a train buff?

Anyone here love trains?

A good afternoon for me is a trip out to Cajon Pass on the 15 … get off at Cleghorn Road, a terrific place to watch trains … huge trains laboring up and over the mountains out of LA, or coming in from the north and the east for the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Huge trains … multiple engines … sometimes with DPUs … Distributed Power Units - in the middle of a long train, or at the end, pushing hard … all of those units linked by radio-control - all working together to move tons of cargo across the nation.

It takes energy to move a train.

It takes energy to do justice - call it passion … the passion needed to join with God in the tasks of justice.

Which is why last week’s sermon was all about passion … passion is the energy needed to move justice into the world … just like those huge engines pulling those trains across the land.

Passion defines our commitment … a determination to stay the course, follow the Christ … abide in God’s Word, to be wise in what is good … to work for the good of all.

Passion asks of us everything we are, everything we hope to be … it’s a passionate deal … not for the halfhearted or those weak at the knees … 

Passion is the energy needed to move justice into our world

Which brings me to the third word, Latitude.

If Justice is what we do.

If passion defines our commitment.

Then latitude has to be our style.

Why? Why latitude?

Because Christian history is full of bloodshed and suffering … sad stories, tragic tales … when latitude was rejected, and domination accepted.

In the early 4th Century, the once-persecuted church became the all-powerful church of the Roman Empire - Christianity grew increasingly narrow and judgmental, as it grew more powerful … too many laws, too little love … the once-persecuted church now persecuted others … the Inquisition … the Hundred Years War, the Thirty Years War … colonial domination and enslavement of millions … the Salem Witch trials, burnings at the stake … the abuse of women and children … Christianity turned an ugly face to the world, to protect and promote its power.

Power is a good thing … it moves trains across the nation, it creates a just society … it wins the Civil War … it defeats fascism in Europe.

But when power is unregulated,  unchecked, when power is allowed to run its course, power runs amok … power becomes an end in itself … more power is needed to protect the power already gained - a vicious cycle that ends badly … that’s why we need latitude, a wideness of mercy … a broader view of the universe and God’s majestic love.

We need latitude … we all do … it makes life possible.

Let me tell you a story - college, 1968, or so, I was a middlin’ sort of a student, B B- kinda student … I took an econ course and had a terrible time with it - more my fault than anything … I was doing poorly, like flunking-poorly. 

One day, in the library, I saw my professor and I told him that I was doing poorly, that I knew it, and somehow or other, I just didn’t get it … I asked for some allowance on the final grade, and then said: “Professor Brouwer, I promise to never ever again take an econ course.” He laughed. 

When the grades came out, there it was … it wasn’t the F I deserved, but a generous C- … I’ve never forgotten him.

He gave me latitude.

I end now with some troubling thoughts about a ten-year old girl in Ohio … 

Abused and pregnant … 

Denied an abortion in Ohio, she and her family traveled to Indiana. 

A tragedy … aided and abetted by those who would force a ten-year old girl to bear a pregnancy … because somehow or other it’s “god’s will.”

An anti-abortion Indiana lawyer said that “his law only provides exceptions when the pregnant person’s life is in danger.”

He goes on: “[The girl] would have had the baby, and as many women who have had babies as a result of rape, we would hope that she would understand the reason and ultimately the benefit of having the child.”

Tell a child with a broken arm: “It’s god’s will for that arm to be broken; it’ll heal on its own, and you’ll learn to live with it. Later on you’ll realize it was all for your benefit.”

Tell the parents of child ill with cancer - “Just pray about it - if it’s god’s will, the child will get better; if not, then accept your child’s death. Medicine is bad. Science is no good. Trust god!”

I, for one, do not want to live in that kind of world.

Latitude has to be our style … open minds, open arms, open hearts …

Flexibility, agility, adaptability … creativity, innovation, risk … doubt, uncertainty, caution … generosity, charity, thoughtfulness … perplexity, bewilderment, confusion … being able to say, “I don’t know” … “I’m not sure” but I’ll do my best to live the love of Christ … 

I’ll leave room, lots of room, for fellow travelers, strangers and stragglers, the world around me, a big world, a world beyond my touch, beyond my understanding, beyond my control … latitude has to be our style. 

Latitude softens the instincts of power … latitude keeps us honest and humble … latitude keeps our passion balanced and patient … 

Latitude finds a way, a reasonable way, a thoughtful, kindly way, a generous way, for that ten-year old girl … we know that life isn’t easy, and too many rules only make it harder. 

Latitude is God’s way … forgiveness and mercy … long-suffering and deep patience, forbearance and calmness; tenderness toward the vulnerable, mindfulness of the overlooked and forsaken … a divine Yes to the realities and challenges of life … more forgiveness than anything else … latitude is God’s way.

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,

like the wideness of the sea.

There’s a kindness in God’s justice,

which is more than liberty.

Justice is what we do.

Passion defines our commitment.

Latitude is our style!

Amen and Amen!

7.10.22 "Justice Is What We Do" - Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Amos 7.7-17; Luke 10.25-37

Lots of people didn’t like Jesus!

He rubbed folks the wrong way … ruffled lots of feathers.

Jesus wasn’t afraid to upset the apple cart … or overturn a few tables … to set things right, make some adjustments, bring down a few mountains, fill in some of the valleys …

Prepare the way of the LORD, cried the Prophet Isaiah, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

The Prophet Micah proclaimed: The LORD has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

It’s all about justice.

Justice is what we do.

If we wonder what justice looks like, we need look no further than the story of the Good Samaritan … 

A lawyer comes to Jesus to test him.

The lawyer is neither friend nor foe.

The lawyer asks a common question, What must I do to inherit eternal life?

In other words, what kind of life meets God’s approval?

Jesus poses a counter-question to the lawyer, What is written in the law?

In other words, “don’t ask me - you already know!”

The lawyer replies: You shall love the LORD you God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus says: That’s right. Do this and you’ll live.

The lawyer isn’t satisfied, so he asks, Who’s my neighbor?

It’s a good question … we ask it all the time - to whom are we responsible? to whom shall we give aid and kindness? 

The homeless under our bridges, immigrants at the border, children in our inner-cities, the people of Ukraine, gays and lesbians, trans-children, their families?

Pundits, politicians, and preachers parse the word “neighbor” all the time … carefully measuring out what our responsibilities might be, or might not be.

Former U.S. president George W. Bush invoked the parable in his first inaugural address: “I can pledge our nation to a goal: when we see that wounded traveler on the road to Jericho, we will not pass to the other side.”

It’s an important story, told in a thousand different ways …  a call to compassion and kindness … 

A reminder that every day, people are set upon by circumstances and conditions, and left for dead, bleeding beside the highway of life.

Every day, the cries of the wounded call us to do what we can, individually, and collectively, from the local level to the highest levels of government, to help the wounded back to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

This morning, the first of a three-part series called, JPL …

I mentioned this to the choir a few weeks back, and a few days later, Norm Haynes sent me a note:

He writes: “In the early days of the space program at JPL when our success rate on missions was not great, we had a surprise successful mission. Afterwards , several at JPL said JPL stood for Just Plain Lucky. Fortunately, things improved greatly with experience.”

A three-part sermon series: J.P.L. Justice, passion, latitude.

Justice - is what we do.

Passion - describes our commitment.

Latitude - is our style.

Back to the story of the Good Samaritan - let me ask you a question: “When were you helped out of a ditch by the kindness of a friend, a family member, maybe even a stranger?”

Who was your Good Samaritan?

Let me tell you a story:

When I was a pastor in Oklahoma, a member of my congregation spoke at the local Rotary Club …  he was a successful man - oil, cattle, real estate, insurance … he flew P47s in France during WW2 … he was a husband, a father, an elder of the church … a great cook, and a friend to Donna and me.

At the Rotary Club, he spoke about the “free lunches” he had over the years … 

~ good parents he didn’t choose.

~ good schools in the community.

~ teachers who paid attention and helped him when he needed it.

~ the banker who gave him his first loan … the only collateral he could offer was his word and a handshake.

~ on and on it went - detailing “free lunches” given to him over the years.

For my friend, the notion of a self-made man was not part of the picture … my friend was wise enough to know that we’re all in this together … humble enough to recognize all the help given to him, all along the way … the “free lunches” … 

Albert Schweitzer put it this way: “… we all live, spiritually, by what others have given us in the significant hours of our life.”

My Oklahoma friend died recently at the age of 98, his life devoted to giving “free lunches” to the world around him.

He paid it forward. … he served on countless boards and agencies … he gave back to life some of what life had given to him …

What he couldn’t do by himself, he did with others … 

Lots of things require a community-wide effort … from food-assistance to housing … from rent-controls to good schools … from school boards to the halls of Congress, from the pews of this church to the President’s Oval Office, lots of things require a community-wide effort, a city, a state, a nation, and with climate issues and war, an entire world - to set aside what ordinarily separates us, to build bridges over the ditches dug by others … to stop in our tracks, pay attention to the world, join hands and hearts, to tackle some of the toughest issues facing humanity.

My Oklahoma friend did justice … he put right what was wrong, he paid attention to the overlooked … helped folks outta the ditch, and covered the bills.

We learn from watching such people …  Jesus said, “watch the Samaritan” …  

That would have rankled some of the audience. 

Samaritans, you see, were despised … some thought, “I’d rather die than receive help from one of them.”

It’s a long story, reaching back hundreds of years - originally all of the same family, of Abraham and Sarah, but war and exile separated the people one from the other … 

In time, they grew apart, further and further - looking askance at each other … brothers and sisters no more.

When Jesus goes through Samaria and speaks with the woman at the well, Jesus violates all sorts of social and religious rules. A good Jew would have nothing to do with a Samaritan, especially a Samaritan women …  Samaritans knew full-well to stay outta the way - Samaritans knew where they were not welcomed.

The priest and the Levite fail.

They see the injured man, and continue on their way …  

Maybe they were afraid.

“What will happen to me if I stop to help ?” That’s a real question, isn’t it? - it was a dangerous part of the road. 

We’ve all heard stories, “No good deed goes unpunished.” 

 The Samaritan story poses an alternate question: “What will happen to the man in the ditch if I don’t stop?”

It’s a good question, a hard question … it’s the right question, the sort of question that clears the air, focuses the soul, gets us moving in the right direction. It doesn’t provide a clear-cut answer, but it compels us to think about who we are, what it means to do justice - to set something right.

The LORD has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

And to God be the glory, Hallelujah and Amen!

"Last Words" - El Monte Community Presbyterian Church - Nov. 25, 2018

2 Samuel 23.1-7; John 18.33-37

Dear Friends in Christ, today, we celebrate the last day of the year … uh huh … that’s right, today, the last day … and by now, you’re wondering if I’m ok!

Well, I am ok.

And so are you.

And this is the last day of the year.

The church year, that is.

What began last year in Advent ends today … with the Last Word, if you will … the Reign of Christ Sunday!

Next Sunday, we start all over again … with the First Sunday of Advent … to rehearse the story of God’s love … we do this every year, to remind ourselves of the best things in life, the goodness of faith, the love of God, the unceasing care of God that sustains the universe, and watches over you and me.

Today, Last Words, the closing chapter, the final note of the symphony … that for which we long, that for which we pray: thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Fittingly, the texts for the day feature last words … 

The spirit of the LORD speaks through me, his word is upon my tongue. The God of Israel has spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me: One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land. 

David knows what a good and just ruler is … because David was a just ruler, a good man, a man of courage and kindness, wisdom and truth-telling … a visionary and a man devoted to God, and man after God’s own heart.

But David also walked on the dark side … selfish and violent, greedy and ambitious; David had blood on his hands; his personal life was often a mess, and his family paid the price. 

He wanted what he did, and he did what he wanted, and people died because of it.

David knows, in the last days of his life, looking back, thinking about it, considering God … David knows what Israel’s future requires - the future requires just rulers, like the morning sunlight, to gladden the heart of every citizen and maintain a just society.

Throughout the Old Testament, people grapple with questions of government … just like we do … the governed always wonder about those who govern … why is there so much war? and why so much poverty? What’s going on, and who’s telling the truth? Why can’t we get it all straightened out?

From the Book of Proverbs:

 A ruler who oppresses the poor

      is a beating rain that leaves no food.

 Like a roaring lion or a charging bear

      is a wicked ruler over a poor people.

By justice a king gives stability to the land …

If a king judges the poor with equity,

      his throne will be established forever.

From the prophet Micah:

What does the LORD require of you

 but to do justice, and to love kindness,

 and to walk humbly with your God?

Isaiah writes:

Give counsel,

grant justice;

make your shade like night

at the height of noon;

hide the outcasts,

do not betray the fugitive;

let the outcasts of Moab

settle among you;

be a refuge to them

from the destroyer.

Amos makes it clear:

 I hate, I despise your festivals,

      and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,

      I will not accept them;

      and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals

      I will not look upon.

Take away from me the noise of your songs;

      I will not listen to the melody of your harps.

But let justice roll down like waters,

      and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

In a little stable in Bethlehem, God introduced to the world a new kind of ruler … and a kingdom to fit … 

A kingdom not of sword and horse, but a kingdom of mercy and kindness.

A kingdom not of land and thrones, palaces and pleasure … but a kingdom of healing and hope, justice and peace.

A kingdom, not for the few, but for the many … not for the privileged, but for the people.

Jesus is good and kind, gentle and wise … but he’s certainly no wallflower …

From Galilee to Jerusalem, Jesus engages the times in which he lives … in his hometown, he preaches a sermon that enrages the congregation so badly they try to kill him …

Jesus speaks truth to power … he challenges the religious elite of Jerusalem, he takes to task those who use their religion to defraud widows and orphans … he calls into question those who look down their noses at the poor, the prostitute, and the “sinner.”

Jesus chides the rich as fools … and reminds us all that wealth  is a snare … Jesus looks at the great buildings of Jerusalem, and he’s not impressed … when the righteous show up with stones in hand, ready to kill a women, Jesus bends down and scribbles in the dirt, and who knows what he wrote? but the stone-wielding proud turn away in shame.

Time and again, his words frustrate the powerful, his kindness to the poor embarrasses the wealthy … his entire life upsets the world around him … is it any wonder that the religious elite of Jerusalem and the political powers of Rome collude with one another, to kill him?

Now, at the end, in Pilate’s courtroom - Pilate and Jesus engage in an uneasy conversation … Pilate wants to know who Jesus really is, and Jesus knows that Pilate really doesn’t care … because Pilate is a man of power and war … a man devoted to himself and his career … 

Jesus plays with Pilate … teases him … tests him … Is that what you think? is that what you’ve heard?

Jesus refuses to get pulled into idle chatter or debate … he makes it clear to Pilate that all the trappings of Rome and the glory of the temple in Jerusalem hold no interest for him … Jesus isn’t intimidated by power, nor tempted by glamor.

And then Jesus says, 

My kingdom is not of this world! … 

Good news for us … if our LORD’s kingdom were of this world, it would be just another violent kingdom, a kingdom of guts and gore, greed and grasping, fire and death, hate and harm, bullets and guns … it’s not that kind of a kingdom, it’s unlike anything Pilate loves …

The gospel, you see, calls us to be alert … to be careful what we love, what we admire, what thrills and delights us … when it comes to government, rulers and nations … 

The kingdom of Christ is not of this world … so that it can be completely and utterly for the sake of this world … to redeem what is lost, to repair what is broken, to lift up the poor, to bring down the proud, to shine the bright light of truth in the darkness of lies, to bandage the wounded, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the all of God’s creatures, great and small … to honor what God has created, to love one another, to forgive and to welcome … with open minds, open hearts, open hands.

So that, in our time, and for our nation; in these days, and for the world, we might fulfill the words of Christ, to be the light of the world and salt of the earth. 

Hallelujah and Amen!