June 21, 2009 - "Take It Off"

1 Samuel 17:32-49

Are you wearing someone else’s armor?
And if you are, we’ve got a problem!
Wearing someone else’s armor never works.

At the heart of every psychological theory: we’ve all been given lots of armor - given to us by parents, grandparents, teachers and preachers … culture and country.
It’s nice armor … bright and shiny, mostly … maybe a few dents here and there, a little tarnished perhaps, but it’s wearable … and it’s given to us in good faith … mostly …
But only one problem with someone else’s armor …
It doesn’t fit us.
It’s not our armor …
It’s not our life.
It trips us up.
Like David, we can’t walk in it!

A lot of people are stumbling through life, because they’re wearing someone else’s armor.
Deep-seated attitudes – behavior patterns … handed down to us by our parents, teachers, and preachers, history and culture … who knows where it all comes from, but it doesn’t fit.
It trips us up!
Maybe it fit them all right.
And maybe it didn’t!

Maybe the armor given to us by our parents was given to them, too … who knows how many generations have worn it, passing it on to their children and great-grandchildren … like DNA.

Every Easter, the Watkins family ate a wonderful meal that featured a baked ham. One Easter, as Marge was preparing the ham in the traditional way by cutting off the end before she put it in the baking pan, her young daughter asked, "Mom, why do you always cut off the end of the ham?"
Marge replied, "Well, I don't really know. My mother always did it that way, let's go ask her why."
So into the living room they went where the family was gathering for Easter.
When they asked Grandma, she said, "I did it that way because my mother always did it that way".
Fortunately Great Grandma was still with them and she was there, too. So they asked her, and she said, "Well, my mother always did it that way......... but come to think about it, I think she did it because her pan was so small."

Here, says Saul, wear my armor.

David gives it a good try.
He puts on Saul’s armor … but Saul was a big man.
David stumbled around in Saul’s heavy armor.

I can only imagine what David looked like:
A child playing dress up …
Putting on dad’s shirt … or mom’s shoes … way too big …

Saul’s armor was way too big …
It wasn’t David.
And that’s point.
No one else is you.
And you are no one else.
You are unique.
Every one of us – utterly unique.
We have to find our own armor.

And for David, it wasn’t even a matter of armor.
David was a shepherd boy!

David’s skills were more than enough to meet the demands of the day …
Skills acquired in the field … protecting the flock against lions and bears …
The tools of his trade – a sturdy staff, and a sling …

David was able to meet Goliath on the field of battle, and with one quick fling of the sling, the stone sailed true and fast and hit Goliath hard, a killing blow to the forehead.
In a moment, it was over.
Goliath was dead.
David victorious.

Not with Saul’s armor.
But with the skills and tools David had grown up with.

All of us are like David.
We have skills and abilities utterly unique to who we are and our own personal history.
But there are plenty Saul’s around who tell us:
“Not good enough.”
“You need my armor.”
“Here, try it on.”

And we give it good try.
But we stumble around in someone else’s armor.

In the new film, “The Proposal,” the young man has a rich and powerful family in Alaska, and a father who wants him to wear the father’s armor.
But the young man goes to New York – he wants to be a writer.
What a struggle for the father who can’t see it that way.
What a struggle for the son who has to say no to his father’s armor.
I’ll not tell you how it turns out, but the point of the story is right on the money: we can’t wear anyone else’s armor.

How proud Saul must have been to give David his armor.
Many a parent falls prey to the temptation to live their lives all over again through their children … I think every parent does it, a little bit, and maybe a whole lot, now and then.
Here, wear my armor.
David tried, and I bet some of you have tried for a long time to wear the armor given to you by your family, by a good professor, or some deep seated emotion that told you, “This is who you are, and if you’re not, you better get with it.”
But whatever the source: someone else’s armor never fits.
David had the courage to take it off. To take it all off.
I wonder if Saul was humiliated when David shed the armor and said, “Thanks but no thanks. I’m a shepherd boy, and God has been preparing me for this moment since I was born.”

In my first year of seminary, Dr. John Piet, a brilliant man, two Ph.D’s from Columbia, 25 years on the mission field in India – a man who knew more Bible than I’ll ever know – taught an introductory course to all first-year students.

In one lecture, a moment that remains with me to this very day:
He said, “God has been preparing you for this calling from the moment of your conception. Look into your heart – what are the things you love, the things that light your fire and excite your imagination? What do you love to do and what do you love to talk about?”
“Here are the clues,” he said, “to your calling.”

Dr. Piet was well aware of a certain tendency … called “self-denial.”
Now, there’s plenty in the Bible about self-denial.
Putting God and others first.
But self-denial has been poorly handled much of the time.

If a young seminarian wanted to do rural ministry, self-denial meant that she ought to do inner-city work.
And if young seminarian wanted to go to the mission field, self-denial meant that he ought to take a pastorate here in the states.
And be miserable!

Dr. Piet helped us all learn how defective that kind of thinking is … he helped us learn the real meaning of self-denial –
Denying the false selves that others create for us.
Denying the false selves that come to us from our culture … from our religion … from sin.
You see, Satan doesn’t want us to discover who we really are.
Satan wants us to live someone else’s dream,
Someone else’s values …
Satan wants us to wear someone else’s armor, because then we keep tripping over it, we’re off balance; nothing every quite fits; nothing ever really works.
If Satan can get us to put on someone else’s armor, Satan wins – not that we become hideous and horrible people – not at all.
Lots of folks go through life wearing someone else’s armor.
The girl who wanted to be a philosopher, but family and culture said: “On no. You’re a woman. You have to be mother and homemaker.”
The boy who wanted to write poetry, but family and culture said, “Oh no, you have to go out and make a living; you have to be successful – big house, fast car.”
And the girl and boy do it all.
But I wonder:
Could that young woman have been an Einstein?
Could that young man have been a Sandburg?

Folks who wear Saul’s armor can be successful.
But the soul is lost.
Something never quite right about it all.
A sadness about their life.
Because no one ever said to them, “It’s okay - take it off. Take it all off.”
“You don’t have to wear your father’s armor.”
“You don’t have to live your mother’s ideas.”
“You don’t have to be anyone else, but you!”
“Find who you are, and you will find God.”

American culture is filled with Saul’s armor.
Walk into a bookstore – what do you find, but a thousand books written by Saul – “Here’s my armor. You have to wear it if you want to defeat Goliath.”
Self-help books.
Leadership books.
Books about money and investing.
A million books – “Here’s my armor.”

We buy the book.
Attend the seminar.
Try on the armor.
Some of it fits, sort of okay, so we think, “Okay, this will be the new me.”
We walk around in it.
We look at ourselves in the mirror.
Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?

Who knows?
The boss may like it, and we’ll get that promotion.
The professor might give you an A.
Dad would be proud.
Mom delighted.

But you’re stumbling.
Because it doesn’t fit.
It’s not you!

Religion can be a terrible Saul.
Religion has rooms full of Saul’s armor, all bright and shiny.
Just waiting for you.
We’ll tell you how to do it.
What to say.
What to think.
How to live.
We’ll shove you into Saul’s armor.
And everyone will cheer.
Hugs and hallelujahs.
And it’ll feel good for awhile.
But in the end, it doesn’t fit.
It doesn’t work.

David gives it a try.
How many here have tried to wear Saul’s armor?
Someone else’s ideas?
Expectations?

How many here this morning still have Saul’s armor on?
Hot and clumsy.
Hard and heavy.

But David takes it off. Takes it all off.
And so can we.
We can do it here and now!
I’ll be me.
What God made me to be.

More than anything, God wants us to discover the good work of who you are – God wants you to discover you.
You are just right for the tasks at hand.
Your life fits perfectly the world around you.
You are you, and that’s more than enough!

David doesn’t need Saul’s armor.

With the skills of his youth, and the tools of his trade, David runs toward Goliath … shouting, You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hand.

Dear friends, I’ve tried to wear Saul’s armor a time or two.
So have you.
But let’s take it off today. Let’s take it all off.
It’s never too late!
Find who you are, and you will find God!

Amen and Amen!

June 14, 2009 - "Looks"

1 Samuel 15:34-16:13

The LORD said to Samuel, How long will you grieve over Saul?
There’s work to be done.
Let’s get on with it!
Don’t get stuck in regret.
Move on to the future!

Is there anyone in this room who doesn’t have regret?
Is there anyone here who doesn’t make a trip back to some moment in time, and you think to yourself, “If only I had made another choice.”

Gone to another school.
Taken another job.
Married someone else.
If only I had done differently …
If only, if only, if only …

But things happen, don’t they?
We make the wrong choice.
Or maybe we fail to act.

God’s choice didn’t work out with Saul.
Sometimes the people God chooses fail badly.

Ever put your trust in someone!
You say to yourself, “I’ll trust Susie to do this.”
She’ll get it done.
But Susie doesn’t get it done.
It never gets done.
Or it’s done poorly, and now you look bad.
And maybe Susie even went behind your back …
Gossip …
Betrayal …
Who knows what else …

And now you could kick yourself around the block a few times, “Why did I trust Susie?”
“If only I had chosen Sally, instead.”
“But, noooo, I had to pick Susie … was I dumb or what?”

Ever been there?
Of course …

And sometimes even in darker ways …
Our own behavior …
A moment of irresponsibility …
Too much to drink …
A couple of joints …
A snort or two at the party …

Or a shady deal …

A friend of mine, a good and decent man …
Went to jail for a few years …
Fraudulent deal …
He said to me, “I knew it at the time. Why I did it, I don’t know. I just did it.”
He lost a fortune, but his family stood by him.
His wife waited for him while he paid his debt to society.
He children loved him even in his failure and shame.

They’ve since put life back together again.
But there’s no undoing the facts.
We can only get on with the future.

And that’s the point.
Who hasn’t messed up a time or two?
Who hasn’t been messed up by someone else’s bad behavior?

Life isn’t very neat.
Life isn’t very clean.

We all make errors.
Sometimes really stupid ones.
We all sin.
We all mess up.
We hurt one another.

But last week, we celebrated Communion.
When you came forward to receive the bread and drink, the servers said to you, “You guilt has departed, and your sin is blotted out.

That’s what the angel said to Isaiah.
That’s what the angel says to us, too:
Your guilt has departed, and your sin is blotted out.

Let the past be the past.
Press on from here.
There’s work to be done.
And you can still do it.
Don’t get stuck in regret.
Move on to the future.

That’s what my friend did.
Because there’s always a future, no matter the past.
No matter what you did.
Or someone else did to you.

Don’t get stuck in regret.
Move on to the future.

Samuel is told by God to Bethlehem, to the House of Jesse, and there Samuel will find the next king of Israel.

Samuel says to God, How can I do this?
If Saul finds out, he’ll be furious.
I’ll be toast.

It’s hard to move on, isn’t it?

A million reasons for staying the course, and most of the time it’s good to stay the course, but we have to know when to “hold our cards, and we have to know when to fold “em.”

It’s good to stay the course.
Who likes a quitter?
But sometimes we just need to move on.

We need to make that fateful decision.
It’s been rolling around inside of us for months, maybe even for years.
We’ve prayed about it, thought about it, talked about it.

Time to move.
Time to get on with our life.
Time to let some things go.
Sell ‘em on eBay …
Give ‘em to Good Will …
It’s time to move on.

“But pastor,” you say, “what if I’m making a mistake? What happens then? I may not like where I am right now, but at least I know where I am.”

Well, we all know the truth about life:
There are no guarantees, are there?

The Bible says of God:
The LORD was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Wow.
No guarantees
Not even for God.

But don’t get stuck in regret.
Move on to the future.

God says to Samuel, Throw a party. You don’t have to tell anyone what you’re doing. Just go there and have a good time, and I’ll show you the one who will be the future king.

When Samuel arrives, the town is abuzz with rumor.
No one was happy about his visit.
This whole political thing with Saul and Samuel was more than they bargained for.
This tiny little town just wanted to be left alone.
But here comes Samuel, one of the big guns.
And Saul may likely follow him.
And who knows what kind of trouble they’ll cause us.
Do you come peaceably? They ask.
I come in peace, says Samuel. Let’s have a party.
A sacred party.
Sanctify yourselves and come with me.

Samuel made a special effort to invite Jesse and his boys.
And now the party begins.

Samuel thinks to himself,
Wow, a look at all the fine men here … surely one of them is the next king of Israel.
But God kept saying, Nope, not yet.
One by one, seven sons of Jesse, on parade.
Sort of like a Ms. California beauty pageant!
Only it’s a bunch of guys: Look at those muscles. Goodness, he’s tall. What a hunk! He’d make a good king … Surely one of them.
But God said, Nope, not yet.

Come on LORD.
These are all good men … they’ll be just fine.
Can’t be any worse that your first choice.
Maybe a whole lot better.
I wonder if Samuel said to God, “Look God, you don’t have the best track record here.”

But the LORD said, I see things differently.

Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

Samuel asks Jesse, Any more sons?

Well, now that you ask, there IS one more, the youngest …
Oh, he’s not much.
He’s out tending the sheep … out in left field.
Someone needed to stay home and keep an eye on things.

Samuel says, Send for him. I want to see him, too. We can’t have the party until HE’S here.

I like this part story …
Sort of like the lost sheep story told by Jesus.
99 sheep – all good.
But one is missing … and that’s the one I’ll go and find.
Jesus always paid special attention to the folks out in left field.
The woman at the well.
Zacchaeus up a tree.
Blind Bartimaeus by the side of the road.
The thief on the cross.
No one left out.
No one overlooked.
Especially, the least of these.
The one least likely to succeed.
The one who doesn’t have it all.

Not the prom queen, nor the captain of the football team.
Not even the valedictorian …
Yup, there’s one more son – he’s out in left field.

I have a friend.
She’s a prayer warrior.
When she prays, she really prays, and God is there.
Her prayers rise out of the deep places of her heart.
She talks to God!

When I first met her, oh my – she was a left-field kind of person:
The usual markers were missing.
That’s what my eyes saw.
But my eyes deceived me.

Sort of like Susan Boyle and her appearance on “Britain Has Talent.”

Not one of the judges had any confidence when they saw Susan Boyle step out on to the stage – “she’s just a frumpy spinster from nowhere. Who does she think she is anyhow? She doesn’t have a chance. Who let her on the show?”
All the beautiful people said, “I don’t think so.”

Well, we know the rest of the story.
The music began …
Susan Boyle opened her mouth …
And she began to sing.

In a heartbeat, the judges were blown away.
The audience was cheering.
Tears in many an eye.

Everyone was caught in the same trap.
The trap of the eye.
The eye was deceived.
Everyone prayed a little prayer of repentance:
Oh LORD, I’m sorry.
I’m sorry I judged Susan Boyle by her looks.
I’m sorry, LORD. It’ll not happen again.

Several things for us this morning …

Don’t get stuck in regret … move on to the future.
There are a millions reasons not to move, but move on any way.
Be careful of your eyes … they don’t tell the whole story.
Be sure to include the guy or the gal out in left field.

Amen and Amen!

June 7, 2009 - "Crisis"

Isaiah 6:1-8

The unexpected sorrow …
The change of course that no one wanted …
The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray …

Crisis comes a-calling … everything we’d planned on has to change …

These days, financial crisis … mortgage melt down … CEO’s going to jail for all kinds of schemes and scams … credit card companies jacking up interest rates, and banks closing …

Someone said to me the other day, “I’m worried about my bank closing.”
I said, “Don’t worry. If your bank is closed, just use the ATM!”

Speaking of banks, you know how a banker defines optimism? Ironing five white shirts on Sunday!

Crisis … our passage this morning from Isaiah is a series of crises … filled with spiritual guidance …

There are four crises here … maybe more, but I count four …

The first is a political crisis … in the year that King Uzziah died … and a good king he was … guided Judah through thick and thin for 52 years – that’s a long time; a couple of generations – King Uzziah is all they knew … but nothing lasts forever, does it? … not even a good king.
But as Judah mourns, wondering what to do, Isaiah sees a vision of God, sitting on a throne, high and lofty … the eternal king!

The first spiritual lesson – to see God above when things are dicey below …

“But pastor,” you say, “how do we do that? How do we see God above when things are dicey?”

Good question … how did Isaiah do it?
I think Isaiah was used to looking for God … Isaiah did it regularly … Isaiah trained his heart and mind; conditioned his soul – to look for God, and the promise of God is clear – “Look for me, and you will find me” [Proverbs 8:17; Jeremiah 29:13].

When I lived in northern Michigan, a springtime rite – the search for Morel mushrooms … slice it, dice it, cook and bake it – an incredible culinary adventure … but you had to find them first!

I went out with an experienced Morel hunter – tromping through the woods, looking here, looking there … he knew what to look for, and his eye was trained – he saw the Morels long before I did … he had trained himself over the years to find them.

Seeing God is a matter of practice and persistence … and like a good Morel hunter, coming home empty handed now and then – there are times, when we try with all our might, and we still can’t see God … but don’t give up; disappointment is part of the process.
In time, the Morel hunter learns how to do it, and they come home most of the time with a bag full of Morels.

Learning how to see God … a skill acquired over the years … learned from others, and practiced when times are good, and when times are hard.

Isaiah trained himself to see God above when things below were a dicey.

We can do the same … it takes times, persistence, a willingness to come home now and then empty-handed … a basic devotion to the great spiritual disciplines of faith: Bible reading and study, prayer and reflection, good reading and diligence in the life of the church - in time, we learn how to see God above when things below are dicey.

This is one of our gifts to the world … to see God high and lifted up when things are low-down and dirty.
We train ourselves to do this … and we help others do it … just like good Morel hunters in Northern Michigan!

The second crisis: a spiritual crisis – because God is really big!
So big, that only the hem of God’s robe can fit into the temple, which was pretty big; it was a big temple, but miniscule compared to God!

Isaiah says, What with all the singing of the seraphim, creatures of flame, the whole place was shaking … and the temple was filled with smoke.

How big is God?
How big is your God?

J. B. Phillips wrote a book some years ago, “You’re God is Too Small” – and he’s right … most of the time, our god is too small, way too small …
I like a god all packaged up – neat and clean!
Don’t you?
I think we Christians do this a lot to God.

We put God in a box.
We write our creeds and publish our theologies, and we’ve got it all figured out.
Believe this, and you’ll be saved.
Do this, and you will live.

One of my heroes of the faith, Harry Emerson Fosdick, wrote this piece of wisdom: I would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it.

I think we waste a lot of time with small ideas.
A candle when we could have the sun.
Pictures of Big Bear when we could be there in two hours.
A can of hash when we could have a steak instead.

Humankind is shaped by big ideas.
Big ideas that demand big things of us …
And the church is shaped best of all by a big God!
A God who shakes things up now and then.

A God so big we have to be big.
Bigger than we were yesterday!
Not always fun when the thresholds shake and the place is filled with smoke … sounds like a bad earthquake.
Religion needs a good earthquake now then; knock a few things off the shelves – smash a few things; move the furniture – turn a few tables!
A good shaking up now and then, from a really big God, a God too big for the commonplace … too big for our creeds and our confessions; too big for our conventional wisdom and bigger than our habits … bigger than our ideas and bigger than what we usually expect … a God so big that even the Crystal Cathedral could hold only the hem of God’s robe.
That’s the kind of God we need … that’s the kind of God we have … and THAT God will give us a good shaking now then …

The third crisis: an emotional crisis.
Woe is me! says Isaiah. I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.

When Isaiah sees God, Isaiah sees the stains on his own soul.
When Isaiah sees purity and goodness, faithfulness and love, Isaiah recognizes his own sad state … Woe is me.

I think of Peter in the New Testament, when he and the other fishermen are told by Jesus to put out into deep water and let down the nets … Peter objects – “We just came in from a long night of fishing, without a fish to show for it, and you want us to go out again, in daylight, when no one goes fishing?”
So they put out into deep water and let down the nets, and they catch such a huge number of fish, the nets were breaking; they call for their partners in the other boat, and both boats are soon filled with so many fish, the boats are in danger of sinking.
When Peter sees this display of grace, he falls at the feet of Jesus and says, Go away from me, LORD, for I am a sinful man.

There’s some powerful stuff going on here … 
Both Isaiah and Peter meet their match and then some in the glory and grace of God.
Isaiah and Peter – powerful men who need to be tamed by the power of God.
Proud men who need to spend time on their knees, humbled by the goodness of God.
Good men, who need to see the stains on their souls, the grip of sin in their lives … lest they become puffed up with themselves!

There’s something important here for us …
A lesson to be learned …
We live in a culture where folks are mighty puffed up with themselves.
“Everyone else has issues, but I don’t.”
“If only folks would get outta my way so I could be happy.”
We are culture that deflects responsibility … and loves to blame someone else!

No, not me; oh no; never me!
It’s my boss, my spouse, my parents, my children, my teachers, my co-workers, my neighbors – but it’s not me, LORD.
It’s circumstances beyond my control … my DNA … a bad time in the womb … and my Irish ancestry … but it’s not me, LORD.
It’s the color of my hair, the shape of my nose – my dog ate my homework, and apparently Martians are in charge of my bank account, but it’s not me, LORD … no, never me.

I think we might do well to spend some time with Isaiah and his woe is me … I am a man of unclean lips.
Please note - Isaiah beings with himself first: I am a man of unclean lips.
And only then does he speak of others who share the same malady.
Isaiah doesn’t shift the blame.
Isaiah begins with himself measured in the grace of God, and that’s always a good place to begin. Not easy; but good!

Sure, I’d rather begin with others …
Let’s see, how can I fix Donna?
Or my children?
Or the folks I work with?
If they’d only listen to me.

But that’s not how it goes, if we really want to make a difference!
We start with ourselves!
We stay with ourselves, and we stay on our case.
Because it takes a lifetime and then some to work out the kinks and fulfill our destiny.
We don’t have time to work on others.
There’s plenty of work to be done on our own lives.
And if we have any hope of changing the world, we do it by changing ourselves …

And with that, one of the seraphim, one of the burning creatures of God, flies to the altar and grabs a burning coal with a pair of tongs … the fire of God – and touches Isaiah’s lips – and with that, the declaration needed by every human being: Your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out!

The gift of life from God above.
The healing of the soul.
The sad darkness within dispelled with light.
That’s what we just did in the LORD's Supper – the love of Christ touched our hearts – the burning coals of God’s grace … your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out!

The last crisis – a vocational crisis.
God asks, Whom shall I send?”
Unfair question!

But there’s always one more piece to the puzzle …
Yes, I’m forgiven, but now what?
What comes next?


Whom shall I send?

I’ve got a good idea God.
Send Willie.
Send Shari.
Or how about Leslie, or Stafford?

Yeah, send them, LORD.
They’ll do a good job for you.
I know they will.
Send them.

Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?

Isaiah looks around, and there’s no one around.
Willie isn’t there, or Shari.
Neither Leslie nor Safford.
Just Isaiah.
Just you.
Just me.

This is a personal calling from God.
We can’t deflect it.
We can’t nominate anyone else.

It’s a call that comes to each of us.
Yes, to each of us! No one in this place is exempt!
To Abraham and Sarah in Haran.
To Moses in Egypt.
To Isaiah in Judah.
To the fishermen in their boats.
And Paul on the Damascus Road.

To everyone who even comes close to God.
God is a calling God.
A God who says, Whom shall I send?

And there’s no one there but you and me to answer.

God does it that way.
Just you and me … puts us on the spot.

Isaiah echoes the faithful words of a real giant – a man on his way – growing in the love of God – Here I am; send me.”

The word “vocation” - from the Latin - from which we get the word “vocal” – voice – a vocation is the voice of God calling us, and everyone in this place hears this call.
Many of us heard it in Sunday School when we were children.
Maybe you heard it ten years ago, or just last week.
Maybe you’re hearing it right, for the first time in your life, or maybe for the umpteenth time …

Here I am; send me!

Well, there ya’ have it: four crises: four lessons.

To see God above when things are dicey below.
A big God always shakes things up, and it’s okay.
The love of God reveals things we’re not proud of, but with the burning coals of God’s love, our guilt is sent packing and our sin is no more.
The call of God comes to us … personal and deep … and there’s only one answer to satisfy the soul: Here I am; send me.

Amen and Amen!

May 31, 2009 - "Pentecost"

Acts 2:1-21

Goooooood Morning Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Welcome to Pentecost!

Welcome to the deep work of God!
Creating the Church of Jesus Christ.
Welcome to the fire and the wind …

Welcome to Pentecost.

The fiftieth day after Passover … a harvest festival, a pilgrim festival, 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead …

Jesus told his disciples to go to Jerusalem … wait there … wait for the promise of the Father … wait for the Holy Spirit.

I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to wait.
Do you find it hard to wait, too?

We do a lot of waiting in our lifetime …
A child waiting for Christmas … a child in the back seat on the way to gramma’s house – “are we there yet?”

I remember waiting for my 10th birthday … finally reaching double-digits – that was significant to me.

I remember turning 13 – a teenager, at last.
Then 16, to get my license …
18, registering for the draft …
And 21, to drink …

And so on and so forth … lots of waiting …

The disciples are waiting … a spiritual waiting … a positive, powerful, kind of waiting …
Waiting for the promise of the Father, the promise of the Holy Spirit … a promise proclaimed by John the Baptist when he stood with Jesus in the Jordan River: He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire [Luke 3:16].

Waiting is a vital part of our spiritual work …
We wait for God.
We discipline ourselves … we take a deep breath … we pray and we ponder, we wait and we watch, we stop and we sit … we put our burdens down, and we set aside our plans!
We resist the temptation to plunge ahead.
We wait for the LORD!

Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the LORD [Psalm 31:24].
Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him [Psalm 37:7].
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities [Psalm 130:5-8].

What would it look like for us to wait upon the LORD?
Are we inclined to wait upon the Lord?
I think American Christians are terribly impatient.
American Christianity is bustling and busy …
Full of books and methods …
Strategies and designs …
Meetings and marketing plans …

I wonder sometimes …
American Christianity seems frantic these days.
Evangelicals snarl and snap at one another over points of faith …
Liberals moan and groan about most everything …
And everyone counts numbers … how many in the pew this morning? How much in the offering plate? How tall the steeple; how big the program.

From Shakespeare [Macbeth, V.v.]:
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
[wrote Shakespeare, Macbeth, V.v.]
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

I get the uneasy feeling sometimes that God is waiting for us to slow down … God is waiting for us to wait for God!

Does God say, Okay, you think it’s up to you? Your strategies and your designs, your plans and your power? Your dreams and your reputation? Okay. Go for it. I’ll wait! I’ll wait until you’re so tired, that you can’t think anymore. I’ll wait until you’ve read all the books and exhaust all the possibilities … I’ll wait until you learn … to wait for my promise.

In reality, some congregations never learn to wait upon the LORD.
A church in Redford, Michigan just announced its closing …
10 years ago, they had a chance to merge with another church and create a vital ministry; all the details had been worked out … but one of their stalwart members stood up and announced at a congregational meeting, “I’d rather take my church to my grave than see it change.”
Well, she got her wish, didn’t she?
She took her church to the grave.
I wonder what would have happened had she learned to wait upon the LORD rather than catering to her own comfort.

I wonder what a waiting church looks like?
A church waiting for the Father’s promise …
Waiting for the Holy Spirit?

It’s not that the disciples were waiting around aimlessly … twitting their thumbs … oh no … far from it … listen to the Text:

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

Devoted to prayer … together with one another …
I wonder what THAT looks like?

Are we devoted to prayer at Covenant?
What do you think?

If we were devoted to prayer, what would that look like?
Would we have prayer gatherings in our homes?
Would we open our meetings with 20 minutes of prayer? 30 minutes of prayer?
Would we have a Wednesday evening prayer service?

Would we have:
Extended periods of holy silence, when we wait together for the LORD to speak to our hearts … calm our minds, center our energies, reveal God’s will and purpose?
Extended periods of time - reading the Psalms aloud to one another, because the Psalms are mostly prayers …
Reading from prayer books … writing our own prayers … and just praying, as the Spirit leads … some praying with ease, because they’re comfortable with words; others praying hesitantly, because words flow slowly.
Are we devoted to prayer?

We are a prayerful church, that I know.
But can we kick it up a notch?
Are we minimalists?
I think a lot of congregations are sort of minimalist …
We do it all, but we do it perfunctorily …
We’ve done it a thousands times; we settle into the rut and sink into routine …
Are we minimalists here?

I love how the story unfolds …
They were all together in one place …
And then came the fire.
Tongues of flame above everyone’s head …
The anointing of the Holy Spirit …

The breath of God all over again … like the creation story of Genesis 2, when God took a handful of dirt and blew life into it, so the dirt become a living being …
God breathed a fresh breath of air on Pentecost day …
So the church could become a living being …

And they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them ability.

This is the clue – language!
The ability to speak … to the world.

Crowds gathered at the sound of it all …
Curious crowds …
Bewildered crowds …
Crowds from all over the Mediterranean world – they heard the disciples speaking in their own languages – how can this be? They asked. We hear their accent – they a rough and tumble bunch from Galilee, and they’re talking about God in our own language. What does this mean?
Some sneered, of course; they’ve been hitting ye’ olde wine bottle a little too early!

Were they drunk?
Or was it just the Holy Spirit …

Barriers came down that day.
Bridges were built!
Folks from all around the world heard the gospel in their own tongue!

Los Angeles is a gathering place for peoples of the world …
We ate in a Himalayan restaurant the other night, next door to a Turkish café, just down the block from a Brazilian bistro …
Everywhere a veritable melting pot - in our streets and schools, workplaces and neighborhoods – a wonderful mélange of sights and sounds – full of energy and creativity …
Just like Jerusalem … that fabled day of Pentecost …
The world at our doorstep …

Several months ago, we had some guests …
One of them spoke Spanish … someone else translated …
As I read the story of Pentecost this week … I kept thinking of that moment.

This past week, I was at a union hall in Hawthorne … with a group of folks who had just lost their jobs at the LAX Hilton … folks who had worked there 20 and 25 years, and now they were laid off …
Most of the meeting was in Spanish …
A very sweet lady came over and sat next to me, and translated quietly.
I was deeply moved.
I was honored to be there.

They invited me to speak, and I did.
Most of them understood me.
They’re bilingual; I’m not.

Language …
God speaks in all the languages of the world …
To the lost and to the found …
To the blind and to the sighted …

The disciples spoke that day in everyone’s language:
Parthians, Medes, and Elamites;
Visitors from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene;
Immigrants from Rome, both Jews and proselytes;
Even Cretans and Arabs!
No one left out.
The message of God’s love for everyone!

So, what does Pentecost mean for us, right here, right now, Covenant on the Corner?

What do we learn from the Text?
From the story itself?

Have we learned the spiritual art of waiting upon the LORD?
Or are we likely to plunge ahead with our plans?
Are we a little bit frantic these days, or are confident in God’s purpose?
Do we use prayer to open and close meetings, or are we exploring the larger dimensions of prayer?
Are we a Pentecost church filled with the sound of God’s breath? … a sound that intrigues the world, and draws folks to see what’s happening?

We are growing in all of this … and there’s always more ahead of us …
We are asking good questions and probing the future …
Learning to speak the languages of our time …
We are the church of Jesus Christ …
A Pentecost church …
Spirit-breathed and Spirit-led.
Filled with the fire of faith!
We are, Covenant on the Corner …

Amen and Amen.

May 24, 2009 - "Eternal Life"

Check HERE for audio.

John 7:6-19; I John 5:9-13

After a long illness, a woman died and arrived at the Gates of Heaven. While she was waiting for Saint Peter to greet her, she peeked through the Gates and saw that it was very beautiful.
Saint Peter came by and nodded.
The woman said to him "This is such a wonderful place! How do I get in?"

"You have to spell a word", Saint Peter told her.
"Which word?" the woman asked.
"Love."

The woman correctly spelled "Love" and Saint Peter welcomed her into Heaven.

A year later, Saint Peter came to the woman and asked her to watch the Gates of Heaven for him that day. While the woman was guarding the Gates of Heaven, her husband arrived.

"I'm surprised to see you," the woman said. "How have you been?"

"Oh, I've been doing pretty well since you died," her husband told her. "I married the beautiful young nurse who took care of you while you were ill. And then I won the lottery. I sold the little house you and I lived in and bought a big mansion. And my wife and I traveled all around the world. We were on vacation and I went water skiing today. I fell, the ski hit my head, and here I am. How do I get in?"

"You have to spell a word", the woman told him.
"Which word?" her husband asked.
"Czechoslovakia."

**************

An 85-year-old couple, married 60 years, died in a car crash. They had been in good health over the years, mainly due to her interest in health food and exercise.

When they reached the pearly gates, St. Peter took them to their mansion, which was decked out with a beautiful kitchen and master bath suite and Jacuzzi. As they "ooohed and aaahed" the old man asked Peter how much all this was going to cost.

"It's free," Peter replied, "this is Heaven."

Next they went out back to see the championship golf course that the home backed up to. They would have golfing privileges everyday and each week the course changed to a new one representing the great golf courses on earth.

The old man asked, "What are the green fees?"

Peter's reply, "This is heaven, you play for free."

Next they went to the clubhouse and saw the lavish buffet lunch with the cuisines of the world laid out.

"How much to eat?" asked the old man.

"Don't you understand yet? This is heaven, it’s free!" Peter replied.

"Well, where are the low fat and low cholesterol foods?" the old man asked timidly. "That's the best part,” said St. Peter ...you can eat as much as you like of whatever you like and you never get fat and you never get sick. This is Heaven."

The old man looked at his wife and said, "You and your bran muffins - I could have been here ten years ago!

*********

Eternal life … life after death … life beyond the grave; the better place and the home in the sky …
Egyptians built pyramids and mummified their kings and queens … and stocked the burial chamber with food and drink.
Greek philosophers envisioned a perfect world, and when we shed the weakness of the flesh, our soul flies off to everlasting peace.
Revival preachers warn their audiences about hell with lurid descriptions of fire and brimstone, so you better get right with Jesus.
Islam and Buddhism, all have some version of life after death.
Not that everyone has been so happy with the idea – Karl Marx rightly described the doctrine of eternal life as an opiate for the people – just tell the poor and the oppressed, the enslaved and the imprisoned, that a better life awaits them in eternity, with mansions and pearly gates and golden streets – until then, obey the king, accept your place in the world, and do and believe what the priest tells you to do.
No wonder Marx reacted so bitterly to the doctrine of eternal life.

Some have said: when you’re dead, you’re dead! That’s all folks!
Nothing more.
Dust to dust, earth to earth, ashes to ashes.
A friend of mine says, “When you die, you rot!”
My friend as least gets an A for bluntness!

Yet the human spirit longs for something more than just the span of years we have here …

In song and story, art and drama, even jokes … life after death … something more, something greater than the span of our years here, something beyond the grave.

Wishful thinking?
Are we fooling ourselves?
Is death the final reality?
The final word?
The end of it all?

John Donne, the 16th Century poet, wrote powerfully about death …

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me;
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more, Death thou shalt die.

Paul the Apostle writes [1 Corinthians 15]:

Christ has been raised from the dead,
The first fruits of those who have died.

When this perishable body puts on imperishability,
And this mortal body puts on immortality,
Then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’
‘Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?’

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory
Through our LORD Jesus Christ.

Therefore my beloved,
Be steadfast, immovable, always excelling
In the work of the LORD,
Because you know that in the LORD
Your labor is not vain.

The gift of eternal life.
A gift from the heart of God.
For all of God’s creation.
The promise of something new …
A new heaven and a new earth …
No one lost …
No one left behind …
For God so loved the world.

Eternal life - does it make a difference?

Paul writes to his friends: if for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

If with merely human hopes I fought with wild animals at Ephesus, what would I have gained by it?
If the dead are not raised.
‘Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.’

Without a sense of eternity,
Something goes very wrong inside of us.

Life becomes a desperate run … to eat and drink our fill, because it’s all going to go away.
If we don’t have it now, we’ll never have it.

We become consumers … mindless consumers of everything.
The latest this and the biggest that.
Seize life by the throat –
Buy it, own it, drive it, see it – do it now before you hit the ground!

Without eternity,
We come to expect too much of life.
More than life can deliver.

This is not heaven on earth.
This is earth, and it’s wonderful.
And God said, ‘It is good.’
But there are limits for all of us …
Severe limits for millions …
Death and disease, war and famine …

For us here, in the land of the free, we’ve come close to creating heaven on earth … it’s marvelous to behold what we have fashioned, but it’s done hard things to our soul …

We have come to expect way too much of life.
Preachers of health, wealth and happiness promise us the moon, if we would only buy their book and attend their seminar!
The gurus of finance and prosperity beguile us with images of wealth …
Teachers of “be all you can be” and “you’re number 1” …
Five steps to success … three secrets of happiness … how to lose weight and live longer … cosmetics to take the years off … surgery to fix the nose … science and medicine to cure our diseases and prolong our lives …
We expect so much of life, because we fear that life is all there is.

And Christianity hasn’t helped us …
If there was a time when Medieval Christianity was all ABOUT eternity, much of Christianity these days is mostly warmed over porridge.
Oh sure, we talk about eternal life, but we don’t integrate it into our thinking, our daily prayers, our sense of life and hope, and most importantly, our sense of justice!

If life here is all we have … then the fear of death, the end, the terminal point, becomes a shadow hovering over everything we do and think … we don’t talk about death very well, and, of course, no one dies, they just “pass away,” flitting off to some better place, or maybe they just go away, and with a little luck, we can get on with our busy lives again, and those who linger and cry for the loss of a loved one – we tell them to get on with their life and we hurry away to our next meeting and go out shopping.
If life here is all we have, we have a lot, but we don’t have enough!

Jesus asks us: To what end and for what purpose, you gain the whole world and then forfeit your life? [Matthew 16:26].

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven … for where you treasure is, there you will find your heart [Matthew 6:19-21].

The writer to Timothy notes: There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich, some have wondered away form the faith, and pierced themselves with many pains [2 Timothy 6:6-10].

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life [2 Timothy 6:17-19].

Paul writes: I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what is to have to plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me [Philippians 4:11b-13a].

Life is good, but our hold on life is slim.
The last time I checked, the mortality rate was still 100 per cent – we’re all on a train called time.

Sooner or later, we draw our last breath here on earth, and take our first breath of the clean cool air of eternity.

Eternity on our mind, our minds are not so restless, our lives not so frantic … a little peaceable in our pace, living through each other rather than living against each other.

Eternity in our spirit, we’re a little more relaxed and a bit more thankful … food and drink taste better.
Eternal life embedded in our consciousness, we count our blessings rather than our wants, and we share a little more easily …
Eternity ahead of us, we face the end with a deeper sense of peace …

This is world is our home, that’s for sure; but it’s a temporary home.

We’re all travelers in time.

One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more, Death thou shalt die.

Amen and Amen!

May 10, 2009 - "Love" - Mother's Day

Audio - click HERE.

John 15:1-8 & 1 John 4:7-21

Happy Mother’s Day!

Blessings and Peace to our mothers …
They carried us close to their heart …

Some of us hold hurtful memories about our mother …
A mother who didn’t do it well …
Her love too distant …
Too controlling …
Words sometimes abusive …
Memories that still hurt …
Memories that mystify …
Defy understanding …

Some of us carry bright and beautiful memories …
Of a mother who did it well …
With a love that was just right …
Neither too hot, nor too cold …
Like porridge for Goldilocks, it was just right …

We celebrate a mother’s gifts today:
A good sense of humor …
Wise advice …
Patience and forgiveness …
Kindness and understanding …
And the power of love given away …

Love is a many-splendored thing ….
Full of surprises and full of challenges …

Love comes easy some of the time …
And sometimes, it’s the hardest thing in the world …

Sometimes I know what love is …
And sometimes I’m not sure …

Even God doesn’t know how to love all the time …

God cries out: What shall I do with you , O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
Like the dew that goes away early [Hosea 6:4].

Centuries later, the Apostle Paul writes:

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 [I Corinthians 13:4-7].

Love is a deeply ethical word …
To love someone is do right by them …
To honor them for their life …
To recognize them as a real human being …

The Greeks had four words for love … [C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves]:

Storge … simple affection … something we share with dogs and cats and whales, as well: touching, cuddling, nuzzling … cooing, purring and humming … simple, basic affection.
Another word, philia, brotherly love – Philadelphia, PA – city of brotherly love …
Another word, eros, from which we get the word erotic … the physical power of being in love, the power of desire and want …
And then agape … the word used most commonly in the Bible … agape – a deeply ethical love – commitment, loyalty, faithfulness, steadfastness, understanding and patience, tolerance in the face of difficulties … a giving love that seeks the wellbeing of the other … a love willing to lay down its life for the sake of the other …

Jesus said, No greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for another.

The Bible says a great deal about love …

Let’s take a look at our passages for the day …
John 15:1-8 …
1 John 4:7-21 …

What is love?

We do well to begin with God’s love …
For God so loved the world …

The love that takes up a cross and goes to Golgatha …
The love that lays down its life for you and me.

Paul writes of faith, hope and love … and dares to say: the greatest of these is love …greater than faith, greater than hope …

What is love?

Love is a deeply ethical word …
A decision to do right by the other …
Even when we hardly feel like doing it …

Jesus didn’t feel like going to the cross …
And there’s plenty of days when you and I don’t feel very loving at all …
But we love nonetheless …
We do what’s right … and sometimes the doing helps the feeling …

Sometimes we have to use our motions to lead our emotions … the doing of something right takes our emotions by the hand and leads them to a better place.

In other words, do right, even when you don’t feel right.
And in the doing, something good occurs …

There is no greater pleasure than knowing we’ve done something right, something good …
Above and beyond the call of duty …
The extra mile …
Beyond our self-interest …

Big examples like:
Mother Teresa in Calcutta …
My friend Ben Mathes on a jungle riverboat …
A store-front pastor negotiating with street gangs in east LA …

Most of us will never have the chance for such dramatic things …
Most of us live small moments …
No headlines …
Just the day-to-day things of life …
When our mental and spiritual capacities are stretched to the limit ….
So we go deeper, reach higher … travel further … then we ever thought we could …

After 55 years of marriage, Fred visits his wife every day in the nursing home – Alzheimer’s for the last three years … Ruby doesn’t recognize Fred anymore … she stares at a place far away, and then asks, “Who are you?”
Fred says, “I’m your husband, I’m Fred, and I love you.”
Fred tears up, and Ruby looks at him curiously, and then a few tears leak from her eyes, too … for a moment, a connection … she knows him … and then, it’s gone … she says, “Who are you?”
Fred wouldn’t miss a day …
“She’s my wife. She stood by me so many times, and now it’s my turn to stand by her … to be faithful to her and patient … I wouldn’t miss a day here.”
Fred goes home bone-weary …
He cries himself to sleep …
He prays to God …
He’s lonely beyond description …
His children help as much as they can, but they’re busy with their lives …
Fred says, “For better, for worse; in sickness and in health, till death do us part.”

I remember Dale, a Presbyterian pastor – serving two small churches in rural Missouri, when I met him.
Dale wasn’t much a preacher … he didn’t have a way with words – he spoke haltingly and always seemed a little unsure of himself.
That’s why Dale never made it to a big city church.
Dale spent his whole life in small rural parishes … never wrote a book and never made the news …
Dale spent his days calling on widows and comforting the poor, in body and in spirit.
Every Sunday, Dale preached the gospel, as best he could … in season and out of season …
Always broke and a dollar short …
Never could afford a new car … only drove old beaters …
Shopped for clothing at secondhand stores …
Lived in church-owned housing … the carpet worn and the paint showing its age …
I met Dale at a workshop, near the end of his career… he was there on a scholarship … my heart was moved when I got to know him a little bit … I was struck by the character of his life … something right and something good …
I remember thinking: could I be so faithful?
Could I be so true to my calling?

I remember David …
One of the hardest working guys I’ve ever known …
His Daddy went to jail, but David stood by him and cared for his mother …
His wife divorced him for another man … and I remember him coming over early on Sunday morning to tell me … his knuckles were bleeding because he had hit the wall when his wife walked out on him … he sat our table and cried.
They got a divorce … it was done and over with …
But the affair of the heart came to end, as they always do … and by the grace of God, she came back … humiliated and heart-broken …
And I had the pleasure of officiating at their second marriage … and they’ve never looked back …
I’ve always been amazed at this man … and his wife, too … they both said, “I’m sorry” and love flourished again.

I think of Mary caring for a challenged child …
She had to quit work … and we all know what that means … living on the margin … sleepless nights … fretful days … but Mary does it.
She crashes and burns sometimes …
Family members come by and fill in some of the hours …
Neighbors help, too.

I think of the surgeons in Cleveland who did the world’s most complicated face transplant for Connie Culp.
Her husband shotgunned her and blew her face away …
And for five years, Connie lived a very hard life.
And then a miracle, if you will …
A face transplant … bone, muscles, nerves, vessels … for 24 hours, they operated …

The bandages are off … and a lot more work ahead …

But Connie can smile again and eat pizza for the first time in 5 years.
I’m amazed at her spunk and her humor …
And she didn’t do it alone …
She tells of all the people who’ve stood by her … who sustained her … who loved her … and the fantastic medical team, and the surgeon who said, “I think we can.”

Love is a Sunday School teacher …
Love is choir director …
Love is a deacon …
Love is an elder …
Love is writing a check and putting it into the offering plate …
Love is showing up here …
Love is being faithful to things and causes beyond ourselves …

Today, here and now …
Big things, small things …

There is a lot of love here at Covenant on the Corner …
Your love is a courageous love …
Decisions made and positions taken on behalf of love …
For a better world and a more just life for our fellow Angelinos …

Love endures, says Paul the Apostle …
Love never ends …
Every day, when we love,
More love comes our way …

Love grows when it’s spent.
Love comes back to us when it’s given away …

Because God is love … and God is forever …

So let’s love one another all the more …
Live large … live beyond ourselves …
No one excluded; everyone welcomed …

Let us abide in Christ all the more … and do what’s right …
And Christ abides in us …
And glorious is the day!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Amen and Amen!

May 3, 2009 - "Living into the Story of the Midwives"

By the Rev. Dr. David Fleer

Audio Version HERE.

Living Into the Story of the Midwives: Strength and Courage for these Days
Exodus 1: 7 - 22

I
A nine month old child sits on his Grandma’s lap with a book opened before them. As Grandma reads he is attentive to her voice, stares at the pictures, absorbs the colors, and leans forward to kiss the lambs and babies and hear the sounds uttered by the cows and horses. Grandma closes the book but he is hungry for more. This baby already loves books, which means he is discovering the worlds and treasures they contain.
One day he will hear Scripture’s most essential stories, the paradigmatic tales of the Hebrews and their beginnings, their enslavement and God’s studied concern for them.
One day he’ll come to know the story of Shiprah and Puah, the Midwives, who protected the Hebrew babies from infanticide. He’ll learn the heroic role of two women who “refused imperial fear” to protect the innocent and helpless. He will learn to say their names, honor their work and understand that they acted with the same moral goodness that motivates his mother and grandmother who will become his models, these women who devote their lives to children.
II
“There Arose a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph” is how our story begins, with an ominous and foreboding tone, which also recalls a time when Pharaoh knew Joseph. When Joseph was known ~ we had entrée’. We had a seat at the table and permission and privileges.
“So, you’re Joseph’s son? Not a finer man in this country than your father.”
“You’re part of Joseph’s family? We have a position at the firm that may be of interest to someone with your pedigree.”
“You say Joseph was your Grandfather? When I first came to work here I remember people speaking with great respect about your Grandfather. We have some photographs in the archives I think you’ll appreciate. Good man. Now what can I do for you?”
When Pharaoh knew Joseph, when our Joseph was known by Pharaoh, they invited us in:
 “It’s on the house,” they said.
“We own an exclusive private school appropriate for your family.”
That’s how it went when Pharaoh knew Joseph. Opportunities would just appear: scholarships! Business deals! Board positions!
Things go your way when Pharaoh knows Joseph. “They were 70 in number and they were fruitful and multiplied and became exceedingly mighty and the land was full of them” ~ when Pharaoh knew Joseph.
III
 “But there Arose a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph.” With the passage of time the connections with power and privilege dried up.
“We’re not hiring,” they told us.
“We’re not selling,” they said.
“Nothing available.”
“You’ll have to wait.”
Clerks and colleagues came to ask, “Where’re you from? What’s that red cloth around your neck? What are those dangly things?”
“Just a scarf.”
“Doesn’t look like a normal scarf. Why are you wearing that? You talk funny.” Where’d you say you’re from?”
We were distanced from society, ostracized, alienated, outsiders. When the nation’s headlines read: “plummeting stocks,” we didn’t have stocks. When the city’s “unemployment lines grew,” we didn’t have jobs to lose. When folks cried about the “bubble bursting” and threats of “foreclosure,” we hadn’t invested in real estate, we didn’t own a house.
We began to write new music appropriate for the times. Tunes appeared with lines like these:
‘Tis the song, the sigh of the weary.
Hard times, hard times, come again no more.
Many days you have lingered all around my cabin door.
Oh, hard times, come again no more.
Depression and oppression appear early in the Exodus narrative when “there Arose a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph.”
IV

This hard part of our story will be difficult to tell our grandchildren. How we fell out of favor and lived on the margins of society. Because our grandchildren are being schooled and acculturated to gain a secure footing and rise in business and occupation, to marry and contribute to the prosperity of the nation. It will be hard for them to hear
. . . and just as hard for us to tell . . .  stories that challenge the culture: stories of those who courageously resist oppressive powers and refuse authorities who ignore the hopeless and marginalized.

It will be hard for them to hear because in the culture where Pharaoh reigns a certain logic dominates, a “common sense” which controls society’s thinking and action.  Pharaoh’s logic works like this:

Given: although the Hebrews have become numerous, they’ve done nothing to harm us.
However, the Hebrews could multiply more and in the event of war, they could team with our enemies or runaway and reduce our free labor market.
Therefore, we should make a pre-emptive strike against the innocent because there is a possibility they may become guilty.

That’s the logic of Pharaoh. That’s the rationale of oppression and the genius of fear.

That is why it will be difficult, but essential, to tell our grandchildren this hard part of our history and the challenge of our future.

V

Ours is a story even more difficult to tell because everyone thinks alike. No one challenges Pharaoh’s common sense.

Pharaoh commands the Egyptians to “deal shrewdly with the Hebrews,” to obtain the greatest possible benefit from this ethnic minority, while at the same time exhausting, reducing, and controlling . . . them.

So Pharaoh appoints task masters to carry out his orders. He appoints lieutenants who salute Pharaoh and inflict hard labor,

    and stand guard, like at the work camp at Dachau,

    and crack the whip, like a plantation overlord,

    and demand unreasonable hours, like foremen in a sweatshop.

This is the climate of the system, where if something goes wrong the lieutenants excuse their behavior:

“I was only following orders”
   
“I was doing as commanded”
           
Like Abu Ghraib, taught in the schoolyard and enacted by playground bullies. “I did as I was told, or I would have been victimized.”

The strategy was effective on the one hand. The Hebrew work force built storage cities Pithom and Raamses which helped secure Egypt’s homeland security.

But as shrewd as Pharaoh’s plan, his motive is foiled. Although Egyptian strategic sites are enhanced: the Hebrew population increases. Although task masters inflict hard labor and make Hebrew lives bitter from the strain of work, grinding out bricks, plodding in the fields, lifting and pulling, straining and pushing: the Hebrews multiply.

And Pharaoh’s logic multiplies to the masses. And now all the Egyptians are in dread of the potential threat of the Hebrews.

VI
When Plan ‘A’ does not work, Pharaoh’s fear explodes into violence and he concocts Plan ‘B,’ the Final Solution, and calls the Midwives before him.
The Midwives’ profession demands a toughness and gentleness to assist new mothers in the delivery of babies, time the contractions, prepare the water, cut the cloths, and initiate life into the world.
Pharaoh orders the women, “kill the Hebrew’s baby boys.”
The prison guards and police, the plantation overlords, the shop foremen, and the task masters all did as they were told. They obeyed the oppressor’s command.
Into this landscape step Shiprah and Puah ~ and stand before Pharaoh who instructs them, “Accelerate the oppression.”
But, unlike the task masters, the Midwives don’t do as they’ve been told. 
They don’t fall back on Romans 13:1 “Be in subjection to the governing authorities.”
They don’t recall I Peter 2, “Submit yourselves to every human institution.”
They don’t recite Titus 3, “Be subject to authorities and to rulers. Obey.”
There is no submission to the state from these women. No obedience to Pharaoh and the governing authorities here. “The Midwives fear God and do not do as Pharaoh commanded. They let the boys live” (1:17)
They violate orders. They risk their lives to save the helpless.
Pharaoh orders, “Kill the babies.” Shiprah and Puah refuse.

VII
Which does not get past Pharaoh who confronts them and demands an account, “What have you done?”
The midwives look Pharaoh in the eye and tell him a big fat lie. A whopper! “The Hebrew women are so vigorous . . . we can’t get there in time. We can’t outrun them, these pregnant women are just too fast.”
To speak in the face of the oppressor with such calm resolve is like plucking a hair from Hitler’s mustache or bonking Bull Connor on the head with his billy club. They pull a fast one on Pharaoh.
The wit of the oppressed, preserved through the ages, begins with the Midwives, who when out muscled and with no resource but their integrity and wit, out fox the Pharaoh.
Like when Br’er Bear and Br’er Fox capture Br’er Rabbit. The two argue between themselves, “I say we skin ‘m and then eat ‘m.”
“I say we boil ‘m first.”
To which Br’er Rabbit interjects, “Boil me, skin me, I don’t care. But whatever you do, don’t throw me in the briar patch.”
Outwitted, the Fox and Bear attempt to torture the rabbit and throw him in the briar patch.
Once safe in the confines of the patch Br’er Rabbit raises his head and taunts his oppressors, “Born and raised in the briar patch, yes indeed. I told you not to throw me here.”
And God witnesses the exchange and God sees the Midwives’ faith and courage and God blessed the Midwives.



IIX

How do we tell this story to our grandchildren? The narrative by itself will entice, engage, and satisfy in so many literary ways:
Our grandchildren will be taken by the quick and ingenious transition from power to slavery, this essential and radical move beautifully told with an economy of words. They’ll enjoy the story’s rapid plot reversals and engaging ironies: Slavery benefits the state with buildings erected and land farmed: good for Egypt. Yet Pharaoh wants his workers eliminated? Midwives represent the source of life, yet they are being ordered to become the bearers of death?
This story nearly tells itself.
Even so, when you read the narrative to your grandchildren, you must work to capture the characters’ voices. Pharaoh is not the voice of Yule Brenner. Jack Nicholson can’t touch this villain. Pharaoh has a even more sinister voice that embodies evil and reveals the fear that envelops him, “Kill them! Kill them all.”

But most important, practice the voice of the Midwives. Their tone is intelligent: they calculate their civil disobedience. They resonate with moral depth: they are loyal to God and their own integrity. Their voice is full of courage: they stand before the powerful and deified Pharaoh, who can crush them or torture them to death.

And in this setting their words shield the innocent.

Practice that voice before you read this story to your grandchildren.

And then, show the story in its recent enactments. Take them to the Ford Museum and sit in Rosa Park’s Montgomery bus, where she defied a system of oppression. Make the Lorraine Motel an essential visit when passing through Memphis and Ebenezer Church a stop in Atlanta where civil disobedience gave voice to the marginalized.

Grandparents trace out the moral code of faith so that grandchildren will know how it means to live in this family. “It is the work of grandparents to transform the remembered past into the present tense”  which means that when we tell this paradigmatic story, we live into it ourselves, identifying current systems of oppression  remembering God always sides with the poor and abused. Always.



IX

And our grandchildren will watch us and listen to us, even as we pray, with this text as our script:  “God of justice and compassion, we give you thanks for turning the world up-side down by uplifting the poor and powerless and turning out the powerful. Forgive us when we lust for power or acquiesce to schemes of the oppressor. Forgive us for participating in this world’s systems of domination. Give us strength and courage for the living of these days, for our children and grandchildren and for ourselves. Amen. “