March 2 7, 2022, "Get Set" - Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena

Joshua 5.9-12; 2 Corinthians 5.16-21

On your mark.

Get set.

Go!

That’s how the race begins … 

We are the people … these are the times. 

It’s our race … our moment … no one else to run the race for us … others have run their race long before we born, and to all of them, a debt of gratitude.

From the vast beyond, they say to us:

Thank you; thank you for your gratitude; we’re glad you recognize what we did. 

We built something with stone and steel; we built it by the Spirit of God … we didn’t give up, we didn’t give in … by the mercies of God, and for the love of Christ, we raised this Tower to the glory of God - a beacon of love and hope.

We did it for you.

We did it for the world.

We appreciate your gratitude, but we want something more.

We want you to run your own race.

That’s the best gift you can to us. 

Gratitude, for sure, then your gumption.

Your determination - to run the race as well as you can.

Here we are dear friends.

We’re on the mark.

And now the announcement: “Get set!” …  

In our prayers and with our devotion.

In our meetings together and our plans.

In the strength of our bodies, as best we can.

And if the body isn’t what it used to be, then the courage of our soul. 

No greater tower can be crafted, than the tower of prayer.

From God’s call to Abraham and Sarah to the final trumpet of the Book of Revelation.

The race is set.

Always forward, always something new … not forgetting the past, but building upon it … denying the temptation to recreate the past, bring the past back - like Lot’s wife, who turned around to see from whence they had come; she turned into a pillar of salt. 

Nothing wrong with salt, but a pillar of salt ain’t going anywhere. 

It’s stuck in place and stuck in time. 

The challenge any of us face, when times are changing, when one era is ending, to know how to say “Farewell!”

“Farewell!” to what was, and welcome the new.

Even when we haven’t a clue what the new will be like, or where it’ll take us.

In our reading from Joshua:

The people are now, finally, in the Promised Land after 40 years of wandering in the Wilderness.

Moses did his work.

Moses confronted Pharaoh and demanded the release of his people.

Pharaoh said Yes, and then Pharaoh said No.

There was the crossing of the Sea, just in the nick of time.

Pharaoh and his army are washed away.

The people march through the sea - safe and sound.

A pillar of cloud to guide them during the day … a pillar of fire to give them light at night. Manna in the morning, and water from a rock.

Moses on the Mountain … Moses and the Ten Commandments. 

But when faced with the Promised Land, they fail to take it.

They’re afraid … Maybe we should go back to Egypt. It wasn’t so bad after all.”

The lure of the past.

The troubling trick of the mind -  when we trick ourselves about the past … we remember the best of it, and not all of it … “if only we could regain the past,” we think, “then we’d be happy.”

Churches succumb to this troubling trick of the mind … so do political parties, and entire nations, and folks just like you and me - when the past lays hold of the mind and imagination, it leaves no room for innovation, experimentation; fear takes over and the future dies.

That’s what happened to Israel, as they stood on the threshold of the Promised Land, the first time around. Their spies came back and said: There are giants in the land, and we can’t fight them. In their eyes, we’re as small as grasshoppers.

It was all “fake news” - the people rose up in anger at Moses and Aaron … better dead instead, they cried. Why is God doing this to us? Let us choose a captain who will take us back to Egypt.

So off to the Wilderness God sent them; forty years of wandering, until they could shake off yesterday's dust, set aside inaccurate memories, reject fake news, trust the LORD God Almighty, and get ready to try it again.

In our reading today, Joshua 5 - the second time around …  they crossed the Jordan, set up camp, just shy of Jericho. 

Joshua said: We’ve got some prep-work to do. Here and now. To get ready for the Promised Land.

Circumcision for one … the cut of the flesh to mark the body. To God we belong, in life and in death … God’s purpose is our pursuit.

The Lords says, “Today, I’ve rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” The past is past … this is now … tomorrow stands before us.

And then the Passover Feast - to remember when the Angel of Death came to do its hard and terrible work - taking the first-born of all living things … but the Angel of Death passed over the homes marked with the blood of a lamb.

It’s a harsh and terrible business sometimes … 

To set the captives free.

To right the wrongs.

And clear the way.

To see a brand new day.

That day, the Children of Israel ate the produce of the land.

The manna was no more.

Forty years of wandering - behind them.

Ahead of them, the Promised Land.

Centuries later, the Apostle Paul says to his friends: If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away … everything has become new!

Paul says: in Christ, God was reconciling the world to God, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ.

The high and holy calling of God.

The past is behind us. The race is before us.

On your mark!

Get set!

Amen and Amen!

March 20, 2022, "On Your Mark!" Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena

Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena

Third Sunday in Lent

Isaiah 55.1-9; Luke 13.1-9 

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

In the name of all that is holy and good.

Everything, bright and beautiful.

All that we hope, and all that we hope to be.

I’m glad to be here, and I know that you are, too.

My name is Tom Eggebeen.

Pronounced like, “eggs and beans.”

It’s a Dutch name.

Someone asked me where I was twenty years ago.

I said, “I was getting ready for today.”

And that’s the truth.

I was getting ready for today.

I didn’t know it at the time.

But here I am, with a wealth of experience.

I’ve learned a lot over the years.

And so have you.

And together, we are the people, and these are times.

I’ll say that again: We are the people, and these are times.

For this moment, we were born.

And for this moment, we’ve all been getting ready.

In the mystery of God’s purpose - here we are.

No one else, just us.

Our stories, our hopes, our dreams.

Our broken hearts, our tears.

The good times, the hard times.

The whole package.

All that we are, and all that we hope to be.

Me and you, you and me.

Interim minister.

Westminster Presbyterian Church.

San Gabriel Presbytery.

The Presbyterian Church, USA.

And the whole wide world.

A new day?

Of course it’s a new day.

A chance to take a deep breath.

Collect our wits.

Review our story.

Give thanks.

Celebrate.

Look down the road a little bit.

Isaiah says it well: It’s time to buy some wine and milk, wine to gladden the heart, and milk to nourish the soul, and it won’t cost a cent.

Jesus knows full well that life is chancy, life can be hard … terrible things … things fall apart … but wait a minute, with a parable of hope: time is granted … we’ve got time, by the grace of God … yesterday doesn’t cancel today … today is a fresh start, and God is the one who waters the tree, and nourishes it … a tree called life, a tree called hope, a tree called beautiful … a tree called Westminster.

As I was giving thought to the sermon, and the next few weeks, looking at Scripture for these Sundays, thinking about Lent, the image of a foot race came to mind …

Runners emerge from the locker room, shake limbs, stretch muscles, gather thoughts, plan the run … move to the starting line … 

“On your mark!” comes the announcement … and to the line the runners go, kneel down, think … and then, “Get set” … into the stance at the line, on their hands, legs flexed to push off, adrenaline pumping … every thought focused on the moment … waiting … waiting … “Go!” … and off they go … with every fiber of their being … years of training … push, push, push, push ahead … until the race is run.

On your mark.

Get set.

Go.

Today, here we are.

Here’s the mark, this is the place, the race, the lane in which we run.

No where else for any of us.

No one else in our stead.

We’re the ones!

And this is the race!

I’m glad to be here with you.

To be running here in the race of faith.

It IS the race of FAITH … 

Which makes this race a bit different.

Here in this place, we help each other, we wait for one another, sometimes we lead, sometimes we follow ... we keep pace with one another ... we don't run too far ahead, and sometimes we wait for others to catch up.

Some years back, a funeral for a young lady with Down's syndrome ... she was kind, humorous, thoughtful ... with a ready smile ... cantankerous, sometimes, as any of us can be ... 

Notably … she was a slow walker ... her brother spoke as if he were speaking to her, "Karen, you were a gift to us, to our family, to everyone. You were a slow walker, and you slowed us all down, so we could see the world better. We couldn't rush when you were with us. We had to walk slowly. And for that, dear Karen, we’re grateful.”

The race of faith.

We run this race together ...

There’s a beautiful story told of a group of youngsters, with physical challenges, running a race, and off they went, each pushing for the finish line, but one of them fell, and they all stopped, returned to the fallen child, helped the child up, and together, holding hands, they walked across the finish line.

Just a story?

Perhaps … but what a story it is … the fellowship of faith, the Body of Christ, Westminster Presbyterian Church!

I'm Presbyterian enough to know that we're here for a purpose - not of our own devising.

God's devising …

To make a difference …

Life, life, and more life.

And for this life we run … we are the people, and these are the times. 

Can’t have any other way.

No one here, but us.

Right now, right here.

This is the race before us!

We shake our limbs, stretch our muscles.

And God says, “On your mark!”

Amen and Amen! 

Jan 23, 2022 - "Who Is Christ?"

Who is Christ?
Luke 4.14-21 - St. Luke's Presbyterian Church, Rolling Hills Estates, CA

Good morning and God’s Peace to you.

In the name of our LORD Jesus Christ.

Emmanuel!

God with us.

The Alpha and the Omega!

The beginning and the End.

The very presence of Christ.

Christ abides in us.

And we in Christ.

And this morning, the question:

Who is Christ?

This morning, all across America, and all around the world, preachers and teachers, of every kind and cut, from the tallest steeples to the smallest gathering, from the sublime to the crazy, words will go out, for good or for ill.

“This is Christ,” they will say.

“Here he is.”

“Believe and be saved.”

“Do what he says!”

Books continue to be written by the dozen, by the hundreds … libraries grow all the more … shelves bend under the weight of books …

And if not hardcopy, then the cloud … digital books, audio books … podcasts, blogs, and YouTube … 

Each in their own way, answering the question: Who is Christ?

On this Third Sunday in Epiphany, a Sunday of “further revelation,” which is what Epiphany means - a revealing of something new, something good … something unexpected …

No better place to begin, or to end, then our reading this morning from St. Luke … (fitting, indeed, that we pay special attention to your namesake) …

Jesus returns to Galilee, says St. Luke.

Familiar territory.

Here’s where Jesus grew up.

He knows the hills, the people, their ways of life … the smells, the sounds, and the shape of every home … and all the stories they tell.

His reputation as a teacher is growing.

Upon his return to Nazareth, he goes to synagogue.

As was his custom.

Jesus is a man of the synagogue.

He stands up - the Isaiah scroll is handed to him.

And so he reads …

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Jesus rolls up the scroll, gives it back to the attendant, and sits down to teach.

The eyes of all in the synagogue are fixed on him. 

Jesus says, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

And the people rejoice.

 

Comfort and consolation.

God on our side.

God’s favor upon us.

The people speak well of him, amazed at his gracious words.

Hometown rabbi come home to his own, and what a speaker he is.

The Word of the LORD is upon his lips.

Jesus might have done well to end the sermon, then and there … enjoy the accolades, and head downstairs for the potluck.

The people would have been pleased.

Yet Jesus continues to speak.

Of the widow of Zarephath who welcomed Elijah into her home in a time of famine, and offered Elijah the last of her bread, and it was then that Elijah promised her that the LORD would keep her jar of meal filled, and her little jug of oil with plenty. The widow of Zarephath is a gentile.

And then Jesus speaks of Naaman the Syrian, healed by Elisha’s command to bath in the Jordan. Naaman the Syrian is an enemy.

Jesus opens the text to include “other people” … people beyond the borders of Galilee … beyond the usual markers of theology and faith and culture.

It dawns upon the congregation - their take on the ancient story is challenged … what had started out so pleasantly now takes a hard turn …

“This far” they said, “but no further.” 

Us … not them.

Here’s the boundary; here’s the border.

This far … and no further.

I’m reminded of two chapters in the American Story:

The first is the Pilgrim event, the Mayflower, the establishment of Plymouth … people searching for a place to call home.

Before the English arrived. Dutch and French traders brought with them foreign germs … wave after wave of disease swept through the Indigenous communities … once prosperous towns now lay desolate, fields fallow, bones of the unburied littered the ground. 

And what said the English preachers?

Disease and death killing thousands of Indigenous People was a sign of God’s favor, “the year of the LORD’s favor.”

Because the Indigenous People are heathens, full of idolatry, full of evil; they’re savages … they don’t belong to God’s purpose … small pox and other disorders are all a part of God’s holy will to give us undisputed claim to the land,” in spite of the fact that many Indigenous Peoples had adopted Christianity from the Dutch and the French and then the English, learned to speak and write French or Dutch and then English, with treaties negotiated; treaties broken when more land was wanted, and the numbers of English insured superiority in battle.

The Puritans had a firm boundary for God’s love: “This far,” they said, “and no further.”

I think of the American South before the Civil War … for years, preachers and philosophers had told the story: “Black People are inferior to White People; Black People need to rescued out of ‘darkest Africa,’ brought to America in chains and enslaved - to save them from their evil ways. It is there lot in life to be enslaved.

Then something happened: thousands of enslaved peoples adopted Christianity.

White Christians in the South now had a problem on their hands: “Can we enslave fellow Christians?”

To answer the question, theologians and preachers went to work - Presbyterians among them … they decided that salvation went only so far.

The souls of enslaved Christians were saved, bound for glory, but salvation did not include their earthly bodies … so it was perfectly acceptable to continue their enslavement -  “this far,” they said, and no further.”

And then, one other story … in the early 70s, Altoona, PA … an older man (likely younger than I am right now), a gifted musician, thespian, story-teller, and jokester, and in his retirement, church custodian - I saw him every day; we often went out for breakfast - eggs and toast, and, of course, scrapple … one morning, he asked me, seriously and thoughtfully, “Did God love the Russians as much as God loved Americans?”

“This far, and no further.”

Jesus continues to speak - the grumbling deepens:

The shaking of heads; it turns to rage …

They drag Jesus out of the synagogue …

Take him to the brow of a hill …

The hill on which the city is built …

They’re going to throw him over the edge …

They’re going to send him to his death …

“This far,” they said, “and no further.”

The story ends abruptly … Jesus passes through their midst and goes on his way … traveling to other towns, to speak of the Kingdom of God … 

Who is Christ?

I end with a word from Isaiah 43.19:

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

“For us, for us,” cry the people.

Jesus says, “Yes, yes, yes, of course, for you … and many others, as well.”

For the love of God is broader

than the measures of the mind,

and the heart of the Eternal

is most wonderfully kind.

“This far,” says Jesus, “and farther still, to the very ends of the earth, world without end.

Amen and Amen!

It Was Early in the Morning

An Easter Sermon written for my granddaughter in Amsterdam - my wife played the piano, and I gave the sermon ... I even wore my clerical collar ... whenever my granddaughter saw me in church, I had my collar on.
------------------------------

M, it was early in the morning.

The first Easter Morning.

The sky was still dark with night … stars were still shining bright… there was no wind, but it was chilly … and in the east, where the sun comes up, a sliver of light was growing. There it is, the light dawning, the light coming our way.

It was early in the morning.

Have you ever been up early in the morning Mazzy?
To watch the sun come up?

It’s beautiful.

The velvet black sky.

The stars above.

Everything quiet, even in a city, things are quiet in the early, early, morning.

And then the edge of light.

From black to purples turns the sky.

The sun is coming up.

Soon, a new day.

A brand new day.

Women were on their way to the tomb.

Friends of Jesus.

To the tomb:

Where Jesus was buried.

A cave, it was … a cave dug into the side of a rocky hillside.

With a big stone over the entrance.

The women were on their way to the tomb to wash the body of Jesus.

To anoint his body with perfume.

To wrap his body in soft, clean, linen.

Because they loved him so very, very, much.

“Who will roll the stone away for us?” they asked.

The stone was really big and really heavy.

But those brave women went to the tomb anyway.

They loved Jesus.

They wanted to be where he was.

But when they got there, much to their surprise, the stone was rolled off to the side. The tomb was open.

They went in to the tomb, the morning light helped them see … expecting to find the body of Jesus … but there was no body … Jesus wasn’t there …

They were looking all over the cave, there were nooks and crannies, but no where could they find Jesus … they didn’t know what to do … they were sad … so very sad … what could have happened? Did someone steal his body? Why isn’t he here?

All of a sudden, a flash of light, bright light.

A flood of light.

Everything bright and clear.

The light was so bright, they had to shield their eyes.

There, standing beside the women, two people.

In dazzling white clothes.

They looked like angles.

I guess they were … angels from on high.

Messengers they are.

The word “angel” means messenger.

And what a message they had for the women standing in the tomb.

The women didn’t know what to do.

What to say. 

The two angels in dazzling white clothes said to them: “Jesus isn’t here.”

“He has risen from the dead.”

And that message, Mazzy, has changed the world.

The power and goodness of hope.

Because Jesus was raised from the dead.

Gramma and Grampa say to you.

“Christ is Risen”

And you can say, “He is risen, indeed.”

From the days of early church.

Long, long ago.

And today, all around the world.

We’ll say it again: “Christ is risen.
and you can say, “He is risen, indeed.”

Let’s try that one more time:

“Christ is risen.
And you can say, “He is risen, indeed.”

And he is risen, for sure … for love … for all of us.

That we might always have hope.

M, God loves you, and we love you, too with all our heart.

It’s kind of crazy these days Mazzy.

Here we are, in our homes.

Doing school on the internet.

But God’s love for us is always here.

Always good.

Always beautiful and strong.

No matter where we are.

No matter what’s going on.

There is always an Easter morning.

When Jesus rose from the dead.

And lives today in all who love.

Jesus lives in your heart Mazzy.

He lives in all of us.

To you M.

to your Mom and Dad.

The peace of Christ.

The love of God.

The friendship of the Holy Spirit.

Happy Easter Dear Mazzy.

And to all of God’s People.

All around the world.

Happy Easter.

Amen and Amen!