June 30, 2013 - "Foundation in Christ and Human Rights"

1 Corinthians 3.1-23; 4.14-21; 14.20

I’m glad to be an American … ours is a remarkable nation … founded on a vision, a unique vision - a land of equality, with liberty and justice for all … from sea to shining sea.

The vision remains … and we’re still working at it … we’re not always on target, and sometimes the story becomes garbled and confused … we’re unsure sometimes of what it means to be an American, living in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Sometimes the story has been sad … 

America decided that it was okay to wipe out the Native American population, take their land, break whatever treaties we might have signed, because Native Americans weren’t Christians, and weren’t always interested in our religion … and besides, “they were dirty savages.”

America decided that it was okay to have slaves … and throughout the Americas tons of sugar cane and cotton were grown and harvested on the sweat and tears of tens of thousands of slaves brought here from Africa, and preachers said it was okay, because people of color were the Sons of Ham, from Noah’s story, condemned forever to be slaves, to serve the interests of the white man … and besides, people of color weren’t fully human; they were less in the eyes of god, and in the eyes of the European - African culture and religion were labeled, “savage,” and the Europeans, in spite of centuries of war and bloodshed, claimed to have the upper hand and stood closer to God … and Christianity was too often preached by missionaries, not to liberate, but to quiet the people, make them subservient to their white masters. 

To resolve the questions of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” we had to fight a Civil War … and we’re still struggling with the big questions.

The Paula Deen flap of recent weeks reveals some of the fault lines still present in our nation … she tells us that she’s just a little white girl raised in the South and doing the best she can … but I’m not so sure … I wish she had simply said, “I’m sorry, and I’m going to do better” … but she posed as a victim, and claimed that jealous forces were out to get her … she could have been noble and wise, but instead Paula Deen choose to throw a pity party for herself … she might have become a spokesperson for a better day, but she ran away from the ugly truths of racism and bigotry, and hoped people wouldn’t notice her running away.

This morning, in some church pulpits in California and in other parts of the the nation, preachers will open the Bible and proclaim in loud and holy voices, that the Supreme Court is a great evil, President Obama is the Devil, and this nation is headed to wreck and ruin because of Marriage Equality … 

Preachers will haul out the few verses that seemingly deal with this question … just a few verses, that’s all, just a few verses, and build a whole world of exclusion and bitterness and hatred on those few verses.

Those preachers forget the bloody and shameful ways in which the Bible has been used for centuries to hurt and to harm … 

Last week Sunday, remember - the Bible tells us to stone to death unruly sons, and burn to death adulterers … the Bible tells us that women have no place in the church and ought to be quiet, and shame on women for wanting their rights and their place in the sunshine.

Heard a conservative describe what the Supreme Court did on DOMA and Prop 8 as "the unraveling of the American family" ... I thought to myself, "Unraveling? Not at all, but a blessing, an invitation … and invitation to millions more to enjoy the power and goodness, and the challenge, of being an American family." What we have today is not a loss, but a gain. Not an unravelling, but further knitting … the great tapestry of American Freedom and Hope just got larger … the quilt of our story, had a few more squares added.

When it comes to reading the Bible, we have to be wise … and this Sunday, all across the land, thoughtful preachers will lift up the goodness of God … churches will celebrate new found-freedoms and liberty … well-trained preachers will carefully open the Bible and expound the great message.

The central message of the Bible … the big message … the message that towers over every other story in the Bible … the message that defines how we read those few verses that condemn others … the message that anchors everything else, Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so … little ones to him belong, they are weak, but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me, this I know … for the Bible tells me so.

This is our gift to America!

And Happy Birthday America! Keep on keepin’ on … we’re a great nation, and we’re still learning what our greatness needs to be … we’re still forging the American Dream … 

It’ll never be finished … the work of liberty will always remain our greatest challenge … providing life for all of our citizens, and all who come to our land … we’ll always be a work-in-progress … the work goes on!

Children in poverty … our nation’s inability to provide comprehensive health care, still arguing about women and their rights … millions of people having to choose between paying the rent and going to a doctor … 

Banks too big to fail.

Wall Street greed and the love of money.

Too many wars and too many secrets.

Building big walls on our borders.

American schools … safety for our children … student debt.

Our need for safe and reliable public transportation.

Let all of God’s Children in this great nation lead the way with wisdom and vision, kindness and charity, honesty and hope … because America’s original vision is a godly vision - life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness … justice for all … because all are equal in the sight of God … no one better than anyone else, and we have to help each other, because not everyone is strong … and we all have different gifts, and every gift is needed to make it right and good.

America is still exploring … no longer in a covered wagon crossing the great plains … now, our exploration is of the soul and of the mind … what DOES it mean to be free? … to be America … a land wherein the Lincoln Monument in Washington reminds us that of all the things Lincoln said and did, he saved the Union - all the people, and every state - that we belong to one another, and every human being within our borders, however they got here, to have a chance at the American Dream, and let no power, no government, no financial interests, stand in the way of hope and life.

I’m an American, and I’m glad to be here … I believe in the original vision, and I’m willing to say that God had a hand in it all … Happy Fourth of July to this nation, and to all who are here today, no matter how we got here - Happy Fourth of July.

This day, I’m a Christian, and I celebrate the name of Jesus … I lay claim to the Kingdom of God … the glory and the power of God’s love, here and now … the central message of the Bible, Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

Paul the Apostle tells the Corinthians to grow up … build on no other foundation than the one foundation laid in Jesus Christ our LORD.

This week, as our nation celebrates freedom … let us rejoice with one another, and hold one another up … securing freedom for one another, all the more.

Let us be wise in the ways of Jesus Christ … open wide the doors of freedom, the freedom for which Christ died.

Let welcome and affirmation be our way of life … speak the truth in love … seek justice … build the better way … keep on dreaming.

Help our nation be free … quiet the harsh voices of condemnation and greed … speak out for equality and opportunity … 

Let us be of good cheer … kick up our heels a bit … enjoy the Fourth of July … and bring to life the best we can, in the name of Jesus, who loves us all.

Amen and Amen!

June 23, 2013, "What the Bible Teaches"

Psalm 105.1-5

Photo taken by D - Northern CA

1 Corinthians 16.13-14

Last week, at the end of our service

Our choir sang, Jesus loves me, this I know,

For the Bible tells me so.

For some reason, and who knows why

It struck me … what does the Bible tell us?

Certainly it tells us many things.

Or, at least offers many things:

For example, 

If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father and mother, who does not heed them when they discipline him, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the gate of that place. They shall say to the elders of his town, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” Then all the men of the town shall stone him to death ~ Deuteronomy 21.18-21.

If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall be put to death; their blood is upon them. If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; they have committed perversion, their blood is upon them. If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them. If a man takes a wife and her mother also, it is depravity; they shall be burned to death ~ Leviticus 20.10-14.

In the New Testament:

women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as the law also says. ³⁵If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church ~ 1 Corinthians 14.34-35.

Let a woman learn in silence with full submission. ¹²I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; ¹⁴and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor ~ 1 Timothy 2.11 - 13.

silly women, overwhelmed by their sins and swayed by all kinds of desires ~2 Timothy 3.6,

These passages have been used to deny women a place in church and society … passages that seem to imply the inferiority of women, the weakness of women, the unreliability of women, that women should keep silent in the church, and so on and so forth.

In the United States, when women were seeking the right to vote, Scripture was cited to prove that women just weren’t capable of making sound decisions, women couldn’t be trusted with such weighty matters.

Women couldn’t be pastors, nor could they be elders or deacons … women weren’t fit for such things.

Behind some of the rhetoric these days about abortion and equal pay for women at work, we hear some of the same language - women cannot fully make their own decisions, but need a man to oversee them, subjugate them, keep them in line, behaving themselves.

The Bible offers many things ...

But the choir sang, Jesus loves me, 

This I know.

For the Bible tells me so.

Little ones to him belong.

They are weak.

But he is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

For the Bible tells me so.

Does the Bible have a central message?

A great theme?

An overarching idea?

One thought, one message, one image greater than all the rest?

That takes precedence over everything else?

In the light of which, everything else is read?

Interpreted?

Understood?

Preached and taught?

Some have said that everything in the Bible has equal weight …

Everything? like stoning a rebellious son.

Or burning to death an adulterer.

Or keeping women out of the pulpit.

I think we have to be very careful!

Now I don’t know about you.

But for me, there is a central message in the Bible.

A theme that stands out above all other ideas.

An image that transcends all other stories.

The life and love of Jesus the Christ.

Jesus the anointed one.

The holy one of God.

The Word of God Incarnate.

The Son of God.

The Lamb of God.

Who takes away the sins of the world.

Call it mercy.

Call it love.

Call it the final reality.

The ultimate purpose.

The overarching theme that calls all other themes to itself … the criteria by which we read the rest of the Bible.

Paul writes to the Corinthians: Let all that you do be done in love.

And what is love?

Paul says it best of all:

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. 

Let all that you do be done in love.

Without love, it’s not real.

Without love, it can only hurt.

Without love, it has no value.

No endurance.

No lasting place in the kingdom of God.

Paul says it so well:

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Paul writes at the end of his letter:

Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.

Good words, for sure.

But Paul adds, just to be sure: Whatever you do, do it with love.

Be alert, but do with it love.

Stand firm in your faith, but do it with love.

Be courageous, but do it with love.

Be strong, but do it with love.

Alertness, without love, will only tire us out.

Standing firm in our faith, without love, will only make us stubborn and hard-headed.

Courage, without love, quickly becomes thoughtless grandstanding and showing off.

Strength, without love, quickly turns into domination and bullying.

Love is the preeminent idea that runs throughout all the Bible.

Love builds up.

Love makes all things new.

Love tends to forgive a lot.

Love seeks new beginnings.

So we no longer stone unruly sons.

We no longer burn to death adulterers.

Doors have been opened to women … though we still have a way to go … women in the workplace need to be free of sexual harassment … women deserve equal pay for equal work … and equal opportunity for advancement.

Love is all about open doors.

Opportunity.

Advancement.

Invitation and welcome.

Love is real … 

Love meets the challenges of life.

On Thursday, I took the bus downtown to visit Nick at the Detention Center - he’s doing well, and gives his greetings and love to everyone here … and he asks for our prayers.

While on the bus, I saw some rowdy people … walking a few blocks through downtown LA, I heard three arguments … two in English, and one in a language I didn’t understand … but I didn’t need to understand it … raised voices, intonation, inflection, demeanor, cast of the body, fingers pointing … 

Human beings all argue in the same way …

Human beings are a tough bunch … a strange bunch of critters we are … we argue, because we misunderstand … we fight, because we’re afraid … we go to war to protect ourselves … we hate with ease, and we hurt someone without blinking an eye … our mouths speak trash … our hearts conceive of terrible things … and sometimes we commit terrible deeds … human beings are a tough bunch.

And that’s why love is essential.

Love is the only thing that can conquer the dark spirits of the human soul … love and love alone can shine a bright light of hope on the human predicament … love reminds all of us that we can do better, and we must.

Do we realize the fullness of love?

Sometimes we do.

Do we live every day in love.

Sometimes we do.

Do we turn to love when we’re tempted to go the other way?

Sometimes we do.

And that’s the point of the gospel … keep on trying … and sometimes we succeed, sometimes we really do it, and do it right …

So, never give up, dear friends.

Stay with it.

For the Spirit of God assists us.

And, yes, we can love.

Sometimes.

And that’s enough to get the job done.

For God loves all the time.

And God joins God’s love to our love.

Our love …

With God’s love, becomes love, all the time.

Amen and Amen!

May 19, 2013, "The Hound of Heaven"

Psalm 139; Matthew 26.56

Ever been chased by a dog?

As a kid, one time walking down the sidewalk, a pretty big dog - at least big in my memory - came at me from a yard, snarling, only to be caught up short by a chain. 

Thank God for chains.

But I’ve not forgotten that moment, and it was a long time ago.

When I was in high school, we had a wonderful German Shepherd by the name of Bismarck - very appropriate name for a GERMAN Shepherd.

A wonderful dog, never leashed; everyone in the neighborhood loved him, as he patrolled the neighbor on a regular basis - people felt safe with Bismarck on duty.

One day, he was down a few houses checking out what dogs check out, when a saleswoman pulled up by our house, parked her car, and stepped up the driveway.

Bismarck, full speed ahead, came running at her … I said to her: “He’s okay!” … but the poor lady, frightened by this large German Shepherd pounding toward her, put her hands over face and screamed.

Bismarck ran right by her and continued down another two houses - I’m sure for him, it was a lot of fun.

I think the lady recovered.

Chased by a dog.

An appropriate image from one of my favorite poems, “The Hound of Heaven” by Francis Thompson - wherein he uses the imagery of a large dog following him … the dog, no less than God … pursues him, unhurriedly, until the end, and there is no escape from the love of God … though Francis Thompson turned many a corner in the hopes of eluding God … 

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days; 

I fled Him, down the arches of the years; 

I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways 

Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears 

I hid from Him, and under running laughter. 

Up vistaed hopes, I sped; 

And shot, precipitated, 

Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears, 

From those strong Feet that followed, followed after. 

But with unhurrying chase, 

And unperturbèd pace, 

Deliberate speed, majestic instancy, 

They beat—and a Voice beat

More instant than the Feet -

“All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.”

There is no escape from God.

It’s God, sooner or later.

God’s purpose for us cannot be thwarted.

There is no resistance we can mount that can defeat the love of God for us.

No where to go.

No place to hide.

Noting to do.

No means of escape.

Neither in this life, nor in death.

There God is … God the creator of life, the LORD of death … in the light of day, and when its dark, pitch dark, darkness is as light as day for God.

Morning, noon and night - God! The lover of our soul, the creator of our life, the One who gives us breath; the One to whom we shall return when the last breath is drawn.

A young seminarian listened to a professor speak about the glorious promises of God … especially when Jesus says at the end of Matthew: I am with you always.

The young seminarian raised her hand and asked the professor: “Is that a promise or a threat?”

No one in this room can shake God off our trail … 

The Prodigal Son thought he could run from his father with some wild adventure in a faraway land … and it didn’t work.

When the prodigal son returns home, there the father stands … waiting … and in the largest sense of God’s grace, it’s God who bankrupted that young man in the faraway land … it’s God who dragged him into the pig stye, to eat the garbage thrown there … it’s God who stripped away that young man’s pride, until he came to himself and found his way back home.

The disciples hidden in the upper room, because of fear - yet God finds them; even when we’re paralyzed with fear, God finds us … tongues of flame appear over us, and when we couldn’t speak a word about God, suddenly we can, and the words tumble out of us.

Jonah running for his life to get away from God’s calling … as far away as Jonah could get … on a ship headed west, across the sea … and God found Jonah, in a storm and a giant fish.

Or you and me … struggling to find ourselves, our purpose in life, and turning away from God, as we often do, even as we go to church and play the religious role.

Religion becomes a hiding place - as the Prophet Jeremiah sees it - folks come to the Temple to hide from God, right under God’s nose, so to speak.

Some of the most religious folk I’ve ever known have spent a lifetime hiding from God.

And sometimes, just plain not wanting God … maybe even afraid of God - that God will punish us, hurt us, shame us … for what we’ve done … and we’ve all done plenty, haven’t we? 

It would seem that human beings are afflicted with fearfulness - as Adam and Eve in the Garden - after they ate the proverbial apple - when God shows up in the cool of the day, the pleasant part of the day, to sip a little iced tea with them on their front porch, they hightail it outta there for the bushes, to hide from God.

It took some effort to call them out … and when they came out, there came out defensively - blaming everyone but the kitchen sink for their problems

Maybe Adam and Eve expected a good scolding, or worse … it wasn’t a pretty picture, that’s for sure … things were broken, and broken badly.

But in the end, what does God do?

God becomes a tailor for Adam and Eve.

God takes up needle and thread - in my mind’s eye, I can see God hunched over a table, threading a needle, and stitching together a sturdy garment for his children.

And not just any garment … a garment made from the skins of a beloved animal; one of God’s creatures gave its life for Adam and Eve … 

The first sacrifice.

Only with the shedding of blood could sturdy clothing be made.

God made good clothing for Adam and Eve … clothing to endure the difficult journey ahead.

Maybe Adam and Eve said to themselves afterward, “Why were we so afraid of God? God didn’t punish us as our sins rightly deserved. Our sins messed things up pretty badly, but one of God’s beloved creatures paid the price to clothe us. And God did the sewing. And mighty fine clothes God made for us. Why were we afraid? What’s to fear in the great love of God?”

And should we run away, which we all do, from time-to-time, sort of like a child dashing ahead of mom and dad in a department store, only to look back over her shoulder to see if mom and dad are watching - should we run from God, God is there … sometimes we need the spiritual exercise, but run as we will, God will catch us up into God’s loving arms … from such a God, so great in love, there is no escape … no escape from the Hound of Heaven.

There is a great compassion in the heart of God for the likes of us … 

Jesus never gives up on any of us.

The Spirit pursues us.

Like some kind of a giant dog, the Hound of Heaven … unhurried and insistent … keeping pace with us where’re we go.

The Psalmist rightly asks, Where can I go to flee your Spirit?

The answer?

Nowhere!

Nowhere can any of us go to flee the Spirit of God … 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me.

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope [Jeremiah 29.11].

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom [Luke 12.32].

God be praised … the Hound of Heaven catches us all, sooner or later … there is no escape from God’s great love.

Amen and Amen!

My 12, 2013, "What's In a Name?"

Exodus 20.7; 1 John 3.23-24

Human beings always live in an in-between place … neither here nor there, but somewhere in between … in the middle of moving currents … one pulling us this way, and the other tugging at us for the other … betwixt and between, we say … first one way and then the other … never quite sure who we truly are … 

Are we good?

And if we’re good, how do we explain all the horror of history? 

Are we evil?

And if we’re evil, how do we explain all the good things we’ve done for one another?

Betwixt and between …

Genesis 2 - created in the image of God, shaped by God’s loving hand, filled with the very breath of God … given the garden … called to greatness … all is good!

Genesis 3 - foolish and irresponsible … fear takes hold … quick to blame everyone and everything else for the ills of the day … a shadow falls upon the human race … our story takes a bitter turn … all is not so good any longer … the Garden is lost … humankind begins its tired journey.

Betwixt and between … neither here nor there … who are we?

Today, it’s Mother’s Day … and what a joy it is … we celebrate those who gave birth to us … and those who raised us … and sometimes they’re not the same person … but whatever our circumstance, we’re here … and we give thanks …

We send cards full of loving thoughts … we plan dinners with care … we make our phone calls and extend our love, our best wishes, and wish you were here, if distance holds us at bay.

It’s a good day … our hearts are full of kindly thoughts and dreams …

Yet, who are we?

Are we not betwixt and between?

War and rumors of war plague our world … economies out of whack … lack of health care, safe food and clean water … it seems as if the powers-that-be are incapable of finding peace … and maybe even prefer the state of war, though none would say so … there is something seriously wrong with humankind … something still working its way through our story … and it’s not good at all.

Yet goodness abounds on all sides of the story, too … grace, mercy and peace … faith, hope and love … great advances made for health … justice breaks out in the most expected ways and times … the Berlin Wall is torn down, apartheid comes to an end … sometimes the buses even run on time, and the Expo Line nears completion all the way to Santa Monica.

Betwixt and between …

Neither here nor there …

Darkness on the one side ...

Goodness on the other ...

Betwixt and between … that’s where we are, and that’s where religion is born … 

Born in the in-between places of life … religion comes about when the sorrow of life and the joy of life run side-by-side … when, like Paul, we cry out - Who can save us from this crazy state in which we find ourselves … the good we know so clearly to do, and often fail to do … and the wrong that we despise, we often end up doing … can anyone save us? 

Can anyone put this together so that it makes sense for us, and maybe we can find some ways of moving along to a better place with all of this?

That’s religion … the cry of the heart for something, or someone, to make sense of it all … to bring together all the bits and pieces of life … to diminish the evil and increase the good … to spread abroad the happier message that maybe, just maybe, we might find ourselves and our best purpose, and get things worked out, after all … 

That’s religion … 

And of religion, God’s says, Be careful … my name is likely to be involved … and if my name is involved, be careful … you can use my name; I give it to you, but use my name well.

God knows all too well that religion can go haywire.

Religion can be tempted to use God’s name in vain … those who speak immodestly of God, as if they knew all about God, as if they had all the answers … as if God were on their side in all manner of undertaking … every religion does it - Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism - we all speak as if the gods were our own possession, and  everything we undertake in God’s name is our right, because God said so, God told us, and, frankly, one of the worst things that Christians say far too often, “It’s in the Bible” … 

That phrase, “it’s in the Bible,” has been used to justify just about every crime imaginable … slavery, because it’s in the Bible … subjugation of women, because it’s in the Bible … whipping children, because it’s in the Bible … war, because it’s in the Bible … 

People who pay attention to such things note how religion has declined in Europe throughout the 20^th Century, and continues to decline in influence; people have walked away from the church.

Those who study such things and ask the big questions attribute the decline of religion to religion’s immodesty - religion’s lack of restraint - seen in both World Wars - all the combatants claimed the will of God for their own purposes, sending out soldiers with God’s blessing and hymns, accompanied by chaplains to anoint bombs and bullets.

So confident were the nations that God was on their side … and in the death of millions, the suffering of millions more, people rightly ask, What is this god-thing that some talk about with such ease, and smugness and confidence - that they can willingly send millions to their death and believe that somehow or other this is God’s mighty will and purpose?

Paul Tillich, one of the great 20^th Century theologians wrote: “I speak now of a public use of the name of God which has little to do with God, but much to do with human purpose - good or bad. Those of us who are grasped by the mystery present in the name of God are often stung when this name is used in governmental and political speeches, in opening prayers for conferences and dinners, in secular and religious advertisements, and in international war propaganda” [“The Divine Name” - in sermon collection, The Eternal Now].

God cautions Israel to use God’s name wisely, to use God’s name with care … because God knows how crazy religion can get … immodest religion full of itself, convinced that it has the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and we’ve seen plenty of that in our world.

God reminds Israel to be modest in all things, restrained and tactful … for who can claim to have the final word on God? Indeed, we have much to say, and much to give, but we’re limited, and in our limits, God calls us to be cautious, lest we violate those limits and begin to violate one another, too … when religion loses its humility, religion quickly becomes cruel.

We can only speak of God with restraint … humility and awe … because we don’t have the last word … for now, we can only see through a mirror dimly … we know only in part … and what counts, says Paul, is that God knows us!

That’s what Moses had to learn when Moses asks God for some inside information - Let me see your glory so I can lead this people through the wilderness.

But God says to Moses, No, you can’t see my glory; you can’t have more of me than anyone else can have … but this much I say to you, and I say it to you, Moses, and to all the people: I am with you, I will go with, and I will help you.

Modest religion …  religion with restraint … religion, more often quiet than loud … with a holy silence, respectful of the great mysteries of God …

Job says to his yakety yak friends - Oh, be quiet … If you would only keep silent, that would be your wisdom! [Job 13.5].

The writer of Proverbs says: Even fools who keep silent are considered wise; when they close their lips, they are deemed intelligent [Proverbs 17.28].

And on a more positive note, the Prophet Habakuk says: the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him! [2.20].

The poet Dyer noted, long ago, in the 16^th Century:

The firmest faith is in the fewest words;

….

True hearts have eyes and ears, no tongues to speak;

They hear and see, and sigh, and then they break.

Oh to be careful with the name of God … to use God’s name well … to speak modestly of God, for love is modest and gentle … believe in the name of Jesus, says John, and to love one another … love and belief; belief and love, walk hand-in-hand, quietly … 

A quiet faith is open to life’s most profound emotion - if love is the greatest of all spiritual gifts, the greatest part of love is sorrow.

Jesus comes over the brow of the hill, and when he sees Jerusalem, he weeps … he weeps for all the lost opportunities … all the bad choices the great city makes … the arrogance of faith that claims the power of God for itself … the pomp and circumstance of temple and throne … 

Jesus weeps … it’s a good thing to weep now and then … we needn’t fear tears … tears soften the heart, when our heart is tempted to be hard … tears humble us when we’re tempted to be proud … tears quiet the heart when we’re tempted to shout out with condemnation and pride … tears are the stuff of justice … tears are love’s companion.

With humility … let us put our hands to the plow and not look back, and with faith, hope and love, and great modesty, take up our work.

The high and holy calling of God Almighty … to join with Christ, in the work of building a better world … that mothers everywhere could look upon their children with joy and peace … healthy children, safe children, children with a future.

We take seriously the name of God, because there is serious work to be done … we use the name of God carefully … we speak of God modestly … in matters of faith, restrained and humbly quiet … careful to measure our deeds by the faith we profess; careful to profess a faith that is measured by deeds of love.

Happy Mother’s Day to you, and to all the Mother’s of the World, grace, mercy and peace … rest assured dear ones, there are millions of people all around the world, religious people, and people who choose other pathways, who are all doing good, and God is pleased!

 Amen and Amen!