Be Transformed

“Grant, o merciful God, that your Church, being gathered in unity by your Holy spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples.” What a wonderful and powerful way to begin worship, which is what we did on August 24, 2014. This was a day that the sermon focused on transformation, and what better way to lead into this subject than to ask God to fill the church with the Holy Spirit, so that we might show forth God’s power among all people. This prayer was then followed by the reading of Paul’s letter to the Romans (12:1-8) in which St. Paul challenged us “not to be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we might discern what God’s will is for us.”

This passage goes on to remind us that like a human body, the church has many members and that all members do not have the same function. In fact, each of us has gifts that differ from those of others in the church and that each gift is a grace given to us by God. Some have the gift of teaching, others the gift of preaching, or caring, or generosity, or leading. Others know how to feed the hungry or shelter the homeless, or mow the grass or prune the roses. All of these gifts are given to us by “one and the same spirit, for the common good.” (1 Corinthians 12:7)

It is important for each of us to recognize that we all have something to give to the church and the world. We have different talents and gifts and as St. Paul tells us, they are all given by one and the same spirit for the common good. In addition to the gifts of teaching, singing, praying, building and serving, there are times in each of our lives where our gift just might be receiving. Yes, receiving. Being still, being cared for, laying fallow, so that when our time comes again to use our gifts we will be ready, revived and resourceful.

I am convinced that Jesus’ main purpose in coming to earth was to make God’s Kingdom as real on Earth as it is in Heaven and to inspire us to be co-creators with Him in this venture. After all, the Gospels tell us that we will do even greater things than he does because God will send us the Holy Spirit. Our purpose, then, must be to help transform the world, which just might involve transforming the church first.

What does it mean “to transform the church?” Does it mean to change everything that we do? To completely change our style of music, to quit wearing vestments and wear denim? No, I do not believe it means this at all. But, it might mean to survey our community, find out who comes to church and why, who does not come to church and why not, which demographic groups come to church and which do not. Next it is important to figure out who we are and who we are not and to recognize that we cannot be all things to all people. Finally, who would we like to involve in our worship and fellowship, and what changes will help us attract them. After all, the church exists just as much for those who are not members as it does for those who are.

Having done all of this, then we may want to add some variety to our preaching, or singing, or liturgy. To look for ways to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in ways to which they can relate. St. Paul, might call this meeting people where they are. Besides, it just might be fun to use a variety of the resources available to us as Episcopal Christians. This often allows us to hear God speaking in different ways or for us to speak to God in different ways. When we do this we never know exactly where the spirit will lead us, but we do know that we may have to hang on for the ride.

Remember, transformation is what the Kingdom of God is all about: transformation of the church, transformation of each individual Christian, and ultimately transformation of the world.

 

 

 

 

The Human Side of Jesus

The Human Side of Jesus

In reading Matthew 15:21-28, we run across a Jesus who is very Jewish, very tribal, in fact, very human.  He is approached by a Canaanite woman looking for a favor, looking for healing, looking for the Lord to act on her behalf.  “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David, my daughter is tormented by a demon, please heal her.”  Instead of the answer we might expect from the one sent into the world so that “the whole world might be saved,” we get “I am sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.”

 At this point, the woman kneels before Jesus and pleads, “Lord Help me,” to which Jesus replies, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”  For goodness sakes, the Lord of Heaven and Earth is comparing a distraught mother and her child to dogs.  Calmly she replies, “Yes Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table.  Convicted of his human blindness (in my humble opinion) Jesus responds, “Woman, great is your faith, let it be done to you as you wish.” As scripture then tells us, “her daughter was healed instantly.

This is such an important passage in our Scriptures, because we often get so wrapped up in the Godness of Jesus that we forget his Humanity.  The fact is that if Jesus is not human, then nothing he does would matter:  relationships, suffering, death.  If Jesus were only God, suffering would not really be suffering and death would not be a big deal.  After all he will be back soon.  If Jesus were only God, human relationships would be irrelevant since I believe one has to be human to understand what they could mean and how complicated they can sometimes be. 

As a Human Being, Jesus was not born (again in my opinion) knowing all that humans have to learn over a life time by trial and error.  He would not have needed his vision expanded or his boundaries enlarged.  As it is, the Canaanite woman was able to draw Jesus into an experience in which his view of the world was expanded and his blindness to God’s overall plan for Him was taken away.  The human side of Jesus had a limited vision of his mission: only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.  Through this woman, Jesus was able to see the larger vision of his mission, ministry and life.  Her faith and vision helped Jesus be open to and find his larger vision.

If Jesus’ mission and vision can evolve and grow, surely ours can too.  Our interactions with other people can open our eyes to see more and better.  To recognize who my neighbor is and who my family is.  We can ask ourselves questions such as, are Central American children coming to the United States Illegal Aliens or Refugees?  Are they children of God and neighbors who need our help to escape hunger, slavery and war, or are they thieves intent on stealing our birthright?  These are simple questions with complicated answers.  Did Jesus come only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel, or did he come that “the whole world might be saved?”

To answer these questions it is important that we as human beings keep ourselves informed, which includes listening to the opinions of those with whom we disagree.  It is also crucial that we, the Church, remember that the world contains “all sorts and conditions of people,” and that, for better or worse, they/we are all Children of God.

If Jesus can learn from a person a Jewish man should never listen to, a foreign woman, from whom can we learn?  If Jesus, our Lord can change his mind about who to heal and love, about what can we change our minds?  If Jesus came that we might have life in all its abundance, can we live in a manner that others may have this life as well?

“Can we seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves?”

Slowing Down the Mind, Experiencing the Presence of God

Slowing Down the Mind, Experiencing the Presence of God

After a busy half week in North Alabama full of fun and people and things to do, I am sitting at my desk/dinning room table in Central Alabama watching it rain slowly on the lake.  The leaves on the trees are changing colors and there is a touch (just a touch) of fall in the air.  I am “supposed” to be turning a sermon into a blog post and reviewing Medicare part D and Supplemental information so that my wife and I can “do what needs to be done.”  Instead the rain, as it often does, has made me pensive.  Like so many human beings my brain often takes off at high speed to figure out everything that needs to be done in my life, including some things that really do not need to be done at all.  At times I convince myself that everything that needs to be done needs to be done right now, and probably by me. 

It is days like today that remind me, and hopeful some of you as well, that life is a gift and that if we can slow our bodies down and our minds down at times, that we can appreciate and enjoy that gift even more.  There is so much beauty in this world: the lakes, the trees, the mountains and hills, and the people in our lives.  On a day like today I can enjoy the beauty without having to do anything to change it, or fix it, or make it better and more beautiful.  I can think about my friends and family members and experience the emotions I feel when I am in their presence.  I can reflect on how much they mean to me and how my life is better because they are in my it.  I can even reflect on the times I have hurt others or others have hurt me and turn all the hurt over to God.  I can ask forgiveness for the hurts I have caused and let go of the hurt I have received.  (I do recognize that prayer and good therapy can be necessary as well.)

There are places for me to go today and people for me to see, but this peaceful interlude might just change how I treat the people I meet and perhaps even how I treat myself.

Remember, it was in the ‘Still small voice” that Elijah knew God, and it was in the quite places when he was alone that Jesus was able to commune with God the Creator, thus renewing His strength for His journey.  I pray that today you and I will also find blessing and peace, strength and courage.

Knit Together in the Mystical Body of Christ

Knit Together in the Mystical Body of Christ

Revelation 7:9-17

After this I, John, looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. . . .They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

The Feast of All Saints/All Souls is an occasion of both joy and reflection and sometimes sadness for those of us who are the church, who are the People of God.  The reading from the Revelation of John sums up for us what it means to be connected to one another and the communion of Saints in what we call that “great cloud of witnesses.”  We are truly a great multitude, an inclusive multitude from every nation, all tribes and peoples and languages.  We are who we are because of those who have gone before us and because they shared their faith and their love and their lives with us.

On these two days we intentionally remember those “saints,” famous and not so famous, who have “proclaimed by word and deed, the good news of God in Christ,” who have taught us how to live and in some cases, have taught us how to die.  We particularly remember those family members and friends who have died, and we stop to thank God for their presence in our lives.  Yes there will be tears, but as the writer of the book of Revelation assures us, “the Lamb of God will guide us to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.”

As we enter into these two holy days I encourage all of you to take the time to meditate on those important relationships in your lives, to live with the tears as well as the laughter and the joy, and to offer all of these feelings and emotions to God.

On Sunday, November the 2^nd, at Christ Church we will lift up these “Saints” and our emotions to God.  Those who would like will be invited to come forward to light a candle in memory of some of those who through the grace of God made us who we are.  It truly is a time to celebrate our lives as the people of God.

“Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit you have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth: Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage we may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know ourselves to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy.  We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom all our intercessions are acceptable through the Spirit, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever.  Amen.”

Love God, Love Your Neighbor

Love God, Love Your Neighbor 

Many Christians are aware that Jesus did not “invent” the Great Commandment, “love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul and mind, and love you neighbor as yourself.”  (Matthew 22: 37-40)  They understand that the teaching is from a combination of Leviticus 19:18, “you shall love your neighbor,” and Deuteronomy 6:5, “you shall love the Lord your  God. . . .”  Jesus did know the interconnection of these two commandments.  That we cannot have one without the other, “that if we love God we must love our neighbor,” or as the Letter of James states, “we are liars.”  They became the core of his teaching and his mission.

I want to look at Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18 and reflect on what it might mean to love our neighbor today.

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.

You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the LORD.

You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. 

I believe loving our neighbor might just have something to do with being holy as God as Holy; with walking in Love as Christ loves us and gave himself as an offering and sacrifice to God, of truly loving both God and neighbor 

According to Leviticus 19, loving our neighbor means not showing preference to either poor or rich.  That might entail welcoming all into our churches as well as encouraging fair business practices, including a fair salary for a fair day’s work. 

Loving our neighbor will include “not hurting our kin,” and since all of God’s children are kin, we are called not to hurt one another; to work for justice, freedom and peace.  We are also called not to slander, not to build ourselves up by putting others down, and not to gossip about others.  The letter of James also deals with the dangers of a loose tongue as well.  Loving our neighbor might even involve some restraint in how we talk about politicians with whom we disagree.  Hopefully this includes not putting rash and often inaccurate “sound bites” on social media. 

Loving our neighbor means not profiting by their blood, whether that be unfair labor practices or literal rape, murder or other physical harm.  If we love our neighbor, we will encourage “right relationships, while at the same time realizing that we cannot fix all people and all problems.  We will, in fact, “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves, and will respect the dignity of every human being.” (The Baptismal Covenant, Book of Common Prayer, pp. 304-305)

 

Sometimes it just takes a good Hebrew prophet to help is see Jesus’ teaching in a new light.

 

 

But Some Doubted

But Some Doubted 

Thank God for “Doubting Thomas!”  At least once a year it is important for me, and perhaps others, to be honest about, in fact, to celebrate doubting.  Thomas, I believe, gets a bad rap.  The other disciples had experienced the presence of the risen Christ while Thomas was away and were understandably excited to tell Thomas that “they had seen the Lord.”  Just as understandably, Thomas had his doubts, and expressed them.  A week later, Thomas was present when Jesus appeared again to the disciples and despite his bold proclamation that he would not believe until he had touched the wounds, he believed the minute Jesus called him by name. 

The key to this story, however, is the last statement Jesus makes: “Have you believed because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who haven’t seen and yet have come to believe” (John 20:28-29).  The question for us today in this statement of Jesus is, “how can I believe in the risen Lord without the benefit of a resurrection appearance?  For Thomas, faith came by hearing the word of the risen one address him personally.  For those who come afterward, faith comes through hearing the Risen One speak through his followers, including us, even if we at times have our own doubts. 

At times I sense that the theme of our faith journey is “seeing and not seeing, believing and doubting.   Some saw Jesus after the resurrection and believed; some did not see Jesus in the tomb and believed; and some saw Jesus and did not recognize him. Thomas did not see Jesus and doubted.   

Certainly some of Jesus’ disciples doubted: Judas betrayed him, and Peter, who swore he would never leave him, denied him three times; the eleven disciples went to Galilee with him, to the mountain to which Jesus directed them for the Ascension and “Matthew tells us that they worshiped Him, but some doubted.”  Some doubted?  Some?  There were only eleven of them.   So doubt began at the latest 40 days after the resurrection.  We are certainly in good company when we have doubts. 

What do seeing and not seeing, belief and doubt look like in the Christian community today?  Several experiences come to mind which I want to share with you and I hope you will share yours in responses and comments to this post.   

First, I know several pastors in different denominations who have doubts about some of the story of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection, but cannot share these doubts with each other for fear of job loss or condemnation. 

 

As we get closer to home, closer to our own lives, I believe that if we are honest that most of us have had doubts:  doubts about God, Jesus, salvation, resurrection and many other matters of faith.  Some Christian’s even those who have doubts have been taught that doubt is a sin.  Others are ashamed that they have doubts and may even fear that they are losing their faith.  Personally, I believe that doubts actually strengthen our faith, that questions are very often more important than answers.  I also believe that there are Christians who discourage our doubts, either because they fear for our souls, or perhaps for their souls.  Again, doubting is good, questions lead to answers, which, of course lead to other questions.  But that is how we grow and change. 

At a conference years ago, a participant asked Roman Catholic Priest and writer, Andrew Greeley, why people could have doubts since there was so much proof of God in life, scripture and creation.  Fr. Greeley replied that the reason was that there is also so much proof in life, creation and even scripture that the opposite just might be true. 

I will share two other examples of the importance of doubt and questioning in my life and invite you to add yours in reply. 

Seven years ago we started a Bible Study at the church where I was Pastor.  The only ground rule was that everyone could ask or say anything they wanted without fear of being scorned, condemned or ignored.  The majority of people in the group had never before been given permission to ask questions or express doubts about their faith.  This fellowship has been a breath of fresh air ever sense and leads to the following story which changed my faith and my life forever.  

One of the most life changing experiences for me as a Pastor was a relationship with a young man who came to me to tell me he had lost his faith.  He said he did not believe everything that everyone else seemed to believe.  That he was not sure about the resurrection, the virgin birth and many of Jesus’ Miracles, but he loved God, he loved his church and his friends.  Through conversation and reading and honesty the young man came to realize that he did in fact have a true, living, growing and changing faith and that he was not alone in this congregation; that others, as well, had doubts and questions that had made them stronger, not weaker.  If we, the church are more willing to accept people where they are, to invite them into the fellowship of God’s Kingdom, without requiring them to be where we are on their faith journey, then perhaps we will all experience God’s presence and fullness of joy in ways we could never ask or imagine.

What If We Gave Up Division For Lent

What If We Gave Up Division For Lent 

In the Gospel of John 4:5-42 we read the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s well.  As I reflect on this story in the middle of the season of Lent, I wonder what lessons we can draw from this scripture.  Not just for the people of Jesus’ time, or even for the people living some seventy years later at the time the Gospel was written, but what lessons can we draw for those of us who live in another place and time.           

It seems to me that we can learn something from this confrontation about how and where to worship; about how to treat other people; and maybe even a little bit about who Jesus is. We may, in fact, learn something about our relationship to God and others in a world full if divisions and conflict.  How does our relationship with God affect our relationships with those with whom we differ or with whom we have honest, and at times, serious conflicts? 

To begin with, Jesus found himself, or perhaps put himself, in an awkward situation.  One in which he, a Jewish man, was with a person he should have ignored: a Samaritan and a woman.  The first major conflict to surface was about where to worship, about the validity and importance of one’s religion:  

^{1 9}The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. ²⁰Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you^* say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’ ²¹Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²²You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³But, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth . . . . 

It is so easy for us to believe that our understanding of faith, of who God is and how we relate to God is the one and only way.  I believe this confrontation about where to worship has a lot to say to 21^st Century people as well: that God is bigger than most of us believe God to be; that God is not a Christian and that other avenues of access to God are as valid as ours is and that there is certainly more than one way or one place in which and from which to worship God.  This is not to say that all religions are alike, but to say that, “the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father (God) in spirit and truth.”John 4:23 

This relationship with God leads directly into our relationship with others.  Jesus did talk to a woman and a Samaritan.  In fact, he talked with many Samaritans when they came out to see the man the woman told them about.  I believe Jesus has set us an example of how we are to treat and respect others, even when they differ from us in race, religion, sexuality, and politics.  We cannot change our race, our ethnicity, our gender, or our sexual orientation.  There are some things that are changeable but often with great difficulty: our religion, our political beliefs and our opinions.  What we can do in the latter cases is “love the Lord our God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength, and love our neighbor, and even the stranger, as ourselves.”  And yes, this includes not only Christians and Jews, but Buddhists, Hindus, atheists and Muslims.  Yes, even Muslims.  And no, they do not all want to destroy “us” anymore than all Christians or all Americans want to destroy them.   

Our world is complicated.  The world has always been complicated.  Our goal in a world like this is not to have all the truth, but to seek the truth wherever it may be found, and to “worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.