WAKE UP! Advent 1A

Advent 1 Year A   November 28, 2010     Matthew 24:36-44  
The Rev. Benton Quest


Happy New Year!

Some may think I am about a month early, but today we celebrate the beginning of a new church year. With a new church year comes a new sense of life and vitality that change often brings. And with this change we once again stretch and look at our life anew.

So often in our lives we can get lulled into a kind of walking sleep. We get up in the morning, we go about our daily lives, and we go to bed at night. That day is gone, never to be lived again. And then, again the next morning, we get up, we go about our daily lives, and we go to bed at night. Before we know it, weeks have passed and we really have nothing to show for it, no memories to reflect back upon. We have been living life, but we can’t remember anything about it. We have been going through life in a kind of sleep.

Well, that kind of thing could happen with the church year, too. We come in, we say the familiar prayers, we hear the familiar stories, we see the familiar people… And granted, there is a certain comfort in all of this; but there is also the potential that we can get to the point where our worship life becomes another type of walking sleep. We have been doing it; we just can’t remember anything about it. It is for this reason that we have the various seasons in the church year. We have the different seasons to wake us up and help us to see our worship and the whole world anew. So you see, we changed the color of the paraments on the altar, we added the Advent wreath, and we have changed the prayers we use during the service. All of this to help us to remember that time has passed and to keep us from being lulled into sleep.

So, I guess I could have said, “Wake up!” instead of “Happy New Year.” I could have, but you all would have probably thought I was being rude. However, with the start of this new church year, we do get a wake-up call. As we begin the season of Advent, I won’t be the one telling you to wake up, in the gospel, we hear Jesus himself telling his followers, which includes all of us here, to keep awake.

In the gospel reading, Jesus is telling us the importance of keeping awake. When we hear this, we must realize that this is more than just being coherent, keeping awake is maintaining an awareness of those people and things that surround us.

Jesus first starts by telling his disciples that no one knows the day or hour of the Lord’s coming. NO ONE. Not even the son – Jesus himself – knows this. Only the Father knows. I find it interesting that even though Jesus tells us that no one knows the date, so many people spend so much time trying to figure the day and time out. What is especially interesting are the people who will state, “Well, we may not be able to know the day and hour, but at least we can figure out the month and year!” Why people are so interested in knowing the exact time eludes me. My only guess is if we know, we don’t have to be awake. We can sleep until that moment and then wake up when the time arrives. Kind of like the bumper sticker that says, “Jesus is coming back, look busy!” But Jesus doesn’t want us to sleep; he wants us to be awake and alert. He wants us ready for action.

Jesus again reinforces that no one would know the day or hour by citing an example from the time of Noah. Jesus tells the disciples that as the great flood approached, the people had no idea their own demise was near. As Jesus says, “they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.” So, again, what Jesus is saying is that planning for the coming of the Lord is a waste of time.

Since we are not actively planning for the Lord’s coming, that doesn’t mean we get to kick back and do nothing. Just because we do not know the day or hour that does not mean that we can just slide through. Just because we can’t know the details, doesn’t mean that we should be spending our lives in a state of walking sleep, Jesus wants more of his disciples. It is here that he brings in a few other examples.

In his examples, Jesus talks about people out doing things, people going about their daily lives. These people are not waiting in a cave in anticipation of the Lord’s return; they are out in the field and are grinding meal. He does not talk about people just sitting around waiting for something to happen. These people are active.

It is while these activities are occurring that some are taken, and some are left behind. Now, we might want to ask how the choice was made as to those who were taken? Unfortunately, we are not given the details, but Jesus does give us another example right after, which we can assume is meant to help us understand.

Right after the disappearing people, Jesus tells about the thief in the night and the homeowner who was asleep. Since the homeowner was asleep, the thief was able to steal the owner’s property. But if the owner had been awake, the thief would not have succeeded. So by giving us this example, we can assume that in the previous examples, the ones who were taken were the ones who were awake and those who were left were those who had fallen asleep under the spell of the world. And finally make sure everyone gets it, Jesus reiterates that we need to be awake, alert, and ready because the Son of Man will come at an unexpected hour.

What Jesus is telling us, then, is that we are to live our lives being alert and ready. We are not to let the routines of the world lull us into sleep. We are to wait for the return of the Lord but we are not to just sit there and let the world pass us by. We are to live in the tension that the advent of Christ’s return brings.

One of my seminary professors had a great way of explaining this tension: He would say, “Could Jesus return today? Yes.” Then he would say, “Am I counting on it? No.” It is true, Jesus could return at any time. We can look for signs, we can try to figure out dates, but we are told that no one knows the hour of the Lord’s return. So the message Jesus has for us is that we should live in the expectation of his return but also realize that we have been given a life to live, here and now. We need to live our lives but we also need to live with the awareness that Christ could return, and so therefore, we can’t just go through our lives, asleep! We need to get busy!

I think there are many things that stop us from being busy for Christ. We have jobs, families, and commitments. We get caught up in the trials of life. These trials can be thought of as a darkness in our lives, a darkness where, if we are not careful, we can get lost. What is sad is that when we get lost, we forget that we have been given a light to lead us. We have the example of God incarnate, God with Us. We don’t need to fumble around in the dark when we have the light of Christ to lead us.

This awareness of Christ’s presence in our lives gives us a new way of living life and a new way approaching the tasks in our lives. Christ is the presence that opens our eyes to the true potential of life.

Granted, we do not know when Jesus will return, but there is something else we cannot know, we cannot know when we will make our own personal return to Christ. We usually do not like to think about that too much, but we will each have our own “thief in the night” moment. And try as we might, we do not know the day or hour of our death. When this time comes, will we have our house in order? Will we be ready to move on to the heavenly kingdom?

Part of Jesus’ call to “keep awake” is for us to be aware of our relationships, not only with God but also with those around us. As we approach the day we celebrate Christ’s birth, we are to remember the great sacrifice that was made for us in that act of God becoming human. As we look to Jesus’ birth, we can also be thankful for his saving death and resurrection. And we needn’t be afraid of the thief in the night, because we know that we have great love of God to lead us into the night and to keep us safe.

So, Happy New Year! Happy Advent! And Good Morning! As we approach the celebration of Christ’s birth, I ask you each to make a New Year’s resolution: Resolve to approach each day as a gift and each person as a treasure. Resolve to see the light of Christ in everyone you meet and to see Christ’s light in yourself also! Resolve to dream the dream God has for us! Dream of a world where Christ love fills our community. If we are not dreaming, then we are just sleeping. Christ calls us out of our sleep! And finally, resolve to leave behind the dark and live in the wondrous light that has been given to us through that small child in a manger and the miraculous man he became.

ONE MONTH LEFT!

May Santa keep your spirits up! ;-)

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

Growing old is manditory, growing up is optional...

Some people (some?) are just children walking around in adult suits.

First off, things in the congregation are going MUCH better.  I don't know if that is the effect of celexa or if things are changing; either way, life in the congregation has been pretty good.

BUT

I have been having some run-ins with the former secretary.  She decided to tell me that she did not like where I moved the stained glass in the sactuary.  That is fine,she does not have to like it, that still does not mean I am going to move it.  (I also need to say that she may have beenin church 6 Sundays since I have been here.  She is never in church so why should this bother her?)  She was NOT pleased to hear that. 

Well, on Sunday, I get an e-mail informing me of a "Beading Workshop" taking place at the church in a few weeks.  This was the first time I ever heard of this.  I asked the congregational Pres if he knew nything about it.  No, he did not.  I asked if he approved the use of the building?  Again, no.  The event was written on the calendar and that was assumed to be ok.  (Wanna guess who had decided to hold this little workshop?  Yep!  The Former Secretary!)

Then when I said that it was not an approved event, I got the "well, we'll just cancel then.  We thought we were doing something good."  (Overtones of "I'll take my ball and go home.)  I explained that I was pleased by the event, I just didn't like the route of obtaining use of the building.  To which I heard, "I didn't think we needed permission to use our building." 

Did I mention when all the planning for this event was going on, I and the President were sitting at various tables in the same hall as the people planning the thing?  And all they had to do was ask either one of us if there was a conflict?

Oy vey.

Thanks for the Troubles, Jesus. Pentecost 25 Proper 28C

Proper 28C                Luke 21:5-19                    Nov. 14, 2010             The Rev. Benton Quest

I was watching a show on the Trinity Broadcasting Network a while ago. I don’t know if you are familiar with TBN but it is the channel that has all the preachers on it. Now I need to tell you, I normally don’t make it a habit of watching TBN, but when I watched, they were having their fundraising week. Well, the preaching was quite unbelievable. These folks were preaching in a manner that I don’t think I will ever accomplish! Maybe you don’t want me to accomplish this style!! Well, I am not going to talk about the preaching style. What I wish to discuss is the content of the preaching.

I will admit that I didn’t hear the entire sermon, but what I did hear I found upsetting. It seems that this preacher was talking about how all the people in a certain congregation had gone from destitution to affluence. How suddenly the parking lot was beginning to fill with Cadillacs and Lincolns. How people have gone from having little money to having money to spare. The preacher was talking about how by just believing in Jesus, the people became wealthy.

Now this sounds like a good message. I bet if we went out and guaranteed that by coming to St. Swithin's, people would become rich, we would have people knocking down our doors! We would all like to hear that by simply going to church we could all make whole lot of money. Well, most of us would probably like to hear that message. Yet, for how good a message that would be to hear, there is a problem with that message. There is an underlying message to what the preacher was saying. What the preacher was saying is that we should believe in Jesus for the things that we can receive. What he was saying is that being a Christian is like having a winning lottery ticket. If we believe enough in Jesus then we will have big cars, big houses, abundant health, and lots and lots of cash.

So very often this is the message we hear when people talk about Christianity. The message we get is if we only follow Jesus our life will be so much better. If we only follow Jesus our life will be so much easier. It makes sense, doesn’t it? We don’t follow Christ and our life is a mess because of sin. We follow Christ, He forgives our sins, and our lives are much better because we are making Christ happy and he wants to give us stuff. Sounds good to me!

In seminary we had a name for this type of belief. The belief that because we believe then everything will be wonderful is known as a Theology of Glory. A Theology of Glory is pretty enticing. We believe in Christ and Christ gives us exactly what we want. And know what? A Theology of Glory works! It works until your wife gets cancer or your husband is in an accident or large buildings collapse killing thousands of people or jet engines self-destruct. When the “bad” things in life happen, then the Theology of Glory leaves us standing in the smoke and dust asking, “What happened?”

But Jesus doesn’t teach a theology of Glory. He teaches what Martin Luther called a Theology of the Cross. A Theology of the Cross has to do with learning from our mistakes and holding to our convictions. In the gospel reading for today, Jesus talks about being arrested and persecuted. Those who follow Jesus are going to be arrested and persecuted. Through their association with Jesus, the disciples lives are going to be come difficult and complicated. They probably will be taken to jail, not to the new car show room.

When I read these scriptures, I am confused as to how to respond. I don’t want to be arrested! I don’t want to have to go to the jail and visit with you when you get arrested! I don’t want to end up in jail myself! Just think about the evangelism campaign we could have! “Join St. Swithin's! A welcoming place where you can get your very own serial number! Free mug shot with every membership!” We won’t be able to keep the people out!

Why does Jesus do that? Why does Jesus promise all of these horrible things for his followers? It really is not a good way to get follower and believers. I think you will agree with me that we would much rather hear about how following Jesus would bring us a life of leisure. We don’t want to hear that through following Jesus our life is going to be more difficult. But Jesus doesn’t let us off. He tells us that we need to be prepared to be rejected by the world. We need to be ready to have the world not just passively ignore us but to actively persecute us.

Humm… I don’t like hearing this at all. And I would like to talk around these words. I would like to tell you that Jesus was just messing with our minds; that we really don’t have to go through all this suffering. But to tell you that would be to do Jesus a disservice.

Now one thing I want to make perfectly clear; Christ wants us to have the best life possible. Christ wants us to live a full and fulfilling life. We need to always remember this. Jesus is not telling us to follow him so that we will have trouble and pain. Jesus is telling us to follow him so that we can have the best life possible.

The way of following Christ is to pursue the things that are truly important in life. To follow Chris is to be fully involved in life. To follow Christ is to experience what is the most important in life.

What are the most important things in life? Is it most important to have things or to have friends? Is it more important to have the praise of everyone or to have the satisfaction of knowing that you did what was right? Is it more important to have the admiration of the masses or to have the love of God? It is nice to have things, praise, and the admiration of the masses, but it is more important to have the love of God. Like a good parent, Christ wants what is best for us. And just as with children, often what the parent knows is best may not always appear to the child to be the best. Also, what is the best may not be what is the easiest! If what was the best were also the easiest, then the new health plan would involve eating cookies and watching TV! Unfortunately, maintaining our health is a little harder. But in putting in the work, we get the benefits.

Our faith life is the same way. When we follow Jesus, we have to put in the work. This work helps us to live fulfilling lives. This work helps us to live a life that is rich and vibrant. A life in Christ is not dull and boring, no! It is full of energy, abundant energy! Life in Christ is not about judgment. It is about freedom!

Unfortunately, the world doesn’t want us to have an abundant life. If we have our fulfillment in God, then we don’t need to buy our fulfillment in the Martha Stewart collection. If we find our fulfillment in Christ, then we don’t need to worry about how others view us. If we have our fulfillment in Christ, we can move about life, experiencing what is best.

But it is this lack of worry about the world that will cause the world to rebel and causes the problems Jesus teaches about. There is a lot of pressure for us to define ourselves by the ways of the world. A lot of people have a lot resting on my desire for a new car or a new shirt or a new Wii. Advertising’s sole aim is to make me feel that my life is not worth living if I don’t own their product. Advertising’s sole aim is to make me (and you!) feel like we are less than the special creations created by God.

I have something to tell you! We are more than new Cadillacs! God gives us more than the purely material! We are the baptized children of God, heirs to the eternal reign! We are the redeemed! We have the promise of Immanuel, of God with us! God here and now! Soon we will come to the table and be fed and strengthened by Christ’s own body and blood. What greater gift can we receive?

It would be nice to have a Cadillac, or a Lincoln, or a 1976 tan Fiat Spider convertible with caramel leather interior. But to measure God’s goodness by purely tangible possessions is to limit our understanding of God. No, God comes to us in so many different ways. God comes to us in the laughter of children, in the coarse texture of a cat’s tongue, the sparkle in a loved ones eyes, the smell of freshly baked cookies, the feel of sheets fresh off the line, the feel of clothes still warm from the dryer, the sound of gentle rain on the roof, the smell of a fire on a cold evening, or the gentle brush of a finger on a cheek. Jesus is present in all of these. When we limit our concept of blessing to those things we can own, we limit God.

So as we approach this Thanksgiving, let’s give thanks for the things in our lives, but let’s also be sure to give thanks for the multitude of small blessings in our lives and pray that God increases our awareness of these blessings. God promises us more than we can ever understand. It may not be what the world promises, but it will be so much better!

Frustrations

My church is right across the street from a high school.

I thought it would be great to offer my help to the school concerning a Gay/Stright Alliance or anything like that.  Let's face it, I am gay, I am a clergy person, (and a quite liberal clergy person at that!) and I have some backing in psychology.  Personally, this seems like a no-brainer! 

So I called the counseling department, twice, and left messages.  I heard nothing in return.

I called the principal's office and was given the name and phone of the GSA advisor.  I have heard nothing in return.

How hard is it to return a phone call?

Time

I stole this from Lemuel, go show him some love!

20 years ago (08. Nov 1990)




1.) How old were you? 26
2.) Where did you go to school?  I was out in the working world with a BA in Psychology and Psychobiology
3.) Where did you work? I worked for a private Sheltered Workshop/Residential Center
4.) Where did you live? I lived in a little, tiny house (you could sit on the "throne" and lean your forehead on the wall in front of you!) in Grand Detour, IL.
5.) Where did you hang out? Anchovies
6.) Did you wear glasses? Nope!
7.) Who was your best friend? Anna
8.) How many tattoos did you have? None.

9.) How many piercings did you have? None.

10.) What car did you drive? A green Chevy Citation, not sure of the year.
11.) Had you been to a real party? Not really sure of this question, but I don't think so.
12.) Had your heart broken? Yes

13.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced: Single


10 years ago (08. Nov 2000)



1.) How old were you? 36
2.) Where did you go to school? By this point I had finished my MA in Psychology and also had an M.Div.
3.) Where did you work? My first church in the middle of nowhere northern Michigan.
4.) Where did you live? circa 1970's Mobile Home
5.) Where did you hang out? Traverse City, MI
6.) Did you wear glasses? No.

7.) Who was your best friend? Still Anna
8.) How many tattoos did you have? One.

9.) How many piercings did you have? None.

10.) What car did you drive? A red 1999 Plymouth Duster.  I loved that car!
11.) Had you been to a real party? No.

12.) Had your heart broken? Yes, although I wasn't ready to admit it and he had no idea he did it!

13.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced: Still single


5 years ago (08. Nov 2005)



1.) How old were you? 41
2.) Where did you go to school? Kind of all over the place.  Nothing like a formal degree, just tons of seminars.

3.) Where did you work? Bethlehem Lutheran Church
4.) Where did you live? In my house!  I loved that house!  It had gargoyles!  It had hardwood floors!  It was beautiful!
5.) Where did you hang out? I didn't really have a "hang out" place. 
6.) Did you wear glasses? Yes, just to read when I remembered them.

7.) Who were your best friends? Anna, still
8.) Who was your crush? Jim
9.) How many tattoos did you have? Two.

10.) How many piercings did you have? None.

11) What car did you drive? 2002 Chevy S-10 Pick-up. (I was so butch!)

12.) Had you had your heart broken? Not anything new.

13.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter: Single but moving toward Takn
14.) Any kids? Just two furballs who had been with me since 2000


Present (08. Nov 2010)



1.) How old are you? 46
2.) Where do you go to school? School of life.

3.) Where do you work? A small church in the 'burbs of Detroit.
4.) Where do you live? In an apartment complex with a view of the neighbors' buildings.
5.) Where do you hang out? Some area parks, a few sports bars, a few gay bars.
6.) Do you wear glasses? Still for reading when I remember where put them.

7.) Who are your best friends? Jim, Anna, Dennis

8.) Who is your crush? Crush, I am a fool for a nice body.  Love in my life?  Jim, of course!
9.) Do you talk to your old friends? Actually, more so now, due to Facebook.
10.) How many tattoo’s do have? None. Three.

11.) How many piercings do you have? One, though most people will never know this!
12.) What kind of car do you have? 2007 Ford Focus
13.) Has your heart been broken? No, and don't see one in the future, either.
14.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter? Cannot be married in this state.
15.) Any kids? Two furballs:  One that I have had since 2000 and one that we recently inherited. ("She goes to your house or heaven.)

Well, that was kind of fun!

Gifts and Promises Pentecost 24 Proper 27C

The folks we meet today in the gospel reading are interesting. We don’t see them a whole lot, matter of fact, this is one of the few places they are mentioned in the gospel of Luke. These guys were known as the Sadducees. They were a branch of the holymen of Biblical times. The odd thing about the Sadducees is that they only adhered to the first five books of what we would call the Old Testament. Now in these five books, there is no mention of resurrection. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, that is what made them sad, you see?


But even though they did not believe in the resurrection, they did have a deep and abiding faith. They believed that they were to keep the laws of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, and that they would live on throughout the thoughts and memories of those who came after them. So there was a “form” of living on after death, but not the bodily resurrection that we currently associate with Christianity.

But I have a question for you to think about: Why were the Sadducees so devout? They devoted their life to God, but they were not promised anything in return. In their theology, when they died, that was the end of it all. So if they were not promised eternal paradise, why be devout? If you believed that there was no heaven, would you be a believer or would you just go out and live for the moment?

So often we get caught up in the whole Santa model of God; you know, “He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good so be good for goodness sake!” We MUST be good, because if we aren’t, then we will not get our presents, I mean, eternal life. We may not want to come out and say it, but many of us have this kind of understanding of God lurking at some level.

And it is this God as Santa theology, or maybe we could call it “God-Will-Squash-You-If-You-Don’t-Behave” theology, that runs throughout the story of Job. There is the understanding among Job’s friends that God is just waiting to smash Job under God’s thumb the moment Job does something wrong. And the reason Job is suffering is because Job must have done something wrong.

Just a reminder, Job was a righteous man who was suddenly afflicted with all kinds of hardships from having his family die to having sores appear all over his body. In the story, we are told that Job did nothing to earn these afflictions; we are told that they were given to him by Satan to see if he would curse God. And also in the story, we are told that Job has three “friends” who come to try to convince Job that he needs to repent from his sins so that he might get back into God’s good graces and get all these bad things taken from him.

I often wonder how I would do in a situation like that. Would I just give up on God and decide to just do whatever? Would I curse God and decide it was not worth it? I would hope not. I would hope that I would remain faithful even in the face of tragedy. And I hope that I would remain faithful even if eternal life was not a promise. I would hope that the gift of life and the beauty of the earth and people that surround me would be enough to move me to worship.

You see, somewhere we have acquired the idea that there is some kind of contract between equals that exists between us and God. We do good things, and God gives us good things. We worship God and God lifts us up into Heaven. God needs us, and in return, God makes our lives easier.

But it is this kind of thought that takes away our awe and respect for God. As cold as this may sound, God doesn’t need us. God would still be God even if we totally ignored God. This is the harsh reality, (at least for our human egos!) God doesn’t “benefit” from being in a relationship with us! God is no farther ahead with us nor is God any farther behind without us. Again, that is harsh, but that is the truth: God is God and we aren’t.

But when we come to the realization that God doesn’t owe us anything, we begin to realize just how great God is! It is only then that we realize how extravagant God is! God doesn’t have to give us anything, and still, God gives us a beautiful world, magnificent opportunities, and incredible people. God gives us challenges, pleasures, and experiences. God places these things into our lives, not because God owes us anything, God places these things into our lives because God loves us! Pure and simple, God Loves Us!

And for all the wonders that God has given us in our lives, even if we were to worship God constantly, we could never repay what God has given. Just giving our worship to God for the wonders that we have experienced in this day to this point could consume our lives. And even with that, God continues to bless us. Even if we never say “Thanks,” God continues to bless us. Even without the promise of eternal life, we would be eternally indebted to God.

This is what Job understood. This is what the Sadducees understood. This is what Job’s friends didn’t understand; and this is what we so often forget.

But in Christ coming to Earth, it doesn’t end here! In the person of Christ, we HAVE the promise of resurrection! We have what the Sadducees could only dream of! Not only do we have the gift of life, the gift of love, the gift of possibilities in our lives here and now, but we also have the gift and the promise of eternal life in the resurrection! This is the great gift God has given us. Not only do we have the promise of eternal life to look forward to, but we have the wonder of life in the here and now to enjoy and to revel in.

Yes, we should be like the Job and know we are redeemed even when our things appear to be falling apart. And yes, we should be like the Sadducees and be able to devoutly worship, even without the promise of eternal life. We should be able to do this, but if we can’t we still have a God who loves us. We still have a God who gives us life and beauty. We still have a God who promises us more than we could ever deserve! What a wonderful, marvelous gift. And so much more than we could ever expect from Santa Claus.

Two Months!

God Loves Us All (Unfinished Sermon)

I am so happy this week! We have an easy one!! YEAH! A nice easy to understand gospel reading. Not even a lot of interpretation to be done. Pharisees are bad and tax collectors are good! Just be nice and humble and everything will be a-ok! I like scriptures like this. I don’t have to think too much about them and neither do you! We can just sit back and pat ourselves on the back and be oh so proud of how humble we are. We aren’t like that nasty, self-serving Pharisee. We are not all kinds of self-righteous. We can thank God that we are not like other people.


Yes, we could feel that, but you know, if we listened to ourselves, we really aren’t that much different than the Pharisee. The Pharisee is praising himself on how righteous he is and how he keeps all the laws. The Pharisee is praising himself on how he is just so much better than the tax collector. The Pharisee is just lifting himself up, telling the whole world how wonderful he is.

But we can get into a similar situation by thinking we are just so much better than everyone else because we are just so humble. I have heard it once described as “conspicuous non-consumption.” We look at ourselves as being so much better by what we don’t have. Or I have heard people in churches get into “I was a worse sinner than you” competitions. If we look at this parable as just a platitude to be humble, we can get into all kinds of weird behavior. These must be something more here than just a simple exhortation to not think too highly of oneself.

Humm…Maybe this is not as simple as it would appear to be!

If we think about it, everything the Pharisee was saying was most likely true. I am sure he did fast twice a week. I am sure he did tithe. I am sure the Pharisee was of upstanding character; he was a righteous man. The Pharisee was not lying when he said all of these things. So the problem Jesus had with the Pharisee was not his truthfulness, it was something else.

The tax collector was also being truthful. We are not going to whitewash him and make him into something he was not. The tax collector was, truly, a sinner. So, again, the difference cannot be made on their truthfulness. They both were being truthful.

Maybe it was repentance! Was the tax collector repentant and the Pharisee not? We know that the Pharisee doesn’t seem to think there is any need for repentance; why should he? According to his standards and his laws, he hasn’t done anything worthy of repentance. But if we look, the tax collector does not repent either! We are not told that the tax collector says, “I’m sorry” or “I will try to do better.” The tax collector shows no sign of repentance. So repentance cannot be the thing that separates the two men praying in the temple.

Well, you probably have it figured out by now; the difference is that Pharisee does not see any need for God in his life. The Pharisee sees his place in life as his own doing. He has the good things in life because he has been righteous and has followed the law. Now the tax collector, he has no illusions; he doesn’t even approach the temple, he just throws himself down and begs for forgiveness. The tax collector just begs for mercy. The tax collector makes no pretense of being righteous. He doesn’t even promise to be righteous in the future. All he does is realizes his place in life and realizes that he needs God’s mercy.

The Pharisee doesn’t realize that his need for mercy. The Pharisee cannot even look at the tax collector and say, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” The Pharisee does not see that his life could be any other way than the way HE made it. According to the Pharisee, everything he has he deserves; he earned it. According to the Pharisee, he has no need to be thankful because he is just getting paid back for his righteousness.

But the tax collector sees his need for mercy. The tax collector does not make any assumption about his state of being. The tax collector is desperate for mercy. The tax collector realizes that any blessings that he has in his life are all a gift from God. Where the tax collector shows true dependence on God, the Pharisee just appears smug.

The Pharisee divides people up into two groups, those who are righteous, like himself, and the immoral people like the tax collector. Although the Pharisee says “Thanks,” it is more a perfunctory sort of “thanks.” He really doesn’t see that his life and all he has is a gift. He just sees it as part of his own righteousness. He sees all he has as being due to him; not a gift at all. He sees himself and others as righteous and deserving, and the others as immoral and therefore undeserving of what they have.

But the truth is that neither man is deserving of the gifts they have been blessed with. And justification is not from our recognition of the gifts, but our recognition of our need for God’s mercy! God does not see the divisions that the Pharisee is making. God does not see us as primarily righteous or immoral. God sees us as God’s children and wants us to look to God for our daily needs. It is in our recognition of our need for God’s mercy that we find our true humanity. It is in our recognition that all of us need God’s mercy that removes the divisions that separate us and move us into our own little worlds.

In the adult class on Wednesday night, we are reading the book, The Great Divorce. In this book, by C. S. Lewis, Hell is populated by people who are totally separated from each other. They can create what they want just by thinking it. There is no reason to need anyone else. And it is this belief in self-sufficiency that keeps the people in the book out of Heaven. It is not supposed righteousness or immorality of the person that keeps them out of Heaven, it boils down to the person’s realization that they NEED God. Those that realize they need God are justified; those who feel self righteous are allowed to return to their own little Hells.

Can we ever move beyond our need for self-righteousness? Can we ever see ourselves as gifted from God while totally dependent upon God? Can we ever move beyond our need to separate ourselves into “Us” and “Them” groups? Into “Me” and “Them” groups? “God loves me” and “God doesn’t love you” groups? Truthfully, I don’t think we ever can. I think it is part of being human to divide people up into “Us” and “Them.”

But God is asking us to just rely on God.

Its A Trust Thing Pentecost 21

Proper 24C

I was thinking about the concept of trust. What do you trust? If you think about it, we go through our life trusting a lot of things. We trust that the architects did a good job in designing this building. We trust that the materials used to make the ceiling will hold up and not come crashing down upon us. We trust that our car breaks will work and we trust that the other guy’s brakes will also work. We trust a lot of things will happen to keep us safe.


To go through live we HAVE to trust in a lot of things. But what about people? Can we get through life without trusting people? And if we do trust people, who are the people that we trust? Now this is no little question! We may say we trust our spouse. We may say we trust our coworkers. We may say we trust our children or our parents. We may say we trust our fellow congregants. We may say this, but do we really trust these people? We may be willing to trust people with little thing, but are we willing to trust others with the things we consider to be important? Are we willing to trust, or do we want to do it ourselves to make sure it is done the way WE want it to be done.

I think we are willing to trust up to a point, but when things get really serious, we want to do things ourselves. We want to make sure that it gets done the way we want it done. Small things, we are ok with letting others do, but the big things we want to control; we don’t want to be at the mercy of the faults and foibles of others. Although we may say we trust people, I find we usually want to make sure that things are done our way. This is the way of our world. We live in the world of the Lone Ranger. But God did not put us in the world to go it alone; God put us here to be part of community. God put us here to be among believers. God put us here to trust in God.

Do we really trust God?

In our first reading this morning, we have the story of Jacob. We may remember some things about Jacob: He was the second born of twins. He traded a bowl of stew to receive the birthright from his older brother Esau. And finally, he tricked his dying father, Isaac, into giving the blessing to him,, the younger brother, instead of giving it to Esau, the one to whom it rightly belonged.

Jacob didn’t trust that God would be with him. He wanted to make sure he got the blessing, he wanted to make sure he got the birthright. He would scheme and trick to make sure he got the best.

As you could guess, all of this trickery caused problems in Jacob’s life. Matter of fact, Jacob’s name was a constant reminder of his treachery. You see, the name Jacob means “The Supplanter;” he supplanted his brother’s birthright and he supplanted his brother’s blessing. And as we begin the Genesis reading for today, Jacob is returning home after fleeing twenty years earlier after securing Esau’s birthright.

In the reading, Jacob has prayed that God would give him deliverance from Esau after Jacob heard that Esau was going to meet him along with 400 men. I find it interesting that it is only when faced with an almost impossible problem does Jacob finally reach out to God. When Jacob has no way of tricking his way out of something, then he goes to God. In response to Jacob’s prayer, God sends an angel.

Why doesn’t God just make things better for Jacob? Why all of thise wrestling? Jacob had to struggle with God. Jacob had to hold God to God’s word. Jacob had to rely on God instead of relying on his own trickery. And when Jacob relied on God, when Jacob struggled with God, well, first off, his name was changed. It was changed from Jacob, “The Supplanter,” to Israel, which means “One Who Strives With God.” And then Israel receives a blessing. We are not told exactly what the blessing was, but we know that Israel’s meeting with Esau ends in reconciliation and we also know that Israel will become the father of nations. So Israel is blessed, not through trickery or deception, but through holding God to God’s promise.

In our gospel reading, we learn more of what it means to trust in God.

It would be easy to just write this parable off as a call to nag God. We could see the widow as someone who just keeps nagging until those around become so tired that they give in. But that would be to forget about the judge.

The judges of Biblical times were to defend widows. Widows had no power in the community so it was the mandate of the judges to see that they were cared for. But this judge did not care. He had no fear of what would happen to him so he couldn’t have cared less if he defended the widow or not. It was only when the widow had annoyed the judge enough that the judge finally gives the widow justice.

However, God is not some unjust judge. God cares deeply about the widow and the orphan. God cares deeply about the poor and the homeless. God cares deeply about you and about me. And because God cares, we do not need to badger God.

BUT…

We are to remain faithful. We are to put our trust into God. We need to remember that Jesus tells us that this parable shows us that we are to pray and not give up. When God seems slow in responding, we are to remember that it is not that God is unjust or God is slow. When God seems to be far away, we are to wait faithfully and prayerfully. We can wrestle with God, but in the end, we need to maintain our persistence in faith.

Often people will twist the parable of the widow and the unjust judge to point the finger when prayers do not seem to be answered. People will say that the man dies of the heart attack because he did not pray enough. Or they might say that the woman has not found a job because she is not faithful enough. But that is not what the parable is saying. The parable is giving us insight into a loving God, not a petty god.

Jacob had something to learn as he wrestled with the angel. He had to learn that what he could grasp for himself through trickery and deceit were so much less than God had planned for him. He had to learn that in relying solely on God was the way to be truly blessed. And it was through the struggle that the blessing came.

We may not know what we have to learn. We may not know what blessings may come. But we are invited to struggle with our feelings of being abandoned. We are invited to wrestle with God and hold God accountable to God’s promise of love and forgiveness. We are to struggle but we are also to remain faithful. This struggle is not easy. My own personal experience tells me that there will be times when God seems distant and faithfulness is difficult. But even when God seems far we are to still remain faithful. We are to remain prayerful. We are to trust.

God wants to give us blessing. God wants us to rely on him. God wants us to remain faithful even when times are difficult. It is not easy to continue when the world looks like it is against us, but we need to remember that the widow, in the face of injustice, continued to plead her case and ask for justice. When times are difficult, we need to remain faithful and it is when we struggle through the difficulties that God shows us the blessings.

Better Living Through Chemistry

Yep, I am back on antidepressants.  And yes, it is a good thing.  Moods were getting all over the place.  I was having trouble just functioning.  I wasn't all for going back on drugs, but I could not function without them.  So, I am back being chemically managed.  And you know, that is not a bad thing!

Happy National Coming Out Day!

Being Well Pentecost 20 Proper 23C

Luke 17:11-19

You know, I have read this story many times. I can tell you the general gist of the story. But when I read it this time, I thought of something different. I usually focus on the whole ten-were-healed-but-only-one-was-grateful-enough-to-come-back aspect of the story. That take on the story has served me well for the past three cycles of the lectionary. But when I read it this time, something totally different jumped out at me.


What jumped out at me this time was what Jesus said to the one leper that came back; Jesus said that the faith of this leper had made him well. This really made me stop and think. I thought all ten were made well. Isn’t that what we would say? They were all made clean, they were all sent to the priests to be inspected, they all had their disease removed, so, we would assume, they were all made well! Or at lest that is the way I have read it for MANY years. But this does not seem to be the case. This is NOT what Jesus says. Jesus makes the distinction. We are told by the writer of the Gospel that all ten were made clean, but Jesus tells us that only one was made well.

So I had to wonder: What was the difference between being made clean and being made well?

I always assumed that being made clean was the equivalent of being well. It seemed like a logical assumption. Being made clean returned you to the community. The lepers were outcasts from those around them. They were banished from being among others and had to keep to themselves. By being made clean, they were returned to society and were able to get back to their normal lives. Wouldn’t you think that being back in the good graces of society the equivalent of being well? I guess I have thought that for years. But then it struck me: Why would there be a need to tell this one specific person that he was well?

It all has to do with that one particular leper coming back and thanking Jesus. There was something in coming back and thanking Jesus that resulted in this man being proclaimed “well.”

Now there was also something that was thrown in that often just slips past us. We are told that this man was a Samaritan. Hearing this, we should start thinking all kinds of things. Samaritans were the most disgusting people of Biblical time. The Samaritans were the grossest of the gross. Good Jews would not EVER associate with a Samaritan. So it should come as quite a shock that out of all the lepers, it was the Samaritan who was proclaimed well.

So, what is it about being a Samaritan and coming back and throwing yourself at Jesus’ feet that makes a person move beyond clean to actually being well?

I think it has something to do with awareness. The Samaritan was aware that he had been made clean and that he had nothing to do with it. The Samaritan knew the immensity of being outside of the community and then what it meant to be brought back into the community. If we think about it, the Samaritan was doubly outcast; he was outcast because he was a Samaritan and then outcast from the Samaritans because he was a Leper!

We can probably assume that for this guy, life has been pretty hard. He could not take a whole lot of things for granted. I would be willing to bet that in the group of ten lepers, he was probably the lowest man on the totem pole. So he was grateful for anything he got! And since he received so very little, what he did receive he realized was a gift and did not just assume that is was his due. There was not a whole lot of entitlement in him.

It would seem that one of our biggest problems is that we have grown up with a sense of entitlement. We feel we are entitled to our world, we are entitled to our comforts, we are entitled to worship when, where, and how we want. This sense of entitlement creates within us a sense of complacency. And with that complacency, we really cannot be said to be well.

We have been given the gift of life and forgiveness through Christ. That gift was made manifest in our baptism and continues to be strengthened when we gather at the table. We have been made Clean by Christ but are we really well? Do we see the gift of life and forgiveness we receive to be truly a gift or do we see it as our just reward for being good people?

I believe that God gives us all gifts. I believe those gifts are given freely. I believe that God gives us gifts to do with as we please and to use as our freewill dictates. And like the nine lepers that did not return, I believe that God will not take our gifts from us, even if we are not thankful for them. I can use my gifts for the glory of God or I can use them to serve myself. You can use your gifts in the service of God or in the service of yourself. Either way, God gave you gifts and talents and will not take them away. However, I do believe that God asks more of us than to just take the gifts that we have been given and to run with them. I believe that God wishes us to acknowledge what has been given and to place ourselves at his feet in worship and thanksgiving. And when we place ourselves before Christ, it is then that we are truly made well. It is then that we are brought into more than just a right relationship with society, but are brought back into relationship with our Lord and maker. It is when we are truly thankful and humble before God that we find our place in the world.

Christ has made us clean, but are we well? Do we have the faith to acknowledge the gifts we have been given and to place ourselves before God? Do we have the faith, the courage, and the humility to be sincerely thankful for the gifts we have been given? This is the challenge that is placed before us. This is the challenge that is placed before our society. This is the challenge that can make us more than clean, but can actually make us well.

Meaning in the message

I was at a meeting yesterday when the question was brough up:  Why do we have more people at our AA meetings than we have at our church services? GOOD QUESTION!

One answer is that the AA stories change lives.  I feel it is a bit of conviction on me as a pastor and us as Christians that this could be true.  Does our story no longer change lives?  If so, why not?  Have we become complacent in our faith?  Does it even matter?

Free Flowing Axiety?

I truly have to ask what I am doing here. Whenever I think about going to church, I start to panic. I do not want to set foot in the place. There is a sense of dread that comes over me. I go into avoidant mode.


For the most part, I care about the people here. Even the ones who are a pain I wish no ill-will. Truly, I don’t! But I still do not want to come into the office and deal with the stress of this place.

Maybe it is me; maybe the stress I am feeling is all in my head. I don’t know. I do know that I spend the majority of my time not wanting to be here instead of looking forward to being around my congregation. All I want to do is escape. I don’t want to do anything because it is going to cause a problem. But yet these people are looking to me to lead. But when I do lead I get nothing (it seems) but resistance.

Of course, I know that this is all natural. I know that people will resist. I know that no matter what I do, someone is going to have something to say. I know this. But I still am too thin-skinned to deal with it. The “Rose-Colored Glasses” part of me just can’t understand how all of this can be seen in any other manner. I all just makes sense!

I am also saddened by peoples’ theologies. All that I see are people being held captive to their idea of a vengeful and hateful god. All the “haves” and “musts” that are involved. What ever happened to “gift” and “love?” Where is the caring and concern? How can these people believe in a God that is so petty? If this is what they are viewing as God, then I can understand how come the church isn’t growing.

But still, the fundamentalist churches are presenting an even pettier god and they are growing exponentially! Either it is the “Entertaining Ourselves to Death” or it is the “We are better than them because we are SOOOOO good.” Or, maybe God is just an artifact of our neuroanatomy and that is all there is to it.

Write It Plain Pentecost 19 Proper 22C

Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4 

Have you ever really paid attention to the billboards along the roads? You are probably saying to yourself, “What a stupid question! Of course I have seen the billboards along the roads; how could I miss them?” But that is not what I asked. I asked if you paid attention to them.


Some billboards are really easy to see, really easy to read. They are printed in large letters and the message is brief and to the point. Other billboards are messy with too much printing, too small of print, and indistinct pictures. There is billboard like this on the corner of Rogers Rd and Main St. I had to drive by that one a few times before I could even figure out what they were trying to sell. When the message is that muddy, that indistinct… Well, I know that if the message is that difficult to comprehend, I tend to give up rather than try to figure out what the message is saying.

But there is something to be said about clarity of message and ease of understanding. When you want to get the message to the people, knowing what you are trying to say, and saying it as clearly as possible are your best bets. And although I’m guessing there probably weren’t billboards in the desert during Biblical times, God seems to be giving us some lessons in how to get our message out there. And even though the message is from the past, we still have something that we can learn from our Old Testament reading for today.

The prophet Habakkuk tells us that there is still a vision for the appointed time. God still has a vision, even if we think it is delayed, it is occurring and it is occurring in God’s time. God’s vision is so much bigger than our vision and God’s vision will not be delayed. It occurs when it is needed. We may feel that the vision is late, or that the vision is not occurring at the right time. We may feel that we have lost the vision or God has taken the vision from our community. We may feel this, but that is because we are looking with our limited sight. God’s vision is still there; as the scriptures say, “If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surly come, it will not delay.”

But what is this vision of God? What are we supposed to write plain? What are we supposed to be writing so it can be read by a runner? What is the vision God is supposed to be giving us?

Sometimes I think we make this vision too difficult. We are like the advertisers who what to put too much on the billboards. We want to say everything. We want to put it all out there. But that is not what we are told to do. We are to make the message plain! Plain enough so that drivers, flying by at 75 MPH can comprehend it! Plain enough to make an impact on the hustle and bustle of the world.

Last week, I asked you to really think about why you are here, in this place, on this morning. I asked you to consider why you come back week after week. And I asked you what you had to give to the Kingdom of God. In looking at your responses, one of the things that kept jumping out was the feeling of mission and outreach that has been a part of this congregation since its establishment. This seems to be the message that we are given to write. But sadly, this is the message that seems to be missing. This is the message that we are forgetting.

What is our message? What are we saying as a congregation? Even though it appears that God is telling us that our message is mission and outreach, that message seems to have become lost from public view. It is still in our hearts, God has not taken it away, but it is not written plainly for the runner to read. We don’t seem to be out there spreading the message. Even though God appears to be making it plain to our hearts, we seem to be getting sidetracked.

What so often happens is that the messages of the world are more plain then the message we are trying to send. I remember a small town near where I grew up. Everyone knew about the purple house on the bend in the road. What most people didn’t know was that right across from the purple house was a restaurant. The purple house was much more plain to see than the restaurant and therefore, people remembered the house, even though the restaurant had a large, lighted sign out in front of it. The message the house was sending, which was “Look At Me!” was so much more plain than the message of the restaurant. So therefore, the people remembered the house, and totally ignored the restaurant.

We have a similar situation here. We have a school across the street from us that writes all kinds of messages plainly. When someone drives down the road, they are not looking at us; they are looking at the school. Maybe we should paint the church purple! People would remember us!

But all kidding aside, how do we make the message plain? How do we make the message more memorable and more important than the messages the world is sending out? The world is sending out some pretty strong messages and if we want to make the message known, we need to be sure of the message we are sending out. We need to know the message so well that we can spread it in as plain a way as possible. We need to spread the news of God’s love in as easy a way as possible.

Now, I have been speaking about message as if it is something that we just set out there like a sign in the front yard and hope that people see it and understand it. And that IS one aspect of making the message plain. But there was also the aspect of MAKING the message known. The reason why the message needed to be read by the runner was because the runner was going from community to community spreading the news. TVs and radios didn’t exist, so if you wanted to get the message to the people, YOU had to bring the message to the people. You or your apostle (the word “apostle” is Greek for “messenger”) would have to be sure the message was spread to those who needed to hear it. As I said, there were no billboards in the desert so getting the message out was very important. And if you wanted to make sure the people knew, you sent a messenger out to the people.

So we need to get our message out and we need to be the ones bringing the message to the people. We need to be out running in the world and spreading the message of Christ’s love. We need to be about spreading the message of God. God has a vision for us; God has a vision for the world. And although this vision may seem to be tarrying, it will surely come. It will not delay. We may fear that the vision will pass us by, but what God has promised, God will see through. God has put the message of mission and outreach onto our heart. God has let us know that this is the vision and that this vision will not fail. God has given us the message, and now calls us to bring it to the world.

Special Sermon

Today, our normally scheduled readings have been preempted. The Diocese has declared that this Sunday we would celebrate our ongoing journey with RSVP. Now some of you may be asking yourselves, “What RSVP is and why we are celebrating it?” Probably, for many of you, you didn’t even know that we were on a journey with RSVP. If you fall into these categories, that is ok; there is no reason to feel embarrassed. RSVP stands for Revitalization and Strategic Visioning Project. It is part of the Diocese of Swampland's effort to bring new life and new light to the mission to Christ’s people throughout Michigan and the world.


Part of the RSVP process was to have people sit down and really look at where the diocese has been and where it is heading. And also, to sit down and look at what drew each of us to the church, what keeps us in the church, and how we can spread this energy to those in our communities and out into the world. I would like to take this time here to ask you to consider these same questions: What brought you to St. Swithin's? What made you want to come back week after week? And finally, what do we have to spread to our community and to our world?

We really need to think about these questions because how we answer them becomes our defining story. If we tell ourselves we are blessed and capable, we will find the blessings in our midst and find the energy and ability to make those things happen. If we tell ourselves we are doing God’s will, we will find that paths will open and opportunities will arise. Our old ones will dream dreams and our young will see visions. If we have faith that God is with us and gives us gifts for the journey, no matter where on the journey we find ourselves, I am certain we will find those gifts surround us.

But if we tell ourselves the story that I have been hearing all too often, we will find this to be true. I have been hearing that we are “just too old” to do anything. We cannot possibly become a thriving flourishing congregation because we do not have any young people. This is not something that I have heard from just one person, I have heard it many times. The story we tell ourselves is the story we come to believe. If we tell ourselves this story, if we keep telling ourselves that we are too old, it will become true. We will continue to grow older and we will continue to find our numbers are dropping.

I am sad that this story has become the story that surrounds us here at St. Swithn's. We continually tell ourselves that we are too old and that we have nothing left to offer. What is unfortunate is if we argue for this reality, it will surely become ours. If we argue that as a congregation we are just too old and can do nothing, we will do nothing.

But that argument forgets one of the great truths that we hear in today’s gospel; this truth is that we are blessed! Jesus tells us in the Beatitudes that even those things that we may not readily consider blessings, things such as mourning or hungering for righteousness, even those things are to be considered blessings! The story that Jesus gives us is not that we are too old or that we do not have enough, the story that Jesus gives us is that even when the world tells us we are lacking, we are still blessed! What we may see as a curse, in God great plan, we will find it a blessing!

And again, in Ephesians, we are told that we have been blessed, we are told that the Spirit has given gifts to the people. All people! If you are here, you have been blessed! We all have been given gifts, we all have been given talents. We all have been given a heartfelt desire that God wants to use for the building of the Kingdom.

As the diocese is revisioning its mission in the world, so too, we need to revision our mission as a congregation and also in our lives. We need to find a new song, a new story, a new voice. We need to find a new vision. Or maybe we don’t need to find a new vision, but search to find that vision that God has had for us all along!

But living out God’s vision can be scary! In living out the vision, God expects us to put our faith in God, not in ourselves. God asks us to trust. God asks us to be about the work of building the Kingdom in the world. God calls us to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, but God also asks us to trust.

What is God asking of us? If we were not afraid of failure, what would we do? If we knew God had blessed our efforts, what would we do to change the world? I believe God has something planned for us. I think God has more planned for us than just to watch us grow old. I believe that God has given us a set of gifts and talents that is just waiting to find expression in the world! If God believes in us, how can we doubt?

Now that you have had some time to think about the questions I asked at the beginning of the sermon, I am now going to ask you to answer those questions in writing. I ask you to write the answer to those questions on the card that you should have found in your bulletin. Those questions again: 1) What drew you to  St. Swithin's? 2) What keeps you coming back week after week? 3) What gift or talent do you have that you could share to help bring the Good News to the world? On this last question, I am not asking for a pledge of money, I am asking about what talents or passions you have that could be used to the greater glory of God.

Please do NOT put your name on the cards; this is something between you and God. But I do ask you to put the cards into the offering basket. I will take the cards and compile the results. Hopefully, in this way, we can learn something about our journey together as a congregation and see where God may be leading us.

Three Months!

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Should Have Posted This Last Sunday!

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The Gift That Keeps On Giving, Keeps On Giving!

Haven't had a Stage Mom post in a while!  Yeah!!

BUT...

She has started to come back to church.  And since we do not have Sunday School during the time of the church service, she now sits in the back row and talks all the way through the sermon.  How very adult.  This is behavior I would expect from 12 year-old, not a 40 year-old.

AND...

Mr. Stage Mom has been working for the church as janitor.  He was having difficulty finding a job so the church opted to pay him to clean the church weekly. (There were members of the board who were not pleased with this dicision.  I was not around when the decision was made.)

What should take approximately 4 hours to do, he has been doing in one hour.  Needless to say, the cleanliness of the building has been suffering.

Now we are dealing with the problem of how to tell him to pick up the slack.  The President is friends with him and doesn't want to say anything.  The Vice-President's wife is friends with Stage Mom and is out to get me.  (Sounds paranoid, but it is true.)  So VP is out.  Anything I will say will be twisted by Stage Mom.   Arrrggg!!!

I just wish they would go somewhere else!

Arrrrggggg!

 

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Why Do We Even Try To Preach On This? Pentecost 17 Proper 20C

Pentecost 17 Proper 20C     September 18. 2010       Luke 16:1-13      The Rev. Benton Quest




This gospel reading is one that I always dread preaching about. One commentator likened it to a holiday that only comes once every three years. But probably, it would be an un-holiday. I really don’t want to have to preach on this reading, but when I try to talk myself into preaching on one of the other readings; I start to call myself a chicken. So, without further ado, I am going to jump into it and see what happens!

So what is so horrible about the gospel reading? Well, it doesn’t make sense! And on top of it, no one, even the most learned of the scholars, seem to be able to figure out exactly what is going on.

If we look at the reading, it sounds as if Jesus is telling us to not only cheat people and is telling us that there is even a reward for those who DO cheat. If cheating is rewarded, then I want to work for the IRS or maybe I should begin selling used cars! Actually, my apologies to any IRS agents out there or used car salespeople. And also, if there are any IRS agents, my name is actually Barak Obama; Pastor Benton is just my pulpit name.

But all kidding aside; how are we to deal with this reading? It sounds totally unchristian. Actually, it is even worse than that, it sounds totally non-biblical. It goes against the eighth commandment! We are not supposed to steal, and yet, this dishonest manager is stealing from his boss. The manager has been stealing from his boss for a while! And in the face of all this stealing, the manager is commended.

Some commentators have suggested that the manager was actually only cutting his commission off of the amounts owed. That sounds plausible. But in the case one of the debtors, that would equal a 100% commission for the manager! And we are not talking about small amounts of stuff here. We are talking about something like 900 gallons of olive oil and bushels and bushels of wheat! No, this theory doesn’t hold up.

Some have suggested that the manager is taking off the interest that the man had added to the amount borrowed. In removing the interest, the manager was keeping the landowner honest. That could be seen as an honorable thing! But again we are faced with the amounts that are involved and by the seemingly arbitrary way the manager reduces the amounts. For one debtor the amount is reduced 50% and for another it is only reduced 20%. No, this just seems to be a random cut. I don’t think we can get away from the fact that the manager is still squandering the landowner’s money.

And when the landowner sees what the manager has done, well, we would expect him to get upset at the manager, wouldn’t we? Instead, the landowner commends the dishonest manager! Now notice here, it is Jesus that calls the manager dishonest; the landowne refers to the manager as being shrewd. Then Jesus says that the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And that we are to make friends for ourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when the money is gone, our friends may welcome us into the eternal homes.

No matter how you look at it, this is weird!

I have read one commentator who attacks this problem head on. He says that we should look at the wealth of our time as dishonest wealth. Now we are not just talking about the wealth of today, September 19, 2010, we are talking about wealth from anytime in our history. The wealth of this world is earned by means that are decried by Amos in the first reading. This world’s wealth is acquired by trampling on the needy and bringing ruin to the poor. So since we cannot acquire wealth in any other way than in dishonest ways, we need to be shrewd about how we use this wealth.

Jesus tells us that we need to make friends for ourselves with this dishonest wealth. Now we could say, “Fine, I’ll just give my wealth to my rich friends and they will give their wealth to me. That way I will have my friends and these will be the ‘right’ kind of people!” And granted, that would seem to make life easier, but Jesus will never let us get off the hook that easily.

Remember a few weeks ago? In the past we were talking about what it means to give and what it means to be part of the kingdom. We discussed what proper hospitality looked like and how to be a proper guest. Jesus said that we were to invite people to eat who could not repay our hospitality. We were supposed to give to those in need. And a while back, we discussed gifts given by God. We were told that we received gifts and talents for the good of the whole community; that we are to give of our gifts and talents for the building up of the kingdom. So in teaching us to make friends with our dishonest wealth, we are actually being told to share what we have with those around us, especially with those who are needy.

Now you may be saying, “Benton, make up your mind! You just told us that the manager in the story was dealing with large amounts of wheat and oil. These were obviously rich people! Well, actually, they were not rich people. They were so in debt to the land owner that they could NOT pay back the money. And even if that were the case, even if the manager were dealing with rich people, we need to remember the point of the parable.

You see, the thing to remember is that Jesus is telling us a parable; Jesus is not telling us an allegory. In a parable there is one main point. In an allegory each object represents something else. The story of the dishonest manager is a parable so there is one point that we are to take away. Jesus tells us this point: Use dishonest wealth to make friends. And as I said, previous to this, Jesus has taught us what it means to be a friend; what it means to be a neighbor.

As Christians, we are called to follow the teachings and examples of Christ. This is a tough one! Remember, Christ gave it all, his reputation, his body, his life, so that we may live. He gave these gifts to us while we were still sinners. He gave these gifts to us even though he knew we wouldn’t appreciate them. He gave these gifts to us, even when we didn’t deserve them. This is the type of life we are to follow. We are to give even when we know we will not be repaid. We are to listen, even when we don’t agree. We are to love, even when the other is unlovable. We are to do all of this because Christ loves us and we are to do this because Christ love is given to us and also because Christ’s love is given that other person.

How do we, as individuals and as a congregation, show love to the world? How do we reach out and ease the burden on our neighbors? How do we spread the love of Christ beyond our walls? That is the challenge that is placed before us.

In our world today, we are asked to listen, to love and to forgive. We are to listen to the voice of the poor and the suffering. We are to love those who hate us and wish to hurt us. We are to forgive those who would cause us harm. This is the way we can make friends in this world that will invite us into the eternal homes. This is the way we bring Christ, not only into our own homes, but into the world.

Dealing with me

I am really not loving my personlity type lately.  That probably sounds odd to say.  But I have been dealing with my personaliy type for the past week and I have been thinking.  My Meyers-Briggs score is INFP and lately I have just been getting tired of it.  I am tired of looking at the world in such an odd way.  I get tired of my way not being understood by others.  I am tired of being hurt by things that others just let slide off of them.  I get told to "just toughen up" and if I could do that, I would have done that years ago

What also gets me is that the things that I find that helps me to move beyond these feelings are the things those who are not "in the know" get upset about.  Getting away from the problems.  Getting people to lower anxiety levels.  Not an easy thing t do.

I go from doing fine to wanting to just run away. 

All the stuff I find talks about people feeling alone and depressed.  I can relate to that.  What frightens me is the thought that this is all I have to look forward to.

100 Days!

Silly, Silly, Savior! Pentecost 16 Proper 19C

Luke 15:1-10

I was going to hit you with a major mind-bender of a statement at the beginning of the sermon today, but I decided that I had probably better not. I was thinking about what I was going to say and decided that to just come out and say it would probably get me into some trouble. So I decided to give you this little heads-up. The next thing that I say is going to sound pretty close to being sacrilegious: We have some pretty silly stories in our Gospel reading for today!


To hear these stories referred to as “silly” probably is not what we are used to. We are not used to hearing Jesus’ words referred to as being silly. Usually we are told that we need to listen to Jesus’ words and head Jesus’ words. But when we look at our parables today, they are just silly!

Let’s look at the first parable. I am guessing that most of us are familiar with the story: A shepherd has 100 sheep and one runs away. So the shepherd leaves the other 99 sheep and goes to look for the one lost sheep. Sounds nice and cozy, doesn’t it? We like the thought of this. But let’s stop and think about it for a moment. Imagine you were the teacher of a day-care and you had 100 toddlers. You were out at the playground with the toddlers when you realize that one of them is missing. So, without thinking, you leave the other 99 toddlers to go about their business while you go look for the missing one. Now remember, it is just you and the children, there is not another adult there to watch. When you leave to search for the missing child, the other 99 are allowed to roam free, to get into all kinds of trouble. And remember, toddlers are toddlers! While you are looking for the one, ten others may have decided to go home and are just about to step into the street! We may get this warm fuzzy feeling about the Shepherd going out and getting the one lost sheep, but leaving the other 99 to get the one is really not a very bright thing to do!

The same thing goes with the sheep. It would really be silly for a shepherd to allow the other 99 sheep to go roaming around, possibly into the mouths of wolves just so he could find the one lost sheep. It would make more sense to just chalk the lost one up to experience, assume the loss in revenue and go on. The shepherd runs the risk of losing much more by looking for the lost sheep than by not going, and keeping the other 99 safe.

And what about this woman who lost the silver piece? She loses one of her pieces of silver and searches for it. Ok, that is fine, but then she calls everyone and throws a party! Unless the amount that was lost was quite large, the amount the party would cost is probably more than the value of the coin. We can probably agree that it would be silly to throw a $100 party to celebrate the finding a coin worth $10.

But these are the examples that Jesus gives us to help us to understand just how much God loves us and wants us to follow God’s way. So what can we learn about God from these parables and by extension, what can we learn about how we are to live our lives?

Well, first off, I think we can safely assume that God plays by a whole different set of rules than the world. Where the management people would keep telling us to watch our expenses and to figure out the ultimate cost to benefit ratio, Jesus is saying something different. Jesus is telling us that no matter how far we may wander, no matter how lost we may appear, we are not so far gone that God cannot find us. No matter what the cost, God is not content to just let us go. God is not going to chalk our loss up to the cost of doing business. God will work to find us, to save us, to bring us back!

But if we pay attention to the reading, we will also see that this is not just God’s doing. Not only are we the ones who are lost and need to be found, we are also the ones who are to do the searching!

At the beginning of both of the parables, Jesus begins with a question that assumes that everyone would agree with it. “Which one of you…” “What woman…” In starting the parables this way, Jesus is not allowing the listeners to back out. It is assumed that we would be willing to also risk it all for the one lost sheep or we would search until we found the lost coin. It is assumed that we would do the same things that God would do. We are not allowed the opportunity to say, “You know, the 99 sheep are ok.” We are not allowed to just let the lost coin remain lost. Jesus implies that it is our job to be out doing the work of finding the lost.

But it is not all work! We are also to be celebrating! We are to celebrate those who have returned, those who have been found! And our celebrations are to be momentous events! We are to celebrate even the smallest of victories. God searches for us, and we are to search for others. And then let the party begin!

Being in the world looking for the lost is not the easiest thing, in fact, many would prefer that the lost not be found. Being out among those whom society says are untouchable has many stresses in our society, just as many as there were in the time of Jesus. But just as Jesus ate with the sinners, we are called to go out and be among the sinners. We are called to be among those whom polite society may have turned away. We heard about this last Sunday, and we hear about it again today.

But the thing that we always need to remember is that while we are called to search for the lost sheep, we are never a few steps from becoming lost ourselves. God provides shepherds and flocks to keep us safe and provides a home to return to when we stray. But God also asks us to be shepherds and flocks to others. God asks us to provide role-models for what it means to be Christian in the world.

This may seem like a bit of a stretch, but I do want to talk about what has been in the news for the past week. When I look at people wanting to burn the Koran in the name of Christianity, I see sheep that have gone astray. And I do believe that God will continue to reach out to help these people to see how they have strayed. But also, I feel that God is also talking to us. Many people will look at these extremists and assume that they represent the flock, not the sheep that has gone astray. How do we, individually and as a congregation spread the word to our community and to our world to help them to see that we worship a God of extravagant love not intolerant hate? How do we interact with our world to spread the message that we have a savior who is not looking to punish the sinner but to reach out to all people and celebrate their return to the flock? How do we spread the message that not only did our Savior eat with the sinners, but died for us too? This is the message that we are to bring to the world. This is the message the Christ wants us to share. This is the message that will bring the angels joy in Heaven!

We have a God of love, a God of forgiveness, and a God of extravagance. We have a God who will go to lengths that the world would consider silly just to save one who has gone astray. We have a God who loves us more than we can ever comprehend. This is what we celebrate, this is the message we have the opportunity to bring to the world.

Everybody Talks About It...

Whether the weather be cold, whether the weather be hot, we'll weather the weather whatever the weather whether we like it or not.

Heretic Alert

Living in a house with two clergy has its quirks.  Lately, the discussions have been around the concept of  Universalism.

For those of you how don't know, Universalism is the belief that ALL people will get into Heaven.  I will not speak for Nick, but I will say that I am a Universalist.

There are many who believe that there HAS to be a Hell.  The argument goes, "If people are going to go to Heaven anyway, why should they behave?

If you think about this, it is a very childish way of looking at people.  It gives people no consideration for the maturity we would like to assume of the "sapien" part of Homo Sapien.  It really is a very negative way of looking humanity. All the humanists out there should be really upset by this. It says that the only way that people will do anything that does not directly have a positive impact upon them is to have the reward of Heaven dangled out in front of them.

I don’t know, but this just does not feel very good to me.

Now, as I said before, I am a Universalist. I believe the gift of Heaven is out there for all of us. And if it is a gift, then it means that there is nothing that we can do to earn it. To earn it means that it is NOT a gift, right? So Heaven is a gift, and being a gift, it cannot be used as a carrot to dangle in front of others. If God uses Heaven as a bribe, then God is no better than Santa rewarding “good little girls and boys.”

As Christians, we profess to believe that Jesus died for our sins. We are told that this is a gift. Gift means gift. If we have to earn it, it is not a gift. If we have to pay for it, it is not a gift. If we have to be good little girls and boys, then Jesus is no better than Santa.

So the question becomes: “Well, what about Hitler? Is Hitler in Heaven?” (No need to play around with Jeffrey Dahmer! Go right for the big guns!)


If we are the ones worrying about Hitler, aren’t we passing judgment on Hitler? Don’t we violate the “Do not judge lest ye be judged” thing? Why should we care if Hitler is in Heaven or not? Does it make Heaven any less “heavenly” just because Hitler is there? (Just like “does it make marriage any less a marriage if gays are also getting married?”)

Then people say, “Well, Hitler SINNED!” (And that is “sin” with capital letters!!)

But isn’t sin, sin? Don’t we say that the wages of sin is death? So that means there is no rank to sin. Either we sin and deserve death or we don’t sin. It does not say that the wages of certain sin is death while the wages of others sin is to feel kind of bad. If we sin, we deserve death. Full Stop. (“Period” for us Americans.)

So to say that some people deserve death for their sins, but we only deserve a punishment, if not a full pardon, for our sins is definitely to go against all the judgment stuff we profess to believe.

I am probably a heretic, but I would rather think we have a God who can forgive not only my sins, but the sins of the world. (Isn’t that what Jesus did?) And isn’t it rather presumptuous of me to think that my sin, deserving of death, is less than someone else’s sin, deserving of death.?

If we believe we deserve pardon for our sins, whatever they may be, how can we then expect full retribution for others sins?

However, in my opinion, jumping right to Hitler prevents us from doing the hard work of realizing how we want forgiveness while wanting others to pay for their sins. We want justice, as long as it is justice toward others. When justice is to be extracted from us, we want leniency.

I may post more. I don’t know. All I know is that this discussion has been going on for centuries and will probably continue.

An Evangelical Nightmare: Pentecost 15 Proper 18C

Pentecost 15 Year C      Sept. 5, 2010     Fr. Benton Quest

Luke 14:25-33
I have noticed something about living in American society; we are a people of instant gratification. When we want something, we want it right away. We have 24-hour stores so we can get our heart’s desire at any hour. We have 24-hour restaurants so we can eat at any time. We have 24-hour gyms so we can workout whenever we want. Whatever we want, whenever we want it. We even have digital recording on our televisions so the television schedule can work around our schedule.

Anymore, you never hear someone on television say, “Please allow six to eight weeks for delivery.” No, now we can have things shipped all over the world with next-day delivery! And why send something by the post office when you can zip a note to someone by e-mail and it is there instantly? Even if you want to change your body, you can have plastic surgery and liposuction. Whatever our heart desires, we can have it instantly.

Now this speed is not necessarily a bad thing. But it certainly changes the way we look at the world. It has changed our expectations of the world. I even think it has changed our expectations of the church. I was told by former congregation member that she was leaving the congregation and joining a different one because they had seven different flavors of coffee and she could bring the coffee into the sanctuary. There may have been other reasons, but this was the one she related to us. She was leaving the congregation because she could get what everyone has come to expect. What you want, when you want it.

So with all this “have it your way” going on in society, Jesus’ words in today’s gospel may strike us as a bit harsh. What Jesus is saying is also something that most Evangelism committees are not going to want to spread. The church is supposed to be all about love and peace and getting along. That is how we are told to get people in the door, right? We give them love! Don’t put too many demands on people. Don’t ask too much of them. And make sure you have seven flavors of coffee. And better have some hot chocolate and tea just in case someone doesn’t want coffee. The usual feeling is that there is enough stress in life; we don’t want to make more for people if they come to church.

Now I am not at all against making people feel comfortable when they come to church, I personally kind of like it! But when the whole process of the church is to make people feel comfortable, then the church is missing something. And truthfully, we like to feel good and comfortable right? And we want our religion to help us be happy in the world, right? Well, unfortunately, this is just opposite what Jesus tells us in today’s gospel. Jesus is telling us that being a Christian will bring us in opposition with our family, friends, and in-laws. Jesus is telling us that being a follower will probably NOT make us the most liked people in the world. Being a Christian means we will have to carry our cross just as Christ carried his cross. And sad truth, telling people they have to carry a cross is DEFINITELY NOT the way to go about attracting new members.

But this is the message that Jesus sets before us today. Jesus makes no bones about it: If we are his followers, we will be in opposition with the world. Jesus is telling us that being a disciple is not easy.

We could probably guess that there would be some difficulty if we just look at the word. The base of the word disciple is discipline. So being a disciple means we have to undergo a discipline. The two parables Jesus tells address just this fact. Following Christ will require a cost to us, the possible alienation from those we know and love. If we want to be a follower, we need to be aware of those costs.

I must say, sometimes the way Jesus states things gets me to scratching my head. In the parables he tells, it sounds as if no one should undertake being a disciple. In the first one, he advises against starting a project unless you can be sure you have the resources to complete it. In the second parable, Jesus warns us against taking on a project that appears to be certain to fail. In both of these situations, the listener is advised that it is better to not even start the project than to start it and have the project fail.

I think at this point the Evangelism committee and anyone who is trying to get volunteers is not so pleased with Jesus. If we take Jesus’ words to heart, then we will never do anything! Since we can’t be sure our outreach efforts will succeed, than according to what Jesus has said, we shouldn’t undertake them. And since we cannot be sure our efforts to feed and clothe the poor will not get swamped, we better not do that either. Really, just about anything we try will probably run the risk of failing. So it sounds like Jesus is telling us to just sit back and do nothing.

But that just does not seem right! I think we can agree that it is Jesus’ intent to have disciples and to have them out in the world. But then we have Jesus telling us to not build if we don’t have the money or don’t attack if we do not have the troops. There must be something missing from our understanding.

But what if we put these parables to God? Would God lay a foundation to something that God could not finish? Would God send out an army knowing that it will be defeated? I think we can say that God would not do such a thing. When God lays a foundation, the towers will be built. When God sends out an army, we can be assured that the army will be victorious. When God acts, the outcome is not in question. When God acts, the outcome will be totally fulfilled.

So if left to our own devices, since we cannot be assured of success, Jesus is telling us to do nothing. But we know that we are not left to our own defenses. We have the promise of God backing up our efforts. We are called by God to go out into the world. We are called by God to reach for those things that may seem impossible to attain. We are called to take on the challenge.

A wonderful example of being called to that which seems impossible to attain and still being willing to take on the challenge was Mother Teresa. There is a story about her wanting to build an orphanage. Someone said to her that it was impossible to do because all she had was two cents to her name. Mother Teresa’s reply was that the person was correct, with just her two cents she could not build an orphanage, but with her two cents and the help of God, they could create a miracle.

But you see, this isn’t the instant gratification that we have generally come to expect of the world. This is not the “I want it so I have to have it” concept of life. This is discipleship. This is having the discipline to move forward trusting that God will provide as you need and direct your steps along the way.

To just rely only on ourselves is foolishness. Just relying on our own means, will eventually end in disappointment. And to just stand and do nothing, to want God to come and make us happy is also foolishness. God’s will will be done, but God chooses to work in the world through us.

When we come to Jesus, we need to realize that we may not always find a place of peace and comfort. When we come to Jesus, we may not find an easy, quick, fix for all of our problems. When we come to Jesus, we probably will not find seven flavors of coffee. But when we come to Jesus, we will find one who gave his life for us. When we come to Jesus, we will find the one that rose from the dead to bring us new life. When we come to Jesus, we will find the strength to continue on even when we can’t foresee the outcome.

So often the world wants to portray Christianity was a place where everything is wonderful and nothing bad ever happens. It would be nice if the world was like that, but we know the world doesn’t work like that. The world can be difficult. Even if we hold fast to our faith the world can be difficult. If Jesus were to promise that once we believed, nothing would ever go wrong, he may have attracted a few followers, but as soon as things got difficult, these few would have fallen away. But Jesus is truthful with us. Jesus tells us that the way of faith may be at odds with the way of the world. And Jesus prepares us for trials that we may face. And even though we may face trials, we are not left alone. We are not left defenseless. Through our faith we are included in the Great plan of our creator. Through our baptism we become heirs to the eternal. Through Christ’s resurrection, we have eternal life.

These are the promises we can turn to in the time of trouble. These are the truths we live out in faith. This is the strength seven flavors of coffee can never give. It isn’t the way of the world, and we should be glad about that. When we look at the world, it is pretty messed up. The way of Christ is not the way of the world, Jesus wants better for us.

Ok, This is a test...

I am trying this to see if the comment setting are working.

Boring, huh?

Not Sure What Is Up

I have been getting some spam comments.  People putting nice Haiku-esque comments which had Japanese porn links embedded within them.  So I started to moderate my comments. 

For a while I was feeling all kinds of sad because it seemed no one was stopping by anymore.  Then I realized that I was monitoring comments and needed to check them!  So I found all kinds of comments!  To quote Sally Field, "You really like me!"

Now I am trying to find a system that works.  I had JS-Kit but it stopped for some reason and now I am in comment la-la-land. 
Ah, the joy of blogs!