“Man Oh Man Do We Need Some Love!”

Luke 1:46b-55

December 24, 2023 – 4th Sunday of Advent

No math is necessary this morning. We can just say it: when we wake up tomorrow morning, it will be Christmas. Ready or not. 

I don’t even think another deep breath will help at this point. So let’s jump in!

As has been noted, today is the fourth Sunday of Advent. The Sunday whose theme is LOVE…

Maybe some of you are filled to overflowing with LOVE this morning… Maybe for some of you,  the delight and magic and good cheer of this holiday season have caused your heart to swell with love… Maybe for some of you, the joy and hope and peace of this holy season have caused your spirit to bubble over with love…  

If there are those of you here for whom those descriptions resonate, wonderful! 

I am not among you. 

I’ve actually had a hard time thinking about Love in preparation for this sermon… And that’s hard for me to say, because I love LOVE! It’s cheesy, but LOVE is one of my favorite words [my kids have been known to tell me that I say “I love you” to them TOO MUCH!]. I also love “LOVE” because it’s the root of another one of my favorite words: BELOVED. 

We’ll come back to that in a few minutes…but first, I want to wonder out loud with you why it’s been hard for me to think about LOVE in these days… I wonder if it’s because there seems to be such a strong presence of what we can simply call “NOT-love” in the world–such a strong and powerful presence of fear…hatred…greed…judgment…cruelty…violence… And I could go on! There’s so much that is NOT love that seems to dominate our awareness… 

I wonder if it might have to do with all of the cultural messages of this season, that permeate songs, movies, greetings cards, greetings, and more; messages that seem to lift up a special, extra-heartwarming, wait-all-year-for-it, Christmas LOVE, that have made it harder— ironically–for me to think about LOVE! I find myself responding to that messaging with some resentment, in fact–thinking, “Why just now?? Why not always??”

I wonder, also, if it has been hard to think about LOVE because it seems like we just don’t get it… In so many parts of the world, in so many parts of our own lives, love seems lacking. Or at least incomplete. Sometimes it’s so clearly conditional, dependent on behavior or simply someone’s whim. Sometimes it’s so obviously performative, meant just for show, without any real depth. Sometimes love gets twisted, and freedom gets replaced with control, trust, with fear, and respect, with subjugation… Sometimes, even with the highest aspirations, good intentions get convoluted, good-heartedness goes awry, and love gets messy. We humans just don’t seem to get what LOVE is really meant to be…

Wherever you find yourself on the continuum of how we feel about LOVE in these days–whether you are filled to overflowing with it or are finding it hard to think about without cynicism and resentment…or anywhere in-between…welcome! There is room for you here!  🙂 

But before we continue to examine LOVE, we are going to go back to that other of my favorite words, the one so deeply related to LOVE. And that is, Beloved. 

It’s such a lovely word [no pun intended!]. Beloved 

Will you say that with me? Beloved.

As in, you are God’s Beloved. I am God’s Beloved. 

Will you say that with me? That might be a little harder…Ready?  I am God’s Beloved.

Once more: I am God’s Beloved.

And once more, a little more slowly, a little more thoughtfully: I…am…God’s…Beloved.

Now I invite you to close your eyes…and with your eyes closed, think of someone who is YOUR beloved…and maybe allow yourself to smile as you think of them, if you need permission! Nobody’s watching…and imagine yourself saying to them–or if that feels too vulnerable, imagine yourself just looking at them and thinking these thoughts: “You are my beloved…and even more than that, you are God’s Beloved.” … 

That’s probably fairly easy to imagine… I trust there’s at least one person in each of our lives about whom it makes our hearts smile to think of them as not only our beloved but as God’s beloved…

Now I invite you to think of someone you don’t love. Or at least someone you don’t like. Maybe someone with whom you have unresolved hurt or anger… Maybe someone with whom you disagree vehemently… Maybe someone whom occasionally, in the secret dark corners of your heart, you wish–in the words of author Anne Lamott–would be nibbled to death by rats… Think of that person…If you’d like, it can even be more than one person… Whoever it is, as you hold them in your thoughts…can you also hold the truth that they, too, are God’s beloved? That God loves them as much as God loves you?… Can you acknowledge, just in your mind, that they, too, are God’s beloved?… Can you look at them, in your mind, and imagine saying to them, You are God’s beloved… ??

That’s way harder, isn’t it?… but it’s a valuable exercise, I think, as we talk about Love, and what it’s really meant to be… 

I think all of the pieces of what we just did are important as we think about that–the simple saying of the words initially, love and beloved… the naming and claiming of ourselves as beloved, as God’s Beloved… the easy imagining of ones we love also being named as beloved… and the harder imagining of ones we don’t love being named as beloved, as God’s Beloved… 

Because Love is what we are fundamentally called to as followers of Jesus. 

Love is what we are fundamentally called to as followers of Jesus…regardless of how we feel.

Regardless of whether we are filled to overflowing with feelings of love or are overwhelmed with feelings of cynicism and resentment; and, regardless of how we feel about the recipients of that Love–including ourselves…we are called to be bearers of God’s Love, promoters of God’s Love, workers for God’s Love… 

…which is to say, not just an easy love that feels good and might look good, and generally remains on the surface, but a hard, costly, deep, sometimes-uncomfortable, often life-changing kind of love.

And man oh man, do we need that kind of Love… 

The problem is, that hard, costly, deep, sometimes-uncomfortable, often life-changing kind of love is exactly the kind of love that we don’t know how to do very well… 

Lucky for us, it’s also exactly the kind of love that God shows us in Jesus! 

The Love that God reveals to us in Jesus is hard, yes, costly, yes, deep, yes, sometimes uncomfortable, yes, and often life-changing. Because it’s a truth-telling love, and a justice- seeking love, and an injustice-naming love. It’s a reconciliation-oriented love, and a forgiveness- offering love, and a peace-producing love. It’s a love that heals wounded hearts and mends broken spirits, that comforts minds and bodies that are in distress. The Love that God reveals to us in Jesus is an unwavering love, an unending love, an unconditional love.

And that kind of Love–all of that!–is the Love to which we are called as his followers! 

No wonder we don’t know how to do it very well! 

Thankfully, God knows how to do it. That’s the only Love God knows. That’s the only Love God does. In fact, that’s who God is…

That’s the Love that we hear in Mary’s song in today’s Gospel, the Magnificat–this Love that not only filled Mary with the enfleshed embodiment of God’s very Self, but the Love about which she sings, the Love that scatters, dispels, the thoughts of the proud, the Love that brings down the powerful and lifts up the lowly, the Love that provides for the needy and takes from those who have too much! All these things that God has promised to God’s people, that God will accomplish through God’s Love for God’s people and all of God’s creation…

That’s the only Love God knows. That’s the only Love God does. In fact, that’s who God is…

And that is the Love that is embodied in Jesus, the Christ Child, whose birth we are so close to celebrating! 

And that is the Love that is born again any time it is lived out. Any time Truth is told. Any time justice is sought. Any time injustice is named. 

The Love that is made manifest in the birth of Jesus is born again any time reconciliation is pursued, forgiveness is requested or received, peace is known…

 God’s Love, whose arrival we celebrate in the squalling, naked baby in the manger, is born again and again and again, any time hearts are healed, spirits are mended, minds and bodies are comforted in their distress…

And it is to that kind of Love–and the living of it–that we are fundamentally called, as followers of Jesus…regardless of how we feel. 

And I think there’s a beauty and a simplicity to that–because regardless of how we are feeling, whether we’re overflowing with warmth and good cheer or we’re overwhelmed with cynicism and resentment…regardless of how we feel about the recipients of that Love–including ourselves–whether they, or we, are worthy or not, our work, our task, our calling is to receive that Love, and then to be bearers of that Love, promoters of that Love, workers for that Love… God’s hard, costly, deep, sometimes uncomfortable, often life-changing, truth-telling, justice- seeking, injustice-naming, reconciliation-oriented, forgiveness-offering, peace-producing, heart-healing, spirit-mending, mind-and-body-comforting, unwavering, unending, unconditional love.

Man oh man, do we need that kind of Love!

Let’s get at it, shall we? 

God, may it be so.

Amen.

“Man Oh Man Do We Need Some Joy!”

Psalm 126

December 17, 2023 – 3rd Sunday of Advent

Last Sunday I observed that there were only 15 days until Christmas. I’m still no mathematician–although, believe it or not, I was a Math major in college!! Well, until I wasn’t. I ended up graduating with a degree in Spanish, but I was a Math major for my first few semesters! After several semesters of calculus, however, and even one of linear algebra, I finally had to accept that that is not how my mind works! 

Even so, I do know that if there were 15 days until Christmas LAST Sunday, then today, one week further down the December road, there are only 8 days until Christmas. EIGHT.DAYS. Which means there are only 7 days to get ready for Christmas. One week! 

Let’s take another deep breath….[BREATHE…]

So, as has been noted, today is the third Sunday of Advent. The Sunday whose theme is JOY.

Joy. 

A word, an emotion, that seems to often be thought of as fairly interchangeable with happiness. Perhaps joy is thought of as great happiness, but it’s often thought of as something pretty much the same as happiness. 

When pressed, some might say it’s more like delight… Or maybe elation… 

Well, as with last Sunday’s theme of PEACE, and the theme of the Sunday before that, which was HOPE, I found that as I thought about JOY, and this morning’s sermon, I was, again, of a split mind. 

As with hope and peace, I think we can all acknowledge that there are places in the world where joy seems lacking. And not just places, as in geographical places, but situations, relationships, contexts–in which joy seems absent. 

Situations that are distinctly not happy. Where there is no delight. Where elation is far from what anyone is feeling.

Relationships that are marked by grief and sadness, or conflict and chaos, or loneliness and desperation.

Contexts in which anxiety and scarcity and fear seem to outweigh peace and abundance and love.

Surely none of us questions the reality that there are situations, relationships, contexts–as well as geographical places– where joy seems scarce, and sometimes, not just scarce but in fact, nonexistent.  

In the face of all of that, how are we to talk about “joy” in this season? Because for some, “all of that”–or at least some of it–is not just a distant reality or a hypothetical situation. For some, perhaps even some of us who are here, as well as for some of our neighbors, and certainly for too many folks around the world, it’s all.too.real. 

Is “joy,” therefore, just another idea that we just have to pay lip service to at this time of year? 

There’s certainly a pretty widespread cultural expectation that we will all be joyful in this season! And spreading holiday cheer! After all, according to Andy Williams, It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”

So the question is, is joy something that’s only available to people who are happy? To those for whom elation is overflowing and conflict is absent? To those for whom peace is present and love abounds and fear is nowhere to be seen?

Or is there some way that we can all experience joy, even those–including those of us–who are in the midst of situations that are not delightful, relationships that are marked by grief and loneliness, contexts in which there is just too much anxiety and chaos? 

I think there is a way. I think that’s exactly what this holy season is about! Well, it’s a significant piece of what this season is about! Joy in the midst of not-always-delightful realities. Joy in the presence of sadness. Joy in the face of conflict. Joy in spite of loneliness. Joy in the thick of anxiety.

In other words, it’s about joy in the middle of the messiness and chaos and darkness of life. In the middle of real life. Real life. Not picture-perfect life, or Facebook- or Instagram-perfect life. Not Norman-Rockwell-perfect or Andy-Williams-perfect. But real. Real life. Real, complex, full, unpredictable, authentic life. Real life, where darkness and light, despair and hope, anxiety and peace, anger and contentment, grief and joy, can all be acknowledged. Real life, where there is space for all of that. And more! Real life, where all of that–and more–is okay, is allowed and even–perhaps–honored… 

I don’t know about you, but that’s where I’d like to be–living a real life. Living a life where there’s room for a whole range of emotions–although I’m going to refrain from describing them as “good” and “bad.” Let’s say, instead, a whole range of emotions that are comfortable and uncomfortable… experienced, sometimes, in the same day. Sometimes in the same hour. Sometimes even in the same moment! And sometimes as a result of the same situation, or relationship, or context! 

That is part of the gift of our humanity–the capacity to experience, and express, a whole range of emotions… It’s part of the beauty and burden of our humanity… And as our Creator, God knows of that capacity. In fact, as our Creator, God gave us that capacity! And having become one of us in Jesus, God has experienced that capacity… 

But I’m getting ahead of myself–we’re still in Advent! 

Let’s look back at today’s Psalm, and see what the psalmist might have to say to us about all of this…

Listen to it again:

[Psalm 126]

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who dream.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter
    and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things for them.” 

The Lord has done great things for us,
    and we rejoiced.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
    like the watercourses in the Negeb. 

May those who sow in tears
    reap with shouts of joy.

Those who go out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
    carrying their sheaves.

I’m sure you heard all the JOY in those verses–laughter, shouts of joy, rejoicing, more shouts of joy, and yet more shouts of joy! So much JOY! 

And did you also hear the “not-joy”? First, there was the situation from which they were restored–whatever that was. In order to be restored by God, as is mentioned in the very first verse, there had to have been some situation in which restoration was needed. Right? So there’s that. Some situation in the past that was not defined by JOY…

There’s also the current situation–another one in which restoration is needed! “Restore our fortunes, O Lord,” the people are again pleading. “Like the watercourses in the Negeb,” they even say. The Negeb is a desert region, where water flows only during flash floods… In other words, is now and was then largely and primarily dry. Arid. Most of the time, devoid of life-giving water… Like lives might feel when they are devoid of joy and in need of restoration… Like spirits might feel when they are withered and thirsting for renewal… Like people might feel when the reality within and around them is more aptly described by “desolation” rather than “abundance”… More NOT-joy…

Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses in the Negeb. Restore our fortunes, and flood us with your hope, your peace, your joy… Overwhelm us, Almighty God, with your Presence, because we are not feeling it…

In the next verse we come upon “those who sow in tears,” and in the one following, “those who go out weeping…” 

It’s just a reality. There are those who sow in tears. There are those who go out weeping. It’s part of the scene. Part of their context in which they live. It’s not-joy, and it’s part of life. Part of real life. 

So what I hear in this psalm, that’s helpful in this season of joy and not-joy, is that it all belongs. It’s all part of life. And not just now, in what can feel like a particularly painful, and  messy, and tragic, and overwhelming season of our lives in this world. But always. All of it has always been part of being human. 

Joy and desolation. Joy and despair. Joy and tears. Joy and weeping. Joy and not-joy. It’s all there, and it all belongs. 

And maybe, if we can truly and honestly acknowledge that, and even better, hold space for all of those experiences, without getting stuck in one or the other, or feeling obligated to allow only one or the other, then maybe, just maybe, real joy will come. Deep joy will flow. True joy will come upon us and flood our withering spirits and restore our souls. 

God, may it be so… Amen.

“Man Oh Man Do We Need Some Peace!”

Psalm 85

December 10, 2023 – 2nd Sunday of Advent

Last Sunday I observed that there were only 22 days until Christmas. Now, I’m no mathematician, but I do know that that means that today, one week later, there are only 15 days until Christmas. Which–in case anyone needs me to point it out–means only 14 days to get ready for Christmas. 

Let’s take another deep breath…. [BREATHE]

So, today, therefore, is the second Sunday of Advent. The Sunday whose theme is PEACE…

And to be honest, as I thought about PEACE, in anticipation of this morning’s sermon, I couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed…

There are so many places in our world today where peace is lacking, if not absent. So many places. Too many places. 

Too many places where fear and terror dominate, where violence seems to be an accepted way of life, where human rights are disputable and human life, disposable… 

Too many places where anxiety and uncertainty reign, where tension and conflict are the norm, where grief and despair are overwhelming… 

And while it might go without saying, I’m going to say it anyway: these places are not all on the other side of the world somewhere, far away from us. They’re here, too–within our country, within our communities, within our families…Within us. 

There’s no place nor is there any person wholly exempt from conflict, anxiety, tension, fear, despair–all those things that get in the way of PEACE.

And…like last week…in the interest of being honest, we’re going to take a few moments to name some of those places. 

Because they’re real. And while it can be uncomfortable to acknowledge them, as I, and certainly others, have said before, I’ll say again: denying their existence doesn’t make them go away. In fact, not talking about the messy, hard-to-acknowledge, painful parts of life often just makes them messier!

So before we talk about finding peace, we’re going to acknowledge the reality of those places in our lives and in the world where peace feels absent.

I invite you to grab a sticky note or two or three or seventeen, and write a word or phrase that represents to you some situation, whether personal, local, or global, in which peace would be oh-so-welcome…

And then I invite you to come up and stick those words on the cross. You are not obligated to, of course, but I offer it as a way to not only name these situations but also to share them with one another, AND to turn them over, as much as we can, to God, and release them from our clenched and desperate grasp…

[2 minutes…?]

Thank you for your honesty and courage…

As residents in this world, clearly we do not have to imagine a scenario in which PEACE is not only lacking but seems out of reach, if not impossible.

So, in the face of that reality, can we talk about PEACE in a way that matters? Is there some way that we, as people of faith, can really hope for peace, move toward peace, work for peace, in the world? In our country? In our families? Within our own souls? 

Or do we just give it lip service, and say, “yes, today is the second Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of PEACE. We love peace! We long for peace. Hooray for PEACE! Thank God that Jesus came and is coming again to bring PEACE! We love Jesus!Hooray for Jesus!”

Do we just say those things, offer our prayers, call it good, and move on?

It’s tempting, right?? 

There are so many places in the world and in our lives where peace is elusive that it’s tempting to just give up on any hope of real peace… And yes, give it lip service, call it good, and move on.

On the other hand, there are so many places in the world and in our lives where peace is elusive that we can’t just give it lip service and move on! We have to talk about peace in a way that matters. 

As people who claim to be disciples of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we have a responsibility, I think, to be bearers of peace, and promoters of peace, to actively work for peace in the world…beginning with actively working for peace within our own spirits…

As people of faith, I think, we have to give a big fat NO to lip service, and a resounding, wholehearted, committed YES to being engaged in the work of peace. 

So let’s get at it! 🙂 Right here, right now. Because that’s the only time we’ve got.

Listen again to the first part of today’s psalm: 

[Ps. 85:1-2]

Lord, you were favorable to your land;

    you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

You forgave the iniquity of your people;

    you pardoned all their sin. 

Those verses are all about God and what God did in times past, right? God restored…God forgave…God pardoned… In those opening verses, we hear reminders of who God has been and what God has done, in times past in relationship with God’s people… And it’s some pretty good stuff! 

Is it a reminder to God? Hey, God, remember when you did all this good stuff? That was so awesome! 

Or was it a reminder to God’s people? Hey, let’s not forget the good stuff God did for us in the past… 

It’s not really clear what the psalmist had in mind–but I’d guess maybe some of both. Either way, it seems he’s saying that it’s good to remember that God has done good things for God’s people in the past… 

Especially when God’s people are longing for God to do more good things for them again…

Listen to the next section–and you didn’t hear this before, because these verses aren’t actually part of the lectionary selection for today! But they felt important to include.

[Ps. 85:4-7]

Restore us again, O God of our salvation,

    and put away your indignation toward us.

Will you be angry with us forever?

    Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

Will you not revive us again,

    so that your people may rejoice in you?

Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,

    and grant us your salvation.

Something has caused God’s people to be in distress, to feel as though God is angry with them… Something has led them to feel separated from God’s mercy, the recipients instead of God’s wrath. They seem to be searching for God’s presence and in desperate need of God’s peace… 

“Will you not revive us again?” they plead, perhaps trembling, perhaps despairing. “Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation…” 

Or in other words,

Reassure us of your presence with us and remind us of your love for us, they seem to be saying. Grant us your healing, O God, that we might know ourselves as whole…  Fill us with your love that we might know your peace… 

Those are feelings that I can relate to, feelings that resonate with my longing in these days, for God’s presence, God’s tenderness, God’s love, God’s peace… 

Now we’re back to what we heard earlier. The psalmist goes on, acknowledging the need to listen for God in the midst of this distress–not apart from it, but in the midst of it—trusting that as he listens, God will indeed speak: 

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, he says, for [God] will speak peace to [God’s] people, to [God’s] faithful, to those who turn to [God] in their hearts…

Did you hear that? 

God will speak peace to God’s people…to those who turn to God in their hearts… 

There it is! That’s the answer! All we have to do is turn to God in our hearts, and God will speak peace, and all shall be well. Easy peasy. My work here is done.

Except it’s not easy peasy. 

What is easy peasy is to focus on the world around us, to let our minds turn toward the anger, the conflict, the violence…the polarization, the untruths, the hatred…the suffering, the chaos, the darkness… These are the things toward which we more easily turn in our hearts.

What is also easy peasy is to dwell on the world within us–the anxiety, the resentment, the fear… the doubts, the worries, the grief… the suffering, the chaos, the darkness… We seem to so much more easily 

let the gaze of our hearts remain focused on these things, turned toward these things.

And yet, the psalmist says that God will speak peace to those who turn to God in their hearts… 

God will speak peace to those who turn to God in their hearts. 

That’s so powerful–because that peace, it seems to me–the peace that God offers–does not rely on anything around us changing. It doesn’t rely on the circumstances outside of us getting better. It doesn’t seem to rely on the realities within us being any different. 

The only thing that changes, it seems to me, is the focus of our hearts. The direction of our spirit’s gaze. 

God will speak peace to those who turn to God in their hearts. 

As we are able to turn our hearts toward God, God’s peace will come. The external circumstances that surround us don’t have to change; what changes is the intensity of our focus on them and the tightness of our grip on them. The realities that fill us won’t necessarily be any different; what will be different is the amount of energy that we give them. 

In the midst of all of the places outside of us and within us where peace is lacking–not in denial of them, but in open-eyed acknowledgment of them–as people of faith, we must turn and re-turn and re-turn to God in our hearts, choosing to look for God and listen for God first and foremost, making the hard, deliberate choice, again and again and again…thus letting God speak God’s peace to us. 

And as we do that, perhaps we will hear God, whispering in our spirits,things like…

“Don’t be afraid. I am with you.” and 

“Don’t be afraid. You are my beloved.” and 

“Don’t be afraid. Life is so much more than what you see.” and 

“Don’t be afraid. There is a Light that has conquered Darkness.” and 

“Don’t be afraid. Love has won.” 

“Don’t be afraid. Love has won.” 

As we are able to turn in our hearts toward God, again and again and again, God will speak peace to God’s people. To us. To you. To me. And God’s peace will come.

Whether or not the circumstances outside of us get any better. 

Whether or not the realities within us become any different. 

The thing that needs to change, it seems to me, is the focus of our hearts. The direction of our spirit’s gaze. 

God will speak peace to those who turn to God in their hearts. 

So simple. 

So hard.

So powerful. 

So let us turn to God. And re-turn. And re-turn again, every day, every hour, every moment, with every breath if need be. 

Because man oh man, do we need some peace.

Man oh man, do we need God’s Peace.

So let us turn to God. And re-turn. And re-turn again, and look and listen for God’s peace. And it will come.

As it has come and is coming again in Jesus, the Prince of Peace. 

Amen.

“Man Oh Man, Do We Need Some Hope!”

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

December 3, 2023 – 1st Sunday of Advent

“Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.” (Psalm 80:3)

Ready or not, Christmas is coming. With today being the first Sunday of Advent, the Christmas-countdown has begun.

22 days from now, we will wake up and it will be Christmas. Twenty-two days. Which means, twenty-one days to get ready.

I think that calls for another moment of deep breathing… 🙂 [Deep breath!]

Because, let’s face it–there’s a lot to do to get ready for Christmas! There’s Christmas-light hanging and Christmas-tree decorating… There’s Christmas cookie-baking…and maybe a tiny bit of Christmas-cookie-eating…! There’s Christmas-card-sending and Christmas-gift-shopping…and Christmas-gift-wrapping… Just to name a few things that many, if not most, of us do to prepare for Christmas.

Thankfully, all of those preparations–the external preparations–well, at least your external preparations–I’m going to leave to you to do. Or not!

The internal preparations of this season, on the other hand–yours and mine–I’m hoping to help with.

In these weeks of Advent, these weeks leading up to Christmas, I hope we can create space together for the internal preparations we make, the preparations we make within our spirits.

  1. Our worship services, during Advent, will create space…
  2. Daily Shared Sabbath emails, during Advent, will return (***unless you opt out, which is absolutely an option–and a judgment-free option!***). And there will be 2 weekly opportunities to share our own reflections on those shared in the emails–
  • Sunday mornings during the Sunday School hour, and
  • Tuesdays mornings at 9:30.

***Both with a Zoom option available for those who’d like to participate 

from the comfort of their own homes***

  1. Also, as has happened for the past couple of years, on Wednesday evenings there will be an opportunity to come into a “Sacred Space” and find a “Quiet place.” On those evenings during Advent, I will be here, and the sanctuary will be open to you and to the community, available for prayer, or meditation, or reading, or simply sitting still and breathing.

All of these things will be available over these next few weeks in the hopes of creating spaces where we might spend some time preparing our spirits for the arrival, again, of Christ.

The celebration of which, in case you’ve forgotten, will be happening in twenty-two days… 🙂 

So…hope.

Hope is the traditional theme of this first Sunday of Advent. And man oh man, do we need some HOPE these days…

There are so many things going on that don’t fill me with hope–Things in the world…in our country…in the lives of friends and loved ones… Things that lead me to feel discouraged on good days, and something closer to despairing on bad days!

And I suspect I’m not the only one…

Man oh man, do we need some hope…

Before we catapult ourselves too quickly to hope, however, which might make it seem cheap or superficial, we’re going to take a few moments, and write some of the things down.

Because they’re real. And we know that not talking about the messy, uncomfortable, painful things doesn’t make them go away. In fact, as a rule, it makes them even messier!

So before we try to find hope, we’re going to acknowledge that which can feel hopeless.

I invite you, if you wish, to grab a sticky note or two or three, and write a word or phrase that represents to you some situation, whether personal, local, or global, about which you are not overflowing with hope…

And then, if you wish, I invite you to come up and stick it on the cross…

When there are situations in our lives and in the world that feel hopeless, it’s okay–and can even be helpful–to name them.

[2 minutes…]

Thank you for your honesty and courage…

I think it’s clear, as we see all those things [on cross], and feel the weight of them–as well as all the things we didn’t name but hold in here [point to heart], we need hope!

We need to be reminded that there is hope!

Because–there is hope. 

Hope is coming to us and to the world…looking like complete and utter weakness and vulnerability.

Hope is coming to us and to the world…in the form of a tiny, naked, squalling baby who was born in a barn, alone except for his parents and the beasts around them…

Hope is coming to us and to the world…in the form of a beautiful and terrifying transition, happening to a teenage, unmarried Jewish girl and her working class fiancé…

Hope is coming to us and to the world…born in the darkness of the night in the middle of nowheresville in the MIddle East, over two thousand years ago…

For us who are people of faith, hope is coming…and has come!…in this baby, in this Christ Child!

But how do we find it? And what does it really mean? And how–in the face of all of this [notes on the cross] that can feel so discouraging…and disheartening…and even hopeless–how, do we hold on to it? 

Certainly–albeit sadly–these things that are causing us discouragement and despair are not new. Throughout history, including throughout our scriptures, in both the Old and the New Testament, there have been violence and destruction, greed and oppression, wickedness and war. Throughout history, including throughout our scriptures, there have been people who seek power and control, who manipulate and maim, who desire domination and pursue it relentlessly through the use of brute force, intimidation, and fear. Throughout history, including throughout our scriptures, systems have been created and maintained by people in power, so that they might stay in power…and so that those who are powerless and marginalized might remain that way as well. And throughout history, including throughout our scriptures, there have been poverty and disease, natural disasters and general distress on the earth…

Throughout history, including throughout our scriptures, I think it’s fair to say that there has been a whole bunch of stuff that could lead a whole bunch of people to a whole bunch of discouragement at best and, in the darkest of the darkness, to a whole lot of despair.

Hmm…without reading any of the notes on the cross, I can imagine that among them there may be references to invasions and hostages and killing of innocent people…racially-based hatred and mass shootings…cancer and mental and physical illness and grief… politics and political polarization… Perhaps climate change and natural disasters… Perhaps global poverty… Perhaps the decline of the Church…And likely other things.

A whole bunch of stuff that could lead a whole bunch of people to a whole bunch of discouragement and despair… 

And so where is the hope?? Is there any??

There is. There absolutely is!

For us who are people of faith, hope is found in God. Hope is found in God!

That seems so cliché, and in light of everything we’re naming this morning, it almost feels silly to say. Or at the very least, too easy to say. 

But as with all clichés, there is a kernel of truth… But as is also true of clichés, that truth can get lost if you get there too quickly or don’t look deeply enough.

Because there is depth and power in that truth, the truth that Hope is found in God!

And the deep and powerful truth of the Hope that we can find in God can enter us, can settle into the depths of our spirits, as we, with courage and honesty, bear witness with open eyes to the pain of life, bear witness with unclenched hands to the unfairness of life, bear witness with compassionate hearts to the suffering inherent in living life!

And yet…still…even then, name and claim the hope–the real, true hope–that is there for us, as people of faith, in God. The hope that there is a Light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness DID not overcome it. The hope that there is a Love that will not be conquered, even by death. The hope that there is a God who is with us, day in and day out, year in and year out, generation after generation after generation, and who will not leave us, ever, no matter what. 

As people of faith, this profound, timeless Hope that God offers us–and promises us time and time and time again–is there for us, and we will find it as we allow our hearts to be cracked open with the heartbreaks and heartaches of our own lives and of the world around us, and as we allow, then, the truth of God’s promises to settle into our broken-open hearts. 

And as those promises settle in, they become less foreign, less faraway, less unbelievable; and they become closer, they become part of us, they become ours.

And we begin to live from within God’s promises to restore, to heal, to save God’s people, among whom we are! And trust in God’s timing, trust in the bigger picture, trust in God’s plan  for that restoration and healing–and I mean, the really-big bigger picture…

Restoration may not come RIGHT NOW…as we usually want it to.

Healing may not happen TOMORROW…as we generally long for it to.

Salvation & wholeness for God’s people & God’s creation may not happen YESTERDAY…

All of that will take more than a minute. It will probably take more than a few months. It will likely take more than a bunch of years. It’s conceivable–even pretty probable–that it will not even happen in our lifetimes.

But it will happen. 

It will happen at the right time.

It will happen in the fullness of time.

It will happen in God’s time.

In fact, it has already begun to happen. And we see that in the birth of that tiny squalling baby who was born in a barn in the middle of nowheresville in the Middle East to a teenage unwed Jewish girl and her working class fiancé over two thousand years ago…

But I’m getting ahead of myself! This is just the first Sunday of Advent. The Sunday of Hope. Let’s take some time to find it, and open our hearts to it, so that we can hold on to it. 

Because man oh man, do we need some HOPE!

Amen.

“How Do We Live Our Lives?”

Matthew 25:31-46

November 26, 2023

“Lord, when was it that we saw you…?” (Matthew 25:37, 44, NRSVUE)

I’m going to start with a confession. 

Years ago–and this is not it! This is just an aside!–I used to like to start my sermons with a funny story, as much as possible a funny story from my own life. It seemed to make people comfortable, put them at ease, maybe make them a little more open to receiving whatever profound and inspiring wisdom I was about to share with them. 🙂

Sometimes, however, it seems like starting with a confession piques people’s interest more! Oooh–a confession?! This might be good! What juicy tidbit is she going to reveal about herself? 

Actually, this morning I have two confessions, and the first one is not necessarily very juicy. Here it is: this is the first time I’ve preached a “Christ the King” sermon. 

It’s the first time I’ve planned a worship service focused on “Christ the King.” It’s not the first time I’ve preached on the last Sunday of the liturgical year, this last Sunday before Advent. So it’s not that I haven’t had the chance! 

It’s because that language–Christ the King–is a little uncomfortable for me. 

I suspect that’s partly because we Americans don’t have a king. We’re not used to using that title. The culture of royalty isn’t part of what we know.

Another part, however, is what the phrase implies, for me, with regard to, let’s call it, global evangelism. The belief that the ultimate goal of Christianity is that one day, all people everywhere will confess Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. The belief that the ultimate aim of Christianity is that one day all people everywhere will bow down to Jesus as their King. To Christ the King.

And here comes my second confession: that belief is not one that I hold. And I realize I might be stepping onto shaky ground here. 

But I have to say it. 

As I move into my first “Christ the King” sermon, I have to say that I do not believe that the foundational desire of God’s heart is that all people everywhere, in all times, confess with their lips that Jesus is Lord, that Christ is King. 

In fact, I believe that that belief–the belief that the ultimate aim of Christianity is that one day all people everywhere will confess Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, bowing down to Christ the King–has caused tremendous damage and pain and suffering around the world and throughout time, not the least of which being here in this land now called the United States of America, particularly among the indigenous people of this land. 

As Christian colonizers came into their lands and Christian settlers spread across their lands, so many of the people who were already here were forced to convert, forced to confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, or be killed. For the sake of their soul, it was said. And this happened to so many other indigenous people in so many other places around the world. 

I cannot believe that that was ever or will ever be God’s desire…

I cannot.

And I think my disbelief in that is, in fact, supported by today’s Gospel reading. 

In this passage, Jesus is talking with his disciples about the end times, about his final coming in glory, and who, at that time, will be invited into God’s eternal Kingdom and who will not… And what’s the determining factor in deciding who’s in and who’s out? What does it come down to? It comes down to how they lived. 

Not what they said they believed. 

Not what they professed. 

Not what they confessed. 

But how they lived. 

To the group who will be judged favorably, who will receive God’s blessing, who will be welcomed into God’s presence with open arms, Jesus says, “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” (Mt. 25:35-36)

We’re told nothing of their beliefs. 

We know nothing of the faith they professed. 

We have no idea whom, if anyone, they confessed as Lord. 

What we are told is that when they saw someone in need, they responded with compassion. When they came upon someone in need, they acted with kindness. When they recognized the need for mercy in someone they encountered, they took action.

What seems clear is that they didn’t need to know why the need existed, or whether it was valid; they simply met the need. They didn’t worry about whether someone else could meet the need better; they simply did what they could at that time. They didn’t care who the needy person was, or whether they deserved help, or whether their neediness was self-induced; they simply opened their hearts and gave of what they had been given, in a way that eased that particular need.

This group, the people whom Jesus described as those who would be welcomed into God’s eternal kingdom, lived with open and generous and humble hearts, responding to the needs of those they encountered, with compassion and kindness and mercy. 

And not because they were looking for praise or thanks or recognition or payback, but simply–it seems–because that was their orientation to Life, that was their way of being, that was how they showed up, consistently, in the world around them. It’s how they lived their lives. 

Did their generous orientation to Life spring from their belief in Jesus? Maybe. Was their compassionate way of being in the world a result of their faith in God? Perhaps. Did they show up in the world in that open-hearted way, because Christ was their King, the one to whom they gave their highest allegiance and deepest loyalty? Quite possibly. 

But it seems to me that Jesus was saying that those beliefs, that faith, that professed Kingship, were not the determining factors, were not what it would come down to when all was said and done. 

Jesus was saying, I think, that when it’s all said and done, and Jesus returns in glory, whether people will receive God’s ultimate blessing and be invited into God’s eternal Kingdom will be determined by how they lived their lives. Because that would be a reflection of the state of their hearts. 

How we live our lives is a reflection of the state of our hearts. 

How we live our lives is a reflection of the state of our hearts. 

Do we live with open and generous and humble hearts, ready to respond to the needs of those we encounter in our lives? Ready to respond without judgment? To respond without blame? 

And perhaps before we even consider our readiness to respond to the needs around us, we might consider our willingness to see those needs–to see them where we might not want to look… to see them where we might not think they are… to see them when they’re messy and embarrassing… to see them when it’s inconvenient and ill-timed… Because we have to be willing to see them in order to be able to respond to them… 

And when we do see them, and respond to them, are we looking for praise? Do we long to be recognized for our good deeds? Maybe thanked? Do we expect something in return? Are we convinced we’ll get something out of it, even if it’s only our secret feelings of humble self-admiration?… 

Or is it simply because it’s what we do, it’s how we live, it’s the orientation of our hearts?

Sooooo….does everything I’m saying mean that our beliefs are unimportant? That our faith doesn’t matter? That our profession of Christ as King has no meaning? 

Of course not. All of that matters! 

But I am suggesting that what matters about our belief in Jesus, in large part, is whether it generates a more compassionate orientation to Life… 

I’m suggesting that what matters about our faith in God, primarily, is whether it gives rise to an ever more open-hearted, loving way of being in the world… 

I’m suggesting that what matters about our acknowledgement of Christ as King in our lives, to a large degree, is whether it leads us to show up in the world with ever increasing mercy and kindness?

Because that, I believe today’s Gospel passage is saying, is what it comes down to–how we live our lives. 

Not what we say we believe. 

Not what we profess. 

Not what we confess. 

But how we live. 

And I believe that’s true for everyone, everywhere, in all times and places. 

I do not believe that the fundamental desire of God’s heart is that all people everywhere confess with their lips that Jesus is Lord, that Christ is King. 

I do believe that God desires that all people everywhere experience compassion and mercy, and seek truth and justice, and live with abundance and grace, in peace and with hope, and know in the depths of their being that they are forgiven, and whole, and accepted, and loved… 

I do believe that all of that, God fundamentally desires…

And I believe that as we, as people of faith and followers of Jesus, and by God’s grace, experience those things, then by the power of God’s Spirit, our hearts are changed. 

And as our hearts are changed, we show up in the world, more and more consistently, with open and generous and humble hearts, ready to respond to the needs of those we encounter in our lives, with compassion and kindness and mercy… 

And in so doing, we meet the Christ in others. And in so doing, we reveal the Christ in us. And in all of that, God’s Love expands and God’s kingdom comes, on earth as it is in heaven. 

I believe in our Gospel passage for today, Jesus is saying that it all comes down to how we live our lives, not what we say with our lips. Because how we live our lives reveals the state of our hearts.

And it’s the state of our hearts that truly affects the world around us.

And it’s the state of our hearts that matters to God. 

Amen. And amen.

“Dedication Sunday: Hop To It!”

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

November 12, 2023 – Dedication Sunday

Seven years ago, in October of 2016, I preached a sermon at The United Church (of Los Alamos) called “Babylon & Chronic Fatigue: Living in Exile,” in which I drew some parallels between my experience of living with chronic fatigue for, at that point, just over three years and the Jews’ experience of living in Babylon, exiled from their homeland, for nearly seventy years! 

While the timetable for my fatigue and the Jews’ exile—not to mention a few other aspects(!)—were significantly different, there were some parallels that seemed noteworthy to me: 

  • The exiled Jews and I were forced, by no choice of our own, to spend time in a place that was uncomfortable and unknown.
  • They and I were forced, by no choice of our own, to be in a place that was not what we had planned for nor what we expected.
  • They and I were forced, by no choice of our own, to stay in that place far longer–and for the Jews, far, far longer–than we wanted to.
  • And, they and I were forced, by no choice of our own, to make our lives in a place that did not feel like home.

Last year, in September of 2022, I preached a sermon here, called “Choosing Life in Exile,” in which I drew some similar parallels between the experiences of the exiled Jews in Babylon and our experiences, here and around the world, during the height of the global Covid pandemic and in life that has come after. 

And as I did last year, so I will do now–just so we’re all on the same page with regard to what “exile” is, the definition provided by Merriam-Webster.com is this: “the state or a period of forced absence from one’s country or home.” 

Clearly, none of us has been forced to flee our country, or our home. And for that, of course, we must be deeply grateful. We must be. Always. But especially in these days… when…

  1. According to the UN Relief and Works Agency, since the October 7 attack by Hamas on the nation of Israel, in just over a month, “almost 1.5 million people have been displaced across the Gaza Strip.”  
  2. Also according to the UN, since mid-April of this year, so over a period of seven months, “[approximately] 5.8 million people have been displaced within and outside Sudan. 
  3. And one more–also according to the UN, since February of 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine–so, over the last 21 months–over 11 million people have been displaced, whether within the country or having crossed into neighboring countries. 

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, as of June of this year, almost 110 million people [around the world] [emphasis mine] have been displaced from their homes. 

To put the figures in starker terms: “more than 1 in every 74 people on earth has been forcibly displaced [from their home] as a result of persecution, conflict, [and] violence…”

We who are here this morning, have not, of course, experienced that kind of exile from our homes, or our homelands, or anything remotely similar. And for that, we must be grateful. 

And, we must continue to pray for all those displaced…and, I believe, as followers of Jesus, we must also–as we have the opportunity and energy to–work to call out the oppression and injustice that can lead to violence and war, and stand alongside those who work for peace as well as those displaced persons.

AND, I think we can acknowledge that we have, in fact, experienced a kind of exile–a kind of forced absence from what feels like home–partly due to the global Covid pandemic that we have all experienced in the past 3 ½ years. It’s certainly different now than it was three years ago, and two years ago, and even a year ago–but in some ways, we continue to live within a reality that can feel like a forced absence from what we have known as “home.” Things have changed–some permanently, some not–and we’re still figuring out what that means…

This morning I want to also acknowledge another kind of exile, an “exile” of sorts that American Christians have been experiencing over the past several decades, and that, it seems to me, the faithful here at White Rock PC have also been experiencing… 

I invite you, in these moments, to consider your experience in “church,” in recent years, whether 3 or 17 or 46 years…whether this church or another…and see if any of these descriptions of experiences of exile resonate, to some degree or another–bearing in mind, of course, that all of these descriptions fall short, since none of us are forced to be here! All of us can choose whether or not to be here! Bearing in mind also, however, that for many, perhaps some of us included, church remains an essential part of life and so choosing not to participate might very well lead to an even greater feeling of exile… 

So, with that in mind, I simply invite you to listen for any resonance in these possible descriptions of exile: 

  • Being forced to spend time in a place that is uncomfortable and unknown….
  • Being forced to be in a place that was not what we had planned for nor what we expected…
  • Being forced to stay in that strange place far longer than we wanted to.
  • Being forced to be in a place where we feel we did not choose to go and where we sure as heck don’t want to stay. 
  • Being forced to be in a place that is nowhere we would ever want to call home.

Do any of those resonate with any of you, particularly as you think about your experience of church?? 

Can we acknowledge our feelings of longing for “the good old days”? Our feelings of nostalgia for those times when churches–including this church–were full?? When Sunday School classrooms were bursting at the seams? When there were full choirs, even multiple choirs–kids’ choirs, adults choirs, praise choirs, bell choirs…? When churches routinely had more than one service, in part because not everyone would fit in the sanctuary at the same time? When churches had more money than they knew what to do with??? 

Can we name the sadness and the grief we sometimes feel when we think back to how things were, and compare them to how things are now? Can we name the uncertainty and anxiety we sometimes feel when we think about the future, and compare it to how things were in the past? Can we name the fear and even despair we sometimes feel when we look around today, and just wonder if the church has what it takes to keep going? If we have what it takes to keep going? 

Sadness and grief, uncertainty and anxiety, fear and despair–those are some of the central feelings, I think, that go with the experience of exile, that go with a longing for what was in the face of the unwavering reality that it is no more…a yearning for where we came from in the presence of the stark truth that we are no longer there… an ache for what used to be in spite of the indisputable fact that it can be no more… 

It’s okay to name it. I think it’s important to name it. In fact, I think it’s essential to name it, to express it, to hold it and honor it and share it–if we are to move through it. 

And we must move through it, if we are to continue to live. 

And so we must acknowledge it–acknowledge the sadness and grief, the uncertainty and anxiety, the fear and even the despair. 

Because it’s there. Not naming it doesn’t make it go away; it just keeps it hidden. And allows it to fester. And when things stay hidden and festering, the keeper of those things often, if not always, eventually, gets sick. 

And so we name those feelings, without fear or shame, with courage and compassion. We look them in the eyes and see them, and name them, with honesty and truth. We name them, with a longing to move forward! With a desire to not be stuck, looking back. With a hunger for healing, and an eagerness to live. To really live! To live as God’s faithful people in this time and place. 

That’s what God wants for us. 

That’s what God is calling to do. 

That’s who God is calling us to be. 

We see that in Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles, particularly in the verses we heard read today, verses 5-7. 

Listen to them again, God’s message to the exiled Jews:

“Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:5-7)

There’s so much in there! For the Jews in exile, and for us… 

First of all, God is saying, this ain’t gonna be no short-term thing. Settle in. You’re gonna be here for a while. For generations, in fact! The children you haven’t even had yet will grow up here, and their children will be born here as well, in this place of exile, this place that is unfamiliar and uncomfortable, this place that you didn’t choose or plan for. 

I know you don’t want to hear this…but this won’t be over any time soon. 

This may be the exact place you don’t want to be…but here you are. So build a house. Grow a garden. Create a life in this very place where you find yourself, and make it good! It can be good! 

It can be good, because God is also saying, I have not left you. This place where you are is part of my plan for you, and for the people around you, the people who surround you, the people whose ways seem so different and unfamiliar and strange and even upsetting. 

You are right where you need to be, and this time can be used for good, this experience can be used for healing, this season of exile can be used for my purposes. 

You are still my people. Be my people in this place where I have put you. Be my people in this time in which you find yourselves. Be my people in this season of exile, and make this season good.  

Be my people in this season of exile, and make this season good! 

And that, I suggest, is what we’re doing when we make a pledge to White Rock Presbyterian Church, for another year of ministry. 

We are making a commitment to God and to one another, to continue to be the people of God, together, in this time and place. 

We’re making a commitment to build houses and grow gardens and have babies–although not necessarily strictly speaking!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 

We’re saying yes to God, and to one another, in the midst of what’s uncomfortable and uncertain, even sometimes in the presence of fear and despair. 

We’re looking those things in the face, and seeing them, and acknowledging them, and still, saying yes to God–Yes, God, you have put us here…and no, God, we don’t really want to be here! But yes, God, we trust that this is part of your plan…and no, God, we didn’t sign up for this! But yes, God, in this time that feels a lot like exile, we will make it good…because yes, God, we are your people. 

And now hear God’s response to us, whispered tenderly in our spirits: Damn right, you are! And you forever will be. You forever will be. Now hop to it! Make this season good!

Amen.

“The Blessed-Are’s…”

Matthew 5:1-12

November 5, 2023 – All Saints Sunday – WRPC

So, first things first. Last week, as I began to reflect on these things that we call “The Beatitudes,” it occurred to me that I didn’t really know what that word–beatitude–meant or where it came from!

So I looked it up. 

And I found these definitions: 

  1. From Merriam-Webster.com: “a state of utmost bliss”
  1. From Dictionary.com: “supreme blessedness”
  1. From Brittanica.com I learned that the word came from the Latin words, “beati sunt,” as those sayings of Jesus were translated in the first Latin translation of the New Testament, in the late 4th century. “Beati sunt” means “blessed are.”

I guess it does seem preferable to refer to these sayings of Jesus as the Beatitudes, instead of calling them “the Blessed-Are’s”…which could be confused with the Blessed R’s…which, maybe, Rod, and the Reinovskys, and the Ro family, and my son Ryan, might like… 

But of course, that’s not what Jesus had in mind…

And actually, I wondered if what he had in mind was what those other definitions claimed, also–a state of utmost bliss, or supreme blessedness… 

And so I looked up the Greek word: “makários” and I found these definitions for that word: 

“a state of being marked by the fullness of God,” and 

“to be envied”…

Hmm…those definitions seem pretty different to me than “supreme blessedness” or “utmost bliss”…

I invite you to hold those ideas in mind—“a state of being marked by the fullness of God,” and “to be envied”–while I remind you of the Beatitudes again:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit…

“Blessed are those who mourn…

“Blessed are the meek…

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…

“Blessed are the merciful…

“Blessed are the pure in heart…

“Blessed are the peacemakers…

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness…

Jesus is saying that these are people who are marked by the fullness of God… These are people who are to be envied… What do we make of that??  

[PAUSE] 

What would we say are the things that are deemed enviable in our world today? And often, I’d say, thought to be indicative of God’s blessing…?

To have power…to have money…to have influence…to have security in your life… 

To be educated…to be in good health…to be beautiful…

What else?…

I’d say, to a large degree, those same things were desirable in  Jesus’s time–power, money, influence, security, education…probably also good looks and good health. People are people! And, they were also considered to be signs of God’s blessing…

But Jesus is saying no. That’s all wrong. Those are not signs of God’s blessing. That’s not what it means to be blessed.  

He’s saying that God’s kingdom is different. The reality of God is different. God’s ways are completely different from the ways of the world.

And Jesus says to his disciples–and to us–let me tell you what it’s like in the kingdom of God: 

The kingdom of God is about humility, and the strength found in that… It’s about vulnerability, and the power that comes with that… It’s about an openness of spirit, and the honesty born of that… 

The kingdom of God is about a commitment to reconciliation, that results from an orientation to love…and it’s about the truth and justice and peace that grow from that…

And God’s blessing comes from those things, as you live them, no matter the circumstances… God’s blessing comes from those things, as you live them, no matter the consequences… God’s blessing comes as you live those things, no matter what…

That’s part of what I hear in all of those blessed-are’s–

Blessed are the poor in spirit–humility…

Blessed are those who mourn–vulnerability…

Blessed are the meek–humility…

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness–an orientation to love…

Blessed are the merciful–an openness of spirit…

Blessed are the pure in heart–vulnerability…

Blessed are the peacemakers–an commitment to reconciliation…

Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness…I guess that’s the “no matter what” part…

In all of those ways of being, all of those blessed-are’s, I sense a call to an openness of spirit…a lifting up of humility and vulnerability…a declaration of the reality of God’s profound blessing as a consequence of a relentless commitment to reconciliation and an open-hearted orientation to Love.

In these early days with his disciples, Jesus seemed to be letting them know, in no uncertain terms, that following him would mean learning to see a different world, an upside-down world. 

That following him would mean walking toward that upside-down world, and working for an upside-down world, and living within an upside-down world. 

A world where humility and vulnerability rather than brute strength and arrogance would be desired. And would lead to deep blessing…

A world where openness of spirit rather than personal security and closed-fistedness would be valued. And would lead to true blessing…

A world where reconciliation and love rather than might and right would be sought after. And would lead to God’s blessing…

Jesus was telling his disciples that following him, learning to live in the world as he did, grounded and centered entirely within the Love of God, would be completely different from the ways of the world around them.

Their world would be turned upside down. Their understanding of it would be totally altered. And their lives would be transformed. 

Jesus was telling his disciples that following him, and learning to be and do as he was and did, would lead to living more fully within the Reality of God, and as they lived more and more into that Reality, more and more from within God’s Love, then more and more would their lives be marked by the fullness of God, regardless of the outer circumstances in which they lived. And more and more would they be deeply and truly blessed. 

 I dare say the same is true for disciples of Jesus today. 

Let’s keep working to live more fully within God’s Love. As we do, our world just might be turned upside down. Our understanding of the world just might be totally altered. Our lives just might be transformed. And we just might be deeply, profoundly, and truly blessed…and we might just deeply, profoundly, truly bless, and participate in the transformation of, the world.

Holy God, may it be so.

“Love Your Neighbor As Yourself”

Matthew 22:34-40

October 29, 2023

[Jesus] said to [the Pharisee], “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  (Matthew 22:37-39, NRSV)

A little background on Reformation Sunday (from Brittanica.com)…

According to legend, on October 31, 1517–506 years ago–Martin Luther, who was German and a Catholic priest and professor of biblical studies at the University of Wittenburg, nailed to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, a call to reform in the Roman Catholic Church, in the form of 95 theses.

These 95 theses were not necessarily set-in-stone revisions that Luther had come to, but rather, as this Brittanica website put it, “were tentative opinions, about some of which Luther had not [fully] decided.” They were “propositions for debate concerned [to a large degree] with the question of indulgences.”

So, what were Indulgences? “In Roman Catholicism, the remission of temporal punishment for a sin after the sin has been forgiven through the sacrament of penance. The theology of indulgences is based on the concept that, even though the sin and its eternal punishment are forgiven through penance, divine justice demands that the sinner pay for the crime either in this life or in purgatory. The first indulgences were intended to shorten times of penance by substituting periods of fasting, private prayers, almsgiving, and monetary payments that were to be used for religious purposes.” “After the 12th century they were more widely used, and abuses became common as indulgences were put up for sale to earn money for the church or to enrich unscrupulous clerics.”

On a trip to Rome a few years earlier Martin Luther had been shocked by the corruption of the clergy; and that corruption, among other things that were stirring within his soul, prompted him to “[urge] reform of the Roman Catholic Church, protesting the sale of indulgences and other abuses…”

This website goes on to say that “Luther originally had no intention of breaking from the Catholic church, assuming that his call for theological and ecclesiastical reform would be heard, and ordinarily his theses would have been of interest only to professional theologians. However, various political and religious situations of the time, and the fact that [the printing press] had been invented, combined to make the theses known throughout Germany within a few weeks. Luther did not give them to the people…[but] others translated them into German and had them printed and circulated. Thus, they became a manifesto that turned a protest about an indulgence scandal into the greatest crisis in the history of the Western Christian church, and ultimately Luther and his followers were excommunicated.”

AND…by the middle of the next century, this whole thing–particularly the posting of the 95 theses, had become recognized as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. So Reformation Sunday is a big deal!

So, is this in any way related to the Gospel passage for today? I think so… Simply put, Jesus was calling for reform within the Church. Well, reform within his faith tradition. There was no “Church” yet! 

He was calling for reform particularly within the practices of the religious leaders of the day. Like Martin Luther. The religious leaders had gone astray. They had led God’s people astray. And Jesus was calling them back…back to the central truth of what it meant to be the people of God.

What is the greatest commandment? The greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. AND…he continued…there is another, a second, that is like it–just as important–another that cannot be separated from the first. And that is, to love your neighbor as yourself. 

It wasn’t a new commandment, as we heard it read from Leviticus, from what we call the Old Testament, from what were the Hebrew Scriptures, written at least 3000 years ago and possibly more!

Jesus wasn’t introducing this idea of loving your neighbor as yourself. He was calling God’s people back to it… He was calling for reform. Major reform.  

It seems to me some reform is needed in the church today…some calling back to the central truth of what it means to be people of God, what it means to live as people of God…

What does it mean to be the Church, to be followers of Jesus, to be the Body of Christ in the world? What does it look like to be the people of God in the world today?  

Is it about worship, and when and where we do it? 

Is it about mission, and how and why we do it? 

Is it about Biblical interpretation, and by what means we do it?

Is it about doctrine? Or dogma? Or creeds or confessions?

Does it look like internal spirituality–prayer and being still? 

Does it look like external spirituality–activism and social justice?

Maybe all of that is part of what it means, part of what it looks like…But what if we interpreted all of those things through the lens of love? What if we asked, of all of those things and the rest of what we do as people of God, “Is this thing helping us love God? Is this thing helping us to love our neighbors??”

What if, as people of God, we asked, before we did anything, “Are we loving God by doing this thing? In doing this thing–whatever it might be–are we loving our neighbors as ourselves?”

And by “neighbors,” what if we included the people who live across the street and down the street, both from us here at WRP and from us in our homes?… And what if we included people who live down in the Valley and up in Canada? And people who live in Bread Springs and Chinle [both on the Navajo Reservation] and in Santa Clara and San Ildefonso [two nearby indigenous Pueblos]? And people who think like us and look like us and smell like us, and those who think in ways we cannot begin to comprehend and who look nothing like us and who smell bad?…. 

And what if, as our “neighbors,” whom we are called to love as we love ourselves, we included people who love and support and stand alongside marginalized people of all persuasions, and people who condemn and vilify and intentionally hurt marginalized people of all persuasions? 

And what if, by “neighbor,” whom we are called to love as we love God, we included people who work tirelessly for justice…and those who are ignorant of or apathetic toward injustice? What if we included people who are oppressed, and people who deliberately participate in oppression? 

What if, as we tried to live in the world as people of God by truly and consistently and deeply loving God by loving our neighbors, we let go of our notions of judgment and merit, and worked instead to love the person in front of us? What if we let go of our needs for reward and “good” outcomes, and worked instead to love the person in front of us? What if we let go of our pride and need for control, and worked instead to love the person in front of us?

And not “love” as in like! Not “love” as in feel fondness toward. Not “love” as in agree with or understand or find pleasant to be around. 

But LOVE as in the active response to the love of God. LOVE as in choosing to care. LOVE as in intentionally extending mercy and grace and patience and generosity. LOVE as in demonstrating, by choice, by deliberate action, loving-kindness and compassion to another, regardless of our feelings toward that other, good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, sympathetic or enraged…

What if, as we tried to live in the world as people of God, we chose, time and time and time again, to truly and consistently and deeply love God by loving our neighbors, including whatever person happens to be standing in front of us, with that kind of LOVE? 

Emotion aside. Understanding–or lack thereof–aside. Gut feelings of outrage and disgust and horror aside. 

As people of God, we are not called to judge one another. We are not called to declare another’s worthiness. We are not called to pronounce whether or not another is beloved by God. Unless it’s to pronounce their unwavering belovedness…

We are called, yes, to call out injustice, to speak up against abuse of power, to reject oppression and marginalization. 

But as people of God, most fundamentally, we are called to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. To love our neighbors as we love ourselves. To love our neighbors as God loves them. And God does love them. All of them. Each of them. No matter what… And God longs for their healing. And God calls them to reconciliation and wholeness. All of God’s children. And all of God’s creation! 

What if, as we tried to live in the world as people of God, we chose, time and time and time again, to truly and consistently and deeply love God by loving our neighbors–whoever they are, wherever they’re from, whatever they’ve done or not done, including whatever person happens to be standing in front of us–with that kind of LOVE? 

It’s so hard. 

It’s so hard. 

It’s so hard…

And it’s so risky! As one commentator said about Jesus, from whom we learn this type of love: “Following the path of love leads him to jump into debates and conflicts with his whole self. Love leads Jesus into all kinds of situations that are not just uncomfortable, but dangerous. Eventually, love gets him killed.” And he went on to say, “Of course, we are none of us Jesus.” !! “But there is much to learn by seeing the love of Jesus in action.” 

And it is to this love, the love of Jesus, this love in action, this love of God embodied, that we are called. As people of God, we are called to live within and to live out, by the grace and power of God, this Love that is steadfast and unwavering, that calls each person to healing, to reconciliation, to wholeness. This Love that is patient and merciful, generous and compassionate. This Love that is God’s love. 

It is with this love that we are loved by God…and it is with this love–by the power of God’s Holy Spirit working within and without us–that we are called to love our neighbors and love the world. 

Holy God, by your grace, may it be so.

Amen.

“By What Authority?”

Matthew 21:23-32

October 1, 2023

My son John, the youngest of my three kids, who is now a senior in high school, came into this world comfortable in his own skin. He came into the world, somehow, knowing who he is and being completely at ease with who he knew himself to be…which has been delightful to witness and experience! 

And, which has sometimes created friction between us! When what I knew, for example, as his mother, to be right and best for him, was in conflict with what he knew within himself to be right and best for him! 🙂 

For example, one day when John was about 3 years old, he was sitting at the kitchen table, moving a pencil back and forth along the crack made by the two leaves of the table. I noticed what he was doing, and said something like, “John, stop that. That’s not what pencils are for. We don’t write on the table.” He didn’t stop.

I went over, and I’m sure my patience was already wearing thin from whatever else had already happened that day–not to mention in the previous 3 years! 🙂 And I said to him, “Give me the pencil, please.” And held out my hand. He stopped moving the pencil, and looked at me. And I said, again, “Give it to me.” 

And my dear, sweet, delightful little John, holding my gaze,  proceeded to throw the pencil on the floor. I grabbed his little hand, and smacked it, and said, “You do what I tell you to do.” Or in other words, “I’m the boss! And I did not tell you to throw that pencil on the floor. Who do you think you are??” 

Well, he was about to let me know who he understood himself to be! After I smacked his hand, he scrunched up his face and looked away and said, “I won’t cry!” Or in other words, “You’re not the boss! I’ll do what I want. Because I’m John, that’s who I am!! And I don’t think it—I know it!” 

In that moment, I realized I had a different kind of kid on my hands–a kid with his own sense of authority. I’d known that, of course, since he was born–his free-spirited, open-hearted, joie de vivre, that exemplified his strong sense of himself, had been evident since birth to all who knew him. But in that moment, I was struck by the crystal-clear realization that he was not going to simply be obedient because I was his mother, as both Sarah and Ryan, his older sister and brother, for the most part, had been. 

John had, and continues to have, a strong sense of his own authority, that comes from within himself. It was often challenging when he was younger…and on occasion, it still is. But it is a gift, and I believe it will serve him well in life.

Today’s Gospel passage has a lot to say about authority. Well, at least it talks a lot about authority. And I do think it has something to say about true authority–the kind offered to us by God, and available to us through God…the kind we find in God as people of God… The kind of authority, I believe, our world desperately needs more of…

So let’s take a look! In the very first verse, we find Jesus teaching in the temple–and this is the temple in Jerusalem. The lectionary skipped over the part in Matthew where Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, the story we associate with Palm Sunday; but that just happened the day before our story takes place. Jesus had arrived in Jerusalem, with people shouting Hosanna and cheering for him. AND, he had gone into the temple, and had his fit of rage, driving out the people who were buying and selling things and overturning the tables of the money changers… 

And now, the day after all of that, he’s back, and he’s teaching. In the temple. And we read that “the chief priests and the elders of the people” come over to where he is. And mind you, these are the big dogs in all of Judaism at that time. The tippy-top priests. Jesus has gotten the attention of the real muckety-mucks. And they’re not coming over to thank him.  

We read that they ask him, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Or in other words, “We are the bosses here! And we didn’t tell you you could do these things. Who do you think you are??” 

“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

If I were asked a question by the muckety-mucks of the PC(USA), I would answer them. If you who are labbies were asked a question by Thom Mason, the Director of LANL, I’m guessing you would answer him. If you who are LAPS employees or students were asked a question by Jennifer Guy, the superintendent, I’m guessing you’d answer.

I suspect that for most, if not all of us, if we were asked a question by someone we considered a top dog, someone who had tremendous authority over us, the default would be to answer the question. 

You’ll notice in today’s passage, that Jesus didn’t answer their questions. Not directly. 

He knew their questions didn’t come from a place of curiosity, but from a place of condemnation. 

He knew they weren’t really waiting for his answer, but simply baiting their trap.

He also knew that the authority they were wielding was irrelevant. The authority within which they stood when they asked him those questions. He knew they didn’t really have any authority. Not over him. 

Jesus knew that any authority they had was externally granted–resulting from their education, their position at the temple, their role in Jewish society, the power given to them by Rome… It wasn’t necessarily insignificant, but in this case, it was irrelevant. Because it was granted by the structures of the world. And Jesus didn’t operate in the ways of the world.

On top of that, Jesus knew that his authority–the authority in which he stood, and from which he was doing the things he was doing, whether in the temple in Jerusalem or on the back roads of Samaria–came from within. He knew that his authority had been given to him by God, and was dependent on nothing external, nothing outside of himself, nothing “of the world.” The authority in which Jesus stood and from which he acted came from God and was centered and grounded deep within himself. 

And so, with all of that in mind, rather than simply answering their questions, Jesus responded by saying: let me ask you a question—was John the Baptist actually a messenger of God? Or was he just some crazy guy? What do you think, muckety-mucks? Most learned priests? Religious leaders extraordinaire? You who are responsible for teaching the people the faith? 

Well, you’d think these most learned priests would have wanted to seize the opportunity to show off their faith and knowledge! You’d think they would have grabbed the chance to stand tall, and respond with the right answer, with deep conviction from within their innermost selves! This was their big chance to put Jesus in his place. 

Instead, they said, “Ummm…give us a minute…” and they huddled up, and argued with each other about how to respond. 

And here we see the ugly face of their externally-based authority–they thought about their response in terms of the possible consequences each answer would cause them! They considered how one answer would lead to them getting themselves in trouble…and the other would lead to them being in trouble by the people! So instead of acting from the authority that they seemed to be claiming they had, and responding to Jesus’s question with whichever answer they truly believed was right, they acted from a place of cowardice and fear, and said, “We don’t know.”

These religious leaders who had all the external trappings of authority–the status, the positions, the roles, the robes–suddenly seemed to not know their own minds. They suddenly seemed to have been taken down from their looming places of power and control, finding themselves instead reduced to fearfulness and spinelessness. “We do not know,” they said to Jesus, or perhaps simply muttered under their breath, feeling both angry and ashamed at having had the fragility of their authority revealed…

They seemed to enjoy being in a position of power…until they had to take a stand that might have consequences for them… 

They seemed to enjoy the status that came with being leaders…until they were faced with making a decision that might upset a bunch of people, who would then be upset with them… 

They seemed to enjoy the privileges that came with having authority…until that authority was challenged…and challenged by someone whose authority was so much less than theirs–Jesus had no training, no status, no official role–but at the same time, whose authority was somehow so much greater than theirs…

They knew, in their heart of hearts, that the authority in which Jesus stood came from God, and that theirs came from…not God… Well, not in the same way as his. 

But rather than be curious about how Jesus came to have that authority, they were threatened by it. 

Rather than opening their hearts and acknowledging the depth and truth of his authority, their hearts were hardened and they sought only to eliminate it. 

Rather than humble themselves and follow Jesus in his God-given authority, they clung to their world-given authority and plotted to kill him. 

Jesus knew this was all in their hearts. And I think it grieved him… And so he told them a story…A story of a father and his two sons… To one son he said, “Son, go work in the vineyard today.” And this son said, effectively, “No! I don’t want to. I’m not going to.” But then, some time later, he changed his mind and went. The father said the same thing to his other son, “Son, go work in the vineyard today.” And this son said, “Sure, Dad! Happy to! I’m on my way!” But  then he didn’t go. “Which son,” Jesus asked, “did the will of his father?” 

All who were listening knew, just like we do today–that it was the son who said no, appearing to give the wrong answer, but then went to the vineyard, and not the son who had initially given the right answer and said yes, but then didn’t go. 

Jesus seemed to be saying that kingdom living is not about the externals, it’s not about appearances. It’s not simply about saying the right thing, or looking the part, or playing the role. It’s not even about doing all the right things, if doing them is simply a matter of checking off all the boxes, on a checklist that has been handed to you by external sources. None of that is what being people of God is about.

Kingdom living–fulfilling the desires of God–living as people of God with a sense of God-given authority–is an internal thing. It’s about what’s inside. It’s about what comes from within the heart, the deepest and truest part of ourselves. It’s about figuring out and then doing the things God has given us to do, and seeking and then living the life God has called us to live, and discovering and then becoming who God has called us to be; and doing all of that humbly and courageously, and with kindness and authenticity, regardless of the consequences, no matter who’s pleased or upset by it. It’s about living with authority, based on knowing who God is and who God has created us to be.

Easier said than done…for sure… But worth desiring! Worth seeking. Because that kind of authority–true authority, God-given authority, authority that is internally seated, not dependent on externals–that kind of authority will truly allow us, both as individuals and as part of the Body of Christ, to stand tall and live from within our beliefs and live out our convictions, and live unafraid as people of God. 

That kind of authority is true authority, and will allow us to truly live.

And people truly living with that kind of authority, I believe, is something our world desperately needs…

Let’s do it!

May it be so!

“Trying and Failing and Trying Again”

Matthew 18:15-20

September 10, 2023

You may or may not be aware of a column in our local news source, the LA Daily Post, called “All Shall Be Well.” It’s a column that appears every other week, that’s written on a rotating basis by four local clergywomen–retired Lutheran Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, Mother Lynn Finnegan from the Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith in Santa Fe, Pastor Nicolé Ferry from Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Los Alamos, and yours truly. 

We began writing this column to offer an alternative voice to what’s already there, representing religion and especially Christianity, and to offer support to one another as clergyWOMEN. 

Knowing that what we write is potentially, and likely, read by people who are not part of any faith community, with special awareness of those who are not part of a church, when it’s my turn to write, I can’t help but think of those who are not part of a church on purpose. 

And not just because they weren’t raised going to church. Not just because it doesn’t occur to them to go to church on Sunday morning. Not just because they don’t really care too much one way or the other, but given the choice between making pancakes at home with their family or going to church, making pancakes just seems way more fun! 

It’s not primarily those people I find myself thinking about. 

Rather, I find myself considering those who are not part of a church on purpose. Those who are not part of a church because they’ve intentionally made that choice. Because they’ve deliberately chosen to not have anything to do with the Church. 

Maybe because they or someone they love has been hurt by the Church. Maybe because they or someone they love has been clobbered over the head, or worse, with the Bible. Maybe because they’ve seen the Church, and/or people in the Church, being hypocritical, judgmental, self-righteous, greedy, unforgiving, or just downright mean. Maybe all of the above.

Sadly, there’s no shortage of reasons why people purposely make the choice to not be part of a church. 

So, when I’m thinking about what to write, as someone who in some way is representing Christianity, I can’t help but think of the damage that the Church, and/or people in the Church, have done. Sometimes to people outside of the Church; and sometimes to brothers, sisters, siblings, within the community of faith! I don’t seem able to not be aware of the ways that people who claim to follow Jesus–the Word of God made flesh, the Love of God in human form–have offered so many compelling reasons for others to have nothing to do with any of it. 

And I’m going to leave that cheery note hanging in your minds and hearts…while we turn to the Gospel lesson for today! 🙂 

Actually, we’re going to do a quick review of the past two Sunday’s Gospel lessons. Because there’s a progression in these readings that I’d like us to pay attention to…

So, 2 Sundays ago: Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” And Peter proclaimed, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” And Jesus responded by telling Peter that not only was he right, but that he, Peter, was the ROCK on which Jesus would build the church! 

Now, call me crazy, but part of what indicates to me, in addition to the centrality of the acknowledgement of Jesus as the Messiah, is that following Jesus is not an individual affair, but a communal one. There is apparently going to be a CHURCH, a community of followers of Jesus.

That was 2 Sundays ago.

Last week: Jesus began to tell his disciples that he was heading toward great suffering–suffering that he would undergo at the hands of the religious leaders, in fact, and that in fact would lead to his death. He also told them, by the way, that he would then be raised from the dead, three days later–but that didn’t even seem to register with them; he might as well have kept that to himself, after talking about undergoing great suffering and being killed! 

Regardless, after hearing Jesus say those things about suffering and dying, Peter told Jesus that he was wrong–that he was NOT, in fact, going to suffer or be killed, that Peter and the other disciples would NEVER let that happen to him! 

Perhaps he said those things out of love, perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of desperation… Probably out of some combination of all of that. Whatever Peter’s reasons for making those bold but really pretty outrageous claims, Jesus responded to him by saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You know nothing about how God works…” and he went on to look his disciples in the eyes, and tell them, straight-up, that being part of the community of believers, being among those who have chosen to follow him, will not be easy! In fact, it will be downright hard! In fact, it will involve suffering! It will involve some level of denying themselves, some degree of dying to themselves. Jesus told them, without mincing any words, that making a commitment to live as his followers, making a commitment to living life as part of the community of believers, would not be easy.

“If any wish to come after me,” Jesus said, as we read it in the NRSV, “let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24, NRSV) 

Or as it says in The Message, “Don’t run from suffering; embrace it.” 

So that was last week. 

This week, in the passage we heard read, it seems that part of what we’re hearing is that the suffering that will come as a result of following Jesus will not only come from outside of that community, in the form of persecution! But that there will also be suffering that comes from within the community! Suffering caused by other believers.

In today’s passage, Jesus is telling his followers what to do when a fellow believer has sinned against them. 

But how could that possibly be, we might wonder? As followers of Jesus, the Word of God made flesh…Jesus, the Love of God incarnate…Jesus, the Lord of Love, why would believers ever cause suffering to one another? 

Because we continue to be human, that’s why. 

As I wrote in my most recent “All Shall Be Well” column, there’s no magic in church! 

This is part of what I said: “As humans, beautiful and complex, we’re each capable of [things that heal and things that harm]–whether we acknowledge it or not, church or no church. As humans, complex and wounded, we each do [things that heal and things that harm]–whether we admit it or not, church or no church. 

There’s no magic in church that keeps us who participate always seeking healing and never inflicting harm.” 

And I went on to say, “But it can be a place to see what it looks like.” 

Church can be a place to see what it looks like. I so deeply believe that!

When we in the Church take Jesus seriously, and listen to his teachings, we see what it looks like to extend God’s healing to all. We see what it looks like to live fully in God’s liberation. We see what it looks like to walk and talk and love, and be tender and be firm and be angry, all while being God’s beloved. 

When we in the Church take Jesus seriously, and consider his example, we see what it looks like to care for those on the margins of society, and walk with those who have been cast out. We see what it looks like to tend not only to ourselves and our own needs, but to also be aware of and attentive to the concerns and needs of those around us, including each other!

When we in the Church, who claim to follow Jesus, take him seriously, and open ourselves to learn from him, to watch what he does and what he wants and how he lives and how he loves– we can be empowered, as a community of believers, to do those things… At least, to practice doing them…

I concluded my column with these words: “In Jesus we can see what it looks like to fully embody God’s Love. And in church, with one another, we can try it out–trying to love, and failing, and trying, and succeeding, and trying, and failing, and trying again.” 

And when that happens within a church community, in the context of relationships that are grounded in God’s love and strengthened by God’s grace, “trying and failing and trying again” is another way of talking about forgiveness. Living within a context of forgiveness. Living within a network of people seeking healing and wholeness, both as individuals and together. 

Which brings us back to today’s Gospel passage. 

I think that’s what Jesus was talking about. Forgiveness, healing, reconciliation, restoration of relationships among his followers, within what would become the Church… I have no doubt that he knew that his followers would not succeed at following him! Not 100% of the time. He knew his disciples. He knew the religious leaders. He knew the masses. He knew the human heart. He knows the human heart. He knows us, and our fickle hearts… 

I think Jeus knew that we, as his followers, would continue to hurt one another. And not just in minor, annoying ways. But in serious, damaging ways. In ways that we and the world around us have both seen and experienced…ways that have led some to want nothing to do with Christians or the Church. Or Jesus. Or God. 

In today’s passage, I see Jesus offering a way to address that. With one another. As fellow believers. As part of a community that will be damaged by unaddressed hurt… 

I hear Jesus saying, “You will hurt one another. You will. There’s no need to have any illusions about that. There’s also no need to let it destroy your relationships, or devastate the community.” 

Knowing our human hearts, Jesus knew, and knows, that we won’t not hurt each other. 

Knowing God’s heart, he also knew, and knows, the potential for a community built on forgiveness and reconciliation, the beauty of a community grounded in healing and wholeness, the strength of a community committed to seeking healing and wholeness for all! 

Jesus knew, and knows, that that’s what the Church can be! He knew, and knows, that that’s what life lived together as his committed followers could be! 

I imagine that’s what God desires for the Church to be! 

And in today’s verses, Jesus is offering guidance for how we might get there: First acknowledge when someone within the community has seriously hurt you, and talk with them about it, with honesty and courage; then, if necessary, talk with them about it with others present, to help keep everyone truthful and accountable. And then, keep talking, keep listening, continue to seek healing and reconciliation… And when it doesn’t happen…according to Jesus…keep trying…

As he said to his disciples in last week’s Gospel passage, it’s not easy to follow him. In fact, it’s hard! And it will, and does, involve suffering.

Today we’re reminded that not all of that suffering will be caused by people outside of the community… 

But Jesus shows us what to do with that. In Jesus we can see what it looks like to not simply walk away when someone hurts us–and also not simply let them continue to hurt us, without being held accountable…But rather, to seek healing, and to seek accountability, while continuing to love. 

In Jesus we can see what it looks like to fully embody God’s Love. And in church–hopefully at least in this church–with one another, we can practice living that out–trying and failing and being forgiven, and trying again, and failing again, and being forgiven again…and trying, and just maybe succeeding…before failing, undoubtedly, again! 

And all the while, I hope we can be reminded that we, and all of God’s creation, are God’s beloved. 

And then, maybe, just maybe, with God’s help and the support of one another, we can offer more of what heals and less of what harms, not only to one another but also to the world. 

May it be so.

Amen.

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