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My heart beats for love. I want to be different. I want to be who I am called to be. WORTHY and LOVED!

Monday, January 31, 2011

Rethinking Conflict

Church Drama. It is possibly the part I truly struggle with being a pastor. Everyone wants to suck the pastor into the drama they are having with other church folks. Last week I preached a sermon to state clearly, no more. We are all going to get our acts together and start acting like the church - which means re-thinking how we do conflict. It can't be about winning or losing or who can get the most people to be sympathetic to their side of the story.
As a result I'm approaching pastoral care differently. I will listen to one person complain about another but then ask them two questions: 1.) Have you talked about this with an open mind to the other person involved? 2.) Is this worth fighting and dying for? If either of the answers is no, the conversation stops. I really want people tot try to work things out first amongst themselves, for how are we to learn mercy and grace, if we do not attempt to show it to other people? How can we learn to listen, if someone else is fixing our messes?
After talking with one of my lay leaders who is a trained counselor this week, we decided, if people cannot work things out amongst themselves, another wise, spirit centered, and neutral church member (we are referring to them as our "Switzerland"s) will help listen and birth words and life out of the drama. If this still doesn't work, then I get involved as the pastor. This is both for my own sanity, and also in honoring the UMC focus on lay-lead ministry. If we need the pastor to mediate our conflicts for us, what happens when I leave and a new pastor comes in? No, people who are together every year in and out, need to learn how to live together.
Today I was thinking about how we might have missed the mark by referring to churches as families - because honestly, families are dysfunctional. Period. I have a lot of friends who come from unhealthy families who only try to hurt each other, and I fear that is what the church has become. Perhaps another way to state what the church is could be life coaches/ partners/ sojourners. I'm not sure. But the intentional hurting of each other and backlash needs to cease.

Mary Poppins

Catherine and I went to see Mary Poppins on Broadway this Saturday to celebrate her birthday. We both agreed it was the best show we've seen yet - the sets were just amazing and the story wove together the different books by P.L. Travers books so well.
My mind couldn't stop buzzing during the entire show, which led to many many tweets. Possibly my favorite scene was when Mary took the Banks children to visit their father at the bank. While they were there each was given a bit of money, to which the children stated the denomination of the coin. However, the person who gave them the coin stated, "No that's the coins worth, its value lies in what you do with it" How true! We often mix up worth and value, trying to make what we value total what something is worth, when really we determine the value of things by how we approach them.
The other thing that struck me was the idea of Mary Poppins being "practically perfect" and trying to get the Banks children to venture with her towards such perfection. How often do we view being perfect as something stingy and boring, two words that most certainly did not describe Mary Poppins. She helped the children reach into their imaginations and live out being their best possible selves. What are we trying to make the word perfection into in the church? Would we accept laughter, joy, and creativity as part of our spiritual disciplines and marks of moving towards perfection?

Cats

I was able see a fellow bandie from high school dance in the national tour of Cats this past weekend in Morristown. Wow. Amazing. There is a sermon just waiting to be preached in there. Two ideas that really struck me were:
- Finding our True Identity
- And Re-creation in God
The back story to Cats is about the Jellicle Cats that come out once a year for the festival of the moon to see who amongst them will be chosen to be reborn. Only one cat is chosen each year by the oldest and wisest Jellicle Cat, Old Deuteronomy. Each of the cats take turns telling their stories (with each story composing the lyrics to a different song). Before getting into the stories, the cats explain that each of the felines have three names - the name their family gives them, their particular name, but above all there is a name that cannot be guessed. It is the name that only the cat his or herself knows deep inside. "His ineffable effable effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular name". (The Naming of Cats from Cats the Broadway Musical).
Don't we each have this type of name as well? The name not given to us by our parents at birth, but the name that speaks to our deepest characteristics, the name that God calls us by. I think most of our struggles in life come from not knowing our own deepest name, the name that is at our core. We've let the world define us for so long, that we don't have the time or capacity to ponder who we really are.

Possibly the most well known song from the musical is that of "Memory" as sung by Grizabella, a cat who used to be beautiful, but over time has lost her beauty throughout the trials of life. Her coat is now ripped and has sand deep embedded in it. The other Jellicile cats shun ad mock her. As a result the song "Memory" is about remembering what once was but never can be again - her old life of beauty and acceptance. At the end of the production Old Deuteronomy addresses the cats telling them that he has chosen Grizabella to be reborn, so she could live again as the beautiful cat of her memory. He also shames them saying that as a cat with three names should know that one cannot be judged by what is on the outside.
Oh how we are like the cats, shaming and mocking those who we don't deem to be worthy and beautiful, but God looks at this completley different level, where memories come alive again. If only we can learn to look with the eyes of God, what would we see?

Daughter of God

Over break, after finishing my ordiantion paperwork, I was able to go to the Bishop's Retreat for our Clergy Family in Lancaster, PA. What a blessing! It was nice to be able to just relax for a few days. And I was able to hear the powerful preaching of Rev. Grace Imathiu, a Biblical Scholar (NT - Gospels) and pastor in Wisconsin.
The most powerful message was about the Parable of the "Prodigal Son". She viewed this story in a whole new way, structured around the question of how we view ourselves as pastors - are we living like hired hands or children of God? We spent some time talking about the differences between the two titles and came to the conclusion that most of us are living like hired hands - especially for our churches. We act as if we are accountable only to the people we serve, and not to God, which leads us towards the impossible task of making everyone happy, even if it isn't in their best interest or ours.
I'm now trying to pose this question more often in my life - am I living as a hired hand or a child of God?
How do you see yourself?

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Belonging to Christ - 1 Cor 1: 10-17

Of all of the bickering I’ve seen over the years, perhaps the worst is church fights. You know the kind of argument I’m talking about – where we pray that more people join our side then the other, where the name of Jesus often gets pulled in, as if Jesus would ever have a part of any of this, and the chill of our attitudes towards each other fills the pew. The type of fight where we leave the church, our Christian family, because we don’t want to be part of another argument, or worse, because we didn’t get our way. Even with all of the teachings contained in the Bible, we do not fight well in the church.

We also seem to argue about the silliest things – what color the carpet should be, who should play what part in the upcoming pageant, or whether hymns or praise and worship songs nurture our soul. Whether to serve decaf coffee after church. The list goes on and on. But underneath our pettiness I think there are some deep theological questions being worked out.

In today’s passage of scripture Paul is pleading with the people of Corinth – people he has spent well over a year with. Paul dwelt among them as a tent-maker, while telling people about the love of Christ. Eventually those people would come together and form a worshipping community. But after Paul left the people began to quarrel. The entire letter of 1 Corinthians is addressing the issues of the community as reported by someone on the inside. We don’t know if this person had the most truthful account, but we do know that they felt compelled to tell Paul, and that they were from the house of Chloe.

And what were they arguing over. Baptism. It seems to be the discussion topic that never gets old. When to baptize a person. Should it be believer’s baptism? If so, at what age? If it’s an infant baptism, will we allow for a second baptism later? Should you be sprinkled or dunked? Should it be done inside of the church walls or out in nature? And that’s before we even get to the questions around what baptism means. While the topic is full of heated-debate topics, I don’t think I’ve ever heard one about who baptized someone.

But alas, this is where the Corinthians issue lies. It has to be important to Paul because it is the fist he addresses, after a loving introduction, before going into a lengthy discussion on other topics. He wants them to remember it. What are the roles or rhetoric? People remember what they heard first and last, and tend to fade out somewhere in between. So Paul jumps right in to discussing what he was appalled to hear – that people are claiming allegiance with the people who baptized them. Some are saying that they belong to Apollos and others Paul, or Cephas. I wonder if in this community, even those claiming to belong to Christ really understood what they meant or if they were simply trying to one up the last person.

So Paul asks the big question: What – has Christ been divided into parts? Paul will go on later in this epistle to speak about the body of Christ being composed on many parts, but here is a picture of vicious deconstruction. The people were ripping into each other, and essentially claiming to be associated with the workers of Christ instead of with Christ himself. The whole point of the gospel had become moot in the midst of the quarreling. Salvation had been displaced.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the car this week, as I drove to and from Lancaster for a clergy gathering. Along the way I saw more than a few reminders of how our Christian quarreling has grown today. All I can say is that boy, can we offend well. I saw two billboards that caught my attention – the first had printed in big numbers the day of Christ’s second coming, May 30th of this year. The other was a billboard located between two major medical facilities, reminding people, none too gently that when they died they are going to be accountable to God. But in between these billboards was one of the best radio commercials I’ve heard in a while. It can be essentially summed up like this: Christ tells us to take his message of love and hope to the ends of the earth, but we can’t even take it to our neighbors because we cannot love well. We are so caught up in Christian propaganda and getting people saved, that we miss the message that people are sending us – that they are craving love and acceptance. And then the kicker, how can people ever believe in the love of Christ, if they cannot even see our love for them.

I wonder if Paul was thinking the same thing when composing this letter. How are ya’ll ever going to be able to share Christ’s message with those around you – those people going to the pagan temples, the people begging on the streets, those oppressed by the government, the people around who are having children they can’t take care of just in hopes of having someone love them unconditionally. How are we ever going to reach out to a world, if we are can’t even love those amongst us in our community?

A popular Christian song from a few years ago claims that “loves not a fight, but its something worth fighting for.” I don’t want you to leave here today thinking that people who care for each other don’t fight – talk to anyone who has been in a marriage or family unit and they will tell you that just isn’t true. But I think we need to re-evaluate what we are fighting about and how we communicate with grace.

We need to take the time to asks ourselves, what are we really fighting about and is it all that important? In other words, are we fighting about harm that another is causing us or bringing upon themselves? Okay. We need to discuss that. But are we hurt because things didn’t go the way we planned or over something as trivial as who baptized whom, or who we pledge our allegiance to over certain issues, maybe that could be handled a better way then a community wide quarrel.

It’s at this point in the story, that I’m really curious about this mystery informant from the house of Chloe. Had they tried to handle things on their own or did they run straight to Paul? We’re they looking to Paul for wisdom or heavy-handed reform? This epistle was crafted before the Gospels were formally written, but surely some of Christ’s teachings about love and forgiveness had found their way across Paul’s lips and onto the ears of those he taught while he was in Corinth. Did Paul teach them how to handle family drama well or did this informant from Chloe’s people just forget about that?

The thing about church fighting that makes it so dangerous is that it is contagious – like in any family. Something may start small, but as more and more people get pulled in, things quickly escalate and spiral out of control. Hence our example in today’s scripture passage. We may stop and scratch our head and ask, really Corinthians, you’re fighting over this? But then I think we need to stop and ask ourselves what would people in the future, or maybe even in the present, say in our church’s dirty laundry was hung out for everyone to read and comment on? What would be their reaction? In the line from another song, “Do you know what’s worth fighting for, do you know what’s worth dying for?” Because really everything we do, especially the things we get into big fusses about, have the potential to hurt another person, killing them slowly. Our words and actions have power that we rarely acknowledge, yet we fling them around so carelessly. And maybe that’s where history can get so sketchy, when we engage in and escalate conflicts that in the scheme of things, aren’t worth fighting and dying for. We need to take time to ask ourselves, if this is something that would be written about me, about us, in history books for the future, would I be proud of it? Was it something worth it?

Often we loose perspective and small things become really big things. Other times, drama needs to be dealt with in order for wholeness to emerge. This wholeness is for any and all people involved, not just the person who feels that they have been hurt. And I think that’s what Jesus is trying to communicate when he teaches about going in private to the one who has wronged you. There is no need to make a big scene, because really that is just going to make everyone look foolish and hurt the other person without really bringing you peace, or the community rest. If one on one doesn’t work, take another person, unassociated, unbiased, and if at all possible unknowledgeable about the grievance. Talk to each other. Listen to the other side of the story, and don’t necessarily walk in to such a conversation with an agenda or a demand. If healing still doesn’t come, bring a few other sets of ears, and as a last resort, bring it before the community.

We tend to flip this around today, right? Bringing it to the community first, either by our actions, silence, or flippant words. We want people to be on our side, but a church family isn’t about sides. It isn’t about claiming Paul or Apollos or Cephas. It’s about being in union with Christ. Like an unbroken circle, where we are working with each other towards a common cause. For the power of the cross, the heart of the Gospel, can become so clouded to those watching us, and even to ourselves, when we do not have conflict in love. When we want people to think that our side is right or wise, there isn’t much room for God’s wisdom, rooted in love and compassion, to intervene into our hard hearts and heads.

The funny thing about this epistle, is that by the time it arrived to the Corinthians the problem may have been resolved, or at least glossed over. But maybe Paul needs to still address it to get down to the deeper issues – the deeper questions – am I really Christ’s even if I’ve never seen Jesus? What does it mean to belong to God through Christ? Am I sure of my own assurance in salvation?

So today, I would ask us each to think of a conflict we have had in the church. Has been resolved? Is it worth fighting and dying for? If not, let it go. Apologize if necessary. If it is, pull the person aside after the service and talk to them, listen to them, and seek wholeness together. For if we are a fractured and disconnected community, how will we ever be able to communicate love beyond these walls? Amen.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Thought Provoking Question

How can we have accountability in a non-trusting culture?

Wicked

In October, during break, Catherine and I went to go see Wicked. Wow. Fantastic show. And it preached! I could write post after post about this. So much so that Cat and I joked about writing the Gospel According to Broadway. But my chief thought was how Elphaba is the person the church doesn't give a chance. The person who is turned away because she looks different, acts different, which even the attractional church cannot handle. See were all about trusting those who are like us, but what if it isn't those people who can hold us the most accountable? Thoughts.

American Idiot

Sadly, its been a while since I've been able to write a real blog post. So the next two are going to be reflections on the Broadway shows Cat and I went to see this semester. In December, to celebrate the end of the semester, we went to see American Idiot, based on Green Days' cd bearing the same title.
Description from the website:
An exhilarating journey of a new generation of young Americans, lead by friends Johnny, Tunny and Will, as they struggle to find meaning in a post-9/11 world, borne along by Green Day's electrifying score. When the three disgruntled men flee the constraints of their hometown for the thrills of city life, their paths are quickly estranged when Tunney enters the armed forces, Michael is called back home to attend familial responsibilities, and Johnny’s attention becomes divided by a seductive love interest and a hazardous new friendship.

Cat and I didn't have large expectations for the show, but wow. First of all, we were a mere five rows from the front of the stage. At least we had a small buffer between us and the "spit zone", because that's how into it all of the actors were. Second, thank you Broadway for having all shapes and sizes represented in this show. Fantastic message.
That being said, this show touched a nerve. This was about MY generation - Gen M, now 19-29 years in age. I realize that every generation has different challenges and markers. But here are some of ours as represented by the show and my own firsts in response to them.
First time a friend of mine attempted suicide - 8th grade
First time I cried over the potential death of my friends in the military - 10th grade
First time I knew I had friends using drugs - 9th grade
First time I knew I had friends that drank - 6th grade
First time I had a friend struggle with the questions that can arise from sex outside of marriage - 9th grade
First time I had a friend run to the city to follow their dreams, only to end up at home - 12th grade
First time I had a friend who cut - 11th grade
First time I had a friend arrested for their behavior - I don't even know

We are the generation marked by September 11th, Columbine, and tragedies. We've had violence in front of us our entire life, but we want something more. Something more then this. And when we can't find it or do it we turn to the above actions and behaviors at an early age. We are the future - so who is going to reach out to us instead of writing us off? Who is going to understand our response to struggle comes from something deeper?

Cat and I started to talk about how were part of a Gen M project but we never discussed any of the above topics. How can you know about us if you leave all of that out? You can't. It's time to move beyond the silence on these topics, the embarassment, because the messiness of our lives didn't just appear. We learned it by watching and responding to what is going on around us in a deep way.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Hear My Cry - Psalm 40: 1-11

Some of my favorite pieces of scripture are found within the Psalms, where a clear view of humanity and the complexity of God meet. We’ve made God into who we want God to be, but the Psalmist, they write down who God is to them in the moment, which may not be what they want. But I would venture to guess that the Psalmist words are closer to our experience then we want to admit sometimes.

Unyielding I have call to you, and now at last you have stooped to me and answered my cry for help. Has there ever been a time in your life when you think that God isn’t hearing your prayers. A time of immense pain or suffering or fear where it just seems as if God is deaf and mute? I have to think that is how David felt. Now at last, God has answered his cry for help. How long had he been outstretched before God that he felt the need to say finally, now at last? David was persistent before God, even when persistence seemed futile.

You have pulled me out of the Pit of Destruction… you set my feet on a rock and made my steps firm. I think when we are in those hard places in our lives, crying for help, we are happy to get even a little break. Notice that David does not say that God solved all of his problems, like a wishing well or genie. God, set his feet on a rock.

Let’s be honest for a moment. My center of balance is flawed, to be kind. Therefore, put my feet on rocks and I will teeter, totter, and fall. This is why I dread one of my kids favorite activities at camp – creek stomping. Combine not being able to see where my feet are going, even if I know it’s going to be rock to rock, with water and a poor sense of balance. Well it’s not pretty. But what a metaphor for life. Our help from God, is often not pretty, or complete, or what we wish for. And maybe that’s why we miss it so many times. We are looking for something that is done for us completely, instead of a light to show us that first tentative step.

But without taking that first step, or being so caught up in our expectations that we miss the signs of God’s grace, how can we ever sing a song of praise to God? This new song that will make others look on in wonder and come to God? Our lives are the only testimony people cannot only see, but hear. So what are people seeing and hearing from you? A song of complaint? A dirge? Or a song of praise to God? And is that song accurate? Because God does not need us to be PR agents for the Divine. Did God show you the first step that brought you to this place, then say that. Because when we aren’t truthful about who God is in our lives and what God has done, we are not nurturing the faith of others, we are just setting them up with a false image of God, an idol to worship when things are bad.

But when we see that God has made the first move, however small, in response to our cry, then and only then, will we be able to look back and see all of the ways that God has been moving in our lives. Like an intricate tapestry, things that didn’t make sense previously will become enlightened. The ways that God has worked for us, which we can clearly see as the haze of life has been removed, are numberless.

The psalm goes on to take about how to show our appreciation for what God has done, but I want to stop and dwell in these few verse today in response to the week we’ve witnessed. First, the tragic shooting in Arizonian over politics, which left among its wreckage of the injured and dead a nine-year-old girl. We’ve seen a nation respond appropriately, and inappropriately, to the pain experienced that day. But one of the images that touched me the most, but was publicized the least, were the cries of the God fearing folk. One of my fellow seminary classmates serves in a church in the area of the shooting, that opened its doors to just cry to God over something so tragic and senseless. We can debate over gun control and political mudslinging all we want, but if we don’t take time to cry to God, how can we be surprised if God doesn’t hear?

This week also marked the one-year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake. We’ve patted ourselves on the back after seeing the amount of money donated to the country, but we seem to have forgotten to cry to God after the first few months. So are we shocked that cholera is spreading and that Haiti is now one of the top countries for rape after the disaster? How can God respond if we don’t cry?

Brothers and sisters of Albright-Bethune, the world around us is not going to cry out to God. They may blame God and blame each other, but we don’t live in a world that shed tears to the Divine. That is the role of the church. And there is possibly no better time to remember that then today, as we celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday. We remember one man who had a God-sized vision of the beloved community, that called for the shedding of a whole lot of tears. Mothers cried for their children sent to jail. People cried over the injustices being committed against their brothers and sisters.

People cried and acted for justice for a long time, because injustice isn’t cleaned up over night. But if MLK didn’t have that God sized dream that was worth living, working, crying, and dying for, where would we be today?

So my question to you, brothers and sisters, is are we crying out to God today for the things that break the heart of God? Can we look with Divine eyes on what is going around us, and weep until God pays attention. And do we have wisdom to discern and respond to the small steps God gives us towards justice, or are we only looking for everything to be taken care of immediately. Because if we do not cry and respond to God, how will we ever have a song to sing?

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Remember Your Baptism - Matthew 3: 13-17

Less than one month after my birth, I was baptized. On September 28th, 1986, my parents had me baptized into my home church by the Rev. Raymond Fraval. While I was too young to have a memory of the event itself, I know that it has effected both my Christian upbringing, faith journey, and call to ministry.

One might ask why my parents chose to have me baptized so early, to which there are two main reasons. The first reason was just practical in that there was going to be a baptism performed on that day. I was baptized with the largest baptism class in the history of West Side United Methodist Church with twelve infants and children were initiated into the Household of God. In a real and mysterious way my baptism with these eleven other people has sealed our personal community. I have traveled through many other milestones and life experiences with this group – Sunday School promotions, birthday parties, conformation, and high school and college graduations, to name a few. We are known in the church for our special bonds and deep friendships that continue to this day.

Second, my parents strongly believed that with my baptism they were asking the congregation to be an active part of my upbringing as a piece of their family. Prior to my baptism Rev. Fraval came to my parents apartment to discuss what baptism meant for both him, as the pastor, and each of my parents. He then verbally walked them through parts of the service and the basic theology of baptism. The part that stuck my father the most was the congregation’s commitment to help raise their daughter as they state that they will “nurture these children in Christ’s holy church, that by your teaching and example they may be guided to accept God’s grace for themselves, to profess their faith openly, and to lead a Christian life.” My home congregation has ethically and socially lived out this promise time and time again as a collective body and as individuals as they have helped my parents and extended family raise me in a Christian home and Church. They taught me how to articulate my faith through the sharing of their own faith journeys, including triumphs and struggles; they nurtured my love for the holy Church by teaching me the theology behind the liturgy in simple terms from an early age to ensure there was meaning behind my words and actions. There were times in my faith walk that I felt as if I had far too many parents, as people in the church took seriously their commitment to nurture and teach me, which sometimes involved scolding, but looking back both my parents and I appreciate their walking with me along this journey of faith, for without them I would never had affirmed my call to ministry. While some people may question the validity of Christian baptism, my parents can tell you that truly was as the discipline describes it, my entrance into the church, the sealing of the Spirit upon my life, and “an awareness by the baptized of heir claim to ministry in Christ placed upon their lives by the church.” By each member of West Side aiding my parents and using their spiritual gifts and fruits to bless our family, I was raised in an environment where the Spirit of God was present, moving, and acknowledged.

As beautiful as the stories of baptism may be, we can still ask why we baptize people today, whether it be infants, children, or adults. Is it just a story to tell? A fond memory for few?

No, it is so much more. We baptize because Jesus was baptized. We believe that Jesus’ baptism wasn’t just a simple act for the annunciation of Jesus’ ministry. It was for the benefit of those touched by Jesus. By those who heard the voice of God.

John knew that he was different. His mother told him the stories – the conception that shouldn’t have been possible and him leaping in the womb for joy when approached by the mother of the Messiah. His father had wisdom to share – God might silence our doubt by silencing our very lips - taking our words from us. But could wisdom and stories really prepare John for what was to come? Did he know that he was going to baptize the very one who would command his disciples to baptize the nations to the end of the world?

In the end, he might not of known his mission, known what he would be remembered for, but he knew that he wasn’t worthy to do it. “I should be baptized by you, and yet you come to me!”

But Jesus knew that his baptism would be an example to the world. An example of what exactly? I believe he was embodying nothing short of the mystery of God. For as Jesus was coming out of the water the sky split open and the Holy Spirit descended as God proclaimed, “This is my very own, my beloved, on whom my favor rests.” There may not be a more powerful message for anyone throughout history and God says it to each of us as well – you are my very own, the one most dear to my heart, and I hope for you the full realization of what I have in store for you.

We, as Methodists, believe that baptism is holy because of these words spoken over Jesus and each of us. We believe that it marks our journeys as ministers of the gospel as part of Christ’s holy church. Even as babies. I truly believe that each member of the body of Christ has something to share with us – a gift to bless us with – even if it is as pure as tears or laughter. And we believe that God does not screw up this covenant that is being made with us. We may break covenant with God, but God will never, I repeat, never, break it with us.

I now understand also why it hurt some of those dear to me so deeply when I spoke about re-baptism my sophomore year of college. During February of that year I traveled to Israel for a class about the Holy Land. While at the river Jordan I asked my professor, a Methodist professor, to re-baptize me since I could now choose my time and method by which to be baptized. He explained to me that in line with Martin Luther, John Wesley believed that one baptism was sufficient and that it was the seal of the Holy Spirit that could not be diminished or removed. Therefore, God created a good work once that did not be repeated merely because I felt that I had grown in my faith. However, he invited me to the river Jordan to remember my baptism. While I had grown up in the United Methodist Church, this was the first time that I had ever been invited to remember my baptism in a tangible way beyond the re-affirmation of my faith as part of the congregation as part of the baptismal covenant.

Today is the day to celebrate and remember that God is doing a good work in you. It began long before your baptism – the time when we publicly proclaim it as a church. It was known in the Heavens before you took your first breath on this earth. Because God created you. We live in a world that tempts us to forget that message, that we are God’s very own. And that is why we celebrate the Wesleyan Covenant of Renewal today. We may not be able to be re-baptized every time we stray from God, but once a year, as well as every time we celebrate the baptism of one around us, we remember the covenant that was forged between us and God. That the creator of the universe called Jesus out of the waters with the Heavens proclaiming that he was God’s beloved, and the same claim is laid on each of our lives every day. We stand as witnesses in the tradition of the Saints and Jesus Christ saying that God has a purpose for our being, and we will surround all of those around us with love. We will let our lives be examples, like Jesus’ was for us, of the walk of faith – triumphs, joys, sorrows, struggles, and everything in between. We will nurture those around us to make disciples for the transformation of the world. And most importantly, we hold each others hand and proclaim that we are one family, united by one true Holy Spirit that has laid claim to each of our lives and calls us “Beloved”. So may we now join together in this service of renewal of our covenant with the lord and with each other, as we remember our baptisms.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Come and Worship - Matthew 2: 1-12

What was the longest period of time that you’ve ever been away from home? For some of us this question may mean – how long have you been away from your family? Your house? Your home town? Your friends? Away at school? Moved away for a job?

We live in a world where travel is commonplace, if not expected. Rarely do we grow up in the same town as generations of our family from the past or only travel as far as we can go on foot for our entire lives. The world has been opened up to us by public transportation.

This was not the world of the wise man. The farthest people traveled was as far as they could ride an animal or walk. And this process was quite slow considering the baggage people brought with them. If you were lucky, you could find a relative or kind stranger to live with. If you weren’t so lucky you’d be camping out.

Furthermore, travel was dangerous. Think of the story of the Good Samaritan – it revolves around a man who is mugged simply between Judah and Samaria. The wise man traveled quite a bit farther then that.

So what would possess these men to make such a journey? Let’s start by clearing up some of the common misconceptions of this part of the story. First, if you look at our nativity today you will note that the shepherds and other animals are gone. This more actuary depicts the scene. The shepherds and the wise men were not around Jesus at the same time. In fact, it’s estimated that the wise man probably did not reach Jesus until he was nearing two years of age. If the men began their journey on the night the great star appeared in the sky, on the night of Jesus’ birth then they walked and rode in a camel caravan for almost two years. They left everything they knew – their possessions, their families. The chances of them making it to where the star was pointing them was rare. Can you imagine traveling for two years straight without becoming ill? Without getting mugged? But they forged on day and night following this star that they trusted was a sign from God.

Second, these men were not Jewish. They were not affiliated with Jerusalem, and as scholars from the East probably worshiped a different deity all together as they were from a region in Persia. In fact, they were probably priests in the court of whatever deity they worshiped. And yet, they followed this star to find the Jewish King, the Jewish Messiah. For all intents and purposes these men were the first converts, the first people to actively seek out a God and a Messiah that was beyond their own scope of belief. They were captivated by something that could not let them go. By a belief that this person was so important that nothing else mattered.

Lastly, we don’t know how many men there really were who traveled together. Tradition assumes three because three gifts are mentioned but there may have been more or less. We just know that there was more than one. At least two people leaving everything behind to follow a star.

The image that came to my mind this week as I prepared for this sermon was a rainbow. I don’t remember hearing many tales or songs as a child about following stars. Stars were for wishing, but rainbows, well rainbows could be followed. And supposedly at the end of the rainbow one could find a pot of gold, or a foreign land where dreams that we dared to dream can come true. Or in the words of Kermit the Frogs, “the rainbow connection – the lovers, the dreamers, and me.” But in all of my childhood recollections about rainbows, I can think of none that caused someone to travel for years, leaving behind what was important to them. None that impaired this journey of faith, this journey of hope.

What did the magi’s really think that they would find at the end of the star’s path? What’s ironic is that the Magi didn’t seem to care. They just knew they were supposed to go. They went so far, on one hope that they would find a King. And yet, they seemed to know that he was an infant – a point lost to the Jewish tradition and believers of the time. And yet, did they know that this king would be the Son of God? The messiah? God with us? Here are these men – traveling to just celebrate this king – to catch a glimpse of what they had hoped for. They brought their best gifts. They brought their all just to celebrate.

This week the Church celebrates Epiphany – in our Western tradition is the celebration of the visit of the wise men. But why is this celebration so important? What do the magi’s have to offer our Christian community today?

First, I think their visit and homage foremost tells us something about God. God’s incarnation in the babe of Jesus Christ is bigger then any of us can really understand. It is bigger than a particular church or tradition. It’s bigger then Christianity. It is bigger then our wildest imaginations. It is awe inspiring enough to coax wealthy men to travel for years just to celebrate.

And second, it asks what we, today, are to make of this God – God with us. Here are men who essentially followed a sign for years to bring their best gifts to God – a God that they didn’t worship until up until that moment. What are we willing to give to God today? Do we have the same faith as the wise men – what are we willing to give up? How far will we travel for Christ? Or are we like the town of Bethlehem – seemingly inattentive to the star that drew people from so far? Are we too close to the manger, too friendly with this God, that we miss the awe-inspiring nature of the Divine? Do we believe that we can get by with giving God the dregs of what we have left, our time, our energy, our money, our devotion, instead of our best?

The wise men seem to be calling to us – crying for us to have their type of hope in this mighty God who deserves everything that they gave. All for just the hope of being able to celebrate. We are now wrapping up our holiday season. We soon will be returning to work and school. The Christmas decorations will be coming down and life will return to normal. But the wise men are telling us that it doesn’t have to be this way. They lead us to examine who this God is and what God leads us to do. They traveled far beyond the season that we now celebrate as Christmas – their hope and determination was not limited to days, weeks, or months. There had to be times that they wondered why they were following this star – no matter how bright it may be. But they went because they had hope guiding them. The Hope of the world that they believed deserved what they were doing. Are our convictions about Christ as strong today? Are we willing to give our best, let alone our all, even as the season of celebration comes to an end? How far will are you willing to go?